No more crib

On December 1st we finally conceded and changed the crib over to the regular bed rail. It didn't seem to matter how low the mattress was lowered our little dare devil would still climb over the rail and lower herself to the floor. Here she is posing with her favorite (manditory) bed things...her blanket and binkie.

Thanksgiving fun with big brother Kyle

Caitlyn loves her brothers and really loves when she has a chance to get in some play time with them. Here she is playing hide 'n seek with Kyle after Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma & Grandpa's.

First Visit with new Twin Cousins

On November 10th we made a trip to Roseburg to visit with the newest members of our family. Mike's niece continued with the "twin gene" with the arrival of a son & daughter. (Mike's brother & sister are twins)
Caitlyn was very taken with her new cousins Reagan & Keaton. Here she is helping hold Keaton.

Pirate Caitlyn

As some of you know one of the very first things Caitlyn said was "Arrggg" because of a favorite show of hers. We thought it only fitting that she share her pirate greeting with all the other trick or treaters.
Having a store bought costume is not something I ever had as a child because I was blessed with a mom that was so talented she would make the best costumes for me each year. Because of the great quality of my costumes nearly all of them have been saved for the other grandkids to use when wanted. This year Caitlyn's costume was a creation from part of the gypsy costume I wore when I was 5 I believe. With some creative stitching I was able to alter the shirt to fit Caitlyn. The vest was also part of the gypsy outfit and was an easy fix in making it smaller. The pirate hat was from our last trip to Jamaica during a visit to Margaritaville. Add a parrot to carry around and we were set. The perfect pirate costume.

Playing in the leaves...while mommy tries to rake them up.

Monty kept Caitlyn entertained for most of the time it took me to rake the leaves this day.
Monty would hide until Caitlyn would find him then he would run to a new hiding spot and the cycle continued.
Occasionally he got tricky and would run under the fence.

Pumpkin Patch (October 27, 2007)

This year while the men were gone elk hunting Grandma Shadduck spent the afternoon with us that included a trip to the pumpkin patch. The day was sunny but very blustery thanks to those powerful east winds we get out here in east county. Caitlyn hitched a ride in the wagon with Grandma.
Once we made our way into the thick of the patch Caitlyn got lost in her own world of pumpkin picking. She was also mesmerized by the hay stack as if it had a magnetic force pulling her to it.

She was able to fight the trance to finally pick out the perfect pumpkin. She would not let Grandma or I help her carry the pumpkin. As strong as she is she had no trouble picking up and carrying her choice to the wagon. And I knew she had picked some good sturdy pumpkins because they managed to survive the trip they took from being thrown into the wagon.
It was another fun time with new memories of the pumpkin patch.

2007 Race for the Cure (September 23rd)

The day started out way to early when three of the gals showed up at the front door so we could all head to the downtown waterfront where the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure takes place. This was our second year to participate. We established a corporate team last year and cannot wait until the next to come. It was still dark after finding a parking place and getting all our gear on.

We actually managed to find almost everyone before the race for a group photo.

Once we headed to the starting line area we ran into Sherri and Makayla who was walking with Jeff's company group. Sherri had just ran into cousin Patty too so we took advantage of getting a photo of the three of us.

The walk was over and we found our way back to the car to head home but not before we got one last picture of the two of us.

Official Deviled Egg Tester

Mike is the master of making the best deviled eggs. As a result anytime there is a family gathering that includes deviled eggs in the menu he is put to task of whipping up a batch.
Caitlyn assigned herself as dad's official egg tester/helper. The batch was given her seal of approval only after putting it through a number of tests. The first was to lick from the bowl before moving on to the spatula followed by the whole egg sample.
Another great batch of eggs...Gr-egg Job!

September 3, 2007

The family gathered at Sherri & Jeff's to celebrate Mom's, Jim's & Sherri's birthdays. It was a nice summer day so Caitlyn gave their new hot tub the splash test.
But it didn't take long before she was down to her diaper and taking a full plunge into the bubbly water. Once it was time for some cake fun time was over and Caitlyn was headed to the kitchen.

Well, everyone I have not been doing a good job of keeping up with things have I?
Shortly after my last posting in September we had our carpet replaced (again-long story) and since then the computer hook up has not been the same. Our computers used to be on the same network so I could get to our photo's which are kept on Mike's computer. Trying to get our computers to cooperate with one another again has been more challenging then it should be. And now I find myself nearly 4 months behind in Caitlyn updates. I will be posting some brief highlights to catch you all up on how much Miss Caitlyn has grown in that time. Then I will do my best to keep more current with several postings a month. And of course there will be birthday photo's because Caitlyn will be turning 2 on Saturday. Where has the time gone???? So stay close to your Kiwi Cait blog address, more to come very soon!