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!!

A Cowgirl and a Chatterbox

Kaitlyn's preschool class has been learning about farm animals this month, so last week they got to dress up for Cowboy/Cowgirl day. The only thing we had in our house that was remotely "cowgirlish" was this red bandana. I think she made a pretty cute cowgirl!

Kaitlyn is quite the little chatterbox these days. It's especially noticable when we're in the car. The child will literally talk/sing nonstop until we arrive at our destination. Here's a sample of our conversation last week on the way to preschool.

Kaitlyn: "I hear a choo-choo train!" [as we were getting into the car.] "Choo-choo trains go downtown. I rode on a choo-choo train. A BIG choo-choo train. Choo-choo train goes CHOO-CHOO!"

K: "I see a school bus. Little kids ride on a school bus. I rode on a school bus [at Touch a Truck last weekend]. School buses go to school. Choo-choo trains go downtown. And I go to preschool!"

K: "There's a tall building! There's a dump truck! There's Carget! [Target]. There's a BIG heeple [steeple]! There's the intergate! [interstate]. We not get on the intergate to go to preschool. There's a gas station! There's a grocery store!"

You get the idea. When she can't find anything to narrate about, then she launches into songs. The Wheels on the Bus, Old Macdonald, Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle, the Dora theme song, etc. etc. No participation is required from me (which is kind of nice). In fact, if I try to join in on one of her songs, she stops and says, "No, Mommy! No, no, no, no, no! I sing it all by myself!" And then she will start the song all over from the very beginning because Mommy messed it up. Our car time is anything but dull!

Jeff and I just got back from a weekend in the North Carolina mountains while my mom stayed here and watched the kids. I'll post pictures from that trip soon.

Ethan is 7 months old today

For our monthly picture, he started out giving me that megawatt smile...

...then he noticed the sign and wasn't interested in pictures anymore.

He then proceeded to have lots of fun wadding up that sign. Maybe we'll ask Santa for paper this year.

Touch a Truck

This weekend we went to Touch a Truck, an event where you can climb on lots of trucks and honk the horns. Kaitlyn loves big trucks. She's constantly pointing them out any time we're in the car...dump trucks, tractors, 18 wheelers, school buses, fire trucks. So I thought she would love this event. Unfortunately, I didn't take into account just how loud it would be with the beeping horns and crowds. So "Touch a Truck" turned into "Observe the Scary Trucks Warily from a Safe Distance" for us. We managed to get her on a school bus with some coaxing. Once she was on it, she loved it and didn't want to get off.

But that was our only success. She was ok as long as we maintained a safe distance...

...but she was NOT ok when we got too close.

Jeff and Kaitlyn in front of a firetruck.

Ethan and Kaitlyn in front of some military vehicle. Maybe we'll have more success next year!

Kaitlyn's First Set of Wheels

Kaitlyn is learning the art of pedaling. Although she got this tricycle for her birthday in May, we've kept it inside until I could find a helmet that fit. Now she's SO excited to be riding outside like the other kids. I'm scared that if I blink, she's going to be asking for driving lessons!

Funny story: Today, Kaitlyn learned about the Leaning Tower of Pisa. (It started this morning with a souvenir magnet on the fridge that she was interested in.) Later on in the day, as she was playing with the magnet, I asked, "Where is the Leaning Tower of Pisa?" She thought for a moment and replied, "Carget!" (Target). I laughed for a long time. Guess she's been to Target enough to know that you can get almost anything there!

Silly Moments

Some fun times around our house lately--this is mostly for the grandparents who love the mundane things that our kids do!

Kaitlyn "playing guitar" with Daddy...wonder when she'll be old enough to start taking lessons from him.

She never gets tired of the "Where's Kaitlyn?" game. The kitchen cabinet is her new hiding spot. She takes out all the pots, crawls in and closes the door. Fortunately, she still thinks it's fun to put everything back in the cabinets when she's done.

Ethan has mastered the art of rolling anywhere he wants to go. I put him down in the middle of the floor in Kaitlyn's room and stepped out for just a minute. When I came back, all I could see was his head. He had managed to roll across the room and under the bed. You can't really see his smile, but he was having a blast! Guess it's time to start babyproofing again.

The other day, Kaitlyn was playing in Ethan's room and I noticed that things had suddenly gotten very quiet. I went to check on them and I saw Kaitlyn diligently trying to put Ethan's shoes on. I asked her what she was doing and she replied matter-of-factly, "I'm getting Ethan ready for preschool." She is such the little mommy. I have a feeling I'm going to come in one day and find bows in Ethan's hair. So far, he's been a good sport about everything. He so adores his big sister.

And we're experimenting with new hair styles. She loves her "pigtails" and requests them quite often. Too bad her hair is still too fine for them to stay in very long. But doesn't she look cute?

2009 Lincoln County Fair

Last weekend, we went to my hometown so that we could attend the Lincoln County Fair, one of the highest rated county fairs in the state! Thankfully it was one of the few days where we had no rain. I had so much fun going to the fair when I was growing up and I love seeing my kids have the same experience. Kaitlyn was definitely able to enjoy the fair more this year than last year. She happily petted a baby cow and a pony.

This is as close as she would get to the sheep. They were a little too big for her taste.

She rode two rides this year: the merry-go-round and the helicopters. And Daddy got the "joy" of riding both of them with her. He could barely fit in the helicopter, but she couldn't ride it by herself.

She was pretty nervous about the helicopter at first. Good thing Daddy was there to reassure her. She loved looking down and waving to me and Gran. Can you see her in the window?

Ethan doing what he does best...watching Kaitlyn. He was pretty fascinated by the helicopters too.

No trip would be complete with something Dora. She "won" this at one of the games. After a night full of farm animals, rides, horse races and junk food, she was pretty bleary-eyed at the end. But not too tired to clutch the Dora ball and smile for the camera.

And here's a picture of Kaitlyn and my mom at a local park. Overall, the weekend was a lot of fun. It was our first overnight trip with both kids, and I must say that it's more challenging traveling with two little ones. Hopefully it'll get easier as they get older!

Ethan is six months old

It's so hard to believe that half of a year has passed since Ethan was born. We went to the doctor today for his routine checkup. He weighs 22 pounds, 13 ounces, and is 28.5 inches long. 97th percentile in everything as usual. He is getting more active each day. Those legs are constantly in motion, kicking away like he's getting ready to run a marathon. He's become very adept at rolling over both ways. If we put him on the floor in the middle of the room, it's only a matter of time before he finds his way to a wall. When he starts crawling, he is definitely going to be a man on the move! He has also found his voice lately. From loud, playful screams to babbling, he's experimenting with language more and more each day. And he still smiles all the time. And he still has those chubby little cheeks that I kiss many times a day.

As you can tell in the picture above, he is a drool machine. I thought about changing him before I took the picture but decided that it would be more fun to remember him as he was at this age. In most pictures these days, he is chewing on his bottom lip to help those gums feel better.

I need a new place to put the monthly sign...it's too interesting for him to resist!

Here are some other pictures I took of him during play time. I'm making a conscious effort to take more pictures of Ethan. Poor second child. He's already far behind Kaitlyn in the picture count! He is sitting up for long periods of time now...

...but he still falls over from time to time.

And his favorite person to watch is Kaitlyn. I don't remember what she was doing when I took this picture, but it obviously fascinated him.

Kaitlyn and Ethan

One of the few pictures we have of Kaitlyn and Ethan both looking at the camera! And Ethan reached a new milestone yesterday. His first tooth finally broke through, with another one on its way.