Pastina

Nana made Kate Pastina for the first time tonight, and she loved it! She looked so cute with those tiny little stars all over her sweet little face. It won't be long until she has her first "Nana meatball."

Dinosaur Day

Grace had a great time with her Lollipop friends at Luke's Dinosaur themed party this afternoon. She and her classmates played fun games and made amazing crafts (including a dinosaur sand art necklace and an erupting volcano). It was nice having a little one on one time with my big girl. 

Grace and Ava loved making their purple volcanos!

Bella, Joey, and Aaron did a great job making their volcanos, too! It was so cute to see their excitement when they erupted.

Double the Fun

We had such a fun morning celebrating Grant and Dean's birthdays at Bounce U! Andrew was in his glory, which made me think that Bounce U might be the perfect place to have his upcoming 3rd birthday party.  

Andrew and Dean had fun playing tee-ball.

Silly faces

Who's That Girl?

Grace LOVES to dress up! So, you can only imagine the excitement when she found one of my old dance recital costumes at LuLu and Pop's this afternoon! 

I think I was about 6 years old in this photo.

Gracie Grace - 4 and FABULOUS in her pearl clip on earrings and vintage dance costume!

Little Scoops

Recently, we've been having some super fun playdates with our Tumbles playgroup! We've been to In the Swing, Grandma's Kitchen, Montvale Lanes, and today we visited Little Scoops in Orangeburg. We had a wonderful time. The Mommies had fun catching up and rehashing the weekend, and our little sweethearts enjoyed their dance party and ice cream sundaes. Poor Andrew slept through the entire playdate, but he was happy to have some mints (his new favorite treat) at LuLu and Pop's before we headed home.

Grace enjoyed her strawberry ice cream and sprinkles, which she deemed, "Sprinklicious."

Swingset!

We have the luckiest kiddies in the world! When we arrived for Sunday dinner tonight, Nana and Grandpa had a huge surprise for Grace, Andrew, and Katherine... an amazing swingset! They are going to have so much fun swinging, climbing the rock wall, going down the slide, hanging from the monkey bars, and spending time in their clubhouse and at their picnic table! THANK YOU Nana and Grandpa! Our babies are so lucky to have such thoughtful grandparents! xoxo

Even though it was rainy, Grace and Andrew were happy to put on all their rain gear and check out their new clubhouse!

Party Rockin'

We celebrated Brady's 3rd birthday this morning at Kids U, and Grace and Andrew had a great time running through the obstacle course with their friends. 

Grace, Andrew, and Kate loved their fire fighter themed goody bags and cookies!

Jellybean Junction & Jack's 3rd

It's party central around here! We did a bit of party hopping today! Our first stop was a "pajama run" to Sook, which is our new favorite coffee and pastry shop in Ridgewood. Afterwards, we put on our party gear and headed to Emma's 4th birthday party at Jellybean Junction in Waldick. Grace and Andrew had so much fun at her "Princess and Pirate" themed party. They loved crafting their very own princess crown and pirate hat, and they had a great time playing with all of their storytime friends. Soon after Emma's party, we headed to Jack's 3rd birthday at Screamin' Parties where we bounced, danced, and slid the afternoon away!

Andrew loved having a dinosaur painted on his hand and snake painted on his arm! He looked just like his buddy, Hudson.

Andrew is our very own Lion King!

Can you tell he liked the cake?

Modeling her princess crown

Grace, Emma, and Riley

Party #2 - Juliana and Grace enjoying Jack's birthday bash. I was so busy going down the slide with Grace and Andrew that I hardly took any pictures!

American Idol?

There is only so much "kids music" that you can listen to when you're driving! Recently, we put The Bossy Frog Band, Laurie Berkner, and the Mary Poppin's CDs to rest, and we've been listening to the radio in the morning. Grace has become very fond of Katy Perry, and Andrew loves Fun's new hit "We  are Young." I was so happy that I was able to catch a snippet of our everyday life at a red light today!

7 Months

I can't believe our sweet baby girl is 7 months old today! Kate is extremely easygoing, and is constantly entertained by her big sister and brother! They're always trying to make her laugh, and she has the cutest belly laugh I've ever heard. She loves being sung to, smiling, and participating in our family "dance parties!" She now weighs 16 pounds, 12 ounces and is 27 1/4 inches! I'm guessing that she'll have her first tooth within the next few weeks. I can't believe our little baby is already sitting up by herself! She  enjoys playing with her toys, swinging at the park, and watching the world go by from her Baby Bjorn and stroller. I love spending my days with my babies! I feel so blessed to be the Mommy of my little sweethearts! Happy 7 Month Birthday, Katherine! You bring so much joy to all of our lives! 

"Sweets for the Sweet!"  Daddy brought home cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery for our 7 month celebration!

Happy 7 Month Birthday, "Katie Kate!" We Love You Like Crazy! XOXO

Sitting Up

During the last few days, Kate has been sitting up by herself, and I finally captured her latest milestone on camera. Kate and her friend, Jacqueline, had so much fun playing with their toys at playgroup this afternoon. These two are just too cute together!

Little Chick-A-Dees

I'm so happy that it's in the 80's today, because I was able to squeeze Kate into the outfit that was my absolute favorite when Grace was a baby!

Kate - 7 months

Grace - 5 months

Costume Debut

We're looking forward to Grace's upcoming dance recital! Today I dressed her up, and we had a photo shoot:-) I wanted to get the perfect picture for her program ad, and here it is!!! She's going to dance to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" from the Lion King.

We are ROARING with excitement for

Bernadette Grace our sweet LIONESS!

We Heart Aunt Ali!

We kicked off Grace's Spring Break with a visit from Aunt Ali! We had a fabulous day from start to finish! We started off at Presentation Park with some coffee and donuts, and then we headed home for some lunch from the Lettuce Inn. Grace had so much fun dressing and beautifying her princesses with Aunt Ali! Afterwards, we went to Krazee Kups for some frozen yogurt, and we ended our day at Wood Dale Park. We took a walk and played at the park. We love when Aunt Ali comes to visit!!!

My girls in their matching "Daddy's Little Cupcake" outfits!

Aunt Ali and the "Colonna Cuties"

Grace and Andrew love the balance beam at Wood Dale!

Bowling

Playgroup was extra special this afternoon! We went to the Montvale Lanes, and Grace had her first bowling experience (with a pink bowling ball... of course). The highlight was when she got a SPARE (the bumpers helped a bit, too)! It's going to be nice having Grace home this week for Spring Break!

Grace and Bella

Hudson, Quinn, Grace, Bella, Colin, and Sean

Annual Klein Easter Celebration

We had a fabulous afternoon celebrating Easter with the entire Klein Klan! Our little sweethearts were SO EXCITED to play with all of their cousins!!! Soon after we arrived at Uncle Ed and Aunt Suzanne's, the doorbell rang, and the Easter Bunny left a letter for all the children. Each child was anxious to hear what the bunny had to say about him/her. Then we headed outside for the Easter Egg Hunt. After unscrambling the letters in each of the eggs, the children found their Easter gifts! Grace, Andrew, and Kate loved their new books and toys! We had a great time with the Aunt Maylene's famous confetti eggs (there were almost 200 this year)! It was such a fun day from start to finish! We are blessed to have such an amazing family, and it was nice to spend time with ALL of our loved ones! It was certainly a Happy Easter, and we loved sharing it with our newest bunny, Katherine Rose.

LuLu always reads the annual Easter Bunny letter to the family.

Grace was beaming when the Easter Bunny spoke about her upcoming dance recital.

Confetti Egg Mayhem

Poor Uncle Wally even had a confetti egg smashed in the back of his pants! LOL

LuLu is the biggest character of all!

Happy 1st Easter, Kate! xoxo

LuLu and her 11 grandchildren

LuLu and Pop with the Klein/Colonna kids

It was such a beautiful day! All of the children had a wonderful time playing outside, and Grace broke in her new softball glove.