30 Things

On Facebook a lot of my friends and family are listing one thing they are thankful for each day this month.  So here are my 30 things I'm thankful for this year in random order. 

I am thankful for....

• My senses.  To be able to feel, taste, hear, see and touch when so many can't do one or many of these things.
• Our dog...Zeus.  He may be annoying but he teaches me patience and is so loving and forgiving.
• Our home.
• Caitlyn's daycare providers.
• Having my Jeep paid off this year! 
• Being able to refinance our house with half the interest rate and half the time!
• My online friends who have gotten me through some rough times over the past 5 years.  It's awesome to have girls to talk with about things that they understand when it seems no one else does.
• My real life friends who also listen to me when I need it and keep me occupied (take me out drinking) when I need distracted!
• My Faith.
• Pedicures with my sister.
• Our Freedom in America
• Our armed forces who help us keep our freedom.
• My job.
• Jared's work and that his work has still been plentiful this year.
• All of our extended family.
• The 2 vacations that we took this year.
• Modern medicine because without that we wouldn't have Caitlyn and wouldn't be trying for a brother or sister for Caitlyn.
• Sports that both Jared and I enjoy talking about and watching together.
• My marriage and feeling safe and secure in our relationship.
• My education
• Caitlyn's opportunities for education
• Season changes.  Waiting for snow now so Caitlyn can go out and really experience it!  
• My dad who did a great job raising 3 kids on his own!
• The love of cooking & baking.
• The love of hosting parties.
• Working electricity...enjoying our Christmas tree & Christmas music on my ipod this morning because of this awesome invention.
• Holiday's and time with family that we don't always have.
• My sister who gets me.  And has the same likes and hobbies as me so we can spend so much quality time together.
• Jared.  For being an awesome husband who brings me back to earth and keeps me in check. 
• Caitlyn.  For being the best daughter a mother could ask for.  Words can't describe how thankful I am for the gifts she brings me everyday! 

October Festivities

I know...it's November!  I'm behind...what else is new??? 


Fall is my new favorite season!  I used to think spring was my favorite season, but only because I hated winter and couldn't wait for it to be warm again.  But all my favorite holiday's are in the fall.  So it makes sense that would be my favorite season.  It all starts with Jared and Caitlyn's birthday's in September.  Then we have the pumpkin patch and Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas!  It's a wonderful time of year!  I was (and still am) disappointed that I didn't blog about our pumpkin patch adventure last year.  It was one of my favorite memories, so I wanted to be sure that I got it in this year! 


We went to Vala's Pumpkin Patch on a Saturday (Oct 9th).  Last year it was just Caitlyn, Me and Aunt Bethy.  This year Jared really wanted to go with us because it's all I talked about last year!  It's like a mini amusement park!  I don't even buy our pumpkins there...we go for all the other attractions and the picture opportunities!  This year we...


Watched Pig Races






Played on the tractors




Watched the bunnies in their houses




Ate succotash, homemade potato chips and warm chocolate chip cookies




Got Measured




Uncle Josh wrangled a calf




Fed the goats




Went down the big slide




Cuddled with Harrison

Then we rolled into Halloween.  I looked all over for a costume for Caitlyn.  Since she was a sugar plum fairy last year I really wanted something that wasn't fairy / princess like.  I found this super cute girly clown costume.  Jared wasn't sold on it.  He said clowns were creepy.  And I agree SOME clowns can be creepy...but she was so cute! 

We didn't really go trick or treating.  We just went to see all the grandparents.  She had a great time handing out candy at Grandma and Grandpa Darlings house!  I thought she might be too shy or scared of all the people but she loved it! 

Now it's on to my two favorite holiday's! 

What's Caitlyn Doing Now

• She can now gallop. And as she's galloping through the house she's repeating it over and over again!

• During car rides she points things out. And she'll keep repeating whatever she's seen until you repeat what  she's said. She wants to make sure that you've understood exactly what she said. Her favorites at the moment are yellow school buses, big trucks, airplanes and slides when she sees a park.

• She can correctly identify the colors yellow, blue, purple, pink and sometimes green.  She calls orange, pumpkin.  

• She can pull up and down her pullup and pants to go to the bathroom.

• She also likes to empty her potty in the toilet and rinse it out in the sink and put it back. I then have to go around and clean up the mess she leaves behind. But this makes her so proud I can't tell her no.

• She's staying dry in her pullup 85% of the time.

• She can also put her pants on from being off.  Can't quite put her shirt on by herself yet.

• She is learning to put on her socks...she's been able to put most of her shoes on for awhile now.

• She loves helping feed and give water to Zues. She also loves giving him his treat for going in his kennel.

Vaction Trips Part 2

We (Jared, Me & Tony) left for Atlanta on September 29th. We worked half days that Wednesday. Caitlyn stayed with Aunt Bethy and Uncle Josh for a couple of days and then with Grandpa and Grandma Darling for the 2nd half of our trip. She did great...I keep telling people I don't think she missed us at all! So we flew to Atlanta Wednesday night for Festivus Kimmie 2010 aka Kimmie's 30th birthday celebration! From the airport we went out for dinner and drinks at a place called Taco Mac. Yummy and strong Margarita's! Our first night there Christy had a little...mishap. She doesn't remember what happened but Kimmie found her outside bleeding all over the place. We thought we might have to take her to the ER for stitches. She banged up her face pretty badly. So much so she felt like she had to hide from the camera the rest of the weekend.  Thursday morning we went to Charming Charlies...the best accessories store ever! I was so overwhelmed. I probably could have spent all day there and spent way more money than I actually did. At one point I think I had 6 or 7 purses on my arm. It was hard putting some of them back. But I did. Jared may have killed me had I not! Thursday afternoon we went to the outlet mall...always lots of fun! Did some shopping for Caitlyn here. Thursday night we went to a Cuban restaurant (can't remember the name off hand). It was good food. But us girls were still pretty hung over from the night before. So we didn't stay out late and didn't drink a whole lot. Friday we left for Savannah...let Festivus Kimmie 2010 begin! Savannah is so beautiful and so much fun. You can take your drinks with you while you walk outside. The riverwalk has tons of fun shops and great food! There was good music playing Friday night. Saturday night we did the haunted pub crawl which just wasn't as fun as the first time. Better not to try and relive old memories. We had great food where ever we went.  In Savannah each restaurant had a creamy crap soup that was to die for!  Overall we just had so much fun! Sunday we drove back to Atlanta and went to an Italian retaurant for Kimmie's actual birthday dinner.  This was the only time we actually ordered dessert...chocolate cake...yummy!  Monday we flew home. I missed Caitlyn so much while we were gone...and while I had fun...was glad to be home with my little girl again!

The Birthday Girl

The Birthday Bitch's Entourage!



Vacation Trips Part 1

We (Jared, me, Caitlyn, Uncle Tony in one car and Grandpa Jansen, Aunt Bethy, Uncle Josh and Harrison in another) left for Brainerd MN on Caitlyn's birthday, September 14th for my cousin Lisa's wedding. We decided to work most of the day and leave around 4 or 5 so that hopefully Caitlyn would sleep most of the way of the 8 hour trip. This did not go according to plan. We stopped for dinner. She ate well. It took her 3 hours to fall asleep. She does not sleep well in her car seat. She wanted to stretch out and lay down. She slept from about 10:00pm to about 12:30am and then woke up and was awake for the rest of the trip. We got to the house we rented at about 2:30am. She was fussy for awhile after waking up, but once she was really awake she wasn't too bad. She did go right to sleep once we got her pack & play set up and put her down. And surprisingly she didn't sleep in the next morning. She was a little bit of a handful, not sure why...maybe because she was out of her element. So the terrible 2's showed themselves more than normal. And my brother didn't have any problems telling us that our daughter is horrible. Of course someone who doesn't have any children knows how to better parent than us. Jared and I took the high road as to not ruin our vacation. We just ignored the comments as much as we could and let it be. We rented a house on the lake for Tuesday through Sunday. The house was actually about half a mile from the lake on 7 acres of land. But they had a golf cart that you could take down the trail to the lake so you didn't have to walk. This was great for my dad! We had a fun time. A lot of firsts for Caitlyn!




First Boat Ride



First time playing putt putt golf

                                  

First time swinging in a tire swing

First Bon Fire at the lake

First time fist bumping Harrison

First time dancing on the dance floor at a wedding

It was chilly but not super cold while we were there. I love fall weather and wearing my hoodies! The day of the wedding was beautiful! They got married at a local resort. Jared missed most of the ceremony because Caitlyn was acting up and he had to take her back to the car. But we all had a great time at the reception. Caitlyn and my little cousin Faith had so much fun dancing and running around! Jared and I were watching her and I got tears in my eyes. She was growing into her own little person right before my eyes! We left Sunday morning to come back home. She slept about the same on the way home, but she wasn't fussy or cranky. Very easy to appease on the way home! Over all we had a great time with just a little family drama. But what family vacation doesn't have a little drama?

2nd Birthday Celebrations

A little late I know! September and the first part of October have been crazy busy! Starting with Caitlyn's birthday. Then a trip to MN for my cousin Lisa's wedding and a trip to Atlanta for my cousin Kimmie's birthday...more on those in another post. Plus Dr. appts for everyone in our household and work and excursions.


We had Caitlyn's birthday party the Saturday before her birthday (Sept 11th). We decided to only invite immediate family and a few of our close friends this year. Last year for her first birthday I think we over did it a little bit and Jared and I didn't really get to enjoy it. This year we were looking for a more laid back party and we got exactly what we wanted! I put together a photo montage of Caitlyn's 2nd year. We watched this. Ate cake and ice cream and opened presents. Caitlyn is so loved...she is such a lucky little girl!

Then on Sunday we went to the zoo. Last year Aunt Beth and I took Caitlyn on her actual birthday. This year because of my time off for the surgery in July and the time off for our 2 trips I couldn't take her actual birthday off. So we went the Sunday before. And this time Daddy, Uncle Josh and Harrison got to join us! This is definitely an annual tradition I want to keep going! It is so much fun with her knowing the animals and being able to point them out and tell us what they are! I tried to take her on the carousel but she wouldn't sit on any of the animals. So we had to sit on the bench. Hopefully next year will be better!
On her actual birthday I had to work and that night we left for MN. I did get cupcakes for her to take to school. And she got to wear her birthday girl shirt.

Overall I think she had a great birthday week! We can't celebrate just one day for birthday's in our house. It's at least a week long celebration!

Mommy

This week Caitlyn called me mommy instead of mama.  And it seems to have stuck.  I kind of liked the mama and hoped she wouldn't switch.  She's been calling Jared daddy for some time now, but had kept calling me mama during that time.  But in just the last few days my mamas have become almost non-existent.  It makes me sad.  Well...happy and sad.  Because each new development that she has makes me happy and oh so proud of my sweet little girl! 

Caitlyn's 2nd birthday is coming up in less than 2 weeks...we have fun things planned and I'll be posting about her stats and milestones soon too!