Katie: Fifteen Months

Fifteen months with our Kater-chip have come and gone so quickly, and the past three months have been big ones for Katie. 

She went to her first fair, had her first family photo session, took her first long road trip, took her first steps, went to her first wedding reception, went on her first boat ride, went to her first football game, and graduated to a big kid car seat-wowzers Kate, can we slow things down a bit?

I almost have to laugh at the thought of her slowing down, because I don't see that happening any time soon. Since she's mastered walking, she sometimes is practically running chasing after Brayden and Ashley around the house. 

Katie loves being outside, whether that's on a swing or just exploring the yard. You say the word "shoes" and she is well on her way to the garage door to grab her shoes to put on. And if you try to take them off of her once you are ready to come in- good luck with that ha!

Her favorite words are "momma", "up" (with a huge emphasis on the /p/ sound), and "shoes". She also says "dada" and something that sounds like "this?" that she uses when she is pointing to something. She loves to point at different things and have us tell her what they are. She understands so much, even if she doesn't want to listen. I swear her favorite thing to do is look at you, smile, and turn the other way when you tell her to come to you. She is the orneriest thing ever!

Katie's favorite places to be include anywhere I am, with anywhere Brayden and Ashley are as a close second. It's been fun to watch their bond develop as Katie is able to actually play with them more and more. 

She loves bath time, and when she hears the water turn on, she is in the bathroom pulling at her clothes and diaper to have you take them off. 

Lately she has been a huge fan of blowing raspberries, or even just spitting everywhere. She has been a huge fan of going around with a spoon of some sort in her mouth, but I've noticed that less here at the end of August compared to how much she used to do it. 

Katie isn't a fan of being told "no" or when someone is in her space (or more specifically if Brayden or Ashley get too close to her or try to steal her food).

She has 7 teeth, four on top and 3 on bottom, and those bottom ones sure are crooked! I have a feeling braces are in our future with her. Katie is weighing about 22 pounds and is just over 29 inches tall according to our measurements here at home. 

She is a bright ray of sunshine in our lives, and we couldn't imagine life without this sassy little girl!

One Last Summer Hurrah!

School starts this week, and that means that summer has quickly come to an end. But we didn't let that stop us from having all the fun before it does. 

Our fun filled weekend started on Friday when Eric took off work and we had our 3rd annual golfing/lunch/drinks day date. We hit up St. Elmo Golf Club and were big fans. It's always a treat to spend some one on one time with Eric, and this day has become one of our favorites of the year (even if we seem to always wait until the very end of summer to do it!).

We picked up the kids from daycare and drove a few hours south to Lake of Egypt for a weekend getaway with the kids' cousins, aunts, and uncles. I was reminded how blessed we are to have such a good relationship with Eric's siblings and that our kids have such best friends in their cousins. 

Even though Saturday called for rain all morning, we lucked out and didn't get anything. Brayden and Ashley said their favorite part of the weekend was the boat rides.

We were able to get out twice- once in the cold air of the morning and a second time right after nap in the refreshing sun. Brady and Ashley loved the wind blowing through their hair and the bumpy ride we got when we drove over the wakes of other boats.

It didn't seem that Katie was as big a fan of the boat ride as the twins were. I'm sure it had to do with the fact she had to be stationary- girl loves to walk all over. Or it could have been the fact she was a giant marshmallow in her lifejacket. 

Either way, she only tolerated one boat ride with us instead of two ha!

That afternoon we swam in the lake by the dock. I had a mom fail and didn't bring our puddle jumpers, so the kids had to swim in their life jackets, which definitely wasn't as much fun as puddle jumpers. Next year I'll have to remember them! I didn't have my phone out while we were swimming, but managed to snag a picture with Brayden once we were done. 

After dinner the kids enjoyed playing different board games and games on Grant's tablet.

And that evening after all the littles were asleep, we made s'mores with the bigs. Brayden refused to take a group picture, but I managed to snag one of him by himself anyway ha!

It was a pretty quiet ride home this morning as we all recovered from a weekend full of fun. And we really hope we can make this a yearly tradition to continue the fun for years to come!

July is for Friends

I swear that summer goes faster and faster each year, and the month of July was no different. We spent this month enjoying all the time with friends that we could. 

July started with a Fourth of July Party at our house. It was the first time that a lot of our friends had seen our house since we moved in last July (whoops!), so it was fun to be able to show it off. The bigger kids enjoyed a slip and slide in the front yard and the littles enjoyed the water table. 

And then they all enjoyed playing in the rain when the front finally moved through later that afternoon. 

We finished the evening with sparklers and fireworks, and discovered that most of the kids were big fans of sparklers, and not so big fans of fireworks. 

 

The kids had a blast going to a few of Grant's t-ball games this year. I can't wait to see them out on the t-ball field next season, but for now, we enjoyed cheering him (and a few fellow daycare buddies) on from the fence. 

The actual 4th of July we spent pretty low-key at home. We played with the air up pool and water table, and even enjoyed a little time outside that evening. 

We spent lots of time outside this month (but honestly, what else is new). The swing set was a big favorite.

As was the pool at grandma and grandpa's. We never seem to make it over there as much as I always think we will, but it's definitely a favorite of ours.

In the middle of July, I took the kids with me up north to visit my friends Kaci and Ashley. We explored their woods, played at the park, swam in their pool, and had the best time hanging out. Looking forward to doing it again next summer, and hopefully Kendra can join that time!

A few days after that we celebrated Grant's birthday party at Star Studio- what a fun thing to do for a birthday! Brayden and Ashley worked up the courage to jump off the trampoline into the foam pit, and Katie loved bouncing on the trampolines. 

We got to hang out with cousin Emily at Eric's mom and dad's house. Her and the twins together always equals a good time. 

On the 22nd, we brought the kids with us to celebrate a high school buddy of ours' wedding. The kids literally danced the night away, barely leaving the dance floor between when it opened and when we finally left around 10. 

The last week of July daycare was closed, so we filled it up with fun! On Monday we stopped by my Grandma Wolf's for a visit with her.

Tuesday called for a little cousin time with Jack and Aunt Yay-yay. 

On Wednesday, I watched Nikki and Connor's kids, so we had even more cousin time that day.

That Thursday we stopped by and visited Great Grandma Blievernicht.

And then Friday we took a little swim in grandma and grandpa's pool! Whew, what a fun week we had!

As far as kid updates go, Katie had a huge month! On the 18th she started standing up from sitting.

Then by Friday she was taking multiple steps (to get to her stuffed lobster none-the-less). When she falls down when walking or losing her balance while standing, she will get so frustrated and smack at or grab at her legs like, "what the heck- why aren't you working right!?". It's the cutest thing! It hasn't taken long for her to really try to walk so much more than crawl. It's a little sad that soon she will be totally walking and will ditch the crawling for good. 

Katie absolutely loves to do everything that Brayden and Ashley are doing. She is a climbing machine, loves to swing, and loves her stuffed lobster. She also loves her space- if Brayden or Ashley get too close, she will scream and try to push them away. Her favorite word is "up", and while she does use it appropriately to be picked up, she's also overgeneralized it to almost every other word at this point, so we need to work on widening that vocabulary. She is still attached to my hip and will often full on scream when I leave a room. She also hates when she makes it all the way down the stairs and whoever she was following starts coming back up. 

Brayden is a lover of being outside, taking four wheeler rides, swinging, building things, playing with the toy kitchen, and wearing pants. I think Eric got him to wear shorts one night when he went with him to basketball practice, but it was not long lived. I always ask him every evening when we pick out clothes for the next day if he wants shorts or pants, and he says "pants, allllll the way down" as he moves his hands all the way down his legs to his feet ha!

Ashley loves dressing up and wearing as many necklaces as she can. She loves to wear dresses and her pretty sandals. She's gotten really good at riding her balance bike correctly, and would swing until my arms fell off. She currently refuses to learn to pump her legs so she can swing herself, but I haven't stopped working on it. She loves helping Eric cook in the kitchen, and absolutely hates being too hot and sweaty (she does take after me a little bit after all ha!).

        

August has even more fun things in store for us, so bring it on!