TWO!!

26 June we celebrated Jack and Kara's second birthday!  They actually had two parties, the first was at their school and the second was at home.

The party at school was actually just cupcakes after lunch, not really a party.  We sang happy birthday to Jack, Kara, and Kazuma (a classmate that shared their birthday).  Ainsley joined us from her classroom as well.  Below is me, Matt, and Ainsley right after singing happy birthday:

Saturday Ainsley helped me to make a cake which I split in two so that Jack and Kara could each have their own cake.  I learned later in the day an important parenting lesson - Ainsley was BESIDE herself because she didn't have a cake too.  She felt really left out, even though I did a lot of extra effort in including her in the cake making and got her a gift as well.   Rather than a party, we invited just a couple of their friends for cake and snacks at our place.  It was short and sweet!

Here are my birthday babies!  I couldn't get them to take a good picture because they were eating a big plate of fruit.

All was going well with sharing a chair and the fruit until Jack decided he would push Kara off of the chair to make more room (and more fruit) for himself...

This is Jack's happy birthday song.  He doesn't look happy here, but at the end of the song he livened up and smiled :-)  (side note: Ainsley did her own hair, can you tell?!)

And here is Kara's happy birthday song...

Then the best part - NEW TOYS!

A little bit about each of them...

Kara can usually be found either playing with Ainsley (below they are coloring together), following Ainsley, watching Ainsley, or talking about an injustice blamed on Ainsley.  She plays with Jack when Ainsley is not around, but most of the time playtime with Jack ends in Jack biting or pinching Kara, which upsets her tremendously.  Kara is our emotional one.  She is either very happy or very upset, rarely does she choose a middle ground.  She loves to snuggle and really likes to be carried by mom or dad as much as possible.  She has the most pure laugh and belly-deep giggle you have ever heard...and on the flip side has the loudest scream audible by human ears.  She loves to eat, loves to sleep, and loves to be silly.  She is a gift to us, but we definitely are learning how to handle her extreme emotions!  Some nick names we have for Kara: Kara Jean, Kara Jean-bean, Kara June-boon, KK-loo, June-bug, and Foghorn.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Jack.  Jack is even-keel most of the time, fairly mellow and loves to play by himself.  The only exception to his calm demeanor is when he gets angry at his sisters or a random kid who is not in line with Jack's objectives.  He is most often found playing with his cars, dirt, or with a ball of some sort.  He likes to be around us or in the same room, but likes to do his own thing.  He is also an independent thinker and likes to try to do things on his own and gets really frustrated when he cannot do something without help.  He likes to play with Kara and Ainsley if they are playing with cars, dirt, or a ball.  Sometimes he dabbles in crayons, but only in passing to find cars, dirt, or a ball.  Some nick names we have for Jack: Sweet boy, Jack-Jack, and Jackie.

It has been a great two years filled with joy, sleepless nights, exhaustion, laughter, and fun.  Matt and I are sincerely enjoying parenthood of our three little munchkins.  As we celebrated the milestone of Jack and Kara turning two, we reflected on how we truly feel lucky to be the parents of Ainsley, Jack, and Kara.