It Has Been Called A Zoo!

We sent photos through Kodak Gallery today of Kaitlyn's birthday party yesterday. Here is a link if you have not seen them: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=hhuz2tp.7piqm1bp&Uy=-bdjonn&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=643329384245_840074896405

Before I describe a little more about the party, I would like to write about a few things Kaitlyn is doing now before I forget. She is picking up a lot and I wonder what we can put in front of her next so she can pick it up! She loves her books and Dr. Seuss is the favorite right now, especially, Hop on Pop! They show a family and she can point out and say mommy, daddy, sister, brother. Yeah! We also have caught her reading to herself and says tall and small for the pages that show tall and small people. I am noticing her starting to put a sentence together like, "I play."

So moving on to the party, it was from 3 pm to 5 pm and this was a good time. Kaitlyn woke up at 2:30 and just loved the decorations of zoo animals. She was excited to greet her guests and put the presents on the table. She then ran around and showed her friends how to play with her toys. Although, she chased some down to have them back or wanted a book back. She just stared when we sang happy birthday, but blew out her candles when it came time. She loved the cake and ate a lot of it. She didn't like the incredible punch. The activity was making little zoo animal lunch sack puppets. A couple of kiddos liked that, but the rest just wanted to play. It was pretty funny when we tried to get 11 kids to take picture. They were running everywhere. And then one had a dirty diper and it cleared the room for sure! Perfect timing!

We then went to The Purple Cow for dinner with Kaitlyn's friends Kali, Jake and Abby. Jake and Kaitlyn played the whole time. Kaitlyn even shared her fries with him.



Kaitlyn went to bed at 8 pm, but didn't fall asleep until 10:30 pm. I think she was a little over-stimulate. Just a bit.

Today, she took a three hour nap and will go to bed early for sure. We are gearing up for a family party next weekend and look forward to playing!

A Bath Time Photo

Brandon really missed his calling to be a hairstylist. He has a knack for making Kaitlyn's hair do just the craziest thing. I try, but her hair just doesn't work for me! It has been awhile since we took some fun bath photos!

A Very Important Announcement

Kaitlyn is going to be a big sister!

We are happy to spread the word that we are expecting a baby in late August or first of September. The official date is Sept. 4 and that means that I am around 8 weeks pregnant now. We are really excited and know there are going to be a lot of changes around here, especially for Kaitlyn. We know she is going to be a great big sister and can't wait until she sees mommy's belly growing!

She loves baby dolls now. She gives them a drink or pats their belly and says shhhh, to put them to sleep.

Freezing Rain, Snow, Sleet and More of It

The weather forecasters have been predicting freezing rain, "wintery mix," and sleet since last Friday. We canceled plans over the weekend and Brandon has worked from home twice this week already. Kaitlyn and I are going stir crazy because we have had to be at the house most of the week except yesterday when there was no precipitation. As of yesterday, there was no forecast for bad weather here; however, we woke up to snow and ice!

Even though we didn't get out and play in it, Kaitlyn and I watched from inside. She felt the window with her hand and felt how cold it was. She even didn't want to go out. Here is a little video.

Saying ABCs

We have been reading new books, playing with new toys and getting back into a routine in this new year. Kaitlyn enjoyed going back to school this week. Today, she repeated part of the Alphabet with me. The Chicka, Chick, Boom, Boom book is all about the alphabet and has it printed in big letters. We said, A - B - C - D - E. Kaitlyn said all of these letters as clear as day. I think she is catching on to what the alphabet is and likes to sing the song. She started to say F; however, I started to lose her attention and went on to another activity.

Happy New Year! 2007

Can you believe it is 2007? I can't. Amazing how time flies! Brandon had his birthday on Saturday and he enjoyed a birthday cake from his friend John. I made him a small oreo cookie pie. That was yummy. We were also able to make him wear the birthday hat we bought from Disney World last year as a new tradition. He and I also went out on a date to dinner and a movie. We had a good time. We saw Rocky Balboa and it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. But that was okay, we were in a movie theater. Yeah! Brandon always wants to go to a movie!


We have had the laziest weekend ever. We pretty much have stayed home all weekend. I think we all liked having a little down time. Today is a very nice day and have been working on getting some leaves out of the yard with Brandon's new blower.

I am very much in procrastination mode now. I know there are several projects to do, but don't want to do them as it has been so nice to do nothing. Kaitlyn has given us somewhat of a break with her playing with her new toys. We have been playing with the Play Doh like crazy. She also has been taking her potty training baby with her toilet and trying to make not the baby, but herself sit on the little potty. She is really on a potty kick and this is a very good sign!

Oh and a side note, on Dec. 28, Brandon was invited to the McKinney A&M Club to lead a small yell practice before the game-watching party. Even though he said it was cheesey, he is so cool and awesome when he leads yells. What fun for Kaitlyn and I to watch.

Traveling Around The Holidays

This year we made our way down to Beaumont to be with Brandon's family for Christmas and had a small Christmas with my family the weekend before. Kaitlyn received so many cute things from her grandparents and I couldn't even point to one of her favorites as she enjoyed having a few new toys to play with at Christmas time. What a fun time to watch her open presents. She made sure every piece of wrapping paper went in the trash.

I am proud of myself this year as we were able to celebrate Christmas together a lot this month. We went to see the lights in Deerfield Park at least three times with our families. We went to see Santa Claus, shopped early and I even got creative and made earrings for several friends and family. As much as I want to keep Christmas about Jesus; I also want to celebrate our family and beliefs for God has given us so much to be thankful for.

Kaitlyn with Poodles on her ears!



With Christmas and the New Year around the corner, reflection on 2006 and the upcoming year is all I can think about. So I have decided to write a few things that come to mind.

2006
1. I am so thankful for having flown Kaitlyn and myself to Kansas to see my Grandmother one more time before she passed away on Nov. 7, 2006 at age 80. Gran was a great cook, listened well and could always give good advice.

2. On Feb. 5, 2006, I was so thankful to have made it a year with Kaitlyn. She has grown into a little girl right before our eyes. Now she walks, talks, feeds herself, runs, dances, sings, colors, plays with playdoh and says, "Mommy," which gives me such great joy to hear her.

3. On July 5, 2006, Brandon and I celebrated three years of marriage and look forward to another year.

4. On Sept. 6, 2006, Brandon made my birthday sweet by taking me to a fun restaurant, although I think I am looking forward more to my 30th birthday because Brandon went to DisneyWorld for his. I can't imagine where I can convince him to go with me now!

5. A tradition was born this summer with Pool Time Fridays for Kaitlyn's friends and moms. It was so much fun to play in the pool. We built a pool fence to hold those kiddos in. I can't wait to see what happens this summer!

6. We enjoyed our first family vacation to San Diego in August. We had so much fun and it was pretty economical. San Diego was a great choice as Kaitlyn still talks about the beach and the zoo.

7. This Christmas season I will remember mostly Kaitlyn playing in her new car, giving hugs and kisses to her grandparents and opening presents by one piece of wrapping paper at a time.

8. Kaitlyn is so active and keeps me running after her all the time. I look foward to her having more stamina to sit and play with one toy for longer than five minutes. Oh boy, that would be great! Oh and can I put in this request: Brandon and I be able to take her with us somewhere and she is not running around the whole time. Our little explorer can wear me out, especially when she disagrees with me.

9. On Nov. 17, 2007, Kaitlyn will be a flower girl for the first time. I look foward to seeing her in a pretty little dress again.

10. I look forward to how my relationships will grow with God and within my family, extended family and close friends.

Procrastinate

Why is it we procrastinate until the last minute when there are a ton of things to be done? I have been doing this all week. I thought I would be ready to head on down to Beaumont for Christmas tomorrow morning, but I just don't feel ready. I have tried to be a little more creative this year for Kaitlyn and making some fun memories, like making some presents and practicing Christmas traditions with Kaitlyn. I think I need to read the "Simple Christmas" book lying on my end table. Ha.

Today, Brandon and I took Kaitlyn to see Santa. He is actually the same Santa as last year and he was really sweet to her. She was excited to see him as we stood in line and waived hi. However, it was another story once she was on his lap. She looked at the camera like she had been hit by a bus. Not one thing came out of her. She clammed up because she was shy. I know it doesn't help to have these people standing around saying, "Give us a big smile," "Say Cheese," and the one I usually always get a smile with, "Boo!" Who can blame her? We stood in line for about 30 minutes and in her world that is an eternity!

Jingle Bells

So we haven't shown you our house all decorated... Here are a couple of photos of our lights and Disney tree. We are putting up a little more every year. Brandon has not completed his dream of Disney characters dotting our yard, but I am sure we will have those soon enough.


Kaitlyn has her first sucker.









Kaitlyn performed in her Mother's Day Out School Christmas concert. It only lasted about 15 minutes; however, it was just precious. And like the fun feeling I had with my first parent/teacher conference, Brandon and I both couldn't believe we were seeing Kaitlyn perform, i.e. stand in a box with the other toddlers watching the older children sing with the hand movements and the parents everywhere with their video cameras. Kaitlyn's favorite song is Jingle Bells and tries to sing and dance to it.



Kaitlyn (1 yr class) and Ashley Dickens (3 yr class)

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!