Two Photo-Shoots for you Aunt Di.

So, not too long ago Katelyn received a package with a large assortment of very bright and colorful clothing goodies from Aunt Dianna. She is so proud to show off two of the outfits that I got pictures of her wearing as a HUGE THANK YOU to Aunt Di. (This is post is just for you!) 

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Click HERE to view all the pictures from our "mini-session".  I took these with Chris's Canon Rebel T2i (Not sure if the EOS is important, but it's there).

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First we have the Pink Shots. These are just taken in her bedroom. I thought the pink-on-pink was cute, and I loved the lighting in most of the shots. I think some look like they were taken many years ago.

The second session is outside. We were on our way to the City Library for "Silly Safari" (a Summer Reading Kick off Party)! The outfit fit the theme of the event perfectly. I've never really been into animal prints until recently. Now that I have Katelyn, I have found them to be some of the most eye-catching prints for baby girls.

Father's Day Fun



We celebrated Chris's first Father's Day by going to the Hesston Steam Museum in Hesston, Indiana. We had such a wonderful time that we are already planning on taking a second trip back out that way soon. I was expecting this boring museum where all you do is walk around and look at things, but it was not that at all. It was exciting with real steam train rides, a working saw mill, an active Black Smith house, and beautiful picnic area (with LOTS of shady areas to beat the heat!) Check it out: http://www.hesston.org/

We already know that Chris has a crazy obsession with trains...an admiration that I think Katelyn inherited from him. She was tickled to be inside the old train caboose.

There are 3 trains that you can ride. (And the rides are a great length.) We only rode the "big" train, but they also have a Medium train which has different types of cars to sit in. (For example some were caged like an animal pin.) And then there is also a "miniature" train. It is for kids and adults, but it is so tiny you sit with your knees real high if you are tall. It's like a toy train that carries passengers!

Chris wanted to be sure we got a picture of the MACK truck for his daddy!

Anyone else see a bit of a resemblance? I caught them both just sitting like this watching the trains go by.

Father's Day was a very fun filled day for us. We started it off by visiting a church we've never been to, came home for sandwiches, went to Hesston's, stopped at the meat market on our way home, and had one of Chris's co-workers and his family over for burgers. Chris got to grill, make his delicious Macaroni salad, and ride the 4-wheeler. He was one happy fella, and Katelyn is proud of her daddy!

Movie Monday

Movie Monday has smiled upon us all this week. It also happens to be a short clip of our Father’s day outing to Hesston Steam Museum.  The Father's day adventure will follow at another time this morning. (I hear Miss K waking up.)

Photo Updates

Check out our pictures from London/Germany HERE.
Check out our NEWEST pictures HERE.

Yes, I did it!

Yes...I felt the urge to go back to the Vitameatagegamin blog title... why?? For no good reason other than the fact that I like to change the name everytime I make a new banner. I can't help it. However, I actually did leave "The West Family" blog as the ACTUAL title...(if that makes a helps any...?)

**You really can tell days when I wake up at 3 in the AM with nothing to do**

No Good

So, I haven't been doing a very good job doing a lot of things like updating the blog, posting pictures and videos, or as my mom reminded me on her vist yesterday... updating Katelyn's progress on the "1000 Books Before Kindergarten". I am keeping track of them in her binder and she is at 84. After her first 100 she gets a prize from the library. She also has two prizes to pick up for the Summer Reading Program from the county library.

We've been going to Storytime every week at the County library, and since she is enjoying that so much- I think we are going to start hitting up City library Storytime again now too. She has such a blast at storytime, and does everything she can to 'hang' with the walkers. They have a tunnel they crawl through, and she has no fear at all about pushing her way right though it with them. This week she got rolled on by a walker, but she didn't seem to mind. It looked like she tried to give him the old heave-ho and went back to whatever it was she thought she was doing.

Seriously...

This is where Katelyn thinks she needs to sit in order to watch the Television.

W.O.W

So, I've been locking myself in the guest room working on K's scrapbook. I'm done with all the pictures I have printed...Christmas, London/Germany, Easter left to go. My camera is dead, and I can't find the cord to charge it... I know it is here somewhere though.

I made a baby boy card for a friend that I think even Cathy might be proud of!... but I can't show you because my camera is dead with a missing charger. =/ It has a stuffed diaper bag on the cover and i stole the staying..."Momma's got a brand new bag" and on the inside it says, "...and it ain't filled with makeup." So cute!

Katelyn Update::: She is a crawling machine! Crawling everywhere! She is pulling herself up to the standing position now too. I think it is funny how she can care less about the toy on the floor, but as soon as I put it on the table it is the most fascinating thing. =) It's cute. she works so hard to get it. The other morning I woke up to her with hands on the rail of her crib, on one knee, and with one foot hanging out the bars over the top of the bumper pads. She was trying to escape! LOL!

Traveling With Baby

Recently, Chris and I took an almost 4 week long trip to Europe with our 7 month old daughter, and my mother. If you are traveling with a baby on an 8 hour plus airplane flight – I highly recommend a third set of hands. Chris always jokes that I fall asleep in the car before we even get to the edge of the driveway; well…he falls asleep before we even get off the tarmac. Yes, he did pull some of the weight of entertaining her on the plane, and even worked miracles by maneuvering the diaper changes in the tiny lavoratory on the rocking plane.  However, in my defense – it was nice to be able to hand off the sleeping baby after 5 straight hours of having her on my lap, and not feel guilty about waking Chris.

Although she prefers her newly introduced front-facing, big girl stroller – we opted for the universal stroller which easily totes around her car seat (since we needed that anyway) – and offers an extra-large storage bin beneath (which came in handy more times than I can count!) while still being slim enough to not take up too much space in the rental car.

Katelyn did an amazing job traveling. She adjusted well to the time change, but seems to be having a bit harder time adjusting back now that we are home. It’s only been a day, but she was slightly more fussy than normal, and she woke up twice in the middle of the night which is unusual for her. Unfortunately, on this trip she learned that if she wail-scream-cries she gets something new until she gets what she wants. So, that fun has begun – but she seems to be much, much, much  happier now that she is back at the stability of home! (Can’t say I blame her. I feel better too.)

I packed her suitcase with not only clothes, but a few of her favorite sitting toys. Her diaper bags had some smaller hand toys and balls in them – all of which proved to be essential items to keeping Katelyn entertained for the weeks we were gone.

From this trip I learned a few seemingly non-important things. Here they are in no particular order:

1.       Pack the toys or be prepared to buy some.

2.       If you like a certain diaper (we prefer the Pampers Swaddlers with wetness indicator when we have to use disposables) – Bring plenty with you. The ones you prefer may not be available in other countries.

3.       YOU may travel light, but don’t pack baby lightly. Extra clothes are a must.

4.       If needed, it is possible to hand wash clothes in the hotel bathroom, hang dry inside, and still feel clean in them.

5.       Plastic grocery bags. I like to think we’re pretty green conscious – but these would have proved handy if I would have packed them.

6.       When you don’t speak the language – start with the age of the baby*smile*nod*Uh-huh* and then tell them the name*smile*nod*Uh-huh*

And in completely unrelated baby news – the first lesson I learned is that toilet seats are just as nasty in England, but most were beautifully maintained by an attendant and cost 1 euro to use in most of the German places we stopped at.

Home

Just a quick note to let you know we are home from our long trip over sea. I'll be making a post about more of the trip soon for you to read about all of our adventures and misadventures. =)

A terrible pioneer I make.

Welp, Family. We made it to Germany - and we are having more cold windy and rainy days. Mom, Katelyn, and I have been pretty much stuck inside the hotel except for the short walk to the food mart each day, and the times that Chris has been off work early enough to take us to the Market Mall.

Our hotel is in more of a business district, so there really is not much for us to do near by. We tried to spy a laundry mat, but there hasn't been one in sight. So, mom and I pioneered it and hand washed our dirty laundry, and hung it up to dry.

Here was one batch of our clothes. Mom's bathroom is filled as well, and our furnaces both have clothes tossed over the backs of them. If you searched my room right now, you wouldn't find a single free hanging space anywhere. Clothes are everywhere. I may have to do a few more shirts to get me through the week, but we should be good on everything else.

Ello, From England!

We've been hanging around England! If you thought London is where the good stuff is at, you are sadly mistaken.... BATH is the place to be, and that is exactly where we have been hanging around with Our Family from Across the Pond! It was been just wonderful meeting the family that we have been talking to through the internet for some time now. I have more pictures with the family, but they are on the other disk that I do not have at the moment.

At the Roman Baths. This place is absolutely beautiful. It really is spectacular, and well worth a visit of your time. It was actually open for swiiming until just a few years ago when a young girl caught a virus of sorts. The problem has been fixed, but for safety- they no longer allow any swimming.

Here - I am at the Roman Bath- but behind me is an old church that is just beautiful.

We had to stop and see the GEORGE - one of the oldest and lopsided pubs in England. BOB gave us a wonderful history lesson, and showed us where the men were taken out and hung. This is actually an church behind Chris, but he is in the parking lot for The George.

Yes, we HAD to go see Stonehenge. They've blocked it off so you can't next to the stones anymore, so Chris didn't get the chance to see if he could knock them over like CLARK in European Vacation (lol seriously- he would never had done that!) Not sure what we expected, but it was pretty much exactly what you see in photos and movies, though the audio makes the tour so much more interesting.

We also drove out to Salisbury - and toured the Salisbury Cathedral. The craftsmanship is just ridiculous when you think about how long ago it was all built. BOB - told us about the mason's and we searched and searched for a mason's mark on the stones, but we never did find one.

This is MOM and ANN inside.

It is rainy and cold, so K and I stayed at the hotel in London while Chris and mom got everything ready at the train station. Share more later.

Being an Aunt & Uncle

Let me be honest – There are a million things I have aspired to do, but not many have given me the joy that being Aunt Lulu/Aunt Lala has. Chris and I love each of our nieces and nephews as much as we love our darling Katelyn, and it has always been important to us that we be an active part of their lives even though we live several (or 16) hours away from them. The past two weeks have been a great blessing for me. Being a stay-at-home mom has provided me with an opportunity to spend quality time with both of my sister’s children while they were on Spring Break from school.

  

Last week had Rachel and Ashley. We took them bowling, swimming, to watch Hunger Games, and to a Japanese Steak House. Unfortunately, the weather was too cold that week to do much outside, but we managed to squeeze in a few hours at the beach. The water was freezing, but we all (minus Katelyn) put our feet in at least, and the girls built a castle and mickey mouse in the sand.

We drove them to Casi and Shane’s house where Grandma and Grandpa took them home after we celebrated Austin and Casi’s birthdays.

This week we have Austin and Devon. We have taken them to the beach to run in the sand, played in the yard, went out for lots of ice cream, and to several parks to play. We also planted a Vegetable Garden in the back yard with the starter plants Chris had going in the kitchen. We toured Barker Mansion and learned quite a bit about the history of Michigan City in the process, and the boys (plus Katelyn) sat at the table and worked on building different inventions from a kit we bought at the store. Tonight, we plan on going on bowling (but may work on Devon's Chemistry experiment), and tomorrow we will be dropping them off at Grandma’s house. We may or may not make a stop in Chicago on the way- we’re going to see how the day goes before we decide.

It is the best feeling in the world to know that Chris and I are a positive influence on our younger family members. All of the children have been a big with help with Katelyn this week. The girls loved on her every second she was awake, and the boys play with her often - giving me time to get on the computer or clean the house. We love these rug rats sooo much, and can't wait to spend time with each of them again this summer.

...now to get our hands on Makenna, Matthew, and Andrew..... (Robert and Jenny are teenager teenagers...maybe we can get them to Kings Island this year.)

Picture Post

With Great Grandma

"What You Talkin' 'bout Willis?"

Cookie Dough Snatcher

Playtime @ the Hotel

::Singing:: "All My Bags Are Packed..."

Getting Checked in for her first Plane Ride

Waiting to Board

At The Contemporary - Disney Resort with her 1st visit pin

Loving Mickey Mouse Already

Magic Kingdom - Heyyy Who Turned Out the Lights??

Chris with work guys on a behind the scense tour of Indiana Jones stunt set.

You can't tell - but Katelyn and I took the MonoRail to the Polynesian Resort for a day while Chris worked.

Pool Time - This girl looooves the sun and water.

She is kicking to get her feet in the water.

Flight heading home. Poor thing sat in first class all the way there and on one leg home and we didn't take a picture till she sat coach.. lol -- Don't want her to think she is too spoiled with all that first class service.

MMMM... Share daddy! She just can't wait to get her hands on that big kid stuff.

NNNOOOO! My water cups are no longer safe.

OMG, Waay toooo long. Waaaay tooo much!

So much has happened and if you can't tell I have been hit the the "Busy Mommy Syndrome". =P Between playing and reading to Miss K, cleaning house while she naps, scrap booking, and reading- I have not had time to be on the Internet much. I jump on every other day to see what's going on in the world with my peeps on FB, and check my email which always contains over 130 junk emails. I have started to use the Filter function, so that should be easing up.

So.. As a family we all experienced our first trip to Disney World. Chris was going for work, and I decided on the Friday before the Sunday that he was leaving that hmm.. yeah we want to go too. Chris used his miles to pay for most of the flight, hotel was paid for, rental car was paid for, and to put the icing on the top of the cake - My grandma is friends with a lady who is retired from Disney and she hooked us up with 2 free Park-Hopper passes. We spent all morning at Magic Kingdom, taking in the Welcome show on the train and participating in the whole 1000+ person race to get in the gates. =) Katelyn's first park ride ever was It's A Small World. She loved it. She loved all the rides we took her on with the exception of the very short Aliens skit on "Journey Through the Movies" at Hollywood Studios.We left the Magic Kingdom park for lunch and naps. Then we went to Hollywood Studios, and from there we took the Ferry to Epcot. We grabbed some sandwiches from a French Bakery, along with Apple Turnovers and Strawberry Tarts... and WOWZA - They were delicious! We caught the amazing Firework show before ending a "very magical day".

Katelyn and I stood outside at the hotel and watched the fireworks at Magic Kingdom twice, since they were going off right next door, and Chris was working. =)

Now we're home. Katelyn has been rolling over at night when we have her in disposables for sleeping, and now she is strong enough to roll over and over and over in the cloth diapers. I thought maybe we were hindering her development by having her in the cloth since she couldn't roll as well in them, but she has been rolling anywhere and everywhere today, and when in the disposables, she is practically jumping when she goes to roll. No more leaving her to nap on the couch while I go clean the kitchen anymore... she is a girl on the move.

Chris and I worked hard in the yard this weekend and it looks great. A great head start. I got all my old planters painted. They look brand-spanking new now! I painted them Crimson Red. We also took a pie down to the new neighbors a few houses down. We prayed for a younger couple with a baby - and we got...a younger couple with an 11 month old boy. Katelyn got her Passport photos taken, and $220 later, she's good to travel outside the U.S.A.

Now, I've got to finish this book - so I can start the Alex Cross series again. Casi gave me that itch! Thanks Casi - This is an 18 books series, it'll take me forever.

Some Pictures

I have been a scrapbook fool lately, not spending much time at all on the computer. You'll see more from me once I get these pages done.

Meeting Miss Maddy

Saturday we drove over to Manteno, IL for my (ready for this?) Cousins Daughters Daughters 1st Birthday bash! It was our first time getting to meet this little cutie pie, and CUTE she is! Her name is Madisen, and Katelyn was pretty excited to hang out with such a big girl. It was great to see family there, and just enjoy the time we got to spend with them.

Me and Uncle Lou!

(Hence the nickname LuLu - I'm told that he is the one who gave it to me.)

Katelyn just can't get enough time with her Great Grandma...

Yes, she is Madisen's Great-Great Grandma.

Katelyn was also glad that her Grandma made it to the party too!  

K's Doctor Appt.

We're super happy to report that Katelyn's Baby Wellness visit went great. She had to get 2 shots and drink a cherry flavored liquid that she did not like. Thankfully the shots were not as bad as last time. She screamed for a few seconds on the second shot, but stopped wailing once Chris picked her up.

Her weight is at a very healthy 12lbs 12oz, and the doctor is thoroughly impressed by her great neck control, that she prefers to sit up, and the fact that she is already rolling over. He told us to go ahead and start giving her some cereal mixed with the breast milk. Once she is taking it, we are supposed to start letting her use the spoon herself, so she can start learning to feed herself. (OMG, already- really?? That's like...such a big girl thing!)

Katelyn got 12 more books from the library ANNND a fish puppet to read to her. I didn't think she would really like the puppet, but she totally loves it! She just giggles and reaches for it all the time. The library has a huge collection of puppets, I was so impressed! Some are small hand puppets like the fish we got, and others are huge- like taller than Ashley and Makenna tall.

One Happy Momma

I have eaten cheese and ice cream over the past few days and Katelyn has done just fine with it. So, I'm hoping that she is not really Lactose Intolerant and is now able to process milk now. I am going to have a little glass of Chocolate Milk and see how she does.

Alos added 9 books to her reading list today. Notice there are like 5 authors in a row that the last names begin with "R"... Yeah, that's because I just grabbed all the book in the bin for that section- HAHA!

Operation: Nursing Cover

Finished the Nursing Cover that I have been trying to complete for weeks now (Sew A Nursing Cover post coming soon!). Katelyn and House Cleaning has kept me plenty busy. I absolutley love playing on the floor with Katelyn, but it was nice getting up this week and getting the house tidy in the morning, and then getting my sewing done in the afternoons while she napped. I got 2 diapers and this cover done. It may not sound like a lot, but I also cleared all the cabinets in the kitchen, dusted & lined all the drawers and shelves and rearranged. I also dusted the cabinet tops, lined them, and put up a small amount of decor (just need the fake plants now, haha). I also made REAL dinners for myself, and prepared a large portion of Chicken Fried Rice for my freezer meals, and made Fruit Leather!

All-in-All - I'd say it was a productive week with Chris being in Canada. Tonight he comes home and I'll be happy!

Video Time

Katelyn wanted to share her precious laugh with everyone!

4 months old (mostly, lol)

Games to Play with Baby

 Playing with an infant can sometimes seem more like playing with yourself, but it is actually very stimulating and important for baby's growth - just like reading! I had planned on posting some games a while back, just never got around to it, so here I am in full force... (At least until baby K wakes up.)

It really has not been too much of a winter, but it is still a bit too chilly and windy to be heading out to the park. So, I thought it would be nice to share some of the games that Katelyn and I like to play throughout the day (and ones we hope to play). She's still really little, and most of the time I do feel like I am just entertaining myself, but she smiles and laughs at me, and that makes me feel good about feeling so silly.

It is hard to believe that she is getting so big now that I can find games to play with her! She is sleeping a lot less, and therefore requires more entertainment! At times, I have felt like I am not entertaining enough – so I sought some fun game ideas that I can play with her just to mix things up a little bit from the norm.

Katelyn and I hit up StoryTime at the library today which really got me motivated to make this post happen. Game 1 is what we played today:
Game 1: "There's a Snowflake on my Toe"
We were given a cute paper snowflake prop. Then simply follow the song while laughing a cooing with baby!
There’s a snowflake on my toe…oh no.
There’s a snowflake on my knee…oh gee.
There’s a snowflake on my tummy…oh honey.
There’s a snowflake on my back…oh drat.
There’s a snowflake on my neck…oh heck.
There’s a snowflake on my head… oh dread.  
There is a snowflake falling on my head,
Down my back,
Around my tummy,
To my knee,
And to my toe…oh no!
Game 2: "Baby Hokey Pokey"

Sing to the beat of the regular Hokey Pokey song we all know and love. Katelyn absolutely loves doing this.

You put your arms up

You put your arms down

You put your arms up

And you wave them all around

You tickle, tickle, tickle

And you wiggle, wiggle, wiggle

The baby hokey pokey is fun!

You put your legs up

You put your legs down

You put your legs up

And you wave them all around

You tickle, tickle, tickle

And you wiggle, wiggle, wiggle

The baby hokey pokey is fun!

You put your baby up

You put your baby down

You put your baby up

And wave her all around

You tickle, tickle, tickle

And you wiggle, wiggle, wiggle 

The baby hokey pokey is fun!

Game 3: "Wheels on the Bus"

(Bicycle baby’s legs)
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
Round and round, round and round,
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All through the town.

(lift baby’s arms up and down)
The people on the bus go up and down.

Up and down, up and down

The people on the bus go up and down

All through the town

(lean baby from side to side)
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish

The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish

All through the town

(touch baby’s nose)
The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep

Beep, beep, beep, Beep, beep, beep

The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep
All through the town

 

1,000 Books

If you looked, you noticed a new bar just above the posting area. There is a tab for HOME, and now a tab for 1,000 BOOKS. This is because Katelyn and I have committed ourselves to having her "read" "1,000 Books Before Kindergarten". It is a program set up through the library where each child gets a special prize for reaching the goal of 1,000 books. You can simply click that tab to see how well we are doing on achieving our goal.

I have most of the books we have read together listed. I'm sort of disappointed that it looks like she is not read to everyday, because she is...but we don't always finish one story a day, because I always stop when she has totally lost interest, and sometimes that happens after only a page or two.

Here is a list of points that Library states as reasons why it is important to read your baby:

Develop vocabulary skills. Research has shown children with larger vocabularies are better readers.

Develop narrative skills. Children who are able to tell or retell a story find the story easier to understand.

Develop letter recognition skills. Learning letter names and sounds help children to pronounce written words.

Develop print awareness. Children familiar with the printed word feel more comfortable with books.

Develop print motivation. Children who enjoy books want to learn how to read.

Develop phonological awareness. Children who have difficulty reading often have trouble with phonological awareness

We're excited to reach our goal, though the prize is going to have to be determined at a later date, hehe. =P