Bubble maker!

James took this shot!! :)

Trip to Lakeland

Green Gatorade tongues!

We headed down to Lakeland this afternoon for dinner at the McGlinn's house. The kids love going there, they get to see Madey and Tobyn, and we love it because there are always adult beverages and fun people. ;) Trippi was having her spring soiree, beer, burgers, hot dogs, etc.
Nathan and I thought that if we let the kids run around and play until 8 PM or so, they would conk out in the car on the way home... it's an hour and 20 minute drive. No such luck. James was asking where our speeding ticket was, and I tried, a few times, to explain to him that speeding tickets were BAD. He thought that the tolls were speeding tickets, like they were giving us permission to go fast. ? Kids....
Of course we TRIED to shush them and get them to go to sleep about half way through the drive, but that didn't work either. "Dad? (pause) Dad? (pause) Dad? (pause) Dad? (pause) Dad?" Kaitlyn was saying. All Nathan would do was "SHHH!" them back to quiet. I couldn't help but giggle because I knew that it wasn't going to work and the kids would be up the whole time. About five minutes before we got home, things started to get quiet in the back seat. Nathan said to me, "We could just keep driving around the block and let them go to sleep."
I said, "No! I don't want them to go to sleep, it's better if we just get them home so they can go to bed."
"Well James is almost out." He replied.
We pulled into the garage, and Kaitlyn announced, "Were HOME!"
And without any hesitation, James said, "Can we talk now?" ;)
So by 10 PM the kids were in bed. That was after a glass of milk and graham crackers, of course. They were just too busy to eat their dinner at Trippi's house.

P.S.- Trippi, those sandwiches are in your fridge. Ha.

Mawiage.

Today after Kaitlyn and I picked up James from school, we were heading home and getting ready to pass St. Margaret Mary on Park Ave. It was exactly 12 noon, so the church bells were ringing to mark the beginning of the beautiful afternoon. I asked the kids heard the church bells (even turned off the radio!) and they both said yes, and I proceeded to tell them WHY the bells were ringing. They didn't say much about it, which doesn't surprise me.
By the time we were actually driving by SMM, I pointed at the church and asked James if he knew that that is were Mommy goes to mass and that he'll go someday too. I also asked him if he knew that that is the church were Mommy and Daddy got married. He said, "no" in his sweet little voice and said, "Someday I'm going to marry Kaitlyn." Of course that earned a giggle out of me.
I told James that we really can't marry our brother or sister, and that some day when he's all grown up he'll marry a woman he loves. "But I love Kaitlyn!" he replied. So I tried to explain a little further telling him that when he's a man, he'll meet a woman, fall in love, and marry her. He asked, "Daddy? Am I going to marry Daddy?"
Sigh. I think we've got a long way to go with this conversation. ;)

Bubbles are the best!

The kids and I went out to the back porch today to play with bubbles while we waited for our cousins to come over and have dinner. We had a BLAST. I had to get my camera out after about two minutes into the screaming of excitement pouring out from the kids (see video).

My cousin Kristalynn and her kids Kyra and Chet came over for dinner tonight. We feasted on fresh shrimp, halibut steaks sauteed in butter, lemon capers, etc. Mmmm. It was so much fun to catch up with Kris, she's so much fun!! :)
The bottom photo is of her adorable daughter Kyra, who is 9. Look at those legs! It was pretty fun watching her try to ride the plasma car. :)

Mommy and James' feet.

Kona found the bubbles delectable... he was eating them to pop them and licking the stick.

Mommy and Kaitlyn's feet.

Mommy? Can I come in now?

Meredith? Can I come in now? ;)

Kyra Redstone comes to visit!

Kaitlyn's 2 year checkup

Kaitlyn had her two year checkup with our friend Sandy today at Interlachen Pediatrics. Sandy is a good friend of my mom's who has become a friend of mine too, and it's great to be able to go see her at the peds office.
Kaitlyn is measuring 35 inches in height, which is 75-90th percentile for height, and she's at around 24 pounds, which is about 10-25th percentile for weight. She's a lean, tall girl, and still only fits into 12 to 18 month bottoms. She's wearing 24 month tops, for the length of her torso. Silly girl, I wish I looked like she did in dresses though. :)
Kaitlyn is a motor mouth these days too, saying everything that comes to mind. Usually it's whatever James is saying. If he's not around, she likes to point out things like "Look, truck!". She's great at finding school busses when we're out driving, and also very good at pointing out colors now too. "Look! Red!" She gets them all right, except for things like school busses that are orange/yellow... but then it's one of the two. She says red a lot for pink.
One of the most adorable things that she does now is ask for hugs. "Huuug?" she says. Today she asked me for several, asked James for one (well acutally she tried to give him a kiss and he denied her so he settled for a hug) and got it, and also asks her animals (lovie and red bear) for hugs too. It's fun to see her transition to asking for them and giving them instead of always receiving (usually from ME- ha).

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Kaitlyn's special day: Two years old!

We had a fabulous day and party for Kaitlyn, filled with cupcakes, ice cream, family, friends, pizza, presents, and a SHUTTLE launch! Go Discovery!
We love you Kaitlyn Beth!

For the whole LOT of photos see my SmugMug page.

Katilyn Beth Wilcke born March 15, 2007

Aunt Beth... silly Aunt Beth... just posted the story of Harrison's birth on his 4th birthday, and now I've got to do the same. Not because she did it, but because it's a more than wonderful idea, and I'm copying her. I'm typing this on December 3, 2008, Harrison's 4th birthday, but it'll post on March 15, 2009, Kaitlyn's second birthday.

Kaitlyn will be two this year, two whole years!!! Already!
The day she was born started really really early in the morning. We had a planned induction with Dr. Parmalee Thatcher at Winnie Palmer Hospital in Orlando, and they had us arrive at 5 AM. Seriously? Why so early? By the time I got to my room to get settled, through triage, through paperwork, etc. it was about 7 AM I think.
They put in my IV line and started me on meds to get my labor started. Dr. Thatcher was awesome... she gave me a blessing to go ahead and get my epidural as soon as I felt the slightest pain. ROCK ON! So I did that. HOWEVER, she did break my water before I got the epidural and let me tell you, it was more painful than delivery! Yikes! When I had my water broken with James, it was nothing!
I stuck out labor pains long enough to remember how bad it hurts, then ordered my epidural. Life was so happy after that, calm, relaxed, beautiful. I think it was probably around 10 AM when I got my epidural? Maybe later, not really sure. I wasn't progressing very well "down there" so they maxed out my pitocin level and I started to feel some pressure. There were two nurses in there, and I can't really remember the circumstances, but they were in training, and they wanted to check my progress just to see where I was since I was having that pressure. Sure enough, 100%! WOW, never in my wildest dreams did I think I would dilate that fast. When James was born, I suffered immense pain since they turned off my epidural, so I made them give me a booster before I started to push. I love anesthesia! They called Dr. Thatcher over from her office (I assume) and I pushed for about 15 to 20 minutes and out she flew! I had the nurse hold a mirror for me to watch her be born, just like I did with James. Absolutely amazing!
Kaitlyn was born at 4:41 on March 15, 2007. She weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and measured 21 and 3/4 inches (I'd actually have to go back and look at the records to make sure the height is correct).
She is named after both of our mothers, Kate for Kathleen and Lyn for Marilyn. We decided to spell it Kaitlyn so it was more of a mainstream spelling. Her middle name, Beth, is after Nathan's sister, Beth Marie.
Kaitlyn was a joy to welcome into the world, and it was so fun having everyone there. My parents were there, Marilyn was there, and of course, James was there. Grandma Kathy brought James to the hospital with a bunch of toys to keep him busy, he was only 21 months old! She brought James over to me while holding Kaitlyn and Mom said, "James, this is your sister Kaitlyn, can you say Kaitlyn?" He said, "KATE!" So loud, so beautiful.
We spent the next few days at Winnie Palmer Hospital recovering and getting to know each other, and we brought her home on St. Patrick's day. How lucky we are. We love you Kaitlyn Beth!

Birthday you-you!

Tomorrow is Kaitlyn's two year birthday. Two whole years already. I can't imagine when she turns 1o and then 16 and then 21 and then... time is just going to fly by.
I made her cupcakes today for her party tomorrow. When I was a child, I went to a birthday party that had cupcakes baked inside ice cream cones. I have always wanted to make them and since Publix doesn't make a Barney cake, I thought that this would be my chance. I'm glad I didn't sucker out and have Publix make one!
So anyway, Kaitlyn and James "helped" make the cupcake batter by watching me beat it for two minutes, and finally when they were in the oven, they watched them rise (for like .5 seconds). Then it was off to play more. The cutest part about the whole thing is that James and I were trying to tell Kaitlyn that we were making them for her party tomorrow, and that her BIRTHDAY is tomorrow. NO clue. She did, however, enjoy singing "Birthday you-you! Birthday you-you!" all day long.
Tomorrow will be a fun day, which reminds me... I better go charge the camera battery. :)

"I'm a magical unicorn..."

We were surprised by a visit from the Millers yesterday, Kevin, Cam, Ben and Jack. It was Ben's birthday yesterday so I was glad to be able to tell him Happy Birthday! Of course his present isn't wrapped yet... he'll have to wait for his birthday celebration when they return from Utah next week. Luckies are going skiing!
They came bearing gifts! Kaitlyn unwrapped her birthday presents; beautiful pink princess gloves with bracelets and jewelry from Cameron, and a musical rocking unicorn from Ben and Jack (Kev and Mandy too of course :) ). The unicorn was a hit from the beginning, and still today, the kids are taking turns riding "her". What great gifts! Thanks Millers!
Kaitlyn's two year birthday is slowly approaching... March 15. I can't believe she'll be 2 already, but along with her age comes a little more freedom, for her and ME. We're finally getting to that phase where we don't have to be home bound, which is AWESOME! So far it's not making me want any more kids! :)

The Miller kids came to visit with gifts for Kaitlyn!

Scared!

One of Kaitlyn's favorite words right now is "scared" and she uses it regularly! It so cute, and pathetic, all at the same time! She uses it at the smallest things... like for instance, the other day she had something like banana or cheese stuck to the back of her spoon. She said, "Scared!" and then said, "Look! Monster!" Ha ha ha. No honey, it's just food, eat it!
Yesterday she did get scared for sure though. She was in the butler's pantry by the back door when Kona decided to announce that DADDY AND JAMES WERE HOME! I was in the bedroom and heard Kona bark then a blood-curdling scream come from Kaitlyn's little mouth. It was so sad! But funny! I've literally never heard her scream like that before. Aw, poor thing. :)

Whew...

As you saw on a previous post, we attended a wedding last weekend. WELL... on the way to that wedding we stopped at Walgreens to get a card for the happy couple. We pulled up, and I hopped out to run in while Nathan hung out in the car with the kids.
I was so proud of myself for walking in, finding the perfect card, and back out in 3 minutes. Literally.
As soon as I made my entrance back into the car I was greeted with a nice little story from Nathan.
"It wasn't a second after you shut the door to go in there that James said, 'WHEW!(wiping his brow) Got rid of her!'"
We had a nice laugh... then I cried. No, just kidding. ;)

Wedding Fun

We attended Todd and Heather's wedding on Saturday night, with kids in tow. I meant to find a sitter, honestly, but it just slipped my mind. Once I realized I didn't have one I tried to find one, but... the kids had a BLAST! ;)

Don't smile James!

Upside-down boy!

A sweet hug for a sweet sister.

CHEESE! This was BEFORE Kaitlyn skinned her knee. :(

Look, MOM! Cards with pictures on them!

Our family, so cute!

Kaitlyn loves her Papa!

Fences are fun! Ha.

"Hold you?"

Kaitlyn is finally starting to remember Uncle Richie enough to be comfortable with him. We've been WAITING for this!!

Uncle Rich and James engage in "flip your tie" style dancing!

Break it down!

Weeeeeee!

Me too! Me too!

Awesome sunset against the Florida landscape.

My little peanut... she's almost 2 years old!

Say CHEESE Pops!

Ah yes, CAKE! AAAAAHH!