The Fighter's

We had SUCH a fantastic weekend! Doug was out of town Friday for work, but the girls and I packed up that night and headed over to Ava & Kate's friend Emma's birthday party. It was a pool party complete with lots of friends from church, pizza, watermelon, hot summer weather, cupcakes, sprinklers and a tent tunnel. The girls had an absolute ball and so did I. The time out of the house with friends was much needed! It was heartwarming to watch the girls run around, laugh and play all night with a handful of kids their age. I tell you there is nothing better than to watch and hear children laugh and play (and makes it that much better when a few of them are your own!). And, for me...it was just so nice hanging out with friends...some near and dear to my heart that I grew up with and am enjoying catching up with again. I also getting to meet new people too which was fun! A small little milestone...Ava finally grew the confidence to swim around the pool all by herself (with l...

So Kate has been extra ornery this week...I never believed in terrible two's with Ava, but after this week am starting to think there's some truth to it! Kate's latest antic.... We went to the grocery store today. Kate sat in the front of the cart while Ava walked. Almost to the end of our trip, I was gloating to myself, in my head about how good they had been. I should have known better... We got to the hot dog section...Kate is a HUGE fan of hot dogs. She could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner (takes after her Aunt Carly!). And...we have not had any for about two weeks so when she saw what I was putting into the cart...she started going CRAZY. I gave her the hot dogs to hold but she kept on whining..."hot dog, hot dog...i waaaaaaaaanna hoooooooooooooot dooooooooooooooooog". I told her we would have some for lunch tomorrow and kept walking, ignoring the tantrum. I turned around to pull some stuff out of the freezer, happy that Kate had quieted dow...

Down to the docks to The "Real Seafood". I love my husband so incredibly much. Nothing else I'd rather do than date night with him:-)

We had a small birthday party for Kate on Saturday. Some of her favorite people were there...Grammy, Grandma & Grandpa, Cousin Luke, Aunt Amy and Uncle Tim. We had a Sesame Street theme...and lots of pink and purple balloons (Kate loves balloons), cupcakes and pizza. Despite being a bit under the weather, she loved being sung Happy Birthday and demanded that we sing it multiple times (pronouncing "happy birthday" as "happy dirdday"), she loved blowing out her candles and opening presents. Kate and Ava both wore their princess dresses. Ava was SO excited for Kate's party...she was so sweet and wanted to help decorate and encourage her sis through all birthday related activities. All in all a fun party for a very loved 2 year old! My camera's flash is broken, so all I'm able to take are black and white's for some reason, and outside pics. I'm going crazy and will be getting it fixed this week!

Seems like just yesterday she was this tiny... Today she is full of personality. Our little comedian, making us laugh all the time. She loves her sissy, her blankets (aka night nights), Sesame Street, swimming and Sleeping Beauty. Kate cracks us up by breaking into her little "song and dance" routines, always loving an audience. Some of her favorite songs..."If You're Happy and You Know It", "Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star" and the Sleeping Beauty theme song. Her fragmented sentences crack us up...and she does her best to keep up with her sis and the "big" kids, and does a pretty good job! We love our Katelyn Jane and all the absolute fun and joy she brings to our day! Below are a few shots of her family birthday celebration. Low key and celebrated a day late after Ava got discharged from the hospital. Look for pictures from her weekend birthday party to come!

We returned from our relaxing vacation last Saturday, gearing up for a busy week of Vacation Bible School, Katelyn's second birthday and month end at work for me. Sunday started off great...church, lunch, nap for the girls...and I finished up some things for VBS (which started that night). Ava (who was fine that morning), woke up from her nap with a 104 temp so we gave her some Motrin and Doug stayed home with her while Kate and I went to church for a fun night of VBS (Kate had an absolute ball!). We didn't think much of the temp as Ava has always been prone to high temps and Motrin has always kept them in check...they usually only last 24 hours and then she's over it. That night she woke up with a croup cough (which she also always seems to get when coming down with a cold...nothing new to us) so we did the normal steam (you can also do cool air), a little more Motrin to get through the night and had plans to visit the pediatrician in the morning. In the past our pediatr...

What a great week we had with the family!

Virginia Beach Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center... Boat ride on the Rudee Inlet...

Collecting seashells with sissy... Cousin Ben built a homemade baby pool and building sand castles with cousin Maggie... Grandpa in the ocean with the girls (he had to dust his suit off...it has been a while!)... Aunt Kathy and Maggie... Cheers to being sissies... Ice cream (most of it ended up on Kate's outfit...but it was so much fun!)...

The girls are not lacking for any attention if you can't tell. Day 3 included breakfast, beach and crabs...cooked Maryland style thanks to Christina. This was my first crab experience. Fun...and messy:-) The girls are having a ball...