(Another) Catch-Up Post!

Almost 2 months since the last post? Yikes! The days go by very quickly around here.

Caitlyn is having a blast in preschool. She's so excited when I tell her it is a school day. The fire truck came to visit this past Tuesday morning. Caitlyn was very interested.



They are having their Halloween party (they call it a "Harvest Party") on Monday morning, complete with a costume parade. I'll be sure to post pictures! Then that night, we'll be joining the mob of trick or treaters in our neighborhood (we've gotten up to 300 before!). After that? Preparing for the holiday season officially begins! Baby Girl is due Jan. 11 and she could very well decide that she wants to join us for Christmas! So, my goal is to have all Christmas preparations done, gifts wrapped, cards mailed, etc. by Dec. 1st. It's a bit ambitious but we are keeping things simple this season and we're not traveling so it's definitely doable.

Until next time! (It won't be 2 months, I promise! ;)

Baby #2 is a.....

GIRL!

We're very excited about having another girl in the house! Caitlyn is going to be a wonderful big sister. We're so thankful for both of our little miracles!

Time to Catch Up!

Well, I guess it's time to dust off the blog again and update it! The days just go by too quickly around here. :)

The OB appt. on the 19th went great. The heartbeat was swishing away at a healthy 160bpm. Caitlyn was fascinated with the sound of it. Our next appointment is 8/31. It includes the anatomy scan and, if baby cooperates, we'll learn if we're having a he or she!

Caitlyn has Open House at her preschool on 8/24. Her first official day will be 8/29. I'm so excited for her! She loves being around other kids and I think she will have a lot of fun. (It will also be fun for Mommy, who will have a break 2 mornings a week! :)

I'll be back this afternoon with some birthday pictures!

Summer!

So far we've been enjoying our summertime up here. I'm finally beginning to feel better; food and I are no longer fighting each other. ;) My next OB appointment is 7/19; it will be the first time hearing the heartbeat with the doppler. We continue to pray that everything with the baby progresses normally! I haven't been talking about the baby too much with Caitlyn right now but, as I get bigger and she gets older, I'll talk more about it. I may take her with me to the OB a time or two so she can hear the baby's heartbeat.

Keith built Caitlyn's playset and she loves it! Our issue right now is figuring out how to keep the slide cool and what trees we need to plant around it. :)

Some random pictures from this month:

Surprise!

On May 5, we received quite a shock; we found out that Caitlyn will be a big sister in January! We only told a few people until we had an ultrasound, which was today. We saw the little heart beating away and are very excited and thankful for this little peanut. Caitlyn is going to be a great big sister! ;)

Time with Cousins

Keith's grandmother died on 4/26 so we went down to GA for the funeral that week. On 5/1, there was a church picnic at Keith's parents' church so we took Caitlyn to play with her cousins, Hannah & Joshua. They all had a fun time running around together.

Real update coming soon!

I promise! The days have been so busy and, when I remember that I haven't updated the blog, it's 9:30pm and I'm too brain dead to do it! :p

We are doing well. Well, mostly; we all have colds this weekend but they seem to be minor. I will do a more "proper" update later this week!

Project Simplify Week One: Master Closet

OK, I am being completely transparent here: my home is a disaster! Since Caitlyn was born, we have accumulated so much clutter. It's really unbelievable! In an effort to reduce some of the clutter and clean things up, I decided to join in with Project Simplify over at Simple Mom. This week's hot spot was the master closet. Yikes!! Mine was filled to the gills with junk. (And, yes, this is just MY closet; Keith has his own that I didn't have time to tackle this week!)

Here's what I was facing on Monday:





And this is what I was able to get done this week working during naps and at night...not bad if I say so myself! :P





Whew! I'm glad that's done. On to Week 2!

A Swingin' Good Time

This weekend, we bought a toddler swing for Caitlyn. We decided to let her "try it out" in the living room. No surprise that she loved it!

Wordless Wednesday: Friends

How did we get HERE?

See that precious 5 day old newborn? This morning, I talked to someone about registering that same child for preschool this fall! It seems like just yesterday that she was that tiny. She is growing up so fast!!!

Of course, it's not preschool in the traditional sense. She would be going two days a week and I would imagine that no academics are being taught. I should receive the rest of the information in the mail tomorrow or Wednesday. After receiving the information, our next step will be for us to visit. I know that Caitlyn will love seeing other kids (the main reason we have considered preschool; so that she can spend some regular time with other children). We'll keep you updated on what we decide!

My baby is growing up. Sniff.

A Preview of Spring

Playing outside!





See her apple green Fuzzi Bunz peeking out of her jeans in that last picture? I love those diapers; they are so cute!

Wordless Wednesday: Future Fashionista

Wordless Wednesday: Bedtime Story

Homemade Chicken Stock

It's a cold day here and supposed to get colder! So we're having a cooking/snuggling/reading day. :) I have chicken stock simmering on the stove--my first time making it! I hope that it turns out well. It smells sooooo goooood!

Wordless Wednesday:Taking a stroll in new shoes...

18 Months!

Has it really been a whole year and a half (and a day!) since God blessed us with this precious little girl? The time just flies by (except at 3am when she wants to play instead of sleep ;) ).

Caitlyn went to see Dr. G. for her 18 month visit this morning. She was a little scared when Dr. G. listened to her heartbeat. I'm not sure what was so scary about the stethoscope but toddlers are known for their irrational fears. She is still a peanut at only 21 lbs. but she did shoot up a little in height; she is now 32.5" tall! :)

We're now back at home, Daddy is back at work, and we're getting ready to have lunch. It is wet and yucky here so we still can't go outside. Blah...January is probably my least favorite month in terms of weather! We are ready for spring, grass, flowers, noses that don't run (!), and all of that fun stuff...

Cabin Fever

We have a bad case of it! We've stayed inside most of this past week because of the ice and snow (and recovering from a stomach bug). Now, it's a gorgeous--but cold--day outside and we're still home bound. Caitlyn has picked up a cold from somewhere! She was awake for about 2 or 3 hours (I lost count) last night coughing. I was finally able to get the poor thing back to sleep around 4:30am or so. Ugh...I hate seeing her sick. We may take a trip through the Chick-fil-A drive-thru at lunch just to get out.

My sick baby (watching Elmo :) :



Her cheeks look greasy because they are chapped; I'm trying to keep some CJ's BUTTer on there to help. It does help...if she doesn't wipe it off! :p

Little Mother

One of Caitlyn's Christmas gifts was a Beco Mini that allows her to wear her dolls in a carrier. She loves it so much more than I thought she would! (I thought that she might be a little young for it.) Here are some pictures of her wearing her "baby".






I'm adding this one just because it's my favorite. :) We are so thankful for this sweet, loving little girl.

Snowy Saturday

Our view this morning:



So, we decided to have some indoor fun: a "snowball" fight. This idea came from I Can Teach My Child. It was a lot of fun and Caitlyn enjoyed it, even if she's not quite old enough to "get" it.

What's more fun than a snowball fight? Ripping the snowballs apart, of course!

We All Fall Down

What was that from...Ring Around the Rosy, I think? It was appropriate this week! Tuesday morning, Caitlyn woke up at 5:30, crying. I went into her room and she had thrown up. Sigh. I changed her crib sheet and clothes and got her back to sleep. I thought it was a fluke and she'd be fine. She woke up for the day at 8:30; I went back in there and she had been sick again...this time it was all over her and the sheet. I gave her a bath, changed the crib sheet again, and we started our day. That is when things became interesting "on the other end". I figured that she picked up a virus from church since, for some reason, that place is a germ factory. She was puny the next day and, around lunchtime, I began to feel weird--had a headache and chills. By Wednesday night, it had hit me. Thursday morning, Keith stayed home from work to help out while I got my strength back. He left to go into work at 11:30am. At 12:45, he called to say that he was coming home...had a headache and chills. Same thing. I think we are all on the mend now, thankfully. You know, just in time to go back to church on Sunday and pick up something else! As lousy as a cold can make me feel, I will take it any day over a stomach virus...blech!

I hope to get some pictures uploaded this weekend if I have time. Stay tuned! :)

Christmas Recap

We went to visit Nana & Papa for Christmas. Santa Claus found us!


Caitlyn's big entrance on Christmas morning:









Caitlyn had a great time opening gifts, digging in her stocking, and playing with some new toys (her favorite being the xylophone, I think).