Birthday Girl

Kate turned 3 this month and was very excited to tell everyone about it.  People would ask how she was doing and she was say, "I'm three, it's my birthday." I am a mean mother because the best day with schedules that would work with her annual Doc visit happened to be on her birthday. The poor kid had to get a shot on her birthday. Gratefully she had fun at the doctor all until the very end but a little ice cream bribery for enduring a shot made up for it.
Kate's wish for her birthday was to have a My Little Pony Party with her friends, so we did our best to make that happen.  The party went well, other than a minor incident with a friend shoving a bead up her nose. :/  Thankfully the moms were quick in their thinking and grabbed a bobby pin to get the bead out without a doctor visit. Phew! Brett commented that he thought that only happened in movies and I assured him that anything is possible with 2-3 year olds.  ;) It was fun to have daddy here for the party this time, because in years past he has had to work.  Kate loved all the attention and fun with friends so all in all I think it was a success.

We sure love our Kate! 

Happy Birthday!

Texas has awesome weather in the winter so we had them all eat out on the porch. ;)

Pin the tail on the pony. I was surprised they actually all sat down for 10 min and did it. Who knew?

Annual birthday letter:

Dear Kate, 

Ever since your entrance into this world you have brought a whole lot of fun and excitement to our house.  You never want to stop moving and soak in every waking moment you have.  In fact, speaking of waking moments, every day in the early hours of the morning you proudly declare, "It's morning, I'm awake!" You are up and ready to seize the day before the sun even rises and you want to make us aware that you are awake and there is no going back. We now really have no need for an alarm clock. You know how to ease a stressful day by getting everyone to laugh with your charming ways, even though at times you can be the cause of the stress. ;)  You can wear us out and melt our heart all in a matter of 30 seconds. 

There is not a day that goes by that you aren't begging for friend to come over to play.  You love friends.  Nursery at church has gratefully never been a problem for you because you look forward to the time with your pals and free reign of goldfish crackers.  We still can't believe you will be advancing to the Sunbeams Class at church in the next few weeks….(watch out world, this might be an adventure.) We asked Abby how it went when you visited the Primary with your nursery class and she said, "Kate 'kind of' held still." Sitting in a chair for a long period of time will be a good test for you.

Something we love every December is your fascination with the Christmas tree.  You can sit in front of the tree quietly and just gaze at it, mesmerized with all the twinkling lights. The ornaments on the tree are another situation, and don't involve you quietly gazing.  You love to gather the ornaments and play with them, leaving the tree quite barren by the end of the season. ;)  

Your fuzzy blanket still remains your favorite item of choice.  We felt really bad when we lost your original 'fuzzy' on the move to Texas, but you quickly gravitated to another blankie of equal value and now won't let go of it. (Phew.) Another favorite it digging through the dress up bin and twirling around the house in a tutu or princess dress. You love shaking your hips and posing for the family as you dance for your 'fans.'

It's been a big year of advancements for you because you are now potty trained and managed to stop sucking your thumb, two things which are nice to have conquered. Unfortunately, when you stopped sucking your thumb we basically said goodbye to you falling asleep for naps, BUT I think it will be worth the future dental bills we would get someday…or hopefully don't get.

We can't imagine life without you around and we are grateful every day for your smile, cuddles, sass and wet kisses on the cheek.  We love you Kate-Kate!

Love,
Dad and Mom

A Visit to Bethlehem

We found out there is a small town, Burnet, nearby that recreates 'Bethlehem' for the Christmas Season.  Since we had heard so many good things about it, we decided to see what it was all about.  We got there about when it opened and little did we know, we had a long wait ahead of us…2 hours!  Not expecting the wait, we weren't the most prepared, but gratefully our friends were kind and let us share their wagon.  We won't mention that Kate wet her pants while we were in line and went naked underneath her dress for most of the time. Opps.  It was at that point in our wait we were about to just go home, but the nice lady behind us kept telling us it was worth it and to 'stick it out.'  Gratefully we listened and even though it was a really long 2 hours, we loved what we experienced inside 'Bethlehem.' The girls thought it was real and were mesmerized the entire time.  This church had created a whole little city of what it was like when Jesus was born. There were demonstrations of different traditions and practices at that time and many sections to visit.  The whole event was even free with hot chocolate at the end. I think this is a place we want to make a tradition for Christmastime, but we will definitely come even earlier and more prepared with extra clothing and snacks for the next round. ;) I love that there is a place we can visit nearby that focuses on what Christmas is really about.  The girls talked about it a lot after our visit and we can tell it left a good impact on them. 

 When we reached the stable, the group of girls asked 'Is this what heaven is like?' So sweet. They stayed and just quietly watched the Baby Jesus, Joseph and Mary for quite some time.

Pictures as we waited in line.  So glad we had awesome friends to be with for the 2 hour journey.

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving was a big hit this year because we got to spend it with family in Houston.  It was great to  spend time with Susan, Mike and cousins. It was fun to explore the city and eat delicious food (especially pies). We loved learning how to make the pies and crust from the experts. Now I just need to learn how to make her famous eclairs. 

The girls were in heaven having mounds of attention and playing with their cousins Violet and Charlie. We had a chance to visit the Children's Museum and the kids could have spent all week there.  It biggest and best Children's Museum we have ever been to, I was impressed.  (Thanks to Lindsey for letting us use her pass!!) The kids somehow had mounds of energy after an entire day at the museum so Susan and Mike were nice and took us all on the train around Hermann Park.  Abby and Violet sat right next to each other the whole ride, pointing out all the highlights. We definitely want to hit this park again, maybe even see a outdoor show, such a fun place.  Houston has a lot do see and do and we loved every minute.  But, the best part about Houston is having family only 2 hours from our home!! Thanks Susan and Mike for a wonderful time.

Susan's amazing pies.  Mmmmm.

Brett trying to perfect the chocolate curls for the 'pie competition' with cousins.

 Mike making the bird, which turned out awesome, even when the oven died half way through. 

Abby and Violet making up songs on the piano.

Play, play, play.

 Excited to get into the museum.

Attempting our first pie crust.