To the next 60 years…

5 years ago today, I married my best friend on a gorgeous fall day in Indianapolis (it was 75 degrees!).

Scott is the perfect complement to my high-stressed and harried ways, and has taught me so much about slowing down, thinking things through, and how to have more FUN!  The past 5 years have been so wonderful and I wouldn’t trade a second – we moved to the “Big City” together, have started 3 jobs, purchased two homes, taken two international trips, had a wonderful son, and are now expecting our 2nd child – I couldn’t ask for a better life!  Chi-Chi!

We are going out to dinner tonight for fondue and a movie to celebrate (Thanks for Auntie Jane and Joe for watching Jack!) and then we are off to a little getaway in a cute B&B town, Galena, next weekend to relax.  This will be our first trip alone since I was pregnant with Jack!  I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!

We don’t know what we are going to do for Halloween, but Jack REFUSES to wear his Crocodile costume, so he is now going to wear his Colts jersey and be Peyton Manning.  :-)  We’ll see if he even lets me put some eye-black on him.  Boys!   Katie had a cute Halloween Party for he and Dylan yesterday and they had a great time with Halloween crafts, making rice-krispie treats, and dressing up!  Today they are going to “Pump It Up” for another Halloween bash and I’m sure Jack will be worn out tonight!

 

Happy Halloween, Everyone!

3rd Annual Knowling Family Vacation

 

We had a fantastic getaway to Bonita last week!  The weather was a PERFECT 85 degrees and sunny and we all got to do a lot of napping, golfing, swimming, movie-watching, eating, and just having FUN!

The trip started off a little rough with Southwest not having a ticket for Scott (oversold flight – WHAT?!), so we had to fly into Tampa rather than Ft. Myers, but my Dad graciously drove the 2 1/2 hours one-way to pick us up and our bags were finally delivered at 2pm the next day.  At least we got a free flight out of it!  Jack was awesome on both flights (with no Benadryl!) due to our arsenal of distractions – stickers, movies, snacks and the people around us. 

J-Man LOVED the pool and by the last day was seriously just swimming around the pool by himself like a pro.  A very special thanks to Aunt Kitten (Jack’s new nickname for Kensi), who provided hours of entertainment with her fort building, singing, holding, reading and running around!  They had a blast together.

Enjoy the pictures of our fabulous trip by clicking on the link below.  It is crazy to think that at next year’s trip we will also have a 6 month old in tow!  (And Jack will have his own seat…)

http://picasaweb.google.com/melissawalti/Florida2009#

We love our Avocado

 

Scott, Jack and I eat a lot of avocado, so it is fitting that is how big BW2 is this week!  I am 16 weeks along and feeling great!  I am starting to feel the baby move, which I missed so much after I delivered Jack, so I am so excited to have that feeling back.  Much more energy the last few weeks and overall, just happy to be pregnant again!  Jack is very into kissing the baby right now, so we are taking little steps in getting him prepared, though I doubt he really will be come April when he has to share his Momma’s attention…

We are off to Florida with my Dad for vacation – can’t wait to get some sun on this growing belly!  (Don’t worry, I will spare you any photos of that sight!!)

A busy (but very fun!) Fall Weekend

We were in Indy this weekend for Matt Gonso’s, Scott’s best friend, wedding.   It was a blast!  Matty and Gretchen looked so happy and it was so fun for Scott to hang out with all of his high school buddies from North Central.  Jack stayed with Pappaw and Nana while we got some nights out, and he was WORN OUT come Sunday (so was Daddy)!

We were also able to visit the Children’s Museum, get Jack a sharp haircut, visit the Indy Dream Home, and take a tour of Lucas Oil Stadium with Gonso on Saturday, so we really tried to pack a lot in!

I wanted to make it to the Pumpkin Patch on Sunday before we left since we won’t have any other time left this month to do it, but Jack was too grumpy to go…so we had to make due with my Dad’s yard for some fall pictures this year!  We will just have to carve 2 pumpkins in 2010 to make up for it…

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Sweet Caroline…

I am so excited to write about the FINAL Corner Pocket baby of 2009 –

Caroline Grace Tomlinson! 

Jane and Joe are so glad that she “graced “us with her presence (2 weeks late!) on Monday afternoon and all the Auntie’s couldn’t be more thrilled for another girl to dress up!

 

Momma Jane is also very happy that she seems to have Joe’s red hair – that was one of her prerequisites to having a child, so I am so glad that her wish came true!  Caroline is gorgeous and so serene .  I am looking forward to play-dates and funny conversations with Jane about Motherhood; she and I can get pretty “truthful” (that is putting it kindly) at times and I love our funny conversations!

 

Congrats to Jane, Joe & furry older brother Henry!

The count for CP Babies 2010 is now at 2 – who will be next?  Something is in the water!!

**By the way, Jack now has his choice of the Princesses of CP – Gracie, Jenna, Julia and Caroline….who will he choose to be his Miami Merger bride someday????  :-)

Jack’s New Seat

We have (almost) officially moved Jack into a booster seat at the dining table.  It is a bit messier, but I do have to say that I DO NOT MISS cleaning those darn high-chair trays 3x a day!  Terrible!

He is very proud of his new status and also LOVES to say “Grace,” which we do with the Walti family.  He is adorable – he always reaches across the table, grabs our hands, and says “Grace?” right when we sit down.  So cute and it is so nice to sit down all together as a family.

He is getting too big!!!

When life give you lemons...

As some of you already know, Walti Baby #2 (affectionately called BW2) will be making his/her apprearance in early April! My due date is officially April 4th and Scott, Jack and I could not be more excited. This week (ending week 14), Babycenter.com reports that the baby is the size of a lemon. I swear that I feel it moving around already, but maybe that is just something else. :-)

Overall, I have felt pretty good - a little yucky and tired at night, but nothing that I can't handle. The past 2 weeks have been much better. I really loved being pregnant with Jack and the entire experience, so I am hopeful that it will be the same with Round 2. A strange side effect that is happening this time, is that I seem to be allergic to my wedding band?

We told Jack that there is a baby in Mommy's belly and when we ask him where the baby is, he points to either my belly or his...very cute. He is actually into "babies" right now - saying baby, pointing out babies, playing with baby dolls...They will be 26 months apart in age and I am very excited that this baby will not be born at the BEGINNING of tax season! This also leaves me 6 more months to get J off the pacifier and out of diapers...

More updates to follow, but I wanted to formally announce the GREAT NEWS, so that BW2 doesn't think that he/she (no, are not finding out again!) doesn't already feel slighted!

Fun Fall Weekend

Happy Fall!!!

Last weekend, Scott, Jack and I spent the weekend up north at his parents house helping them with some work that needed to be done outside. I LOVE going to their house because it is just one of those places where you just want to RELAX and snuggle in. Jack had a blast helping us clear some trees and of course, he got to MOW with Pop (one of his favorite activities).

I love fall, but I cannot believe that it is already here! Only 11 weeks until CHRISTMAS!!!!

Introducing Katie and Dylan…

When I started work about a month ago, we started a nanny-share with another family in the neighborhood.  We definitely went through some trials and tribulations, but it finally all worked out!

The Korbmachers and their son Dylan are wonderful!  We take Jack to their lovely house 4 days a week and then Katie is at our house on Fridays with Jack by herself.  They also have a black lab, Mason, who Jack ADORES – Every morning I hear - Mason?! 

Our nanny, Katie, is FABULOUS!  She is a teacher by degree, so she is super organized and has such fun lesson plans for the boys every week.  We are having a lot of fun getting to know her and I think Jack is in love…He says “Katie?  Katie?” when we get home and all the way to their house in the morning and then flirts with her when we leave.  I think Katie might be more fun and creative than Momma…Drawing with shaving cream, fall crafts, playing with rice and colored water…who wouldn’t want to hang out with Katie all day? 

The boys get along really well – Dylan is 10 months old to Jack’s 20 months, so it is cute to see him crawl after Jack and Jack hugs and kisses Dylan – they basically just laugh at each other all day. 

Here are some cute pics that Katie has taken over the last couple of weeks.  I really think Jack is glad to be with another kid during the day – he loved his friends at school and I’m sure that I get pretty boring after awhile! (and yes, this “cheese” smile is Jack’s new look – it is super-cute, but I really hope that he grows out of it by his wedding pictures!  He does it every time a camera is brought out, little Ham…)

Pulling Mr.. Dylan in the wagon…such a big boy

  

Fun drawing w/ shaving cream

Lovin’ on Mason

We love you, Kate!

I have not posted anything yet, but I could not forget to mention how sad we are that our great friends Kate and Darren Glanz recently moved to Columbus!

Kate and I were roommates at Miami along with Krista and Betsy and we have known each other for going on 12 years – can you believe that, K-K-K-Katie!? Kate is by far the sweetest person that you can ever meet and is the best listener – I will so miss blabbering to her as she always has the most supportive and nicest thing to say! You will always receive a birthday or anniversary card from Kate first, and she always writes such nice things.

Kate’s Going-Away Fiesta!

Jack will miss his Auntie Kate, but we are so excited for your new adventure in C-Bus…this now makes the Corner Pocket tally 3 Chicago and 4 Columbus – OH NO! We need to un-do the Olympic vote and do some hard recruiting!!!

Love you so much Kate and D and we cannot wait to visit you at your mansion in the ‘Bus!!!

XOXOXOXO!

Hot Dog, Hot Diggity-Dog

Jack's new favorite morning activity (allows us to get dressed!)...

You can't really hear the music, but it is the "Hot Dog Song" on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...

Have a great Fall Weekend, everyone - we are off to the Punkin' Patch!