McClements Family

My Reading Babes

2010-05-27T15:38:00.000-04:00

On several occasions in the last few weeks I've been doing something in another area of the house (usually the kitchen), and noticed that the kids were being unusually quiet. Normally this would mean that they were getting into something they weren't supposed to. But, to my joy and surprise, I've been walking out into the living room to find scenes like this.

Kaelyn was "reading" to Brenden. So sweet!

One afternoon B woke up early from his afternoon nap. I let him play by himself and he discovered this book - he LOVES it. He will sit and look at it for 15-20 minutes, just flipping the pages back and forth.

I don't mind if they pull all the books off the shelves and make a big mess, if then they sit and read the books for awhile! Notice K's bib - she didn't want to take it off after dinner. :) I love that already, at such a young age, my kids are interested in and delighted by books. I love that I can get a few minutes of quiet time to work on something uninterrupted because they are "reading". And I love that they are doing it together.

I love that Bren's book is upside down!

Park Time!

2010-03-24T07:41:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago, on our last free Sunday morning, before our church moved our meeting time from Sunday night to Sunday morning, we enjoyed a little bit of spring weather at the park. Even though there was still snow on the ground, the sun was shining and it was pretty nice out. We had the park to ourselves and it was fun to just spend some time together as a family!

Brenden's first time on a slide!

We set the camera up and took a few family pics. Kind of an impromptu photo shoot, but we don't have enough pictures of us together as a family!

Jer took K on this seat that spins around pretty fast...

And this is where they ended up! It was too funny!

Our sweet buddy Bren - such a happy baby!

Daddy and Daughter

Mommy and her babes

(This is K trying to give her best smile) :)

Some Catching Up

2010-03-18T15:31:00.000-04:00

Just some random pics over the last month - sorry it's been a few weeks since I've posted. Life is good and full, and these two keep me busy!

This is Kaelyn's attempt at making a funny face. :)

Brenden was crawling under this table and actually got himself stuck between the legs. Poor B, instead of helping him I was laughing and had to take a picture. Luckily he wasn't too upset about it.

Daddy snuggling with the kids after bath time.

I promised some pics of Kaelyn's big girl bed. So here you go...

And here's a pic of B's two bottom teeth. Sorry it's blurry, but do you know how hard it is to get a picture of an 8 month old's teeth!

I made Kaelyn a baby sling out of an old receiving blanket. She likes to carry her babies around in it, just like Mommy!

Mommy and her babes. I don't get enough pictures of me with the kids - I'm usually the one behind the camera!

The Adventures of Brenden

2010-02-24T07:56:00.000-05:00

Now that B is on the move, one of his favorite things to do is to crawl under the exersaucer. The only problem is when he's trying to get out and gets a little bit stuck. :)

Look at me, I'm sneaky.

I'm also cute!

Here I go.

Okay, I'm kinda stuck here, a little help please?

Alright I figured it out on my own.

Kaelyn wants in on the fun too!

Cute Kids!

2010-02-18T00:03:00.000-05:00

Kaelyn is growing right into her terrible/terrific two-year old self! Sometimes it seems like she is 2 going on 20! :) She brings both great joy and much frustration to us as parents, and we are trying to learn and figure out as we go, what to do with such an independent, strong-willed and intelligent child. Although she has her terrible moments, she can also be so sweet, compassionate, loving and caring when she wants to be. She is becoming more and more independent each day and it is fun to watch her grow and learn.

She recently started picking out her clothes each day. She is quite opinionated about what she wants to wear or not wear. Most days I just let her wear whatever she wants because it really doesn't matter much. It's kind of funny to see what she picks out. Here is a particularly colorful outfit she picked out the other day. :)

Also, Kaelyn has been sleeping in a big girl bed for 2 weeks now. (Pics to come soon!) I actually can't believe how easy the transition has been, because I was pretty nervous about it. It almost seems like so much longer than that, but it just seems so normal now. She is really good about just sitting in her bed and reading her books when she wakes up - it's pretty cute.

And B got his second tooth this past Saturday, Feb13th. So he's got both bottom teeth now and he still has such a sweet smile. (Pics of this coming soon too!)

Kaelyn and Brenden are also becoming better and better friends. Brenden always wants to know where his sister is and what she's doing. They can "play" together as they sit on the floor. Kaelyn spins Brenden around in his exersaucer and sings "Ring Around the Rosie." And they laugh and laugh at each other. There is something so sweet and beautiful about the love of siblings.

K likes to climb in B's bed with him when he wakes up from his nap.

They have so much fun playing in the bath together. They love to splash and "swim" and snuggle in their towels when they're done!

Our hadsome bathing buddy!

I love that our kids are growing up being so comfortable around animals. Skiba loves to lay around wherever the kids are playing.

We went to a local children's museum, Healthworks, for playgroup one week. They painted Kaelyn's face and she thought she was so cute. Of course she was!

Jer's parents gave us a bird feeder for our front window for Christmas. Instead of attracting beautiful birds, it has attracted one fat squirrel. I watch my friend's son twice a week and he and Kaelyn LOVE watching the squirrel. What's crazy is that the squirrel has gotten so comfortable that even when they are banging on the window it just stays and keeps eating. I kind of think it's taunting them, like, 'I know you're there, but you can't really get me, so I don't have to leave.' Hopefully we'll get some pretty birds this spring!

Watch Brenden Grow!

2010-02-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

2/4/10
Brenden is 7 months old! And if you can't tell from this picture which was taken 2 weeks ago (the drool all over his shirt), his first tooth finally came through this past Saturday! He's becoming quite the mover, he army crawls like his sister used to and is getting himself all over the place. I forget what it was like to have everything baby proofed! He also is babbling a lot and we hear "mama", especially when he's crying, but I don't think he actually knows what he's saying. :) And even though we just cut his hair a month ago, he's already looking like he needs a trim again! And his hair is getting a little curly. Wouldn't it be ironic if my boy has cute curly hair while my girl has stick straight hair?

1/20/10 - 7 Months Old

1/9/10
I'm sure you've all been wondering where Brenden's 5 and 6 month pictures are - well here you go! The wait is over. :)
Wow! 6 months old! It just goes by so fast! Brenden is becoming quite the little boy - as I write this, he is sitting in his exersaucer bouncing up and down as hard as he can and banging on the toys along the tray. I don't remember Kaelyn really ever being like that. :) He has been rolling since about 4 1/2 months and at 5 1/2 months was able to sit by himself, although he has had his share of tipping over. He is starting to inch along just a little - not crawling, but enough that he doesn't stay in one spot for very long anymore. He has started solid foods and gets so excited about eating. No teeth yet, but I'm hoping that they arrive shortly because I definitely think he's teething. He is still our sweet, smiley, laid back little boy, and it is so fun to see his personality emerge more and more.

10/26/09
Poor Brenden, the second child! I haven't updated this since he was a month old - but, I have been taking pictures along the way, so all is not completely lost!! Here are his 2nd, 3rd, and 4th month pictures. What a big boy he is becoming! He smiles and laughs all the time. He is such a laid back and easygoing baby, he is such a joy and delight to have around. He has really made having 2 babes easy on me (his sister on the other hand, is another story!) :) In typical boy (and probably second child too) fashion, he is a little slow on his motor development. He has only rolled over from his tummy to his back one time, where Kaelyn was rolling at 2 1/2 months. But, he is putting everything in his mouth, and loves it when Kaelyn plays with him - she makes him laugh and smile more than anyone else. He's our little buddy Bren, and we love him so much!

7/20/09
A little late, but here are pictures of Brenden when he was a week old. I wanted to post these to show how much he has already grown! We had his one month appointment last week and he weighed 10 lbs 4 oz.!! He gained over 2 lbs in just 3 weeks!

One Week Old

We started a tradition with Kaelyn of taking her picture every month on her "month birthday" in this chair with the soccer ball - to watch how she was growing. We want to continue that tradition with Brenden. It will be fun to see how much they look alike, and how close in size they will be - do you think Brenden will be bigger because he's a boy? We'll see!

7/20/09

One Month Old

8/20/09

Two Months Old

9/20/09
Three Months Old

10/20/09
Four Months Old

11/20/09 - 5 months old

12/20/09 - 6 months old

And three days later after his haircut - 12/23/09

Just Some Cute Pics

2010-01-27T17:20:00.001-05:00

I was taking Brenden's 7 month picture and Kaelyn wanted to get in on the fun. They don't sit still together very well! But they're so darn cute, it doesn't really matter!

Doesn't it look like they are singing a song together?

I imagine this is what it would be like if they had those photo booths that you see at the mall, for babies. :)

And just 'cause she's too funny!

More Kaelyn Quotes

2010-01-23T22:50:00.002-05:00

1/26/10
Kaelyn had two funny ones today that I just had to share. We were going to playgroup at a local children's museum and we're riding on the elevator from the parking garage. Then we had to ride on another elevator to get to the museum and while we were waiting K said, "I want to ride on the alligator."

Kaelyn has recently climbed out of her crib a few times. We're working on getting her a toddler bed, but in the meantime Jer told her that if she jumps out of her bed she'll have to go to the hospital and get shots. (Me shrugging my shoulders.) Today I went to get her after her nap and was cleaning up around in her room while she laid in bed a little longer. Then she was ready to get out and she started to climb and I said, "No you can't climb out of your bed." And she responded, "Then I will have to go get shots at the popsicle store." :)
Well shots at the popsicle store would probably be better than shots at the hospital!

So close both times, and so funny!

1/23/10
My first post of Kaelyn quotes was getting a little long, and I hadn't updated it in a while, so I thought it was time to start a new one. Here's a few funny ones to start with.

One morning K was in the bathroom with Jer when he was getting ready for work. She got one of the q-tips out of the container and was trying to stick it in her nose. (Sometimes we use q-tips to try to clean out our kids noses, I know, bad.) Anyway, Jer took it from her and and she started crying. Jer asked her what was wrong and she said, "I'm sad because you took my booger stick!"

Today we were at the Farmer's Market. There was a lady with a big long fur coat on and K said to me, "Look, that girl is dressed like a kangaroo!" HA! Where did she get that from? I'm still laughing!! :)

Day to Day

2010-01-20T10:14:00.000-05:00

Kaelyn has a "princess" dress that she got as a hand-me down from her cousins. She loves to wear it and spin around and be a ballerina. With her baby too, of course, she's a very good mommy. :)

Daddy and Bren enjoying the sunshine that comes through our big picture window. Sunshine is a rare treat this time of year!

Got your nose!

We haven't had the Johnny Jump-up out for Brenden much because Kaelyn thinks it's a swing. But the other day I needed to get some stuff done around the house and K was sleeping so out came the jumper - and he LOVED it! He was bouncing and swinging around having so much fun. Such a boy!

Family Weekend

2010-01-13T16:43:00.001-05:00

We went up to Michigan last weekend to visit my family and celebrate Aunt Ray-ray's birthday. We had a great time and wish we could be up there more often! We took the kids sledding and had a lot of fun. The first 2 or 3 times down the hill, Kaelyn wasn't so sure about it and would cry when we got to the bottom of the hill, but then she figured out that it was actually fun and wore us all out want to go over and over and over. She would get to the bottom of the hill and jump up and say, "Now I wanna go with... (pause while she would look around at all of us)... Nana" (or Papa, or Ray-Ray, or Lo-lo, etc.) And my Uncle Bill and counsin Ben came to visit for the day on Saturday and it was so great to see them. They even got in on some of the sledding with K. Uncle Bill brought Kaelyn a book called Even Fire Fighters Go to the Potty and she is obsessed with it. It's a pretty funny book - if only she would take it to heart and start going to the potty herself... *sigh*

Kaelyn was really confused about the 25 on her cake -
didn't she just turn 2???

Oh, that's better, it's actually Aunt Ray-ray's cake - she's the one turning 25. Phew!

Brenden's first sledding experience. I think he liked it, but all that walking up the hill made him tired, so he slept for pretty much the rest of the time. :)

Kaelyn and Papa get some quality time reading the potty book.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-06T14:08:00.000-05:00

We've been busy the last few months! Here's some highlights of what we've been up to!

We went over to Notre Dame's campus for the last football game of the season. Kaelyn loved seeing the band and the cheerleaders march by as they went into the stadium!

Getting our Christmas Tree

And decorating the tree - Kaelyn loved helping and loved all the ornaments.

Brenden trying some of his first solid food. The boy loves to eat!

The first snowfall. Kaelyn couldn't wait to put her shoes on and get outside!

Cousins! Lilli, Abbi and Baby Evalin (as Kaelyn always calls her).

Bren's first haircut! It was getting long, but he looks like such a cute little boy now.

Lots of snuggle time. We loved having Daddy around for 4 day weekends over the holidays!

Brenden's first Christmas!

What joy and love these two bring to our lives! We are so excited for what this new year will bring!

Sweet Love

2009-11-18T13:40:00.006-05:00

It has been really fun to watch K and B grow in their relationship. B absolutely adores K and smiles and laughs whenever she is around. He loves to just watch whatever she is doing. Not that he can really do much more than that at this point. :) But it will be fun as they are able to play together more and more.

K has definitely warmed more to B in the last month or two. I don't have to worry (as much) about leaving them in the same room together for a second or two. She is becoming more kind and loving toward him every day.

B is always grabbing at K (and everything else) and she says, "Bren likes to grab hair." (or shirt or pants, or whatever he is grabbing). And he wants to put everything in his mouth. So, pretty much he was trying to eat her in this picture. :)

These pictures were actually taken on Oct. 19th, Kaelyn's birthday. So here's her picture with the soccer ball now that she is two! It's so crazy to look back at her monthly pictures and see how far she has come!

2009-11-15T12:35:00.002-05:00

Here's a funny video of Kaelyn juggling. Jer was juggling a few of her little balls that she got for her birthday and she said, "I want to juggle." And this is what she did. :) Aren't kids the best!!

Kaelyn Quotes

2009-11-02T20:16:00.001-05:00

11/2
Jer has been saying to Kaelyn lately, "Are you my girl?" So yesterday he asks her and she responded, "Nope. Not today." Ouch, that hurts! :)

Here's a few more things that Kaelyn just says on a regular basis that I think are cute and want to remember.

When she hears something and doesn't know what it is she says, "What's that sound noise?"

When we tell her no she can't have or do something she will say, very matter of factly, "Maybe tomorrow."

She loves Brenden more and more each day and is so cute with him. She'll look at him and say, "He's smiling and laughing at me. He loves me."

Jer's sister had a baby girl at the beginning of October and her name is Evalin. She was in the NICU for a few days after she was born because she was having trouble breathing. We would pray for her as a family and with Kaelyn and told her that Evalin was sick and couldn't breathe very well. One day we were looking at pictures on her online and Kaelyn says, "That's my baby cousin Evalin. She's sick right now. I'll help her breathe." Also, we got her birth announcement in the mail the other day and she was looking at Evalin's picture, and she says, "That's my baby cousin Evalin. Awww. She's so cute. I looove her." (Emphasis on the love.) So sweet and cute!

10/19
A couple cute quotes from over the weekend. We were visiting Em's parents for the weekend and celebrated Kaelyn's birthday with them. On Saturday afternoon we were watching football and Kaelyn likes to watch along too. She likes to commentate what is happening in the game, as with everything in life right now. So as a play is happening she says, "He's running. He fell down. They're going to tickle him!" We all started laughing so hard! I'm not sure if she was confusing tickle with tackle because we have told her that in football they tackle each other. Or if she really thought they were knocking him down so that they could tickle him! Either way, it's funny!

And a super cute one. As we were getting ready to leave on Sunday evening, Kaelyn was hugging Papa (Em's dad) and saying goodbye and then said to him, "Do you wanna come ride in my car with me?" So sweet and so cute! She loves Nana and Papa and wishes that we could see them more!

Oh, it's been a while! Finally I remember something long enough to write it down!
10/13
We have been working on potty training Kaelyn since about mid-September. She's doing pretty well. But unfortunately often pees in her big girl undies. We have been trying different treats to encourage her to use the potty. The latest one is marshmallows. She loves them!
So last night we had our church home group at our house and had cake for desert. Kaelyn loves her some cake, so she's already had more than enough sugar for the evening. We were getting her ready for bed and she went pee on the potty. She came and told us and said, "I get marshmallows!" becuase usually she gets a treat after using the potty. Jer said, "I don't know you already had cake, so you can just have one marshmallow." She looked at him with her sweet little smile and said, "I'll have two marshmallows." We started laughing so hard, and she just smiled at us. Man this girl is smart!! :)

I need to update this more, but unfortunately so many times K says something cute or funny but I am busy or distracted and don't make it a point to specifically remember what she said and then later when I want to write it down, I can't remember! :(
8/19
Tonight we had some pretty strong thunder storms rolling through right at bedtime. Around the time we moved into our new house, she started to realize that storms and thunder are loud and she didn't really like them, so I told her what my mom told me when I was growing up - that it is the monkeys drumming on the drums up in the sky. Do you know the book Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb? That's where it comes from. Anyway, she accepted this explanation and has never really showed any signs of being scared of thunder, she just says it's the "monkeys up high in the sky".

So, I'm putting her to bed tonight, despite the thunder, she doesn't really seem to mind, she just says, "No more monkeys drumming on the drums", like the no more monkeys jumping on the bed rhyme. So, we're reading books when there is a HUGE and I mean HUGE clap of thunder - it sounded like it hit our neighbors house. We both startle so bad because it is so loud and she was obviously scared. I tell her it's okay and am reassuring her. She whispers something pretty quietly to me because she's still shaken up and I have to ask her to say it again. She whispers again, "Mommy kill monkeys". HA! When there is a bug in the house or outside that she doesn't want around she always says "mommy kill it", or "daddy kill it". So I'm assuming that she was getting it from that, but I thought it was so funny that I burst out laughing and she just kind of looked up at me like 'what is so funny, I'm serious!' It is amazing what kids will come up with!

7/20
We were sitting down at the table and starting to eat dinner when Kaelyn starts saying, "Amen, Amen." We hadn't prayed before we started eating, but K obviously wanted to. So we stopped and held hands and prayed. Then as we continued eating K kept saying, "More Amen," and "Hold mommy's hand, hold daddy's hand." So we would stop and say a short prayer again. Finally it got to the point that we weren't getting to eat because she just wanted to keep praying and holding our hands. So, I said to her, "You pray Kaelyn, you tell God what you are thankful for and say Amen." I didn't really think she was listening, or understood what I was saying, but a little bit later, she starts saying, "Thank you for mommy, thank you for daddy, thank you for Brenden." And keeps repeating it. I looked at Jer and asked him if he had prompted her to say that - I was distracted tending to Brenden fussing. He said he hadn't prompted her at all. We look at K and we're like, that's right honey, thank you for mommy, thank you for daddy, thank you for Brenden. She continues saying those things, and then starts naming other things - "Thank you for milk, thank you for noodles." And on it went. It was really cute!

Then she started singing Jesus loves me. Jer and I were just so amazed that at such a young age, although she can't really understand who God and Jesus are and it's not necessarily something that we have specifically "taught" her, she knows that they are important and something special. It just struck us as such an amazing example that this is what we are absolutely created for from the day we are born - to be in relationship with God and his Son, Jesus.

Kaelyn has been saying some pretty funny stuff lately, and I wanted a place to record all of the stuff she says. So I'm going to start writing it down here and reposting every time she says something new and funny.

7/19
Jer made these amazing cookies yesterday, and we got some out for a snack this afternoon. K was in the kitchen with Jer and said, "Daddy's cookie," then looked at her cookie and said, "Yours's cookie." (She refers to herself as "you" and "yours").

Then she was out in the living room playing and got out a bracelet that I gave to her for dress-up, she put it on and said, "I have a pretty bracelet." Such a girlie girl!

Visit to Nana and Papa's and Kaelyn's Birthday!

2009-10-30T07:45:00.008-04:00

We went to my parents' house the weekend before Kaelyn's birthday. I got to visit with some of my friends from high school and meet one of my friend's adorable new baby boy. It was a fun visit and we were happy to get to celebrate Kaelyn's 2nd birthday with them too!

Miss Kaelyn was all ready to go to Nana and Papa's house with her suitcase and pillow. Too cute!

This is what we get now when we ask her to smile! At least her eyes are open! :)

It's so hard to get a good picture of the two of them together. This is the best we got.

Opening her present from Aunt Ray-ray. Notice the super cute wrapping - it a reusable gift bag!
She was really excited about her present from Nana and Papa! It was lots of learning type games that my mom put together. We don't have a ton of pictures, because Jer was taking a video, but we don't have the video uploaded yet.
K, B and Skiba were all laying on the floor next to each other. It was pretty stinkin' cute! If only Bren would raise his head up!

Oh, there we go, but now Kaelyn is gone, and Skiba's interested in something else. Oh well...
Brenden with Papa

Mama and Bren
I'll post more pics from Kaelyn's birthday soon!

Happy Birthday Kaelyn!!

2009-10-19T22:56:00.004-04:00

Kaelyn turned 2 today! More pics to come soon - I promise!! :)

Mr. Smiley

2009-09-29T08:26:00.001-04:00

If Kaelyn is the cutest girl ever, then Brenden is of course the cutest boy ever! Especially when he smiles! These were taken back in August, not long after he started smiling a lot. There is nothing better than a toothless baby smile!

A Few More...

2009-09-28T23:15:00.002-04:00

Still working on catching up - here's a few more pics I wanted to share...

Kaelyn loves Brenden and always wants to be as close to him as possible. Like right up in his face to talk to him - she always says "Look at me, Bren", like there was any way he could not see her! :) She also loves to hold him, every chance she gets she loves to sit and hold him. He is not always super excited about it - but it's still so sweet!

Through Kaelyn's eyes.

This is actually a picture that Kaelyn took herself. I thought it was a pretty good picture considering and an interesting view of life through her eyes.

At the Cottage

2009-09-24T07:54:00.007-04:00

Back in August, we were able to go up to my family's cottage in northern Michigan again this year, and while our time there was too short, we had such a nice, fun, relaxing long weekend. It is one of my favorite places in the world, and it is so fun now to be able to bring our children up there so they can enjoy it too!

Bren did not like his toes being dipped in the water - it was a little chilly!

Ray-Ray and Kaelyn swimming in Crystal Lake

Every baby needs a nakie beach picture! :)

Kaleyn loves the swings, but doesn't like getting her picture taken!

Papa and K having some quality time

Just hanging out at the cottage
Beach picnic at Pt. Betsie Cutest girl ever - in my humble opinion!

We already can't wait 'til next year!

The counsins come to visit!

2009-09-14T08:20:00.006-04:00

Hannah, Lilli and Abbi came to visit at the beginning of August. We had so much fun hanging out with them. Kaelyn *LOVES* Lilli and Abbi and loved playing with them!! They were so cute together too! She still talks about them and asks if they are going to be at Grammy and Grandpy's house every time we go over there. It was also their first chance to meet Brenden. They loved their baby boy cousin!

Abbi holding Brenden

The cousins with GrandpySilly!
The girls loved to ride around in the car!
Kaelyn waiting for someone to drive her around!
Riding off into the sunset
The "Big Girl" TableGrammy and Hannah made the girls these super cute matching skirts. These pictures don't really do the skirts justice - they are *so* cute! Lilli and Abbi have cute knitted matching shirts made by Grammy too, but they were not excited about taking a picture in them!

Brenden just got loved on a lot!

With Grammy and the blanket she knitted himAnd GrandpyAnd Hannah and Lilli

We miss and love you guys!

More July...

2009-09-10T08:05:00.001-04:00

We went blueberry picking on a HOT Saturday. We had a good time and got 8 lbs of yummy blueberries!

Yes, Brenden is hiding in the Moby Wrap! He slept the whole time! She was so hot and tired, but was such a trooper!

We went to the Enshrinement Festival for the College Football Hall of Fame. There was a parade which Kaelyn loved watching and then... the BIG slide!

A visit from Aunt Lo-lo. This is what Kaelyn does when you ask her to smile!

Cuties!

Summer Time - Catching Up!

2009-09-09T07:48:00.010-04:00

Wow! It's been a really long time. Sorry about that! I want to catch up over the next few days with what we have been up to this summer. And then I'm committing to post something at least once a week. Our babes are growing up right before our eyes and I want to make sure for us, for them, and for you that we keep up with them!!

These pics are from back in July (I know, I know, I am so bad! *hanging head in shame*)

Daddy and Daughter

K doing her interpretive dance! :)

Jer put up a swing in the backyard for K, she loves it!

Jer took this himself and we think it turned out kinda cool. I have Brenden in a Moby Wrap in case your wondering what that large mass is on the front of me. :)

We went to the 4-H fair and Jer got K this hat. Our cute little cowgirl!

"Special Treat"

2009-07-09T10:40:00.004-04:00

Kaelyn has become quite the talker. She commentates on everything that is happening with Brenden, everything she sees as we drive in the car, everything she's doing as she does it. She is almost never not talking. Last night as we were eating dinner we were talking with her as we normally do, Jer was asking her questions about what she did during the day. For some reason she started saying "Buy it", and "Daddy, buy it". Jer said, "What do you want me to buy?" She looked at him, and had this expression on her face that said 'hmmm, what DO I want him to buy?' After thinking for about a minute, she looked at him and said matter of factly, "Special treats!" (We give her fruit snacks or suckers as 'special treats' for being good at the store.) We both started laughing so hard! Smart girl!! She knows want she wants - and she wants some special treats!!

Little Miss Smartypants!

4th of July Fun!

2009-07-06T16:53:00.009-04:00

We had a great holiday weekend, spending time as a family and having fun with friends. On Friday we walked over to the zoo (loving our new neighborhood that is within walking distance to the zoo and great playground for K!!) and enjoyed watching K enjoy the animals. B, of course, slept through the whole thing!

She was so excited about the "pat-pat goats", but then once we got in the pen, she was a little timid.

They have a cool butterfly exhibit at the zoo, we didn't take too many pictures - the butterflies were busy flying around. But it was fun for K, although she was a little freaked out about them flying all around our heads.

On Saturday we headed over to a friend's parent's house out in the country. Jer got to shoot guns and go fishing. (So patriotic!) I got to hang out with friends while tending to Brenden. Kaelyn and I got to ride a horse, and Kaelyn got to play in the bouncy house and huge slip-n-slide. It was a busy and very fun day.

In the evening we and our good friends the McCauley's (that's their son Noah in the tie-dyed t-shirt) went to Jer's parents house for a cookout and to watch fireworks on their lake. Jer and his brother Trevor got some small fireworks to light off for the kids. For the most part they were a hit, except for the really loud ones, which K didn't like so much. Then when it came time for the big fireworks she really was not excited about it. She kept saying "Cover ears", and putting her hands over her ears and saying "All done fireworks." Again, Brenden slept for most of the day and evening, so because of that and because he's a second child and we're already bad about not taking as many pictures of him - we don't have any pictures of him. :( Oops!

Big Sister, Little Brother

2009-06-28T18:11:00.005-04:00

Kaelyn absolutely loves and adores Brenden! It is really cute - she always wants to kiss and hug and hold Brenden. She loves to watch and help with whatever is going on with him, and she is always concerned about him when he cries. Although she really loves her brother, she is having somewhat of a hard time with sharing mommy and daddy's (and everyone else's too) attention with him. Overall, she is doing really well, just some breakdowns here and there, but that is to be expected. We are enjoying watching Kaelyn take on her role as big sister!

With Daddy for Father's Day

Hugging...Kissing...

"Watch baby" - she loves him!

With NanaJust hanging out

"Hold baby"
She moved her chair to sit next right next to him What a sweet big sister!

Potty Learning

2009-06-28T17:58:00.002-04:00

I wanted to write about this here mostly to document it for ourselves - Kaelyn pooped on the potty for the first time on Thursday, June 25th!! (Sorry, no pictures!) The reason I am calling it pottly learning as opposed to potty training is because she really is learning to go on the potty all by herself. It is nothing that I have taught or trained her to do at this point. In fact, with a newborn now, it's not something I'm really ready to jump into. I hadn't planned to work on it at all until the fall, but, it seems she is about ready!

K has been sitting and peeing on the potty at least once every day for the past 2-3 weeks. We started letting her sit on the potty when we change her diaper and then she started actually going to the bathroom on a regular basis while sitting on the potty. But, on Thursday morning, Jer and I were getting her ready for the day and he let her sit on the potty. She went out into her bedroom and said, "Book", and got a book to read. :) She went back and sat on the potty and when she stood up there was a big poop in the potty!! We were absolutely amazed, and of course gave her lots of praise for it. This little girl continuously amazes us in the ways that she is learning and growing every day! And it seems I will be potty training her, or she will be potty learning, sooner than we anticipated!

More pics of K and B to come soon!

Baby Brenden - 1st Pics!

2009-06-24T10:52:00.006-04:00

Here are some of the first pics of Brenden. We have been enjoying our time at home adjusting to life as a family of four. Different family members have been coming by to help - and mostly to hold Brenden! :) Kaelyn is doing pretty well - she loves to kiss and hug her brother and just wants to be close to him wherever he is, but not always understanding when Mommy is holding him and can't hold her. Brenden is, so far, an "in-arms" baby - not really liking the swing or being laid down to sleep. Luckily we've had lots of arms around to hold him the last few days!

My last pregnancy picture taken on the Wednesday before Brenden was born, with my friend Jenica (who is due in 2 1/2 weeks).

Just born - with Mama - glad to finally be holding this little boy in my arms!

Loving our little guy!

Proud Daddy! (And awesome helper throughout labor - I couldn't have done it without you Babe!!)

First family photo - Kaelyn is much more interested in baby than in taking a picture! Check out all of Brenden's dark hair!!

Our little man - just after getting his hospital photos taken.

Still more pics to come... whenever I can find the time to get them on!

Brenden is Here!!

2009-06-22T14:05:00.003-04:00

Brenden David McClements was born on June 20th at 4:01 am!

More pics to come soon!

Little Miss Chatterbox

2009-06-07T14:40:00.005-04:00

Kaelyn has become quite the talker in the last month or so. She picks up new words everyday and amazes us with all of the things that she knows the words for and can name in a different situation than she originally learned the word in. She is regularly using two words together and often also says three word sentences. She loves animals (as always) and vehicles that move and make noise - like motorcycles, cars, trucks, trains, planes, etc. She loves to say everything that she see's out the window while driving. She delights and amuses us everyday with her words and her talking!

Our New House!!

2009-06-02T13:13:00.000-04:00

We're finally here - getting settled into our new house!! Hopefully that will mean that I can resume regular posting again to keep you all updated on Kaelyn, and baby #2 who is on his way this month!!! Check out my other blog to see before pictures of the new house, and here are some pics of Kaelyn at the house. So far, she has adjusted really well. She loves the big window in the front and watching people "walk doggie", "dump trucks", and "nemos" (neighbors). She is talking up a storm and we plan to take a video of her saying all of her different funny words, so I'll post that soon!

Eating lunch on our first official day at the house - with her Burger King crown that Nana Beth got her.

And here's the view into the Living Room - what a mess!!

While Grammie Susan was cleaning in the kitchen, Kaelyn discovered she could climb into the corner cabinet - fun, fun!! Peek-a-Boo! :)
Coloring at her own little table - what a great garage sale find!

Watching the "dump truck" (garbage truck) go by with Daddy
Her favorite spot on the ottoman by the front window.

Sorry...

2009-03-20T16:32:00.002-04:00

For the break in posting lately. We have been super busy with packing up our house and getting ready to close on April 3rd. Plus, our computer memory is full so we can't upload any new pictures right now either! We will back soon though with updates on the little guy and more pics of our super cute Kaelyn! Please be patient with us as we make this transition...

Belly, Baby and Ultrasound

2009-02-13T08:41:00.004-05:00

I wanted to post a few pics of my budding baby belly, and in case you haven't seen the announcement on my other blog, we had an ultrasound last week for the baby, and we are having a BOY!!! We are very excited (and I'm a little nervous coming from a family of all girls!) :) to be welcoming this little guy into our family. Here are pics of him from the outside, and our first few glimpses of him inside.

This picture is from Christmas Eve, I was 15 weeks along.

About 2 weeks ago - I was 20 weeks along.
Kaelyn is getting used to mama's growing belly, she likes to point to it when I ask her "Where's the baby?" and she kisses my belly and gives the baby hugs. It's super cute!
Here's K with me on the ultrasound table. She was giving daddy a hard time while he was trying to hold her and entertain her during the u/s. She has become quite a mama's girl lately. She was concerned about what they were doing to me. :) So, she got to sit with me for a while.

There's our little guy on the screen!
Isn't he so cute!
We are so excited to meet him in June! We'll keep updating as things move along!

Bathing Beauty

2009-02-08T16:54:00.002-05:00

The other night Jer was gone for the evening and I decided to give K a bath before bed. (Jer is normally the one on bath duty.) Usually Jer sends Kaelyn out to find me in the living room after her bath, and she loves to run around and just be nakie for a while. Well, this time I put her hooded towel on her head and let her look at herself in the mirror. She really liked wearing her towel and proceeded to walk all around the house holding her towel in front of her belly to keep it from dragging (which also kept her covered and meant I could take some appropriate pics.) It was really cute, so I just thought I would share! :)

Kaelyn's First Haircut!

2009-01-21T09:23:00.007-05:00

K's hair was getting a little crazy, shaggy, and more and more mullet looking. I really did not want to cut her hair - I wanted her to be 2 or 3 and have beautiful hair and be able to say that she'd never had her hair cut. But alas, it was not meant to be. So, I trimmed it up a little in the back last night. I was a little nervous because I don't really think I know how to cut hair, and I didn't want to mess it up, but I think her baby fine hair is pretty forgiving.

Here are some before and after pics. I don't have any pics when I was actually cutting it, because Jer was filming it with the Flip, but I haven't had a chance to upload the video yet. (Video's take a lot longer than pics).

Before

And After - she was done with sitting on the chair and didn't want her picture taken so these are best I could get.

I think it turned out pretty cute. It's like a little bob in the back. If you have any tips for cutting baby's hair I would love to hear them!!

Just a few more...

2009-01-13T08:18:00.004-05:00

Here's a few more pics from Christmas time. The day after Christmas we tried sledding with Kaelyn for the first time, as you saw on our video. She was not a huge fan, but it was fun to have her experience it anyway.

Getting ready to go sledding

The Family sledding

K with Aunt Laura

And K wanted to help Grammie in the kitchen, so Grammie gave her an apron to match! :)

Grammie and Grandpy Sutton got K a new high chair for her birthday and Christmas. She loves it!! And we love it too!! So much easier to clean than our ancient, garage sale find. Thanks G&G!!!

Happy New Year! The Fam before Jer and I went out for a nice dinner on New Year's Eve compliments of Grammie Susan watching K. Thanks Grammie!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Rachie!!!

2009-01-08T22:52:00.003-05:00

Today is my Aunt Rachie's birthday, she is 24! I am so thankful that she is my aunt, I love her very much! Happy Birthday Aunt Rachie!
P.S. Check out the awesome gift bags she's making - Sunflower Sacks!

Christmas Pics

2009-01-08T22:03:00.006-05:00

Here's some pics from Christmas with our families. They're mostly of Kaelyn because she's the star of the show these days. :)

On Christmas Eve we went to Jer's parents' house for dinner after church. They got Kaelyn this cute chair - she loves to sit in it.

With mama and daddy on Christmas Eve in her Christmas pj's.

Christmas morning - K was pretty impressed by the presents under the tree.

K's first Christmas present from her stockingOpening it - a book of course!

Reading it with daddy

At Grammie and Grandpy McClements' house. She was pretty excited about all the gifts - she liked the wrapping paper the most of course - she was rolling around it it.

At Grammie and Grandpy Sutton's house. Once Jer opened the Flip Camera we didn't take many more pics - we were too busy taking videos!
Kaelyn got another cell phone, she loves her phones! So happy!

Fun in the Snow

2009-01-07T21:31:00.007-05:00

It snowed a little today, but Kaelyn really had the itch to go outside. She was asking and asking Jer to go outside. So, he decided to take her out and try pulling her around in the sled that I found this summer at a garage sale. When we tried this at my parent's house over Christmas, she hated it - and actually cried the whole time. But, this time around, with the dogs running around, and less snow than they had up in MI, she really enjoyed it. When we tried to take her inside because we were getting cold, she cried and wanted more. Here's a little glimpse of the fun she had being pulled around in the sled. Now, if only we could figure out how to harness it to the dogs and have them pull her around - that would be fun!

Monday

2009-01-06T07:44:00.011-05:00

Monday was Jer's first day back to work after the long holiday weekend. We had such a great time just hanging out together as a family for 4 days. So, yesterday was K and I's first day together all day in what seemed like a long time.

I love Kaelyn so much when she first wakes up in the morning. She is always so happy and sleepy and cute. I took a few pics to share her sleepy mornings with you.

Also, yesterday was a beautiful day. The sky was beautiful blue and the sun was shining brightly. It looked like a warm spring day from the inside, but it was still pretty cold out. K and I bundled up though and spent some time outside with the dogs to enjoy the sunshine. K loves to watch the dogs run around and laughs with glee at them. She also loves to throw the ball to them, although she's not very good at it yet. When Jer saw these pics last night he was totally making fun of me about how bundled up I had Kaelyn. He goes, "Good thing she was ready in case there happened to be a surprise blizzard." Hey - it was cold out. But, she did have a really hard time moving around. :)

O Christmas Tree

2009-01-05T08:39:00.004-05:00

Kaelyn loved our Christmas tree this year. We got a blue spruce, it was beautiful, but had really sharp and poky needles. It actually worked to our advantage because it kept K away from the tree and pulling on it and the ornaments. She loved to stand and look at the lights, and she loved to be held and point to and be told about all of the different ornaments - she would ask to be held to look at the tree and the ornaments and then if you would try to put her down she would cry and want to keep doing it. I think she could have looked at the tree for hours.
I took some pics of K with the tree hoping to get some good shots to maybe use for a Christmas card (well, that didn't happen because I didn't get too many good pics, and didn't take them in time to actually do a Christmas card, oops - maybe next year!) :) It was also her 14 month birthday, 12/19/08, and I realized that after I stopped taking the month birthday pictures that I wasn't doing a very good job of documenting her growing and changing. Here are a few of my favorites from our impromptu photo shoot.

Videos!!!

2009-01-02T14:29:00.004-05:00

My parents got Jer (well I guess, really all of us) a Flip Video Ultra camera for Christmas! If you have not seen one, you have to check them out because they are so cool, easy to use and take good videos. We are so excited about it! Excited that we get to take lots of videos of K and that they're not crappy like the ones we used to take on our digital camera, excited that we will have it for the new baby, and excited to post lots of videos on the blog! Jer already posted the first one of Kaelyn sledding and now here's one of her opening presents at Grammie and Grandpy Sutton's house.

Stay tuned for lots of Christmas pics!!

Kaelyn's First Sledding Experience!

2008-12-30T23:48:00.002-05:00

Kaelyn got to test out her new snow pants and boots that she got for Christmas from her Grammie and Grandpie Sutton the day after Christmas. She did a bit of whining on the way down but always signed "More" when we made it down. All in all, it was a great first sledding experience for K. She might just take after her daddy when it comes to doing crazy things!

Time with Family

2008-12-17T08:35:00.005-05:00

My cousin Nick Nelson got married in October and we traveled to South Eastern Ohio for the wedding and got to see some family we hadn't seen in a while. Some of them Jer actually had never met before!

Jer, K and I with my cousin Elizabeth and Kurt, their 2 kids Andrea and Nathan, and my cousin Jefferson and Jamie and their daughter Adaline. (Left to Right)

Aunt Rachie walking with Kaelyn

Andrea, Kaelyn and Adaline hangin' out. Beautiful girls!

Kaelyn and I with Great Grandma and Grandpa Nelson and cousin Andrea. We were happy to see them and spend a little time with them, this was actually the last time we got to see my Grandma before she passed away.

Rachel and I with our cousin Katie, the youngest of the Nelson cousins, she is 10.

12 of the 16 Nelson cousins were at the wedding. The most of us that have been together in one place in a very long time.

My Grandma Nelson passed away the day before Thanksgiving, so after being with Jer's family for T-day, we went to Ohio to see family and attend her funeral. It was so good to see so many family members twice in two months, especially because some we hadn't seen in years. My Grandma and Grandpa's favorite color is red, so many people, especially the great grandkids, wore red in honor of Red Grandma.

Grammie, Kaelyn, me and Great Grandpa Nelson

All 16 of the Nelson cousins together, ranging in age from 34 to 10!

And all 9 of the Nelson Great Grandchildren together for the first time. They range in age from 6 years to 10 months. Bailey, Kaelyn, Nathan, Andrea, Gracie, Toryn, Ellison, Adaline, and Jaden (left to right), 7 girls and 2 boys. My cousin Elizabeth is expecting too, so we have great grandbabies #10 and #11 on the way! Man it was hard to get them all sitting still and somewhat looking at the camera. Kaelyn kept trying to escape and scoot down off of the chair!

My sisters and cousin Megan (on the left). Doesn't she look like she could be one of our sisters too!?

With Megan and Kaelyn and Toryn, Megan's daughter, who is exactly two months older than K.

We will miss Grandma Nelson, but are so thankful for all of the great memories that we have and the strong family that she helped to build.

Turkey Day and Getting our Tree!

2008-12-16T08:17:00.003-05:00

We spent Thanksgiving Day in town with Jer's family. We had a nice leisurely morning at at home and then headed to Grammie and Grandpy McClements' house in the afternoon for Thanksgiving Dinner. We enjoyed just being able to hang around home and relax. And for the first time since Jer and I have been together, he didn't have to work the day after Thanksgiving!!! It was amazing to have so much family time! :)

Daddy and Kaelyn hanging out watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Kaelyn was fascinated by the big balloons and floats and loved when they had performances, she would dance along to the music!

Kaelyn dancing and wishing she could touch one of the balloons.
Kaelyn and her first yummy Thanksgiving Dinner! :) She was very excited about it!!

And no toddler eating picture is complete without an "After". Food all over her tray, all over the floor, all in her hair! But, she enjoyed it!

We went to a place in Michigan called Butler Tree Farm to get our Christmas Tree. It was a really neat place to get a tree. They had a petting zoo area, which of course Kaelyn loved! Dogs, llamas, horses and even a deer!

Crazy Uncle Nate came with us and helped us find the perfect tree! (And helped Jer cut it, drag it, and tie it up on the car which was really nice because then I didn't have to!!)

The Fam with our Tree

Kaelyn has something to tell you....

2008-12-09T08:41:00.005-05:00

I hope you can read that well enough... if not Kaelyn wants you to know that she is going to be a big sister!! Mommy is expecting baby #2 in June!

I am about 12 1/2 weeks along and my official due date is June 19th. This is the reason I have not been keeping up with the blog as well as I would have liked to lately. Although I have been lucky not to have extreme morning sickness, or nausea in general, I have been extremely tired, especially after chasing around a 13 month old all day! :) But, as I am nearing the end of my first trimester, I am starting to feel more like my normal self again.

Watch for belly pics soon - I'm planning to take my first ones this week, and we'll keep you updated as things move along! We are excited for this new blessing, and ask for your prayers that the baby would grow healthy and strong.

Fall Fun and Halloween

2008-12-08T11:39:00.007-05:00

Okay, so I'm still working on catching up from this fall. These pics are from when we were at Em's parents house for Kaelyn's birthday and we played outside in the leaves. We don't have any trees in our yard at home, so this was really the only time that K got to experience leaves this fall. She was not a huge fan; she cried when we tried to sit her in the pile of leaves, but she liked to pick them up one by one and throw them into the wind!

Jer and my dad picking rasberries. Yum!!

Kaelyn was a little monster for Halloween, and if I do say so myself, she was the cutest monster I have ever seen! Her costume had this built in pot-belly and it was so funny! By then end of the night she even started patting herself on the belly. She thought trick-or-treating meant that we were going to visit all of the doggies at the different houses, because the first house we went to had a little dog that greated her. So, as we would walk up to each house she would say "Hi doggie, hi doggie". It was pretty cute. But, she quickly figured out where the good stuff was, in the candy bowl, and would help herself to a handful at the houses where we trick-or-treated.

With Grammy and Grandpy McClements

With Mommy and Daddy
Finding the good stuff!!

How many can I fit in my hands?

Yum, it's all mine!

I'm outta here!!

Walking up to a house with Daddy...

and with mommy and grammie.

Birthday Fun 2!!

2008-12-06T11:47:00.005-05:00

Okay, here are the last pics from K's birthday! Finally!!

Reading with Grammy

Birthday Cake! Yum!!

Family Picture

Walk to the beach! Beautiful!!

The Big 1!!!

The End!!!

Birthday Fun!

2008-11-20T16:13:00.004-05:00

Here are some pics from K's birthday of her opening presents.

She got lots of cute clothes!

With her ribbons and her BeeBop Band, which she loves!

With Grammy

And her favorite present was probably the cell phone that she got from Grampie. It was his old one that he doesn't use anymore. She loves to carry it around in her purse and "talk" on it. :)

One Cute Birthday Girl!

Birthday at the Zoo

2008-11-17T15:39:00.004-05:00

For Kaelyn's first birthday we headed up to Michigan to visit Em's family. On Saturday we went to the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids. It was a beautiful day, but little did we know that it was the Zoo Boo that day, so it was a little crowded and crazy, but still a lot of fun. As you already know, Kaelyn loves animals, so we thought the zoo was a great place to go to celebrate her birthday.

The Fam

Kaelyn had this hat that daddy got her that said "I'm One!" Since she didn't have a costume like all the other kids, we thought she could wear her hat instead. She didn't really like it though. :)

There was a guy playing the guitar and singing and Kaelyn was dancing along with Grammie.

Then this kid (I'm really not sure if it was a boy a girl, kind of dressed like a girl, but running around like an out of control boy) :) came up and started dancing with her - it was really cute, but Kaelyn was a little overwhelmed. Kaelyn and Auntie Lo. I'm not sure what animal we were looking at here, but Kaelyn obviously wanted to pet it!

Walkin' with Aunt Lo and Aunt Rachie. She was still a little unsure on her feet, and with all the people, it was best we kept her close.

Walkin' with mama and Aunt Rachie, with Grammie taking a picture.

The whole gang, too bad Kaelyn wasn't so interested in the picture. :)

More birthday pics to come soon!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-14T08:35:00.005-05:00

We took our walking Kaelyn to the Pumpkin Patch this fall and it was so much fun! We are excited to see how much more fun it will be as she gets older. It is so crazy that just a short year ago we took our newborn, sleeping baby to the pumpkin patch, and now she is so grown up and walking around. It is also crazy to me that this is her second time doing something - second time at the pumpkin patch, second Halloween, second Thanksgiving, etc! I don't know which is more fun - her first time doing something - or her second, now that she can actually enjoy it!

Walking with Daddy. She could actually walk around herself, but there were lots of roots and thing to trip over, so Daddy was helping her.

Hanging with Mama.

"I want this one!"

Giving the pumpkin a "pat pat".
Sweet Little Pumpkin

Bye Bye!

Catching Up

2008-11-13T11:06:00.005-05:00

Okay, I know I have been greatly lacking on posting lately. I am sorry, but I do have a good reason, I just can't tell you what it is quite yet. :)

So, I plan on catching up over the next few days. Be on the look out for pics of Kaelyn's birthday, the pumpkin patch, Halloween and more.

Here's a few random pics:

Kaelyn loves to pet the dogs and always goes up to Skiba while she is in her bed and gives her a "pat pat".

Kaelyn reading to us while cheering on the Fighting Irish. I don't think she is their good luck charm. :)

Here's a few pics of Kaelyn with her friends from playgroup. These girls are all October babies and Kaelyn and Claire (on the left) have the same birthday. Magnolia's (center) bithday is 3 days later.

Kaelyn showing off her walking skills and not staying in one place for the picture.

Ok, more to come soon - I promise!!!

Kaelyn is ONE!!!

2008-10-21T08:12:00.003-04:00

Kaelyn's birthday was on Sunday and we celebrated by going up to Grammy and Grandpy's house in Muskegon. We went to the zoo in Grand Rapids on Saturday and then had presents and birthday cake on Sunday. Here's a little video of Kaelyn opening her presents. She was pretty cute. Pictures to come once I get them all uploaded and go through them.

Miss Piggie

2008-10-06T21:25:00.003-04:00

Kaelyn's hair is now long enough to put in two little pigtails. She has a patch of hair at the back of her head that is a lot longer than the rest of her hair, so her pigtails have some really long hairs and then some shorter ones. Here are some cute pics of her with her piggies.

One of her new favorite things to do is look out the window, especially if daddy or the doggies are out there. She's not quite tall enough though, so she stands on her tip-toes and tries so hard to see out!

Clapping Kaelyn

2008-10-03T14:20:00.002-04:00

So, Kaelyn finally learned to clap yesterday, and she has been doing it non-stop ever since. This is one of the few developmental things she has been slow in learning. Some other babies we know have been clapping since 8 or 9 months. Kaelyn walked at 10 months, but learned to clap at 11 months, go figure. I'll have to take a video of her doing it, because it is pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.

End of Summer

2008-10-02T08:50:00.011-04:00

We went up to Em's parents cottage in Northern Michigan one last time for the summer, and to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. We stopped by Em's parent's house on the way up and had some fun with Grampie Sutton's recumbent bike. (If you have ever met Em's dad for more than 5 seconds you would know how obsessed he is with his bike - he loves his recumbent bike and is trying to spread the love to the rest of the world!) (Love you, Dad!!) :)

Riding a recumbent bike is actually harder than it looks - but once you get the hang of it, it is actually really comfortable!

Dad & Daughter

Jer takes a turn

Up at the cottage

Kaelyn found the rocking horse - and loved it!

The Cherry Hut - a local icon, but Em had actually never eaten there 'til this weekend! Jer had a hamburger that was made with cherries ground in with the beef and it was actually really good!

Playing mini golf with Kaelyn in the mei tei. I think I should get a handicap for that! :)

Kaelyn wanted to join in on the fun.

Watch Daddy as he holds Kaelyn and putts...

going, going, going...

Hole in One!!! WooHoo!!

Kissing his good luck charm. Mama got a hole in one later on while holding Kaelyn too! :)

My favorite picture from the weekend

More swingin'!

Until next summer...

Watch Me Grow!!

2008-10-01T11:05:00.000-04:00

Sorry I am a little late on the 11 month picture. As we predicted last month that Kaelyn would be walking by her first birthday - we were right, but it was actually sooner than we expected! If you haven't seen the previous posts, Kaelyn started walking one week before her 11 month birthday, on Sept. 12th - which is actually her Daddy's birthday!! Her new adventures in walking have been so fun, and we are so excited for her 1st birthday coming up!!

9/19/09 - 11 months old
With Kaelyn so active now it is especially hard (as in, harder than it's ever been - I think it gets harder and harder each month) to get a good picture of her with her looking at the camera, smiling, and not moving. Well, two out of three isn't bad! :)

Wow! We can't believe that Kaelyn is almost a year old. She is very active, crawling around everywhere, pulling up and cruising around on furniture, the wall, your legs, basically anything she can use to support herself to help her walk. We definitely think she will be walking by her first birthday.

8/21/08 - 10 months old
A few days late because our camera was broken so we had to borrow Grammie and Grampie's.

In the hospital - One day old

One Week Old

11/19/07 One Month Old

12/19/07 Two Months Old

1/19/08 Three Months Old

I am getting so big!

2/19/08 Four Months Old
Look at me smile and sit up straight!
I'm a little peanut! :)

3/19/08 Five Months Old
Kaelyn is now more interested in playing with and trying to eat the soccer ball than posing for a picture. :) It took a lot of tries to get this one, thank goodness for digital cameras!

4/19/08 Six Months Old!!
Wow!! We can't believe Kaelyn is 6 months old already! She is getting to be such a big girl and can sit up all on her own now. She is very active and into everything - before we know it - she will be crawling!!
5/19/08 Seven Months Old!
It is getting harder to get good pictures of Kaelyn as she is getting more and more active. This is a great picture though of her happy and sweet personality!

6/19/08 Eight Months Old!!
What a sweetie!

Kaelyn is 9 months old!! What is really amazing to me is that she has only been in this world for as long as she was in my belly! That makes pregnancy seem like it lasts a really really long time, because we think that Kaelyn has been around forever, we can't remember what life was like before her!

7/19/09 Nine Months Old!

Funny Stuff

2008-09-27T23:16:00.003-04:00

Here's a video of Kaelyn walking today that is pretty funny. Watch out for the dog's tail!! :)

Kaelyn is almost 1!!!!

2008-09-23T09:43:00.000-04:00

Wow! I can't believe in a little less than a month Kaelyn will be turning one! In honor of her birthday, and just to celebrate her, I want to post a picture from each month of her first year of life, besides the pictures that I already post for her "birthday" each month, and hopefully a picture that I haven't already posted. Also, my plan is to post everyday in October to remember, and chronicle the first year of her life! So stay tuned!

October - bringing our little peanut home!!

November - sleeping with mama

December - with Grampie and Abbi. Baby's First Christmas!

January - with Daddy, showing off those big baby blues

February - Valentine's Baby in babylegs made by her mama

March - trying her first food, bananas!

April - showing off her cute strawberry diaper

May - enjoying the beauty of natureJune - just being her silly self
July - yummy sand at Crystal Lake beach
August - trying on a Ladybug costume, so cute!
September - checking out the great outdoors

Thanks for sharing this year with us as we have watched Kaelyn develop into such a cute and fun little girl!

Kaelyn is WALKING!!!

2008-09-17T10:40:00.009-04:00

So, Miss Kaelyn took her first steps at Daddy's birthday party on Friday, Sept. 12th! We kind of thought it was an accident, but then as the weekend went on, she was walking more and more. She will walk between Jer and I, from the couch or chair to me, and walk towards me as I move backwards away from her. Yesterday I was facing away from her and turned around to see her walking from a bar stool in the kitchen to the coffee table in the living room! She has probably taken a total of 8-10 steps in a row before sitting herself down, or falling. :) She is starting to walk on her own initiative, and not just when we stand her up and say, "Come here." It won't be long before she is running all over the place!!
Here's a quick video of her walking towards me. It's hard to get her set up, and get her to walk towards me, all while taking a video, but hopefully it gives you a good idea of her walking skills! :)

Jer is 30!!

2008-09-16T09:31:00.004-04:00

So, Jer turned the big 3-0 on Friday, Sept. 12th, and we threw a surprise party for him. I wish I had a picture of him, because he was so surprised. He turned bright red and wouldn't go back into the room where everyone was because he was embarrassed. I guess I did my job, because he had no idea!! He thought that we were going out to dinner and were just dropping Kaelyn off at his parents house so they could baby-sit and when we walked in everyone was there and yelled "Surprise!" It was a really fun time with friends and family. Unfortunately, I was busy mingling, eating, and watching my almost walking baby, so I didn't really take any pictures. Bummer! But, here is one of the fam after Jer blew out all of the candles on his cake (there were more than 30!)

Happy Birthday Jer!!

And actually, Kaelyn took some of her first steps at the party!! More to come on Kaelyn's new adventures in walking!

Wheaton Weekend

2008-09-16T09:07:00.005-04:00

We went to Wheaton over Labor Day weekend to watch Kaelyn's Aunt Laura play soccer for Wheaton's women's team. They won both of their games, so Laura got to play on both Friday and Saturday nights, although we were only there for the Saturday game. We had fun cheering Wheaton to victory and hanging out with family and friends.

The whole fam in Laura's dorm room. Ah, the memories!

After the soccer game - Kaelyn was so excited they won that she fell fast asleep on Aunt Rachel!

Goofing around with Miss Kaelyn

Kaelyn and our friend's, Dan and Meghan, little boy, Isaac. They had fun playing together. Check out his awesome hair!

With Aunt Rachie

Almost everyone, but Jer was taking the picture and we were missing Laura
With Grammie and Grampie

Cousins 2

2008-09-01T21:12:00.004-04:00

Here are more pics from when Hannah and her girls were visiting.

Playing at the play place at the mall.

In the cute matching dresses that Grammie Susan knitted/sewed for them. It is so hard to get them all looking at the camera at the same time!

And actually smiling - this one is a true miracle! :)

Miss Abbi

We miss them and wish that we could see them more often!!

Cousins!!

2008-08-24T21:49:00.008-04:00

Jer's sister Hannah, her husband Josh, and their girls Lilli and Abbi came to visit for the first part of August. We had lots of fun hanging out with them, and Kaelyn enjoyed playing with her cousins!

We all went to Cedar Point for the day one Saturday. Also, Grandma Susan's biological brother and his two kids, who are college-aged, came along. So, there were 11 adults and 3 kids - we had quite a crowd, but it was a lot of fun. Kaelyn was a trooper and we got to go on most of the major roller coasters. It was a fun day.

The Gang

Lilli and Uncle Nate

The Fam

Jer and his sibs

Josh, Abbi and Lilli

Lilli (almost 4), Abbi (2 1/2) and Kaelyn had so much fun playing together. Abbi especially loved Kaelyn, and liked to do whatever she was doing. Kaelyn loved to watch her cousins run around, and wished that she could run with them.

The crazy girls - it is so hard to get them all looking at the camera at the same time! Here Lilli is making her monkey face.

Abbi and Kaelyn

The paci girls - Lilli still uses her paci for her nap and nighttime, and had the same kind as Kaelyn, except bigger. A couple time Kaelyn tried to take Lilli's paci and use it herself! :) Lilli is saying bye-bye to her paci on her birthday next month - she is going to send it to the babies in the sky!

Just playing together. So cute!

Snaggle-Tooth

2008-08-24T21:35:00.004-04:00

Jer's sister Hannah, her husband Josh, and their girls Lilli and Abbi were visiting for the first part of August, so we were busy hanging out with them a lot and slacking on the blog - sorry about that! I'll spend the next few days catching up.

So, Kaelyn got her first top tooth, and it turned out to be her right side tooth, not the middle one, I guess it's called the right lateral incisor. So we've been joking about it that it is a fang, or a snaggle-tooth. It is pretty funny, especially now that it is in farther and you can actually see it when she smiles and "talks". And now her left lateral incisor has broken through, so soon she will have fangs on both sides! :) But, I think that her left middle tooth will be here within the next week or two, so then she won't be so goofy.

Here's a pic of her fang. Her newest nickname is Miss Fang. :)

Kaelyn's First Words!!

2008-08-01T10:58:00.002-04:00

Kaelyn has been saying "dada" for the past few weeks and we have been encouraging her that it means daddy, and who it is associated with. We were not sure if she really knew what she was saying or what it meant. Well, on Wednesday night she was crawling toward Skiba and saying "daie", and I said to Jer, she's telling the dogs to die!! We laughed, but she kept saying it, and then it hit me - she was saying "doggie" just without the gg's!! So as far as we can tell, dada and doggie are Kaelyn's first words! I'm a little disappointed that she still doesn't say mama, but I know it will happen soon enough! I'll have to take a picture of Kaelyn with the dogs to put up here, I just don't have one yet. She really loves her doggies! :)

Play Time!

2008-07-29T10:59:00.005-04:00

Kaelyn is now crawling everywhere and getting into everything! She loves to play, here are some of her favorite activites:

Getting into the cupboards in the kitchen - she loves the plastics cupboard the best! Her favorite thing is to open doors and drawers and empty all of the contents onto the floor!

Ripping apart newspapers, and trying to eat the paper when mama is not looking!

Uh-oh! Caught!

Standing at the coffee table and trying to move around it to get whatever is up there!

Playing with her Leap Frog table. Kaelyn loves to bounce to the music it plays! :)

And her most favorite activity of all - Crawling away from mama!

For those of you who have any interest at all - in this pic K is wearing a pinned prefold diaper (that's the old-fashioned kind of diaper - like this) and a wool interlock cover. Wool is a great diaper cover b/c it is all natural, breathable, water resistant, anti-bacterial and comfy. (More about wool diaper covers here.) You know I just have to plug my cloth diapers whenever I can! :)

And just for fun - one outisde with daddy in her backpack carrier! She loves to be up high and be able to look around at everything!

At the Zoo!

2008-07-25T10:35:00.004-04:00

After we got done taking Kaelyn's 9 month picture (see the post below) we went to the Potowatami Zoo, which is right here in South Bend. We had no idea that such an interesting zoo was right on our doorstep. Kaelyn is an animal lover!! She loves to watch our dogs run around in the back yard, and lately she's started trying to chase them around the house - though she's not quite quick enough to catch them yet. So, we thought that she would enjoy the zoo - and we were right! We had no idea how excited she would get about the animals. It was really a fun day!

Enough with the pictures mama, I'm done!!

Kaelyn was waving to the camels and bouncing up and down as I held her. We saw tigers before this, but they were just laying around, she didn't get very excited about them. These camels were cute, they were nuzzling each other and standing with their bellies supported by the tree stumps.
There are two red pandas in the background if you can see them (they kind of look like racoons with thier striped tails), they were climbing all over in the trees, and once Kaelyn found them, she just wanted to watch and watch them.
This was one of Kaelyn's favorite parts - the petting area where you can go in the pen with the pygmy goats. Some of the goats were very friendly and would come right up to us. We got to feed them a few leaves, and Kaelyn liked to pet (and pull) on their hair.
Her other favorites were the monkeys. They had some that were very playful, but they were mostly behind glass, so we didn't get to take any pictures with them. Kaelyn loved to watch them play, and laughed and squealed with delight!
The goats are pretty funny because they jump up on rocks and tree stumps and just stand there. Check out the one in the background lounging in the tub!

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! I think this is the closest I've actually ever been to a lion. These were two very big and majestic lions with very full manes. They were pacing back and forth along the fence. Kaelyn thought the were cute!

Okay, enough with the lions, I'm bored. :)

After the zoo, we went to check out a new playground they just completed. This is a fun thing that you stand on and it swings you around in circles. Kaelyn loved it!!

Wow! That's enough excitement for one day!

Vacation - 2!!

2008-07-22T15:03:00.006-04:00

We went to Em's fam's cottage in Frankfurt, MI for a little vacation. We had a great time with Grammy and Grampy Sutton, Aunt Rachie and Aunt Laura, and Kaelyn loved having more time in the water and at the beach!

Walking the break water at Frankfurt beach. It was cold! Brrrr!
There are swings at the beach that Emily and her sisters always went on when they were younger, they have now added baby swings, and I think Kaelyn enjoyed herself!
Swinging with Mama!

And Daddy!

The Fam!
With Grammy & Grampy Sutton

Snuggle Bunny Kaelyn

Hanging at the beach

More fun swinging!

Kaelyn's first visit to Crystal Lake, and first time at the beach. She really enjoyed eating the sand, and loved to play in the water!
What a little fishy!

We had a beach picnic at Point Betsy Lighthouse. Again, Kaelyn's favorite part was eating the sand, and some graham crackers from the smores! Then she was so tired out from all the swimming she did earlier she fell asleep in the sling and missed the gorgeous sunset!

Vacation!

2008-07-18T10:17:00.011-04:00

We went to Green Bay, WI for the 4th of July to visit with friends Nate and Beth Ashmead and Matt and Natalie Petersen. Nate and Beth live on a nice lake and it was Kaelyn's first time in the water besides the bathtub. :) She loved it, and we think she's going to be quite the little fish!

Our 4th of July baby!

Bathing Beauty Baby!

The babes - Tommy, Kaelyn, Madi, and Aja

Daddies with their girls, so sweet!

Snuggling with daddy after swimming :)

Fun with Family!!

2008-07-17T10:43:00.005-04:00

We've had lots of time with family over the past few months. Here's some highlights...

Four Generations on the Nelson side - Great-Grandma, Grammy, Mama and Kaelyn.

Nelson Great-Grandkids - Jaden, Toryn, Andrea, Nathan, Ellasyn, and KaelynWith Great-Grandma Nelson

Kaelyn with her 2nd cousin Toryn, who is exactly 2 months older than her!

Grampy feeding Kaelyn some prunes - Yum!!

And reading her a book

At Great-Grandma Sutton's 90th birthday party.
With Great-Grandma Sutton - Two weeks later she went home to be with Jesus, we were blessed to see her one more time.

And some pictures with us, of course...

I love Mama!

Daddy's Girl!

The Fam!

This is on Mother's Day when Kaelyn was dedicated at church!

Photo Shoot

2008-07-09T14:00:00.000-04:00

Here is what we go through when trying to take Kaelyn's "Month Birthday" pictures. Hope you enjoy it more than we did!

And one last picture just to show you her two bottom front teeth! :)

Family, Friends and Fun!

2008-05-11T13:27:00.007-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted - sorry! - so I have some catching up to do. Here are some of the things that we've been up to over the last month or two.

Mommy ran the Shamrock Shuffle 8K in Chicago on March 30th with Aunt Rachel and Aunt Laura. Daddy and Kaelyn were freezing, but stuck it out to cheer them on!!

Can you spot Emily, Rachel and Laura?

We finished!!!

We visited friends Meghan and Isaac Orr. Kaelyn and Isaac were pretty cute together.

Kaelyn was actually reaching out to Isaac. It looked like she was hugging him, but I think she just wanted to put him in her mouth. :)
She tries to put anything she can get her hands on into her mouth!

Here's Miss Kaelyn enjoying a beautiful day at the park. This was Jer's first weekend after starting his new job - and the weather was amazing - so we took advantage of him having Saturday off (woo-hoo!!!) by going on a nice hike at a nearby park.

As always, she slept through most of the good stuff! :)

Our friends Nate and Beth and their daughter Madi (14 mo. old) came to visit for a weekend in April. Another great perk of having weekends off is the ability to entertain - and go to visit - our out of town friends and family! Kaelyn and Madi had fun getting to know each other! And we had so much fun catching up with our friends!

Look for more to come soon...

Just Hangin' Out

2008-04-17T10:52:00.004-04:00

Kaelyn loves to ride in her sling with mama carrying her. (Daddy carries her in a sling sometimes too, but he doesn't really want people to know that.) ;) Lately she enjoys chewing on her toes when she is in the front carry, and also likes sitting on mama's hip in the hip carry.

Sometimes she has to work hard and concentrate to get her tootsies up to her mouth!

On March 27th, it snowed like crazy here. Huge flakes and we just had to take Kaelyn outside and take her picture in the crazy snow.

She says "Mom, I'm freezing!! Stop taking pictures so I can come inside!"

Da Bears, Da Cubs

2008-04-16T13:55:00.004-04:00

Sometimes I think Jer wishes that he had a boy (okay, not really he LOVES Kaelyn!) But, he is definitely going to pass on his love of sports to her. He is already molding her to be a young fan. In fact, Kaelyn already like to watch baseball. :) Go Cubs!

Kiss Me I'm Irish!

2008-03-22T10:22:00.005-04:00

Mama and Kaelyn

Practicing sitting up with Daddy

She loves the doggies

We were excited to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year with Kaelyn. Jer's ancestors are actually Scottish, but with a name like Kaelyn McClements (Kaelyn is a Celtic name), and living by Notre Dame, it only seemed appropriate that Kaelyn would enjoy her first St. Patty's Day in style.
Kiss me I'm Irish!

Kaelyn wants to give you a hug and kiss too! She loves to give whole mouth, slobbery kisses on your cheek! :)

Grammy Comes to Visit

2008-03-20T09:55:00.007-04:00

Grammy Sutton came to visit this past weekend. Kaelyn and Mommy were wearing their Wheaton shirts, so Grammy had to put hers on too and take a Wheatie picture! :) Grammy had been at the Wheaton basketball game at Hope where they beat Whitworth to be in the Elite 8 in the Division III tournie. They lost to Hope the next day though . :( Grammy was at that game too. She likes basketball! and Wheaton!
But She loves Kaelyn the most!!

Spring is Coming!

2008-03-20T09:19:00.003-04:00

We had a few days of beautiful weather last week, so we took Kaelyn out for a walk and to play in the backyard. She loved being outside, but she didn't like the sun shining in her eyes! She loves to watch and laugh at the dogs as they run around. We can't wait for spring to arrive!

The crazy dogs!

Tummy time on the blankie.

Playing airplane with daddy.

Just Some Cute Pics!

2008-03-09T09:26:00.011-04:00

So, obviously as first time parents we love to take pictures of Kaelyn and we wanted to share some of those with you. Here are some of our favorites from the last 4 1/2 months of loving Kaelyn.

Just Born

First Bath

With Daddy

First Day of Life

Going Home

Peaceful

Hello? Practicing for when I get my first cell phone

My favorite way to sleep

Bright-eyed

Nakie (almost) Time

Lil' Pumpkin Patch

Sleeping Beauty

First Christmas with Snuggle Bunny Rae

Getting So Big

Made You Smile :)

Big Eyes

Pondering myself in the mirror

Getting ready to recite my favorite Shakespeare

Just Cute!

Daddy wants me to be an Irish fan

I am so silly!

I am sure there will be more as Mommy and Daddy love to show that
I am the cutest baby in the world! :)

Kaelyn Laughs

2008-03-07T16:34:00.004-05:00

So I figured out how to upload videos onto the blog!! So here is one of Kaelyn laughing with Jer. It is so much fun when she is laughing and giggling, but it's hard to catch it on video, because you never know when she is going to be in a silly mood!