2013 Year in Review

Well, 2013 has been busy for the Wooters family! (This is a long post, but I promise, there are pictures...LOTS of them....after my writing.)

Andrew completed his last two clinical rotations for Physical Therapy school.  One was a neurological rotation in a pediatric clinic about 10 minutes from our house, and the other was a orthopedic rotation at an outpatient clinic in Orem, Utah.  Andrew has really enjoyed his rotations and learned a lot from them. He loves having hands-on practice.  Each time he finishes a rotation, he talks about how much he'd just like to start working professionally.  He's loving PT, and after completing a 12-week internship and a few more weeks of classwork in 2014, he'll be ready for graduation in May.  In his free time (what's that again????) he wrestles his little girls and spends time with his bff (me!)

Kaitlyn turned two this year and is learning so much every day.  She is currently obsessed with Doc McStuffins (a cartoon doctor for toys). She loves to give us check-ups and make sure our owies get better. She absolutely LOVES her nursery class at church and has been participating in a play group once a week. She really enjoys being a big sister and helping me take care of Addie as well as her own baby dolls. Her biggest achievement (and mine!) this year was POTTY TRAINING! She picked it fairly easily and is now even staying dry during naps!

Adell (Addie) is our newest addition to the family this year.  She was born in February, and she has grown so fast, I can hardly believe she is almost a year old! She is currently crawling and cruising along the furniture.  She eats just about everything she can get her hands on....books, garbage, small toys, bugs, refrigerator magnets, puzzle pieces...you name it! Fortunately though, she loves food too. She has a hearty appetite, and eats well during meals. If only I could get her to stop eating at night! (We're working on that.) She loves playing peek-a-boo, clapping her hands, and keeping up with her big sister.

As for me, I have enjoyed being a stay-at-home mother to these two cuties. It has definitely been challenging to add another little one to the mix, but the blessings far outweigh the challenges.  My recovery with Addie seemed to be quicker than it was with Kaitlyn. Maybe because Addie wanted to be held and walked ALL THE TIME.  Let's just say, walking around with a baby all day (and night!) is a great way to loose baby weight. Once we had adjusted to being a family of four, we had lots of visits to the zoo, the park, and the pool.  It's always nice to get out of the house.  We got to visit my family in Chicago this May - my last flight under my parents' flight benefits since I turned 26 this year. It's always fun to visit them.  We traveled to Utah this fall for Andrew's clinical rotation and stayed with my Aunt Janette.  It was so great to see so many friends and family members. It was like an 8-week vacation for the kids and I. Not so much for Andrew, but he did have fun too.  After our Utah trip, it was potty time. I was really nervous to start potty training Kaitlyn, but it turned out to be a success! I'm so proud of my big girl. Anyways, that pretty much sums up our year.

We look forward to many new adventures in 2014. Another trip to Utah for my sister's wedding, graduation, job searching, apartment hunting (yay!), Disney World, Andrew's trip to Brazil for the World Cup, and so much more! 

OK! Enough of the talk, here's what you really came here for....the pictures!

 January

Visiting family in Michigan

Kaitlyn and her cousins at the zoo

Watching the elephants get bathed

February

Welcome Baby Addie!

Visiting Galveston

March

Visiting the children's museum

"3..2..1..BLAST OFF!" on the swings

Loving her baby sister

Easter egg hunt with our playgroup

Easter Sunday

April

2 months old!

Happy 2nd birthday Kaitlyn!

May

Cooling off in the backyard

Cute as can be!

June

figuring out the marble works set

cute hair

4 months old!

July

Fouth of July Parade

First Solid Food

August

Finding creative (free!) ways to play

Learning to sit up

We're in Utah!

Go cougars!

September

Our backyard view in Utah

7 months

Grandma & Grandpa Wooters with all their granddaughters

Visiting Jennie and Derek in Boise for Hannah's baby blessing

We spent lots of time at the park down the street

The weather was beautiful

Kaitlyn's favorite activity, coloring!

We visited This is The Place Pioneer Village. This is Kaitlyn panning for gold

The highlight of the trip for Kaitlyn - riding a horse!

Sheep!

Visiting Grandma Allen

October

The view from Andrew's Clinic in Orem

SLC Temple

Back home in Houston

Andrew carving our pumpkin

Happy Halloween!

November

New dress! (no, she did not have an accident....just wet hands)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Trimming the Tree

December

Andrew and I

The Christmas Nativity

Decorating a cookie at Playgroup

Cousins

Addie and Hannah went for a walk with Grandma

Girls Christmas PJs

Guys Christmas PJs

Christmas Morning

Hooray!

Well, Congratulations! You made it to the end.  I know, that was long, but it was fun, right? I hope you enjoyed taking a peek at our year! Happy 2014!