Katie Wynn Turns Three!

For MONTHS, Katie Wynn asked us if it was her birthday yet.  I think it started in March around my birthday.  And then after we had Thomas's birthday in June she really ramped it up.  So we had to list off everyone we knew that would have a birthday before it was time for hers.  And after every birthday party we went to, she'd asked again if it was her birthday yet and we'd remind her of who all was ahead of her. 

So when the day FINALLY got here, Matt and Thomas and I snuck into her room while she was still in bed and sang happy birthday to her.  And, with her face still buried in the pillows and covers, she mumbled, "It's not my birfday yet."  

And then boy did she get really excited when we told her that YES! It WAS her birthday!  We gave her three balloons to prove it.  :)

She loved her balloons so much we may have to make this a birthday tradition!  Note to self: always have an almost-empty helium tank stashed in the garage.

Here she is holding up three fingers for her new age! :)

We took more pictures before leaving for school.  

It was fun taking her to school that morning.  We took the gooiest, messiest-looking chocolate cupcakes for her classmates to enjoy and she was so proud to carry them in.  And her teacher had hung a big Happy Birthday sign on her door that she'd made with ORANGE marker - Katie Wynn's favorite color!  She was so excited to see it and gave her teacher a big hug.  She told everyone she saw, "It's my birfday today."  :)

Lala and Poppa (Matt's parents) arrived at our house just in time to see the kids get home from school.  They had promised Katie Wynn they would see her on her birthday and they made good on their word!  She was very glad to see them.

We didn't have our real family celebration until the next night when my parents could also join all of us for dinner.  Katie Wynn received a "big" gift from each of us (me and Matt, his parents, and my parents) that we wanted her to get to have before her birthday party the upcoming weekend.  Not one time on her actual birthday did she mention anything about presents.  It never occurred to her that she would be getting some!  So when I asked her if she wanted to go outside and see what Daddy and I had gotten for her, she grinned from ear to ear!

We gave her this roller coaster and had it set up in the driveway for her to see.  She wasted no time climbing up on it.

We set it up so that she would roll into the grass and stop.  Our driveway is slanted towards the street so we definitely can't point it in that direction!

She gave Thomas a turn but he wasn't feeling it.  Which is funny now because by the end of the week, he was going down it more often than her!

After she'd played on the roller coaster for a little while, we asked her if she'd like her gift from Mimi and Poppy.  Another big ol' grin. :)  We helped her close her eyes while Poppy unloaded their car and set up her new picnic table!  (This is the best full shot of it I got.  Oops.)

The table is so cute.  I love that it's not plastic and primary colors so that it will look nice sitting out in our yard, and I love that it's little enough for the kids but not too little that Matt and I can't sit at it with them.  

Daddy helped her cover her eyes again so Poppa could carry out her big gift from him and Lala.

When we told her she could look, she was excited to see a new bike!

And not just any bike, an ORANGE one!  Complete with a bell.

She and Thomas sat at the picnic table to open the rest of the smaller gifts.  Lala and Poppa brought her the cutest orange dress and both she and Thomas got a new pair of puppy dog pj's!  From my parents she opened the Tickle Monster book and tickle gloves.  I gave her a pair of green pajamas (at her request) and a new shirt that I told her was to wear when we went to see Elsa and Anna that weekend!

While she finished with her gifts, Thomas was a gentleman and filled her bike up with gas. :)

I think Katie Wynn really liked the present part of her birthday!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner together that night and afterwards, Katie Wynn finally got to blow out her birthday candles.  She just giggled while we sung to her.  

After bath, she put on her new pair of green jammies and had one last gift to open from her Daddy.  He gave her a big hardback book of all the classic nursery rhymes.  We read poems from it several nights a week!

I definitely think this was my favorite birthday with Katie Wynn so far.  She was the perfect age - old enough to understand that it was her day but not to old to demand or expect anything.  It was fun to watch how excited she got about things and just giggle and grin.  

We had her third birthday party the weekend after her birthday and it might be my favorite party to date too!  I am still waiting on the party pics from the photographer we had there, but here is a sneak peek from my phone.  We invited all of her friends over for a car wash!

More official party pictures to come!

Children's Museum!

A couple of weekends ago, Mom and I took the kids to the Children's Museum.  Katie Wynn had been only one other time when she was really too little to enjoy it, and this was Thomas's first time ever.  They both LOVED it!  

In typical fashion, Katie Wynn was a bit shy and hesitant at first, but she was running all over the place in no time.  We stayed all morning and even had lunch there.  Know what that means?  Good afternoon naps!

Busted!  Headed to jail in the cop car.

We spent a long time in the toddler area because everything was perfectly sized for them.  They loved watching all the other kids their ages too.

Thomas LOVED the slide!

By far, the highlight was definitely the mini grocery store.  I loved it too when I was little!  Is it any surprise that "they" had to check out multiple times with those super cool cash registers?! :)

Even with so many toys and attractions everywhere, it was this floor fan that I had to drag Thomas away from so that we could go home.  He was obsessed with it!

I think there were a few spots we missed, and we didn't even venture outside to the playground and splash pad.  It's a good thing we purchased a membership because we'll definitely have to go back.  Hopefully soon!

Sunflowers!

The Saturday evening after we'd returned from Jamaica, we threw the kids in the car and went on a hunt for some sunflowers.  Actually, we were headed directly to a friend's house that lives out in the country - she had said we could borrow the sunflowers in her backyard for pictures anytime.  But, when we got there (unannounced), we realized they were having a party in their backyard (where the sunflowers are!).  Obviously we didn't want to interrupt so we turned around to leave.  But then Katie Wynn spotted the cutest double adirondack swing so we had to do some quick swinging before getting the heck outta dodge!

Isn't this swing just the cutest thing you've ever seen?  I seriously want one.  Who wants to help build me one?  (Dad?)

I still haven't actually told my friend that we were at her house and borrowed her swing.  I guess I should probably do that sometime. 

I had already promised Katie Wynn that we'd see some really big yellow flowers, so we set out to find ourselves a different field of sunflowers.  I knew there were some close because my mother-in-law had seen them when they were in town.  We passed one field that looked like it was almost dead, before driving up on a perfect field of the big yellow flowers.

And the first one out of the car and into the flowers was this dude.

Katie Wynn wasted no time finding a broken sunflower that she could carry around with her.  For the whole photoshoot.

I just love how they were planted in evenly spaced rows.  :)

This picture totally cracks me up.  Doesn't it look like she's popping her neck like she's going off on somebody?  

Right across the gravel road from the field of sunflowers was a rusty barn-shed-thing.  We used it as a backdrop for a few pictures.  Some of the cutest ones are on Matt's phone, though!

No pictures of Thomas in front of the barn-shed-thing because he was way more interested in the gravel road.  Of course.

Follow the sun, sunflowers.

Here's a bee, just doing its thing.

Katie Wynn went back into the field...

...and then we lost her.

If she wanted to switch to a different row to walk down, she would look at the sunflowers and then say, "Hey Mama, you open this door for me?" meaning, could I hold the sunflower stems to the side so she could walk through.  

Anywhere she goes, he goes too.

"Hey, wook Mama!  I found a wittle bitty one!"

Did I mention that this photshoot took place on July 11th?  And that it was, like, a thousand degrees outside?  Yea, we were pretty sweaty.

It was a hot and fun adventure.  To be honest, I wish we could do it again, but I'm guessing the sunflowers are all gone now.  (Right?)  I'd like to have a redo and go right after dinner instead of right before.  I think that would make happier kids and be better lighting.  Oh well, next year, I guess!

UPDATE:  Here are a couple bonus sunflower pics from the phone.  :)

A Day at the Zoo

I guess it's fitting to talk about Thomas's first trip to the zoo right after posting the pics from his petting zoo party.  In reality, the two events were three weeks apart.  But for blog purposes, we'll jump right to it!

We had one Saturday were the weather cooled off just a hair and so we jumped at the opportunity to take the kids to the zoo.  It was Thomas's first trip ever, but it was Katie Wynn's first trip where she actually realized there were animals there!  The timing was actually great because she was STILL talking about all the "amimals" from Thomas's party, so she was so excited to get to see them again.

Katie Wynn did an excellent job of watching the animals through the lookout fences for a few minutes and then would exclaim, "Let's go see MORE amimals!"

We wandered into the sea lion area right before a show was about to start, so it seemed like the perfect spot to sit down to rest and eat the snacks we had packed.

I was probably the most into the sea lion show.  They were so fun to watch!  There were two that were performing tricks for us.  One was the average sea lion weight - 200-300 pounds but the other one was close to 800 pounds.  He was ENORMOUS!

We took the wagon to the zoo instead of the strollers and it worked out perfectly.  It was so great for holding the kids plus all of our stuff, and it was easy to get them in and out when they wanted to see something.  This wagon has definitely been worth the purchase!

As the morning wore on, the sun started heating things up a tad.  We figured a ride on the train would help cool us off.  Both kids LOVED riding it!  We took some pics while waiting for the other riders to board the train.

Thomas had zero interest in sitting still while the train was parked.  As soon as the whistle blew and the engine started, though, he hopped up in my lap and was content staying there.  He was almost in a trance as we rode!

We made a quick pass through the birds before heading out of the zoo for lunch.  

We had the absolute best weather day for a trip to the zoo.  And both kids really enjoyed it!  Katie Wynn has asked to go back so there will be future trips, I'm sure.  If only we could get another break from this extreme heat!  Maybe this fall...

Brother and Sister Pics

The second set of monthly pics that I did of Katie Wynn were of her and me on our front steps.  They were fun but really hard to pull off since I had to have another person around to take our picture during a time when we were both clean and dressed and it was daylight outside.  Tricky when your husband leaves for work at the crack of dawn and we're a hot mess by the time we all get home.  So, with Thomas I thought instead of pictures with me, I'd do pictures of him with Katie Wynn.  I'd be able to be the photographer so they'd be much easier.

Right?

If you think the answer to that is yes then you've never tried to take pictures of a toddler and a baby in the same chair together.  NOT an easy task, I tell ya.  But I have a picture for every month so, success!  My method for choosing the official picture for each month was to just find the one where they were both somewhat clear and in focus.  For nearly every month, I have a picture where he is totally adorable but she's a blurry ghost and vice versa.  If only I could cut and paste the good ones of them together.

When I went back to pick out these pictures, I knew that he would look so different in the early months than he does now - babies change a lot in their first year!  What I wasn't expecting, though, was how little Katie Wynn looks too!  It's crazy to think this time last year she was still attached to a paci.  That seems like a lifetime ago.  Anyway, here they are...

I chose this chair in the living room for a neutral backdrop and because we get natural light in there.  That window behind them usually ended up being way too bright, though.  Which month's photo is your favorite?  Or, which set of outfits are your favorite?  :)  I think my favorites are months 8, 9, and 10.

Here's a bonus pic from month eight to end this post.  She loves him a little too hard sometimes!