'Tis the Season

I can already tell that this Christmas season is going to be a fun one now that Kaitlyn is old enough to enjoy some of the festivities. The first thing she does every morning is ask us to turn on the Christmas lights on the tree. And she loves pointing out all the decorations that she sees as we drive down the road. She's already learning some of the words to Rudolph and Jingle Bells, which is a good thing since I love Christmas music and listen to it all the time in December.

Last night, we braved the cold to enjoy the Nashville Christmas Parade. I have such fond memories of going to the annual Christmas parade in my hometown when I was a kid, and I was excited about Kaitlyn seeing some of those same things. And this parade did not disappoint: floats, clowns, fire trucks, motorcycles, horses, marching bands--everything you could ask for in a parade. I have to admit, though, that seeing a Christmas parade as an adult is not quite as thrilling as seeing one as a child. But Kaitlyn had a wonderful time and didn't mind the cold one bit. Ethan was content to sit in the stroller and watch all the people. Here's a couple of pictures of the kids all bundled up.

Today we enjoyed our church's annual Family Christmas Breakfast. Kaitlyn loved the inflatable snowman on stage.

We tried to get a good picture of Ethan in front of the decorations, but as you can see, he's only interested in one thing now...getting from point A to point B!

There was a live nativity scene outside that all the kids loved. These animals were amazingly docile and were nonplussed by all the chaos of the little kids. Kaitlyn was in heaven running from animal to animal and petting them to her heart's content.

She also did amazingly well with Santa--no tears at all! We were shocked. I'll post the Santa pictures when I get them.

And this has nothing to do with Christmas, but here's a picture of Ethan pulling up to his knees. He just learned to crawl this week, and now he's already trying to stand up?!?!?! I really need to get serious about babyproofing soon!

We have a crawler!

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Ethan officially entered the world of crawling! Each day he gets a little faster and can cover longer distances. If we leave him in the (carpeted) floor in his room, it's not long until we hear the little pat-pat-pat of his hands on the hardwoods in the hall--coming to find us to see what he's missing. So now the vigilant supervision begins. Poor Kaitlyn is getting very stressed trying to keep her toys out of his reach. Little does she know that it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. We're still working on the concept of sharing...and I have a feeling we'll continue to work on it for a looooong time :)

We went to my mom's house for our traditional Thanksgiving feast. Mom and I decided to forgo Black Friday this year and instead just spent the time at home, relaxing and working on a few projects around her house. We took Kaitlyn to the town square to let her get some energy out. Here are a couple of pictures of her at the courthouse.

We also put up our Christmas tree this week. Kaitlyn was so thrilled to help with the decorations. She decided that it was her job to hang all of the ornaments on the tree, so we ended up with a large concentration of ornaments about 2 - 3 feet off the floor. Here she is in her pajamas, being very deliberate with the placement of an ornament.

She goes to visit Santa on Saturday. We're predicting another round of tears this year, but maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised :)

Ethan at 8 months

Ethan hit the 8 month mark last week. He is such a busy little boy. Although he's not crawling yet, he's rocking a lot on his hands and knees. He has also figured out how to go from the crawl position back into a sitting position. So if he sees something he wants on the other side of the room, he rolls/scoots/twists his way there, and then sits up close to the desired object so that he can reach it with both hands. Fortunately, it still takes him a while to get anywhere, but he already requires much more supervision than he used to. When he starts crawling, life is going to get pretty crazy!

Leaf Fun

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here the last few days...highs in the low 70's and lots of sun. Jeff raked a leaf pile for Kaitlyn to play in. Needless to say, she had a blast. What kid doesn't love to play in leaves?? Ethan didn't quite know what to make of the interesting textures. But he was content to sit in the pile for a few minutes.

Thank you, God, for beautiful fall days and simple fun with family.

Life with a Two Year Old

Like many two-year olds, Kaitlyn's favorite word these days is "No!"

Me: Kaitlyn, let's put on some pants.
Kaitlyn: NO! I want to wear shorts! (even though it's 40 degrees outside)

Me: What do you want for breakfast?
K: No.

Me: Let's sing a song. How about Twinkle, Twinkle?
K: No, no, no, no, no, no, no mommy! I sing it all by myself!

Me: What book do you want to read before nap?
K: (silence as she ignores me while playing with her toys)
Me: How about Dora's Perfect Pumpkin?
K: No, Mommy! I not read that one!
Me: OK, well pick out one.
K: (She selects Dora's Perfect Pumpkin)
Me: What a great choice! I wish I had thought of that!

Sometimes her contrariness can work to my advantage. On the way to preschool, a car almost pulled out right in front on me, and I honked my horn a couple of times. I hear giggles from the backseat followed by, "Beep, beep!" And then she kept saying it over and over. And over. After about 30 or so repetitions, I was ready for a change. So I tried a few different methods to get her to stop saying "Beep, beep!"

Me: (Method 1: distraction) Hey Kaitlyn, look! There's a school bus!
K: Beep, beep!

Me: (Method 2: direct order) OK, Kaitlyn, that's enough beeping. Please stop now.
K: Beep, beep!

Me: (Method 3: ignoring the annoying behavior)
K: Beep, beep! Beep, beep!

Me: (Method 4: Reverse Psychology) Kaitlyn, I think it's really cute when you say "Beep, beep!" I want you to keep saying it all the way to preschool. Can you do that for mommy?
K: (solemnly nodding--she likes to be a helper almost as much as she likes saying no). Beep, beep!
Me: Great job! Keep it up!
K: Beep, beep! Beep, beep!
Me: Wonderful! Say it some more!
K: (much less enthusiastically) Beep, beep. (Followed by silence)
Me: Kaitlyn, come on! Keep saying "Beep, beep!"
K: No, mommy! I not want to say "Beep, beep!" anymore!

Ah, mission accomplished! I am still smarter than a 2-year old...well, at least some of the time!

Halloween Weekend

We went to Memphis for Halloween weekend to spend some time with Jess, Adam, Noah and Baby Eli. While we were there, we had Jess take some family pictures, as well as pictures of Ethan since he is changing so much! Here are some of my favorites.

It was fun getting all four kids dressed up. They all look so serious in this picture, but it's the only one with all of them looking at the camera. Eli was just adorable in his pea costume! Kaitlyn and Noah did some trick-or-treating in the neighborhood and were so excited about getting candy.

The bumblebee and the giraffe are sizing each other up.

There was a train exhibit nearby which we knew Kaitlyn would love.

Here she is "driving" the caboose and loving every single minute.

While it's definitely a challenge traveling with two little ones, it was well worth the effort to spend time with loved ones.

Trunk or Treat 2009

Last night was Trunk or Treat at our church. As you can see, Kaitlyn was a bumblebee (she liked to refer to herself as a "scary" bumblebee) and Ethan was dressed as a football player. Given the Titans season so far, maybe they should think about recruiting him! Kaitlyn got more candy than we know what to do with...and it's not even Halloween yet!!

Walden Farm and Cookies

Yesterday, Kaitlyn and I made Halloween cookies. She was eager to help and enjoyed cutting out the shapes and decorating the cookies. Baking cookies with a two-year old is an exercise in patience. I think it took me three times as long as it would have without my little "helper." But she had a blast and that was the main purpose of the cookies. And now we have some tasty treats to munch on this week!

In the afternoon, we went on our annual trek to Walden Farm to pick out a pumpkin.

I think these are the biggest watermelons I have ever seen!

Kaitlyn didn't quite understand that you're only supposed to stick your head through.

Mommy and Ethan

It was a little challenging getting Ethan to stay on that pumpkin. It was deceptively slick!


My happy little boy on the tractor.

Watching and learning from big sister.

Feeding some very hungry goats!

Ethan's first pumpkin

Kaitlyn's final pumpkin selection

A little late...

These pictures are about a month old, when the weather was much warmer! Better late than never!

Kaitlyn giving Ethan a kiss

Weekend Mountain Getaway

This weekend, Jeff and I went away (by ourselves!!) to the mountains of western North Carolina. We've been to this area a few times before, so we revisited some of our favorite spots, as well as explored new ones. The fall colors were beautiful. Unfortunately, the weather was a little less than ideal (very cold and overcast for a good portion of the trip). But we were just so excited to be free from parental responsibilities that we really didn't care! On Friday, we drove a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway and took this picture above. There was a thick layer of fog hanging over the taller mountains, but the fog lifted just long enough for us to enjoy this spectacular vista. When we passed by it a little later, it was shrouded in fog again.

When we woke up the next morning, it was still cold. Undaunted, we headed for the mountains again. As we climbed higher in elevation, we started noticing cars coming down the mountain covered in snow. Soon, we were driving in it ourselves. The fog and the snow seemed to make it feel extra cold, so we stopped to take a picture of the sign for Cold Mountain (the one that the movie/book was based on).

We stopped and did a short hike to a waterfall that we wanted to see. It was a spectacular sight. The falling snow added to the effect. And the hike warmed us up so we were actually pretty comfortable outside. You can really see the snow falling in the picture below.

I felt like it was a winter wonderland in October!!

We wanted to drive up even further, but the road was closed due to weather. So we took an alternate route back down. Once we crossed a certain elevation, the snow disappeared and gave way to a more traditional fall look. We stumbled across this picturesque little lake.

Cullasaja Falls

Thanks, Mom, for watching the kids so that we could have such a fun, relaxing weekend!!