Cutest Flower Girl Ever!

Dave's brother, John, got married in New Jersey last weekend. We were out there for about 6 days and had a wonderful time. The action was non-stop, but we'll just start with the Wedding Rehearsal ...

Krysten was the flower girl, of course, and she did a pretty good job of making it down the aisle during practice, despite one minor detour into the pews at one point.


After her stellar performance, Krysten sat nicely in the front pew and enjoyed a snack while the rest of the wedding party continued to rehearse.


Then, we were treated to dinner at a quaint little Italian restaurant near the church, where Krysten was able to spend some time with Aunt Sarah, the bride-to-be.


As with most 15-month olds, Krysten does not stay still for very long, so we were fortunate that Aunt Bev and Aunt Marianne offered to entertain her for a while so we could enjoy dinner too.


We actually had a day off between the rehearsal and the wedding, so the next day, we spent some time at the hotel pool. Krysten's swimming classes and the YMCA are really paying off as she just loves to be in the water.


After a while, Krysten chilled-out with Uncle Brian and gave him pointers on some of the advanced features of his cell phone.


After a good nights sleep, we were all ready for the big event. The Ulmer boys looked quite dashing as they prepared to leave for the church ...


... and Krysten ran off some energy in the hotel lobby while we waited for our limousine.



Finally, it was time for the wedding! John waited very patiently as the wedding party came down the aisle ...


... and although she had done well in rehearsal, Krysten needed Daddy's help to make it down the aisle for the actual event.


After everyone was in place, John and Sarah got married!


After the ceremony, the bride and groom enjoyed some champagne outside the church ...


... and Krysten spent some time with her Daddy.


After that, there was the normal menagerie of wedding photos to be taken, and Krysten kept her self busy combing the sidewalk until it was her turn.



We had a little bit of time between the church and the reception, so I took Krysten back to the hotel in hopes that she would get in a quick nap, but she had other things in mind and refused to go to sleep. So, this is what happened right around the time the reception started ...


After a quick snooze, Krysten was up again and we were able to take a family photo on the outdoor patio at the reception hall.

But, the best part of all is the fact that our daughter learned to dance at her Aunt & Uncle's wedding. Krysten spent most of her time at the reception snuggled up with her head on my shoulder, but every once in a while she would pull her head up and observe what was happening on the dance floor. Well, just before it was time for her to go back to the hotel for bedtime, Krysten got probably what was her 10th wind of the day and .... well, the video speaks for itself.

Since that night, whenever Krysten hears music she now dances! In addition to the arm movements, she also spins around in a circle and sometimes even does somewhat of a jumping motion too.

Although tiring, we had a wonderful trip and enjoyed spending time with our family that we aren't able to see as often as we would like. We are so happy for John and Sarah and are honored that we were able to be a part of their big day.

Mother's Day & A New Friend

Krysten and I had a lovely Mother's Day last weekend, although I forgot to bring my camera to our Mother's Day celebration at my grandparents house, so there are only a few pictures that I stole from mom Mom (I'm really not sure why they are coming out smaller than usual). We were able to spend the entire day together and have fun.

Krysten had fun playing on the swing set in Nana & Papa's backyard.

Grandma was in Heaven holding her two grandchildren ...

... as was Nana too.

Mary and I were very happy to celebrate our first Mother's Day as Moms together too.

Today brought an extra special treat as we were able to spend some time with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Kayra, who was in town for a visit. Kayra and I have been friends since the 2nd grade and have a ton of great memories together. She now lives in California with her husband and their two daughters, but was in Naperville for a visit this week. We were excited for Krysten to meet Kayra's daughter Sienna, who is 11 months older than Krysten. We had a very nice visit, although too short and kind of crazy with two toddlers and two infants hanging around (Kayra has a 2-month old daughter, Scarlette, and Jeffrey was there too), but the girls had fun playing outside together.

The last time Kayra and I were able to see each other Sienna was only 4 months old and I was barely pregnant with Krysten ... my how time flies. Hopefully it won't be another two years before we can do this again!

Pigtails and Springtime Fun

Krysten's hair has turned a nice shade of brownish/blonde (dirty blonde according to Dave) and has gotten very long on top and in the back, not so much on the sides. The length on top causes her hair to fall in her face quite often, giving her a shaggy look that I don't care for. Barrettes don't like to stay in her hair as she has not yet inherited the thickness that both Dave and I have, but we did discover that pigtails not only work at getting the hair out of her face, but she looks super cute with them too ...


Yesterday we had 2 showings on our house in the early afternoon, so we headed downtown Naperville and had lunch on the patio at Potter's Place where Krysten was a very good girl and enjoyed a cheese quesedilla and chopped tomatoes for lunch ...

After lunch we took a stroll along the river and stopped to relax by the bubble fountain. Krysten made me very nervous playing so close to the edge, but it was another little boy that actually fell in (and his parents took it very well and simply laughed it off).


Speaking of the house, we have had a lot of showings lately, and a few serious bites, but nothing has come to fruition. We have buried St. Joseph in the yard and I have yellow flowers on the porch ... beyond that I don't know what else to do besides hope and pray, hopefully we get an offer soon.

Krysten has become fascinated lately with putting things inside of containers (and then dumping them out again). She has gotten so good at it she can even put her dirty clothes in her hamper when told to. We caught her on video last weekend picking up her new alphabet toys for the bathtub and busily putting them back into the plastic container they came in.

And finally, today, Krysten showed off her cool side as she wore her sunglasses while finishing her lunch. Maybe we'll get her to tolerate them long enough that we can cruise in Dave's Jeep this summer with the top down.

Springtime/Easter

It is finally springtime in Chicago! We are very excited about the mild weather, although we were a bit skeptical that it would ever come, as this is how we began April:

Krysten has been busy, growing like a weed and perfecting her walking/running skills. In fact, she has decided that she should be allowed to walk up and down the stairs instead of crawling up and sliding down on her tummy like any good toddler would. So, we have a little disagreement each time she goes up or down the stairs as we force her to do it the safer way. I fear this is only the beginning of her stubborn/independent streak.

Krysten also still has her obsession with remote controls and actually has learned that they control the TV. She will point the control at the TV and push buttons and wait to see what happens. She has also figured out which buttons to push on the DVD player to turn her Baby Mozart and Beethoven videos on (which she loves by the way).

Earlier this month, Krysten got into a habit for about a week straight of pooping during dinner. After a few nights, we found it so amusing that we just had to share a picture of her priceless poopy face (we also have video too, but I will spare you).

Easter Sunday came upon us and we had a wonderful day. We spent the day at Nana and Papa's house where Krysten received many gifts from the Easter bunny and all the people who love her.

Krysten also was able to spend some time with her new cousin Jeffrey. Both Brad and Dave never thought we would get the kids to sit long enough to get these pictures, but they were quite content cuddled up together.

"Don't worry Jeffrey, our crazy family will stop taking pictures soon ... "

We had quite the busy day, and Krysten finally cuddled up with Papa after dinner to take in some Baby Mozart.

The Easter Bunny also visited Krysten at home and brought her some gifts from Grandmom in New Jersey as well as and Easter basket full of books and treats and also some alphabet blocks.

Our little girl may go in to demolition when she grows up as she loves to knock down the towers that we build with her blocks.

And, of course, we also had a visit to the Easter Bunny at the mall ...

... which looks quite different from last year's visit ...

... Jeffrey got in on the action this year too.

A New Cousin!!

The Engfer family's newest member made his entrance into the world late last night. Jeffrey David Engfer was born to proud parents Brad and Mary at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, weighing exactly 6 pounds and measuring 18 1/4 inches long (he is quite the little peanut). Both Mom and baby are doing great!!

Of course, being the proud Auntie that I am I have about a million pictures the little man so far, but here are just a few from his first 24 hours ...

Literally just about an hour after birth.

All snuggled up with Mommy around 3 a.m. this morning.

Taking a late morning snooze today.

Then, this evening we took Krysten to the hospital to meet her new cousin ...

Checking him out at first.

Shaping up to be best friends already :-)

Krysten actually was kind of indifferent about her new cousin as this video shows. We are pretty sure that she is trying to say "baby," but that could just be wishful thinking. I'm sure that she will find him much more interesting in about 3 months or so when he starts perking up a bit.

Musical Baby

Krysten had her 1-year check-up with the pediatrician just after her birthday and is coming along just fine (new stats are on the left). We were given the green light to switch from formula to baby food (thank goodness) and Krysten is 100% on table food now. We are very fortunate that she is fond of fruits and vegetables. In fact, if you put her entire meal on her tray at the same time she will usually eat the fruit or veggies before anything else. Her favorite fruits are watermelon, bananas and grapes. For veggies she loves carrots.

Krysten's walking ability seems to improve each and every day. She still has a bit of a wobble in her walk, but can sure get around now using those two little feet.

Krysten has begun to show a bit of her musical side and has taken to tinkering with Dave's electric keyboard. I took a video of her one night as I found it very interesting how she alternates between banging on the keys to gently pushing on individual keys.

She also started to outgrow her bathing suit from last summer, so I bought her a new one at Target. Even though I bought an 18 mos. size, I don't think it will last through this summer. Regardless, she looks so adorable it it I had to take a picture.






Other than that, not much has been going on around here. We enjoyed a wonderful spring-like weekend over the last two days and hope that it hangs around. And, of course, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Krysten's first cousin (actually, Mary is in labor as I write this post!) ... we will be sure to have more info on that very soon.

Krysten's 1st Birthday!

Krysten turned 1 last weekend!! I know is sounds very cliche, but my goodness, it's hard to believe it has been a year already. It's amazing at how much can change in such a short period of time.

Here is Krysten just hours old last year ...

And here she is one year later enjoying a nice birthday breakfast ...

Last Saturday was a big day for Krysten, as we had her birthday party on the actual day of her birthday. We started the day with attending our swimming class at the YMCA and Krysten received her very first report card with rave reviews. Then, shortly after we got home, Grandmom Ulmer arrived from New Jersey (despite the snow in Chicago that day) and we got to work preparing for the big event.

Krysten was actually sleeping when her guests began to arrive, but soon woke up from her nap to join the fun. We opened Aunt Liz and Uncle Brian's present before dinner because Aunt Liz had to leave for work.

Then after dinner we had cake. Krysten did very well with her smash cake, as you can see for yourself.

Even though it was obvious that Krysten thoroughly enjoyed her chocolate cake, she was able to make time to stop eating and say goodbye to Rachel.

And finally, just in case anyone didn't know, Krysten decided she needed to remind us how big she is now.

After cake we opened the rest of the presents, and per usual Krysten was a very lucky girl. She received lots of clothes for the summer and some new toys and stuffed animals too. Unfortunately I was busy with opening the gifts and didn't get any pictures of this production on my camera.

One of Krysten's most favorite presents is her little girl chair from her Grandma & Grandpa. Here Krysten tests it out the morning after the party.

Later in the day, she took a break from playing and relaxed in her chair while taking in an episode of Super Why!

Just as the chair is the perfect size for a little girl, it also appears to be the perfect size for 2 fat cats ...

Krysten does not like it when the cats are in her chair, but I guess she needs to learn to share sometime :-)