Bubbles, Sesame Street and more

It seems like all we have been doing lately is working, but we have found some time to do a few fun things too. First of all, our Sesame Street Live experience was terrific. Stephen and I had a great time....and I think Cate liked it too. We had really good seats at the show, so it was easy for her to see. When the characters all came out, the look on her face was priceless. I really think she couldn't believe her eyes. There was a short intermission about halfway through and we got some popcorn and drinks. During the second half of the show, she was a little preoccupied with the popcorn, but she sang along to some of the songs and clapped her hands. Afterwards, we asked her what she wanted for dinner and she was very firm that she wanted pancakes. We found an IHOP and she ate five small pancakes. I guess she really wanted pancakes. All in all, it was a really fun evening.

We have not been able to do much outside because the weather has been just terrible. When it's not raining ice or snowing, it's freezing cold and windy. We've spent quite a few Saturday playing in the play area at the mall or just hanging out at home doing play doh, baking something and watching some Elmo on TV. There was one day back in January when it was fairly warm (although there was still snow on the ground) and we ventured out to blow some bubbles. I posted a few pictures here.

I'm still not feeling great, but at least we are past the halfway point on the pregnancy! Only 3 1/2 more months to go! We haven't made much progress on a name for this little guy, but Cate calls him Allie. We have no idea where she came up with that, but there are lots of things she says that are mysterious. One recent development that is cute and has us mystified: when she really wants something, she will beg "puleez" and then "pretty puleez." If that doesn't do the trick, she resorts to "puleez for the good Lord." The first time she said it, we kind of looked at each other as if to confirm that's what she really said. Not sure where she picked that one up, but I guess there are definitely worse things she could say.

I am still trying to figure out how to get Flickr to do what I want with photos. I have tried posting another slide show here. Click on the i in the middle of the slideshow to get captions.

I'm so excited!

I am trying to contain my excitment. In just a few short days, we'll be taking Cate to a Sesame Street Live performance at the new Sprint Center in Kansas City! The show is all about Elmo and it's titled, "When Elmo Grows Up."


I've learned that when I get such high expectations for something like it, it doesn't usually come through. So I'm really trying to temper my enthusiasm on this one. But I have scripted out our entire day on Saturday :) I've mostly focused on wearing Cate out here in Topeka in the morning so we can get her down for a good nap before we leave for Kansas City. Nap time has become a real battle for us and she is usually a complete monster by about 6 in the evening if she doesn't get an afternoon nap. Yes, I know, it's hard to imagine someone so cute being so difficult, but I am not exaggerating.

I plan to take the camera along on Saturday, so hopefully I'll snap a few good pictures. We have relatively good seats. I'm hoping it will be easy for Cate to see everything.

Everything else is going well except that we continue to battle the usual round of winter illness. Cate was sick the week before last, I wasn't feeling good the end of last week and Steve stayed home sick from work yesterday. I began the day today with a visit to the friendly dentist to get some cavities worked on -- yuck. Other than that, I think we're doing well. My belly is growing and the baby is kicking around every day. We are starting to work on some baby names too. Work is super busy for both of us now because the Legislature is back in session until early May. I'm already looking forward to summer!

24 Hours of Cuteness

Well, it has been one busy week! It seems like we have had a lot going on this week. The Legislature comes back to Topeka full-time next week and that's usually when our busiest time around the Martino household occurs. But I guess our busy time started a week early.

For starters, I had two doctor's appointments this week. We had our first sonogram on Wednesday morning. Aside from the fact that I had to drink 32 ounces of water beforehand (that's a lot of water for a pregnant gal), it was absolutely terrific. Not only did we verify the baby is a boy, but he is also very healthy and very active. He didn't sit still for a moment of the half-hour we were there. He flipped from one side of my belly to the other, semi-waved at the camera, gave us lots of good shots of his arms, legs, face, belly, etc and just generally made mom and dad very happy. I also went back to the ear, nose and throat doctor this week to see if there is anything more they can do for my coughing and congestion. I am still very congested, coughing quite a bit and I have an awful pain in my side as a result of the coughing. Unfortunately, there aren't many more options for treating these problems but the doctor did prescribe one last medication that might offer some relief. Unfortunately, it takes a while to show any results, so I've got at least another week or two before I'll be able to tell if I'm getting any better.

On the Cate front, she has been absolutely adorable for the last 24 hours. I will admit I think she's cute almost all the time, but she has been on a roll the last day. Apparently she was putting on quite the show at day care yesterday. She climbed up the stairs to the top of the slide in her room and asked one of her teachers to stand by. She then said, "I sing for you" and proceeded to sing an original number for her teacher. When she was done, she said, "Good?" and her teacher told her it was. Cate then said, "You clap for me." Once the clapping was complete, she climbed down the stairs and took a bow for the class. What a performer.

Then last night, after we had done her bath and read her story before bedtime, I sat down with her in the rocking chair. She put her arms around my neck and gave me a big hug. She said, "I love you." I told her that I loved her too and gave her some kisses. She kept her arms around my neck and said, "Mommy - my best friend." I have no idea where she heard that, but it was pretty sweet.

To cap it all off, this morning she decided she was a chicken. She was making clucking noises like a chicken and insisted that I address her as chicken. I got a good laugh out of that one.

Finally, if you want to know what Stephen is up to these days, there is a story about his work in the Lawrence Journal World today. You can read it online and there is also a short video on the left-hand side, about mid-way down the page. He's very busy at work these days.

It's a boy!

Christmas 2007

Christmas was definitely memorable this year. Cate had wonderful time with family and opening gifts. Stephen and I got her a kitchen set, which we set up in the living room for her to find on Christmas Eve morning. She loves it and has been playing with it nonstop at home. We also got her some books, a Cabbage Patch baby and a few new clothing items. She got many wonderful gifts from Mimi and PopPop (Stephen's parents) and from her cousin Quentin and aunt KB. She has been having a great time playing with all her new toys and reading her new books.

I spent the entire holiday season sick. And I'm still sick. I'm currently on week six or seven (I've lost count) of a horrible sinus/cold thing. I am beginning to think that I won't get better until the baby is born. I've exhausted most of the medicinal remedies available to a pregnant person. To whine just a bit more, I've got either a broken rib or a severely pulled muscle in my side from all the coughing. My nose is either running or completely stuffy all the time. In addition to several other pregnancy-related ailments, I have not been in very good shape for this holiday. I'm sure I'll always remember this Christmas, but I am really looking forward to getting past all this.

Cate went to the ear, nose and throat doctor yesterday for a regular check-up. She had tubes put in her ears when she was just over a year old. At the check-up, she failed her hearing test and they said she needs new tubes as well as her adenoids removed. We'll be going in for that minor surgery on January 22. Needless to say, Stephen and I were shocked that she failed the hearing test and we're a bit worried about doing general anethesia for this surgery. But it sounds like it's something she needs, so we'll be doing it.

I have spent just a bit of time playing around with Flickr, so here is a link to a slideshow of pictures from Christmas. If you move your mouse to the middle of the page, an "i" comes up and you can click for my creative photo captions.

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!

Fall Pictures

The leaves are turning and falling everywhere right now. It's a great time to get nice fall photos.

We had some pumpkins on our porch this year and Cate really loved them. A squirrel took a particular interest in one of the pumpkins and managed to eat more than half of it (and it was a big pumpkin!) in about a week's time. Cate was pretty upset and she kept saying, "Mommy, a squirrel ate my pumpkin on the front porch!"

I took this photo a couple of weeks ago before we left the house for church.

Halloween 2007

Cate was a witch this year for Halloween. She didn't understand the concept of dressing up and getting candy before we started the day, but now she gets it! Once she figured out that candy was involved, she was an excellent trick or treater. This was really the first time I have given her candy and I pretty much limited it to Tootsie Rolls.

She liked her costume and she even wore the hat without any complaining. This is a photo that Stephen took at her day care parade.

Jumping

Cate has mastered jumping -- but just a little over a month ago she was still learning. I took this video the weekend of her birthday. She was jumping over the hose in our front yard.

She loves to read!

Cate really likes to read. I shot this video early in the summer, but I forgot to upload it. I caught her reading her coloring book on the couch.

One last video from vacation

Another video

I have more video of the fire dancers from our hotel in Cozumel. They show was at least half an hour long, so there were lots of good opportunities for video and pictures.

Fire Dancing

Our hotel in Cozumel provided some kind of entertainment each night. One evening, they had a fire dancing show. It was very cool.

Our Vacation to Cozumel

Stephen and I just got back from a week-long trip to Cozumel, Mexico. Cozumel is a small island just south of Cancun. The island is surrounded by one of the largest coral reefs in the world, so it's a prime location for diving and snorkeling. We did a lot of snorkeling in addition to lounging at our hotel, eating some great Mexican food and exploring the island. We had a great time!

Our Little Star

Cate loves music and she likes to sing. We got video of her tonight performing her rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

A Photo Shoot at the Park

Cate and I went to the park last Saturday. I struck a deal with her (yes, with my 2-year-old daughter) that she could swing, if I could take her picture. I think I got a good one! I hope everyone likes this because you may see it again --- perhaps on notecards, Christmas cards or gifts for you :)

Cate with the camera

Cate has finally figured out the mystery of the camera. It's practically impossible to get a good picture of her because she recognizes the camera immediately when it comes out. For her birthday weekend, she commandeered the camera and took pictures. She walked around saying "cheese" and "smile" to everyone, while holding the camera. It was very cute (even if it make getting her photo difficult).

When she ran out of people to photograph, she started taking pictures of objects. She would say "cheese table" or "cheese book."

Birthday Update

As usual, I haven't had much time to update anyone on what has been going on with us. The biggest news is Cate's birthday. We had a great birthday weekened with her (August 18 and 19). Our girl now has more books that just about anyone I know. We practically have our own library. She loves to read her books, so it's perfect for her.

Cute Dress

I took some photos of Cate this weekend in her cute pink dress. She does well posing for the camera.

The Horn on the Bus

Cate has learned the "Wheels on the Bus" song at day care. She is particularly animated when beeping the horn on the bus. She can't seem to do the beeping without moving around in a circle.

Marathon Pictures

I don't think I'll win any fashionista awards with my look during our run. These are pictures taken as we were running and one of Stephen at the finish line area.

The weather in San Diego in June is pretty good for running. It's usually overcast in the morning, with the sun coming out late morning or early afternoon. That's what happened for the marathon. The sun came out late morning (probably around mile 13 or 14 for us) and it got pretty warm after that. I think it was in the low 80s. The sunscreen we put on early in the morning was long gone by the time we finished, so we both got a little sunburned.

We finished!

We did it. We finished a marathon. It took a long time, but we made it to the finish line. Here is a picture of us with our medals. Yes, they give you a medal no matter how long it takes you to get to the end. As long as you aren't picked up by the bus for stragglers, you get a finisher's medal.

I think I speak for both of us when I tell you we are glad we did it, but we probably won't do it again.

Jumping

Cate is learning how to jump. She can get both feet off the ground now, but in this video, she was still practicing.

Cate's Bubble Dance

Cate likes to sing and dance. Here is a short clip of her Bubble Dance.

A new slideshow

It has been quite a while since I've had time to work on my photos of Cate. I spent some time recently downloading and editing photos from the last three months.

Cool Slideshows

My little cook

Cate helped with cooking dinner on Sunday evening. I'm not sure who had more fun -- Cate or Mom.

Cate Loves Music

Cate likes to sing and dance. We often hear her singing and clapping in bed in the morning before we go in to get her. The other day, she was singing during dinner. PopPop (Grandpa Martino) encouraged her by singing one of her favorites, Bingo. If you listen at the end, she asks for it again by saying "name-o."

A quick Easter pic

Cate was adorable in her Easter dress. She wore white gloves (and a white hat not in this picture)! Even though the gloves were far too big, she insisted on wearing them. It really is fun to have dresses, tights and all the fun that goes with a little girl.

Easter preparations

Easter is just a few days away and I am really bummed about the turn the weather has taken. It's pretty chilly outside at 8:30 this morning --- around 35 degrees. The weather forecast calls for a high of 53 on Easter Sunday. That's not exactly prime egg hunting weather. Regardless, I've got plastic eggs all ready to go for Cate. We've got a complete outfit too (dress, shoes, hat) courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa Martino. I'm sure she will be the best dressed little girl for miles and I'll be busy with the camera.

In case you haven't heard, Kansas passed legislation authorizing expanded gambling in the state. After counties vote to approve it, there may be new destination casinos as well as slot machines at three existing racetracks. Since Stephen's job involves regulating the racetracks, he is a very busy guy at the moment. His job duties will continue to increase over the coming months. Luckily, the Legislature has gone home for a short break, so we are both taking advantage of a little break in the action. They'll back at the end of April to wrap up budget issues. We both have more budget issues before the Legislature, so we'll be busy again for a couple of weeks at the end of April and beginning of May.

We are still training for our marathon in June. We've got about 8 weeks left to train. For about 5 more weeks, we'll keep adding distance to our runs. After that, we'll start to decrease our distance so our bodies are rested for the marathon. It seems hard to believe that we only have about 5 more long runs before we go to San Diego. I think we are both doing well, but I would be happier if warmer weather would return. I was really enjoying the spring/summer temperatures.

Cate is obsessed with blowing bubbles when we get home in the evening. As you can see from the picture, we have to help her with the difference between blowing bubbles and chewing on the bubble wand.

Are we coming or going?

It's been quite a while since I posted anything on our blog. I know it's a lame excuse, but we are meeting ourselves coming and going because we are so busy. A quick recap of our activities lately....

-The 2007 Legislature is still in session and we have both been busy with our work duties related to that. My agency had one rather large issue that languished in conference committee for about two weeks. After many negotiations, the legislation passed, the Governor signed it and we are now implementing new law at work. Stephen is working on legislation related to expanded gaming in Kansas. As executive director of the Racing and Gaming Commission, he supplies a lot of information to legislators and others on this issue. In case you haven't caught any Kansas news lately, expanding gaming is a big issue this year. Last week, the House passed a bill to add destination casinos and slot machines at three dog racing tracks. Even as a write this, the bill is in the Kansas Senate and the Democrats are filibustering on a motion to concur with the bill passed by the House. It's interesting to me, but it's also wearing us both out. Last Friday evening, Stephen was at the Capitol until about 3am. Tonight, I'm sure he will be very late as well.

-Cate is growing and changing each day. We are trying to spend as much time as we can with her. She's so much fun! I've added a couple of pictures here with this post. Her latest interest is ponytails. Several girls at her day care have ponytails and she asked for one too. One of the teachers at day care put her hair in a ponytail one day and now she asks for one just about every day. She doesn't have a lot of hair, so it can be a little tricky to get it to stay in. She's also shown some interest in potty training. We bought a potty chair for her and put it in her bathroom a few weeks back. We don't push it, but we let her sit on it whenever she feels like it. She likes to read books (as you can see from the photo) and sit on the potty chair.

-We are making good progress on our marathon training and fund-raising. We've run 10 miles a few times and we each had a long run of 12 miles. We are running a couple of days during the week -- as much as we can work it in. We have been very lucky to find a class at Washburn that is training for a marathon. They are generous to let us run with the when we can make it. It's nice to have that group available and the instructor has given me some very helpful training tips too. Our fund-raising is going well. We've received many generous donations. We feel so good about every dollar we raise because we know it goes to a great cause. We are working together with other Team in Training participants on a BBQ tomorrow night. We've got a whole bunch of neat things donated for a silent auction. Some local companies donated turkey and pork for the BBQ -- some competition bbq guys locally smoked it for us. There's going to be a band as well. I think it will be a nice event and I hope we can raise a lot of money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

I think that covers the high points for us lately. Stephen and I will have our fifth wedding anniversary next Friday. We've been together for more than seven years. It's hard to believe.

Enjoying the weather

Cate loves to go outside and blow bubbles. I took this photo this evening while we were outside playing and blowing bubbles.

Reading on "The Chair"

First Haircut

At 5:15 p.m. today, Cate had her first haircut. She did a great job (plus she looked really cute in her red cape). Bear was also part of our first haircut. Bear goes pretty much everywhere with us these days. He didn't get a haircut, but I think he will get a bath this weekend. That is one dirty bear.

It's all about Daddy!

Cate is like a little parrot - she repeats just about everything we say. She is learning new words every day. This week, her best achievement is "Daddy." She has said "Da" for quite some time, but she just started saying "Daddy" this week. She puts emphasis on the second part so it sounds like "DaDEE" and we think it is very cute. I don't think I will ever get tired of hearing her say Mama or Daddy.

We've had a hectic week. Cate has been sick and we kept her home for two days. I don't have any new pictures or video this week because it's all I can do to stay ahead at work and home.

We are doing pretty well with our marathon training. We've made most of our scheduled runs and we are both improving in our time. Neither of us has any goal in mind for completing our marathon in a certain time frame, but it is nice to see the progress each week as we get faster and more fit. Luckily, the weather has improved recently so we've been able to run outside. We got a little snow this morning so I had to run on the treadmill, but it looks like we'll be back up in the 40s by tomorrow. I've always been a big wimp about running the cold, but it's actually growing on me. I've learned how to layer my clothes so I'm not cold. I definitely prefer running outside in the cold to running inside on the treadmill.

The Wiener Dogs

We have two wiener dogs at home. Cate has a growing interest in the dogs and she often chases them around saying "pup." She has learned a couple other words that we often use with the dogs -- no and right now. This is a short clip of her saying "right now."

More video clips

We've been working with Cate on learning various names. She knows the names of many of her classmates (and she can even identify their binkies!). She also knows her "cousin Q."

Cate - The Dance

Cate Martino: The Movie

I decided this week to test my abilities creating a photo slideshow. These are a few photos of Cate from the holidays.

Cool Slideshows

It's cold in Kansas!

We braved the cold today for our long run outside! It was about 15 degrees, but we bundled up and ran approximately 6.5 miles. It was definitely cold, but it wasn't unbearable once we got going. That's a new cold weather record for both of us.

Stephen is doing great so far. He has found time to run every day that we are scheduled. I missed one run this week because I stretched a tendon in my right foot.

I added an older picture of Cate to

the blog today. Even though it's from October 2006, it seems appropriate since the Jayhawks played today!

Marathon Update

Stephen and I made it through our first official week of marathon training! We ran 3-4 miles last week on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. We finished out the week with six miles on Saturday and two miles on Sunday. We are both proud that we managed to make the full six miles on Saturday with less than half a mile walking.

We have two big challenges right now: finding the time to run and the weather. We are both very busy at work, so at least one of us has been getting up at 5 a.m. to run. We know that work will stay busy until the legislative session ends in May. In addition, it's very cold so we are confined to our treadmill. Hopefully it will begin to warm up soon so we can get outside.

We have set up another Web page to help us raise money for the Leukemi and Lymphoma Society. It is at: http://www.active.com/donate/tntks/martinos

Cate seems to be getting cuter every day. This week, we've been working with her on the names of her classmates at day care. She knows Jack, Chase and Josh very well. She surprised one of her teachers at school this week by asking for a hug when it was time to leave. Cate puts her arms out and says "hug" -- how can you resist?