colorado bend

today we went to colorado bend and had a fun day! the weather was beautiful... it was the perfect day for a hike :)

playtime is so much fun!

this morning we played on th floor for a little while... when put on her stomach, she ends up scooting backwards and gets really frustrated... she'll get the hang of it sooner or later. :) yesterday i had the pleasure of staying home with her for the day, as craig went to houston for work. she's so fun and such a good baby! not so great at napping, though... i think she gets that from her mommy... today we might go to the pool and see how swimming goes over! if we go, i'll be sure to take a ton of pictures of this momentous event. happy saturday!!

splish splash....

our newest developments involve hygiene... as you can see in the pics, kaetlyn can now sit up in the bath tub! she is discovering the exciting world of bath toys and seems to enjoy this newly discovered playtime. she also now has 5 teeth! the top front two came in on 3/13 and the top left next to the front on 3/28. as a result, we're beginning to brush those little suckers in the evenings before bedtime. she likes the way the toothpaste tastes, so it's not too difficult a task... although trying to get a picture with any of her teeth showing is proving to be. ;)

we went to her 6 month doctor appt yesterday and she got her 3rd round of shots... not too fun for any involved party, but otherwise she is progressing nicely. she is 18 lb 4 oz and 27 inches! she's ranging in the 90th percentile for both right now! who'd have ever thought i'd have such a big girl???

fun weekend

we had a really fun weekend! i took friday off work and we spend the morning hiking with susan, bootsie, little jack, and chuck... went home for a nice long nap and a relaxing evening. saturday we got up and headed to jan's for a trip to enchanted rock... boy is it beautiful! we spend the day hiking and climbing some of the smaller rocks surrounding the "enchanted rock." there is so much to explore and see there, i can't wait to go back again. kaetlyn is a little trooper and we can tell that she enjoys the outdoors. she is sitting up pretty well on her own and becoming quite the little person with her own distinctive personality.... if only she would sleep through the night. ;) i can't believe she's almost 6 months old. she's really beginning to enjoy baby food and has dinner every night. she also rolled from back to front several times this weekend... don't think she's doing it completely on purpose, but pretty soon she'll be all over the place! we are having so much fun with her. craig is about to begin his first independent contract as a self-employed artist. i'm very proud of him for all his hard work. pics are from enchanted rock on saturday and also kaetlyn enjoying her sweet potatoes today at dinner. :p

perkins family visit

here are a few pics from the perkins visit over the weekend. barbara and i had a combined birthday celebration. it was nice to see the family and have the chance for the kiddos to hang out ;) the babies are cutiepies and alyx is spectacular as always. fun weekend!!

new developments

i've included some of our most recent pictures of the exciting events in our lives these days... kaetlyn is beginning to eat baby food on a regular basis... we just decided to skip the cereal all together. she wasn't liking it one bit! tonight she had her first big girl dinner of baby sweet potatoes, baby bananas, and big people bread. and she chowed down!!! we also noticed today that 2 + 2 = 4... her two top teeth are poking through her gums now! i can't believe it! she is so much fun!!!

perdenales falls national park

today we had a big day! we spent the day hiking and exploring perdenales falls. it was a beautiful day. we hiked between 7 & 8 miles and are now completely worn out. kaetlyn was such a trooper! she seems to enjoy the outdoors and just passes out in her carrier when she's had enough. here are some pictures of today:

Fun Times!

kaetlyn is officially 5 months old today! i just can't believe it... time is flying by. it seems like almost every day she's doing more... she can almost sit up by herself, just needs a little help with the balance... and she's reaching for things and then returning to sitting position. she LOVES her feet, as the pictures show... they are the most exciting toy a girl could have! we've also started giving her a little bit of food... rice cereal (not her favorite), rice cereal mixed with applesauce (still not too thrilling), and she has also had little amounts of bread, water, and mashed potatoes... at restaurants she's reaching for stuff and sharing a little bit is the only way to keep her from pulling my plate onto the floor. :) she's had 2 teeth for a little more than a month! i'm not too sure what to do about her dislike of cereal, as i don't think her little body is quite ready for regular foods... i'll just keep trying. she is also beginning to show excitement and waves her arms and kicks her feet and bounces all around if in a sitting position... it is very cute! we're having a lot of fun with her. :)

my mom came to visit a couple weekends ago. we had a lot of fun! kaetlyn enjoyed meme's company very much (even when she cried in the car all the way to the restaurant). mom told me that kaetlyn's laugh and other aspects of her personality remind her of me when i was a baby.... uh oh!!

last week i went to alaska for a business trip, and craig had the pleasure of 2 full days and nights on his own. he did a great job, but was pretty excited for me to get home (as was i). alaska was beautiful, but extremely cold... 0 degrees is a different world from what i'm used to. i had dinner with my cousin jeannie and her two boys, sol and levi, which was a pleasure!

we've started taking kaetlyn hiking with us, and she seems to enjoy being outdoors and seeing new things. i'll take some pictures of her this weekend and post them. last sunday she fell asleep as we hiked back to the car... it was very cute!

Low and Behold!!

I have been trying for weeks to get this goofy site to work correctly... so today, just randomly it actually worked!! Amazing!! Hopefully this lucky streak will continue and I will be able to post updates on things with more frequency.

Kaetlyn is growing up so fast!! 4 1/2 months... 16 + lbs, 2 teeth!!! She can almost sit up by herself and is really starting to react to things and show her excitement by flailing her arms radically and kicking her feet..

Here are a few of the most recent pics from earlier this year and Tif's visit t Austin.... will have to take some more very soon!

better late than never!

so, i started writing in december under the following url: http://www.katicraigandkaetlyn.blogspot.com/ but for some reason the site was not cooperating, so i started over.

the month of december was extremely busy and filled with family, travel, and fun! dec 15 - 18 we spent in cleveland. kaetlyn and grandma and sy enjoyed getting to know each other and playing together a bit, although craig and megan were disappointed that there was no snow.

we returned home for only 3 days and then left again to spend christmas with the perkins.... but first.... we drove to lake charles for the baptism of kaetlyn and jake. it was wonderful that both families joined us for this occasion, and it was quite a lovely day. :)

we then returned to houston to celebrate christmas with the perkins. everyone relaxed, ate WAY too much and enjoyed the kiddos! although alyx has been displaced as the family baby, she is still a shining star... and so good with the babies. aidan and kaetlyn also had several rounds of playtime... and dressing her up for the festivities was so much fun!

a couple days after christmas we drove to lake charles to celebrate a belated christmas and ring in the new years with the mendelson clan. the mendelson cousins are very cute and so much fun! we relaxed a little and had quality time with the family. kaetlyn had her first experience with fireworks, which was quite funny. at first she was less than thrilled with all the noise, but then eventually had enough and fell asleep in my arms. (pictures to come)

all in all, the holidays were wonderful! it is nice to be home, although it hasn't been an easy week for me, as i am back at work full time now. i miss being at home, but i know that craig and kaetlyn are having fun... and i am happy they are able to have this time together.