Happy Second Birthday, Kateri!

 A few weeks ago, we celebrated Kateri's second birthday! We decided to go for total originality, and so we picked a Frozen theme ;) .

 Here is a little tour of the food we served! Thankfully, Pat encouraged me to take these photos otherwise I would have none.

These were so yummy and easy to make!

Thank you for the extra sandwiches, aunt Betty and uncle Bill! They were delicious and a big hit!

 We scheduled the party for 4 pm because it was daylight savings, but both kiddos were still sound asleep when the guests started arriving! Kateri finally woke up, but it took her a few hours before she was running around and acting like herself!

So so serious at the beginning of the party!

Kateri made out like a bandit and received many wonderful gifts which she has really been enjoying!

Mihi with her grandaughters:

Partially blurry, but I have to include a shot of mom's awesome outfit! Definitely something Queen Elsa would wear!

 Kateri is such a dear little two year old. Every morning, Pat or I ask her if she had any dreams the night before. She always says, "Yesh." And when we ask her what she dreamed about, the answer is inevitably, "Birds".

She loves to eat eggs, especially egg yolks, peanuts, raisins, Greek yogurt, and beans. She really doesn't like bread or cookies, and when given a donut will carefully pick off the sprinkles one at a time and only eat those.

She is not so keen on trying new food, but is starting to be more open to it when she see that Sebastian is eating it. I was shocked to see her finally try applesauce (after offering it to her multiple times over the past year) because she realized that Sebastian was really enjoying it. She seemed surprised to realize she actually enjoyed the stuff!

She loves Sebastian, and will be the first to let me know that Sebastian's tray is empty and he needs more food. She always makes sure that he gets to go on the swings, and that he has a toy if he is fussy. She has no problem directing who goes where, and will loudly assert that Papa should hold Bash and Mama should hold her during night prayers.

She loves reading books and singing songs, especially if the songs have particular hand motions (a la Head and shoulders, Knees and Toes and Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut (her current favorite). If I sing her the ABC's, she will request that it be sung over and over and over.

Kateri hates coming inside after she has been playing outside, or heaven forbid, leaving the park. She loves bath time and brushing her teeth.

She finds it hilarious when we are heading out the door to escape my clutches and take off running down the sidewalk. The gales of laughter that accompany each of these episodes make it totally worth it!

So grateful for the blessing of spending the past two years with this precious little gal!!

Weathering the Winter

When the desperation of cabin fever sets in, anything, ANYTHING, becomes a welcome respite for the littles.

Case in point:

That is, indeed, a fake candle. And yes, Kateri and Charlotte are both doing their best to "blow" it out.

Somehow this became a very exciting and competitive game for the two of them.

And eventually, for the safety and sanity of all, we had to call it quits,

But it was fun while it lasted!

As was Kateri's fancy hair-do.

 

A few weeks ago, we went to the park.

The main thing to see there, in Kateri's eyes, is the swing set. She is content to stay on it the entire time and swing to her hearts content. She has no desire to go down the slide or play on the "fire man's truck". In fact, she can only be convinced to get off the swing with great effort and much encouragement!

This picture cracks me up because her legs look soooooo long!

This was also the occasion of Sebastian's first time in the swing!

That, my friends, is some hearty approval!

It does seem rather wild that BOTH of them are able to swing! I feel that Sebastian is still my little baby, but he is growing so so quickly.

Nevertheless, he is still a baby for sure!

Another time, Aunt Laura introduced Kateri to her new favorite game:

Ring around the Rosy will NEVER grow old, in a 1 and 2 year old's eyes!

Of goldfish, orange juice, and oreos, OH MY!

So, like I said in my previous post, we all got kinda sick last week. It was a relatively quick moving little bug, both Kateri and I were hit in the middle of the night about 20 minutes apart from each other. After that, all I felt was tired, so so tired.

I have such fond memories of being sick as a kid, mom would always make us a bed on the sofa with extra comfy sheets and blankets and pillows. There was a constant supply of ginger ale, popsicles, and salty crackers. And for entertainment, books and movies. What could be better?? Well, not being sick, I guess, but all those wonderful things made being sick so much more manageable.

Last Tuesday, I really wanted to take care of little Kateri after she was sick, so I made her a little nest on the couch!

I don't think she felt too sick.

But she sure enjoyed those books!

For about 15 minutes . . .

And then, she was up and ready to roll!

However, Kateri was still sick because she was unable to eat eggs, cheese, french toast, applesauce, pancakes, crackers, toast and any number of other things.

Thankfully, Mihi came to the rescue and brought Kateri something she COULD eat:

GOLDFISH!

She ate many many goldfish.

And enjoyed every bite.

Thank you, Mihi! She could also eat popsicles (thank you, aunt Lu), drink orange juice, and eat powdered sugar donuts. Oreos are also on the list of "Ok to consume."

This was a serious bug, to only let her eat those things!!! Thankfully, today she ate two bites of sausage. Maybe she is finally getting better!

The Rise of the Starving Dough

Well, after a dreadfully long time of absolutely no posts, we are back! Be prepared for lots and lots of grainy phone pictures, because here they come . . .

One of my goals is to take charge of meal planning. As in, actually DO it. It worked really well the first week, and made life so SO much easier, and the evenings much less stressful. I was really shocked at the fact that just KNOWING what is going to be on the table really made the day exponentially more relaxed. Go figure! 

My mom gave me a colorful and cheerful Mary Engelbreit week-planner. I love it and it makes planning everything, even WORK, fun. That is pretty amazing! So, thanks again, Mom! You gave me life, amazing siblings, and an awesome planner that makes life fun!

The second week, we got sick and just ate whatever we had around the house (in addition to some amazing soup made by Laura! Thanks, Lu!). 

This week, the meals are planned and I will go to the store tomorrow! Take that, Procrastination Bone! 

Along with all this, I have been baking a lot more bread. The other day, I made up some dough but didn't have time to bake it right away. After the first rising, I punched it down and put it in the fridge.

Not long after, I went to grab K-bear some milk, and THIS is the sight that met my eyes:

Nom nom nom . . . rising fast and getting HUNGRY!

I can relate!!! Feed me NOWWWW!!! 

First Snow Day!

So while we did have some snow at the cabin over Thanksgiving, this is the first snow that Sebastian is really able to enjoy!

I couldn't wait to see his reaction to being out in the snow, so I dressed them all up and we rushed outside!

Look at that unbridled excitement!

However, Kateri had enough enthusiasm for the two of them!

She eagerly said, "Cheee! CHEEEEEE!" ("cheese! CHEESE!!!") in hopes that I would HURRY UP! when I told her to smile quickly before we could go out!

Looking at all the untapped potential of the newly fallen snow:

Remember that feeling?

Sebastian continued to show his exuberant enthusiasm about the snow . . .

There was plenty of snow eating:

I asked Kateri to smile for the camera, and this is the result:

Sebastian was soon wiggling and squirming, trying to do everything possible to get down. So I finally put him down, which made him quite happy, for some reason.

What a cutie!

Once we got back inside, we read some books and then it was time for a special treat given to Kateri by her dear Mormor:

her oceanside treasure-box!

This picture captures her awe.

Kateri loved the little shell

And listened closely to hear the sound of the ocean . . .

Maybe the other side will work better?

I think her favorite part is organizing the pieces into the boxes, she never grows tired of it!

And when it is time to put things away, Kateri signs, "More, please!! More!!"

Thank you again for this beautiful, thoughtful treasure, Mormor!! Kateri loves it and has already enjoyed it so much!!