Katelyn's Easter Party

Katelyn's preschool class celebrated Easter today with an Easter egg hunt and party.  Here are a few pictures from the party.

Katelyn showing off her Easter basket she made at preschool.

Snack time!  Katelyn brought the treats and chose Jell-o and rice krispie treats.

Sarah, Katelyn's friend, enjoying her rice krispie treat.

 For the game, the kids played pin the polka dot on the Easter egg.  I think they all enjoyed "decorating" the big white egg.

Exhausted...

On the way back from Kansas City on Monday both Katelyn and William fell asleep.

Here are a few pictures I took of them...

Easter...how do you explain it?

My kids love this time of year and so do I.  The sun is shining (usually), the wind is warmer (most of the time), and the temperature is on the rise (when it wants to).  Oh yeah, and the kids get to do Easter egg hunts.

While a lot of parents struggle, myself included, to help children understand Christmas and the true meaning of why we celebrate it, I find myself really struggling with trying to help my children understand Easter and the days and events leading up the celebration.

While I continue to try and explain it to the girls, my words seem to get lost some days.  What I do know is that my children to hear what I say, see what I do, and learn from our church family.  We will keep celebrating Easter and one day they will understand the significance of Easter and why we celebrate it.  For now, they will enjoy the Easter egg hunts, the extra time with friends and family, and the wonderful songs of celebration and rejoicing!

Thanks to Lou, my kids got to enjoy an Easter egg hunt at church.  There were 12 kids that did the Easter egg hunt.  I attend a small group with all the moms of these wonderful kiddos.

And yes, most of the pictures are of William because the other two took off and did it on their own.  Once Julianne had collected her eggs she came back and helped William, what a great big sister!

Sarah finding an egg.

William had a blast!   

 Julianne helping William.

Kids were running everywhere!

William's 18-month checkup

Today, William, Katelyn and I headed to Kansas City for William's 18-month checkup.  Before heading to the doctor's office, we did a little shopping.

This visit to the doctor was a little bittersweet.  I LOVE our pediatrician.  He is not the pediatrician we started with, I also LOVED her, but he took on part of her patients when she left the practice.  When I was pregnant with Julianne, Brian and I discussed what we wanted in a pediatrician and even met with 3 or 4 before we decided on one.  Our first pediatrician was terrific.  She was a wife and mother.  She was gentle with the kids, patient with everyone and told us the truth.  She was gentle in her presentation, but didn't beat around the bush.

She left the pediatrician practice when I was pregnant with Katelyn.  I was bummed about it, but I totally understood.  She made her choices based on what her family needed.  Two new doctors (and I do mean new, they just finished their residencies when they started with the practice) took on her patients when she left.  I had not met either of them when I needed to take Julianne to the pediatrician for what I thought was chicken pox.  Chicken pox is not alarming to me, but I was pregnant and there are risks for mom and baby when exposed to chicken pox.  So, I called the practice and when the doctor we were going to use wouldn't see us, because she too was pregnant, we saw our current pediatrician for the first time.   Once we got the appointment scheduled, Julianne and I hit the road and we were off to see Dr. Kevin Burgert.  What a blessing this was!

He has been great with all 3 of my kids.  Julianne likes to jokingly call him "Dr. Burger", which makes Katelyn giggle uncontrollably.  So, over the last 4 and a half years we have taken the kids to Dr. Kevin for well-baby visits and a few sick visits.  We have experienced firsts with him and listened as he has said that will be my 2 kids in about six months (that was today as William was picking on Katelyn).  He has a little girl that is about 6 months younger than Katelyn and a little boy that is about 6 months younger than William.

So, back to the bittersweet.  Today, hopefully, was the last time we will see him.  Since we will be moving in June, my kids do not need any more well visits before the move.  And while I don't want my kids to get sick, I wouldn't hesitate to take them to see Dr. Kevin one last time!

Now, onto William....

Age: 18 months, 3 days
Weight: 27 pounds, 15 ounces (75th percentile)
Height: 31.5 inches (25th percentile)

William is a healthy, active boy.  He LOVES to climb and I do mean LOVES to climb!  His vocabulary is starting to grow and currently includes the words: Momma, Dadda, Papa, basketball (he says ba-ba-ball when he sees one), balloon, ball, banana (na-na), bat, more and some others.  He loves to make car sounds, "vroom, vroom" while playing with his cars.  He is learning to "meow" when you ask what a kitty says.  I am also working on getting him to say "woof, woof" for a puppy.

He loves belly buttons.  When asked where his is he will lift his shirt up and then try and get everyone else to lift their shirts also.  He also points correctly to hands and feet when asked.

His favorite foods are definitely fruits.  He will eat pretty much any fruit put in front of him.  Really, he will eat almost any food.  The couple foods he does not care for are raw broccoli, refried beans or plain scrambled eggs. He prefers his scrambled eggs with sausage, cheese, salsa and hash browns!

William is a boy and little brother thru and thru.  He knows how to irritate and bother his sisters.  But at the same time he has such a kind heart.  When one of his sisters is hurt, he will give them a hug and pat their back.  I love my baby boy and continue to enjoy each moment with him!

Fun times, lots of pictures!

So, I am not always to greatest about updating the blog even though I have taken lots of pictures.  So, here are pictures from here, there, and everywhere.  Enjoy!

 William was having fun playing in the booster chair we have.  He will play with this for 10-15 minutes trying to buckle himself in and laughing.  

Katelyn and her 4 black olives. 

 Silly William in the bathtub!  He loves playing "peek-a-boo" with the washcloth.

William enjoying snack in one of the girl's chairs made by Papa.

Julianne and Katelyn having fun.  Katelyn loves piggy back rides from Julianne.

Fun in the Jeep.  The girls both love this and I know it is going to get lots of use this summer.  William even loves to go for rides in it!

William "locking" himself in the dog cage at the neighbor's house.  He thought it was so funny.

 While Brian and I cleaned the garage, the kids "supervised" while enjoying a snack and playing games on our phones.

William after a bath, enjoying a little time with the light saber.

Great family time!  Brian, Julianne and Katelyn playing the Wii.  William enjoys watching, for now!

Easter Egg Hunt

A couple weekends ago we took the kids to an Easter egg hunt that was sponsored by our Y.  All 3 kids had a great time!  William was a little tentative at first, but did a great job.  Julianne and Katelyn also had fun "finding" eggs.  

Enjoy the video of William finding a few eggs and walking in his new rain boots.

Brian and the girls posing for a picture.  Julianne kept saying the sun was in her eyes and wouldn't quit squinting.

I love pictures like this!  I think I have one of Brian and each kid when they were about this age.

A Challenge...

This week as I was leaving the Y after working out, the sign by the door caught my eye.  I stopped and read the first "headline".  It said, "The Amazing Race".  I continued to read.  The Amazing Race includes 5 miles of swimming, 224 miles of biking, and 50 miles of running.  At least that is what I think.  I am recalling this from memory, so I may be off a bit with the miles.

After reading this the first day and then the next couple of days the excitement grew.  This is a new challenge to keep me going towards my goal of getting healthier.  I look at the numbers and think, what am I getting myself into?  That is a lot of work.  Then I think, what a great challenge!  This is something to keep me motivated for about the next 6 weeks.  It is a challenge I am looking forward to completing.  I am already calculating numbers so I know how many miles I will need to complete each day to stay on track and complete "The Amazing Race".

So, now here is my challenge to each of you.  To my Chillicothe friends, I challenge you to sign up for "The Amazing Race".  The cost is $25, but I think that is nothing compared to a healthy life.  For some they are probably thinking that is a lot of swimming, biking, and running.  I say try.  Sign-up and try.  For my friends who are not in Chillicothe, create your own tracking sheet and embark on this challenge with me.  "The Amazing Race" officially begins on April 11.  The end date is around May 21st.

This challenge, this journey, I am about to embark on would be great to share with others.  I would love to hear about accomplishments, struggles and challenges during "The Amazing Race".  I hope to log my miles on here each week and to also share my accomplishments, struggles and challenges.

Let me know if you plan on doing "The Amazing Race" at the Y or on your own by commenting on this blog post.  You never know what rewards you my receive!