Forquer Family News

The Cutest Little Lady Bug

2012-02-12T20:14:00.000-08:00

I saw this pattern on ETSY and I bought it along with 3 others and I found someone to crochet it for me since I don't know how and I don't have the time to learn right now either!! There had to be some adjustments made since they are supposed to be for newborns and Emily is not! But here she is sporting the hat and "cape" of the ladybug! I love it!!

Aspen "NO"el

2012-02-08T18:55:00.000-08:00

Aspen loves to be outside in the winter and we love for her to be outside! So here are a couple pictures of her from last night in the backyard!

My Morgan Ellen

2012-02-08T18:44:00.000-08:00

I finally got the chance to take some pictures of Morgan. She is a very spoiled puppy as you can see. She has basically taken over the couch as her puppy bed and seems to think she needs a pillow to lay her head on too!

Look at this face!

Horsing Around at the Zoo

2012-02-06T11:32:00.001-08:00

While Grandpa was visiting we went to the zoo! He and Cait had a great time playing in the Asian Forest.

The Cowboy Blues

2012-02-05T20:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to see our friends Annabelle and Ed (and their parents Sarah and Darren, of course!). Annabelle has a lot of dressup stuff and she and Cait had a blast. Cait ended up wearing this pink tutu and cowboy hat for most of the time we were there. She also was playing the harmonica, very well in fact, while dressed as the pretty pink tutu'd cowgirl!

Beautiful but Sad

2012-02-05T17:26:00.000-08:00

Emily has had a few days and nights that she has been very upset. I'm thinking that her bottom tooth/teeth are starting to move in there and just haven't made their debut yet. I took this picture yesterday on our way home from a friend's house. We had to pull over and stop because she was not letting up and she needed some consoling!

6 Month Old Girls Rock!

2012-02-05T14:57:00.000-08:00

Emily turned 6 months old on February 2nd! (The 2nd was also our niece Gillian's 3rd birthday!!) She is getting quite a sweet personality! She is usually smiling and has recently discovered her tongue and wants to show it to everyone! She also knows how to roll from her back to her tummy but isnt trying hard to learn how to roll back over!! She is also just days away from sittiing on her own whiich will be a great thng for her since she s such a people watcher!

Here's Emily sittng for about two minutes, I thnk.

And here's Emily after!

Either way she Rocks!

Grandpa Comes to Visit

2012-02-05T13:04:00.000-08:00

My dad came to visit for a couple days in January after he spent some time in Beaumont. He was only here for, well really a day, but we had a lot of fun! The last time he was here, for Caitlin's birthday he wanted a picture with both the girls and, well, that didn't happen so this is what we got from this visit...

Getting both the girls to stay still is next to impossible these days!

This is probably one of the better pictures!

Bear Esacape!

2012-01-29T19:49:00.000-08:00

Emily the bear also had a great time at the zoo!

It's a Dragon!

2012-01-29T19:25:00.000-08:00

Cait found a new friend at the zoo!

My Favorite Lab Girl

2012-01-19T19:23:00.000-08:00

Sean brought Cait up to have lunch with me one day so we decided to teach her some lab safety! I think she looks great, don't you!

Just Some Old School Cait

2012-01-19T19:21:00.000-08:00

She loves her jewelry departments!

Sacked out with Mommy!

I think this is her Oh My Goodness face! But who knows!

Her future is so bright...

Display

2012-01-19T19:13:00.000-08:00

Sean decided that my senior boots needed a place to be displayed so he made this for me! He did all the wood burning by hand too! I think he did a fabulous job!

The Loves of our Lives!

2012-01-19T19:05:00.000-08:00

(Mind you, this was NOT my idea!) Cait having fun on a shopping trip to Target!

Emily and me! She really digs the jean jacket!

A Trip to Aggieland

2012-01-19T19:03:00.000-08:00

Aggieland Outfitters in College Station has this "Bevo" in front of their store so, obviously, we had to get our picture taken with it! (and look, it's actually me in the picture too!!!)

Gig 'em Aggies!

Cait Loves Corn...on the cob, that is

2012-01-19T18:59:00.000-08:00

We are turning back the clock a little bit right now since I just got a hold of Sean's phone to get the pictures off of it so I can upload them to the blog...hope you enjoy the blast from the past!

One night (Oct 2010) we made corn on the cob to have with supper. Sean cut Cait's off the cob so it would be easier for her to eat. She wanted nothing to do with THAT corn. She climbed into the chair with me and proceeded to start eating my corn on the cob. I practically had to race her to eat some of it too!

This is Caitlin "helping" me eat!

And this is Cait digging on some of my corn too!

Homemade

2012-01-16T19:50:00.000-08:00

My attempt at making baby food...here are the sweet potatoes!

She loves them by the way!

Roley Poley

2012-01-16T19:47:00.000-08:00

Emily has decided that after 5 months of life it was time to roll over!

She loves playing on the floor mat too!

Silly Caitlin!

2012-01-14T19:02:00.001-08:00

I told you she doesn't really like having her picture taken lately! But here she is being a little silly. She put her coat on and the hat and told me she was going to work. Here she is heading out the back door to the garage to "go to work!"

Christmas Eve 2011

2012-01-14T18:21:00.001-08:00

Emily's Christmas Eve pj's from us! Isn't she cute!!

This is the best picture of Emily I could get on Christmas Eve before Mass. She was getting very tired at the time and was not cooperating very well! Maybe I can get a better picture in the near future so you can at least see the dress! :)

And again, this is the best picture I could get of Caitlin too..sorry it's SO bad! She's not a huge fan of having her picture taken lately so she was moving to get out of the way here... so silly she is!

Cait Turns 3!

2011-12-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

Caitlin absolutely LOVES (and that's an understatement!) Word World so this year for her 3rd birthday we had a Word World themed party! And yes, we handmade the cake! It was quite a feat actually, Mandy held her phone's flashlight over the cake while I drew the DOG, we made a great team on this one!

We had several friends and family over for the party. I love being able to share Cait's day with them! She is learing about opening her own presents now. It was quite funny though, I'd read to her who brought the present and she would walk the present back to that person and say, "here ya go!" like she was supposed to give it to them! I hope that giving spirit continues on!

Emily is 4 months old...

2011-12-26T19:28:00.000-08:00

Emily turned 4 months old on December 2nd! She is a super chunk! We had her well check on the 8th and she weighed 15lbs 4oz (75%)and was 24" (40%) long! She is such a happy baby, always has a smile on her face!

This is how she naps when we get home from daycare while I'm cooking supper before her evening meal and then bedtime! Growing up will take it out of you!!

Halloween

2011-12-22T14:49:00.000-08:00

For Halloween this year, Emily was the cutest ladybug and Caitling was a Renaissance Princess!

As you can tell it was very exhausting for Emily! By the end of the night she had fallen asleep on my arm!

Here they are on their first Halloween together. I made Caitlin's head wreath so she could have a "crown" to wear for the night. She also got to go actual trick-or-treating in the neighborhood this year. Her very first house she knocked on the door and then proceeded to walk inside the house! Great story!

Catching Up...

2011-12-14T19:04:00.000-08:00

It's been longer than I thought...

and now my computer is playing tricks on me so it'll be a little longer before I get more pictures up...sorry!

12 Weeks

2011-10-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

Emily is 12 weeks old today! (She will be 3 months on November 2nd, but there have been 12 weeks of her life already!) She is growing fast!

She is a wonderful little girl! She has started to really start smiling at us and lights up when we interact with her!

She still eats like a champ and, thus, sleeps like a champ too! She is usually asleep by 7:30pm and stays asleep until 2:30am or so (or just sleeps through the night!)

On the mornings that Sean has worked the night before, it's just us girls! So, on those mornings, I get Emily up first, get her dressed and fed then we go in to get Cait up. Caitlin loves to see Emily when she wakes up and turns over imediately to give her kisses! If Cait happens to wake up first she rushes in to get me and then we have to rush in to get Emily becuase Caitlin wants to know where Emily is at ALL times!

These girls are so much fun! We are very lucky and blessed! Can't wait to see what they will do in the future!

Cait's Perfect Pumpkin

2011-10-25T17:53:00.000-07:00

So, as of last post, Cait has picked out her perfect pumpkin and now it's time to paint it! *Like I'm going to let my 2 1/2 year old carve a pumpkin!*

She also had a great time painting it! I put out globs of different colors for her to get into while painting and guess what color she wanted... yep, PINK! And only PINK! Such a girl!

And this is the finished product!

Cait's Perfect Pumpkin!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

We decided this year that Cait was old enough to have a pumpkin of her own so we went to a friends church to pick one out at their Pumpkin Patch!

Caitlin was very excited to walk through the patch and pick up every pumpkin she could get her hands on! In the end we decided on a small pumpkin that was just her size!

Here she is proudly holding her perfect pumpkin!

Aggieland...

2011-10-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

I get to be in a picture or two every now and then! Here, Cait, Emily and I were at the Corps Center at A&M. I was showing Cait the picture of me and her Aunt Michelle that was on one of the walls. She, as you can tell, was less than impressed and wanted to know where she was on the wall! I told her she'd have to wait a few more years and then she could be on the wall too!

This is the first picture I have of me and the girls...not the best but it's what we got!

Daddy's Girl...the Sequel!

2011-10-12T18:08:00.000-07:00

Daddy's turn to take care of Emily!

How the time flies!

2011-10-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

Emily is now 10 weeks old and I can't believe it! I'm WAY behind on pictures and updates so I hope this helps for a bit! She is doing so many things now, it's very exciting!

She has learned, that at least for a little bit, that she can be awake without eating and be happy! She has started smiling at us when we talk to her! She follows us around the room too! She is a very good baby! She is pretty consistent with her sleep patterns at night. She is usually asleep by 7:30pm and wakes up around 1:30am and then around 7am!

Emily's stats at her 2 month well check were: height: 21.5" (25%); weight: 11lbs 9oz (75%); and head circumference: 15.5" (75%). She's a very healthy baby!

She has also been practicing tummy time, which she isn't a big fan of, and lying on her back and kicking her legs, which she is a big fan of! She has been holding her head up like a champ for a very long time now! She just gets cuter and cuter every day!

Sisterly Love

2011-10-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

Caitlin absolutely LOVES her little sister!

Never Thought I'd See this Happen

2011-08-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

I've been fighting with Cait at bathtime over getting her hair wet to wash it. Tonight, to my surprise, she just laid down in the tub to get her hair wet and to rinse it off! Yay! No fight!

Actually she's been asking to take a bath instead of fighting me to get out of it! Don't know what made the change but I'm loving it!!

Three Weeks Old...already!

2011-08-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

Em is getting so big! I can't believe she is three weeks old already!

Emily's First Bath

2011-08-23T20:14:00.000-07:00

Emily, much like her big sister, did not enjoy her first bath! She did enjoy the hoodie towel that dried her off and made her warm again!!

My First Reactions

2011-08-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, when I was pregnant with Caitlin we decided to not find out the gender of the baby. That was a lot of fun not knowing! With Emily we decided to find out since we had a lot of girl stuff so we were prepared for another girl but if we were having a boy we needed to get the girl stuff out and get some boy stuff in! It was fun knowing we were having a girl the second time because we got to give her a name that we could call her all the time and paint her room and all that fun stuff!

So when Cait was born and we asked what we'd had and the doctor said "It's a girl!" My first reaction was "A girl?!?" Sean is the first son of a first son for something like 7 generations so for us to have a girl was very exciting!! My first reaction when Emily was born was "Oh my gosh, she looks just like Caitlin!" Even though she had 3 weeks and almost 2 pounds on her, Emily and Cait look very similar in their first few days! I can't wait to see what Emily will look like in a month or so!

Here are some pictures of the both of them on the day they were born and a couple days after!

Caitlin

Emily

Caitlin

Emily

Caitlin's Gotten So Big!

2011-08-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

Cait has gotten so big and it's even more apparent now that Emily is here! I just keep thinking how did you get so big! She loves pretending to take pictures of everyone and also LOVES shoes. She walks better in my heels than I do... I've truely got a girly girl on my hands...HELP!! She's such a cutie and so sweet, I love watching her grow and learn and listen to her vocabulary develop!

Emily Claire

2011-08-11T18:55:00.001-07:00

Emily Claire Forquer was born August 2, 2011 at around 2:30pm! She was 7lbs 6oz and 20.5in long! She had a follow up at 3 days old and weighed in at 6lbs 15oz! She is wonderful and we are all very excited to have her in our arms now! Caitlin loves being a helper and any time we go to change her she pulls her step stool in the room and helps keep Emily calm! It's absolutely adorable!!

Cait's New Ride

2011-06-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

Cait has been going crazy lately every time she sees a bike so we went to Academy tonight and found this "old school" tricycle! She had a great time riding it tonight and Sean had fun trying to teach her how to pedal! I think more of the Word World episode where Sheep is learning to ride her bike is needed!!

33 Weeks and Counting...

2011-06-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

I don't have many pictures of this pregnancy so I thought I'd have Sean take one tonight! I've just hit 33 weeks so we've got 7 or so more to go! Time has flown by! I thought I'd get to enjoy this one a little more and this has been a really easy pregnancy, some points better than with Caitlin, but time seems to have sped up. I can't believe we only have 7 weeks to go.

This baby is a mover and a shaker. She has been doing kartwheels, or something, in there for as long as I can remember. She gets a little testy when I flip over while lying down and I swear she's tried to claw her way out a couple times! I can't wait to meet her! She moves A LOT more than Cait ever did at any point!!

Everything seems to be going just fine. I've actually had some slight cramping with this one that started last week. I never had any of that with Caitlin, so yet, another difference! Nothing to cause any concern but just something I've noticed happening. I guess things have to get a start at some point right!!

Well, I'll try to keep this updated as August 6th gets closer!

Easter 2011

2011-05-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

Gillian and Colin! Aren't they cute!!

Caitlin and Gillian...gimme a hug, friend!

Pretty girls in their Easter dresses!

Baking cookies

2011-05-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

Finally had the chance to get some pictures up from our trip to Albuquerque for Easter and Colin's baptism. Here are the girls making sugar cookies that they got in one of the Easter baskets. They had a lot of fun!

Colin Michael

2011-04-06T17:54:00.001-07:00

Colin Michael Johanningsmeier was born yesterday at 1049, ABQ time! He was a whopping 8lbs 12oz and was 20.75" long! My sister went in for a scheduled c-section but said he would have probably been born yesterday anyway just looking at how her contractions were going before they even prepped her for surgery! Both Mom and baby are doing well! I have talked to Michelle several times and am so excited for them! I can't wait until Easter comes, I get to meet my nephew! Michelle and Colin (only a few hours old) Colin Michael at one day old!

At the Zoo

2011-04-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

One More Day...

2011-04-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

Baby Colin will be here tomorrow! I'm so excited to be an Aunt again! Michelle will go into the hospital for a scheduled c-section tomorrow morning in Albuquerque and will be holding her sweet baby boy by tomorrow afternoon! I had my dad take a super preggo picture of her for me!

This was taken two days before Colin will be born!

And this is Gillian (2), ready to be a big sister!!

Second Ultrasound for Dos

2011-04-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

Here are two of the ultrasound pictures we got from our first in depth look at baby numero Dos! We wanted to find out the gender this time and we were told that Dos will be a girl!! Yay, Caitlin is getting a sister...now to find a name! She's thinking long and hard about something in this one. You can see her right ear, nose, mouth, ribs, a knee, and her right arm/hand. And this one she is saying, "I love you" in sign language!! Isn't that super cute!

In the Words of Caitlin...

2011-03-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

My friend, Wendy, wrote a post about her son and how he says his words and I thought that was a great idea to look back on and remember how Cait said certain things at the age of two so I hope you find them enjoyable too! We get a kick out of how she says things!

Animals:
Eliant (El-i-ant)=Elephant, Wino=Rhino, Tijer (Ti-jer)=Tiger, Jaf= Giraffe, Beeba=Zebra

Letters:
Och= H, uh-u= W

Numbers:
fie= five, Bebo= Seven (then it became Beben!)

Other words that are just cute:
BeePa= Grandpa
Gan= Gran
Ou you = I love you
Tate= Cait
Caiyin (Cai-yin)= Caitlin

She also knows a lot of animal sounds but if she doesn't know what something says, it is automatically "roar!" Which is really cute when you ask her what a butterfly says and she "roars" louder than when you ask what a Lion or Bear says!

We also taught her that Aspen (our husky) says "howl" and Morgan (our lab mix) says "woof woof!"

I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting but maybe I'll think of them later!

Dressing Up

2011-03-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

Caitlin has found a new love.... Mom and Dad's shoes! Whenever she can get her hands on them she tries them on! Here are a few pictures...I think she does better in heels than I do!!

Gettin' Ready for St. Patty's Day!

2011-03-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

We were at Target today and she found this hat and just had to have it!

She normally doesn't like to wear hats but I think she's starting to like them!
Our little show off! I'm pretty sure she's ready for St. Patrick's Day!

Snow day 2011

2011-02-07T16:05:00.000-08:00

We had some snow last Friday and the whole family was home to enjoy it. Here are some pictures!

This is the second take at the snowman because the first one, which looked a little better too, met an untimely end by sliding down the slide before we wanted him to!

Morgan enjoying her romp around the snow!

Aspen, of course, has loved the cooler weather! And had a blast running in the snow!

Sean: look closely, he's wearing a scarf too!

Caitlin swinging the "new" way!

Reason #390857

2011-02-07T15:47:00.000-08:00

This is why you should listen to your Mother and not try to go into the backyard of your neighbor's house just because the back gate is open! Thank goodness this was after Church!

Baby Forquer Numero Dos!

2011-01-17T07:09:00.000-08:00

Our new family member is due to arrive August 6th. We found out the great news the week before Cait's 2nd birthday but didn't want to say much before we went to the doctor. But we obviously have been and everything is going great with the little baby!

We have no preference of gender, we just want 10 fingers, 10 toes and healthy! Please pray for a healthy pregnancy and delivery! OH and pray that this summer isn't too hot! Can't hurt to try right!!

The ABC's of Learning

2011-01-17T06:46:00.000-08:00

Caitlin is learning so much these days. She knows so many words now and is learning her ABC's very quickly. She knows most of her letters on sight every time!

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

(The letters she knows every time are in bold)

I'm sure she will know them all soon! I bought some bath time letters last week so when she takes her bath she plays with them and also when she's on the potty we go through them to take her mind off of what's really going on! Seems to be working well!

Here are a couple pictures from Family Christmas this year. She started out in her PJ's but is going through the "take them off" phase and ended up in the tshirt and pants later on!!

Adventures in Potty Training

2011-01-17T06:35:00.000-08:00

We've been sending Cait to daycare in pull-ups and from what we hear, she has been a potty champion there. We have been trying to get her to go at home too and she just wouldn't go for either one of us... sad and frustrating! For the past few days, when she's home, we've just had her in "big girl" underwear. We've had several accidents but last night after bath time she told me she had to potty and she finally went on the potty at home!! YAY! She woke up this morning and told me again that she had to potty so we rushed to the bathroom and she went again! I'm so proud of her! She got stickers and a couple M&M's for reward and lots of praise! Here's to hoping this is the begining of successful potty training!!

This picture is of outfit number 3 from last night if I remember correctly! Like I said, we've had several accidents!!

Long Luxurious Locks

2010-12-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

This video is from, I think, this past summer so it's about 6 months ago. I just had time to tinker with some video things on the computer and I FINALLY got one to upload! Yay! Cait loves the feel of her hair when she shakes her head so my dad caught this on video! Hope you enjoy!

To the Cake!

2010-12-04T19:14:00.001-08:00

We got cupcakes from the best place in town "What About Cupcakes!" We love them! We ordered their oreo flavor and I got the huge cupcake pans and decided to make my own super large oreo flavored cupcake! Mandy helped me bake it the night before and put it together and frost it! It may not look that pretty but it sure was tasty!

Happy 2nd birthday Caitlin!

Trying to get Cait to blow out the candle. She did very well and continued to practice after it was already blown out!

Not sure what this face was but it was a funny one that I thought needed to be shared! She loved the oreo cookies and frosting!

Finger lickin' good!!

Cait's 2nd Birthday Party

2010-12-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

Today we had Caitlin's 2nd birthday party! Even though she doesn't actually turn 2 until tuesday, the 7th, Sean had this weekend off so it was best to have it pre-birthday! We had a great time and we hope everyone that came did too! We had several friends come and it was a beautiful day so we all went outside and the kids played on the swingset, the bouncy thing we borrowed from Ruth and Andy, and just ran around wearing themselves out!

I took this picture before everyone got to our house today! And before she got into playing and eating!!

Cait playing in the bouncy thing we borrowed! Thanks Ruth, Andy and Kati for letting us use your toy!

Some of the kids playing on the swings, and some other little ones with their mom's!

Dani and Mandy kept Cait's attention for quite a while today while I was running around getting things ready! Thanks to both of them for their help!

Before the Month is UP!!

2010-11-30T20:04:00.000-08:00

I haven't had a lot of time to get anything up this month so before it completely passed me by I wanted to get a couple pictures on the blog! Sorry for those of you that look at it frequently! These are pictures of Caitlin at the end of November, about 2 weeks shy of turning 2 years old!

Caitlin getting ready for the Aggie vs t.u. football game. Sitting with her "BeePaa!"

And finally, this is what Caitlin does best these days. As soon as we get home from school, and sometimes as soon as she wakes up!, we have to watch "Wor Worr" which translated is "Word World" which is a cute PBS cartoon! She loves it and it has her undivided attention for the whole half hour it's on!

Halloween Dress

2010-10-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

I kinda winged a dress for Caitlin (and Gillian) for halloween and this is how it turned out! I think it's pretty cute!

Trip to Aggieland

2010-10-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

Sean, Cait and I went to Aggieland last weekend for a B-Company class of '01 reunion that turned into a B-Co outfit reunion! We had a great time! We drove down Friday and just went around town doing some shopping, then we went to the "bubble" where the band practices in the afternoon and watched them for a little while, had dinner with the Lair's, then off the bed to rejuvinate for the upcoming events of Saturday!

Saturday morning we got up and headed to campus. Step off for the band was at 0930 and we wanted to be there for that plus we had to meet up with one of my buddies, Roy, to get our game tickets. We found lots of '01 buddies while we waited for the Toones to get to E. King Gill's statue and had a great time begining to catch up. We played Mizzou and got our hiney's spanked. It was bad, but luckily the band was amazing and we had the outfit reunion to look forward to!

After the game we went to the reunion, caught up with a bunch of people from older classes, our buddies, and younger classes. It was a great turn out! Then it was off to the Lair's (Michael's parents) house for a class get together. Needless to say, Cait, not having a nap, was exhausted (see pictures below). She had a little power nap in the car on the way and was up and around playing with the other kids again! That was the neatest part, watching all the kids run around and have a great time. They all had their melt downs and we all took turns watching/playing with them. It was wonderful and I can't wait to do it again!

Sunday, Wendy hosted a brunch for us as we headed out of town at her parents house and so the kids got to play again and we had a little more time to catch up! All in all a fabulous weekend, including Freebirds for lunch before we headed back home!

Cait's first time playing in a coin operated toy at Post Oak Mall! She had a blast driving the ice cream truck!

"Making" yummy treats!

Sacked out after the march in, game, and outfit tailgate. She whooped and played hard!

Can you tell she has a sunburn on her head where her hair is splt into pigtails? Wells he does! Poor baby, but at least she didn't get burned all over!

Texas Renaissance Festival

2010-10-13T12:08:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Sean, Cait and I went to Plantersville, TX to the Ren Fest and met up with our friends Connie and Laurie. Laurie's boss Lori (?) came too. Here are some pictures of everyone, but me!!, in their dresses. They were all made by the talented Laurie!

Connie and Caitlin!

Connie's dress is a German style!

Laurie's dress is also a German style.

This is Laurie's boss Lori!

And of course Sean and Cait! Cait's dress was made out of the same material my dress is made of!

I LOVE this picture of the two of them! Laurie is in process of making Sean a kilt!!

A Little Late... sorry!

2010-09-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

These were actually taken before we left for our trip to Branson, sorry I didn't get them posted till now. The first two pictures are of Cait and me at HEB. We were shopping for some goodies to take to a bbq we were having with friends but we were also celebrating opening day of AGGIE football! She wanted to wear my hat so badly so all through the store she had it on her head. Cute huh!

Cait has also learned the valuable trick of holding fluid in her mouth. She has been doing this with both her juice and her milk now. So I am constantly telling her to swallow whatever is in her mouth before she laughs and spits it out! Yay, the things we get to learn while growing up are great!!

Whoop! for Aggie Football! We're trying to teach her how to whoop now. She's got the fish wildcat down pretty well! But who wants to hear "AAAAAAAAAAA" all the time?

And remember the pictures posted of her dinner pal, Bear? Well this time she had to wear her sunglasses to eat her breakfast. I mean, it was bright outside but I think she was just being silly! And if wearing sunglasses and sitting with a stuffed friend will make her eat her meals... I'm all for it!

New Kid in Town...

2010-09-15T11:08:00.001-07:00

NO IT's NOT ME!

I'm proud to announce the Gillian Marie Johanningsmeier will be a big sister next April! My sister is pregnant with baby J number 2! At this point the designated names are

girl: Haley Claire
boy: Nathan Michael

So I've already decided if it's a girl I'm calling her HaJay!
Her first doctors visit is in a couple weeks and we'll find out if the baby is doing well and how many are in there... Ben's mom is a twin, I'm just sayin'!!

Little Pieces of Fall in Branson, MO

2010-09-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

I had to take a few pictures of what Fall looks like in September almost everywhere else but Texas!

Pictures from Branson, MO

2010-09-15T10:22:00.001-07:00

Where did my little girl go? She looks so grown up here!

We took a train ride through Branson and into Arkansas and back while we were there. Cait had a very good time and the people on our train car were really good seeing as there were two toddlers running up and down the aisles the whole trip!

Cait and Gillian had a great time playing and running around Shephard of the Hills. Most of the things were closed for the season but it was a pretty cloudy day and the temperature was great so we just enjoyed being outside for a while!

There was a saddle sitting outside one of the stores and Gillian was the first to get on it, I don't have any pictures because Cait needed a bathroom break!, but we decided to get some pictures of Caitlin afterwards. She was so tired at this point and she did not like sitting on the saddle! I sat with her for a few minutes and she seemed to be ok then. Naptime came very quickly after this. Sean and I went horseback riding and everyone else went back to the condo for some much needed R&R!!

Pictures from Branson, MO

2010-09-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

One afternoon on our trip Sean and I left Caitlin with Grandpa, Michelle and Mandy and we went horseback riding. It was a very remote little spot off one of the major highways and we got turned around a couple of times trying to find it. BUT we finally did and we had a great time. It was a trail ride for an hour. This place pretty much let you do your own thing, to an extent, and the horses definitely had personality!

This was the group of horses they had for the rides this day.

This is me and Arnold. He was a good horse, did not like the mouth shield they put on him so we spent most of our trip with him shaking his head rather violently! But all in all, a good ride!!

And what do you do on rainy days? You sit on the porch with your cousin of course! We spent quite a bit of time on the back porch while the rains from Hurricane Hermine swept through. Then we went to Grand Village and found this HUGE chair, so of course we all had to sit in it!

Mandy, Me with Gillian, Michelle (and baby J in her belly) with Caitlin!

Favorite of Mine

2010-08-23T13:21:00.001-07:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of Cait and I can't find it posted anywhere in the blog so I decided I'd add it now. I think this was back at the end of March begining of April. She wanted so badly to sit in the chair like a big girl!

Hey look that's green grass! Hasn't been green for a while now! We're on day 27 (I think) of 100+ temps... can we cool off soon please!

Always on the Phone!

2010-08-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the sunlight in the background of these photos but they were too funny not to post. About a week ago we were driving to daycare and I hear Cait mumbling like she does in the back seat. We get stopped at a stoplight and I look back and she's "talking" on one of the old cell phones we gave her to play with. She continued to have her conversation all the way to daycare so when we got to the parking lot I took a couple of pictures! She was so relaxed with her arm behind her head and the other hand holding the phone! Must have been a great friend on the other line!

Foreshadowing of when she becomes a teenager? Can't you just hear it now, "MOM! I'm on the phone!!"

Growing Up!

2010-08-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

Just a couple pictures to show how incredibly fast Caitlin is growing. She's getting her lower canines right now so pretty soon she'll have all her baby teeth. I'm not sure if she's getting her top canines just yet, I'm not sticking my fingers in there!! She is learing a lot these days. She knows some of her numbers, she loves "Id Biy Baa-buh"(which to the rest of us is Itsy Bitsy Spider) and she does the spider hand motion when she wants it sung! She loves to dance too. Anytime there's music she's dancing! She's getting better at using a fork/spoon but mostly will hold said utensil and eat with her fingers still! She's starting to color more too. She is going to be a great ambidextrous child! And she's is a shoe fiend. This child must have shoes on at all times while awake! And she will let you know if you don't get them on in time too!

Super cute toothy smile she's got now!

This is how long her hair is in the back. I was amazed the other day when I put it up!

The difference a Year Makes...

2010-08-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

Caitlin last year, in August, at the splash park in Cameron Park.

Caitlin this year, last week of July, at Cameron Park splash park!

A Day at the Splash Park!

2010-08-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went with some friends to a splash park in Cameron Park. Cait's only been to this place one other time and it was last year so it was a totally different experience this year... she can walk around in the first place!! She loved the little fountains that sprang up the most!

She and Matthew shared a juice break on the bench! They are so cute!

We got to the splashpark early and the shade didn't last more than an hour so when we were finished there we got a clothing change and walked over the the playground! She loved climbing and swinging!

Andrew, Matthew, and Caitlin. Liz and I wanted another picture of the three of them together so we could update our shared use computer background at work! This is the best we got since there was another kid who was wanting to slide down!

Bananas

2010-08-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Just about the only fresh fruit I can get Cait to eat is banana. So, the other day for snack, I decided to give her a banana... a whole banana... peel and all! Just to see what she'd do with it! She only tried to eat the peel once and she devoured the entire thing! Yummy!

Backyard Swimming

2010-08-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

It's been 100+ here for the past two weeks so one evening we decided to go swimming in the back yard! She loves to play in her little pool! Morgan paid a visit once to swim with her and Aspen came for the drinks of water Cait was giving out! She had a great time and so did we watching her play!

A long long time ago...

2010-07-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

I was looking through my work email today and found these pictures that my boss, Ahmed took of us when I brought Cait up to the lab for her first visit. I hadn't talked to Ahmed about the time I was planning on taking off or when I would be back! She wasn't due for another month so I thought I had time, what was I thinking!! So we stopped in for a visit so I could talk to him about that and show her off to everyone. Looking at the date stamp on the pictures she was 12 days old here.

Mighty Fine

2010-07-08T15:40:00.000-07:00

We went to Round Rock last weekend and met up with our friends Bill and Nicole, and their son William. Cait and he had a very good time banging on the table and they had a great time playing hide and seek/peek-a-boo under the table cloth! It was quite cute when we were getting ready to leave. As we are walking toward the door Sean took Cait's hand and Cait looks at William and puts her other hand out and he takes her hand so they are all holding hands to walk outside. They must do this at daycare, like the buddy system, but it was so darned cute I had to get a couple pictures!

18 months old...

2010-06-17T09:49:00.001-07:00

Boy have we come a long way! Caitlin turned 18 months old on June 7th! We went to her well check this past monday and she is doing very well! She was 31" tall (25th percentile) and weighed 25lbs (50th percentile). Doctor Orr checked her out and then she got 4 shots and she is all caught up until she turns 4! Yay for that! I did talk to him about her allergies which stick around all year and he told us that we could use Zyrtec. It's the only one that's been tested successfully in children under two years. He also told me that he could tell she had allergies and that she doesn't just have a runny nose because she has these folds under her eyes and "babies don't have wrinkles!" So we'll try the Zyrtec when we need to! Thankful for that too!

Cait is starting to talk A LOT more these days. She has said baby, hi, more, all done, shoe (sho) and sock (tha), bye, dog (is still da), no, and of course momma and dadda. She put her first sentence together a couple weeks ago (or at least that's what I'm saying!!!) and said , "hi dad" as Sean walked past her in the living room. It was pretty neat and took me a minute to realize what she said! I'm sure I'm forgetting some other words but you know what I mean, she's developing well!

She eats what we are eating for meals. She's been doing that since she was about 10 months old. We've been very lucky that she hasn't been too picky YET! She has started getting a little more picky about fresh fruits and veggies. She loves dried cranberries though! She has a very healthy appetite too!

Other than all the technical development going on she continues to be a great kid! She is such a happy baby and we know we've been blessed by her! Can't wait for what's to come!

To Infinity and Beyond!

2010-06-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

Cait has decided that she likes Buzz Lightyear. Her Aunt Michelle gave this to her a few weeks ago and now he's her favorite in the car toy! In fact, she's learning how to give kisses and every time we get in the car she has to give Buzz a kiss!

Hiking

2010-06-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo on Saturday so we needed to do something on Sunday too! We met up with some new friends and went for a "hike" on one of Cameron Park's trails at Jacob's Ladder. We had a lot of fun. Cait did not want to walk all of this one though so she spent a lot of time on her Daddy's shoulders!

To the Zoo We Go Again!

2010-06-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

Cait needed to get out of the house this past weekend. (OK, so we needed Cait to get out of the house this past weekend!) Anyway we decided to go to the zoo on saturday morning. It was super hot early but we went anyway. Cait has moved past the stage of just sitting in a stroller because she is a big girl and can walk so she walked the zoo. She did pretty well actually!

Running out of one of the Teepees at the Bison exhibit in Brazos River Country!

One of Laurie's boys! I took this picture for her!

Mommy's Clown!

2010-06-17T09:18:00.000-07:00

Just another picture of Cait in her clown costume that I took before the program started! Isn't she cute!

Aspen's Blanket

2010-06-03T17:49:00.000-07:00

Recently Caitlin has discovered that blankets can be in more places than just the crib. She hasn't taken one out yet, we've brought them out with her but she likes having them around especially because Aspen (THE HUSKY!!!) needs one! She has twice put a blanket on Aspen and then laid down on/with her! Aspen is not too keen on this idea and there is a little rumbling coming from her but otherwise she's a very good sport!!

Silly Little Clown

2010-06-03T17:37:00.000-07:00

Harvest Time had a "graduation" program for the 4 year olds going to Kindergarten next year... (everyone gets a graduation these days!)... and each class had a performance. Cait's class got dressed up like clowns and "sang" this clown song to the tune of "I'm a Little Tea Pot." Only 3 of her classmates came but they were very cute!

This is Miss Janie, Cait's Teacher and Landon is on the left, Sarah in the middle, Cait to the right!

Gillian and Cait in the Kitchen!

2010-05-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

They thought it would be fun to sit on top of the dog food bins!

At Grandpa's House

2010-05-24T17:21:00.000-07:00

Cait and Gillian playing in the front yard at Grandpa's house. They had a blast!!

2010-05-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

We were looking for a new big kid kind of toy. Cait found this! Sadly, I had to tell her no!

My Future's So Bright...

2010-05-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

Cait moved up classrooms last week. She was the old lady of her baby class and it was time for her to move up to the toddler class! She looks so young and small again in her new class. Last week she had to get used to going to a different classroom and having different teachers! I think she liked them both. New toys, new friends, new everything. We missed Miss Janie but she visited! Well we found out last Friday that Miss Alicia was leaving and that Miss Janie had decided to move up to the toddlers! So, Cait got her favorite teacher back after all! We are all excited because Janie loves Cait and kept her in the baby class as long as she could! But now she gets to have her for another year or so and I'm sure Cait is happy about that too!

First bites

2010-04-24T20:45:00.001-07:00

So even though she hasn't decided which had is the best for eating she took her first bites off of her fork by her self! She will still pick food up to eat it with her left hand but tends towards trying to use utensils with her right. Tonight I think she took bites off her fork both left and right handed. We'll see what she decides! I'm just proud of her... yet another milestone.

I'm not expecting it every time but it's a start right!

Race Buddy

2010-04-24T20:35:00.001-07:00

Today was the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K! Cait and I entered into the race and walked with my coworkers Liz and her two boys, and Tiffany. We had a big storm blow through about midnight and did some major damage to parts of town, luckily we were not affected. And what started out as a stormy night ended up being a beautiful day. We enjoyed our outdoor time today and I must say she did an excellent job in that jogging stroller of hers! And if any of you have run the Komen here, you know that there was no way I was actually going to be able to jog with her and all the walkers!

Cait proudly showing off her Komen t-shirt!

The best snap shot I could get!

Spaghetti night! Oh yuck!

2010-04-11T15:19:00.000-07:00

We had spaghetti for dinner a few nights ago. This was the first time that I totally let her feed herself. She only plays with the spoon (she hasn't decided what hand she wants to be yet!) so it's all eat by hand. This is what followed. Luckily it was bath night, could you imagine her going to school the next day all orange!!! haha!

Freebirds

2010-04-11T15:05:00.000-07:00

We went to Houston for Easter so you know what that means... a stop in College Station on the way home! And of course what do you do when you pass through CS, you stop at Freebirds. This was Cait's first real time to eat there. She loved her quesidilla as you can tell!

I'm not sharing with anyone!

She took a very big bite!

This is her napkin phone because if you can hold it in your hand it has to be a phone these days!!

2010-04-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

Cait's Daycare class did this as their Easter project. In case you can't tell, it's her foot!

Cait with her Easter hyacinth!

Golf Bag

2010-04-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

Cait got a golf set for Easter and the bag is one of her new favorite things to drag around. She pushes the clubs on the ground too!

Easter Egg Hunt Part I

2010-04-08T18:46:00.001-07:00

Caitlin got to participate in her very first Easter egg hunt! She needed a little assistance from Dad and Grandpa but she finally figured out that if you find an egg there is stuff inside and that was a pretty ok thing!

I found one and where does it go now?

Look Mom, there's candy inside!!!

Ok Dad, find the next one for me!!

And what am I supposed to do now?

First Easter Egg Hunt Part II

2010-04-08T18:09:00.001-07:00

Alright Dad, I think I've got this down now!

Doesn't this just make you smile?

Over here Cait, come get this one!

What? Where? I don't see it!

Let me down Gran, there are Easter eggs to be found!!

Easter Dress

2010-04-08T17:41:00.001-07:00

So I decided since I didn't get a chance to make Cait a Christmas dress I would make her Easter dress. Here are some pictures!

Notice the deer in headlights stare... she was in need of a nap!

Graduation... The End is Near

2010-04-01T21:49:00.000-07:00

Just so everyone knows, Sean graduates from nursing school with his RN May 11th. The end is near thank goodness! It's been pretty rough around here the last few months and this last one isn't getting easier! Sean will be working 5-6 twelve hour shifts a week. 2-3 of them at Hillcrest, in Waco, for his preceptor and 3 of them in Temple at Scott and White, his paying job!! He's had to work full time while going to school full time. It's been very time consuming for him but he has done an excellent job and we are very proud of him! The little time we get to spend together we try very hard to make the best of it! Here are some photos from the past few months. Hopefully when school is done there will be more pictures with Sean in them!! Love you!!

Coming to a Craft Gallery Near You...

2010-04-01T21:28:00.000-07:00

well that is, if you live in the Waco area! Michelle, Mandy and I are going into a little side business together. We've all been quite crafty lately and we needed to try to find an outlet for our hobby! If you have a hobby you know that you can acrew too much of it if you have not where for it to go so we're going to try to get some crafty buyers to take the bait! Here is a little bit of what I've been up to lately! More to come!! We open in May so I've got some work to do to be ready but I think I'll be ok!!
This is a hand stitched onesie! I thought it turned out pretty well!

Hair clip holders!

I made the barrettes too, there are many more just didn't take the pictures!

And finally, woven headbands!

Gran Came to Visit!!

2010-04-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

Gran came to visit a couple weeks ago. She had a great time keeping up with Cait! I hope we didn't wear her out too much!!

Old Toy... New Tricks

2010-04-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

Cait has decided the play table isn't just for standing and playing anymore, it's for climbing too!

Peek-a-Boo!

2010-03-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

Cait's favorite game to play these days is peek-a-boo! She starts when she wakes up and ends when she goes to bed! She even will say "boo" when she does it! It's really cute and I love when she starts the game!! It has yet to get old!!

Mommy's New Hobby

2010-03-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

Hand made barrettes!

Applique on a bib.

Another applique on a bib.