Two Cuties

Reed eating a banana

Kaitelyn's Puzzle

I realized when we stopped to visit The Kelly's how much Kaitelyn enjoys putting puzzles together and how well she does it. They had a few floor puzzles that were really cool. So when we came home, I found this Dora floor puzzle for Kaitelyn to work on.

To my amazement, I only had to show her how to group the pieces together a couple of times and now she's a pro. She can put the puzzle together all by herself in a matter of just an hour.

Here is a snapshot of the 1st time she put Dora together by herself :-)

He's a Crawlin Machine

I cannot believe it. Reed is CRAWLING!! Last Thursday, August 20th I caught my little man taking a few crawling steps. Now, he is unstoppable. Kaitelyn didn't want to crawl until she was about 91/2 months. Reed is becoming a happier baby now that he is more mobile, but evenings can sometimes be a bear.

She's A Big Girl Now!!

On Monday, August 10th, Kaitelyn asked me to read her "Big Girls Use the Potty!" book. It's one of 2 potty training books that I purchased to help potty train her. The other book was not interesting enough so she never asked to read it. On this morning, Kaitelyn asked me to read her book so I did. To my amazement, she asked to go sit on her potty and now diapers are history.

I was so excited, I got out all her little training panties that I bought and Aunt Shannon bought a couple of years ago to let her pick out a pair. I was really nervous to let her run around in panties and not pull-ups, but we had to start somewhere. We had practiced in the past with the Pull-ups, but they were useless. This time, I hung up her little chart that came with her book and let her fill it up with the star stickers it came with each time she pottied. Granted, she was asking to go sit on her potty every other minute so she could get a sticker, but at least she was practicing. Each time she tinkled I let her have 2 mini M&M's in each hand. Then, if she did a "Doo", she got 5 M&M's in each hand. Also, to make the experience more fun, Reed and I would dance and sing when Kaitelyn would go potty. I made up a silly "Kaitelyn's Going Potty" song for her.

There was one evening Kaitelyn had a tinkle accident in the kitchen while I was hiding in our room nursing Reed. I was out for about 1/2 hour, but I kept hearing this splashing going on. When I came out, Kaitelyn asked for a new pair of panties then she went over to the puddle she created and started splashing around in it. She had been splashing and making foot prints all over the kitchen floor. Luke was oblivious! I was not happy, but I couldn't be mad at her either.

By letting Kaitelyn choose for herself when she was ready to wear panties made this potty training experience super easy for me. Of course there were a few mishaps, but we have been accident free for 2 weeks now and I haven't had to change a Kaitelyn poopy diaper since August 9th.

I'm so proud of my little girl.

Kaitelyn loves Sunflowers so Luke purchased one as a gift for being a big girl now.

Trip to Kansas

A few of weeks ago, we boarded a plane and headed to the Midwest to visit family and friends. We flew into Denver picked up our car and drove to the Grandparents farm house for a family reunion the next day. The Chermak reunion was a success this year. We were able to see lots of relatives and enjoy some good food. The kids really enjoyed the attention (something they don't get a lot of here in WA). Grandma and Grandpa were so excited to have us spend a couple of days with them as we were just as excited too!

Reed and Phoenix at the Chermak Reunion

Kaitelyn with Lily at the farm

That evening after the reunion, Kaitelyn was sooo tired
she wanted to crash on the floor in the hallway

Saying "Goodbye" to the grandparents

During our trip, we visited the T-Rex restaurant in K.C. where Kaitelyn picked out a new dinasaur and named her "Pink". We visited Sonic everyday to get our fill on their Cherry Limeades. We were able to stop at a Runza restaurant and enjoy our favorite runza sandwiches. And we just hung out with family and friends.

Taylor and Reed.
Reed was "her baby"

Reed couldn't decide what he wanted off the menu at T-Rex

Kaitelyn with Pink

Reed with Aunt Shannon

Enjoying a train ride in the park with my mom "Gma Rose"

The anticipation...going through the tunnel on the train

While staying at Monica's, we had an evening to just relax and let the kids play.
Reed absolutely loved this little buggy.

Our last day in town, we were able to catch Griffyn in a play called "The Carrot".
Here is a group shot of the Chermak kids.
Left to right: Ales, Reed, Lily, Griffyn, Cody, Phoenix and Kaitelyn

A good picture of Kaitelyn and Reed with Grandma Rose

For the last couple of days, we packed up and drove West to Denver to visit The Kelly's. There, we enjoyed an outdoor concert at their mall, filled up with more Cherry Limeades, enjoyed Sarah's delicious home cooking and most importantly we just hung out. Kaitelyn and Leah played well with a few little exceptions and Reed and Nora just hung out with us.

Driving to CO and going through a small T-storm.
It was cool to watch, it looked like it was only raining over the highway.

Leah and Kaitelyn shortly after we arrived in CO

Reed checking out his reflection. When I look at this picture,
I see Kaitelyn in that reflection at that age.

Kaitelyn not dancing while Leah is dancing and having a good time.

Leah and Kaitelyn love to give each other hugs.

I love the morning hair. Look at their cups...the evening before, we let K have a cup like that at dinner,
but she kept spilling her drink all over the table. So, she had to drink from a sippy cup and Leah got a cool cup.

Reed taking a bath after breakfast