Kaitlynn Lately

It was such a joy watching Kaitlynn blossom during her 1st grade year in elementary school. Her personality has been really coming to life as she felt more settled and comfortable in her school life and with her classroom friendships. This headstrong girl that challenged me often in her younger years has developed into such a model student and well-liked classmate. Don't get me wrong, she still knows how to push my buttons (ha!) but I am so proud of the young lady she is becoming. As I'm getting caught up with our 2016 updates, I wanted to share some 1st grade Kaitlynn stories and photos.

Typical of girls this age, every week Kaitlynn would come home talking about this "best friend" and that "best friend." I'm thankful that she has so many friends, but I'll admit that her constant request for play dates with friends keeps us super busy!

A recent play date with her all time favorite friend, Anais, at her all time favorite spot, American Girl.

Anais stayed over for a sleepover, also a favorite activity for Kaitlyn.

Sweet friends.

One particular play date request caught us a little off guard, ha!

Later in the year, Kaitlynn ran into her sweet friend Evan at the waterpark. I just had to share his picture after that sweet request for a play date!

I am one of those Moms that sometimes has to "sneak" the kids' paperwork and projects into the trash can. Let's be honest, we simply can't keep every assignment that the teachers send home. So I weed through them and only keep the ones that make an impression. Kaitlynn had a couple recently that I couldn't resist sharing.

One of Kaitlynn's 1st grade projects. She wants to be rich and have kids!

Kaitlynn brought home this assignment to use her name as an acrostic. Somewhere after the "A" line, she was scolded by her teacher for something and her work went downhill from there. Poor girl! This made Jeff and I laugh so hard!

One day I found this note from Kaitlynn lying on the ottoman in the living room. She didn't even give it to me but just left it lying around for me to find. Oh my goodness, I love this sweet girl!

Every now and then, Kaitlynn and I decide that we need some girl time together. One day this past spring we just set out for some impromptu shopping. We both picked our favorite stores and ended up staying out for an entire day. We logged some serious steps that day and had such a great girls day!

First up, my favorite store, TJ Maxx!

Next stop was Kaitlynn's pick, Target. She loves to browse the My Generation section of dolls and accessories.

Her favorite stop by far was American Girl, and of course she had to bring her dolls, Anna and Maralynn.

Look at that smile and all the blonde hair, ha!

We had lunch at the American Girl café and Kaitlynn had her hands full juggling both of her babies!

A while back, I gave Kaitlynn one of our old Apple devices to use while she's at home using our WiFi. She has really gotten into texting and you just never know when she'll surprise you with a text, usually filled with an overload of emojis and cuteness!

While I was out of town for work, Kaitlynn was texting me about a package delivery that she was anxiously waiting for. I love getting these surprise texts from my girl.

This was by far my favorite. I will never turn down a request to "cuttle" with my girl. My heart!!

Kaitlynn's favorite show these days is KC Undercover on Disney. The actress Zendaya plays the undercover spy KC, and Kaitlynn just loves her. She decided to write her a fan letter recently and I just had to take a picture to save it.

Kaitlynn has reached the age where a trip to Chuck E. Cheese means (1) that she brings along her doll, and (2) that she uses most of her tokens to create print-outs and cards with her picture. She is all girl!

A picture of my girl with her girl at Chuck E. Cheese.