Just a quick update

I know it's been 2 months.....sorry!

Kaitlyn is 4 months today. She's getting so big! She is laughing, smiling, cooing and all the other cute baby things she should be doing. She started rice cereal last week. Not too sure what to think of it....but she eats it. I'm taking her into today for her 4 month check up.

James is finishing his first year of preschool later this week. He has made so much progress in his speech. He will continue to receive services next year. He has been potty trained!!! He still has an accident from time to time, but it's getting better.

Emily is learning so much in kindergarten. She comes home with new books each week that she can read. She is asking tons of questions, sometimes mommy and daddy can't keep up with her! She and I will be going on a field trip to the Reston Zoo this week with her class. That should be fun!

John is almost done with another class for his Master's degree. For those of you keeping track that class 7 out of 12......more than halfway done!

Me, I'm just holding down the fort, making sure everyone is where they are supposed to be and make sure they get there on time!

I'll try in the next few days to get on here and post a bunch of pictures and videos. I've got some great ones to put up!!

Waiting for spring!

We are ready for spring in this house. Winter has not been fun for us. It seems every week at least one of us is sick. We've all had the stomach bug, a cough and various other fun things. We did have one more snow storm about 2 weeks ago. We didn't get to enjoy it though. Emily had a pretty bad cough that turned out to be bronchitis. I had my 6 week check up (I'm down 20-25 pounds since having Kaitlyn!!) On our way home from the check up, we were in a car accident. We are all ok. John and I were a little sore. Our van was drivable, but we got it into the shop the next day. As of today, our van is still in the shop but should be done soon.

Yesterday was Kaitlyn's 2 month check up. We ended up having to take Emily in also. She woke up in the middle of the night with a bad cough and a temp of 103.9. We saw one of the nurse practitioners. She checked Emily out first. While she was checking Emily's ears, James starting pointing at his ears so she looked in his ears. He has an ear infection. So we ended up having all 3 kids checked out! Emily has croup and a sinus infection. James lost one of his tubes (placed in Aug. 2007) and has an infection in both ears. Kaitlyn is "perfect", she has some congestion but nothing serious. She now weighs 9 lbs 8 oz, and is 22 inches long. She had 4 shots, and 1 vaccine that she had to drink.

James' speech therapy continues to go well. Our teacher thinks that next year he needs to see a therapist in one of the schools, rather than a teacher in our home. He has the vocabulary but he needs work on refining his words and sounds. He talks all the time now! Most of the time we know what he is saying....but not always! He is working on potty training....so any advice would be welcomed. Some days he goes all the time and wants to be in big boy underwear, other days he refuses to go and to put on the underwear.

Emily will start cheerleading this weekend. She is very excited and can't wait to use the pom poms! She is still loving school. She is starting to tell time (on a digital clock), she knows her coins, and is getting all of the words right on the spelling test each week.

John finished his 6th class of 12 last week for his Master's degree. He'll start a new class next week. While he is enjoying the program, he's ready for it to be over!

I'm still holding down the fort. Some days it's easy, but other days not so much.

Some new pictures for you to enjoy

Emily and Kaitlyn love each other!

After bathtime!

Bubble baths are the best!

Kisses from mommy!

Pretty in pink.

Just to see how small she is.

Daddy adoring me!

With her pretty eyes open!

Not too happy with bathtime...

My first bath.

Emily playing in the little bit of snow we got in January.

James enjoying the snow.

Kaitlyn and Daddy taking a nap.

James checking on Kaitlyn

Showing off new clothes from Daddy's co-worker.

One more adoring fan

Since John didn't post a picture of himself, I thought I would. It's very rare that we can actually get a picture of him since he's usually taking the pictures. But as you can see, he adores his newest little girl as much (if not more) than everyone else.

Changing Times

Kaitlyn Marie Cyr joined us on Friday, January 16th, 2009. Not quite close enough for a tax deduction for 2008, but we're happy she's here. She weighed 6lb 14 oz, and was a teeny tiny 19in long. She lost a bit of weight after coming home on Monday, but she's gaining it back.

Thank God we didn't have to fight traffic on 95 on Tuesday after the Inauguration.



As you can tell, little miss Kaitlyn is being adored by all.

Mimi's in town to take care of her other two grandkids. We're having problems prying them away from her.

Poppop, as usual, is having fun with his (now oldest) granddaughter, and James is a constant source of amusement.

John's parents love having a new little one close by.

Emily was a little unsure of what was going to happen once Kaitlyn got here. We had a couple episodes of acting out while Stephanie was pregnant, but once she got to meet her, she's loving being a big sister.

We think James is going to be in trouble. Two against one...

But he's working on persuading her to his side.

No, she's not crying. This is Kaitlyn yawning, comfortable in her sister's lap.

Stephanie's tired, but recovering well. She's up and about, although I won't let her do much - just taking care of the kids (and her parents), which can be a full-time job in and of itself. And as long as 7-11 has coffee, I'm surviving quite well.

Hi to all

John