Kate's Party {in photos}

So the blog posts have been a little Kate heavy . . . this is it. : ) It will be evenly distributed between each kiddo from here on out! We had an awesome first birthday party for Kate. Wonderful friends and family were here to help us celebrate and we couldn't have asked for a better day! Thanks to all that were here with us. We love you and appreciate you so much!

Kate's 1st Birthday

This post is 2 weeks late . . . Kate's birthday was on the 22nd! We celebrated with cinnamon rolls in the morning, Jason's Deli for lunch and had some fun playing outside in the afternoon. Very low key, which was quite nice. Here are some pictures of our little gal enjoying her day.

12 months in pictures

Kate is 1 year old!!!

Our sweet Kate is 12 months old!!! Oh my goodness this little gal is a hoot. She's sweet and sassy. Here's a little run-down of what Kate's up to these days:

~She is never still, it's no wonder she's sleeping through the night now!

~Although she isn't full-on walking yet, she gets to taking five to seven steps and then realizes what she's doing and proceeds to plop herself down and crawls the rest of the way. I can only imagine that it's a matter of time before she has the confidence to take off. Watch out boys . . . then she'll really get into EVERYTHING!

~She still has zero teeth, which is just like her daddy was at her age.

~She still eats anything that we put in front of her and continues to consume an amazing amount  of food for her age.

~She's into pointing and trying to form words for what she sees/wants. Today I realized it kind-of sounds like a turkey gobble. Strange and cute all at once.

~She's a proficient clapper and excellent at dropping everything and saying "uh-oh". Which is also cute, but will lose its sweetness soon, I'm sure.

~Height 30 3/4 inches (93rd percentile)

~Weight 22 pounds, 10 ounces (75th percentile)

We love you Kate and can't wait to celebrate your birth with our family and friends this weekend!

Such a big boy!

Luke and I went on his first school field trip! I can't believe that the time has finally arrived for such an occasion. We went with his pre-school class to the Pumpkin Patch. It was such a great time. Linda watched Evan and Kate for me, so Luke and I got one-on-one time (which NEVER happens), sooo nice. It's interesting to sit back and watch him around kids his own age. At home he's so (how do I put this nicely???) - bossy. However, I noticed today that he is the opposite. He's more quiet (Luke quiet?!?!, I know!) and reserved. Makes me wonder how he is at school and what he'll be like as he gets older.
Anyway! The weather was pretty chilly, but not too bad. We rode on a hayride down to the patch where there were lots of activities to choose from (playground, maze, shaky bridge, s'mores!, a huge ball to roll around, and of course, pumpkins to pick). What a great way to spend an awesome Fall morning! Thanks for the help, Lin! (pictures from phone, boo).

Luke's Birthday Celebration at the Pumpkin Patch

Wow, Luke is 4!!! The last 4 years have gone by so quickly. He is such an amazing little boy. I know all mom's feel this way about their kids, but he is the smartest, sweetest, most fun kid I know. He is a great big brother to Evan and Kate. Sure, he can be stubborn and selfish at times, but when it comes down to it, he does what is right and tries to make everyone happy.

On Luke's actual birthday (a weekday, so J had to work) my cousin and I took our kids to the Pumpkin Patch (which is what we did on Luke's b-day last year). The weather was amazing and we all had a really great time. We fed the animals, raced the rubber ducks, played in the corn, found our way through the grass maze, went on a hayride, ate some lunch and picked out some pumpkins! It was an awesome way to celebrate the birth of our precious Luke. Happy birthday, we love you!!!

Luke's 4th Birthday Party (in pictures)!

Little Miss Curious

11 months

Let the countdown begin! Kate is only 3 weeks away from turning the big ONE! I know I've said it many, many times before, but this (almost) year has gone by SO quickly!Kate is still such a happy little gal who is gaining more and more independence each and every day.

Here are some of the things she's up to lately:
~she loves her brothers immensely
~she's constantly on the go and gets into everything. She has even gone as far as splashing around in Luke's potty chair if I haven't had a chance to empty it. (only pee, people)Disgusting.
~we started putting her down unswaddled this month (yes, she was swaddled all this time 'till now)
~she still has no (zero, zilch, nada) teeth
~she's a bottomless pit at meal times. There's honestly nothing I can think of that she won't eat.
~she LOVES to wave. It doesn't have to be at anyone in particular either. It started out like most babies with the fingers being drawn into a fist. Nope, not Kate. She has mastered the full on swinging arm wave. So cute.
~she's walking behind push toys and cruising from one furniture piece to the next.
~she loves to be outside, especially swinging in the baby swing.
~she has started clapping, which is so cute because she gets her entire body moving while doing it.
~whenever she hears music she immediately starts bouncing and moving her head. She's got moves!
~she loves her tongue. She sticks it out constantly.
Oh, the list could go on and on. We love you sweet baby. Happy 11 months!

Picnic at the park

We met some of our family at the park last weekend for lunch, playing and some fun family time. It's been super busy lately with the all the kids starting school, so this get together was long overdue. We had a great time!

My mother-in-law is a RIOT. Plan and simple. Love her to pieces. Just a fun lady.





We ended the day at the lake so the kids could feed the fish. Pretty gross (in my opinion), but they love it. It was a hit, as usual. Thanks for the awesome day, we can't wait till the next one!