Happy 2nd Birthday Katie!

I can't believe how fast two years has flown by!  Our  baby is already 2 years old!  I really do feel like we just celebrated her 1 year b'day.   We have had quite the busy week though.  It started off with a fun b'day party at our house on Monday, Jan 31st since the kids had a half-day of school. We had 25 kids and 7 moms here!  It was as chaotic as a kid b'day party can be, but so much fun for Katie.   Then we also enjoyed a snow day on Wednesday this week.  Our first one all winter.  We took the kids bowling and out to eat at Pizza Hut!  Lots of fun!  Then finally on Katie's actual b'day, Feb. 4th, we celebrated with our daycare kids and made Katie's favorite lunch, Mac-n-Cheese, and decorated cupcakes.  Whew...I don't know about her, but I am exhausted!  

Katie, here is what you are up to at 2 years old.... 

• Height:  36" 97%
• Weight:  32 lbs. 90%
• You are wearing a size 2t-3t in clothes and size 5 diapers
• Your are not completely potty trained yet, but that is our next goal!  I can already see it being easier with you than it was with the boys because you don't like having a wet diaper where the boys could have cared less!
• You are VERY independent and want to do everything yourself these days, which is both great and yet frustrating sometimes... especially when you can't buckle your own shoes but yet don't want any help from us. 
• You change your clothes about 10 times a day or decide you don't want any clothes on and take them all off!  You are often walking around the house in just your diaper or your other favorite article of clothing...your swimsuit! :) 
• You love your big brothers and want to do whatever they are doing.  They are so good to you and most often let you in on their activities....except for LEGO building!
• Tessa is still your buddy because of all the scraps you drop down to her at the kitchen table.  :)  I am sure Tess will drop about 5 lbs. once you master keeping your food up on your plate! HA!
• Your favorite foods these days are Mac-n-Cheese, waffles, fruit...especially clementines and grapes, and steamed broccoli!  :)
• Your personality is very sweet!  You are very sensitive.  You are soft spoken and shy around others but around your family you make your voice heard!
• You are talking so much more these days and let us know what you like and don't like.  Your favorite saying is, "I don't like" or "I do it!"  
• You are going to the gym daycare most mornings now while mommy works out.  So great for both you and mommy!
• You are obsessed with Barney and Elmo and you love to sing the "I love you" song from Barney!
• You are a great sleeper and sleep from 7:30pm until 7:30am!  Can't complain! 
• You are still taking an afternoon nap and I hope you NEVER give it up!  You usually sleep for 2-3 hours in the afternoon. 

You are growing up so fast Katie!  It is so fun to see the little girl you are turning into!  We love you to pieces baby girl!!!!
Love,
Mommy, Daddy, Keaton, Carson and Tessa :)

Meg and Nate's wedding

This past October we went to MN for my cousin, Megan's wedding.   The boys were the ringbearers and did a great job!  Carson would never have done it without his big brother!  :) 

Below is  video link of my uncle, Bill, playing accoustic guitar and my cousin, Erin, singing, Heavenly Day!   It was such a beautiful wedding and we all loved spending time with our family!   Congrats again Megan and Nate!!! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJp_l9KtWJw

Van shopping

So the last few days we have been out mini-van shopping!   Last week my 2001 Ford Windstar completely died on me after giving us 167, 000 miles!  It was a great van but the last year and a half we have been sinking money into like crazy and finally last week when I brought it in for a new noise it was making, the mechanic told me the whole undermount had rusted out!  He said, "I think it's time!"  So goodbye Big Blue!!! 

On Saturday, my good friend, Amy, took all three kiddos for us all afternoon while Matt and I went out to test drive some vans.  Thank you again Amy!!!  :)  While Amy had the kids she snapped a few pics of Katie!  Here are a few of my fav's!!!  Katie is so busy right now it is not easy keeping her in one spot...don't know how Amy got these but, "Way to go Amy!"  :) 

As far as a van...we haven't bought anything yet.  We are getting close!  This stuff takes so much time!  I will let you know what we end up with!

Here are a couple of the pics Amy took of Katie! 

                                                So Angelic!!!!  Love the angel wings!!! 

BTW...we are growing Katie's bangs out and this process is taking forever!  Right now we are in the in-between stage.  Not much we can do with it right now and she HATES ponies or barrets, so most the time her hair is in her face.  I am thinking one more month and it will all be the same length so we can put it behind her ears! :)

Katie's 15 and 18 month stats

Sorry you all have to endure the stats post but I do this for my record keeping journal so that we can look back and see how much she has grown and someday she can read these entries herself!

In May at Katie's 15 month appointment she weighed 25lbs. 7oz (90%) and was 32" tall (90%).
In August at Katie's 18 month appointment she weighed 27lbs. 3 oz (85%) and was 34 3/4" tall (over 97%)

Katie you are growing like a weed!! 2.75" in 3 months!! Can't believe it! Here is what you are up to these days.....

• Katie you have a very sweet personality and can be very shy and quiet at times.
• Around your family, especially your brothers, you let yourself be heard and don't hold back at all!
• You are now in 2T clothes and like I said above, growing like a weed!
• You are a wonderful eater! You LOVE fruit and can't get enough of it! Especially bananas, grapes, oranges, and blueberries! You ask for "cheese" on a daily basis while you pat the fridge. You love all the great kid foods but you especially love Mac & Cheese and know it by the box! You pull it out of the pantry and bring it to me to make!  HA!
• You drink 2% Lactaid Milk for the time being. Hopefully you will grow out of the intolerance like Keaton did when you get older.
• You are down to one (2-3 hour) nap in the afternoon and you go to bed between 6:30 and 7pm and sleep until 7am every morning. Can't complain! It's my own fault if I am tired in the morning because your mom is a nightowl!!!
• You are running all over the place and have started walking down the stairs holding onto the railing.
• You really don't want to sit in your highchair anymore because you want to be a big kid and sit on the bench with the boys. Mom and Dad still insist on it for meals however because you are still needing to have your mess confined on the highchair tray! :)
• You are busy, busy!!! You remind me of your brothers and how they were when they were little. Opening and shutting drawers and cupboards, dumping baskets of toys out, and just being a little toddler! I sometimes get tired of all the cleanup it takes after you leave a room but I love that you are curious and active!!!
• Your favorite thing this summer has been SWIMMING!!! You are a little fish already. You swim with your lifejacket and arm floaties on without anyone holding you. You blow bubbles and kick your feet!! Next summer, Daddy will teach you how to swim!
• Katie....we love watching you grow and explore new things and can't believe how fast time is going! The pediatrician wanted me to make your 2 year old appointment this week and I got a little choked up! Where does the time go!

We love you baby girl!!! Happy 18 months!!!
Love, Mommy and Daddy

We're Back!

It's been 6 months since our last post...I can't believe it!  So much has happened! I am still taking pictures of our outings and everyday life but I just don't seem to have the time to blog like I used to...hmmmm...wonder why?  Oh yeah....Katie is now 18 months old and is busy, busy, busy!  As I am sitting here typing this, we are up in our room and she is going through my jewelry box...dumping out all my bracelets and necklaces and attempting to try them all on at once!   It is keeping her entertained for about five minutos!!!  :)  Then she will eventually try to get into our bathroom to unroll the toilet paper or dump the shampoo in the shower if I let her!  It's non-stop and that is why the lack of blog posts!!! But we have been having a wonderful summer so far and I have lots to share!  So stay tuned for more posts!!!  

UPDATE ON KITCHEN CABINETS

UPDATE:  Here is a picture of the kitchen cabinets after doing the beadboard insets.  Remember that these were the darker oak cabinets.  Now all that is left is to do the backsplash which hopefully we will get to this fall!  It will eventually get there!  But I LOVE the way the cabinets turned out.  DIY project for less than $100.00! 

For those of you who have been over here recently you have seen the very SLOW progress of my kitchen cabinets.  We are doing the beadboard inserts and painting them a creamy white.  I love the look of it and it just brightens up our kitchen so much more!  The problem however with doing this is now I am wanting all our trim in the house to be white.  It just keeps snowballing!  Anyway, I will post pics when the project is complete!

Finally Healthy

It's been a crazy month as far as our health goes.  Katie had broncholitis and an ear infection early in the month.  She would get coughing so hard she would throw up!  She did that for about four days straight.  Felt so bad for her.  Then the stomach bug arrived at our house early last week and we all got it except for Katie, thank goodness!   I was telling Matt that I don't remember ever being so sick.  I am sure I have been but I just don't get sick that often so it hit me very hard!  It took about 5 days before we all felt like eating again! 
We are all healthy again and looking forward to our good friends, The Severson's, coming for a visit this weekend!  :)    The last time they were out here was when their little guy turned one and he will be 3yrs. in April!  Looking forward to catching up with them!