Happy Birthday Alex!!

Today Katherine's big cousin Alex turned 4 years old! And what a party he had! Between pirate ship brownie chocolate chip cookie cake (WHEW- that was a mouthful... literally!), barely destructible pinatas, and fireworks... there will be plenty to remember and be thankful for in this upcoming year. Here are some photos:

Here is everyone playing with the pinata (I took the quiet option here and watched from inside, so sorry the picture isn't the best)

The cake and the birthday boy at their finest

Marie trying to blend in as one of the boys

 There were lots of good presents

 And fireworks

But Katherine was a bit intimidated by the sparklers

Alex thought they were pretty spiffy

 And everyone enjoyed the upper deck view of the fireworks!

But by the end, Marie was pretty pooped (also literally)

Happy Birthday Oma and GG!!

Happy birthday to Katherine and Marie's Grandma and Great Grandma!!

We were honored to celebrate GG's 85th birthday with her this weekend!! We're so thankful for GG's love, support, and faith that helps to keep our family strong. GG-- you've been such an amazing witness of love, and we're so thankful for you.

We also look forward to celebrating Oma's birthday with her when she comes in town in just a couple weeks. 

May God bless you both greatly this year-- Happy Birthday!!

Alleluia!! (It's a blog post!!)

Sorry we're so far behind on blogging-- as Katherine loves to say, "I'm workin' on stuff!"

First and foremost, happy Easter! Lucky for us, the Church celebrates Easter for 40 days, so we're still within the Easter season. :-)

We had a lovely Easter celebration, complete with the Easter Bunny visiting and several Easter egg hunts. Daddy made some awesome cupcakes baked inside of Easter eggs.

Although Marie didn't have any Easter candy this year, she did enjoy her first bites of solid food. So far she's tried rice cereal, bananas, beets, and blueberries:

We've also been busy jamming out, and enjoying all of our little moments:

Happy Spring, and very Happy Easter!! Alleluia-- He is risen.

Happy Birthday Aunt Kari!

Yesterday was Aunt Kari's 30th birthday! Technically it's already the 2nd day of Spring, but it sure doesn't feel like Spring yet. It's still freezing outside, so here's a little bit of sunshine to share with Aunt Kari on her birthday (taken in California):

Mommy and Marie are in Chicago, but we can't wait to celebrate whenever we get back. Marie is looking forward to playing with Joshua some more too:

We love you Aunt Kari, and we hope this year is the best one yet! :-)

Happy Birthday Katherine!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Katherine!

Katherine was excited to get her big girl bed:

We've had a wonderful celebration of Katherine's birthday, complete with waffles, a Minnie Mouse party, cake, presents, and singing Happy Birthday to You about a dozen times. Katherine has enjoyed every minute of it, and woke up at 4:30 this morning saying "I'm so excited! It's my birthday!!"

The party was lots of fun with her cousins:

Opening presents: 

Time for cake!

It's hard to believe how much Katherine has grown this year! Some highlights of this year have been:

• Here are some of the amazing things Katherine has learned this year:
• How to walk
• Most of her colors
• How to use the potty (most of the time)
• A version of her name: Sassy
• How to be a big sister
• The art of independence (she insists on doing everything her "self")
• How to say "I love you"

Here's a video that captures the stage she's in very well... this is Katherine singing and dancing to her current favorite song:

Happy Birthday Aunt Mary!

Happy Birthday Aunt Mary!

Mommy, Marie and Aunt Mary are all on Pacific Standard Time, so it's technically still Aunt Mary's birthday out here. ;-) Marie hopes her godmother feels extra special today, and can't wait to share some hugs and smiles next week.

Katherine also wishes Aunt Mary a happy birthday from Pittsburgh. She hopes Aunt Mary gets extra chocolate today, and that she has a very sweet year.

We can't wait to celebrate more with you next week!

Sassy Cassie.

A couple weeks ago we realized Katherine thought her name was "You." She was so used to being called "You" that she would ask, "Mama hold You?" or "Cookie for You??".

This is a very old picture, but I forgot to share it long ago and it's handy now. :-)

Mommy and Daddy worked hard to teach Katherine her true name, but a 3 syllable + 9 letter name is a bit much for an almost 2 year old to handle, so when she pronounces her name it comes out "Sassy." This is all too appropriate, as Katherine can be all too full of sass, but we're hoping to move through the Sassy stage before too long.

We get so used to hearing Katherine call herself Sassy now that we've semi-adopted the nickname Cassie. Only time will tell whether or not this name sticks (it's always been one of Mommy's favorite names, but Daddy's still rooting for "Kat"). Regardless of what we call Katherine, it's a joy to see her grow, learn, and change each day.