Alyssa or Kaitlyn

People still make comments that they see Bryson in Alyssa but I see more and more of Kaitlyn as a baby when I look at Alyssa. Sometimes photos don't show it as well but here goes:




I could have tricked you and had them all Alyssa but I didn't and the correct answers are Kaitlyn, Alyssa, Kaitlyn, Alyssa

Apple Orchard

Since Bryson LIVES for apples I was excited to read in the newspaper about an apple orchard close to here. We went on Saturday and had a great time. It was kids day so they had lots of little kid activities.


They had face painting (the kids actually did "arm" painting)



We went on a wagon ride pulled by a tractor throughout the orchard. Kevin and I ended up enjoying it even more than the kids, who thought it was fun too. We learned tons about growing apples and even got to taste different varieties.


It all ended perfectly as we walked away with apples to make caramel apples with this week and also homemade apple butter!

Highchair

I guess now that she is eating cereal we had better get her a highchair. She loves it and loves being up high with the family at meal time.

This is her first week of solids and she is already a pro. I am still shocked that she can pick up the cheerios and put them in her mouth, not even just by accident.



And also here is Bryson and Kaitlyn working on projects in the sun room.

First Cereal

Alyssa had her first cereal today and LOVED IT!!! She has been showing all the signs of ready for solids but I have been stalling as long as possible. It takes extra time and is messy but I decided I couldn't put it off any longer. She did fabulous - she ate it very well and thought it was so fun (she didn't even get that messy)! I love this age of 6 months when they love all these simple things like getting to try foods.

Pet

Kaitlyn came home from preschool and they had asked her to bring a picture of her pet (everyone has dogs here). They did say that you could cut a picture out of a magazine. Well as we talked about it, she said she had a pet, the pink poodle that Uncle Chad bought her. So we took a picture of it (Bryson wanted to take the picture outside on the grass but Kaitlyn said it was an inside pet). Kaitlyn has the best imagination and showed me how the dog was smiling and all. I think we solved the dilemna of pets - we do have pets, lots of nice stuffed animals.

Latest Happenings

Kevin was harrassing me that I hadn't posted to our blog for quite awhile. I told him that I didn't have anything to post, I have been working on things around the house but nothing is "complete" so I couldn't take pictures. He said, what about your family coming to visit, Bryson starting kindergarten... Oh yeah, I forgot about that.

My family came a few weeks ago and were a HUGE help with doing projects around the house and playing with the kids.


We worked them very hard. They did everything from sanding our old free piano so Kevin could stain it to helping me decorate to deep cleaning and on and on. We had to play the last day they were here so we took them to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. It is a great place, we have already been there 3 times in less than 2 months.





And the other big thing is of course Bryson starting kindergarten. He loves it and loves to ride the bus to school each morning.

Let me count the ways

We love owning a home! Unfortunetly we don't have any furniture to show off in our new home but we are loving all the extra space for the time being (and easier to clean - quick vacuum, no dusting). There are so many things we love about this home we thought we would share them with you in no particular order

Bryson loves going to the mailbox. He loves when we have letters to mail cause then he can run out first thing in the morning and put them in and put the flag up. Then he is so good at watching all morning for the flag to be down and then runs back out there to get the mail.


Kaitlyn loves having so much space to spread out her toys. She seriously loves to set each one up and it is cute to listen to the makebelieve that takes place while she does it. It is so nice for her to have all that room to play and we still have room to walk around.


Alyssa LOVES having her own room. This is her waking up from a 4 1/2 hour nap. She never could do that in our apartment. Someone always woke her up if she was in the hall or someone eventually would need to get into the bedroom that she was borrowing.


I love these 2 doors!!! The one of the right goes to the laundry room. I love that you have no idea what state my laundry currently is in because the door is closed!!! The best part of that door is that my laundry is not in my kitchen!!!! I love the door on the left because it goes to the basement: "Go play downstairs." "Oh, you want to race and chase, go downstairs." "Hurray, your friends came over to play, take them downstairs." I LOVE HAVING A BASEMENT!!!


We love our swingset in the backyard. While Kevin's dad was here, he and Kevin sealed it and fixed the chains and swings - it looks so nice! Bryson loves doing "tricks" on it.



This is our garden. It doesn't look too good currently but we have great plans for it next summer. If you look really closely, there are lots of stalks in the back part, that is asparagus!!!


This is how much asparagus I cut every other day. We are in asparagus eating heaven!


WE LOVE OUR KITCHEN AND ALL THE SPACE! Sunday after dinner, when dishes were not even done - Kevin and the kids decided to make homemade bread, they even ground their own wheat. I love that there was enough room for them to make bread with even the dinner dishes out!


I LOVE THIS HOME!!!