Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter, the Easter bunny found us and brought new toothbrushes and some links for Katelyn.  We are pretty exciting!  She does however love her links and Ray and I will get used to our toothbrushes...for now they cause our lips and tongue to go numb/tingly because they are so powerful!  We had a chill day at home, it was nice to not have to rush around.  We attended church which was wonderful, Luisa McKnight spoke and I just happen to love her honest, witty and upbeat testimony.  She makes me laugh! Katelyn went for her first four-wheeler ride, she really didn't seem to care but we will get her vamped up for it in time. Jess, Briele and my dad came over, we grilled some salmon (I bought a whole fish minus the head, may have had a slight freak out when trying to prepare it because I could just imagine it swimming around and then getting caught and drug away from its family just to be killed, frozen, packaged and sitting in my sink...and my dad saved the day by cleaning it up) and asparagus. We are pretty excited that grilling season is upon us.  We loved on Katelyn, the dear girl is so used to her cheeks being kissed! I just can't help it, they are so cute and chunky! She looked adorable in her Easter dress, although it is near impossible to keep her hands out of her mouth now! 

This Week....

This week we gave the jumper a try and her sweet little toes can't even reach the floor unless we place a box under her!  She isn't the biggest fan of it but she is getting there! She was quite the sport and let me put her in her dressing bless and attempt to get some cute pictures, which I think turned out okay! And the poor thing scratched herself INCREDIBLY hard on the left side of her forehead at our Easter party (even though I had just cut her nails!), it was really sad!  I am glad that it is healing up nice and quick though!

Winn Easter Party...

We were able to get together with my family and have a fun Easter celebration.  We hunted for eggs which were filled with fun toys and a few treats.  Had a yummy dinner. Made cotton candy and our own soda (courtesy of Grandpa).  And made adorable cake/cookie flower pots (courtesy of Grandma).  It was such a great evening!

Brooklyn's Farewell...

We headed to Salt Lake for my cousins farewell.  She did an awesome job, she really is quite comical which I think will make her an awesome missionary!  Katelyn was loved on by all of her great aunts/uncles and second cousins, they are all smitten by her just as we are.  We spent the afternoon hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's house, had dinner (which is always amazing), and Lauren & Emily got to play with Katelyn even more.  They were so sweet with her!  It was such a great way to spend our Sunday!

This Week...

We have had fun loving on this sweet gal, she is so happy!  You can't help but smile when you are around her! Everything these days goes straight to her mouth, especially hands, even if they aren't hers! My mom was able to come stay the night and watch Katelyn, which I think they both loved.  They got to spend lots of time together! This week we enjoyed dinner & a movie with Jess and Briele, my mom staying, lots of cuddle time and dinner with Stacie & Tyson at El Parrell (which we love, both the food and the company).  It was a great week!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 We had a great St. Patrick's day! We celebrated with a cute little gal wearing green, we had green beans and green funeral potatoes to go with our ham.  And we dyed some eggs...some of which were green.  So okay, we really didn't celebrate St. Patrick's day very much but we still had fun!  We had some family come over and we dyed Easter eggs, ate dinner and had lots of exciting fun with crazy girls! I hadn't dyed Easter eggs for quite some time but it was quite fun especially with Lexi (who made every single egg a super duper amazing design) & Briele (who kept moving her eggs to all the cups, sometimes multiple eggs to each cup!).  

3 months!

I can't believe my baby is 3 months old already!! Time is flying by so fast, I just want it to slow down a bit!  Katelyn's Great-Grandpa-Whipple came by to meet her today!  It was nice to visit with him and have dinner together!  I love this gal of mine, she is such a blessing in my life!

Pi Day!

I decided to be a bit corny and celebrate Pi day. I made Shepard's pie for the first time and it turned out delicious and then we had some awesome pie for dessert!  My mom spent the day with me and babysat Kate while I had to run into work, it was really fun having her hang out with us! Jess and Briele also joined us for pie!  Briele sure loves chocolate (even if it is in pie) and she loves her uncle Ray, she asks for him all the time! She is so rambunctious, I love it! She keeps us all on our toes! We went for just a little stroll outside and Kate loved it!  She was constantly looking at everything around us, smiling and laughing!  She is so happy to be outside and un-bundled!

Life Lately...

 We have been having lots of fun at our house!  Most days are spent cuddling and playing with a pretty awesome little girl!  She is so much fun and I love seeing her learn new things everyday!  She loves to suck on her hands and pretty much anything she finds goes to her mouth!  She is still the happiest and most content baby!  We are definitely lucky!

Although she is holding Ray's finger, she has got him wrapped around hers!  She LOVES her daddy, and I like to think her mom to! She loves her playmat and will now hold onto her toys.  She still enjoys bath time and she would prefer to sleep like the bottom picture but I just won't let her!

We spent a Saturday afternoon hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Whipple.  Raymond built a fort Rodger had been wanting in the living room. Katelyn and I played and napped and enjoyed to bantering conversation that took place.  It was fun to be able to visit with them without lots of other distractions!

Katelyn attended all of church for the 1st time...which also meant I attended Relief Society for the first time in 3 years!  It was nice and she looked pretty cute in her bright springy dress!  Katelyn and I went up to Morgan to watch Halli and Madi while Steve & Jodi were out of town.  Madi was at school all day so we played with Halli and holy cow that girl is hard to entertain.  She would bounce from one thing to the next constantly! She was hard to keep up with but we still had fun! Steve made us some yummy grilled pizza for dinner and we had a good time hanging out with them! 

The weather has been so nice that we took Katelyn on her first walk and she loved it...or slept through it! It was nice to get out and breath fresh air for a bit! Briele and Jess joined us for the walk and Briele was so funny!  She wanted me to carry her and I told her just for a minute.  When I picked her up she patted my cheeks and told me "good girl", it was hilarious!

From My Phone...

Some random pictures from my phone...

I had a headband made for Katelyn's blessing...it might be a tad big but I sure do love it!  The first time we tried her blessing dress on her she screamed...hysterically...even after it came off!  In an attempt to make Sunday go better we tried it on another time to get used to it.  She was so interested in her hands (which she has recently found) that she could not get them away from her face long enough to take a picture!  She sure loves to just chew on them!  The night of the blessing she was SO exhausted.  She slept forever.  We went to Salt Lake to pick up our car and while there we visited grandma and grandpa Winn.  She played with them for a minute and then passed out again. The whole next day she was passed out as well, it really wore her out!!  Ray and I were in the same boat though so we couldn't blame her for being tired! We love that she is now cozy snuggling up and sleeping on our chest again, she went through a little phase where she wouldn't lay on us and sleep unless she was craddled.

Tanner is starting to take an interest in her, he kept watching her and trying to grab her!

She is such a fun girl, when she sleeps she gets extra comfy and I love that you can see her little tuft of "bed head"!  

Katelyn...

This gal sure is getting good at tummy-time.  She can stay on her stomach for 5+ minutes with her head held high before she starts to get a little bored of it!  She is so smiley and playful now.  She loves to kick and swing her arms at the toys on her playmat.  She really does whack them hard too!  She loves to sing songs, especially when I hold her hands and make actions to them.  She loves when we hold her against our shoulder as we walk around so she can see everything. We had some friends over for dinner and her and Charlotte shared some good tummy time together.  Charlotte is 2.5 months older and I am certain they will be good friends! Sure do love Baby Kate!

Katelyn's Blessing Day...

Today we blessed our baby girl. It still seems unreal to us that we have a beautiful daughter.  Blessing her  made it a bit more real that she is definitely here and ours to keep.  It was such a great day with so much love and support from all of our family. We were amazed at how many came to celebrate with us.  We had over 100 people attend sacrament for the occasion.  Katelyn looked beautiful in her dress and was a little angel the whole time.

Raymond did a wonderful job of blessing her, he was incredibly nervous but did amazing.  Ray said she was awake and just watching everyone around her.  She didn't even make a peep though.  There were 19 people in the circle to bless her!  Those included were Raymond, Mike Maturo, Grandpa Winn, Uncle Rick, Steve, Cody, Uncle James, Uncle Matt, Uncle Rick, Scott Cash, Jeff Wurm, Jesse Lawson, Craig, Spencer, Jim, Blake, Bear, Jeff and Bishop Clark. We were so blessed to have them all in attendance.  

After sacrament we said goodbye to Maturo's so they could catch their flight home.  Then we headed to the Weber County Posse House for a yummy taco salad dinner. I was so nervous we wouldn't have enough food but I think it worked out perfectly.  It was so busy and crazy but so nice to see all of our families. They all loved Katelyn and kept saying how sweet and beautiful she is.  She had plenty of smiles to share with all those around her.  She has such a spirit about her, you just can't help but be happy when you are near her.

For the sake of me remembering all who came to support us: my mom & Dayne; my dad; Cody & Lexi; Jess, Kip & Briele; Steve, Jodi, Madison, Halli & Tanner; Mike & Roxanna Maturo; Grandma & Grandpa Winn; Grandma Stapel; Shelley, Brooklyn & Brady Peterson, Matt Katie Lauren, Emily, Sam & Whitney; Becky Rick, Morgan, Jordan & Sydney; Stacie & Tyson Summers; Dani Michelle, Mackenley & Charlotte Thurston; Mike & Jaime Horspool; Chelsie Lawson & kids; Amber & Jesse Lawson & kids; Blake & Kristi Rachel & Issac; Jeff Brenda Logan & Ashley; Jim Celeste Nikki Jenni & Brooke; Mindy Craig Alex Sarah Mariah & Rebekah; James Wendy Robbi Zac & Jake Stapel; Susie Corrissa Tess Sam & Maggie Matina; Lisa Scott Sarah & Mackenzie Winn; Spencer & Tiffany; Bear Sheralee Kaylee John & Austin; Camille Whipple; Jeni & Scott Cash; Tracy Catherine Taylor & Brady Stapel; Jeff Meredith Alyiah & Bella Wurm; Rick & Mary Wurm

Mike & Roxanna Maturo

Most of all Katelyn's grandparents and great-grandparents were there to celebrate with us!

Camille had her smiling extra big-I was so glad I was able to get them on camera!

 We were so happy for Katelyn to finally meet Stacie!! So glad she has moved back from Missouri!

 Again so amazed by all the family that came to celebrate and show their support!

I had some pretty awesome people that helped set everything up and plan everything out with me the week before and the day of!  All of my family was such a huge help!

 She is just beautiful!  I LOVE her so much!

Maturo's...

Mike & Roxanna Maturo came to visit us for the weekend and to attend Katelyn's baby blessing!  Raymond taught them while on his mission in California, returned after his mission to see them be sealed and we have both gone to visit them multiple times.  These are the most loving, kind and fun people.  They always boost those around them up so when you leave them you feel on top of the world.  We have dubbed them "honorary" grandparents to Katelyn.  Friday night they treated us to dinner at The Garden restaurant at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  We had a delicious dinner and they loved meeting Katelyn.  Roxanna was smitten by her and couldn't stop loving on her.  Saturday they came up to our house for brunch.  Raymond loved showing Mike all the work we have done on our house while me and Roxanna loved playing with Katelyn. They brought Katelyn a beautiful gift.  It was a hand-made minky blanket with crocheted edging and a crown with her name embroidered on it to signify that she is "the daughter of a King".  It also had matching burp cloth, bib and booties.  It is absolutely beautiful!

We had such a fun weekend with them and were so grateful that Mike was there to participate in Katelyn's blessing.  We are definitely better people because of them.

Duck Dynasty...

Steve and Jodi threw a very fun Duck Dynasty party.  We all wore our camo, ate fried chicken and biscuits with root beer straight from the bottle and watched some previews for the season to come.  We hadn't watched Duck Dynasty before but I have a feeling Ray is now hooked! It was a really fun and quirky night!

Katelyn

We can't seem to get enough of this girl.  She is my everything. She makes every day enjoyable and wonderful.  I can't wait for her to wake up in the morning and play with me.  She is always happy except for when I grab the camera/phone, then she becomes incredibly stoic.  She still sleeps wonderfully--7 to 9 hours a night.  Then she wakes up we eat/play for 1-2 hours and then she takes a nap for 2-3 hours...sometimes longer when I am holding her...which is almost always!  She LOVES her little "bug" toy that jangles.  We hung it from her bouncer and she will just sit and kick her legs to her it jingle.  She still loves bath time, we are experimenting with the bumbo in the sink which she really likes...she still slides out of her sling tub because she is to little. She is always looking around and seems to be studying every detail of everything she sees.  She still loves noises--Ray was eating a bag of chips while holding her and she thought it was hilarious.  I love nothing more than being a mom to this little gal.