Kate's 2nd Birthday

Kate celebrated her second birthday on June 18th. It was our last weekend in our Charlotte house so we rented a water slide and had friends over to celebrate with us. Kate was not a huge fan of the water slide. While I was running errands Jeff sent her down alone and she was quite scared. So, everyone else enjoyed the water slide and she splashed in the water at the bottom. She did go down one more time in Jeff's lap.

Getting some help opening presents from Ben and Anna.

Springtime

We've had a busy spring and I haven't been good about posting pictures. So, here are some of the kids from the past few months. We're preparing to head to the northeast and are sad to be leaving Charlotte, but are excited for the new adventure too.

Visiting the Georgia Aquarium with Jackson and Wyatt during our recent trip to Atlanta.

Ben & Jackson

Kate & Wyatt

Kate enjoys the boxes that are around the house

Easter Weekend

This year for Easter we went to the beach. We went to Kiawah Island because I've always wanted to go there and since we don't have much time left in Charlotte we thought we better go!

Donuts With Dad

This morning Ben's school had something called "Donuts with Dad." Thankfully Jeff was able to make it and here's a picture of them before the big event. The picture quality isn't great because I had to take it with my cell phone, but at least we captured the moment!

Ben showed Daddy around his classroom and they had donuts. Then the children sang a "good morning" song and recited the pledge of allegiance (Ben got to hold the flag). Then Ben gave Daddy a picture he drew of him that said "I love my daddy because he plays trains with me."

Kate + markers

We left Kate, Ben and Elise alone to play together in the playroom. Kate found some markers and not only marked all over everything, but all over herself as well. The most damage was done to her arm, but her face also got some action. She thought it was quite funny.

Our Little Valentines

Valentine's Day was fun this year because Ben got very excited about preparing cards for his friends at school. He had a great time distributing them in class and getting cards and treats in return. He also mailed some princess Valentine cards to some special ladies in Zionsville, Indiana.

Getting his Valentine cards ready. He put heart stickers on all of the envelopes.

Kate modeling her new 'do.

Enjoying their Valentine's cookies with Daddy.

Ben's 4th Birthday

Our Ben turned 4 on February 1st. In honor of the big day we had 18(!) of his closest friends to Monkey Joe's for a party. It was total chaos, but all of the 4-year olds seemed to have a nice time. It was fun to see all of them interact with one another - they are so big say the funniest things to each other. We were happy to create a mess somewhere other than our house! Anne, Adam, Babbie and Poppie came for the festivities.

The newly engaged couple came for the birthday festivities. Kate got to try on Anne's ring.

Playing with Ben's birthday balloons from Grammy.

The jungle cake that weighed around 20 pounds!

Monkey Joe's

Ben & Elise

Getting ready to blow out the candles. The nice lady at MJ's painted Ben's face...to look like a dog???

Chaos!

Winter Fun

January is usually a pretty long month but thankfully we had some fun things happen to keep us busy. Jackson and Amy came for a visit from Atlanta one weekend. Jackson came to play with Ben and Amy came to watch the Golden Globes with me!

We also had a big snow/ice storm that kept us trapped indoors (and Daddy stranded in NYC) for almost five days. Not very typical for Charlotte! Here are some pictures from January. Next up...Ben's birthday party pics.

Story time with Daddy/Jeff

Snow day! We don't have a lot of snow gear so we had to make due.

And finally...Kate got a baby doll crib for Christmas and sometimes likes to get in herself.