Happy 2nd Birthday Karsten!

Today Karsten is two. Exactly two years ago our family changed in the best possible way, and we didn't even have a clue!

Karsten was already 1 day old when we found out about her.  On October 6, 2014, our daughter was  born, and we didn't even know it.  But God did!  He knew His plan for her at the beginning of time and knew that she would be our daughter and Kate's sister.

We just knew we were praying for a baby; God knew we were praying for Karsten.

What an unbelievable two years it has been, and what an honor to see this snuggly little baby grow into a sweet, funny, loving TWO year old! I'm so thankful to be her Mama, and thankful to be able to watch Kevin as her Daddy and Kate as her sister.

So - what is she up to now?  Here's a quick little rundown on Karsten lately...

1. She can count to 20, most of the time. Occasionally she'll skip a few numbers but is pretty consistent!

2. She knows her ABC's and we didn't teach her! Pretty sure Kate taught her this. Yay for big sisters.

3. She can spell her name... and Kate's.

4. She can identify a few colors: red, pink, blue, yellow and orange.

5. She loves, loves, LOVES her bunny.  We actually have 3 of the same bunnies now. One stays at Nana's house, one is at our house, and one is a backup in her closet (just in case).

6. She still sleeps with her paci. This is the only time she gets it, and I have great plans to take it away from her very soon, but for now, she gets the paci. And we get to sleep. So it is a win/win.

7. She wears size 2t clothes and is in a Size 7 shoe. She is still in Size 4 diapers. (As a comparison, Kate was in Size 5 diapers when she turned one.)

8. She is still so tender hearted! Just telling her "No" causes her to bust out in tears like her world is ending. You'd think she would be mad at you for saying no, but she just wants to be picked up and cuddled.

9. We have started doing time out with her in the last 6 months or so, and she is serious about time out! She sticks that nose ALL the way in the corner and doesn't move.

10. She has recently started showing an interest in books. She has always liked books, but it's been in an independent kind of way. Until recently she's always just wanted to flip through them on her own and look at the pictures at her own pace. Recently, she has really started letting me read to her while she listens to the story. I hope she find a great love in reading!

11. She is still a mama's girl.  She loves me, and loves for me to hold her. And of course I love it too. One of my favorites is being at church and having people come up to talk to her.  She will look at them and say "My name's Karsten" and then point to her arms, where she is holding bunny and say "This is Bunny" and then point to me and say "This is Mommy".

12. She loves to swim, but of course now it is finally too cold for that. Kate got a 3 pack of speedo goggles recently, and Karsten LOVES to wear them around the house.  She will leave them on for hours.

13. She is still obsessed with Frozen everything - Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Sven, and even Prince Hans. Obsessed. Enough said.

14. She loves to sing, and it makes me so happy to hear the songs she sings.  A few nights ago on our way to church, we had the radio turned off so we could talk. Kevin and I were having a conversation and from the backseat I hear Karsten sing out "Thank you, oh my Father, for giving us your Son and leaving your Spirit 'til the work on earth is done."  Gotta love hearing your kid sing about Jesus! (The song is Redeemer, by Kutless.)

This is the girl that made us a family of four.  She our sweet, tender hearted, dramatic, Frozen-obsessed little girl and we love her so much!  Happy birthday to this TWO year old!