Kate's birthday parties

Kate celebrated her 3rd birthday "Tessa Style," meaning that she had several birthdays, spanning a few weeks.  Her first one was here on her actual birthday.  The following day, she had a (Frozen) party at the farm with the Pridgeon side.  And then over Thanksgiving, she had another (Minnie Mouse) party at home with the Kadzban side.  Wow, that girl is loved!

coloring with Hadley

dancing with Hadley

blowing out her candles:)

loving the Minnie Mouse balloons!

this girl loves puzzles!

Minnie Mouse bow-tique 

Minnie cookies

Happy birthday, sweet girl.  We love you so very much.

The big 0-3

For some reason, two doesn't seem that old to me.  But three seems really old! Kate is three!

We had a lot of fun celebrating Kate's big day this year.  In the morning, Aunt Tessa and Grandma and Grandpa Kadzban came with us to SkyZone (an indoor trampoline park).  Kate got to jump and jump and jump and bounce as much as she wanted, and she LOVED it! Oh, and they had Disney music playing, so we did some dancing too:)

they even had an Olaf - what more could you ask for?

After naps, we met daddy and Grandma and Grandpa Kadzban at Kobe Japanese Steakhouse.  Kate has been there before, but only for sushi, never the hibachi side.  We did hibachi for her birthday, and it was really fun.  At first, Kate wasn't so sure about the open fire in front of us, but the chef joked with her, and once she had some edamame, all was right in the world.

best attempt at a family photo:(

After dinner, we put Livvy to bed and then Kate got to open presents.  This was such a fun birthday; it was one of those days I really didn't want to end.

Kate is becoming such a little person these days.  She has such a huge vocabulary and speaks very clearly.  She uses words like actually and probably in sentences...correctly.  It's crazy.  She also has funny words for certain things that totally crack me up:

vinivan = minivan
tater totter = teeter totter
begainst = against
unds = undies
cooks = cookies

She's stubborn.  She's sensitive.  She's sassy.  She's extremely smart.  She's super fun.

For my own memory, she's wearing size 7 shoes and mostly 3T clothes.  She can still get by with 2T shirts, but the pants are too short.  She goes to be between 8:00 and 8:30 pm and is up between 7:00 and 8:00 am.  Still taking one afternoon nap, usually around 1:30-3:30.

Fun memories from Kate's 3rd year:

• playing in the snow last winter
• finishing the basement
• moving to her new big girl bed and bedroom
• gymnastics class
• becoming a big sister
• Tulip Time and the Peanut Store in Holland
• riding a bike
• visits with Lincoln and the Hammer's in TC
• becoming a cousin
• doing projects with daddy
• tea parties and cooking in her play kitchen
• toddler time at the library
• playing outside with Griffin and Paige
• Side By Side Bible study and learning Bible stories and memory verses
• walks around the pond
• swimming at Grandma and Grandpa's pool
• lots of cooking and baking with mommy
• Boyne
• potty training! (ok, not a great memory, but we're glad it's over!)
• being the flower girl for Laura & Sasha's wedding and Justin & Tessa's wedding
• darkness dance parties
• lots of arts and crafts
• Frozen
• sidewalk chalk and bubbles
• first sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house
• sushi with Bri Guy
• getting another uncle

scooting

Halloween 2014

Our little loves dressed up as butterflies this year.  There were lots of cute sibling costume ideas, but Kate kept choosing butterflies, so we went with it.  Liv was the purple butterfly and Kate was the green one.  Aunt Tessa came over to check out the girls' costumes Friday morning, and grandpa and grandma came over later for dinner and trick or treating.  Liv stayed inside with daddy and manned the front door, but Kate braved the cold and wind and trick or treated on our street.

hot chocolate afterwards to warm up!

last bits of fall

happy birthday, matthew!

We dropped off all the tuxes from Tessa's wedding and stopped in at the bakery next door.  Kate helped me pick out cupcakes for daddy's birthday.  We had a nice dinner at home, and then enjoyed our special treat:) Kate almost kept daddy's gifts a secret until after he had opened them, but spilled the beans at the last minute.  The girls each gave him a new tie.  We got him a new pair of slippers, and I got him tickets to see the musical 'Once' in a few weeks.  All in all, we had a great day.

8 months!

Our little love is growing so fast!

At eight months, Liv loves teeth...as in my teeth, she still doesn't have any of her own.  She sticks her fingers in my mouth and touches them all the time.  Strange? Probably.  Do I care? Not really.

She gets visibly (and audibly) frustrated when things aren't going her way or her big sister isn't being super nice.  And she's a little bit dramatic/sassy already.  People keep telling me it's the red hair, but I hope it doesn't last!

She's trying to crawl, but just does a little inch worm action.  Her main mode of transportation is rolling for now.  I'm trying to take in as many snuggly moments as I can because I know they're probably coming to and end as soon as she learns to move on her own.

Liv loves to play peek-a-boo and she's incredibly squirmy.  If you tickle her right on her collar bones, she has the sweetest belly laugh.  I could listen to it all day:) Her pincer grasp is getting pretty good, and she's making lots of consonant sounds...dadada, mamama, bababa, nanana, gagaga, yayaya, etc.

She's eating solids 2-3 times a day and is back to waking up once a night (thanks to a yucky cold she had a few weeks ago).  She likes to be outside, to take walks, and just people/kid/sister watch.  She also loves to do SO BIG! and wave and clap her hands.

SO BIG!