Catie Turns 5!

Our cute Catie turned 5 today! Hard to believe how fast time has flown since that early morning when we got pulled over racing to the hospital to deliver her (read more HERE). 

Today we all went in together to sing Happy Birthday to this cute birthday girl in the morning and she was glowing from all of the attention! She loved the posters that we made for her... she especially loved the ones Andrew wrote (and she carried one of them around with her all day... which is why it is missing from the photo :)). 

We opened presents from grandparents and family and Catie thought it was pretty cool that her gifts were under the Christmas tree (not decorated yet since we just got it last night).

The boys were super excited to help her put together her toys... especially Andrew.

Ryan was quite distraught that it wasn't his birthday and there weren't any special things for him, so he was the lucky recipient of a ring pop before 9am so that the rest of us could enjoy Catie's special morning. Whatever works.

The kids goofed off pretending to be unicorns with their birthday hats while I made birthday pancakes. The tradition is that you get the number shaped pancake for how old you are. #5 is really hard to draw. 

Catie also loved this birthday candy sign we made her. I was finding Nerds all over the kitchen floor all day.

At school Catie got to celebrate with a birthday hat and a special birthday song. She also brought in a birthday treat that the kids took home with them. She really wanted to send in pop rocks, but I didn't find them in time... so we went with ring pops and tags that said "You're a gem of a friend love Catie" that I found on a great website... since we didn't have time to make our own birthday printable. 

TK Birthday hat

Catie picked Chipotle for dinner because she is obsessed with chips & guac. After dinner we went to the pet store to get a new betta fish... since Blueberry (our most recent fish) died last week when we were in Utah.

We ended the night with cake and ice cream and watched lots of crazy birthday videos from cousins who are goofballs! Catie also loved talking with both grandparents before bed.

I cannot believe this cute girl is 5! She is growing into such a darling, thoughtful, and kind girl! She is always thinking of other people and trying to make them happy. She will go upstairs to get Ryan's special dog dog stuffed animal if he is sad (without asking), she will always help pick up the house whether she is asked or not, she gives the best hugs and cuddles, and she is such a good sister to both of her brothers! She is also really excited to get a little sister in a little over a month! She gives my big belly the best cuddles!

Here's a Birthday Interview with Catie at 5 years old!

Favorite person in the world: Andrew and dad

Favorite color: purple

Favorite TV show: Puff N Rock (no idea what this is) and Paw Patrol

Favorite thing at school: Friday dance parties at TK

The thing she does best: Is a great sister

Favorite toy: My Little Ponies

Favorite stuffed animal: Ty Owl named Glamour

What she wants to be when she grows up: Artist

Favorite book: Rainbow Rocks

Favorite movie: Frozen

Favorite food: chips & guac

Favorite sport: soccer

Favorite holiday: Christmas

Favorite vacation this year: Sea World

Favorite drink: Sprite 

Favorite type of ice cream: Cookie dough

Favorite treat: chocolate cake (especially the samples from Nothing Bundt Cake)

Favorite dipping sauce: marinara sauce and gauc

Favorite date with dad: go to Toys R Us

Favorite friends: Cooper (school), Mia & Fara (church)

Favorite teacher: Mrs. Smoller 

Favorite animal: Cheetah (or cow... depending on when you ask her)

Catie's birthday pictures!

If you click on the photo titles below you can check out all of her past birthday celebrations! I feel like they all happened yesterday!

Newborn!

1st birthday!

2nd Birthday

3rd birthday!

4th Birthday!

Catie turns FOUR!

Catie turned 4 today! We tend to keep her birthday pretty chill to help her enjoy the day and not get overly stressed out.

My favorite simple birthday tradition is that we decorate her door the night before with balloons and birthday signs. Andrew was an awesome sign maker.

Catie woke up at 7am this morning before anyone else and was absolutely adorable. She kept saying, "thanks for decorating my door mom." She played in her room until everyone else woke up and then we all went to her door and sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She was all smiles and you could tell she felt so special.

For breakfast we had leftover waffles from last night's dinner because we didn't have enough time to make birthday pancakes. We'll have to do those another day this week. Catie loved having a candle on her waffles although blowing it out was tough for her! She also loved that I decorated the kitchen a bit and had birthday hats for everyone to wear. She made sure to tell me "thanks for decorating for me" several times. Love her!

We let her open a present or two before Andrew and Kevin headed off for the day. She loved the tea set that her Grandma Shari got her and she and Ryan spent the rest of our time at home having pretend hot cocoa together using the new tea set.

The rest of the morning was spent riding bikes in the gym at the church and playing with friends! She even had some thoughtful friends who made her brownies. She shared them with lots of kids and they were gone before we got home.

In the afternoon she played with some new toys during quiet time and then after school she and Andrew played on the trampoline in the rain and got soaked! I think it was the highlight of the day! We also made spin art and paper plate holiday wreaths. Catie opted for the less traditional holiday wreath with purple and pink on it. Can't wait to see what it looks like once the pain dries and she's able to finish it.

For dinner she requested cheesy shell noodles, then we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas, and then we opened the rest of her gifts! She was so appreciative! For every gift she opened she said, "this is just what I wanted!" She has such generous and kind grandparents! She also loved the Frozen underwear and Hello Kitty socks I bought her. Before she went to bed tonight she changed her underwear 3 times because she couldn't decide which pair was her favorite to sleep in.

After present opening we dived into birthday cake! Catie had requested a Tinkerbell cake and I decided to make it myself since I am too cheap to buy one for her. It is a good thing that she doesn't have any expectations yet regarding how good the cake needs to look... because it was hideous and she didn't care one bit since it had Tinkerbell and friends on it. It was delicious though with lots of frosting just the way she likes it!

The night got a little fun when Catie almost scorched her hair off blowing out candles, but we caught her just in time.

We ended the night with cake and ice cream and she did some LEGO building with her new Ariel princess set from G&G Smith (with help from Andrew). She was so wound up it took awhile for her to head to bed! We are so glad she had such a great day! 

Some details about Catie at age 4 are...

• she loves her stuffed rabbit more than anything in the world
• she goes to a local co-op preschool twice a week and then also does a mommy & me co-op preschool once a week... she loves her friends!
• she is addicted to beverages (especially orange juice) and loves yogurt and applesauce too
• she wears size Small clothes (in girls), no more 4/5T shopping for her!
• her favorite foods are shell noodles, chocolate, and ice cream (my girl!)
• her favorite toys are little people princesses, tinkerbell minifigures, magformers, and my little ponies... to name a few (she loves most things, so I don't think she's met a toy she doesn't like)
• she loves shopping for shoes
• she is a super big and little sister and is loved by her brothers!

We are so grateful to have cute Catie in our family! Happy 4th Birthday to our favorite little girl!

Catie turns 3!!

Catie turned 3 on December 1st! Here are some of the photos from the actual day!

She loved all the princess and Sophia bags Grandma Julie got her. This girl is a pink-a-holic.

Andrew and I decorated her door the night before and she was so excited about the sign her made her, the balloons, and the crepe paper.

Since her birthday was on Sunday, we made special Christmas tree rice crispy treats together than she could share with her nursery class at church.

She also got a princess bike with training wheels!

The Sofia stuff from Grandma Julie & Grandpa Kim has been loved and loved and loved! She is obsessed.

My cute birthday three-year-old!

This cutie was so excited about her birthday that she woke up closer to 6am and could not fall back to sleep. Her overtired-ness all day made a huge impact on her mood... so by the end of the day we were wishing we could have a birthday redo! I definitely wasn't patient enough with her on her special day, but we did manage to have some fun! We made her a birthday waffle (with a candle) for breakfast, made a dinner that she liked, and then we celebrated her birthday all weekend long before the actual day arrived.

I sure love this little girl and all of her cuddles and smiles!

Caitlin at 15 months

Catie had her 15 month doctor's appointment today. She actually turned 15 months on March 1st.

Taking both Andrew and Cate to a doctor's appointment feels like running a marathon... so I definitely didn't get a moment to snap any photos. Thank goodness for the iPad and my phone though... at least Andrew wasn't jumping off chairs. Cate was challenging enough to deal with :)

She is such a big girl now!

Here are her 15 month stats:

Height- 32.5 in (95%)

Weight- 24.37 lbs (75%)

Head circum.- 47.50 (90%) 

I am so glad that she's just a good walker (and kind of a good listener) now so that I don't have to carry her as much. She is heavy!

This is a picture that describes Cate at 15 months well- moving, messy, and loving her animals!

I call her the dog chaser. She has the most amazing eyes for dogs. She can spot them from like a mile away. She is also IN LOVE with all of her stuffed animals.

She is also the cutest cuddle bug ever. She will read books and sit on your lap forever. I love how she'll just fall into my lap and want to cuddle all the time.

Catie also throws some mean tantrums... the sort that have her head, arms, and legs all kicking. It makes me laugh so hard. Fortunately she must realize how silly she looks, because if I can't figure out what she wants, we just laugh (quietly) and ignore her and she snaps herself out of the tantrums and tries to communicate in a better way.

Catie is also learning some words... you know, only the most important ones though :)
Dadda, Mama, Elmo, Doggy, Duckie, Woof, Quack, Kiss (the chocolate kind), Hi, and M&M.

Andrew swears she knows how to say his name (and told the doctor that today), but I have never heard it. He loves telling me about the different new words that she says... I think he must speak "Catie" though, because I can't decipher any of the words he is hearing.

I can't believe my baby is 15 months old!

Caitlin's 1yr appointment

I had a rough morning today. The best way to cheer me up is to look at pictures of this little cutie.

Despite her little tantrums, she makes me so happy! She LOVES me and a loves her "da!' I love how she crawls all over the house looking for Kevin saying, "da" or "dada."

She is also making great progress with walking. I think she's taken 15 steps in a row once or twice... 

My favorite time of the day is when she is drinking her bottle. She'll just grab it and lie down wherever she is.... and then she grabs her hair and holds it. She gets in this same position to go to sleep at night... except she sticks her thumb in her mouth.

She sucks her thumb so hard that she now has a blister on it :( 

This week she's been fabulous and has gone to bed at 6pm and has slept in till 8 or 8:30am. I am getting spoiled! I'm sure she won't do it this weekend, but I have definitely enjoyed a few relaxing mornings this week.

We had her 1 yr appointment on Monday and it was fun to see how much she has grown!

Her newest stats are below(compared to 9 months):

Weight- 22.87lbs (80%)

Height- 30.5 in (90%)

I can't believe how much she has grown!

Here's to another awesome year with this little cutie!

Catie's Mommy and Me Birthday Luncheon

(I deleted any address info, so the invite looks a little off)

Alright... well maybe the party was more for me than her, but I think she had a pretty good time too :)

It was fun to put up a photo banner with pics from each month all year long and see how much she has changed!

Since Catie's birthday is in December, I thought it would be fun to have a little Christmas luncheon with a few of my friends who also have kids that are close in age. We sent Andrew and Kev off to a preschool event and Super Franks, and had fun spending the afternoon with friends!

The babies had some extra special things set up for them to explore and play with...

And I got to use all of my Christmas dishes! (I am still hand-washing them all... but it was worth it)

The babies played and ate and the moms chatted, ate, and kept the kids from attacking one another. It was a lot of fun.

Kaari stepped in as master bubble woman and I was so grateful. I can't blow bubbles (even easy ones) to save my life.

We sang "Happy Birthday" and had yummy ice cream cake. My goal is to make Catie like all of my favorite treats so that we can have a giant birth month from Nov 23-onward till Christmas celebrating :)

Friends came from close by and a few trekked across the bay. I managed to only snap photos of Liz and Henry though. Catie LOVES Baby Henry!

I had fun decorating for the party and think that we're going to keep the red and green polka dot garlands and birthday banner up all month long. Every time I see the birthday banner it reminds me that December is also a time to celebrate Jesus' birthday.

We did salads from CPK for the moms and the babies got to eat Catie's favorite baby snacks.

In addition to ice cream cake we also had a few other December favs- peppermint brownie bites and Mrs. Fields nibblers (which I like ALL year long).

The best part of the weekend was that Elise and Baby Olivia were able to come for the Mommy and Me fun! Catie and Olivia are going to be such adorable buddies when they are older. They already just get so excited when they see each other!

We sent guests home with our favorite bubbles and spent the afternoon after they left openings adorable gifts. Catie has so many generous friends!

It was so nice to celebrate this little one who has filled our year with joy!

Stay tuned for more birthday fun when I have time to post later today... the little cutie partied from Thursday to Sunday! I am still recovering... and so is my house. Instead of doing dishes, I am blogging. :)