A visit from Mimi and Papa Greg

Mimi and Papa Greg have been staying with us for the past few days. Kaitlyn has been loving the extra attention (and I've been loving the extra help while Jeff is out of town!) It was rainy and cold for the first couple of days of their trip, so we went to the mall to let Kaitlyn get some of her energy out in the kid's play area. Who has time to pose for a picture when you can crawl through a tree tunnel or bounce on a ladybug?

Mimi left this morning to go visit Jess, Adam and Noah in Memphis, while Papa Greg headed down to Georgia for the Master's golf tournament. Hopefully he can teach Kaitlyn to play golf someday...she's already very interested in his clubs.

Kaitlyn's First Easter

Here are a few pictures from the day.

The Krinks Family

Gran and Papa Bell came up to spend the day with us.

Kaitlyn modeling her Easter dress and shoes. The weather
was a little chilly, so we added a sweater.

The Easter Bunny stopped at our house before church. Kaitlyn is
carefully examining all of the basket's contents.

A Lesson in Physics

The Law of Entropy: the tendency of nature to go from order to disorder. As you can see, we have lots of entropy at our house these days. And it always involves Kaitlyn. Maybe she just wants to be a physicist like mom!

Order: Books neatly arranged on a shelf

Disorder: Books rearranged by Kaitlyn

Order: Clothes neatly stored away in drawers

Disorder: Clothes in their new location

What I find really amusing is that she does this every single day! She never tires of emptying drawers and pulling books off of shelves. But it's a great way to keep her occupied for a while :)

Curiosity

A baby's unquenchable curiosity is a wonder to behold. From the moment Kaitlyn gets up, she's on a mission to explore every nook and cranny of our house. Even the most mundane household objects must be examined multiple times. And the items that always stay behind closed doors are apparently the most intriguing of all. For example, Kaitlyn will be happily playing in the kitchen with her toys, but if I open the refrigerator, watch out! She will drop everything and race over to the open door, hoping that it stays open just long enough to wedge her body in and start grabbing at whatever she can get her little hands on. It's really quite amusing to watch.

Here are some pictures that I've taken over the last few days that show Kaitlyn exploring our house. As you can see, she has mastered the art of pulling up on any and all objects. And I'm happy to report that she can also sit back down now :)

Investigating the contents of the closet in the guest bedroom

Checking out the new magnets I got at the consignment sale

Wishing she could get outside to play with Kasha

Trying to write her own blog entry???

What a Difference a Week Makes!

A few days ago, Kaitlyn was swinging outside on the sunny playground. Then a snow storm swept through the area and dumped 4 inches of snow on us. Gotta love March weather!

Here's Kaitlyn all bundled up and ready to go outside.

We could only stay outside for a few minutes because it was so cold. She was pretty intrigued by all the white stuff around her. We briefly took off a mitten and let her touch the snow. I think she gave it mixed reviews.

Laughter

Who knew watching Kasha run up and down the steps to our deck would make Kaitlyn laugh so much? She couldn't stop! Here's just a few seconds of our fun. We think Kasha enjoyed it too.

A Glorious Sunday Afternoon

We got an early springtime treat yesterday as temperatures hovered in the low 70's in the Nashville area...a rarity for this time of the year. We eagerly took advantage of the nice weather by taking Kaitlyn to a playground for the first time. It's funny how you only notice playgrounds once you have kids. Jeff and I have been to Crockett Park in Brentwood many times, but I never knew about the amazing playground there until we looked for it. It's well-shaded (or it will be once the leaves come out again!) so it's a perfect spot for a hot, summer day. We'll definitely be frequenting this playground!


As you can see, Kaitlyn loved her little baby-sized swing. We also let her go down a toddler slide (while holding on to her arms). It's hard to tell who was having more fun, Kaitlyn or us!

Bath Time

Bath time is so much more fun now that Kaitlyn is old enough to enjoy the water. She gets very excited when she sees us filling the tub. I really think she could be happy sitting in the water for an hour! She especially enjoys our detachable shower head that we use to rinse her off. I have a feeling she's going to love sprinklers and fountains this summer.

Checking out the tub with Daddy

She loves getting sprayed with the shower

Trying to "eat" the water and the tub!

Pulling Up

In the past few days, Kaitlyn has learned to pull up to a standing position. She's having lots of fun exploring previously out-of-reach items. But unfortunately what goes up must come down, so we're still working on the fine art of sitting down from standing. That's the tricky part! Right now, her "method" involves landing on her butt with a thump...which usually startles her and causes a brief crying episode. But I'm sure she'll get the hang of it soon enough.

Baby Blessing

Last night, our church celebrated the arrival of 34 new babies in 2007. If you do the math, then Otter Creek averages a new baby every 10.7 days! Our church has a special passion for its children's ministry, and we feel so blessed that Kaitlyn will grow up in a nurturing, vibrant church community. During the Baby Blessing, the parents and congregation were all charged to do everything within their power to teach these babies to love and trust God. Then the elders prayed over the babies. It was neat to look around the stage and see some of our daughter's future friends--people who will help her see God and will influence her (hopefully in a good way!) in the years to come.

Jeff, Kaitlyn and I are standing behind the two girls in the white dresses.

A family picture after the ceremony.