One Year Old!

Our little baby turned one on June 24th. The past year has gone by unbelievably fast! Now that Kate is one I am going to try very hard to stop calling her "Baby Kate" and instead call her "Kate." So far it's been tough! In honor of her big day, Kate has started demonstrating some grown-up baby behavior like screaming when we're out to dinner, getting mad when someone takes something from her and trying to get away with things she's not supposed to be doing. All things that go with the territory! Otherwise she is still a very pleasant, lovely baby who loves to smile and laugh and be silly!

Here are some pictures of the one-year-old, including some from her actual birthday and some from her birthday party.

Kate is becoming quite adventurous with climbing and has had two bloody lips to prove it.

Kate showing off her birthday crown from Babbie.

She wasn't quite sure what to do with presents...

Ben stepped in to help. These packages contained clothes. When Ben opened them he exclaimed, "Oh, these are so pretty!"

She started getting the hang of it.

Kate and Angelina Ballerina

Mommy, Kate and Kate's new doll. She loves dolls! At Ben's school she would gravitate to the crib with the baby dolls and play with them. So we figured we should get her some!

This scene didn't end well. As you can see, she was very interested in the flame on the candle! She grabbed it and that did not make her happy.

Gently massaging the icing.

This is fun!

Having her first taste.

No surprise that she really liked it!

After the cupcake was gone, she tried to eat the plate.

Happy camper!

Kate's cake for her party.

Mommy and the birthday girl

Sporting a tutu for her big party (compliments of the Habeggers!)

Trying to beat the heat. Elise, Elise's grandpa, Sophie and Ben running through the sprinkler.

"Happy birthday to you!"

Daddy & the birthday girl

Father's Day Weekend

For Father's Day weekend we were invited by our friends Joe and Lisa (and their baby Anna) to go to their family farm in Virginia. So we loaded up the car and went to enjoy some peace and quiet - well, as much peace & quiet as one can have with a baby and a toddler! Ben had talked about going to "Joe's farm" all week and he wasn't disappointed. Here are the pictures from our weekend.

Anna and Kate relaxing while we unloaded the cars.

Farm life made for very early wake-up times for Kate & Ben (they didn't get the memo about the aforementioned "peace and quiet"). Here are Daddy and Kate taking a very early morning stroll.

Joe and Ben on the "scooter." Ben loved the scooter!

Ben looking a little glum while Max & Ruby is playing in the background.

Checking out some baby cows. I had no idea how smelly baby cows are.

Ben and a horse named Lenox.

Ben & Dino. Dino liked to eat peppermints, which Ben thought was hilarious.

Baby Kate and Ronan. Ronan liked to show his teeth, which we used as a lesson about oral hygiene with Ben.

At the Veritas Vineyard in Afton, Virginia.

Ben found some playmates at the winery. There was a bit of a dispute because Ben wanted the gazebo to be an animal kingdom, but the little girls insisted it was a princess castle. The boy on the far right was called "the pirate" by the little girls for some reason.

Happy Father's Day!!

Annual Thomas Visit

For the second year in a row, we drove to Blowing Rock, NC to see Thomas the Tank Engine at Tweetsie Railroad. We left the house at 8 a.m. on Sunday. I thought we had packed everything we needed, but we ended up with no stroller or shoes for Baby Kate. She didn't seem to mind, although Daddy did get hot with her strapped to his chest all morning.

We took a ride on Thomas, but thankfully avoided the Thomas gift shop and standing in a long line to pose for a picture with Sir Topham Hatt (both of which we had to do last year). Instead Ben and Elise got Thomas tattoos, played with train tables, fed some animals and rode some rides. After we had all the fun we could stand, we headed into downtown Blowing Rock for lunch. Getting Ben out of the park was a chore and even bribes of ice cream and french fries didn't work. All we heard was "I don't want to leave Tweetsie Railwoad!"

Daddy & Baby Kate getting ready to take a ride on Thomas

Elise wasn't a fan of the whistle

Photo op in front of Thomas (by the way, they are dressed the same by accident!)

Feeding some deer @ the petting zoo

Disappointment after all of the animal food ran out

Michael took Ben and Elise on this ride - we called it the Spinner - at one point we thought they might all get sick, but Ben and Elise actually enjoyed it (Michael not so much)