More Milwaukee

On Monday night, my mom, Kate and I went to Karl Ratzch's, which is this great German restaurant downtown. Their sauerbraten and spaetzle is amazing (not quite as good as my dad's, but still very good). Kate was very well-behaved, which is nice (it probably helped that we went right at 5:30, so she wasn't too tired!) and it was fun to hang out just the three of us. I'm so glad my mom gets to see her granddaughter so much, even though she lives in another state.




Silly girl!


Kate "cooking"




Kate being silly




At Karl Ratzch's


Kate & the Mozart Mouse Nana bought for her at the convention


It looks like Mozart Mouse is being used as a phone, which isn't surprising; everything is a phone to Kate these days!




Kate practicing her new skill--walking!







The view from our room


Kate & I working on our respective laptops

My mom's visit

We've been having a great time with my mom here. We went down to Milwaukee on Saturday night, so she should go to her music conference that started on Sunday, and the hotel we were staying in was absolutely gorgeous. It was the Hilton right downtown, and it was stunning. Very opulent and ritzy without being gaudy. The first night there (Saturday) we ate at the Miller Time Pub right in the hotel, and it was pretty good. Overpriced, like all hotel food, but still good.

Then on Sunday, Dan, Kate and I went to Discovery World while my mom was at her conference. We had a blast! There was so much there to see. Kate loved the aquarium; every fish she saw, she was enthralled. We also went to the electronics exhibit (you can guess who loved that the most!), the Les Paul guitar exhibit and this recreation of a 19th century cargo schooner. That was very interesting, although I definitely got claustrophobic when I went down into the crew's quarters; talk about cramped!

Sunday night, we ate at Benihana's, which was delicious as always, but the service was incredibly slow. We were there over two hours! At least it was fun to hang out together and enjoy some good food, but still. Then Dan took the Badger Bus back to Madison so he could go to work the next day, and my mom and I just hung out at the hotel.


At lunch at the hotel restaurant before we headed to Discovery World




Kate enthralled with the aquarium. You can see she's pointing, which is her new favorite thing to do





Cutie pie in her new stroller! Well, it's not "new"; we got it for my baby shower, but this was the first time we could use it, because before this she was too little and needed to stay in her stroller that we could set her car seat in.




Kate & Mama looking at the jelly fish


Learning about levers and screws or something scientific like that

My 29th birthday

We had a lot of fun on my birthday on Sunday. It was very relaxed and low-key; just the way I like it. We went to Red Lobster for lunch, because I was craving seafood, and then for dinner we got takeout from Buffalo Wild Wings (I love their Honey BBQ sauce) and ate those while we watched Monk (one of our favorite shows). I tried to get some pictures of Kate and me; she's so wiggly that it was hard to get a good one! But I think they're cute anyway.
















The beautiful flowers my mom and dad sent me; they're gorgeous! I love the container, too; very French.


The flowers kind of look red up against our red wall, but they're really the most gorgeous pink.


A close-up of the flowers Dan got me. So beautiful!

Kate Walking!

Well, not quite on her own. But, she's doing a good job with her scooter!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had a fun St. Patrick's Day today. Kate and I spent the day baking and preparing for our little dinner (even though it was just the three of us, but I like to make special occasions festive even though it's just our little family). I feel so lucky that I get to stay home with my little girl; we always have so much fun together! Today, we read a bunch of books together, just like we do every day (currently, her favorite books are Five Little Ladybugs, A Garden of Opposites, and The Littlest Kitten), and we played together for awhile, and then she sat in her high chair while I prepared our St. Pat's dinner. I love spending time with her; I wouldn't have my life any other way! (And, let's be honest, it's nice that I can do all my work when she's sleeping and still bring in my regular income. I get to be a stay-at-home-mom, which is my dream job, AND still be an editor, which I also enjoy.)

How did I get on that tangent? Oh, yes, I was thinking about luck since it's St. Pat's day, and I just thought once again about how lucky I am :)

Our menu tonight was:
-Irish Soda Bread
-Corned Beef with Veggies
-Sugar Cookies




In her "lucky to be me" shirt




The Irish soda bread; it was quite good!


My shamrock sugar cookies


The table, decked out in green


With her scooter that she loves so much!








Love the curls!




Concentrating... This walking stuff is hard work!

The Spring Flower Show

On Sunday, we went to breakfast with my aunt Chris, cousin Matthew and Grandma at the Original Pancake House. I always love that place. Afterward, we went to the Spring Flower Show at Olbrich Gardens. It was so beautiful; I love winter, but I'm definitely ready for spring, so this was just what we needed. We then went to the conservatory, and Kate, as always, was fascinated by everything. The quality of these pictures aren't the best, because they were taken from my phone, but oh well.




In the conservatory


Clearly, Kate is entering the "stranger anxiety" phase, where she won't let anyone but Mama or Daddy (or someone she knows quite well, like Nana or Tracy) hold her!


Pretty shamrock girl!


Kate and me sitting in one of the displays at the flower show

Helping Me Bake

Today, after we went to storytime at the library (we usually never go on Mondays, since it's at 10 am and that's usually around naptime, but she seems to be transitioning to only one nap in the afternoon), I made some raisin bran muffins (which turned out fantastic, if I do say so myself), so I put Kate in her high chair so she could watch me while I worked (and she could be contained, since she tends to go everywhere). I gave her some bowls and spoons and cups and whatnot to play with, since she always likes that, and I thought she just looked so cute sitting there "helping" me bake.












With her new favorite item; her sippy cup. She loves this thing; she'll hold it and just laugh hysterically, like it's some amazing toy instead of just a regular old drinking apparatus!


The sweetest sight of all; a sleeping baby (especially when it's MY sleeping baby, since she hates to sleep!)