Christmas Festivities

There are a lot of activities happening in this small town over the holidays.

 We completed a Reindeer Run 5K- Bryan got 2nd place overall and 1st place in his age group.  He was beaten by a girl! (She is on the Army 10 miler Team).

 Santa came to Leesville via firetruck at the Christmas Parage.

 It was really cold at the parade!

 Kate met Santa Clause in Natchitoches.  She was definitely fond of him, no tears.  This was a legit St. Nick.  He had a real beard and a stomach full of jelly.  Next year Kate will react WAY different.  

Not sure she enjoyed the fireworks after her visit with Santa.  I think it was too loud.  We really enjoy the Festival of Lights in Natchitoches, LA.  Good times.  It's too bad the weather didn't cooperate.  I was hoping to go on a carriage ride and do a tour of the homes...guess we will have to come back before we leave LA!

Thanksgiving and Grants Christmas Tree Farm

We had some visitors over Thanksgiving. Bryan's parents came down from Oklahoma, Rachel (Bryan's sister) and her family came all the way from Japan, and Adam (Bryan's brother) with his girlfriend and 2 girls came from Oklahoma.  It was a very fun weekend.  We ate a lot of food, went kayaking at Alligator Park, played kickball, and went to Grants Christmas Tree Farm. 

Jonathan, Jackson, and Kate

 Grandma and Grandpa watching ELF

 Christmas Tree Farm

 Donkey in background crushing sugar cane 

Kate opening Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa

Kate enjoyed all the family and attention.  We had a lot of people in our 1400 square foot house, but we managed all right.  The family helped finish the shed in the backyard and Bryan climbed a pine tree to put a rope swing up for the kids.   

Anderson Farm and Halloween

We've still been working on the house, but we have finally been able to do other stuff...thank goodness! We went to Anderson Farms in Leesville to pick a pumpkin, go on a hay ride, go through a corn maze, and look at farm animals.  Check that off our to do list.

The farm had story time with baby animals you could pet; a pig, duck, and rabbit.  In the stalls, there were chicken, a horse, and goats.

Hay ride with my favorite girl.

Kate would not look at us! Maybe the sun was too bright.

I want this pumpkin, mom.

She definitely enjoyed candy wrappers...

and a sucker!

Bryan and I went to our first Halloween party ever! Can you believe with almost 8 years of marriage, we have never been to one.  Me either.  Anyways, we were bank robbers. Got the idea from Pinterest since we don't have a costume store here in Louisiana.  Turned our alright.  

9 Months

My sweet Kate turned 9 months old. It is crazy how quickly the time goes. Today we had her 9 month well baby check up. She is 17 pounds 5 ounces and 27.25 inches long. Pretty much the 30th percentile. Kate is getting her top front teeth and is standing on her own only if she is distracted.  She loves to put everything in her mouth and explore in drawers now.  Kate is very sociable and loves the neighbor boy Cole.  Sometimes he steals kisses from her. 

We love our little Kit Kate!

8 months old

Kate isn't very happy in this picture, but this is pretty close to the attitude she's been in since she hit the 8 month milestones.  She's either teething or has a little stomach bug because the last 4 nights have been miserable for Kate and her parents.  Poor baby.

Kate loves to feed herself and will eat about everything we offer. She is walking along side the couches and furniture. These have been about 2-3 times where she has stood for 2-3 seconds on her own. She has learned to drink from a sippy cup. Kate is still bald as can be with a little bit of strawberry blonde peach fuzz and hazel eyes.  She likes to be held and loves to watch the neighbor boys playing.  She has gotten her first diaper rash, but I think that has to do with either the teething or bug.

I love being her mother and I wouldn't trade her for the world.

What we've been up to...

This past month has been a little chaotic.  We had to move out of our rental at the end of September, but the house Bryan has been working on wasn't exactly livable (no flushing toilets or running water). My good friend Casey let us stay at her place, she's deployed and had a fully furnished apartment- THANK GOODNESS! Oh by the way, Bryan had to go to the field at the end of September too, so it was imperative that we move out early and get me situated somewhere livable.  Anyways, 3 weeks later (October 12) we finally move into our little house flipper.  Bryan is still in the process of putting things together, but there is running water, flushing toilet, and refrigerator.  The basics.  

I don't have good pictures yet of the before and after, but here is some pictures that I pulled from my phone. 

 Granite counter tops- Black Pearl- with under mounted sinks int he kitchen and two bathrooms.  LOVE THEM!

 Some of the siding.  Still have to complete the triangle on top, put on some shutters, and get some grass to grow.

 Kate has not swallowed any nails or screws that we know of,...she is loving to explore in daddy's tool boxes though!

 We put porcelain tile everywhere, except the bedrooms.  Nice for clean up and easy maintenance for a rental.  

 Kate enjoying her new bathtub.  Really slippery because its so new and clean! Oh, and look at those razor sharp bottom teeth!

While Bryan was in the field, I was involved in the Fall Fest for our FRG group.  We raised $100 throwing rings on pumpkin steams.  Pretty fun!

We've been pretty busy.  Pictures to come when I get the chance.  

Crawling and Standing

 

Kate is quite the crawler now. She gets around and sometimes I don't know where I'll find her next.  She surprised us one day when she pulled herself up at the coffee table, then the chair, then the couch.  Now that is all she wants to do is stand.  She is definitely becoming more interested in food, especially what mommy and daddy are eating.  I am happy because it seemed like she wasn't interested in food at all when I first began.  Kate is cutting her first tooth, the bottom left central incisor.  She fevered a little and has been extra drooly.  I can't believe how quickly she is growing and accomplishing new things. 

6 months already!

Kate is going to be lots of trouble! She learned to "dead man" crawl with her left arm about 2 weeks ago and is able to get to pretty much what ever she wants.  Time for us to start making this house safe because she'll be standing and walking in no time! She is 15 1/2 pounds and 25 1/2 inches. Kate has strawberry blonde peach fuzz and dark hazel eyes. She is well traveled so far; Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mexico in her 6 months of life.  I started giving her solids about 1 week ago, sweet potatoes and rice cereal.  Today we tried peas... not sure if she enjoyed those as much.  It has been a joy to she her grow and develop. Still can't get enough of her!

Utah 2013

Well, we successfully drove across the United States with an infant- a 25 hour drive! On the way there, we stopped at Four Corners, AZ CO UT NM.  We have now been in 4 places at once and have magical power!

We went camping in Alpine Canyon with my family the first weekend we got there.  Kate met her cousins, aunts and uncles for the first time.  

This is her cousin Zander sharing his toys with her in the pack n play.

Kate's first camping experience- She slept alright, just got a little cold so I threw my sleeping bag over her, covering her completely.  My parents slept in their new trailer they got each other for their birthdays, Linsey and McCartney slept next to the trailer in a tent, Brandon and Kim's and our families slept in larger tents down the road.

During the weekend, we went hiking and kayaking up in Timble Fork, fishing in the nearby river, made s'mores, talked around the campfire, and slid down Slidding Rock.  It was fun to hang out with my family.  Kate got a lot of attention! 

 Bryan and I had lots of people to show Kate off to, Grandma was top on the list!

 We hiked the Y with Michael and Lauren. It definitely takes your breath away when you live at sea level!

 Bryan went to Amy's sealing and this was the best picture he could get! oh well. She had a lunch and reception later that day, which Kate and I attended.  It was nice to see all of Bryan's family and extended family.  So many of them!

 We drove a lot! To Lehi from Louisian, up Alpine Canyon, down Alpine Canyon, to Provo, back to Lehi, up to Salt Lake city, up to Ogden, back to Lehi, up to Salt Lake City, back to Lehi, over to American Fork, back to Lehi, and home to Louisiana.  Poor Kate.

 But that usually ended up in a sweet, sleeping baby.  

Bryan hiked Mount Timpanogos with his brother Adam, sister Stephanie, and nephew Jared.  They hiked it under 8 hours! Adam brought 5 oxygen tanks so he didn't get altitude sickness. It worked, but he is silly.

It was really nice to see all our family and introduce them to our sweet angel.  Hopefully we don't have to drive anywhere for a LONG time.

5 months

My sweet Kate is 14 pounds 3 ounces and 24 inches long.  She is sleeping through the night and can sit up on her own.  I have to catch her at times when she loses her balance or looks somewhere else.  She has traveled to Dallas, Texas to visit the Merrell family and attend Ruby's wedding (Bryan's best friend through optometry school).  She is such a good traveler! She has quite the smile and shows it off for everyone to see.  She has gone to her first concert and loves music/dancing.  We just can't get enough of her!

4th of July

We were excited to go on post for the 4th of July this year.  The band Lynyrd Skynyrd was coming to Louisiana and we couldn't wait to see them perform.  Kate stayed up the whole time; didn't even act tired. 

We went with our friends the Vogel's, who live right up the street from us.  She had her baby a couple days before me.  

More at Four

Just thought I'd put up some of my favorites from Kate's 4 month photo shoot by my friend Vanessa. Which one do you like most?