Matthew ...

Matthew is doing great. He started his second year of preschool last week and is excited to be back! He also just started soccer this fall and had his first game yesterday. He had one drive that was great....got the ball out of the pile up of 8 five year olds and took it the whole length of the field. He kicked it just a little too hard to get to it before it went out of bounds, or he would have scored a goal! I'll post some pictures as soon as I get them off the camera....

Happy First Birthday Kaelyn!

Boy how time flies with your second child. I still think that it is next to impossible that Kaelyn is one already. It seems like yesterday that she was born. She is now 17 pounds 9 oz (5th %) and 28 1/2 inches (25%) and is a petite little thing. Since she has been walking now for a month, she has gotten pretty good at it. She loves to explore things and will walk into another room just to see if you will follow her and then she smiles when you do! While she is not really saying words clearly, she does understand what you say. You can tell her to go and get her doll and she will bring it back to you. My absolute favorite thing is when you ask her to give kisses and she will open her mouth, smile, and lean into your cheek. When you pull back, she just giggles. It melts my heart.

We celebrated her birthday with an outdoor butterfly party. All of the Stewarts were able to make it here and a majority of the Sternberg side was also accounted for.

After dinner, we gave her the cake and she was so dainty. She took one finger delicately touched the cake icing, looked at it, and then tasted it.

She never really put her whole hand in the cake. During the gifts, she was particularly interested in the cards and kept opening and closing them. Matthew was set on giving her a tiara for her birthday (I don't know where that came from) and so we let him give it to her last. When we put it on her head she wasn't too sure what to make of it. But then, she just smiled and started clapping for herself. It was too cute and of course, I just missed it with the camera - this is as close as we could get.

Kaelyn Walking

I am officially chasing after two kids now. Kaelyn took her first steps July 21st and is now walking everywhere! She loves to go in circles around the kitchen and into the family room. but most of all, she really loves to chase after Matthew and try to beat him to his room!

Opening Day at Ellis Park

Ellis Park is a local horse-racing park that is open to families that has been open for 80 something years. Chris had gone a couple of times with his family as a child, but I had never been. They recently announced that the park is going to close after this season and so we decided to take the kids down for opening day Saturday, July 11th. When we arrived by the paddocks, the 2003 Derby and Preakness winner, Funny Cide, was being shown to the crowds. Chris hoisted Matthew up to see and right about then, Funny Cide was right next to them and we were able to pet him. It was amazing how large and muscular that horse was.

We sat in the stands for the first race and then decided to bet a few dollars on the second race, featuring Prospector Mattie, who did in fact win. We also won on Monkey's Dust who placed.

Here is Matthew with "his horse" Prospector Matt.

Update on the kids...

I took the kids down to the riverwalk Thursday morning for a stroll and some photo-ops. I love these two close-ups because they really show their features. Matthew was cheesing but Kaelyn was not so happy. As we found out Friday morning when she had tubes put in her ears, she had a double ear infection in full swing, hence she wasn't quite her smiling self. Kaelyn did great for the minor surgery and hopefully this will minimize the numerous ear infections!

Matthew got his first bike this weekend and he has picked up how to ride it in no time at all. Now he wants to go for a walk everytime we turn around b/c he can ride his bike while we push Kaelyn in the stroller.

Kaelyn is now 11 months old and weighs 18 lbs and is 28 1/4 inches long. As I mentioned already, she had to have tubes put in her ears on Friday due to her numerous ear infections. She is doing great and was her normal self later the same day. She stands by herself in the middle of the room and has attempted to lift her foot and take steps, but falls down. She cruises around the furniture and loves to push the kitchen chairs all around. It won't be long before she is walking on her own! She still loves to get into Matthew's stuff and will make a beeline for his room if his door is open. She especially loves his construction trucks, but the tools are a close second as she loves to chew on them!

July 4th

We had a busy July 4th weekend, with a wedding to attend in Portland, Maine. So, the kids were able to spend some quality time with Grandma and Papper and Aunt Jen and Uncle Aaron in Noblesville. It seems like they did something every day

Matthew at the splash park...looks like he was a little cold, but having so much fun!

Kaelyn had some quality time with Papper while Matthew was very active with Grandma.

Watching the fireworks on a chilly 4th of July.

And watching the Indianapolis Indians game with Papper, Aunt Jen, and Uncle Aaron. Grandma finally had a few quieter moments with Kaelyn all to herself.

Meanwhile.....
Chris and I enjoyed some time to ourselves, walking around the town and venturing in some quaint little shops.

Our dining experience was a little unusual, at least for us, as the lobster came entirely whole, eyes and all, and had to be cracked open.

If you've never had the experience, count yourself lucky and stick with the prepared lobster tail at Red Lobster! Brian (Chris' nephew) and Amy's wedding was beautiful and we enjoyed being there.

Matthew's swimming lessons

Matthew took swimming lessons from Lisa everyday for two weeks. The first day he did fine, but really did not want to put his head in the water, especially when floating on his back. By the end of the second week, Lisa said he was the fastest 4 year old learner she has ever had. On the last day he showed off his ability to swim from one side of the pool to the other doing freestyle, breast stroke (superman), and even back crawl (yes, he finally got his head wet!).

He even jumped off the diving board by himself - not floaties or noodles!

He really enjoyed lessons and we have been to the pool since....he can still do it by himself! I think that Matthew must really be part fish!