Christmas Day Celebration

On Christmas morning, we woke up and had a little family time with just the three of us, and then we went over and spent the day with Robby's family (minus Rudy and Veronica who were Bolivia. We missed y'all!!).

Kate loved every minute, and I can't imagine anything more fun than holidays with little ones. The excitement over every thing big and small is contagious, and I hope we always remember the wonder in her eyes during this Christmas season.

Forgive me for not having more family pictures...the paparazzi was not at her best!

Santa brought Kate a toddler roller coaster...she was thrilled!!

Looking on at her stocking

Let's see here...

The verdict...I think she liked it!;)

Kate could not wait to go over to Lisee and Poppy's house to see her cousin, Addie (and the rest of the family too, of course!)!

The girls opening presents together.

Hanging out with Uncle Skip and Aunt Ashley!

Dada's girl!

Christmas dinner with the McNerney family. What could be better than an evening with her cousins? Having her buddies, Turner and Colin, there too, of course! :)

As Kate likes to sing, "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happyfull Year."

Christmas Eve Celebration

We celebrated Christmas with my mom's side of the family on Christmas Eve. Kate has loved pretty much everything about this Christmas season. Her eyes have been filled with such wonder all month, and we have never seen her so excited (which is saying a lot since she is excited pretty much all of the time)! Robby and I have loved watching her take everything in, and Christmas Eve was no exception!

Highlights include: playing trains with Uncle Mike and Granddaddy Jack, four wheeling on her new ATV from Gigi and Terry, making cupcakes for Baby Jesus (and Kate too, of course!), and getting her goldfish (like Elmo has) which she has named "fish" (Oh yes, we are very original in our house!;) )

It was so wonderful to have time to celebrate Christmas together. Below are some pictures from our evening.

We love our Gigi!

Kate asked me for a reindeer balloon that she saw outside of a store, but we were driving and couldn't really stop and get one. Upon hearing me say, "no," she calmly said, "Ummm, I talk to Gigi." After all who needs Santa, when you have grandparents!;)

Opening her train set from Uncle Mike

The train set came with a conductor's hat, which she insisted Robby wear...

At least until she had her own ATV to conduct!

Decorating cupcakes for Baby Jesus' birthday...and giving Gigi time to cook and Mama time to set the table.

Our dinner table-- so fun to (finally!!) use my Christmas china!

Uncle Mike, Gigi, Granddaddy Jack (Kate calls him "My Jack") and me

Kate decided right before Christmas that she REALLY wanted a fish from "Santer Claus." Santer Claus had already gone over Kate's Christmas budget (looks like Santa has spent a little too much time talking to my husband, the banker:)) but once again, Santa's helper, errr I mean Gigi, came to the rescue! Kate sure does love her fish! :)

"Hip Hip Hooray" for a wonderful evening!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!

(lots of pictures to come)

A Very Cary Christmas

Last weekend we went to Cary, NC to celebrate Christmas with my Dad, Amy and sister, Caroline (Merideth was working over the weekend, so she couldn't join us--we missed seeing you, Mer!).

We had such a nice visit, and at the end of our trip, Kate did not even want to come home! She said, "I no want to go car....I just stay here with Granddaddy and Amy, okay?" Looks like someone had fun!;)

Kate LOVES all of her Christmas decorations, and she was so excited to explore Dad and Amy's house and point out every Christmas tree, Frosty and "Santer Claus." She also likes to give all of the decorations, as she says, "A little pat pat." Basically, she will do anything to get her hands on them. Luckily, Amy was well equipped with a lot of kid friendly decorations!

This was also really the first time that Kate has ever gotten into opening presents...it didn't take long for her to perfect the art!;)

Opening her new backpack... she was so excited and loved modeling it!

Looks like someone will be ready for preschool!

I love hanging out with my sister, Caroline!

Helping Granddaddy open his presents, Kate was happy to offer her new present opening skills to everyone!

Robby enjoyed opening his presents too!

Kate loved playing with Amy and all of her new toys!!

And just in case you were wondering...Elmo really does rock!

Granddaddy and Kate humored me and stopped playing with Elmo long enough for a quick picture

Singing with Granddaddy

Thank you for such a wonderful weekend! We love y'all!

Thanksgiving Fun

We celebrated this Thanksgiving in Cary, NC with my Dad and Amy, my sisters, Grandmama Donna, Aunt Debbie and cousins. It was so much fun to have everyone together!! We ate great food (Amy's cooking is amazing!) and just relaxed with family.

Before I get to pictures and in the spirit of Thanksgiving....Kate has started to spontaneously pray about some of things for which she is thankful. Her little prayers are so sweet and Robby and I love to hear what she is thankful for each night--you never know what it will be!

One of her firsts and my favorite:

"Dear God, Thank you [for] Dada, Mama, baby sister, Ivy, pacis, cookie monster, EE lovie and God"

Latest additions, also include Frosty the Snowman, "Chritmas" Trees, and our ipad:)

Below are a few (okay a lot!) of pictures from our trip:

Amy, the master chef! I would love to be able to cook like her (and I am quite certain that Robby would love it too!;))

My beautiful sisters, Caroline and Merideth

Our cousins, Maggie, Ryan and Donna Catherine

A pre-dinner walk around the pond

Kate adores Maggie, and she pretty much stayed by her side all weekend

All the kids

We loved being with Grandmama Donna! Kate and Grandmama Donna share a lot of the same spunky characteristics...so they had a great time together!

Dad, Amy and the girls.

Of course, I could not end this post without a picture of our favorite cockapoo, Charlie (or as Kate says, "Chardee").

Little Miss was loving all of the attention!

Happy Thanksgiving from our little turkey and her parents!

In a New York Minute

Today, I officially joined the "thirties club!"

To celebrate, Robby took me to NYC over the weekend. And while our weekend flew by, we had an absolute blast!! My mom kept Kate for us (thank you, Gigi!!), and although we missed our little girl terribly, it was wonderful to have a little time with just the two of us!

We saw a play, ate at some great restaurants (still dreaming of that shake from the Shake Shack!:)), shopped, walked and walked and walked, and saw some of the sights!

I also went on my very first train ride! Upon our return, Kate welcomed us back at the train station, and so she has been talking about "going train" non stop! We have been playing trains, coloring trains, but as Kate likes to say next time, "I'll come with me!" :)

Below are a few pictures from our trip

Waiting for the train in Charlottesville

In front of Rockefeller Plaza... It was so fun to see all of the decorations!

On "Top of the Rock"

And it was all just in the nick of time, since I don't think we will be traveling too much in the near future...

Because in what feels like in a New York Minute (but is really more like three months from now), our lives are about to change in a major way--as we are expecting our second daughter in February! :)

Kate could not be more thrilled about her baby sister, and while NYC was fun, we could not be happier to be back at home with our happy little girl!

Stay tuned for family birthday pictures!