Care for Your Pets, So They Don't Get Extinct

What have we been up to lately? Oh, you know. The normal stuff.

Like using Dad as a jungle gym... 

...and painting colorful masterpieces...

...and singing, strumming, and jamming to our heart's desire...

...and playing school with Minnie Mouse...

...and having fun...

(and apparently Katelyn is constantly wearing her princess nightgown - ha, ha!!)

...and savoring the very first signs of springtime. Ahh...

...and smooching... borderline constant smooching...

~~~

Here are some of Katelyn's recent zingers: 

"Ow! I just hit my el-bone."

"Why is it when some people talk their slobber spits out?" (Eeek! Glad she didn't ask the offender him/her self!)

"God can do anything. Anything! He takes away our sins AND our hiccups!"

"I think they should call it 'kiddergarten' because it's for kids!"

"We need to take care of our pets so they don't get extinct like dinosaurs."

"I adore your new shirt, Mom." (Fancy Nancy, some of our favorite books, uses fancy words like adore :)

"My heart just bubbles over! That's how Jesus feels about us." (Amen, sister. I love this truth. I think she learned it at church.)

"Tomorrow is the first day of spring, so that means all the snow will be gone when we wake up!" Oh, how I wish that's how it worked.

After I tucked her into bed one night, she called me back in and said, "I just have one more question to ask you. Are you Russian?" Ummm, where does she get this stuff?! So funny!!

~~~

A couple weeks ago, Beth and I hosted a bridal shower for our wonderful friend Katie. It was so fun to plan and once the day arrived, it was a blast to celebrate our favorite bride-to-be! 

Kendall was overjoyed on Friday when Papa and "Gaga" (as she says) pulled into the driveway as we were blowing bubbles. It was so cute! She had fun trying on Papa's readers, too :)

We hit up the Children's Museum on Saturday...

And Kendall loved spending time with Gaga all weekend, can you tell?

With our favorite babysitters in town, Michael and I enjoyed a night out together. We made a New Year's resolution for monthly date nights - so far we are 2 for 3. Not bad, but still room to improve. As always, it was great to enjoy drinks, dinner, and conversation - just the two of us. Love this guy!

Hope you enjoyed the updates and recent pictures. Have a great week!

19 Months Old

Kendall is 19 months old! I can hardly wrap my head around my fingers typing those numbers. Holy. Moly. And let's just say the monthly photo shoots are getting more and more challenging...

and sometimes more and more emotional... with this little one wanting to do what she wants to do not what mom wants to do!

Kendall is little by little wearing more 2T and 24 month clothes and fewer 18 month clothes. She's still in size 4 diapers and wears 5 or 6 in shoes. She's up to 8 teeth now, people!! Four on top and four on bottom with a few more about to poke through. Slowly but surely they'll come in.

Since last month, Kendall has been saying several more words. She really does her best to repeat words when we ask her - it's fun to hear her progress over time. Some of her more recent vocabulary additions include:

- "no way" (yep, she picked this one up fast from Michael. He tends to say it with excitement as we tell him about our adventures from the day :)

- "babas" for bubbles since we've been blessed with some nice outdoor time in recent weeks

- "Mimi" "Emma" and "Ab-bay" are all little friends from her various classes and activities

- "E! E! E!" every time she marks with a pen, marker, or crayon on paper she says this. I'm fairly sure she's heard Katelyn say, "Look, mom, I wrote an 'e'" and decided to participate too :)

- "Dutch" this is the most recent attempt at saying (Uncle) Mitch

- "way" is in reference to throwing something away. If she has a tissue in her hand or a piece of paper, she'll say "way" and wave goodbye as if saying, "see ya, I'm throwing this away."

- "hoop" for basketball hoop, which we have in our basement.

- "Essa" and "Aaanna" are Elsa and Anna from Frozen. While she's never seen the movie, we have a few books and (still) listen to the soundtrack on repeat!

- "Open" for assistance opening something.

- "oh maaah" is for "oh man" which we sometimes say when we're disappointed in something.

- "doo doo" for tutu, her newest fashion obsession.

In addition to saying more words, she's blowing us away with her understanding of what we say. We can give her simple one or two step tasks and she knows exactly what to do (for example, "Kendall, please get your shoes and bring them to mommy." or "Where is your toothbrush? Can you find it?") It's a lot of fun to watch her eyes light up with understanding and then respond appropriately.

Kendall and Katelyn are having a lot of fun playing together. We all play grocery store quite often where Katelyn sets up the food around the play room and Kendall and I are the shoppers. I'll say, "Kendall, we need peas, can you find the peas and put them in the cart?" The girls also play doctor (Kendall the patient and Katelyn the doc), basketball, and "tag" together. But Kendall is also just as likely to play independently. Many times throughout the day, I'll see her interested in something in the play room and exploring it quietly on her own.

Kendall has officially dropped her morning nap. I think last month she was still taking it a few days a week, but we're officially down to one afternoon nap now. And she's sleeping in regularly until 7 am - woo hoo! We have definitely made some great strides in the sleep department over the last couple months and I'm grateful for that (and so is Kendall, she's just so well-rested and ready to take on what the day has in store.) 

As for her favorite foods, she still loves scrambled eggs with cheese, oatmeal (but oh so messy!), fruit of any kind, mac and cheese, crackers with hummus, and cooked carrots. She's still particular about getting food on her hands or arms (but could care less about her face, probably because she can't see it!) If she gets yogurt or ketchup on her hand, she'll say "uh-oh" repeatedly until she's clean again. This girl!!

Kendall Jean, what a difference you make. Your sweet, perceptive personality, larger-than-life hugs, and tender snuggles are almost too much for this heart to handle! :) We all love you so very much and look forward to watching the story of your life unfold - and lucky us, we've got a front row seat!

What Renews a Mama's Heart

You guys. These girls...

They just make my heart swell with joy. Oh, how we treasure them so!

Let's be real. It's not unicorns and rainbows all day long (though we do like both :) Not by any means is every moment like this... 

But that's what makes us stop. And notice. And appreciate. And savor these moments so very much when they spontaneously take shape.

These moments. Sometimes as quickly as they manifest, they dissolve due to a wiggly 18-month old or a distracted preschooler. But oh, how these brief moments renew my heart! How they remind us in one glance what love looks like; what everyday, ordinary, organic, in-our-real-lives love looks like. And how thankful we are for it. ♥

And by the way, this duo is grOWING! We had their 4-year and 18-month wellness visits a couple weeks ago and here are their stats...

Katelyn

41.5 inches tall (85%)

40 pounds (84%)

BMI is 16.33 (17%)

Kendall

33.5 inches tall (91%)

24 pounds (43%)

Head circumference is 18.75 inches (78%)

Both near the 90th percentile for height?! Clearly that's from dad, not 5'4" me :) They are healthy, growing, learning new things, and developing their own personalities. What a gift to be a part of it all!  

BirthDAY!

February 17, 2010: For our family, it was a day that changed our lives forevermore! We were finally face-to-face with our firstborn child, Katelyn Clare. Michael and I launched full-speed into the journey of parenthood. And our firsthand experience with the miracle of life left us awed and wonderstruck. It's hard to even comprehend the magnitude of how she has changed; and how we have changed. This child has changed us. In the best ways possible.

Tiny Katelyn Clare at one day old and our big girl at four (!) years old!

This year, February 17 fell on a Monday, so Michael took the day off work and we spent time celebrating Katelyn and letting her call (almost all) the shots. Breakfast was mini-pancakes on the "special red plate" as well as a birthday serenade as Katelyn came downstairs. 

She opened a few presents from us and a few birthday cards that arrived in the mail. She was super pumped about her new Anna doll from the movie Frozen, as you can imagine :)

Then it was off to Mall of America for the day - one of Katelyn's favorite destinations! We rode several rides including the carousel, the big balloon ride (below), and many more. Kate was loving it! Kendall was a little more cautious!

We even got to meet a couple characters from the show "Bubble Guppies" - this time Katelyn was a little cautious and Kendall was all about saying hello. Role reversal :)

For lunch we checked out Rainforest Cafe but Katelyn kept saying, "I want lots of options" (aka the food court!) She ended up choosing Chipotle for lunch - a favorite spot for all of us. Then we went back to Nickelodeon Universe for a special birthday face painting experience! 

Why on earth did we think she'd be cool with a small heart or rainbow on her cheek? One look at the book of options and this girl went for the gold! Full-face (neon) butterfly, of course :)

Oh, my heart... 

Katelyn had a blast checking out her butterfly face at home and throughout the rest of the day. We even did some shopping at Costco and got quite a few smiles and compliments on the colorful display!

In keeping with tradition, here is a brief birthday interview with our 4 year old (the items with a * indicate the same response as last year)...

Favorite color: Pink* and Purple

Favorite toy: Dollies

Favorite fruit: Blueberries

Favorite meal: Pasta (mac and cheese)*

Favorite outfit: Polka-dot dress

Favorite game: Tic-Tac-Toe and Connect4

Favorite snack: Fruit snacks*

Favorite animal: "Umm, I don't like any am-in-als. Oh wait, I like cats... and dogs."

Favorite song: "Let it Go" from Frozen

Best friend: Abby

Favorite thing to do outside: Play on our swing set

Favorite holiday: "February 17" ;)

Least favorite food: Carrots

When I grow up I want to be: A businesswoman

Sweet Kate, we hope you always know how absolutely wonderful you are! You have blessed us in countless ways. You have shaped us. You have taught us. You have loved us. You have amazed us. And we know you'll continue to do all of those things every day, which is such a gift. Thank you for 4 incredible years. We praise God for you every day. We love you!