Happy, Happy Birthday To My Baby Girl!!

How did we go from this.....

to this....
to this....

...so darn quickly?! On one hand, it really does seem like I was just pregnant, like I just was in the hospital being induced, and that we were just bringing our little bundle home from the hospital. On the other hand, a lot has happened and changed in these two years. Wow. Two whole years. Katie has that much more love. That much more spunk and feistiness. And that much more independence. And it is often challenging. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love you, sweet Katie. Happy 2nd Birthday!

Easter Egg Hunt #2 + The Bunny

Last Saturday we went to an egg hunt with all kinds of fun activities at the school I attended from K through 12. They have an alumni Easter egg hunt every year and this was the first year I thought Katie would enjoy! The first hour they had arts, crafts, activities, and bounce houses. Oh, and the Easter Bunny was there too! Then, it was time for the egg hunt. They did have it separated out by age groups, which I definitely appreciated. I didn't want my sweet pea to get plowed over by a big kid! For the younger kiddos, they had tons of eggs just out in a grassy area - Katie loved it! My friend Kara and her family also went - she and I have been friends for over 20 years! It was so neat to go back to where we met and watch our kids participate in an event. Here are some pictures - and I'm happy to report that Katie didn't scream when she sat with the Bunny! She actually was very intrigued by him - she kept wanting to go say hi!

Katie and the Easter Bunny - she seemed to enjoy sitting with him! Maybe it is because he doesn't talk and is nice and soft!
She loved playing with the hula hoops! I wonder if someone will get one for her for her birthday - if not, dollar store here we come!

Katie & Carter with the Easter Bunny - amazing!

I wanted a full shot of her outfit - I loved it! And she loved running around and being wild!

Let the egg hunt begin!

And they're off!

Katie made a haul with eggs - I think she got close to 20!

....including the silver egg!

Carter & Katie after all the eggs had been found.

Then they had to sit and go through all their goods! So cute.

Still loving running around.

Cutie Carter.

Katie rocking on the front porch of the Peach Orchard Hill House (the administrative building that has lots of history!).

Wordless Wednesday

Easter Egg Hunt #1

This year, we took part in a couple of different egg hunts. The first one we did was with a mom's group - it was so fun! It was a smaller group, but the smaller number of the big kids meant more eggs! It is always so great to get together with other moms and talk about what is going on - adult conversation...novel concept!! :) Anyways, we had a great time with great weather. Here are some pics of the get together (and egg hunt)!

The big kids were wondering what was going on when one of the moms was hiding the eggs!
Katie was ready to start hunting!

Once I showed her the egg...

...and she put it in her bucket, she was hooked! She absolutely loved it!

I think this was my favorite shot of the egg hunt. She was definitely concentrating very hard!

So proud of her eggs!

Going through her goodies - sorting through candy, raisins, little toys...

Hanging out with her goods after the hunt.

And Katie loved the swingset (more specifically, the slide)!

And then it was lunchtime for the kiddos before the grand finale...

...the Bunny Cake! Isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen?! One of the other moms made it for the get together - love it!

...and the kids just dove right into it with their forks!

And we had to get a group shot of all the kids.

Easter, 2011

Easter Egg Fun

Last week we continued with the Easter fun and dyed some eggs! It was Katie's first time to dye eggs. I actually bought the kit last year, but I completely forgot I had it, so I saved it. The kit was to make marbelized eggs - I think I learned that for now, we just need to stick with the basic egg dying kits. No need to be all fancy schmancy. Although I do love those speckled looking eggs too. Anyway, here are the pictures! Brad did help, but he preferred not to be pictured!

And she's ready to dye some eggs!
She was like a mad scientist with the cups of color!

I had also bought this little pack of Q-tip looking dye sticks to use on eggs to create designs. Katie loved using them to color the eggs herself!

She loved it!! (And I love that smile!)

Momma and her girly

We did the egg dying right before bedtime. By the end, she was DEFINITELY ready to be done (and ready for bed). Her hands stayed dyed for a few days!

The finished product - with Katie's egg in the middle! I think it was a success for sure!

Happy Easter!!

Just a quick note to wish you and your family a very...

Today was a great day to round out the Easter weekend. More posts to come - but it was full of egg hunts, goodies, church, and family time!

At church we sang one of my all time favorite hymns, "In Christ Alone". Here are some lines from the song - great reminder of what Easter is really all about!

"No guilt in life, no fear in death / This is the power of Christ in me / From life's first cry to final breath / Jesus commands my destiny."

So I Don't Forget...

I just wanted to quickly note a couple of things so I don't forget....

1) Yesterday was the first day that Katie has told me what she did at school (though there's really no way I will know if she really did it...). She said she played with "A" and "H" at school (the other two girls in her class) and that they played with a ball. LOVE that she can communicate those things now!

2) Also, yesterday was the first time I've ever seen Katie look at puzzle pieces and study them to know what orientation they need to be before putting them down on the board - and she got it right every time! I think that's pretty neat.

3) We were being silly with Cee Cee and put Katie in the driver's seat (car off, of course) and the first thing Katie did was put her seatbelt on. Safety first!

4) I went to a mom's group/playdate this morning and we did a little egg hunt - Katie LOVED it! I think we have at least two more this weekend, so it should be fun! Should be interesting to see how she does with the Easter Bunny!

5) She now will pick up a little piece of trash on the floor and go put it in the trashcan. She even will do it if we ask her to (like if she drops something) - love that!

Easter Wishes

Wishing everyone a very happy and blessed Easter weekend!

Milestone!

What milestone you ask? Well, I just visited my blog and happened to see that it was the 30,001st visit to the blog - that's right! I have topped the 30,000 mark! I know you could probably care less, but I think hitting that milestone of 30,000 visits is pretty cool!

*sidenote: the counter actually reset a couple years ago - it was at almost 13,000 - we will just try to forget about that :)

Cool Crafts: Crib Facelift

First off, I just had to include this picture with this post. Katie had found this stuffed dog that my grandparents gave me when I was pregnant and was trying to teach it how to turn the humidifier on. {LOVE}

OK - now for the real meat of the post :) There is this little toy crib that my mom got when she was roughly 5 years old - and then I played with it when I was little - and now it is Katie's. I felt it needed a facelift though, which wouldn't be difficult. Here is the before picture:
So off to Michael's I went to buy some cans of white spray paint - I was set! After about 3 or 4 coats and then some painting of the little toys on the crib, it was finished! I have been meaning to do this project since last Fall - I don't know why I kept putting it off! It was simple! And I love how it turned out. Here is the after picture:

Katie has so many stuffed animals - I thought this would be the perfect place to store them!

I wonder what I can get into next - bring on the projects!!

Wordless Wednesday

Sharing Secrets

What kind of secrets, you ask? Well, fashion secrets of course! And with who else but the loving Sadie. Katie has been obsessed with Sadie lately - it is so cute! She sticks her hand out for kisses. She stoops down to get in Sadie's face. She runs up to her and hugs her. She pets her. And Sadie is loving every single minute of it. Well, last week, Katie had finished breakfast before we headed out to Mother's Day Out, and she wanted to wear her pink had from Cee Cee! Isn't she so stylish?!

And then she thought it would be a neat idea to let Sadie try the hat on!
That didn't last too long - Sadie was not a fan. So Katie resorted to petting, which Sadie LOVES!

And then a great big sisterly hug!

And a funny little grin with some more petting. Looks like Sadie is giving her the "don't stop petting me look"!

After all of the fun with Sadie, Katie remembered it was a school day and immediately ran to the door out to the garage and wanted to go to school!! Such a funny girl. And I love that she loves Sadie so much - and school, of course!