potty party

We have really been working on potty training.  We started last weekend and they have continued at day care through the week.  Kaylea has done much better than I expected.  We started a potty chart and promised her that when she filled it up we would have a potty party at Chuck E Cheese.  We have also started doing a potty dance to celebrate when she uses the potty. 

Having the potty party was probably a little premature, but it was the only weekend we were going to be in town for awhile and she had filled up the chart. 

Kaylea requested a Barney cake.  It was funny because she kept insisting that she was there for her birthday party - silly girl!  Other requests included balloons and presents and of course, we delivered.

For now, we continue to wear a pull up at night (although I don't really think she needs it).  We haven't been using a pull up at nap time and she has been fine.  I guess this is just another sign that our baby girl is growing up.

the guest of honor

potty cake



kaidyn & kaylea with parmesan cheese



tessa & kaylea (can you tell she has missed her)

shannan & kaylea

more visitors

I can't believe this post has been in my blogger for a week and I never posted it.  My mom brought Trina, Meagan, and Mikey up for a visit.  We had a great visit.  I loved it because I actually got to hang out with Meagan & Mikey!  I will let the pictures do the talking on this post.

triple A & triple X

We were very excited that some of our best friends were able to come visit us and spend the night.  Amy, Art, and Alton came up Saturday afternoon.  We started the day by going to Jump It.  I can't believe I didn't get any pictures.  We went out to dinner at Mountain Jacks.  It took almost 2 hours!  If you have kids, you know this could have been really bad...but Kaylea and Alton actually did awesome.  There was very little complaining from either of them, even though Kaylea didn't take a nap that day and Alton only had a short one.

We came back to the house and played before the kids went to bed and we watched some Cardinal basketball.

This morning we got up and had some breakfast (pancakes - Kaylea's favorite, of course) before we went to sled and play in the snow.  I'm not sure who had more fun - the adults or the kids.  We went sledding for a long time before we decided to build a snowman.  Kaylea insisted that he needed a nose.  Luckily we had some carrots (thank you P90X2 diet), Oreo Cookie eyes (ha/ha - these were K's), a potato head mouth, and wooden spoons for arms. 

I'm not a huge fan of the snow, but I had a great time playing in it today.

Since we made the kids sit for so long for dinner the night before, we decided to get lunch to go.  Of course, we had to show them XXX burger, so Jordy and Art went to pick it up...at least we have another month before we have to return again (it's good, but I don't need to eat it weekly). 

We had a great time with all of our A friends and can't wait until they come back and visit again.

alton & kaylea playing piano

alton checking things out

snowman

what we've been doing

This is a random post about what we have been up to the past few days.  One night last week, when Kaylea should have been going to bed, she pulled out her dress up clothes boxes and put on this outfit.  It is supposed to be a sailor girl (she doesn't have the hat on), but she put on her high heels and insisted she was a "superstar."

Friday night after we finished some grocery shopping (we are exciting people), Kaylea came back and wanted to play WII with mommy and daddy.  I got this picture of them playing Mario Cart.  Kaylea stayed interested for about one race.

Saturday morning, while were were waiting on our next guests to arrive (see next post), we decided to try sledding.  We have a great hill right behind our house.  Kaylea loved sledding and was mad when we came back in.

glams play date

I am very thankful for a group called GLAMS - Greater Lafayette Area Moms.  It has allowed me and Kaylea to meet new people and make new friends in Lafayette.   Saturday, we headed over to hang out with Christine and Rose and to have sticker project.  Kaylea had a great time putting stickers on her paper, and had even more fun enjoying snacks, playing with Rose's toys, and jumping on the couch (this is the only house other than ours where we know this to be allowed).  We always have a good time because we get to enjoy adult conversation while the kids play.

After our play date, we met daddy for a healthy lunch at Chili's and a shopping trip to Target!

gymnastics - lafayette area gymnastics

Kaylea started her first gymnastics class tonight.  Mama was a little nervous because she never loved her dance class, but no need to worry.  Kaylea was ready to participate in all of the activities...at least until she spotted the trampoline. 

They started off running and hoping and stretching their legs.  Next, they did an obstacle course...and finally, after what seemed like forever for an impatient excited 2 year old, they got to jump on the trampoline. 

I thought they spent too much time on the obstacle course.  Kaylea was started to get bored and distracted, as were the other kids.  She did the best on the trampoline.  Most of the kids just wanted to run down the trampoline, but not Kaylea - she jumped the entire length of the trampoline.  She like it so much, she cried when we had to leave.

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happy half birthday, kaylea

I can't believe Kaylea is already 2 1/2.  Where does the time go?  I can just remember holding her in my arms, rocking her to sleep and now she is running around like a crazy lady.

• Favorite Songs - Old MacDonald, Whole World, ABCD (as she calls it)
• Favorite Book - animal book, Nursery Rhyme Book
• Favorite TV Show - Barney
• Favorite Foods - Chicken Nuggets, Fries, Moe's Naked Chicken Burrito
• Favorite Snack - fruit loops & gold fish mixed (yep, mixed in the same bowl)
• Favorite Drinks - grape juice, strawberry milk
• Favorite Toys - McDonald's, bouncey house
• Favorite Animal - horse
• Her vocabulary is amazing - we continue to get comments about how well she talks (especially when we can get that paci out of her mouth)!
• She still has a paci, which we plan to get rid of, but can't seem to convince ourselves that she is ready.
• Kaylea just started gymnastics and she also loves to sing.
• She recognizes letters and numbers.
• She is such a loving little girl - she loves to give hugs & kisses and enjoys snuggle time with friends and family

happy birthday nana

We went home for the weekend to watch the Cards play get beat by Notre Dame.  We only spent one night before coming back to Lafayette, and when we came back, we brought Nana & Pop back with us.
We spent the day with them today - we showed them how Kaylea loves to bounce on the trampoline in the mall, they went grocery shopping with us, and bouncing in Kaylea's bouncey house.  Tonight we celebrated Nana's birthday. 

Kaylea did a great job singing Happy Birthday.  After she ate her cupcake, she wanted to sing more.  I posted a video of one of the times we re-light the candle and sang.  I am guessing we sang about 10 more times.  She is becoming such a camera ham. 

letters

I am very impressed with all of the letters Kaylea knows.  She struggles with A (although it was the first letter she ever recognized).  She loves "O" and insists it is her letter, so is great to hear her say "O is for Owen."

kaylea's first movie

Today, my last day of vacation, has been all about Kaylea.  We got her up this morning and she watched Mickey Mouse Club.  It was so cute because she didn't want us to snuggle with her, so we sat in our room and we could hear her laughing at the show.

We met some friends at Chuck E Cheese for lunch.  Kaylea actually ate her pizza (this girl eats like a bird) and had fun riding the rides.  Jen and I were very impressed with Kaylea & Owen's ability to follow the dance moves that Chuck E demonstrated (check out the video below).

We came home and after her nap, we took her to a movie - Alvin & The Chipmunks.  We really wanted to see the Muppets, but for whatever reason, it wasn't showing around here.  She did better than I expected.  She did talk a little bit and wanted to walk around our row just a bit, but I thought she did good for an almost 2 1/2 year old!

We came home and Kaylea joined in our healthy eating adventure (check out my new blog) and gobbled up the naked chicken burrito I cooked tonight.

new hairstyle - piggies :)

kaylea & owen