Random Pictures

I've been meaning to post about Katleyn and all of the fun things she has been doing and learning. Just be prepared-it's kind of a Katelyn overload. Since none of the pictures really connect, I've titled this post random pictures...

Katleyn has now learned to fold her arms for prayers. She normally gets a really serious look on her face, but for the camera we get a great big smile.

Katelyn has learned to put her sunglasses on. What a babe!

She's always such a great helper too. This is Katleyn "helping" me pack for Wisconsin.
Sleeping..what's that? This is her new favorite past time. Waiting until mommy puts me down, then partay!
Katleyn loves playing outside with all of the neighbors. She also loves playing in the pool.
Althought she isn't walking yet, she is getting more confident.

Trip

Tyler and I took a trip out to Wisconsin the first weekend in June to find a place to live. We kept busy the whole time searching for the perfect place. We were told that the best way to find a place in this area was to cruise through the neighborhoods looking for "For Rent" signs. There were plenty of signs around, so that was very helpful advice.

While searching, we spent a lot of time doing this...

I used to hate the grid system, but after spending plenty of time looking at this map, I realized the value of it.

We saw a lot of fun things while driving around the Milwaukee area, including these statues in someones front yard.

And this sign in another front yard. These signs were actually quite popular in this area. We were even told that if we liked Bush it was best to keep our mouths shut about him. We definitely were not in Utah anymore!

After lots of searching we realized that housing in Wisconsin was SO different from the Orem/Provo area. We were going to have to start eliminating some items off of our 'must have' list. For instace, a dishwasher, big closets, and a nice big counter in the bathroom.

In the end we found a great duplex to live in. The kitchen is reasonably sized, but it also has a dining room. The bedrooms are hardwood floors and there is a ton of storgae space (Every place we looked at had TONS of storage space in the basement). We have a garage to park in (yea-this will be nice when we have like 14 inches of snow). And, we actually found a place with a walk-in closet! Those are very rare in this area.

After our long search, we headed to Chicago to have some fun and celebrate our 3 year anniversary. We got to see the musical Wicked, which we absolutely loved.

A New Tag

I've never seen this one before. Should be fun!

How To Play This Game of Tag:
Post these rules on your blog.List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!

Okay-here we go...

3 Joys:
1. My sweet baby girl and my hubby. I never knew how much added happiness we could have in our home until she came. I love, love, love that girl. And what an incredible person I am married to. So helpful, thoughtful and sweet. I can't believe we've already been married for three years. It's flown by so fast.
2. Sundays. I really do love Sundays. I love being at home with my family. I love taking naps. I love going to church. I love listening to the talks/lessons. I love Sunday dinners. I love playing games with family or friends. What isn't there to love about Sundays?
3. My sisters. I couldn't have asked for a better bunch of sisters. We're all such great friends. We're all so alike yet so unique at the same time. (That probably makes sense if you know us). It's going to be hard to say goodbye to them when we leave for Wisconsin.

3 Fears:
1. The dark. I'm such a wimp at night. I really hate the dark. It's not so bad if other people are around, but if I'm alone, I hate it! In fact, if Tyler is away for the night I will always keep a light on in our apartment. I blame the news and scary movies for this.
2. Katelyn getting hurt. I've never been a worrier...that is until Katelyn came along. Now I worry that something bad will happen to her. Again, if the news would just lay off of these horrible stories about little kids.
3. Not having enough food storage. I just read a book recently about an event happening in the world that caused things to go awry. Basically the characters ended up with little food and water and got terribly sick. It got me to thinking about our food storage. Now that times are getting a little more tough, I feel the need to be even more prepared.

3 Goals:
1. Serve more often and more willingly. Honestly, this is something that Tyler and I talked about for FHE one night. It's been on my mind evers since. I think I could do so much more than focus on me, me, me all of the time.
2. Exercise. I'm not even going to say how often. For me-it's just exercise because right now I don't. I hate, loathe, despise exercise. But lately I've been thinking it's about time. I could use some toning. (Tyler, stop laughing. I really mean it).
3. Keeping our bedroom clean. I'll just keep it at that.

3 Current Obsessions/Collections:
1. Scrapbooking. I've never considered myself a crafty person at all, but I've really enjoyed scrapbooking pictures of Katelyn. I guess I just needed the right motivation.
2. Photography. Lately I've been reading everything I can get my hands on about photography. I would love to be able to take creative pictures of my fam. We just got a new camera so we'll see how it goes.
3. Books and Reading. I love having tons of books in my home. Having taught second grade for three years, we have plenty, but I would still love more! Now that I am home with Katelyn, I have become addicted to reading and am frequently visiting the library for something new to read.

3 Random/Surprising Fact About Yourself:
1. I love cereal. If I could eat it everyday, 3 meals a day, I would. I would probably plan cereal as one of our dinners if Tyler liked cereal as much as me.
2. I need food. I know we all do, but if I don't eat regularly, I get extremely ornery. I'm not one of those people who can miss meals or go a long time without eating. It really affects my mood. Just ask Tyler. :)
3. I hate clutter. That is one reason why I loved this apartment so much. There is a place for every little thing. Everytime we've moved we make big piles for DI. I just can't keep things that will sit around for no good reason.

Phew. I made it. Hopefully you readers did too. Now I tag 5 people.
1. Kristina
2. Joy
3. Heidi
4. Megan
5. Sarah

Piggies

When Katelyn was first born, I remember imagining what she would look like as a one year old. I remember thinking that she would have a full head of beautiful brown hair, and that I would always be pulling it back to make some cute little piggy tales. Every mother of a little gir dreams that, right? So I stocked up on rubber bands, hair bows--you name it--all in anticipation of that momentous day.

Well, that day didn't ever really arrive. At least not the one where she had a full head of hair. But I finally decided that she does have enough to pull back into two cute little piggies on the top of her head. Sure, she could still grow a little more hair. Sure, her bows look pretty big next to her piggies, but it works.

If you look closely, you might actually see some hair sticking up by the bows.

Katelyn with her cute piggies (At least we think they're cute, but we're biased).

Katelyn with daddy after church.

Another shot of Katelyn in her piggie AND proving that she does crawl. She likes to show that off now.

This can't be comfortable...

Tyler was letting Katelyn play in the cupboards (supervised of course) when we spotted this lovely sight. After we stopped laughing we had to take a picture to share!

Happy (belated) birthday Katelyn!

Our sweet baby girl turned one on May 8th. We can't believe we already have a one year old! It's gone by so fast. It seems like it was just a couple of months ago that we held her for the first time in the hospital. We love her so much and are so happy to have her!

For Katelyn's birthday we celebrated with family at a nearby park. We spent the evening eating some good food and watching Katelyn open presents and watching her blow out her candle on her cupcake.

Below is a sequence of Katelyn "blowing" out her candle. In all of the pictures she has a very concerned look. She was a little nervous with the whole process.

Happy birthday Little Miss Katelyn!

Tagged

I think I got tagged a couple of days ago. I should probably do it so Megan knows that I do read her blog.

I'm supposed to list 7 quirks/other things and then tag 7 people.

1. I love wearing jeans. To me, they're perfect for any occasion. This is difficult for Tyler to understand who loves getting dressed up.

2. I hate, hate, HATE being late to church. It's funny that this is so important to me because growing up, I was always the last person in the car.

3. I eat like a kid, but I love it! I don't eat vegetables, I still order Kids Meals, and I don't really like trying new things.

4. I try to keep a clean house...but I only clean what people will see. Our poor bedroom really suffers. I hope I'm not the only person who does this.

5. I can't remember a single embarrassing story about myself. This subject seemed to come up frequently while I was still single, and I didn't ever have anything to share. I could never figure out why I couldn't remember even one embarrassing moment.

6. I love The Ellen DeGeneres Show! In fact, a while back I signed up to win something on her website, and I won. I got an X-Box, Wii, Playstation 3, and Rockband. She really is a very generous woman and so funny.

7. I love being a mom. I really thought I loved teaching, but nothing is better than being at home with your own child and teaching them your own values. You get to watch them learn and grow. It really is an amazing thing.

Okay-that's seven. I now tag Kelly Wright. (you did promise you would post more often), Shamaine Sheppard, Traci Brown, Michelle Juett (you'd better do it), Kathryn Dodds, Lisa Manderino and Sheena Hill.