Birthday Party!

Nate and I were officially initiated in the yearly birthday party celebrations. Who knew how much work goes into these grand parties for our children. The good news is that it was perfect. Nate's family came down on Friday to help get ready for the big event on Saturday. I baked a cake.... It was suppose to represent a train.... Do you agree?

After some discussion with my sister-in-law... we have refined my cake making skills and have a new plan for next years cake. Stay tuned until next August for the next installation of Kaitlyn's b-day cake surprise.

We had family and friends over to celebrate Kaitlyn's 1st birthday on Saturday. She got lots of nice clothes, fun (noisy) toys, and a new fishing pole. I would like to mention that it is very hard to keep track of what gift goes to what card when you have 5 children under 3 helping with the gift opening. It was fun and chaotic all at the same time.

Kaitlyn and her cousin Hailey playing on Sunday after our big birthday weekend.

Kaitlyn loved all the attention and was so tired by the end of the present opening that we decided to wait on the birthday cake. Sunday, my sister and her friend Niki came over and we sang Kaitlyn happy birthday and watched her enjoy her cake.

After cake she went straight into the bathtub. Mommy is not a big fan of big messes, but with help of her auntie - we got everything cleaned up.

Next year... It will be even bigger. The good news is that she has enough presents to last until next year.

Happy First Birthday Kaitlyn

As I am typing this post I was in labor with my little girl one year ago today. Of course we were in Alexandria. This year has gone by way too fast. No one told me that in a blink of an eye you would not be a baby anymore, but a toddler. What? A toddler? Kaitlyn you are our little princess. We are so happy that you came into our lives one year ago today. You taught mommy and daddy a big lesson in... We will never be prepared or in-control of what you do. You are the happiest baby that we have ever met. Not a day goes by that you are not smiling or talking. You started out your life on vacation and maybe that is why you are so happy. The first few weeks of your life were pretty scary for mommy. You had to spend a lot of time at the doctor testing your bulirubin for the jaundice. During the winter you got to spend time with Daddy, but you always seemed to get mommy sick. You also like to go back to the doctor to treat your continuous ear infections. At first you hated the medicine and now you love it. I think Tylenol is your favorite or maybe you just like the little dropper. You are also very independent little girl. We tried to put the safety gate up for the living room, but you made it very clear you wanted full rein of the house. You have climbed the stairs by yourself in search of mommy. (Mommy still can't believe you didn't fall.) You a constant talker... one day we hope we can understand what you are telling us. You only like to feed yourself... you have made it clear you don't want us to feed you anymore. You drink juice from a sippy cup. Feed Cody on occasion from your high chair. You love playing in the kitchen cupboards. You love walks with mommy and Cody and eating grass while mommy and daddy do yard work.

Thank you for being our little girl.

Standing Appointment?

I feel like I am starting to spend a lot of time at the doctor's office. Yesterday I took Kaitlyn in to check her ears. She had a rough night of sleep Sunday night and had been pulling at her ears. (Well, more like just touching them.) Not to my surprise she has double ear infections again... So back on the antibiotics... actually we are now using the shots of antibiotics. One shot yesterday and another one today. She is such a trooper. Friday we are going to meet with our normal doctor to discuss our options. Tubes? I really don't want to go down that path, but we might not have an option.

The good news is that she weighs 18lbs. 4 oz. Yeah! She is getting bigger.

What If?

I find myself playing this game in my head a lot as a parent. Sunday morning Kaitlyn was playing downstairs with Daddy. I decided I needed to put in my contacts and grab a bowl of cereal... I guess Nate didn't hear me say that Kaitlyn was staying downstairs because... As I was pouring my bowl of cereal I heard Kaitlyn. As I turned towards the stairs... there she was... at the top looking at me through the gate. My first thought... is wow she climbed all the stairs by herself... second thought.... What if she fell? The good news is that she did not fall and our teaching her to climb stairs has paid off... now we have to work on going down the stairs.

New Accomplishments!

Kaitlyn is going to one years old in 7 days. Wow! She is really starting to amaze us. She can crawl everywhere... nothing seems to stop her. She loves to follow us around the house. She loves to play the toilet drums... this is where she stands up on the toilet and bangs her hands. (It is part of our morning ritual.) Her only words are: Dada and Hi. I ask her to say Mama and she says Dada. Ugh! (Daddy loves this.) She is completely a mommas girl though... If I am in the room... it is hard for Daddy to have any cuddle time. Her newest achievement is walking along furniture and to pick up toys while standing.

She also loves to eat finger foods. She drinks from her sippy cup, but loves to throw it off her highchair when she is done. Cody loves to lay right next to the high chair hoping she will drop some of her food. We have only seen her drop food to Cody twice... on purpose.