Birthday at the Zoo

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

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

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!!!

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

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

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

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!!

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!