Gattuso Family

The Graduate

2011-12-22T09:30:00.000-05:00

Look at his smile! We were all grinning ear to ear. He did it! December 10th, Michael graduated from The University of Cincinnati again, this time with a Masters of Science. For the past two years Michael has juggled school yet again, a full time job, a church calling, full time tech support for family members, being a wonderful father and awesome husband. I am allowed to say all this because he would never boast of that to anyone! I am so proud of him :)

I headed to commencement with all of the kids (yes three kids under the age of 4 for a two hour graduation ceremony, we really love him). A big thank you to both of my parents who came to support Michael and help me with the kids! The girls were so excited to cheer him on. They were anxiously waiting for him to walk across the stage!

There he is on the jumbotron...

Daddy and his girls

His biggest fans! Way to go Michael!

Jacob's Blessing Day

2011-12-21T09:10:00.001-05:00

On November 6th we decided to have Jacob blessed. He looked very handsome in his little blessing outfit. Here are a few pictures from his special day!

Halloween Happenings

2011-12-20T14:55:00.000-05:00

We started the Halloween festivities with pumpkin carving at Nana & Papas house.

Halloween night, all the kiddos dressed and ready to go. I am wondering if there will be a Halloween in the next few years that one of the girls decides they want to be something other than a princess. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that we already have the dress-ups and it's definitely cheaper, but I have a few other ideas for costumes in the future!

Our little cheeky monkey

The girls waited on the front porch for the first hour of trick or treating. Michael had class that night and it let out right when trick or treating started. I was trying to explain to the girls that I couldn't take them around with the baby and pass out candy at the house at the same time. They were good sports. Especially when Michael got stuck in traffic and didn't get home for an extra hour! They were fine with it as long as I let them keep eating candy out of our basket.

Finally getting to go fill their princess buckets.

Good Old Burger Farm

2011-12-20T08:28:00.000-05:00

As is tradition, we headed to Burger Farm right before Halloween this year. It was a beautiful day but a little cold, but that didn't stop us from bundling up Jacob so he could join, in our family tradition! We started with the fun hayride to the pumpkin patch.
Here are Papa and the girls:

Gracie and Cakes being big girls

One big happy family

Gattuso girls and the cousins

Picking out pumpkins

Mommy and Jakester

Izzy in the scary maze

Best Buddies...at least at this moment :)

My Sweet Baby Boy

2011-12-19T17:20:00.005-05:00

Once again life has been crazy and now we are left just trying to catch up. We are loving our newest addition. He is definitely Mommy's little boy! Here are some pictures over the past 2 months. He is now a chunky 12 lbs 10oz and I love every inch of him :)

Were you noticing a common theme? He sure likes to sleep!

Daddy is sure having fun dressing up his little boy too...

Baby Jacob

2011-11-01T21:40:00.002-04:00

Jacob Michael Gattuso has arrived

2011-10-30T15:32:00.006-04:00

October 19th this sweet boy joined our family at 2:11pm weighing 8lbs. 3oz and 21 1/2inches long. Like his sisters he was about 3 weeks early (36 weeks and 6 days).

One of my favorite doctors (Dr Fleming) was on call and I was more than ready to have Jacob come into this world.

The night before we went out to dinner with Michael's parents and I kept telling everyone this was like my last supper so I had to make it good. I just had a feeling. Apparently my feeling was right. I had started timing my contractions at about 4am and finally woke up Michael at 5:45am to let him know that they were getting closer together. I did my best to hold off calling the Dr until I knew the girls were almost up. I really wanted to say goodbye to them and explain that it was finally time for Jacob to "pop" out as they would say. We got to the hospital about 8:45am and I was at about 3 1/2. I was admitted and got in my room and got an epidural within the next hour. Unfortunately it didn't work like it should have and I only felt it in some places and so most of the contractions I was feeling. By the time I had reached 6cm they decided to take it out and give me another one. I progressed quickly and basically went from a 6 to a 10 without and epidural. It finally kicked in about 3 minutes before I pushed and as Michael seems to be telling everyone the rest was "easy" as two pushes later, Jacob was here. I keep reminding my dear husband that although that part was "easy" please don't forget that is that "fastest" yet hardest labor so far. He's still learning.

Of course it was all worth it. Look at what we get in return

Our first family picture as a family of five

The girls were overjoyed to be able to finally come to the hospital and wear their big sister shirts. They had long been awaiting this day as well.

Michael's parents came for a visit on Monday evening so we were all elated that they could be here for the birth of their grandson just a few days after their arrival! It was very helpful to have them home with the girls while we were at the hospital. Thanks Mike and Sue!

It was also great to have my parents home from Arizona and be a part of this whole process again. It's been nice to have them around to help as well. Juggling three might take me a little while so it's a good thing they live around the corner ;)

My mom couldn't resist taking a picture of Michael trying to change his sons first diaper. It's a little different than he's used to. He's always been a champ at helping with diaper duty but over a week later he still keeps telling me it's a two person job...hmmm

Here is Baby Jacob locked and loaded, ready to go home to his crazy sisters

I thought I would enjoy my "vacation" but I trying to orchestrate things from the hospital it just seemed a little easier to do it hands on at home, so I was ready to be released too!

What can I say, these girls are completely loving their new little brother.

Can't you tell?

Izzy the hairdresser

2011-10-19T09:30:00.001-04:00

Let me start off with a background on this. A few months ago my lovely mother pulled out the following picture from my baby book along with an envelope of hair.

She proceeded to show our darling 4 year old and tell her the story of when I was 2 1/2 years old and took the scissors and gave myself a haircut. Keeping in mind that "Isabelle the sponge" never forgets things she just quietly processes them. This past Saturday Michael was in the front of the house cutting the ornamental grasses back for the winter. With big cutting shears in hand he looked like Edward Scissor Hands and the girls giggled as he told them that he was giving haircuts. Then teasing them he asked if they were next. They giggled some more and screamed NO! Well about 10 minutes later Isabelle announced she needed to use the bathroom and wanted to play inside and inside she went with Katelyn in tow. We finished up and about 5 minutes had passed when Michael went inside and came back out with this:

My heart sank as I wondered which child cut of their beautiful hair. I walked inside to find a nice "shelf" cut off of the front side of Isabelle's hair.

We shared some words with her and finally got her to calm down from the crying. I reminded her that once you cut the hair off it cannot be glued back on and we now had to get in the car and take her to get the rest of the hair to try and be the same length. She was devastated obviously not knowing it would lead to cutting her long long hair off. In her moment of panic she cried. "but what will all my cousins say about my short haircut?" Interesting that those were the thoughts running through her head. I reminded her that she was going to be Rapunzel for Halloween and took pride in the fact that she had the long "Tangled" hair that we were going to curl and make beautiful.

It turned out fine. A few uneven ends that we are willing (or have to) overlook unless we want it even shorter. I think I am struggling with it the most. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones that are making it difficult but I loved her long hair. It will grow back and Izzy is over it so I will work on getting over it too. When I asked Izzy to promise me that she would never do this again her reply was "you did it too Mom"! Nice.

Catch up

2011-10-16T09:59:00.006-04:00

This one is a long one so be warned. There were a lot of "catch up" pictures that were easier to throw into one post.

We took the girls to a Red's game before school started again. One of those last things to do before a new baby comes along. It was pretty hot outside but I think they both enjoyed themselves. Izzy finally got over her fear of Rosie Red and Katelyn was just happy with whatever yummy food was given to her.

Then is was back to school time. Izzy has always loved school. When she was two years old she was begging me to go to school so I would bring her backpack to a music class and tell her that was her school. Last year she felt so grown up going to preschool. We put her in 4 days a week for 1/2 days. It didn't phase her being away from home. In fact she wondered why she didn't go on Fridays. So as you can imagine as the elementary school students headed back almost two weeks before her school started she was very concerned that she was once again missing out on something. Here are some pictures of the first day of school. She was so excited (against my better judgement) to wear her new light up shoes and her new backpack. Life was good!

Shortly after school started we decided that we needed to get Izzy into an opthamologist to get her eyes checked. She had been squinting for the past 8 months but we were waiting to put her on our eye insurance this coming year. The past few month things got worse and we noticed more problems. We decided it was definitely time to get her in before things got worse. I was worried about an adjustment period but she has done remarkable and it just showed us how much she really needed them. We let her pick out two pairs but these are her favorite :)

All in the same week, Isabelle came down with the croup. It was probably the scariest thing I have experienced thus far as a parent. She woke up in the middle of the night literally gasping for breathe with a temperature of 103. The next day we went to urgent care (of course this always happens on the weekend!) and they gave her steroids which helped clear things up. I must admit her little raspy voice was very cute. Not even two days later Katelyn got the same thing. I was at least prepared this time as I knew exactly how Izzy's had started and got her into the pediatrician the first day to get her dose of steroids. We made it through it. Hopefully we are just getting these nasty sicknesses out of the house before the baby joins us.

More house projects. Michael tackled this one without me pressuring. They were blocking our view of the kids playing across the street and they had to go. There were three big ones and my wonderful husband stepped up to the plate to tear them out. We still have the roots left to deal with but I am fine with that for the time being.

Moving and House Projects

2011-10-09T10:13:00.005-04:00

Mid July was moving day and we were very lucky to have lots of help from family and friends. We couldn't have done it without them! I was otherwise occupied and not worried about taking pictures but my mother was wonderful enough to at least take some on her cell phone.

We kept a POD at my parents house to clear out our things so they could move back in. It made moving a big portion of our stuff easier when the company picked it up there and dropped it off at the new house.

Izzy and Cakes waving goodbye to Nana & Papa's house

My new neighbors thought I was pretty crazy as I was 6 1/2 months pregnant and painting everything around me in the 90-100 degree temperatures. I started with the mailbox post and went on to the garage. I have to admit if I just waited a little longer for the cooler temperatures it might have been an easier job to tackle. For some reason I picked the longest hottest streak in Cincinnati to do my outdoor painting. What can I say I was nesting :)

I moved on to the doors later with my sister Tracy who was another big painting helper!

Just recently I decided to keep and update the kitchen table we have had for years. I love spray paint, it's my new best friend. So it's now spray painted and thanks to the Blakes and my lovely husband who has a hidden talent for covering chairs, it's like a new table!

The old fabric which I was happy to get taken off

It took a long time to take the wallpaper off in the kitchen (about 1 1/2 weeks). I again had a lot of help! Thanks everyone. It took a little while to pick a color but we finally did.

Thanks so much to my talented friend Shelley who spend two days painting the kitchen. There was a lot of cutting to do around the cabinets but she did an awesome job!

Next up was the baby's room. It's the only bedroom painted but everyone knows the nursery is a priority (back to the nesting). Here's the finished project!

Again I love spray paint, here is before

Here is the after

So we have kept busy on the house front. Everyone keeps telling me to stop with the projects. I keep trying but this baby better come soon or I think I might have a few more ideas of things to start!

Gattuso Beach Vacation

2011-09-25T09:21:00.013-04:00

Knowing that the baby is coming and I am running out of time to procrastinate, I forced myself to go through the 2500 pictures from our vacation. I couldn't even bring myself to look through the pictures we copied from other family members, there were just too many. That's what happens when 25 people head to the beach and live under the same roof for a week! Nevertheless there are still smiles on everyones faces.

The girls and Michael had been talking about the Gattuso Beach Vacation for the past year when we scheduled it. Keep in mind this is the first real "vacation" we had all year and Michael was pretty excited. Izzy went to the beach when she was about 4 months old and had no memory of it and it was Katelyn's first time. Here they are packed and ready to go for the 11 hour car ride to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina!

As a little kid we played "who stole the cookie from the cookie jar" at Beck family reunions. My parents were keeping up the tradition teaching it to their grandchildren

Have I mentioned there were 13 grandchildren? Sharese put together these shirts. We figured there might be number 14 and 15 on the way but their "numbers" will never change :)

We kept plenty busy feeding the horses

Lots of eating...Tyler and Ryan had a crab eating contest at an all you can eat crab night. The winner said, the sickness he felt afterwards was not worth it. Good thing I carry Tums on a regular basis, huh Ryan?

Everyone rented bikes and the girls and Michael actually refused to take the car certain places and enjoyed their travel this way. I think I would have liked that too! I did get in my daily bike ride but I must admit I wasn't as enthusiastic as Michael and the girls.

The traditional stop at The Salty Dog Cafe

Going to the lighthouse (the girls and Michael climbed all the way to the top with 110 steps)

We can't forget the "No Talent, Talent Show"

The girls were backup singers to Neil Sedaka's Breaking up is Hard to Do, with Michael as the main singer. I was "offstage" helping them with their dance moves :)

Of course there was plenty of beach time....EVERYDAY :) The girls were in heaven!

It was a short walk to the beach but we were very glad for Michael and the wagon. Cakes had to find a spot among all of our "stuff"

I'm pretty sure a great time was had by all!

I'm glad they love each other most of the time. They are growing up too fast!

Nana & Papa dates

2011-09-04T09:26:00.004-04:00

My parents came home and starting making up for some lost time with all the grandkids. There are 13 grandchildren currently so you can imagine when my parents returned everyone wanted some time with them. My parents decided to take each child on a "Nana & Papa Date". They all drew numbers so they knew what order to go in. When Isabelle drew her number she looked at the paper and saw a number one and her response was a huge smile and said, "YES, I knew I could do it!" I think she thought she won the grand prize and she was the only one having the date. Either way it was cute. For her date she decided she wanted to go to a place called Otterville. It is educational entertainment center typically for younger children and there is lots to do there. Apparently I don't take her as often as she would like to go so she knew that's where she wanted Nana & Papa to go with her and she decided she wanted to bring her sister so she could have a friend to play with.

Sorry about the pictures they are all from a phone but I just couldn't resist showing how much fun the girls were having.

First thing's first, feeding hungry bellies

Then off to the face painting station which they LOVE. Mom tends to monitor this one closely but with Nana and Papa they had free reign this time!

Exploring the water

Then making a little time to do ballet

A puppet show for Nana & Papa

Then Isabelle the Doctor starting doing a check-up on Papa (you can see in the back that Katelyn didn't want to leave the water area...another thing that Mom controls when she's there, so she was living it up)

Katelyn showing Papa her fabulous drawing skills

My mom sent me this last picture on my phone and it said "just like mom". My response was, "Yes, I always wear a dress and heels to the grocery store!"

They had a great time spending some one on one with Nana & Papa (not to mention that I got a lot done at home without them!) Thanks Nana & Papa!

The never-ending 4th birthday

2011-08-24T10:25:00.004-04:00

There was a lot going on around Isabelle's birthday this year with my parents coming home, the 4th of July and preparing to move just to name a few. She had this grand idea of a Jake and the Neverland Pirates birthday party (a Disney show that she loves). When I told her we would just be celebrating with family this year she just couldn't understand why there was not a friend party. I have vowed not to do those every year anyway but I did promise her a Red's game (she had been asking to go since Michael and I went on Opening Day this year). We got some tickets and I told her that she could bring a friend and that would be her "birthday party" this year. I guess I wasn't clear...

She did have a great time. Izzy and her friend and Michael and I were lucky enough to score some Diamond Seats so I told them they could eat all that they wanted. We started inside for some more "sensible food", (I think I was hoping that would fill them up ;) and then we moved out to the seats in 95 degree temperatures for slushies, ice cream, cotton candy and popcorn. After sitting there for a few innings the heat made it no longer fun so we took the girls for a walk to the playground and found a mist fan to cool them down.

Thinking after that night, her birthday fun was taken care of. Then came the Fourth of July. Well, every year the extended family is already together so it's the most practical time to do cake and presents. So rather than having everyone get together again the next day, we had just what Izzy asked for, a princess birthday cake.

On July 5th my high maintenance 4 year old woke up very worried, that we had not sent out those "paper things" that tell everyone they are invited to her birthday and she was wondering what kind of cake she would have today. WOW! Let's just say I had to tread delicately knowing that she had been counting down to her birthday for months and it's all she could talk about. IT was here and she had big plans. Here I was thinking all the plans had already happened! Silly me. We talked about all the fun things she had done to celebrate over the past few days. That didn't register. "But TODAY is my birthday Mom!" There was no use pretending like it was one of the other days we had celebrated because she had been looking at the calendar and she knew. So we tried to make her real birthday as special as we could. Nana started it off making her pancakes with butterflies. She was loving that...

All along (even before the Reds game plans) we told Izzy we would go on a Mommy/Daddy date to Benihana. She loves eating our leftovers every time we go there and we promised her that when her birthday rolled around that is what we would do. She was so grown up and even used the chopsticks. They gave her a hat, sang to her and gave her ice cream.

This was one of Isabelle's big presents this year. It's a Leapster that we found used off of ebay with games and all. We knew that we had a long 11 hour trip in the car coming up and wanted her to have something educational to play rather than just movies to watch.

If there is one thing I have learned from the time frame that Isabelle's birthday falls, we have got to change some things. I love my daughter but we cannot celebrate this way every year. I am a big fan of birthdays but I think we are setting the bar pretty high if this is how is starts out. New plan for next year. One celebration...ON her actual birthday :)

4th of July Fun

2011-08-23T20:38:00.000-04:00

The girls were really looking forward to the parade this year. The weather was a little bit rainy but most of the rain came right before it started. It actually was nice to not have the sun beating down on us. Isabelle believes that every parade has a princess in it because of the 4th of July parade in Anderson. She looks for them until the end and just like last year, she smiled big for the camera.

It was nice to have my parents with us to watch the parade again. I think they had forgotten that it's tradition. It was strange to think that the last one they were at was when I went into labor with Isabelle. They left on their mission the following year but just missed the 4th of July festivities.

We did some fireworks at my parents house after a day of swimming and a BBQ. This was Katelyn's reaction the entire time as I could feel her heart pounding out of her chest. I think she relates fireworks to the last time she saw them and wasn't responding very well. Aunt Sarah was nice enough to take her inside to watch from the window.

Welcome HOME!

2011-08-23T14:01:00.005-04:00

Back at the end of June my parents returned from their three year mission in Phoenix Arizona. The whole gang met them at the airport with open arms and happy tears!

I love this picture of all the kids fighting for a hug from Papa

Izzy's famous "two cheek kiss" for Papa

My Grandma and Grandpa Russell made it back here for the the welcome home! The girls love to spend time with their "GG Russell" as they call them.

Here are all of the girls with GG Russell

Welcome home Mom and Dad!

Banana Split Festival

2011-08-07T10:55:00.005-04:00

Back in June we headed up to the Banana Split Festival in Wilmington, Ohio. We took the girls and Sarah and the Campbell's followed us up there.

We parked and the girls thought that it was wonderful that the shuttle service were golf carts

First things, first. We didn't waste anytime digging into the banana splits. They were heavenly!

Then there was a little playing

and music listening....the girls wandered up to these chairs by themselves and were very entertained with this a cappella group who were practicing. They didn't mind that the adults didn't follow, they were loving every minute of it.

My Birthday Surprise

2011-06-13T18:32:00.000-04:00

Michael hurried me into the car with the girls and said we were going to lunch. We arrived at the Becoming Mom Spa and I was very excited. Thanks to Lane and Whitney for their part in this from far away, it was a great birthday present!

I had been wanting to go find out the gender of the baby and Michael kept putting me off, telling me it was our 3rd and there was no need to pay money to find out early. Well, find out we did! Looks like Michael won't be overrun by girls anymore. In early November, Isabelle and Katelyn will be adjusting to to life with a baby brother!

I have to say, that I was not prepared for the reaction that came from Isabelle. Once she found out why we were there she was very excited. When the technician told us the news, tears began to stream down her face and she repeatedly said, "I didn't want a boy". Katelyn didn't seem to care much why we were there, and was entertained with playing games on the phone the entire ultrasound. Below are some ultrasound pictures and pictures of Izzy's reaction after the technician left the room.

It took her about 45 minutes for her to come out of being upset and eventually she was excited too. I reminded her that she will always be the BIG sister even if the baby was a boy. An added perk in her eyes was that she now had a prince to play dress up with...this baby doesn't know what's in store for him :)

Happy 30th Birthday Tiff!

2011-06-13T12:30:00.000-04:00

I'm stepping out of blogging retirement to give a big Happy Birthday to Tiffany for her 30th birthday. I tried to be sly this year and plan a few surprises for Tiffany. First we crashed her GNO at the Cheese Cake Factory the day before her birthday.

On her actual birthday I surprised her with a special outing that I'm sure she'll blog about. I also got her favorite Strawberry Shortcake cake to celebrate her birthday with the family.

My three favorite ladies helping to celebrate Tiffany's birthday!

Cruising into Summer

2011-06-13T08:45:00.003-04:00

Summer is here, and it's gonna be a busy one. Just in the past few weeks this is what we've been up to:

Tyler and Sarah are here for the summer and we are currently all living together. Sarah has been a tremendous help already with the girls and helping me to juggle all that is going on. Tyler has been helping to move things which has also been very helpful. The girls are also thrilled to have them here!

I think Katelyn is pretty excited to have her best friend home on a daily basis and school not interfering with her plans with her sister.

Isabelle went to a bowling party and was able to experience bowling for the first time and looked forward to it all week long.

She took her turn very seriously

Enjoying the last week of school

2011-06-12T20:37:00.004-04:00

Do you see this smile? She was like this all week. She was in preschool heaven. The second to last day of school, Isabelle's class went on a walking field trip to the pizza place down the road. It was about a mile away. When I would tell people how long they were walking they were surprised but Izzy kept reassuring everyone that it wasn't a short or long walk but a medium walk.

Upon arrival Izzy seemed even more satisfied to be sitting among all of her classmates and eating pizza

They all had a walking partner. Jonathan and Izzy were so cute holding hands that I couldn't help but snap a picture :) It was fun to walk by them and listen to their conversation. They were trying to plan a play date and figure out how to get to each others house and Jonathan asked, "Do you live in Ohio? Cuz I live in Ohio". I couldn't help but laugh.

The last day of school everyone met at the park with their families and lunch. Izzy was most excited about Katelyn and her dad meeting all of her friends. She introduced them with pride. Katelyn was just excited to be able to be a part of what her sister was doing.

Here is Izzy with her teachers Cindy and Kris.

Izzy and her buddy Caroline

Last but not least, her picture with her Daddy, so happy to have him there!

Izzy plays Soccer

2011-06-12T10:59:00.004-04:00

We signed Izzy up for a kids soccer league this spring. It is same to assume Izzy was very excited about the prospect of getting a new "outfit", even if it's only soccer cleats, shinguards and soccer shorts.

In action Izzy didn't always get the hang of the game. She often inspected the ceiling and her shoes and practiced her ballet dancing. She did manage to score one goal during the season and she was pretty excited about that.

She did love the atmosphere and being able to spend time with her friends.

The highlight was of course the medal that she received at the end of the season. In fact, if you ask her what was her favorite part of soccer she'll tell you it was the medal.

Izzy and her friends Madeline and Caroline enjoying their medals.

The official team photo for the M. Lyons YMCA White Team Spring 2011.

Double Neapolitan

2011-06-12T10:33:00.005-04:00

When we took this picture a couple of weeks ago we knew it looked familiar.

Cakes-a-Lakes turns 2!

2011-05-11T21:44:00.000-04:00

So hard to believe that our baby girl just turned two! I have to say it was a wonderful day to share Mother's Day with Katelyn as that sweet reminder of the joy that she brings to my life!

Katelyn is our 29 pound ball of joy! She is known around our house by many aliases; Katelyn, Baby Cakes, Kate, Cakes-A-Lakes, Cakies. In fact if you ask her what her name is 99% of the time you will hear her say "Cakelyn" or "Cakes". I guess we need to start working on that but rest assured she does know her real name as well.

She loves everything Dora right now, just like another two year old I can remember. It's a good thing we've already gone through this phase with one (it's not quite so expensive then)

The first birthday picture of the day was taken with Michael's cell phone so it's not the best but she was pretty happy about waking up to balloons. Yes she is still in her crib and I love it! No attempt to get out and that's where she stays for now :)

Just a little weekend update. It was crazy busy and Friday and Saturday night the girls didn't get to bed until at least 9 or 10. This made for some difficult days when bedtime is usually 7:30. So with that being said, and no nap on Sunday because of church, our little birthday girl kept wanting snuggles ( I was not complaining one bit ).

So for a girl that usually gives blank stares to the camera. She was all smiles that it was her special day. She had been telling everyone that she was almost 2 for so long, and now it was here!

You can actually see her joining in on the Happy Birthday song. She was very familiar with it as she was singing it to herself all week long :)

Some of her favorites, Dora movie, Dora micophone, Dora umbrella

Cakes very rarely falls asleep in the car anymore but as you can see she didn't even make it home. She also didn't let go of her new Dora microphone. It's a good thing she got new pajamas at the party!

Happy Birthday to a little girl who brings smiles and laughter into our lives. We love you!

Easter Fun

2011-05-11T21:19:00.000-04:00

Our first Easter egg hunt of the spring was at a playgroup. It had been a constant downpour of rain for the month of April so we were lucky to get a sunny day to do this at the park. This was Katelyn's first real Easter egg hunt and as you can see the grin on her face says it all. Colorful eggs and candy inside them no less, made for two happy little girls. You like the snow boots Katelyn is wearing? Izzy has rain boots but Cakes does not so the next best thing for all the muddy grass was definitely snow boots!

This brings us to Easter morning. Dad snapped a quick picture on the steps before they ran into the kitchen to see if the Easter bunny brought anything for their Easter baskets.

Who knew that socks would make these two SO happy? The Easter bunny did obviously!

This picture is a little bit of organized chaos. All the "Beck" grandchildren on the stairs before charging outside to conquer the Easter eggs. Can you believe there are 13 of them?

and a Happy Easter was had by all!

Butterfly Show

2011-05-03T21:30:00.002-04:00

Tricia and I took the opportunity to go with the kids to Krohn Conservatory for the 2011 Butterfly Show. It had been a few years since I had been and I was excited to see how the girls would like it. Izzy thought they were beautiful but she didn't want them coming near her at first. Katelyn was interested but not enough to have one actually land on her.

As you can see in this first picture, they did not want to take their eyes off of the butterfly in fear that it would fly onto them.

I snapped this picture just before she started to show her panic that one had landed on her. She's watching it like a hawk.

Right before we were ready to leave Tricia was holding Isabelle and one landed on her arm. Surprisingly enough she seemed ok with it and then became thrilled that she had a butterfly resting on her arm. Go figure. My thoughts are, that it wasn't actually touching her skin, but landed on her sweater which seemed to make all the difference. Needless to say she was very excited about butterflies from that moment forward.

Izzy, Brandon, Cakes and Abby on the butterfly chair. So cute!

Opening Day

2011-05-03T14:05:00.006-04:00

We were fortunate enough to get some last minute tickets to the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day this year. This is only my second time going to Opening Day and it was pretty cold but it was definitely worth it. It's a huge "holiday" in the city of Cincinnati and it was fun to be a part of it again.

We went with our good friends the Blakes as a last hurrah before they moved to Idaho. I was very proud of Whitney for leaving behind her baby for the first time. Best of all, the Redlegs won!

Winter Happenings

2011-03-28T20:39:00.003-04:00

We tried many times to make it to the Festival of Lights at the Zoo as a family. Unfortunately it has been a rough winter of sickness in the Gattuso household. Our last attempt, Katelyn was sick with a fever and I sent Michael and Izzy and cousin Abby to enjoy. We had been talking about going for so long and Izzy would ask constantly, "Is today the day we are going to the Festibal of Lights?"

Mid January was Michael's birthday. The girls were very excited to celebrate Daddy's big day and I had to keep reminding Isabelle not to tell Dad what his presents were. She did pretty good but it was very hard to wait all day for Michael to get home from his first set of Saturday classes. Happy 31st Michael!

Iching to play in the snow, Izzy got all decked out in her snow suit and headed out to make some snow angels. Katelyn decided pretty early in the winter that this was not her idea of fun and stayed inside on this particular day.

And of course there have been many a days were Daddy and Katelyn were up to their usual monkey business.

Close your eyes Nana. Yes, those are your mantels that Michael has your granddaughter jumping from. She's loving every minute!

Christmas in March

2011-03-28T13:18:00.006-04:00

Yes, I do realize that Christmas was a whopping three months ago and we've now moved into spring (even though it doesn't feel like it at 30 degrees). It's called playing catch up.

Christmas Eve we did our traditional dinner, nativity and Christmas bingo game. Playing hostess I felt like it was more of a whirlwind than anything but certainly fun being around family and friends. For the nativity, Izzy was an angel again this year and Katelyn well, let's just say she was just wandering around performing on the carpet. She does things on her own terms and a nativity was not in her schedule for the evening.

These are our cute matching aprons that the Beck family (courtesy of Sharese of course) made to go along with our family gift. We love them. Thanks Sharese!

Katelyn all ready for bed in her new jammies.

Izzy set out some cake pops, carrots and milk for Santa and his crew. She insisted on leaving a cute little note so he knew exactly who it was from. It was fun to see her so excited this year.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

The traditional Christmas morning on the stairs picture before they see what or if Santa has come.

I'm not saying that Katelyn didn't love her other new toys but she definitely takes after her Mom with her love of shoes. I couldn't be more proud ;)

One of Isabelle's new presents. She's enjoyed rocking out ever since.

Both of the girls with their new princess baby dolls, snuggling under their new princess fleece blanket, watching a princess movie. Yep, all girl, both of them!

It's the most wonderful time of the year

2011-01-16T08:42:00.006-05:00

We have been very busy just as most people are around the holidays. Here is a quick update on the events leading up to Christmas.

We started the holidays off with my Mom coming home to see my sister Tracy's new baby Taylor. He had been in the NICU for a while and my Mom was waiting to come help out after he came home from the hospital. The night before he came home we were able to sneak in a dinner to celebrate birthdays too. It was good to have her here for a short while.

I had the opportunity to see Darius Rucker for Michael's company Christmas party. He had an exam that night so I took Whitney as my date.

Michael and I were able to go eat at The Palace which is a nice restaurant at the Cincinnatian Hotel downtown. It was a fun night with the Blakes to try new "fancy" food!

Izzy talked a lot about gingerbread men and gingerbread houses at school and insisted that we make one this year. Here is the finished product.

We were able to take a family picture at our ward Christmas party. This is a rare occurrence these days so it was nice to have a family picture around the holidays.

Santa's little helpers

2010-12-23T20:49:00.001-05:00

Christmas Greetings!

2010-12-21T22:27:00.004-05:00

We have so much to be grateful for during this Christmas season. We feel so blessed to have love and laughter fill our home. Our precious little girls are growing up so fast and we feel like every time we blink they are older. Right now we are just trying to enjoying all of these tender moments, giggles and laughter. Merry Christmas!

Isn't he great?

2010-12-08T16:51:00.006-05:00

Over the past year Michael has been back at the University of Cincinnati getting his Masters. He has had a grueling schedule with homework, overload on work projects, church responsibilities and family. Among all of that he still finds time to help people out with their computer/technology problems. I have been so proud of him and his ability to juggle it all.

He is the most wonderful father to our beautiful daughters. So I just wanted to show some of the things that they have been up to on their "Daddy Daughter Outings". What a cool Dad :)

The three of them decided to take up hiking

There is always ice cream involved when he takes the girls out. You can tell Mom isn't on this outing because they would be sharing an ice cream instead of having their own :) Props to him for remember to bring a bib though, I don't even do that anymore!

The new favorites are going down to the river to throw rocks and going to feed the horses down the road.

Going to the play area in the mall when the weather is bad

Late nights when a certain someone won't sleep but Daddy is up studying. She finally gave up at 1:00am.

A little cuddle time or as I like to call it, "nerd time" on electronic devices with Dad

Thanks for being such an awesome father and husband! We love you!

Trick-or-Sweet

2010-12-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

We really enjoyed the Halloween festivities this year. We had trunk-or-treat at church, we went to Burger Farm to pick pumpkins, we went to HallZOOween at the Zoo, carved our own pumpkins for the first time and did actual trick-or-treating. We kept busy and loved every minute of it! Here's the proof:

Cakes was my little cheerleader this year. She walked around saying, "Go Team" and I had to think of something she could dress up as that didn't require a hat on her head. She DOES NOT like to be restrained in any way, shape or form. If she puts something on her head it comes off within seconds. This outfit was perfect for her. She is such a cutie!

Izzy ran into the corner of the piano a few hours before trick-or-treating, hence the butterfly stitch we put across her forehead. She didn't seem to mind as long as she still got to put on that beautiful Belle dress. I also convinced her to wearing her sparkle tennis shoes instead of real princess slippers. I knew she would be complaining the minute she started walking if she wore the other ones. See, Mom always knows best!

Pumpkin Patch (a little late)

2010-12-01T22:17:00.004-05:00

It seems wrong that I am just now posting about events in October but I am forever trying to catch up so here it is anyway!

This next picture is a pretty classic picture of our little rug-rats. Isabelle is making a wild "cheese" face always looking at other things and not the camera. Katelyn looks at the camera, she just gives a lot of blank stairs. I promise she does smile a lot, most of the times she just chooses not to do it simply because we are asking her to.

I had to include the following two pictures. One is the oh so cute one of Izzy hold a baby chick and loving it.

...and here she is loving it a little too much with her crazy look like she is going to squeeze the baby chick to death!

I know we are mean parents. Yes, Michael is holding her arm while we torture her to take a picture with the glasses. It was worth it :)

And then there is Izzy who gladly poses for pictures, especially if she is the star.

Happy Hayriding!

A wonderful week

2010-09-28T20:09:00.009-04:00

We had the wonderful opportunity of having my Mom's parents come visit for a week. How great that our children can make memories with their Great Grandparents!

Lots of family dinners

Grandma and Grandpa got to experience play dates with friends...

the girls even tried to get Grandpa to play dress up too!

We had a special treat to be able to go to the Red's game with my Uncle Brent and my Grandparents

They were welcomed in front of the whole stadium!

The Gapper (who my girls were not so fond of) even stopped by to drop off some special treats

I think a fun time was had by all

Thanks for a wonderful visit GG Russell!

Labor Day Fireworks...Ouch!

2010-09-14T13:16:00.004-04:00

The Hensleys invited us to go to see the fireworks at an event in Mt. Adams this year.

Here was our view for the fireworks. It was perfect, or would have been more perfect if we were able to watch all of them from that spot, but I'll get to that.

There was a delicious dinner for the adults, Gold Star Chili for the kids and yummy Graeter's ice cream for everyone! The girls really enjoyed themselves.

There was a kids area with bounce houses, games and raffles. Right after this picture was taken, we took Cakes out of the bouncy house. I reached in to get Izzy out and heard Cakes screaming. Right next to the area was a large industrial landscape spotlight that was on. Katelyn apparently rested her hand on it and it burned it. She screamed for the next two hours straight. We tried to put cold water on it and took her to the first aid tent and they put something on it as well. Nothing seemed to help. I don't think we realized how bad it really was until about 45 minutes later (it was dark and the fireworks were just starting) and we saw the blisters starting to form. It was looking bad so we decided to leave and take her to the Emergency Room. We didn't get to see very much of the fireworks but we enjoyed what we saw. Sorry Hensleys for having to leave early :(

Here we are at the ER. Cakes finally fell asleep shortly before we got there. Good news is she was more calm when we were at the hospital.

Here is her poor hand two days later. She had a 2nd degree burn on three fingers and the upper pad of her hand. Ouch! She was such a trooper even when they started to pop!

Pre-School Here She Comes!!

2010-09-06T14:33:00.002-04:00

So the time has come. Izzy has wanted to go to school for the past year and be a "big" girl. She had her phase in day last week and tomorrow is officially her first day by herself. She will be going for just a few hours but four days a week. My little girl is getting bigger. Isabelle has informed me as of late, when I call her baby that she is not a baby but a big girl. She is after all, three going on twenty. Here's to the fun years ahead!

Last trip to Phoenix

2010-09-03T14:10:00.007-04:00

Remember how I spoke of time flying by? Well, believe it or not my parents have about 10 months left of their mission. We took what will probably be our last trip to see them and have lots of pictures to show for it. (Probably more pictures than people care to see, so just be warned :)

The girls had a lot of fun with Nana & Papa. They were treated like princesses and could do pretty much what they wanted. This picture pretty much sums it up. Not sure if you can see Izzy's shirt but is says "I rule the castle". It might as well have said, "I rule the mission home" because that is what they both did!

Katelyn loved to climb up the stool and turn off and on the lights. My Mom said this occupied her for at least 30 minutes one day when Michael and I were out. This would have driven me insane, so props to Nana for allowing it the whole time we were there.

Michael and I were able drive to Mesa one day and attend the temple, eat yummy Cafe Rio, and shop (Michael actually waited in the car for close to an hour as I had lost track of time in a store. He didn't attempt to call or come in and get me which I give him major points for). While we were gone the girls had a fun tea party with Nana, did some more swimming in the awesome alligator pool (we found on sale for $7.00!) and ate many Red Vines (which seemed to be the go-to treat of the trip).

Saturday morning we hiked up Surprise Mountain by my parents house. Cakes and Izzy got the easy rides on Papa and Daddy's shoulders.

We stopped about half way up and pulled out the water and snacks for the kids. The men hiked all the way to the top. We became a welcoming committee for the very popular mountain trail. Katelyn would wave and Isabelle would chime in with the standard "Hi Ladies" or "Good morning, what a beautiful day!". We made a lot of friends up on that mountain. One couple stopped and talked to us about building a Cairn and here is the one that Nana and the girls worked on until Michael and Papa returned.

Making rolls with Nana. We were lucky enough to take a batch home with us which was very convenient on the airplane!

Saying goodbye, so long, farewell

Thanks Mom and Dad for taking time out of your busy schedule to let us come and visit. We had so much fun!!

The British are coming (ok so they came & went)

2010-09-01T13:48:00.007-04:00

So once again we have fallen behind on...life. I can't believe it's already September! I am frantically trying to keep up so I thought I should start posting.

At the end of July/beginning of August, Michael's parents and two nephews and niece (Levi, Malachy and Tallulah) came for a two week visit. The time was spent:
*Going to the Cincinnati Zoo

*Hitting up the Reds game (grateful we were able to get tickets, the Red's are doing great this season!)

*Swimming

*Visiting downtown Cincinnati, Newport, and consuming lots of ice cream!!

Of course we had the opportunity to do a few photo shoots to document all the Gattuso cousins together.
Izzy and Mally are just shy of two years apart in age and had so much fun with each other. Here is a picture of the younger cousins together

Gran and Grandad and all the Gattuso grandchildren

Michael and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary while everyone was here. It was really nice to have a night out and go to dinner (with free babysitting!) Wow eight years of wedded bliss and two beautiful girls, we are so lucky!!

Tea Party for a Princess!

2010-07-13T13:46:00.000-04:00

It must be the age but as stated in our previous post, Izzy is all about being a Princess right now. I would like to say she has a favorite but I think mostly she wavers back and forth between Sleeping Beauty and Belle. So it seemed only right that she would celebrate her 3rd birthday in style. It was a princess tea party and everyone was to come dressed in their prettiest party dress, with NO BOYS ALLOWED. I convinced her that Daddy was a prince charming there to take pictures of the tea party and that seemed to be ok.

This was the picture on her party invitations. I promise I did not teach her that wave...it comes naturally. Heaven help me!

Props to the two of you who wore your wedding dress and could still fit into it. I was not so lucky but she was thrilled with those that did. Izzy had no age limit to this party. She didn't care if you were young or old, as long as you were a girl!

Some of the fun included Pin the Tiara on Princess Isabelle, Bippity-Boppity-Boo (version of duck duck goose), make-up, nails, dancing to princess music and tea party food!

Aunt Tricia was so kind to make Isabelle's Princess Belle Cake. Izzy thought it was the coolest thing. Thanks Trish!

Katelyn was so excited with all the fun. Her outfit is actually one that Nana gave Izzy for her birthday and it just so happens that they can already share clothes ;)

I can't believe our little girl is growing up so fast. She has been a riot lately to be around and you never really know what is going to come out of her mouth. Just the other day I asked her to come here and her response was, "What do you need from me Mom?" I told her I needed to apply sunscreen to her face and she said, "Seriously Mom?". I thought she just turned three but maybe I missed a few years somewhere. Wow! All I can say is that we just love her so much. She brings joy, laughter and a lot of craziness to our already crazy family. Happy Birthday Princess Izzy!

The 4th of July Parade

2010-07-12T21:18:00.005-04:00

We should be used to our 4th of July weekend being crazy busy by now. There are always a bunch of festivities that we try to fit in, along with birthday celebrations for Isabelle. There are not too many pictures from anything but the parade. Katelyn wasn't feeling well and had a high temperature (due to another ear infection) by the time we got home. I'm sure the 95 degree weather did not help one bit. Michael tried to keep her shaded but it was pretty toasty, so she just laid back on Dad and didn't really move. Michael claims that having two girls he has lost his "street cred", surrounded by all the pink fufu things (princess umbrella). I think it's very manly.

Isabelle's favorite part of the parade was, drumroll please.......the princesses.
Never mind the candy being thrown, Uncle Sam on stilts, or the flashing lights of firetrucks and police cars. She got Daddy to chase all the way down to the end of the parade yelling, "Jasmine, Jasmine!!!!". Michael admitted later on that he felt very awkward running after a dressed up women yelling her characters name. The things we do for our kids! Here is Izzy with Snow White. She was in heaven. It's a cheap Disney World, what can I say?

All the fun at Lake Powell

2010-07-11T13:46:00.005-04:00

My six days away to Lake Powell was jam packed with fun. The sole purpose in going was for my good friend Lisa's wedding. What a beautiful spot to be married in. I am so glad I was able to share this day with her. She is so wonderful!

Here I am with the beautiful bride Mrs. Kelly!!!

Some of her Cincinnati support group. We love you Lisa!

The rest of the time was spent with family on my Uncle's house boat. He was so great for letting us all come and play.

My Mom and her girls

My Uncle Reed and his family and some of the our Beck clan.

An added bonus was to be able to see my parents as the Pitts Family and I flew into Phoenix (Lake Powell has been a part of their mission until things just changed July 1st)

While Mom was Away...

2010-07-10T10:13:00.010-04:00

These are just a few of the things the girls and Michael were up to when I was in Lake Powell. (Daddy did a great job by the way, but don't tell him I said so. He might begin to think this motherhood thing is a piece of cake.) Maybe this means I can leave him with the girls more often??

It was Reds Day at the Cincinnati Zoo and Michael found the girls Reds attire and off they went. Of course no trip to the zoo is complete without ice cream.

Cakes was not to thrilled with Rosie Red :(

Our friend Lane found a turtle and brought it to our house to set it free in the back yard. Katelyn seemed a little apprehensive in this picture.

This is all I have heard about from Miss Izzy. She still thinks that turtle is roaming in the backyard!

The United States played England while I was away as well. When I called that morning, Michael was on a hunt all over to try and find an England shirt. After already going to a few places I mentioned that I had seen one at trusty Target. Score! Just what Michael was looking for, a way to root for both teams!

He found the sprinkler (I didn't know we had one?) and let the girls play completely clothed. Not what Mom would have done, but hey I wasn't home to tell him that swim suits were ideal for water activities.

Looks like he got the right attire for the pool :)

They had a lot of fun together! Daddy wore the girls out, and I'm pretty sure a few nap times were skipped. Here's a little proof:

Cabo San Jose (a little behind)

2010-07-09T23:23:00.005-04:00

So almost two months ago we had the incredible opportunity to go to Cabo San Jose, Mexico. It was our first trip without both of the girls (thanks to Lisa, Tricia and Tracy for watching them). We went with our good friends Lane and Whitney Blake and had an awesome time!

There are many pictures to follow (most for our own memories) feel free to enjoy them! You may find the Blake's blog post of our trip a little more informative.

Home Alone

2010-06-08T22:43:00.003-04:00

Okay, so we're trying something really new out. Tiffany was invited to her friends wedding out in Lake Powell, Utah and I am staying home with the girls ... for SIX days! Katelyn couldn't care less but Izzy really isn't sure about this at all. We just got back from a weekend away last month so the idea of being without her mom is really fresh in her mind and somehow I'm not a sufficient replacement. I have lots of bribes ready and am not against the idea of keeping them fueled up on candy and treats until Tiffany gets back...

Wish me luck!

Birthday shout

2010-06-03T12:05:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to wish Tiffany a happy birthday and let her know how thankful I am for all that she is and does. I am thankful for the two little monkeys that we call ours and would not want to share this exciting journey with anyone else!

Love ya!

Cakes is One!

2010-05-25T13:40:00.000-04:00

Still playing catch up a little bit here.... Katelyn had her first Birthday the beginning of May. We obviously went with a "cupcakes" theme! Here's Katelyn with her brand new birthday slide! Weeee.

Tiffany's put her desert making skills to good use and homemade the cupcakes...

...and these teeny little cupcake cake pops (thanks to the Sharese school of culinary arts)

Cakes was excited by the gifts she received (not only the gifts but the wrapping too)!

Katelyn didn't know quite what to do with the candle on the birthday cake. She finally extinguished it with her finger..oops. It worked though!

The cake was very much demolished by Cakes. Delicious!

Izzy was more than happy to help Katelyn celebrate her special day. What are sisters for?

Dad finally came to town

2010-05-24T14:19:00.002-04:00

My Dad has been planning a solo trip to come and see us for a long time. Finally at the beginning of the month he was able to make it all the way to Cincinnati on his own.

We figured my parents have been to Cincinnati six or seven times at least so they are certainly no strangers here. It didn't stop us from the enjoying the great Cincinnati pastimes, like Graeters ice cream:

The Cincinnati Reds baseball team:

New on our outings this time were the Root Beer stand (probably properly called "ye olde tyme roote beere stande") which was really good for ... well ... root beer.

We also went out to the Zoo (now that we are bona fide Zoo season ticket holders) and had a great time there especially on the train! - maybe we should've just bought season tickets to the theme-park.

The highlight of the trip however, was to witness these little monkeys spending time with their granddad.

Katelyn's first bike ride

2010-05-23T13:21:00.002-04:00

We got to pull out the old bike helmet a few weeks ago and let Katelyn have her first bike ride.

She was a little apprehensive at first.

Not so say the bike ride wasn't awesome (which it was) but it seemed to be a little too much for Katelyn who couldn't handle the excitement and had to take a nap.

In other news Katelyn has started to figure out how to feed herself. She's hasn't mastered it yet but it's a good start.

She's also started to get up on her feet. Maybe she'll be walking soon.

One thing's for sure is that Katelyn loves to sleep and can sleep anywhere, anyhow.

Sisters

2010-05-02T15:34:00.005-04:00

This is why we're glad we have two girls in a row...

Children for Sale

2010-04-26T18:16:00.000-04:00

So we've been having a few "discipline" problems with the girls lately. Katelyn is either wandering off up the stairs or fishing in the toilet bowl / or snacking on the toilet paper.

Izzy on the other hand is practicing her art skill everywhere and has picked up some "potty" words from somewhere <cough> cousins <cough>.

Easter (updated)

2010-04-25T23:59:00.006-04:00

Easter began with an Easter egg hunt at the local park. Izzy was excited to use her Easter egg basket....finally.

Katelyn was excited to use the swing (it's a family trait).

Izzy didn't want to pass on the opportunity to get in the swings either.

Katelyn was unsure of the Easter bunny (another family trait) but Isabelle wouldn't even get close this year, presumably as she is scarred for life.

Easter morning brought a surprise from the Easter bunny (confession time - I'm not really sure what the Easter bunny is really up to dropping off baskets at night - never really understood the Easter bunny "story" - but I suppose if we let a creepy old guy in the house at Christmas we can let a weird egg laying bunny in at Easter). We did discuss the real reason for Easter with the girls I swear!

It wouldn't be a significant holiday with out a dedicated dress. Here's Izzy (Cakes had a matching dress but fell asleep before we take pictures)!

Here's Cakes enjoying the Easter egg hunt.

Update

I am being forced to confess that bucket wearing is also a family trait....

Snow Days

2010-03-18T21:03:00.004-04:00

Back in early February (yup we're a little behind) Cincinnati got hit with a good couple of snow storms. The kids were excited to get out a play in the white stuff.

Abby came over to play with the girls. She did her very best to help up build a good snowman. She wasn't very impressed with my snowman rolling skills but we managed to get something together in the end.

The most important part of any snow day is getting back inside and warming up with Hot Chocolate and Whipped Cream!

Best Buds

2010-03-18T20:33:00.005-04:00

Izzy's "new" friend Madeline (she has known Madeline for 6 months or so but that doesn't stop her from calling her "new"every time she refers to her) came to stay for a couple of days while Madeline's mom had her baby. The first priority for these two is getting into dress ups!

These two girls are made from the same mold, two peas in a pod. It was so fun to see how similar these two are (ok, so not always so fun - we feel for our friends that have twins....).

Phoenix Follow-up

2010-02-09T20:44:00.004-05:00

Like a Phoenix from the ashes our posts about Phoenix won't die. Well OK this is our final post on our two and a half week trip to the desert.

We got to celebrate Debbie's birthday

Katelyn got to play in the grass

Izzy got to be Nana's helper in the kitchen

... and got to enjoy pancakes.

Izzy and I got to go hiking a couple of times

Izzy got to run into the sunset

We all went to In-and-out ... a lot .... the bank statement says 7 times - we must've paid cash a few times!

Katelyn got a career idea

Izzy got to play catch

Katelyn got to swim

Gingerbread men were decorated

And outta no where ... we found snow and the Polar Express two hours north of the desert. We were trying to get to the Grand Canyon but got stuck in snow in Williams, AZ.

Santa gave the kids a bell and Mrs. Claus made them all hot chocolate!

On growing up

2010-01-28T10:13:00.002-05:00

Isabelle's achievement of the week - getting rid of her binkies at night. Woot!

Tyler and Sarah's wedding

2010-01-21T21:25:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple of shots from Tyler and Sarah's wedding. It was a great day and we are so excited to welcome Sarah to the family (finally after 7.5 years I am not the 'last one in'!).

Christ-masses

2010-01-08T04:19:00.002-05:00

We set of on Christmas Eve with the Pitts from Cincinnati to head out to Phoenix for Christmas / Tyler and Sarah's wedding.

Paul and Debbie met us at the airport.

Paul and Debbie catching up with Cakes.

Izzy "I can do it myself" carrying her bags.

Katelyn was baby Jesus in the Christmas Eve nativity and Izzy was a wise (wo)man. Since Christmas Izzy now refers to Jesus only as "Baby Jesus" - Talladega Nights anyone?

Christmas morning after Santa dropped of our Stockings.

Tyler and the kids.

Izzy had wanted a Belle doll from Santa for Christmas. If Gonja's report was that Izzy was good then we told Izzy that Santa would bring her one. Here's Izzy's response:

Merry Christmas from us ... and Gonja!

2009-12-24T14:30:00.003-05:00

we hope you have a great Christmas season and a a happy New Year!

Gonja has kept Izzy in line this Christmas season (no such thing as being good for goodness sake I'm afraid). After Thanksgiving an elf started showing up in the house in various places. Izzy decided that it was a girl elf and gave her the name "Gonja". Every night Gonja would return back to Santa and report on the kids activities and come back the next day in a new vantage spot ready to report to Santa. Hopefully the reports were mostly good so that Izzy won't get a lump of coal from Santa. - it's been close though.

Turkey #5148

2009-12-15T21:47:00.004-05:00

Tiffany completed her first 10K race on Thanksgiving Day. Every year (this was the 100th year) there is a 10K race in downtown Cincinnati. Tiffany walked the 6.2 miles with her friends Lisa and Marie.

Izzy and I went downtown to greet them at the finish line.

Izzy joined Tiffany for the dash to the finish line.

After the race we caught up with the Blakes who also did the race this year.

Here's the certificate I was able to download from the website! congratulations Tiffany!

In sink hot tub

2009-11-12T20:21:00.003-05:00

I was in a rush to get Katelyn to bed but Izzy was taking forever to finish her dinner. Solution, bath in the sink. The sink worked out to be the perfect size for Katelyn.

Izzy, couldn't let Katelyn do something "exciting" without getting in on the action. The regular boring bath wasn't good enough. Izzy had to have her own hot tub bath too!

Trick or Treating Tinker-bell

2009-11-08T11:35:00.004-05:00

As usual Izzy and Cakes got a couple of opportunities to get their halloween costumes on. First at the ward trunk or treat and then on Halloween night.

First trunk or treat. Izzy was excited to go as "Tinker-bell" . We were excited because a friend donated the outfit (@Lisa - Thanks!).

Katelyn went as some sort of pink leopard.

Halloween. Given that we don't exactly have a neighborhood to go trick or treating around our friends Lane and Whitney invited us over to their neighborhood.

Katelyn got bored about 10 minutes into trick or treating so Tiffany took her back in. Isabelle and I were in it for the long haul and we made around a couple of streets until we filled up Isabelle's basket. Fortunately no-one asked for a trick but Izzy was a very polite trick-or-treater.

Burger Farm 2009

2009-10-31T17:27:00.007-04:00

One of our favorite traditions is going to Burger Farm around halloween to visit the pumpkin patch.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T17:01:00.000-04:00

Afternoon at the Theatre

2009-10-24T16:39:00.004-04:00

Tiffany and Izzy got to enjoy a special afternoon where they went to the theatre to see Disney's Beauty and the Beast Jr.

Being the Jr. version it was a shortened version, but still just a little too long for Izzy's attention span. Izzy was, however, very concerned about why Belle was so sad, to the point of yelling out "where's Belle?" in every scene she was not it.

A couple of Izzy's friends (and their mom's) were there too. Her's Izzy, Keith and Gianna.

Leaving the show.

Izzy had such a good time and is still talking about Belle five days later!

Clowning around

2009-10-13T07:05:00.001-04:00

We had fun taking these pictures!

Baby Cakes

2009-10-11T20:49:00.003-04:00

Katelyn passed her 5 month milestone this past week. She is certainly growing up and out fast! We finally had to let go of all the 3-6 months clothes and get her into 6 -9 months she's a chunky monkey.

With all that "chunk" we get a lot of benefits. First those chubby cheeks.

Second, she's got a built in energy store to get her through the night (almost), eight hours is nothing for her (Izzy took a year to get to that point).

After one-too-many longing looks at "real" food we finally succumbed to giving her baby food (Dr. approved!) - she can't eat it fast enough.

Cakes and her buddy baby Bailey.

At her 4 month checkup Cakes weighed in at 16lb 8.5oz. She was off the chart for both height and weight (95% plus). So much of her to love!

We are so thankful for Katelyn to be a part of our family. She has such a calm and pleasant personality. She's always smiling, happy and glad to see you.

I never thought I'd be so proud

2009-09-22T22:03:00.002-04:00

Parenting is an odd thing. Not quite sure why we get so proud about some of things we do...

Trip to Arizona and the big hole

2009-09-13T23:10:00.006-04:00

We finally managed to get a week of vacation this summer and went to Phoenix, AZ to see Tiffany's parents. We had a bunch of firsts that week; first time for Katelyn on an airplane, first time for Paul to meet Katelyn and our first trip to the Grand Canyon.

Debbie got a few supplies to keep the sun off the girls eyes.

Izzy keeps cool in the 110°F weather on the back porch.

Tiffany and Cakes by the "Pineapple" tree in the front yard.

Cooling off in the neighbors pool - did we mention it was hot?

Dinner with Nana and Papa while Tiffany and I got a date night.

Cakes slept through our first stop at the Grand Canyon. Isabelle was very concerned about anyone getting too close to the edge.

A view of the Grand Canyon taken from the Angel Bright trail early the next morning.

In the Northern most part of Paul and Debbie's mission boundaries we finally managed to get Paul out of a shirt and tie (it was P-Day after all!) and into Nana and Papa mode.

Our week in Arizona went by fast but we had a great time.

My Girls

2009-09-13T12:02:00.005-04:00

Katelyn's First Swim

2009-08-11T05:23:00.002-04:00

We finally got Katelyn into the pool for her first swim.

You know your kids are growing up to fast when...

2009-08-09T09:05:00.004-04:00

You are no longer Mommy and Daddy but "Michael" and "Tiffany". (Question: am I being overly concerned with the opinions of others when I reply loudly "I'm your only Daddy" when Isabelle refers to me in public as "Daddy Michael"? )

When your kid not only knows the name of techs in the Nail Salon but has a preference. - "Heidi nails?" Izzy mentions while pointing to her now mostly worn off nail polish.

Katelyn's Blesssing Day

2009-08-08T02:44:00.003-04:00

We are still playing catchup here somewhat... Katelyn was blessed in church back on the 19th July. It was a special day for us as a family and were we extra lucky to have my mum able to be their for it. We were also fortunate that our good friends The Proudfeets had finally moved back to Cincinnati after having lived abroad for several years.

We were a little worried that Katelyn would outgrow her dress due to the fact that we waited a couple of months and that Katelyn is a solid little girl. Fortunately it fit perfectly (rumor has it that our 3 year old nephew Ethan tried the dress on and it somehow fit).

As parents we are so grateful for our kids and recognize the responsibility that has been placed in us to teach and guide these two beautiful girls the best we can.

A visit from Gran and Grandad

2009-07-27T22:45:00.002-04:00

We finally managed to convince my Mum and Dad to come and visit us in the middle of Summer (coming to see Katelyn was a pretty good excuse). We didn't do very much except ensure that Izzy and Katelyn got to know there grandparents better.

We did manage to get a babysitter for one night and went out and enjoyed a Reds game, as usual the Reds lost...

Izzy managed to get Gran to read to her, constantly, so much so, that Izzy has memorized many of the books she had Gran read to her (I'm sure Gran has a few memorized too!)

Grandad enjoying some time holding Baby Katelyn.

Izzy and Gran enjoying a moment out in the Garden.

I'm sure Izzy sometimes thinks that grandparents are just people she sees on the computer (via Skype) so it's great our girls get to actually spend real time with them. In these brief visits we are reminded of the special relationship between grandparents and grandchildren and wish that Izzy and Katelyn had more opportunities to create more of these special memories.

Izzy's "Happy day"

2009-07-24T07:36:00.000-04:00

After about a week of asking whether it was her "happy day" Izzy's second birthday finally arrived! Izzy still has her affections for balloons so Tiffany decorated her crib whilst she was asleep as a little surprise for her when she woke up. It was a big hit.

Izzy enjoyed the couple of gifts we got her. She is now a pro at making dinner and will bring you whatever you ask for (or something close).

If you haven't figure out the theme yet Isabelle is a big Dora fan (she can count to 10 in spanish - thanks Dora!). In keeping with the theme Izzy blew out her two candles on her Dora cake.

Isabelle enjoyed some sparklers for the holiday weekend...

..which was short lived as she grabbed the used sparkler by the wrong end...lessons learned all around by parents and Izzy. Tiffany was there to sooth her pains though.

Independence Day 2009

2009-07-23T19:12:00.000-04:00

Katelyn gets to experience her first July 4th!

After 9 years of living here I figure I can get into the spirit of the 4th and throw on my patriotic shirt!

This was our first time back to the parade since Isabelle was in in utero and Tiffany went into labor that evening.

We went to the parade with the Pitts, and our friends visiting from Arizona the Andersons.

Pool and Park

2009-07-23T07:21:00.001-04:00

The best part of Summer is the pool and the park.

The pool...

...and the park...

Fathers Day 2009

2009-07-22T20:28:00.001-04:00

Recognizing our enjoyment at the recent Coldplay concert the girls gave me a special gift.

Izzy in the Summer time

2009-06-28T20:25:00.004-04:00

Here's another post that's been hanging around for a while. Just prior to Katelyn's birth we got to enjoy few special moments with Izzy...before her world came crashing down.

The girls youth program at church that Tiffany runs held a workout night. As I had to work Isabelle went along with Tiffany and Aunt Trish and had a lot of fun.

We had a Saturday where we just enough gusts of wind to get Isabelle's kite flying.

Izzy enjoys jumping on the trampoline. It's common for Izzy to disappear off and be found jumping away by herself.

Here's a little video where Tiffany captured Izzy's trampolining skills.

Of course, there's nothing like a little summer time watermelon.

Best of all Isabelle became a big sister (and a great big sister she is...just so long a Katelyn doesn't take her binkies, ... or blankets, ... or toys, ... or attention!)

Google Burp

2009-06-28T20:17:00.002-04:00

Google sent me (and I assume some of you) an email last week to say that they had goofed up somethings on their end. For us it meant that two blog posts all of a sudden were without pictures. I just got around to fixing the posts so feel free to check out the last two posts if you didn't see them before.

Coldplay - Cincinnati Edition

2009-06-18T21:56:00.006-04:00

It's a well known fact round these parts that we are Coldplay fans. So we found out earlier this year that they would finally be coming to Cincinnati (We caught the Viva la Vida tour once in Boston already. Fortunately some good friends of ours knows a guy and we were able to get some 5th row seats. We couldn't think of a better way to spend our first night out since Katelyn was born (thanks Tricia for babysitting Izzy and Katelyn).

Katelyns first bath

2009-06-18T01:13:00.003-04:00

Katelyn got to have her first bath as soon as her umbilical cord fell off (yes, this post is a bit late, it was weeks ago). Isabelle, of course, wanted to join in the fun.

Nana came to town

2009-06-07T11:25:00.008-04:00

Having a kid is a great excuse to get Nana to take a break from her mission in Phoenix and spend a little time with us (at least it's one of the things she can come home for).

Tiffany and Katelyn went to the airport to pick Nana up (it was late so Izzy was fast asleep).

Tiffany, Debbie and Katelyn.

Isabelle helped Nana make pancakes for everyone one morning.

Isabelle and Katelyn enjoyed having Nana read them goodnight stories.

On Nana's last evening everyone stopped by to say goodbye.

The kids help take out the trash.

Nana and all eleven Grandkids.

We all enjoyed having Nana for a week. Thanks for coming to see us Nana!

Happy Birthday Tiffany...

2009-06-05T23:54:00.003-04:00

Tiffany turned a big 28 this week. Izzy was excited to wish Tiffany "A Happy Day Mommy".

Birthdays are a great time to reflect on the blessing it is to be getting old together. Happy Birthday Tiffany.

More of Katelyn (via Eva @ Fresh & Vintage)

2009-05-23T21:09:00.002-04:00

Thanks Eva!

Comments are closed, if you have any, please leave them over at Eva's blog.

The Girls

2009-05-18T13:46:00.003-04:00

Credit for the picture of Katelyn goes to our good friend Eva at Fresh and Vintage.