Last Moments in our Condo

We really had a great time in our condo in Caldwell for the 6 yrs we lived there. After all it was our 1st home together... where Brian proposed to me... where we returned to from our fabulous honeymoon... where we had our 1st child... where we became a family! Yeah, we had some ups & downs with some wacko neighbors... and some fabulous one's too! But it's time to move on so we can build to our family and make more fantastic memories! We are looking forward to not worrying about the neighbors hearing our screaming children... we can't wait to have a backyard for playing & BBQ'ing ... we fear all the home renovation projects to come... All in all we are thrilled to move into our new home!

Packing & moving with a toddler in your shadows is the most insane thing I have EVER experienced but in the end it will be worth it! Kayla loved climbing on the boxes, closing them when I was done packing... she even found new little hiding spots as furniture got moved.

Our last night in the condo... insisting on wearing the hat to bed!

Hiding spots...

Climbing!

A Year and a half can change your World!

It's truly amazing how a child can teach you a way to love like you have never known before!

Newborn Photo @ 6 wks Old

6 Months Old One Year Old

18 months old

A little girl and her Dino's

My daughter is truly in love with Dinosaurs... she loves them so much that we got her a little set to play with... along with her Little People Dollhouse and Tonka Cars!

They even watch Dino Dan together!

Can I have some CHEESE with that smile?

Lots of different smiles from this little Monkey!

Swimming Lessons

After the waterbug that Kayla was last summer, we really thought she would take to the water quite well this year! NOT SO ACCURATE! As you can see below... the first 3 photos are from the 1st lesson... then the others are from week #2. Brian is the one in the water with her and we found out last week that I need to hide or else she cries more. By the end of the 2nd week, she was MUCH better!

Death Grip!

She was happier watching from the side

Can we go home yet?

This is our Dirty Dancing lift!

Week 2 involved a DUNK... after which she seemed to have more fun!

Living with a Parrot...

This past wkend, Kayla's vocabulary has really expanded! She is now trying to repeat alot of what we are saying... whether it be conversational or just commands. It's insane how fast this all happens! She is getting better and better each day at following directions - although we still need to do "time-outs" every now and then.

Sickness & Sleeping

We officially had our 2nd case of sickness with Kayla a few weeks ago... high fever of 104* ended up in a trip to the emergency room... lots of tests and a few scary days later, Kayla was back to normal... only to lead us to the Dr. for eye drops to treat pink eye! Brian & I have been sick on and off since Halloween! It's been such a horrible winter... too much forced air heat! Looking forward to starting a new in our our home! Anyway, it seems that the sickness Kayla experienced, had a serious affect on her sleep patterns! Since she would wake in the middle of the night due to a full diaper (since I was pumping her full of fluids) or b/c her fever went back up... I ended up either rocking her to sleep again OR brought her into my bed to sleep (mostly so I could actually get some sleep as well)... Now it looks like we may need to re-sleep train her... Not looking forward to this since she is louder and more vocally clear. She will scream "MAMAMAMAM... I WANT MAMAMA"... The next few weeks should be interesting.

A change of location...

We were very fortunate to sell our condo in "record" time! I think it was on the market about 2 wks before it sold... Then our mission was to find a new home. Although there were not many on the market at the time... we found the perfect house! We move out of our condo on April 21st and into our new home on April 22nd. Although we will need to stay at my in-laws for about a week, it will be so great! Brian is taking off work so we can rally and get a whole bunch done when we move in... it will make the transition even smoother! We did not take Kayla to the house until after the home inspection was complete and we were confident that it would be her new home.... here she is in front of the house... along with our "Under Contract" photo... AS you can see, its a precious gem hidden beneath a coating of 1975!

Maddie turns 2!

Kayla was so excited to help her best friend Maddie celebrate her 2nd birthday at My Gym. We were coming off being ill but she really had a blast! Check out the photos!

The Birthday Girl!

Timmy & Kayla could be siblings!!!

The girls!

Miss Adventure!

Big fan of bubbles

puppet time!

Always up for some pizza...

and cake!

Finally ... PIGTAILS!

It only took 17 months but Kayla's hair is FINALLY long enough for Pigtails!

Yippee for Pigtails!!!

Little Girls and their Dollhouses

Little girls love their dollhouses... Kayla got this from her Gamma for Christamas... we waited a little while to take it out since she had gotten so many other things. When she found it in the closet and on the shelf she almost went bonkers! This is her 1st time playing with the dollhouse and she was content that morning for almost 2 hours... just playing with the dollhouse!

Friends for Life

Kayla pictured below (left) with her two closest girlfriends... Sophie & Madison

These girls get together like once a week (with some of the other kids in playgroup) but they are the GIRLS... Kayla holds her own and is more than 6 months younger than both Sophie & Madison... They have all grown up so much! I really hope we all remain in the Caldwell's and these girls are friends thru their teen years... I am lucky to have found such great friends in their Mommy's!

Cabin Fever

We have really had SO many little snow storms this winter and being stuck inside with a toddler can really get to you but Kayla always keeps things interesting!

Coloring at the kitchen table...

Doing the self-portrait thing!

Playing in the kitchen... she is crazy!

This is an apron that she found back when I was cleaning out closets to get the condo ready to put it on the market. It's the apron I wore as a child... It used to be my Grandma Peggy's when she cooked so it's been down 4 generations now!

Best Friends

"There's a snake in my boot!"

One day as a quick fix when I needed to shower after going to the gym, I put on Toy Story and Kayla was in her pay & play... little did I know was that the viewing of this movie was to become a daily event! Shortly after she started waking up from her nap or her sleeping in the morning asking for Buzz & Woody, I knew that I had to get her something Woody to play with! Below you will see Kayla with her main squeeze!

Random January-ness

Not much to report here... other than being cooped up in our condo most of the month due to the abundance of snow mother nature has decided to bless us with this winter! Considering the fact that Kayla is not a fan of playing in the white stuff... we truly are confined to the house (or forced to go shopping which makes Daddy unhappy). We stopped going to gymnastics for a few months and started a new music class at the local synagogue... Kayla likes the class so far. We have also been keeping ourselves very busy with playdates. Kayla officially has a favorite tv show and movie... Caillou & Toy Story (any of them)! She is becoming more and more independent and has started to freak out when you cut something up for her - she wants to eat the banana whole or cheese stick whole... she wants to hold the fork & spoon herself as well. She is officially in 24 month old clothes - tops & bottoms. She is still doing one middle of the day nap (11:30 or 12 - 2ish)... and she still loves her bottle!

"Ma, do we really have to use this to clean, I would rather use it to play!"


Reading at the Dr's office...

Laughing at something on TV... she gets special TV time after dinner

Getting some cuddle time with her big cousin Sean... home from college break!

Enjoying her 1st cheeseburger from Wendy's

Bedtime routine w/ Daddy

Enjoying some Greek yogurt...

Coloring with her best buddy Maddie

Nicely sharing a tiny reclining chair with Ryder