Thursday, February 25, 2016

Dinnertime Fun

We do family dinners together, all sitting around the same table.  I was talking to a co-worker just yesterday about our family dinners.  Her family all sits down to dinner together too, but apparently this is not all that common.  Maybe it doesn't work for your family, but I don't see us doing things differently anytime soon.  I love it.  We ask Kate about her day at school, even though she always claims she "can't remember" what they did that day.  Karsten tries to put her two-cents in, and we'll try to figure out what she is trying to say.  Kevin and I talk about our day.  It's nice to take a breather from the craziness of life.

Karsten is still in her high chair, pulled up next to me.  I usually give her some kind of finger foods, or I'll feed her something else to go along with it (yogurt, grits, etc).  Well tonight, I let her take control of the spoon and her YEAR was made.  Y'all.  She cried when dinner was over.  

Of course, she got as much on her face, hands, arms, clothes, and the floor as she did in her mouth. Could I have expected anything else? :)



And to keep things even, I had to get a picture of this sweet salad-loving girl.  Her food tastes are just so WEIRD.  She loves a salad, but won't eat pasta to save her life. WHAT KID WON'T EAT PASTA!??!  This Mama is hoping little sister is a pasta fan!


And, to end the day, TGIF y'all!!


Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Little Valentines

On Valentine's Sunday I dressed the girls for church in pinks (what else?).  Of course I had to get a few quick pictures of them, but they were not really in the mood.  Sometimes you win, sometimes... you don't.




Happy {very late} Valentine's day from these two!

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Soccer-Ready


This past Thursday, Kevin and I loaded up the kids and hit up Academy Sports to get Kate some new gear, because her very first soccer season starts this week!  We are a sports-loving family, so we are pretty excited for Kate to play. This will be her first organized sports experience.  And if she hates it, that's okay. She doesn't HAVE to like sports, but we would love it if she did. :)

A few months back, I asked her if she wanted to play soccer and she enthusiastically replied "Yes!".  Well, now that we are a bit closer to the season starting, she has backed off on that enthusiasm.  Just last week, she told me she did not want to play soccer.  She just wanted to be a fan. 

Where does she get this stuff? 

Anyway, they are required to wear shin guards but a ball and cleats are optional. In my opinion, you can't really play soccer without the ball and cleats, so we figured she needed it all.  On Thursday, I took her to Academy, while Kevin kept Karsten occupied at the Golf store, and she and I picked out her new soccer equipment. 

I don't think anyone was surprised by her color choice. Nothing like a little bit of soccer gear and a whole lot of pink to get her excited for the season! 


She wanted to wear her cleats home so that's what she did.  


And then the next morning she asked if she could wear her cleats to school.  That's where we drew the line. Pretty sure her teachers wouldn't have appreciated that very much either! 

So Tuesday starts the season. We will see how this goes... 




Tuesday, February 16, 2016

InstaLife Update

Here is just a little bit of what we've been up to:

A few Sundays ago, we all got up for church and started getting ready and this little one was NOT having it. My usually happy baby cried non-stop and just wanted me to hold her while she rested her head on my shoulders. In other words, she did NOT feel good, so she and I stayed home from church.    She also had some kind of weird rash.  It seemed to be some 24 hour virus, because by the next day, she was her normal happy self again and the rash was starting to fade.




My girls LOVE to color. Kate has really gotten into it in the past 6 months or so, but Karsten has really started enjoying it as well.  Just yesterday, Karsten sat on the couch and colored for THREE HOURS.  Y'all. I had no idea she could be still for 5 minutes, let alone 3 hours.  I told Kate she was being a great big sister to teach Karsten how to color so well.


One of Kevin's traditions with Kate is to read her a bedtime story and tuck her in at night. We have gone through many Children's Bibles and right now they have been reading the Jesus Storybook Bible (we have also used the Sarah Young Jesus Calling Bible and really like it too).  On this night, Karsten joined them for a story for the very first time.  I just LOVE watching Kevin reading to the girls each night, and seeing them learn so much about who Jesus is and why He died and rose for us.


Sunday was Valentine's day, and between Valentines parties at school, friends dropping off treats, and more, let's just say that our big girl was on a sugar high for quite a few days.


Love my little Valentine's. 



I couldn't help but sneak a picture of Kate one night, as I was checking on her before we went to bed. She's growing up way too fast for my liking!


These girls. They sure do make me smile.  I thank God for the blessing of these two kids every day!



Thursday, February 11, 2016

Small Town Home Town

When I was 4 years old, my family moved to a very small town in SC.  It was my dad's home town so it was like going "home" for him.  And that's where we lived for the rest of my childhood.  In fact, my parents still live there now.

In full disclosure, it's not like we lived in a booming metropolis before the move, and I was also 4 so I remember very little about where we lived before, but still.  This small town of population 2,000ish and 2 red lights became the place I talk about when I tell people where I came from, and it made me who I am today.

At daycare and kindergarten, I met four friends and we struck up a friendship that lasts even today.  Some of our moms called us the "Fab Five".  One of the benefits of a small town is that you go all the way through school together with the same group of people, from kindergarten all the way to high school.  Our town didn't have multiple elementary schools, that funneled into different middle schools and then other high schools.  We had 1 of each. So we knew everyone. I graduated with about 90 people and so I knew every single person who walked the stage with me.

On Friday, I got to go back home and have dinner with 3 of those friends that I grew up with.  The 4th lives in Mississippi, so we are giving her a pass since it would have been a bit of a long drive for dinner in SC. :)

Regardless, I am so thankful for these friendships. Friendships that have gone through sleepovers and giggles, dance and gymnastics, learning to drive, Friday night football games, figuring out how to wear makeup, proms, first boyfriends, many different hairstyles, different colleges, weddings, first jobs and then job changes, and kids.


Kindergarten to 2016... looking forward to many more years of friendship with these girls ladies!  Hard to believe that we're all grown ups now. :)

Oh hey - If you could click the link below to vote for me, I'd be so grateful. Thanks!



Thursday, February 4, 2016

Karsten - 15 Months

Since we're just 1 day away from Karsten being 16 months, I figure it's now or never on sharing this 15-month post that I started weeks ago.  Such is life these days...

Another milestone. They just keep on coming.

Karsten turned 15 month back on January 6th but her 15 month doctor's appointment wasn't until quite a bit later.  As of this past Friday, Karsten was:

32ish inches tall (90%)
22 lbs 10 oz (65%)

This picture was taken at her doctors appointment. Before the shots, obviously.


She is wearing Size 4 diapers and can wear 18 month clothes or 24 month clothes.  We didn't have a ton of 24 months clothes from Kate (because she grew so fast), so Karsten is actually wearing a lot of 2T things, even though they are a bit big.  The joys of hand-me-downs. :)


In the past 3 months, I can't even believe how much she has grown.  She still seems so petite and little to me, but she is talking up a storm and is into everything.  She repeats just about anything we say.  We are constantly hearing "Hey Dada!" or "Hey Mama".  She can say Kate (pronounced Date), Max, Cooper (pronounced Pooper), Bye, Night-Night, Up, Down, Eat, Bottle, Bite, Baby, Dog, Puppy, Okie-Dokie, okay, alright, Barbie, Bunny, and so SO much more.  She will at least attempt to repeat just about anything you say.


Kate has affectionately started calling Karsten "Miss Tornado" and to be honest, that is pretty darn accurate!  She is Non. Stop. Motion.  One of her favorite past times includes running as fast as she can across the living room and straight into the couch.


She can point to (and say) the following places on her body:
  • Eye
  • Ear
  • Hair
  • Nose
  • Mouth
  • Chin
  • Toes
  • Belly Button
  • Elbow
  • Teeth
  • Knees
She will tell you that a cow says MOOO, a sheep says BAAAA, a cat says MEOW, an owl says WHOOOO, a pig says OINK, a monkey says OOHH OHHH, and a dog says ARRFFFF.  She will also "act" like a dog, which includes crawling around with her tongue hanging out of her mouth, and sporadically stopping to say "ARRFF."


She is still my super-sensitive little girl.  A simple "no" will cause her to stick that bottom lip out and burst into tears.


She is very attached to her bunny - a JellyCat bunny that Kate got for her first Easter. Kate was never really attached to stuffed animals (with the exception of a small tiger), but Karsten most definitely is. She carries this thing all over our house, and if it is missing at bedtime, we send out a search party.


She knows how to turn lights on and off, and recently has realized that she is tall enough to turn door knobs.  Please pray for us. 

She has 11 teeth - 6 on the top and 5 on the bottom.  This includes all 4 of her one year molars and let me just tell you, our whole family is rejoicing that they are all the way in.  She got those 4 molars and 3 other teeth all at one time.  It was rough. 


Karsten is still SUCH a Mama's girl.  When Mama is around, she wants to be held.  And just being in my lap is not good enough. She wants me to be standing and holding her.  So she runs up to me, holds her hand up, and repeats "Up! Up!" until she gets what she wants.

She's doing so well with cups, but I still give her a bottle at bedtime. To be honest, I think this might be just as much something that I want as it is something that she wants.  Putting up all of the bottles is gonna be tough for us both! 



And THAT is Karsten at 15 months.  I wish I could bottle this all up and remember it always.  This girl is such a blessing and we thank God for her daily.  She has the sweetest, most sensitive personality and I can't wait to watch her grow up.  Except, I can wait. I hope it doesn't fly by too fast!

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