Cleveland Rocks!

Sweet Grandma June (K and B's Great-Grandma) and her long time beau, Laddie enjoying the swing outside.

Aunt Cathy playing balls with Brady...how did she know this is his favorite thing to play??

Uhhh....looks like more of a smother than a hug!


B's eating station!

On the plane and ready to go!!


We spent Labor Day weekend in Bryan's hometown of Cleveland, Ohio (actually, in a suburb just east of Cleveland...Willoughby). After finding a deal on Continental, Bryan agreed to fly instead of drive up north...thank goodness!!! We left on Thursday and returned the following Tuesday.
We have not been back to Cleveland in over a year...so our trip was long overdue (we spent Christmas in FL last year). This was Brady's first ever flight and Katelyn's chance to redeem herself after a horrific flight to Chicago in 2007 (she was only 2 1/2, but she was a nightmare!!). I was v. nervous about the flight, even though it was only 2 hrs. Brady has become a wildcard...not sure what baby/toddler you're going to get...sweet and angelic and cuddly...or squirmy, cranky, and miserable. Plus, his ears give him such problems!! Katelyn was a different story...we knew she would be awesome and she was! I surprised her with 2 new little princess dolls (Belle and Cinderella) in her backpack. We also packed some snacks, coloring books, barbie dolls and the dvd player. She sat quietly and played with her dolls on the tray and then watched a movie. Perfect child. After a cranky wait at the gate (one fellow passenger asked me where we were sitting and said she was relieved she was 8 rows behind us!). I kept assuring people he was a very good baby and people just nodded and forced a smile...you know they were silently praying we'd be far, far away from them. Luckily, Brady was terrific on the plane. He fell asleep on my lap, his head leaned against Bryan's shoulder as we were taking off and stayed asleep for an hour and a half. I was even able to read a magazine (special thanks to some new friends at the gate who passed on their In Touch magazine after I commented to them how much I liked Robert Pattinson who was on the cover). Once Brady was awake, he was quiet and ate snacks. I stood and put him in the seat on his own and he seemed to like that. When it was time to land, we put the pacifier back in his mouth and had no problem. The ultimate compliment came from the people directly in front of us who said they didn't even know there was a baby behind them.
Bryan's Aunt Nancy picked us up from the airport and took us out to lunch at a local brew pub called "Fatheads." OMG...this place was amazing!! The food was so good, the beer was delicious, atmosphere was comfortable and homey...LOVED it! Bryan and Nancy ordered "head wiches" sandwiches as big as your head. And they are not kidding. Katelyn and Brady had some of my pizza crust and played with toys at the table, giving us time to catch up with Nancy and enjoy our lunch :-)
Our huge lunches had to digest quickly, because Bryan's mom cooked a huge dinner! The weather was perfect for eating outside on the deck...so different from muggy FL!! The kids took to everyone and Katelyn had a blast playing wiffle ball with Papa PJ. Brady enjoyed swinging with his great grandmas on the deck. They were exhausted and at one point, Katelyn was blowing bubbles outside with Nancy and me and suddenly put down the bubbles and said "I need to go to bed right now." and walked upstairs to get ready. Bryan's mom put her to bed every night and Katelyn loved the stories and the special nightlight in her room.
On Friday, the kids stayed home with their grandparents and Bryan and I joined his Aunt and cousin for a fun day at Cedar Point. Hardly any crowd...weather was perfect!! Great day for an amusement park...but I'm not what I used to be in the roller coaster department and had to sit a few of them out!!
Saturday we took Katelyn to a friend's house to watch the Ohio State game and have lunch, while Brady napped and bonded with his grandma. Again, the weather was perfect! We were outside all day!
On Sunday, Bryan's mom hosted a huge cookout at her house and we had a great time catching up with everyone and meeting some new friends. She set up a ball pit in the backyard and the kids had a blast back there!!
Monday was a day spent with Bryan's dad at his home...he hosted another huge cookout! Katelyn got to ride Mary's horse twice...the second time Mary let go and taught her how to hold the reins and steer the horse. K loved it and had no fear!
And Tuesday...we headed back home. A quick few days, but wonderful ones! Looking forward to our return in December :-)

Brady and Katelyn at home

Brady loves to crawl (yes, STILL only crawling) over to the front door and stand by the window along the front door and look outside. He will bang on the window and giggle if someone walks by.

Katelyn has been spelling out words with her letter magnets...here is her latest, "cat." We are so proud of her. She sounds out words and is v. close to reading. I have to credit "Superwhy" and "Wordgirl" on pbs kids....amazing programs!!

Crawling races are on!


Katelyn falls asleep while playing in her room...we are trying to drop her nap, but she just gets too exhausted!! However, if she does crash, we pay for it at bedtime. She just can't go to sleep at night if she has napped, but keeping her awake in the afternoon is quite the challenge!!

Happy baby boy enjoying his waffle in the morning.

Future Ballerina

K absolutely LOVED her first ballet class. They have to wear a pink leotard, pink tights, and pink ballet slippers. I pulled her hair back and she was good to go :-) This class also covers tap and tumbling and meets on Monday evenings for 45 minutes. While K is in class, I feed Brady his dinner and let him crawl/climb around in the waiting area.
These lessons are a gift from her grandparents in Ohio...couldn't think of a better gift!

First Day of VPK

Getting right to work on Day 1...writing her name.


Building with blocks in her new classroom on her first day.


VPK= Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten...a free preschool program in FL for 15hrs. of preschool per week.
Katelyn attends Discovery Zone Preschool, about 10 min. from our house, right next to our church. She attends school on MWF, 9-2. Just about everyone we know currently attends DZ or has attended there in the past and we've heard rave reviews. We registered K back in January and she took the second to last spot in her class. This is a very structured, academic preschool, which we felt K needs. There are 18 kids in her class, 10 boys, 8 girls, and two teachers...Miss Mariecarmen and Miss Hunsha. So far K loves them both and has been working hard to impress them. She hasn't even received a warning for her behavior. The only "issue" we had is she is talking to her BFF DJ too much at lunch and doesn't have time to eat everything. Her teachers are strict and once lunch time is over, she is told to put everything away...no sitting at a table longer than everyone else to finish. Good training for kindergarten!!
K only wants to wear dresses to school and wears a bow in her hair most days. She has a pair of brown mary jane shoes she only wears to school and loves. Like I said, she is really trying to impress her new teachers!! She is even taking her time to color!! Wow.. well, I am impressed!! That never happens :-)