Katelynn's Big Day!

Birthday breakfast of pancakes and bacon...yummy!
Having lunch at The American Girl Cafe with her bitty baby.
Katelynn shared her tasty cake with Gran, Nana, Brother and Mommy.
Daddy's home! Time for dinner and then off to bed.

We celebrated Katelynn's 1st birthday with a trip to the American Girl Store in LA. Our first experience to an American Girl Place was in New York City when Joanna and Nancy went and picked out a doll for Katelynn before she was even born! We had a great four-course lunch and celebrated with a beautiful pink and white cake with pink peppermint ice cream. After lunch we shopped the store and Katelynn got a new crib for her bitty baby. It was a really great day and we had a fun time.

Katelynn's 1st Birthday Party!

The Mitchell family at Katlelynn's 1st Birthday Party!

Have you ever seen cuter flowers?

Katelynn enjoyed the cake, but spent most of her time,

squishing it between her fingers and just took tiny bites.

That is, until she tried to take a big bite out of the plate!

Katelynn even shared her little cake with her big brother.

Katelynn enjoying some white chocolate from her other cake.

(She had a tiny one all for herself and then we enjoyed a big, yummy cake for the party guests)

Katelynn with her new blankie.

Katelynn's 1st birthday was a so much fun! Even though we had rain for the past two weekends, we were blessed with beautiful weather on the day of her party. We celebrated at her grandparents house in Encinitas with our wonderful family and friends. Carson had a blast playing with his cousins in the backyard and Katelynn had fun being carried around and socializing. She was in a great mood the entire time and had a big lunch, ate her cake, and opened her gifts. Her last present was a new blankie from Mommy and Daddy which she snuggled with immediately. She quickly went off for a nap and didn't wake up until the next morning! What a wonderful day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a fun Valentine's Day in the Mitchell house. We started with a breakfast of eggs with heart-shaped toast and then opened gifts. Carson got a "Cars" mailbox with another car inside. Katelynn got a piggy book that tells a story when you clap it's hands. We took the kids to their first trip to Philipe's, a famous LA sandwich shop for lunch. We ordered out for dinner and watched Madagascar 2. What a romantic day, right?!? We had fun, though.

Moving day (hopefully the last one for a while!)

Reggie, all packed up and ready to go!
Carson riding his bike in the UHaul.

Loading up the truck was a hard job. Too much stuff, not enough room!
It took a lot of paitence and strategy to get our things to fit...and we still had to go and rent a trailer to pull behind the UHaul.

Katelynn needs her own quiet space, so she slept in our closet the first two days in our new home, while we were getting her room together.

We've made it back to SoCal! After a very long weekend of packing, loading, moving, cleaning and driving...we did it. We finally finished up at our home in Danville just after 7pm and startd the drive to Orange County. We have such awesome friends and family that helped us out. Some traveled to Danville to help us load up the truck and help us drive, while others met us in Mission Viejo in our new home. We are so happy to be back in Southern California, near our families. Carson really has enjoyed having his grandparents, aunts and uncles come over to his house every week.

Katelynn's New Ride!

Katelynn has finally grown out of her baby carseat. She couldn't straighten out her legs without kicking the seat, so I guess it was about time. (Don't tell her, but she was using a hand-me-down from Carson) She loves her big girl carseat and Carson likes to tell me about "Sissy's new brown seat"

Fresh veggies..straight from the garden!

Carson loves to pick veggies at Nana and Grandpa's house. Now that he has learned to count a bit, he uses it to his advantage. When Grandpa helps him pick one, Carson says, "No, two carrots." Of course, Grandpa get two for him!

Gettin' her groove on!

Paul and I still have not figured out where our kids get their rhythm. It is obviously something that they were both born with, because we don't have any skills to pass on to them! Carson loved gettin' down to the music and we found out last week that Katelynn likes to dance too. Gotta' love dance parties in the kitchen!

She's eating us out of house and home!!!

How is it that a 20 pound, 10 month old baby can eat more that I do for breakfast?

This morning Katelynn had:

1/2 cup cheerios

1/2 of a pear

1 container of yogurt

2 sausage links

1 scrambled egg

I remember when Carson went through this phase of non-stop eating and it confused me then...where do they put it all?!?

Time flies...even when you're not having fun!

First of all, I have to apologize for taking so long to put up chrismas pictures. Our life has been pretty hectic since christmas week. I figured I should tell a little bit about what we have been up to.

On christmas eve, we got the call that Paul's grandfather had passed away. We were expecting it, but it was still a very sad time. He was a great man who served in the Navy and was a devoted husband and father. We spent christmas eve researching flights back to Boston. The kids went to bed and as I finished dishes at 11:57pm, I thought with anticipation, "It's almost Chrismas!" Then I heard Carson crying, he had gotten the stomach flu and was sick the entire night. Merry stinkin' christmas!
Christmas Day went better than I expected, given the night that we had all been through. Carson woke in good spirits and we had a fun morning together, opening presents and enjoying being together.
We drove to San Diego the day after christmas and spent some time with family before we flew to Boston for Grandpa's funeral. It was a sad occasion, but we did have a good visit with our family on the East Coast. Sadly, our kids never got a chance to meet Grandpa, but we were so happy to have them meet Grammy and spend time with her.
Thankfully, we made it back to San Diego, despite a major snow storm that was dropping an inch an hour in Boston and thick fog that threatened to close the San Diego airport.
Paul and I spent the weekend in SoCal looking for a place to live in Orange County. We found a home in Missin Viejo and signed the lease last Monday. Paul's mom drove up with the kids and I last week to our home in Danville and helped me get started on packing.
So, we are moving to Mission Viejo at the end of the month. Paul is still commuting back up to Northern California to see us on the weekends and living in LA during the week. Our life is crazy right now and I look forward to getting us back to living under one roof as a family!
I better get back to packing. Enjoy the photos from the past month. Hope all is well with everyone!

All she wants for christmas is her two front teeth!

About a week before Chrismas, Katelynn got in two more teeth. Her top two came in within a day of eachother. She loves to throw her head back and give a big grin to show off her new teeth.

All the Mitchell's...

Through the years, we have taken many "family photos" at occasions, weddings, baptisms, birthdays, vacations, etc. For some reason, even with all of the attempts at events, we have not been able to get a photo with everyone in it. So, here it is...after many years, the long-awaited Mitchell Family Photograph...enjoy!

Meeting Grammy...

Just after christmas we flew back to Boston and spent two days with Paul's family there. Carson and Katelynn had not met their Great-Grammy yet and enjoyed spending time with her. Happy baby, Katelynn with Mommy and Grammy.

Daddy, Carson and Katelynn talking to Grammy.

Carson had a great time playing cars with Grammy. She loved hearing about all of his different colored cars and even let him use her leg as a parking garage. Carson had the best compliment of all when Grammy told him, "Grandpa sure would have loved you."

Katelynn's First Christmas.

Our stockings, hung by the fireplace, waiting for Santa to fill them with goodies.
Looks like Santa was here!

Carson got a Radio Flyer Tricycle, which he calls, "Santa bike."

Katelynn holding her new wooden spoon to go with their play kitchen.

The Mitchell Family on Christmas Day 2008.

Even though our night was filled with laundry and sickness, we still managed to have a good christmas day. Both of the kids had fun opening their gifts (Carson had fun opening any gift he could get his hands on) They each took long naps throughout the day, and we all had a christmas dinner together. We really enjoyed our family christmas this year.

Twas' the Night Before Christmas...

Sharing Santa's cookies and milk with "Sissy"
The minute I put out Santa's treats, Carson went and grabbed his chair, pulled it up next to the table and began to eat. (He ate the cookies and milk last year too!)

Katelynn showing off her Chrismas Pj's

Twas' the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring...until about midnight, when I heard Carson crying and Paul calling for my help. Christmas began very early in our house, when Carson came down with the stomach flu and threw up throughout the night. He finally fell asleep for a couple of hours at 7am and woke feeling better, so we were able to open presents and see what Santa brought.

Santa sightings...are sometimes scary.

Carson and Katelynn met Santa twice this year. Katelynn had the same reaction both times, she sat on his lap and smiled until she realized that Mommy was standing in front of her. She slowly looked up at the bearded man and her big pouty lip came out followed quickly by tears and crying. Carson figured out quickly that you get candy after meeting Santa, so now if you inquire about what he will ask Santa for, he says, " Candy cane, Santa."

All smiles while waiting to meet Jolly Ol' St. Nick.

Katelynn just realized that she was sitting on Santa's lap!

Christmas Cookies...Yummy!

Carson had a fun playdate last week when his friend from church, Riley came over to decorate cookies. The boys did a great job overloading their cookies with sprinkles, colored sugar and frosting. Yummy! Carson and Riley decorating christmas cookies

(or just eating frosting and licking the sprinkles shaker)

Riley enjoying his first bite of cookie after the hard work

of decorating was done.

Carson found it was more fun putting the frosting his mouth,

than it was on the cookies!

Decorating for Christimas

Decorating the house was a bit of a challenge this year, but was also a lot of fun. Katelynn tried to empty boxes and eat the packaging. ( I tell people that she is our "Little Goat" since she seeks out paper from across the room to go and munch on) Carson liked picking out ornaments and choosing the perfect branch to hang them on (The poor tree struggles to hold all of Carson's decorations on just two of it's little branches) Carson had a lot of fun this year choosing decorations and placing them on the tree.

Katelynn showing off our decorations in the front yard.

Every object in Carson's world becomes a race track.

Katelynn checking out a box of decorations.

Oh Christmas Tree...

The Mitchell Family with their tiny tree.
Always smiling, Katelynn enjoying the brisk, winter air at the tree lot.

Carson had fun this year picking out the best tree for the family.

Daddy's New Job.

Paul got a new job! His previous employer, Mervyn's that moved us from Seattle to the Bay Area declared bankruptcy and closed their corporate offices within 5 months of us moving to California. Paul began his job hunt and was fortunate enough to get an offer from, Superba, a large neckwear manufacturer in Los Angeles. Paul started his job as Director of Merchandising within 2 days of accepting the job. He is staying with friends and family during the week and commuting back to the Bay Area on the weekends for the next month. So, for the time being, as Carson would say, "Daddy L.A."

Katelynn's First Thanksgiving.

Katleynn helped herself to Carson's appeitzers and had her first taste of Ritz crackers.

Yummy! Carson digging into his thanksgiving feast.

Katelynn enjoyed fruit puffs and a tiny taste of turkey.

Thanksgiving this year was a quiet day at home, just the four of us. We watched the parade in the morning, and football in the afternoon. Joanna made a turkey breast with all the yummy side dishes, and we enjoyed having a feast with our little family sitting at the table together.