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.  

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.

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!

Life with a 13 month old...

...is very rewarding and exhausting!!! Two months ago I did not think this child could get any more active. Oh boy was I wrong. With a later bedtime and less frequent/shorter naps, it is amazing anything gets done around here (it is also the reason for midweek cocktails). But we are also having a lot of fun. She is doing so many new things, it truly is amazing. My favorite is when she smacks her lips together when i ask for a kiss. She will do a little shake when I ask her to dance also...so freaking cute. She cries when I drop her off at the Kids Klub @ the gym, but then she has fun playing (especially with the boys). She says "hi dog" to Maddie. Bath time is still a favorite, but washing her hair is a challenge as she won't sit still. She walks when you hold her hand, but doesn't have the confidence to try it on her own yet. She makes us laugh all the time, especially when we hear her "talking" to herself and playing in her crib. She definitely has a mind of her own...some days she will eat whatever you give her, other days she refuses to eat even her favorites. She loves eggs and lima beans (strange I know). Transitioning to whole milk was a bit of a struggle, but we finally got it down. She uses a cup 95% of the time and only drinks from a bottle if she wakes up during the night (really kinda sad). She loves to be chased and loves to play outside. Running errands isn't quite as easy as it used to be, as she is not so content in the shopping cart anymore. Also, there is something about 5 o'clock that makes everyone in my house (dogs +baby) go a little crazy (reason for the cocktails) and there are definitely days that I wish my hubby could get home earlier. But, I am also treasuring this time at home with my little bug and am feeling very lucky that I have this opportunity.

On a side note...my family recently lost a family member in a very very tragic way. It has and will continue to be very difficult on many people. I am not going to discuss it on here, but I want to ask that if you read this to please take a minute to say a prayer for the family and friends, especially the children and grandchildren.