almost christmas!

the month of november just flew past! it was a relatively rough one, but we made it through... on the first weekend of november we went to Lake Charles for a visit with the Mendelson crew... we had a nice time with everyone, but my purse and craig's laptop and other equipment were stolen! Needless to say, it's been difficult to stay caught up with all that needed to be done to remedy our loss. We're getting there though! Since that weekend we've actually been at home, which has been nice. July through October were filled with travelling and weekend events, which are always fun, but we have been enjoying a little more relaxed pace for a change!

Thanksgiving was kind of a drag. the food was great, but kaetlyn had a terrible cold, and Thanksgiving day was the worst day by far. Our original plan included 10 people, but was cut to 5 when the doctor said that kaetlyn was contagious... by the end of the weekend she was feeling much better and it was nice to have the time off work to spend with the family. We did put up Christmas decorations during this time as well!

kaetlyn is becoming quite a little girl... i keep wondering where my baby went... she is just the cutest thing and has the funniest sense of humor and personality! craig and i are enjoying her company very much. most of the time she keeps us smiling.... except for 3-4 am when she decides it's playtime! we're in the process of moving to only 1 nap / day, which will hopefully alleviate her need for early morning playtime.... let's hope so anyway! we've also conquered her serious disdain for shoes - FINALLY! she does just fine now with shoes, and has some cute ones as you will see in the pics below. she is also talking pretty well and is an absolute sweetie. she loves giving hugs and kisses!

well, the month of december is coming quick! we're fortunate to have already finished our christmas shopping. we are planning to spend the holidays with both families, as we have done for the past several years, except our visits are backwards from what they've been in the past... we will go to LC on 12/22 - 12/28 and then to the Perkins from 12/28 - 1/01. We're looking forward to this trip and a well needed break for both Craig and myself. We're also exciting about the new year and all the excitement it holds

i hope you all enjoy the pics... more to come through out this month and next.

october's gone

october is already almost over.... and the weather has been glorious. the whirlwind that was september spilled into this month...

kaetlyn and i took a trip to baylor and spent the weekend with my mom and megan. we had a good time at baylor. we went to the football game and keatlyn enjoyed herself tremendously. she clapped and clapped. she also loved the band. it was nice to have a girl's weekend.

last weekend we went to enchanted rock with chuck and the clements' family. the weather was great and jennifer, myself, and the kiddos enjoyed a picnic at the top of the rock while the guys spent some time in the cave. it was so nice to be hiking and outside... as the heat of the summer dies down, we're looking forward to getting back outside and hiking as much as possible.

with the holiday season quickly approaching, we should have a lot of stories and pictures to share!! stay tuned....

kaetlyn's one!

as typical, work and life have prevented me from updating this thing with the frequency that i hoped... i will continue to try to do better at staying current. today i did successfully get the slideshow from july working!

on september 29th we celebrated kaetlyn's 1st birthday! friends and family joined us at our house for the festivities. a good time was had by all. i cannot believe it's been a whole year!! and we all survived.... i also can't believe that my baby is becoming a little person! she walks and speaks and has 12 teeth and definitely has a mind of her own... and it has happened so fast!

kaetlyn's a very good natured kiddo... until she's not... but typically she's just a sweetheart. she loves to cuddle and share her food (especially with the dogs). she LOVES animals and also becomes quite infatuated if balloons are spotted. she's enjoying her mobility and loves to walk around. one morning at 7 am she walked across the street and was going straight up to the neighbor's house to say hello, and would've gone straight to the door if i hadn't stopped her!

i could just go on and on... but it's getting really late! here are some pics from the birthday party:

long overdue part III - september - craig's birthday

kaetlyn will be 1 year old in 1 week! i absolutely CANNOT believe it. this month so far, we've not strayed far from home (except my business trips) but we've had an eventful month so far. megan came and spent labor day weekend with us, and the following weekend we celebrated craig's 3oth birthday! he, megan, nicole, jeff (aka boots), and jana went sky diving on saturday morning, and we finished up the day with a BBQ bash! lotsa kiddos and friends enoyed the festivities.

they absolutely LOVED skydiving, and said they will definitely go again! maybe i'll get the guts to try it too...

12 teeth, saying words, and now even eating with a spoon! there's new and exciting stuff going on every day! kaetlyn loves her baths and has discovered the fun game of slipping and sliding around the tub... oh and also splashing!!! i've got a great video of kaetlyn and craig sharing a beef rib together, but it's too big to upload. ask me to check it out!

i took the day off work on craig's birthday and we had a family day! we decided that a trip to the austin zoo would be a good plan. susan and jack met us there. kaetlyn REALLY enjoyed the animals at the petting zoo. she fed the deer and goats from her own hands and laughed!!!

and just a couple more of our cutie pie below. will definitely do a better job of updating from now on... getting behind causes a lot of extra work, as is the case with most things in life. will be sure to post the newest pics from our visit with "auntie tiff tiff" and the birthday next week!

long long overdue part II - august

august blew by! dad came to visit after dropping megan off at college... it was the same weekend as my company picnic. we enjoyed the company of my co-workers, at some good BBQ and relaxed for the afternoon. craig won the canoe race and his team avoided the tug-o-war mud pit! kaetlyn took in the new scenery and was a trooper.

long long long overdue part I - july

so, much has happened in the past couple months, and i have been scrambling to keep up. i'm not sure if i mentioned that i got a promotion at work and life has been crazy ever since. craig is doing well in getting his career going as well! and next weekend is kaetlyns 1st birthday!! can't believe where the time as gone.... she's such a big girl now. she walks and talks... hi and uh-oh are her favorite words. she's smiley and happy (usually) and SO much fun....

first, we'll start with july...

toward the end of july we went to galveston with my dad, megan, nicole, robbie, taryn and the boys. the perkins also met us for the day on saturday! we had fun. here are some pics from that trip:

our cutie

it won't stop raining!!!!

i think the title says it all! we've been pretty home bound the past few weeks, as the rain keeps on coming and coming and coming!!! i've been busy with work (as usual) and craig has taken a temporary job at att for the next month or so. kaetlyn is getting around very well, although i wouldn't exactly call it a crawl... knees are not involved in the movement, but she's quick and all over the place nonetheless. she's also standing a lot and cruising from one piece of furniture to the next.... 9 months old! it seems like the blink of an eye. at her 9 month appointment she weighed 20 lb 15 oz and was 28 inches long. mimi came to visit and they really enjoyed playing together and reading books. mimi did a great job of keeping kaetlyn happy in the car, which has become quite a challenge lately!

here are some more pics of our girl from the past couple weeks:

more coming soon....

time flies!!!!!!

we have been so busy that i have not had time to update this blog. i feel terribly guilty, but can't do anything except try to do better from this point forward!

past few weeks activies are as follows:

in mid-may we went to Lake Buchanan with kim and jared. kaetlyn and i went for a brief swim, but it was a bit overcast, and she had been under the weather so i didn't want to get her too wet. Here are some pics of our trip to the lake:
the following weekend we went to LC for megan's high school graduation and then stopped off in houston on the way home to celebrate rachel's birthday. pics from this fund weekend in slideshow below.

since our trip to LA/TX we have enjoyed some time at home... housecleaning, organizing, and such. kaetlyn and i have spent our evenings taking walks and going to the pool. she loves swimming!! she's crawling and standing and bruising herself daily. the stairs are new found fascination as well. we're having a blast, but can't take our eyes off of her for a second! here is a picture of her first busted lip as well as a couple others:

so much going on....

it has been so long since i've updated this site... there's just been SO much going on! the past month has been go - go - go, and i just haven't had time to sit down and add the excitement to the blog... so here we go!

a few weekends ago we went for a fun hike at lake georgetown w/ the bantas... pics:










the following weekend kelly, annabelle, and willie came to town. we went to eeyore's birthday party and the kids enjoyed each other...

the next weekend, we spent the weekend in houston with the perkins... here's 1 cute pic of kaetlyn, and the rest are on the rucker's blogspot which you can link to from this page.

summertime is busy, but so much fun... HOORAY!

kaetlyn is getting so big.. she's basically crawling in her own sort of way. she's not too quick yet, but certainly getting around. she's also pulling herself up to standing and having a good time pulling stuff off the coffee table. she's gotten a couple bumps and bruises, but that goes with the territory!