Katie Updates

Has it really been a whole month since I posted last?! The holidays seem especially busy this year with two little ones. Here are some updates on our big 2 year old from the last few weeks. Thanks for sticking with us!

Katie is now sleeping in her big girl bed!

Her hair was starting to get out of control so I gave her her first haircut. Isn't she a cutie?!

She loves to help out in any way she can, especially when it comes to baking (and eating!) cookies!
It's been fun to decorate our new house and put Katie in some adorable Christmasy clothes :)

Developments

Since Ben was in my belly I knew he was going to be an active child. Pretty much every person that has held him has said, "Just wait until he starts moving! You're going to have your hands full!" Well, he didn't waste any time. He's 5 1/2 months and is already sitting up and crawling! Yes, you read that right, crawling! I'll have to post some videos soon. He can sit by himself for at least 10 minutes and he sort of army crawls around the floor. He is a strong little fellow! He also started solids today. He didn't really care for brown rice cereal but I bet once I start feeding him sweet potatoes he'll be more interested. In other news, Katie (our big 2 year old) went pee-pee on the potty for the first time today! Lots of fun developments happening here at the Witmer house :)

Happy Birthday, Katie!

Today is Katie's 2nd Birthday! My sister, Leanne, drove in from PA last night to surprise her and we've been having a fun day together. We opened up many amazing gifts this morning, including a tea set, plastic food for our picnics, a new doll, clothes, boots, a broom and more. Thank you everyone!

Katie has been and continues to be such a joy and light in our family. She can say many words and can put together two or three of them to get her point across ("Mommy, hold me" is a popular one). She's slowly learning her letters, numbers and colors and loves to read. She also has a great memory. We delight in her and love watching her develop into a sweet, thoughtful little girl. We are grateful to the Lord every single day for giving her to us. Happy Birthday, dear Katie! We love you so very much!

Halloween

This was our first year trick or treating with the kiddies and we had so much fun! We went with our friends the Colemans who have children about the same age as ours and live in our neighborhood. Katie loved going up to the houses, saying trick or treat and, of course, eating the candy! Can't wait for next year when Ben can join in on the fun!

Smiles

Fun Family Weekend

This weekend my parents and sister, Leanne, came to visit from Bethlehem, PA. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather and we had a great time! They just love being with Katie and Ben and the feeling is mutual...Katie is always talking about Pop-Pop, Gram and Lee. Thanks for coming fam! We love you!

Aunt Leanne and Ben

Ben's first football game. Go JMU!

Gluten-free cupcakes for my birthday (thanks mom!)

Ready for a walk in the gorgeous fall weather

Before church in her new dress

Cousins

Last week Andrew's brother and his family came to visit all the way from Houlton, Maine. We had a great time! Katie quickly learned all of their names and was so excited for her cousins to visit. We walked around JMU, saw the construction machines and band, went to the park, had some good meals, went to a fair and just hung out. Thanks for making the trip to see us, Tim, Amy, Malachi and Logan!

Katie's language skills are improving with each passing day so I wanted to get a video of her saying some of the sweet things she says before she learns the real words :) For instance, before a few days ago she couldn't pronounce "Daddy" and instead said "Daddabe." It was so cute! But now she can say "Daddy" and can't go back. I'm glad I caught a few of these on camera.

Malachi, Logan, Katie, and Ben

4 Months

Benjamin is 4 months old today! He is such a happy, smiley baby. Just by smiling at him we can get him to give us huge, open- mouthed grins. He is growing well and really loves his sister. He is a joy. I am loving having a little boy!

Here are some recent pictures and (finally!) a video of him rolling over!

Cuties

Hats and SLEEP!!

Katie has been getting ready for winter! In other (very exciting, wonderful, amazing, fantastic, etc. etc.) news, Benjamin slept through the night last night!! I nursed him around 10pm and again at 7am. Unfortunately, Katie was up with a cold so I didn't get a full night's sleep but I am hopeful it will be very soon! Yipee!

Talking

Our house is much less quiet than it's ever been. Katie's language skills are blossoming with each passing day. I used to read her a book and have her point to pictures she knew. Now she tells me what those pictures are. It's so fun to watch her learn and grow. Ben is a very vocal baby and coos all throughout the day. It is one of the sweetest sounds I've ever heard.

One of Katie's favorite things to do is pretend to go to the store and get us "treats." When we go to the grocery store I let her pick out a special treat, which is usually an orange, so that's what she pretends to get us! I wish I could record the million adorable things they do every day but here are 2 for now. Enjoy!

Family Pics

Our very sweet friend Megan came to stay with us a few weeks ago and took some pictures of our family. Thanks, Megan, for these great shots! It was great having you here! We love you!

Happy 3 Months

to our favorite little man!

Ben Visits Bethlehem

This weekend, I packed up the car with two kids and lots of baby stuff and made the 4 hour trip to Bethlehem. Ben has been with my family a few times but this was his first trip to PA. We had a great time! It was an eventful trip; he got to meet his Great-Granmda Betsy for the first time, Aunt Leanne's boyfriend, Justin, the sweet family that I used to babysit for, a few of Leanne's friends and had lots of quality time with Pop-Pop, Gram and Lea (or as Katie would say "Zeee"). Here are a few pictures of our time together.

Growing

Benjamin will be 12 weeks old tomorrow! It's hard to believe he's that old! He had a rough start but is now a very happy, smiley little guy. We all are enjoying him so much. He had his 2 month appointment recently and was 13 pounds, putting him in the 50th percentile for weight. For length, he was 19 inches at birth (about the 10th percentile) and is now 25 inches, which is above the 95th! He has been doing a lot of growing!

Here is a video we just shot. Hopefully we'll catch him actually rolling over another time!

Our First House!

We feel so blessed by our new house. For all of our married life we weren't sure where we were going to end up because the academic job market was/is so tight. We are grateful to God for providing a job at JMU for Andrew and for allowing us to buy a house that's a 5 minute walk from his office! The house is a Cape Cod that was built in 1952. It's in a great neighborhood, has a lot of character and is so charming (in our humble opinion :) ) Please come visit!

1215 Hillcrest Drive

Living Room

Sun porch

Katie's Room

Kitchen


Dining Room

Our bedroom

1 of 3 full baths

Play area

A place for guests!

Back deck

View of the Blue Ridge Mountains from our deck!