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