Party!

It's hard to believe that the time has come to celebrate Katherine's 1st Birthday!  We had a party for her yesterday and thank everyone for the fun and spoiling our girl just a little more!

{There are a lot of pictures thanks to Leslie who grabbed the camera and let us enjoy Katherine's day and not worry about taking pictures!  By the end of the day, we had over 500 pictures on my camera alone.  Yes, you read that right . . . over 500!  Thanks, Leslie!}

Katherine started her party with some birthday hugs from Emma!

Katherine's cake was huge {really too big}, but you can never have too much cake, right?  It's not at all what I had envisioned, but I loved it!

Her smash cake

I had not planned on having Katherine a smash cake mainly since Jackson did not have one, but the bakery that made her birthday cake makes a complimentary smash cake for 1st birthdays!

Some decorations

Presents!!

Patiently waiting to get her hands on a gift!

Of course, Katherine was the center of attention!

Time to sing Happy Birthday and get into the cake

My favorite picture of the day!

{Even though the Birthday Girl is the least bit interested in her candle!}

Katherine has turned into quite a little piggy lately so I thought she was going to devour her cake, but she ended up eating only a handful of it!

More pictures with the Birthday Girl!

Sweet Emma excited about the party!

Some little boy couldn't keep his hands of off the cake!

Busted!

We had a fun day celebrating our sweet little lady with our family and friends!

One Year

One year ago today, Jackson had an Easter Egg Hunt at his school, and this is one of my favorite pictures from that day.

Katherine made her debut a mere 6 days following this . . . tomorrow we'll celebrate her 1st birthday with family and friends, and Zach and I constantly wonder how is it possible that our baby girl is already one?

Jump!

The weatherman predicted a rainy day for yesterday, so Leslie suggested we take these two to an indoor 'jump zone' to let them burn off some energy.

 Of course I wanted Jackson to go and have fun, but I was a little concerned whether or not he would actually get inside the houses since he's never cared for a moonwalk.  Thankfully, he proved me wrong and jumped right in!

Climbing up the ladder to the tallest slide

 What goes up must come down

 He showed no fear!

 All smiles at the bottom!

Leslie grabbed my camera and caught this freak going down a slide.

This little girl was a bit hesitant when we first arrived and went into a jump house, but she decided she liked the place when she discovered the balls!

And to say William loved the balls would be an understatement!

 Giving me the "Enough is enough!" look

Wow . . . this place just lets all the freaks in.

Maybe next time we shouldn't take our children here if this is their clientele.

I think she was letting me know that the ball was going home with her

Leslie and William having some fun

Once we got home from all of the excitement, I put Jackson in his room for a nap and while getting Katherine to sleep, I dozed off for a little while as well.  When I walked out of Katherine's room, I found this sweet little pile right outside of her door--completely wiped out. 

Needless to say, they enjoyed the jumping and sliding!

French Fries

Daddy thought playing in the freezer was a great idea,

and so did Katherine.

Flashback

8.12.07

3.22.11

Zach and I fondly remember the first time we put our 5 lb. 12 oz. baby in this swing and turned it on--the swing started going and it was so "fast" we were scared it was going to fling him across the room, so we quickly turned it off!  3.5 years later, Jackson sat in the same swing and I was scared he was going to break it!  Our baby sure has turned into an active little boy!

Snapshots

Some snapshots of our weekend . . . 

Zach is obsessed with grass and the sod that the builder of the house put down did not make it through the winter, so Zach spent this weekend laying new sod.  {Maybe good bbq is the only thing that makes him happier than soft, green grass.}

Jackson wanted to hold Katherine . . . a rarity

Playing in water . . . a favorite

Showing off her newest 2 teeth on top

Bonding

And Daddy thought this was going to be a sweet picture of the two of them . . .

and that was a quick glance at our short weekend!

Imitation is the Finest Form of Flattery

Jackson discovered how fun the camera can be last week and he kept taking pictures with his back 'hunched' and with his eyes squished up.  I guess this is what he sees when I take pictures and is only doing what he knows!

Katherine was able to dig around in his toybox for a few minutes while Jackson was occupied and not telling her to stop.  {At some point he did come around and notice what she was doing so he tried to lure her in his closet and close the door while she was in there.  She's getting to where she doesn't fall for that anymore!}

Checking out his masterpieces

Self-portrait

Just for Size

Well, this time next month our baby will be ONE!!

We actually ended up at the doctor's office today and Katherine's weight came in at 15 pounds 15 ounces.  She has been cruising around the coffee table for some time now, but will still sit down to go from the table to the couch.  However, last week I was filling the bathtub with water for a bath and I looked over and she was holding a bottle of soap in both hands--she was standing on her own!  I ran to get the video camera, but of course couldn't get it on film!

For these monthly pictures, I really don't know why I try on my own to get a picture of Katherine smiling while sitting next to her pillow because it never works.  I always end up having to get Zach to help, and this is what it took tonight . . .

both Jackson and Katherine love when Zach gets this little puppet out!

{Monkey did get us the smile above!}

And a picture to end on

I was trying to get her picture this afternoon and not having much luck.  At some point, she laid down and when she rolled over, she cut her eyes at me and gave me this little look!  She's such a sweetie!



Puppy Pants

Today was "pajama day" at Jackson's preschool!  You would think that this would be the easiest day to get dressed and out the door--boy, was I wrong.  When Jackson woke up, I told him that he could wear his "puppy pants" to school.  The next thing out of his mouth was he needed to get dressed.  What?  It's usually a battle getting him out of his pajamas and into clothes.  In fact, whenever he wears his puppy pajamas at night, I usually cringe because they are his favorite and it takes a lot to get him out of his "puppy pants" (as he calls them) the next morning.

 Once he finally agreed to keep his pajamas on, we had a disagreement over his shoes.  I put his grey ones on, but he wanted his brown ones.  I told him to go get his brown ones and he came back with his dressier brown shoes.  Finally, he decided the grey ones would be best.

At some point, we were ready and I was able to get a quick picture!

 They were also asked to bring their favorite teddy bear and Jackson chose, "Puppy."  When I dropped him off at school, another little girl arrived in her clothes . . . her mom said that she kept telling her that you don't leave the house in your pajamas!  {As a side note, I actually graduated high school with the little girl's mom and they moved to this area a few years ago from Baltimore . . . it's a small world!}

 Once we got back home, he was insistent on "getting dressed."  This was taken during his "nap."  I heard him stirring around and when I checked on him he had put every book in his room in his bed and was quite proud of himself!  Yesterday during naptime, I heard him playing and opened his door to find him with a flashlight and book under his blanket.  It's hard to get upset with this little face!

Checking In

 We're still here!

We're crawling around, changing preschools, playing with friends, meeting new people, exploring our new city, getting spoiled by grandparents, celebrating birthdays . . . all of which makes for little time to blog.