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Does this diaper make my butt look big?

I saw this onesie and I had to get it though I would not let Katherine wear it when she is older. As mentioned before, we use cloth diapers. They are bulkier than disposables so they do make her backside look larger than it is. It can also make it more difficult to have clothes fit right. Add to it that she is longer than she is wide and clothes are often either too short or too loose around the middle.

Regardless, I am really glad we do cloth diapers.  This past weekend when on vacation, we used disposables and Sam and I were both ready to get back to the cloth diapers.

Les Miserables - my favorite musical

We had a special treat this week. My parents have season tickets to the Dallas Summer Musicals . They were really busy and have seen Les Miseables several times and it is not their favorite. I have also seen it several times and it is one of my two favorite musicals (the other being Phantom of the Opera ). Anyway, they offered us their tickets and to babysit Katherine while we went. I was pretty excited.

I was a little nervous about the quality of the show after hearing about my friend Chrys’ experience on her blog . Luckily we had a great experience. My parents have tickets on the 4th row and a parking pass that allowed us to leave their house only 30 minutes before curtain time. Sitting on the 4th row is quite an experience. You can not only see the overall choreography and movement, but the actual expressions on the faces of the cast. Sam is not very big on musicals - he thinks they are pretty cheesy. He was, however, very entertained and pleased by this one.

Mom and Dad, feel free to pass on any other musical tickets if you want.

Sam and I love the Dallas Arboretum. We have a membership though at this time of year, it is hard to get good use of it with temperatures so high. One thing we love is their evening concerts. It seems we often have conflicts and have to miss the Thursday night series, but last week we were able to go to the Garden of Music, a free event for members.

There were three different areas in the garden which had musicians. First we heard an ensemble of drummers. It was interesting but a lot of fun. They had percussion instruments for the kids to play with while dancing around the lawn. By the gazebo there was a man playing the keyboard and singing. He was really good. That was where we sat most of the evening. While there, I ran into old friends, Steve and Amy and their 2 year old triplet boys. What a cute bunch, but what a handful.

It was a beautiful evening and Katherine really enjoyed rolling around on the blanket.

Mom, help me roll over

Katherine is learning to roll over. Every day she gets better at it. Over the weekend she got very good at rolling from her back to her belly. Her problem was that she was not able to consistantly roll back over to her back and it would frustrate her.

This is teaching both of us a valuable lesson. I am learning that sometimes I have to let Katherine struggle so that she can succeed. She is learning that mom will not always come to her rescue and sometimes she will have to solve problems on her own. I am sure that both lessons will continue to be needed.

Today it appears that Katherine is close to mastering rollong back over so I am glad I let her struggle.

Here is my next attempt at taking good photos of my baby girl. When we were at the cabin in Colorado there was great natural light coming in through the bay window. I think it turned out pretty pro looking for someone who has no clue what they are doing.

The entire gang

This morning we went on a hike up Morton Mountain which is on the property of the cabin. This hike did not have an official trail and it was a little steeper than yesterday’s hike, so mom was a little nervous watching dad carry her precious daughter up the mountain in a back pack. The goal was to go to King Kong rock, but it was too steep for the backpack and other members of our group. John and Campbell completed the hike.

Sadly, we had to return to Longmont. On the way we stopped at a road side store for some choke cherry jelly and then in Berthoud at an arts festival.

You can see the rest of our vacation pictures on our photo album .

Hiking in the Rockies

We got up and met my dad’s childhood friend, Mac in Estes Park. He has lived there for quite some time and he had not met Katherine. The city was having a Scandinavian Festival so we walked through that for a while. Then we drove into Rocky Mountain National Park to go hiking. We hiked a part of the Deer Mountain trail. It was pretty slow going with two preschoolers, one who left her “hiking legs” at home. We put Katherine in the baby backpack and she was as happy as could be. In fact, on teh way down, she slept. It was great to be hiking and enjoying the outdoors.

Campbell and Helene holding Katherine

This morning when we got up, there were hot air balloons flying hear Ashley’s house. We watched them a little while eating breakfast. A highlight for the kids was that they got to choose what Katherine would wear today. She is finally getting to wear all of her 0-3 month long sleeved clothes. She was so small that by the time she fit into them, it was too hot in Dallas to wear them.

This morning we went to Campbell’s playmeeting at a local park. Campbell will be attending Rocky Mountain School for the Gifted and Creative next year. Ashley organized this play meeting so that he would meet people he would be going to school with next year.

After John got home from work, we drove to Estes Park , stopping for dinner at a German restaurant, Andrea’s Cafe, in Lyons first. It was very good. Ashley’s parents have a cabin, Northfork, outside of Estes Park. It was so beautiful.

Campbell and Helene in Boulder

I love to travel. It is probably one of my favorite things to do. So, you could say I have been very anxious to go on a trip. The last trip I took was last November when we went to see Will and Jaime for “Thanksmas” a new holiday we created since they were not going to be able to make it to Dallas for the holidays.

 Anyway, due to being pregnant and having a baby, we had not been anywhere in a while. Not that I would trade it for the world - I love being a mom. I finally convinced Sam that we were ready for a vacation. We decided to visit my best friend and roommate from college, Ashley. Her family moved to Longmont, Colorado in January. Longmont is between Denver and Boulder.

Katherine did a great job on the airplane. She ate, was awake and happy for about 30 minutes and then slept the rest of the way. As we were getting off the plane, some other passengers commented that they did not know that there was a baby on the plane. That made me happy.

Ashley and her kids, Helene and Campbell picked us up from the airport and we went to Boulder. We ate Mongolian Barbecue and walked around Pearl Street, shopping and stopping for a snack. That night John got home and we ate at their house. It was great to catch up and the kids were a lot of fun. They really enjoyed playing with Katherine.