Noah is a stud...

Noah had a court of honor.  He got several awards.  I couldn't be more proud of the young man he is becoming.  I look forward to many more court of honors and for him to earn his Eagle Scout.  Noah is a remarkable young man and I absolutely adore him.

Mommy/Daughter Ponytails

So Kaitlyn's hair on the top of her head is long enough for a ponytail so we had mommy/daughter ponytail day where we both sported our ponytails!  Having a little girl is just too much fun!

Kaitlyn turns 6 months old...

Kaitlyn turned 6 months old today.  I cannot believe that she is getting so big already!  I love her cuteness.  She tries to roll over from her back to her tummy but hasn't quite mastered that yet.  She loves baby food, bathtime (with bubbles and lots of splashes), she smiles and giggles all the time, she loves to eat her fingers and her toes, she sits up with help and is getting better and better all the time, she has enough hair for a little ponytail and mini pigtails, she cut her 1st tooth, and she is just so beautiful!  She is such a joy and has brought so much happiness to our family.  I can't imagine life without her!

So since she is now 6 months we let her have her 1st taste of real people food.  Noah's 1st food was a breadstick from little caesers.  Kaitlyn's was a cheesestick from pizza hut!  hahahahahaha SHE LOVED IT!
Oh and check out her cute pigtails!!!!

Snow Day!

So apparently Colorado is not as equipped as Utah is when it comes to snow.  It snowed about 4 inches and school closed and so did post.  Chris got to come home early and surprise us with a day at home with all four of us.  When he came home we were outside taking Kaitlyn on the sled for the 1st time.  She just sat there like "whatever" and we were all having a great time.  I really enjoy being a mother to two amazing kids and the wife to one amazing man.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are my two little Valentine's!

Nana came to visit...

My mom came to visit us and meet Kaitlyn for the 1st time in person.  I have been waiting for this to happen for so long.  It was so much fun.  We laughed, shopped, ate, and just enjoyed each others company.  Kaitlyn and I got to go to pick up my mom.  Here is us waiting for Nana at the airport...

My mom and I were able to get pedicures and manicures together.  This is something that we both enjoy and it is always tons more fun when we can do it together.

Nana enjoyed her time loving all over Kaitlyn and Noah got to teach her how to shoot his airsoft gun in our garage.  It was great.  We also got to go see a movie while she was here and eat out a ton.  We went to Texas Roadhouse one night and I told the people it was her birthday.  She had to sit on the saddle while they sang to her.  hahahahahaha It was great!

Nana was able to go to church with us and she also made herself at home helping out in the kitchen.  Boy is it great when your mom comes to visit!  I love her so much.  She is not only my mom but she is my best friend.

Trip to the ER and down some stairs...

Kaitlyn is finally ready to start eating some baby food.  We have been trying her with it since she was about 4 1/2 or 5 months old.  Each week we would introduce a new food.  We started with squash and then went to Hawaiian delight (because her dad loves that stuff), gave her apples, and then introduced BANANAS!  Well miss Kaitlyn loves her some bananas but they don't like her so much.  She broke out in a rash all over her face.  Nothing serious but she needed to be seen by a Dr.  The Dr's office was closed so I asked Chris if he would take her to the ER while I took Noah to his Scout Court of Honor.  Noah was getting some awards so we didn't want to miss it and like I said Kaitlyn was fine just wanted to get a Dr's opinion.

I think Kaitlyn was just happy to be naked.  She loves to only wear her diaper and loves it even more when you take it off for bathtime and diaper changing time.  She is too funny!

Noah did great at his Court of Honor.  He lead the flag ceremony and got several awards.  He is such a great scout and he loves it.  So on our way out the back of the church we noticed it started snowing, bad!  We walked out the back of the church and well...I slipped down several stairs and bruised my butt pretty bad.  Luckily no one saw but Noah.  He got a good laugh out until he realized I was really hurt.  We hurried to the car so I could get out a good cry.  My butt was bruised really bad and I had a rough time for about a week or two afterward.  It was horrible.  Good new though is that Kaitlyn was fine and Noah got tons of awards.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

I love animals so one of my favorite things to do is go to the zoo.  Noah loves the zoo too and Kaitlyn had never been so we wanted to get her to the zoo to see all the animals.

Chris had the day off from work and Noah was out of school because of Martin Luther King Jr. day.  It wasn't that cold so we figured we would spend the afternoon checking out the animals.  One bad part was the Elephants were not there because they are redoing their living area but the rest was awesome.

 Kaitlyn almost got licked by the giraffe.  It was funny.  She just looked at them all bug eyed.

 That tongue is nasty looking!  Looked like a giant slug!  GROSS!

Noah was having a blast too.  He made us all go on the ski lift to the top of the mountain.  I actually did really well and didn't have a panic attack which is a miracle since I am terrified, not just scared, terrified of heights!

 The wonderful ski lift.  We ended up having to sing to Katerbuggs cause she didn't like it about half way up and half way down.  hahaha

 Noah really likes the Okapi's.  In 5th grade he did a report on them so he likes to tell us all about them each time we see them.  He is just so smart and I love it.

 Checking out all the monkey's.  They had a ton of them and we got to see one picking fleas off the other one.  Kind of gross!  

 Boogs (don't ask, that is just her nickname we ended up for her) fell asleep before we made it to the bears.  That is the only thing she missed.  No big deal cause when we go home to Virginia this summer we are going to the Richmond Metro Zoo so she will get to see some there.

And of course we had to stop at the gift shop.  Noah got a tube full of sugar, Kaitlyn got a "Goodnight Zoo" book, and then we bought a HUGE panda for the kids to share.  It was a great trip. 

I love that Chris works for the Army.  He gets all kinds of holidays off so we are able to spend a lot of time together...well until he deploys that is!

Kaitlyn is 5 Months Old

Today Kaitlyn is 5 months old.  WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE? She is such a little ham.  She is full of smiles and giggles and is such a morning person.  She is eating baby food now and LOVES it.  She is trying to sit up but hasn't quite mastered that yet.  She is also trying to roll from her back to her belly but still needs more practice on that.  She loves to put everything in her mouth.  Her bottom gums are getting a little white so we should be getting some teeth here soon.  She loves to play with her toys.  Her favorite time is bath time and she loves to kick her little legs and make the biggest splashes.  She has a scream that is piercing but she does it just to be cute and well......it is.  She is such a good sport and lets me put her in tutus and take pictures all the time.  This baby is simply adorable and I love being her mommy!

Happy New Year....Bucket List!

Happy New Year!  Usually with a new year we all make new year resolutions which last about a few weeks and then we forget about them and end up living in the moment.  This year my Aunt Kandy had posted that she was making a 2013 Bucket list instead of making resolutions.  This way she can check off items that she has accomplished.  I love this idea.  I was much better at checking off a "to do" or "bucket" list than I am in keeping new year resolutions.  I wanted to share a few ideas that I have for my bucket list for 2013:

• Lose 40 lbs
• Exercise a few times a week
• Finish 2 cross stitch projects
• Get caught up on my scrapbooks
• Make birthday cards for each family member
• Read the Book of Mormon twice
• Read 6 books
• Learn how to use photoshop better
• Complete 100 hours of teacher observation
• Stick to a stick monthly budget
• Start the adoption process again
• Run one mile without stopping
• Plan an overnight getaway with Chris
• Learn 2 new piano pieces
• Have date night twice a month
• Save Money

I have a plan for a few of these times.  Some I got from one of my sister in laws and some I have actually gotten off of facebook.  I am using myfitnesspal.com to lose weight.  The program is great and it is free.  All I have to do is plug in my information and stick to the amount of calories listed to lose weight.  My total goal for the year is to lose 80 lbs but that number scares me so I broke it in half and am hoping for that number by June.  Then I can focus on the remaining 40.  I am working out at the gym with friends a few times a week.  One of my friends introduced me to Fit Mommas.  I get to take Kaitlyn with me and it works your butt off.  Then I have another friend and we go to Zumba.  The days that I do not go to the gym I am doing the insanity videos at home.  So far I have gotten through the warm up.  hahahha  I will eventually make it to the actual workout.  I also have this plan for saving money which is something that I got off of facebook.  Here is the schedule for saving (I am also going to put more in when I can for the most money saved).

All the others I just have to make sure that I am making myself a schedule and sticking to it.  We have some amazing changes coming for our family this year so stay tuned for what's to come!  

Trip to Utah and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Since leaving Utah in early September, our family has wanted to go back for a visit so bad.  We had originally wanted to go in October but weren't able to make it so we planned a trip for right after Christmas.  We decided to leave December 27th and stay until New Years Day.  We left right after lunch on Thursday and headed out.  We had a long 9 1/2 hour trip ahead of us.  It ended up taking us about 12 hours to get there because of the snowy weather conditions.  At one point as I was driving I was scared to death.  The snow was falling hard and we were driving through the mountains on a two lane road and I couldn't see the lines on the road.  It was dark and the only other drivers out there seemed to be tractor trailers.  It was scary.  We hit Provo and decided to eat dinner, yes at 1am, at the Ihop.  As we sat there we decided not to drive the remaining 35 to 45 minutes drive and just stay in the hotel across the parking lot.  It was a good decision.  We were so tired and were going to hang out in Provo the next day anyway while Josh slept since he works at night.

The next morning we woke up and got ourselves together to go spend the day with The Banks' family.  It was so nice to just pick up right where we left off.  There are families that you meet in life that make such a huge impact and go through so much with you that you consider they family.  That is what the Banks' are to us...Family!  Noah and Mason played in the snow, we ordered pizza,  and just hung out!  It was awesome.  We then headed over to see three more amazing friends who we also consider our family...Randall and Jess Raban and their brand new addition Holland.  It was so good to spend time with them.  They are amazing people and we adore them.  Then we headed to Josh and Jadey's house where we were going to stay for the next few days.  We went to dinner at Fazoli's and just hung out!  It was a blast.

We spent Saturday with Josh and Jadey.  We went to the movies and just hung out!  It was great.  Sunday we went to our old ward.  That was amazing.  They were so happy to see us and finally meet Kaitlyn.  Then we went over to The Banks' for dinner!  It was fun catching up and just being together.  Noah ended up staying the night with them.  On Monday we went and picked up Noah and Mason and took them to lunch at the mall.  We got Kaitlyn's blessing and sealing dresses.  They are beautiful!  Then we said our goodbyes to The Banks' and headed back to Josh and Jadey's for dinner and to bring in the new year.  It was fun!  Then Tuesday morning it was time to pack up and head back to Colorado and back to reality.

It is so nice to be home but we sure do miss our Utah family!  Kaitlyn is happy to be home and be back on her schedule!  Noah is happy to be home to play with his friends and new toys before heading back to school tomorrow!  I am excited to be home and to just take it easy and make some plans for our family for this new year!  I hope everyone had a happy and safe new year and may God bless each  and every one of you in the new year!

Kaitlyn is 4 months old...

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!  Does it get any cuter than this?  I think not!  

She is now weighing 16 lbs 8.1 oz.  She is growing so much!  She now eats cereal and is exploring baby food.  She tries to sit up on her own and plays a ton!  She is staying awake longer and going longer between feedings.  She sleeps through the night!  YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!  She is full of giggles and smiles and we love it.  She puts everything in her mouth and drools a ton.  Think we may be getting some teeth real soon!