Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York in a nutshell…

...by Caitlyn Leigh

Thursday, I flew to the East coast with my Mom, Dad, and Aunt Scarlet. We flew into New Jersey and drove into Connecticut for Adam’s and Talbot’s wedding… which was amazingly beautiful. We had dinner, breakfast and brunch plans every day that we were there… it was a super busy weekend. Talbot’s family was very welcoming (the wedding was at their house). On Sunday, after a brunch, we headed to New York (I learned that my mom and dad will NEVER drive in the city of New York EVER again). When we arrived, we strolled through Central Park, rode on the carousel, bought and ate a hotdog from some guy selling them from a street stand, I learned to stand on my own, I went on a swing, and a slide, went to times square, and I enjoyed some cotton candy and New York style pizza. The AC was broke in our hotel, so I didn’t sleep too well, but I was so happy the next morning when my mom took me to the TODAY SHOW. We saw Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera in Rockefeller Center… It was so cool. We toured the streets, spent many hours walking and then headed home. Our flight was a little delayed, but I still slept the whole flight home… and then went straight to bed when we got to our house. My crib is so much better than any of the hotel cribs.
Enjoy the two collages the first one is mostly of me and the second summarizes our whole trip. I had so much fun…

Adam and Talbot make a wonderfully beautiful married couple… Congratulations to both of you!
We spent Father's Day on the East coast, I made my dad a mixed CD with all of our favorite songs, we listened to it as we drove from CT to NY. I am so lucky to have such and amazing dad!!! Also, I love my DziaDzia and Grandpa very much... they obviously did a good job raising my Mom and Dad... Happy Fathers Day to all the Father's out there!This is my dad and I still sleeping... I loved that he let me sleep with him because I hated the crib!This is us swinging on Father's Day. I loved swinging because I could feel the wind blowing through my mowhawk of curls... which everyone adored!

Home Sweet Home

We're home after a funfulled, jam-packed 5 days of traveling.

I am currently trying to sort through the hundreds of pics I took and will post them soon! In the mean time... Enjoy this absolutely adorable picture of Caitlyn Leigh!

10 Months

Happy 10 months, my sweet baby girl!

Last weekend we took Caitlyn in the pool for the 1st time and she LOVED it! I cannot believe she is 10 months old. I don't know why, but that seems SO much older than 9 months. She is learning at lightening speed. Caitlyn still scoots, but prefers to cruise (pull herself up and hold onto things to walk). She even pulls herself up on the wall and will walk with that as her support. I love when I am washing the dishes or getting ready in the morning, she uses my legs to help her stand and just stands in between my legs waiting to be picked up. She loves to crawl up the stairs and then look back at mommy and daddy to make sure we noticed how well she did. She's kind of protesting baby foods... she doesn't like to be spoon fed right now. I've been cutting or tearing up foods that we are eating and putting them on her high chair. She would much rather feed herself and she is still toothless! Caitlyn will engage in a full conversation with us... she mostly says, "DA DA DA DADADA DA DA!" & " BA BA BA BABABA BA BA!" She speaks with such authority! My favorite thing that she does right now is give kisses. She's always given really good wet open mouth kisses, but lately she has been forming her lips to give her mama a kiss. All I have to say is, "Give your mama a kiss" and she comes diving in. I love it!!!

Enjoy her 1st swim pictures!

CWU Grad!

Congratulations, Hana Kristine!!! Friday, the whole family piled into 3 separate vehicles and traveled to Ellensburg in central Washington for Hana's graduation. We joined Courtney (Hana's roommate and best friend) and her family for a huge BBQ. The food and company was good and the evening ended with a few good games of beer pong. Then, 7 of us slept in one hotel room while my mom, dad, and grandma shared the other room (it was tough to get rooms and my dad reserved them last year). Our room was jam packed!!! Caitlyn did a little better sleeping in a hotel. While laying in bed, she grunted and did summersaults in the nook of my arm for close to an hour until she found a cozy spot and fell asleep. Saturday was the ceremony and the weather was extremely windy but with beautiful blue skies.
Hana actually completed school in December with honors and then walked with the 2008 graduates. We all couldn't be more proud of her. She is now considering going back to school for some post baccalaureate studying. Way to go, Han...you'll find that for the rest of your life you will be constantly continuuing your education.

Green Thumb???

Ksavera and Hana were in the dining room working on a scrap book, I was talking on the phone with Tobi, Ash was dishing out home-made nachos, and Caitlyn was ....

trying out her green thumb???
Yuck... this pic makes me want to gag OR wash her face OR rinse her mouth out OR...
Brush her teethless mouth out with her daddy's tooth brush!

I thought our house was pretty safe. Caitlyn has attempted to play with the dirt before and we have politely said, "No, Thank-you" and she stops, but tonight we were all pre-occupied and for that split second, Caitlyn wanted to taste the dirt.

(I, personally think she's just trying to learn from my gardening skills.)

Even with a mouth full of potted house plant dirt... she's a doll!

Caitlyn & Charlotte

We had the Kohlers over for dinner on Saturday and Caitlyn and Charlotte played so well together. Charlotte can walk so Caitlyn had a little bit of a hard time keeping up... but it won't be long until Caitlyn will be walking too!

Here they are playing well together...

And here... Charlotte takes off leaving Caitlyn crawling behind! I can't wait for her to be able to hang with the big girls :)

BUBBLES...

The other day, I was washing dishes and Caitlyn was in one of those moods where she needed to be held. So I quit what I was doing and blew dish soap bubbles with her. I had so much fun and so did she. She concentrated so hard on the bubbles and then giggled when they popped. What a cheap way to have a little fun!

1 of my new 'Things'...

Gardening!!!

Lately, my days off have been spent in the dirt. Finally, the flowers that I bought in March are blooming. Not all of them... but most. I can't wait for the fuscias and the geraniums to start flowering (you can expect more pics when they do). I walk around the perimeter of my house ATLEAST twice a day... usually with Caitlyn to take a look at all of our new growth. Caitlyn's first sentence just might be, 'ooh... look at the pretty bleeding hearts' or 'the heliotropes have such dark green leaves'. I describe each flower and plant to her so I'm sure she's enjoying and absorbing all of the knowledge. Oh... and I used to think that ferns were the ugliest plant on the entire earth. NOW, I can't get enough of them. I love how they look like little sea horses unraveling into this huge BEAUTIFUL leafy plant!!! I think Spring is my new favorite season (It used to be winter because of the holidays)!!! I love my yard so much right now... in fact, I am going to be finished posting now, so I can go back out there and enjoy it all before the sun goes down.
Good Night!

Terisha's Birthday

Happy late birthday, Terisha... Every year I forget if Terisha's Special day is the 20th or 21st... this year I actually knew it was on the 20th and still forgot to post. This forgetfullness has no relationship with how much I consider and cherish our friendship. We shared a wonderful friday afternoon with Tiffany, Avery, and Terisha. Thanks for the really cute ourfit! I can't wait for her to grow into it so I can takes pics and put it on my blog. Love ya!

Hope everyone has a fun, relaxing, and safe Memorial Day weekend!

Best Friends Forever

These are my favorite pics of the girls from our recent photo shoot.

Thanks to Vicki, they had matching dresses.

I couldn't believe how great Avery did.

In the above picture she was sitting up all on her own!!!

I think this pic was taken right before Caitlyn hit Avery in the head.

Avery was so patient with little Caitlyn, who I'm sure was just trying to love on her.

I can't wait to do more photo shoots together!

9 Months Check-Up

Today, We weighed in at 14 pounds and 14 ounces and measured 28 1/2 inches long!!! Caitlyn definitely is a little string bean! The MD said that she has a petite but perfect physique. I was a little nervous for the weigh in today so I tried to force feed her a 4 oz. bottle of formula after she ate breakfast and nursed... she was obviously full cause she wasn't interested in it at all. The appointment went well. This was probably her best appointment (there were no immunizations or blood draws)! Also the doctor checked for some reflex and then said that she'd definitely be walking within three months! That made me so excited. He asked if she likes to pull herself up on things... and MAN does she ever!!! She still does not crawl the traditional way... she tucks her left leg and scoots but then will pull herself up on any and everything and walk all around. The doctor says that's called cruising.... so she is a cruising pro!

These pics were shot at some gas station on the way home from Spokane... I thought they were fitting for the blog.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and Vicki. You both are amazing mothers and I hope that Ash and I will touch Caitlyn's life as much as you both have touched ours!!!

Being a mother is AMAZING!!!

I never dreamed of loving someone this strongly.

It is a feeling I cannot put into words...

only another mother can understand.

I had such a special day celebrating with Caitlyn and Ash. I woke up to breakfast in bed and Ash gave me a choice of a few things to do for the day.

Believe it or not... I chose to do yard work.

I planted about two thirds of the plants I bought a while back. They are looking a little limp now, but I'm sure with just a little love and tender care... they will be beautiful in no time!

What a wonderful and relaxing 1st Mother's Day!!!

Slowly,
starting now,
a thousand stars in the sky will become clearer,
a thousand notes in your heart will blend into song,
and all the love you have ever given,
will be returned to you a thousand times better
by your baby girl.

(I got this from one of my baby shower cards)
Thank you Caitlyn (and Ash) for giving me the best gift in the entire world...
Becoming a MOM!!!

9 Months

Happy 9 Months of life to our little Caitlyn Leigh! Yesterday we went to the mall with Tiffany, Kory, and their daughter Avery to have pictures taken of the two little ones. We had a wonderful time... and I can't wait to post some of the pics we got. Caitlyn has her 9 month check-up on monday... so I will post more then!

Finished Project

I have been meaning to post this picture for a couple weeks now... it is of Cait and I resting right before bedtime with the blanket that I crocheted for her. My mom and I started the blanket while we were in PA and she taught me how to continue on... then I would do a row, then my mom would, then I would... and so on. I took a break from it when I got home and started it again just a couple weeks ago and finished it. I love cuddling with her in it.

She uses it as her night time and nap time blanket.

Congratulations, Scarlet!

Friday, Ashley, Caitlyn, and I drove to eastern Washington to celebrate Scarlet's graduation from nursing school. Scarlet wore my nursing honor cords since I never wore them or went to my graduate school commencement. We are very proud of all her hard work and know that she'll pass the NCLEX with flying colors!
Even though the graduation was right in the middle of Caitlyn's nap time... she did really well the whole trip. Well... she did well with the driving and the behaving during the ceremony and then it came time to sleep at the hotel... which she didn't do at all, but then she made up for it on the ride home the next day and the following night.