Spring Time!

We have had some WONDERFUL weather the last few days and we have taken full advantage of it.  Caelyn loves playing outside with her sidewalk chalk, bubbles, balls, or just plain running.  Here are some pictures of our outside adventures.

Coming Soon...

We are excited to announce that in September we will be adding a new member to our family.

Valentine's Day

We don't do a lot to celebrate Valentine's Day.  Our anniversary is 3 weeks before, so we don't do a lot to also celebrate Valentines.  However, I do have three good memories of Valentine's Day.

The first one is my (first) Senior year at LU my parents came up to surprise me for Valentine's Day.  My boss tricked me into staying in the office until the arrived, which I didn't mind missing my class too much.  My dad walked in the office with a big cute stuffed bear.  I had already made plans to go to dinner with a bunch of other single girls, so my parents tagged along.  My dad stopped and bought roses for each of the girls, my mom & I included.  At the end of the night without telling us, he picked up the bill for I think 11 in total.  To me it was a sign of generosity and love that is supposed to be shown on Valentine's Day.

My second memory is the first Valentine's Day Phil and I were dating, we were both traveling that weekend.   I was in PA and Phil was in NC.  However, he managed before the weekend began to slip a card to a friend of mine.  So, Valentine's Day morning she presented me with the card.

My third was formed this morning.  After church when Caelyn saw her daddy, she got the biggest smile and ran to him.  She embraced his legs with both arms, it was the sweetest thing.  She even ignored the bag of M&Ms being given to her to run to her daddy.  I hope this memory is as lasting to me as the first two.

VACATION!!!!

We travelled up to Granville, NY to spend time with Phil's parents and grandparents at the Aubrey home.  We had quite a fun time.  We determined that Caelyn is made to live in the country where she can roam freely outdoors and explore all there is to explore.  

We had a great time relaxing and spending time with family.  We did quite a bit with Phil's Uncle Nathan and Aunt Amy and their family.  We had a bonfire, went hiking, and had a nice dinner with them.  To wind down the week we went to Lake St. Catherine in Vermont with Phil's parents.  Here are a few pictures.

Mommy's Helper

Caelyn loves to help me clean up the kitchen.  She has her own broom to sweep and her own "dust cloth".  She goes behind me to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Trying to break out

Caelyn decided to see if her toy keys would unlock the front door.  Needless to say she was unsuccessful, but that didn't keep her from trying several times through out the day.

More June Adventures

Caelyn has gone on many adventures this month...here are a few.

Learning to climb on top of things

Going to Williamsburg with Uncle Matt & Aunt Sarah

Getting tuckered out after a long day of sight seeing

Crying over not having enough toys :)

Helping Mommy rearrange the house

Happy Birthday Caelyn!!!

Caelyn has turned the big 1!!!  We had a small party for her with my parents and a couple of friends.  Caelyn REALLY enjoyed her cake.

May Update

May was quite a fun month.  I had my first Mother's Day, we went to Cleveland to visit Grandma and Grandpa Gifford, and Caelyn started walking on her own.

April Update

Well,  apparently I have been delinquent in my blogging duties.  We have been busy and a lot has happened since March.

Let's see, first we had EasterPraise, our church's Easter Production.  Phil did an amazing job putting it all together.

Then of course there was Easter.  Caelyn got her first Easter basket, which she was excited about; however, she was disappointed there was no chocolate.

Then we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Great Gifford in Lynchburg and stopped by our dear friends the Underwoods on the way home.

Self Feeding

Today was a fun day lunch day.  Caelyn loves to feed herself and is constantly grabbing the spoon as I am trying to put in her mouth and feeding herself.  Today I decided to let her feed herself completely.  I got a bowl with suction cup and let her go at it.  She did pretty well with the spoon, but decided it was easier to eat with her hands.  She also got the bowl off the tray and tried to eat that way.  Here is some of our adventure.

Starting out strong using the spoon.  

 

Taking a spoon break to squish it in her hands.

Trying the spoon again.

Spoon in one hand, food in the either.

Pulling the bowl off the tray.

Mmm...Sweet Potato!

All done Mommy!