Hey mom, do I look handsome or what?!

Rusty and Kaia had so much fun at Amy's wedding this past weekend. I think they both LOVED the chocolate fountain and accompanying treats to dip in it, but I loved how adorable they looked. Nate's mom did an amazing job on Kaia's dress and I was sad we didn't get any pictures of them at the reception, so we took a few snap shots after church today. I would like to say that's why I couldn't get them to sit still in the pictures, but anyone who's been around them for more than 5 minutes knows that's just who they are!

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Ghostbusters!

Rusty and I have been looking forward to his party since last October. He outlined the plans right after Kaia's party and I think we did a pretty good job making it all happen. He's never actually seen the movies and it's been quite a while since I've watched them, but all you really need to know is the theme song, right?

We did have a little scare about 10 days before the party when he thought he wanted to switch to a Lego Star Wars theme, but I quickly reminded him of the plan and how much cooler the Ghostbusters were.

Trying on the back packs, which in theory were a great idea but I should have taken Rusty's advice and used a stapler.

Cutest Slimer ever!

Marshmallow gun "feeding" Slimer...yum!

Ghost shooting with Nerf Guns. Favorite one liner from Rusty after the girls turn: "Come on guys lets give the girls a hand, they tried."

*Ghost hunting or in Rusty's words, "an easter egg hunt but with suckers wrapped up like ghosts" - exactly!

*Plan: Dance party in the kitchen and Nate, aka Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, would enter, the kids would spray him and he would go down. *Reality: Nate came in with both guns blazing. I'm pretty sure most of the kids were freaked out at first, but then they got into it and blasted him back. HUGE mess, but tons of fun to watch! :)

*Junk food at Slimer's Snack Stand (the after picture...I didn't think to get a before shot).

Project 52

I always get motivated to update my blog when I see blog books...and then it fades as soon as I give the book back. But since it's a new year, I set a goal to take at least 1 picture a week and so far I'm a winner! (It's easy to achieve success if you set your standards low!)

Who knew cleaning out the coat closet would be so much fun! Soldier Rusty and his little sidekick.

Kaia LOVES to color and I'm pretty sure she is going to be a wall artist if I don't keep the crayons/markers/pens hidden.

Rusty's Lego obsession is still going strong. While they usually don't leave his room, he brought some into Kaia's room so they could play by each other. I'm such a nice mom! :) I love how he creates scenes and acts them out in different voices.

You know that feeling when you realize it's too quiet? I was so relieved to find them just hanging out in the laundry basket.

Snack Time

Kaia is a huge lover of junk food and anything you can dip. Her constant plea of more & please, followed by shoving if you don't get it fast enough is exhausting, but she's cute so we let her get away with it. The other day I was sharing my cottage cheese with her and I took the last bite, I thought she was going to DIE. Just when I thought she'd calm down, she'd pick up the empty bowl look at me and then start sobbing again. It's a mystery to me how she is still in the 1% (not quite 1, but really close).

Lately, her favorite spot to snack is on the stairs.

Enjoying the Cold

We decided to bundle up and embrace the sunshining 24 degree weather today. It was the perfect way to start the new year!

Kaia sliding down backwards on her tummy...

A few favorite moments from Christmas:

...the "life savers"

Just because I think this is cute - Kaia loves to be pushed around in her little doll stroller and Rusty is usually the one stuck pushing her. He is such a good brother!

Kaia's 1!

Pictures from Kaia's Fairy Princess and Pirate birthday party...

*The pirate patches came with earings and the boys all wanted to wear them :) *With out question, this was Kaia's favorite part of the party. She finished off her cupcake and 2 fairy ice cream cones - way to go little Clara Belle!

*Rusty used his own money to pick out and buy Kaia her present (well at least $2 of it, but he was really excited about it)

*We played pin the patch on the pirate and pin the crown on the princess (you can kind of see it on the wall below). We also hid one of her presents and made the pirates go on a hunt to find it.

*Getting ready for the pinata...
*Some of the decorations

We love our sweet little Kaia! She is such a little girl and so far loves anything girly. As soon as Nate put her little stroller together she grabbed one of her new dolls and put her in it and started pushing/pulling it around. In the words of Rusty, "you're my favorite Kaia ever!"