it must have been a good nap

wisconsin dells

this past weekend we drove up to wisconsin dells with some friends to play at the water park capital of the world. and who would have thought that the water park capital would be in wisconsin? not i.

we have been wanting to plan a little trip up the dells for a while and jumped at the chance once school was out. we did a lot of research trying to find the best and cheapest place to stay, but we were a little overwhelmed by the number of resorts available. i ended up getting an email from one the resorts about a little deal they were having, and we grabbed it. it turned out to be a great place for katelyn to play.

as soon as we got to our hotel we put our suits on and headed outside. katelyn was so excited she could barely contain herself. so we thought she was going to jump in and love it. but that wasn't the case. she wanted to ease her way into the water and did not want any of it getting in her face. it's funny because we used to call her our "little fishie" because she loved having water all over her. not anymore. luckily her little friend, eliza, was the same way.

we didn't spend much time outside because the water was still pretty chilly for this time of year. plus, it rained all of saturday. our resort also had an indoor water park, so we spent the rest of our time inside.
katelyn stayed on the outskirts of the kiddie area where it was safe from the spraying water.

and wouldn't you know, she wanted to spend a lot of her time going up and down the stairs.

and of course the hot tub was a huge hit. she spent a lot of time with daddy in the warm water.

we had a great time hanging out as a family and hanging out with our friends. after spending all of the time we wanted to at the resort, we packed up and headed out to eat, then drove over the outlet malls to walk around and do some shopping. thanks for going with us odells and nances!

fun in the sun

when the sun is out, and it's warm outside, i just can't find any excuses to stay inside, so i head out. it's a perfect situation for both katelyn and i. she gets out to run around and play with her toys, and i get to sit and read. no wonder they call it the lazy days of summer.

this time around katelyn chose to play in the little sandbox that we have in our driveway. i was a little surprised by this choice because it was so warm outside. sand can get pretty hot in the sun, but she braved it and played away.

first the shoes come off. you can't play in sand properly without the removal of your shoes.

this is mainly what she does in the sandbox. shovel up the sand and watch it drop. maybe her second favorite thing is shoveling the sand up and throwing it out of the sandbox, although that is not my favorite thing for her to do.

an attempt at a sand castle?

we love being outside and can't wait until the weather stays consistenty warm to do this more often!

stick a fork in him, he's done...with his first year at least

tyler has officially finished his first year of medical college. i'm so proud of all of his hard work this past year, and know that he will continue to work just as hard these next three years. not only did he work hard studying, but he also worked hard at being a wonderful husband and father. i can honestly say that i never felt neglected or overwhelmed with my responsibilities as a wife and mother, and that's saying a lot when your husband is quite busy with his responsibilities. here's to the next three years!

we had a couple of fellow first years organize a little get together to celebrate the end of year one. i'm a picture person and made everyone get together for a couple of pictures. i realize not everyone is as enthusiastic about taking lots of pictures, and i definitely heard some grumbles from some husbands :), but hopefully one day, they'll appreciate these too.

the men, very happy to be done.

most of the first years were able to attend.

and of course katelyn was there stuffing her face full of cupcakes and enjoying the freedom of running around.

when katelyn won't nap...

we head outside. at least when it's warm anyway. we have some decent outside toys for katelyn to play with, so we have the perfect excuse to get out. if i even mention the word car she makes a mad dash for the door. nothing can beat her cozy coupy car. thank you rummages.

plus, i couldn't help making an excuse to get out as i finally saved up for and bought a dslr.

getting a good shot with a dslr, or any camera for that matter isn't as easy as some people make it look. there is quite a lot to think about when composing a shot, and a running toddler sure doesn't help that thought process. so i just might be spending a lot of time practicing trying to learn how to get it just right. and i have so much learn.

but we still had fun getting out. here's proof.

she really couldn't contain her excitement to be in her 'yellow and red car'.

she did stop playing for just a minute to find the airplane in the sky.

she was absolutely refusing to look at me. oh boy is she a two year old.

i love the determined look on her face.

until next time...

by the way, thanks kristen for helping me make the choice to get a d40!

.dos.tva.two.twee.doi.deux.zwei.

no matter how you say it, it doesn't change the fact that katelyn is no longer our little baby. she is now our big girl. on may 8th, we celebrated katelyn's second birthday. i'm pretty sure i said this last year too, but i can't believe she is growing up so fast. i've loved seeing her personality develop and grow these past two years, and i've loved seeing her understanding increase. she really does bring us so much happiness and keeps us laughing each and every day.

as i was purusing through all of our pictures of katelyn, i couldn't pick just one to share. so i decided to share many, in no particluar order.katelyn's first year.

she was always a very content baby. we had no problems putting her down for a while, holding her, getting her down for naps. as a newborn when she woke up to eat she never cried, only grunted very softly. she was a very happy baby. she did get quite attached to her mommy and daddy and only let us hold her for a while though.katelyn's second year.
her personality has popped! she's funny, wild and rambunctious, but can also be very calm, sweet and cuddly. she loves other people and especially her little friends and of course, as any two year old, loves attention.

some things i want to remember about katelyn at this point in time:

• is a talker...and repeats everything we say and more
• can finally jump. yea! two feet actually come off the floor
• knows all of her letters
• can count to 10 and does so often
• is sleeping in a toddler bed. the change went so much more smoothly than we planned
• knows circle, square, heart, star and triangle
• knows all of her colors
• loves to sing songs and do the actions. her personal favorites right now are the wiseman song, go bananas and itsy-bitsy spider.
• can throw a tantrum with the best of them
• gets so excited when her daddy comes home from school
• loves puzzles and play-doh and can play with both for a long time
• loves to be outside
• favorite phrase: it's mine
• loves to talk on the phone to "pampa"
• loves nursery. thank you nursery leaders!
• is still an extremely picky eater
• loves to help me clean whether it is putting away toys, sweeping, vacuuming or putting dishes away

to celebrate her birthday we invited katelyn's best little friends over to play some games and eat some cupcakes. her birthday party theme was all pink. we ate pink foods, decorated with pink paper and passed out pink favors. it was a great party. her friends, grandparents and parents all did a wonderful job of spoiling her. thanks everyone! happy birthday big girl!

drumroll please...

tyler and i went in for our 20 week ultrasound today to find out the health and gender of our baby. tyler had decided before hand that he really wanted a boy, and i was undecided. as soon as the sonogram popped up tyler spied the gender. i happened to miss it, but heard the nurse using a gender specific pronoun during the ultrasound. once the nurse got a clear shot there was NO mistaking that we are having a healthy little...

sorry for the extremely poor quality. we couldn't get our scanner to work, so i took a picture of a picture. not so good, but i think you get the point.

boy!

i did have my suspicions. i felt this kid move at 14 weeks, and this wasn't just that subtle butterfly feeling. it was a hard kick. and ever since then the hard kicks haven't stopped. i just assumed that hard kick=boy. well come to find out that because your uterus has a front and a back, the placenta can attach to either one. my doctor said that the placenta is most likely in the back meaning there is not nearly as much cushion to block the movement of the baby. makes sense. and hey, it's been tons of fun to feel the baby so well already.

we are very excited to have a boy and a girl. i honestly thought either one would be fun, but will admit that a boy makes me a little nervous. i'm so used to everything girl. i'm not sure i know how to raise a boy.

5 months