18 months

Oops... I guess its been awhile, I blame it entirely on my Droid. We got them in October and it's basically the only "computer" I use anymore. It's just so convienant. I've tried blogging from my phone, but for some reason I cant.

So here I am finally on the laptop and ready to go.

I wont focus on all the months that I've missed.

Soo... Kalyn is 18 months old now. 18 months came with lots of excitment. The last weekend in March she went to nursery for the 1st time (we helped there a month and half ago, but I was there too) So this time she was all by herself. I knew she would be fine and she was. After sacrament she walked down the hall by herself, went to nursery and started playing. I tried to get a picture but she was busy and wouldnt even look at me. I left and I dont think she even noticed or cared that I was gone!! Needless to say, they said she did great.

We went to the doc last week and got her current stats. 21 lbs, 31 1/4" tall and perfectly healty.

To top off the week Kalyn went pee-pee on the potty! I was so excited, but in the back of mind I thought maybe it was a fluke... today she proved me wrong and did it again. I dont want to jinx anything, but I think potty training is going to be a breeze!!!

Other than that life is the same around here... a little hectic at times, but so much fun.

Since I'm never on here I dont have a current pics, but here is one from a couple months ago. Kalyn loves to read...

Were still here, just very busy

Today Curtis and I (& Kalyn too) celebrated our 2 year anniversary! Happy Anniversary babe, I look forward to many, many more!!

Moving on...
It's been a busy month or so. Just over a month ago Kalyn started walking... yikes! This has opened our eyes to a whole new world of scary!! She now insists on walking anywhere and everywhere, the only good thing about that is maybe I'll drop a couple pounds following her around all day! She is such a smart, sassy and funny little girl and I we are so blessed to have her in our lives! She is of course talking up a storm - like mother, like daughter...
"mama"
"daddy"
"shoe"
"sock"
"kitty"
"watch"
"no"
"ball"
"doggy"
"see"
"uh-oh"
"ta-ta" (I'm guilty for that one, sometimes we take baths together and she may have pinched me in a naughty place, so I told her "no" and explained to her what it was. oops, how was I supposed to know she would remember that word)
"ducky"
"baby"
I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting, but you get the idea!
Anyway, September 25th we celebrated her 1st birthday (even though her birthday is actually the 26th) I was hoping for great weather, but didn't get it. Even still we had a wonderful party at the park. We had tons of fun with all our friends and family and Kalyn had a great time eating pizza, cake and opening presents. (Being the horrible mother I am, I didn't get many pictures, thank goodness for friends with cameras!) Here are a few pictures I did get.

Daddy giving Kalyn the cake!

A shot of a couple party-goers. Look how nicely those kids are lined up eating!
After food and gifts Kalyn conned someone into pushing her on the swing. She loves to swing!!

Kalyn and her friend Lennon cruising.

Kalyn's first birthday cake.

Even though the day was cold and windy, we had fun! What more could we ask for.

Since we have 2 birthdays so close together in September we celebrated Marlee's birthday the next day. After church we all took a much needed nap (from the day before) and headed out to a farm so Marlee and Lexi could go horseback riding for the first time. Papa wanted to buy Mar a pony for her birthday but didn't have a place to keep it, so this was the next best thing.

Kalyn riding with Marlee (Papa and the trainer helped)

Kalyn and Mar taking a break while Lexi rode

Although it wasn't as cold as Saturday, it was still chilly so Kalyn and Grandpa hung out where it was warmer and watched (that's my new van she's driving)

Lexi and Marlee had a blast riding Fierra - and we all loved watching them have fun.

The next day Kalyn and I went to her 1 yr appt. She got 5 shots (boo) but the doctor said she is a genius (maybe those were my words) & she got a sucker (yay)...
She is 19 lbs 8 oz and 28" long, so she's kinda small, but nothing they are concerned with. They asked all the normal questions about growth and development, did a quick exam and we went about our day.
Curtis' Aunts were here for a visit from Colorado and we wanted to do some sightseeing before they left Tuesday. So we went to breakfast after the appt. and then headed to Old Mission Lighthouse. The weather was great and we had so much fun. We walked along the beach and then went for a quick swing and ride down the slide before heading into the lighthouse. Before I get much further allow me to point out that I've lived in Traverse City for most of my childhood and my entire adult life and have never been to the lighthouse that is a mere 22 miles from my house. Sad, I know.
Anyway we all (except Aunt Marlena) climbed to the top to enjoy the view. (FYI - It's a very small lighthouse, so it wasn't much work) (also, I don't have any pictures of the view from the top, oops)

Kalyn and Mama swinging

Kalyn and daddy strolling along the beach

Little Miss heading to the top

All of us in front of the lighthouse

We left the lighthouse and headed to our next destination.

To Be Continued...

Yummy

Kalyn had spaghetti last night for the first time.

She loved it!

We loved watching her love it!

This meal was quickly followed by a dunk in the tub!

Mackinaw Island

So I live 2 hours from the bridge, but I've never been to Mackinaw Island.

Sad huh?

Well since I had family in town (some from Cali & some from AZ) a group of us decided to head to the island. Curtis took the day off work so he could come too. We had so much fun!!

The boys decided to rent bikes and race around the island... Kevin and Bryant went tandem and won!

The fam in front of the fort.

And another shot with the water behind us. (Notice that Kalyn and Mick are looking at each other in both pictures)
Curtis and Kalyn took a stroll along the water while the girls went shopping.

After a long uphill hike Kalyn was tired, so she took a quick snooze. Really we were the ones that needed a break, but she took a power nap for all of us.
The view from halfway up our uphill hike.
Kalyn and Daddy on the boat ride home.
Kalyn and Mommy. (it's a horrible picture of both of us, but it's the only one I have)
All in all it was an amazing day. The weather was great, the shopping was good and the company was AWESOME!

Curtis and I both decided that we didn't have enough time there and are planning on going back before the end of summer. There was so much we wanted to see, but didn't.

9 Months Later...

Sheesh it's been a fast 9 months!
I was thinking about everything that Kalyn has learned in only nine months.
She learned how to roll over,
to sit up,
to eat baby food and now some big people food,
how to talk (she says dada, nana, and ball (which comes out dall, close enough) and makes all kinds of babbling sounds,
she understands words we say (no, kitty, ball)
she points and claps,
plays peek-a-boo,
she can crawl,
get up and down the one step into our living room,
pull herself up on anything,
walk behind a walker toy,
This list could go on and on, but I wont bore you... it's just so amazing to watch her grow and learn. She is such a little person now, with a wonderful personality. There are a lot of times when I feel like the worlds worst mother, but when I see how happy, healthy, and smart she is, I realize Curtis and I must be doing something right!
Anywho, Tuesday was her 9 month check-up. They pricked her toe to test her iron... I thought for sure there was going to be a melt down, but she didn't even notice!
She weighed in at 18 lbs and is 27" tall!
I havent uploaded any current pictures, but I will soon and when I do I'll post them.

Hope you all have a great 4th of July weekend!! We'll be spending it with family and friends!

FIRST!

Holy cow it has been a busy week... nothing really time consuming, just a lot of firsts for my teeny tiny tot and being the great mother I am, I'm pretty sure I have each documented in photos. We'll see...


Tuesday the weather was amazing... and by amazing I mean HOT! So grandpa Clark and I took Kalyn to meet Marlee and Aunt Kelly for Kalyn's first trip to the beach. Kalyn got to put her feet in the bay for the first time and felt (& ate) sand for the first time.

Marlee, Kalyn and Aunt Kelly

The water was super cold, but she didn't seem to mind it on her feet

I'm calling Friday first official crawl. For a month and half or so Kalyn has been scooting in circles and going backwards on all fours and getting into a push-up position, but Friday we actually got forward movement on all fours!! She is still getting the hang of it, but between crawling and scooting she is getting some good distance. Time to baby proof!

Okay, I'm out of the running for mother of the year, this isn't actually her first crawl, but it still counts for something, right?

Friday night we went to Kalyn's first baseball game. (the beach bums won!) She was so good throughout the game, entertaining the people behind us, grabbing the people in front of us, and paying no attention at all to what was happening on the field, PLUS Marlee stayed awake the whole time which was a small miracle, so we decided to stay so Kalyn could see her first fireworks. The first one went off and she kind of jumped but once she saw the lights she was in total awe. She was such a trooper, staying up way past her bedtime, but still being her charming self the entire night!

Kalyn entertaining the crowd (see Mema laughing in the background)

On the dugout after the game

Kalyn watching the fireworks

Kalyn also went swimming in a pool for the first time (I just don't have pictures to post cause they're on my moms camera, but I did get at least one) It wasn't a big pool, just Marlee's little girl pool, but she still had lots of fun kicking and splashing and chewing on beach buckets! The water was pretty high so her balance was a little off.... the good news is I only dunked her once! Oops. When I first set her in I wasn't holding on to her and her little bum started to float up and over she went. I caught her before her entire face went under, but not in time to keep her face totally dry. She quickly got over it and I quickly realized that I was going to have to hold on to her the entire time.

Oh and another first that I almost forgot about, Kalyn started pulling herself up this weekend! She's getting so big, so fast and I'm totally not ready for it. Oh well, I guess I can't stop it or slow it down... ready or not here she comes!

Hope you all have a great Memorial Day!!

Almost 7 months old

Having an almost 7 month old is...

Tiring but Wonderful.

The End.