Katelynn 2.5 years old

Katelynn is now 2.5 years old. She is my ball of fire, always wanting to go somewhere and do something. She is fun and she is a handful. You really never know what she is going to get into. Her conversation skills are improving so, that is nice. I am trying to increase my conversation level with her to help her know more words and be able to express her needs to me.
At 2.5 years she likes to watch Cinderella (yea-yea), Princess and the Frog (Frog), Mulan, Tangled, and Toy Story (Woody and Buzz) and Mouse (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse).
She likes to line things up. She will get her letter and number magnets and line them up and down the fridge. She will also line up the silicone cupcake wrappers.
She is starting to know wonder where Mark is more. She asks where the baby is quite a few times during the day and she won't give up looking for him until he is found. He is usually napping and so I try to quietly show her where he is but she will call out "ere he is" and wake him up 50% of the time. She knows to be gentle with him but isn't always gentle. She hasn't hit him purposefully that I have seen but she will try and put too much of her weight on him when she is giving him a hug.
Her favorite toys at the moment are Mr. Potato head and Mega Blocks (which we have 200 blocks) and her Little People Farm.
She is growing up right before our eyes and I am just trying to love this time that is going by too fast, but loving this time is hard when she is whining at you that is for sure.
Katelynn was playing in the bathroom and Ben called to her in the front room, she stopped playing and said, "I comining...I comining daee" (daddy) and went to him in the front room. I thought it was the most adorable thing to hear her say that. She is learning and growing and I love her to death. I surely hope she understands what I say when I tell her I love her each day.

Pictures taken on 10/5/11
She was saying "Oh No!" in a sad way about something.


I took these pictures while I was chasing her around the tree in the front yard. I knew by doing that I would get a good smile, and I did.


My personal Favorite! The true wild woman in action! LOVE it! I can just see the life in her eyes.



A Smile

2 Years Old

What is Katelynn doing at 2? Well, she wants to do everything. She is ALWAYS on the move. It is EXTREMELY hard to get her to sit still. The only time she does it when one of her shows is on. Then she is glued to that.
Her vocabulary is at least 50-100 words. Some of my favorites are: "booshie" which means flowers and/or butterflies (don't ask me where that came from) "stoar" star, "haort" heart, "eaor" ear, "siwwy" silly and "han(s)" hand(s).
She is learning more about numbers and letters and loves when I sing abc's. Most numbers are "9" and most letters are "O." She likes when I draw on the magna doodle the letters and numbers.
She loves to climb or be on top of anything.
Sacrament meeting is really hard for us all. I can't remember the last time we were in the chapel for the entire meeting. It is a good Sunday if we make it through sacrament being passed. I have things to color, books, "sunday" toys, and puzzles. If we try to keep her still or in the pew she just gets louder and louder. We haven't figured out what will keep her entertained for that hour.
Hugs. She loves to give them and receive them and she uses it against you too. She will want a hug when she is hurt or she'll come up to you and say "huuugg" and squeeze you say, "oh, baby" It also means I want you to pick me up so that I can be higher and get into what ever you are doing. Last week for her birthday she recived a book about emotions with the Sesame Street characters. There is a page where Elmo has a sad face. We talked about sad and she then gave the book a hug and said, "oh, baby" I have since then noticed her giving hugs to random objects throughout the house like door frames, the refrigerator, her babies, then last night when she was taking her bath she gave a hug to the water faucet in the tub and the handle to turn the water on and off with. I don't know where she got these ideas from.

On Sunday, since we already had her party we still wanted to celebrate her Birthday so we had some eggos for breakfast and I stuck two candles in it and we sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She Loved it. She probably was wondering why we didn't have candles all the time.






I am so grateful for Katelynn and the love and happiness that she has brought to our family. It is definitely not easy to be a parent but, it is worth it. It is going to be hard when the baby comes home and I can't focus on her all the time anymore, but having a sibling will be great for her.

Birthday Party!

Katelynn had her Second Birthday party on 4/30. Mother's Day weekend was a little too cramped to have it then so we had it a little early. Katelynn LOVES Elmo and Abby Caddaby from Sesame Street. We had a couple DVD's of Elmo's world and she would watch them intently. A couple of months ago on Netflix my dreams came true they added about 80 episodes of Sesame Street to their streaming library. (We still don't have any sort of television hooked up, and we are keeping it that way for as long as we can.)Now Katelynn knows the whole Sesame Street gang and will say "Cookie" in Cookie Monsters voice. She knows that Count says "Ah, Ah, Ah" and will say that when she sees him in books.

I decided to be a little ambitious and make Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes. They turned out cute and everyone knew who they were supposed to be so that was the important part. That they were recognizable. I also made some sugar cookies with number 2 and letter K.



While Katelynn was waiting for her guests to arrive she was outside playing with her favorite toy at Grandma's the Tee ball Set. She saw me taking pictures of her and so before each swing she would stop and say "Cheee" then swing. It was hilarious, but at least I got a good picture of her.



We sang "Happy Birthday" to her and she LOVED that minute and she knew exactly what to do when she saw those candles. We said blow and they were out and she probably hasn't seen candles in person since Matthew's birthday.



She only ate the lips off of her Elmo cupcake. She has a hard time eating when others are around, she just wants to play.


She was spoiled and has enjoyed all of her presents that she got that day.


I like this picture of me, just wish it wasn't blurry.



It was nice to have everyone together to celebrate Katelynn. She is so much fun.

15 Months

Katelynn is such a big girlnow. Katelynn has 11 teeth now she is working on 12. It seemed like 4 of them came within four days of each other. Everyday another tooth would come in, and that was right before she got sick with strep throat.
The kitchen will soon need to be off limits as she has learned how to turn on the dish washer and get into all of the drawers. It gets to be a little annoying when you just run a load of dishes that are dry and she gets them soaked again. We shall live though this.
Katelynn still loves to read books and we usually read 5-10 a day. She has her favorites which are any lift a flap book.
Katelynn is amazing me at what she knows. She doesn't talk much still she says dog, mama, dada and amen. Pretty much any animal is a dog, we are trying to differentiate the animals and all animals roar. I can tell her to brush her teeth, wash her hands, get her shoes, go outside, get daddy, change her diaper and she can go to the right places where those things happen. She surprised us on the 5th of August by folding her arms when it was time to say bedtime prayers. It really is amazing to watch her learn what we are doing and how to do things too.
She knows where her belly button is and maybe her mouth. She can clap her hands and stomp her feet on command and is learning to wiggle her fingers. She knows how to dance and loves to hear any music.
Elmo. She loves Elmo. We have three Elmo dvd's, we watch one in the afternoon and she is glued to the screen. She will stand at the doors of the TV holding on to the edge of the armoire watching with such enthusiasm.
She CLIMBS on to EVERYTHING that she can. We don't have the kitchen chairs set up because she will climb onto the table. She climbs onto the couches and onto the arms of the couches trying to get everything within reach. She has fallen a few times but hopefully after us telling her to not do that and a few more falls she will figure out that it isn't safe.
She is so much fun. I just hope she knows that we love her so much and that we would do anything for her. She is our gem.

Appointment and a Layout

Today we went for Katelynn's 1 year check up and everything went just fine she got two shots and she is doing well. She weighs 23lbs and 10 ounces and is 32.5 inches tall. Which puts her in the 80th percentile for weight in >97% for height. I am really amazed at how tall she is. She can reach off the kitchen counter and pulls so much off the table just by standing on her tip toes.

Here is a Layout that I did for a challenge on the Shabby Princess blog. You get a template and a quickpage and a chance to get a $25 gift card to her shoppe.



Have a great Day!

Birthday Video

We are home from her party and she was such a trooper. When we set up the time she was having two naps and 11:30 was in the middle. As soon as the invitations were printed she started taking one nap at 12 noon. So, I was worried that she would be crazy tired and not happy, but she was wonderful. She is like her mother in the sense that she is always entertained by whatever is going on around her. I love to people watch. So, for all of you that weren't there today here is the best 10 minutes of the party. For those that were there Uncle Kevin was taping so, talk to him if you don't like what you see. Aunt Sarah was a little oblivious for a moment there!

We love you Katelynn! I will post some pictures later, when I receive them!



P.S. Thank You Uncle Kevin and Aunt Beth for being my videographer and photographer as I was a little preoccupied!

P.P.S. Kevin didn't get a picture of Jennifer and Matthew but you can hear Jennifer talking in the background. Aunt Heather was taking care of Jackson who ended up throwing up this morning and couldn't make it to the party. We hope you feel better Jackson!

One Year Old

If someone would have asked me a year ago how this year with Katelynn was going to be I probably would have said, "Wonderful, everything will be just fine." And I do think it has been just fine. It hasn't been wonderful all the time but everything has turned out just fine. The first three months were VERY hard for me emotionally and physically, but after I stopped nursing her things became a whole lot better for everyone. I guess those few months are what really scares me about when number 2 comes. How will I be able to adjust with both? I don't think Ben will have three months off with me again, knee surgery, (that made things so much better, having him home to help). We just won't worry about that until it all happens.
Katelynn is doing great and still growing like a little weed. She can reach up to the counter top in the kitchen with her little fingers. I have cleared off the table except for the napkins and Salt and pepper. I don't know how long those will stay up there. She is able to climb on top of little boxes. She thinks that any box any size she should be able to fit in and stand in, and has a little fit when she can't quite get both feet into the smallest tupperware we own.
Walking is her main mode of tranportation and she is wanting to run but can't quite get her feet and head at the same speed. I can hear her take a few quick steps before the crash.
She has two bottles a day of milk at morning and bedtime. We have finally found a sippy cup that she will drink from. It is a straw one that have a valve so that it doesn't spill and since she doesn't tip the cup is is able to get something to drink. I really do like it. It has taken about a week for her to figure out how to use it well and understand what in the world it is used for.
Every time she goes to sleep we have to read Princess Baby Night-Night. We sit on the fouton together and she knows that it is behind the pillow and will start to look for it. It is a cute little quick bedtime book that she just loves.
Next week is her one year check up so we shall see how much she has grown. I really can't believe it has been a year. I am so very grateful for her and the love that she has brought with her.
We are having a Birthday Party for her today with most of her Cousins and Aunts and Uncles. It'll be fun and I hope she has fun with her cousins. I will post about the party later, but here are some pictures from the month.

We went over to Aunt Sarah's and played with Max and Jesse on their trampoline. Jesse had been reminding me that we hadn't been over to jump on the trampoline yet and so we went over and had a fun time together.



I put Katelynn's hair up in her first ponytail this week. She did just fine with it until naptime when she woke up with a Mohawk! It was hilarious.



When she drinks from her sippy cup her eyes get wide and she looks so cute.



Reading with Cousin Brynne

11 Months

Katelynn, has changed so much. In just these past two weeks she has really mastered walking. I really think that it is amazing that she is walking already. I really didn't think that she would be walking now. I thought it wouldn't happen until after a year. I guess I thought that she is a baby until 1 and then she would walk then. I was wrong. She has changed her main mode of transportation from crawling to walking. She falls alot, I am glad that she has her diaper padding.
She cut her third tooth on March 26 while she was with Aunt Sarah and she has three more that are going to be cutting through in the next week or so. She really hasn't been cranky with all of these teeth coming. Which is just fine. Since she just has two teeth there are a few things that I haven't given her to eat but everything that I do give her she usually likes. She loves to feed herself and is wanting more and more to feed herself with a spoon. I fill her spoon a few times and let her put i in her mouth then I end up taking over again since I can't handle the mess. It is nice to see that she knows what the spoon is really for and not just for banging on the highchair when she is finished eating.
She has said her first word, "book" which she says boo in a very soft voice. We figured this out on Thursday when we were putting her to bed. She kept on saying boo, boo, boo and then I asked her if she wanted to read a book and she went over to her bookshelf and said boo, boo, boo. She does love her books. Her two favorites are the Farm Animal Friends, sound book and the puppy counting book. Of course a daily occurance is for her to pull the books from the shelf but she loves them and thumbs through them everyday.
She brings so much joy and happiness to Ben and I. It still amazes us that she is doing so much and learning so much everyday. We love you Katelynn!!

First Steps

Yesterday after Ben came home from work I was watching Katelynn in our room while Ben was in our room putting a few of his work things away. She took two steps towards Ben. We were both surprised to see that. I didn't think she would be taking steps yet but I guess it would happen sooner or later. So, she has been practicing all day today and taking a few steps here and there which she is excited about and I enjoy seeing too.

I don't know whether to be excited or worried about the future catastrophes that are going to be happening with a walking baby. I really am glad that she might be off the floor soon so that when we want to go out and play she doesn't have to be on the ground. I'll get a video up when she has walking a little bit more under control.

The last piece of Glass

So, in the rental house we had two ceiling fans with no lights on them so there was no central lighting. That is a huge pet pieve of mine, lamps never seem to get the room as bright as I want it. So, we installed two ceiling fans with lights on them. We needed to bring one of the fans down with a down rod and everything was going fine until Ben was putting the fan baldes on and then screw in two screws around the lights. As Ben was putting up the first blade the lights fell and one of the light bulbs and one globe broke. Katelynn was in the kitchen so I quickly put her in the exersaucer while we cleaned up the glass and finished re-putting the fan together.

Of course we thought we had all the glass picked up. We thought we looked under and in everything, but guess what? Katelynn knows about more hinding places than we do. So, a few hours later we were playing in the living room and she had something in her mouth and there was no food around. I asked Ben to get it out and out came a chunk of glass. We both about died. It was only in her mouth for a minute and it did cut her tounge but there was no major bleeding from her mouth and all bleeding had stopped a minute or two after we took the glass out. We think she found it in an open box that she reached into.

The weird thing about it was that as we were cleaning it up I said to Ben, "Could you imagine her getting a piece in her mouth?" Didn't quite think it would happen.

10 months

I keep on pinching myself thinking how in the world do I have a 10 month old she is so close to being a year old I can't believe it. I was scrapbooking last night with Aunt Beth and the one page I was able to finish was from when you were 8 days old. Oh, how tiny and fragile you were. Now you are a crazy crawling lady on a mission to stand anywhere possible. You have hit your head so many times on things you don't know how tall you are or you loose your balance and slip. You don't like when you fall at all. I try not to react too much when you fall but you still cry most of the time. You love to help me in the kitchen but the kitchen is so dangerous for such little fingers. You pull the drawers and doors open and then they close on your fingers. I have stopped a few pinchings from happening but many have still happened.
You ABSOLUTELY love shower time. As soon as you hear the water running you are moving in towards the tub and standing by the side waiting for your turn to get in. You stomp your right foot in hopes that will be enough leverage to get you in the tub. You have gotten yourself in once and were okay, I am glad that you haven't figured out how you did that.

You started clapping your hands all the time on the 5th of May. You like to clap politely. It is a soft sound and you clap into the palm of your hand you are too cute.

You will eat almost anything that I put in front of you but you have a hard time with things that crumble. You want to pinch everything first before you put it in your mouth and then if it crumbles apart you don't want to eat it. You also like to taste test things. I will bring the spoon to your mouth and you will lick it and if you approve then you will open your mouth wide and take the bite. It still can take 30-45 min for you to eat your meals which make the day seem like I am sitting feeding you all day long.

One thing that I love that you do right now is your happy feet. You do this at two different occasions and I just love it. When it is time to eat you'll be sitting in your high chair and I'll get getting your food ready. I will be bringing something to you either with a spoon or putting it on your plate and you will get so excited about it that your feet will start shaking and moving so fast. The other time you have happy feet is when you are picked up and your feet are dangling a little they just start kicking away just hoping to find some where to be placed. Such a funny girl.

You had your nine month check up and you were 21lbs and 8 oz and 29.75 inches tall. I have moved you up to all 18 month clothes which fit a little big right now but I know you will fit them in no time the 12 month clothes were just getting to small.
I love you so much little Missy May. You make me smile everyday. I hope you have a wonderful month this month.

Here is the page I finished. Oh, how much has changed since then.


Becca and her family are in town from Idaho this week and so we are having a lot of family time this week here is one of my favorites from yesterday. I asked Lily to give Katelynn a hug and ended up with a kiss. I still love it.


10 months


I love that face!


Crazy Girl


Here's a good smile!

9 Months

This has been a huge month for Katelynn. She is crawling everywhere now. If she slides to her belly then she just picks herself back onto her hands and knees and keeps going. Her first crawls were on January 20th. After the practicing session she had with Tara this weekend she is now pro. As she has become stronger with her crawling exercises she has began to pull herself up onto everything. Her favorite places to pull up are the bathtub and the exersaucer. They both have great hand holds that are perfect for her little hands. She hasn't quite figured out cruising along the furniture yet but I am sure that will come within a few days. Now that she is all over the floor I have to be more aware of what is left on the floor. She picks up every little piece of anything that is on the floor and puts it in her mouth. We found a carpet fiber in her mouth the other day and some food she has dropped from her tray while eating.

She now has two teeth. Her first came on the 9th and the second came on the 20th. And she is starting to use them. She has been open mouth kissing us for months now but now that she has teeth she is starting to bite when she kisses. So, we are trying to figure out how to stop that. She also loves to grab Ben's hair with both hands and give him kisses. It is pretty darn cute.

She is starting to head bob to music now. The toy Grandma B gave her for Christmas plays quite a few songs and when she hits the music paw she start head bobbing to it. I also was singing the ABC's to her one morning and she was doing it then. She hasn't quite progressed much noticeably in her speech, but I do think that da-da will be her first recognized word. She just whimpers when he leaves and when he comes home she starts charging for him.

I am grateful for the days when she sleeps past 6:30. She is an early-bird. She can be up for the day at 5:40 and that is not the time to be up for the day. I know that Ammy has some crazy sleep troubles at her house and I am grateful that it is not 4am when she wants to start the day.

I am starting to do her hair now. It is getting into her eyes and so we do a comb over and put a bow in so she doesn't look like a boy. I don't want her to have bangs yet since if I cut bangs now it would be all her hair that is bangs. So, we just wait for her hair to get longer.

Ben LOVES when her hair is wild. She had just woke up from her nap and had done her hair especially for daddy.


Out back


Under her crib


Under the futon


Playing with her pop up pals


Her new hair do


Getting ready for her bath


Playing with Uncle Kevin


She loves to watch the dogs from our arms or behind the window


Giving daddy kisses



Crawling with Tara

After 8 months and 1 day ....

.... we have our first tooth. She has been "teething" for the past 4 months. Since Amy was so kind as to show me Alyson's tooth a few weeks ago of what a gum looks like with a tooth about to cut I knew more of when to expect it. The past couple of days I knew it would be soon. And here we are, the sharpness finally came through. No pics of it because you can't see it and she won't let me in her mouth. She thinks that it is her tooth or something and Mommy doesn't need to know about it!! The second tooth seems to be right behind it. It will be so weird to see her with teeth. I love her gummy little smile. I should get some more pics today of her before the tooth take over her mouth.

5 Months

Really?! Really?! I can't believe it. Thing are really into full swing now. I have been trying to figure out her personality and I all I can really come up with is that she loves people right now. We went to a baby shower on Saturday and she was just talking up a storm to anyone and everyone that would come her way. I think she might be a bigger talker than I am, but then again that isn't hard to do! She really seems to be her happiest when she is around people, and watching everyone, from the safety of my arms though. She is getting really attached to me, but that is to be expected since I am the only person she is around most of the time. She also loves to touch faces and grab them and just play with them and figure them out.
She really lights up when Ben comes home. She just smiles and coos at him and Ben just loves it. Ben watched her Monday afternoon to evening and he asked me if I had done anythign to her formula since she wouldn't take a nap and she had been awake for an extremely long time. I think that it was that she was just so excited to be around him. He has always had a hard time putting her down for a nap because for some reason he is so stimulating. Ben stimulating? Never! :) He just giggles and laughs and smiles at her and won't be quiet and relaxing.
She is chewing on everything but mostly her fingers and cloth. and drooling like a mad woman. Everyone says she's teething but I don't see signs in her mouth.
About once a day she will roll from her tummy to back. She has been arching into a 'c' when she is on her back and I don't know what that is about. She has really good control of herself in the bumbo now, she isn't the leaning tower of Katelynn anymore, as Sarah would say. She laughs just a little and never at the same thing twice. She loves sitting up and standing up. The dogs are entertaining now too. She'll watch them but we haven't let them get too close since they are so massive.
As for growth we don't have another MD appointment for a month but she is wearing 6-9 month clothes and some nine month pants, depending on the style.
She is so much fun and I love her to death.
Her Five Month Pictures
These first two are favorites because of her singing



Standing looking cute, She has no balance for standing on the sides of things yet

These two are classic poses


I love her little jeans

Love the face and hand

Of Course!

So Wednesday night I was playing with Katelynn and noticed a bright red rash on her neck. I wasn't sure if it was heat rash, sensitivity to clothes of the rubbing of her double chin on her neck. She has always had a small rash, but this was way more than that. So I called and got an appt for the next day. He checks her out and says it's eczema. Of Course! This little mini me looks exactly like me and I had that as a child so why shouldn't she?
What does this mean? She is lacking a something in her skin to keep it moisturized. which makes her itch and have dry spots. I haven't noticed her itching but I have felt some dry spots on her. So, out with Johnson and Johnson in with Dove and Aquaphor lotion and vasaline for any diaper rashes. I did see a aquaphor baby wash that I might check out. I just have to keep her moisturized so that there are few flare ups and she won't itch. It can get really bad when she starts itching because then it could lead to open sores and that is where the real problem is. Then it could get ugly and infected, which would suck.
If anyone has any advice it would be great. Thanks!

3 months

Wow! 3 months already. She is doing really great. After rolling up onto her side twice she has not done it since. She still has absolutley no interest at all in tummy time. She has started cooing and babbling allot. She will stare up at you and start talking if you engage her. She is still sleeping in her room and I am getting more used to it, as I guess I need to turn up the monitor because Ben is waking up before I do and he never would wake up to her when she was in our room.
She has found her fists. One time I checked on her while she was napping and she had her thumb in her mouth, but it doesn't stay there long. She still loves her binky and goes to bed and naps with it.
I don't think I posted this but at her 2 month check up she weighed 12lbs 11 oz and was 24 inches tall. She was 95% for height and 90% for weight, but if you average it together then she is at 50% for her height and weight. Meaning she carries her weight well for her height.
I have started putting her in her bumbo this week and she is still getting used to that. She'll last 10min or so. She loves to play with her batting gym she'll stay there for a good half hour or more. I think the ducky is her favorite because when she is sitting in her bumbo and batting she tries the hardest to eat the ducky and gives it her evil eye. In the morning when I am eating breakfast I lay her under the black and white and red play mat and plays there.
She is growing so much it really is amazing to watch her. She is so much fun and we love her so much. I can't believe after all this time that she is here and growing so much everyday. We are so greatful for her and her spirit.

10 min

Here we go. The moment you have all been waiting for, me to have 10 min to get these posted.

Being weighed at 5/8 12:18pm

First Family Picture 5/8 12:38pm

Daddy Watching intently 5/8 2:19pm

First Bow :)

Going Home 5/9 12:20pm

Cheek to Cheek 5/13 12:56pm

Just cute 5/19 11:10am

First Church outing 5/24 12:30pm

Memorial Day 2009 5/25 12:49pm

Adorable 5/26 4:15pm


She now weighs 7 lb 14 oz, she gained 10oz in one week!! Hope you all enjoy these pics.