Kati's 2nd Birthday

My baby girl isn't a baby any more! We celebrated Katarina's 2nd birthday in Snowmass Village with Lolo, Lola, and Tita Christine because Lola was lecturing at a conference there.



Katarina was thrilled to have her very own slice of chocolate cake with ice cream! After we sang "Happy Birthday" and everyone else grabbed a spoon, Kait-Lily grabbed the plate and declared "Mine!" We were each granted a bite or two in the end, though.





Yum, yum, yum! Birthday dessert is all finished.



Nuzzling noses with Tita:



Being too little to ski just meant that Katarina enjoyed being spoiled by Lolo and Lola her entire birthday weekend. Her birthday lunch (while I was on the slopes) consisted entirely of French fries!



Katarina now weighs 23.4 lbs, measures 31.25 inches tall, and has a head circumference of 18.25 inches. All of her measurements are around the 5th percentile.



Katarina's preschool teacher fixes her hair in a new style every time she attends class. She's always very cute when I pick her up.





My "big" girl, painting a picture:

Gabi's 7th Birthday

Gabi's 7th birthday was on a Saturday, so we held her party on her actual birthday. Lolo, Lola, and Tita Chrissie were all here to celebrate with us, too!

As Gabi's guests arrived for her party, we painted their nails and decorated them with heart and flower stickers.

Then the girls made two kinds of friendship bracelets together.

Of course the girls took time to play and act silly!

Gabi chose a "Hippie Chick" birthday girl theme for her party decorations.

For lunch, we served sandwiches and let the girls cut them into fun shapes with cookie cutters. Then we had sugar cookies to decorate for dessert! Some of the cookies were 3-D animal shapes, like these seals:

Before we ate our decorated cookies, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Gabi.

At the end of the party, Gabi opened her gifts.

Friday afternoon, Gabi brought cookies to school for a birthday celebration with her whole class. The kids sang "Happy Birthday Cha-cha-cha!"

Gabi's favorite birthday gift is the pulley that Bella gave her! Gabi's friend Max has one in his room which she thought was cool, so she'd asked for one. The kids enjoyed sending toys upstairs and down in the bucket, and now it is installed on the bunk bed (which of course keeps them up a bit later every night, passing stuffed animals back and forth).

Gabi's big birthday gift was a new bicycle! The weather has been gorgeous and sunny this week, so we've spent some time riding bikes on the Greenway.

Bella's birthday parties

We originally scheduled Bella's birthday party the weekend of her actual birthday, but it so happened that all her friends were spending that weekend in the mountains with their families. We rescheduled her tea party with her friends, but we still held a family party the weekend of Bella's birthday. Here I will share pictures from both parties.

Tea Party with Friends
Bella's rescheduled birthday party was a month late, but the kids had a great time at the Denver Tea Room!

The girls enjoyed Strawberry Fruit Tea served in mini-tea pots, scones with jam, turkey floret sandwiches, strawberries and cream cheese on toast rounds, cookies, and ice cream sundaes.

Katarina especially loved her scone!

Bella's guests included her sisters, plus Gabriela, her friend from preschool, Sofia, a friend we met at the playground, and Ella, our next-door neighbor who is Gabi's age.

Sisters at the Tea Party

Ella

Sofia

Gabriela

Birthday girl

Prince Daddy

Mommy and Daddy even dressed up for Bella's fancy party, as Giselle and Prince Edward from the movie Enchanted. The girls gave me this princess Giselle dress for my birthday early, specifically so I could wear it to the tea party.

Family Swim Party
The weekend of Bella's birthday, we had a family swim party at one of the neighborhood swimming pools with Lolo, Lola, Tita Chrissie, Bella's godparents Ashley and Patrick, and cousins Joseph and Katelyn.

During adult swim, the kids played in the fountain and at the water table play area.