Jonathan and Sarah Walter

Happy Valentines Day!

2012-02-14T06:58:00.000-08:00

2 weekends ago my dear friend babysat Kate, and decided to do a valentine theme photo shoot. Here are just a few shots to give you an idea. I think she is pretty cute- but I know I'm biased!

So hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day! I got my gift (new cell phone) last night and am enjoying playing with it today! I have to bust my butt and finish Jon's gift soon...like before he gets home from work! Nothing like last minute gift making.

NOISE!

2012-01-24T19:03:00.000-08:00

It seems like it is always loud in my house. But how? I only have one kid! During nap time I almost never watch tv, in fact I turn it off and enjoy the sound of silence. I can't totally blame my daughter, she has two parents who aren't classified as quiet, but does everything have to be done at the TOP OF HER LUNGS?!?!
She always is running around having a grand ol' time, and sometimes her noises make me smile...but most of the time my head just spins. She still loves to read books to herself, and one of her favorites right now is the Grinch. She opens it, and finds the page where it talks about the noise, noise, noise...and then yells "Noise! Noise! Noise!" and closes the book. I think that kid really just does things to tease me!

One of the fun noises lately is when she is riding on daddy's back. That girl loves to climb on him and laugh and yell all around the house. She is such a crazy kid! She also is very into the phrase "what did I do", except when yelled it sounds more like "WAY-Ido?!?". She has a cartoon she watches on the computer, and any time she pushes a button to make life more exciting she yells that phrase. And when she is playing with daddy's phone and goes somewhere she knows she isn't supposed to she runs to him saying "UHOH, WAY-Ido?". And at church, my daughter can be heard above the congregation yelling "BIRDS!!!!" to Jon. She loves to play cell phone games during church, and we let her cause, let's face it-- she sits still longer with the phone than anything else! But man-- someone needs to teach that girl how to whisper! Her parents should get a clue!

And two unrelated pictures...just cause they have been taken in the last day or so. Sometimes my kid is just too naturally beautiful! I have yet to cut her hair, because it grows in with its own natural style. To prove my point, here is an after nap shot. Mind you--I didn't use a brush that day at all, and rarely do (partially cause I'm a bum, and partially cause I don't need to!)
And on Saturday Kate had a daddy daughter day while mom got to be a lazy bum! I came out of our room to get a snack and see Kate sitting on Jon's lap doing this to his face while he read a book. She is such a sweetie--even if she is loud about it!

Kate goes to the Zoo and New Years Too!

2012-01-06T12:23:00.000-08:00

Since my family had to head home right after Christmas, we got to go spend New Years with Jon's sisters in Ft Worth. It was nice to get to go see everyone! On New Year's Eve we decided to head to the Zoo. Kate was a little difficult, since by the time we got there it was her nap time, but she really enjoyed herself! On the 20 minute ride to the zoo she took a tiny nap.

Here is how the Zoo adventure started. She sat in the stroller and let Dad lift her up to see the animals. It was working out wonderfully.
Aunt Lorraine and Lauren. It was the first time in 2 years we had seen their family. Glad we got to see them again!And then we did the unthinkable as parents. We set the beast free to feed the fish:
And this was the end result. She had to push the stroller. That is one thing, but if you tried to help her not run into people she would scream at you for touching it and not letting her do it alone. Jon and I were over that real quick.Then a miracle occurred. We went to feed the birds! And my sis in law hid the stroller! YAY!!
Michael found a friend!

And after the birds we had our normal run-everywhere 2 year old back! Here she is with Aunt Melissa. Thanks to Michelle for letting us crash at your place! It was a great weekend to see family and relax.

Christmas Day

2011-12-29T13:14:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Day we got Kate ready for church in her room, and then rushed her past the tree on our way to church. After a nice church meeting, we went home and let Kate have at it! She got very into it! She even started knocking the small presents out of the way so she could get to her big boxes! She is so funny! As she opens each gift she does sounds effects the entire time....so lots of "ohhs and ahhh's" were there to add even more pleasure to the experience.

Some of Kate's favorite gifts include her new kitchen and all the pots/dishes/food, Cabbage Patch doll and highchair, clothes for her baby, a baby blanket, and a bike (that she can't quite use yet, but she loves to sit on and make you push her!). She did start to get tired of the gifts, and wanted to stop and play, so it wasn't until our dinner that she finally got everything opened. It was such a great day to spend with family. And our friends the Dillers came by for dinner and stayed playing games with us till very late.

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Taking Family Togetherness to a whole different level:
Kate loves to play on my bed, and will very often have me in there playing peek-a-boo and other such things. She decided that we should ALL be in mom's bed! She would call someone's name till they came in, and wasn't happy till we were all in there, and most of us on the bed! She even took Granny's cane and put it on the bed and kept trying to get Granny on the bed too!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

This Christmas Eve Jon was busy doing something a little different! He found this bed pattern online and decided it was cheaper to build than buy bunk beds for Kate, so he went to the store and built it! I was pretty impressed, that, 1) he got them done in day(with some help from a friend!), 2) that they look really good, and 3) that including tools it cost $150. Now all that is left is for him to sand them down and paint them white! They come apart, so most likely we will only put one in Kate's room to start out....knowing her she would spend the whole night climbing if we went ahead and put them both in her room!
While he was finishing the beds, my family came! My Dad, Mom, brother and Grandma all came down to visit for Chirstmas. It was SO SO SO great to have them here.

Life at the ZOO

2011-12-22T12:27:00.000-08:00

You know how sometimes as a stay at home mom life feels like a zoo? WELL yesterday I felt like that in a literal sense. I am dog sitting for my sis in law, and they had dropped their dog and fish off at my house at 8:30 in the morning. Not even an hour later I noticed that their dog was trying to get under my fence, and both dogs were covered in mud. SO I had to bring them inside to avoid the hole getting bigger. Two muddy, hyper dogs reeked havoc all over my house! I then moved on to taking care of my daughter who had peed all over her bed. While getting the wet items out of her room, I hear the dogs just about knocking over my Christmas tree. When I came to yell at them to knock it off, I found this:

A GIANT white rabbit! He came under the fence through the hole that Sadie had dug (trying to get to the rabbit). The dogs were FREAKING OUT!!! And my still naked daughter thought it was the coolest thing ever! All 4 of us were standing at the back door watching the rabbit. 2 of us were barking and howling, one was jumping shouting "ITS A BUNNYYY" over and over again, and one of us couldn't do anything except laugh and take pictures. Finally I got things under control and headed to the neighbors house to ask them if they were missing a bunny. Thankfully it was theirs and was easily put back in their yard, with the hole covered (mostly). However, I'm still cleaning up paw prints.

Speaking of cleaning paw prints, Kate decided that moping was REALLY fun. When I was finished she ran around just like this for a long time moping like mom. Unfortunately, she also made a pile of her own that I had to come clean up. Apparently mopping is important for a healthy colon.

ps---she doesn't have pull ups on because I'm trying to get more serious about potty training, and have found that without pull ups on she will run to the bathroom when the urge comes....with the exception of the mopping incident.

Cowgirl Kate turns 2

2011-12-12T12:18:00.001-08:00

My baby girl turned 2 on Saturday! We decided to have a cowgirl party (thanks to a friend who pointed out the book series Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa). I have a million pictures because I couldn't choose! My dear friend took over 1500, so I had LOTS to look through!So for fun I made a Cow pinata.....poor thing looked pretty sad. But the kids had lots of fun!Kate liked the pinata so much she threw a fit when we told her she had to let the other kids have a turn! I guess that fits the 2 year old.Uncle Kenneth took her to swing to take her mind off the pain of sharing.Opening presents was lots of fun this year! Thanks to everyone who could come!

Kate really had a blast. I enjoyed putting it all together. I still am just in shock that Kate is 2. But the mess on my kitchen counters reminds me that I must get off here and get to work!

Here's your sign

2011-12-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

So--- today I had another "Here's your sign" moment. I could hear Jeff Foxworthy commenting during the entire experience.

I took Kate to Target to get pull ups and look at shoes. I guess that was my first mistake; taking my almost 2 year old anywhere in public where acting like a crazy person is frowned upon.

Target was PACKED and I do mean PACKED with a large group of handicaped students. It was sweet, Kate kept waving to them. THEN cue the temper tantrums. 5 times I had to squat down and pick my screaming/thrashing/phyco of a kid off the floor! All the students/teachers stopped to watch. So as Jeff would say "when your child is more obnoxious than an entire store full of severly handicaped kids, here's your sign!"

I guess I will just have to keep her at home until she is a teenager! (she was crying so loud that when I got to the checkout line a sweet lady let me cut and pay for pulls ups! She must have felt bad, and knew she was doing the entire store a service!)

New Obsession

2011-11-18T10:27:00.000-08:00

Lately in the Walter home we have become obsessed with our baby. And by we I mean Kate. She wants to take the baby everywhere; to the bathroom (and yes the baby has to go potty every time Kate does), to the grocery store, on car rides (and on more than one occasion has been the cause of mom being distracted while driving. She will SCREAM bloody murder if she drops baby in the car) on walks with Chance, and to every room we go during the day. Not only does baby tag along everywhere, she has to be wrapped up in as many towels and wash cloths that Kate can get her hands on. And if one towel isn't on the baby she picks it up and says "Uh-Oh BABY!" and quickly adds that to the stack. She also enjoys putting the baby to bed in a laundry basket. Of course when baby goes to bed she needs a story and 3 stuffed animals....so as pictured above baby's 'bed' gets hectic! And pictured below is just an example of the baby roll! This picture only has 10 rags, which is a smaller than normal amount. She is so funny. I hope she is this in love with her siblings in the future!

Its a bird.......Its a plane......

2011-11-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

ITS SUPER KATE! The best part is that she really dressed herself like that. I was trying to get her to eat dinner, but she wanted the bib as a cape, and brought me her glasses and yelled until I put them on for her. Then she scanned the living room for any unused toys. With her sippy cup as her weapon, and her sidekick Chance, she is off! Super Kate won't rest until every toy gets to play!

In a totally unrelated note: Kate actually sat still long enough for me to play with her hair today! I may be biased, but I think my kid has the cutest hair ever! It is 100% natural beauty! Never cut, but has a natural style. Most days I don't even use a brush on it!

Pajama Jeans

2011-11-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

Today I think I have decided I want to be an almost 2 year old, and Kate can be the Mom. Here are few reasons I came to this conclusion:
- You can run around a store squealing at the cool stuff and people just think you are cute.
- You can throw a tantrum when it is time to leave the store and people laugh, or just say "someone isn't done shopping!"
- You can eat 3 lolly pops for breakfast and not get in trouble because mom didn't catch you in time
- You can burp, fart, and act strange at the dinner table with company and they think you are cool. (Well I guess in my family you can get away with that most of the time at any age! The only difference is that your company might still think you are weird!)

But the number one reason I have decided it would be cool to be 2 is wearing pajama jeans (you all know what I'm talking about! The infomercials were really big, and then everyone makes fun of them. Secretly I have always wondered if I could get away with them!) Kids have the pajama jean type pants for everything, and they look totally cute. If I were to wear pajama jeans I would be afraid someone would point them out and laugh. I already have a bad enough wardrobe that I live in fear of the What Not To Wear crew showing up. But my die-hard-bum nature longs to buy pajama jeans and wear them daily!

BOOKS!!

2011-11-02T12:55:00.000-07:00

We are kinda into books at our house. We are ALWAYS found sitting in piles of books. She sits surrounded by books reading to herself, or she stacks them ALL on her lap and tries to hug them. If the stack falls over she frantically tries to get them all back in a pile. I hope this is a glimpse into her bright academic future! I would not be sad if she was a genius and repaid us for all of her medical bills ;)
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Modesty is a new issue in the Walter home. Kate's nursery leaders at church told us (jokingly of course!) that we needed to give our daughter a lesson in modesty. At church on Sunday she kept pulling her skirt up as high as she could. When the adults would try to pull it back down she would run away yelling "NO" and pull it back up! This picture is actually the skirt pretty low, when I picked her up it was up to the top of the heart! She must be showing off to a cute boy in her class :)

Trick or Treat!

2011-11-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

This year we took Kate out Trick or Treating for the first time! It is a lot more fun than trunk or treat if you ask me! Kate really seemed to get the hang of it! She wouldn't usually say trick or treat, but she would make eye contact with each person after they gave her candy and say and wave "BYE!" and then scurry off to the next house. It was fun to watch her. Man is she getting so old. My little baby isn't a baby anymore! We went around town (really it was a block!) with a few other kids from our ward. It was lots of fun to hang out with our friends while Kate had fun with her friends. Here they all are at their first door.

Such a cutie! Holding dad's hand and being safe!
As her bucket got heavier and she got more tired she kept doing this...with the hand on her face. She was trailing behind all the other kids the last leg of our lap. But she was a champ! She didn't whine or complain at all!

Trunk or Treating at Church

2011-10-31T11:25:00.000-07:00

AH!! Its HALLOWEEN!!!
Aren't I the cutest scarecrow you have ever seen?!
I know my parents think I am!
Look at my Mom and NiNi, they think they are so cool!
Me and my 'loot'. I decided I only need a few pieces of candy to make me happy! I also learned that if you stand in front of the car after the person gives me candy they will think I'm funny and give me more. Very efficient.

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Family Birthday Dinner this weekend Kate looked cute in her seasonal clothes. So here she is crawling up and down the stairs and going in and outside at Aunt Susan's house.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-31T10:59:00.000-07:00

Our Lovely friends invited us over last week for a pumpkin carving party. It was super fun! Kate however was NOT a fan of the pumpkin guts.

This was the ONLY time we got her to touch the guts, and she would run away from it after that experience. Jon tried to force her to touch it, trick her to touch it, and beg her to do it. She would not budge!

Even NiNi tried to convince her to play in the pumpkin. She even turned her down, which almost never happens!

So Jon got stuck carving all the pumpkins while I went inside to decorate cookies with Kate.
All of the kids had a blast with the cookies!

Even the Men had a great time with the cookies!

Thanks for the awesome party Mallory!

Dear BYU Football,

2011-10-31T10:31:00.000-07:00

As you know, for my birthday weekend Jon and I came to watch you play TCU in the Dallas Cowboys stadium.

The stadium was super cool, so I guess I should at least thank you for that. But, seriously, back to business. Last year we made the 6 hr drive up to watch you get embarrassed by TCU. We thought that if we gave you another chance you would do better! The scoreboard said that you did, but I was so disappointed by your inability to play football! Aren't you guys called football players?? I guess the problem was the jumbotron...or whatever they call the gigantic tv in that stadium. I confess, I too had trouble avoiding that thing! It draws you in like a bug to a light.

That is all I can think of that gives any excuse for the way you played that game. I was seriously embarrassed to be wearing blue walking back to our car. Not a good feeling!

There were some good things about the game though:

--The nachos!

--The old guy in front who, bless his heart, stood up and got the fans to cheer for every first down BYU managed to squeak out. He was just precious!

--The little kids/dad sitting next to me. The Dad shouted about everything, and the kids would copy what he said, but only what they remembered. So it came out sounding really funny, and just made the Dad look like a bigger dork for yelling.

--This same Dad getting his car keys out during the 3rd quarter and violently shaking them for what felt like the entire quarter. His son even asked "dad why are you doing that?" At one point the noise stopped and I looked over only to find he was just switching hands.

--The Ref's made a few bad calls (DON'T be the team who blames it on that BYU. You boys didn't play the game like you know how, either way. Yes a few of those calls impacted the score, but you could have changed the score too if you had showed up to play!) ANYWAY, after this bad call, the BYU fans of course BOOed. But, they kept right on Booing at every dead ball that quarter! This of course sent me into a fit of hysteria. I seriously couldn't stop laughing! That combined with key-jingler made my night!

--In the 4th quarter someone down front stood up and held up a sign for the BYU fans to see that read "PUT JIMMER IN!". I thought that was good advice!

So BYU football, in conclusion, please get your act together. I would like to be able to root for you without doing the walk of shame!

Sincerely,

Sarah

Proof that I am OLD!

2011-10-26T07:42:00.000-07:00

Today I turn 25. 25! That is a quarter of a century! I don't know why, but this birthday makes me realize that I really am getting old. I have an ALMOST 2 year old! I am getting really close to 30! I am not sure why this comes as a shock to me, but it does! And to further prove my point, last night I spent the evening DEEP CLEANING! And I thought it was blog worthy! (doesn't that just SCREAM boring old lady!?) Anyway, since it can't be stopped, here is my blog about being old and boring!

Our kitchen has these ugly light colored tiles that I hate. Why you would put this light of a color in your kitchen is beyond me. But I found some heavy duty tile cleaner to try and bring the tiles back to their original color. And mostly I was happy with the results. I will probably do this same thing next month too to help it be even brighter....but here is the photo evidence:
Before:
After:

It looks a bit better! I still dislike the tiles, but it feels a little less dirty to me now!

Funny Cousins

2011-10-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

This past week Brooke came to hang out with us again. The girls had a great itme playing together! Kate thinks Brooke is SO cool, and tries to do everything she does. It made for an easy afternoon for me! They entertained eachother nicely! We are so lucky to have family living here with us!

Who needs personal space?

2011-10-21T15:20:00.001-07:00

"Hey mom! I saw you run to the bathroom for a sec, so I thought I'd pull up a chair!"

Some days she seriously blocks me in and cries when I try to leave the bathroom. Why oh why can't a mom use the bathroom in peace!?

Getting so big!

2011-10-10T21:28:00.001-07:00

My daughter thinks she is SO big. She refuses to let you help her eat. But she is pretty good at doing it on her own! Even something tricky like yogurt.

She also is starting to repeat most everything you tell her! She loves to pick up these letter cookie cutters I have (why she must play with those when we have 2 other alphabet TOYS intended for her use I will never understand. I guess part of the fun is annoying mom!) and her favorite letters are R and D and E. She says R like a pirate, and I love it! This picture below is from the first time she attempted to say marshmallow. It sounded more like shmammmallooo. The best part is that she clearly thinks she has said the word correctly.
She has also started acting more like she is 2.....temper tantrums in public. Oh the joys of having a screaming child while trying to seat them in the cart at the grocery store. PLEASE tell me there are other people out there who have fought with their kids like this too! I feel like everyone at the store thinks I am a failure of a mom as they sneer at me and walk past. I promise, I am not raising a brat....its just a stage...RIGHT?!?!

In other news, our new plan for our future is to turn Kate into a pro golfer. Jon and I STINK at golf, but we figure if we start early she has a shot at scholarships! So far she pulls out her clubs and putts in the living room daily. She is pretty good--until she starts riding the clubs around like a broom.

Conference Weekend

2011-10-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

In our church we have two weekends a year that we call General Conference. It is like a Mormon holiday! We get to spend two days listening to the Prophet and Apostles give messages about the gospel, and how we can better ourselves. I always enjoy conference because it leaves me feeling refreshed and ready to make changes in my life so I can become closer to our Lord. This weekend was no exception. A few of the things I learned was to better use my time. I need to watch Tangled less and do more productive activities! Also, I need to just to be determined to be happy! The Lord has given me so much, I need to do better at being happy every day. I also am going to strive to improve my personal prayers. I pray multiple times every day, but I want to make my prayers more meaningful. I am so grateful for the church in my life and all of the teachings it gives me! I really have no idea who I would be without it. Because of my church I have my husband, daughter, and entire family with my FOREVER! That is the biggest blessing I can ever hope for! If you want to check out General Conference you can go to www.lds.org and read, watch, or listen to it for free!

Also on Saturday morning, my Sister in law Susan asked me to do a 5K walk with her for breast cancer awareness. It was BEAUTIFUL weather and good company! We did the walk in 55 minutes, and it felt great! Hope everyone else had a great a weekend as me!

Totally random off topic news: I counted my t-shirts in my closet today and found that I have 24 that I wear ALL the time (this doesn't include the ones I don't wear often). I literally wear a t-shirt every day...I hear Jeff Foxworthy telling me "Here's your sign". Maybe I should invest in a wardrobe....

Third times a charm....RIGHT?!

2011-09-27T19:27:00.001-07:00

SO it happened again.

I thought I had explained fully the second time that this seizure nonsense was over.

I guess I still haven't made myself clear enough.

For the third time this morning I got to watch my daughter look like she is possessed by some kind of devil. And as far as I am concerned, until we figure this thing out, that is exactly what is causing these stupid stupid seizures. They happen the morning after she throws up and has diarrhea. No fever...but if I get one more informational pamphlet about how to treat my daughter's febrile seizures I am going to go insane! And after our exciting ambulance ride to the hospital we had another doctor take a look at her and say "She doesn't even appear to be sick! I don't know what could be causing these seizures." Ironic that I am sick of hearing that she looks healthy. I would almost rather someone say--"Aha! there is the cause, she has such-and-such. Here is how we are going to treat it."

Some differences in the experience this time:
-I was alone with her at home, and she was in my arms. So that means I got to experience the start of the seizure. That was by far the hardest part for me....she twisted up and backwards somehow so that her convulsing face was looking right at me. Blah, so not fun.
-I did have clothes on this time! Bonus to this being the 3rd seizure. I recognized the same symptoms from the last seizure, and had clothes on just in case. The irony is that I had just texted my mom to tell her that I thought Kate wasn't going to have a seizure because she was acting normal RIGHT before she had one!
-I was actually calm at the end of the seizure. I recognized everything about how she was acting, and felt confident that she was perfectly fine.
-I didn't trust my instincts however. The EMTs told my emphatically that they did not recommend me taking her to the hospital or doctor alone. So I caved and took another expensive ride!
-This set of EMTs told me to sit in the front of the ambulance when we walked out there, like next to the driver. I sat up there for 5 minutes trying to be obedient, while I listened to them trying to put an IV in my kid. Finally I said forget it and got up, opened the door and said "ok I have to at least hold her. You guys can't expect me to just sit up there." They looked at me like I was nuts. But the only woman there smiled at me and got me a seat.
-Kate was wide awake on the way to the ER. She was giving the EMT who tried to give her an IV twice (and failed both times) the biggest stink eye ever. All of us in the ambulance were cracking up at her mean face. Watch out--my kid is serious!
-Jon was too far away at work to make it to the hospital, so my Sister in law Susan, and both of Jon's brothers here in TX came to make sure we were taken care of. Kate was so happy to see her aunt Susan! It is such a blessing to live in a place where we have family. I would have been stuck without them! Thanks again guys!
-This ER visit lasted about an hour. The doc came in, looked at her for maybe 10 minutes, some of which was looking at her charts. He then proclaimed that he couldn't do any other tests that we hadn't already done, and said to just live life like normal and wait till we go to see the specialist in November. yay. I love waiting. And paying a bunch of money to find out NOTHING!
-The pediatrician then had us come to his office and essentially said the same thing. Except, he said if she has another seizure like this I don't need to call an ambulance. I can just monitor her on my own. That is seriously the only good news I got all day!

Gah. That is all.

Stake Jubilee Carnival

2011-09-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

Our stake in our church turned 50 years old this year, so to celebrate we had a giant carnival. It was really cool! The church rented an Elementary School and we had 2 bouncy castles and face painting and carnival foods. It was a great time! We took our niece Brooke, so Jon and I got some practice with having 2 kids. Kate had a fun time. This was her first experience with a bouncy castle, and generally she liked it.

But mostly she liked getting in and out of the castle. She thought it was like a slide. Whatever works! Here is Brooke with her rainbow on her face. She thought it was super cool!Kate decided that eating an icee is more fun when you use your hands. She was in heaven trying all the different foods.
Nikki and Kate had a blast playing on the playgrounds together. I was the official 'catcher' at the bottom of the slides. Kate is getting so brave, you have to watch her closely! And Kate had her first experience with a tire swing. She thought it was really fun! I really enjoyed a fun weekend of free activities for Kate to try.

Say Cheese!

2011-09-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

While my mom was here we decided to go get portraits done of Kate just for fun. Kate was really funny to watch! I thought she was going to eat up the attention, but really she was more interested in playing with the props. She actually hunched over every time the camera flashed. So the pictures didn't turn out quite as cute as I was hoping, but they are good nonetheless!

We got lots with her tongue out! I'm not sure why, but apparently its funny to stick your tongue out at people.
This one is just funny to me because she spent the time worrying about the flash. She kept looking up and hunching over when she wasn't looking because she knew it would come. It made some of her pictures look very unnatural.
This one is one of my current favorites because this is her new excited face. When I turn on her favorite movie she looks at me like this and says "ohhhh". Or when something funny happens, she makes this face. It is her go-to face for lots of things right now, and it cracks me up!

Chillin poolside

2011-09-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

Of course we had to be outside and play in the pool while Grandma was here. My mom got SO lucky, while she was here the weather was PERFECT! The warmest it got was 95 I think. So we had lots of fun outside going on walks and drawing with chalk. Kate is such a show off for other people. She was such a ham for Grandma.

My little girly girl carries everything like a purse. Jon's comment to that is "YOU don't ever carry a purse, how does she even know to do that!?". It is so funny what she picks up these days!
Look Grandma, I can do it all by myself. Such a goofy girl!

Playing in the Box

2011-09-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we had to replace our AC unit (I'm fairly positive I complained about that already!). The only fun thing about that was the cardboard box that the workers left in my yard! I brought it inside, and with Grandma's cutting we crated a house for Kate. It is such a huge hit! She spends half of the day saying goodbye to everyone in the room and going into her house, then coming out and starting the process over again. She also loves trying to get Chance to climb in too. That isn't very successful. But she loves sitting in there in her little chair. I think she feels like an adult who moved out! She also loves to take her new baby that Grandma bought her into the house. She is such a girl, and it cracks me up. She hugs that baby and rocks it and sings to it all the time! Anyway, we are still enjoying our cardboard house.

Yes, we also like to get into our house and scream with excitement.

Beach Day with Grandma!

2011-09-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to the beach with Grandma. It was perfect! There were hardly any people there, and the weather was great. I want to go back, but without Kate so I can just layout and relax. Kate was fearless, and would literally run into the water. She fought us the entire time trying to get into deeper water. Even when she was standing in water up to her chin she was trying to go out farther. When a wave would cover her in water she would just come up laughing. Kinda scary for a parent. And it isn't like the water here is crystal--it is kinda brown. If she got away from my grip there is no guarantee I would be able to find her again! But that fact aside we had a great time! The pictures also show you Kate chasing birds. She would randomly stop what she was doing and run after the birds slapping her legs and trying to call them to her like she does dogs. It was pretty stinking funny.

Don't judge this last picture...we know it isn't pretty, but I wanted to prove we were all there together!

Grandma comes to town!

2011-09-12T10:28:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky to have my mom come visit us last week. It was a magical week, even though we didn't do anything spectacular. We had a great time just enjoying the small things (which in my opinion are usually the best things!). So here are some of the pictures of the small things we did with Grandma.
We played with bubbles in the backyard. Don't ask me why Kate is standing in an empty pool. She pushed it into the yard and refused to get out while blowing bubbles. She is a strange one sometimes! But as you can see from this first picture, she learned that eating bubbles doesn't taste good.

But the knowledge didn't stop her from licking and eventually putting the bubble wand in her mouth!

Then she got the hang of it, and actually was blowing more bubbles than I could make!

While Grandma was here Kate wanted next to nothing to do with Jon and I. Grandma was the star of the show! She and Kate have such a sweet relationship. I just love watching them together. My mom also got Kate to start seriously potty training! It was great! Now that Grandma is gone though, the bathroom isn't near as cool. I am trying really hard though. Hopefully soon I will be able to post about my diaper free kid!

Recent Happenings

2011-08-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

Ok moms fellow Moms: Do you know those days/weeks when you feel like you are watching your kid from another perspective and start to realize that your baby isn't a baby still? I have been experiencing that lots lately! My little girl still doesn't talk lots, but she understands everything! And man is she just getting big! Her baby fat is all but gone, and she is getting long and skinny! She continues to amaze me with the most simple things that I didn't give her credit for. For example, when we pull into one of our friends or families driveways she will point at the house and start saying their names. Yesterday we ran by a friends house to see if there was a package waiting there and Kate SCREAMED when we didn't get out of the car and go see her friend. But when I said, "Kate honey, Nikki isn't home." she stopped crying instantly! Too funny. She also is starting to get much more creative during play. This morning for example I was entertained watching her and her "baby" as she calls him. (for some reason teddy bears are babies...whatever works!) She and her baby were sitting at her little table eating their breakfast and sharing very nicely! She also is very gentle and nurturing. Oh and her bear got LOTS of hugs and kisses, and then got to kiss all the other stuffed animals in the room, and chance got some kisses. I thought it was just too cute. She would gently give her bear a cheerio and then eat one herself.

Here she is saying cheese with her bear

Using hands to eat cheerios is so time consuming. She and her bear both took turns eating like this for awhile.

Man, my little girl is getting so big!

5 years...

2011-08-17T06:32:00.000-07:00

This very day marks 5 years of being Jonathan and Sarah Walter. It is SO crazy how fast the time has gone, but at the same time it feels like we have been together forever, ya know what I mean!? In 5 years we have gotten 2 college degrees, moved to 4 states, totalled 2 cars, got a dog, had a baby, and bought our first house. We have not however, bought a tv (although we own 3). We have had thousands of fights and arguments, tons of dates and fun, tears and laughter. Ours is a marriage that works. We push each other to be better (hence the arguments ;), we work well together, and we make beautiful babies! Cheesy as it may sound I love being in love with Jon! We are still happy together after 5 long years!

For our celebration we went to Kings Island Amusement park in Ohio while we were visiting. It was fitting because the last time we had been to a park was the day after we were married (not something I recommend to any single/soon to be married people!). So here is a LOVELY, and by lovely I mean hideous, picture of us eating the famous blue ice cream at King's Island in front of Snoopy. Just remember it was hot and we had been riding roller coasters...no body looks good after a long day of fun!

Thanks for an amazing 5 years hun! Here's to another happy hundred to come!

Popsicles are cold

2011-08-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

While in Ohio Kate learned that popsicles are cold: But GOOD!

OHIO part 2

2011-08-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

Kate is one special little girl. Everyone just loves her to pieces. Especially her grandparents and great grandparents. Above Great Grandpa Lynch is giving Kate kisses.

And now her Great Grandma gets a turn.
Sitting with Great Grandpa looking sleepy.
And then with Great Grandma, even though it isn't the best picture its the best one I got, so it has to work!

Our little family... not our best ever, but it works. Kate was mad that Jon took her fingers out of her mouth.
Kate with her Grandma and Grandpa. She just adores them!
But something about her Grandma....Kate still is walking around the house asking me where grandma is. Its too cute! Jon likes to call Kate Tina since he thinks they look so much alike!

OHIO part 1

2011-08-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love Ohio! I love being in a place where things looks so familiar and I can find my way around without a GPS, no matter how long I've been gone! That place will always be my home. Even now that we have been in Texas for awhile I still say I'm from Ohio when asked. We were fortunate enough to get to spend our summer vacation in Ohio last week visiting my family (fortunate because we bought the tickets before Kate's last seizure and all the medical bills started haunting us!). It was such a great trip, although a little fast for my taste (6 days just doesn't quite cut it!). We got to spend lots of time with family, and that is always a great time! Kate loves her grandparents and uncle Zach so much that she would always pick them over Jon or I the entire time!

While we were there we went to two different water parks to entertain the kids. Kate was a huge fan. She just loved running around in the water!

My mom and cousin Bailey. Kate and Bailey did a great job playing together.

Dad and Kate on the slide they must have gone down 30 times. (I was just super excited to have Jon there so I didn't have to look like a fool 30 or more times!)

I love how the next 3 pictures look like they are part of some baby sports illustrated issue or something. Here we have the serious looking into the distance shot.

Work it baby!

And the classic "oh I didn't see you there" pose.

The View from where I sit:

2011-07-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

This post is brought to you by my cell phone, capturing the normal, everyday view of my life. First you see the view from my throne. You know-the place where everyone should be alone. But if you are a mom-you might as well get over it. Note the mixer brought all the way from the kitchen. Mom thought Kate was busy enough in the kitchen cabinets to not notice her slip away to the bathroom. Mom is funny.

This picture is probably my favorite I'm posting. This is my view of Kate at our ward Pioneer Day celebration. She did NOT want her chicken broken up for her, she wanted the whole drumstick to herself! I don't know why she looks quite so angry...but it is fierce!Kate has recently decided that she is big enough to climb into her toy box. She also seems to have a bright future as a plumber.Then we have the sticky baby picture. I went to return our cable box (we are ditching cable to save some extra dough....but that is an entirely different post! How sad is it that I don't know what to do with myself without tv!) and the lady at the desk gave Kate a sucker. And since she is old enough to know what it is I couldn't take it away without a huge fight, so I caved and let her eat it in the car. This is the view from the drivers seat.This last picture doesn't exactly fit the "from where I sit" theme, but it is from where I stand at least 2 times a day. This is my view from the stove. Kate has learned how to get to the kitchen counters. The dog food is supposed to be on the counter to prevent Kate from eating it, but now where can it go?! My strange child seems to love the darn dog food!

Other than that our life around here has been pretty low key lately. We finally got an EEG done! I learned that my daughter should never get involved in drugs-- she turns crazy when 'under the influence'. But eventually the drugs knocked her out and we were able to do the EEG. We are still waiting on the results. Other than that we are getting excited for our vacation to Ohio next week!

I hope everyone else out there is enjoying the view from where they sit!

Posting AGAIN Today

2011-07-07T13:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes. I realize I have posted like 30 times already today, but Kate is STILL sleeping, and when you are a Mom you learn that when you have free time you HAVE to use it. SO I am blowing up the blog world with my catching up posts! Just remember that you love me and read my posts anyway.

So first we have a picture of Kate covered in Spaghetti. She loves getting covered in her meal...the messier the better in her opinion. If the meal doesn't require an immediate bath it wasn't that great.

My mom had a great idea a while ago to make a tent in our living room. Kate had a BLAST running in and out of it....a few times she ran so fast that she ran right into walls. No big enough injuries to keep her out of the tent though! I love that being a mom you realize that the simple things really are the best things.

After swimming in the yard a few days ago I found my daughter chomping on this carrot while I was cooking dinner. She looked just like bugs bunny to me-- I thought it was so funny. She carried that carrot around chewing away until dinner.

More 4th

2011-07-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

The day after Kate's seizure (the 4th) Kate was acting perfectly normal. The ER doctor told us to just watch her for another seizure, but basically he couldn't find anything wrong with her. No fever, no nothing. So we decided to carry on with our plans for a family-fun-filled Independence day. We of course watched Kate closely to make sure we weren't over-stressing her, but she had a blast and showed no signs of stopping. We went to Scott and Susan's house to have breakfast, dinner, and fun in the sun. We had a slip-n-slide and a pool for the kids. It was a hit! As you can see-- the men also had fun in the pool! Kate liked to crawl through the slip-n-slide with her mouth open...not sure she understood the concept, but she made her own fun!

Overall it was a fun weekend. We were sad to see Jon's parents go, but hopefully they will find an excuse to come visit again soon!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-07T13:34:00.000-07:00

For the holiday weekend I decided Kate needed a patriotic skirt for church. Although she only got to wear her skirt for an hour, I think it was cute. It is just 2 bandannas I sewed together.

Grandma and Grandpa Walter

2011-07-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

Kate's grandparents on the Walter side were able to come to TX for a visit during the holiday weekend. Aside from Kate's seizure (that traumatized my mother-in-law...she was the first person to realize what was happening to Kate in nursery and came running into the hallway holding her) the trip was fun! We went bowling one afternoon and got to have them over for dinner.

Here are some shots of the bowling fun!
Kate LOVES her aunt Susan. Whenever we visit she insists that Susan hold her.Daddy is so funny...he always makes Kate laugh.
Kate and Grandma Walter...not exactly looking at the camera, but happy nonetheless!

Kate getting some time on Grandpa Walter's lap.

Never a Dull Moment

2011-07-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

So I thought I explained to Kate that 1 Seizure was all I could handle in this life, but apparently she didn't listen. Today Kate decided to cause quite the scene at church by having a seizure during nursery. A few of my young women came running to tell me that Kate was having a seizure, and I actually asked them if they were joking. But sadly they were not kidding. I got to witness my kid have a seizure again....and I will say that on the positive side, the second time around I didn't panic quite as bad. It might also help that I was in a hallway full of people, and got to get Kate a blessing while she was having the seizure. So long story short--the ambulance and fire EMS decided that we needed to head to the ER, because she didn't have a fever. Her last seizure she didn't have one either-- but the doctor decided that her temp had bottomed out instead of spiked. And then no fever again today had all of us worried that her seizures aren't just related to fevers. So being in an ambulance is not a fun experience. But 4 or so hours later the cat scan, blood work, and vitals all indicated that Kate was normal. Yay-- no answers. So we have to do a follow up appointment with our pediatrician on Tuesday to get an eeg. Hopefully that will at least give me some answers. Please keep Kate in your prayers, hopefully we will find out what is happening soon and this excitement can be over once and for all!

Stress makes Daddy and baby sleepy! OH PS: Kate didn't cry when they did blood work at the hospital. The nurse said it was her first kid not to cry. They wrapped her up in the sheet to hold her still, but Kate just looked at them and watched them do it without trying to move or cry. She is such a trooper! The IV attempt in the ambulance was a different story however....she cried so hard I had to get on the bed and lay down like I was a patient.

Movin' on UP!

2011-06-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

I feel I need to brag. Jon and I have reached a HUGE milestone in our lives. Our love is going to reach to new HEIGHTS. My dreams will forever be altered. I can feel the difference already in my life. I can barely put my feet on the ground. I am so high, I almost feel prideful! That's right friends, for the first time in 5 years of marriage, our bed isn't on the ground or comically high like our newly-wed apartment. We GOT A BED FRAME! I seriously feel so weird climbing into me bed...I see things in a different light. I feel like I am defying gravity in some small way. I, Sarah Walter, no longer am confined to the ground...I am like 6 inches higher when I sleep!
Yes, you should be jealous! Our bed can finally wear a skirt!

Happy Father's Day/Suprise Week!

2011-06-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day! Here in our corner of the world we had a great time celebrating Dad's! We went on a movie/dinner date with Scott and Susan, and had a fancy dinner on Sunday with friends. It was a great time! We are so blessed to have great fathers all around us, and Kate and I are lucky to have such a great Dad who lives with us! Thanks for being amazing Jon, we love you!

Poor Chance, Kate has been treating him like a teddy bear lately...he is not a huge fan, but he is a good sport!

In other matters of recent happenings around here, Kate and I have had a busy week full of fun and surprises! We started the week off with surprising Heather (my sister-in-law) with her sister. Her sister flew in to visit without telling, and Kate and I got to be the deliver-ers (for lack of a better term). It was fun to be a part of that. Then we got a package from my mom and grandma for Kate, with cute outfits! Kate enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with the package!

Also, my friend from good ol' Adams branch got to come by for a quick visit this week. Her family was 'in the neighborhood' and decided to swing by. It was so fun to see her and her kids. Kate just wanted her to hold her. Thanks for coming Mandy!
And finally my dear friend Nikki had a birthday this week, and we successfully pulled off a surprise birthday party! It was great! We hid our cars and everything. There was a cute cake created by Meghan, and a banner and balloons. I think Nikki loved it! Here is a shot of us girls at the party! We love you Nikki, thanks for having a birthday!

Old dogs and New tricks

2011-06-09T21:08:00.000-07:00

This week we are dog sitting for a sweet old dog, Sadie. She is a sharp contrast to our young Chance! Sadie is DEAF! I seem to always be trying to get her attention....lol. It actually is amusing to me to see just how alike old people and old dogs are! Kate LOVES having her around. At meal times both dogs stand next to her high chair, and Kate just looks at me and smiles so big. She loves being the center of attention! She has also decided that Sadie makes a better snuggling buddy...Chance doesn't stay in one place long enough for her to use as a pillow. I think Chance just always tries to get her to play. I just love how in the picture Chance looks like he is saying "hey kid what about me?! I'm your dog!"

Kate has been busy learning all kinds of new things! This week she has learned what a fish says (she opens and closes her lips like a fish) and also she will make a fish face (by puckering her lips and making kissing noises). It is the cutest thing on her little face, but I haven't been able to get a picture. I am trying to do better at being a mom....I feel like I don't give Kate enough learning time....but I'm working on it! Our adventure we started today was the no-really-means-no-and-mom-means-business. I can't say I'm of fan of this part of parenting! I think Kate is just toying with me, she KNOWS not to do things but will try and do them when I am distracted (ie today our battle was not climbing on the kitchen table, so as soon as I started doing dishes she LITERALLY ran to the table and started to climb up. I stopped and got her down, then she left it alone until I started the vacuum! HELP! She is too smart for me!)

On a totally unrelated note: Why do people always come to your house when you aren't dressed? Like the one morning I don't feel like putting on clothes (yesterday) there was a random person in my back yard. Talk about creepy. I hope they learned their lesson and never try to break in again (or whatever the heck they were doing in my back yard which is fenced in with a privacy fence!!!) There is more where that came from backyard-stalker!

Holiday Weekend

2011-05-31T06:34:00.000-07:00

As you know from my previous post, this weekend was fun-filled for us! Here in Texas, it has felt like summer for a long time, but now the rest of the country is starting to embrace the season. Because of this, I feel this 'gives me permission' to dress Kate for church in sun dresses. This particular dress she wore on Sunday is from her Great Grandma. It is just too cute on her!

Check out how long her hair is getting! And those curls just make it that much more adorable!

Thanks for my cute dress Granny! It looked especially cute with her tan lines from the beach! Sadly this Sunday Kate was not her happy self in nursery. Her leaders told me that she was a little whiny and just wanted to sit on everyone's lap. Poor girl was tired. But overall Nursery is a hit. The leaders said they were surprised to see her grumpy this week, because she has been so great for the rest of the time. I hope she is better again next week...I want her to be a good girl for the Nursery leaders!

Oh and for the rest of our weekend off, we got our yard/home cleaned up, and had a cookout with the family here. It was nice to relax and enjoy 3 days together. Thanks to the men and women who have/do fight for our freedom!

Memorial Fun

2011-05-31T06:23:00.000-07:00

For our Memorial Day weekend we decided to head to the beach with our great friends Nikki and Greg. It was a blast! The beach we went to was a bit sea-weedy...as you can see from the pictures, but aside from that it was perfect. Not too busy for a holiday weekend, and you could just drive your car right to the beach. We just pulled out our chairs and had a great time. Kate LOVED the water (but sadly not her cute sporty shades).

She spent lots of her time running around in the water. She loved when the waves hit her. It was totally cute to watch.

mom and dad watching their not-so-little-girl having fun.

Chillin in dad's chair waiting for lunch.

Hanging with her best bud Nikki. Kate wanted to be with Nikki more than me or Jon...but who can blame her, Nikki is the coolest!

Nikki ran away for a picture with mom, as you can see she wants Nikki back!

After the beach trip Kate was beat. She tried to stay awake in the car, but eventually was out. We had so much fun! Thanks Nikki for having such a great idea, and for driving with us!

Big Girl

2011-05-26T11:08:00.000-07:00

My daughter thinks she is big, like way bigger than I'm willing to admit she is! I recently gave her one of my never used purses to play with, and she carries it around all the time.(I can't get rid of it because I bought it in London, but I never use it...so now Kate plays with it!) Our DVD remote was missing for over a week, and it was found in her purse! She also LOVES to drink out of big girl cups. She stands at the fridge with her cup reaching for water. Luckily she is too short currently or I would be mopping daily!

Also, she has decided she loves to help me clean (ya know, likes to help me clean but never the messes she makes...the kitchen cabinets can be spewed around the house--but that stuff isn't fun to clean!) She loves 'helping' me move laundry and do dishes. Yesterday for the first time I let her help me Windex hand prints around the house. The top picture is blurry-- but i wanted to prove that she thought it was fun and not let anything think I was breaking any child labor laws (or do those laws not apply to your own children?? ;)

Poor girl thought she was being such a big helper, but really she made just as many hand prints as she 'cleaned'. But I let her do it anyway...I figure I should savor the times she enjoys helping me. I'll use these pictures as evidence when she is a teenager.

Kate's First Sleepover!

2011-05-24T07:10:00.000-07:00

Now Kate has spent the night at family member's houses, but this past weekend she had her first sleepover at a friends house! Our husbands were going to a father/son camp out with our church (kinda funny because only 1 of the 5 going actually had a son!) so the wives decided to have a party of our own. We had a classic teenage-sleepover! We ate yummy food, played outside with the kids, had LOTS of girl talk, and stayed up till 5am. It was a wonderful time! I think we had more fun that our husbands! I just love the wonderful friends I have been blessed with!

Kate's face after eating her choc-chip pancakes the morning after. She was a champ at the sleepover, she went right to bed and didn't wake up till morning!

Jumping on the trampoline. She LOVES that. I want to get one of our own soon. ps--check out her CUTE outfit. I just love it on her!

All smiles. Even when she face plants she laughs....it is funny to watch!

Swinging like a big girl. Dad has taught her how to use the big swing, and she loves it. She concentrates really hard though on holding on...so she looks grumpy the entire time. My little girl is getting so big!

Going the wrong way up the slide, isn't that what every cool kid does?

This picture looks like a 'bad mom' moment because I wasn't there to catch her at the bottom, but she was totally fine. In fact, she turned right around and started climbing back up. Our girl is one tough cookie!

Cheesy Day

2011-05-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

Today while I was waiting in line at the post office and customer service at the grocery store, Kate was being a cheesy kid! She kept blowing other patrons kisses, waving, and throwing my keys on the ground and laughing. She was at least not being grumpy--until the last few moment at the grocery store. But I think I got my work out in for the day with how many squats the kid made me do to pick my keys back up! So since she was so cheesy during my morning, I decided she needed a box of cheesy mac n cheese for lunch. She was a BIG fan

Oh that is surprisingly delicious!

She still has a thing against the camera!

Mom this is the BEST lunch ever!

Using this fork and my hands is taking entirely too long....maybe if I pick this up...

Ah eureka! Open mouth, pour in mac n cheese!

Fun in the Sun!

2011-05-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

Today, thanks to Jon mowing the grass this weekend, Kate and I ventured outside. It was hot, but not so hot you want to run back inside. So we played with water. My mom suggested I take random tupperware outside and let her play in the water, so I was a good daughter and did just that! Kate mostly had fun taking the containers and drinking out of them, and then dumping them all over herself! She also really enjoyed sticking her face in the containers and making bubble noises. It was fun, so much fun that she cried when it was time to come inside and eat lunch. I wish that the weather here would stay like this....I am not ready for it to be even hotter. But I am working on my tan so that when I do take Kate somewhere that requires a bathing suit I don't blind people with my whiteness!

Mother's Day and Progress

2011-05-09T10:37:00.001-07:00

As just about everyone knows, this weekend was Mother's Day. It is such a great holiday when you are a mother! I got to spend the whole day Sunday saying "But it's Mother's Day!" and getting my way. Those of you who know me understand the pure joy getting to boss people around brings me. To start off the weekend we had a game night with our usual crew. We learned that girls can't do pull ups. Enough said. Then we went out to eat with the Beaumont Walters and to a chick flick (Mother's day wins again!). Sunday also was a great day! Jon took Kate to visit nursery for the first time (FYI that is where the 18 month old and up kids get to go during church untill they are old enough for Primary) Jon said she did great! So great in fact that when he had to leave to go to his Priesthood meeting, the Nursery Leaders told him to just leave her! In just 3 more weeks she will be officially old enough to go there full time. I just love feeling free at church! Hopefully she continues to enjoy it! Look at her on Saturday: )

My little girl is getting so big! She has so much cute curly hair that I just love! Don't mind her expression, for some reason she is not a fan of the red light on my camera. But look at how tall and skinny she is getting! She used to be so chunky...that to me she seems tiny now! My girl is starting to talk lots too. One of her favorite pastimes is taking my phone, and with someone on the line or not, holding the phone with her cheek and shoulder and walking around the house talking. She calls her stuffed animals (especially the bears) babys. It cracks me up. And almost any time you ask her to say mom she says dad. I think she does it to torture me, cause she smiles after she says it.

Also, this update is a long time coming: We got new windows for our house! The seals were broken on most all of the exsisting windows, so we got a killer deal on new ones! Here are 2 of the before shots. You can see all the moisture trapped inside the windows. And these pictures were taken right after I washed the inside and outside of the windows!

Then TA DA! Look at how much more lovely outside looks when it isn't constantly cloudy! I didn't even notice before that the beaker box was rusty! I will be making my hubby change that out someday soon! I just love how clean and new my windows look. And they are apparently energy saving, so maybe the next power bill will reflect that. Also for mother's day I begged Jon to do a few small jobs around the house. I feel so much more put together with those small tasks done! My man is awesome. He made me feel special on my day. Oh and he got me a blizzard icecream cake....yummmm. I get to celebrate me again with a slice of that tonight! Hope you all had a great mother's day also, and that you spoiled the moms in your life!

Let the hunt begin

2011-04-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Kate's first Easter Egg hunt was a success! We got together with the Beaumont Walters and set the kids loose in the yard. Kate was pretty good for a newby.

Once she found the eggs she would throw them back on the ground so she could find them again.

Kate and her biggest helper!

It was great, Jon lifted her into this bush and after that she would walk to where an egg was and hold her hands up asking for help. She knows how to work it already (I'm so proud!)

Marching around with her first 2 finds... too cute!

She would make grunting noises as she bent over for eggs....it is hard work.

This is the first spot she found an egg...she kept looking back like it would reappear.

She liked the hunt so much that she cried when we tried to go back inside. So daddy being the nice guy he is hung out with her outside for awhile longer. She was a big fan of chillin' in the swing. We are so blessed to have been able to spend such a wonderful holiday together as a family. I am so grateful to our Savior for all He has given us!

First Easter Basket

2011-04-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

So Jon and I were lazy parents last year....Kate was still a baby so we didn't give her an actual basket, just a few items we claimed to be Easter presents. So this year we actually did the basket thing. She really liked shaking the eggs (i put change in them like my Grandma used to do! I figured she can put it in her piggy bank I just got her and start saving for college...lol) She really thought it was cool to have new presents on the fireplace.

I LOVE her expression in this picture....she is wide eyed and thinking "what the heck is this mom?!"

Also we learned that banging eggs together is really cool!
She got some Little People for Easter. When we were in Utah she LOVED playing with them, so I figured it was time to start collecting them. She is a big fan of the songs they play. She likes to start the songs and run away dancing. She is too funny.

Babewatch

2011-04-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

Kate and Jon took their first trip to the beach this Saturday. I was doing an activity with some of my Young Women, but I was happy to hear they had fun! Jon mainly went to go fishing, but decided to swim too! Jon said that Kate had a blast! I was super proud of his daddy time-- Kate didn't even come home with a tan line! Super sunscreen applying dad! (I was secretly worried he would forget and she would be a little lobster!) It was a fun beach date. They also went with Jon's brothers, so the cousins got to have fun together.

Easily Amused

2011-04-21T13:13:00.001-07:00

Do you have those certain things that you use to label yourself with? Like; I am a girl because I wear dresses. Or I am a teenager because I have a bad attitude. Well, I came up with a new label for myself today: I am a boring housewife because organizing and cleaning my bathroom was fun. I found myself dancing and giddy as I cleaned. Weird right? And another reason this label sticks to me is that not only did I enjoy my project, I enjoyed it enough to write a blog post about it! Super lame stay at home mom!

So without further adieu the Before and After:

I went through all my bathroom supplies and threw away the expired meds and products. I even went as far as throwing away my old retainer. Yes you read that right, my dear retainer that I have held onto since forever....is now in the trash. Now my bathroom is squeaky clean!

Wonderful Weekend!!

2011-04-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have one of those weekends...not one of those weekends, but the good kind? Well this weekend was one of the best weekends a girl can have! We got to have fun with friends 2 full days! We played games on Friday, which is always a great thing in my book! We have so many awesome friends that any excuse to get together is a great time! THEN if that isn't enough, my sweet friend Nikki babysat Kate so Jon and I could go on a double date to Houston. The guys had a meeting for church, and the lovely ladies went on a shopping trip (that ended up just being a drive around looking for something to do--and then luckily getting Jamba Juice and an Ikea run!) When the meeting was over we headed to a tasty lunch. We sang duets of Mulan Rouge all the way home (yes Jon was belting out the guy parts--priceless) And if you thought that was a great weekend just wait, it keeps going! My sweet friend kept Kate all day AND made us dinner! So we didn't have to take care of our kid all day AND I didn't have to cook at all! If any of you know me-- you know how happy NOT cooking makes me! I detest cooking! We ate amazing homemade pizza and played games. AND I wore a pair of shorts that didn't zip a few months ago. Yeah, be jelous. Best weekend ever. Then we got to watch 'Shark Men' and 'River Monsters' on Sunday. LoL Yes I'm and nerd and LOVE shows about fish/marine life. Kate has also started trying to say everyone's name. So far she is best at saying Greg, Jade, and Heather. She also says Bye while she waves. I get so excited when she talks! Hope everyone else had as great of a weekend as me!

5K

2011-04-03T17:54:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I believe that I am writing this post....me, the one who hates running. Who, even when in my 'prime' was not a good runner. But 'tis true. I ran a 5K. It wasn't pretty (photo evidence proves my claim), but it's done! It took me 41:52...but considering I only trained for a week I'm not too sad. The important thing is that I jogged the ENTIRE time. I ran the race with my sis-in-law Heather and Lena (Jon's boss's wife). We were really proud of ourselves! We are actually looking for another race to run soon. (Part of my motivation is the free t-shirt) Hopefully next time we can improve our time. Lucky for me Heather was running beside me and helping 'pump me up' during the run. It was HUMID....so humid I felt the air pushing me to the pavement. It made it hard to focus on running. But together we pulled through. I can't say yet if I will turn into an avid runner....I still can't wrap my head around me ever attempting a marathon....but I do better if I have big goals to work toward. And races seem to be the push I need right now.

So here we are after the race. Funny that I chose to run with two skinny people....maybe I should pick different friends ;)

Well that is all. I've done a 5K, and I'm done for the day. hehe

Utah Vacation

2011-03-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

I am really late posting about this trip because I left my camera....in my mom's rental car. So it is in Ohio until it gets sent back to me. These pictures have been stolen from Facebook and other sites! But anyway, Kate and I were lucky enough to make a trip to Utah to see 2 of our great friends! The excuse for the trip was my dear friend April's wedding. The best part was that my great friend from college Corteiga lives near Salt Lake and we got to spend almost a week with them! It was perfect...spending time with two of my favorite people! So here are some pictures of Corteiga and I with our kiddos.

While we were there it was freezing! We didn't pack warm enough...so Kate borrowed some of Oakley's warmer things. She looks hilarious stuffed in this coat!

Kate loved playing with Oakley and T! She has been so bored now that we are home. I can tell she is thinking, "Mom, where are my friends?" or maybe she is just thinking "Mom you are boring" Its hard to tell with her!

We got to go the the Children's museum in Salt Lake. Kate LOVED (and when I say loved I mean was totally obsessed) with the water station. I tried to put a water proof jacket on her and she threw a huge tantrum. I was embarrassed. She was that kid. You know the one you see in public and you think---wow that mom really needs to control her child. Well I guess that is going to be me for awhile now. I pray this stage won't last long! Anyway, I finally pried (and yes I do mean I used force.) her away from the water so that we could see more things in the museum. But my daughter is determined, and apparently not easily distracted. She kept trying to run away and go back downstairs to the water. I was about ready to throw in the towel with this whole 'being a mom' thing. But she did love her experience there! Me not so much....I am starting to realize that my daughter is now a toddler....equip with tantrums and attitude. yay.

All in all hanging with my pal C-money ( you better remember that Corteiga!) was great! I hope I didn't leave them too sick (yes as a bonus Kate and I had colds, and I had NO voice.)

April's wedding was beautiful; she looked like a movie star! I was so excited to see her. And I was surprised with how much time I actually got with her. Usually at weddings you don't get much time with the bride--but not the case with April! I was so fortunate to get to be with her lots! Here April and I are with our classic thumbs up pose. I don't know why we started doing that....but for some reason all our pictures together we have our thumbs up!

Next we have the bridesmaids. Look at the other girls....that is what the dresses are supposed to look like! My dress didn't look good on me at all, but it was for a good cause!

Then ANOTHER bonus from our trip was seeing my mom and her good friend, and April's mom! It was too short of a trip with them....I wish they would have been around longer, but it was still a blast to hang out with them! My sweet friend Corteiga watched Kate for me during the wedding so I didn't have to worry about her. It was a great time!

Now we are back in Texas and feeling the heat. I'm not ready for summer! Now I need to find more excuses for vacations, it was a blast to have so much fun! Maybe Jon can actually come with us next time!

Thursday's Thoughts...

2011-03-10T12:02:00.000-08:00

Today is Thursday, and since I could not think of a cohesive title for the following random pictures and thoughts...we will go with it!
1) Good deals:

I love shopping, but since Jon isn't making millions of dollars a year yet, I love finding awesome deals! I get super excited when things are on sale...and will buy things I don't need yet in anticipation of a need in the future. I went looking for baby girl shoes today, and found pairs of little boy shoes for $2.75 and $3.75! You can't find shoes any cheaper than that! And if you can you are amazing! So, I almost bought some pairs for me--because I really want a boy....I wanted Kate to be a boy.....I really want to have a boy and a girl. I have a confession....I am slightly superstitious ....but mostly I make up my own superstitions. For example: Since I had already picked out a boy name and wanted a boy so badly I figured (before the ultrasound) Kate would be a girl. I believe in knocking on wood. As soon as you say something never happens to you-- it will happen. This habit of mine gets really old with Jon....when I go to knock on wood he will tell me why the material I just knocked isn't really wood.....stupid construction man! So I've created my own rule that if it looks like wood or it is pretending to be wood it counts! Wow--so ALL of that rambling was just to tell you that since I believe that I would jinx myself...I didn't buy the boy shoes....even though it was killing me! I know that as soon as I buy them and tuck them away for my future son I would be 'cursed' to have all girls. So instead I called my Sis-in-law and practically forced her to let me get them for her son! But for only being $6 I think they are cute! And you know what is sick: the white shoes I found for Kate were twice what I paid for the 2 pairs of boy shoes!!!
ps---only at my house do you have cadbury eggs next to oranges and fun dip.......would you believe me when I say I'm actually trying to be on a diet??? And the fun dip was for my young women??
2) "Here lizard, lizard"
Does anyone remember the Taco Bell commercials way back in the day about Godzilla? Where the dog had his 'trap' set up and was sitting nearby saying "here lizard, lizard"? Well I do, cause my dad and in turn our family thought it was super funny. One of my favorite things about living here in Texas is my lizard friends. (and yes when I talk to them I call them my lizard friends!) By day we have little-ish green ones, and by night we have SUPER cool little pink ones! My husband thinks it is weird that I'm not afraid of them....he doesn't understand that just because some of them are bigger than Texas roaches doesn't mean they scare me! roaches are NASTY....lizards are my little friends. When they get in my house I catch them and set them free....when it is a roach I yell "EMERGENCY" and wait for my husband to come save the day!
3) Ride it

So a few days ago I was cleaning the house and enjoying our new surround system in the living room. (thanks again Nikki and Greg! Jon and I never pay for anything....we are such cheapskates!) Anyway---I decided that to fully enjoy my new system I needed to listen to an 'oldie but goodie' CD. So N'SYNC was my cleaning music of the day! We are talking the FIRST N'SYNC cd too! When the song came on "ride it, ride it, ride it. Giddy up!" Kate got on her rocking horse!(backwards of course....don't ask why but she likes the horse better that way) I thought it was too funny....N'SYNC must have gotten her in the mood to ride that horse! Coincidence? I think not!

That concludes my thoughts on this Thursday....and if you are still reading this you must really love me!

Rain

2011-03-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

Today it is cloudy and rainy, the perfect backdrop for my mood.

Jon is gone for at least a week. I am a bored single parent. And all my favorite tv shows have been re-runs. Perfect timing tv networks!
Even Kate is bored. She walks around the house saying 'dad dad dad'.

But Jon called with good news. Next week we are getting new windows for our house, just in time for summer! Yay for cheaper electric bills! Hopefully he will be home by then, so I can see him before I go out of town. Oh yea, in positive news, in 9 days I will be in Utah having a blast with friends and family! I can survive this week!

Rain rain go away!

Just what the doctor ordered!

2011-03-05T12:35:00.000-08:00

Jon and I have barely seen each other for the past week. Usually we at least get 2 or 3 nights a week where we can relax together, but not this week! Today I was supposed to be husband-less all day. I woke up at 9 and hear him feeding Kate, which meant he skipped the meeting he was supposed to attend. This NEVER happens. Jon is the type of man who NEVER and I really do mean NEVER misses his meetings. But, I think this one time was inspired. I was feeling really neglected due to his busy schedule and the fact that his job is sending him to South Carolina for 1-2 weeks on Monday morning. I feel so rejuvenated now! And it's only been half a Saturday! When I walked out into the living room and asked him why he was still here he said "I thought you needed this". I'm so grateful he knows what I need and put my sanity first!
And he has been busy working on my 'to do list' items! He changed out all the hinges in our house so they are all pretty (not even on my list but helps make everything look so fresh!), put a new door nob on our closet door, fixed a tool on my vacuum, fed Kate breakfast and lunch, hung towel racks in our master bath, and took an old tv out of our room, and pulled out a bush in our front yard! And it's only 3! I really have an awesome husband!

In other news, Kate can now say "love you" when you tell her to! It is the sweetest thing! Just melts my heart. Jon was shocked when I got her to say it to him this morning! She also enjoys saying Chance's name....that really just sounds like chassss. So cute. Our little girl is getting so big! Sometimes it makes me sad, but I'm finding that her learning is really fun! I like her to do her tricks and show off! Man, I am the luckiest lady alive!

Update

2011-02-21T10:30:00.000-08:00

Today's post does not come with a cool title. I just don't have one!

I just wanted to write a post with a few updates on Kate and our life in general. We have been keeping ourselves busy with work, friends, and church! The weeks are starting to pass by faster, and I am starting to get behind on my blogging and scrapbooking (that is quite an understatement....I haven't scrapbooked past Kate's 2nd month of life!)

Kate LOVES LOVES LOVES animals...but mostly dogs. She chases Chance around singing to him and trying to pet him all the time. She loves to grab his toys and run away screaming and laughing....apparently being chased is going to be a new favorite game...she has started getting a thrill out of runing away from us too! Today we went to the park (ya know... cause here in TX it is already shorts weather...and I don't know if that makes me happy or sad) and Kate threw a FIT because there were some dogs running in a big open area and I wouldn't let her go chase them. She LOVES to hug stuffed animals. She is just an animals girl. I really like that!

She has started bringing everything to us to see. Here she is coming to show me the plastic bag and camera case. I don't get it--but we have to see everything and tell her how cool it is. Again at the park today she kept giving me pieces of mulch and rocks. It isn't an entertaining game for mom....but at least she has developed a good trait--when she does put something in her mouth that isn't food (which seems to happen a million times a day! I'm pretty sure today she swallowed a few rocks that I didn't see!) she will give it to you when you ask her for it.

Kate is a huge ham. If you try to take her picture she will run away and be totally cheesy! Makes me laugh every time. She LOVES people to pay attention to her. She is totally content to hang out with other people....ALL the time. She is happier when we have company over. We had friends over for games on Friday and Kate enjoyed it as much as us I think. She thinks she is older than she is...

She also has more teeth! She has been working on her other middle top tooth (does that even make sence?) for awhile now, but not it is in and looking all cute. She is just getting so big. Sometimes it blows my mind. Oh, and I am laying the foundation to start potty training. After her baths (and sometimes before) I put Kate on her potty seat. She farted the first time I did it and I celebrated for her. She then decided that was a cool reaction and pushed out a tiny poop! Basically she and I thought that was the coolest thing ever! So now she just pushes every time she is up there. At least she is learning what is supposed to happen! I want to get her potty trained soon....whenever we decide to have another one, I want her out of diapers! If anyone has any tips PLEASE leave them. I'm up for suggestions!

Anyway--Life is really going great here. Sometimes I worry that things are TOO great... ya know how life always goes. When you think things are perfect and you get too comfy something goes wrong! Ah well-- guess I will go enjoy my perfect afternoon! Kate has only been sleeping for an hour a day lately...so my freetime is getting more scarce!

Valentines

2011-02-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

Valentines Day at our house was awesome! Jon brought home some pretty flowers, and I gave him a construction radio (I still don't get why he wanted it...but oh well!) We had some sweet friends who offered to watch Kate for us so we could go out. Since we can still go to dinner with Kate, we decided to go on a movie date. We saw Just go with it, and we both really loved it! It was funny stuff! I have never heard Jon laugh that loud in the theaters. It was such a nice way to spend the evening....free time laughing with my amazing husband! Hope all of you had as great of a time as us!
This morning Kate's breakfast was really festive! I gave her a fruit bar and she seemed to forget where her mouth was....she took each piece of the bar and rubbed in on her forhead. I don't get it--it's like she was playing stupid or something. lol. It made for some cute pictures!
"More please mom!" Kate is loving talking to me in sign language. She now says more please and all done. She uses more please to tell me she is hungry also. As soon as she wakes up in the morning she starts signing more please which means I want food and drink please. She says it all the time. Makes me excited. I also am starting getting her used to the potty. Yesterday she started grunting while we were in the bathroom so I threw her on the potty and she tooted a few times for me. I'm hoping to get her potty trained before she is two.....yea I know its a lofty goal.

Random funny times

2011-02-07T12:18:00.000-08:00

Today is a mostly boring, but not bad Monday. You know those days, nothing major to report, and nothing exciting either. Kate and I are just hanging out. We went to the grocery store and that is about all we have planned. I was looking through my emails cleaning out old stuff and found these pictures I sent myself and forgot to post. This first picture makes me smile every time I see it-- It was 2 saturdays ago, only a few days after Kate's seziure. I had a Relief Society meeting in the morning, and came home to this:Dad and Kate crashed out on the living room floor from all their fun playing. They didn't even wake up when I came in the house. Melts my heart.
Then next (even though the pictures are small and I cant seem to figure out why...) We have Kate and Nikki at the grocery store. There was a "huge" storm down here and Nikki got the day off work, so we headed out into the "ice" and went shopping. Kate loved shopping with Nikki because she gives her rides on her shoulders. Her mom just isn't that cool. lol. But I'm ok with that!

Hope you are all having wonderfully boring/exciting Mondays like us!

Feelin' Good

2011-02-02T11:53:00.000-08:00

Our little girl seems to be back to normal. I am still praying that no seziures happen again, but for now she doesn't have the virus anymore. Jon helped me sanitize the house....we had to open the windows because the lysol smell was so strong! I'm praying that she doesn't catch it again. I don't think I can handle another sickness for awhile. I'm still trying to mentally recover from this one. I've turned into paranoid mom....you know what she looks like. The mom who doesn't let her child out of her eyesight, and jumps at the slightest sound (or in my case the shortest silence). And I have an irrational fear of running the vaccum.....since that is what I was doing before the seziure. I hope that passes. Anyway: here is photo evidence that my kid is back to her normal self. I think in this first picture she was trying to tell me she wanted washed like her laundry....a few moments later she tried to climb into the bathtub.

Our latest past time is taking clothes out of the dressers and putting them on her head. My recent favorite is a pair of Jon's whitie-tighties and putting them on her head. She kept them on for a very long time! She even cried when they fell off and promptly put them back on. It is so great to have this happy face back! I am so lucky that she is alright.

Scariest day of my life

2011-01-27T10:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday will go down in history (my personal history that is) as the scariest day of my life. It started just fine. Kate had what we thought was just a stomach flu. First thing in the morning she had dirreha not fun but I can't complain now. She also threw up a few times. I started to think I should take her to the doctor just to be sure she was ok. After her afternoon nap things got interesting. She seemed happy enough, a little groggy maybe, but good. We ate a snack and then I decided I was going to go vaccume my bathroom. I sat Kate down about 3 steps away from the bathroom door with a toy so she would be happy. I started to get the vaccume ready. I glanced at her before I started and saw her on lying on her side. I thought she had just fallen over. It happens alot in our house. What made me look again was Chance. He was looking at her confused. So I took a step toward her to see if maybe she was playing with his toys or something. To my horror, she was frozen, that's the best I can describe it. Her eyes were locked and she wasn't breathing or moving. I immediately thought she must be chocking so I flipped her into my arms and started the heimlich, but nothing happened. So I checked her mouth and started again. By this time I was shouting a prayer to Heavenly Father that she would snap out of it and that I would know what to do. She still wasn't responding to the heimlich, so I decided my initial response must be wrong. I started to put her on her back to do CPR or something and she passed out in my arms. I have never felt so cold and scared. Her poor little body was limp and blue and I was the only person there who could do anything. I just about lost my mind. I knew I had to call 911. I started having an out of body experience. Sounds totally cheesy, but that's the best I can explain it. I scanned the room for my cell phone. Seriously, I remember thinking, I have it in my pocket 90% of the time and now when it could be life or death I don't know where I had it last. Thankfully Heavenly Father knew I was too insane to think about where I had left my phone, because He inspired my Sister in law to call me. I heard it in the living room and sprinted to the noise. I answered her call and started telling her in a not so in control way that Kate was unconsious and that I didn't know what I needed to do. She told me to calm down and that she would call 911 for me, and that she would call Jon. As soon as we hung up I called 911 anyway, I couldnt just wait in silence. I laid Kate on the floor and started to do chest compressions while I waited. I remembered my Advanced First Aid teacher in college being obsessed with us learning to talk to the victim before we started CPR. So in my ultra-calm-poised-CPRtrained way I started yelling at Kate. I kept telling her that she had to wake up, that she couldn't do this to me....and any other motherly threats that I don't remember. I continued talking to her as I started compressions. (all the while I was on the phone with the ambulance dispatcher. So picture me answering questions while still talking to me kid...I'm sure I sounded like a mad-woman. But let's face it-I was!) I only did a few compressions before she opened her eyes. Then she shut them and I got mad. lol--totally irrational but that's what happened! I yelled her name again and she opened her eyes and started crying. The ambulance dispatcher asked me if that was my baby crying, and when I said yes he told me that was a good sign. I then started to focus my efforts on keeping her awake. I got off the phone with 911 and started walking around the house with Kate. I was so frazzled but trying to think of things to keep her awake. That is when I realized that I didn't have a bra on. lol. TMI I know, but I hurried with Kate back to my room and threw one on before the ambulance got there. (by then Kate was alert so don't think I was being irrisponsible....I just didn't want to scare the paramedics!) So the ambulance pulls up, they check her out. No fever, no signs of anything wrong. They told me it was my choice what I wanted to do. I decided to just call the peditrician and get her in there. Luckily the doctor was able to get her in an hour later. At the doctor we found out that Kate has Rotavirus. One of the symptoms can be seziures when the baby's body temperature changes too quickly. But other than that, the symptoms are the same as any old flu. Sadly there is no cure, just like the flu. So we are supposed to give her motrin and tylenol around the clock to make sure she doesn't have another seziure and pump her with fluids. The doctor also told us to moniter her while she sleeps just in case. Yay. So last night was one of the worst nights sleeps I've ever had, but no more scares. Kate seems to be acting much better today. She is grumpy as ever though, I think because she had me up till 4 am and was up at 7am.

I am so grateful that this horid day didn't turn out any worse. I seriously thought I had lost her for about a minute. I don't know if I will ever fully recover from that scare. I told Jon last night, this made me not want any more kids. If they are going to scare me that bad I can't handle it! Heavenly Father was there with me. I owe Him everything.

I just want to thank everyone who has shown us their support. I recieved so many phone calls and texts and messages that it will take me a long time to respond to all of them! All the prayers on our behalf have been felt. I can't even type this without crying, but I am truly blessed. My daughter is apparently fine (we are still praying that is a totally true statement but after her priesthood blessing I felt comforted), and I have so many amazing people in my life that have been praying for her. Thanks again for everything.

Here's hoping something like this never happens again!

My Old man and Little girl

2011-01-17T08:53:00.000-08:00

This week has been a birthday week at the Walter house. I love birthdays! This week Jon turned OLD! He's 27! Can you believe how close to 30 we are getting?! I can't! For Jon's birthday he got a new calling in church (Elders Quorm President *Yikes!*) so he wanted some new suits for his birthday present. So one Saturday later he is the proud owner of 4 suits! (well he will be the owner when they are done being tailored......but someday soon I will have pictures to share of my sharp dressed man!) For his birthday party we just had family and friends over for pizza and cake. The gifts all went with his suit--new dress shoes, new belt and ties, dress socks, and dress shirts! Basically my man will be the hottest guy at church (not that I didn't already think that! I just mean the clothes!)

Blowin' out his candles. You know the Jeff Foxworthy jokes "you know your a redneck when..." Well I've started my own "You know your old when..." So one of those is, when the package of birthday candles doesn't contain enough for you! So Jon and I are both old now! (for those of you unaware....most packages have 24)

Kate crawling on the table to help Dad. It is so cute she calls him Dad now. She is getting so old too! Thanks to everyone for helping make Jon's birthday such a fun time! We are truly blessed to have such amazing friends and family.

The second 'birthday' we had was Kate's 13 month day. I can't believe she is officially 1, let alone on her way to being 2! So here are some quick milestones our little cutie has passed lately:
She walks everywhere. It is to the point that she doesnt like to sit on anyone's lap for long cause she wants to run free!
She speaks her own language. Her favorite thing to do is walk around the house with her toys and say "loyosyoquioqudoiqqi" while nodding her head up and down. She tells quite the story....too bad I have no idea what she is trying to say. I need to capture it on video sometime...its really funny!
She also LOVES to dance. Anytime music comes on at all she dances. Commercials, toys that play music, someone singing, the organ at church, you get the point.
She also will show you her muscles. It is too funny. She grits her teeth and holds her arms out in front of her. Fun fun!
And lastly, she blows kisses! Too cute! She loves to give people kisses and blow them to anyone who asks. Here is a picture of her blowing kisses.

Christmas Rewind

2011-01-03T10:56:00.001-08:00

So I know its officially January now, but I'm just now home and trying to get back into the swing of 'real life' and updating my blog is now one of the things on my to do list. I should probably be doing something else on that list, but this is the most enjoyable. Who really wants to clean, do laundry, wash dishes, unpack, and dust?? Not to mention plan activities for the next few months at church. I always hate the holiday letdowns.....you all know what I mean. That unwelcome, overpowering doom- feeling of everyday life. The magic of the Christmas season melts away and you are forced to get back to the grind of the rest of the year. Of course there are still fun things to be done, but i digress.
Christmas was spent in Ohio. We were so lucky to get to spend time with my entire side of the family! We haven't all gotten together in a long time! We were sorry to miss the Walter family Christmas in Texas, but being my brother's first Christmas home from his mission, we headed north. Kate was a PERFECT traveler. She was good on the plane, and slept anywhere I put her on vacation! She couldn't have been better!

Here she is opening presents with Dad. She was really good at it! And she loved playing with everything. She mostly likes to eat the paper still.....

Kate LOVED playing with her Uncle Zach. One day Jon, Zach and I were gone for a couple of hours, and when we returned Kate ran squealing right for Zach. Who cares if Mom and Dad just walked in....she only had eyes for Zach! I feel the love Kate.

Kate of course got LOTS of presents. She was spoiled. I need to buy a new shelf to organize all her toys! Any suggestions?? I like the idea of the little tubs on shelves but I want a cheap version of whatever I get! Anyway (can you tell my mind is 100% scattered right now! I can't even type a blog post without getting off track!) One of Kate's favorite gifts was from Grandma, for her big girl room. She painted/draw some amazing pictures for her room and got this bear to match. Kate LOVES giving it kisses. She has also started kissing lots of people. She thinks it is funny to give kisses. So I am posting 2 shots of her kissing the bear. I couldn't decide on one. lol.

Too cute!

More pictures of hanging out with Uncle Zach. Between Zach and my mom, Kate was totally happy. She would cry when my mom left the room, but didn't seem to miss me!

Kate had a few 'firsts' while in Ohio. Some of the biggest were her first time sledding. She didn't really do much.... Jon said a few times he thinks she smiled, but otherwise she was indifferent.

She thought Grandpa was funny. She liked to laugh at him.

She got her 5th tooth! It is on the top, but not one of the middle ones.....she is starting to look really funny!

She also learned how to walk! She walks everywhere now. I can't slow her down. Goodbye baby, hello toddler.

All in all, our trip was amazing. Now we are back to work and life, working on those resolutions. I hope everyone else had as wonderful a Christmas as we did. Nothing brings me more happiness than spending time with family and friends.

Happy Birthday!!!

2010-12-11T11:23:00.000-08:00

Kate's first birthday was a success! She had a great time being the center of attention! The party didn't start till she normally would be in bed, but Kate was great for the whole thing! I'm still sad my baby isn't a baby anymore, but I'm the only one! Kate loves her independence.
Her birthday outfit from my grandma. She looked super cute. She loved playing with all the kids at the start of the party. I was impressed, she didn't cry at all! Not even when the balloons popped.

She wasn't sure what to think about this candle. She tried to grab it at one point. Her cousin had to blow it out for her.She started by just licking the icing off her fingers. Then she got brave and tore into it!

"I wonder how much cupcake fits in my mouth at once....let's see!"

"Ummm I could get used to this"

Smiling pretty!

She kept trying to share with anyone who walked by.

Polishing off cupcake number 2! She devoured number one so fast we decided to see if she wanted another, and she quickly consumed it.

We then had to take her to the bathtub to get the cupcake out of her hair, arms, legs and nose. Then we came back to open presents; hence the wet hair and pj's.

I just love this picture cause she looks so mad. But she was happy playing with the baby! Maybe I had just taken the tissue paper away or something.

Slowly getting the hang of the wrapping paper.
"I wonder what this could be..."

Family Picture!
My sad attempt to make the cupcakes look like the 'Rainbow Fish'. Just pretend I did a good job.

My banner I made for the occasion

The Grinch has stolen Kate's Heart

2010-12-09T15:39:00.000-08:00

My dear friend sent Kate the Grinch who stole christmas book and stuffed animal. She is obsessed with him! It is so cute... she takes him around the house with her while she is playing and gives him hugs and kisses.

Merry Christmas!

4 teeth!

2010-12-06T17:02:00.001-08:00

So Kate's 4th tooth broke through today! Not only is it the 4th, it is the first on top! (now that explains the terribly grumpy girl I've had on my hands lately!) Sorry, no picture yet....its incredibly hard to get her to sit still for a normal picture-- let alone a toothy grin.

In other news, I'm mourning the fact that my baby turns 1 this Friday. She won't technically be my baby anymore....and I'm not sure I'm ok with that. That means she will be a big girl soon. And that means I will have to get the courage to have another baby someday far far away.... I really don't know how I feel about having more than one kid. Ok I need to stop being all sad....kids grow up. That's what they do. Even when we aren't sure we want them to.

But be anxiously waiting for pictures from Kate's birthday!!!!

Thanksgiving and PRODUCTIVITY

2010-11-29T13:32:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving was great! Jon was fortunate to have Friday off as well, so we had a nice long weekend. We had Thanksgiving dinner with the Beaumont Walters and then had enough leftovers to have them again Saturday evening while watching the BYU game. Thursday night/technically Friday morning Jon and I did our first ever Black Friday shopping trip...not sure we will do it again. But it was a fun experience (Jon would not call if fun....). Then the real Friday morning we went to Hobby Lobby to get a Christmas tree! Finally since we have a house we have room for a decent sized tree. We put up all our Christmas decor. I just love it! Then Saturday morning Jon and Kevin organized the garage and built shelves. They also removed the floor and put down new flooring for our shed. Overall it was a productive weekend! Then Sunday I had to give a talk at church, thankfully that's over! Here is the photo evidence:

Our tree! I just love our ornaments! And we only decorated the top portion to help keep Kate less interested...so far so good. Not the same story with the garland though...

Our garlands with ornaments and our wreath...it doesn't fit on the outside of the door because of the storm door....so this will have to do!

Jon's shelves all along one side of the garage. Now we can store anything we want out there and still park 2 cars!

Jon's new work space in the garage and place to store all his tools

Bring on December. We have something going on every weekend for December....the month is going to FLY by! This weekend I have girls camp, then next weekend is Kate's birthday and our niece's birthday party and ward Christmas party and Brother in law's birthday party, then the weekend after that Kate and I fly to Ohio! Anyone have any suggestions of things to entertain a 1 year old on a 4 hour plane ride?? I'm a little scared to death about the flight! She won't sit in one place at church, let alone a plane ride!

PS- Kate learned how to give kisses today! It is the sweetest! Be ready mom...I'll have her ready to shower you with kisses!

Uddercovers

2010-11-16T08:54:00.001-08:00

I'm done nursing Kate. Logically, that means that I needed to buy a nursing cover yesterday. (just go with me! I'm still trying to justify my purchase!) My excuses: baby #2 will need to nurse (eventually...we are NOT expecting another now); The cover was purple and I'm a sucker for purple stuff; the company is called uddercovers...and as my mom will testify, I felt like a human cow the entire time I nursed! So the name is really what got me. I thought, I NEED an uddercover! But my final excuse was the biggest, if you go to the website and type in thanksgiving as the promo code you get the thing for free! I just paid 9.95 for shipping. (I might go buy another for baby shower gift!)

Now.....maybe since I have a cute cover I will actually look like that the next time I nurse. (HAHAH I crack myself up! When have I EVER spent that much time on my hair, other than maybe prom!)

If you want one for yourself go to uddercovers.com and like i said the promo code is thanksgiving!

11 months!

2010-11-10T08:36:00.000-08:00

Holy Cow! Where did the time go?! My BABY is almost 1! AH! In a way I'm excited cause it is fun to watch her grow, but then again it makes me sad to realize she isn't going to be a baby much longer! Some of the new things she likes to do are: eat lollipops! After Halloween she found an unopened lollipop and stuck it in her mouth the correct way. So I thought as a reward for being a lollipop natural she needed to actually experience one. So we went straight to the bathtub! She has now had 2, and really enjoyed it! The pictures are in order-- first then second lollipop experience! She is too funny with it.She really thinks she is funny. She will shake her head 'no' to ANYTHING you say to her or ask her, then give you this grin that you just have to laugh at. She also loves to taunt Chance. She will hold her snack over the high chair and call for him, wait for him to almost take it from her hand and snatch it away and eat it. Poor dog. lol. Its pretty funny to watch though!

Her hair is getting longer and longer. It is so fun to play with. She has started to shake her head when I put it in a pony tail--- which makes for a frusterated mom, but if it isn't pulled back she cant see. Getting dressed is also usually a wrestling match....she doesn't like to be confined at all. Im getting afraid of our flight home for christmas!

Miss Kate still only has 2 teeth, but looks like she will be getting more very shortly. She still isnt walking on her own, but could if she wasn't afraid.

And in an update from the previous post, I still cant get her to drink formula from a sippy cup, but she will use a bottle and drink a little....but not as much as she should. Ive been giving her more cheese and such to help make sure she gets what she needs. I guess I will just have to fight the no bottle battle later. At least she is getting SOME formula.

This one's for all the moms!

2010-11-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

I need help! I am offically done nursing (not by choice, because my body suddenly decided it was done). I'm having a REALLY hard time getting Kate to drink formula or milk! She will take a sip of either and just spit it back out. This has been going on all week. I'm really starting to get worried....the girl needs to drink something other than juice! I know it is a little early to start her on whole milk, but I decided it was worth a try if she would drink it, but alas...no luck. I have found that she will drink a little bit more if i put the milk in a bottle....but I'm trying to avoid getting her hooked on a bottle since soon she should be just using sippy cups. So what I'm wondering, am I being too ambitious trying to switch her food and her cup at the same time? She has only had like 3 bottles in her life anyway...so even switching to a bottle is an adjustment for her. I feel like such a crappy mom.... she cries and tries to get me to nurse her but she can't understand that I physically can't do it anymore. I would LOVE to still be able to just feed her and we would both be happier....but mother nature had other ideas. So....does anyone have ANY pointers or tips that worked for them? my next thing I will try is putting chocolate in her milk when she wakes up. (if she is really related to me that might do the trick!) All day she has only had like 2oz of formula/milk. Man this is stressing me out! So please please please give me any tips you can think of! I'll try just about anything at this point!
If only kids were like dogs....they won't starve themselves! (not to mention that my dog will literally eat anything you throw at him!)

HALLOWEEN!!

2010-11-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I think it is in part because it falls so close to my birthday, and partly because of the tapes my mom let me listen to as a kid with all the cool halloween songs on them. I still sing "h-a-double l-o-w-double e-n spells Halloween!!!!!!" every time I type the word! I think I've always loved halloween!

Anyway, for our costumes this year I decided we all needed to be pumpkins. I was a pumpkin for my first Halloween, and Jon (Thinks) he was too! So I took that as a sign from the Halloween spirits (hehe) that Kate HAD to be a pumpkin too! And because I'm cheap I decided to make them all! I spent $15 bucks on all 3 costumes! For the ward Trunk or Treat party we stuffed ourselves to look extra round. It was the funniest on Kate! She kinda hated it! But that didnt stop her from getting around the party:

Checking out the row of chairs. I dont know why they were so tempting, but she loved them!

This is how she was crawling. Oh I just laughed the whole time!

Here she is wearing Uncle Scott's hunting hat. She was cracking up, till Brooke came and took the hat! Then she cried. lol. I love the expression on her face here, almost like shes saying "don't even think about it!" to Brooke!

I decided to throw a Halloween party at my house! I loved it so much I think this will be an annual thing! I wish my house was bigger so I could have invited more people. Here is the pinata I made for the kids. It took 2 attempts, but voila!

The next few pics are of the kitchen with the food set up. Jon was worried we wouldn't have enough food, but we had tons of leftovers!

Thanks to everyone who helped with the food! It was good. I even labeled all the items with 'spooky' names.

The kids got to take turns hitting the pinata. It help up for almost all of them! I think we only missed 2 little kids. I was proud of my little pumpkin pinata!

The kids getting the candy.

I really hope everyone else had as much fun as we did, but like I said, I plan to do it again because it was so fun! I even hit a store for their clearance priced Halloween stuff today!

24....

2010-10-26T14:13:00.000-07:00

Today I turn 24. Holy smokes I'm getting up there! As one of my dear friends put it, I'm no longer in my early 20's! Wow. BUT on the plus side today has been wonderful! Sunday my family in TX had a dinner party for me, which was awesome. Then yesterday my sweet friend Nikki took me on a movie date and we had a blast! THEH today at my YW presidency meeting I got a sweet card and fall leaves from WV! My YW president brought me back a bunch of leaves from her trip to the Greenbrier and a candle she decorated with leaves. Oh....it smells like fall in the bag! I teared up just opening it! I love love love fall! AND she brought me some chocolates from the Greenbrier too! AND we went to lunch as a presidency. Talk about being spoiled. But its not over yet....the day is semi- young! Tonight at 6 Jon made dinner reservations for us! I know-- RESERVATIONS?!?! We have never gone somewhere you need a reservation! I don't know what to wear! I am one lucky lady! I will post again sometime later and give ya pictures or something from our exciting evening out!

2nd tooth!

2010-10-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

I was so excited about the BYU game pictures that I forgot to mention that on Friday the 15th Kate got her 2nd tooth! Here is the best picture I've been able to get of her tooth....she doesn't hold still long enough for me to get anything better! Next I am blogging this picture because it bring me lots of joy(I was debating if I should....it could be considered inappropriate)! Today when I was getting dressed Kate found a new toy! OH it was funny! She grabbed a box of tampons and got one open and was chewing on it! Too funny! She seriously cried when I took it away.

BYU Football

2010-10-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

Friday we left Beaumont and headed to Ft Worth to see Jon's sister Melissa, and to attend the BYU /TCU football game. Jon's brother Scott and their family came too (and had the idea to attend the game! thanks!). It was really a fun time! The trip was too short (Fri evening to Sat evening), but we loved seeing Jon's family and sharing the experiences with family. Kate couldn't have been better ALL weekend! In the car she was great, no crying, no problems. At Melissa's house she was in love with the dogs and slept flawlessly. Before the game we went bowling, and Kate was perfect at the bowling alley. At lunch she was great! At the game she didn't cry a single time! The marching band marched right past us playing, and Kate just watched them. During the first quarter she had fun watching all the people and smiling when they cheered. She fell asleep during the 2nd quarter and slept for half time.....but then woke up and was happy the rest of the game! THEN the almost 6 hour drive home she was perfect! Really this kid is spoiling us! The weekend couldn't have gone more smoothly! Thanks again Melissa for letting us stay with you! Now the photo evidence:

Kate's first time bowling. She just cheered-- they don't have baby size balls.

In front of the BYU truck. A first game for all of us!

The cutest BYU fan in the stands!

Happy girl!

Crashed out in the 2nd quarter. The team did really poorly....but we had fun anyway!

10 Months!

2010-10-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

How cool is it that today 10/10/10, Kate is 10 months old?! I think it is TOO cool!

Here are a few quick pictures I snapped after church before Kate's nap. She was tired and not too helpful, so I'll work with what I got! Kate hasn't changed too much since I last updated....still just one tooth, getting really good at crawling and standing (still no walking unless you hold her hands), she waves hi (when she wants to), gives high 5's, and thinks she is talking but not speaking english! She is just so cute and sweet! Yesterday she got to spend the ENTIRE day with Daddy....I was more nervous than Jon, and everything went great.

Did I mention I cut my hair for the first time since RIGHT after Kate was born?! I have side bangs again and some body! I really like it!

Photo Shoot

2010-10-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

While my parents were here I decided to make them be our photographers. This morning we went around the house and snapped some very non-professional shots. With the exception of me I think a few of them turned out pretty good! I need your help though-- I have 4 picture frames to go above the fire place. What 4 shots should I blow up and use??? Please vote for me! For your convience I will number the pictures!

2)
3)
4)

5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)

Please remember to vote! I need all the help I can get!

Super Saturday!

2010-10-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

My Dad called me Friday morning to ask what Jon and I had planned for the weekend. "Just watching conference" I replied. He then asked "Well can we come visit you?" That is how this whole crazy, fun, fast weekend started. The plan was that my parents would come visit....they left their house friday evening....drove all night and got here at around 11 in the afternoon! They had a LONG drive for just a few short hours of time here. They were here all day Saturday and then took off this morning at 9:30. But it was great fun! I really enjoyed it! They brought me my birthday present (have I mentioned how much i LOVE LOVE LOVE October!?) and we had a blast.Kate and Grandpa laughing at Chance running around in the back yard.

Grandma and Kate playing with the bunny that was one of the 'reasons' for the long trip! She loves that funny bunny!

Grandma introduced Kate to her new favorite game....knocking over the blocks. Kate SCREAMS and laughs while you stack them back up and when she gets to knock them over. Easily amused little girl!

Silly Grandpa taking Kate for a walk with only one shoe!

Grandma making Kate make a funny face! Kate kept puckering her lips like that after mom would pinch her cheeks! Too funny!

Awww.... Kate just loves her Grandparents!

The trip was fast but really fun! I'm glad they came.

Splash Park Fun

2010-09-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

Today my sweet friend invited Kate and I to come to a splash park and play with her girls. It was so fun! Another friend from the ward came with her cute little girl, and it was an all girls afternoon! I thought Kate would be scared or something, but I was dead wrong. I sat her down next to a sprinkler and she took off! she crawled all around the park! She would laugh when the water would crash down on her. She was crawling so fast I had to put pants on her to protect her knees! Crazy, brave little thing!

Clapping for joy!

I knew it was time to go when she started this..... this pose is her classic way of saying "I'm tired Mom!"

Then here is a quick shot of Kate in a witch's hat. She wouldn't leave it on long...so these are the best pictures I got.

FALL!!!!

2010-09-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

My favorite season of the year is fall. This morning when I got online I was met with a greeting from Comcast informing me that it is officially fall. I felt so excited; till I remembered that I now live in TX, and won't get to have a pretty fall! In that perky mood I headed to Best Buy to pick up my camera that was being fixed. After being reunited with my camera, I decided to go browse Target, because I was close! While there I found these super-cute Halloween tins, and stickers. Have you ever had a vision of a craft project develop in your mind while standing in a store? Well for me, today was one of the most successful and budget friendly projects I've thought of all on my own! Normally I see my friend's cool projects and copy, but today was all me! I filled the tins with bouncy balls (fall colors of course), and used some skewers I had in the kitchen (painted with paint I already had). The total cost of my project was $10! That is only $2.50 a piece!!!! I am very excited if you can't tell! I plan to put them on my tables and other fun places in my house!

Yay for fall, and Yay for crafts! I must be getting old, doing crafts makes me more excited than it used to! Oh, and while I was making these, I finished my magnets for my magnet board...pictures will come when I finally get Jon to hang them up!

Random Monday

2010-09-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

Today has been a kinda boring day at the Walter house....so while I was laying on the floor playing with the dog and Kate I took a few pictures with my phone. The above picture is Kate's new found way to carry toys while she crawls around. It is pretty funny.

Using the same technique with one of her favortie non-toys...mom's keys. Good thing I'm not to much of a germ aphobe.

She now claps all the time. If she hears noises on the TV of cheering, or if she hears us say 'yay' she claps. Also, clapping means 'more' in Kate sign language.

She likes to always have toys in her mouth and hand at the same time! She is getting too busy! She constantly moves around getting into everything.

Jon just called and won't be home till late....so my boring day just got a little longer. Good thing Kate is cute!

I can't believe I missed 9 months!

2010-09-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

So it came to my reaization a few minutes ago that the date today is the 11th, meaing yesterday was the 10th.....Kate's 9 month birthday! How did I miss that?! I like to post on the day and write about what she is doing....and I spaced it! At least the 11th is really close right?!

So at 9 months Kate is EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING. As we speak she is standing taking the pots and pans out of the cabinet next to me. (great. I thought I had more time before that started!) She just recently started to clearly say 'ba', so her vocabulary has gone from just mumbling/screaming 'dadada' type stuff to 'dada baba'. I keep trying to get her to say 'mama'but with no success. She still only has one tooth, but I think number 2 will break the surface in a few weeks. She has even started to learn to pet the dog--not just yank his hair. Oh and she thinks she is funny....she will be playing and just randomly start laughing at herself. I just love to watch her think and learn. She crawls like a pro,LOVES to steal dog food any time she can (and puts up a huge fight to keep it in her mouth....such a weird-O!) I think she has also started to say hi....like she will sometimes look up from doing something random and squeal what sounds lots like HI....so I'm counting that! I'm trying to make her next 'trick' waving. For now her 'tricks' include clapping anytime you say yay and giving high fives.

Thanks about it....but here is a picture taken on her actual 9 month day! She has started crawling into the dog cage! This is on her way out after her first trip inside. She took toys in and had a ball....poor chance started at her like she was violating some kind of rule....pretty funny stuff!

Oh My

2010-09-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

I am not sure I'm ready for her to be a climber already.....she has tried to climb the couch and TV stand to. I've got to give her props though, this does really help her pull more toys out of the tote!

Be Proud of Me!!!

2010-08-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

Since becoming a home owner I have this bad habit of creating 100 million projects that I want to do eventually, eventually being the key word in that statement. I feel like lately I have been thinking of so much to do that it will never actually get done. This past weekend Jon told me to write him a 'to do' list. I thought he was kidding, until he asked for it Friday night. I was SUPER excited....and proceded to write a rather long list:

Please note that 'put up mirror in bath', 'trim bushes', and 'change out bathroom faucets' have been scratched off because my amazing hubby got those done while I was sick this weekend!! Now, with a million more things to go on the list, I decided to work on some other projects on my personal to do list. That list always contains scrapbooking--the never ending craft venture. But since I have on my hubby's list 'hang pictures in house', I decided I was going to do one of my picture projects that have been waiting for me. I am pretty proud of my little creation:

To complete the look, I will (eventually) find someone here to take our family pictures and put 4 of my favs around the phrase above the fire place. I think it will be perfect! (Bri, I SO wish you were here or I was still there so I could use you! now that I have a real place to put family shots!)

More posts to follow about the rest of the 'to do' list projects I'm sure!!

Just.......... too....... tired

2010-08-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

So Kate, Chance and I took a little walk today. It was cut short cause Kate couldn't stay awake, and I couldnt get her out of this position:

Too funny!

Next, I tried to take a picture of Kate's tooth yesterday.... let's just say that this is as close as I could get, so clearly the picture was a failure! But she is so cute!

I am including a cute picture of my new favorite dress on Kate. So simple but so cute!

Lastly, I need some advice! All you readers out there weigh in and help me make up my mind. The problem: I can't decide if I should spend the money to join a gym.

My thoughts: It is like $700 a year! I could use that money to do other fun things. But if you break it down it is only like $30 a month and it includes group fitness classes and childcare. Jon is already going and I'm jelous....but I feel guilty spending the money on me. I do really want to lose weight. Working out at home is proving to be hard....the childcare alone will make the gym so much easier! When I could work out at home I have so many other things that require my time that I usually don't get a work out in. And it is SO HOT here to walk outside. I feel like a bad mom having Kate out too long! Also, I feel guilty going to a gym when my degree is Health Science... and pre-Kate I worked at 2 gyms. I have all the knowledge to work myslef out. So what do you think? It is worth it? Part of me really wants to, and part of me feels guilty spending money on it. HELP ME!

Baby Einstein

2010-08-19T10:19:00.001-07:00

I know everyone thinks their baby is a genius, but coincidence?? I think not!

4 years!

2010-08-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I have already spent 4 years married to this amazing man. In 4 years we have graduated from college, moved 7 times, gone from Idaho to South Carolina to Tennessee to Texas, gotten a dog, bought a house, and have a beautiful baby girl! These 4 years have been some of the most stressful, but totally amazing times of my life! Being married to this man can make me go crazy, but mostly it makes me feel so unbelievably happy! Thanks Jon for giving me eternal happiness!

(ohhh to look like I did 4 years ago....no stretch marks and 20 lbs lighter!!! No fair that Jon looks better now!)

Kate's First Tooth!

2010-08-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

Today Kate's first tooth officially came in! (And by came in I mean it has just broken the surface!) Nothing else too exciting is going on here to report, just wanted to shout to the world that my baby has a tooth now! **Inside I'm cringing, I hope the biting doesn't pick up again...We seem to have it under control....but now I'm more scared of her!

8 months!!!

2010-08-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

Time is flying! My baby is 8 months old! She officially pulls up on everything she can! She is normally only happy when she is on her feet. I'm afraid walking is soon to come!

She is getting more and more talkative. She can change the sounds she makes, and its really fun to hear her playing with her voice. She is a social butterfly. She absolutely loves for people to pay attention to her. Every morning/end of nap time when I go into her room to get her, she is standing up waiting for me. As soon as she sees me she starts jumping and squealing with happiness! It makes me feel so cool.
Kate however has decided that she isn't happy to be left alone. She will SCREAM if you set her on the floor. And she is a climber, if you sit down beside her she will try to climb up you. She is kinda like a monkey. Jon and I are afraid she is practicing to become a pole dancer..... She loves to play on the pegs in our living room...and she 'dances' and moves from side to side. It is quite funny!
She gets stuck when she is in standing position....she looks at the floor and yells. It is funny. I guess I'm an evil mom, but I find some pleasure in her discomfort.

Check out that hair! Her little hair is getting so long! It is still curly, and pretty much does whatever it wants. If I comb it or try to style it, it just goes right back where it was to start with! Oh well, she is still REALLY cute!

We Survived!!

2010-08-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

Girls camp was a success. Kate was a perfect little camper! She hardly cried the entire time, even though she was DEAD tired. She stayed up as late as the girls every night, so 1 or 2 am....which makes for one tired baby! but man....I couldn't have asked for a better baby! Girls camp isnt the same when you are a leader though, especially a leader with a baby. I didn't feel like I could 'get in' with what the girls were doing because I still had to take care of Kate. But all the girls passed Kate around the entire time, in 3 days she didn't need to crawl on the dirty ground because she was being passed around! Those girls are going to be such great mothers, and great babysitters for the present! If you want to see some pics you can look on my facebook page, Kate and I have been tagged in a few.

Look out world! Here I come!

2010-07-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

Here at the Walter house we officially have a 7 month old who pulls herself up on anything and everything she can!

What the F?!

2010-07-28T09:37:00.001-07:00

**This post contains LARGE amounts of TMI, so readers beware!**

So as you all know, I'm still breastfeeding. Mostly I think I like it. Not only is it good for Kate, it's FREE (which is HUGE motivation for me!). But there are a few things about it I am NOT a fan of.

#1: BIG BOOBS
I have always been on the larger side of things....so I should be used to this feeling. But yesterday I went to the store to get a new nursing bra, and I wasn't prepared for the outcome. Sadly, my girls have decided to grow! I guess they didn't like the sound of E....they wanted to be labeled F. (Hence the post title....I wanted an excuse to use that phrase and not get in trouble! I know, I'm such a rebel!) I mean come on!! How much longer can they possibly get bigger! Is this normal????!!! I mean Kate is almost 8 months now! Geesh. I can't wait for the day I get to be a C or even a D again. And I used to think that was big....

#2: Being bitten
Thankfully Kate still hasn't had any teeth cut yet.....because she likes to attack me! She will be nursing along, and with NO warning she will chomp down and PULL away as hard as she can. It makes me teary....it KILLS! So I need advice. I've heard that you should take the nipple away when they bite, then give it back....but she does it so fast and naturally pulls away....making that technique pointless. I have also heard you should flick them in the nose and tell them no. I tried this once, and she cried....I don't have the heart to do that one anymore. Anyone with ANY ideas PLEASE HELP! Nursing will be kinda hard to do if Kate breaks the equipment!

#3: Kate pulling on my shirt when she thinks she's hungry
Are there ways to teach your kid not to pull on your shirt and try to get at your boobs when it isn't quite time to feed yet?! I feel so weird sitting in church when Kate is feeling me up!

#4: Nursing in public
I've complained about this before, but next week Kate and I are going to Girls Camp for 3 days with our 30 Young Women from church....and I'm stressing about how awkward it is going to be feeding here there!

Well I'll quit complaining....but any tips/pointers/help are GREATLY appreciated!

Productivity!

2010-07-21T08:07:00.000-07:00

Ya know that proud, happy feeling you get when you have a day FULL of productivity? Well, here at the Walter house, that has been happening lots lately! Jon has enlisted the help of his brother Kevin, and we are on a roll! So far in the past few days we have bought tile to do our bathrooms, tiled/grouted the hall bathroom, painted most of the baseboards, painted the fireplace, and Jon's electrician changed out ALL of the electric sockets and light switches in the house. This place is looking great! Hopefully by the end of the week ALL the painting will be done, and curtains will be put up! I'm going curtain shopping today! Have I mentioned it is GREAT to be a homeowner?! I just love making this space my own.
And now because I feel I can't post without including a picture or two, here is a shot of Kate's first time seeing Sharks at the aquarium talked about in the last post. She refused to wake up to see them! but aren't those cheeks too fun!?

And my little girl is going to be one smart cookie! She really does like books! I want to get her some of those feely-books....ya know what I mean right? I've seen other kids with them...some say things like pet the puppy and part of the picture has fake fur. I think she would LOVE them. Anyway, random ramble over.
Back to being productive around my house!! You should all come and see it in person!

7 months plus some fun

2010-07-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

While here in Ohio Kate had her 7 month birthday, so since my family won't be in Texas to celebrate her real birthday, we had a 7 month party! Kate has almost figured out this crawling thing...

Here is the party girl with her fun party favors. She thought everything was so cool it needed to be tasted! My grandma even had some fun baby games and a cake. This little girl is spoiled!

This is Kate's favorite position on the floor right now. She is pretty good at baby yoga! Usually when she is in this position she squeals really loud. At 7 months Kate eats anything she can, and has officially had a peach and banana (that wasn't mashed and in a baby food jar). She is super friendly and will let anyone hold her. She also learned how to dance at her birthday party! My mom and dad were playing with her, and taught her to dance....and she will still do it today, so I guess it really stuck!

Another shot of the party girl.Smiling with grandma.

Kate at the party with her great grandma. She wanted back on the ground to eat some toys!

A few days before Kate's party we went to the Newport Aquarium. It was great! Kate had a blast looking at everything. She especially loved the turtles....so naturally, my grandma bought her one!

And a sideways shot of cousin Arielle with Kate looking at tropical birds and otters.
Arielle and I doing our best jellyfish impressions.....kinda scary....

After the day at the Aquarium, we let the girls play in a blow up pool. Before you see the cute kids having fun, you need to appreciate the hard work that goes into a pool like this. Amy and I had an interesting time blowing this up!

Now the cuties. This is obviously Kate with her second cousin Bailey. Kate just wanted to eat all of the pool toys.

There will be more pictures later, but these are pictures I stole from my grandma's camera. Our Ohio time is coming to an end, so soon we will be back to TX and I will have more to share of our fun times!

It's only just begun...

2010-07-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

We made it safely to OHIO!!! Oh the 'heart of it all'....I'm a little biased, but I think it's the best state there is! Kate was AMAZING on the plane! (and fyi if you were interested in the last post, I chickend out and nursed Kate 2 times in the bathroom. it worked out perfectly that she was hungry when we were on the ground, so I stood in a stall! She kicks and moves around so much now I didnt want to flash the world! But hey--it worked! And still no formula)

So, we are here and having fun already. I am sitting here in a house full of sleeping parents and kid....unable to sleep myself, so I decided I would blog about our first 2 days here! First, I will share a picture of one of the reasons I am unable to sleep....I created a double, double, double, double, double, double stuffed oreo today. I usually take the double stuffed oreos apart and make them 2x stuffed, but today....somehow the stuffing kept coming apart and I ended up with a tower of oreo stuff! I was proud. lol--yes I'm easily amused. I told my mom I was having a 'fat kid' experience!

Yes....that me is licking the oreo stuff....wearing my BYU I wellness t-shirt that says " you are what you eat" on the back! lol....oh the irony! Anyway....to help you cleanse your eyes from seeing that....here is little miss Kate in her cuteness!

Spending time with Great Grandpa. She is such a little flirt! She wants all the men looking at her ALL the time!

Grandpa is so funny! Kate really loves my dad! She gets really happy when he laughs, and pays attention to him no matter what he is doing. Grandpa's girl! Won't be long and she will realize she can mold him like putty in her hand...

Did I mention that she is teething....she is a cute ball of drool! Did anyone else's kids nose RUN when teething? Kate is a ball of drool AND snot! She also will chew anything she can get her mouth on!

And she is just too cute in her little church outfit. I'm in love.

I'm sure there will be plenty more from Ohio soon, but for now, I should get some sleep!

To nurse or not to nurse...

2010-07-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

I've been worrying about this for awhile now:
I am still nursing Kate. I am very happy about that (I didn't think I'd last this long!). However, being a stay at home mom, I don't have to worry about the uncomfortable feeling you get when you nurse in public, until now. I am flying home to Ohio Saturday (YAY!!). But, the trip will cover 2-3 feeding times for Kate. I must admit, the closer the travel day comes, the more scared I am! I feel that I shouldn't have to be anxious about nursing my baby, I use a cover up! But people STARE at you like you are doing something dirty. I HATE the feeling I get when people watch me like that. Since I am feeling this uncomfortable with the situation, I am debating bringing formula and just giving her that instead (I can't carry on that much breast milk, the security won't allow it.) But that worries me too! I've never given her formula. What if she gets sick with it or something?! Would that make everything worse? So one part of me wants to just do my nursing thing and tell everyone who gives me weird looks to get over it, and the other wants to avoid all the stares and just use bottles (lol....I'm so clueless with those things since I haven't had to use them!).

What is a mom to do?! Im not only worried about her eating, I'm afraid to be the mom with a screaming baby on the plane! Anyone have any tips for flying with a 6 almost 7 month old?

Happy Fathers Day to me!

2010-06-21T10:11:00.001-07:00

So this weekend I felt like I reaped the benefits of Father's Day! My husband, being the man he is, wanted things for the house as his Father's Day gift. So he got up bright and early, went to a home improvement store and bought new hardware for the cabinets! They make a huge difference!

Then, if I wasn't spoiled enough for one weekend, he wanted to go to Lowe's and get light fixtures. We now have 3 new lights in our house! They look great, but make the old ones that are still up look even worse! All in time we will get everything looking stunning!

Before shot of the dining room/entry
Then the after! (Yes it isn't spotless clean, but I figured it is nap time right now, and I won't get any more free time to show off my hubs handy work!)

Jon changed this one so quick I didn't get a before on the ceiling, so I made him hold it up. It is the hall light.

Then here is a shot of our living room. And again, it is covered in toys, but what do you expect, I have a crawling(basically) 6 month old and babysitting a 2.5 year old!) Notice, we were given a new sofa and chair! Thanks Susan! Then the Kitchen. This isn't the best light, but it's what I'm stuck with right now. But all new black appliances, counters and sink.

And one side of Kate's room. She's in there asleep, so I didn't dare take more shots! Also, my room is being slept in currently and I won't risk waking her up, so no pics of there! So that is the conclusion of the house tour for now!

Back to my amazing husband: so not only did he do lots around the house this weekend, he is an amazing employee! I found out at a company dinner this weekend that Jon built a house in 20 days! Can you believe that?! I had no clue! I mean I knew he was amazing, but seriously?! He is doing such a great job at his job. (hehe that sounded cool.) Not only is he great at his job, he is humble! He didn't brag to me about his accomplishments, and all he talks about is how he should change to get better. Yea, I'm one lucky lady!

We also had a great time with Kate this weekend. She has officially decided she loves to eat paper products. The other night I had to run an errand, and Jon said the only time she stopped crying was when he gave her the newspaper! And as you can see above, she loves cardboard.

Kate also had her first sippy cup experience. She loves it! I'm not sure she cares about drinking out of it as much as she loves to chew and hold it. It is fun to watch!

Then I have to post this picture cause it shows just how chunky this little girl is!

This is my new favorite dress on her! She looks like a yummy cupcake! And just FYI-- I tried to brush her hair, and that is what it turned out looking like!

Then this is Kate at the grocery store sitting in the cart for the first time. She SQUEALED and laughed the whole time. She was too cute. I'm not sure if everyone else I walked past thought the loud noise was all the great, but she was funny!

Lately...

2010-06-14T13:23:00.000-07:00

We moved into this wonderful house! (yeah i know its kinda old news now, but it still feels great to me!)

We enjoy this beautiful backyard, when it isnt 90+ outside!

We eat lots of baby food and make a big mess!

We get up on all fours and rock, and we travel backwards and in circles.

We hang out in the kitchen while mom works...and we like to hear our voice, it echos in this spacious house!
We are too cute for words!

We like to help daddy with his home improvement projects.

We like to chew on anything....no matter how akward it looks.

And we like to smile while we do it!

Pictures of the inside of the house are coming....I decided to start a painting project Sunday, and now the house is in shambles again! When I get it presentable I will do the big blog reveal!