Tuesday, February 27

Happy Birthday Kaitlin!

Kati is officially 3 years old today! Hard to believe but she is. We had her birthday party on Sunday and she had a great time. She was dressed like a princess and she received a lot of nice presents and loved her castle cake. She was spoiled just a little bit. I have to post a picture of the tent that my mom got her. Mom thought that it would be a small tent and as you can see, it took up the entire living room practically. It was fun though and it is now in Kait's play room with her doll house, dress up trunk, baby swing, rocking chair inside of it and there is still room to play in there. It is massive but lots of fun.

This year is sure to have lots of challenges but I am just so grateful to have a happy healthy little girl with so much love to give. We took her to the doctor yesterday for her 3 year check up and she is perfectly healthy. She is 3 feet tall and is in the 50th & 75th percentiles for height and weight, respectively. She is advanced for her age in language skills and he thought she was just perfect.

Here's some pictures...



Cousin Bryan and Princess Kati



She has already mastered her new bike.
Her Daddy taught her how to ride it yesterday.

Wednesday, February 21

World War of the Three's

Oh my goodness! I don't even know my child anymore. Less than a week from turning three and she has reached the point that everyone warned me about and I hoped would never come. There are no cute pictures to post this blog time because things have not been cute at the Ingraldi house. It has been a house of chaos lately. This stage is so hard and I know I just have to brace myself for what is to come because I know that this Battle of the Wills will not end overnight. It makes me so sad when she is like that because I know she knows right from wrong. She tells me later, I'm sorry Mommy, I will be good now. Or, I'm sorry Mom, it was an accident. She is so darn cute, and she knows it.

For those that may think that we just don't discipline, we do, trust me. We aren't opposed to spankings, time outs, or telling her no. She is a very strong willed.

It breaks my heart, because as a working mom, I just want to have a good time with her when I get home at night, but lately it has been anything but fun.

Then, I feel so bad because I leave her with our wonderful babysitter who unfortunately bears the brunt of Kait's actions during the day. I call with dread, to hear what she has done so far in the day. Today at 11, she had already had 3 time outs. I don't know what we would do without Aunt Lisa, but I do know that we can never pay her enough for all the things she does for us.

I know this is a post full of venting but I really needed to tell someone else my frustrations. She really is a sweet little girl and I guess that's what makes this so hard is that I just want that little girl, the one I know is there, to just be good.

Say a prayer for me as I try to navigate through this unchartered territory.

Tuesday, February 13

It's been a busy month!

Well, so far I haven't done a great job of keeping up but I will attempt to update y'all on what's been going on. The past few weeks have been plenty busy. I have recently taken on the role of events coordinator at church, so that has kept me busy. My job has been crazy lately. There is never a dull moment, which is good, but it is tiring. Michael has been working a lot of overtime, which is a financial blessing, but not seeing him as much really affects family dynamics. Kaitlin seems to act worse when he isn't around as much as normal. It is hard being a working mom but truthfully I can't see it any other way. I love being with Kaitlin but I get a real sense of accomplishment seeing things that I have worked so hard on get recognition. So between juggling working schedules, and handling all the day to day activities, this blog hasn't yet been used to its full potential.


Here is a brief update through pictures.

I love Clifford the Big Red Dog!
In late January, we took Kaitlin to see Clifford the Big Red Dog LIVE! She was so excited. We kept it a secret up until we saw they stage. It was very cute and she loved it. It is so much fun to do big girl things now.

Happy Birthday Michael!
We celebrated Michael's 26th birthday today. We took him to Outback, thanks to a gift card left from Christmas. We only spent $13 at Outback, nice tip included. Thanks to my boss for the gift card. Kaitlin has said for weeks that she wanted to make her daddy a blue birthday cake. Lucky for me and the food coloring, I found blue sprinkles.

Here's to a blessed year for Michael!






Kaitlin also said she wanted to make him a blue present, so this picture frame was painted by Kati. If you ask her, she painted it blue, and green, and orange, and yellow, and red!

Also her favorite joke right now is "Knock knock?" who's there? "Cargo?" Cargo who? "Car go beep-beep!" she loves to tell it and we laugh hard every time. Her laugh is infectious, she can't get through the joke without laughing.

Hard to believe she will be 3 two weeks from now. She is getting so big and is so much fun (most of the time when her strong will doesn't get in the way!)

Thursday, February 1

Baby Aidden is here!


Yeah! I am finally an aunt. My new adorable nephew was born yesterday to Michael's sister, Melissa and her husband, Chris.
Aidden Cole Wilkerson made his entrance at 3:09pm yesterday in Fort Polk, Louisiana. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 11oz. and was 19 inches long. He has a full head of black hair. Mom and baby are doing great.
Kati is very excited to have a new cousin. She heard him crying on the phone and thought that maybe he just needed some milk.
Michael and I are excited to be aunt and uncle. Kati calls Melissa her Aunt Mel, and I anticipate that I will be Aunt Lee Lee or something like that. At least that is what the people I have told already are calling me.
We can't wait to meet him!