The Holiday Season

Things have been absolutely crazy lately, as I'm sure it is for everyone finishing up their Christmas shopping. On the night of Sunday, December 5th Saint Nick came and placed a gift under our tree with Kate's name on it. An extremely excited Peanut (who was being held by Dad in the door way of Mom & Dad's room) yelled to Mom, "Quick Mommy, under the tree....there's something there. (While pointing) It's over here Mom...hurry!" Actually, I think it was just Dad "talking for Peanut" but we'll never know.

Anyway, the three of us went to the Living Room and watched Kate open her first ever Saint Nick gift.

Hurry with the pictures so I can attack this "bad-boy!"

Finally! Let me at it!

Alright! The classic Ring set......Score!

Who needs a Bumbo?

Things seem to be changing with our little lady more and more rapidly by the day. A little more than a week ago while we were practicing sitting up, Kate was able to hold herself up for more than 20 minutes. The following day, she made it somewhere in the ballpark of 40 minutes and she hasn't stopped since.

Well, perhaps I'm speaking too soon. Our little lady (while not able to crawl yet) has become quite the mover. We brought our Christmas tree up after Thanksgiving and while we're well aware of the fact that she can roll over, she's never gotten very far. That all changed one evening last week, when both Shelly and I went into the kitchen for no more than 15 seconds to get her bottle & bring in some dishes. We came back and our little Peanut Brittle (as I like to call her now) had barrel rolled roughly 3-4 times and was half way under our tree grabbing onto the lights and (fake) branches. We just about died laughing, but also came to the realization that from now on we'll have to put her in her pack-n-play, jumperoo or exersaucer when we have to leave the room for a moment. Now, even though Kate hasn't figured out how to officially crawl yet, she gets wherever she needs to go via the barrel roll and turning 180's on her stomach. It's beyond entertaining to watch.

As for my "speaking to soon" comment earlier, Kate is so close to crawling its unbelievable. Just last night after moving around, she started lifting her entire body up as if she was doing push-ups. (Sidenote: She must get that upper body strength from me. I've seen the Burch girls and Jeff try to climb the "Ice-Berg" in Mexico and let's just say....it wasn't pretty.) She did this atleast 5 times and then after a little bit, while also on her stomach she started bending her knees up toward her stomach and began the phase of rocking back and forth. From what we've read, this is the beginning stage of learning to crawl. We're extremely excited and can't begin to express how proud we are of her!

We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holiday season. We'll be posting again very soon with a bunch of new pictures, video from trimming the Christmas tree and a picture of our little lady with Santa Claus! Take care everyone!

Go Pack!

Kate knew that today's game against the Atlanta Falcons was going to be a nail biter, so she decided to put on her Green Bay Packers cheerleader outfit that Mimi gave her in hopes we could pull out a win. Unfortunately the Pack lost in a close one, but boy did she look cute!

Shake it to the left. Shake it to the right.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Happy belated Thanksgiving! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! We certainly did! It was spent with family and accompanied by great food and a rousing game of Pictionary. Of course it was extra special since Kate is now with us. She is definitely on the top of the list of things to be thankful for this year. She brings so much joy to our lives and we can't help but smile when she's in our presence. In addition to our little lady, we are also thankful for the following:

- our wonderful and loving families
- our great, supportive friends
- good health
- jobs during this difficult economic time
- food on our table and a roof over our heads
- clothes on our backs
- and cameras so they can capture the wonderful photos below!

Giving Daddy The Stiff Arm

Family Photo

Turkey Tush! Gobble, Gobble!

Kate's First Halloween

A few weeks ago Kate celebrated her first Halloween! It was a fun-filled, busy day to say the least. Given the fact that we were sick two weekends before Halloween and then had rainy weather the following weekend we weren't able to get to the Pumpkin patch until that Halloween morning. Never the less, we actually very much enjoyed it since there was practically no one else there. We were able to enjoy it as a family without tons of people all around us. The three of us each picked out a pumpkin and upon Kate "selecting" hers and Mom holding it up with Kate to pose for a picture, our little Peanut dove right in and tried licking the Pumpkin! Oh, that would be our Baby Kate's.

After that, we went to our friend's (Bob & Mel) house and Kate had a play-date with their 3 month old daughter named Anna. It was a wonderful time with great food, tasty drinks and a glorious Packer victory! After the game, we rushed home in order to get there in time for the trick-or-treaters to arrive and for myself to whip up some of my (now) famous spiked cider for the neighborhood adults. Once again, the cider was a huge hit. I can tell we're starting to get a reputation as the "Cider House" because our doorbell never stopped ringing that first hour. Every trick-or-treater in town (and their parents) seemed to be at our house that first hour and then the final couple hours were dead. Coincidence....I don't think so!

We did have time to do a little photo shoot of Kate in her costume and her earlier Halloween outfit. As you can see, Kate went as a Strawberry. Enjoy the pics!

Kate plays in her Jumperoo before trick-or-treaters arrive

Our little Strawberry

Strawberry Kisses!

Kate & Mimi enjoy Halloween

Get Well Soon, Uncle Greg

On Tuesday, John's brother Greg underwent jaw surgery which required the surgeon to break his jaw and completely shift his entire mouth forward, backward, left and right. John, Kate and I visited him in the hospital that evening and while we felt completely helpless, we were glad that Kate was able to bring a little smile to his face. She even picked out a "Get Well Soon" balloon and brought it with her to give to him.

Greg and Kate have always had such a special bond. He was at the hospital the day she was born and she quickly learned that Uncle Greg's arms were just as cozy as could be. You could see and quickly sense the instant love he had for her and as parents it just warms our hearts to witness that love each time they are together.

We love you very much, Grey, and we hope that your road to recovery passes quickly!

Hi Uncle Grey! :)

Halloween Preperation

It's been an eventful past couple weeks since Shelly has gone back to work, which (by the way) she's very much enjoying. As I mentioned in the previous post, Kate started daycare at Tiny Town last week Tuesday. While the first day was beyond tough for both of us, Kate also had a difficult time adjusting to sleeping with 3-4 other kids making noise. After a couple days though, she acclimated quite well and is now getting her typical naps in and everything is going great.

In fact, the past two days we received our first projects from "both" of her daycares. On Tuesday, Kate and Mimi worked on the following pumpkin together and gave it to us:

Then, when Shelly picked her up from Tiny Town yesterday, Kate had made us the following "Happy Halloween" art project:
The only downside to the past couple weeks was that our little Lady got sick for the first time. It started off with a runny nose last Friday and by the time Sunday rolled around, Kate was not a happy camper. All day Saturday she didn't nap for more than 15 minutes, and although she slept through the night she was plenty upset when she woke up Sunday morning. We worried it was an ear infection to go with a cold because every time we put her down on her back (which she normally loves) she would wail. Not only that, that evening she woke up four times during the middle of the night crying, which is not like Kate at all. I was able to take her to the doctor the following morning and fortunately about an hour or so before we left, Kate seemed to be doing quite a bit better. Our doctor confirmed that she had a slight ear infection in her right ear, but it looked relatively minor. Kate was prescribed Children's Amoxicillin, and ever since that evening she's been back to her normal, happy-go-lucky self...and we couldn't be more thrilled.

Well as most of you know that live in the area, we had a brutal weekend weather-wise and due to all the rain we had to postpone our trip to the pumpkin patch until this weekend. We're very much looking forward to going together as a family and we'll post about that as well as Kate's first Halloween early next week.

Have a great Halloween everyone! Here's a few more pictures for your enjoyment:

Kate Smiles with her Pumpkin

Move over Anne Geddes
Alright! A New Brown Bow!
....And A Pink One!
Papa Joe & Kate Share A Laugh
Kate & Mom Enjoy a Hug Before Her First Day Back at Work
Sleeping Beauty (Too Cute not to Post)

Picture Me ROLLIN' & Mommy's New Job

So much to report from the last few weeks, I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll start by congratulating Shelly on her new job! As of last Friday she's accepted an HR Coordinator position at Shopko Headquarters. While we thought she wouldn't start until next week she actually starts this morning! Both Kate and I are so proud of her and know she's going to be great in her new position. Since the moment Shelly and I started dating, I've always said she was built for HR and almost 10 years later, it looks like I was finally right. :) Congrats love, we couldn't be more proud and excited for you! As for Peanut, she'll be partying with Mimi (Deb) today and tomorrow and as of this point will start daycare 2-3 day's per week starting Monday.

Speaking of Peanut....when she heard the news on Friday that Mom got a new job she was so excited for her that she decided to roll over from her back to her stomach for the first time! Kate was playing in her Baby Einstein Playmat while Shelly was making her a bottle in the kitchen. Low and behold, Shelly walks back and realizes Kate is laying on her stomach....which is not how she was no more than a minute earlier! Shelly was so excited and proud, but was also a little bummed that she didn't get to see it for the first time. No worries though, Kate put on a repeat performance not much later for her and Shelly caught it all. Later the following evening I was fortunate enough to see her do it and she hasn't stopped since. Just this morning, I was making her a bottle in the kitchen only to come back and see she had rolled over on her stomach once again. Right away when I noticed, I gave her a huge smile and cheered/applauded her to which she shot me back the biggest grin. It was wonderful to say the least and we can't say enough how proud we are of her progress. She's not only a wonderfully easy baby, she's so smart and is reaching all her milestones well ahead of schedule.

Next, I've been meaning to post this video for the past couple weeks and for that I apologize. Kate is now tall enough and strong enough to play in her excersaucer. A special thanks to Aunt Jill & Aunt Gail for giving it to Kate. As you can see....she loves it!

Finally, here's another picture of our little lady sporting her new Pumpkin hat made by Mimi. Look at that face!
We've got plenty of things going on the rest of this month so we'll be posting often. The three of us plan on going to the Pumpkin patch this weekend, which we're very much looking forward to. Until then, take care everyone!

Dear Daddy

Dear Daddy,

I miss you so much and I can't wait until you get home. Even though you left on Monday and will be returning on Wednesday night, it just isn't the same without you here. I miss the funny faces that you make, the way you hold me tight and the way you make me fly like this:


I am so glad that you were here for a little bit on Monday to help me celebrate my 5 month birthday. Yes, I am now 5 months old! I love this picture of you and I before your departure:

Mommy and I are so proud of you for working so hard every day. We know that you sacrifice a lot in order to make us happy and we can't thank you enough for that. I just can't wait to see you so I can sit on your lap once again. It's the perfect place to be!

Have a safe trip home tomorrow! I can't wait to see you! I love you so much!

Love,

Your Little Peanut

Rice Cereal Time!

Last night, Kate "enjoyed" her first Rice Cereal experience. After a little learning on all three of our parts, Kate ate extremely well. In fact, she "finished" all of the recommended first feeding amount that we gave her. Enjoy!

4 Months!

A week ago our little lady turned 4 months old! John and I are still shocked at how fast time has passed and it's evident as her size and facial features continue to change. She had her 4 month check-up this past Tuesday and again, we are so blessed and fortunate to inform you that Kate is doing great. She weighed in at a whopping 15 pounds which put her in the 80th percentile for children her age. She is 25.75 inches long which put her in the 95th percentile. Needless to say, she gets her height from her daddy!

Unfortunately the doctor's visit also meant a couple of shots as well. John was able to make it to this appointment which meant that she received lots of hugs and kisses from the both of us immediately following the procedure. We had a heartbreaking evening as she continued to cry until the Children's Tylenol kicked in, but once it did she was able to sleep. We were relieved when she woke up the next morning and she was back to her normal self.

Due to Kate's growth, our doctor also gave us the okay to start her on rice cereal and she can now use her exersaucer! We will give her the rice cereal later today and she already enjoyed her first exersaucer experience! We will post pics later of both events, but until then feel free to enjoy some family pics that were taken on Kate's 4 month birthday!

Kate's First Weiland Summer Party

Kate got to enjoy her first Annual Weiland Summer Party less than 2 weeks ago. For those of you who aren't familiar with the event, Shelly and I have been hosting a Summer party for all of our friends and immediate family every year since we graduated college. With us all moving around once we graduated, this day has become very special to us since it's just like old times! The day includes wonderful food and drinks, a Water Balloon Launching Tournament, Tequila Volleyball, Lawn Games and Fireworks to cap the night off! The day was beautiful with warm weather and blue-bird skies!

We want to thank everyone for coming and just say one more time how much we're looking forward to next year!

Kate woke up and "eagerly" awaited our guests' arrival
Team 1 *SHOOTS* at the target during the Water-Balloon Launching Tournament

(Papa Joe, Jeff Flemming and Bill Knueppel)

Shelly, Cassie Knueppel and Paco Arnoldussen take aim and FIRE!
Enron (Aaron) Knueppel enjoying the day....and his cocktail.
Tony Zar and his son Eli play in the grass.
Kate's Grandpa & Grandma Burch Smiling for the Camera.
Tequila Volleyball Time!
Deb and Aaron smile in front of "Steve" the Kegerator.
Paul Rudnick, Tony Zar, Myself and Jeff Flemming