Thanks Dana!

At Kim's baby shower I made a comment that I didn't have time to scrapbook like I would really like to but I do keep up with the blog so I would just print all of the blog pages to keep for the future. Dana said that there was a website where I could turn my blog into a scrapbook and have it printed. I did some searching and at www.scrapbookblogger.com I can do just that. It's very exciting! It's going to take some time to do all of the editing and get the book just right. Plus I have to decide which posts are going to stay and which won't make the cut because it can get a little expensive but I am excited! It'll take a lot less time than a scrapbook and I can have a nice bound book for each year that I do the blog. It's a perfect solution to my problem and I'm very thankful for Dana's suggestion! Now I'll just have to get her over here to do family pictures once Tanner is born!

Kim's Baby Shower and other Weekend Happenings

This weekend was pretty busy for us. Friday night I was exhausted from a long week so I went to bed pretty early. Noah had my brother over to play video games so it was a pretty quiet night in my house. I had to get up early on Saturday morning to go take my Praxis II test so I needed the extra sleep anyway. I got up nice and early on Saturday and headed out to ODU. I took the Praxis II in Family and Consumer Science to try and add the endorsement to my teaching license. This means that if they can't fill a schedule for me with marketing classes for next year, then maybe I could teach and FACS class and still have a job! I won't find out until February if I passed or not and I have no idea either way! I knew a lot of the material but I didn't go to school for it so a lot of the topics were pretty foreign. Then I headed home to get ready for Kim's baby shower! I rested for a little bit and then it was back out the door again. Izabel and I headed over to Michelle's house to celebrate the upcoming birth of Trevor Francis Chapman! We are so excited to meet him and we are also excited to have another little boy that will be so close to Tanner's age.

Kim opening presents - she got a lot of great stuff!

There was a gift bag big enough for Izabel to stand in!

Taking a break from opening to play with some toys!

Izabel playing with Mackenzie! I think she had a good time playing with someone older!

On Saturday night Noah's Aunt came over to babysit and Noah and I finally made it out to dinner and a movie. Aunt Ann gave us a gift certificate for dinner and a movie and offered her babysitting services as our Christmas present and it was the perfect gift! It was so nice to sit in a restaurant and not be picking cherrios off the floor or worrying about Izzy making too much noise while waiting for her food! Then we went to see the movie Seven Pounds. It was interesting and a little emotional. We both liked it and we had a great time being able to get out of the house for a little while! Thank you again Aunt Ann!

On Sunday we finally got the rest of the Christmas stuff put away! I know it's a little late but I've been understandably lazy lately so I don't feel that bad! Noah went to play football while Izzy and I hung out. Aunt Ann came over and Theresa loaded up to move over the dorms at ODU. I know she's excited to be back to real college life again! Now we have to move furniture and paint to get Tanner's room ready! Then Mark, Jessica, Olivia and little Victoria came by to visit. It was the first time we have been able to meet Victoria (shame on all of us for not visiting sooner!) The girls had a great time playing and we had so much fun watching Victoria. She is so happy! (Jessica, if you want any of these pics just send me your email address!)

Victoria was happy the whole time!

Izabel and Olivia playing together

Tug of war with the wagon in the hallway!

Izabel sharing with Victoria
(she didn't do this too many times so I'm surprised I got a picture!)

Olivia playing hide and seek with Noah

After our visit we made a trip to the grocery store and spent the rest of the evening hanging out. Tanner was up and moving about all day so I was pretty exhausted by the time I went to bed. Now it's another busy week at school! Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!

15 Months!

Where does the time go? I feel like it was just yesterday that I as writing about Izabel being 14 months old and now it's been yet another month. It's really amazing to watch her discover new things. She knows all of her main body parts. She can point out all the parts of her face, her hands, her feet and her tummy! She even knows where to find baby Tanner but she thinks she needs to lift up my shirt to say hi or give him kisses! She got mega blocks and foam blocks for Christmas that she is really good at playing with. She also loves the part where she gets to knock it over, especially if someone else set it up! Her appetite is finally back so she is eating pretty much everything again. She talks non-stop. We don't always know what she is saying but she is always running her mouth! She's pretty much down to one nap a day which is okay with me for now but I think I'm going to wish she still took that second nap once Tanner is here! She's very loving and is always giving hugs and kisses. Walking in the door in the afternoon and seeing her light up is really the highlight of my day! I hope everyone gets to experience that feeling at some point in their lives!

Weekend Fun

Friday was my last day home with Izabel before having to return to normal life today! We hung out at home and I started cleaning out her closet. This was one of the many projects I wanted to accomplish on my two weeks off so at least I got some of it done on my last day! I cleaned out all the clothes that are out of season or do not fit. It is funny that some of the summer clothes would still fit if it was still warm enough to get away with wearing them! She still can't get into her sweaters so her closet is a little bare right now. I packed up all of the clothes in space bags and as Noah and I started talking we decided we would try to sell the clothes. I've been saving them all so carefully as I knew we would have another baby and I would have all of these beautiful clothes to put her in (plus new purchases I'm sure) but now that we know we are having a boy it seems like an awful big waste of space. I'm not 100% convinced this will be our last baby but if we do have another one and it happens to be a girl it will still be quite a few years down the road and I'm sure I'll want to buy new stuff by then! So if you or anyone you know is going to need little girl clothes of all sizes up to 12 months let me know!

After cleaning out the closet Izabel and I headed to TGI Fridays to meet Noah for lunch. We ordered Izabel a kids cheeseburger and she went about eating almost all of it and a whole bowl of mandarin oranges and cheerios. She really has gotten her appetite back! Friday night we had Ann, Laurie and Richard over for game night which consisted of a long game of Monopoly. Izabel stayed up late and we all had a good time.

A bunch of Izabel's 6-9 month clothes!

Saturday we were pretty lazy all day. Noah made french toast for breakfast and then spent most of the day in the bedroom watching movies (must be nice!) I don't think we left the house all day!

On Sunday Izabel and I headed up to Richmond with my Mom, Dad, Aunt Phyllis and Aunt Judy to visit my Aunt Mary and a bunch of my cousins. We got there right at lunch time and had a great meal. Then we played. Izabel has a cousin that is only three months older than her (Sydney) and one that is 3 years old (Nathan) so they had a great time playing together. Sydney got a princess tent for Christmas and even the older cousins (teenagers) had fun playing in it with the kids. Izabel got the cutest little purse that sings and talks and has all kinds of things in it that you would normally find in a purse. She thinks it is great and has been enjoying carrying it around just like Mommy does with her purse! We got home and Noah made dinner for us and Aunt Ann who was over visiting. Then we tried to make it an early night since I had to go back to work today but Izabel wasn't going to let that happen. Izabel went to bed just like normal but for some reason she started crying. We went in once and put her back down to sleep but it didn't do any good. She screamed for at least an hour. We finally had to close our door and wait for her to give up! It's heart breaking but she finally fell asleep and stayed asleep all night! I guess that was better than her getting up a few times at night and me listening to her until she gets herself back to sleep. All in all we had a good weekend and now it is back to normal daily life with Mommy and Daddy both at work and Grandma here during the day!

Izabel and Sydney
Lots of Loves!Playing in the Princess Tent
Nathan with his Uncle Wayne (My Dad)

New Year's Eve

Last night we had our annual New Year's Eve party at our house. Izabel went and had a sleep over with my mom and we had about a total of 30 people in and out throughout the night. We had a really nice time. There was lots of food and drinks. We played beer pong in the garage and several of the boys (my husband included) had way too much way too early but it was fun and it is always a great way to ring in the New Year! We're very excited for all of the exciting things coming this year and we hope you and your family are very blessed in 2009!

Izabel is all ready to go to Grandma's House!

At least one of us got to have a few drinks!

Me and Kim

Brian and Elizabeth

Andy, Ann and Humaira

Noah and Ryan playing beer pong!

Ketchledge Family Year In Review

I always love the Christmas letters that come in the mail and tell us all about what has been going on with our friends and family all year. I will hopefully find time to do this one day, but for now I figure the blog is pretty much the same thing!

2008 has certainly been life changing. We knew our life had changed completely in 2007 when Izabel was born but we had no idea how wonderful it could be. We kicked off the New Year with a party over here and Izabel had a sleepover at Grandma's (an event we are repeating tonight!) I was back to work full time and working like crazy trying to get my students ready for State and National DECA Competition.

In February we celebrated Noah's 25th birthday with a trip to Atlantic City. Jackie, J.K., J.K.'s sister Sarah and Riley went with us. It was certainly an exciting trip and we all had a great time. Izabel also celebrated her first Valentine's Day!



In March I celebrated my 24th birthday by having a girl's night. Several of my girlfriends and me went out to P.F. Chang's for dinner and drinks and we had a great time. It was definitely the break I needed! I also took about a dozen students to State DECA Competition and had several students make it on stage and one first place winner! Izabel celebrated her 1st St. Patrick's day and started eating solid foods!



In April I took several students and two friends on a fashion trip to New York. It really ended up being more of a shopping trip because of the small size of our group and we had a great time. Also in April Noah and I headed to Atlanta, GA with four of my students for National DECA Competition. We went to Six Flags, the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca Cola and more and we all had fun. Izabel celebrated her 1st Easter and got lots of great surprises in her Easter basket!




In May we took Izabel for her first camping trip over Memorial Day weekend. This is something we do every year and always enjoy. Izabel enjoyed it too!


In June school was finally out and I was able to be home and spend lots of time with Izabel.


In July we took Izabel to Vermont to visit with Noah's family and celebrate Papa Bear's 50th Birthday. We arrived the day of his big party and we had a great time despite a few illnesses and falls! Izabel had a great time meeting and visiting with that side of the family and was able to meet pretty much everyone while we were there! When we got home Izabel started walking!

In August I was back to work 4 days a week. Noah got some not so great news at work and things became a little difficult for him there. Needless to say he is still looking for a new job but in today's economy who knows what he'll be able to find. At least he still has a job! I had struggles at work as well. Because of budget cuts we weren't sure how much job security I had left. I managed to hold on to this year's position but next year is still up in the air! We did get some good news this month --- we found out I was pregnant with our 2nd child! This is something we planned and we were very excited that the timing worked out so perfectly. Noah and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary by heading to Atlantic City (where else would we go?) and it was great to get away just the two of us.


In September school started up again and I was back in the swing of things with lots of morning sickness and exhaustion. The "what was I thinking" line was in the back of my head all the time because this pregnancy was much harder than with Izabel. For starters, there is no coming home and taking a nap when you have a 1 year old!

In October we celebrated Izabel's 1st birthday with a big party! She finally got to have some cake and she loved it! Everyone had a great time and she got lots of great gifts. She is such a lucky girl to have so many people who love her so much! Noah's sister Theresa moved in with us in the middle of October. She needed somewhere to stay until she could get into the dorms at ODU and were happy to have her. Izabel loves following her around and watching her get ready. We celebrated Halloween at church and then we went Trick-or-Treating with our little Ladybug. She was so cute and really got into the candy thing. She loved when people put candy in her basket but not so much when one of us tried to take some out!

In November Mimi and Papa came to visit for Thanksgiving. This year Izabel actually got to eat with us and I think she likes turkey! Izabel got her first haircut and I also took a group of students to Nashville for a conference and had a very stressful time! Traveling with students while pregnant is probably not the best idea!



In December we found out that we were having a baby boy. His name is Tanner Wayne and he will be here towards the beginning of April. We celebrated Christmas with Izabel and I got two whole weeks at home with Izzy. We had a fantastic Christmas with lots of friends and family and even Mimi and Papa got to come back down for a visit.


Even with the ups and downs we are very blessed. We have more than we could ask for and we have a wonderful little girl who makes us smile and laugh and sometimes cry. It's the best thing in the world and thankful doesn't even begin to describe it! I hope everyone had a wonderful 2008 and we are looking forward to lots of new adventures and blessings in 2009!

Playdate

Today Izabel had a play date with her friend RJ. RJ is only a couple weeks older than Izabel and it's funny to watch them play together. They spent a lot of time together this summer but since I've been back at work it's been hard to get together. It took RJ a while to warm up but then they started playing. Izabel wasn't too sure about sharing her toys and I think they were both a little tired but it went pretty well. Hopefully they'll like playing together because they'll be doing it more! RJ is going to have a little sister who will be just a couple weeks older than Tanner! This summer will be fun with me and Rebecca trying to have play dates with 4 kids!