Category Archives: age

Sibling Snapshot

April 3, 2017

With the new spring season, it’s time for another sibling snapshot! Totally meant to do one each season and already missed winter! WHOOPS! Anyways, WOW these kids have changed so much since the last one I did (see that post here), especially Leo with all his new words! Ivy’s become such a good big sister and I love to see siblings interact and play together. Anxious to add another in the mix in June! Here are the Koch Kiddos!

Ivy | 3.5 years

My, oh, my how she’s grown up! She is seeming so old and mature lately! She has full on embraced her role as ‘big sister’. Ivy can be so sweet to him and just wants to play together all the time and watch over him, on the other hand, she totally pesters him and wants him to talk and talk which doesn’t work out so well for either of them since Leo really only says 2-3 word sentences right now! She is in preschool two days a week and I’m so proud of her being such a good and well-behaved little student!

Ivy is COMPLETELY obsessed with Barbies and almost always has one (or five) in her hand. Her favorite show to watch is anything on YouTube Kids, where you usually find her watching other kids playing with their barbies, then she goes into her room to reenact it, which is hilarious to hear her talk with her barbies! :) She also loves to sing – Frozen, Moana, and “Ophelia” by the Lumineers, which is a personal fave. Her hair is getting darker and darker and she mostly loves to wear a bow, except occasionally asks for “two braids like Anna from Frozen.” Ivy dresses herself every morning and I love to see what she picks out (most of the time!)! Totally her own style and I don’t dare buy her anything without her approval bc I’ve mom failed on that too many times. Her favorite colors are purple and pink. She asks about a MILLION questions a day and is basically constantly talking. Ivy is sweet and sassy and couldn’t imagine her any other way!


Leo | 22 months

Leo, oh, Leo. My blue eyed blonde haired little boy. He’s still soooo sweet and LOVES to cuddle, totally unlike Ivy who will hardly give a hug or a kiss! This past month, he’s gone from about 20 words to I swear like 200 overnight! All of a sudden he just started saying everything we were saying! About time! So nice to be able to communicate with him. He’s learning so much every day. His favorite thing to do is anything with trucks or a ball. He loves to make noises with his trucks and vroom vroom them, and also loves to kick or shoot his basketball around. Leo is always hearing when a truck or plane are going by and pointing it out. His first words were Mommy, Daddy, and truck. Haha. He also LOVES to read. I tend to find him in his room reading books on his chair :) So awesome!

Leo has gotten quite the stubborn and hard-headed attitude lately though. He’s hard to forget something and won’t give in until he gets what he wants! He is usually totally independent and can just play and play all by himself, or with Ivy. He still sucks his last two fingers when he’s tired or gets anxious and I feel like he’ll never outgrow that! Humph! And we are literally having to tape the waistband on the outside of his onesies underneath his clothes so that he stays out of his pants! He is constantly trying to get down his diaper to play with his parts! He somehow shimmies his diaper down even with a onesie and zip-up pjs or clothes on then pees all over himself! So tape is doing the trick for now. Ridiculous! Must be another soothing thing for him or something, it’s gotten out of hand, and gross!!!


These two are so much fun to watch grow up! I really love having a boy and a girl, they’re so different, but so alike. Best of all is to watch them interact and have fun together, always a playmate! Thank goodness!

Sibling Snapshot

October 17, 2016

These kids are growing up so much!! And so fast! I really can’t believe Ivy is THREE and Leo is now 16 months! They’ve changed so much the past couple months, there’s some things I want to remember from this age and I’m a total stat person, so I love to know their height/weight percentages. Ivy’s grown up from her terrible twos and Leo’s learning a new word each week it seems like! So much fun at these young ages.

Emily Mitton Photography Emily Mitton Photography

My shirt // my pants // Ivy’s dress // Leo’s shirt // Leo’s jeans

Photos by Emily Mitton Photography


Ivy || 3 years

Whew, the week Ivy turned three she was a FULL ON THREENAGER. I was like WHAT HAPPENED. After a few days of seriously pulling my hair out and wanting my two year old back, she’s now developed into her sweet spunky self again. What I love most about Ivy, is how she really tries to understand and learn. She talks and talks and talks. She’s not one to throw tantrums too often, but if she does, all we have to do is explain to her why she doesn’t get that, or what is happening. She’s so good at understanding and communicating. So thankfully, we haven’t had too many meltdowns… yet.

ivy

Ivy started preschool this year and she is LOVING it. Every day she comes home singing a new riddle or song. I love that she is interacting with other kids and adults, learning responsibility and independence, and learning how to behave in different settings. I’m a total school nerd (ex teacher here), so I love that she is involved in education at a young age. She’s also in gymnastics and is suuuuuper flexible and LOVES to bound all over the place! She is quite coordinated, yay!

leotard

This girl has SO MUCH ENERGY. She could do 10 million different things in a day and still be all over the place. Although, she does love to relax and watch a show, that doesn’t last long then she’s on to the next thing! She’s so spunky and hilarious and totally psycho sometimes! Haha :) She is still into anything Frozen, she wants to be Anna and Elsa for Halloween and requested Leo be Olaf, so that’s cute :) She’s totally girl still and always wanting to wear a dress!

Ivy is getting to be much more independent, which is sooo nice, and she absolutely LOVES Leo. Always looking after him and helping him. She’s his voice and it’s super cute.

doctor doctor

With Doctor Shannon Ashbaugh! Ivy loves to play Doctor, minus the real shots! ;)

Stats

height | 3ft 2 in (38 inches) – 80 %

weight | 31 lb 11.2 oz – 61%


Leo || 16 months

My sweet Leeeeeeeoooo. Love this boy so much. He’s so sensitive and sweet and cuddly, but can also be outright feisty at times. He literally throws himself on the ground and puts his head on his hands if he’s upset with something. It’s so cute and funny at the same time! Although he’s trying to send a message/throwing a tantrum, I can’t help but pick him up and squeeze him when he does it. It’s too adorable! Leo is still sucking his two fingers, like, pretty sure that’s never going to stop. Teeth are moving and all that, so that’s awesome. I’ll stop that habit someday, but he’s just a sweet little baaaaaby still so you go ahead and use that as comfort Leo!

leo

He is really trying to be a big kid! He wants to be doing whatever Ivy is doing and is so good at playing independently. He can just play and play by himself, so nice. Leo is in to anything that makes noise and moves. He especially loves when airplanes fly overhead when we’re outside, he always points up to the sky. Loves his cars and things that go!

carLeo is such an easy going kid. He just lays down on your shoulder, cuddles, never obnoxious or naughty. Just a plain ole good sweet kid. He’s learning quickly lately, has a new word almost every week – mama, dada, dog, nigh nigh, baby, mooo, are some of his favorites. Love this kid. He’s really too good to be true.

leo

Poor lil guy here. He had his well check but also wasn’t feeling good. So sad for this lil fella! Oh and he not only LOVES his two fingers, but he’s got this new thing going on where he puts his hands down his pants! Sometimes pulls his diaper down so far to reach his you know what that then he pees outside of his diaper! UGH! Oh and he also loves putting his hand down shirts to reach nipples, and I mean anyones. Mine, John’s, anybody who is holding him. Super weird and uncomfortable! Such a guy!!!! :) Haha

Stats

height | 2ft 8 in (32 inches) – 81 %

weight | 24 lb 0.1 oz – 63 %

head| 78%
He used to be 98%! So he’s finally growing into his head. Yay!


Ivy’s Mermaid Inspired 3rd Birthday!

October 4, 2016

Ivy turned THREE last weekend! I can’t believe our first born is THREE! Whew! We had a such a fun weekend throwing her a little party and celebrating our newly three year old!

She is totally into Ariel and Little Mermaid (also my FAVORITE Disney movie!!!) lately so she had asked for a mermaid party. I couldn’t wait to throw her an Under the Sea party with mermaids, sea creatures, and lots of blue and purple! Most of all, I couldn’t WAIT for her to dress like a mermaid in her surprise outfit from Carken Design! She was sooooo adorable in it and wore it ALL DAY LONG. Loved it! And almost all of her girlfriends showed up in mermaid costumes too, it was SO FREAKING CUTE!

Mermaid Inspired Birthday PartyMermaid Inspired Birthday Party Mermaid Inspired Birthday Party

I was really excited about this theme because there are so many great ideas out there and who doesn’t love mermaids?! I knew I wanted an arch like this birthday party had, and thankfully, Queen City Balloon Bar reached out to me and wanted to make it for me! He did AMAZING and it turned out so great! Ivy couldn’t believe her eyes when she came downstairs in the morning! The arch was the main centerpiece for the party and I really didn’t need much else for decorations after that. Just some good food to fill the table!

Mermaid Inspired Birthday PartyMermaid Inspired Birthday Party

I decided to make Pioneer Woman’s chicken salad and it was SUCH A DELICIOUS RECIPE. Some chicken salads are so mayonnaisy, but this one was equal parts mayonnaise, sour cream, and half and half, which made it so good! I bought a star shaped cookie cutter to turn them into starfish chicken salad sandwiches. Super cute! I made shells and cheese for the kids, and we had some salads and chips and dips too. For desserts, we had seaweed (sour belts), gummy sharks, and cupcakes with mermaid fins on them made of ice cream cones and mermaid fin cupcake toppers! Loved those! So with the theme! I just cut a little bit of the top of end of the cone to fit part of the fin down there. Easy! And can’t forget about the most delicious cakes in Sioux Falls! From Sugar’s Baked Goods and Sweet Treats, plain vanilla with vanilla buttercream frosting, mmmm mmmmm. Overall, everything was delicious!

Mermaid Inspired Birthday Party

candy jar | cake stand | tassel garland | mermaid fin cupcake topperMermaid Inspired Birthday Party Mermaid Inspired Birthday Party Mermaid Inspired Birthday Party

plates | turquoise snack platesMermaid Inspired Birthday Party

We put together some goodie bags for the kids to use during the party and they turned out so cute! I went pretty generic and did the Little Mermaid surplus with lots of fun toys and girly items like necklaces, bracelets, and hair bows to wear!

Mermaid Inspired Birthday Party

sequin silver tableclothwelcome sign| bags

And the invitations were equally as perfect!!! And you could choose between a blond haired mermaid, red haired mermaid, or a brunette mermaid! Cute!

Mermaid Inspired Birthday Party

Invitation | Cake Topper 

For the craft during the party, I found this fun and easy “Ocean in a bottle” activity on Pinterest, but totally amped it up! I bought sea creatures and big seashells and mini seashells for the kids to add to their bottles, and I had leftover glitter from Ivy’s party last year, so we added that in there as well!  The kids had so much fun making theirs and it was super easy for everyone to do! And thank goodness the mess was outside! :)

Mermaid Inspired Birthday Party Mermaid Inspired Birthday Party Mermaid Inspired Birthday Party Mermaid Inspired Birthday Party

And look at all these cute girls (and Leo, hehe!!) in their costumes! Ivy had so much fun with all of her girlfriends!

Mermaid Inspired Birthday

At the very end of the party, we surprised her with a motorized Jeep! She freaked and has basically been in it ever since, running into EVERYTHING! Hopefully she gets the hang of it eventually! Leo’s too scared to ride with her! :) Haha!

Mermaid Inspired Birthday Party

Such a fun mermaid inspired theme! Lots of fun to decorate! Hope you had a fabulous birthday Ivy! We love you! Happy 3rd Birthday!

Happy 3rd Birthday Ivy!

October 1, 2016

Mermaid inspired birthdayIvy turns three today! October 1, whew! Can’t believe it was already three years ago! (See birth story here) It went by so fast, but at the same time it feels like I’ve had kids forever!

Looking back at her 2nd birthday post (here), it’s so funny to see her walking around so little, and look at Leo in the video, teeny! She was so proud singing her ABC’s! And to think of her now, saying all her letters so well, talking NON-STOP about everything, using her imagination more than ever, going to preschool, wow, really hits ya how much she’s changed in a year.

Couldn’t be happier with how she’s growing up (well ok, minus the telling me “no” and running away lately), Ivy, you’re too smart for your own good, and we love your spunk! I’m so proud of you and how you are always looking after your brother. You are certainly sweet and spicy, more spicy than sweet, but those few sweet moments where you actually want a hug and kiss make them that much better! We love you and all your rambunctiousness! Happy 3rd birthday Ivy! XOXO

Mermaid inspired birthday

Mermaid skirt // peplum mermaid top // balloons // tassel banner

More on her mermaid inspired birthday party later this week! Isn’t this outfit to die for?! She was so freaking cute in it!!!!


Here’s the time machine to look back at how she’s grown from birth, year 1, year 2, and now year 3! Besides longer hair, she doesn’t look too different from year 2 to 3. Same little devilish smirk! :)

ivy3yearsold

A video about Ivy. She’s improved a lot on her ABC’s from last year! See last year’s video here. I feel like her favorite colors will ALWAYS be “pink and purple!” She’s so funny.

Love you Ivy! Happy 3rd birthday!

Mermaid Birthday Party Inspiration

September 15, 2016

Ivy turns THREE on October 1st! So cute and so crazy that she is going to be THREE! My goodness. Ivy said she wanted a “mermaid party!” She sings “Part of Your World” (and “Tomorrow” from Annie!!!) all day and it’s so cute. She loves to play with her Ariel Little Mermaid barbie, so I wasn’t surprised she picked mermaids, which is totally ok with me because Little Mermaid was my FAVORITE as a kid! Totally living vicariously through her for this party! :)

Cutest theme for a three year old – “Join us Under the sea, Ivy is turning three!” Adorable. Can’t wait to celebrate her big day! Here’s some inspiration I’ve gathered up so far. Tons of cute ideas out there!

Mermaid Under the Sea Party Inspiration

balloons // tassel garland // under the sea invitation // happy birthday banner // mermaid cake topper // mermaid fin cupcake topper // sequined peplum top // sequined mermaid skirt


I’m obsessed with that Carken Designs mermaid skirt and top! So fun! Ivy is going to FLIP!

And I LOVE the color scheme, the invitations are perfect for it. They even come in a blonde, brunette, or redheaded mermaid! How amazing is that? And what I usually always look for, is to see if they have the extra stationery for the party, and this invitation had other matching items! Favor tags, welcome sign and thank you cards! All to make my life much easier, thank you :)

I am totally gonna copy this mermaid party from one of my favorite mommy bloggers, Little Baby Garvin. The balloon arch is so cool! Let’s hope I can get crafty maybe? And the seaweed?! God she’s good.

mermaid-party

And the mermaid tail (made with an ice cream cone) cupcakes are totally awesome! I think I could actually make those! mermaid-fin-cupcakes

Anxious to get it all together. I kind of procrastinated because I get so sick of planning these birthday parties! UGH! But now that I’ve gotten a start it’s been fun! And this year, her birthday lands on a Saturday (October 1st), fun to get to party on her actual birthday! Can’t wait to see you in your little mermaid skirt, Ivy. We love you xoxo.