Weekend Update...

Kaitlyn and I started off the weekend early with a play date with our pal Jake and a trip to the Children's Museum on Friday (sorry no pics). Too many things to explore and spent most of my time making sure that Kaitlyn didn't kill herself on the millions of stairs that she was trying to climb up and down. We took a little trip to the outlet mall on Saturday since Brad was out of town and Kaitlyn was in desparate need of a winter coat (yes it is already in the 30s here with a chance of SNOW). Then on Sunday we helped volunteer at the Girls on the Run Haunted Hustle where Kaitlyn got a chance to pre-view her Halloween costume - check out this little Bumble Bee :) I'm sure we'll have more pics come Friday!



A few pics from her 13 month "photo shot" - definitely getting harder to get her to sit still for good pictures these days but she was being good and enjoying her books!

Kaitlyn showing off her new trick of showing us where her nose is :)

My little shopping helper...

And finally our latest video of Kaitlyn playing with "wheely bug." She just discovered that if she bangs it on the floor it makes a loud noise and thought that was the funniest thing in the world. She's just now figuring out how to properly ride on wheely bug - promise to get more video of that once she's mastered it :) Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Mimi, Papa AND Aunt Lindsey!

October is a BIG birthday month for our family! Happy Birthday to Mimi, Papa AND Aunt Lindsey all in the same month!!

This past weekend we went down to Dallas for a quick, quick weekend to help celebrate Mimi and Papa's 60th BDays! We got to play with our cousins, see Ellie and Brandon's soccer game, do some shopping with Mimi, meet some of Mimi and Papa's friends, and show off our new walking skills. It was so great to see everyone and as always too quick of a trip. Here are some pics from the weekend.

Dadda with me and cousin Molly...

Uncle Bert and I....

All of the grandkids... cousins Kelly, Ellie, Brandon and Samantha. Check out those party dresses - thanks Mimi!

Cousin Kelly and I at Ellie and Brandon's soccer game... one day we'll be big enough to play on the field.

Aunt Anne holding me and Mimi holding Kelly at the soccer game as we cheer on the Stars.

All of the "little girls" playing together so nicely :)

"Mom of the Year"

Well if locking your child in the car with the keys and your cell phone gets you kicked out of the “Mom of the Year” contest, looks like I’m out :) Long story short - Kaitlyn and I went to the mall on Saturday to pick up a quick gift and I hit the lock botton on my keys, dropped them in the bag (so I wouldn’t forget to lock the car) and left the bag on the back seat while I went to the trunk to get her stroller out. In the meantime, someone was trying to pull into the spot next to us so to be nice I went to close the door and let them pull in not thinking about my keys and the fact that I had locked the car!!! Yes, genius!! I called Brad’s cell and when he didn’t answer right away I assumed he was still at the hospital rounding so we immediately called mall security (who in case you ever need to know can’t break into cars) and then they called the police. I paged Brad and thankfully he had just gotten home so he grabbed the extra keys and came to the mall. About 20 minutes (seemed like 20 hours) later Brad arrived and we rescued Miss Kaitlyn from her carseat. Luckily it was a cool morning and she was so good - just wondering why I was playing peak-a-boo with her with tears coming down my face. So after one tow truck, one fire engine, one Biarwood mall security guy, and Daddy to the rescue our adventure had ended on a happy note :) Kaitlyn even got a “Biarwood Mall Secuity Junior Officer” badge for her baby book :)


We didn’t do much exciting the rest of the day Saturday but got to go to the park with Brad for a little bit on Sunday to enjoy the warm weather before he had to go back to the hospital. Here are a few pics from the park.

The static from this slide does wonders for my hair....

In between working and nap time Kaitlyn and I checked out the library and stopped at the park to enjoy the beautiful weather this afternoon. To be honest I hadn’t been in a library in years and was pleasantly surprised at all of the fun activities they have for her. We missed story time but might try again in a few weeks. Think we might have found another good spot for the long winter months coming way too soon!

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Fall Festivities

Today was the perfect Fall day for a trip to the Cider Mill with friends. Kaitlyn and I ventured to Jenny's Dexter Cider Mill and Farm Market with our friends Betsy, Avery, Susie, Grant, Hunter, Katie and Thomas! What a great day! The weather was perfect and they had it all there - cider, doughnuts, pumpkins, hay stacks, billy goats, ponies, and even an adventurous hayride to say the least. It was definitely the ride of a lifetime. When we signed up for the hayride I envisioned a nice gentle ride through the pumpkin patch and around the farmer's market. Little did we know it was a near tragic experience :) Betsy and I decided to pick the back seat of the trailer with the not so gentle horses pulling the trailer up and down the bumpy dirt roads and hills with slippery straw under our us and no railing on the back of the trailer. The ten minute ride was quite an adventure - thanks for holding on to us so tight Susie! Needless to say I would definitely recommend a child safety seat next time we embark on a horsedrawn hayride as well as a padded seat - got a nice size red whelt on my back to show for it!

All that being said - we really did have a GREAT time and many laughs with all of the Fall festivities! Not sure which Kaitlyn liked more - the billy goat or the pumpkins but she definitely had a good time! Here are a few pics:

Kaitlyn, Susie and I on the hayride...

Betsy, Avery, Kaitlyn and I with our "faces of terror" after the hayride :)

It's near impossible to get these two curious little girls to both look at the camera at the same time... Kaitlyn and her pal Avery on the back of the hayride....

Kaitlyn playing with her new pumpkin... just her size!!

She's Got It!!!

After about three weeks of a couple of steps and falling on our bottom, I think it's finally clicked for Kaitlyn today. She spent the whole day walking / wobbling around the house so proud of her new trick!!

Hello all! Welcome to the Bader Family blog!!!

So it's only taken a year plus but I promised myself that I would start a blog once my job ended and life slowed down. Seeing as how neither of those things seem to be happening soon I've decided the time has come. I'll try my best at updating the blog as often as possible but little Miss Kaitlyn doesn't seem to sit still these days so might be challenging.

September was a busy month of celebrations for us! I think Kaitlyn officially had four "parties" for her first birthday - one in FL with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Lindsey, one in Chicago on her actual BDay with our best pals Jack and Sam, one at daycare, and one with all of our Ann Arbor pals at the house! Needless to say, lots of videos and pics to share.

Kaitlyn is keeping us busy these days. She's "walking" although still working on the balance and stability plus think she realizes that she can get across the room faster by crawling. I'm guessing it won't be long before she's officially on two feet for good. Promise to get some video of her "walking" posted soon.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Birthday's are hard on us all even at such a young age... :)

I've posted a bunch of videos - mainly for those of you far away that we don't get to see often enough but hope everyone enjoys. Birthday videos and lots of new tricks to share :) Some of them are lenghty so feel free to view as you wish!!