Friends

Last week, Kaitlyn had lots of fun hanging out with Hannah B. at our house, while I got to spend time with her mom Rebekah and precious baby Elanor. The girls played really well together and were quite content to play on their own with minimal assistance from the moms (which gave Rebekah and I a chance to enjoy adult conversation!). They spent most of the time outside playing on the swing set or investigating other interesting things in the yard before reluctantly taking a break to come inside for lunch. We're already looking forward to the next play date!

Kaitlyn is Three!

Somehow my little baby girl turned three years old today. I'm not sure how this day could have come so quickly. But if you ask her how old she is, she dutifully holds up three little fingers and proudly states that she is "frwee." So I guess it must be true.

Last night, we made cupcakes for her preschool birthday celebration. For someone who doesn't really enjoy baking (cooking, yes--baking, no), I had fun making these festive little things. Thanks, Pillsbury, for packaging the icing and sprinkles together. Brilliant! :)

Kaitlyn loves cupcakes. When she got up this morning, I asked her if she wanted some special birthday eggs for breakfast--a rarity on preschool mornings when we're usually rushing to get out the door. She politely said, "No, I'll just have a cupcake." (by the way, she did not get a cupcake for breakfast!)

In Kaitlyn's preschool class, the kids get to wear a special "birthday cape" on their special day. She'd been watching other kids wear it throughout the year and was excited about finally getting her turn.

Enjoying a cupcake in class...

...and enjoying another one at home. Since her official birthday party (and cake) is on Saturday, we just had a mini-celebration at home after dinner. I put three candles in a cupcake and let her blow them out.

And she got to open gifts...with a curious little brother watching her every move.

Ethan was pretty content with the leftover packaging.

One of her presents was a tent/tunnel contraption. She had a blast crawling through the tunnel and hiding in the tent before bed. And when I'm ready to put it away, it collapses flat and takes up very little space--a must for our house!

The birthday festivities will continue this weekend, so I'll post pictures of that in a few days. And hopefully I'll find some time to blog soon about our New Jersey trip and other fun things. But until then, Happy Birthday Sweet Kaitlyn!!!!!

A Visit from Mimi and Papa

A couple of weeks ago, we enjoyed a visit from Mimi and Papa (Jeff's parents). The weather was gorgeous, so we went to Centennial Park for a picnic lunch. Kaitlyn got to feed the ducks, and we even saw a mama duck and her ducklings.

And Ethan took his first solo steps! He's not a fan of grass, so when we let go of him, he took a couple of steps so that he wouldn't fall down into the grass. He was SO proud of himself! After that, he was eager to try out his new skill and would walk several steps to me before lunging into my arms. I wouldn't say he's officially walking yet, but he takes several steps by himself each day, and he can walk pretty well when he holds on to one of my hands.

The tulips were exquisite and Kaitlyn loved examining them in closer detail. We've been reading some books about plants and flowers, so this was her chance to see the parts of a flower up close. She is such an inquisitive little girl and loves to learn about everything.

A picture with Mimi and Papa in front of the train. We're heading up to NJ next week to visit with them and some of our friends. I'm sure we'll have many more pictures to post when we return!

Ethan's 1 yr. pictures

A couple of weeks ago, Jeff took some one-year pictures of Ethan. Such a happy, joy-filled little boy!

Making the sign for "Touchdown!"

Sitting in his new rocking chair

His favorite thing to do--"reading" books

Although he's not walking on his own yet, he's standing by himself for several seconds. And he loves to walk beside me while holding on to one of my hands. He walks behind anything he can push (toys, wagons, strollers, chairs), and lets out a mad cry when he gets stuck. He's also starting to use that mad scream when Kaitlyn takes something away from him...or when he wants more food. And if he sees his beloved bananas, he will immediately start begging/crying/screaming for them. Even when we're in a grocery store. Fun.

Kaitlyn will be three in a few weeks. I have a hard time believing that. She is at such a fun age (well, it's fun most of the time!). She cracks us up with her questions, comments and observations about life. Some funny things she has said lately:

"Be careful, Mommy! Don't go too fast! The policeman is going to pull you over and write you a ticket." [I'm not quite sure where she got that since I have NOT been pulled over lately!]

"Ethan Daniel Krinks, you may NOT throw food on the floor!" [yep, guilty. I say that.]

Her prayer one night: "Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Kaitlyn, Ethan, Kasha [our dog], Doggie, Teddy Bear. Thank you for the lights and the butterflies up there [on her wall] and the closets and preschool and Megan [our sitter] and the mall [???]." Afterward she asked if God was a boy or a girl.

One day, I saw Kaitlyn gathering up all the loose change she could find around the house. Then she went into the bathroom to put on some of my makeup. When I asked her what she was doing, she said something like, "I have to get ready and get my money so that I can go to the mall and ride the school bus and the truck that looks like Mater and the apple and the car and the merry-go-round." [All coin-operated rides. Despite her obvious fascination with the mall, I promise that we don't go that often. But when we do, it apparently makes a big impression!]

And finally, we've been enjoying the nice weather lately. Here are some pictures from Bicentennial Park.

More Easter Fun

Isn't he just about the cutest thing you've ever seen? (not that I'm biased at all!) Yesterday, we went to our church's Easter egg hunt. It had been raining in the morning and was still very wet outside, so the event was moved indoors. Kaitlyn and Ethan were in the same age group, and they got to hunt together. The eggs were "hidden" all across the floor. I have never seen so many plastic eggs in one room. What cracks me up about the picture below is that the egg hunt is almost over and yet there are still lots of eggs that have not been scooped up. I expected a mad frenzy in an effort to get as many eggs possible, but all the kids were milling about content with the eggs already in their baskets. Guess most of the little ones haven't learned the vice of greed yet!

One of the advantages of having the hunt indoors is that Ethan got to participate. I wasn't about to let him crawl around on wet grass, so this worked out well. He was quite content to just play with the eggs the whole time.

The kids had fun sorting through the goodies in their Easter baskets this morning. Ethan got some sunglasses. He's not too sure he likes them yet. He's going to be one cool dude this summer!

We managed to squeeze in some quick Easter pictures before church this morning. And it's a good thing that we did because Kaitlyn was a mess when she got home. Scuffed shoes, lost bows, and ripped tights. Easter outfits are not designed to survive the playground! And to top it all off, she had a poop accident in her dress at the end of church. Lovely. But enjoy the pre-mess pictures!

Easter Eggs

We're knee deep in Easter eggs around here--both real and plastic! Yesterday, Kaitlyn and I dyed eggs. We managed to keep the mess mostly contained. The hardest part was convincing her that she had to let the eggs dry before she could touch them. She was dying to play with them. And she loves eating them as much as she liked making them. She requests an egg at every meal now.

Today was the Easter Egg Hunt and Party at her preschool. The eggs were "hidden" in the grass for the kids to find. The hunt lasted all of 5 minutes, while all the parents were busy snapping pictures. Kaitlyn found lots of eggs and she had so much fun opening them to find the prizes inside.

It was a little breezy so Kaitlyn kept pushing her hair back during the hunt. Her bows had fallen out yet again. I have got to find a way to fix this child's hair so that it stays out of her eyes! Her hair is so fine that no hair accessory will stay in for very long. I suppose I could try bangs again, but I wasn't crazy about that look the last time her hair was cut.

After the egg hunt, we all went back to the classroom for an Easter party. We got to see the crafts they've been doing lately, as well as enjoy some yummy treats by the party moms. In the picture below, Kaitlyn is feasting on an iced sugar cookie while her teacher is reading an Easter story to the kids.

More Easter fun to come with an egg hunt this weekend at church...

Skittles Rainbow

We've been on spring break this week. In honor of spring's arrival, Kaitlyn made a rainbow out of Skittles and glue (with a little help from mom.) She diligently sorted all the colors and was all too happy to snack on the art supplies from time to time.

Other fun excursions this week included meeting Daddy for lunch and visiting his office, going to the mall (and getting ice cream), playing at Chick-Fil-A (and getting ice cream), and playing outside with our next door neighbors. Kaitlyn even got to hold a live earth worm in her hand and was thrilled. Oh the joys of childhood!

A Year in Review

Here's a look at Ethan over the past year, starting with the day of his birth.