July Fun!

We took a trip to Deanna Rose again this past weekend and Lucy soaked up the fun. She rode around on her daddy's shoulders and pointed at everything with 2 legs and yelled "Ducky!" Thankfully we found some actual ducks in hopes to correct that American Bald Eagles are not ducks.
There are many very beautiful flower gardens in Deanna Rose that are great for pictures!! Note: we set a new hat record this day with a total wearing time of 4 minutes. Nice.
Geese....ducks....swans....it's all the same.
Lucy is a butterfly!
This past weekend Lucy's baby friend Ambrose (and his parents) came to visit from California. We met them in our pre-baby classes in LA and have kept in great touch since. Lucy is 10 days older, and 5 inches shorter! We had a ton of fun together and it was hilarious watching Lucy try to understand that Ambrose was going to play with her toys. She was not so happy about this, so luckily. Amrbose sought refuge with our cat/pony Mocha.

The Great Wide Open

During our visit to Illinois, we spent some time in the backyard and on the golf course behind Mimi and Papa's house while the guys played Boce Ball. These pictures were so precious and really spotlighted how tiny Lucy is and how funny it is to see her walking all over. She followed her Daddy and her Papa back and forth about a hundred times until she came over to Mimi and I for a recharge of juice and fruit. It was such a beautiful night and the weather was perfect.
Bear Hug!
Family Shot!
I love how tiny she looks in this picture below!!

Lucy trying to keep up!

<--- This is one of my favorite pictures of Lucy and her Papa!

Lucy and the Zoo!!

Our Family has taken several trips to Zoo's over the past month and Lucy had the most fabulous time. We ventured to the Niabi Zoo in Illinois while visiting Mimi and Papa Gasser the 2nd week of June, and then the Witchita Zoo with Gramma and Grampa Chatfield and Aunt Sarah on June 29th. We had a wonderful time and the pictures to prove it!
Take a look close at the Chimpanzee's left eye....it's Lucy!
One of my favorite pictures, we were at the Witchita Zoo by the Giraffes. We asked Lucy "How big is a giraffe?" and this is how she responded. We all said "So Big!" It was adorable!
One big happy family! John, his parents, Aunt Sarah, and Lucy in the Rainforest exhibit! Fun!

Top picutre is Papa on the Merri-Go-Round at the Niabi Zoo. Next is Lucy pointing at a bird a the Wichita Zoo followed by one of Lucy's favorite things....DUCKS!! She says "Ducky" all the time. Below is Grampa Chatfield in the farm animal barn!

Above is Gramma by the Camels in Wichita and Lucy with her Daddy looking at the monkey's at the Niabi Zoo. We were so lucky that so many animals were out and about during both trips!
Here is Lucy with her Mimi on the Zoo Train in Illinois. She had so much fun saying Hi to everyone as the train went around the zoo.
Lucy and Papa!
The Niabi Zoo has a wonderful Australia exhibit where you can purchase fresh nectar and Native Australian parrots come and land on your arm and have a drink. This is John's arm and Lucy and Papa getting a close look!
Here is Lucy checking out the reptiles at the Niabi Zoo! We were very lucky to have such fabulous weather at both Zoo's. Lucy's favorites were the ducks and watching the Hippo Poop float by the window at the Wichita Zoo. Kinda gross, but very funny. She kept trying to grab floaties as we were waiting for the hippos to swim by again. Cheap Thrills.

Lucy's First Birthday!

Lucy's first birthday Party was Saturday May 3, and it was such a fabulous day! We had about 25 family members and friends come and help Lucy celebrate. It rained in the morning and seemed it was going to be cold, but right when the party started, the sun came out and it was a gorgeous 70 degrees. It was so much fun!
She recieved all kinds of fun new presents that keep her very entertained, and also take up most of the house. All for the cause. : )
One of my fave's was this precious KSU swimming suit from Stephen and Laura Hobson. She's a wildcat a heart and no doubt bleeds purple like her mommy and daddy! Go Cats!
Thought I would throw in one picture of John who celebrates his birthday the day before on May 5th. I was in labor all day on his birthday and while were at the hospital he asks "If Lucy is born on my birthday....I still get my own cake right?" I responded by saying "Let me think about it after I finish this contraction...." Plus or minus a few sarcastic and cursing comments. Good times. None the less...the got the best birthday gift just two hours late as Lucy was born at 1:57am. He's a wonderful Daddy!

Lucy got a beautiful Pottery Barn Chair from Mimi and Papa with her name on it. She uses it all the time to read books (which entails her saying "no" to every page and then choosing a new book). Also very entertaining.
Here is Lucy May eating her birthday cake. Her cake was in the shape of a number one and had her name written down the front. It was covered in Vanilla icinig with flowered and crystal sprinkles. She loved every bite (see picture further down).
We practiced making the number one with her finger for a couple weeks before her party. She mastered it was flashing it the entire day! It was the cutest thing ever. I still ask her "How old is Lucy?" and she is quick to jump on the band wagon!
Here is Lucy's birthday cake after she was done eating it. The cake was the size of a cookie sheet and she plowed through a giant portion of it. She wasn't sure at first when we set it down...and kept looking at me to see if I was going to take it away. Once she realized it was hers for the taking, she was on it like a pack of wolves on a three legged cat. She was shoving handfuls into her mouth similar to her Papa and her Daddy when eating popcorn. She did us all proud and was very fun to watch (but not clean).

Lucy received many other fun gifts and was able to open most of them. She got some precious books, another adorable swim suit and bedroom letters from her Gramma and Grampa Chatfield, and tons of fun things that sing and light up. Thanks again to everyone who helped make her day to special! It went off without a hitch! Yay!

A Brief Ketchum Family History

Well here we are. The Ketchum Family. Lucy May joined us 05-06-07 in Valencia, California and has been a hoot and a hollar ever since. After Lucy was born, we moved from L.A. to Overland Park, KS to be closer to friends and family and have a better life! Thanks Dad and John for hauling our crap halfway across the country in a Penske moving truck. Sorry kitties for having to ride in the back of a car being pulled on a trailer. No worries...they made it. Lucy and I and Aunt Annie took a nice non-stop flight and avoided the 30 hour journey by car. Well played.

John was able to transfer jobs with Bank of America and recently accepted a promotion to manage his own bank. Yay John! I took a 3rd grade job with Blue Valley and will teach 2nd next year. Lucy became a pro at pooping, eating, and sleeping, and has now mastered crawling and walking and chasing after the cats with large objects. For the first 6 months of living in KC, we lived in an apartment and house hunted every weekend. We came across a beautiful new house that was in the process of being built and Novemeber 15th, 07, we became home owners! We love our house and it reinforces why we left crazy California. This puppy would have been impossible to afford out there!

Lucy May has been so much fun from day one. She was 6lbs 13oz and was the cutest little bug from the very beginning. She was so strong as a baby and could hold up her head on day 3. Today, she can launch a toy truck across the room. Impressive.
Lucy LOVES to eat. This would include things that she is not supposed to eat as well, such as dirt, cat hair, grass, and anything lying on the floor. She has always been a good eater, but her recent favorites include pancakes, mandarin oranges, applesauce she can feed herself, all fruits, and chicken nuggets. She even likes pickles and salt and vineger chips. Weirdo...like her mommy. I can't think of much she doesn't like, other than being told "No No" and wearing hats. I got her to wear a bandana for about 10 minutes, but the second the wind blew she felt it and chucked it across the yard. She's one smart cookie.

She began walking about a week before her first birthday and is now all over the map. She started cutting teeth when she was 7 months old and now has 8 giant horse teeth thanks in part to her mother. She has blue eyes like her daddy and 2 big dimples like mommy and Papa Gasser. Though she is still on the tiny side, and still wearing some outfits size 3-6 months, we think she is going to be tall like her aunts. She has grown 4 inches in the last 4 months and is now 26 inches tall, and 21 pounds. She has multiple leg rolls, and walks like a drunken sailor. It's fabulous.
She loves to be outside, and loves to play with other kids. She is very bright and is picking up new words everyday. Her current vocab consists of saying "Hi" to everyone, including manequins in store windows. She also says, Daddy, Mama, Bubbles, No, Bottle, Hi Kitty, all done, night night, and various others. She has gotten really good at answering questions of what sounds animals make and knows "ow (for meow), ruff ruff ruff, moo, and baa." She can identify many animals and if you ask her to to get something or give something to someone, she understands. Her favorite activity is "Tent Time" when we make tents and she walks in and out a hundred times and says "Hi" everytime she enters. It's great.

Lucy and I are enjoying our summer vacation together and spend our days playing for hours. She loves to undo folded laundry and throw it, as well and bringing dirty laundry from the luandry room and add it to my clean pile I am folding and putting away. This is rather comical later when John gets a shirt out of the drawer and says it smells like ass and questions my laundry capabilities. Thanks Lucy.

For those of you who know us well, hope you enjoyed the refresher and the flashback. For those of you who we don't get to see as often, I hope you will enjoy getting to see our family on a little more regular basis!! Love you all!