Thanksgiving

What a difference one year  makes in the life of a toddler.  Here’s Kaitlin last year playing with Aunt Rachel …

And here’s the 2010 version … taller, a lot more hair, and a whole lot more energy!  (Kaitlin, not Aunt Rachel)

We look forward to Thanksgiving every year.  It’s the one time of the year where our family gets together wherever we live since Kory normally works on or through the holiday.  The tradition moved from Virginia to Northwest Arkansas for the first time this year and Kaitlin was sooooooo happy to her family when they arrived that she dropped everything she was doing!

 

She gave everyone a big hug to let them know how happy she was to see them at her house!

Kaitlin ran & played all night with Gigi,Didi and Aunt Rachel .  She definitely ready for go night-night by bed time! 

Kaitlin also had a great time with her Cool Aunt Rachel.  They read books together …

And then the next night they read more books …

And then Kaitlin conned her into playing Farm!  Here’s Kaitlin trying to pull Aunt Rachel through the barn door with her …

She was really proud of herself! Thanks Aunt Rachel for the  turkey bow!! It is super cute!

And I just can’t resist this one.  I bought her a new bow for Thanksgiving.  It was kind of a “big girl” bow … maybe a little too big … Who’s hair bow is too big for them????

“Mine is Mama!!!!”"

I couldn’t resist.  Hahaha!  Thanks to our wonderful family for coming to visit us again this year for Thanksgiving.  We love you all and can’t wait for Christmas at Gigi’s & Kiki’s houses!

Gobble Gobble

Kaitlin is so excited about Thanksgiving week !!! We added this turkey to our fall décor and Kaitlin found her new best friend !! Everyday she goes and talks to him and kisses him.  Mr. Turkey is very popular and I am afraid he will be missed when he gets put in the attic. I have been trying to find a Santa her height to replace this cute turkey but no luck yet!

Kaitlin has her eye on Mr. Turkey! Don’t try hiding!

So excited to see Aunt Rachel, Gigi, and GDaddy!!

We are so thankful for our little girl and such a wonderful family!

The Magic Nap outfit

Kaitlin has never been a good sleeper!! EVER!! She was not a good sleeper when she came home from the hospital and it was always a struggle. We would spend hours preparing to put her down and as soon as we laid her down she would wake up. Parenting is not easy!! I would hold her for naps or drive around for hours!! First time parenting mistake! Thankfully Aunt Gina had nap boot camp and we have been taking one nap a day for 6 months now. What a blessing naptime is…thank goodness never knew what I was missing. So naps have been off for at least a week no nap, short nap, falling asleep in the car nap, not a good situation. I was worried we were going to drop our afternoon nap so frantically I called Gina. She was very calm and suggested a few things. Well 2 days in a row we have napped for 3 hours!!! This is the outfit we were wearing yesterday and I washed it last night and it was magic again today. I will wash the outfit every night if it means a 3 hour nap!! Thanks Aunt Gina for the advice and the cutest outfit! It must be magic!!

Working on our ballet moves!!

Everyone is happy after a 3 hour nap!!

Christmas Card Fever

I totally forgot to send out we moved cards so now I am worried we won’t get ANY Christmas cards this year because no one knows where we live!( Email me and I can send you my new address make my fear not come true!!!)

So my grand plan was to take an early picture and get our cards out Thanksgiving week and all would be right!! Good plan that did not happen!!

I just registered for 50 FREE Christmas Cards from Shutterfly.  If you have a blog - click on this link and fill out the information: Shutterfly.  Then - Shutterfly will send you a code for your 50 free cards!   I ordered our cards last year from Shutterfly and they we so cute.  So - when I saw this giveaway - it was perfect timing! I hope to take our " Official Christmas Card Photo" this weekend so I can order my cards before Thanksgiving. The cards will get out sometime and all will be merry and bright!!

  Here are my 3 favorites:

1. Peace, Love, Hope, Joy

2. Swirling Ornaments

3. Presents http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/all-wrapped-up-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&fa=2&storeNode=93476&fe=1&fb=1&fc=1

So easy for Free cards!!

Now all I need is a happy girl to sit still, smile and a cute idea!! Not easy!!

Happy Thursday!!

Zebra Girl

Kaitlin slept in this morning until almost 7:30!!  We are almost back on our normal schedule and that is an hour later than any day last week. Thanks to such a gloomy, rainy start to the day we woke happy and took some pictures on our way to Bible Study! Notice how patiently she is waiting for her milk. Kory taught her how to close the refrigerator and it is now a highlight of her day. It is the small things that make her SO happy!

They kept asking her in the nursery where her zebra was and she would just grin and point to her tummy! She was so proud of herself! She is now very aware of her clothes and what she is wearing. Could be drama very soon but not now!!

We played hide and go seek after naptime. This is her very favorite game she has played since she was tiny with Gigi and GDaddy. Kaitlin is the best finder. Not so much the best hider yet!She needs to find a better hiding place or she knows I am not a very good finder.

Such a fun day with my zebra girl!

Flower Power

Kaitlin had a rough day yesterday. She was off schedule from the very beginning of the day when she woke up an hour early. This Daylight Savings switch is not family friendly! I think we may boycott the time change next year. We thankfully made it to church and she did wonderfully with Mrs. Gayle. Kaitlin was so tired after church that she fell asleep on the car ride home. No nap Sundays are not a favorite pastime in our house. Kaitlin was grumpy all afternoon and we could not make her happy. She was very quiet on our way back to church last night and by the time we pulled in the parking lot she was Sound Asleep. Kory dropped me off and she slept an hour and was a perfect angel the rest of the night. Hopefully we can get back on schedule today!

Pink Poodles and Pandas

Kaitlin found one of my old pandas last week and it was love at 1st sight at least for Kaitlin. She kept touching his nose and her nose then saying “nose”! It was so cute.Kaitlin also said panda which warmed my heart!

   

She has been laughing at herself more and more. Kaitlin thinks she is soooo funny. We couldn’t agree more!

Kaitlin at Fall Festival

This one is a little late, but here's Kaitlin having fun at the Fall Festival in the bounce house.

Dress up

Inspired by several Disney Princess movies, Kaitlin has been wanting to play dress-up a little more lately.  She certainly our little princess but I believe that she’s believing more and more these days that she is a real one. 

Kaitlin is tall enough as is, so I don’t know that she needs the tiara to make her taller.  She does look cute in it and her tutu though!

      

And finally, if nothing else, this is a GREAT picture because I she actually left the tiara on her head for more than 30 seconds!

Hello!

Maybe Kory and I spend too much time playing with or talking on our cell phones.  I guess imitation is the best form of flattery from Kaitlin:

I know that’s simple but we were really excited when she did it!  I figured I better capture this while it’s cute before she’s 16 and running in her room to say, “Hello” to some boy that’s not her Daddy!

Toyland

We went to First Friday On The Square for a little Christmas fun in November. Santa Claus was there but Kaitlin was much more interested in the Chick Fila Cow!  Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture but that’s because Kaitlin wouldn't stand still long enough … she just kept following him around downtown.

I was amazed when we arrived and just how many people were there.  Every vendor had a booth with giveaways and all the hottest toys out for the kids to play.  The Lego booth was particularly impressive …

 

Kaitlin’s favorite booth had to be Mattel.  Among other toys, BARBIE WAS THERE TO SIGN AUTOGRAPHS!!!  AAAAAHHHHH!!!

Kaitlin was so excited to see her.  She patted her leg and Barbie was the only person Kaitlin waved and said “bye bye” to all night!  She was also excited at the Little Tikes booth where she got to play with a couple Cozy Coupes (I heard this was Kory’s favorite toy when he was this age!)

  

We had a great time as a family and can’t wait to do it again next year.  Is it Christmas yet???  I’m so ready!!!

Cutie Cat

These are leftover from last week but I could not resist posting them. Kaitlin apparently has a LOVE for cats. (Not a love taught by her parents) She saw a wild cat last night and waved and waved . I would not let her get anywhere near the crazy cat but she still had fun! She would have stayed there ALL night if we had let her.

        

I love that you can see her cute piggy's here. I don’t have many pictures now of her bare feet. I know only a mother can love baby feet. but I am very sentimental these days. She looks like a baby one minute and then the next she looks all grown up.

Castle on a Cloud

Kaitlin has been very fond of the new Disney Rapunzel previews on TV so we thought she would be excited to wear her new castle outfit. I know it will be a few more years until we go to the real movies so for know we can wait for the DVD!