Happy 3rd Birthday KATE!

It's hard to believe that Kate actually turned 3 this past Friday. It seems like yesterday that she was learning to crawl and walk. How quickly time flies!

Kate had a wonderful birthday! We celebrated Friday night by going out for gelato with Aunt Maureen, Uncle Patrick, and Grampy and Grammy. She selected "Bacio" which is basically chocolate with hazelnut. In her mind, it's simply "chocolate."

On Saturday, we had a party with family and friends. My daughter posed a challenge for me this year in the cake department. For weeks, she requested a "Snow White" cake, and then one week prior to her big day, she announced that she wanted a "Tinkerbell" cake...I'm not sure which is worse! So, having tackled Blues Clues last year, I was up for the challenge. With the help of Grammy (Carol) Friday night, we managed to create "Tinkerbell" by 1 am. Kate was thrilled with the final product and the party was a lot of fun!

As for Lauren's birthday, I am thankful that she can't yet talk...in other words, I'll be determining her cake this year. :)

Swim Lessons

Kate has now completed 4 swim lessons at our gym (4 more to go). She seems to be enjoying them and asks every morning, "Do I have swim lessons today?" Not to mention, her teacher's name is also Kate!

She is progressing nicely since the first lesson, now blowing bubbles, putting her face in the water, and hanging onto the side of the pool and kicking. They are working on the back float and front float which seems to be a little more difficult. Kate seems to enjoy being in a class, which hopefully will be beneficial for her start of preschool in a few weeks. She's also very concerned about her classmates. Last week, one of the girls was late and she asked the instructor, "Where's Kathryn?"

Here are a few pictures from her first lesson. She'll be a little fish in no time!

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy

As many of you know, Kate fell the beginning of February and chipped her front tooth. Over the past few months the tooth began to turn gray and eventually developed a small sore on her gum above the tooth. We took her to the dentist to learn that her tooth had become somewhat abscessed and was dying. As a result, the dentist recommended pulling the tooth.

So, Kate and I went to the dentist on Monday and returned home with her first tooth for the Tooth Fairy. She was a very brave little girl and returned back to her normal, active, happy self once the Novocaine wore off. I had shown her a picture of myself missing four teeth that morning, which made her feel much better. In fact, she now likes to show anyone who walks in our house that photo. She also commented the other morning that "she was very proud of me for having four teeth out at the same time and that I did a very good job." I'm hoping she doesn't think that all of her teeth come out that way!

We placed her tooth under her pillow in hopes that the Tooth Fairy would make an appearance. Before going to sleep she said she didn't want the Tooth Fairy to take her tooth. So, I told her I would ask her to leave it on her table. Half way through the night, Kate awoke and told me she didn't want the Tooth Fairy to come, could I please call "Tinkerbell" to let her know. When she awoke the next morning the Tooth Fairy did make an appearance and left a princess watch under Kate's pillow in place of the tooth. Kate insisted that the watch wasn't for her and again requested that we get her tooth back. Kids can be funny! (Just to let you know, she still won't wear the watch..."she's too little.")

Needless-to-say, she's as cute as ever, front tooth or no front tooth!

Family Fun at the Beach

Here are a few more memorable moments from our trip to Emerald Isle...family style!

A Week at the Beach...Kate Style!

A much different perspective, not to mention level of activity, than her sister!

Kate is one busy little girl!

A Week at the Beach...Lauren Style!

About a month ago, we spent a week in Emerald Isle with Mark's family. It was a great trip filled with sun, fun, and sand! We had beautiful weather and the girls enjoyed spending time with Grampy, Grammy, Aunt Maureen, Uncle Patrick, and Mom-Mom (one night).

As I was looking at our pictures I realized that the "beach experience" was quite different for each of the girls. So, I decided to display the pictures through the girls' eyes. Enjoy!

We're Back!!

Looks like we're back in business!

Here are the forever-promised photos from our "Final Destination." (Sorry, Rob, I don't have one of the zipline...only video...and I'm not there yet with posting to the blog. All in due time.)

Enjoy!