Soccer!

I had been wanting to do an activity with Justin while Katelynn was in preschool, but I wasn't really sure what to sign him up for.  Being under age 2, there are not many programs offered for him.  I considered swimming and almost signed him up for it, and then I heard about the Lil Kicker program.  While Justin is not going to be playing in soccer games for quite a while, I LOVE this program we have signed him up for!  Today was his first day, and he did pretty well considering.  I had one mom ask me if his dad played soccer with him a lot because he was kicking the ball around as if he knew how to play (and no, Justin has never played soccer before!)  The program was absolutely adorable, and I'm so excited we decided to sign him up!

Cool Dude!

There is nothing like a pair of shades on a little guy.  Add purple to them and put them on backwards, and he might just be starting a new trend!  :)

Boating for four!

Most of the time we head out on the boat with family (J's parents mostly and occassionally mine), but today Jonathan took the day off and we decided to pick Katelynn up from preschool and head out on the lake with just the four of us.  Tomorrow Katelynn is having her tonsils removed and we'll all be stuck in the house for the next several days so this was a fun outing before the "stuck at home" phase begins.

It was sooo nice being on the lake in the middle of the week.  No one was out there and it was calm and beautiful!  Did you know deer swim?  I had no idea but we witnessed it today!  We were on an island playing and a deer took off from the island swimming across the lake to another one! 

Matthews Alive Festival!

I have very vivid memories of Paul Bunyan Days and St. Mary's Fair growing up in Michigan.  We went to those carnivals every.single.year, and I LOVED them!  I don't feel like there are nearly as many carnivals down here as there were up north... either that or the ones they do have seem a little shady around here.   Other than going once last year to Carowinds (an amusement park like Cedar Point for those of you still in Michigan!), my kids have never went to a carnival-type atmosphere.  I heard about the Matthews Alive Festival this year and decided to try it out.  The kids had a blast and would have stayed all day long if we would have let them, but man did carnivals get expensive!!  $1 per ticket and most rides took 2-4 tickets a piece!  Sheesh!!  I remember my parents probably paid $10 a day for us to ride all day, unlimited with armbands.  They sure do have the prices jacked these days!

First Day of School!

Well, we have survived the first day of preschool here at the Miller house.  I cannot believe that I actually have a PRESCHOOLER already.  Really, she was born just yesterday and yet somehow I have to let my grip loosen just a bit as she starts attending school four half days a week now! 

Katelynn has been pretty excited about starting school.  We enrolled her at a learning center that we were very impressed with the academics, but it also includes an hour a week of gymnastics with a trainer, which is a huge thing for Katelynn and probably her favorite part of school so far.  There have been a few times during the last week where she has mentioned that she doesn't want mommy to leave her, but for the most part she has been excited.

Last Days of Summer Vacation

Technically, this summer has been like any other day or month or year for Katelynn, but with the start of school just around the corner, her summer will be coming to an end (in a sense anyway).  We have been enjoying playing outside this week.  Katelynn's current favorite game is hopscotch!

She has also been playing a lot with our next door neighbors.  They are quite a bit older than her (I think 8 and 10 maybe?), but Erika has invited her to their "Secret Clubhouse" (which consists of an unused gate piece in their yard) and they have secret bracelets that they have to wear to get into the clubhouse.  I must admit that it sent me back down memory lane seeing my little girl so excited to go to her secret clubhouse!

And what is Justin up to while Katelynn is engaged in all these activities?  He is having a blast with his new favorite toy- the jeep!  He can't steer very well, but he is loving driving it!

All About Katelynn

I really can't believe that Katelynn is almost 4 years old already!  It seems like just yesterday we were trying to get pregnant with her and now here she is with a mind of her own... and really, she has a mind of her own.  She gets her stubborness and strong-will honestly from both her daddy and I. 

So what's she up to?  Well, besides getting ready to start preschool on September 1st, she is loving playing outside and having a blast.  For months now she is very, very adamant that she wears her hair down with a headband and that she wears dresses or skirts only.  I try several times a week to convince her to let me put her hair up or wear some of the 50 pairs of shorts or capris that she has, but I cannot convince her to change her style.  She has her mind set.  I wonder how long this will go on as it's been months already with no relief.  When it first started, I could convince her on rare days to wear braids at least but now she is strictly headbands.  Until a few weeks ago, she even insisted on wearing them to bed (the headbands), but it looked like she was losing some hair where her headband sat 24 hours a day so I set down a rule that they must be removed at bedtime.  She still complains about it, but she's following the rule at least.

Her favorite breakfast food is pancakes, which we eat almost daily and pizza is probably her favorite dinner (both hers and Justin's).  She LOVES eating out at restaurants and often requests to eat out versus eating at home.  It's a bad habit from Daddy traveling that I am trying to break (us eating out so much).  Katelynn loves reading books and playing dollhouse.  She has quite an imagination that is really showing itself more and more.  She often tells Justin and I that we are other names and gets upset when Justin isn't coming to her when she calls him by "Max" or "Rudy" or whichever name she has chosen for him at that moment.  Katelynn has her moments (especially with dropping naps), but for the most part she is soo much fun to be around!  I don't know how I'm going to handle being away from her four half days a week very, very soon!

 Some of you may remember that we had seen a urologist for Katelynn some time ago.  After being fully potty trained, she began having accidents back in November of 2009.  For a while, we chalked it off as just regressing in potty training, but when both the reward system and discipline failed to correct the problem and months had passed, I took her into the pediatrician.  She was diagnosed with a UTI at that point, put on antibotics, and the condition improved some.  It never went away though.  Even though she wasn't having full accidents, she would "drip" in her undies.  So after a few more months, we consulted a urologist.  Katelynn went through quite a bit of testing and the conclusion was that she has a few issues going on that have created this problem.  Her bladder is larger than normal and oval instead of circular.  Due to this, she has learned she can "hold" it longer.  Overtime, she has begun to hold it even when her bladder is completely full, causing the bladder and the muscle to fight against one another (and therefore causing some leaks).  Sadly, because of this a condition has started where her bladder has developed weak points that is pushing the urine towards the kidneys when it gets completely full and is not being emptied.  It has not gotten in the kidneys yet thankfully, but it's a pretty serious condition that needs correcting.  She is currently on a medication to help her feel the urge to go to the bathroom sooner, is on timed potty trips (every two hours) to try to retrain herself when to go, and is on an antibotic for the next year or two.  It's going to be a long process, but we'll get it fixed.  While we have seen improvement, it is still not even close to being resolved so we're just praying it will all work out.  Katelynn did have some scar tissue in her kidney from the UTI's (we are unsure how many she has gotten during the time her condition was untreated as she had no symptoms other than accidents), but for now they are just monitoring the kidneys and not overly concerned.  We are also heading back to the ENT for possible tonsilectomy :(  I will keep you all updated on that as well!