Firefighter Katelyn...

Kate's school buddies Max & Colin (twins) turned 3 last week, and they had their birthday party at the Fire Museum of Maryland. The discovery room was full of fire trucks, fire-related books and toys, and fire suits for the kids, and it certainly entertained the 25 or so kids that were there. I think Kate's favorite part might have been the pizza!

The Brandywine Zoo with Leah!

We went up to visit Gina, Leah, and Isaac and hit the Brandywine Zoo last week. Kate and Leah were so excited to see each other, and the two little monkeys certainly made the most of the outdoor space to run around and be crazy...

Tickles from the girls always make Isaac laugh a little harder...

They actually made their way over this fence entirely at one point, trying to get a little closer to their animal friends...

And why not invade the poor goat's home! Leah tried locking Kate in here too, but she escaped...

Snack break!

Back at their house, everyone was quite mesmorized by the Monkey-in-the-Box as they waited for the Pop!

A busy week...

This week started with a visit from Aunt Fopper and Uncle Tyler. I don't have the pictures from them with Kate, but Kate was cheesin' for our camera with her scarecrow...

A few days later, Kate was Mommy's guest at a hotel event, whose guest list also included Doc the Towson Tiger - here Kate stands close...but not too close. By the end of the night, they were good buds! More on this event later...

After the hotel shindig, we found a "patter-pillar" when we went to pick Daddy up from work. Kate surprised us with her interest in the little guy, and insisted we take him home in this box. Here, she shows off her new friend proudly before fixing up his bed for the night with some nice leaves and acorns! He is, however, crawled up into a safe little ball because of how much he was being thrown around before this, as you'll note below...

Okay, the video upload is not working again tonight, so I will have to update you to some funny dancing and critter cruelty later - sorry!

Puzzles and Fun...

I have to throw some kudos out to my cousin Amy for a superb purchase for Katelyn's Christmas gift - this puzzle book has been her entire focus for the past two weeks, and she's mastered it so quickly! I love to watch her figure it out all by herself and concentrate until it's finished. Basically, it's an entire book of Sesame Street puzzles, where you pull out the pieces and the picture is still there on the page so you can match it up as you go. The pieces are also color-coded on the back which helps on the rare occasions she thinks it'd be fun to take EVERY piece out of ALL the puzzles and try to do them all that way. Sadly, I did this very same thing to my parents when I was little, so I guess I'm getting a taste of my own medicine! Sorry Mom & Dad!

And just so you guys can get an inside look at what our days (or nights, like below) are like around here with an almost-3-year-old ball of energy, take a look...and of course it was way more intense before I pulled out the camera, but maybe I shouldn't admit that!

Pumpkins!!

It's that time of year again - yay! Time for a mess! (Although I must say we were quite disappointed in Katelyn's lack of interest in picking seeds from the mush this year - she was so diligent at the task last year, but literally what she's doing in the picture below, is what she did the entire time it took Jesse and I to gut our pumpkins...stimulating)

Our homey fall decor!

20 weeks - oh BOY!

So I've hit the halfway point (I realize I look well past that!) and I'm feeling pretty good. And yes, it's true - we're having a BOY! After some of my blood work came back with some concerns about 3 weeks ago, we had an early ultrasound and everything looked good, including "that" part! We're very excited. Kate keeps talking about her "baby brover" and wants to buy him every baby thing (toy/clothes/books) we see now, which is quite adorable.

And why not feed your mommy's big belly some toy donuts (seems to me that's a likely reason for its size these days!)

October!

I really love this time of year! The weather has mostly been pretty awesome, and it's time for some fun activities and lots of birthdays and the start of the holiday season. Kate's school had a scarecrow party during our first week there last year, and it was not nearly as enjoyable as this year because it was held inside their little cafeteria room - straw everywhere! This year, with Kate and her friends being nearly 3, the activities held their attention a wee bit longer, and they had fun romping around in the sunshine. Above, you can see Kate and her best bud Brenley collaborating on some pumpkin decorating. Below that, Jesse diligently worked on his own pumpkin masterpiece. And next, you'll see Kate basically being force into pictures with her own mommy and daddy; then you'll see her smiling proudly with Brenley's mommy! Not cool Kate, not cool...

Finally, you'll see Kate's newest favorite craft supply - SCISSORS! I was quite surprised she was allowed to use them, but then pleasantly surprised with how careful and good she was at it. The whole time, she's saying out loud "let's not cut ourselves. We need to be careful, okay?" which I'm sure is because people are constantly saying that to her at school when she's using them, but it was cute that she's taking her own advice. And no, Brenley wasn't attempting to cut Kate's hair... At least, I don't think so!

Happy Fall everyone!!

Kate meets Baby Ryan...

Last weekend we got to meet our new nephew, Kate's newest cousin Ryan. He's so cute!

This was him right when we arrived at MomMom's house, and Kate's first mission was to sit as close as possible and observe the little guy sleeping so soundly...

No baby escapes without a Kate-kiss...

Then she proceeded to make sure he was covered adequately to keep him warm, and took it upon herself to "babysit" him while he dozed... good thing at 10 days old he could sleep through almost anything!

Later, Kate had to get her cuddles with "Baby" Isaac, though at 6 months old and next to Ryan he seems like a full-blown toddler!

When Baby Ryan got a little cranky/hungry, Kate tried doing her best to calmly shush him. I only caught the very end of this, but I was a proud mommy watching her be so gentle, and try to make him happy!

A little of this, little of that

I know it's been awhile, and I'm sorry! Mostly, it's now fall, and it gets pretty busy for us, both work and fun stuff. I know I should have lots more footage of the "fun stuff," but well, I'm sorry! We've been enjoying Kate growing up quickly these past few months, and it's really cool to see how independent she's become. She's doing very well in school, talking very well, her running form is getting better (yes, that matters in our family, haha!), and she's been sleeping like a champ! (see below) Here, Kate's been able to finally give in to lying with us when she might wake up earlier on weekend mornings, and that particular morning she fell back to sleep hard, and basically took over our bed, so we both got out and gave her some more shut-eye! Somehow I think that back-fired on us...

On any given day, Kate asks if she and her buddy Brenley can hang out and play after school, and we typically aren't able to do so. Finally, we set up a girls night, and the girls and us mommies trouped over to a kids event nearby to see a small band called Milkshake, and all the kids were invited to wear their tu-tu's (thanks Heather!) and dance the night away. Kate was more transfixed by the singers, and actually got the chance to strum a few strokes on the guy's guitar which she thought was super-cool (of course I missed that on camera)...

And below, I'm not really sure what I caught here, besides a little incriminating evidence for later in their lives! There were these big "rocks" as part of some artistic exhibit near all these children at the event that night, and the girls had a ball climbing all over them, getting severely dirty, and taking turns jumping off.