Potty Trained!

For the past few months we've been talking to Katie about using the potty.  We're learning that she needs to think and talk about something for a while before she works up the courage to try it.  Finally, the day before we came home from our trip, she made up her mind and said, "Mommy, I don't want to wear diapies anymore."  And the next day she was going on the potty!  She was really ready (and seeing all her older cousins doing it probably helped too).  Within 2 days she was wearing big girl panties and has had maybe 2 accidents total.  Here she is proudly standing in front of her potty with her favorite doll, Baby Allie, who is wearing a new dress from my parents (a great incentive!) complete with panties of her own.  We're so proud of our big girl! 

Our Trip Up North

We returned last week from our big summer trip.  We were away for 19 days, slept 7 different places and drove almost 2,400 miles!  The kids did amazingly well and we all had a great time.  First, we went to Point Pleasant, NJ to the beach with my family.  Then we made our way to Maine by first stopping in to see Andrew's brother, Stephen, and his family for a night in Massachusetts and then to Monson for about 10 days.  We also made a weekend trip to see Andrew's other brother, Tim, in Houlton, Maine, right on the Canadian border.  We made our way to PA for a family reunion in Lancaster, and then back to Harrisonburg.  Whew! Some highlights were watching the kids play in the sand at the beach (they had never been before but were naturals!), kayaking on Lake Hebron, playing in Grandma's "Witmer Grocery Store", four-wheeling in Houlton, relaxing and reading in Monson, and the many wonderful conversations we had with so many family members who warmly opened their homes to us.  I sure do love a professor's schedule :)  Thanks to everyone who made our trip so enjoyable! 

Katie seeing the ocean for the first time!

Beautiful Aunt Lee

Welcome to Maine

Grandma reading to Katie with a special treat- maple sugar!

We went to a bison farm and got some real Maine maple syrup.  Yum!

Lobsters!

Swimming in Lake Hebron, the lake in Monson, where Andrew's parents live

A fun candy store in Houlton

 

Cousin Malachi taking Katie out for a ride.  Too cute!

Cousins

Grandpa Witmer reading "Heidi"

Great-Grandpa

Summer Days

Here are a few pictures of how we've been spending some of the hot summer days.  Katie and Ben love icy pops and the fun elephant sprinkler we set up in our backyard.  They like to fill up little tea cups and water the plants. 

We're leaving for a few weeks to go to the beach with my family, Maine with Andrew's family and then to Lancaster for a big family reunion.  It should be fun but it will be a LOT of driving.  I'll post pictures when we get back.  Hope you're having a fun summer!

Katie's 1st Haircut

Last Saturday we walked down the street to have Katie's hair cut by a professional for the first time.  I've cut it a few times but it really needed an expert's touch since I have no idea how to care for curly hair!  She was perfectly patient and sat very still the whole time.  It's not very different but she shaped it nicely and it's beautiful!  We can't go anywhere without people stopping her to tell her what pretty hair she has.  Here are the before and after pictures, and some silly ones that resulted from the sugar in the lollipop they gave her!

Pinkalicious!

Last Thursday, Katie and I went on a special mommy-daughter date.  My dear friend Sarah and her sweet 4-year old daughter Ava picked us up and we drove about 1/2 a mile down the road to JMU's beautiful new performing arts center, The Forbes Center, where we watched the JMU Children's Playshop present Pinkalicious.  It was a musical about a girl who loved the color pink so much that she turned pink!  Katie enjoyed it a lot and sat quietly through the whole thing, even though, (as she tells me about 15 times per day) her favorite color is purple :)  We topped off our evening with some yummy frozen yogurt.  It was a fun girl's night out!

Ben's Birthday "Party"

We have had a really rough spring here in the Witmer house.  One or both of the kids have been sick almost every week.  We wanted to so something special for Ben's birthday so we planned a very small party with a few friends, neighbors and my family.  Everything was all ready and then 2 hours before people were supposed to come, Ben got sick.  Everyone who had kids didn't come but my parents and our neighbors were here to have a little celebration.  Ben was a good sport and even ate some cake (he was a little tentative.  Had he been feeling well I know he would have dug into it immediately!).  Thanks, Mom and Dad, for making the trip and for all you brought, especially the beautiful cake, and thanks everyone who called and/or sent something.  He was still feeling well when we opened the gifts and he loved it!  Hopefully he'll be feeling well on his 2nd birthday!

Telling Stories

Andrew is part of a digital storytelling workshop at JMU and he produced this sweet little video in a few hours on his ipod touch.  Don't you just love Katie's expressions?  She's very animated these days.  Enjoy!