See Paul do the Pop Pop Dance

Drawing together, being silly and ear update

I took this fun picture last weekend of both kids working on their own drawings. Kaitlyn seems to really like to use crayons (and keeps them out of her mouth most of the time!) so I strapped our extra booster seat to Paul's table in our playroom- it was perfect! You can tell in the last picture that Kaitlyn, thanks to at least one bottom tooth, a possible top tooth and probably a molar (or two?) is a bit under the "teething" spell.

Tonight Paul had quite a fun time running around the house after he donned these "silly glasses" which happened to be lying around (they're from halloween- possibly last year!.
And to wrap up little Paul's ear surgery, everything went well with his procedure on February 12th. He has tubes in both ears, his adenoid was removed- again (apparently it can grow back), the doctor cleaned out a lot of gunk from his ears/nose, and he tested positive for some allergies (including dust, so we've vacuumed his room quite a bit and have gotten him special bed covers, etc.) which we'll find out more about next week at his follow up. He recovered "quickly" but was tired for a few days.
He thought the whole experience was pretty cool- he got to drive in the car before the sun came up (we were at the hospital by 6:20am), stay in his PJ's until surgery time, eat as many popsicles, graham crackers and juice as he wanted after surgery (we knew he was feeling better when the "why" questions returned about 10 minutes after we were reunited) and is still asking why his ENT doctor (who he knows by name since we see him so often) didn't have a tie on that day.

Happy 1st Birthday, Kaitlyn!

A year ago this evening, Kaitlyn Anne entered the world- and our lives have never been the same. She is full of smiles and has brought even more love into our house (as well as a few grey hairs onto my head!).
We had a wonderful birthday party on Sunday for her. Paul and I commented to each other that it was so special to be able to watch her enjoy everyone's company and see Paul III's total love for his little sister. He picked out a barn shape/animal sorter for her last Thursday and waited very patiently (as patiently as a 3-year old can!) to give it to her... he lasted until first thing Sunday morning, so at least he made it to the day of her birthday party- not the good morning hair on P3:
A few highlights from the birthday celebration...
Relaxing with mom before the big event:
Getting ready to open some presents:

The four of us:
The party gang:
Kaitlyn's first cake- she loved it... and was digging in her high chair for the pieces she spilled (not that she's shoving it in her mouth while daddy is cutting the second piece):
Where'd it go?:
Aunt Katherine got Kate a ball popper- a HUGE hit (for young and old- make sure you check out Paul III's face on the one picture):
Trying on some new clothes:
And modeling many of her new items: Playing with Godmother Aunt Katherine:
Being silly with Pop Pop:

Tonight we went to Friendly's with Gram for a birthday dinner- during which Kaitlyn stole 3 french fries by reaching over to Gram's plate... which Paul III joked was 'not good manners.'

Did you know it snowed?

If you haven't turned on a TV in the past week, you may not have known that a huge snowstorm hit us friday night into Saturday afternoon. We woke up on Saturday morning to about 18-24 inches of snow, depending where you measured. Needless to say, much of our weekend was spent playing outside (and watching Paul with the snowblower and thinking over and over that it was one of our best purchases ever!).
The beginning of our snowman, made Friday night when we got home from work (although we had to dig him out on Saturday!):
Kaitlyn's first outing (note that Paul III is in the background shoveling... which is what he did almost all weekend!):
Paul III had just a few inches on the snowfall, but not much:
Having a snack while helping daddy clear off the back porch- we need to be able to grill, right?:
Kaitlyn getting "into" the snow:
And recovering:
Playing with mom- yes, Paul III is still shoveling in the background:

Lots of Peek-A-Boo

One of Kaitlyn's favorite games continues to be Peekaboo- she even tries to play by herself with a blanket, sheet, bib, hat... whatever is near her.
The other night at dinner Paul and Kaitlyn had their own game of peekaboo with napkins.