Kate is Two!

No way!  It's not true, right?  How is it that I have a two-year-old!?  Whether I want to believe it or not, today Kate is two and we're spending today celebrating that fact.  The past year sure has been FUN and flown by in the blink of an eye.  It's hard to believe Kate has grown from this sweet little baby (newborn pictures)...

To a sweet little toddler (1 year pictures)...

To this sweet little girl...

It's fun (and sad) to see how much she's grown and changed in just 2 short years.  And as much as I use this blog to document our life in pictures, it's also fun to go back and read about all of Kate's "firsts" and read what she is doing at each specific age.  So, you might be bored, but this is for me.  Here are just a few of the things Kate is up to right now at TWO years old...

1. She can count to eleven on her own.  I don't think she likes the number "8" because every now and then she'll skip it, but she's got the rest down pretty well.

2. She loves to sing and knows the words to lots of songs, including:

• He's Got the Whole World In His Hands
• Down In My Heart
• Jesus Loves the Little Children (Can almost sing this one all by herself)
• The Wise Man Build His House Upon a Rock
• Deep and Wide
• ABC's (and surprisingly, she knows a LOT of the letters)
• Oh, and we can't forget her first favorite- Never, Ever by Taylor Swift

3. She can say just about anything and knows tons of people by name. To name a few, she knows lots of family (Mommy, Daddy, Nana, Papa, Gigi, Pick, Aunt Kristi, Davis, Ken, Angela, Grandma Betty, Ben, Catbird) and her church friends (Jamie, Mia, Kaylee, CONNOR, Sarah) and even lots of church grown ups (Carrie, Jimmy, Joey, Leah, Bev, Joe) and more!

4. She knows more sounds that animals make than I do.  Seriously. Who knows what sound and elephant REALLY makes?  Well, Kate does. We can thank the iPhone for that.

5. Speaking of iPhone, she knows how to flip through the screens, go to the folder with her games and open up the one she wants to play.

6. And she loves FaceTime.  She'll go get my iPad and say "iPad! Gigi! Pick! Aunt Kristi!".

7.  We are constantly hearing a few phrases over and over again.  One is "I do it!" and the other is "No, can't."

8.  She is learning her colors and is pretty good at identifying red and pink.  We're still working on the others. :)

9.  She is definitely a dramatic little girl.

10. She thinks she can read and will open up a book and say "Mary, Mary...." She started saying this one after we read "Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow?"

11. Bedtime ALWAYS ends with us sitting in her rocking chair and reading David and Goliath and then Daniel in the Lion's Den.  Always.

12. We are just about to start potty training again.  We tried a while back and she just wasn't ready so we put it on hold.  I think Kate's totally ready for it now though.  I am not.  Diapers are just so easy, but we can't and shouldn't keep our kids little forever.  She's to the point where she tells us when she needs her diaper changed.  She's also started taking off her pajamas and diaper in the middle of the night. I'm pretty sure she realizes she's wet and doesn't want to lay in it all night.  And just yesterday, she was in the living room and wet her diaper so she took off her pants and diaper.  Uh!  Definitely need to start the potty training.  I hope she catches on quickly!

13.  She is SO funny- full of expressions and personality. She makes us laugh each and every day with the things she says, the faces she make, or her ways of doing things.

And of course there is TONS more that I will want to say and remember, but that's all I can think of for now.  All I know is that Kate is such a blessing to our family and we are forever thankful that her birth parents chose us to be her parents.  So if you two are reading this now- THANK YOU!!

Happy birthday to my little big girl!  We love you!