25 Wishes

I just turned 25 and it is one of those birthday milestones that make me feel like I am getting old!  I know it really isn't that old and I have been realizing how I still think of myself as a lot younger than I am.  I see people graduating high school that seem like little babies to me.  I mentioned that I graduated in 2006 and that was 7 years ago!  What?!

I do feel like I am growing up a little though...that's a plus!  

Here's my wish list for the year of being 25...

1. I feel like I need to get back into playing music...and more than the recorder (I have that one "mastered" already right?)  :)  I want to get back to playing the piano and I would love to learn the guitar.  
2. Exercise...this is a tough one.  It is easy to forget, easy to sleep in, easy to let a day pass and tell myself I will make it up on Saturday.  But I have been doing really good for the last 2 months exercising 5 times a week!  I go running through my neighborhood, or do Insanity workouts at home if I don't wake up early enough to go on a good run before David heads off to work.  Pushing 2 kids in the jogger is intense...and there are not enough flat places around here!  AND there's Soccer!  There is an informal group that meets up every Wednesday and Saturday to play and I had to retire my cleats from high school to get a new pair and they have been heavenly!  My feet are thanking me!   It is so fun to be playing again even though I am usually the only girl.  I sweat like a man, so I might as well play with them...TMI?
3. Make time to keep the house in order.  I have never and probably will never be a spotless home type, but I get too frustrated when I can't find things, or when I feel like I am drowning in our own stuff.  Sometimes I live with the mess and I should care more and clean it up, but sometimes it is tough to keep up with the mess!  I just want to make time for more order.
4. eat well...I want to make healthier food choices, but also I need to remember to feed myself. When I realize at 3:00 that I haven't had anything for lunch and then decide that a peanut butter and nutella sandwich heated for 15 seconds in the microwave is a good idea...this is a problem area.  I do so much better with a plan.
5. get to know people...I am in a new place with new people.  I want to seek out some good people and find out what makes them who they are.



Katelyn's Favorite...Alice the Fairy

6. read...read the scriptures, read with my kids, read the scriptures with my kids, and read fun books without falling asleep after the first paragraph.
7. serve others...I want to get to know people so I can serve them.  It might be my time just chatting, it might be my time making a meal for them when they are sick, it might be my time watering their plants...My mom says that she is happiest when she is serving others, or something like that.  My family counts too...I want to do more for them too!
8. I am realizing how parenting requires so much selflessness.  My bad days are nearly always linked to days when I am selfish with my personal space and time.  I am trying hard to give my time to these kids and take my full-time job as their mom.  Katelyn and Davy need me.  They are capable of learning and doing so much and I don't want to just "get through" each day, but I want to dedicate more time to nurturing them and enjoying them.  
9. blogging...this is my family journal.  I love having our life documented and seeing the things we do and the phases we go through and I want to keep track of it all.  I love it when I keep up with it!
10. take a ceramics class...I loved the year I did in high school and I wasn't half bad either!
11. Quit throwing food out!  I hate it when food goes bad...especially produce!  It is a pet peeve of mine and I want to pay attention to what I've got, or meal plan better...something.
12. Sew for myself...I started sewing a dress for myself this week.  I made up the pattern from a dress that I already have.  It is fun to create and I have a bunch of ideas for more dresses and skirts for me. 
13. Save money...I want to simplify so that we can save more and do more with the money we have.
14. I can be such a home body and part of it is because of laziness, and sometimes I just like to be home where everything is calm and contained.  But I want to be outside more.  Go on walks and just talk, let Katelyn ride her bike, go have a picnic at the park, go explore, or anything like this.  We all love it and I like spending time out and about together and want more of it.
15. I dyed my hair blonder...I wanted to do it and I like it.  My hair has been getting darker and darker with each kid...or maybe just time going by and me getting older.  I missed my blonde hair and now I have a head start on the summer blondeness that comes each year.  I have a feeling part of me did it because I want to feel younger, and I am okay with that.  Changing my hair wasn't that big of a change (I didn't go crazy with the blondeness), but it was a big thing for me so even though I already did it, I am putting it on this list :)
16. Memorize the Articles of Faith.  I challenged my 8 year-old primary class and I want to make sure I know them all too.  I remember most of them, but I have some iffy spots that need a tune up.
17. Pay attention to birthdays and anniversaries.  I love it when people remember and acknowledged my birthday and anniversary, so I want to make an effort for others too because they might like it too!
18. Paint something.  I have had a blank canvas for over a year now and I want to paint something on it, but I am not sure what. I think I want to paint Katelyn's face in a way that I saw my friend, Terryn, do her son.  I think I could make it look like her...if not, then I will take a picture of it and then paint something else.  
19. Date my husband.  Too often we spend time on our laptops, phones, or iPad or in separate rooms doing our own thing.  I want to focus on the time that I do have him home and have fun with him.
20. Have more game nights...We have so many good games and we need to have people over to play or just play with our own little family.  Katelyn is figuring out UNO and Trouble and is loving them.  We all love games!
    
    
    
    
21. FHE...we are very sporadic and I want to be more consistent.  It is healthy for our family.  I like having time to set goals for the week, and Katelyn is soaking up so much of how this world works right now and I want her to know this gospel so that she can love it and know that I love it.
22. See more of the east ...Niagara Falls, Gettysburg, Pittsburgh, Philly, Palmyra...there are cool places out here!
23. PLAY...I love roller coasters and water slides!  I am not pregnant this summer (my parents won't ever believe me again since I tricked them last summer when I got off the plane nearly 7 months pregnant)  and there are so many fun theme parks calling my name out east and out west!  Hershey Park, Silverwood, Roaring Springs, King's Dominion...I "need" to go!
24. Do some Family History.  I want to get some people's stories recorded before they are gone!
25. Convince myself and David that it is worth it for me to be in Kennewick for Gold Medal peach season because they might be good enough to leave my husband stranded for a couple extra weeks while I get my juicy peach fix!

My birthday fell on a Wednesday...a Wednesday that David was in Baltimore (for the whole week) and I wanted to feel bad for myself since I was home alone with the kids another day and it was my birthday, but that's part of being a grown up.  I decided to make it a good day with a walk through the neighborhood finding flowers that were being towered over with weeds...

The kiddos both took a nap at the same time!

I made my favorite dinner...Breakfast!  Crepes with strawberries and cream!

And I skyped, texted, emailed, called and was facebooked from so many wishing me a wonderful day and it really did turn out to be a great day! 

That weekend, David and I left the kids with the Iwaasa's and went to play...laser tag (David out-scored me 3/4 times), mini golf (David won by 2 strokes...maybe only one, but I can't entirely remember, so I will let him have 2), and my favorite...go carts!  I was so stinkin' fast!  I figured out how to hit the brake around the corners to get my go cart to do a tight u-turn and I snuck past David every time with that trick.  We did a lot of mini races between us which meant I had to keep stopping and letting him catch up to me once I got far enough ahead to say I beat him that round ;)  He probably won't admit to that, but I was good!  And those go carts had the speed I was hoping for.  My hair was flying horizontal and would whip around the corners with me...loved it!  It was a fun date! 

We ate "Better Than Anything and Everything Cake"  with Brittany and her family...it was her birthday the day before...and David made it for me.  I might have forced him to make it for me, but he did an awesome job!

Birthday's are good...and this one has been good to me!

Home #7

We are having a hard time settling in and calling a place home for too long before we pack up and move on to the next place!  We keep hopping around and it is a lot of work! We have been married for 5 years now and this is the 7th place we have lived!

We moved here back in April and it was a good one.  We are able to save more money since rent is much cheaper here, and we are enjoying the smaller feel of Harrisburg compared to the Baltimore and all of its beefiness!  Does anyone know that Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania?  Honestly, most people (even you Mayrlanders just a state away) think it is either Philly or Pittsburgh...and for the longest time, David would say that he worked in Harrisburg, Philadelphia...that drove my Elementary Education Bachelor's Degree mind insane and it wasn't ok!  C'mon people, don't you remember your states and capitals?  ...Or even just the states??? :)

The moving day went as smooth as it could thanks to awesome member of our new and old wards.  I even told my brother that he didn't need to make the hour drive to help, since we were going to have plenty of help...Sorry for turning down your offer Chris!

I had wonderful help from my visiting teacher, Tyese, one day.  It was coming close to moving day and I was starting to feel overwhelmed and she came over with just an hour of her free time.  I thought of how little I was ever able to pack up in a hour and was a little bummed, but then she got right to work and packed my ENTIRE KITCHEN!  She was fast!  I didn't realize how much she could do and had to find some essentials so I could feed the missionaries that night. Tyese was awesome and I am still in awe of how she did it!

Then the missionaries came over and offered to help and came back the next day.  They were great help too and helped pack up the odds and ends and do the finishing touches with me before the big move the next day.

That Saturday, the 13th, the crew arrived ready to pack!

They loaded everything in the truck, didn't eat enough of the donuts we got them, and then they were off to move another family.

The sister missionaries (anyone know that brown haired one...she's from the Kennewick East Stake!) Jace Martinsen, Steven Davis, Adrian Stanger, and a guy that we barely know but was a beast in hauling boxes! Someone tell me his name, please?!

 David headed off to Harrisburg and got to the new place ready and hoping he would have help unload the truck!  I had mentioned to some people in our new ward that he would need help and the new ward responded letting us know that the ward had just been split and that they would try to find out who was in the ward that could come help, so were weren't really sure if we were going to have any help.  We were delighted to have a whole crew that unloaded the truck in half an hour!  I stayed behind and fed the kids and then drove up to the new place, and in the 30 minutes it took to feed the kids I had missed all the action!

We are so grateful to be here in Harrisburg!  The part about David not having to make the drive every Monday and Friday from Baltimore to Harrisburg and back has been so nice....I think our poor car was getting worn out from that drive too!  Being together as a family EVERY night instead of just on the weekends has been such a treat that I never thought to be grateful for!  David had one week of training that he had to head to Baltimore for the week leaving us here, and I was reminded of how terrible, tiring, and stressful it is to have him gone during the week...and we lived like that for nearly a year!

Brittany was this girl here in Harrisburg who was in a Relief Society presidency and she was told that I was going to be here off and on staying in hotels and that I might like to be added to the playgroup emails she sent out.  We emailed back and forth and then one day we met up at a park and got to know each other.  It was sort of odd to plan to meet someone at a park, but she was being very nice and friendly and I was bored and tired of taking Katelyn to the parks and libraries to play by herself.  I knew she was a member of the same church, but she didn't know that.  We met at the park and chatted while our kids played and it was great!  We were heading back to the hotel for lunch and she offered to let Katelyn keep playing and invited us over to her place for lunch and swimming.  We must have seemed normal enough!  I took her up on that offer and we hung out and chatted the day away!  I never got in contact with her since I didn't head out to Harrisburg with David most weeks and when I did, I wasn't sure if I would be a bother or not which I wish I would have called her up!

Britt's good-bye party...she's the tall blonde beauty next to me!

When we found out we were going to move here, I talked to Brittany and found out the ins and outs of the area she lived in because another friend said that it was the perfect place.  I called or emailed her every other day with all of my questions and then we ended up moving in across the street from them!  The day we moved in, I didn't have a jacket that I left out for the day and she ran home and let me use hers for the day!  She is one of those people that is always ready and willing to help and has really been so incredibly helpful!  We have loved our new place and I loved being so close to her.  We hung out nearly every day since we moved in and it was the first thing Katelyn would ask for in the day.  They just moved out...not because of us ;)...but because he finished his schooling and they are heading back west to settle in with a first job and a new home!  We are bummed that we couldn't be close neighbors for longer and we loved having each other so close by that now we have to go out and make new friends!  Brittany and I were so similar in way too many ways and  we realized that we both married similar guys too...funny and ironic.  We miss the Iwaasa's  and I am not too excited about having to stretch myself and go out of my comfort zone to get to know the neighbors around me when it was so easy and comfortable to be friends with her.  That's life though!

One random side note...it drives me crazy that I have very few pictures with me and my friends!  We hang out, watch each other's kids, take pictures of our kids playing together, but rarely take pictures of us being friends.  I am friends with them on facebook, so I can stay in contact with them, but I just want pictures of us adults together.  Silly and random, but it matters to me a little bit :)

Harrisburg is home for now and we feel settled and ready to conquer this place!  It sort of feels like living in Boise again, and we liked Boise so we are bound to love it here!

What Holidays?

Is it May  June already?!  This year is going so fast.  We are loving being a little family of just the four of us but at the same time there aren't enough hours in the day or night to do everything we want...like blogging!

Some of the little holidays have slipped by without saying anything and we haven't made too many attempts to stop and acknowledge them so Katelyn barely even knows they were here!  

Valentine's Day we did pretty good.  The day before a bunch of ladies from my ward gathered to decorate cookies and brownies.  Kids played and moms chatted and attempted to make the cookies look somewhat decent with the fancy frosting tips we didn't know how to use.  My friend, Rebecca, organized a Valentine's party with all the kids that aren't school age.  We all brought a snack to share and the kids brought cards to share.  We decorated the mailboxes with our kids and then they played a few games.  There was a musical chairs type of game where all the kids were instructed to dance while the music played.  As I wrote in the last post, Katelyn broke down in tears because she was not in her dancing attire.  She was upset for the rest of the party and had a hard time being her silly self without her dress/tutu on.  Rough life.

I already wrote up about the date at home I planned for just the two of us and I am still drooling over that gooey caramel Butterfinger cake!  The orange chicken was so yummy too and I plan on making that one again.  It was a yummy night!  I also gave David a gift that keeps on giving....a coupon book.  So far he has redeemed the ones for a weeks worth of ironing (we both hate ironing clothes!), a foot rub, and we are planning a weekend trip to New York soon!  That little coupon book got packed away and hasn't resurfaced yet, so I am sure he will get back on that once we find it....breakfast in bed, back massage, weekend trips, weekends free from diaper changes, and a bunch of other ideas like that that might be hints to things I would love ;)

St. Patty's day was a Sunday and we wore green to church and that was all we had for the day.

Easter was spent with my brother and his family and that was nice.  We ate yummy five cheese pasta, rolls, and they were the best part of the meal so the rest doesn't really matter :)

...and then we played Ticket to Ride!  We like that game and David and I play a game nearly every night on the iPad before we fall asleep...we're addicted.

 I looked like the cleverest person around with these cupcakes thanks to Pinterest.  I hosted an Easter egg hunt during the week and I brought these for everyone.  (I might have blogged about that before...that's just how it goes, when you throw so much into one post!)

 A week or two after Easter, I finally got around to our Easter FHE and we made Resurrection Rolls...Marshmallows (Jesus) dipped in melted butter and cinnamon and sugar (oil and spices) wrapped with a crescent roll and then the miracle of the Resurrection happens when you cook them!  They were yummy and helped to teach the lesson of Easter so we were all happy!

April brought David's birthday!  We were on the eve of our move and we headed out on a fun date.  I tried to get all the packing done so that we wouldn't have to spend this kid free time doing last minute packing and it worked!  We dropped off the kids, picked up our rental truck and dropped it off at home, and went off to eat and play!   We went out and tried out our sharp shooting skills at laser tag.  We were at least 10 years older than everyone there and were nervous that all the youngins were going to haunt us and make it no fun.  We were able to do just fine and we had fun with it.  We got a pizza for dinner and realized Pizza Hut really isn't our favorite!

I tried my best to duplicate our wedding cake that David still drools over...again.  The frosting was better and awesome, but the cake was too dense and not the moist/crumbly cookies 'n cream cake that he remembers.  I might throw in the towel on this cake and just admit I can't do it, or I might search her out and beg her for the recipe and specific instructions.  David will never forget and stop day dreaming of that cake that seems to be nearly the best thing about our wedding day, so I might have to find the cake lady! 

May came around and I kept telling David that our anniversary was coming up to warn him.  We took advantage of a couple days off and headed to New York City to cram all we could see and do in two days that we could.  We loved it and can't wait to go back without kids someday so we can go watch some shows and play some more at night in the city.  We did this trip on Memorial Day weekend (Thursday-Saturday) and then when our anniversary came around on the 31st, I was expecting him to do something out of the ordinary, and David thought New York was as lovely as an anniversary celebration could get. I wanted something like a love letter or card or something that required some planning ahead that let me know he was excited for this big anniversary...hooray for 5 years!  (but not flowers, I told him no on the flowers)  He did bring home dinner and ice cream, but didn't tell me so Katelyn and I had already had dinner and just thought he was taking to long and I was trying to get the house ready for my brother and his family coming to stay and play for the weekend.  David and I are just so romantic!

We might need to work on communicating our expectations and plans with each other or maybe we should lower our expectations?!  We have been pretty low key and sort of lame this year, but it really doesn't matter too much.  I don't think that skipping over St. Patty's day will hurt any of us!

We all still like each other and there's plenty of love to go around this family.  I am not sure how I want to do holidays and what traditions I want to be a part of our family or not.  So sometimes out of laziness, or other times I just don't see the point not much happens.  We will see and each year will probably be different and change as these kids get older.  

Katelyn's {half} Birthday

Kateln's 2nd birthday came and went last August.  It was pretty lame and luckily she doesn't remember.  I had just returned from a 5 week trip, we headed off to live in a hotel for the week for David's job, and then my mind was in baby mode since I was about 8 months pregnant and hadn't prepped for him at all.  Her Birthday was mid week and living in a hotel, I couldn't make a cake, didn't think to buy one, and found a couple gifts she'd like the day before her birthday and didn't wrap them because that seemed dumb to buy wrapping paper since we have plenty at home that we rarely use.  She did get a balloon and a paper crown from Toys R Us and was pretty happy with those, until she decided she didn't want it tied to her wrist and then it started blowing away just faster than my pregnant body could chase it!  Someone had to be sitting at the security room at the back of the store laughing about that one for awhile...probably replaying it and showing anyone that passed by.  I am just so entertaining sometimes and I tried my hardest to snag that balloon but as soon as I got close enough to snatch it, a new gust of wind would blow it just out of reach, so I let it go!  I thought about chasing it down in my car...though about it.  And now that I have two kids, I ALWAYS think twice about leaving the house and sometimes it is just worth it to avoid the embarassment and stay home :)

So...When Katelyn turned 2, David happened to think about her and brought home half of his dessert he ordered (we don't like to go out with his co-workers because it has often proved to be less professional and more on the embarassing side so we avoid those) and we sang Happy Birthday, let her have a couple bites, showed her her presents (She loved the baby doll stroller best!) and then put her to bed.  Pretty lame, but in all honesty I didn't feel too bad about it.  She was fine with it and was too young to really care, let alone know who her friends are.  I just had higher expectations for birthday's and know that it will only get more difficult as more kids and more birthdays consume the years!

The week of her 2 1/2 mark came (at the end of February when I wrote this up and am just now updating and adding pictures to post it) and I thought it would be fun to arrange a play date.  She has a few friends that she really knows, but can have fun with any and all kids.  We set up to eat lunch at Chick Fil-A and then the kids could go play on the toys and us moms could hang out and chat.  It was simple and fun for them and for us and nothing crazy fancy.  I did make a cake...well it was a half cake for her half birthday.  We sang and ate cake and to our surprise, Chick Fil-A brought out little cups of ice cream for all the kiddos!    That was a nice little treat that I think all of us mom's ended up eating :)  We did some candles at home and we did them again when David got home because she is so fascinated with them.  It was just a fun day with friends.

A little about Katelyn lately:

• She is now 38 inches tall and 31 pounds.  She is stretching out!  She is on the average/tall side of things I think.
• She is such a chatter box now!  She often hogs skype calls and I have to put in a movie or let her play games on the iPad to get my turn to talk.
• She loves her Daddy so much!  If she ever sleeps in and he sneaks off to work before she gets up then she asks about him all day checking with me if he is still at work or if we are going to get him anytime soon.  Once he's home, she is glued to him and wants to show and tell about her whole day.  She always gets an extra boost of energy once he gets home and he loves it even if he doesn't get any alone time...even in the bathroom :)
• Skirts, dresses, or tutus are a must.  She now prefers them over pants and loves them for spinning and dancing (reminds me of her cousin Edison).  She has always enjoyed dancing a little jig here and there, but now she likes to include some "graceful" spins and CANNOT dance without the proper attire.  Sometimes we hear a fun song and "Dance Time" is announced and we all will dance.  David and I are usually told to stop and she remins us that we don't have our tutus on!  We forget all the time!  We were at a Valentine's party and all the kids were playing a musical chairs type of game and while the music played, everyone danced.  Katelyn broke down in tears as they were telling everyone to dance and she told me she didn't have a tutu and she couldn't dance!  What were they thinking trying to get all those kids to dance without tutus!?  And what mom in their right mind wouldn't come prepped with a tutu for dancing time?!  C'mon Mom! ;)
• She still loves her "Baby Butter" and she likes to do balancing acts that hover over him to kiss, hug and get smiles out of him.  They have both been sick this week and with how much she adores him, there was no way we could have kept them from sharing sick germs.  Anytime she gets a smile out of him, she is delighted and giggles and shares the news with everyone around letting everyone know, "Baby Butter 'filed' at me!"
• She is the queen bee in nursery now, I've heard.  The first six months were torture for her and I as we tried every technique to drop her off tear free.  Once the new year came and the oldest kids went off to be "Sunbeams" it just clicked and she has been pretty good ever since with the whole getting dropped off thing.  She got really confident now that she is the oldest and now she goes in and plays and sings her little heart out to Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam, Old McDonald, Wheels on the Bus, and I am a Child of God.  She likes to say prayers, knows the answers, and jabbers away making everyone giggle at her cute body language that comes along with her chattiness!  
• She knew her letters and their sounds by her 2nd birthday and we have been working on reading simple words and sight words.  She knows about 30 sight words and likes to spell out words she sees on signs around town now.  This is fun until we drive too fast and she can't finish....then she gets irritated and will ask us to stop the car. 
• numbers, colors, and shapes are another story.  We haven't spent as much time on those, and since she knows her letters so well it was funny to us how far she had come with those and every shape was a circle and every color was green (except green things were always another color)  and every number was 2 or 48...random I know!  She has come a long way in the last 6 months and knows most of her colors and numbers.  Shapes are coming too, but those are hard to say and differentiate...square vs. rectangle, hexagon vs. pentagon...it is really cute to hear her say the longer ones like triangle and rectangle!  Her pronunciation cracks me up and I love it! Lullow, gween, wed, peent, puhp-owe...too fun.  She will grow out of saying things so jumbled and cute, so I try to enjoy it without laughing and making her feel dumb as it is so cute to hear her talk and awesome how much she is learning.
• She knows lots of animals.  She has lots of puzzles (one of her favorite toys) and some are bugs, dinosaurs, sea animals, farm animals, and so on and she loves books about animals the best.  She has recently been attached to a stuffed bear that she likes to take everywhere with her and this little bear gets treated like her child.  Katelyn likes to make sure her bear has her jacket zipped, purse with snacks in case Bear gets hungry, and books to read.  Katelyn makes sure the jacket doesn't get in Bear's face so bear can be happy...I am not careful enough with Bear sometimes and Katelyn helps me know how to take care of her bear.  If we drop David off at work, she makes sure that he gives Bear hugs and kisses just like he does for Katelyn.  She is very particular about some things and wouldn't have it any other way.  Her animals are part of the family and have been treated as such!  
• We went to see the circus elephants.  They came to Lexington Market to eat lunch and for entertainment there were clowns, a live band, and Chik-Fil-A cows dancing around.  She LOVED this and still talks about it over a month later to anyone she meets.  A cow came and shook her hand and she was so giddy and thrilled by it.  She loved watching the elephants eat their "betch-ya-bles" (vegetables) and then for a treat each elephant got a watermelon and they stomped on it and then scooped it up with thier trunk to eat it.  Katelyn was in animal heaven and thought it was the most awesome thing ever!    



Davy was happy to hang out in the stroller the whole show!


• She loves to sing and usually it is "Happy Burpee".  She loves all of her songs she learns in nursery and has a few others that we have learned on our own.  
• She isn't as shy with strangers now and has often initiated conversations with kids and adults.  She just has so much to say to everyone lately!
• She is better able to say all the words with their proper sounds.  Her name has now transformed from "Tay-nen" to "Kay-nen" and words like frog and truck don't sound like the "F" word anymore...Thank goodness!  One thing that is new that shesort of picked up from me is that I say "Oh Good!" often...like "good job"... and now she says it, but a little different.  She will ask if I am done eating, and  I will say "Yes" and she will say "Oh God"  ...not good, God.  It drives me crazy because we don't use God's name in vain, EVER, and I try to correct her and she keeps saying God...and, she can say "Good job" just fine.  I have trying to get myself to just say "good job" now hoping that will help her grow out of it sooner.  ...and now she has started saying "Oh gosh" and I think Heavenly Father will be happy about that!
• With her being sick this last week, she has had a super runny nose.  It is constantly dripping and I am constantly wiping her nose.  She can sort of wipe it herself, but has figured out that her sleeve does a better job..gross I know!  What is worse than the grossness of that is that her sleeves are so rough that she has rubbed the skin under her nose completely raw.  She is now sporting a painful red mustache and slowly realizing that the tissues are really soft and don't hurt.
• We dog-sat a small terrier/shitzu a few weeks ago named Mickey.  She followed him around holding on to his leash that whole weekend.  I couldn't stand him most of the time and wished he could be outside, but Katelyn loved him and couldn't get enough of him.  She asks about Mickey-dog often wondering where he is.
• She doesn't care much for the books and toys that are spread around the house until it is time to put them away.  Sometimes I will get her to read with us by asking her to put a stack of books away...works every time so far!
• She likes her independence.  Anything that she has done on her own once before, she doesn't want help with...until she realizes she can't really do it and then will ask for help.  If I try to help right away, then she lets me know she can do it herself and will start over.  It takes a lot of patience on our part and we usually get around this by asking her to do something 5 minutes before we need it done (like getting dressed) so that she has a chance to do it on her own before we come to help. 
• She is learning and understanding more and more...like she can play games and take directions and remember what's going on.  She and a friend played hide and seek together on a jungle gym and the girl (who was 5) explained what to do and then they played and it was so cute to hear all about it from her and David after their Daddy-Daughter Date.  I tried to play this game awhile back and she didn't get the whole idea of one person counts and the other hides and then the counter comes to find the hider.  So it is cool that her mind is learning and grasping new and fun ideas!
• If she doesn't get her way she goes for the limp body approach and will just stay on the floor.  How do kids figure this stuff out?!



pretending to be some sort of puppy or bunny

• She is quick to say "sorry" and if she isn't sorry, she would rather put herself on the naughty chair for time out.  Hearing her say "sorry Mommy" is so sweet and sometimes she even follows up with a hug and kiss and melts my frustration away!  She's good! 
• Now that she has been potty trained and had lots of coaching on what to do she feels confident and can coach us in the bathroom.  We usually dismiss it, but then we have gotten caught off guard when we are in a public bathroom and she is coaching and  cheering us on every step of the way!  ...a personal favorite is when she announced in a quiet stake conference "Daddy!  Mommy go-ed potty and gets two chocolates!"  Thank you for making my personal accomplishments open to the public...now give me my candy I earned.
• She can open the fridge now... I just imagine a big mess of eggs, milk, yogurt, ranch, and anything else that looks interesting on the floor one day soon.  Or maybe she is planning on bringing me breakfast in bed one of these days :)  The sound of the fridge opening makes me jump up from whatever I am doing now.
• She could play in the sink all day every day.  Water is too fun!
• She can use a computer no problem.  We have ABC Mouse bookmarked and she knows how to turn on the computer, click on "the eye" (Chrome) and then click on the little mouse on the top to play her games.  She has figured out the old fashioned hand-held mouse and the pad on our laptops...crazy!
• She loves to play with Davy.  She loves dancing and jumping with him the most! She also loves it when we help him pin her down.  She thinks he is the funniest (He always gets the credit!)...unless he drools, spits up, or poops...then her extra sensitive gag reflex kicks in and we have to divert her attention quick before she pukes! (this has been tricky with her own potty training!)  
• Her hair is long enough for two pig tails!  It is my favorite way to do her hair lately!  They curl just right.  
• 
• She also LOVES to dry her hair and I have to limit her to doing it once a day although she is always a sweaty mess when she wakes up after her naps.  
• She is in a phase between one nap a day and no naps.  If she wakes up aound 8 am, she isn't tired until 3-4 pm.  If she naps at 3 then she isn't tired for bed until 11 or so.  If I lay down with her to help her to take a nap around 1 pm, then she falls asleep, but so do I for about 2 hours.  She will go to bed at a decent hour.  This is great some days, but I usually have so many things I would love to do during her nap time so it drives me nuts!  More importantly, this doesn't always work because Davy has  ants and needs too and isn't always asleep at that time.  I have tried to keep her entertained and tried the no nap, but around 6 pm, she willingly puts herself to sleep wherever she is.  So the no nap thing doesn't work, and I have to hope Davy is ready for a nap at the same time so I can go help her get to sleep.  
• She uses the phrase "little bit" all the time and it deosn't always work, but it is so cute.  Like she will say, "I'm a little bit all done eating." or "I little bit goed potty." or "I little bit wake up." or "I little bit make a mess" She  just throws it in there not really meaning "a little bit" but just that she did whatever she said she did a little bit of.  



Singing and in her own pretend world the other day.

• She is into a pretending phase where she will play with pretend friends.  She is usually playing with "Princa" (how she says princess) and Liz (the lizard from Magic School Bus) and she will "carry" them around, parent them, put them in time-out, help them go down her slide, push them in her car, and just have a good time.  Sometimes Liz and Princa don't get along and she gets so frustrated with them and asks me to help.  
• Potty training for the day time is pretty much complete.  Every once in a while she will forget, or have an accident for who knows why, but 95% of the time she goes in the potty.  We will work on the night time training later...any tips for that would be wonderful!



She misses her little friend, Logan!  He is as strong as Hulk but Katelyn loved having him around  and asks about him all the time!



Our friends, Colette and Logan!  We needed each other often and will miss them!

• She loves going anywhere, but leaving is ALWAYS an issue!  She never wants to leave!  The library, the grocery store with those awesome car carts she loves, the toy section (we have to run past those!), friends' houses, our own backyard ....Why does everywhere have to be so fun?!  She will run and hide when she hears that it is time to go and carrying Davy and her to the car isn't an option unless David is with me.    
• She could eat "Kangaroo Cereal" (Marshmallow Mateys) for every meal and ususally asks for it for every meal.
• She will announce where we are going in our own house as if she is leading an army..."To the potty!", "To the downstairs!", "To the nap time!"
• Brushing her teeth usually isn't her favorite thing to do.  Singing like Ariel the Little Mermaid always works...almost.  "Aah ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh ahh"



Feeding the birds the leftover pancakes!

• She's even cute when she's sick!  We love this girly and love the spunkiness she adds to the family!  She loves to be involved with whatever we are doing and likes to be a helper.  She is opinionated, but will go with the flow too.  She gets emotionally attatched to people and when they are happy or sad, so is she.  She could play tag all day every day and loves the thrill of being chased!  It brings out the best of her laughs and makes us all laugh too.  She is very expressive when she talks and uses her shoulders, eyebrows and facial expressions thoroughly when she talks and we love hearing the recap of the day because she will tell you the ups and downs of the day and show all the emotion with her body as she tells you about it.  She can be tough, but it is usually when we are all tired or hungry so it is preventable!  She is so fun!!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Potty Training

Here is your warning:  This is a post about potty training and might include more details than you want to hear about our experience.  Short story is, Katelyn is potty trained.  It you want the long story, read on!

Just before December we bought a box of diapers and David and I looked at each other and had the idea that this could be our last box of diapers for Katelyn!  She had been showing signs of readiness here and there, but we still knew it was on the earlier side of being ready or not.  David had left it up to me since I would really be the one that would do the majority of the training being home with her during the week while he was working out of town.  I think David bought her potty seat around when she turned 18 months or so hoping that I would potty train her then.  I wasn't ready to do it then.  Then a couple months later he bought the movie Potty Power hoping that would get me excited to train her, but that didn't happen either.  Katelyn would show some signs of interest in going potty like a big girl, but they were just moments that I saw as her getting closer and closer to being ready, but not quite ready still.

We were nearing the end of the box of diapers and I had told David that once that box ran out, then I was going to go for it.  In my mind, I imagined that we wouldn't need diapers for night or day once she was potty trained.  As I began my research digging through the blog world I quickly realized that learning to be potty trained during the night usually didn't happen right away with the day time training.  We only had a handful of diapers left and it was midweek and David was out of town.  I didn't have easy access to a store, and I wasn't ready that very day to start training, so I was a little nervous, but compiled my game plan for this adventure and went at it.

I layed out sheets of vinyl and taped them to our carpet in our living room and all they way to the bathroom.  I planned on spending nearly all of the next week either in the kitchen or on the protected carpet.  This saved  our carpet many times in first few days of training.

I made a party out of it and Davy was invited, but was kind of our third wheel all week.  He was given attention as needed, but was very chill and laid back and I took advantage of his milk-drunkeness.  I offered Katelyn drinks of all types and wanted her to have lots of opportunities to practice so she drank milk, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, juice of all kinds, and smoothies sometimes too!

I pulled out our leftover Halloween candy....we still had a lot left at Christmas time... and told her she could have a piece each time she goes in the potty.  This seemed simple enough and an enticing reward that she was very interested in.

She wore her Princess, Minnie, and Daisy Duck undies and loved them.  She didn't understand the whole idea of "don't get pee on Rapunzel" or "Keep Minnie clean".

So we started our day and we had all the drinks being drunk and I had a timer set to go off every 30 minutes so we would go and try. Here is the chart of our first day...is is exhausting to look at this!


Wednesday December 19th 2012
Time What happened? What are we doing?
10:20:00 wet panties while playing with little brother in bathroom. Watching Potty Power
11:00:00 Wet panties while painting, and then we ran to the toilet and she finished going pee, washed hands, and picked out a dum dum
11:10:00 Said poo poo and grabbed bum and then started wetting pants.  We ran to the potty and she went pee, washed hands and finished sucker
11:30:00 Timer went off we ran to the potty and just sat and read books, no pee, no poop Painting wreaths
11:50:00 Changing movies out and wet her pants.  Ran to the potty and nothing came out.
12:00:00 Timer went off and no poop or pee on the potty Watching Potty Power
12:15:00 She asked for candy, and I told her she get s candy for going pee or poop on the potty.  Two minutes later, she stood up and started wetting her panties and then we ran to the toilet and she went pee some more and got a Krabby Patty for a treat painting popsicle sticks for Christmas trees
12:30:00 Wet her undies just before the timer went off and then didn't want to go sit on the potty.
You Rock Babe, remember the accidents are part of learning I love you
12.45 Asked for some candy and then I told her she gets candy when she goes pee or poop on the potty and so she ran to the potty and went pee.  Her undies were a little wet so we changed them, but her leggings over he panties were dry.
1:00-1:15 Sat on the potty when the timer went off and read a book.  No pee or poop Watch Musical Baby
1:20:00 Pooped in undies and didn't want to go to the potty when asked.  I made her go anyways so we could clean out her undies and then she wanted candy so she sat on the potty and went pee
1:30:00 Timer went off and we sat on the potty but nothing came out.
Nap time for all of us! Nap time
4:30:00 Awake from nap.  Napped with diaper on and it was wet when we changed back into undies
5:00:00 Timer went off and we ran to the potty and sat and read a book.  Nothing came out and she didn't want undies, so no undies Watching Robin Hood
5:30:00 Timer went off and we rant to the potty and she peed!  Washed hands and got a piece of a cookie. no undies still
6:00:00 Timer went off and we ran to the potty.  She peed and washed hands and got a piece of a cookie.  No undies still
6:20:00 She asked to sit on the potty so we did, but nothing came out
6:30:00 Timer went off so we ran to the potty and she peed.  Washed hands and she got a yellow starburst.  No undies still making trees with popsicle sticks
7:00:00 Timer went off and we ran to the potty and she peed.  Washed hands and she picked a mini tootsie pop.  No undies
7:30:00 Timer went off and nothing came out on the potty
7:50:00 Katelyn ran to the potty all on her own! and peed!  Finally gets the tootsie roll she's been begging for for the last half hour! Watching Safe Side
8:30:00 Katelyn pooped on floor right as alarm went off then we went to dump it in the potty and she peed in the potty
9:00:00 Peed in the potty!  Loved her cookie Started Robin hood
9:30:00 Sat on the potty, but nothing came out
Time for bed in a diaper

This was on a Google Spreadsheet and so David was able to follow along with our day and loved it.  The following days got better and better and it was so exhausting.  Some people wonder why I didn't do it with David home, and I think it was just something that I wanted to do on my own.  I tend to micro-manage David (I hope I am not the only one) on what works and doesn't work with the kids since I am home with them all day and I could have sorted it out so we were on the same page and done our potty training on a weekend, but I didn't want to have to worry about it.  I didn't want to have conflicting methods or have to worry about him doing something one way and then I do it another and confuse Katelyn in the process.  So just doing it my way while he was away was nice and he was able to come home and see what we did and join in on the fun once she had a good idea of it.

The down side of him not being there was that this was exhausting...physically and emotionally!  I tried to be excited and cheerful and keep any frustration or anger hidden away and I think I did it.  By nap time the first day, I had to wash her undies so she didn't run out by the end of the day with how fast she was peeing through all of them!  I tried to stay hopeful and I am glad I did, because she did get the idea of it and figured out the whole peeing and pooping thing.

This potty training thing got very interesting when Katelyn's gag reflex came into the picture.  When ever she had a pooping accident she was always grossed out by it.  I was on top of the mess and cleaning everything up for her every time, but I wasn't always fast enough and she would start gagging.  She did this occasionally when she would watch me change Davy's diapers or spit up.  David didn't think she really was gagging and that I was just exaggerating her reaction.  On Christmas morning Katelyn was all dressed and ready to go to my brother's house and we were eating our yummy Sticky Buns and eggs for a late breakfast.  Katelyn pooped her pants and David went off to help her and clean it all up.  The clean up didn't go too smoothly and Katelyn started gagging.  I am finishing my breakfast as I hear this all going on in the bathroom.  As I finish my breakfast, Katelyn's gagging turns into puking.  So David picks her up and the mess is spreading.  He now had Katelyn's poop and puke on him.  To add to it, Davy had spit up on him just minutes earlier.  I came in to help and get everyone cleaned up and calmed down.  I sent David to clean up himself and I took over with Katelyn.  Cleaned her up and dressed her up again and she was good to go.  I came out to find that David was still in his disgusting clothes eating that heavenly meal!  I was in shock that he didn't change first, but he said he just wanted to eat the good food in peace and calm down from the whole mess of it all so that's what he did!  Food is the way to his heart, and the messes of his wonderful kids wasn't going to stop him!  ...and he let me know that he did indeed believe me that Katelyn does gag with things that look or smell bad.

So, her gagging has made this potty training adventure that much more exciting!  We even have to flush before she checks out what she put in there.  I have found that I can usually distract her and ask her questions that don't relate to the accident weather it is her own or her brother's to prevent the puking.  Anyone else have kids that get grossed out to the point of puking?

Another thing...we used our stash of Halloween candy and she got to pick something EACH time she went.  These are the like the individual starburst, mini snickers and chocolate candy bars, dum dums, and other candies that are pretty small, but she was going potty every half an hour and sometimes every 10 minutes!  Between the sugary drinks and the candy rewards, her diet consisted of sugar!  Sometimes she didn't even have enough time to finish her starburst or sucker before she had to go again.  But I don't think she would have let me take the candy out of the whole training process.  Eventually we moved to a Katelyn sized bite of a cookie, a single chocolate chip, a single M&M, or marshmallows.  She was close to a sugar coma that first day!   I underestimated how often she would actually go.

She quickly learned that if she went potty she gets a sugary treat and when she would finish one treat, she would announce she had to go potty and would hope she could get something out in order to get more treats!

I was so paranoid to go out in public...or to church of grocery shopping!  We survived though.  She had some accidents out in public but we all handled ourselves well and the times that we made it home from places with no accidents felt victorious!

I made up some "piddle pads" as I like to call them that saved us some frustration too.  They were simply a rectangle that had lots of layers and one layer of the plastic vinyl so they could soak up any mess while we were on the go.  They have been great for her car seat especially!  I also use them if she falls asleep somewhere without a diaper on for nap time and I don't want to wake her up putting a diaper on. She used them around the house the first couple of weeks if she didn't want to sit on the vinyl taped on the ground then she could sit on her "piddle pad" instead.

She was very proud of herself and will now cheer us on as we go.  She has often announced "I go potty!!!!" to the first person she sees outside of the bathroom in any public place.  Most people understand her excitement and glee and will congratulate her and give me a reassuring smile telling me they remember those days with their own children.

So as of now, she wears a diaper for her mid-day nap and when she sleeps at night.  We have had a couple of times where she has gone through a slump and didn't want to go to the bathroom.  She wanted to go when she wanted and it was frustrating, because we knew she could do it, but I think we were stressing her out asking all the time so that was her way of taking control.  It can be so hard to be cheerful all the time, but I have tried so hard even when she is being rebellious.  She has come out of the slumps on her own and I don't think I changed anything of did anything different, just stayed persistent.  It takes a lot of patience, but I think we are getting to the tail end of it all (every time I have said that, she has gone into one of her slumps and started having accidents, but it has been a month now so I think we are clear!).  Once she can consistently stay dry during the nights then we will drop the night time diapers.  I am proud of her and that she pretty much had it all figured out within a week.  We have had good times and bad times but I think she has it all figured out!

Feeling Good About Spring

Well Spring is officially here and it feels refreshing!  We have had a couple sunny days and we have played with friends just because!  I am usually a home body and am just fine hanging out and staying cozy at home doing our thing, but lately it has been good to get out here and there.

Winter wasn't too crazy or boring either.  We have just been plugging along as it flew by!  Everytime I think to blog, there are so many things to write about and more blog-worthy thinbgs keep happening putting me further and further behind on this blog.  So....I will update you on our winter that skated on by way to fast and then I will start fresh with spring.

To start off the year I was talking to David about resolutions and how there were so many things I wanted to accomplish and get in the habit of that I couldn't decide how many to pinpoint and try to tackle...so I didn't, whoops!  I asked David what his resolutions were and he said, "I'm clear! I don't have anything that needs work."

So...we were off to a "great" start!  Goodness!

Of all of the resolutions, getting healthy and excercising more is usually on top of the lists.  We had actually been doing really great.  We were doing Insanity workouts each day from Thanksgiving to New Years...usually the time of year that people don't start excercising.  Then when the new year came, we dwindled off.  So now that we have taken a break when most people start excercising more, we are ready to go!

David has been working and working and working.  He is loving his job still and misses his family still too.  He has been put all over the place...Up in Pennsylvania for weeks, down in Richmond and Roanoke, Virginia for a couple weeks, back to Pennsylvania for a month, and now they were very nice and put him on a client just 5 minutes from home for the last month!  We head out as a family some weeks and live in the hotel with him, but now always as sometimes I have appointments with doctors, friends, Young Womens and so on or sometimes I just am not in the mood to pack up and head out and am willing to take on the kids for a week!

Hotel life...playing with beads and string with David because that's all we got!  Katelyn was in heaven, and David tried so so hard to figure out this girly bead thing while he was watching the Notre Dame vs. Alabama Championship game.

Meeting up with an Idaho friend in Harrisburg

David has been all over the place the last couple of months, but 80% of the last year he has been on the same client in Harrisburg.  We had a lot of ideas of how we could move there and then questioned all the possibilities and pros and cons of it all and if it would save us money or not, or if he would even be assigned to that client anymore.  When he was placed on a client just minutes from our house because the Partner felt he has been away too much and needed to be close to home with his family, we realized that they did care about family time.  We talked it over with his Partner and mentioned that we would be willing to move to Harrisburg if they could garuntee that he would be on that client or any of the other clients in Harrisburg.  This would save the client money as they are the ones that pay for all of his hotels, food, and travel expenses.  This would also make so David can come home every night!  We waited and waited for a response and just finally heard back that they will keep him busy in Harrisburg for the next 1-2 years....so we are moving on to Harrisburg!

We will miss the friends we have made here, but it is worth it to be together as a family for more than just the weekends.  Skype calls at night only get us so close.  Katelyn has hugged and kissed the laptop David goodnight enough and we are excited to be with him more.  We are a little bummed we won't be raking in the Marriott points, but we will survive!

So how about that for a fresh start this spring?  We will probably move in May so we have some time to figure out all the details of our move.  We have a couple good friends that know the area well and have already been in contact with them and they are so helpful.

The rest of our winter we have been here and there.  I have been doing little crafts here and there when the kids are sleeping or off with friends while I leave the kiddos with David...a Valentine's wreath, framing my side of our family picture, turning a Goodwill trashy lamp into a fun little treasure, finishing some painted canvases in my dining room, finally getting pictures of Davy up on our walls, built a small table for our laptop, and my next project is sewing a dress for myself to see if I can make something for myself that looks nice and not too homemade!

When David was in Richmond I got to spend some fun time hanging out with an old friend from highschool.  It is fun to look at our lives now especially compared to where we were 10 years ago!  Terryn was a month away from having her second baby and now he's here!  It is so fun to be going through this motherhood thing at the same time as her.  We crack each other up and have the same frustrations with our kids who are close in age.

This is the best my camera got...Katelyn and Davy wanted out and Terryn and I desperately wanted a picture together so we went for it...and everyone was matching in all that plaid...weird, but cute!

David hasn't been up to much but working.  When he's home, he just likes to be home!  He loves our little family and watching them learn and grow.  He works so much that having time to hang out on the weekends is so nice to him!  He will go play basketball with friends every once in a while, but usually he works too late for that.  It will be nice to get back to normal hours again soon!  We all adore him and have to take turns having his attention when he's home!

We had a weekend Valentine's date at home while a friend watched the kids.  I sucessfully made some yummy Orange Chicken and Fried Rice...the only thing David ever orders at Chinese places.  It was a nice cozy simple dinner with no hair catching on fire from the candles!  David was all for an "at-home" date and it was nice and relaxing for him and nice for me to be home with just him and no kiddos calling out for us for the whole night!  Much needed and much appreciated!

 David tried to do his best Asian face and the shadow of his hair adds a nice touch!  He can be a tough critic on testing out new recipes, but I nailed it this time!

 We finished off the meal with a yummy find from Pinterest!  It is a yellow cake with caramel, sweetened condensed milk, Cool Whip, and his favorite candy bar, Butterfinger!  We loved it, but had to hand some off to our babysitting friends because it would not be good if we ate this all on our own!

 I made up Katelyn's "presents" that she gave to her friends at our Valentine party.  It was a fun party with lots of food, kids running in circles and parents hoping no one collides!

So that has been our life for the last two months or so.  We are all getting over being sick just in time for the sun to warm up our days so we can go have fun in the sun!

We are excited about this move even though it feels like we just got settled in here.  We were a little surprised by it all working out the way it did but are ready to pack up and move on out!  We are hoping for the best and that this is all a good idea!  We'll let you know how it goes!