New Year's Eve 2010

Katy, chillin' with Dancer and Prancer

Family Portrait in Uptown Charlotte


Christmas Ornaments

Which way is Charlotte?

This afternoon, we took a trip downtown Charlotte- which the locals call Uptown- and took a walk around. Christmas decorations were still up and the weather was brisk. There were a lot of people roaming the streets in anticipation for the rise of the Queen City crown (NYC Times Square drops a ball, Charlotte raises a crown).

We won't be watching the ball drop and we will *hopefully* be sleeping by the time the New Year arrives. We did celebrate by having a lovely steak dinner, thanks to the Omaha Steaks Christmas present from Grandma and Pop-Pop Tinkey. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Blogging for Books- Lady in Waiting

Like the beautiful tapestries that surely adorned the palace walls described within the book, Lady in Waiting is a richly detailed and beautifully woven story of modern day Jane Lindsey who discovers an antique ring within the binding of an old, dusty prayer book. The ring dates back to pre-Elizabethan era and belonged to the ill-fated Tudor monarch, Jane Grey.

The book flips between the life stories of the two Janes. Jane Lindsey, antique store owner struggling with a crumbling 22-year marriage to Brad and her need to find validation from everybody in her life. Jane Grey, nobility and monarch for nine short days amongst the dark-seeded turmoil of English imperial unrest.

Throughout the novel, each heroine struggles with life themes such as love, love lost, faith, fate. Through the interaction of each Jane and various secondary characters, each leading lady discovers that they are truly the main character in their own lives and that they are presented daily with the task to choose life, to choose love, to choose convictions and principles.

Categorized as historical Christian fiction, Lady in Waiting is anything but the stereotypical staid Christian fiction riddled with outdated and preposterous heroines clinging to archaic values, morals and daily practices. In the style of Anne Tyler, Lady in Waiting is captivating and engaging. Seamlessly written and flowing between the two stories, this novel is a worthy addition to any library.

"I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review"

45th Week Birthday

Cookie motivation- Katy is standing all by herself! So Big!

Christmas Eve pjs

"Are all of these presents for me?!"


Katy "helps" Mommy by getting things from the pantry

"Vroom, Vroom!" Katy's new racetrack toy



Naptime with Grandpa Jones- Who wore whom out?! :-)

Today you are 45 weeks old, Katy! Your first birthday will be upon us before we know it! I've actually already gone out and bought some decorations for your Cookie Monster themed first birthday.

This past week was all about Christmas, family, good food and presents.

We attended the Northland Christmas Eve service via Internet last Thursday, December 23, 2010. Grandma and Pop-Pop Tinkey were in attendance in Orlando and we were able to see them when they panned the crowd. They even announced to the congregation that we were joining them via Internet from Concord! It was neat to be able to "attend" church with family.

Nana and Grandpa Jones were here late Thursday evening but didn't get to play with you, Katy, until Christmas Eve Day. Uncle Rob and Aunt Julie also came on Christmas Eve Day. Christmas Eve Day and Christmas Day were spent at home, relaxing, enjoying each others company, eating good food and opening presents (separate blog post).

On December 26, 2010, we piled into the car and went to the Charlotte Motor Speedway to see the Carolina Christmas light show. There were all sorts of lights set up and various vendors and Christmas trees to see. The night was quite nippy, so the Living Nativity was not going on. You were very good for the outing, Katy.

With the help of your singing, walking Dino from Santa, you've been getting around more. You walk behind Dino, Katy, and move from room to room with ease. You do tend to veer to the right, but you have managed to get up on your own, steer and back up. You are much, must steadier on your flat little feet. You will take a couple of steps if you are holding onto something or somebody. We have yet to see you walk on your own, though there were several "almost" instances this past week.

You slept in your crib more, this week- sleeping for parts of nights and for several naps in your crib. This is a major accomplishment as you've been very bad about this for the past two months and Daddy and I have been lax in enforcing it. Rather, we've just been exhausted. With the onset of a new cold- thanks to some shared germs at Christmastime- our crib sleeping victory is temporarily short-lived. We are not giving up, though- let's just call it a temporary derailment- to be continued at a later date.

Time Warp

Mommy with Grandma Tinkey, right off the plane at JFK airport, May 6, 1983

Katy, wearing the same outfit, December 29, 2010

As many of the readers to this blog may know, I was adopted from South Korea when I was two and a half years old. At the time, I was told that I was the size of an average American one year old at 22 lbs. So, I thought it would be fun to take a picture of you, Katy, in the outfit that I wore on the plane, on the way over from South Korea. Of course, you are wearing it a year and a half early, thanks to good nutrition!

Who Needs New Toys?

After the toy fest that was Christmas 2010, you would think that you had PLENTY to keep you busy, Katy. You probably quadrupled your toy inventory with all of your toys, stuffed animals and books from friends and family. However, it seems that you still like to bang on the pots and pans, play in the Tupperware and get into Daddy's remotes for the T.V. Silly Girl!

Mommy's Girl

Mommy in the Snow, circa 1983

Katy in the Snow December 2010

400th Blog Post

This is the 400th Blog Post on All Things Katy! In honor of such a milestone, I thought it'd be fun to record some other (Christmas) numbers here (in no particular order).

-We peeled five pounds of potatoes for Potato Stuffing.

-We had a 12 lb. turkey that took over four hours to cook.

-Our Christmas tree was 8' tall.

-500 white lights adorned our Christmas Tree

-You received six Baby's First Christmas Ornaments, this year.

-Santa brought you three gifts- something you need, something you want and something for your future.

-You received five stuffed animals as gifts.

-We took 347 pictures of just Christmas morning! This number does not include the pictures that Uncle Rob and Aunt Julie took, nor the pictured Nana and Grandpa Jones took with their cameras.

-You get to open one gift every Christmas Eve- a pair of new pajamas.

-We had four guest- Nana and Grandpa Jones and Uncle Rob and Aunt Julie- for Christmas weekend.

-Katy, you had so many gifts to open that it took three "sessions" to get it all opened throughout Christmas day.

-We received a snowfall of two-three inches on Christmas day.

-We mailed out 124 Christmas cards.

-Daddy stole LOTS of cookies from the cookie jar ;-P