Fourteen Months!

Well, Katelyn, it's been quite a month for you! You definitely deserve a monthly post this time. I guess I'll keep it up until you're 2. Here's what you've been up to:

You have one new tooth coming in for a total of 9. But the ones you already had have come in so much more and it makes you look so much older!
You are starting to grow out of some of your 12 month clothes.

You started asking for hairbows. And you leave them in.You love shoes. They are your favorite thing to play with. Here you are with a few of your favorites: a doll, a paci, and a shoe.You are a little princess. But you also know what you want, and you do what you have to do to get it. You stick up for yourself when big brother takes your toys. You hit and scream. And then you make me hold your sippy cup for you.

You dropped a bottle feeding and a nap. You now drink a bottle when you wake up and when you go to sleep, but none during the day. According to my plan of completely weaning you at 15 months, you weren't supposed to have that morning bottle this morning. Maybe tomorrow. You consistently nap from about 12-2 (give or take) every day. Good girl!

You still love to eat. This month you started taking bites of your food. We don't have to break everything up for you anymore. (I can hand you a whole waffle or pancake now, and you can handle it.) Your current favorite food? Ritz crackers. I usually top them with either hummus or cream cheese for you.You always fall asleep on your own. YAY! I feel like for a while we were going back and forth, but we finally got it. You never cry when I leave you in your crib. Sometimes you don't even want me to sing songs. You try to crawl out of my arms into your crib. I have a TINY bit of sadness about this, but I'm so happy you feel comfortable falling asleep by yourself.

You sleep with blankie and a baby doll. Oh, and paci. (Yes, you get to keep that until you're 3 just like brother). And you use your bumper pad as a pillow, often with your bottom straight up in the air.

You stayed without Mommy for 3 nights in a row and did great! I missed you so much, but I'm glad you were able to adjust so well.

I disconnected your Angelcare monitor this week. This came after Nanna found you with the cord to it wrapped around your neck during naptime! I highly recommend this product to any new mom with a new baby. But once that baby is a toddler, it's time to take it out.

Your vocabulary now consists of mama, dada, uh oh, and something that sounds like "thank you". You have also imitated the word "cracker" once. You consistently sign "more", "all done" and "eat".

You love animals. And you think that all animals say "woof woof". But you will roar like a lion when prompted.

You are standing! Only for a few seconds so far, but you get so excited!You are walking with assistance too! You LOVE to push your stroller and went from barely taking steps with Mommy holding the stroller to strolling all by yourself in one day. Today you also walked with only one hand held!


We love you so much sweet girl! Happy 14 months!

Snow, snow, and more snow!

Well, this is really late, but we have been busy doing this:Most of you know that we got quite a lot of snow in Georgia a couple of weeks ago (6-8 inches at our house!). Reminded me of when I was a kid and we actually got snow like that about once a year. At least it seemed like once a year to me. Enough for us to own snowsuits. I was so glad my kids (well, Collin) got to experience the fun. Without snowsuits. We waited all day for the snow to start falling, and it finally did after dark. It was amazing how much fell in such a short period of time. Collin was so excited when he woke up! On the first day, it was so soft and powdery, you couldn't even make a snowball. But Collin really enjoyed playing outside (twice) and having hot chocolate and marshmallows. I think Katelyn thought we were crazy. She wasn't very excited. We also made snow cream for the first time. Both kids loved it. Not great in my opinion, but better than I thought it might be. The only thing Collin didn't like about the snow was this:

The second day, there was a layer of ice on top of the powdery stuff. Collin and I were able to make a snowman (okay, I built the snowman while Collin ate handfuls of snow). And here's why I will not spend an hour making a snowman next time it snows:

I didn't get any pictures or video of day three, but it was complete ice. Dangerous to walk on ice. It didn't break under our feet like the day before. Collin had a blast "sledding" on a cardboard box in the backyard. I had fun running up (to get ready for the next sled down) and down (because I was afraid he would keep going down into the woods) the hill for about an hour. Mike had finally made it into work this day, or I would have called in for reinforcement. But it was worth it.

On day 4 we headed down to Fayetteville as planned (well a little later in the day so the sun could melt some of the ice) to get the kids settled at Nanna's and Mimi's before we headed to Vegas. It was amazing how much ice and snow were still on I85 4 days later! But we made it safely there and to the airport the next morning and had a great weekend away. Thanks to Nanna, Gumpy, Aunt Kandace, Mimi, and Auntie Joy for taking care of them. I know they both had a blast, as did we!

Typical Day

a little bit of love

a little bit of fighting

a few poopie diapers (watch...it's in the first few seconds)

a little bit of the dog getting in my way

a little bit of noise

a little bit of wild and crazy

a little bit of cleaning and laundry (behind the scenes)

a whole lot of LAUGHTER



And I wouldn't trade it for the world.

11 in 2011

I'm really not one to make a New Years resolution. I usually don't make one at all. This year, however, I think I have a few, or 11. I don't really feel the pressure that I think accompanies some resolutions. I'm just making a few goals to make this year even better than the last.

1. I will drink more water. As soon as Katelyn stopped nursing, I think I forgot what water was, because I was so excited to be drinking other things (mainly sweet tea and Starbucks).

2. I will walk the dog more. This was going really well until daylight savings time ended. And it got cold.

3. We will eat healthier dinners. This will not be hard if we're comparing to how we ate over the holidays.

4. I will read more. This will not be hard either. If I read more than 1 book this year, I've done it.

5. I will read to the kids more. I've already added reading into Katelyn's nap time routine since taking away that midday bottle feeding.

6. I will listen to more Zac Brown Band. Have more date nights. And hang out with my sister and brother-in-law more. What a fun New Years Eve!7. I will play more. I have done pretty good with this since becoming a stay at home mom 6/7 days a week, but I think I could do even better. Especially when I remember that Collin will be in school every day 8 months from now. I will have plenty of time for cleaning then.

8. I will give more hugs and kisses. Not sure if this one is possible (because of how many I already give out), but I can always try!

9. I will not string lights on a tree this year. It wasn't so bad putting them on, but taking them off was a different story.

10. I will be more consistent with "time out" and do less raising my voice.

11. I will treasure each and every moment that I am lucky enough to be able to be home with my kids. Even the whining, fighting, and messes. Like when Katelyn discovered the Tupperware cabinet lock was broken today.Happy 2011!