O Christmas Tree

We are busy little bees here. Ever since we returned from Kansas City for Thanksgiving, we have been in the holiday spirit. We put up all of our Christmas decorations in a day. We have most all of our Christmas shopping done. We spent last week sending out Christmas cards and now we have moved on to holiday get-togethers.

Our favorite thing this year has been driving over to Deerfield Park on Legacy by our house to look at lights. We like to say "Pretty Lights." With Christmas music in the background, it is very Christmaseee.

Brandon's parents, Gigi and Big Daddy, came in town last weekend and watched Kaitlyn on Monday for my meeting. They were able to listen to Kaitlyn talk A LOT. She even said Big Daddy. Before we know it, she will be putting sentences together and that will really blow us away. Where did our baby go?


Kaitlyn had lots of fun this weekend and so did mommy and daddy. We went to an office party and we felt totally out of place in the hot, trendy bar in Uptown. But, as usual that didn't stop us from having some great times with some new friends. The smoke is what killed it for us, we totally forgot about that. Thanks to Papa for watching Kaitlyn. We really enjoyed not having to pay a babysitter!

This weekend for Kaitlyn, there was a bounce house birthday party. Brandon and the other dads had just as much fun because they were going down the slide, sometimes without their kids! Kaitlyn was a little young to really enjoy it. She played mostly with the cars and in the toddler room, but did enjoy the big slide with daddy a couple of times.



Tonight, Brandon and I wrapped presents until we could not wrap anymore. That is a big chore, for sure! We are definitely looking for tips on being a good and efficient Santa Claus for Kaitlyn!!

Then we had a little book exchange with some little friends. Kaitlyn didn't want to share her toys with her friends, but they all liked making sugar cookies and opening a present.

Let It Snow

Wow, today it is BRRRR cold! We bundled up to play in the snow for just a few minutes as it is 28 degrees out. BRRR! The snow was crunchy on the grass and the wind was blowing it around. It is fun to look at from inside in my opinion, but Kaitlyn seemed to like to run around in the cold all bundled up. Fortunately, this is short-lived and we aren't stuck in our igloo for long. :)

You Will Not Recognize This Kid

If you have not seen Kaitlyn in the last couple of weeks, you will not recognize her. Here are a couple of things she has started doing in the last week or so.

She is talking so much now it is unbelievable. The four roadtrips we have made to KC this past month have been interesting with her pointing out all of the cows. She would say, "Hi Cow," "Big Cow," and "Cow".

Since this summer we have been counting more with her. Today, I said "one" to start counting and she said "two" very clearly. I said "one" again later in the day and she said "two" again. The inflection in her voice was perfect too as if to go to three.

Again, the car ride is fun with her. She loves her Veggie Tales CD and sings, "la-la-la" to it all the time now. She loves the "If You Are Happy And You Know It" song too.

During her first year, I would read every update and milestone chart on what she would be doing every month. I still do somewhat with the "What To Expect During the Toddler Years," but I just can't believe that we are moving at such a fast pace even now. This summer I wondered when she would put two words together and talk more, count more, etc., and now I have my answer. I am completely entertained with her. I take her to go grocery shopping and I accidently bump into someone (Before Thanksgiving, it was a madhouse.) and I said "I am sorry." Kaitlyn then says, "Sorry," too. What a surprise for me, I tell you what.

I invite you to come with us shopping. As most of you moms who have little ones, you will think that I am crazy to take her because she can't sit still. Of course this is true, but if I am fast and I give her a little sample of something in the store here and there, she is perfect. Also, she is turning into quite the helper with wanting to pick things up and put them in places. Today, I had her organize all the soft drinks in the little fridge. Ha, just kidding, but she did do very well placing the drinks in the fridge, one-by-one.

So Cute I Cried - Sappy Alert

There are so many wonderful moments in becoming a mom and a dad. As you can tell, I write about Kaitlyn almost always as we are so proud to share all her special moments. I had a tear in my eye today as I do most times when Kaitlyn has fun, but this was just adorable today.

Shoes

I am trying to get a video uploaded and will try again tonight. It may not be small enough to be posted. I am not sure.

Kaitlyn has changed so much in the last couple of months. She began saying "no" on Friday and there is no turning back now. She is not saying it too much, but the way she says it is funny. Her voice goes up and it is drawn out.

She also put on her brown shoes on her feet for the first time all by herself on Friday. It didn't take her long and she pulled the velcro strap over to secure it. It was pretty amazing. She is trying to put on her socks by herself; however, she has not mastered that task yet. She will get frustrated and throw it if she can't fit it on her toes.

An update on Uncle Larry as well, it looks like all the tests are coming back normal and that the cause is stress. Hopefully our visit will lighted the load this Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless. Safe travels to all!

I Can't Believe It

I can't believe that this will be my first blog entry since October. Wow! Where does the time go? At the beginning ofNovember, we did not have any plans to go anywhere and were going to enjoy staying at home before traveling around the holidays; however, life is unpredictable. We received free tickets to the A&M/OU game so Brandon and I headed down there for a weekend. It was a lot of fun. We even got a few photos of the "Game Day" ESPN crew while they were filming live at the stadium.

My grandmother passed away on November 7 and we went the following weekend to Kansas City for the funeral. It was nice to be with family. We are also traveling to KC for Thanksgiving next week. It will be crazy with all that driving, but it will be nice to be with them as Gran has just passed away. In addition, my Uncle Larry went into the hospital this morning for chest pains. He has been under a lot of stress since she passed away as he was the one who took care of her most of the time. Please pray for him and that this may be something minor.

So this weekend, we planned to do household chores and hang out. Kaitlyn received her first haircut at Cool Cuts for Kids.

The salon has little toy cars kids sit in to watch videos during their haircuts. Kaitlyn loved it! She watched some Baby Einstein and sat completely still for the hairdresser. She just trimmed Kaitlyn's ends and now it looks a little fuller. She has thin hair like her parents. We then went to a hamburger joint where Kaitlyn shook it like a "Salt Shaker."

Ooo, Spooky, Ooky Halloween

It's Halloween! Kaitlyn was Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz this year. She was so cute in her blue dress and red, sparkily shoes. She went to her school's fall festival, the Plano Symphony Halloween bash, and a friend's Halloween party in her dress.

We saw several Dorothys out trick or treating at the mall where there were tons of kids dressed up as The Incredibles, Pirates, Minnie Mouse, and animals. We saw parents also dressed up. We thought about it, but didn't have time to come up with other Wizard of Oz costumes, especially since it is Brandon's dream to be Nacho Libre and it is my dream to be Audrey Hepburn.

Kaitlyn loved Owens Farm the best this weekend. We went there on Sunday for the Pumpkin patch, farm animals and hay ride with some other little kiddos. She enjoyed feeding the cow and sheep at first, but then became scared of them. She really, really loved seeing the horses in the barn. She kept saying more and we would take her down and back to see all of the horses.

She really has turned into a little girl. She is talking more and is very creative. This morning she turned our bathtub into a slide. She sat on the edge by the wall and then slid down the back of the tub. It was hilarious and she laughed at me laughing and admiring her little creativity.

The other Kaitlyn story of the week is her love of riding anything with four legs. She has been trying to ride Heidi like a horse lately. Heidi would just sit there for awhile while Kaitlyn pretended she was a horse. She got a big kick out of that. Then when we went to Caroline's house for some food after Owens Farm, there was another little girl there named Sarah. She still crawls a lot and Kaitlyn saw that she was just about Heidi's height. In the middle of all the chaos with parents and other kids in the living room, she got on Sarah to ride her like a horse. Sarah didn't know what Kaitlyn was doing. Everyone was laughing so hard.

Baylor and A&M are on a roll!

We are lucky that we have had some lazy time on Saturdays to watch some college football. It has been fun to hear A&M and Baylor having good seasons so far. Baylor has been incredible with its best start in Big 12 history and winning this past weekend! I am pumped for this weekend. I think it will be a great game between Baylor and A&M. We will be wearing our colors on Friday for Spirit day at the Meche Household. Brandon and I both wore our shirts last week! Now the problem will be what will Kaitlyn wear as she has an outfit for both teams???

Grandparents Weekend

October is a fun month. You've got football, fall festivals, Texas fair, Halloween, pumpkins, and the holidays are around the corner. This weekend was the fall festival for Kaitlyn's school and we were able to enjoy the weather and see Kaitlyn with sparkles in her hair and her face painted. She was crying when it was time to leave because she wanted to play more. Everyone commented on her red sparkly shoes as part of her Dorothy outfit.


Brandon's parents, Gigi and Big Daddy, came into town to help Brandon's brother/sister-in-law, Spencer and Christy, move into a house in Fort Worth. We went to visit and take a tour. They have done a lot in just a few days. Kaitlyn had fun showing off her imitation skills by laughing when we laugh.

Counting, Signing and Talking

Before I forget and move on to a million other things around the house, Kaitlyn has today said ABC, signed for more food with her hands and saying more, and I am hearing her say 1-2-3 more.

I feel that I can say a sentence and she understands the whole sentence. I asked if she had a ball in her hand today. She then looked at her hand and grasped the ball. It is very exciting especially now that she is increasingly frustrated when we do not know what she wants.

What a Nice Place

We went to St. Louis this weekend for my cousin's wedding, Eric Klein. Eric and I, along with several other boy cousins, were born within a year of each other. Every holiday we would all play together or hang out together and get into trouble.

The wedding and reception was fun and a lot of the family made it to the wedding, even Aunt Kayt found a flight and flew in from San Diego. We had fun staying in the same hotel and were able to watch the A&M game in between the wedding and reception. Brandon was very happy! I was happy just to joke around with the family because Baylor beat K-State a couple of weeks before!!

Kaitlyn did very well on the plane this weekend. We have been on a plane with her once a month for the past three months, and I can tell you that she knows the drill now. We always sit by the window and this works well because we can confine her to our laps. The first thing Kaitlyn did once we sat down on the plane this time was pull out the catalog magazine to shop. It kept her attention for a good 30 minutes. Then she played with the window shade, up and down. On the way home to Dallas, she was saying bye-bye and looking out of the window as the airplane pulled onto the runway. She then stood on my lap and said hi to the people behind us. After that, she settled down on our laps for the ride and sleep.

It was so nice to see the family and that everyone was doing well. We saw new babies, cousin Katie and Brian's little boy, our pregnant cousin, Erin, and even how grown up Kia and Zach are now. Kaitlyn visited with our St. Louis cousins, The Pruetts, and they have a little one (Caroline) a couple of months older than Kaitlyn. They played on the swing together and built a block tower together at The Pruetts for brunch before leaving town.

Going to their house for Sunday brunch was fun and it made us want to move somewhere that has basements in homes. The Pruetts have tbe best set up for their five kids. The whole basement is a playland, wonderland with dress up, tea table, kitchen, old-style school house desks, dollhouses, puppets, chalkboard and map. The setup gave us several ideas for Kaitlyn, but we don't know where we can put one in our house. It was awesome!

The wedding was at 2 pm and then the reception was at 6 pm so we had to kill some time in between. We played with Kaitlyn all around the hotel. We knew it inside and out. Kaitlyn's favorite place to play were the stairs at the hotel.



Now we are excited to be home for awhile for fall festivals!

October? Is it really?

s it really October? Not with 90 degree weather outside! We have stocked up on clothes for fall and winter for Kaitlyn. Unfortunately, she cannot wear them just yet because of the heat. I took a few photos of her playing around yesterday and today in a couple of new outfits while it was cool in the morning.

Here is the link: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=hhuz2tp.39823mr1&Uy=-3w3rfg&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0

We are gearing up for a fall festival at Kaitlyn's school and a costume/orchestra petting zoo at the Eisman center in Richardson. The Plano Symphony is holding a Halloween event where kids can play with all of the instruments, arts/crafts and a music concert. So with all of these events, Kaitlyn is going to dress up at Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz this year. We just received her dress in the mail and maybe she will win the contest. Her friend Ian has a Lion costume, however his mom says he is scared of it. Lions are Kaitlyn's favorite animal right now.

Brandon and I thought we could each dress up as the Tin Man, Scarecrow or Lion; however, we haven't checked out costume rentals yet. I should see if they have a couple of dog costumes and we can complete the group. Ha.

Here is Kaitlyn swinging at the park.

Second to last wedding this year

We went to my friend Angelo's wedding this weekend in downtown Ft. Worth. It was beautiful as the reception was on a terrace in the Renaissance hotel. There was a nice breeze and I was able to catch up with a few friends from high school. We love downtown Ft. Worth. It is really fun. The reception was actually across the street from the Mexican restaurant, Cabo, where Brandon and I had a second date. It was the first place we had our picture taken together. We also went to the Bass Hall for The Nutcraker and a Dixie Chicks concert in one weekend. The wedding brought back fun memories for us.

Meanwhile, Kaitlyn is absolutely hilarious. Here is a video I took last week.




I am upset that I forgot my camera on Friday night. We went to John and Amy Woodard's house to visit and give John a birthday cake. They have a two year old, Jake, and a 3-month old, Abby. Jake and Kaitlyn warmed up outside on the little toddler slide and had a grand old time in Jake's room with all of his toys. They climbed on the toy box to get on his full bed and then crawl to the other side and slide down. They did this repeatedly. After dinner, they held hands and walked back to his room to play. He also liked to wrestle with Kaitlyn. He practically sat on her or squished her and she would just laugh. He wasn't too rough with her as Amy said he does this with one of his best girlfriends. They were sooo cute together! I think the Woodards will forward some photos to us soon and I will post.

Those darn old viruses

Of course, we knew we were in for a lot of colds and viruses when we enrolled Kaitlyn in Mother's Day Out. She has a little cold and it has made Kaitlyn very cranky lately. I have been up with her at night and it is hard to keep her occupied during the day. I think most of it has to do with lack of sleep. She is like me, loves her sleep.

Today, I made a cake for Brandon's friend John. Brandon and John have a birthday tradition where they make a cake for each other each year. Brandon has been swamped with work lately so I made it for him. And whenever a cake was made in the Klein household, us kids were able to lick the spatula and bowl. It always made us happy. Here is Kaitlyn getting chocolate on her face. She didn't care for it too much, but she sure loves cookies. She says "cook" all the time.

Video

Since the video would not show on the previous post. Let's try this again.

Great Weather Keeps You Busy!

Sooooo, this blog has been a little empty this week. All I can say is that there has been some great weather outside that has kept Kaitlyn and me out playing as well as working on our landscape. We have also enjoyed the park almost everyday.

Kaitlyn most recently climbed out of her crib. It was a very strange, scary thing to hear her around the room when I put her in the crib for a nap. Then again at bedtime, Brandon and I both saw how she did it. She just flipped her leg over and slid down. She fell backwards (lightly) and I think that may have scared her. She has not climbed out again. We are not quite ready for her to move to a toddler bed just yet and need to figure out how we are going to transition her and when.

Since Brandon was pretty busy on Friday, I went to my first parent/teacher meeting with Kaitlyn's teacher, Ms. Carol. Ms. Carol couldn't say enough sweet things about Kaitlyn. She definitely sees her sense of humor and sweetness come out everytime she is there. Ms. Carol said she can always count on Kaitlyn for a hug and when Ms. Carol changes her diaper, Kaitlyn says, "Hi" and then giggles.

I can tell Kaitlyn likes the class more everytime too. She turns on her CD player in her room without me having to show her and she dances to the nursery rhymes. She loves books and music right now.

Since we have been in town for this beautiful weather on the weekends, we have completed a project, which we have wanted to do since we moved into the house. We took down a little wood fence (rotting) when we moved in, which separated the pool equipment and pool area. We finally built a little stone wall to replace it. The stone came from our front yard as we took out the overgrown monkey grass and now plan for grass to grow around the trees instead.


The only sad part about taking out the monkey grass is that we had a little bunny who lived there sometimes. I haven't seen bunnies around the neighborhood in a long time, but I am sure he found a home at the house across the street. The house has a forest for a front yard.

We also went to the Plano Balloon festival on Sunday. This was fun, although it was too windy for the balloons to take off. Kaitlyn had a blast running around the field and eating corndogs. Mommy and daddy got a big workout because it was a 3/4 mile walk just to the entrance.

Climbing Out and Jumping Around

So Kaitlyn is a lot better today and I hope she will not hate me for waking her up at 6 in the morning to get on a flight to Kansas City tomorrow. Afterall, we spent the first part of the week not sleeping at all. But I am excited that we were able to get a Southwest flight for $49. (It leaves at 7:55 am.)

While Brandon is in San Antonio with his A&M buddies at Ol' Sarge, we will be in Kansas City hanging out with my grandma and mom as well as her side of the family. We will be pretty low key because Gran (grandma) will have to have dialysis all day Saturday.

Today, Kaitlyn decided taking a nap was just not for her. Just as I was walking into her room to get her out of bed, her foot was on top of the railing and was about to swing it out. I knew one day she may think of this, and we did pretty well to get to 19 months before she tried to climb out. I have to say that I was shocked because I hadn't thought about it in awhile. She is climbing all over the place!

Here is a video of her counting to three and jumping off the step to the fireplace. She really likes performing for us and is really happy to receive applause and cheers.

Sleep, Sleep, Wake Up

While this birthday has come and then passed very quickly, we have kept our plates full with a little bit of everything. And this is why I have not blogged in a week and sorry for no photos of Kaitlyn lately, but more will be coming!

Since we were in town for a weekend, I thought it was going to be quiet and peaceful, but it was not. We went to a little pool party with Brandon's old work friends. There Kaitlyn played with two other little girls and imitated them the whole time. They taught her how to dance and held her in the pool. She was completely happy with doing whatever they did. It was really cute to watch her with other little girls who loved playing with her.

Then on Saturday, we had Kaitlyn's little friends and their parents over for one last swim time. Kaitlyn kept giving Zoe a hug and remembered her from the past couple of weeks of playtime. We met Zoe and her mom, Katie at Baby Swim class and they are very sweet. Kaitlyn's other friends, Caroline and Ian, played around too and kept us entertained with riding toys and in the pool.



Sunday wasn't fun as Kaitlyn started a 102 fever and was up that night as well as Monday and Tuesday nights. She caught a little virus and I think she is starting to do better today. Even though I haven't had as much sleep, I am doing great. I think it is from the early days with Kaitlyn and now I have my "Parental Immunity" where you are now immunized from being too tired from lack of sleep. Of course, it is nothing like when you have a newborn, I felt like I earned my stripes again this week.

Today, Ms. Brenda called to see how Kaitlyn was doing and we are excited to hear that she is a busy nanny for three families now. Ms. Brenda took care of Kaitlyn last year when I was still at 7-Eleven. If you see this, Ms. Brenda, please stop by. I know Kaitlyn would love to see you! :)

Happy Birthday

Yes, it is my birthday today. I now feel that I am old enough to stop giving out my age. That is when I know I am ready to not age any longer. But of course, there are things to be experienced at at every age. I just know I am going to miss my 20s as they are slowly passing me by. So in replacement of talking about age, let's talk about things that I have learned in life so far.

1. Like my dad ALWAYS says, "What comes around, goes around." I have learned this first hand. When I really prepared for a test and made a good grade, continued to work on a news release until I made sure every word was just perfect or worked throughout college just so I could go to Baylor.

2. The sweetest things in life are living in the moment and never taking life for granted. Having a child like Kaitlyn has shown me just how sweet and special life is and to cherish it every moment.

3. Love is the Greatest. Brandon has certainly made life entertaining for me and we laugh a lot. But I have got to say, he really has all of my love. Whether it is with a smile, a little squeeze or even a complaint about all of my picture taking, I know he just can't live without me and I him.

4. And of course, gotta shout out to my parents. Mom and Dad have a lot of credit due to them for loving and caring so much throughout the years.

P.S. If you haven't seen me in awhile, I now have clear braces on my teeth. I will have to wear them for a little over a year. My teeth were constantly moving and Heidi ate my retainer. I also hope this will help a little more with my TMJ problem (My jaw always clicks), but no guarantees.

We are back from San Diego!

Here is a little diary of our trip. For pictures of our trip, please go to:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=hhuz2tp.8brzqjqd&Uy=-pwzbyf&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=839752853851_432961630405

Boy, what a trip we had! We really made the most of our four days to San Diego. We left at 7 am on Thursday to catch a plane and got back to Dallas Sunday night at 10:30 pm. We didn't mean to get back so late, but due to storms every flight was delayed an hour.

Going into this trip, I had no idea how Kaitlyn would react to being on a plane for two and half hours. It is hard just to keep her in one area at home as she is into everything. We found out early on that we would either have to keep her in her stroller or fold it up as she wanted to push it everywhere and her steering capabilities were not well-defined yet as she was running into everything. Fortunately, there was a play area at DFW before the flight. The actual flight was good since we had three seats to move around in. One guy changed seats so we could have an extra one. Kaitlyn watched Baby Einstein and listened to the headphones for a good while. And then she got cranky and wanted to sleep. We were a little nervous because we didn't want to be "that couple" that couldn't calm their child down. She finally not only put herself to sleep, but my leg as well. Instead of trying to move around and bring back to life my numb limb, I fought through the pain and let Kaitlyn take in a few Z's.. She woke up about 30 minutes later as we were coming into San Diego.

We then got our car, checked into the hotel, and ventured on for a few groceries and dinner at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican spot. Much to our dismay, there were no stores around all the hotels whatsoever. We drove for 15 minutes and couldn't find anything until stumbling upon the greasy, but good restaurant.

After our return, Kaitlyn took a nap before heading out for a quick visit to the beach. Mission Beach was a great location, equipped with a fun boardwalk and tons of people. The water was really cold, but the breeze and air felt great. The sun made it hot. Kaitlyn was okay with the sand, but she really loved the waves and water once she got used to it. She couldn't figure it out. She loved all her sand toys, but the shovel was her favorite. Just holding onto it was fun enough for her.



We lucked out. The hotel was cooking some hamburgers that night, so inspired by Brandon's resourcefulness (alternative word for CHEAP), we took advantage of the 1,2,3,4 burgers and 2 hot dogs, as well as a couple of free beers.

Friday, we went to the San Diego zoo, only a 5 minute drive from the hotel. They had bus tours, a sky tram and tons of fun animals. Kaitlyn loved the monkeys and elephants. We were one of the first to arrive at 9 am and left around 2:30. We wore her out! The Sea Lion show was fun, the petting zoo was okay, but they had some animals we don't normally see in Texas like Panda Bears (They had four of the 11 in the U.S.), polar bears, great exhibits to see the animals in, weird looking pigs and koalas.

We really liked the zoo and were fresh for the day. After Kaitlyn's nap, we went to the beach again just for a little bit. We got pizza on the beach and that was kind of a disaster as birds wanted our food. Kaitlyn was too distracted to eat.

Saturday, we went to Legoland. The highways have tons of lanes. It is crazy. It was a cool little park. I think we were a little worn out already and enjoyed watching Kaitlyn play in the toddler area, but after that it was hot and we were ready to go to the beach. It is a great park for 3 to 5 year olds, definitely! Kaitlyn had a great time there too.

Saturday night we went to Coronado island, had Mexican for dinner. Kaitlyn loved her quesdillas. The beach was great around 6:30 pm. Not as many people, but the water seemed to be colder. Kaitlyn loved running up and down the beach. She also found some kids she liked watching build a sand castle. They were from Venezuela and so sweet.

Sunday morning we went to the beach again and it was cool, but very nice. And then went to Kansas City Barbque after loading up the car to go to the airport. Kansas City Bargque is where Top Gun filmed the sleazy bar scenes in 1985. It was pretty cool, except the barbque was not good. And being that I am from Kansas City, I know good barbque. The owners are from there and that is where the bar gets its name.

The flight back wasn't as bad as it sounds. We were stuck in the airport for a couple of hours and had to keep Kaitlyn entertained. There were a couple of other toddlers who ran around with her. She was pretty loud and we had to walk around with her a lot. The plane started off bad because she was so tired, but she slept the last hour and a half killing Brandon and my's arms.

Little things to remember about the trip:
1. Kaitlyn said hi and bye to just about everyone we came into contact with in the airport, on the plane, at the beach, at the zoo.
2. Kaitlyn loved to push her stroller by herself.
3. She and mommy caught colds on the trip.
4. Kaitlyn wanted mommy on the plane and the first time in the water, but wanted daddy going deeper in the water and to play in the sand.
5. While she was supposed to be asleep in the room in the hotel, we found her standing in her crib looking out the window pointing to cars and saying "car".
6. Kaitlyn loved the stuffed lion from the zoo and wouldn't let go of it and kept roaring at the zoo.
7. She liked to make us clap our hands when others clapped.

A Phone Girl

Kaitlyn has always had a fascination with phones whether they are cell phones or basic telephones. She now loves to listen for about five minutes and say hello. If you catch her at the right time, she will listen and talk back. In this video, she says pool and roars like a lion.

High School Reunion

Here are a couple of photos from my 10 year high school reunion this weekend! Go Martin Warriors!


Can you believe it? I dragged Brandon with me and we went with a couple of girlfriends that I still keep in touch with. I am so glad we did it that way because we had no idea who we would see or what would happen. We all saw several old faces and were able to mingle the first night at the bar. The second night was in a hotel ballroom and it was very stiff. Poor Brandon sat at the table while I mingled with some friends. It wasn't as fun as the night before, but a girl did come up to him who went to A&M and told Brandon that she had his and Tim Duffy's pictures all over her room freshman year. I thought that was hilarious.


As for me, I was a wreck because I had no idea who I was going to see. I saw a lot of friends, but unfortunately none of my junior high or high school crushes, which was probably good for me with Brandon there. Ha! It seemed as though everyone was pregnant or recently married too. I definitely felt like a kid again when we all took a class picture again! Anyway, it was nice to go, and glad that Brandon and I went!

And recent August photos in a cool new film loop:

Pool Time Fridays

Pool Time Fridays have been fun this summer! Kaitlyn and her friend Caroline played in the water yesterday. It seems that they are definitely recognizing each other more and want to play together. It is neat to see that now because when we met, the girls were only a couple of months old.

We only have a couple more Fridays of pool time as we are going to be out of town for a couple of them soon. I hope we can last until maybe the end of September and with this heat, we may just be able to pull it off!

Are we boring?

Today started out late. I woke up at 7:45 am and Kaitlyn woke up at 8 am. We didn't have any particular plans, except a few errands and I needed to do a little work while Kaitlyn slept. We took our time with my orthodontist appointment this morning, returned a couple of things at the store and then it was time for lunch. Kaitlyn took a long nap and Brandon came home early. It was like the old days where we worked side by side at our computers. Kaitlyn woke up and then we played. She really likes reading her books now while laying down on her tummy or on her back. She is a pretty good reader. I just wish I could understand her language. Once I figure it out, I will be sure to share!!

Kaitlyn thought I was going to leave her at the ortho's office today. Once I turned a corner to pick up some papers, she was crying. The office had a play area and it looked like fun; however Kaitlyn really wanted to pull tissues out of the box and try to stuff them in her mouth or almost wrecking a mold that the orthodonist had on her desk. It was classic.

I guess I am a in a little of a ho-hum, boring mood and I don't know why. We have plenty to do, plenty of things coming up and Kaitlyn is never short on entertainment. Hmmm... Maybe it is time for a vacation to get out of this! Oh that is right, we are going to San Diego next week! Ahhhhh!

Here are a couple of pictures to illustrate Kaitlyn's book-lying position.

A Healthy Checkup

Except that we skipped the 15-month check-up, Kaitlyn did well with receiving three shots at the 18-month check-up on Friday. I am not too worried about being behind on shots, but the doctor seemed to be a little annoyed. I am guessing she was annoyed that we missed the last check-up. I don't feel bad about it because I asked when the next check-up was back in March and looked at the papers they gave me and everything said 18-months. In addition, the doctor's office (doctor and front office) never talked about a 15-month check up at her sick visits in June nor when I made the 18-month appointment in July. Hmmm? Not a big deal, but I am beginning to feel that they may have too many patients to give each one the attention they need and we have very healthy child.

I don't mean to start out on a sour note; however, I am used to feeling pretty good after going to Kaitlyn's check-ups. She is always so healthy and above average, which leads me to the good news. She weighed 26 pounds 2 ounces and is in the 75 percentile for weight; she is 33 inches tall and is in the 90 percentile for height; and, she has a head circumference of 47 and a half centimeters and is in the 75 percentile for size.

She is right on target for a lot of the developmental activities as well such as playing with jigsaw puzzles, stacking blocks, walking down stairs and pointing. I am looking forward to her beginning to put two wards together soon.

Swinging and Reading with Kaitlyn

We have received an overwhelming request from a certain Birthday Grandmother for video of Kaitlyn. Here are a couple of Kaitlyn swinging and reading.

The Hills are Alive with Music

This week Brandon pulled out the guitar and we had fun listening to him strum along!

Karoke Kaitlyn

Test, 1, 2. Test. Next up on the mike, Kaitlyn!!!!

A New Beginning

This morning marks a big milestone for Kaitlyn. Her first day at Mother's Day Out, while her parents are crying their eyes out, being sentimental and trying to hold it together. Brandon was teary-eyed at work this morning ,and I felt as if I was moving in slow motion trying to remember every little moment. Coming back home was so empty and I felt so sad and teary-eyed.

I could tell she was ready to play when she walked into school at 9 am and immediately sat down at the table with two other children with a little snack. I took a couple of photos, kissed her on her forehead and walked out. She didn't even notice I was gone. I couldn't believe how easy it was. How exciting for Kaitlyn to be with other little friends and getting to sing, color, play on the computer and be with other children today!

When I came to pick her up at 2 pm, she was playing and I stood in the doorway with a couple of other parents. When she looked up and saw me, she came straight over. She started to cry and then I picked her up and she was fine. She was very, very tired because she didn't take a nap with the other kids. She immediately fell asleep on the way home and is now sleeping.

She colored a happy face today and her teachers had nothing but great things to say about Kaitlyn. She really had a good first day at Mother's Day Out! Yeah!!! Go Kaitlyn! I knew she would do fine and can't wait to see how she does next week. And on that note, I see what my parents meant when they used to tell me that I was growing up too fast or how they were so sad to see me go.

Here is a video of her practicing yesterday with her backpack on rollers.

Starting Mother's Day Out TOMORROW!

I can't believe it! Kaitlyn is going to Mother's Day Out for the first time tomorrow.

We went this morning to a teacher orientation and to see her room. She is in room 11, which has a connecting room for more space. The room has toys, a toddler-sized table and chairs, and a little hook plus cubbie hole with her name. Her teachers are Ms. Kelly and Ms. Carol. There is a teacher's aide named Katie who has down syndrome and will be helping the teachers this year. Kaitlyn liked her and gave her a hug by the time we left. There are 10 kiddos in her age group, seven boys and three girls (including Kaitlyn). Kaitlyn's friends, Ian and Davis, are in the same class.

As soon as we entered the room she went to play with the toys. She came back to me only a couple of times, but really enjoyed the room. I think she will do really well in the program. I know she will miss our normal routine at home a little bit, and maybe her mommy. I will miss her. The time will fly though as I will be busy working on PR projects and errands.

It was just this time last year that she was starting to eat baby food, and I was still feeding her. Where does the time go? It is a bittersweet moment, but truly a happy moment for me to see her start to interact with other kids in a safe environment and learn new things like singing and more sign language. The teachers say most kids by the end of the year are singing like songbirds and signing a lot. I can't wait to see what she learns.

THE FENCE

Here are a few photos of the new pool fence being installed today. This will definitely help when we have pool parties with other little kiddos and Kaitlyn. We can never be too safe or let our guard down when it comes to having a pool in our backyard. Kaitlyn is really great around the pool and is only interested in it if one of us is in the pool and that makes us feel good; however, we are going to feel even better knowing we have another guard against the pool. We still have a couple of alarms to put up and of course continuing to teach Kaitlyn about the water and pool safety.

Same thing, a different day

Today, has been a little boring. Y es, I will admit it. We are going to stay low-key this weekend so we don't have a whole lot to prepare for this week other than going to the store and the toddler class. We have played in the backyard and went to swing out front and now Kaitlyn is taking her usual nap. I think we are going to have to go to the mall this afternoon to get out of the house! Next week will be a very busy week, so I guess this is the calm before the storm and we better enjoy it!

I have been procrastinating with my project work, but it is hard to get much done with Kaitlyn pulling my shirt or trying to pinch me. So then I put work off and go play with Kaitlyn. It is hard to teach her that mommy has to do housework or do other work while Kaitlyn plays. This morning I tried to have her color while I did a little work, but her attention span lasted about 10 minutes.

Last night she ate part of my taco. Yeah!! Definitely excited about her wanting to try what we are eating. She ate with us around 5:30. For lunch today, she went to the pantry and pulled out her own box of crackers and grabbed some to eat with her jelly sandwich. She also finally ate some dried fruit and tried a rice cake with peanut butter. We are thankful that we are making a little progress in the eating department!

August is Around the Corner

Here's to another month of record heat and finding other ways to keep Kaitlyn entertained! While we have enjoyed a couple of weddings, pool time, a visit to Beaumont and the Plano Parks and Recreation toddler time class, we have seen Kaitlyn grow leaps and bounds in her cognitive and physical development.

As you can tell from this blog she is learning many things, it is fascinating how she can watch us do something and then repeat it only after a few tries. And after this weekend hanging out with some friends from college who all have one-year-olds we laughed because as I was talking about Kaitlyn's many sleep positions, they all said the same about their children. I said Kaitlyn would sometimes sleep with her toosh in the air or if she is extremely worn out, she would lay spread eagle; friends would raise their hand in agreement. It was so neat to hear that as much as they have these unique personalities, they all develop in the same way.

Kaitlyn has now learned how to listen to instruction. She has done this throughout the month, but this weekend would touch Daddy's arm and then when asked, go and touch Mommy's arm. She is also feeding and rocking her baby dolls now when asked to do it. This morning she was cooking up an omelet in her little kitchen and putting the utensils in the baby's mouth. Now that is mmmm-good.

Kaitlyn's Playhouse

Here is video of Kaitlyn playing in her new playhouse. It is under the cabana in the backyard as it is just too hot to put it anywhere else in the backyard. And of course, we have no room in our house because of all of Kaitlyn's toys.



Kaitlyn is in another teething phase. I think a month before she actually cuts a tooth, she starts to get a little fussy and then the drool comes. Then it stops for a while and now it is back. She doesn't want to eat and her sleep has been interupted with the pain. I can see and feel a front side bottom tooth coming in and it doesn't look pretty.

Besides that, she got a hair on her pacifier today. She saw it, took it off and walked to the trash can and put it in. May I add that she did this all on her own. I was very impressed. What is next I wonder?

Testing the Limits

I saw on Shelley's blog this really cool way to share more photos and video and thought I would see how it would work on our blog. Shelley, if you see this, Brian and Hayley were just adorable! I miss wrapping Kaitlyn up in her little swaddling blanket!

This is Ms. Kaitlyn in her crib, but she wasn't going to sleep. She threw out her blankie and pacifer so we had to come back in and give them to her.

From Beaumont to Dallas...

It has been a week since we last posted an update. I can't believe time flys by so quickly. Last weekend we went to Beaumont for a visit with Brandon's parents and Spencer and Christy. Kaitlyn enjoyed spending time there and seeing a whole new surrounding. The heat was unbearable so we stayed inside and played in a new playhouse for her. Of course, Gigi and Big Daddy couldn't get enough of her and wanted to show her all the fun things to do. We also toured the backyard as Brandon's parents are putting in a saltwater, heated pool.






Kaitlyn didn't eat much as she seems to be too distracted when we travel nowadays. She did love singing Old MacDonald and has started saying clearly e, i, o. It is so cute. She is very interested by that song. Also, instead of saying dog now, she is trying to say Heidi. She will try to say Hello Heidi. Although, it sounds more like, "heeeoooo, hiiiii."

Kaitlyn did great in the car! Yeah! The ride back was especially trying for us as the front driver-side window would not roll back up. We had to drive with plastic over it for a five hour drive. I drove because of my motion sickness and was killing me with the window down. Kaitlyn and Brandon faired a lot better. I couldn't believe how she was just watching her Baby Einstein video or play around with daddy the whole time. I am glad for that as it has taken me a week to recover from being so tired and worn out from that.

Grandpa and Oma came to help us out with getting the van to the dealership as well. My dad was working in McKinney and that was so convenient. Luckily the car was all fixed up in a day and everything was back to normal.

Last week, we also prepared for our friends - Katie and Donny's wedding this past weekend in Dallas. The wedding was at Perkins Chapel on SMU campus and the reception was at the same hotel where Brandon and I had our reception. Ahhh, the reception was in a different room. The cake was made by the same company as our cake and that was sooo good. It was beautiful and the food was great. Of course the bride and groom were beautiful and looked so happy. We left Kaitlyn at home with Spencer and Christy and we were out until 12:30 am. Talk about late for us! Ha!






Stephanie Green came by on Friday before the rehearsal dinner and Kaitlyn pulled out all of her toys to show off to Stephanie. She really looked like she remembered her from other visits. Garfield came to play with Brandon in the pool and they tested out a new pool game we have. It is pretty cool. The water is so warm right now because of the 100 degree heat.

Sunday we just spent the day recovering from being out late and not seeing Kaitlyn. Today, I must say if you are ever in need of some entertainment for little kids, you must go to Petsmart. We went there today to buy some dog food for Heidi and Baxter and they have a play area/dog sitting area. There must have been about six dogs playing in there and that kept our attention for a long time as well as all the kitties up for adoption. Oh, and the birds were chirping very loudly in the front so we said hi to them as well.

We have a wedding in Austin this weekend for Kerry Marsack and then we will be staying in town for awhile, we hope.

Ear-replaceable Wife

Ok folks, it's Brandon here, and I'm finally posting my first "blog" or whatever you call it. Sarah's always writing on here about stories from our weekend or other fun times, so let me go ahead and break down this past weekend which it looks like she's already beat me to the punch about. The weekend was horrible...yes, I said it...HORRIBLE. At least for me it was (along with that poor Italian soccer player that got nailed in the chest by a headbunt from the French captain during the World Cup...did anyone see that?). Beginning on Thursday evening, I was introduced to my very first ear infection, and golly gee has it been a grand experience.

After spending the weekend counting the number of pulsations that were blaring in my ear and pounding on my entire head, I was debating pulling off a "Van Gogh" and just cutting off my left ear. Long story short, I learned that an ear infection is pretty close to the most painful illness I've ever had, next to balding.

But the whole point of me writing this was to give some major props to my wonderful wife, Sarah. She's always getting on here and saying nice things about everyone else, but it's time she gets a bit of recognition herself. While I was in complete misery the last four days, she was there by my side every minute of every day doing anything she could to comfort me....not to mention doing this on top of taking care of Kaitlyn, the dogs, her own work, AND the house! And then on top of that, I wake up from a nap yesterday afternoon to find out that she's mowed the lawn as another surprise for me.

All I know is that I'm one lucky guy to have such an amazing wife. I'm so thankful for having you in my life Sarah, and I hope this flattery that EVERYONE can read is making you 20 different shades of red. HA! Here's to you, my little paparazzi wife (because she loves to take pictures). Thank you for everything you do!!!!

Worn Out!

I am worn out! I have been taking care of two babies this weekend, Brandon and Kaitlyn. Brandon has a horrible ear infection combined with swimmer's ear. He has been in so much pain and I have been up at night with him. It reminds me of the times when I got up for Kaitlyn's feedings. Ahhhh.

We had Christy and Spencer, Grandpa and Stephen over. That was great because Kaitlyn was greatly entertained while mom and dad were too tired to play with her.

And today, I am most excited to say that I mowed our lawn. I would mow our lawn growing up every once in awhile, but only run up and down once and then give it back to my dad. Today, I had sweat from head to toe. Oh, you think we don't have that much yard since we have a pool, but it felt like it took me forever to get that mower going and mow around everything. I must have held the handle on the lawn mower incorrectly too because I have some yucky blisters on my thumbs. Until tomorrow, the bed is calling my name now.

A Tyke-Riding, Outside-Roaming, 27 Pound Toddler

It was so incredibly nice this weekend for us to just stay home and play in the pool. We didn't invent any home projects or work on anything except perfecting our lazy and entertaining skills. We had time to enjoy a little friend/family time too. The lazy days of summer are here until...

Da, duh, duh... Yep, that is correct. We have one more weekend of nothing until we travel or have a wedding. And then in August, Kaitlyn goes to Mother's Day Out, and we have a family trip to San Diego.

And of course, now on to the star of the show - Kaitlyn. I just can't get over how much Kaitlyn is learning. In the short amount of time yesterday that Brandon came home and I ran out to run four errands, a total of 45 minutes, Kaitlyn learned how to get on the couch with the help of a little stool, say blue and say white. Kaitlyn's likes and dislikes are becoming very apparent. She likes being outside. She plays with everything. She especially loved our friends' kids playhouse. And at a garage sale I went to back in April, I bought a toddler plastic trike. It really has four wheels, but who's counting. She is riding it almost every night. And it is really fun to see her ride the spring horse now too cause she can get going on her own. Despite all of these exciting things we see her doing, she is fighting getting another tooth. It is keeping her up and may be the cause of her being so picky while eating. We are sending out for teething tabs all the time now. She really likes them and I think they may help.

Now for those of you who think we only teach her the boring things like colors, numbers or animals. We are going for the tricks too. When I wink at her, she winks back at me. When Brandon asks her what the lion says, she raises her hands and goes "roar." Now those are the things that will get you far in life. Have you seen "America's Got Talent?" Brandon and I watched one show the other night and maybe Kaitlyn's talents will be recognized in "Toddlers' Got Talent."

Our 3rd Anniversary

Today is our 3rd Wedding Anniversary and we can't believe it. It feels like such a long time. In the short three years we have been married, we have gone to Hawaii, San Francisco, Italy, Jackson Hole, Las Vegas and Disneyworld. We also have made millions of trips to College Station, Waco, Beaumont, Ville Platte and Kansas City to see alma maters and family.

Not only have we taken a lot of trips, we have worked together on putting our house together, play in our pool, hosted a lot of parties and changed jobs. We have learned a lot and have had a lot of fun. Brandon, what else?

The best thing that has happened to us in the three years we have been married is Kaitlyn. She is so very special and has showed us another side of ourselves. Brandon is so very sweet with Kaitlyn and loves to teach her to make all sorts of animal sounds. Kaitlyn has shown me the true
meaning of patience. It isn't hard to have when she is just so very sweet.

Here's to you Brandon on July 5!