While Dad's Away

Playing with Princesses

Spencer's been out of town since Tuesday, so Kaitlyn and I have been trying to find lots of things to keep us busy. We sure miss daddy! Kaitlyn keeps saying, "Daddy's on an airplane!" He sure has been on it for a long time.

One of my most dreaded goals for this week was to get rid of the binky. I wanted to do it while Spencer was gone, so I didn't have to worry about Kaitlyn's crying waking him up all night when he had to work the next day. As it turns out, most of my worrying was for nothing. Kaitlyn has done a great job transitioning from her binky. The first day for nap, I cut off the tip of her binky and showed her it was broken... which led to no nap. That night she held her binky and cried for 45 minutes, but then slept all night. The next day we went to the store and exchanged her broken binky for some animal stickers and princess bracelets. Ever since then she hasn't even mentioned her binky. She also hasn't taken a single nap... But she's been in a good mood and gone to sleep fine, sleeping all night. Great job Kaitlyn!

She made a "choo choo" with all her foam letters. Can you tell how proud she is of herself? She ran out to get me and show off her amazing work.

Aunt Kathy gave her this great shirt. Every time she puts it on she says, "Kathy shirt!" I think this picture fits well with the saying on the shirt. :)

It's finally cooling down enough to wear pants once in a while! Just in time, she's about outgrown this pair.

We decided to make some cookies to enjoy during conference, along with some fruity skittles. Kaitlyn loved both. In this picture she's telling me to "Come here!"

I discovered a new favorite recipe for cookies. It only has 3 ingredients and tastes great! Plus, not a lot of cleanup. All you need is a spice cake mix, a 15 oz can of pumpkin, and chocolate chips. Mix together and cook at 375 for 12 minutes. Yummy!!

Kaitlyn keeps seeing pumpkins at the grocery store and wanting to get one. This morning a garden center near us had a kid's day, with free pumpkins to decorate, a bounce house, balloons and popcorn. Kaitlyn loved it, and was so excited to get a pumpkin. It's sitting on our front porch, much to her dismay. We had to sit with it for a while, and have to keep going out to visit it.

Here is a little clip of what goes on during nap (rest) time. A lot of singing, yelling "no!", and a little crying thrown in.

At Bear Lake Kaitlyn had a great time playing with Hannah and Sarah's duckies. They were so thoughtful (along with Wendy and Debbie) and sent her a package in the mail this week with her own collection of little duckies. She's made many trains and filled the tub with her new toys.

We've been able to keep busy, but can't wait for Spencer to get home tomorrow. I can't wait to get a good night's sleep again! (Does anyone else have an awful time sleeping when your spouse is gone? I don't know how all the ladies in my ward do it with consultant husbands who are gone all the time.)

Some cute comments from Kaitlyn:

• At the grocery store yesterday I handed her a jar of red pepper flakes to hold. She looked at me with a smile and said, "Thanks, mommy!"
• During prayers: "Thank you for super why"
• Her attempt at knock-knock jokes: "Knock knock. Who's there? Come in!"