Happy Birthday Katie!!!!

Katie's Birth Day

3 months

18 months

3 years

4 years

almost 5

I can't believe how big she has gotten. She is 5 years old. Katie is so smart and funny. She loves going to pre-school, and picks things up so fast. She loves her friends, and is really easy going. I love Katie!!! HappyBirthday!!

5 years.....

Katie is turning 5 on monday. This has been blowing my mind. How can I have a 5 year old? How did it go by so fast? Also, how has she not always been like she is today? I watch videos of when she was little, and I think how was she that little? How did my life mean anything without my little buddy by my side? It is amazing how time plays tricks with your mind. I can't remember how it felt not to worry about my kids, or how it felt to only think about myself. Well, I am still pretty good about that. I have enjoyed living in the bubble of my life. The bubble that is my home, and my kids. I have loved being able to shut life outside, and play inside. That it is enough right now, just for it to be "us". They don't need their friends, or activities outside of what we do together. But now that Katie is turning 5, she is going into school this fall. She will be subject to life. I am going to have to take her to school. Don't get me wrong, she is soooo ready to go. She can't wait to be "a big girl" and go to kindergarten. She wishes she was there now. I don't. I am stuck between loving watching her grow up, and seeing how much she is her own person, and wanting her to stay just like this forever.
Just a few of my melancholy thoughts. I know that one of the reasons I am so reluctant for her to grow up, is that my youngest is now three. I am not done having little ones. We are in the process of adopting, but it is hard not to be in control. Ok..... I swear I am not this depressed about my life. I am extremely happy, and blessed in so many ways. Good grief!!! I think I will stop while I am ahead, and say that I love Katie, and can't wait to see the woman she will become.

Warning...picture overload!!

We had a wonderful Holiday, and I put these up randomly and am now too lazy to fix it. But these are New Years and Christmas. We had a ton of fun.

It was almost 2 o'clock, can you blame them?

New Years Eve

playing mafia..the kids new favorite

Owen was Adam's little buddy..Lucky!!

Rock band!? More like ROCK STARS!! This game is so much fun!!

Katie finally got to play her memory game with Grandma! Thanks Irene!!

They loved putting snowflakes on the numbers every night..thanks Diane!!

Christmas morning

they ran to the family room

Katie and Addi

kids opening pjs

Owen and Emery

Silly faces!!

Just about the whole group! Can you imagine if Chad and Jill were here with their families? Chili's is always very good with our large family.

Merry Christmas!!!

I love Christmas!! I love going to the mailbox and getting Christmas cards from friends and family. I have never done Christmas cards, but I LOVE getting them!!! I actually keep them and someday plan to have an album for them to showcase during Christmas. That way I can see how the families have changed over the years. I love this idea, and hope that I will actually follow through with it. Here are a few of our family over the last 4 years. I do have pictures of Katie's first Christmas somewhere, it would be nice to find them. I love you all, and hope you have wonderful holidays!!!

our first Christmas as a family of 4
2005

our christmas pjs (Isaac was 10 days old)



Christmas 2006



2006

Katie and Mimi 2007
A Whitney tradition on Christmas Eve day, is to go to Chili's and then a movie.


2007
"Corn? When did I eat corn?"

Happy Birthday Isaac!!!!

I can't believe how time flies. He has been with us for 3 years and we have loved every minute of it. He is so funny, and so very sweet. He loves, loves, loves, trains and cars. That's why I picked this background...it is so Isaac. He always has a car or a train in his hands. His is very content to play by himself for a long time,or join in with the kids. He loves to play pretend with Katie, and is very obliging to her bossiness. For now at least. He is such a likeable kid, and we love him to peices. I love to kiss his cheeks, and then watch him wipe them off. He likes to sneak into our bed at night, and sometimes we don't even know he's there until we wake up. I can not even begin to name all the cute things about Isaac, there are just too many. One of my new fav's though, is when he runs to me, hugs my leg and tells me he loves me. He is the sweetest. We love you Isaac!!!

3rd Birthday

Isaac and Jaxon spring of 08'

2nd Birthday

fall of 07'

summer of 07'

valentines's 07'

1st Birthday

10 months

6 months

2 months

2 1/2 weeks

Isaac meets his big sister

My sweet little boy 7 pounds 8 ounces

three weeks early, thank goodness

My sweet Katie.....

Last Thursday on Thankgiving I was actually cooking in the kitchen. I was making my mom's sweet potatoe casserole, and Katie was helping me. We finished by spreading pecans on the top, and put it in the oven. As soon as it was done, we headed to Irene and Larry's. When I was getting out of the car Katie was telling me her eyes itched. We were late so I didn't even look, just said "that's too bad, let's go." When we got inside, they had just finished the prayer so we sat the kids down. When I came back with Isaac's plate, Katie was sitting with her head in her hands. She looked at me and said her eyes really hurt. They were red and swollen with little hives all around them. I picked her up and took her to Adam so he could look too. So we just gave her a cold wash cloth and had her lay down on the couch. When I checked on her a couple of minutes later, her eyes were REALLY swollen. Adam went to the store to get benadryl, and I just held her. We were trying to figure out what she had touched, that would bug her eyes so badly when I remembered the pecans. I immediately washed her hands, while Janeen was washing her face. After that, and a dose of benadryl she was obviously better. Her eyes were still swollen, but not as badly. They actually stayed swollen for a few days.

Luckily Katie has a very limited range of food that she will eat, and this never included nuts. I took her to the allergist this morning and found out that she is severely allergic to tree nuts. So much so that it could be fatal. If she had ingested those pecans, or even began eating her food with her hands that hadn't been washed, we would have been in the hospital. (Now, just so you don't think I was completely negligent, I did call the doctor first thing the next morning.) I am going to have to carry an Epi pen in my purse from now on, and anywhere she goes watch out for cross contamination. Her school next year will have to be aware and ready in case anything goes wrong. If she goes to a birthday party I have to talk to the mom and let her know. Needless to say it is serious. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am we found out the way we did. And that we know now, how to avoid future problems. Katie was such a trooper for all of the testing, and didn't cry once. Jenn had Isaac, and so it was just me and Katie. Adam did meet us for lunch, but then we went shopping and got her hair cut. It was so much fun. She is the sweetest little girl, and I love her to pieces.