This kiddo is inching her way to being 2 and I can't believe it! She is just so grown up and seeing her next to her 6 week old cousin makes her seem even MORE grown up. At times it seems like she's already 2 as she tries to get as close as she can to the line without crossing it. She is definitely testing the waters already!
Kaitlyn...
*can say a few 3 word sentences. She talks a lot and says more words than we can keep track of. We pretty much have conversations these days. :)
*likes to drink from a "big girl" cup (one without a lid)
*can say multiple family members' names.
*likes to love on her new baby cousin
*likes to dance
*helps me finish making our bed every day by pulling the comforter over my pillow
*'s favorite play buddy is a 3 year old boy named Amarius
*loves to go to the library ("bubby")
*loves watching Jeopardy ("buddy") with Mommy and Daddy
*has been doing great at counting. Most of the time she can get to 6 correctly.
*can regonize a few colors
Oh, how we will miss playing at the park this winter!     This is Kaitlyn's favorite art project-torn construction paper on contact paper     Kaitlyn is my little helper around the house :)     Doing her part in sending out the Christmas cards     She loves her teddy bears!

About a month ago, Aaron and I received a wedding invitation in the mail for 2 friends from Vincennes. We checked the calendar and saw that it was a free weekend and immediately decided to go! We've now been in Eureka for almost 7 months and I was ready to see our Vincennes church family again. We built some good relationships and I was missing everybody!

The wedding was this past weekend. We stayed with our friends, Holly and Patrick. They have 3 boys and Kaitlyn had a ball with them. 2 other friends of ours stopped by to spend some time with us. One has a daughter that just turned a year old so it was so fun to see how she'd changed.
We also got to see a few teens! By the way, these guys were on their way to a Halloween party :)   The wedding was beautiful and we spent the reception talking with as many people as we could. It was so refreshing to be with some many people that we know well and that know us well. We're getting closer here at EBC but we've only been here for 6 months, compared to the 5 years we spent in Vincennes.

Soon after Aaron started at Eureka Bible we looked into updating the youth room. It needed some changes and the church decided to wait until the new youth pastor was hired so he could have some input.

Before:
White walls, some clutter, and outdated bulletin boards. There just wasn't much ownership of the room.     We are very grateful for these three ladies who did all the painting. Aaron and I would have helped but I don't think they trusted anyone else to do the job. :) These ladies know how to paint!They even spot cleaned the floors, vacuumed the couches, and wiped down the room dividers.
After:
Updates: Color on the walls, a sound system and projector, chalkboard paint on the hang out side, photos on the bulletin boards from events, and a shelf for the Bibles and Bible Quizzing trophies.

I can't believe Kaitlyn is a year and a half already! She has grown up so much in the past 6 months...She is all toddler now!

Kaitlyn...
*weighs 28 lbs. and is 32 1/2 inches long
*has 14 teeth
*can say atleast 20 words-most common are mommy, dad, meow, more, thank you, baby, and ball.
*is doing awesome in the nursery! She even walks in by herself now. :)
*has developed a love for Elmo
*current favorite foods are milk, cheese and grapes
*gives kisses on the cheek
*can point to about 20 specific animals when asked
*knows 9 body parts
*is doing better at playing independently at home
*loves to Skype with Grandma Cripe
*likes to walk up and down the sidewalk of our street
*likes to look through the photo album and point out family :)
*likes to "cultivate" the flower bed and "water" the flowers
*now faces forward in her carseat

This past week at youth group we had our first "outreach night". Each Wednesday night is targeted towards outreach but twice a semester Aaron plans a special night that isn't the typical Wednesday night schedule, having some sort of activity rather than the usual lesson and small groups. This past Wednesday was the first one and we played Live Clue. We played it once when we were in Vincennes. You can read about that night here. All the adult leaders dressed up as characters, some were the typical board game characters and others were random. The students were in teams going room to room in the church to gather clues. It seemed like the teens had a good time and I know that leaders sure loved it! "Librarian Fran" and "Butler Jeeves" We've got awesome adult leaders and they did a great job making the night a fun time for the teens.

Kaitlyn had her first trip to the zoo last week! Aaron took the morning off and we went to Peoria Zoo. When we first started walking around she was scared. She was in the stroller and kept signing "all done". We took turns carrying her until she was more comfortable. She loosened up when we got to the lions. She loves cats so I figured she would like them. :) She also really liked watching the giraffes. One of them kept playing with a ball so she thought that was pretty cool since she likes balls too.:) Speaking of balls...she liked those two animals but she didn't really show true excitement until she saw a ball in the meerkat exhibit. I guess next time instead of paying to go see exotic animals we'll just go out to the garage and look at the balls! After we saw everything we went back to the giraffes and sat on a bench there while we ate our lunch and then headed home.

Kaitlyn...
*pretty much runs everywhere
*has 12 teeth- 8 front teeth and 4 molars
*loves to pray! She holds our hands every time we pray for meals. :)
*has been making big improvements in eating. In the 14 month post I wrote that she wouldn't try things and refused to eat fruit. She loves fruit now (except peaches) and has been trying anything new we give her.
*doesn't play well independently. She never really has. I was hoping she would outgrow that by now.
*is the official "light turner offer" in the Zehr house. If I'm holding her when we walk out of a room she always wants to be the one to flip the switch.
 *is great at cleaning up and putting things away. The other day she found a piece of trash on the floor and immediately went and put it in the waste basket without being prompted.
*is a great helper with the laundry. She likes to help me pull stuff out of the washer and put them into the dryer.
*likes to sing, mostly in the car or her bike trailer. I so wish I knew what she was singing about!
*doesn't like to wear her bib at meals anymore. For the most part she is a clean eater but I'm not ready to give it up yet.
*says 8 words- hi, ya, no, bye, see ya, mommy, dadda, ball. These are the only words she clearly says but she has very sophisticated jabber. She jabbers in sentences and obviously knows what she's trying to say. We, on the other hand, have to go through a list of things to figure out what she's trying to tell us. If anyone knows what "octeece" means, please let me know! It would make my life much easier. :)
*likes to pretend she talking on the phone
*has great fine-motor skills
*has been doing better in the nursery!
*loves to play outside. She will go get her shoes and bring them to me when she wants to go out.
*typically naps 1.5 - 2.5 hours
*still continues to love Lexi, balls, wrestling, books, walks/bike rides, and swinging.

and then she got kind of scared but she didn't cry  too hard and she held still the whole time.
  *We visited my Grandma Snider
  *Kaitlyn tried out the trampoline for the first time and loved it!
  *Had a cookout at my brother Lee's house   *We played in the toy kitchen. I might have had as much fun as Kaitlyn did, reliving my childhood. :)
More playing with cousins!   Kaitlyn shows love by tackling you and pinning you down. :)