TERRIFIC TWO'S

Miss Kate is TWO...
She had a birthday yesterday.
We kept things kinda low key this year. We decided not to have a party, and instead just had gifts and cake here at home.

HER 2 YEAR STATS:
Height: 34 inches (86.3cm) - 50th percentile
Weight: 21lb 10oz (9.8kg) - below 3rd percentile

Kate is at such a fun age right now. She's really starting to show her personality, (which includes a few feisty sides. lol), and she has a little sense of humor. She's such a goose. We are always laughing at silly things she does and the cute faces we get to enjoy.

At the moment, she LOVES music... She likes to dance.. though she only does a few seconds as the music starts and then is usually done for a while. Watching her bop up and down to the beat is just beyond cute.
She also loves Thomas the train.. Thomas books, Thomas movies, Thomas tv shows, Thomas everything...
I recently bought Luke a Thomas t-shirt and Kate went crazy because she also wanted one. So, for her birthday we got her a pair of little boys Thomas pajamas. It seemed like a good compromise. I don't have to take her out dressed like a boy, but she can be comfy and cute in her Thomas pjs here at home. lol.
She is quite bossy... mostly just to her daddy though.
She is attached to him every minute that he's home. She is still a HUGE daddy's girl.
Her most recent bossy thing to say is, "DADDY...sit there!", when she wants him to be somewhere lol. He's pretty good at just going along with miss bossy pants.
She likes to cuddle with Jake or I (though I think her first choice is usually daddy. lol)
She loves to lather shampoo in her hair, and she loves lotions, lip balms and all things scented and girly :)
She loves shoes...
She has a silly, cheesy grin that always makes us laugh.
She loves to read books... or be read too.
And she loves to play in the dirt. (I think I have a well rounded girl. haha)
She waves at random strangers whenever we go out.
She waves at her daddy in the mornings and says, "die...die"
(She means,  'bye'. lol)
And I THINK her favourite color is 'Lellow' (yellow)...to her, everything is lellow.
She is still addicted to her 'assy' (her pacifier)

We love this sweet, funny little girl.

Here are a few photo's from her birthday. We didn't take very many.

 

Sporting her new shoes from Aunty 'Wisa'

THE BIRTHDAY LOOT

The awesome THOMAS birthday pjs. lol

Here are my two beautiful children.. am I lucky or what?

My gorgeous babies

A BIG BOY IN PRESCHOOL

Today has been a long awaited bitter sweet day for me.
My little Luke, is not so little anymore, and today was his first day of preschool.
I officially have a child in 'school'. This time next year, he'll be in full day Kindergarten and starting his 13 year school career. How did we get to this point SOOO fast?

He has been so excited about preschool, and has been talking about it for months.
I'm really excited for him too. I know he'll absolutely love it, and it will be a positive outlet for him, and help to prepare him for 'big school' next year. He'll thrive in a the fun, friendly environment filled with activity and learning.

I love watching my children grow into individuals, developing personalities, and talents, learning new things, and reaching new stages of development. It's an exciting time, and I hope I don't ever take these times for granted. But, as exciting as it is to watch them grow, I also really just want to keep them little. When they're little, they are in my care day in an day out, influenced mostly by only the things that I allow them to be exposed to. I teach them, I nurture them, I love them and I keep them safe.
Nobody else can and will love my children as much as Jake and I do.
Once they reach school going age, I have to hand over a large part of that responsibility to someone else. Luke will now be in the care of his teacher... she will need to keep him (and 21 other children) safe from harms way, and she will be the influence for what things go into his young little mind.
Many of his firsts will now be at school with his teachers, rather than at home where I get to enjoy watching them unfold. It's all a part of growing up, and just another stage in his (and my) life, and I know that a few months from now, it'll be a routine and something that we'll hopefully have gotten used to, but today my heart is just a little bit sore because my baby is no longer a baby, but rather a little boy, who is venturing into the world without his mommy for the first time.


My Sweetheart,

I hope you always remember to make good choices.
Be kind. Be Polite.
Choose good friends and be a good friend.

Let everyone see that sweet light that shines so brightly from you.
And always remember that I love you to the moon and back

Mommy
xxx

GRANDMA AND GRANDPA CAME TO VISIT

In the first week of July, Grandma and Grandpa Geddes came to visit us.
They were only here for 5 and a half days, but we made sure to pack in lots of fun, and I think everyone really enjoyed the visit.

We did lots of fun things locally... Toured the Ford Rouge Factory, went to the Henry Ford museum, played at the park, ate ice cream...ATE LOTS of things, lol, etc
We celebrated Grandma's 21st birthday (with MORE FOOD) while they were here. Luke colored in a picture for grandma, and we gave her a new webcam, so that we can have more fun skype dates with them.

We also planned a little overnight trip to Niagara falls in Canada. We made a stop on the way, at Storybook Gardens. It was a super cute, fun place for the kids. We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara, and everyone had a ton of fun at the indoor water park.
It was such a great week. The kids had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa, and we wish they could have stayed longer.

Waiting for grandma and grandpa at the airport

Luke was super excited to see them.

Grandma's Birthday dinner and gift

Grandpa and Luke playing games on the iPad

Henry Ford Museum

Storybook Gardens, London, Canada

FAMILY PICTURES 2013

I have been trying to get an updated family picture at least once a year.
Last year Jake's dad, Spence took some great pictures for us when we visited them in Utah, so this year when they came to visit us, we got him to take some more for us.
Luke is VERY anti photo's right now. I think he think he lives with the paparazzi because we probably take too many pictures.
The standard picture of Luke right now looks like this.

Needless to say, I was very happy that between Grandma's entertaining and the ice-cream bribe, we were able to get some good family pictures.
Here are some of my favourites.

 And I love this one, just because Luke is such a little crazy kid. lol