Tuesday, June 16, 2009

17 Months

The last month has seemed to go by even quicker than usual. We were fortunate enough to have a few weeks of vacation and we're just starting to get back to normal. Katelynn seems like she had grown two or three inches in the past few weeks. She is such a friendly little girl. She says hi and waves to everyone who walks by our house. She says hi continually (sometimes four or five times) before she stops and then she'll say bye bye. She also does this everywhere else we are: the park, the store, church, airport, restaurant, etc.

Katelynn has 12 teeth and is working on getting the remaining eight. She's been teething the past 3 weeks or so. Not that much fun, especially with the cottonwood floating around. She's coughing and sneezing non-stop.


In the past month, her vocabulary has increased and she is saying several phrases. Her enunciation is getting much better as well. We are trying to get her to use her words to communicate with us instead of "uh!" She repeats some things that we say and answers questions. My favorite story is when we were in Kansas City last month, sitting in the drive thru ordering dinner. They asked if we wanted a small, medium or large (in their garbled speaker voice) and Katelynn replied, "Medium!" We couldn't believe it and could barely stop laughing.

Katelynn loves to be outside. I'm sure you have noticed the magnitude of pictures of her with her car. She loves pushing her car around and riding in it. She loves to run around and help water the plants. She can climb the stairs to her slide all by herself. She also believes she doesn't need any help on the stairs to the deck, front porch, or to the basement. She's much too big for our help! And, check out her hair!





She's not our little baby anymore, she's a big girl (or so she thinks she is). Katelynn uses a spoon and fork to feed herself. Sometimes she can feed herself unassisted, but we normally help her. She loves to drink from a straw and loves to dip her food.

Here are some of the many words and phrases she says:
Mom (and every variation of it)
Dad, Daddy
one
two
three
night night
love you
see ya
bye bye
hi
where are you
thats it
no
yes
yeah
kitty
baby
good
mine
kitty
Bob
yabba dabba do
Gus
Diva
Grandma
Grandpa
medium
teeth
shoes
boo

We enjoy watching her play and imitate what the older kids are doing. She plays with the boys at church and even said Tristan's name on Sunday. She's always amazing us. I wish that we lived next door to the Mullinax Family... she had so much fun with them when we were in KC! She loves to play with the older kiddos. Wow...just imagine all the fun we would have then! I would love to be closer to our family and friends in KC!




Katelynn has been spending Thursday nights with Gran, while Jason and I are at the race track. They have this special bond. Katelynn is always excited to see Gran. She also loves to terrorize Grandpa's remote controls. She runs into their house and heads straight for his table of notes and the remotes! Nothing makes me happier than seeing that devious look on her face! :)


We've talked about it and we believe it is impossible for her to be almost 18 months old - so we aren't going to let her get any older! ♥

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Bay Beach

I had been looking forward to a nice summer day so we could take Katelynn to Bay Beach. Saturday was beautiful and we enjoyed it! Since Katelynn hadn't been on any rides before we decided to take it slow and just try a few rides. We started on the carousel.




She barely moved! I tried to get her to smile and wave at Daddy and we passed by him, but she wasn't very interested. Of course, near the end, she would smile and say hi and bye to him. Then the ride was over and she put up a bit of a fight as we tried to exit! She refused to go back in her stroller, so we walked to the cars.


She seemed to be enjoying the car ride, she would turn the steering wheel and had a smile on her face. But then all of a sudden she looked a little green around the gills. Jason thought she might puke. After about a minute or so the ride was over, and this time she refused to get off.

So...we walked to the train station.


After waiting in line for a long time, we boarded the train. The whole family enjoyed this ride, since Jason wasn't afraid of the train.

Katelynn's last ride for the day was the boats. At first I thought she would be in the boat all by herself, but she was the captain of a full boat. I laughed and wiped away tears as the other parents said look at the little baby. She was by far the youngest of the boaters. But she had a great time!

We had so much fun, I can't wait to go back. Next time, we hope to try the helicopter ride, as that was broken. The ladybugs looked like fun, too!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Waiting to go outside...


The weekend was cold and rainy! Not a whole lot of fun if you are one and all you want to do is play outside! We did go outside for a few minutes before the rain started.



Katelynn enjoyed playing on the lawnmower, it makes me sick looking at how dirty it is! Daddy needs to clean his toys! :)


Saturday, May 30, 2009

Kansas City

We left our house at 3:30 am Sunday morning to drive to Milwaukee to catch our flight to Kansas City. My parents came along for the early morning ride, as we flew back into Appleton. Thanks Mom and Dad for getting up so early and watching the sun come up with us!
Katelynn enjoyed walking around the airport as we waited for Uncle Jeff and Allison to pick us up!
A mid-morning nap with his girls...
Katelynn with food all ocver her face...yes it was in her hair, too!
Sweet baby Allison!
Playing before the party...
At Jay & Cristy's Surprise 30th Anniversary Party...




Having the time of her life with Isabelle
and Samuel...
With Uncle Chris and Aunt Kara

Eating yummy cake with Daddy
Our sweet niece!
It was so cute watching them together... especially in the car!


Katelynn fell asleep like this Tuesday night. This is her normal sleeping position, usually in a crib, not in the middle of the living room floor!
Climbing the tree at Big Papa and Gigi's house
Katelynn and Gigi

Taking a stroll with Grandpa
Driving the Smart car

We spent lots of time with our extended family and we are so thankful for the times we shared together. Special thanks to Traci and Terri for their help in taking care of Katelynn. Thank you!

Happy 30th Anniversary!

We've been planning a surprise 30th anniversary party for Jason's parents for just about a year with his brother, Jeff and sister-in-law, Natalie. We arranged for a surprise trip for our family to go to Kansas City to celebrate with Jay & Cristy's family and friends. Thank you to everyone who kept the secret and allowed for a true SURPRISE and wonderful party!


Friday, May 29, 2009

Kindra McClain Hawk

Jason's beautiful cousin, Kindra, passed away suddenly on May 21st. She was only 31 years old and left behind a six year old daughter, Piper.

Kindra was someone we always looked forward to seeing on our trips to Kansas City. This picture was taken on one of our last trips to Kansas City when Katelynn got to meet Kindra.
We ask that you keep Kindra's family in your prayers.

Home Sweet Home

We're home from Kansas City...lots of posts to come in the next few days!