Happy 2nd Birthday!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my baby girl. That last two years have been been an amazing journey.

Kallie

Where do I begin . . . I am still in shock that you turned two. You went from a tiny 5lb 8oz baby girl to a 26lb healthy toddler right before my eyes.

We have been talking about your birthday all week! When you woke up you immediately smiled and said "Kallie's birthday - Happy Birthday!". I was so excited to show you the new kitchen we bought you (it took daddy 3 hours and 2 beers to put together). You loved it for about 3 minutes and then wanted to watch ELMO :)

We had family and friends over to help you celebrate your big day. Since Sesame Street is your favorite and only show you watch I made sure to treat you to an Elmo themed party - Elmo plates, napkins and cup cakes which you loved. The best treat of all was that Mimi was in town to help us celebrate! I am pretty sure you had a good time since you slept for 3 hours after!

You continue to amaze me ever day. Over the last few months you have become quite the talker and little parrot. You are also becoming quite independent saying "Kallie do it" when I try to help.

I am not sure how to express my love for you other than by saying "I love you THIS" much!!! I feel so thankful that god blessed me with such an amaizng gift, YOU!

Happy Birthday baby girl!

I LOVE YOU

Mommy

Happy 23 months!

Kallie Wow 23 three months already, where did the time go? You are going up so fast, too fast if you ask me!

This month has been all about talking and “Kallie do it”. You are now saying three or four words together and you really like to repeat everything mommy and daddy say which can get us in trouble at times! Some of your current favorites are:

Dinner time or Din Din Mommy Kallie do it Follow me mama/dada No No ToeToe (Coho) Chase daddy Elmo, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, The Count & Cook Cook One more time (when you want me to read another book)

Speaking of Sesame Street as a special treat we let you watch it on the weekends. You love to count like the Count . . . ONE- hahaha, TWO hahaha, THREE hahaha – We do this over and over! You also love pretending eating cookies & letters like Cook Cook (AKA: Cookie Monster). Another one of your favorite activities is dancing. When you hear music you immediately start to wiggle, sometimes just your arms but most of the times your whole body wiggles or you spin in circles until you are so dizzy you fall down.

This summer we have spent a few weekends on Vashon and you LOVE IT. You continue to talk about the crabbies on the beach, building sand castles and of course going fast on the boat with daddy. It is so fun to watch you explore the world with no fear.

Over the last 23 months we have watched you grow into a little girl right before our eyes. Happy 23 months baby girl, we love you!

Love

Mommy & Daddy (Coho too)

Happy 4th of July 2012

We spent the weekend on Vashon with the entire Boatman/Bates/Kelsey clan. Although the cabin was crowded it was so great to spend time with the family. Watching Kallie play with her cousins is much fun. She wants to do everything they do and does her best to keep up. She loves looking for crabbies on the beach with papa; she actually picks them right up showing no fear (she has no idea they can pinch her). We also went on boat rides with the new boat, played at the park, made sand castles, played games out front and Kallie even tried fishing off of the bulkhead. I have no doubt she will be ready for her first fishing trip with her daddy very soon!

We spent the 4th of July at home this year since it was in the middle of the week. Of course I had Kallie dressed in red, white and blue (thanks Grammy for the new shirt). We enjoyed the sunshine and spent lots of time outside playing in the sandbox, helping daddy wash the cars, blowing bubbles and playing with a bucket of water toys on the deck. We had a great family day which is just how it is supposed to be!

Letter to Daddy

Eric-

I talked to Kallie and we wanted to write you a little note to wish you a Happy Father's Day! You are the most amazing daddy I know. I always knew you would be a great dad but great does not even begin to describe the type of father you are . . . AMAZING is more like it.

I will never forget the moment when we saw Kallie for the first time, we both looked at here in amazement with tears in our eyes. She had you wrapped around her little finger from that moment on.

I remember when we brought Kallie home for the first time we just looked at each other and wondered what we were supposed to do next. We worked as a team and took it one day at a time.

Here we are 22 months later . . . and I feel so lucky to be on this journey with you. Thank you for being the best daddy and husband in the world. Happy Father's day . . . We love you!

Happy 22 Months Baby Girl!

Kallie- Today you turn 22 months old and continue to be the light of my life. You are such a spunky little girl that likes to keep us on our toes. You let us know exactly what you want and if you don’t get it you let us know that too (emotional just like your mama).

Your vocabulary is expanding every day. You are like a little parrot repeating everything we say . . . which can be good and bad if we are not careful! In the last month you have started to put 2 and sometimes 3 words together which is so fun. Some of your favorite words/phrases are:

Oh brother (Nana taught you this)
Birdies (sounds like boobies!)
Daddy Truck
Stop Sign
Bees
Siren Truck
Crabbies Beach
Kallie’s Jammies
Nake-Nake (which means you want to be naked)
Ah-Ha
Cup Cake (when referring to your cup cake sleepsack)
Follow Mommy

< You also love to read books, usually the same ones over and over and over and over! Your current favorite books to read before bed/nap are:

Good Night Ocean
The Armadillo Book – (you call them “Dillos”)
The Animal Book
Where’s Spot
Oliver (you call the book “Ollie”)

One of your favorite things to do is play chase with daddy. You both have strollers and run around the house chasing each other squealing with a big grin on your face (Daddy of course lets you win). You also love riding your scoot bike around the kitchen, pretending to make soup which we all have to taste, coloring, and playing your new Ernie and Bert dolls (courtesy of Grammy).

Watching you grow and discover the world has been so much fun. I am excited to see what’s next! I love you baby girl, Happy 22 months!

Love Mama

Holiday Weekend at the Beach

I love long weekends and more importantly I love spending time on Vashon. Vashon is the one place I can actually relax . . . WAIT not this year because Kallie was on the GO GO GO! I don’t think I sat down until she went to bed but watching her dig in the sand, pick up crabbies with Papa, go on a boat ride and play with her cousins was priceless. I know she is going to enjoy going to the beach as much as I did when I was little and that makes me very happy!