Christmas Program Video

I got a couple of video clips from Cate's Christmas program. They are a little fuzzy and very short. The camera was malfunctioning and I still can't figure out what went wrong. I am sure it had nothing to do with the operator. Later this week, I'll have an update on our Christmas celebrations, along with some photos. It's been a crazy couple of weeks.

Cate's Christmas Program

I finally found some time to edit the photos and video from Cate's Christmas program. Each classroom in her day care performs a song and/or a short rhyme. Stephen and I are biased (obviously) but we love the Christmas program because Cate looks so beautiful!

I think she likes it too. Cate likes to get dressed up and she likes to get on stage and sing her songs. In the photo album, there is a photo of her lifting up her dress, as nearly all young girls do when they wear a dress.

Cate's Dance Performance

A few nights ago, Cate was listening to some music that plays on one of her toys. She picked up a small pink flashlight and started doing a little dance performance for Stephen and me. She went on for about half an hour and we loved it! You can tell from the smile on her face how much she loves having our attention for her "performances." We had been playing in the family room all day, so please ignore the mess of toys on the floor in the background :)

I'm a Little Teapot

Cate is quite the performer. She loves to sign and dance. Of course, getting her to perform for the camera is another story. She recently learned the words and corresponding movements for "I'm a Little Teapot." This is a short video of one of the first times she sang it from beginning to end. She is a little distracted toward the end, but I still think it's cute.

The Ice Storm

This week has turned out to be a little out of the ordinary. We got a fair amount of ice in the area on Monday evening/Tuesday. Lots of people are without power. Luckily, we are not among them. We've got a few big limbs down around our house, but we are basically okay. We were cooped up at home on Tuesday and Wednesday. Work and schools were all closed on Tuesday; just schools on Wednesday.

Adding to the mix, I have the cold that just won't quit. I've been battling it for at least two weeks now and it shows no signs of slowing down. The doctor has given me various medications, but I am not sure they are doing much good. The only thing I know for certain is that I am tired of coughing. Lots of coughing with this cold.

The good news is that we had a prenatal check-up this week and everything seems fine with the baby so far. We are scheduled for a sonogram on January 9. I am counting the days. I am excited to meet our baby for the first time. I remember when we saw Cate, she was trying to suck her thumb but she kept missing her mouth and hitting herself in the head. It was pretty cool. I have a feeling this baby is a boy, but I'm still excited for the sonogram so we can verify that everything looks good health-wise for the baby.

I decided to post another Halloween picture of Cate since I don't have any new photos. This is Cate giving her best witch impersonation.

Her Christmas program got postponed this week, but I should have some wonderful new pics after her program this Monday, the 17th.

Once a month just won't cut it

So it looks like I am only able to get this blog updated about once a month. I know at least a few people who read it and hopefully you'll forgive me for being constantly behind on so many things!

What's been going on in the Martino household lately? It seems like there is something new every day. Most recently, we've all been sick. Cate has the persistent runny nose and cough that seems to come with being in day care during the winter. Stephen is pretty much over his cough and cold. I've still got a nasty cough and lots of congestion, but hopefully some new medicine this week will help. Cate had a 24-hour bug of some kind last weekend. She threw up (for the first time ever) on Friday evening. It definitely scared her and she doesn't seem eager to do it again. No surprise there. She said, "Mommy, I spilled." She seems to think throwing up is kind of like spilling a cup of juice. On Monday, when she got in the car to go to day care she told me, "Mommy, I no spill again." Poor thing.

Probably the biggest news is that Cate will have a little brother or sister later this spring. Officially, the doctor says we can expect Little Martino #2 on June 2. I haven't been feeling too hot, but hopefully I will get to feeling better now that I am officially out of the first trimester.

In not-so-upbeat news, one of our wiener dogs died on Halloween. We adopted Sam nearly five years ago from the Lawrence Humane Society. He had not been well cared for in his previous life, but we were still surprised that he died so young. He seemed fine recently. We came home the Sunday evening before Halloween and he was coughing, clearly not feeling too great. By Tuesday, the vet was sure he had a heart condition. He was suffering quite a bit, so we made the difficult decision to put him to sleep on that Wednesday. Mallory, our other wiener dog, seems a little sad and has been acting out a bit. Cate is also wondering where Sam has gone. We told her he went to heaven. She often asks about him and says, "Sam went to heaven? Come back?"

We're gearing up for the holidays. The house is decorated, the shopping is nearly done and now we are just enjoying the season. Cate is pretty excited about Christmas trees, Christmas music, decorations and everything that goes along with this time of year. It's fun to see everything through her eyes. She has her day care Christmas program on Monday evening and I am excited to see what they have come up with for this year. It's a 30-40 minute program where each class does one song. It's just perfect for this age group -- not too long, not too short. I will try to take some video and post it here next week.

Happy Holidays!