It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas....

I may not have picked the best year to start a Christmas Cookie tradition, but the good news is that every other year will seem easier, right? (That's what I tell myself about picking a bad year to finally join the church choir and do the Christmas musical (which, by the way, is called Christmas Is Forever and is next weekend and for more information on times and such click here))

Keith and I both wanted me to do Christmas Cookies. It was a tradition in Keith's family (and still is - his mom makes great cookies), plus we just like cookies. So far we've made three batches. The first was Lemon Supreme cookies, and they were super easy. You just use

• one box of cake mix (you can use any kind - I just used Lemon Supreme)
• two eggs
• 1/4 cup oil or butter (we used butter)

Blend, put on the cookie sheet, bake at 375 for about 10 minutes.

Using butter they were firm enough that I think next time I will try making them in the cookie press or making cutouts. I just rolled into balls and flattened this time, and they tasted a bit like lemon sugar cookies. Yum! They're all gone. Next year I totally need to clear out enough room in the freezer to store cookies there for greater chance of making it to Christmas.

Then we made Peanut Butter Fudgies, a Dohlchester favorite. I contend these are candies, not cookies, but in Keith's family they were called "No Bake Cookies", so I'll count them.

Most fun of all was our most recent cookies (made on the day of the first snow of the season, not that any of it stuck). They were from a mix, but oh so fun (and yummy). Kaitlyn and I made Gingerbread Men (and Angels)! Kaitlyn always loves to help cook, especially taste testing (she has to fight Keith for beaters or spoons, though). This was our first cookie cutouts since she was old enough to help and she thought cookie cutting was very exciting! She called the gingerbread men "gentlemen" and the angels "ladies". We didn't get to decorate them, this time, but we'll add that to our cookie wishlist for later.

On our "Cookie Wishlist" for the rest of this season? My Grandma's Molasses Cookies, spritz cookies, peanut butter sandwiches (like homemade Girl Scout Tagalongs), thin mints (like homemade Girl Scout... well, you can guess), chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter Hershey kissed cookies, peanut butter cup cookies, decorated sugar cookies, and chocolate covered pretzels (ok, also not cookies, but falls under "Holiday Baking").

Cookies aren't the only thing making our house look Christmasy. My super-wonderful husband got all of the ornaments and whatnot out, put up both trees (my white-light, red-glass-ball, white-thread-crochet, and glass ornamented tree with a thread crochet angel topper and his blinking-white-light, fun-ornament, light-up-star-topped tree). He set out two of our Nativities. He hung the stockings and wreaths. All that was left was the "family" ornaments. Kaitlyn loved looking at the tree and helping pick up the ornaments but not putting them on the prickly tree. She also loved (or at least indulged me) listening to stories about the ornaments.

The ones I got when I visited Tante Suzanne in Germany. The one's Keith and I got on our honeymoon in Italy. The one from my childhood church's 125th anniversary celebration. The one celebrating our church's 40th anniversary. Ones with names on them. Police ornaments. The white thread ornament from the year Keith and I were dating when I traded him one red bow from his tree for one of the stars I had crocheted for my tree (to this year "my" tree has that bow and "his" tree has the star). Ornaments from vacations we've taken, from the State Fair, and from ChesterFest. Ornaments make great souvenirs from trips, because you get to pull out the memories and stories every year.

Someone else is ONE!

One month, that is! In some ways it feels like Kourey has never not been part of our family, and in other ways it's amazing that it's already been one month.

I'm not sure exactly how big she is, but she's graduated from newborn diapers to size one, and is really filling out (especially in length) N clothes (she mainly wears 0-3 months).

Kourey loves for us to sing "The Kourey Song" (sing Kourey Kourey Kourey over and over to tune of "Holy, Holy, Holy" - not one of our most creative efforts, but very well received). She likes to hear Kaitlyn's voice. Kourey hasn't read the baby books that say she can't hold her head up - she is headstrong in every sense of the word!

And she's already learned how to steal Daddy's remote.

Someone's THREE!

Last Saturday we celebrated Kaitlyn turning three years old! Can you believe it?

This was actually the second celebration, as we had a little party in Pennsylvania the previous weekend with Nana, Pop, and Uncles Kenny and Kevin, complete with presents and a Little Mermaid cake.

This Saturday started out with a trip up to Richmond for Kaitlyn and Daddy to go to the Ukrop's parade. They were right past the grandstand and Kaitlyn loved all of the balloons and floats. She wasn't even too disappointed there weren't elephants (which we're not sure why she thought there would be...). She didn't get to stay through the whole long parade because she had to come home...

... to see Grandmama and Papa and eat a quick lunch before her BIRTHDAY PARTY! It was planned to be a small birthday party (my mom told me years ago to figure one kid per year old the birthday child is turning), but ended up being even smaller with just Kaitlyn and her friend N. from church (I didn't ask N.'s mom for permission, so I'm not putting pictures or names of someone else's minor child on the web). They had a blast! Their goody bags got some serious workouts as they pulled out new crayons for coloring before a Winnie-the-Pooh cake and ice cream (plus presents - N. was just as excited as Kaitlyn), then took their bubbles outside for playground time. They played and sang and marched and whatnot for hours!

After a brief nap, Kaitlyn's Birthday Extravaganza continued with a special dinner made by Grandmama and even more presents (considering everyone involved had vowed to not overdo it this year - and really seemed to actually go by that - she got a ridiculous mountain of presents; I guess too many people love her :-) ).

The birthday was over, but the celebrating wasn't. Monday night Auntie Kris took us all out to one of Kaitlyn's favorite restaurants, Don Jose, where she got doted on by the staff that she hadn't seen since before Kourey was born. She also ate her favorite - a quesadilla and got a birthday serenade from the staff, including Paulo who Kaitlyn has a three-year-old's little crush on.

Happy Birthday, Kaitlyn!!

So what does Kaitlyn think of Kourey?

This is the question we get the most often, now that Kourey has arrived. The answer in a word? The world (ok, two words, but "the" is an article and shouldn't count).

The biggest Kaitlyn/Kourey problem we've encountered is that Kaitlyn might just love Kourey too much. She would hug, kiss, and play with her all day if she could.

Kaitlyn is concerned with Kourey's well-being - she "checks [Kourey's] heartbeat" several times a day with her doctor's kit stethoscope; when Kourey cries she weighs in on what she thinks: "put Kourey in her swing now," "Kourey is poopy! Change her diaper. Use an Elmo diaper, OK?," and "you go pick Kourey up now, OK?" are common phrases to hear; she helps take care of Kourey by getting her bib or burp cloth at feeding time.

Kaitlyn also worries about Mommy. After demanding requesting pictures be taken of her and Kourey (it didn't take too much arm-twisting) Kaitlyn "reviewed the proofs" (looked at the digicam's screen) and asked why Mommy wasn't in the pictures. So we figured out how to take a picture of all three of us (I think Keith was at court?).

Here's an oddly blurry picture of Kaitlyn helping at Kourey's first tub bath. Kaitlyn had to be on the chair in the middle of the action so "I can see Kourey swim in her pool."

A few other Kaitlyn funnies:

• When Kourey is hungry she does the rooting reflex - open mouth and aim at anything nearby, especially cheeks. She did this to Kaitlyn's cheek while Kaitlyn was administering pre-feeding hugs and kisses. I asked Kaitlyn if Kourey was kissing her. "No," Kaitlyn replied, "She's trying to EAT me!"
• Kaitlyn is interested in every facet of baby life. We've explained to Kaitlyn many, many times how Kourey can't eat all the foods that Kaitlyn does and can only eat food Mommy gives her. Many times we've explained that she's eating special baby milk. When Kourey was half done eating one afternoon, Kaitlyn asked with interest "does that side have juice?"

Something to be thankful for...

An added layer of thankfulness... in the picture to the left we're at CiCi's celebrating Kaitlyn's advances in potty training.

An added layer of thankfulness... you'll notice the baby is sleeping.

Kourey Elizabeth Dohl

Kourey Elizabeth Dohl

Born November 5, 2007

12:22 pm

7 lbs 10 oz

20 inches

Kaitlyn's First "Joke"

Tonight at dinner we were celebrating Keith's birthday (again; we had Chicken Parmigiana and Ukrop's cake last Tuesday, in case Broccoli came early; then we went to Maggiano's on Saturday; tonight we had steak & potatoes and a homemade marble cake). Kaitlyn was in a very thankful mood, with a touch of silly.

She practiced good manners throughout the meal, down to thanking Keith and I not only for refills of milk and passing of napkins, but also for individual pieces of cheese (that we had on her plate at the beginning of the meal) and steak sauce.

At one point she made a point to look at me and say "Thank you, Mommy," then at Keith and say "Thank you, Daddy." She then looked over her shoulder towards the living room and said what sounded exactly like "Thank you, football!," then turned back, looked at us, and broke into peals of laughter.

"Did you say 'Thank you, football?'"

"Yes! [laughing, laughing, laughing]"

"Were you making a joke?"

"YES!" and she laughed even harder.

We didn't get the joke as it was told, but neither one of us could keep from laughing along. Mom said she gets her sense of humor from both of us, after hearing the story, and I'm not sure how to take that.

Baby Broccoli has a deadline

Clearly, Broccoli is due on Nov 10. But today at the 37 week checkup we found out that not only does Broccoli's size mean we don't have to go for a planned C-section, but my doctor feels that she is big enough and progressed enough and all that that we have set an induction date of two weeks from today. So if Broccoli feels like coming earlier, she totally can; but if she's stubborn, she's still coming on Monday, November 5.

That's just 14 days, people!

Mommy & Kaitlyn's Photo Shoot

A new post, but no new news about Broccoli's pending nascency. While you're waiting for more on that front, here are the pictures from Kaitlyn and Mommy's recent photo shoot at JC Penny. Some of Kaitlyn, some of super-pregnant Mommy, and some of the two of us together. Enjoy!

A Few Pictures of Broccoli

On Monday we had a 36-week ultrasound with the high-risk OB we were referred to by my OB.

The reason we had to (a) have a 36-week US and (b) have it with a high-risk office is that Kaitlyn had a few problems during delivery, and so her 9lb 1 oz is basically the biggest size baby I can have without a C-section. So we had to get a good estimate of how big Broccoli is, and then extrapolate how big she will probably be by the time I give birth, and then decide whether the risks are more on our side for a C-section, or just hoping she's not too big.

Well, long story short (that actually is the short version), Broccoli is doing great, and weighs approx. 6lb 5oz (+-10%). So estimating about a half pound weight gain a week over the next 3 1/2 weeks, she shouldn't be too much bigger than 8.5 lbs. Of course, I have to see my OB next week to see what she says, but I'm encouraged.

Plus, we got to see Broccoli again. And not just the regular ultrasound shots (which set me on a fit of giggling when it reminded me of the dinosaur imaging at the beginning of Jurassic Park); this U/S included some 4D imaging - and it was covered by our insurance as opposed to paying out of pocket for one of those places!

I still think they look a little freaky, and this isn't really the best still of all we saw, but Broccoli kept putting her hand in her face (sucking her thumb, just like her big sister). I think her expression in this picture is "Seriously, quit poking me, quit sending those sound waves in, and let me suck my thumb in peace!"

All the world is a playground, and we are all merely players

Over the past few (if nearly six is a few) months, we (and mainly I mean Keith) have been building a playground for Kaitlyn (and future children, like Broccoli).

It took some doing. The backyard sloped, so Keith built a retaining wall, excavated by the flower box, bought a load of topsoil and evened out the whole thing. Then came the building weekend. Along with Pop, Keith built the frame, most of the roof, and the swing arm. It was usable!

We found out the included swings only held up to 150 lbs, which left Keith and me out of the fun, so our next few trips to the hardware store had us stocking up on "reinforced" hangers, an adult swing, and a trapeze bar/rings combo.

Then came the rock climbing wall. My contribution was driving to all of the Home Depots trying to get enough rocks, and then finally ordering them so we would have enough. Keith build the wall, and Kaitlyn is getting pretty good at climbing it herself!

A few weekends ago Pop helped out again, and the set was basically finished by adding monkey bars, a ladder, and a few more roof slats.

Keith did a great great job, and Kaitlyn has been loving it all summer long. Now that the days are getting cooler (and the bugs getting less), she'll be able to enjoy it even more!

Next step? Adding some grass or mulch or something, and then maybe a cute little playhouse. Hey, we're going to have two girls!

A Short, Silly Girl in a Black Dress

It's been a while since we've posted a "Sunday Morning Finery" picture, and we thought you might be curious as to Kaitlyn's cuteness. Or her wardrobe.

Kaitlyn is big into picking her own clothes now, so even when she can't have carte blanche, I like to give her a choice between two (if it's feasible). Today the choices were a new red plaid jumper, or a new black velvety dressy dress. She chose the dressy dress in a heartbeat.

"Mommy, I'm so pretty!" she told me, after getting dressed. And I, of course, think she is, too. Of course, we talked about how "pretty is as pretty does", but we also decided she was very pretty in her dress and bow and tights and shoes.

After church came the "next to the dining room door" photo shoot, resulting in the picture to the left. Such a nice picture! Such a pretty smile! So... normal. But we had to go through a few pictures to get to this point. Kaitlyn has a kind of scary "smile" when that's what you ask her to do. Your best bet is to just try to catch her being pleasant. Or else this could happen:
If you can't see the slideshow, the pictures are below.

Think PINK!

That's right! At our recent 34-week ultrasound we found out that Broccoli is a girl! Wanna see her picture?In case you can't read the little white word it says "FACE". If you still can't see it, tilt your head to your right shoulder. That's her in profile, facing the top of the picture. You could also click for a larger picture.

This isn't the first picture we have of her, but in the pictures below of her 20 week ultrasound we didn't know she was a she.
For that one, tilt your head to the right. You can tell how much smaller she is!

Here are a couple more pictures. The left one has LEGS and ARMS, and the right one is another of the FACE. I can see it, but I'm not going to pretend they're the clearest pictures ever! We'll get better pictures once Broccoli and occupy separate spaces.

Our 2007 Vacation, Part III

So I feel like I've been forgetting something.... oh, yeah, the final chapter in our early summer vacation pictures. Oops. Here you go.

Her Own Style

Kaitlyn is growing up, and part of that is deciding she wants to pick out her own clothes.

Now, we're not taking her to the mall and letting her pick out her own clothes or anything (for so many reasons that would be somewhat off-topic), but I have been encouraging her to find her own style.

Each morning she goes into her closet and looks through every shirt on the rack. Twice. I tried just having 2 or 3 shirts out for her to pick between, but she was not at all happy with that. After she (finally) picks out a shirt, whoever is getting her dressed picks a set of shorts or skirt to go with the top.

If she asks, we generally go with her shoe pick, too. Sandals or sneakers.

She has started picking out accessories recently, too. Maybe it's a hairbow request. Maybe it's a "purse" she picks out for the day. Recently she's been on a real hat kick. The girl that never keeps a hat on her head when we put it there loves the hat above all other things when she picks it out.

If only we can apply the same principle to picking out vegetables...

The Big Sister Room

At this stage of pregnancy with Kaitlyn, we were putting the finishing touches on the nursery. Well, we like the way the nursery turned out, and we don't have plans to change to a whole new nursery for Broccoli. Why would we? It's gender neutral, super cute, and full of personalized touches you can't buy at a store: the picture frame I painted at Stephanie's bachelorette party, the appliquéd quilt my mom made with the border animals on it, and the matching wallhangings in the frames she and my dad made; the cross-stitched quilt that my sister-in-law (cross-stitch part) and mother-in-law (quilting) made. No, we're not changing the nursery.

But that doesn't mean those pregnancy nesting hormonal drives have gone unanswered. Yesterday we finished up the Big Sister Room, also now known as "Kaitlyn's Room". We haven't brought the furniture up from NC yet, but the room is painted, chair rail-ed, bordered, and the closet fitted with new shelves and fresh coat of paint on not only the walls but the closet, the doors, the shelves, and all of the trim. And, of course, we had to go ahead and put up window shades, since the windows face East and South, and we've shifted Kaitlyn's "get up" time two hours earlier and that's quite early enough.

All of the "guest room/office" furniture (and junk) has been removed, with the exception of the actual mattress and box springs, which are currently on a Hollywood frame, and adorned in a new waterproof mattress pad (she's two-and-a-half . . . you know), a set of lavender sheets, and a pair of pink bedrails.

After Kaitlyn's nap yesterday we let her come in and discover the room was ready - and decked out with a Sesame Street balloon and Disney Princess balloon to mark the occasion - and then go back to the nursery to move the most important things. She came back in with her pillowcase stuffed full of BB, Baby Ellie, Woof Woof, and two blankies. The room was hers.

We marked the big occasion not only with balloons, but with a hamburger cookout dinner and ice cream (with whipped cream!) for dessert. And after dinner, it was bedtime. Kaitlyn did a great job of going to sleep (despite her excitement) and staying in bed all night until I got her this morning just before nine.

We have some pictures, I'll update with them once I get them downloaded.

Kaitlyn's Second Movie and Commercial Picks

This morning I took Kaitlyn to her second movie. What was it? Charlotte's Web. Yes. The same movie that she saw for her first movie.

Hey, it was the free Kiddie Show at the local theater, and she actually asked to go see it again. I love her enough to sit through it again, even with Dakota Fanning's distracting teeth and that random kid in a mask on the Ferris Wheel.

And sad as it is, Kaitlyn has some commercials that are her two "favorites":
The BP commercials - as soon as she hears the music, she sings "Say 'Hey'!"
The low-budget daytime car insurance commercials where they repeatedly say "Kiss my bumper!"

Our 2007 Vacation, Part II

Our 2007 Vacation, Part I - NC and TN mountains

After we left Pigeon Forge we hit a long stretch of I-40 highway to Arkansas. Arkansas? I thought you said you went to Memphis. Well, we did, but our hotel was in West Memphis, just over the Mississippi in Arkansas. There was a Wal*Mart less than a mile from the hotel - we choose to believe that in Arkansas there always is.

We tried to make sure we hit Knoxville before rush hour and Memphis after rush hour. We checked into our hotel right around 6:30pm - so we thought. The room clock said 5:30. Maybe they just hadn't set it forward from Daylight Savings Time, right? Well, at some point it hits us - we are in Central Time Zone. Major "duh!" moment. But the real question was, where was the time line? Was Memphis back in Eastern Time Zone? We asked at the hotel front desk and the clerk looked at us blankly. "Time zone change? That's all the way back by Chattanooga." Well color us silly.

Keith had found a website called Roadside America, which bills itself as a "Guide to Uniquely Odd Tourist Attractions". Through it we found a few more off-the-wall places to visit if we had time, including two in Memphis. The first one we went to was the Crystal Shrine Grotto, a man-made cave built in the early 30s and filled during the 30s with Biblical scene dioramas of various styles. What we didn't realize originally was that the grotto and the surrounding area are located within Memorial Park Cemetery. Not too far away was the Statue of Liberation through Christ, a large-ish replica of the Statue of Liberty clutching a cross instead of a torch. The pictures online are more impressive than the actual thing, but it was just a few mile detour.

That night we also ate a KFC dinner, and stopped by Wal*Mart for a special treat for Kaitlyn to reward her great behavior on the trip so far. She picked (from our narrowed down selections) a Mrs. PotatoHead. "Tater? Tater? Play 'tater now, ok?" she reminded us, all of the way back to the hotel. Throughout the rest of the stay those facial features and limbs were all over the place - even on Kaitlyn herself.

After breakfast at the hotel, we drove back into Memphis for my "must see" - Graceland. The King's house. Room after room of 60s and 70s southern-style opulence. We got the Platinum Tour so that we could see not only the house, but the planes, the cars, and the dozens and dozens of jumpsuits. Doesn't Keith love me so much? While you expect it to be over the top, after the proliferation of shows like MTV's Cribs it really just doesn't seem that crazy. Kaitlyn liked the horses, but was largely unimpressed with the rest of everything, with the possible exception of when we stopped for a cookie break.

We spent the afternoon going downtown by Beale Street (which we decided was probably a much more fun place if you (a) aren't pregnant and (b) aren't toting a 2-1/2-year-old. We did sit for a while in W.C. Handy Park and listen to the blues, and decide to come back the next day to Ride the Ducks, plus we made Keith's favorite stop of the day - Maggie Moo's Ice Cream.

Keith tried to convince me we needed more of that ice cream the next morning before our Ride the Ducks tour, but it just seemed to early. I asked Kaitlyn if she wanted to "ride a duck". She looked a little confused, then a little thoughtful, then nodded and said "yes, ma'am." While she really enjoyed the DUKW trip, I'm pretty sure she thought we were going to jump on some mallards' backs.

We got our Wacky Quackers (Kaitlyn's absolute favorite souvenir from the trip, bar none) and boarded the land/sea craft to go around the town. We saw the Memphis pyramid from all sides, and found out it is actually the third largest pyramid in the world. Keith was about to go nuts trying to figure out what in the world was in it, so we had already looked it up the night before (for the record: nothing. It was built to get a pro-basketball team to come to Memphis, and the Grizzlies did, but then they quickly moved to the new FedEx Arena and the pyramid sits empty).

After a lunch at a Beale St. hamburger joint with some really good sweet tea, we walked down to the river and over to Mud Island (after stopping by the I-40 TN Welcome Center - what?! I'm pregnant and drank 3 sweet teas!). They have a scale model of the Mississippi River you can walk through, all the way down to the "Gulf of Mexico". Kaitlyn enjoyed splashing in the water, but the uneven bottom and scorching concrete banks had us put our shoes back on somewhere around "Memphis" and stroll the rest of the way.

One other note about our time in Memphis - our hotel's AC worked very oddly. It was freezing in our room, even with the thermostat turned up to 90. We had to turn it off and on, as off it was just too stifling. Kaitlyn spent her first night in our bed, snuggling against us with her cold, cold little feet.

Our 2007 Vacation, Part I

There is far too much to share from our vacation to try to get it all into one post, so I'm going to split it up a bit.

The first part of our trip actually started on Saturday with a drive to Raleigh for Aunt Jean's retirement & Kent's graduation party. My Uncle John is an award winning pig chef, so the whole pig and the extra shoulders all got completely eaten, in no small part thanks to Kaitlyn! We drove to Winston-Salem for a night at the Parent's Bed & Breakfast.

The 230 miles from my parent's house to our hotel in Pigeon Forge should take 4 hours and 14 minutes, according to MapQuest, but we decided to take the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville, and then up through the Great Smokey Mountain National Forest. Well, it was a pretty drive, but it bumped the drive time up to somewhere in the 8 hour range (well, to be fair, that included stops for picnicking and visiting the Folk Art Center, numerous stops for pictures, and a few little hikes). Still, by the time we got off the Blue Ridge Parkway we were to tired to even turn our heads to look at "another" beautiful vista.

One of the great things about the Parkway was the proliferation of tunnels. Kaitlyn loved them.
"Tunnel!" she would cheer as we entered each one. As soon as we exited back into the sunshine she would cry "Peek-a-boo!"

Our Pigeon Forge hotel was great - we found out that what we thought was a fair price for a junior suite with a King sized bed was a great price for a full suite complete with a fireplace (not that we needed that in the summer!). We had a double balcony from the bedroom and living room overlooking the creek, too, which was nice for playing cards outside after Kaitlyn went to bed.

On our full day in the area we went to a "family fun park" (mini-golf, go karts, etc) that we had seen in our after-dinner walk the day before. Pigeon Forge has a bunch of really neat go kart tracks - we're talking multi-story, really long tracks - and Kaitlyn at 3'1" was just over the minimum height for being a ride-along. She was very interested in what she thought was a roller coaster ("roaster coaster"), and Mommy videoed while Daddy and Kaitlyn went on the "Wild Woody". Daddy rode again on his own, and Mommy and Kaitlyn checked out the kiddie area.

We had gone early to get the price special on rides, so it was still morning when we took a trolley into Gatlinburg. We walked all over the downtown tourist area, stopping for lunch at Wendy's, ice cream (and bathrooms!) at Baskin Robbins, a trip up the Space Needle (which was ridiculously shaky and rusty - the web page is in better condition than the actual space needle, I'll tell you that), plus countless little shops. There were seemingly hundreds of "antique photos" places and the regular tourist staples. It reminded me a lot of Niagara Falls, minus the actual waterfalls.

By the time we made it back to the hotel we were ready to just swim in the pool and order a pizza for dinner. The next morning we started the day by feeding the ducks in the creek. Kaitlyn's last try at feeding bread was to fish in Asheville, and she put every piece she was given in her mouth. This time she laughed and talked to the ducks as she watched them dive and feed on the bread she, Mommy and Daddy threw (mainly that Mommy and Daddy threw, since she had the will but not so muck the skill to throw the bread). We then pulled out for our drive across the state to Memphis.

To be continued!

Kaitlyn's First Movie

Tonight Kaitlyn went to her first movie theater movie - with popcorn and all!

The local mall just opened a new 16-theater multiplex, and yesterday and today they were offering $2 movies and $1 popcorn & sodas. They had a mix of older and current movies, including Charlotte's Web (last year's live-action version, not the 70s animated classic). Talking animals? Sounds like a winner!

I bought tickets this afternoon, fearing the long lines and/or a sellout (remember, $2 movies - and 3 and under are free), but the line for the popcorn and sodas was insane. Luckily Auntie Kris was able to take Kaitlyn and her entourage (booster seat, Wolfie, backpack and water cup) to get us seats in the theater. Maybe we just didn't need popcorn? Well, we didn't, but since I had promised Kaitlyn.... you know how long 2-1/2 year old's memories are!

I can't say Kaitlyn was perfect, but for her first movie she was very good and really enjoyed herself. We may have to take her again!

'Cause Somebody's Getting Married Today!

For Memorial Day weekend we all went up to Pennsylvania for Suzanne's wedding. We headed up on Friday morning so that we would be there in time for the Bachelorette Party (well, Katherine would be - Keith and Kaitlyn went out for some TGIFridays). Where are the pictures of that night? What happens in Bethlehem stays in Bethlehem!

Our hotel was right across the street from Dorney Park, and the two things Kaitlyn liked best about the hotel were the elevator (she pronounced it "O-lee-va-tor!") and watching the roller coasters from our window (in Kaitlynese "roaster coasters!").

Saturday afternoon Kaitlyn charmed the ladies at the Bridesmaid Luncheon held at a charming teahouse that made a deliciously sloppy PBJ for the picky eater. She didn't ask for a special dessert - she liked our cake just fine!

Saturday evening we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. As flower girl, Kaitlyn's job was to walk down the aisle holding a basket of (fake) flowers in one hand and the hand of the four-year-old ring bearer, KJ, in the other. KJ's father was a groomsman, and he was Katherine's escort just before they were set to start off. She and KJ had both been prepped, and trotted cutely down the aisle. We all thought we had got one over one someone, and that this was going to go smoothly.

After a brief nap in the car for Kaitlyn, a few wrong turns on the way and the rehearsal dinner, we got back to the hotel in time to call up Amanda G. and Paula McC. who were up for the wedding and got to hang out with them for a while (and got called by our hotel neighbors to keep down the noise. What?).

Then it was THE BIG DAY already, and we prepared for the wedding. It was a hot day, and many many places in Pennsylvania don't have central air: (a) they're old and (b) most of the time they really just don't need it. But this was a hot day, and the church was one of those places. Keith took Kaitlyn for a long stroller walk (and cookie adventure) while Katherine got her hair done, and then it was Kaitlyn's turn. That's right, the stylist did Kaitlyn's wispy short hair. She got that troublesome hair - on the head of a two-and-a-half-year-old, no less! - into a pair of french braids that she wove together at the bottom. Think Greta in The Sound of Music - very cute.

Then came pictures, wedding, pictures, reception, a late-night drive to Nana and Pops with a very notable story in the middle. Remember KJ and Kaitlyn's job? Well, KJ took it so seriously that he felt the need to hold Kaitlyn's hand and lead her around all of the time. Which she didn't mind - until he walked her into a door jam! After that, if KJ got too close she would cry. And KJ really wanted to walk her down the aisle, so the fact that she wouldn't hold his hand made HIM cry! We ended up with Kaitlyn walking down the aisle with me, and KJ walking down the aisle with his daddy. Moravian weddings are long, you know, so Kaitlyn retreated quickly to Keith's pew, where Suzanne had placed a basket full of books, crayons and cookies for her to enjoy. And she did!

It was great not only being there for my dear friend on such a happy day where she married a great guy, but it was great to see old friends and meet new ones (and in some cases meet old friends' husbands and/or children!). Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Steven Miller!!!

PS - yes, Keith was there! He was the one taking the pictures! (except the one of Suz getting ready). Unfortunately, we don't have a picture of the whole family. Trust me when I say he looked very handsome in his suit (which he pointed out he's worn to every wedding we've been to since we met - including our own!).

Family Updates

Well, it's been a while since I've updated, so here' s a quick laundry list of news of the Dohls, with more to come soon.

1. We went to Pennsylvania in May for Steve and Suzanne's wedding! Katherine was a bridesmaid, and Kaitlyn was the cutest flower girl EVER. Keith was the best flower girl wrangler EVER!
2. The three of us went on our first vacation with just our immediate family ever. It was a rambling trip with main stops in Pigeon Forge & Memphis, TN and St. Louis. We went to Graceland, Kaitlyn rode go karts, we went up in the Arch... lots of stuff!
3. Kaitlyn is getting a new bedroom. The guest bedroom is in renovations to be the "Big Girl Bedroom". We're using this border with white wall bottom, chair rail, and moldings and a yellow wall top. I think we're going to get my old bedroom set from my parents garage. Canopy bed with frills - what little girl wouldn't love it?
4. Actually, Kaitlyn's room isn't a "Big Girl Bedroom" - it's a "Big Sister Bedroom". That's right - we're expecting. November 10 is the due date, and we're calling the baby "Broccoli" since we don't know whether baby is a girl or boy.

So that's all for now!

Making the Bed is Fun!

This morning Kaitlyn helped me make the bed before breakfast. This isn't completely out of the ordinary. Lots of days where Daddy is at work in the morning Kaitlyn helps make the bed, whether it's just tucking up the sheets and comforters and evenly distributing the pillows or stripping the bed to the mattress pad and putting on clean sheets.

But today there were two things that added to the fun.

First, we watched Sesame Street while making the bed. Kaitlyn gets to watch the end of Sesame Street after she eats breakfast, but rarely gets to see more than "Elmo's World". Today she got to see it from the very beginning.

Second, Kaitlyn helped rotate the mattress. That's where the real fun came in. We have a pillowtop mattress, so you don't flip it, you just rotate it every so often. With Kaitlyn sitting in the very middle of the bed I pushed and maneuvered the edges until it had made a 180 degree rotation. Kaitlyn giggled and laughed through the whole process, and then "helped" layer the bed with fresh linens.

Happy (belated) St. Patrick's Day!

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Happy (Belated) St. Patrick's Day!

On Saturday Kaitlyn and I both decked out in a bit of green. Keith escaped pinches by (1) threatening retrobution and (2) claiming he was wearing green underwear. I hear kids don't get to pinch for St. Patrick's Day anymore, anyway.

Sunday we got to have corned beef and cabbage - minus the cabbage. It was the first time I had fixed this childhood favorite meal, and the first time Keith (and Auntie Kris) had had it at all. It was actually much easier to cook than I thought!

When I was growing up we had this meal every St. Patrick's Day weekend, as well as many other times during the year. We loved it! Mom would make cornbread in a cast iron skillet, and my dad would slice the top on and layer in thin ribbons of real butter, then wrap the round cake in a towel and put on a plate. It would be cut in wedges and was so good and moist that we would eat it with a fork. Mom cooked potatoes, carrots, and cabbage in the broth while the corned beef and cornbread cooked in the oven (you crockpot the corned beef overnight in a broth of water, bay leaf, and minced onion and carrot, then you put on the glaze and cook it in the oven). I'm so glad that Keith like it, so that we can have it again!

Manis for Mommy & Me

The other night Kaitlyn came to me with a bottle of red-tinted nail polish. She wanted me to use it. On her.

Kaitlyn has not had her nails polished since she was about 5 months old. And then it was just her toes. And I basically never have nails (darn that biting!), let alone the desire to polish them, so I'm not sure what made her ask.

First, we found a more appropriate shade - both for fingers, and beyond that the fingers of a 2-year-old. We (I) settled on a light champagne color. She sat patiently while I painted a thin coat on each of her little fingernails, and then during the second coat. She managed to not smudge them while they were drying. She said they were "Pribby" (pretty).

She asked me to do my nails, too ("Mommy dosome pribby fingers too"), and I actually have fingernails right now so I went for it. Kaitlyn examined both of our hands and declared it good.

We told Daddy on the phone, and the next morning at breakfast he checked out Kaitlyn's little fingers. "Well, what color are they normally?" he questioned. Apparently the color was too subtle for someone so manly to discern :-)

Next up - mommy & me pedicures?

Children's Prayers

I almost didn't post this, but Keith just thought it was so funny...

Kaitlyn loves to pray. Blessings, bedtime prayers, or just for the fun of it. At mealtimes you have to ask for blessings after each plate is put down to eat - and everyone within the house has to pray with her.

After we pray before she goes down for a nap or to bed for the night she often asks if it's ok if she and BB pray (of course!). Some of those prayers really show "faith of a child" - "God you're welcome [Kaitlyn for 'thank you'] chicken nuggets." "Jesus loves me Amen."

Today at lunch after we had all eaten she said she wanted to pray.

"Sure! What are you going to pray about?"

"Getsome presents for Daddy."

We checked again to see if that's what she really said. And she says it is. I guess I can't say she's selfish - she was asking for presents for Daddy. But it's still kind of weird.

Lunch on the Porch

What beautiful weather we're having!

When I came home for lunch today, we decided to eat on the deck, and give our patio furniture the first workout of the season. The air was already smoky and delicious-smelling from the grill where Keith made our grilled chicken, and after loading up Kaitlyn's plate, my salad and Keith's mashed potatoes, we sat down to dine al fresco.

Kaitlyn loved that she was sitting in a "rocking chair" (our patio chairs rock slightly). She loved that it was a big chair. She loved that we were outside and she could see her cool car. She loved pointing to her feet and waving her hands beneath the frosted glass top. She actually managed to even eat in the midst of all the excitement!

We overlooked the developing play area - we are almost ready for our truckload of dirt to level off the terrace and we need to go ahead and order the slide and other "fun hardware" for the playground. Days like today were made for playing outside, and it will be that much more fun when the playarea has more than busted roots and dirt piles!

We hope you are having great weather - and really enjoying it!

What's Kaitlyn Talking About?

Kaitlyn is a talker.

This will shock a grand total of zero people reading this blog that have ever met me (or know my husband outside of casual meetings). She has a genetic predisposition to be a talker.

There is a story about me when I was very little. My grandmother sent me to go get a diaper for a diaper change. "This is ridiculous!" I reportedly said, to which my grandmother agreed that it was ridiculous that a girl that could say ridiculous would still need a diaper change.

That story could be told with Kaitlyn now. She has a vocabulary of multisyllabic words that rival children far older than her two years. She still talks gobbledygook (hey! that word was in my spell checker!) part of the time.

She can't say her own name (or won't - she claims her name is "Baby Becky"). But she can talk about homophones and give you examples - two, to; pare, pear, pair; nose, knows. Well, kind of.

There is a song on her favorite show of all time (Do the Moo Shoo Silly Songs Sing-along) called "Schoolhouse Polka" where the verses use these examples and the chorus extols the vocabularic wonders that are homophones. If you one of those sets a few times, she'll cry out: "Homophones!" and then talk about the others. OK, again, I don't claim she knows exactly what she's talking about, but we still marvel at her!

Other "big words" that stud her vocabulary (and are used more or less accurately)? "Awesome!", "You're welcome, ma'am", "probably", and "Gated Community" (although the last one is very specific in nature, I suppose).

One Cool Chick

Kaitlyn found her baby sunglasses in the pocket of her diaper bag, and has fallen in love with them. The same glasses she couldn't keep on for five minutes a year ago she won't take off now. This picture is actually upside down - she was standing with her back to me and leaning backwards to stare up at me.

Our New Sideboard!

Our new sideboard! It marks the first piece of furniture, the first antique, and the first part of our dining room set!

Click pictures for full-sized images.

Valentine's at the Dohl's

As a loving family, we can't overlook Valentine's Day. We can decline to buy into the increasing idea that it is a gift giving occasion, but I'll take the opportunity to go out to dinner, and if flowers are involve, well, so much the better.

This year Valentine's Day involved all of the above. February 13th Keith and Kaitlyn gave me their cards and a beautiful vase of tulips. I had made a card for Keith with a crocheted heart on the front. Auntie Kris came over to sit while Keith and I trekked to Maggiano's for dinner (family style for two! thanks to the Ares Family for the heads up!).

Valentine's Day Proper Keith had a full day of court and patrol, but we found a time to get our Valentine's pictures for the grandparents. Kaitlyn finished coloring the cards that evening, after giving Auntie her Valentine flowers and cards and after going out for pizza!