Our twinkling little lady is six! I never tire of birthday posts. They have a knack for leaving me in pieces without fail. Kate turned six and I can’t remember a person more thrilled to have a birthday, except maybe the last child to have a birthday in our family 😅 but her excitement was palpable! There was internal fanfare for months and now that we’ve arrived, she’s already counting on six and a half.

Kate’s birth was always something supernatural for me. There was so much peace and welcome newness when she arrived. I was also thankful to experience natural birth and a VBAC with Kate, which was an instant and divine gift. She came right away with a sweetness and delight. And she remains as such!

Kate has a gift of really seeing people, not letting the fluff get in the way. She loves to make others feel incredibly special and she makes sure they know it. Meeting a person is just an invitation for her to start thinking about what gift, card, or personal belonging she will give them. She transcends all the card making skills I ever possessed, and rivals all my Swiss card makers, and yes that is a thing.

She has so much artistic flair. There are so many odds and ends she has made for me, and the cutest tiny pictures with so much care and character. I’m loving watching how bright she has become up close as I watch her learn in kindergarten this year. While she dramatically sighs when I pull out an activity sheet for her, even more dramatically with a flick of her wrist and pencil, the sheet is complete! Mission accomplished. She has a knack for that!

We are so grateful for our little love who lights up our lives, happy birthday Kate!

This girl. She is a party and a half, and one of our snuggliest. And sneakily turned five on me. She’s joy bottled, always creative, ponders life so deeply and is such a wonderful processor. She asks the most insightful questions in real time and always gets us with her thoughts on life, one of these beyond her years folks I think. But she also is good at reminding us she’s only 5! Giggles, tea parties, arts and crafts, fort building, princesses sometimes (ha) and a million books each night.

With each child, we can benchmark the milestones in our lives that took place as each one came on the scene, and Kate came at a pressing time. She was early, almost like we needed her presence and cuddles and sweetness all the more. But since then she has brought laughter, thoughtfulness, friendship and warmth to our family. She is so hospitable, thinking of the little things and details that not everybody would see. She is so struck when someone thinks of her, and I can see she is built that way, thinking of how to bless others and give them out of whatever she has. I can’t believe the fifth year is here and I’m holding on tight for the big exciting things this year will bring for her. Love this sweet girl!

I can’t keep up you guys! My big girl is four and these birthdays and milestones aren’t slowing down. Oof. Well, I will press on. I am daily in wonderment at this little girl’s beautiful nature. Continue reading “Kate is four!” →

I can hardly believe Kate is in the neighborhood of two and a half, plus a little more. These days with her range from the sweetest, gentlest moments to the most fierce, she is both all at once. She has the most thoughtful nature, always bringing everybody their belongings and wanting to be a supportive part of our family, and she so is!! Continue reading “Kate at two and a half” →

I ended up writing this directly to Kate! And for what reason I can’t entirely say except that it’s 1130pm and I’m tired by don’t want to miss a moment to write down my love for this girl. These next photos also best represent the many sides of our little girl! Continue reading “Kate is TWO” →

This darling girl. I have been so terrible at my note taking for these kiddos lately so I’m giving it a good ‘ol college try.. thus, the randomness of the “21 month update” ha. But there’s so much I can say about our sweet, tender, firecracker-y Continue reading “Kate at 21 months” →

Welp. Okay okay, Kate is no longer ONE, she is 14 months! So this is really a 14 months update. I’ll take it. It is such a wonder to me how two little siblings can have so many differences, and at the same time so similar. Genes are a mystery to me. I’m sure I could remedy that but I don’t know if I have the brain-space. So for now, I’m simply in wonder! Continue reading “Kate is ONE!” →

Sweet girl! We’ve already had eleven months with you! You are such a picture of pure joy to us. Your smile, your excitement, your incredible bubbly laugh when your brother does anything at all (particularly jumping on the bed with him..). You flap your arms wildly when you like something. And you’ve begun to put your hands together to indicate more, which I’ll take any day over the smacking of your highchair tray until all your food is on the ground (and thus, eaten by Maverick). You now eat pouch veggies/fruits (praise God.) but still will only eat pomegranate seeds and butternut squash in it’s pure veggie form. Continue reading “11 months” →

Kate at ten months. What could I say about your little personality, Kate.. you are simply lovely to us! Here are a few favorites. Continue reading “10 months with Kate!” →