Pleading Ignorance

So, I'm sitting here on a Sunday afternoon feeding Kathryn in her high chair. In walks Joseph with a pencil thin mustache and a little spot under his lower lip colored with a black marker. Before I can say anything, he decides to launch a first strike vehement defense .

"I DO NOT know how it happened, Dad, I have no idea how this happened!."

Good thing picture day was last week!

Kathryn is skeptical of his defense. She's caught on quickly.

What's up with that...

This is what Kathryn looks like when trying to get her to say Mama

This is what Kathryn looks like when trying to get her to say Dada

Feel the love

A Post of Pictures

Horsin' around with Dad

Quiet Time


Just hangin out

Michael after his school awards ceremony

Ok, so, it's been a while...

Its amazing how time continues to so easily creep away. It seems like yesterday we were celebrating Kathryn's first birthday and now here it is the end of June. So what have we been up to? Aside from the daily throws of life and work it's been pretty busy.


Kathryn continues to go to physical therapy (pt) and occupational therapy (ot) every week. It is so wonderful to not only see her progress in therapy but also to see just how hard she works during therapy. Her progress is slow but steady. Verbally, she loves to make sounds and hear them repeated to her. She is scooting around the floor and is close to sitting unassisted. She will fully open her hands now and do "clap clap" whenever asked, or whenever she feels the need to make herself laugh. One thing that has been consistant from the first time we saw her laying in a crib in the childrens hospital is her contagious smile and joy to see and be around people.

April brought spring break visitors of Auntie Linda and Claire. The kids had a great time visiting with their Aunt and cousin. Plenty of days at the beach, pool and just hangin out. We had so much fun and can't wait to see them again.

May was the official end of school, sports, and the unofficial beginning of summer. Memorial day weekend was very special as we celebrated Kathryn's Baptism. She has been a complete blessing to our family and its now difficult to remember what life was like without her. The boys continue to be fully engaged with their sister helping out where they can and ocassionally taking turns holding her.

The boys finished their respective sports the end of May. Daniel's baseball team had the same kids in the spring as they had in the fall so they were able to have some continuity and momentum. They did fantastic! Even though they don't officially keep score in his age group I'm pretty sure they won all their games. Michael's soccer team had participated in a post season competition and finished first place. Joseph finished his first season in T ball and just had fun being there.

We will post pictures as soon as we are able to upload them to the computer. Stay tuned!

Kathryn's First Birthday

Can't believe her first birthday has come and gone. On Wednesday March 11, we had a great family dinner together to celebrate both Kathryn and Michael's birthdays and then took the kids to Cold Stone on the beach for dessert. It was a beautiful night. Kathryn spent the day with Nana so that she would not have to go to day care on her birthday. Thank you, Nana!

Our family celebration was on Saturday the 14th. Everyone came over for a BBQ and swimming. Yes, the kids got in the pool. Kathryn didn't get in because none of the adults did. She is still fighting a small cold but is feeling better.

Michael decorated the cakes for both of them. He drew the pictures and Publix scanned them onto the cakes. He was proud of them and should be! It was so sweet to see him excited about sharing his birthday with his sister! Daniel and Joseph helped with her open gifts and, of course, helped eat birthday cake too! Another first, Kathryn got to see her first shuttle launch.

On Sunday I got in the pool with Kathryn and she loved it! We heated up the hot tub so it wasn't quite so cold. She loved to lay on her back and splash and kick. It will be a fun summer!

Hangin' out at the beach with some Cold Stone!

The Grillmaster. Cooking it up for a birthday dinner.

Michael drew the template for the birthday cakes.

Loving my tasty birthday cake

Michael and Kathryn. Happy birthday you two!

Playing with Nana

Stylin' in my new bathing suit.

Mommy with Daniel and Joseph teaching Kathryn to float.

Kathryn's first Space Shuttle launch. It never gets old.

Sweet dreams, Little Peanut.

Windy City Weekend

After living in Florida for many years, it's always good to go back home to Northern Illinois in the winter for a reminder of why I decided to live in a warm weather climate. As if spending almost two months in Southern Siberia wasn't convincing enough. Ok, it was Fall so it wasn't really THAT cold but it sounds impressive. Anyway, it's always good to visit with family and this time to introduce Kathryn to the rest of my family. It turned out that we brought along some warm weather with us as the temperatures that weekend reached the upper 40's and even into the 50's after weeks of below freezing temperatures. Much to Joseph's disappointment, much of the snow melted but he did manage to make a few snowballs to toss at dad.

Kathryn did wonderfully travelling and meeting many new faces. Of course, everyone enjoyed seeing her and visiting with funny boy, Joseph.

Busy, Busy, Busy....

What a month it has been. Dave stayed home with Kathryn until Jan 5th and now I am home with her. Each day I am amazed at how the time flyies by. We are busy just spending time together, running errands and getting Kathryn to multiple doctors appointments. Most of them are just to check everything out and satisfy the pediatrician. We have had to catch her up on her vaccinations as well. She has been given a clean bill of health in almost all areas. We did find out that she is near-sighted and may need glasses. We go back to the otpthamologist in a few weeks to find out for sure. As long as the glasses are pink or purple, Kathryn is agreeable:-)

We continue to feel the blessing of having Kathryn in our family. She has really made the adjustment without any bumps in the road. She has slept through the night since we came home except for the occassional teething incindents. She has 6 teeth now; 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom. Her smile is full of teeth now.

We are trying to make the transition easier for her when I go back to work , so she is now going to day care once a week while I go to work. She will start full time in Feb. Even though she cries when Daddy drops her off (not sure I'm ready for that yet), she is always happy when she is picked up.

She started physical therapy a few weeks ago and is doing great. She is being treated for torticollis in PT one day a week. In the pictures you can see how much better she is able to hold her head up straight then she could 2 months ago! She is a quick learner. For the past 3 days she has consistently rolled herself over from stomach to back when she is not ready to go to sleep or when she wakes up. We are very excited for these milestones. . . as long as she doesn't grow up too fast. I can't believe we are already thinking about her first birthday in March!

Here are a few pictures from this past month. . .

Happy New Year!

Wow, here we are and it's New Year's Eve. The time has gone by so quickly. Kathryn and her 3 brothers are doing great. We have had a busy Christmas season and are ready for all the great things 2009 has to bring. We took the family for our annual visit to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Kathyrn enjoyed the cool, beautiful evening outside and all the lights. The boys mostly enjoyed the rides. Joseph took his first ride on Space Mountain!

We wish all our friends and family a Blessed New Year. Thank you for all your prayers and support over this past year. May all your dreams come true in 2009 - ours sure did in 2008!

Daniel, Joseph and Kathryn at Disney 12/19/08

Kathryn in her new room!

Daniel, Joseph and Kathryn at Church

Maddi, Michael, Steve, Daniel, Joseph and Kathryn on Christmas Eve 2008

Kathryn and Daddy on Christmas Eve

Nana and Kathryn on Christmas Eve

Papa and Kathryn with Nana giving her Winnie the Pooh on Christmas morning.

Maddi and Kathryn - Opening gifts is exhausting!

Kathryn all dressed up on Christmas!

Michael, Daniel, Joseph and Kathryn on Christmas night.

First Encounter with Santa

This morning we went to Breakfast with Santa at our church. Daniel and Joseph had a lot of fun with their friends Max and Nina. They did some crafts, had their pictures taken with Santa and made Reindeer food to put out on the lawn on Christmas Eve! We did pictures first since the line was short and the kids were anxious to get to the crafts. We only waited a few minutes and it was our turn. I wasn't sure how Kathryn would do, but . . . she sat on Santa's lap without a fuss. As you can see, she was very curious, turning and looking up at Santa, but not a whimper or a cry. It was fun!

Joseph, Daniel and Nina decorating a paper plate. I think the most fun was the finger stampers! Love the ink all over the hands!

Joseph, Max and Nina making a wreath. The cutting took so much time, they lost interest and barely finished the craft! Good cutting practice for the kids and for Mom.

How time flies!

Kathryn and . . .

Joseph

Michael

Daniel

Aunt Debbi

Mama Louise (Great Grandmother)

Kathryn eating her first carrots!

Can't believe we have been home for 2 weeks now. It has been incredible and time is passing very quickly. It took us a few days to get resettled and readjusted to the time change, but we didn't have much of a choice. We just jumped right back into the life we left for a month. Nothing was put on hold, it continued without us. It almost felt like swimming in a stream with a heavy current - we just had to jump in and go with the flow.

Over these last 2 weeks, Kathryn has been introduced to the entire family and to many of our friends. It has been wonderful and she has handled it all with grace. At times she becomes overwhelmed, but when we see that happening Dave and I stop passing her around and make sure one of us has her. She then seems to calm down and is happy again. Meeting so many strangers is a lot on the senses.

On Sunday after we returned Kathryn made her first trip to church. She really enjoyed the praise band and then slept through the sermon :-) It was great to see all of our friends again. We really missed everyone. That afternoon my Mom and Debbi hosted a shower for me and Kathryn at our church. Most of those who attended were friends from church. Kathryn did great through the whole shower. We got such wonderful, thoughtful gifts! Kathryn will certainly be the best dressed baby girl in FL.

Of course one week after arriving home was Thanksgiving. What a wonderful holiday we had. My Aunt Carol, Uncle Dick and cousin Abby came into town and stayed at my parents. It was great to see them even though it was a short 3 days. We also had some college friends come stay with us from Port Charlotte. It was a great weekend with them and the kids had a blast together. On Thanksgiving morning, the dads and kids headed to the local school athletic fields for a game of Football. Michael had invited a bunch of his friends and they had a great turnout. Everyone had a great time. This gave me a chance to get started on the mashed potatoes and pies!! Kathryn helped to taste test the mashed potatoes - her first solid food.

Thanksgiving dinner was at our house! I really enjoy having the family get togethers here and this Thanksgiving was no exception. We set up 3 tables in the Living/Dining room and had 21 people for dinner! It was so much fun. Everyone pitched in and brought food. We even ended up with 6 pies for desert. Kathryn had a great day. I couldn't believe she went down for a nap right when we were sitting down for dinner.

When everyone left with full tummys, Kathryn had a rough night. Not because of overstimulation, but because she decided it was time to get her third tooth. The next two nights were a bit rough. She was inconsolable the first night and had a fever the second. But, sure enough, by Sat am the tooth was fully through the gums and she was content once again.

Now that she has 3 teeth, she has figured out how to put them together and make noises and grind them. Hopefully that won't last long. She continues to discover new things. She loves her bouncer and has learned to pull the toy to make the music play - and does it over and over again :-)

Just this week we have taken the kids to two tree lighting celebrations - it is nice to get into the holiday spirit. It is going to be a truly blessed holiday! I can't say enough how great it is to have our family of 6 and it feels so complete. The boys continue to love on Kathryn and have not become bored of her yet. They are so willing to get up in the morning and get ready on time if it means they get a few minutes of holding Kathryn before school. The boys each wants his turn sitting next to her in the car and they are always willing to help me with the bottles and diapers. They are such wonderful BIG brothers.

Stay tuned for more updates!