Sure to make you smile :)

Conner - 3 months old...

New Milestone and Updates

So it's probably time for an update about the kids, huh? Both of them are doing great right now! My maternity leave ended mid August and I'm back to working 3 days a week...which means the kids are at day care and I get a little time away to do adult type things again! Kylah loves being with all her friends at day care (aka Grandma's house), and Conner has no problem what-so-ever with me leaving either, which is actually rather comforting. Yesterday I got a phone call at work from my mom saying that Conner rolled over! WHOO HOO, we've reached an exciting milestone! So last night he must have performed his new trick another 10 times for me :)

Conner is just under 3 months old, weighs 14.1 lbs and is the happiest little man. He rarely cries - if he does, it doesn't last long, and he smiles more than any little baby I've ever met. He's been scooting around on his back recently so we have to keep a little closer eye on him now. He sleeps through the night (knock on wood) and absolutely loves his big sister.

We're preparing now for Kylah's birthday - I can't believe our little girl is going to be 3 years old soon!! She's growing up so fast, and has the cutest little personality. Her sense of humor is unreal, Craig and I find ourselves laughing so hard at some of the stories she tells. She constantly tells us that Conner and Jake are her best friends - most of the time Mommy and Daddy are too, but Jake and Conner are always first on the list :) After 3 sessions in Gymnastics we've taken a break and are considering enrolling in Dance this fall with the neighbor girl. She loves music and dancing around the house, so hopefully she enjoys dance class too!

Thanks for waiting patiently for this post - and thanks to all of you who keep reminding me that I'm long overdue! I'll be sure to post pictures and/or videos again soon.

Very behind...

I know I'm way behind on updates to this blog... Everyone always says you'll find it much more difficult to keep up with things like scrapbooking and housework when you have two kids...everyone was right! I don't take any less pictures, in fact I probably take more now of both kids than I ever would've thought possible - I just don't seem to have time to post them like I want to! We were finally able to slow down for a family photo session in August though. Marty and Michelle Lenger met us out at Holland State Park on a beautiful Sunday evening and took a ton of pictures for us - family photos, Kylah's 3 year pictures, and Conner's 3 month pictures. I was so impressed not only with how great the pictures turned out, but with how well both kids cooperated that evening! I couldn't have asked for a better evening all around. And a special thank you to Marty and Michelle for your time and talent, again!

**I have no idea how to get rid of the "Adopt a Pet" add on this slide show, so just click on the little x in the upper right corner when it appears to get rid of it. And - if the slide show isn't showing pictures for you, click on View All Images to see them. Sorry for the inconvenience!**

Kylah can swim!!

After being highly recommended by the Stuck's, we enrolled Kylah in survival swim lessons. Ms Rita runs the 1 week program at her home pool with the help of her 3 children, and has earned the nickname "the Swim Nazi". Thankfully I had Melody's support through this - she warned me ahead of time that Kylah would cry during the first few days of the class, and that she'd probably throw a tantrum before even getting in the car to drive there. She was right! In fact, had Melody not been there with me, I probably would've cried right along with her! On day 1 Ms. Rita worked with Kylah in the shallow end - dunking her (and every kid) in the water repeatedly until she stopped crying. Then she worked with her on keeping her head down in the water, eyes open looking at the pool floor, and kicking her legs.

By day 2, this is what she was doing already!! (See video. For some of these kids, it's their 2nd or 3rd session, and some are also a little older than Kylah. For being 2, we were SO excited for her!)

Days 3 and 4 went really well too. Kylah cried as we put on her swim suit in each morning, saying "I don't want to go yet Mommy!!" She would calm down on the car ride there, and then do really well during the session. By day 4 she was jumping in the pool by herself and swimming to the stairs over and over again. She was so proud of herself for jumping in all by herself - she told everyone! (See video, Kylah is in the blue suit with white polka dots)

On Friday, day 5, Kylah was tossed in the pool and swam across all by herself! She could use a little work on technique yet - but keep in mind she's only 2 years old and this was the first swim class she's ever had - let alone it only being the 5th day of it! We've since practiced in our neighbors pool and will continue to do so the rest of the summer. We're so proud of her - she worked hard and is so proud of herself too now! (See video below)

If anyone reading this is interested in sending your young children there, please let me know! I highly recommend Ms. Rita's class now, just as Melody does. And I will definitely be sending Kylah back for a refresher course with her next summer too!

Are we siblings, or what?!

Craig and I were going through Kylah's baby pictures tonight, and comparing how closely Conner looks like she did when she was born. We came across these two in particular that really show these two are siblings. Check out the arm positions, even the fingers... Crazy!!

Conner Taetsch

He's here!! Conner was born the first week in June. He was 8 lbs. 9 oz and 21.5" long. He's absolutely adorable, and looks a lot like Kylah did when she was born actually! We couldn't be happier with our new bundle of joy, and Kylah's been such a great big sister already. Here are just a few pictures of the hundreds we've taken so far... I'm off to get a little rest while he's sleeping - all you parents out there know how important that is to sneak in any time you can!!

Our new happy family of 4:

Peak-a-boo!

Baby Update

Well, against everything 2 doctors suggested would happen with possibly delivering early, I still have not had this baby yet. We've had several false alarms over the course of the week, one that even brought us into the hospital for a few hours last night only to be sent home. The timeable contractions that last a good 2-3 hours and then just stop have contributed to the emotional roller coaster we're on, but have also taught us that we definitely have no control in any of this process. Little Conner will get here when he's ready...I just hope it's sooner rather than later! I'm ready to meet our little baby and Kylah's new little brother...

So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers, and hopefully my next post will contain pictures :)

Meet our newest family member...Jake

About a month ago Kylah started asking us for a "new doggy". She wanted one to come live with us, and her specifications were that it be big and brown. The more she talked about wanting one, the more Craig and I started really considering the idea. With a baby on the way and Craig traveling a lot for work, I was really hesitant. However, after 1 trip to the Muskegon Vector Clinic (the pound), I was easily convinced getting a dog would be good for all of us. I was reminded again of how much love we felt for Riley, and how much closer he brought us all together by keeping us home more and teaching us about unconditional love. Plus, having a dog would not only serve as protection when Craig's gone, but as a playmate for Kylah as she patiently waits for Conner to arrive and then be able to really play with her.

So on Thursday, April 1st we took a drive to the clinic in Muskegon to "look" at our options. We spent hours playing with four different retreivers, the first 3 were Labrador Retrievers each about 1 year old. The 4th dog was a Chocolate Chesapeake Bay Retriever about 3 years old who instantly won my heart over. He was great with us, great with Kylah, didn't jump, lick, or bite, knew several commands (sit, stay, leave it, shake with both paws, etc), LOVED playing fetch with a tennis ball, and could also lay down and just relax. We learned all of this in the 45 minutes we had with him. Upon leaving, we signed the paperwork and paid the fee to adopt him with the intention of going back Saturday to pick him up, as we were no where near prepared at home for his arrival. So guess what we spent Friday doing? Picking up a dog kennel (thanks to Craig's List, we got a steal of a deal on a new one!), dog food, toys, a new collar, etc. Kylah was SO excited for her new doggy to come home and live with her - she helped daddy with EVERYTHING.

Friday - preparing for Jake's arrival:

Saturday - picking up Jake and bringing him home:

Kylah calls Jake her "best friend" and tells him she loves him every night before going to bed. He is so good with her, let's her play in his food, pull his tail, lay on him, etc. Every night before we put him in the kennel for bed he goes into her bedroom and falls asleep next to her bed. Every morning he goes in her room and lays quietly next to her bed just waiting for her to wake up. Her eyes light up when she sees he's in there with her - it's honestly one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

I'm convinced that Jake was only a stray because he ran away, and not because someone neglected or abused him. He is extremely well behaved, house broken, great with both kids and people, and is very relaxed with us. He's not jumpy or easily agitated, and he's very cuddly - loves to have his belly rubbed. He's in really good condition - solid muscle, but could stand to gain about 10-15 pounds over time. We're happy with our decision to adopt him; he's been a wonderful addition to our family and I know he'll do well with Conner when he arrives too!

Craig's 30th Birthday Present

*Michelle and Kylah

PJ's!

So how cute are little girl's PJ's these days? Kylah absolutely loves the new pajamas she picked out from the store the other day... Can you tell?!

DORA!

MINNIE MOUSE!

Growing Up

It's amazing how fast our little girl is growing up. It feels like not long ago I posted a video of Kylah as she had just learned to sing her ABC's...now that's completely second nature and she's moving on to doing other big girl things. Such as - sleeping in a full size big girl bed! About a month ago we moved her crib into Conner's room and bought her all new bedding for her new bed - and she loves it!

Not only is she sleeping in a big girl bed - but we got rid of diapers all together about 10 days ago. She's doing better than we could've ever imagined with potty training, she loves feeling like a big girl, and even hates pull-ups so we've completely moved on to underwear. We're so proud of her!

If she could stay at this stage forever, Craig and I would be very happy with that :)

FINALLY...

Here's the post I've been meaning to get to all month, finally :)

In January we took a family vacation with Grandma & Grandpa T and Uncle Mark up to Boyne. Although I had a terrible cold, we still had a lot of fun together. On Saturday, the sun was shining, it wasn't very cold out, and the guys decided to take Kylah skiing for the first time. She was excited to put on her snow gear, but definitely wasn't happy about the ski boots. I can't say I blame her, they aren't the most comfortable things to wear! Once we got outside, she perked up right away - until we clipped her into the skis. Again, awkward for a 2 year old to be trapped on something like that...



However - once daddy got her comfortably situated on the "magic carpet" and they got to the top of the hill, she stopped crying and actually had fun going down!
She made it down the hill twice, and had enough. She was all smiles when we told her she could take the skis off :)Since watching skiing on the Olympics, she's let both of us know that she wants to ski again herself. We'll have to get her back on the hill before winter ends to see how she does the second time around!

On Sunday the boys skiied again, while Grandma and I took Kylah to Avalanche Bay, the indoor waterpark. Kylah absolutely loved every minute of being there. Her favorite was the lazy river, trying to avoid the waterfalls while watching Grandma get soaked! Unfortunately our pictures from this didn't turn out so well, but we did get a few to remember the experience by.

A little nervous at first, but she quickly got over that once we got in the water! We stayed for 4 hours, until her little fingers and toes looked like raisins :)

Overall, it was a great little vacation for us all, and Kylah still talks about it all the time. She's so excited for the summer now when she can swim some more, and I know we are too!

Update

I know I know... It's time to post an update! I've been meaning to, honestly, but we've been so busy (and sick) lately that I just haven't had a chance to. So much has happened the past month, between Christmas parties, New Years, a trip to Boyne Mountain (Kylah's first ski adventure, and a fun day at the indoor waterpark!), and our most recent ultrasound results, just to name a few things. I promise I'll post pictures soon, but in the mean time, I'll provide a short update...

Craig, Kylah and I are THRILLED to announce that our baby on the way is definitely a BOY! The ultrasound showed he's doing very well, heart rate is 140, and he weights 13 ounces which puts us one week ahead of schedule. Our due date is June 7th - but a week ahead means it's more like June 2nd. Unfortunately most doctor's won't change the due date on paper unless the ultrasound shows at least 2 weeks different. But - we're happy either way, and he'll be a great 30th birthday present for me! Kylah was with Craig and I during the ultrasound appointment, and she was excited to see a baby on the monitor, even though she doesn't completely understand the whole situation yet. She kisses my tummy and says hi to baby though - it's adorable. She's going to be a fantastic big sister, we just know it!

As I said before, I'll post pictures when there's more time. But thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers with our new little one on the way!