Purple Princess is Two and a Half

Happy Half-Birthday, Kate!

You are so silly in your purple princess outfit!

The day we met you two and half years ago,

our lives were changed forever.

You fill our hearts with love, joy and laughter.

We will love you all of your days!

Meeting in the Middle

On Saturday, we rented a minivan,

loaded up the kids,

swung by Springfield to pick up my grandparents

and hit the road to Charlottesville.

The occasion???

My brother, sister-in-law and their adorable twins

were in Roanoke for a few days

and could meet us in the middle for the afternoon.

This was the first time Nana and Great Pop
met Anna and Ben...
and it was the first time Matthew met Uncle Jon
(who was in Africa during our Thanksgiving trip).
So, it was a very special day!
Nana and Great Pop were absolutely delighted
to be surrounded by 2 of 5 grandkids
and 4 of 4 great-grandkids!

Nana and Great Pop say "hello" to Ben.

Great Pop cuddles with Anna

3 infants = Lots and lots of bottles

My brother and I traded for a few minutes

Looking forward to a lifetime of play dates!

Aunt Loren entertaining Kate at dinner

Nana and Anna

Snow Days

This week's snow days gave me the perfect excuse

to spend the last few days of my maternity leave

snuggling and playing with my babies!

We had all kinds of fun around the house.

Kate hosted lots of tea parties!

We had a pretend beach trip!

We basked in the sun while lying on our "beach blankets."

We had lots of tickle sessions!

And some tummy time.

Baby Stella finally got a turn in the Jumperoo.

Sometimes we were just plain silly!

We got out the old ball tent.

Kate played with the wonderful cloth "paper dolls"

that Grandma made for her...

... and got in plenty of quality time

with Thomas the Train!

Grandma and Papa made some

amazing sugar cookies in the shape of trains

to help celebrate Kate's 1/2 birthday.

And everyone knows that

you need a glass of milk

with your cookies!

We made paper bag animals.

And we practiced our smiles!

Definitely time well spent!

Morning at Tysons

My Katie Bug loves the mall!

So, we spent a fun morning there together

on Wednesday.

I let Kate set the agenda for our trip.

Here's what she came up with:

#1 - Run around in indoor playground

#2 - Ride the train

#3 - Purchase bumblebee pillow pet "so that I can sleep in the car"

#4 - Peruse dollhouse display in her favorite store,

Pottery Barn Kids

#5 - Visit catfish at LLBean aquarium

#6 - Re-fuel with a pretzel and frozen lemonade

My first baby is sweet and vivacious!

I love spending time with her!

Jumperoo

Matthew is getting stronger and stronger every day.

So, we decided to drag the Jumperoo out of the attic.

He was a little suspicious at first -

but warmed up to it really fast.

Personally, I'm a HUGE fan -

after all the exercise,

Matthew slept 13 hours!

"Whoa! Did you see that!"
"Tastes like chicken!"

"C-c-cool, man!"

Kate was a big helper with the Jumperoo assembly project!

Buddies

Matthew just loves his Papa -

and saves many of his best smiles for him!

Don't they look like best pals for life???

Kesslers!

Last week, Matthew and I ventured to Columbus, Ohio

to spend a few days with our dear friends, the Kesslers!

It was a long drive in less than ideal conditions

but Matthew was a merry little traveling companion

and it was all worth it

to FINALLY get my hands on the adorable

Miss Audrey Jane!

At just shy of 10-months,

she is full of light and life -

just like her precious Mama!

We really miss you guys

and hope to see you again really soon!

Meanwhile, here are some fun photos of the kiddos meeting:

After saying "hello" and spending a few minutes getting to know one another,
Miss Audrey thought she might relieve Matthew of his paci...

... but Matthew didn't mind one bit!

(Look at that smooth move!)

Griffin kept careful watch over the babies

so that Laura and I could visit.

"Wow, Mom! Look what Audrey can do!!!"

Matthew really seemed to like Griffin -

I guess he seemed like a big stuffed animal.

Maybe we'll have to look into getting a dog one of these days...