Play Ball! and "Growing up" Weekend Part I

Daddy is playing softball with Uncle Keith on his church team. Sidney Kate and I went to our first game this past week. It was close (if not past her bedtime) so we didn't catch the whole game...that's probably why they lost!
Sidney Kate really enjoyed the freedom of walking around and saying "Hey!" to everyone.

And here they are!

Daddy will have a matching shirt soon, we hope...that will really cut time off of his pregame dressing session! (snicker snicker)

Friday night was the kick off to Sidney Kate's big "growing up" weekend! (If you will recall) Sidney Kate hated the sand at the beach. However, after watching Rylan and other boys play in the dirt at the ball field, she decided it was time to give it a try. I had to remove her from the boys' area because she was destroying their mounds. By the time we left she was covered in dirt! My guess is she's over her texture issue with sand (for now).

Ahhh Memories...updated!

Grandma Hauser came through and found the old pictures of me and Melissa. Hello 80s! I began this post here but it wasn't complete without the original picture and our college years picture. I'm guessing we were 7 or 8 in the first one (someone will correct me if I'm wrong) and the college years picture was taken in 2000-it was Christmas, so we were 20. Ahhh memories!

Beanbag fun

Not only can you sit on the beanbag; you can run and land on the beanbag! It was awhile back when Kevin first taught Sidney Kate how to run and land on the beanbag. In fear that she had forgotten, he took time to remind her of the fun to be had. This time she added her only little spin on it. Watch as she revs up against the couch for her big run.

(I miss the final landing, camera was totally giving me a fit.)

Chasing Buster...poor Buster!

Sidney Kate loves indy and buster, sometimes too much! Poor Buster has been afraid of her since the day she learned to crawl his way and use his fur to pull up. He only gets up and runs from her when she's right on him, which happens frequently these days. I'm pretty sure the only time he gets complete rest is when he knows she in her crib.

Here she is loving the game of chase.

Ahhh Memories!

This is me and Brady, (I had posted previously it was me and Melissa...I was wondering why she looked smaller than me-haha).... He always manages to get in the way...and here he goes again! haha...I'll have the original of me and Melissa soon...waiting on Grandma Hauser to scan it in. :-D

You can tell the deer are fairly new and the tree had just been planted.

Here we are this past weekend. The deer have been beat up and the tree is huge! We have a college years picture somewhere...

And here are our babies making memories! Yeah for the history of pictures!

More Fun at the Greats

Sidney Kate and Kendall chilling after all that blueberry picking! It's so funny how she finds little places to sit. She enjoys dangling her legs and sitting like a big girl!

She found the dog food pans but didn't want to share with Grandpa. I believe they played a little bit of tug of war until she won. She was giving him the look when he was tugging!

Oh the joy of making noise! She's proud of herself!

Our second ride on the golf cart. Sidney Kate wanted to "Ride!"

Blueberry Pickin' Time!

We went to visit Grandpa Sunday and got to talking about the blueberry bushes that Grandma had. So Melissa, Kendall, Momma, Sidney Kate and I went exploring (with bowls in hand)! I thought Sidney Kate would just walk around and play but little did I know she was watching every move we made. It wasn't long until she was going up to the bushes and picking off GREEN blueberries and eating them! We had to redirect her to the purple ones and she would come up to us when she was ready for more and babble. If we didn't pay attention to her, she'd walk right back to the bushes and eat some more.

Here Cousin Melissa is trying to prevent her from getting an upset belly by eating the green ones!

She found the stash!

"Look Momma!"

Pool Fun with the Freemans

We ventured up the road to have some pool time with the Freemans. We know a certain someone isn't a huge pool fan, but we're determined to let her experience it. Aunt Sharon introduced her to sidewalk chalk and she was able to write her name! Check that out! haha...

I was impressed with this one! She whinned as I started walking down the stairs with her, but after a little bit I got her comfortable. Then I moved to this float and she played pretty well as long as she was with me. She wouldn't go to anyone else. Baby steps, baby steps.

Here's Carter! He's "too big" to go in the pool and to take his shirt off. But somehow Aunt Sharon convinced him to let go of the shirt. Carter doesn't like the pool either. He's a fan of playing around the edges and getting wet with water guns. Which is fine by Sidney Kate! They'll have fun together when she gets a little older.
Look at that face, don't you just want to squeeze it!

Uncle Chad and Aunt Sharon let Sidney Kate borrow their hats. That delicate skin needs protection!

Her Favorite Things...this week!

Oh the joy of being given loud toys for gifts! We'd like to send a special shout out (thank you) to UB! (Uncle Brady) (and just remember pay back...it can be tough!) Sidney Kate really likes taking this toy and treating it as a vacuum. So we won't just hear the popping going forward, we hear it back and forth-up and down the halls-all over the house! She loves to watch us vacuum and enjoys following us around. So this is her way of helping out.

Tony, Susu and LP gave her this fabulous beanbag for her birthday. A new favorite way to watch TV! She backs herself up to the beanbag to sit and watch Noggin'. It's so cute to watch. Especially when she thinks she's backing up to sit on it and misses!

In the zone...

This was my doll cradle from when I was little. I have found her at daycare playing with baby dolls and their little cradle, so I thought she might like to put her dolls in the one at home. I brought it out from her bedroom so she could have more time to play with it. I was wrong about her wanting to put the dolls in the cradle, she throws them out first thing and tries to get in.

The Aftermath...and the Bath!

So after Sidney Kate ate plenty of yummy food at the reunion, got hot and rode backwards (like all babies do...2 or 20 rule) to a curvy destination she threw up all over herself, her car seat and my backseat. It was a horrible experience! Daddy was practicing softball and we were stuck in a curve with no car seat to go anywhere...poor baby! You know how she hates standing on grass...well she had to (barefooted!-southern term?) until I could get her cleaned up and boy was she upset! She was crying so very hard; I don't know how the neighbors didn't run out to see if we were okay. But we survived!
Luckily Grandma and Grandpa Hauser were near Daddy's softball practice. They went and picked up a clear car seat and came to our rescue. By the time they arrived she had fallen asleep in my arms. She was transferred to the new seat and then to a crib without ever waking up-you know she wasn't feeling good!
So all of that happened before she took her inaugural bath in the sink!

This seems familiar...

I remember this picture so clearly growing up. I believe it was in a frame on Momma's desk. We couldn't find the same book for Sidney Kate, but it's still super cute! I'm not sure exactly how old I was, but it was sometime in 1981. So I'm guessing over 1 but not 2...???

We missed the picture of her drinking from the faucet, but she did it. She loves to feel the water come out of faucets. Washing her hands is a whole new game!

I can see where she got her bird mouth from! Same sink...two decades later!

Venable Family Reunion Cont.

Cousin Cynthia snapped these fun shots for us at the reunion.
Sidney Kate isn't a fan of pools, not sure why...she looooves taking a bath! I thought this pool might be better for her since it sloped down and had carpet...I was wrong. But she did let me sit with her for a bit.

Cousins Sarah, Elizabeth and Teaghan joined in the splashing fun!

Here are cousins Lucas and Teaghan enjoying the awesome food that is the Venable Family Reunion!

Story of her life! "Eat!" (Also a new favorite word of hers!) This was one of her last bites before her massive throw up on the way to Grandma and Grandpa Hausers...yak!

Venable Family Reunion

One weekend in July, our Lil Venable Fam meets up with a bunch of other lil fams and we make this BIG Venable family. It's lots of fun to see everyone and watch our family grow. This is Sidney Kate's second reunion and she was a lot more mobile this year. She followed Ri Ri around and walked all around during our Sunday lunch.
Here are the kids enjoying the creek...every child should grow up with one of these to play in!

Here she is keeping a close eye on Ri Ri.

Where Rylan is...a ball is-any kind. He's one athletic little tike!

Sidney Kate and her Mama V!

Sidney Kate's first family reunion-check out that hair! My how much it has grown in a year!