I Have to Share!

I know... maybe it's not that big of a deal, but I don't care.... I'm ECSTATIC! Kaitlin has stopped calling me "Mama" and now calls me



(It's the little things in life, right?!)

another doctor appointment

Today I had another routine OB appointment. The entire appointment lasted no more than 10 minutes. At each appointment, they use the doppler to listen for the heartbeat ~ (that's the best part!) Today the heart rate was 142 bmp. According to the old wives tale, a heartbeat over 140 predicts the unborn baby is a girl. Hopefully within the next month, we'll be able to find out for sure...

Easter Eggs!

I decided last minute to dye Easter eggs with Kaitlin tonight! Brandon was working, and I wasn't sure I wanted to attempt the big mess on my own.

But, what's Easter without a dyed egg??

So, Kaitlin and I went to the grocery store. She helped me pick out some eggs and the egg dying kit. Then we hurried home before I lost my nerve and changed my mind!

The whole process actually went better than I expected! Kaitlin did a super job of listening... although, we're still working on the word
"gently."

We've been trying to teach her colors lately - so this was a perfect opportunity! As you can see, we only did green, blue and yellow. (After visions of spilled dye, I thought it might be best to keep it fairly simple!)

And, can you believe that only two eggs were dropped?! Luckily it was after they were boiled!

The dye kit that Kaitlin picked out had Winnie the Pooh stickers to decorate the eggs with. She really enjoyed putting the stickers on the eggs!

Now, I'm going to check on the Easter Bunny to make sure he doesn't need help putting the Easter basket together......

Sleeping in a "New" Bed!

Monday was the big day. We made Kaitlin's crib into a toddler bed!

Here is the last picture of Kaitlin in a crib (*sob!* my baby is growing up!)

This is Kaitlin "helping" Daddy construct the new bed:

Kaitlin with a drill - (YIKES, be careful!!!!)

The first night in her new bed actually went very well. Around midnight I heard a "thud" and then some crying. Kaitlin fell out of her bed! When we went in, it was actually kind of cute ~ she was standing there holding her covers, crying, and looking lost. We just tucked her back into bed, and she fell right back asleep. The same thing happened around 6:00 am. Then, we didn't hear from her until 11:30~! YES, 11:30 AM! She slept almost 13 hours! That is a record, for sure! Last night she slept from 9:30 PM until 9:30 AM this morning! 12 hours! (Hahaha... had I known she would sleep like this, we would have made the switch months ago.)

She seems very excited about her new bed. Everytime she sees it, she goes running to it and jumps in. Sometimes she asks to go to bed when it's not even bedtime!

Within the next couple months we will move her to a twin-sized bed.... I'm hoping the transition will go just as smoothly!

Kaitlin Lends a Helping Hand...

Guess Who Pooped....

.... on the potty?

yep, it was Kaitlin!

This afternoon we were in the bathroom and she started grunting and said, "poop!" I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty to poop and she said yes! We don't even have our potty seat out of the box yet, so Brandon held her up on the toilet and some little rabbit turds came out! Unfortunately (or maybe FORTUNATELY) I don't have a picture to go with this blog. But, we were SO proud of Kaitlin and gave her lots and lots of praise for pooping on the potty! She was really proud of herself too! I think we'll start really focusing on doing the potty training thing now. Wouldn't it be nice to have her out of diapers by the time the new baby arrives?? It's probably wishful thinking, but hey....

Our St. Patrick's Day Easter Bunny Adventure

Tonight we took Kaitlin to visit the Easter Bunny! It's not often that St. Patrick's Day and Easter fall within the same week, so why not take advantage? It's almost like two celebrations for the price of one!!



We met our good friends Tara, Danny and Bronwyn at the mall. We weren't sure how the girls were going to do with the Easter Bunny, but it turned out well. (Brandon reminded me that Kaitlin DID NOT like the Chuck E. Cheese mouse last week!) Little Bronwyn was not shy at all. Kaitlin saw her being friendly with the Easter Bunny and that helped her warm up to him, too. Kaitlin had a fun time looking around the Bunny Garden. There were flowers, eggs, chicks, and all things Easter and spring.


Although, my question still lingers - why sit on the Easter Bunny's lap? You cannot put in your gift request as you do with Santa. The Easter Bunny does not talk and does not offer any wise words of wisdom. The oversized-stuffed bunny does not reflect the true meaning of Easter. I suppose this means I will have to google the origins of the Easter Bunny in my "spare" time....


Here are a couple more shots we got of our St. Patrick's Day Easter Bunny Adventure:

And, a couple side notes for the day:

**St. Patty's Day is also Hawkster's (Tom's) birthday. This year he turned 60. Happy Birthday, Tom! What are the chances of Kaitlin's grandfather and step-grandfather being born just 2 days apart? Crazy, I tell ya!!

**Re: The Pregnancy - The fluttering has begun! YAY! This is what I've been waiting for. Being able to feel the baby move is so reassuring ~ it helps calm my worried mind. This is good news ~ especially for Brandon who has to put up with my nonsense. When I was pregnant with Kaitlin, I first felt her move between weeks 19 and 20. They say you can feel the movement sooner in subsequent pregnancies, and they were right. This time it's like I know what I should be feeling, so it's unmistakable. Now, if I could just get an answer to that nagging question........ (my next ultrasound is scheduled for April 22nd).

**A big THANKS to Daideo and Mimi for sending the St. Patty's day gift for Kaitlin. She absolutely L-O-V-E-S reading about the baby animals! Books are -by far- her favorite "toy". I think she would sleep with her books at night if we let her. ;-)

Grandpa Nincey's 60th Birthday!!

Saturday March 15th was Grandpa Nincey's 60th birthday! Kaitlin and I spent the afternoon walking to the park, feeding the ducks and eating snacks with Grandpa.

Here is a great picture of Kaitlin sitting with Grandpa feeding the ducks:

I couldn't figure out who ate more bread - Kaitlin or the ducks:

At one point, she started chasing the ducks with bread. (Side note: ducks don't like toddlers charging at them, haha!)

While we were at the park, the temperature dropped about 30 degrees. That meant we had to skip the playground and hurry back home (to avoid hypothermia, LOL!) Back at Grandpa's house, Kaitlin shared a yummy snack with Grandpa and then we headed over to Uncle Mike's house for a birthday dinner celebration. Here is a picture of Grandpa later in the evening sharing his birthday ice cream with Kaitlin:

And ~ here's a GREAT video of our little dancer!

She had so much fun "dancing" with Uncle Mike!

(turn up your volume ~ this song will get stuck in your head)

This is Worth 10 Minutes of Your Time

Funny!

Chuck E. Cheese's!

Sometimes you've got to stir things up.

So.......

Tonight we took Kaitlin to Chuck E. Cheese's!

It wasn't a birthday celebration or anything special, we just thought it would be a good time. And, it was! Grandma and Grandpa Nincey and Uncle Mike met us there. We had pizza, salad and 50 tokens to spend.

Chuck E. Cheese's has definintely changed a lot since we were kids. They no longer have the big stage with the animated animal rock band and they no longer have a ball pit.

But, as you can see, Kaitlin had a great time. She enjoyed the rides and climbing all over the video games. It will be fun to take her when she's older and we can let her run like a wild child without any supervison at all.

Afterall, it seems that's what all the cool parents are doing....

(For some reason, I don't remember being allowed to run across the skeeball games when I was little or taking multiple turns on a ride when other people were waiting... but apparantly times have changed~!)

Here are some pictures! ENJOY!

We're Having a........

....BABY! That's right - a baby. We don't know yet if it's a boy or girl. Unfortunately, it is still too early to detect.
But, the baby is measuring right on schedule and appears to have all fingers and toes and major organs. That's a good thing! Using the 3D/4D ultrasound machine, we were even able to get a glimpse of little Peanut's face!
What a fun time for our family! Brandon and I brought Kaitlin with us, and as boring as it was for her, she actually behaved really well. (You wouldn't believe the entertainment value of a latex glove!!) We told her to look at the baby on the TV screen, and it was cute when she said "HI!" and waved hello to the baby.
Here are a couple pictures... do you think it looks more like a boy or a girl??? It'll be at least another four weeks before we get another look...