Happy Holidays!

I haven't exactly been very good at updating the blog these days so thought I would post a few pics from the past few weeks as we get ready for the holidays. Right after Thanksgiving we took Kaitlyn to the "Wildlights" at the Columbus Zoo. She loved seeing all of the light but think her favorite part of the night was riding the carousel.

Kaitlyn's real "Big Girl" bed finally arrived around Thanksgiving too and we upgraded from the "big girl" bed (aka matress on the floor) to our "BIG, BIG girl" bed without an problems. Now there's room in the crib for our baby brother!




Two weekends ago we went to visit Mimi and Papa and the Beller clan (Brad's sister) for a quick weekend trip. Kaitlyn had a GREAT time hanging out with all of her cousins (Kelly, Brandon, Bailey, and Ellie). They even got to have a slumber party at Mimi and Papa's house two nights in a row! We quickly figured out that putting two 2 year olds in the same room for bedtime was not a grand idea - while it was quite comical to listen to their "conversation" with one another and see on the monitor their attempts to sneak out of the beds it didn't make for a very sucessful bedtime. I think these two are going to be double trouble for Mimi!


We are very excited to get back to Dallas really soon and have plenty of slumber parties in the future. It was also SO nice for Brad and I to be able to have a "date night" - dinner at our old favorite restaurant, a Mavericks game, and drinks after with an old friend to catch up on the Dallas crew. I realized we hadn't had a night out just the two of us since our anniversary back in August so it was a nice break!

Dance party to the "Mickey Mouse Choo Choo Express" DVD.... the "choo choo boogey"!



This past weekend we took Kaitlyn to see Santa...

Patiently waiting to see Santa...

Very excited - jumping up and down to see Santa....

And changing our mind about three steps from Santa and clinging to me for dear life :) Oh well, better luck next year!

Not quite our best pic but we tried!

Decorating the tree...

She was actually a lot better at it than I thought although there are a few clusters of ornaments.

Admiring our work...

Santa's little elf "helping" with laundry..




Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season and getting ready for all of the festivites and Santa's arrival next week...so hard to believe it's already Christmas!

Lindsey & Alan's Wedding!

The BIG day we’ve been waiting for!! My sister, Lindsey, got married to a wonderful guy, Alan. It was the perfect weekend and beautiful ceremony that went off without a hitch! Of course the bride and groom both looked stunning and couldn’t have been happier! Lots of pics from the weekend. Unfortunately, not too many from the ceremony itself as I was a little busy catching up with family and friends we hadn’t seen in years and chasing around Kaitlyn who was honored to be a flowergirl. We’re so excited for Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Alan!!

Bridal Party Tea the day before the wedding...

The soon to be husband and wife at the rehearsal dinner...

We were lucky enough to have BOTH sets of grandparents at the big party... thank you to Brad's parents (aka Mimi and Papa) for making the trip to NOLA to help out with Kaitlyn for the weekend. Mimi took us to the New Orleans Children's Museum the morning of the wedding to get a little energy out before the festivities began. Doing a little "grocery shopping" with Mimi and Brad...


More fun at the museum and one of our favorite activities (bubbles)!

The Bride and her Bridesmaids getting ready for the BIG night!

Before....

After....

The BEAUTIFUL bride and Kaitlyn!

Here we go....

Letting out a little bit of energy before the ceremony with our "friends"... Kaitlyn made quick "friends" as she called them with Alan's nieces and nephews, the two other flowergirls and two ring bearers... quite the group!

The party had to end :( Saying goodnight to the bride after a LONG day WAY past our bedtime but worth every minute of it :)

CONGRATULATIONS AUNT LINDSEY AND UNCLE ALAN!! WE LOVE U!!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween! For some reason everyone is our area trick or treats on the weekday before Halloween so we've already had our trick or treat fun on Thursday night. The weather couldn't have been better and we had a ton of fun running from house to house with Jack, Sam, Parker and our friend Katie even came along :) They really do make it a fun affair in Upper Arlington with everyone sitting outside their cute little houses watching the kids run around. This was the first year that Kaitlyn actually went out trick or treating but it only took about two houses and she definitely had the hang of it all. Here are some pics of "Minnie Mouse" and her friends, the astronauts, and Baby Parker (the alien).

Comparing notes on their "treats"....

Minnie Mouse at the library Halloween storytime last weekend.


We've spent the past few days outside playing in the leaves and enjoying "Fall"!

A little yard work :) Promise I didn't put her up to this!




Our other big news is that Kaitlyn is now sleeping in her "Big Girl" bed! Well, it's more of a Big Girl mattress on the floor until her real bed arrives in a couple of weeks but she sure is proud of it :) First night and couple of naps were rough but now she's doing great and ready for Baby Brother to sleep in her "Baby Bed".