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!

Decorating for Christmas

We put up our Christmas tree and decorations last weekend, and Kylah was all about helping us. Christmas is going to be so much fun with her this year!

Holy Snow!

After some pretty good fall weather in November, December has officially kicked off winter with our first massive snow storm! On Friday we woke up to 12-14 inches of snow, and we've been told there's another storm on it's way this week. So brace yourselves Michiganders!

Thanksgiving Weekend

We spent Thanksgiving this year with Craig's family, and had a great time together. Craig's family from Wisconsin came to visit, as well as his Uncle Duane from Nevada - such a great surprise! Dad T made a fantastic Thanksgiving meal for us all at their house in Lansing, and then Uncle Carey, Craig and Duane cooked a fabulous meal for us on Saturday at our house. We definitely ate well, and enjoyed each other's company all weekend. Can't wait til we see you all again!

Halloween!

Halloween was fun this year, cold - but fun! Kylah had her day care party on Thursday, and she refused to wear her costume. Grandma had all kinds of snacks, balloons, and bubbles for the kids to play with!

On Saturday, she had a much better attitude about wearing her costume. She let me do her hair, and then ran around the house yelling "Go Tigers"! She's like a little "mini-me" :)

We took her to the Elk's for their kids halloween party, and met up with her cousin Caleb. Caleb was a pirate, and won first place for his costume!

After a nice long nap, Kylah was ready for her first night of trick-or-treating! We all bundled up and spent a good hour collecting candy from the neighbors, while the Wibbeler's and Lefevre's passed out candy for us at home. Kylah and our neighbor Shannon had a lot of fun trick-or-treating together!

Wearing gloves and grabbing candy from a bowl is not an easy thing to do :)

Brrrr! After about the 15th house we started to head back...

Our last stop was at the next door neighbor's house, where Rusty thought Kylah was bringing him treats!

It was a fun night...hopefully next year it's a little warmer though!