Fishing

Uncle Jody bought Kaitlin her first fishing pole. She is very proud of her pink princess "Sishing" pole. Uncle Jody, Scott, and Granddaddy took Kaitlin to the pond one afternoon for her first fishing adventure. (I was still at work, so I didn't get to go.) Kaitlin didn't actually catch any on her pole, but she helped Uncle Jody reel his in. If you ask her how big that fish was, she'll open her arms as wide as she can. This, of course, is unrealistic....but very cute! Kaitlin loved getting to touch her first fish (GROSS!).

I spent last Saturday cleaning the house. By Saturday afternoon, I was determined I was going to get Kaitlin outside to enjoy the nice weather. I asked if she wanted to go fishing, and of couse she did. This time Scott, Granddaddy, and Gramby joined us. Kaitlin grew quickly bored with holding her pole, so Scott caught lots of fish of that pink princess pole! Kaitlin had a ball throwing sticks and rocks into the water. It entertained her so well that she didn't even care to reel in the fish on her line after the first couple. She just kept on throwing rocks and sticks. We caught several small bass and brim. Great times.

BIG Family Vacation

On Spring Break, we headed to Florida with both of our families. We rented a house near Disney World for the ten of us to stay in. That's right......ten people. You would think that would be a lot of people in one house. It was, but it was a very spacious six bedroom house, so there was plenty of room.

Everyone had different ideas for what they would like to do all week, so the teacher in me created a chart to indicate where everyone would be going each day. Some of the people loved this plan, while others thought I was insane.....those were the same people who I later saw refer to the chart many times! :)

Of course, Kaitlin and I are Disney World fanatics, so our week was pretty simple to plan. My mom and Melinda ended up joining us at Disney World each day. The guys golfed, fished, and went to Disney World as well. Scott's favorite part of the trip was probably when an alligator stole a fish he was reeling in....very funny video!

On our last day in Florida, nearly all of us loaded up to head to Tarpon Springs and Clearwater Beach. Gary Wayne's girlfriend, Brittany, had never been to the ocean before, and I wanted Kaitlin to get to go back. Kaitlin had not been to the ocean since she was about 18 months old. It took a long time to get into Clearwater because of all the traffic (Spring Break + Florida = Busy).

Once we finally got into the beach area, it took a lot of driving to find a place to park. This was not much fun with a three year old who was ready to be out of the car and on the beach. We finally found a spot and walked to a restaurant for lunch....Crabby Bill's (I think...???). Once there, I realized I left Kaitlin's swimsuit in the car (MANY blocks away). I really didn't think Kaitlin would care much for the ocean's waves and dirty sand anyway, so I decided to just leave it and let her wade in the water in her shorts.

Back to Crabby Bill's...everyone was tired of walking and starving by the time we sat down to eat. My sweet baby decided to pick up her cup of milk by the top, thus dropping the full cup on both of us....mostly me. I tried really hard not to become Crabby Kerri, but the last 30 minutes had contained: long car ride with 3 year old, frustration with lack/price of parking, long walk with 3 year old who wanted to be carried, hunger, outdoor dining in wind, and now a milk bath. That was probably the lowest point of the trip for me.

After lunch, we walked over to the beach. Kaitlin's fascination with the sand and the water were just what I needed. She was a picture of pure glee. The child could care less that her clothes were getting soaked and that she was covered in sand. This was a big shock to all of us as she can't stand for anything dirty to be on her.

Our parents stayed at the beach just a few minutes before continuing on to Tarpon Springs. The rest of us stayed at the beach a couple of hours and then went back to the house.

We stopped in Live Oak, Florida on the way home. This is a small town my Dad lived in when he was a young child. He took us to an old spring that everyone used as the summertime swimming hole. It was very special to get to see this important part of his life.

Overall, it was a very fun trip. I still LOVE Disney World, but I recommend avoiding it during Spring Break. I also prefer staying at one of the Disney resorts as we did in October. The house was nice and saved a lot of money due to the number of people in our party, but it is much more magical and stress-free when you are on Disney property for the entire trip.

Of course, we took a ton of pictures. Here are some of those:

My girl:

She was not a bit afraid of Beast!

She asked Snow White where the dwarfs were.

Mulan was very sweet. She spent a lot of time talking to Kaitlin.

We were so lucky to meet Pinocchio! This was her favorite part of this day.

Isn't she adorable!

It was very hot waiting for the parade. Funny!

Only Melinda and Jody were brave enough to ride the Spinning Tea Cups with Kaitlin.

Kaitlin's favorite ride was Pooh's Honeypot. I don't know what Scott was doing!

Mom and Kaitlin outside Minnie's house:

Waiting....

Scary Dinosaur Ride:

Grandparents were all a big help at Disney World! Kaitlin caught a nap during the Festival of the Lion King Show.

In her happy place:

Loving it:

Water was cold...she didn't notice though!

Spring in Live Oak....water is much lower than normal:

Live Oak:

Love this picture:

No luck!

Mom and Dad at Spring on Suwanee River:

Kaitlin's 3rd Birthday

It's hard to believe that my sweet baby girl is already three years old. I am so thankful that God chose me to be the Mommy of this precious little life. Each day, I remind myself to enjoy every moment because the time goes by so quickly.
Here are some pictures from Kaitlin's princess party.

This first one is of some of the dresses we had for the girls to wear during the party. We also had tiaras and princess shoes. It was really cool for each girl to get to be a real princess! (I think Kaitlin wore 4 different ones that day!)

Kaitlin had a castle birthday cake topped with some of her favorite princesses.

During Happy Birthday Song:

Cake Time!

Of course there were presents:

Here's Kaitlin with some of her special guests:

I had to include this picture of Scott. Doesn't he look like he's having a blast?

I Know.

I know it has been nearly two months since I've posted any blog entries. I'm not sure why. I have been quite busy lately, and I will admit that when I finally do get a free moment the last thing I want to do is to THINK in order to create a blog entry. I just haven't felt up to it. I have plenty of stuff that I really want to put on here (including Kaitlin's THIRD birthday pictures). I know I will post more soon.... Just have to be in that mindset.
I've been on Spring Break all week. You would think that would free up some time, but we are actually on vacation right now with both of our families. We've spent the week at Disney World, and right now we are in the car traveling to Tarpon Springs. This is truly the Family Day of the trip...some of the folks want to visit the Greek Community and a car museum there. I know you are all aching with jealousy over missing those places:). We are also going to stop at the beach for just a bit today because Brittany (Gary Wayne's girlfriend) has never seen the ocean. I had really planned to go back to Disney today, but I am sort of Disney-ed out.
Well, that's all for now. Hopefully I'm coming out of my slump!

My baby is growing up!

Kaitlin started going to daycare/preschool two days a week when school started back up in January. She is nearing three years old, and I wanted to provide her the opportunity to be around other children. We have been so fortunate for our moms to keep her all this time, but I want her to know how to play with kids....yep, that's right....she knows how to play with grown-ups, but would love to have more playmates her age.
As you can imagine, this transition was difficult and scary for me.....not Kaitlin....me. However, after seeing how well she has done, I am perfectly happy with her going.
Scott has been taking her each morning, and the funniest thing happened the first day. He walked her into Miss Cori's class (Miss Cori is FABULOUS by the way!!!) where she did the typical Kaitlin around strangers act (head down, playing with fingers, doesn't move, silent). Immediately Emma (Kaitlin's second cousin whom she has been around a few times) and another little girl we did not know came to her and began talking up a storm to her. The other little girl proceeds to smell Kaitlin's hair....are you picturing animals smelling the new meat? The girls begin to touch Kaitlin's lunch box, coat, and of course her hair. All the while, Kaitlin just stands there frozen in her stranger danger mode. None of this bothered her, but the poor thing was like a fish out of water.
Scott said his goodbyes that first day and left. Kaitlin did great! She sat in Miss Cori's lap for much of the day, but did venture out and begin to play a bit by mid-morning. I rushed there after school because I couldn't wait to get to her and see how she liked it.
We're in the third week of daycare now, and Kaitlin is doing fantastic! Not once has she become upset or shed a tear over going. She gets so excited about packing her lunch in her princess lunch box and making sure she has her princess sheet to take with her for nap time. I love hearing her tell about things she did that day and talk about friends she has made. We are thrilled that she loves it there so much. Interesting note....she still gets her hair smelled each morning when she arrives!

Kaitlin's Dance Recital

Kaitlin absolutely LOVES her dance class. She has the sweetest teacher, Miss Jessica. Kaitlin is really comfortable in the environment Miss Jessica creates for the girls.

They have had the last few weeks off, but I wanted to share these pictures from the recital they had in December. You would not believe how well Kaitlin did. She really listened and followed Miss Jessica's directions......if only she would listen that well at home!

The ladies had the stage decorated so cute for Christmas! The girls danced to Jingle Bell Rock and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. As Kaitlin would say, it was "just adorable".

Kaitlin was so excited to receive a rose and Christmas ornament, but I think her favorite part was the food she got to chow down on afterward.

What a fun night!

Another Christmas Has Come and Gone...

My Granddaddy always said that every year. I miss so much the excitement of going to my Grandparents' house on Christmas Day. Although all of my grandparents passed on several years ago, I can't help but reflect on those cherished Christmases each year. It is so wonderful to spend Christmas with our family now, but to me Christmas Day will always make me think of country ham breakfasts with all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great-uncles, and my sweet, loving Grandmother and Granddaddy.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were very busy for us. We went to Scott's grandparents' home on Christmas Eve for their gathering and then to my Aunt Polly's home later that evening. This picture is of Kaitlin and some of the kiddos at Aunt Polly's house---notice Uncle Jody stayed right with the kids.
Christmas morning was exciting. Kaitlin came to my room to wake me up, and I had to remind her that it was Christmas Day. She asked if that meant it was Jesus's birthday. When I told her that it was, she said, "So I can open my presents now?" I then had to tell her that she could finally open them, and that Santa Claus came as well. She was so excited to see everything. She got more than she has had time to play with yet, and it's already January! This is Kaitlin with some of her gifts. She was trying to show off her princess dresses on the ottoman there--she loves those!
Scott and Kaitlin were really good to me. They got me some nice new clothes that were greatly needed and appreciated. Kaitlin was so very eager to help everyone open their gifts.
We went on to Scott's parents' house for breakfast. One of Kaitlin's gifts from them was this Smart Cycle. Pedaling is a bit difficult for her, but she'll get the hang of it.
Scott's parents gave us season passes to Holiday World and some other gifts as well. I just had to show this picture of Scott with his favorite gift of all....just kidding. His mom asked if there was anything we needed, so I told her we needed a can opener. Scott didn't think too much of getting a can opener for Christmas, so he wasn't very happy about it....not that you can tell from the picture.
We visited with the Dillards for a while before moving on to my parents' house. Uncle Jody and Uncle Ricky were there waiting as well. We got to enjoy yet another breakfast/brunch with them. I always make sure Dad has a country ham ready for us (he wouldn't have it any other way). Kaitlin got lots of princess dolls and Cinderella toys there, so she was a happy camper. I was so excited to get a Dyson vacuum cleaner! Believe it or not, Scott was pretty happy about it too. He even broke it out of the box and tried it out right there at their house....I know...I should have taken a picture!

By the time the gift-opening was over at Mom and Dad's, it was already 4 p.m. We took Kaitlin home for a much needed nap. Later that evening, she FINALLY got to play with some of the toys she got. Poor thing was on the go all day that she didn't get to play with anything for very long. I asked all of Kaitlin's grandparents and Uncle Jody to come over that night to spend more time with all of us. The truth is that I wanted them to open/unwrap/assemble all those toys. It worked out great for us! What is the deal anyway with putting 500 ties/binders on every little toy you open? You'll love this picture of some of the little elves in action. They enjoyed that fishing game as much as Kaitlin did.
Here are a few more pictures from during the holiday season. Kaitlin and I always exchange gifts with Ella Kate and Amber right before Christmas. Do they look ready or what?
Ella Kate gave Kaitlin this Cinderella dress. She absolutely loves it! Ever since our trip to Disney World, Kaitlin has been in love with Cinderella. She watches the movie every day and role plays those characters quite a bit. Lots of fun!!
The girls participated in a Christmas program at church. They sang really well and did pretty much all the movements. On the third song, Kaitlin decided to sit down....too funny...Ella Kate of course followed suit. She later told me that sometimes she likes to sit down while she sings!

I have lots more to post from the last few weeks, but I'll have to save those things for another day.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!