one year photos!

I made kaylie take pictures to mark the one year milestone.....i am not thrilled with how they turned out, but after only 15 minutes we lost all ten ballons and our patience with each other.

saturday splash!

This is a spash pad near our house. Kids and water...it couldn't get any better in Kaylie's opinon. These picts were taken with a phone, but you get the idea.

Hollywood

Our little K is spending more of her time walking than she does crawling these days. It happened so fast; a week ago she was only learning to take a step or two, and now she is cruising. The beginning of this video she is actually video taping herself, and then at the very end she starts to throw a fit.....why? Because our daughter is either a narcissist or the next Hollywood starlet. K wants me to give her the camera. She is in love with herself on screen and cannot get enough of herself performing. I am finding that I get the video camera out less becuase of the tantrums over the camera.

Even if I am at the computer she will come over and stand next to the chair, arms in the air asking to be picked up. I cannot get her to watch cartoons for 10 minutes, but she will sit on my lap on the computer and watch home videos of herself for an hour. I find it hilarous....

Maybe she'll do comedies.

O mexico !

We went to mexico for spring break with my parents and Ali. It was so fun to be able to get away with them. As you can see from the few pictures I took, we swam and swam a ton....of course, kaylie was in heaven. The resort was so nice, and only a few hour drive from our house....thanks mom and dad for the vacation!

P.A.R.T.Y !!!

We had a b-day party for Kaylie last week. We celebrated with my family, that was visiting from Utah and our AZ family, the Lukes. Kaylie was really in to it all. She understood opening presents......

she attacked her cupcake .......

and I had a lot of fun creating something special for my special K!

One year old!

Kaylie is a year old today and I am so sad my little girl has grown up so fast. Everyday we have so much fun as she learns to do new things. A little about Kaylie at one.

she weighs 22 lbs.

she has 4 teeth.

she has taken 15 steps in a row.

she has slept through the night once.

she can say mama, dada, night-night, hi, nose.

she loves ballons, books, food, bubbles, babies and kids, toby, birds, airplanes, flowers, mirrors, elmo, puzzles, photos, and car keys.

her favorite things are swimming, reading, music, playing buckin' bronco, swinging, and bathing.

her best tricks include standing up, walking, clapping, waving, tickling, playing peek-a-boo, pointing to things when you name them, getting undressed, climbing the stairs, high-fives, giving toby love, giving kisses and talking on the cell phone.

her favorite foods are blueberries, tomatoes peaches, oranges, chicken noodle soup, spaghetti, beans, guacamole, turkey, ice cream, juice boxes, and ice.

she doesn't like sitting down, sleeping, brushing her teeth, riding in the car, the blender, things in her hair or baby food.

Last year on this day, in the first few hours of our little girls life, I remember my first thoughts.... that she was the most precious thing I had ever seen...that I was instantly head over heels in love with her. I remember thinking that she looked like a rock star... mostly because the nurses had but a neon orange and lime green bow in her hair. I remember we called her baby girl, because we had yet to decide on her name, and I was in complete in awe that she was ours....still am.

kaylie on april 13, 2008 and kaylie on april 13, 2009 - 9:33 pm PST

happy birthday baby girl!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter and...hello!

a finished project

I have a tendency to start craft projects and never finish them. I get almost obsessive about whatever the project might be, and then fizzle. At last a finished product.

I have wanted to make K. a homeade doll for some time, and I finally found a really cute, real easy pattern here at martha http://www.marthastewart.com/article/black-apple-doll.

Don't you love the vintage bird fabric? It had been in my craft stuff for a long time and I have been waiting to make something wonderful out of it. My mom helped me some with the sewing....I know I have mentioned by dislike of the sewing machine before. I started it by hand, but the stitches weren't one year old proof. I am pleased with her and think she will be a perfect birthday present for K. next week.

It worked last time...

Last time I posted a pict of Kaylie outside in the backyard, we had a ton of visitors find there way down to visit us ( more about that below)... any excuse to get out of the cold Utah spring I guess. So here goes agian.

We were eating ice cream cones outside the other day, and I decided Kaylie is almost a year, and it was hot, so I let her try ice cream for the first time. She thought it was funny how we used our toungues to get the ice cream off the cones, and even more funny how toby used his tongue to get the ice cream off her.

Also, these pictures may already be disgusting to some readers... I am letting a dog lick my baby on the mouth. That being the case, I want to point out that my child is wearing a diaper, it just doesn't appear that way, from the angle of the camera.

I am not completly without hygenic standards.

March Madness!

I don't follow basketball closely so I will not be posting about the real march madness, that is just what we have been calling it around here lately. This month has been and will continue to be crazy busy. Every day but three this month we have either had a visitor, or been visiting. I usually give Jeff a hard time when he posts things, becuase they are tooo long, but this is pretty long too...sorry!

The madness started when Johnny came down for a tour of phoenix....of course it involved golfing.

Then just the girls headed to Utah to visit the Freemans and the new babe and also spend time with my parents.

Ali was nice enough to drive back to AZ with me, and boy the drvie went a lot faster having someone besides an 11 month old to talk to....she stayed the week to play.

Jeff's parents came down to visit, enjoy the sunshine, and tell Kaylie happy b-day, early.

And the madness only continues...we are leaving tomorrow to have a getaway vacation with some Lehi friends....more to come later. Busy, but fun!

WHAT A FABULOUS DAY!!!

Where do I start??? I flew in from frigid Green Bay, Wisconsin late Friday night and what a change from one night to the next. Our Saturday was one of the best since moving to Arizona. Since our pool is not heated, we have had to wait for the water to warm up and we finally enjoyed the pool for the first time!!! Below are a few of the pictures from our day in the sun!

Hey Daddy! Let me into the backyard!!! Kaylie is as mobile as ever. She hasn't exactly got the walking thing down, but she can go wherever she wants as long as there is something to hold onto.

The next part of our morning involved a little golf lesson on our little putting green in the backyard! I'm not sure if she does this just to make her daddy happy, but she absolutely loves the little putting green in the back. She has already learned that the ball is supposed to go in the hole!

As soon as Kaylie is able to walk on her own, I guarantee that she will have her own set of plastic golf clubs to play around outside with!!!

Mommy! Let me in!!! The one thing that we know for sure is that Kaylie is in love with the water! She would spend all day splashing and playing if we let her. Even before she gets her swimsuit on, all she wants is to be in the water.


Speaking of loving the water. The funniest thing happened! We were in the pool and Toby (our beagle) was barking like crazy because we were in the pool and he wasn't. Well, next thing we know, we hear a splash and here he comes. He found a floatie and jumped right on. Also, the picture of the splash is me jumping into the pool. Since I'm in the middle of a "Biggest Loser" competition and I don't want to show how far I've come, this is the only picture I'm revealing at this time (more out of embarrassment than anything)!

WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY!!!

for he's a jolly good fellow...

He is finally here. Crystal and Jake had there baby boy Monday, and boy is he a cutie. I can hardly stand not being out in UT to see him and already have big plans to meet him soon. I think the next best thing to having a new baby around your house is having your sister have a new baby around her house. I couldn't be more happy for them. Congrats you guys.




Any resemblance between the cousins?

Samuel

Kate
Kaylie

AWAY FROM HOME

It's never easy leaving a beautiful wife and amazing little girl at home, even if for just a short week. It makes it even harder with Kaylie being at that age where everyday brings something new and exciting. I keep thinking of that commercial where the Dad keeps taking pictures of the stuffed monkey until he gets home. Well, I haven't purchased a stuffed animal (who knows, maybe tomorrow!) but this is my attempt to check in at home and let my girls know how much I love them!!!

In order to get a visual, the picture below (The one above is of Kaylie in my chair at work in Scottsdale)is a picture of the back of the clubhouse here at Oneida Golf and Country Club in Green Bay, Wisconsin.



As you can tell, this isn't exactly the prime time of year to be visiting out here. And as you can see, I'm not out here golfing!!! I am pretty sure the high today did not get above freezing and I heard that Scottsdale was around 85 degrees!!!

Anyway, I just want my precious wife to know how much I love her and miss her. She truely is the greatest wife and mom anyone can ask for. She has done an amazing job raising our gem of a little girl and I am very excited to get back on Friday to see them both.

Love ya tons!!!

More than mom blog.....

I realize that the past few weeks have been even more uber momifed than even they normally are....so for all you readers out there who would like something to read that is more intresting than playgound gossip, check out these blogs...amazing women who somehow seem to have it all, and do it all... well. Plus the images on thier pages are amazing.

www.stephmodo.com

www.designmom.com

www.jordanferney.blogspot.com

www.ohjoyblogs.com

inchmark.squarespace

katiedid.squarespace

Tales of Motherhood

This post is indulgent, but I could not help myself....I am in love with my little gilr today. And since her dada is away from us right now, I thought he might enjoy this post as well. It seems everyday our Kay grows up so much and I wanted to capture the last 24 hours.

1. Kaylie came with me to primary yesterday, where I attempted to play the piano and occupy her simutaneously. She showed me...she know just what to do with pianos and when I would play, she stood on her tip toes and played the keys as well. Then one of the teachers took her and held her while we had music time. They were all sitting in a circle, and I could just see it on her face how delighted she was to be with all the big kids. Every minute or so, she would look over at me to make sure I was still there and then she would giggle when she saw, that I saw, what a big girl she was.

2. We went to the grocery store today where we ran into a girl from our ward. After stopping to say hi and talk for a second, we went our different ways. " See ya later...bye...and kaylie is waving her little bye bye hand without being promted.

3. Kaylie has an stuffed elephant in her bed and when I put her down to sleep I pull his tail and he makes a song. I put her down for her morning nap and she slept for an hour and a half. I was just thinking that she had been asleep a long time when I heard her musical elephant start. I went in to find my girl rocking her stuffed puppy and of course making music from the elephant to help him fall asleep too.

Today it is fun to be mom.

itchy itchy..scratchy, scratchy...

Day one down...ten to go, or so I am told. We were looking forward to a long three day weekend, a celebration of Kaylie's 10 months and valentines. That is until we woke up Friday morning to find a spot covered daughter. Do kids even get chicken pox anymore? I thought since the vaccine was so popular, it wasn't so commonplace. Apparently infants carry their mothers antibodies for chicken pox for around 9 months, but are not eligible for the immunization until 12 months leaving a three months window where they are vulnerable to the virus. And poor miss K. picked it up somewhere just in time. It only furthers my feeling that Arizona is like a second world country at least in some areas and especially when it comes to the healthcare system....another post for another day. In the meantime has anyones kids had the pox, and if so what did you do to soothe them? She is actually handling it quite well, itchy, but not fussy about it...though she is not sleeping well. We did make a stop to the Walgreen's on our way home from the pediatricians to stock up on oatmeal and that pink anti-itch lotion...and of course a princess tea set since we are feeling sorry for ourselves today.

Happy Valentines...

I took some picts of kay for valentines day and added some text with an editing feature...I like the block one especcially, but look at those eyes too!

Drive-In Movies

Jeff and I went to the movies for the first time in 10 months. In pre-Kaylie days we would go and see the latest shows once or twice a month for fun or if for any other reason so we could be in the loop when we taught the high school kids Sunday school, but we are more likely to Redbox it these days. That is untill our recent drive in discovery. This weekend we went and saw "He is just not that into you" and "Seven pounds" at the double feature drive in movies. We put up our beach chairs, filled the back seat of my Rodeo with pillows and blankets and watched the newest releases. At first Kaylie was excited to peek out the window and watch, but when she got tired we just put her to sleep in her make shift bed in the back of the car and didn't have to worry about disturbing the other movie-goers if she woke up or cryed or whatever. It was only $6 for both shows and we could bring our own treats....fabulous!

Like Father...like daughter

Yesterday Jeff took Kaylie to teach her to have a love for golf. They went to the FBR open here in Scottsdale and watched the pro's. They saw all the big name players practicing for the tournament this weekend. Chris DiMarco (if you are not a golf fan, one of the top players) and his wife even came up to Jeff and Kaylie to say hello, sign her ticket and tell Jeff she was beautiful. I am sure glad they had a fun time on their first daddy - daughter date.

Here they are watching the players hit at the driving range



Here they are...that is Stuart Applebee in the background


Watching golf makes your mom sleepy too baby girl

Are you sick of this...












Could you use a little more of this...


Maybe a trip to vist us in AZ is in order....you are always welcome, the guest bedroom is ready, and the pool is getting warmer everday!

Fabulous AZ finds

So I know I have been MIA for almost a month....it has been BUSY here....but here I am again. Just wanted to share some of my top new finds since moving here to Arizona.

#1 Shane's Rib Shack....if any of you have had smokehouse in Orem, it is like that only more messy and more delicousousness.

#2 Chick-Fil-a....most of you are probably thinking about that disgusting booth in the mall, but here they are free standing restaurants like a Burger King would be. I could write an entire post about this place. We don't eat Wendy's nuggets anymore. The chicken is so good and stands alone, but then they have a Polynesian sauce and a house sauce that are finger lickin good as well. And they are so tailored to kids here. On Tuesdays they get a free 4 piece meal, fruit cup and juice, they have little sanitizer towelettes to wipe down hands after playing in the play area, and they even give you kids place mats for them to eat off of.

#3 Smoothie King....I know they have these all over, and their smoothies are delicious, but they get a mention for also giving kids free smoothies. One day a week they have parent appreciation day, and if you go in with your kid, they make them a smoothie to, on the house.

#4 Woody's frozen yogurt...we just found this place since the second move, and it is going to be hard to keep ourselves from it... especially since it is only a 5 minute walk from the house. If any of you Wasatchers remember Carolines frozen yogurt at the Tri-Mart, this is what it reminds me of. They have 8 flavors of yogurt at a time, but there are always new flavors to try, andthey charge by the ounce so you can get more or less....more please.

#5 Marshall's Home Goods...this is like the best TJ Maxx you have every seen. The one here is so nice, and it is the size of a Walmart. They carry high quality brands ( I have seen Seven Jeans there for 29.00), but my favortie stuff is in the home section. I could honeslty spend hours, not to mention a lot of money in that store.


Hey, what can I say...I like eating out and I love a bargain.