Big Girl

Kate is big enough to sit in the cart when we're shopping. She was kicking with excitement the entire time...her foot got caught in the process ;).

Kate's First Haircut

Kate has had tons of hair since she was born. The hair on either side of her head has grown SO long. If you stretched it out, it was a little over 4 inches. It was kind of getting to the point where it was hard to blend in, so, I did the unthinkable {according to Doug}, and cut her hair. I don't know why it's so dang hard to cut my babies hair for the first time! I was a little hesitant at first, but still went ahead with it. I cut about 2 inches off on each side, and now it blends in nicely. Although I do miss those cute little curls. I keep telling myself that they'll grow back soon enough :).

Before the cut...

 

...and after.  

Her little profile is so precious :).  Love this girl SO much!

Kate ~ 10 Months

Kate has grown so much this past month. I'm not ready to have a mobile baby...I guess I have no choice in the matter.  This past month, Kate...

...has grown so much!  She was really sick at her 9 month appointment and only weighed a little over 14 lbs!  I took her in for a weight check 2 weeks later and she had already gained 2 lbs!  As soon as she started to feel better, she started eating like a champ, and the results are so obvious.  I just hope that she doesn't get sick again this winter...she's been through a lot!
...loves to eat!  As stated above, she's growing like a weed and has found great joy in eating.  She can now hold her own bottle, and she loves all kinds of food.  As of now, she is not picky at all...hopefully it stays that way :).
...is a mover.  She still prefers to army crawl, but, dang, she is fast!  We all get a kick of watching her zoom across the floor, especially if she's after something.  She recently discovered how to get up on her hands and knees, and sometimes she'll actually crawl, but not very often.
...likes to get up on her knees when she plays.  I love watching her sit on her little knees and play with her toys.  It's the little things...
...loves music!  She's definitely one of us, as her love for music is already shining through.  I've been watching The Office on Netflix, and whenever the theme song comes on, she goes crazy!  It's hilarious!  She also enjoys listening to anything with a good beat.  Watching her flap her arms and bounce is seriously the cutest thing ever!!
...can clap her hands!  She just learned to do this last week and we all love tell her to "clap your hands" and have her respond immediately.  I think she loves the fact that she is understanding us and doing what we ask.  She also LOVES our response of excitement when she claps!
...is a little giggler.  There was a time when it was SO hard for us to get Kate to laugh, but now it is so easy!  She loves to giggle and laugh, and we love it so much!  We get a crack out of listening to her.  She especially loves it when I tickle her and blow raspberries on her belly.  Her laughter is music to my ears!
...she is so wiggly!  It is so dang hard for me to change her diaper and get her dressed.  It's crazy!  I don't remember my other kids being so wiggly!  She gets so frustrated with me when I have to change her and will try so hard to get away from me.  Sometimes I'll just change her diaper, then let her play for a bit before I put her clothes on cause I don't want to fight her.  Oh boy.
...is definitely a mommy's girl.  And I love it :).  I pretty much hold her whenever she wants...we're pretty attached.
...will let me know when she doesn't want to be around siblings.  I think Noah, Leah, and Isaac are starting to scare her when they play around her.  I don't blame her one bit!  I'd be scared too!  That's probably whey I hold her so much :).
...loves tubby time!  Like kick her legs and arms, and screech with excitement when I undress her love it.  She splashes like crazy the moment that she touches the water.  She's a pro at getting water everywhere!  And, can I just say that I love tubby time just as much...the smell of a freshly clean baby is one of my most favorite things EVER!  Yum!
...loves to play with her toys, and absolutely loves it when I sit and read with her.  She takes after Isaac in the reading department.  Isaac will even sit and look through books with her, which is the cutest thing ever!  She's also very content with playing with her toys.

We sure do love you, precious girl!  Even more than last month :).

Valentine's Day ~ 2013

Happy Valentine's Day! I had a wonderful week loving on my sweet family. They are my world! We filled up our week by doing lots of crafts, making and decorating {and eating} cookies, eating heart shaped pancakes, and eating loads of candy! We also had fun making our Valentine's for our friends, as well as enjoying the treats that we received! Doug surprised me with some beautiful flowers and the most yummy chocolates...he knows me well :). It was definitely a great Valentine's Day, and I was even able to get a darling pic of my kiddos! That's always a good thing :).

Leah got "heart-attacked" at her party at preschool!

Leah and I have been having fun finding some cute hairstyles, and the one we did on Valentine's Day turned out great.  She loved having a heart in her hair :).

Noah's Valentine box for his class.  He wanted a monster box and I found the idea on Pinterest.  He was pleased with how it turned out :).

My four little lovebugs all dressed in red.  I actually made some cute skirts for the girls...it's hard to see them in this picture, but they turned out cute.  I obviously enjoy dressing the kids alike...and they like it too :).  Man, they're cute...

...and so happy!  I love them all to pieces!

Sibling Love

As of late, these two have really been enjoying one another's company.  They have had so much fun playing together, and it makes me so happy to hear them giggle while they play.  It really is music to my ears!  They really do rely so much on one another, and I'm so happy for the bond that they are forming...I know that it will only grow stronger over the years :).

Doug's Birthday {3-}

We celebrated Doug's birthday a few weeks ago.  The kids were, of course, so excited for him to get home from work that day so that we could have a little party.  We decorated the house with loads of balloons, made cards, made dinner...the kids and I wanted to make the evening extra special, especially since he had to work on his special day.  We had such a wonderful evening together and I hope that Doug knows how important he is to us.  It is each day, without fail, that I have each kid ask me when is daddy going to be home!  They love their daddy SO much...sometimes I think even more than me ;).  He's super special to each one of us and we thank our lucky stars every day that he is ours!  We love you Doug!  Happy Birthday!!!

Brotherly Bonding

I wake up almost every morning to kids asleep in our room. They sneak in at night and set up camp either in our bed or on the floor. Once they're awake for the day, they usually grab the iPads to play on. This is the scene that I found the other morning... Doug said that they're bonding?

Lately...

Here are some Instagram pics from our life lately...

Isaac spends his mornings eating breakfast and sitting watching cartoons like this...every morning!  So cute!

 

Love my super cute, happy baby!  

We got loads of snow a few weeks back, and the kids spent almost every afternoon having fun in the snow!  Ah...to be a kid again!  Too cold for me!  

It's always a fun day when the big kids are the ones that fall asleep in the car!

Doug and I went skiing at Deer Valley a few weeks back.  So fun!

Isaac had loads of fun wearing my gear around the house.  This kid kills me!

Longing for summer...

Here's me and my homie waiting for Leah at school.  He always insists on wearing his glasses and having his hood up!  Seriously...this kid cracks me up!

Isaac's new favorite activity.  He could do this for hours!

Early Spring

I'm already longing for summer, or even spring, for that matter! When we woke up and saw the news that Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow and has predicted an early spring, I was pretty excited. So excited, that I made Groundhog pancakes for breakfast! Oh the joys of having kids and seeing them so excited over stuff like this :). Love it!