Kate turns 2!

Kate turned two last week! It's crazy how fast that happened! We did a little family celebration followed by a short lived trip to the pumpkin patch. Let's just say she partied a little too hard at her home celebration! She got a fun little play kitchen and grandma hooked her up with all the fun stuff you need to fill it. Her favorite present was her princess shoes. Her eyes lit up when she put those shoes on. The thing with kids is you just never now what the hit might be. She would have been happy with those shoes and that's it. She has figured out how fun a kitchen can be though -the evidence of such fun can be witnessed on my floor right now! She has become quite the little lady. She loves to accessorize. I have taken to hiding bows because if she sees one that's not in her hair, she will freak out until it is. There are days that she walks around with what appears to be a shower cap of bows. For the most part I don't fight it- I think it's cute. Plus if I have to pick my battles, this is one that I don't care to win. She's learned her colors and we have discussions all day about the color of lots of things. Her favorite thing to do is read. The nice thing about that is if she's quiet and nowhere to be found, she's usually sitting around a pile of books looking through them. Evan even had a fun time helping her celebrate this year. No jealous fits, and no freaking out about presents. He was genuinely interested in helping her understand how awesome this whole birthday thing can be. Happy birthday nugget!

Randoms

Swimming with Dad

It's tough to have the funnest dad around! My kids LOVE swimming with their dad. Paul is pretty good about taking them a few times a week after work (this is usually when I get dinner ready uninterupted!). No family photo session is complete without pictures of our neighbor Max. He spends many a night at our house! He and Evan are like peas and carrots. Evan has started swimming like a pro this summer. He floats, dives, and swims all on his own. I'm so glad that Paul loves the water like he does- my kids will not be water weenie's like I am!

Can you feel the love???

This pic sums up a lot around our house lately. Evan loves Kate to death sometimes, and sometimes he doesn't. He was actually trying to help her here, but it went terribly wrong! Instead of immediately helping her, I did what all good moms do- I took a picture! Evan though they fight at times like all good brothers and sisters do, last night they were up in their room having a 'bow party'. Evan was putting all of Kate's bows in her hair in order to avoid going to sleep. Funny how they are best buds when they have a common goal. I also overheard Evan telling Max (our neighbor and psuedo-kid) "be nice to Kate. She's my sister." Even though I wasn't supposed to hear that it made my heart sing! That's what family is all about!