Tot School

The school year is only 5 weeks away and I've started thinking of some learning activities that Caitlyn and I can do together while the boys are at school. Here's one activity that she picked up on right away. I put a block of each color on the floor, apart from each other. I handed her a red block and asked her where it goes. She knew right away, and started in on all the other blocks. She had this finished within five minutes! And she didn't hesitate to have her picture taken with her work...

Happy 4th!

This 4th, we met neighbors and friends at the Coralville parade. The kids got a TON of candy, which we don't need! We also got coupons for free kids meals at Chili's, so we went there for lunch afterwards.




Later that night, we met more neighbors at the fireworks in Iowa City. We thought they were going to be rained out, so we decided to go out to eat at a nearby restaurant. Sure enough, as soon as we were walking out of the restaurant, the fireworks began. It couldn't have been planned any better.

The next night, we went across the street for sparklers!

Father's Day

We spent the day cleaning out the garage and putting up new shelving, but hey...at least I remembered to take a picture this year!

Summer Fun

We've been busy filling out our summer reading logs. This summer has been especially awesome, because now Aidan can read to the other two! And I can't believe all the books that Caitlyn will actually sit through. She will sit through a book of any length, as long as it has pictures. Aidan gets points for reading a book (or multiple points if it's a chapter book), and Alex gets points for listening to a book. It's perfect!



On another note, our good friends, Brad and Jen have moved back to Ohio. They lived right across the street, with their 3-year old daughter, Maren. We miss them so much already, but look forward to our trips to the Cinci area!

Happy Birthday Caitlyn!

Caitlyn's Birthday Party

Caitlyn is two! We met friends at the Children's Museum in the Quad Cities for her birthday. Our good friends live about equal distance, on the Illinois side, so the Quad Cities is a great place for us to meet up. What a great museum it was...they had this awesome outdoor water area that the kids just loved.







No birthday party is complete without a cake, so it made the trip with us.







Mmm..yummy!

My Baby is 18 Months!

She's walking!

At least a little bit. She took her first step on Monday, and today she took ten. She's the first one of our children that didn't need the encouragement of us stretching our arms out to say 'come here, you can do it'. Instead, she just stood up and starting walking away! 2010 is going to be full of adventure for this family.

First Snow

Our first "real" snow came Tuesday, December 8th. That's actually 8 days later than last year.
Santa was going to bring kid-sized shovels for Christmas, but I couldn't wait and the boys got to open an early Chrismas gift! They had a lot of fun at first, but quickly became cold and gave up, so I ended up finishing the driveway and sidewalks by myself! They joined Caitlyn in the van, parked in the garage, watching a movie (I later found out that you should not do this for a long period of time, because your car won't start the next day!).

Wilson's

Our favorite apple orchard. We came home with enough apples for apple cider, apple pie, and applesauce. The boys are so excited!

15 Months

Caitlyn should have turned one today. God, however, had other plans for her and she is now 15 months! She really has been a joy and a blessing for our family. Happy should-have-been birthday, Caitlyn!

And now we need to babyproof...

Caitlyn is crawling! She just started today :)

Caitlyn turns one!

Caitlyn's 1-year pictures. I've seen babies in these adorable tutus before, so I decided to make my own! Keep your eye out for more pictures to come!

Happy Birthday, Caitlyn!

Today, my baby turned one. With her first 101 days spent in the hospital, the time really flew. We celebrated with friends and family on Saturday, in our backyard. We also took a cake to the NICU today and showed off our little Caitlyn. We really have been blessed.

She is really enjoying hearing everyone sing...

She especially likes to hear Daddy sing...

A little bit of frosting...

Mommy's first attempt at a tiered cake...

Thank you everyone for making this such a special day!