Last Day of School

Thursday was my last day of Panther Playschool. Not only did my mommy and Caitlin come with me to school, but Papa got to come too! I couldn't wait to show them all the things I love about my classroom!


See all the great things in the kitchen, Papa? It's my favorite part of the classroom!



In the kitchen, I always put on my Chef's outfit first. The teacher told my mom that I wear this the whole time I'm in school. When my mommy was there, some high school teachers even stopped in to see their "favorite chef".



These are my 3 high school teachers. I really love them...they always give me the best hugs!



I love art projects at school. Today, I did a painting project with shaving cream and paint.



TaDa! Here's my certificate! What a great time I had in Panther Playschool! I learned a lot and grew a lot too. When I started, I would cry and my mommy had to come with me to school. At the end, when my teacher came to my car to get me, I would say "Bye Bye Mommy" and go with my teacher as happy as could be. When I got back to the car, I would talk and talk to mommy about all the things I did (friends, play, sand, picture, color, paint, kitchen, etc.) The teachers really love me and all of my friends. They did so many nice things, like send home a Xmas card with a picture of all my new friends! I am so happy I went to Panther Playschool. I can go back next year for the whole year if I want....I can't wait to see my teachers and friends again!

St. Nick...Princess Style!

I forgot to post pictures from Abigail's visit from St. Nick. Growing up, St. Nick always visited our house. We had to leave our shoe outside our room when we went to bed and when we woke up, he had left us little presents! So, I told Abigail to pick a shoe for St. Nick. You can see below the shoe she picked out! What a princess!!!


St. Nick left gifts in a pink and purple pump! Gotta love that girl!!!!


Abigail finding her gifts.



That's all, Abigail...no more! (She was checking under everything for more gifts).



Caitlin was very excited for St. Nick's visit

Just a cute pic of Abigail...it was the day of the 1st snow and in between diaper changes (hence the no clothes) we heard the snow plows outside. Abigail got her stool (not sure why??) and watched out the window. She was entertained for a good 15 minutes by that plow...god bless that plow!!!!

Holiday Excitement

We've been very busy the last week getting ready for the holidays...and enjoying all the activities too! Usually our December is full of events and it seems as if we don't get to enjoy the holidays, but having Caitlin this year has been a extra blessing because we have been home a lot more and able to enjoy this time!

**************
First, we'll start with how Caitlin is doing. She had a few rough weeks of crying. I guess I sort of just got used to the crying all day and night...and the not sleeping all night. But having other's notice the crying made me realize we really needed to do something. I thought it was just colic, but the dr said it's much more crying than a colic baby....nice! The dr thinks it's reflux (Abigail had it too) and we started her on medication. The dr is still playing around with the dosage, timing, etc, but the medicine seems to be beginning to making a difference. She is still having some crying and she still has the reflux noise, as well as her voice has now began to go hoarse, so we may have to try something else to help her. We really hope the medication continues to help because the last two days, we have begun to see a different baby...so much happier and observant! It would be nice to have the problem taken care of before the holidays...or we'll be putting earplugs in everyone's stocking.


Caitlin needed to be held ALL the time...so she practically lived in the sling! It helps with the reflux because she's upright more.


Abigail put the sling on all by herself and had her doll inside...She's my little mini-me!

****************************************
On Friday night, we took the girls to a winter carnival at the Bloomingdale Park District. Abigail really loved the train ride! However, she did NOT love Santa...well, she loved him from afar but not up close...so no pics with Santa this year!



*************************************
On Saturday, we decorated our Xmas tree!!!!!

*************

Who can resist a sister picture? Not this mama!

******************************

On Sunday, Rob and I went to the Bears/Packer game with Bill and Katie. While the game left something to be desired, we had such a wonderful day. It was so great to catch up with friends in "old school" fashion. We used to watch all the Bears games with Bill and Katie at Morgan's bar, so we started there..and even brought back our Tequila tradition! Then, after the game, Rob and I headed back to pick up the girls at my parents...and were treated to Lou's pizza! It was a wonderful day out for us...and look what Abigail and Grandpa made!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the Bears tickets..and for watching the girls!

**********************

And one more sister picture (oh yeah, matching pajamas, it brings me so much joy)...this is the Caitlin we know and LOVE!!!

Happy Holidays!!!!! We are getting ready for two big events next week...the big 2 for Abigail and Caitlin's 1st X-mas! Life is great!!!!

A Little About our Little Princess...

A little about Abigail (2 weeks from turning 2 years old):

*She LOVES to sing. Her absolute favorite song is "Wheels on the Bus" and she has some great moves to go with the words. She also loves ABC, Twinkle Twinkle, and Itsy Bitsy Spider. This week she started singing the Clean-up Song out of nowhere..she must sing it at school. She also likes to sing "Alright, Alright" from a country song and the "Hey" part of Jingle Bells.

*She is in love with "Baby Sister" (that's what she calls Caitlin, although she's starting to use her name more). Funny story: She kept telling her teachers about "Baby Sister" but it comes out more like "Baby Thither." One of her teachers came up to me and asked out Peter was...??? They all thought she was saying "Baby Peter"! Anyways, she loves to help change her diaper and loves to rock her to sleep. She's also on Monkey Duty...that's Caitlin's pacifier she gets when she's crying.

*She can count to 15 and sing her ABC's (sort of).

*She has two MAJOR fears right now: The Vacuum and Strands of Hair. She is so afraid of the vacuum...but it doesn't have to be on. If she can see it, she won't go in that room. I had it in our basement and she wouldn't go downstairs...and even though it's been gone for a week, she still stands at the top of the stairs when we are going downstairs and cries about the vacuum. She is also terrified of strands of hair....????? If there is a strand of hair on the ground, or a fuzz for that matter, she screams bloody murder and yells "Bee". We have no idea where this came from but the other day she was screaming bloody murder in her highchair and I was terrified to see what had happened (bloody finger, etc) but it was a strand of hair next to her chair. So funny...but so odd!

*She amazes us everyday with the words she knows. She picks up words very quickly, so we have had to watch our language or she'll repeat it! A couple days ago I told her she had a cute butt once..and now she tells me everyday about her cute butt!

*While we haven't officially started potty training, she goes on the potty about once or twice a day on her own. I am hoping it will make potty-training in January easier!

*She has a few obsessions right now. She is obsessed with "stars," especially her Twilight Turtle that makes stars on her wall and stars in books. She is obsessed with buckles! She has to unbuckle and buckle everything. Especially when Caitlin gets out of her carseat...that gets instantly rebuckled with a baby doll. She is also obsessed with spiders and bees and calls everything one of these two words. She is also obsessed with Baby Bop (??) and has a Baby Bop sticker that she's been carrying around for days now. Lastly, she is obsessed with asking "Where Mommy Go?" or "Where Daddy Go?" if one of us leaves the room. It goes on as long as we are gone, even if it's for hours

Here's a video of her singing her ABC's....but she was distracted with her book and it was taking a long time, so it was cut short!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Abigail's 1st time really playing in the snow!


Enjoying sledding in mommy's laundry basket...we hope Santa is bringing her a new sled! :)



I'm pretty sure she is having the most fun she's ever had in her life!


Abigail reminded me of the kid from The Christmas Story with all her layers on!

Even Caitlin joined in on our snow time...for a quick picture!

No snow day is complete without hot chocolate and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas!

Picking our Christmas Tree!

We went to Bass Pro Shop to see the Christmas Section. Abigail loved the 4 wheelers!

Guess who went on the potty 2 times in one day...both time because she told me she had to go! She got a very special treat after dinner for this great day!

Oh Man..This is what happened when Mommy left Abigail alone with her yogurt! This picture was quickly followed by bathtime!

Our Little Girl is 1 Month Old!

It's hard to believe that only a month ago we were in the hospital welcoming Caitlin into the world and our family! It feels as if she's been here forever! We love her so much and think she's the perfect addition to our family. We can not wait to celebrate her first Xmas with her. She's our little love bug!!!!




Look at those adorable eyes!



Miss Caitlin had a really rough day...but Mommy ended on the right note!

Here are some things about Caitlin:
*She wears newborn size diapers and newborn size clothes. I have a feeling we aren't too far away from moving to 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers because she is very long! (We go to the dr next week and will have her weight/height then.
*She does NOT like to get her diaper changed...but she also does NOT like to be in a wet diaper.
*She is starting to enjoy bath time more.
*She loves to be in her swing.
*Most days, she sleeps all day. She has her days and nights reversed so many nights she's up most the night...but that's okay! It's her special quiet mommy/daughter time. Right now I'm getting about 4-6 hours of sleep a night..usually in 2 2-3 hour periods.
*She has had a couple rough days with constant crying...it's something that mommy ate and we are trying to narrow it down. We think it's greens but are still working on finding this out so Caitlin will be happy!
*She is called Abigail a lot by Mommy but doesn't seem to mind.
*Caitlin is Daddy's Little Girl...he always knows what to do to help Caitlin if she's upset.
*Her Monkey Paci is her BEST FRIEND!
*She is great with her big sister. Today she laid in a chair and let Abigail read to her.
*She LOVES to be held....she has a very hard time sleeping unless she's being held. We know she just loves her mommy so much she wants to be with her all the time...and Mommy is happy to have a cuddle buddy!
*She really goes with the flow...she has been dragged around a lot more than Abigail ever was with shopping, school for Abigail, field trips with Abigail, etc! She is going to be very laid back!
*She is the cutest, sweetest baby and we love her!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

This year was a very special Thanksgiving because it was Caitlin's 1st Thanksgiving!
Here's a recap of our Thanksgiving in pictures!!!


Our little turkey! We picked this onsie out back in August, so it was so special to finally have our daughter here to wear it!


Abigail and I made chocolate-covered pretzels to bring with to Thanksgiving. Abigail ate one pretzel for every 2 I dipped in chocolate. Check our her new slippers...Thanks Tracey and Andrew for the gift, she LOVES them!!!!

Caitlin catching up on sleep with Aunt Katie on Thanksgiving Eve. Aunt Katie spent the night visiting with the girls and the morning of Thanksgiving helping get the girls ready! Kate, the offer to hire you as our nanny is still on the table!

Miss Abigail on Thanksgiving. This cup of water was hours of entertainment for her.

Beth, Great-Grandma Fran, Bob, Neici, and Rob. Rob and I are so blessed that our families spend Thanksgiving together!

My dad with Turkey#1.

My mom with the turkey.

All the Thanksgiving excitement really wore Caitlin out. She never woke up once the whole day!

Our Thanksgiving Family Tradition...Shots when we turn on the Christmas lights! Rob and I were watching Nat'l Lampoon X-mas Vacation and we decided that next year my dad is going to have to add a "Joy to the World"...but we did get a great drumroll this year!

And the lights!!! The whole house used to be full of lights...but my dad is getting wiser with age! :) For those who don't know the "ladder" story from when I was a kid, that's for another time!

******************

And who could forget this adorable picture of Abigail when she was a newborn???? We found a very similar bowl at my mom's house and decided to recreate this picture with Caitlin.




So after a few drinks and a shot....this is what we got:

Okay, the bowl is too small, Caitlin was not happy, and the effect is NO WHERE the same....but it sure was funny when we did it! Poor Caitlin.

It was a LONG and WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!!!!! We have so much to be thankful for this year....namely 2 little miracles!!!!!!

*Thank you to Aunt Katie for your pictures...because I didn't take many pictures I don't have any of Aunt Katie because they are mostly from her Camera!