Saturday, November 10, 2012

The rest of my summer!

What did I do with the rest of my time this summer you ask?
Welllll since you asked....
I came home on the 4th of July. I know, how patriotic. I spent the next week at home with my family. I went to the dentist, the doctor, and other general maintenance things.
While I was still in Germany and had decided I wanted to come back in the fall, I had gotten the ball rolling in finding a subleaser for my room in the townhouse. I found this girl Carly, who seemed to be a perfect fit for the townhouse. I wanted to try and meet her when she went stopped by GV for the day on the 13th, plus I figured I could start unloading my storage room! So on the 12th I headed up Hudsonville where Alycia once again took me in. Girl has the heart of an angel. Earlier in the week she actually offered to let me stay with her, her boyfriend Chase, and Little Miss while I was in Michigan for the rest of the summer. She's a saint. Really.
So on Thursday I drove to Hudsonville, with a car full of luggage. Not any luggage, but luggage filled with gifts. Not exactly filled, but you get the point. I kind of spoiled Alycia and family. I headed up the stairs and knocked on the door. The shrieck I heard come from inside made my heart melt. Oh Little Miss, how I missed you. Alycia opened the door and Little Miss exclaims "KAAAATYYYYYY!!!!!!". Be still my heart. She remembers me. I pretty much died.
After lots of hugs all around (and a little belly rub for Baby Tipter) it was time for presents! Little Miss didn't quite understand that the things I gave her were her's to keep. She kept trying to give them back to me. Silly goose. We had dinner that night, put Little Miss to bed, and Alycia and I chatted. It was sooooo nice to catch up with her.
The next morning she had a doctor's appointment and I wanted to go to Appletree to say hi to the girls, and meet my new babies I would be working with on Monday. It felt so good to walk back into that building. Ohhhh how I missed it. I ended up staying wayyyy longer than I should have. They almost had me clock in and start working right then and there! But then Alycia called that she was done at the doctor and ready to run errands. We headed to Party city to get decorations for Little Miss's second birthday party and to look at decorations for Alycia's baby shower! We found some good deals and saw some super cute baby shower stuff. Little Miss was being bossy and a stink so we high tailed it out of there quick. From there we went to Applebee's for lunch. While we were there Little Miss was talking up a storm and turning on the charm to all who passed. Wow had she grown over the past two months. Her hair was long, she was talking in sentences, and she was a ham, more now than ever. Too stinking adorable.
I never did make it to my storage room that day. I had to drive down to Fort Wayne for my cousin's wedding. Oh and I never met Carly. She was only in the area for about a half hour, and at that point I was out to lunch with Alycia. Oh well.
So on Friday, we (as a family... in 2 cars.... coming from different directions) headed to Fort Wayne, IN for the third and final Kartholl wedding! Hurray! It's been so much fun seeing all of my cousins get married in the past 13 months. I have loved each wedding so much. I get to see their personailities shine through. Well this wedding was no different than the other two, gorgeous, fun, and just all around wonderful. Congrats to Kristina and Chris! Their reception was at the Courtyard in downtown Ft. Wayne, right next to the baseball stadium, where they happened to have fireworks that night! How cool is that?!?! My cousin pretty much had fireworks at her wedding!
My mom and Uncle Steve had a pretty great time dancing too. What goofs.

From there I drove back to Michigan where I started work early Monday morning. I was nervous to be back, but super excited at the same time. I didn't realize how much I really missed my babies! And my oh my how they have all grown. It was nice to see how excited parents seemed to see me! They asked how my trip was and everything.
For the first month back at Appletree, I was just a breaker, aka going in for people so they could go on break. I didn't mind it at all. I got to see all the little kiddos every day. But then they needed me in infant room, full time! I was over the moon. I loved being in infant room every day with Heidi and our babies. We had so much fun this summer. We are both super sassy and sarcastic, so that worked out really well. Plus we had some fantatstic babies :)

Life at home with Little Miss, Alycia and Chase was fun. Baby Tipter was stubborn. Little guy just did not want to leave his momma's tummy! She had a couple scares along the way, but in the end she went into labor on her own the night before she was scheduled for an induction!
Tipter was over 9 lbs and 21 inches long! Big boy for sure! And what an angel. We were all amazed by how chill he was after he was born. He just slept and slept and slept. He would barely even wake up to eat! Compared to the constant kicking, punching, hiccup routine he had a few weeks earlier, this was a huge difference!
Little Miss loves loves loves her baby brother. For her birthday she got a baby doll, which I think was perfectly. She carried her baby around allllll day. Plus she had tons of new toys to explore to distract her from the fact that she was no longer the constant center of attention.
Oh Little Miss. How you make us laugh. Honestly. This little girl lights up so many peoples lives. She brightens the day. Her smile warms a room. Yes she can be sassy, bossy, and down right awful sometimes. But she is 2. Everyone is like that at 2.
Some of the best things I heard her say this summer:
  • booonana
  • get to the choppa (when Dora say get to the gym, Little Miss responded with GETTOTHECHOPPA!)
  • boom-shacka-lacka (right into monkey's face)
  •  when asked what her monkey's name is she would reply "MUN-KEEEEY" in a very deep voice
  • the same would go for her baby doll when asked what her name was Little Miss would reply "BayBay" in the same deep voice
  • the way she says Tipter :)
  • when you ask Little Miss she will say her whole name, quiet, quick, and as one loooong word
  • If you say, "Little Miss, guess what?!?" she replies "I love your face!"
  • she would grab my phone, say it was hers, then Alycia's, then Chase's, then Tipter's, and eventually finally get to my name with a big foolish grin on her face
  • pank you
  • the way she yells at herself in time out
  • One day, Little Miss put monkey and baby into Tipter's car seat. She walked in with Alycia's shoes on her feet and a purse in her hand. When we asked her what she was doing she said "I go bye-bye!" We asked where she was going and Little Miss responds with "I go Meijer."
  • begging for yogurt like it's candy
  • "Little Miss what do you want to eat?" the response is almost always "Cereal" or "a sammich" no matter the time of day
  •  hearing her count right before we spin
  • when I would leave for work she would always say "Katy go apptwee." "Yes, Little Miss, I am going back to work at appletree." "Katy play wit babies." "Yes Little Miss, I'm going to go play with the babies."
  • singing "Slippery Fish"
  • "I runnin. With my cheeks." (translation: I'm running with my feet)
  • "I pissed it"  (I kissed it)
Oh Little Miss. There is so much more I could share, but it would take forever!
Here are some of my favorite moments from my summer in Michigan.
(Pause the music at the bottom of the page so you can hear the video :) )



I also got to spend a little bit of time with Ali, Hannah, Carly and Sarah. I was supposed to be living in a townhouse with them, but with my second trip to Germany I had to give up my spot. Cue Carly and her need for housing and it was a perfect match! I love those girls so much! We spent a few nights together and had lots of laughs. Man I miss them!

I think that about wraps up my summer. I spent my time in Michigan with babies (and toddlers) and I wouldn't change a minute of it!


Lots of love from Germany!


2 comments:

  1. i don't know why i NEVER saw this whole post until now.. and i am going to be honest. i am bawling my eyes out at this video! thank you so much for that. it was soo sweet. you captured my crazy life for those few weeks! miss youu.

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    1. I loved making it :) it was seriously my pride and joy for like 2 weeks (at least!) I have so many pictures and videos of your sweet ones from this summer!

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