5 Years Together

5 years ago today Noah and I met standing outside of my house in Norfolk. Now anyone who knows the story of that night knows that it was not all romantic and everything but we did pretty much start dating from the night we met on and knew we would be together forever pretty soon after we started dating. It's been pretty amazing this week to think about how much our lives have changed in the past 5 years. We've had a wedding, bought a house, got new jobs, and have almost 2 kids. Instead of going out at 9 we go to bed at 9 and I pray no one calls after 9 and wakes me up! Of course once the new baby is born and we get through the up all night phase I'll start wanting to hang out on the weekends and stuff again but for right now that seems like a totally different world to me. Now you may be thinking, "what are Whitney and Noah going to do to celebrate?" Well the answer is nothing. Noah is out of town in Atlantic City with a bunch of the guys. It's someones bachelor party or so he tells me. So Izabel and I will spend the day cleaning the house and doing some shopping and then eating whatever I can find in the fridge and going to bed. Sounds romantic right! I'll let Noah make it up to me when he gets home! Here is a picture I found of us about a week after the night we met. It's amazing to see how 5 years has changed our looks as well as our lifestyles!

1 Year Pics and Halloween Sneak Peek!

Here are the one year pics I promised! I'm so excited that they came out so well. Montana at the JcPenny in Lynnhaven has been doing the pictures each month for a while now and she is the best! It was her idea to use the real cake in these and I was hesitant but I'm so glad we did. I found a really little cake at the grocery store and since Izabel has discovered her love for cake she was very happy. Every time we would try to move her for a new picture she would scream because she couldn't get to the cake! Needless to say it was an adventure! Also at the end is a picture of Izabel in her halloween costume. We did the pictures the same night as the 1 year pics. I was going to wait until halloween to show it off but I thought I'd give everyone a peek now! If you'd like to see all of the pictures click here and type in Whitney Ketchledge as the customer name. Enjoy and let us know what you think!

Hunt Club

On Sunday we went to the Hunt Club for their fall festival with my Mom and Dad and Rebecca and RJ. It was a pretty crisp day but it was beautiful and we were all excited to go. The hunt club was one of mine and Noah's first dates almost 5 years ago so it is pretty special for us. Of course we went at night for the scary stuff. During the day they have regular hay rides, a petting zoo, lots of inflatables and games, pony rides and a pumpkin patch. It was so much fun and I think Izabel really enjoyed it. I haven't been feeling well but it was nice to get out of the house and watch Izabel have a new experience. I think the petting zoo was her favorite part. She didn't even hesitate. She went right for the animals. She touched all of them and chased the chicken's around. The only time she wasn't paying attention to the animals was to stop and dance whenever she heard the music. Everyone around us would watch her and laugh. It was so funny! Here are some pics!

Ready to go!

Touching the goat, she's not afraid!

Family Pic!

RJ did not like the animals as much as Izabel did!

Feeding the animals with Mommy and Daddy

Why are we sitting on hay?

Trying to give RJ a kiss...don't look Dad!

Family pic on the hayride!

Pony rides!

An Izzy sized pumpkin!

Picking out her own pumpkin

Trying to pick up a Mommy pumpkin!

Drew's Birthday Party

Saturday morning Izabel and I went to Drew's 3rd birthday party. Drew's mom is a friend of mine from work and we've been out to their house before so we were excited to go out to his party. He had a fire truck theme and the brought out a real fire truck! Izabel wasn't so interested in the fire truck but she had so much fun playing with the big kids. From the moment we walked in she never stopped moving around and playing with all of the toys. It'll be nice when she starts having more kids around her age to play with! Happy Birthday Drew! We hope you had a great weekend!

Playing with Drew's toys!

Drew as the fire chief!

Sitting on the front of the fire truck!

Blowing out the candles

Izabel with her fireman's hat

So Tired!

Well my darling daughter decided she didn't want to sleep last night so she was up from 12:00 - 3:30. Obviously she didn't want to be alone so she made sure I was up the whole time with her! Now I am sleep deprived on top of being exhausted from the pregnancy and I all I can think about it getting in my bed as soon as possible! I think Izabel's teeth might have been bothering her because finally I thought about giving her some Tylenol and she seemed to calm down after that. It was also the first time she has had whole milk instead of breast milk or formula so maybe that was bothering her. I don't know but we have a lot of fun things planned this weekend so hopefully she sleeps tonight and I get some rest! Have a great weekend and check back for pics and updates of our weekend!

Weekend Update!

This past weekend Noah's Mom, Aunt Deb, their friend Cindy and her daughter Molly came down for a visit. Noah's cousin Andy was also in town for a visit. They flew in Thursday night and stayed until Sunday night. We were so excited to have them and had such a great time! Friday we took our time getting ready and hanging out at home. Then Izabel and I took Mimi (Noah's Mom) and Cindy to Babies R Us and Target. We were looking for black leggings to go under Izabel's halloween costume which we found at Target! Then we went over to Aunt Ann's house for lunch. Izabel had pasta with broccoli and managed to make a huge mess! We all decided to load into the SUV and head out to Suffolk for the Peanut Festival. I was not thrilled with this idea since it was already after 2:00 and Suffolk is a pretty long hike but we ended up having such a nice afternoon. We just walked around and looked at all of the different vendors and crafts and stuff. Izabel loved looking around at everything! They had food, rides and arts and crafts. They even had a diaper changing tent equipped with diapers, wipes, purell, and a nursing station! I was very impressed with this brilliant idea! Friday night we got several different types of take-out and hung out at our house chatting and playing pool. I went to bed way before everyone else but we all had a good time. Saturday we went down to the beach and walked around the boardwalk and the strip looking in the stores. Then we went to Aunt's Ann's for dinner and everyone headed out to the Admiral's game. They had a great time at the game. I stayed home with Izabel by choice. I was way too tired to head out to the game so it worked out well for everyone. Sunday we all went out to Olive Garden for lunch. We had a great time with good food and good conversation. Then sadly it was time for everyone to go to the airport. We were sad to see them go but hopefully they'll be back soon! The holiday's are coming up and the new baby will be here in the spring so I doubt they'll be able to stay away for too long! I don't have any pictures yet because I forgot to get them off of Mimi's camera but I will and I'll post them soon! Have a great week!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IZABEL!!!

Izabel at 1 day old!

Izabel on her first birthday!

WOW! I can't believe it's been a year and our baby is one! It's truly amazing to think back over the past year and realize how much we have been through and how much we are getting ready to go through over the next year. At some moments it seems like she was born just yesterday and I can remember every detail so clearly. At other moments it seems like she's been with us forever. She's changed so much and everyday we see more and more of her personality coming out.

She's an excellent walker now and she is starting to run. She pretty much eats anything we'll let her have. She eats all table foods and loves fruit more than anything else! I'll put her plate down and before I can turn around she's downed all of the fruit and then she picks at the meat and veggie. She loves to play and is having a great time with all of her new toys. We take her for walks in the wagon and she takes her baby along. She holds on to her baby so tight, it's so cute!

She goes down for her naps and for bed pretty much right on time everyday. At night she starts to whine when she gets really tired and she'll start walking down the hallway towards her room. She'll knock on her door and then look back at you like aren't you going to come put me in my bed? She also loves to take a bath. I'll just say the word and she'll take off towards the bathroom. She'd probably sit in there all night if I'd let her. The problem is that she likes to stand up and a slippery baby walking around in a tub full of water just doesn't work for me.

She had her main birthday celebration this past weekend but there are still a few more festivities planned. Tonight she is having her birthday dinner with her Godmother Humaira. It will include lots of fruit and some cake! Then her Mimi, Aunt Deb and cousin Andy will be in town Friday through Monday so she'll have lots of fun celebrating with them. I took Friday off so I could spend the day with everyone so I'll get to be home with Izzy an extra day this week! Saturday we are going to try and go to the Hunt Club. They have hay rides, a petting zoo, pony rides and a pumpkin patch. I think she'll love it!

For now I am just left with tears in my eyes thinking about how my baby girl is one year old and growing up so fast already. She's such a wonderful baby. I really don't think we could have asked for a better more beautiful loving child. We are truly blessed!!!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl. We love you more than you will ever know! Love Mommy and Daddy!!!