"Naaaya, Naaaya!"

Our poor neighbors. They had the unlucky chance of winding up next to us and we have toddler who is crazy about their dog. Well really any dog but their dog is the closest target for Kate. My poor neighbor is due any day and my sweet little girl at least once or twice a day escapes from my grasp and finds her way over to their front porch and cries out-or shouts- "Naaaaya, Naaaaya"-the dogs name is Nala. And she does this until either: (A) I come and pry her from the porch-literally-kicking and screaming or (B) my sweet neighbor comes to the door and gives Kate a look at the dog. It isn't as if she plays with the dog she just watched her run around and sometimes pets her.

The other day I was trying to unload the car and I couldn't hold Kate and everything else. I told her to go find Nala because I was afraid of her running down the street or in the road as she often does if she can get away. All our neighbors cars were gone so I thought Kate would just stand at the door, yell for Nala while Nala barked back at her, until I could come and get her. Then all the sudden I see this cute little white dog come running around my legs and I thought "what the heck-Kate did you let the dog out". No, all her cries for the "puppy" had brought my neighbor to the door. They were home! I felt so bad. I know, no big deal, but it is a big when any woman 81/2 - 9 months pregnant has to get up for anything. She is so nice to Kate though and just lets her do whatever. I feel so lucky to have ended up by such great people because as I have learned your neighbors really do make a difference.

Band aids, Bears and Sunglasses!

We have this beautiful park in our town. It is about 4 or 5 blocks and there is lots to do. Some of my friends and I went their for a picnic and to let the our kids play. We were parked by a busy road and Kate took off running from me. Now when she hears me say "stop!" she runs faster the opposite way. It is great! ;) Anyway she totally biffed and scrapped up her knees. It was really sad. There was blood and all. Okay not that much blood but I swear I never want to see her hurt like that again. It was sad. My sweet friend Di ran and got her first aid kit, because I forgot mine, and we bandaged her up. Every now and then she would cry out in pain because her knees hurt. The worst part was spraying the antiseptic spray. Remember that stuff that your mom used to spray when you got cut and it burned like crazy. Ya! I had to do it and I felt so mean. Well I have learned that band aids don't stick stick to toddler knees. They have some repellent that doesn't allow it. I can't keep them on for the life of me.

These are Kate's boys. I walked into her room and found her snuggling up to her Pooh Bear. I know you can't tell very well but she has 3 stuffed animals in with her and she snuggles all of them. I just loved how she has her arms rapped around them.

This year Kate has gotten in to sunglasses. I think it is because she has seen me wearing them. My friend Heather bought Kate some last year for summer and she wouldn't even let them touch her face all the sudden though she loves them. I went and splurged on some for her and oh boy! She is one good lookin' girl. She will wear them all over town with me and to church if I would let her. She is the only person I know who can wear sunglasses inside a store and not look foolish.


This is her with her flowers she is helping me grow. She can't keep her hands off them.

Running, running, running!

This is the perfect title for my blog because this is what I feel like I have been doing lately. This week Kate and I had to ditch out on plans with some of our friends this week because she, specifically, and I are pooped! We have had a blast with family and we are already missing them.


This is me and my girl. We don't get very many pictures together because I am always the one taking them, so I took matters into my own hands. It was difficult as you can tell. She is so fun!





I am training to run a half marathon right now. Me and my two sisters are running the half marathon and Jayanne's husband is running the marathon. Hopefully we will all make it. Right now we are all hitting some bumps in the road but I guess it will make it more worth it if we can get through it. These two are my cheering section. They have been awesome and have even gotten me out running when I didn't want to. If any of you have advice or what not please share. I could always use a little boost. The closest I have ever come to a track team or what not is when me and Chelsie Overman were managers in Junior High. We didn't do much.

I told Chris he looks like the uni-bomber in his clothes. I told him if I was out running alone I would be afraid of him. What a cute guy!

Sorry about my lack of blogging. We have had 2 1/2 solid weeks of family and we have another week and a half more. We are going to have three different sets of Kate's grandparents coming to visit by the time we get done. We feel so lucky that they even want to come and stay with us. They are all coming at the same time because it is Cherry Blossom season. We have seen so many wonderful things and had such a great time with them all and are looking forward to making more wonderful memories. Thus I have slacked on my blogging. I just wanted to post and tell all my wonderful friends and family 'hi'. I love and miss all of you. I really enjoy getting to keep in contact with so many wonderful people who mean so much to me. Even those that I get to see often and especially those who I haven't seen in years. You know who you all are!

Kate actually received her first haircut in February. It wasn't very long but she was getting a mullet and she has curly hair which I have learned takes more upkeep because it gets snarly easily. I decided to take her in because I was tired of the poof ball the was the back of her hair. It kept snarling together no matter what I did. I was so stressed about this little excursion we were about to take. If any of you know Kate you know she is a very determined (as her grandma puts it) child. If she doesn't like something she won't do it. I was so worried we would have this terrible tantrum in the middle of the salon. To my amazement she didn't make a peep. Of course I give a lot of the credit to the hairdresser with the quick hands and the TV. You just can't go wrong with TV in times of desperation. I was a happy mom. I was so proud of her!

I realized lately I post a lot of pictures of Kate eating. I think that is because I keep my camera in the kitchen and she is always very happy when she is eating. She is a true girl. I will try to post some more exciting pics later. I am continually trying to do crafts of sorts with Kate-i.e. the finger painting experiment-but she just doesn't take to them as much as I would hope. I don't know if it is her age or her phobia of dirty hands but it is a challenge. I don't understand. I haven't meet many toddlers or children who don't like getting their hands or whole body dirty. We were decorating Valentines day cookies and I gave her some frosting and a cookie to decorate. I tried to teach her to smear it on with a spoon then her fingers, but as soon as that pink frosting touched her fingers she started to whimper and hold her hands out to me with a really disgusted look on her face. It didn't take. However, she did prove to be a wonderful taste tester for the experiment and she seems much happier doing this.

Saturday Night Party Hour!

Sometimes I miss the quiet nights in Utah. We have a sweet neighbor next door who likes to have parties on the weekend until the wee hours of the morning. Therefor, Kate and I have spent the last 3 weekends up until about 4 or 5 am. Lets just say church has been rough lately. It made me laugh to see how vigorous my little girl can be at 3:00 in the morning. I gave into the fact that sleep would not be coming so one morning we curled up and watched Pride and Prejudice (the new one). We had a early morning girls night and we both agree we love Mr. Darcy!




Notice the askew piggy tails, she had been asleep.



Does this look like the face of a girl who is about to go to bed? I think not!

My Two Valentines

Happy belated Valentines Day! I hope you all had as good a day as I did. I had roses delivered to my house and Chris also got me a really nice watch. We usually don't do anything for Valentine's day-at least give presents-so this year it was really fun. I kind of have a new appreciation for this day. Ha ha ha- I know a lot of people don't like it but I kind of feel like Valentine's day reminds us to love those around us just like Christmas reminds us to serve and give to others. To me it isn't just about your significant other it is about everyone you love. I think being human we often forget to show our love and appreciation for those who are most important to us. The ones that really matter-like the ones we get to live with eternally. Anyways-off my soapbox. It was really fun to see how all of you got spoiled by your hubby's and such. Keep up the post and I promise I will do better with mine! I just want to give a shout out to Melanie and Megan I am so happy for both of you. You are going to love being a mom. It is a roller coaster of ups and downs but it is so worth the ride!

These are my two Valentines!

We ended up at a buffet for our Romantic night out with Kate! We left too late everywhere else was a two hour wait and no toddler will that long for dinner. Well Kate made full use of her free meal. (We didn't have to pay because she is under 3). A couple of her favorite things are bread and potatoes which are in abundance at a buffet. When we were leaving I noticed how full her belly was and it looked like her pants were against her tummy so much that I had to undo her belt and first button before we put her in her car seat. My stomach just hurt looking at hers. I think we have all been that full before. Poor kid! She, however, was as happy as can be.

This is her showing off how well she ate.

Catching Up

Hey Everyone! Sorry it has been so long. Chris, Kate and I just moved into a new home. We are really excited, but have been busy. It happened fast. Here are a few things that we have been up to beside moving.

Kate is getting so big. She is offically not a baby anymore. She kept her baby look for a long time but its gone now. Being in a bigger place has made her much more independent. She has started going to nursery, evn though she is only 16 months old. Our new ward doesn't have very many toddlers, so they told us to bring her in. It was wonderful to sit through most of church and actually get to listen. She did end up crying and Chris had to go in with her, but it was better than roaming the halls with her.

I tried to teach Kate how to finger paint. I didn't know I would have to teach her because she seems pretty good at making messes herself, but I did. She didn't like having her hands dirty with paint. She was content with holding the bottles of paint. She really is her Father's child.

We got a new camera! Yah! I was practing pictures on my model! Can't you feel his enthusiasm.

Kate now has 12 teeth. She has two big front teeth with a gap in the middle. It is one of my favorite things when she smiles.

My friend Diana also had a baby. This is Kate and baby Lucy. She is so adorable. Kate loves on her as much as she can. She loves babies so much.