Fun, fun for everyone!

Two weeks ago we celebrated Timmy's 1st birthday party. Everyone had a blast. I generally go a little nuts with the parties at my house. We're heavy with the themes and coordination around here. I was pretty good this time and just kept it to "1st Birthday", "Cupcakes" and "Music." Not like Katie's "Teddy Bear" party, or "Mickey Mouse" party, or "Dora Cowgirl/Diego Cowboy" party, and ESPECIALLY not like this past summer's "Max & Ruby" party. They were all monumental and still deserve posts in their own right. But we did have face painting and a super sing-a-along. All the kids got to select a harmonica, recorder, or microphone (a la the $2.49 bin at Target) as a take home favor. And without further ado:







Check out Candid Carrie today to see who else is playing along with Friday Foto Finish Fiesta!

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Happy, happy, happy Birthday!

I tried all day. I wanted to get that perfect picture of my handsome birthday boy. I worked against a quickly fading camera battery. You slept so much of the day because you're not feeling your best. I did acrobats throughout the day to wipe your nose and then jump back to snap a picture before it started dripping again. You're on your third cold in a row, with only 1-2 days of reprieve between each. But son, you are an overachiever. Noone said you needed to cut all of your molars before turning 1.

This is the image of your baby days that I will forever remember. Your ear is your lovey, your comfort. You can tell us you're ready for night-night quicker than any words can.

This past weekend you were at your girlfriend's 1st birthday party and her shoulder-length hair and walking ways made her seem quite the big girl. But I love that you're not quite there yet. I love that you still have your baby short hair. I love that I can pretend you're still my little baby just a little bit longer. You know, you're not really even close to walking, I'm sorry to say. This past week you just started taking some first steps, but I have a mother's intuition that it'll be some time before you master those feet. You are a master climber though. You are ready for mountains. You've taken on the chik-fil-a playground. You've found your way up a full size slide. Coffee tables are child's play; the steps are your playground now.

You are drawn to danger. You loved your first birthday present. Aunt Kari brought you over a spiderman cupcake (which your sister ceremoniously smashed...sorry). I'm not sure whether it was the bright colors or impending mess that got you so excited, but I suspect it may have been the fire. Between this glimpse into your teenage years and the knowledge of the stunts your father used to pull, I am afraid. Very afraid. You squeal with delight when we carry you down the stairs quickly. You shout out "bump" when we go over speed bumps. You love to be swung around in a circle and throw yourself backwards for maximum enjoyment. You've been a merry-go-round riding champion since early summer, but you like the fast rides the best.
Finally, we were able to get through to that happy boy. You are generally a sweet, happy, silly, social little guy. While you may not be walking yet, you use so many words. "Hi" is still your favorite. You get a little bent out of shape, though, when every stranger that you pass doesn't immediately come over to play just because you flashed your smile and whispered "Hi!"
You love music and love to dance. You love to make us laugh. Unfortunately, you love tv. Already. Anything with lots of music is your favorite. The music from Sesame Street, the Wiggles, and Yo Gabba Gabba will stop you in your tracks and draw you in like a fly. You love junk food. We have to order you your own meal most of the time we go out as a family. You crack us up when we're out to eat and you gaze longingly at all the tables around us who already have their food. You try so hard to get the strangers' attention to convince them to feed you their meal. Your favorite food, without question, is blueberries. You are a blueberry eating machine.

You are your sister's shadow. You do everything you can to keep up with her. You clap at her soccer games and bang on the wall at her gymnastics class to get her attention while she is on the balance beam. You call for her now. You say "AA-ee" instead of Katie and it is so darn cute! Your dad is your hero. You beam with pride when he picks you up and you pat him on the chest in excitement.
You are my favorite hugger. You frequently come to me seemingly sleepy. You put your head down on my shoulder and give me a good hug. Then you're good to go. You don't like to snuggle; you have to much to do to dawdle. Any attempts at snuggling you in my bed begins with a good hug and usually ends with you attempting to kamikaze jump off of my bed. You love to be chased, especially when you think you're doing something naughty. It is your favorite game. You can't contain your giggles. I love you so much and I will chase you to the ends of the earth. I will be there to catch you throughout the years. But please, lets do it in baby steps because you can be a little exhausting.

Happy 1st Birthday, Timmy! You long to be a big boy, but you will always be my baby. I hope you have a great time at your party this weekend.

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Breaking News: Katie is FOUR!

Katie’s excitement has been building up for a while, now. A lover of birthday parties, she began the countdown around January when the string of our friends’ fourth birthdays began. When I say a “lover of birthdays”, I don’t mean just a kid who enjoys going to parties and having her own…it is her favorite subject and her favorite game to play. Whether she’s playing with her Melissa and Doug birthday cake set, playing with her Little People birthday set, stealing Timmy’s baby/christening gift bags to “make me presents,” or singing “Happy Birthday” just because, it’s clear that Katie loves a good birthday party.

Her 4th birthday has been a common topic in our bedtime chats. I’ve regularly begged her not to get bigger and to stay 3 forever and she always seriously told me, “No mommy, I HAVE to be 4. I have to get big. I need to be big so I can have a baby in my belly…10 babies.” She already has her entire life planned out. She is going “to be a doctor so she can help all the sick kids who need help to get better.” She plans to marry her Daddy when she is a grown-up…or maybe her cousin Adam.
Everything is “so cool” now…and “awesome”. Barbies have taken over our home! I’ve tried to put that off for awhile now. For the last 6 months, everytime we have been in Target and I have taken her over to the toys to complete my bribe for her good behaviour, she has begged for Barbies. I’ve said no for a while because she has a great Fisher Price Twin-Time doll house with just about every piece of furniture made and I didn’t want her to stop playing with that already. But, I gave in last week. Her first Barbie was a veterinarian Barbie….and between her birthday party presents and using some of the gift certificates she got for her birthday she now has 4 Barbies, a Barbie mermaid falls/swing, and a Barbie house.

Katie continues to be a great big sister. She loves Timmy as much as the first time she saw him and has adjusted wonderfully. She still goes to gymnastics classes at the Little Gym and is taking her first dance class this summer. She is really excited to start soccer this fall. She loves school and has already cried herself to sleep twice because she’s so sad that she doesn’t get to see her teachers during summer break and she “misses them so much.”

Katie is still on an anti-vegetable kick although she did gag down some broccoli last night (in exchange for a popsicle) and didn’t realize when I snuck some shredded carrot into her beef and macaroni the other day. Her favorite food is “meat”, particularly mini hotdogs/corndogs, chicken nuggets, and lunchmeat. Her favorite tv shows are all things Nick Jr, but she also has some PBS favorites like Martha Speaks, Clifford, Curious George, Wordgirl, and Sid the Science Kid. Just a year ago, she would watch nothing except Playhouse Disney! She had a Max and Ruby birthday party this past Saturday. She loves to play Memory, Hide and Seek, and Duck, Duck, Goose. She has moved on from her long-time obsession with “blue” and has altogether changed her favorite color to pink.

We’re having an issue with clothes and after our Disney trip this past April, Katie refuses to wear any form of jeans or any shorts/pants that have a zipper. So nice that this happened AFTER I bought all her spring and summer clothes. She still LOVES rides (the bigger and scarier the better!) and after her first trip to Sahara Sams, a local indoor water park, about a month ago, it’s all she talks about.(It’s painful because we drive past it twice a week to go to speech class.) For her birthday today, just she and I are going to go to the rides and outdoor Water Park at Clementon Lake Park. She is pretty lucky because her height has always allowed her to go on the “thrill rides” she prefers. She is about 43/44 inches right now and about 48 lbs. Thank goodness we have a pool because she has been in it every day since the weather has warmed up and she swims like a fish (well, a fish that wears swimmies).

So, the countdown began and yesterday I kept telling her things like, Katie this is the last time you will be 3, the last time you will wake up as a 3 year old, the last time you will go to night-night as a 3 year old and she was thrilled. This morning she rushed into my bedroom like it was Christmas morning proud to exclaim, “Mom, I’m FOUR years old!!!!” I was afraid she might be a little disappointed because from some conversations we’ve had, I was afraid she thought she was going to wake up as a grown up. And although she’s not “grown”, I miss my baby! I can handle four, though. Now five…I don’t even want to think about that, yet. I need a year to prepare myself…

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Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

Debi had a great idea for me to just combine my fotos from Emma and Will's B-day party with Candid Carrie's Friday Foto Finish Fiesta so that I could cut down on my "to do" list :) So here are some adorable fotos from our phun, phun day. I can't believe they're already TWO years old!!! Where has the time gone? (You should be able to doubleclick on the picture page below to make it a little bigger for viewing the teeny pics).

Make sure to head over to Candid Carrie's for more phantastic fotos!

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