Kate...

Kate had her first corndog today...perfect after Thanksgiving meal, haha! She loved it...downed over half of it! It was cute how intently she ate it while watching cartoons! She has started "working" on her little laptop which is adorable and just as I was about to take her jumper downstairs she decided she loved it again. She goes CRAZY jumping in it! I love being a MOM!

Happy Thanksgiving 2013!

This year was a lot different pace than previous Thanksgivings! This was our first year only attending one Thanksgiving dinner and it was wonderful! In the morning I got a call from Ashley asking if I could braid her hair...I wasn't able to pull off a french braid but it was beautiful! It was so fun sitting talking with her while I did her hair! We had dinner with the Whipple's, Kate enjoyed the madness and chaos (for a little bit) until she was exhausted and passed out!  I made my best yet batch of rolls...they were beautiful! And apparently delicious because 6 dozen rolls were gone in a flash! It was a great day and we are forever grateful for our chance to be parents and to have our sweet spunky Kate in our lives!

Pie Day 2013!

Kate had a great first Pie Day! She LOVED having everyone over to play with! She loves all of her family! We did 22 pies (I think)! We even finished before midnight! It was such a fun/exhausting day that I wonder if we should just start buying pies but then I realize the memories are worth it!  Kate got to play with a big tin full of rice and she loved it and stuffed rice EVERYWHERE for a rainy day...her diaper, socks, pants, high chair, even all across the living room! Love watching all the madness of 6 little kids cooped up in a house all day cooking! So fun!

Kate...

We love this girl so much! I love how she holds her treats with her legs while digging in with both hands. I love that she LOVES Briele.  I love that she is a dadd'ys girl. And I even love to see her grow and fit into new carseats...even though I hate that she is no longer my tiny baby!

First Cookie!

Today we had Kate's one year photos done by Jacey Jordan.  I can't believe my baby is going to be ONE! It blows my mind how fast time can really go! Kate's photo shoot went well except that it was near naptime...she was tired...she was getting grumpy...she didn't want to dress up...and most definitely she did NOT want to eat cake! I was so excited thinking she would be all over the cake but sadly no. She cried when we sat it by her, she cried when we tried to get her to touch it, she cried when I put her hand in it, she GAGGED when I put a taste of frosting in her mouth...it was super! Haha! The pictures still turned out adorable and I may love the ones where she is crying! 

After a nap, some play time and some food, Kate's day turned around...especially when we gave her a cookie.  She was in love. Instead of shoving it all in her mouth, she took little cute bites and savoured every taste...girl after my own heart! Today was the first time we let her have sweets (and certainly not the last)! So fun to see her experience new things!

Fun Times..

We have lots of fun with our family. Kate and Briele love/hate each other just like sisters...its hilarious! Kate is beautiful, expressive and busy! She loves to be involved with everything and is so FUN! We have been busy busy with making headbands, planning parties, picking up Grandma's new car, making cakes, taking pictures and more pictures and one year pictures and this gal got a NEW JOB! Life is about to get super crazy but hopefully it will be well worth it for our little family... we are in dire need of a change and we pray this is it!

11 Months!!

Pictures...

I finally took some better pictures of Katelyn in her Indian Princess costume.  I am in love with it, I can't get over how cute it is! She wasn't feeling the best (I swear she has been teething for a month) but she loved that we were outside for a few minutes! She had fun playing in the leaves and looking at the trees and birds. 

We have been having lots of downtime with a sickly babe, she loves to get super cozy and relax, she may still nap mostly in my arms (I love it, know I have ruined her sleeping abilities, may continue to hold her/nap with her, and I will CHERISH these times together!). She has a new obsession with climbing on things, standing up to everything and stairs.  She tries to stand up while she nurses...it's a wee bit uncomfortable for me!  She is so busy and fun and into everything! I love it!

Best Friends...

Katelyn and Briele are the best of friends...such good friends they act like sisters...which means they love each other one minute and then are fighting the next. It's funny to watch.  There was an incredibly awesome moment when they were in their carseats exhausted after shopping, Briele fell asleep, Kate stole her lion right off of her lap (Briele LOVES her lion and monkey and never wants to let anyone have her babies), Kate played with it for a minute, put it back on her lap, stole it again and fell asleep.  Briele woke up, realized where her lion was, took it from Kate and then gave her the monkey and went back to sleep.  It was adorable and fun to watch and amazing that Briele was willing to share her monkey. Kate learns to do lots more tricks if she watches Briele do them first.  She always gets excited when Jess & Briele come over, they are among her favorite people!  

They both have been obsessed with this large box from Kate's new carseat. It is their house although Kate doesn't like when Briele closes the doors and she can't see her.

Kate has a new LOVE for stairs and going up/down/up/down/up/down!  She however refuses to go down backwards.  I assume it is only 3 stairs and it doesn't phase her to fall down them so she will learn right?! Unfortunately, her music table was at the bottom of the stairs and it did hurt to fall onto it.  She got her first big bonk on her forehead, she was a champ, required only mild dramatics and then went right back to playing on the stairs...so maybe it will be awhile before she learns!

Family...

We spent Sunday afternoon in Brigham City celebrating Rodger's birthday!  I surprisingly took very little pictures but did catch these cute girls playing.  Madalyn is 8 months older than Kate and was so excited to see a baby!  They had fun watching each other and stealing each others toys! It is always chaotic yet fun when the Whipple's get together. All of the grandchildren were there, all 25 of them, it was so LOUD! We were able to get a picture of all the grand-babies with grandma and grandpa which is pretty cool, hopefully I will get a copy of the picture soon!

Saturday...

It was a great Saturday and the first in a long while with no plans or obligations.  The day filled up but it was all optional and we were together which made it great!  We slept in, lounged around and made breakfast.  We went to lunch with majority of the Whipple sister's (Ray came to since we didn't know it was a "sisters" lunch, but we loved having him there), we wandered around Costco which is a favorite past time, hung out at home some more and then I headed to a gal-pals house for bi-monthly viewing of Vampire Diaries.

Katelyn was hilarious at Costco, we set her in a child size recliner and she automatically leaned back and got cozy.  This girl has a serious knack for getting cozy where ever she is, it is quite funny! She is now standing up from the stairs and it pretty hot stuff. It was a great day, I miss Ray so much since he is crazy busy with work so it was nice to have a family day and then a little break of my own! I am a lucky woman!

Hawaii Party....

Today was busy busy, it started with shopping in Salt Lake with Jess and my mom. We then had lunch with my grandma, aunt Tracy, aunt Paulianna and cousin Michael who just returned from his mission.  It was great to see everyone!

We decided to have a Hawaii party in memory of our family trip to Oahu.  It was incredible and the fact that our ENTIRE family ended up there together was amazing.  We decided pretty last minute and it was just going to be simple but I happened to have lots of decor so I kind of went a bit overboard!  BUT it was SO much fun!

Food included Giovanni's Shrimp (by Jess), we may have smelled like garlic for a week but it was worth it; Aloha Chicken over teriyaki rice with steamed vegetables (by mom, me and Jodi), donuts (by Cody) and Pineapple Dream Cake with toasted coconut on top (by me).  It was a delicious feast!

The girls were so overly excited for this party so I was glad I had some activities prepared for them, they loved it!  We decorated bookmark surfboards, limbo'd, had a hula dance (they all remembered how to do it!) and that turned into a dance party.  They loved turning the lights off and dancing with the disco ball on!  It was so fun, they were so hyper and wound up. 

It was fun to hear what each of them remembered about our trip even though they were just little.  Madi remembered the house we rented with the outside shower, big backyard and birds all around.  Lexi remembered buying their Hawaii dresses and hair flowers.  Halli remembered the fish.  We finished the night off with a toast to our good memories. While shopping earlier we found some Hawaiian Spring water and that is what we toasted with!

Fun Times...

I LOVE that my sister lives near by and that we can spend so much time entertaining on another!  We often get together for dinner and a show (Briele & Kate).  Kate loves to see how things work and is obsessed with wheels. She also LOVES to watch tv shows and will attack the screen because she is so excited.  Although Jess and I die with laughter Briele doesn't find it funny that the show keeps pausing/rewinding and getting turned off.  Any time Kate is in the tub she LOVES to drink the water with her little cups, I find it disgusting and spill her water but she continues to do it!

I love that Kate will leave anything on her head, including a crown all through dinner as she waved the wand around.  It was pretty cute!

Helping Girl...

This gal is BUSY BUSY! She loves to help with everything, whether it be Ray fixing the fridge, Brenda cooking dinner or anything she can with mom!  She loves to be right in the middle of it with you!  And at the end of the day (and 2-3 times during the day) she is tuckered out and can be found sleeping in abnormal positions!  We sure love this girl!

My Girl...

My sweet girl is the bomb.  She seriously is the happiest baby and the funniest little squirt.  She loves to play in the bathroom cupboards even though there is a basket of toys right next to her!  She thinks she is hilarious when she passes the lotion from one side of the cupboard and can pick it up on the other side of the cupboard door divider!  She found a four-wheeler that is actually for Christmas and to my surprise she already knows how to drive it!  And to be just like her dad she has to stand up to ride it! She is a little dare devil in the making! She makes us so happy everyday, we are truly blessed!