Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter weekend (minus a nasty stomach virus that BJ & I both had).  Fortunately, my mom made a last minute trip in for the weekend and was able to help out with the cooking, cleaning, child duties, etc.  Thank you Mom! She and Kaitlin really enjoyed their weekend together and spent a lot of time playing outside, cooking, dying easter eggs, and shopping.  I also enjoyed a nice visit with my mom once I was feeling better. We finished the weekend with Easter dinner at Brian and Teresa's.  I love holidays.  It's so fun getting to do all the kid activities all over again. =)

They look so much alike.

Such a happy child.

So excited to dye Easter Eggs.

Morning of Easter Egg Hunt.

She loves ducks!

Finally a decent picture of the two of us! :) She insisted on wearing her sunglasses.

Kaitlin and her daddy. <3

Kaitlin is 2.

I cannot believe that I am a mom of a 2 year old. Time needs to slow down. Now.  My little 2 year old is so happy and so much fun.  She is the life of the party and a welcome breath of fresh air.  We have the best time hanging out.  Don't get me wrong, she can throw a temper tantrum with the best of them...but usually only when she is over tired and usually involves food in some way. She loves to eat, but is the world's pickiest eater.

She is sweet as can be, gives lots of hugs and kisses, comforts her friends when they are sad, and gives lots of love to mommy and daddy.  And when she says "I love you Mama," it melts my heart.  Speaking of talking, she talks non stop and is saying several multi word sentences.  She says bye to everyone: "Bye Mac, Bye Maddie, Bye Bird, Bye Baby, etc." She loves her dogs, but it really bothers her when they do something they aren't supposed to do or get near her toys.  She is so funny.

I know she is really growing up because she sits still and lets me fix her hair now and when I take her to school she puts her "baby" to bed (aka in Kaitlin's cubby) and says "baby night night". Although she still loves "baby" she is becoming less dependent on her and doesn't even nap with her at school.  We are very happy with Kaitlin's school and she is learning so much.  She recently surprised me by counting to 10! She also knows shapes and colors: blue, red, pink, and yellow.

We read lots of books at home.  She loves animals and making animal sounds.   She is obsessed with being outdoors.  Our backyard looks like an advertisement for Toys R Us.  Fortunately we also have a playground practically in our backyard and the weather has been amazing.  She still loves music and loves to dance.  She has quite an imagination and loves playing with her dolls.  Elmo is of course her favorite.

Kaitlin is crawling out of her crib, but so far not at night...only during nap time.  So I know we are going to be moving to a toddler bed soon, but I'm putting it off as long as possible.  She has been staying up later than normal lately, but I'm ok with it because I get more time with her in the evenings.
She is making friends in the neighborhood.  So far her best friends are a 5 year old little girl and a 10 year old boy.  They are so sweet to her and she loves to play with the big kid toys.  Each evening they ride their bikes on the cul de sac as she tries out her Trike or drives her pink car.

We casually started potty training a couple of months ago and it was going extremely well.  But, we had to put a hold on it because things have just been too CRAZY the past 2 months. We will pick it back up soon.  I think it will only take her a few days once we get serious as she loves to sit on her potty.

Another year has flown by and I know she will be starting kindergarten before I know it! She is a joy to be around and her giggles are addicting.  I love watching her learn and grow.  I can't wait to see what year 3 has in store.  

2012.

Out with the old and in with the new! We have a lot planned for 2012.  Between balancing careers in the city and life in suburbia, it sure is busy around here! Its hard to believe that Miss Katie Bug will be turning 2 in just a couple of months. She is growing up so fast.  She is doing wonderful at school and loves her teachers as much as they love her (which makes me so happy).  She is learning so much.  After months of ear infections and being sick she finally had tubes put in last week.  It was a little scary for mom and dad, but she did great.  Now we are just looking forward to pain free ears! Poor thing had moderate hearing loss, but it is expected to return to normal.  And now that she can hear again we really expect her talking to take off even more than it already has.  She is the life of our house and there is never a dull moment that is for sure.

On the agenda for 2012~ potty training, gymnastics, swim lessons, house hunting and a move, several weddings, beach trips, and lots more to come.  Here is a fun video of Miss Kaitlin:



Dance Dance Dance from Sarah McGill on Vimeo.

Flashback: Christmas 2010

It is amazing what a difference a year can make. This is one of my very favorite pictures of Kaitlin. Her personality was really starting to shine at 9 months old. She was already full of life and enjoying being the center of attention. One year later she is still such a happy girl with the biggest smile...and still LOVES to be the center of attention.

2010

2011

Kaitlin decorating the tree..

Santa's little helper...

One of her favorite ornaments is my ballerina from childhood.

She was able to help decorate 2 trees this year...our tree in Atlanta and my parent's when we were home for Thanksgiving. 

Happy Halloween!

It feels like we have been celebrating Halloween for a month by now.  So when the day actually came and it was time for Trick or Treat...we were pretty much over it.  Not to mention it was on a Monday which are typically early nights for our little one.  I do love the holiday though and am looking forward to many years of Trick or Treat to come.  Kaitlin had many opportunities to wear her costume and I know I'm biased, but she was the cutest little lamb ever!

Don't you just want to eat her up?  She is hilarious and sure does love to play dress up!

Parade with daddy.

Halloween Eve.

 Walking in the Halloween Parade.

 Boo @ the Zoo!

 

She is the best.

Just precious.

At the Stone Mountain Pumpkin Festival parade. She loves the music and danced the whole time!

Not pictured- parade and party at school...no wonder I'm exhausted after this month long holiday! Up next West Virginia for Thanksgiving and Christmas! 

October.

Fall has officially become my favorite season of the year.  This has been the prettiest fall I can remember and the temps have been perfect. I am sad to see the month of October come to an end.  Our weekends have been filled with fun things for our little Katie bug.  Maybe in November we will get to relax a little...I doubt it as I am pretty sure relaxing is a thing of the past. Ahh oh well.

Some other things that have happened this month~ I got a new car that I'm obsessed with and BJ started a new job!

We are really looking forward to the holiday season. =) 

Here are some photos from the past month:

 At the Stone Mountain Pumpkin Festival

We were happy to have Nini in town for an unexpected weekend!

@ the apple festival.  Kaitlin loved the petting zoo!

@ the apple festival. {yes her face was a mess-its called pick your battles}

Riding a pony for the first time at the North Georgia Fall Festival.

Having a blast with my precious girl @ the N.Ga fall festival.

Isn't she the cutest?

More photos from Halloween to come...

One and a half.

Okay I know it has been awhile and I honestly considered quitting the blog altogether...but then I read back through the last year and a half and it was so nice to read about Kaitlin and our family at different stages of her life. Especially because time really does go by too fast and its so easy to forget the little moments. So I've decided to start back up...

Our little Katie Bug is a year and a half old! I can't believe it. The second year is going by even faster than the first year! We are having a ball with our little toddler. She is so much fun. Although we spend a lot of time chasing after her, she makes us laugh constantly and is full of personality. She loves to run around and be outdoors. She goes to the door and begs to go outside. She loves her dogs and thinks every other dog (or even deer) is named "Mac." She loves to brush her teeth. She tries to copy everything I do. Singing and dancing is a favorite and she loves to listen to music. The hokey pokey is the current favorite dance right now. Sadly, she loves when BJ and I sing to her- poor thing. The child has always loved to eat, but she loves it even more now. She would eat all day if we would let her...but of course she refuses to eat vegetables or any type of meat. I do miss the days when she would eat her peas and carrots. She still goes to bed easily most nights and naps well. She loves to play dress up and do anything to be the center of attention. She still loves her "baby" and CANNOT go to bed without it. Kaitlin is very observant and takes everything in. She understands when we ask her to do something and 9 times out of 10, she cooperates. She does test us at times. We do have an occasional temper tantrum, but they are short lived. I'm hoping this is the worst of the "terrible twos" but we still have a ways to go. She is learning sign language at her school and we practice at home. She signs "more" when she wants something (usually food) and she also knows the signs for "help" and "water." She is a little Mountaineer fan already and can do the "First Down" cheer (well as best as an 18 month old can). She will also say "GOOOOOOO" when a game is on. She likes to pick things up and pass them out. She also loves to put things together, and close doors. She closes the doors every time she enters or leaves a room, and she especially loves to shut the dogs out of a room. This sweet girl sure does know how to make us feel good when she lays her head on our chest or begs to be picked up. We are excited to see what the next 6 months bring and before you know it we will be celebrating her 2nd birthday! I'll give some updates on what our family has been up to in a later post- of course things are always changing with us!

Its finally cool enough to take walks and Kaitlin loves to drive her car.

She is looking so grown up.

In her new hiking gear...she loves to be up high.

Having so much fun.

Just some photos from this week.

Showing off walking skills.

Kaitlin walking May 14, 2011, originally uploaded by mcgills09.

Via Flickr:
Kaitlin is starting to walk more than she crawls. She gets so excited and is so proud of herself!

14 months.

This has been quite a busy month for our little bug. Along with numerous trips to the park, we have also visited the Georgia Aquarium, the Botanical Garden, become a regular at LA Fitness Kids Klub, and started classes at Gymboree. She is a social butterfly to say the least. She started walking a month ago and, like me, is always in a hurry. This means there are a lot of falls. A few bumps and bruises and she is not phased a bit. Each day I feel like she is doing something new. Some of our favorite things right now:

* Opening and closing doors and cabinets.
* Taking everything out of a bag,purse, box, etc. We are working on putting it back in.
* Eating with a spoon. I won't give her free reign just yet...
* Trying out different snack foods. She would literally eat cheerios all day long...
* Taking off bibs by herself (and her pants and diaper a couple of times).
* Playing independently, but is at her happiest when mommy or daddy is playing with her.
* Loving her babies--her bedtime lovey, Ellie the elephant, her lady bug stuffed animals, and her bitty baby.
* Listening to music, dancing, and singing baby babble.
* Playing peek-a-boo and cracking up.
* Play hide and seek (I hide, she comes and finds me).
* Giving mommy looks like "you are an idiot"---she is so my child and I know I am going to get serious pay backs.
* Mama is now "mammy" and still her favorite word. Its funny because when she wakes up in the morning she says "mammy" and then she says "dog" because I always take her to see the dogs when she gets up.
* Repeating words a lot... hint hint daddy ;).
* She most likely thinks Mac's name is "bad dog" and I know she says it sometimes.
* Mommy is losing the hair bow battle, as its just not worth the struggle and she takes them out anyway.
* Fighting allergies (I hate that she got this from me, especially since we live in the south).
* Squealing...remember when I said it was so cute when she was 4 months old...not so much now in the middle of the grocery store. We are working on not squealing anymore.
* Giving hugs and being just as sweet as ever.

And just for fun, here is a pic of when she was 2 weeks old and one I took yesterday. What a difference 13.5 months can make!

Mother's Day Weekend.

Anyone that is blessed to be a mother knows that mother's day is everyday. However, with all of the rewards there are certainly challenges, so it is nice to have a day of appreciation. :) I was very spoiled this mother's day weekend. Have I mentioned how much I love the weather down here? Aside from having to lather sunscreen on Kaitlin everytime we go outdoors, it is wonderful.

Saturday afternoon stroll along the Chattahoochi River.

The hubby planned a picnic at the park and it was the perfect way to spend Sunday afternoon.