Paul, Heidi, Kate & Crew

4 years ago today...

2011-11-10T03:12:00.001-07:00

Four years ago today, Paul and I were blessed with the most beautiful baby girl. I really can't believe she is getting so big. We could have never known how much this little doll would change our lives.

1st b-day

2nd b-day

3rd b-day

And now she is all grown up. A little girl who loves being a big sister.

absolutely loves riding her bike

loves going to preschool and is obsessed with coloring

and last of all, loves picking out her own clothes and posing for the camera.

We love you Kate!

things are looking up...

2011-10-16T11:29:00.001-06:00

Well, I didn't think I would get to say this, but I had an ultrasound last week and everything finally looks "normal". No more separation, no more placenta previa. We are so relieved that everything is finally looking good and can't wait for this little boy to get here!

almost 24 weeks

16 weeks along and a month left in Utah...

2011-08-25T23:50:00.016-06:00

So I have not posted forever and a lot has happened in the last few months. I am going to try to backtrack someday, because I have a million pictures to post, but I will give you a quick rundown.

June 6th - found out I was pregnant but decided to try to hide it until I came to Utah in August to tell family in person.

June 16th- my darling boy turned two and we had a Cars party with family.

He is kind of obsessed with Lighting McQueen

June 22nd - we had to move out of our place because the landlord was moving back from Germany. I actually like our new place a lot more inside, but I just miss our pool. We still have one, but our last pool was AMAZING.

July 8th- I turned 30, yikes!

July 19th- had an ultrasound and everything looked great:)

July 20th - went to ER for massive bleeding. Had an ultrasound and baby was still there with good heartbeat. Talked to ER dr. and was told it was probably the beginning of a miscarriage and to expect it over the next couple of days. Very confused and devastated.

July 22nd- had a dr. appt and ultrasound with my regular dr. and was told everything looked great and no sign of a miscarriage happening. Was told that my placenta is a little low, so to not lift anything.July 29th- another dr. appt and ultrasound. They found a large pool of blood above the baby (but separated from the baby by a membrane) and she said she had never seen it before, but to be very careful and try not to do very much at all. She said just try to make it to 24 weeks. Again, very confused and scared.

July 29th- I was supposed to leave to Utah on August 3rd with just the kids for a visit, and then again (with no Paul ) in September for my little sister's wedding. We decided it would be best for me to just stay the whole time so people could help take care of me and the kids because Paul is so busy with school. Bought a last minute plane ticket for my mom.

July 30th- mom arrived and we started packing for a 2 month excursion. (which was very hard, because I had no idea what was going to fit me or if I needed maternity clothes or what...

August 3rd- flew to Utah and left a sad husband with no family for 2 months.

fishing on our last night

kids loved watching the planes

love the pose

saying goodbye at the airport

August 4th- Amanda's bridal shower

me and my sista's

with mom

August 5th- Packed up and drove in an RV with my family (15 people) to my sister's house in Mesquite. There we packed in another bridal shower, 2 birthday parties, a babtism all in one weekend.

I can't belive crew actually got a nap on the RV!

cousin Hazel's 4th birthday party (Beauty and the Beast)

cousin Brody's 8th birthday party (karate)

Kate loved playing with cousin Hazel. They hadn't seen each other in almost 2 years!

August 7th-13th- my dad took his vacation week so we had lots of fun playing with cousins and going places.

feeding ducks

riding the train at the Provo mall

August 8th- My sister's husband's uncle is her OB. She was kind enough to see if they would give me a second opinion. So I had an appt. and finally had some good news! Just looking from my ultrasound pics, he said he had seen it hundreds of times. It was a separation between the amnion and chorion membrane and that is why there was a pool of blood. He said if I was careful enough, he was hoping it would be gone by my 20 week ultrasound. But told me to be even more careful, like walk as little as possible. If it is gone, I can go on to have a normal pregnancy, if it is not getting better, I will probably go on bed rest.

August 10th- Went in for and ultrasound by a 25 year veteran. I have never seen anyone so thorough. He said the baby looked great from everything he could check this early. The chord placement into the placenta was in a really good spot. (away from the separation) if it separates further to where the chord is, the chord would no longer be connected to the placenta. This would be very bad for baby:( (oh yeah, also was told there is a good chance it's a boy!) he couldn't be positive because I was only 13 weeks. We would be so excited for either boy or girl
August 11th- Father-in-law brought me over a transport chair (basically a wheel chair without wheels to push yourself, so someone has to push you). So now, if we go anywhere that I would have to walk very far, I get to ride in this. (not very fun)

(black thing above baby is the blood)

I can't even thank my and Paul's family enough for all they are doing for me. I feel so bad asking people to help me so much. Paul's parent's have had the kids come over quite a bit, so that I can get a break. I can't wait to be able to lift and hold my babies again. I can't even imagine what Paul is going through without being able to see his darling kiddies everyday. He loves them so much and is such a good dad.

I think I'm looking a little large for 16 weeks, but keep in mind this was taken right after dinner, and I basically can do no physical activity.

Okay, a few things about the kids.
Kate finally learned to write her name the other day! She has been able to do all of it except a K for months (just because she was stubborn and wouldn't try). We finally bribed her with a penny the other day to write a K and she did it! She is such a funny, sweet little girl but with a lot of sass.

scooter rides with grandpa Steve-o (paul's dad)

Crew is talking up a storm. He surprise me everyday with the things he says and the sentences he is putting together. He counted to 13 today, (random number) but he catches on to things so quick I'm sure it will be 20 soon. He is such a sweetheart. Oh, he did decide to start climbing out of his bed the other day, so that is really making nap time and bed time fun.

The kids are loving to play with all of the cousins and run around in the grass without getting bit by fire ants. We are just counting down the days until Paul gets to come visit. He doesn't even get to come for the wedding because of clinicals, but he is going to fly out for labor day weekend. That is just a week away! Once he leaves we will have a little over 3 weeks left in Utah.

Well, that didn't turn out to be a very quick rundown, but I want to remember all of this someday. After two perfect pregnancys, this is all so strange and scary to us. Now we are pretty much just hanging out, waiting to see my status at my 20 week ultrasound. I pray that this baby can make it to our family safe. Kate and Crew are so excited for the baby in mommy's belly to come out.

Ok, if anyone actually read this whole thing, please comment. I want to know who really likes me enough to read all of this:)

happy mothers day:)

2011-05-08T00:08:00.000-06:00

me and my beautiful mother.

me and my babies before church this morning. i am so lucky.

Kate's Easter Dress

2011-04-25T12:26:00.002-06:00

My parents were just here for a week and we had so much fun. I have a million pictures to post, but I just had to put these up for now. My mom made this Easter dress for Kate while she was here. I love these pictures of the two of them. Thanks mom!

happy birthday paul!

2011-03-27T07:10:00.003-06:00

check out this cute kid. I hope Crew looks just like you. Happy Birthday baby, we love you!

I love his curls

cute kiddos

2011-02-06T18:00:00.009-07:00

Got some cute pictures taken of the kids while we were in Utah back in January. Just thougth I would share. They were kind of being goofballs as you can see.

We are still alive and Kate turned 3!

2010-11-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted forever and I want to somehow get caught up. I think I am just too impatient for blogger. I always want to show my pictures to my family so fast that I just throw them up on facebook. But of course that does me no good, because I was somewhat using this as my journal and wanted to get it printed someday. Anyway, I might try and play catch up so I can get it printed.

So Kate turned 3 yesterday (November 10th). I really can't believe it. She is such a ball of personality. She is so smart and funny and we still can't believe she is ours. She loves to dance, sing, draw, read, ride her bike, play with crew, and take care fo babies. She says the funniest stuff, knows all of her lowercase and uppercase letters and sounds, counts to 20+, and is starting to write a bunch of letters and she draws the best smiley faces ever. We love her so much!

She is obsessed with Cinderella and has been talking about her Cinderella party for months now, so it finally happened. Here are some pics from the royal celebration....

new slippers from aunt Mindy

all ready for the ball
Cinderella and Prince Charming

the royal family

putting together a giant Cinderella puzzle

getting ready for the feast
dancing at the ball

opening presents

the cake- i have to thank Paul for the fondant work

i love this pic

I knew she would want to dig in to her cake so we did cupcakes for everyone else

she didn't even want to eat a piece, all she wanted was to lick the frosting off

coloring cinda pictures

da girlz

da boyz

my little dancer...

2010-09-03T09:20:00.004-06:00

So Kate had her first dance class yesterday and she was so stinking excited. Here is my little beauty all ready to go.

kid's photo shoot

2010-08-09T15:55:00.006-06:00

So I am way behind again, and I am going to try to get caught up, but I just had to post these for now. The kids and I went to Utah for a couple of weeks to visit and while we were there I decided to get their pictures taken. I absolutely love them! Here are some of my favorites.

I designed this collage to replace one we had done when she was 16 months. There is a 20x20 on her wall. I love it!

I know she looks kind of sad in this, but I think she looks so gorgeous!

they were getting a little tired at this point

what a little stud!

this one is so sweet, it kills me.

HAPPY BIRFDAY!!!!!!

2010-07-08T16:47:00.003-06:00

Happy birthday baby! I love you tons. I can't wait til we get way old and I won't be able to type anymore.
love paul

robot party

2010-06-27T14:47:00.005-06:00

So this is what we have been up to for the past few weeks, getting ready for the robot party. Well, really it has been on my mind for the past few months, trying to get ideas and everything. Kate has been talking about Crew's robot party forever, and it finally happened. Here are a million pics, so you can feel like you were there. I am used to having all of my family to help, so it definitely was a lot more work than I am used to.

-Invite-

I love Crew-tronic. I laugh every time I see him.

birthday sign

crew waiting for his food at the party

kate in her robot shirt I made for her. I feel bad, I was working on one for Crew, but I didn't end up liking it, so the birthday boy didn't get one.

we had focaccia sandwiches, gear salad (pasta salad with wagon wheel noodles) chips, grapes and robot fuel to drink.

our friends Shannon and Tynelle

After dinner, we got ready for the cake walk. When I went to go get the music, this robot showed up playing Mr. Roboto. All of the kids were scared to death, but it was so worth seeing him dance. I know you are all asking yourselves, who is this robot? From the minute I decided on a robot party for Crew, Paul said he wanted to dress up as a robot, but I never thought it would have turned out this good. He spent so much time on this thing. He has ipod speakers mounted on the front so he could be playing the music and everything. He was quite a hit.

robot fam

crew loved him as you can see
c

poor boy

Dan and Tynelle

Richard and Shannon and fam

Nate & Vanna

crew was more into eating wrapping paper than opening the presents, but he had a lot of helpers.

a bunch of the cute kiddos

crew's robot cake. this was the first time I had to decorate a cake by myself. It's definitely not perfect, but crew didn't mind.

cupcakes for everyone else

getting ready to dive in

i love this picture, it's very intense

I thought he would be a little more aggressive, but he was kind of timid. He ended up loving it though.

kate helping him out

we moved him to his chair to eat some more and he started pulling the funniest faces

cross-eyed

after the cake, we changed him into his new robot jammies to play. I love kate on the side blowing her horn.

our darling birthday boy

that's a wrap

happy father's day!

2010-06-25T18:33:00.009-06:00

I know it's a little late, but I just had to say to say how lucky these two kids are to have the best papa in the whole world. Paul was really just meant to be a dad.

This was not even posed. After church the

other day, Kate came walking out of our

room like this. I am in love with this face.

our boy is one!

2010-06-16T09:15:00.006-06:00

So I am so far behind and have almost given up on my blog, but I had to post some pics of our little Crew for his 1st birthday. I really can't believe it has already been a year but at the same time, he feels like he has been in our family forever. I can't even explain how this little boy makes me feel. He has definitely been a challenge, but it is so worth it when he comes walking up into my arms. Here are a few thing he has been doing lately:

walking (since about 11 months)
he is not a huge talker, definitely more into moving, but he does say: mama, dada, more, and ba ba (bottle)
claps
waves
when you say "dance", he shakes his head around and dances
if you say "arms up", he will do it without seeing the action
he loves to wrestle with Paul
makes tiger and snake sounds
he knows where is head, nose, eyes, mouth and ears are and will point them out when asked. (when he is in the right mood)
he is obsessed with the dishwasher. He comes running every time he hears it open and tries to climb in. Needless to say, I get to load two dishes at a time then I have to close it.

So here are a few pics of the handsome little guy.

i love this pic with him and rocco

he is loving big boy food. this was his first time with spaghetti and he gobbled it all up.

snoozing on me at disneyworld

he loves his new big boy seat. We made the switch a little before a year (don't tell). When Paul's parents were here a couple of weeks ago, we went to Miami and crew threw up on the way. So we decided switch him over while the other seat was getting cleaned. He feels like a king.

he loves the park

me and my sweet little boy at sunset.

he is so proud of himself that he can get on and off his car all by himself.

on the move...

2010-05-16T09:23:00.005-06:00

just thought I would share a clip of what our little dude has been up to.

(almost 11 months)

happy 5 years to us...

2010-05-11T15:18:00.005-06:00

It is so hard for me to believe that it has already been five years from this day. I would have never been able to imagine where we would be right now. Five moves, two darling kiddos, living in Florida and Paul in graduate school. I wouldn't change a thing.

happy anniversary baby!

-loves-

miami...

2010-04-19T10:00:00.001-06:00

So about a month ago, we decided to take a little day trip to Miami. It is only about an hour and a half away and so worth the drive. We went to the Miami Sea Aquarium...

checking out the tropical birds

watched a fish feeding

saw manatees

kate hugging the baby manatee

saw gators

watched a shark feeding, this was a little creepy for me because I am deathly afraid of sharks.

saw a killer whale show. crew was a little worried

dolphin show

beautiful view of miami skyline

crew just chillin'

Then we decided to head over to South Beach. It was exactly how you see it in movies. I giant party with a lot of skin. We looked a little out of place while we were building sandcastles with the kids, but the water was so gorgeous.

I am a Food Network nerd and I love Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. I had seen an episode about a diner in Miami called the 11th Street Diner so we decided to give it a try. It was so delicious. Everything was made from scratch and fabulous.

such a fun day!

random pic reading to my boy. He doesn't hold still very long to read so I had to take advantage.

Easter pics...

2010-04-08T09:16:00.005-06:00

So I am a little behind and I have other pictures to post but I had to get these up. On Easter Sunday, we went out by our pool and took some pics of the kids in their little easter outfits. I think they turned out pretty stinking cute. I was using my friends camera but I pulled my camera out for a minute and ended up leaving it down there. When we got home and I realized it, we went back and looked around but it was gone. I am devistated, but hopefully have learned my lesson. There were pictures from Paul's 30th birthday, easter morning with their baskets, easter egg hunt, picnic at the beach and a bunch of others that I will never see agian.

Here are a few of my favorites. There are so many cute ones and ones that just make me laugh. I will probably post more later.

I can't decide which face I like better...

coloring eggs during the Conference break

crew strolling along...

2010-03-29T12:13:00.003-06:00

i just can't believe this little boy. This was the first time he even tried this and he went cruising around the whole room. This was about a week ago and he is so much better now. Walking along walls and making transfers. I wonder what else he can do that I just haven't tried yet.

2010-03-27T06:13:00.003-06:00

happy 30th birthday to paul!

we love you so much and are so lucky to have the best husband and papa around.

you're still lookin' pretty good for your age too.

9 months old and stuff

2010-03-18T13:09:00.015-06:00

I can't believe how fast time is going by. Crew turned 9 months old on the 16th. He is just a sweet little dude. It's funny how everyone that sees him says "wow, he is a big boy". I think it is really just his cheecks, becuase at his 9 month check up the other day we found out he is not really all that big. Here are his stats:

18 lbs. 14 oz. which is only 25%

28 inches long which is 48%

I'm so used to having such chuncky little babies, that him only being 25th percentile for weight kind of worries me. But the dr. said he is perfectly fine.

crew and his little teddy, Rocco. He sleeps with him every night.

We are really loving it here. I am getting used to Paul studying all day and I am getting much more brave about taking both of the kids places; beach, pool, library. I was so used to doing everything with Paul that I hadn't had to do much alone, so it is really good for me. Here are some random pics from the last month.

My beautiful girl. Kate is getting so much more grown up. We go to story time at the library and it is my favorite thing in the world to watch her sing the songs, listen to the stories and do the little activities. She is my helper and is so cute with Crew. She loves to help me cook, which I have been doing quite a lot of lately. I literally can't make anything without her wanting to sit up on the counter with me and dump in all the ingredients and stir. I love it. She loves to dance like a princess. Lateley she wants me to put a "princess dress" on her and she will dance around all day. She even gets me and paul in on the action. It's quite a site. She is very smart and knows all of her shapes and colors, she can name most of the letters in the alphabet and numbers 1-10. She always points things out when she sees them took. When we were at a gas station the other day this is what she said: triangle with glasses and green hands. She saw a funny little picture and described it to me.

1st time miniature golfing with the kids.

tired boy

Kate was killing me in these glasses. They are just some old funny glasses that I had laying around and she put them on and was pulling the funniest faces.

kate all ready to help cook

the kids got new jammies in the mail from my mom and dad. I swear our highlight of the day is taking a walk to get the mail.

there are so many parks around, so we try to test out a new one every week.

Crew is a little wild man, that's all I can say. He is sooooo active. He is still army crawling all arond the house and now he is pulling himself up on everything and walking along. If you sit down to play with him, he isn't interested in the toys, he just wants to climb up you.

Kate is loving having friends. We didn't have many kids close by that were her age before we moved, but now she has lots of little friends that we get to see all of the time. She gets so excited when we go anywhere that they are going to be and lists off all of their names. Here she is on a little play date with her friend. The look like they are really having a great time.

the first saturday of every month is free zoo day for county residents, so we went again a couple of weeks ago. Kate loves zebras.

checking out Marco Island. Both of the kids love playing in the sand.

kate is now officially in a big girl bed. When we got here she was just sleeping in a mattress on the floor, but we finally decided to get her a big girl bed. She does so well in it, and whenever you say anything about her bed, she says "papa a bed, a make it" becuase paul put it together for her. Here there are reading her new library books. It really makes me laugh that she has full freedom, yet she has never got out of her bed at night. And most mornings she stays in it until we go in and get her, she has never even left her room.

crew loves her new bed too.

kate's new bike. We had been wanting to get her a little trike, so I had been telling her if she would go potty in her little potty then she would get a new bike and she actually did it! She has had her little potty for a long time and would sit on it and play around, but would never actually go in it. But we have been working on it, and she has done it like 8 times. We still have a long way to go, but I think we made some good progress. I am so proud of her!

Paul went kayaking through the everglades the other day with some of his buddies from school. They were literally like 2 feet from the gators. I stayed home for that one. Paul thinks I would like it, but it sounds like my worst nightmare.

a little out dated...

2010-03-05T09:55:00.002-07:00

So these are a little out dated, but I still had to show them off. We got them taken right before we moved, so Crew was about 6 1/2 months. It just took me a while to get them ordered because there were too many to choose from. He just sat and smiled the whole time. I can't believe how different he already looks though. He wears his hair different now and he is totally slimming down from all his squirming around the house. He isn't full on crawling yet, but he does a very good army crawl. He follows me from room to room and is into everything. I love my active little boy!

our new home...

2010-02-15T15:12:00.001-07:00

one of my new favorite pics I took of Naples Pier

So I was very behind and about to give up, when I remembered the gift certificate for blurb.com that Paul gave me for Christmas to get my blog printed. Becuase of that, I decided to try to catch up and for the fact that this is really my only form of a journal right now, so here we go.

Basically the kids were sick for the first two weeks we were here, were healthy for two weeks so we could cram in a whole lot of fun before Paul started school, and now they are just getting over another two weeks of being sick. Then Paul and I ended up with a wierd stomach flu the other night and I really don't know how our kids have survived the last couple of days. I really thought we were going to escape all of the sickness in Utah, but hopefully this is the end. We had a couple of ER visits with Kate having problems breathing in the night from croup, and now we have to do breathing treatments for their deep coughs every night. The doctor is kind of baffled; swine flu results came back negative and then when we thought they were almost all better, kate threw up about 20 times the other night. But enough about that, here is what we have been doing the last month other than being sick.

Amazingly enough, we survived the flight to Florida. I really don't think I could have done it without my mom and dad. Crew was sick when we left, so I was really worried about how he would do, but he did great. He slept alot in grandpa's arms. Kate, on the otherhand took alot of work to entertain, but we made it.

my parents stayed for a few days and helped us get settled. It was really cold when we first got here but we got to do a few things while they were here. Here we are at Naples Zoo.

boat ride around little islands full of different monkey species

our pool

we have a 3 bedroom townhome in this really cute little area. It has a town center with an ice cream shop, mini movie theatere, fitness center, pub, etc.

kate loving her sorbet.

Paul's parents were here to for the first little bit, so we all went down to check out Marco Island. It was extra freezing that day. Here is kate with both of her grandmas. She is missing them so bad already.

saying bye to grandma and grandpa

crew got a new little chair so he eats up at the table with us

family room

kate loves the open space

kitchen

dining

our room has two doors, one that walks out to a covered veranda and one to a little balcony

view from our balcony

the kid's bathroom

the courtyard

our bathroom

family sized tub

crew on the built in desk

Kate now sleeps in big girl bed. Well, a mattress on the floor until we save up for a little bed. I was really interested to see how she would do, but she absolutely loves it! She loves to go to bed in it and even take naps. I put a gate up the first couple of nights in case she tried to escape, but she doesn't. I took this the other night after we went to a little birthday party. She wanted to sleep with the crown that she got to decorate, so cute!

crew's first time at the beach

family at Vanderbilt beach

kate caked in sunscreen

me and my buddy

crew conked out at the beach

swimming at our pool. it was crew's 1st time. he loved it!

kate loves swimming and she is so good and will stay right by me now rather than trying to run off into the deep.

crew conked out at the pool

crew's 1st time riding in the shopping cart like a big boy

So here is my little 8 month tribute to crew. (he turns 8 months on tuesday the 16th) He has seriously changed so much since we moved. It has only been a month and he is now an accomplished sitter, he rolls across the room, he now has started army crawling, he had two teeth pop through and starting saying momma and dada. Once his first tooth came through, he has slowed down on the drooling and has been a much happier boy. I have learned that I physically can't get a serious picture of him. If I put the camera up, he smiles. We love our little 18.6 pounds of pure baby chub.

they play together so cute now

There are so many cool, unique beaches here. It was a wierd, foggy day when we went to Barefoot beach, but it was so cool. The drive out there was through amazing beach house mansions.

kate loves finding shells

mr. turtle

kate loved sitting and watching the turtle eat the grass

Disneyworld! We are a few hours from Orlando, but we decided we had to go before Paul started school becuase he won't have a break for a while. It was so much fun! We went to the Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot.

sitting at Minnie's table

crew loved the Snow White ride

jungle cruise

stealing a pic with Donald and Daisy

crew loved eating Mickey's nose

Kate was so excited to see him!

I love Epcot Center. I went there once when I was 6 and it was so fun to go back.

little Viking family after the Norway ride

how kate would look with long, blonde hair

The Nemo ride was very cool

family fish face

I put crew in these jammies the other night that I had bought when Kate was little and I remembered this picture I took of here. So I decided to reenact. Do they look alike?

crew fits right in here with his old man golfer pants

kate's new pretty church dress. She has really started growing up and doesn't mind me taking pictures of her any more. She is now obsessed with Cinderella and everytime a movie ends, she screams out "I like it!"

she loves to play rosies

crew has so much energy and is always rolling or scooting or now trying to climb up on people.

on the 2 mile boardwalk to Clam Pass beach

Paul's school orientation. I am so proud of him to have made it this far!

Now hopefully I will be able to stay caught up and my posts won't have to be so long. We really do love it here and now that our big vacation has ended and Paul has started school, reality has set in. He has to study about 10 hours a day, so I can't wait for visitors!

family pics - dayton fam

2010-01-03T19:25:00.005-07:00

So when Tammy's family came up for Thanksgiving we decided to attempt family pics with my whole family before we move. It was two days after Paul's knee surgery and he was on the verge of throwing up the whole time and Kate was not cooperating at all. So it was pretty interesting, but at least we got one of everyone all together.

The only way we could even get Kate to be in the pic was to sit in the wagon.

all 19 of us. There are better ones of the whole group, but this is the best of my family.

I liked this pose, but kate wouldn't even look.

grandma and grandpa with their 8 grandkids. It's kind of sad that now they will only have 3 left in the state.

Christmas and heading to Florida

2010-01-02T20:40:00.009-07:00

We had such a fun Christmas with our two little kiddies. They both were so cute on Christmas morning. I can't believe it is already over and now it is really time to move. Paul headed to Florida this morning, so now we wait. I fly out on Thursday with the kids and my mom and dad are flying out with me to help. (thank goodness) We are so excited to start this new adventure, but sad to leave family at the same time. We will miss everyone so much, but hope anyone who wants to will come stay with us in Naples.

Kate playing with santa on Christmas eve

we had a Christmas eve lunch party at my parents house then when to Paul's brothers house for a party at night.

crew with great grandpa Dayton

paul snugglin his babies

Kate's "spot" on Christmas morn. She is going to have to attempt a big girl bed since we have to return the crib she has been borrowing. I'm very interested to see how that goes.

testing it out

crew in his "spot"

typing on her new computer. It is so cute. It is a little wireless keyboard that hooks up to the tv where she can type and play games. She is getting so good at all of her letters. You can tell her what letters to type and she will.

crew loved is new little ball

they were both very good at opening presents

kate loved her new blocks

modeling her new Christmas monkey jammies and minnie slippers

my cute boyz

playing with crew's new activity table

crew getting his Christmas eve bedtime story

he looks so good in his new jams

it was so nice today, we decided to play in the snow again one last time. Kate loves it so much.

sledding with crew

kate building her "snofman"

grandpa helped build them

The boys heading to Florida this morning. Paul's brother is moving out to Florida too for school, so their dad is driving out with them.

six days is too long to be away

I forgot to post our pic with santa from a little while ago. It was supposed to be just the kids, but Kate was a little scared to sit on his lap.

catching up before the big move....

2009-12-15T16:23:00.012-07:00

Well this will probably be my last post before we move. For those of you that don't know, we are moving to Naples, Florida the first week in January. Paul was accepted to CRNA school (Nurse Anesthesia) back in August, and I can't believe the time has actually come. It has been a bit crazy, trying to pack, getting ready for Christmas and Paul recovering from knee surgery, but we have still managed to do some fun stuff. Anyway, here is what we have been up to for the last little bit.

I actually haven't posted about Crew for two months, so here goes. He turned 6 month on the 16th. (we haven't had his check up yet, but he is definatly growing fine) He is such a sweet little guy and is growing up so fast. He is rolling all over the place, is very close to sitting on his own and he loves to stand.

he has the best smile ever

he loves looking in the mirror

Snuggling with big sister in the morning. He absolutely loves kate.

I went on a little girls weekend trip to Vegas with Tammy and Amanda to see the So You Think You Can Dance tour from Season 5, which was amazing by the way. I was a little nervous to leave both kids, especially since Crew has never been great with a bottle. Paul did great with them, and by the time I got back, Crew was a pro, he could even feed himself.

On our way to Vegas, we had to stop for an Orange Peel. If you are ever in St. George, you must stop. Best smoothies ever.

waiting for the show to start

fun day of shopping in Vegas before the show. We need an H&M here badly.

Paul tore is ACL skateboarding a few months ago, and we decided he might has well get it fixed before we move. Kate took very good care of him.

creepy

Thanksgiving day - Paul ended up having a bad reaction to the antibiotics they had him on, so he was actually throwing up all thanksgiving weekend and we ended up in the ER that Saturday.

Since Tammy was here for Thanksgiving, we decided to exchange the kids Christmas presents, because they won't be here for Christmas. Crew we very into it.

Paul and I in Naples looking for a place to live. It is such a cute little town right on the beach.

Kate loved decorating the Christmas tree

making Christmas sugar cookies

the cookie making party

we had my mom's family Christmas party a few weeks ago and kate was a little shepard for the Nativity story.

when all the kids were singing afterwards, she walked right upfront and started singing along.

kate was too scared to sit on Santa's lap, but Crew loved it.

Crew sitting on grandma's lap while driving through Thanksgiving Point to see the lights.

kate checking out the reindeer

crew meeting cousin carson for the first time. (my sister heather's baby) They are 4 months apart. It looks like Crew could eat him.

Kate after church today. I had to take a picture because this dress is the flower girl dress that Hali (my niece) wore to our wedding. She looked so darling in it.

I wanted to make sure kate got a chance to play in the snow before we moved, so we went out the other day. She loved it!

she loved pulling crew around in the sled

rocking out on the piano

celebrating my baby sister Amanda's 18th birthday at our favorite Chinese place, Asian Star.

Okay that is all. I just hate leaving things out, so my posts tend to get really long.

kate's mouse party...

2009-11-12T11:24:00.012-07:00

So Kate turned two last tuesday the 10th. I really can't believe my little girl is getting so old. She has grown up so much in the last few months. She is talking a ton, she loves to sing, draw, ride her trike, play with Crew and dance with aunt Amanda. She is such a good helper and follows directions really well and is a total daddy's girl.
She had a checkup a little bit ago and she is 27 lbs. and 34 inches tall. (75% in both)

She loves to watch Mickey Mouse clubhouse and just calls him "mouse", so we decided to have a mouse party. Here are some pics from her big day. I know there are a ton, but she looked so darling I just couldn't eliminate.

all ready for her party

kate's cake - these are her new favorite toys, she carries mickey and the gang around with her in her purse all day and they do everthing with her.

mickey ear cupcakes for everyone else

we started with a little coloring session. Great grandpa Gary was really good.

followed by the cake walk, which crew really enjoyed

and then the bean bag toss

all ready to open presents

her new favorite movie- 101 Dalmations

testing out her new purse from aunt mindy

checkin out her cake

me and my doll

she calls goofy, "gooby"- it is so cute

the little fam

kate and aunt heather

she loves cousin hali

oh yeah, we started a tradition last year where we kidnap her in the morning and take her to breakfast in her jammies. So here we are a Magleby's Fresh.

longest halloween post ever

2009-11-01T18:47:00.009-07:00

I have been trying get up some pics of the fun stuff we have been doing this month, but haven't found the time. So here it is, all in one giant post.

Here is my little flapper and mob boss on halloween night. I searched all over for a fedora hat for crew, but with no luck. He still looks so good though. Kate was too interested in eating treats that she wouldn't even attempt to smile for me, but crew has some great faces throughout.

mr. tough guy

notice the creepy mickey pumpkin that Paul carved. pretty good, eh?

hangin' with cousin vanna

kate and grandma sherry are the best little buddies. Kate goes over to play every wednesday and they have so much fun together.

crew and grandpa steve-o.

our neighbors won the thanksgiving point contest for the biggest pumpkin. can you believe that is real?

crew is missing his mustache by now, so we had to re-apply

check out that face!

we were so lucky it was such a nice night for trick or treating

kate was literally shaking at the first house when she saw the giant bowl of candy. she didn't even know what to do with herself.

at the pumpkin carving party with cousin hali. She gets so excited when Hali is around.

she wasn't quite sure what to think about cleaning out the pumpkin

all bundled up at Gardner's Village to see the witches

the little fam

my two handsome boys

me and my little doll

this is a random one in the mix, but one of my new favorite pictures. Last Sunday there was a new mickey show on and Kate is in love with mickey. So we snuggled up to watch together. I love it!

skeleton boy. They were dressed up to go to the scarecrow festival, but the weather was so bad once we got there, we didn't get to stay long.

where did kate's legs go?

I got a new nephew, Carson on the 15th. He is so stinkin' handsome.

wow, that took a while. hopefully I can stay better caught up.

4 months...

2009-10-17T13:02:00.003-06:00

I can't believe it was 4 months ago (yesterday) that I had this handsome little guy. He has been so much fun, and we love him so much. I love seeing Kate and Crew already becoming little buddies. Kate will read to him and make funny noises and talk to him to make him happy. Lateley at night, he has been talking himself to sleep. I guess that is his way of relaxing. We love to stand by the door and just listen. He had his 4 month check up yesterday and here are his stats:

15 lbs. 6 oz. (55%)

25 1/2 inches (73%)

So his weight gain is slowing down and he is getting taller. But I am so glad he is still good and chunky.

Here are a few pics from the last little bit.

he is a big time drooler. he has to wear a bib most of the time or I have to change his clothes 10 times a day.

helping papa find his way out of the corn maze

(i love paul's stance)

helping grandpa...

2009-10-14T11:57:00.002-06:00

I swear kate is getting all of the posts lately, but I couldn't help but post these. Kate got to go on a little date with my dad on saturday. They went on a ride to the Green Waste Dump to get rid of all of his garden and flowers and pick up some pumpkins. Then she got to help him shovel dirt out of the back of his truck. What could be more fun?

in one month from today...

2009-10-10T10:02:00.004-06:00

we will have a 2 year old! I can't believe Kate is getting so big. I love these pics Paul took the other night, so I just had to share.

Paul was trying to show her how to smile for me. I love the way she is looking at him.

discovery gateway...

2009-10-03T15:23:00.005-06:00

I guess I will update our blog while Paul and Kate are at a cabin with Paul's family. We were all supposed to go and I was so looking forward to it, but I woke up in the middle of the night so sick. I can't figure out if I have food poisoning or the stomach flu, but it is miserable. I have been laying in bed so long, but I can't sleep so now I am doing this.

Yesterday we went up to the children's museum at the gateway. It has been 6 months since we went last and Kate has grown up so much. She loved it! She gets in her little zone and just runs from one thing to another, she would harldly even talk to us. It was funny, once we got in the car to head home, she finally started talking again.

feeding papa

crew loved hanging out in the bjorn

playing house

check out the face! Paul was shaking his little legs and he started grinning from ear to ear.

If I haven't mentioned before, Kate is obsessed with coloring. She is usually very good at only coloring on paper, but the other day when we were in the car, she had a crayon and paper. I ran into a store while Paul stayed in the car with the kids and when I came out, her pants we completely covered in blue scribbles. Thank goodness it came out though. We had to kind of get mad and tell her that was naughty, but we couldn't help but laugh.

crew and his co-anchor

I had to throw this one in too. Kate is in love with her new boots. She wouldn't look at me for a pic, but I think she looks so cute in them.

fun weekend...

2009-10-03T15:20:00.000-06:00

So this post is a little behind, but a couple weeks ago Tammy came up for Heather's shower. I can't believe my little sister is having a baby! She only has a week and a half to go now. We are so excited for Crew to have a little friend. Here are a few pics from the weekend.

sistas

me and tam

While they were here, we all went up they canyon to take a scenic ride up Sundance. I was a little worried taking both the kids, but they did pretty well. (other than kate trying to jump off on the way down)

it was so pretty up there...

the whole gang

helping my tiny girl off the lift

our darling kiddies...

2009-09-30T09:32:00.003-06:00

We got pictures taken of the kids last month, but it has taken me forever to post them. Here are a few of my favorites. So Crew is 2 1/2 months here and Kate is 22 months. How did we get so stinking lucky?

for papa...

2009-09-16T20:19:00.003-06:00

Paul is working nights right now and he hates not getting to put the kids to bed. I tried to just email this to him, but the file was too big so you all get to see. So here are your kiddies all ready for bed, baby. We love you!

12 weeks old...

2009-09-08T20:55:00.006-06:00

So Crew turned 12 weeks old today, but I feel like he is so much older. Paul put him in the pod for the first time the other day, and I couldn't believe it. He was totally standing there and bouncing and playing with the toys. I wouldn't have even thought he was big enough to try it yet.

Hanging out in the bumbo. He likes to make crazy eye faces for the camera.

We went to farm county at Thanksgiving Point the other day. Kate was giving Crew a ride on her shoulders. (sorry I cut your face off paul, but your smile is cute.)

she was all scared of the pony at first, but when it started moving, she loved it.

Kate is in love with her cousin Hali. She asks to play with her everyday.

I had to post this one from last year. Who is this baby?

Whenever we go grocery shopping, Kate always wants to help push the big cart. So the other day, we went to Smith's where they have baby carts. She was so excited as you can see. It was so funny to watch her, until she started running in to people, but they couldn't help but laugh. I couldn't get her to stop for me to take a picture, so they are slightly blurry.

I probably shouldn't post this, but I thought it was so cute. I put little undies on her the other day and told her to tell me if she needed to go potty. I was pretty shocked when she actually did tell me. I ran her in and sat her down, but she didn't go. But at least we are headed in the right direction.

2 month stats...

2009-08-25T21:03:00.006-06:00

So crew had his 2 month check up yesterday and here are the results....

24.5 inches long (89%)

13 lbs. 7 oz. (79%)

The dr. said he is about the size of an average 4 month old. He also said if all of his patients were growing this well, he would be a happy man.

We love our big boy!

crew's blessing

2009-08-20T14:12:00.008-06:00

Crew was blessed this past Sunday at my parent's house. It was such a wonderful day, and Paul gave a such beautiful blessing. Crew was a good boy during the blessing and didn't make a peep. I was more worried about Kate being loud during the blessing, but I gave her a dum dum sucker right before and it did the trick. Here are some pictures from Crew's big day.

Kate loves her baby brother so much

attempting to get a picture of the fam before the blessing

so handsome in white

this boy is very loved

eating cake with papa

3 generations of Broadbents

4 generations on the Dayton side

getting fitted for his blessing pants. I made them with a lot of help from my mom.

crew also turned 2 months on Sunday, so here are a few randoms from the last little bit. This picture cracks me up, what a nerd.

big boy

He loves to look up and watch the fan. I know he probably shouldn't be on a pink boppy, but oh well.

He is getting better at holding up his head everyday.

Kate with cousins at a family party the other night. She was laughing so hard when she found out she could drive this thing.

-all ready for bed-

these two are already good little buddies

21 months going on 21...

2009-08-10T21:45:00.004-06:00

I just had to post these real quick. Kate is 21 months today. It kills me that she is getting so grown up. She loves to walk around in peoples shoes. She scared me to death today when she came out of my closet wearing these. I am so amazed by how good she walks them. It is so funny to watch her get one shoe on, then balance to put on the other one. So cute!

7 weeks old..

2009-08-06T19:10:00.003-06:00

It's so crazy how everything changes so fast. Crew's first month was a little rough, but literally the day he turned 1 month, he completely changed. He went from never really being happy and content, to being a happy, smiley boy the majority of the time. Then when I started thinking that nights were never going to get better, he all of the sudden slept for a seven hour stretch. I had been so scared to put him in his crib since he and Kate share a room, and I didn't want them waking each other up, but I finally did it. Both of them have woke up a few times, but the other one keeps sleeping. I am so happy! He is also learning to put himself to sleep, he has done it a couple nights and for a few naps. It's just nice to know that things are improving. I am so proud of this sweet little boy.
Here are a few pics from the last couple weeks.

Playing with papa after he got home from his week long biking trip to Canada.

Kate helping with his bath

Tammy's family came up on the 24th so we attempted to get a picture with all the grand kids. There are 7 kids age 6 and under. It gets a little crazy with all of them together.

kate loves playing and the Highland splash pad

Crew had a blast too.
Check out this boy's cheeks! (he is definalty a Broadbent) I swear he has doubled in size in the last couple of weeks.
I feel bad I haven't been saying much about Kate lately. She is in such a cute/stinkerish stage. She is talking a lot more and understands so much. I can ask her to go get things for me and throw things away, she is such a good helper. At the same time, she is pretty good at throwing fits. She is still taking gymnastics and has taken up playing the recorder. (she is very good) She absolutely loves to play outside and color. She has a strange obsession with sticking things in between her toes. (hair clips, crayons, etc.) She loves Crew and has to give him kisses every morning and night.

happy boy...

2009-07-27T10:19:00.002-06:00

-my first attempt at capturing his darling smile-

first smile...

2009-07-23T10:26:00.002-06:00

I got my first smile from little Crew yesterday, and man was it cute. Now I will have to work on trying to catch it on film.

1 month old...

2009-07-19T11:33:00.001-06:00

So Crew turned one month on thursday the 16th and let me tell you, it has been one wild month at our house. He has been a little more difficult than Kate was and now Kate is quite the little tantrum thrower. So we have our hands full; but I wouldn't change it for anything. I know this first little while will be rough, but I know they will be such good friends. Kate already loves him so much. Here are a few pics from the last little bit.

All dressed up on his one month birthday and looking quite handsome I might add.

Stretching out after a little road trip to park city. He is growing so fast!

I love to see the difference in size. Kate has hit a growth spurt and is so tall now. It is kind of scary; she can now reach pans on the stove, so I can't use the front burners anymore.

He even looks cute when he is crying...

He is getting a lot more alert and likes to lay on the ground and play.

wearing the Milo shirt that his papa made for him

happy 4th!

2009-07-04T20:31:00.000-06:00

kate didn't love the idea of getting a picture together, we will have to work on that.
he is getting so big!

Kate was a little scared of the fireworks at first but then she absolutely loved them. I just watched her instead of the fireworks.

2 weeks old...

2009-07-02T16:23:00.000-06:00

So Crew turned 2 weeks on Tuesday, and it has all been a big blur. I thought with this being my second, I would somewhat know what I was doing, boy was I wrong. I now believe when people say that every baby is so different. Things that worked for Kate don't work for him. He is doing great though, Paul and I are just a little tired. He still has his days and nights confused and I swear he wants to eat every five minutes. But he is the sweetest boy ever and we love him so much. He had his 2 week check up today and here are his stats.

8 lb. 5 oz. (33%)

20 3/4 inches (47%)

14.25 inches head circum. (27%)

The doc was quite happy with his weight gain. A pound and a half in just two weeks! Another fun fact is that he rolled from his tummy to his back when he was just 10 days old. I thought it was a one time thing, but now he does it almost everytime we put him on his tummy.

Here are a few pics from this last week.

loving his photo shoot

he totally looks like he is smiling!

check out those chicken legs..

Paul thought with all his weight gain he needed to start running on the treadmill.

One week ago today...

2009-06-23T21:04:00.001-06:00

I can't believe that it has already been a whole week since this little boy joined our family. He is so sweet and we are so happy that he is finally here. Here he is today looking quite handsome.

I have to start at the beginning though, so here goes. Last Monday at my dr. appt., they said I was getting quite close and if I didn't go into labor on my own I could get induced the next morning. I was having contractions all day and to help them out we went to the mall, Thanksgiving Point, and grocery shopping. Of course nothing big happened all day until I got into bed. Then the contractions really started hurting and got more consistent. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep so I just hung out and watched tv. At about 1:30 a.m. I decided it was time to go to the hospital. I figured I was going in to be induced in the morning anyway, so they most likely wouldn't send me home. On the way to the hospital, the contractions were about 5 min apart and quite bad. Of course once I got there and they checked me in and I was in my room, they had slowed down. They decided just to keep me, but the dr. wanted to see what I would do on my own before giving me pitocin. That was a miserable 4 hours. I got really weak and nauseous, had the shakes and was so tired but couldn't sleep. They finally checked me and I was only at a 4 so they decided to give me pitocin. Then everything happened so fast. About an hour later, I was at a 7 and 1/2. I called my family to give them notice, but figured it would still be a while so not to rush. The nurse came in a little bit later because the baby's heartbeat was kind of all over the place. She decided to check me once more and was quite shocked to find out that I was ready. She told me not to move as she ran to call the doctor. We called family and no one really had time to get there but Paul's mom was there already and Heather made it minutes after. With only about 10 minutes of pushing, Crew was here. I was in complete shock at how much easier it was than with Kate. We are so lucky that he made it here safe.

Sorry there are so many pics, but this is to wrap up his first week.
We are used to big babies in my family so 6 lb. 14 oz. seems so tiny. He is really long though.

Kate meeting her new little brother. She struggled the first couple of days, especially when Paul would hold him, but now she is in love with him. In the morning, that is the first thing she asks for. Baby?
Crew meeting lots of family.

First family pic. Kate looks so sweet in this I could die.
I missed my sweet girl.
Crew with momma and papa.

Kate loved the rocking chair in the sitting area just outside my room.

I stayed 2 nights and so we came home Thursday morning. I love how tiny he looks in his car seat.

It is so fun to get to see them in real clothes for the first time.

Kate was so excited when we got home. Thanks everyone for helping take care of her while we were gone.

Testing out his new bed.

loving his first bath at home

I love this picture. He sleeps so much, that I haven't got to see his eyes very much.

just in time for father's day... Paul is such a good dad. He has been Kate's buddy for the last week while I have been trying to recover and figure everything out again. He goes back to work tomorrow and I am quite nervous for my first day alone. Kate and Crew are so lucky to have him as their papa.

I'm kind of obsessed with pictures, so I'm sure there will be plenty more to come. But at least I am caught up now.

He's here!

2009-06-20T17:38:00.004-06:00

I have been dying to get up some pictures of our darling new baby boy, but I just haven't got to it yet. I have so many I want to post, but here are a few to hold you over until I can get to it.

Crew Steven Broadbent

Born on Tuesday, June 16th at 9:20 a.m.

6 lbs. 14 oz. and 19.5 inches long

He is so tiny and amazing and has long, skinny fingers, feet and toes and the smallest bum I have ever seen.

He is already changing too fast....

hours old

4 days old

obsessive

2009-06-09T17:35:00.000-06:00

So I know I said my last post was going to be the final one before this little boy gets here, but I decided to document all of my projects I have been working on lately. Paul was on night shifts for the last two months, so once Kate went to bed, I kind of got obsessed with having projects to work on. So anyway, here's how they turned out.

Since Kate and Crew get to share a room (this is going to be interesting), we borrowed cousin Hazel's mini crib. Two full size cribs in a litte room is kind of tight and Kate is not quite ready to give up hers. Mini cribs are hard to find bedding for, so I made a few things. Here is his little spot.
I made this fitted sheet. They are so easy that I might have to do a few more.
I decided to make two quilts for him. One baby one and then one a little bigger for when he gets older. Here is his baby one. It is so hard to find cute baby boy material, but I think it turned out pretty stinkin' cute. (his middle name is after Paul's dad)

It has minky for the back so it is so soft.

His car seat canopy.

Here is his larger quilt. I wanted them to have the same fabric, but different design. If you look up close, they both have different quilting patterns too.

backside

I made Kate's big quilt las fall, but I decided she needed a smaller one to carry around and play with. (and I have to be fair to both) So I had extra material from that and from the dress I made her, so here is her baby one.

It also also has the soft minky back

Then I started making onesies for Crew. The bike was a little time consuming to cut out of fabric and to stitch around, but I think it turned out so cute.

So of course I had to make some for Kate.

Then I made hooded towels for both of them. It is quite hard to take a good picture of a towel, but you get the idea.

Kate's towel

Not very exciting, but I had a little bit of free sample material and bought a $4 towel at Walmart and out of this I got 5 burp cloths and 8 washcloths. Not to bad, eh?

So that's about it. There are a couple of other things I still want to finish, but I'm not sure I will get to them since he should be here this week!

crazy week...

2009-06-02T15:15:00.006-06:00

So I decided to do one final post to try and wrap everything up before Crew comes. (only 13 days to go!) Tammy and her kids were in town last week and we had so much going on, so here goes.

I am in love with this picture. Paul has been dying to get a bike trailer so he can take Kate on bike rides, so we finally got one last week. She loves it!
eating with cousins Hali and Brody at our Memorial day BBQ checking out the elephants at the zoo on wednesday

the three little girls getting pulled around the zoo by grandpa
family pic with the zebra (and the trash can)
Paul had worked for 7 nights straight before this, so Kate was very excited to get to play with papa.

On friday, my baby sister Amanda graduated from High School. Paul's mom watched Kate so we got a little break and all had lunch at PF Changs afterwards. Congrats Amanda! Here's the gang.

looking a little large in the sisters picture

Amanda and her buff brothers-in-law. (minus Bo)

On Saturday was my baby shower for Crew. It turned out so nice. Thanks guys!

Me and Crew's grandma Broadbent

me with Crew's great-grandma Dayton

I am so excited to dress him in all of the cute things he got. It is going to be so much fun to have a little boy.
We had 5 pregnant cousins there, so of course we had to document the bellies.

Aunt Kristine was so sweet and got Kate a little present too, so she wouldn't feel left out.

I really wanted to get a picture with Kate but she just wasn't having it. I tried to bribe her with a cupcake and a balloon, but still no success.

After the shower, my mom, dad, and all five girls went up to Park City to hang. I don't think we have done something all together without husbands and kids in like 10 years. My mom just got a new Sequoia and is so excited that she can fit all of her girls in at the same time. We spent the day shopping and then went to Red Rock for dinner. (so yummy!)

It's so weird to think that our little family is going to change so soon. Kate has been so sweet lately and is learning so much. She is going to be such a good big sister and is obsessed with babies. She has started to talk a lot more and has started putting little sentences together, like "hi baby", "more cheese", etc. She also loves to tickle toes, especially her own. She will sit and tickle toes and say "tickle tickle tickle." She hates the camera, so I can hardly ever get a real smile out of her for pictures, so I love this little pic. She was wearing Mr. Potatoe Head's hat and glasses and tounge, but I wasn't quick enough to get that one. But here she is with his glasses.

She is also obsessed with trying on everyone's shoes and she loves to wear Paul's hats. she scared me when she came out in my heels, but she actually did really well.Well, that wraps up the last little bit, so hopefully next time I post is with pictures of Crew!

fun stuff...

2009-05-12T22:22:00.008-06:00

So there has been a lot going on this last week. Kate turned 18 months on Sunday the 10th and went to her first day of Nursery. I was pretty sure that she would like it, but didn't realize how much. When I dropped her off, she took one look at the toys and the kids and didn't look back. I peeked on her a few times and she was having so much fun eating snacks, coloring, blowing bubbles, etc. When I picked her up after the 2 hours, they said she was a veteran, she didn't even want to leave. I guess it will be nice to have a little break at church until the next baby comes, but I will miss her.

Kate and her papa before church. (sorry kind of out of focus, camera is being lame)

So the next day, May 11th was our 4 year anniversary and also I hit 35 weeks. (it is coming too fast!) Paul and I went to a movie, then to dinner up in Salt Lake. It just so happened that Paul's brother's wife went in to labor that afternoon, so we got to go see their new darling baby girl after dinner.

Last week Kate started her first day of gymnastics. She had to be 18 months to start in the parent/tot class, but they let her start a few days early. I wanted her to get to go a few times before Crew comes, but I figured I was a little too pregnant to be chasing her around, so Paul gets to go with her. She was kind of a little stinker, she just wanted to run aroung and play and not really stay with the group. Hopefully tomorrow goes a little better.

jumpin on the tramp

practicing her bar routine
just running around

Happy Anniversary Baby!!

2009-05-11T09:07:00.005-06:00

Happy Anniversary Baby! It has been 4 years and seriously no regrets. Just wanted to let you know that I love you more today than ever before. We have 1 beautiful girl, have been to mexico 2 times together, have lived in 3 cities, have moved 5 times, and now about to have baby #2. I love you so much.--Paul

miss independent

2009-04-27T11:54:00.003-06:00

So Kate is killing me lately with all of the funny things she does. She definalty has a mind of her own and I think the terrible two's might be coming a bit early for us. The other day I was organizing the bedroom trying to get ready for Crew, and Kate saw her old bouncy seat. She climbed right in and wanted me to turn on the music. She played for a little bit, then got out, went and got her coloring book and got right back in. She sat in her seat "reading" her coloring book for about a half hour.

Aunt Tammy found the little Disney Princess kitchen on clearance and thought that Kate would like it. It is so cute with a little blender and toaster. Kate loves it and the stove makes noises when she is frying the egg. So when I am working in the kitchen, she plays in her little kitchen right by me.

I probably shouldn't post these, but I can't help it. The other day when I was at the store, I bought a little pack of princess undies just for fun. When we got home and put them on her, she pranced around free as a bird, she loved them. Then of course to top it off, she put on her gold beads. It was an accident waiting to happen, but thank goodness it didn't.

running away from the camera

kate's pics...

2009-04-21T21:10:00.003-06:00

I know, I know. Two posts in one day, this is a record. But I couldn't wait to post these. We got them taken about a month ago, but it took me a while to figure out my order, then I had to wait for them to get printed. So I finally got to pick them up today. Here are a few of my favorites of our sweet girl.

spring is here...

2009-04-21T12:54:00.004-06:00

I am so excited that it is finally decent weather. I swear we have been cooped up inside for the last 6 months. Kate absolutely loves to go play outside and especially loves the dirt.

I love Paul's concentration as he is trying to empty the dirt from her shoes.

I have had a few requests for a new belly picture since I have definatley grown since the last one I posted. It's not the best, but here I am at 32 weeks. Only 8 to go... hurray!

Easter...

2009-04-11T22:08:00.004-06:00

Wow, how time goes by too fast. This is one year ago on Easter. Kate has grown up so much. I swear every time I post, another month as gone by, which means Kate is getting older (she turned 17 months on friday) and Crew is coming sooner. We had a nice Easter Sunday. Kate found her easter basket and had a little easter egg hunt before church. She was surprisingly good at church so we got to stay for all three meetings and then we had Paul's parents over for dinner.

checking out her Easter basket

finding her eggs

listening to the Easter story

We attemped to get some pictures in her little easter dress before church, but it was a little windy and cold, so this is the best we got. I painted this little rocking chair for her and wanted to give it to her on easter, but I couldn't wait. She has been loving it for the last month.

Happy Birthday Paul!

2009-04-03T11:38:00.000-06:00

So this post is a little late. Paul turned 29 last Friday the 27th, but we were out of town for the weekend so I am a little behind. We decided to go on one last getaway before Crew comes and it just so happened to work out for Paul's Birthday weekend. So last Wednesday we headed down south and spent the night at Tammy's house in Mesquite. On Thursday, Paul and I headed to Vegas and Kate got to spend the night at Tammy's. I found a way good deal online for the Excalbur and when we got there they upgraded us to a suite for free. Two rooms, two bathrooms, two plasma tv's, jetted tub, robe and slippers all for 50 bucks. Not too bad, eh?

We also got a bunch of coupons for free stuff around the casino. So while we were killing time before our show, we wandered around and used them up. Nice action shot, huh?

Paul won a teddy bear for Kate and Crew. He was quite proud of himself.

Free drinks... virgin of course.

We went to the Tournament of Kings dinner show which was quite entertaining. Although I'm not too into ripping apart a whole little chicken.

Loungin in bath robes and slippers, looking out the 28 story view.

The next day we did some shopping. It's so strange how we both have way more fun shopping for our kids now. (that feels very strange to say kids) It probably doesn't help that I am hugely pregnant and don't really want to try anything on. I will have to post new pics of my belly soon, I swear it has doubled in size in the last couple of weeks.

This was the longest I have ever left Kate, yes a whole 24 hours. Needless to say, we were very anxious to get back and see her, but it was nice to have some alone time. I was all worried that she would be sad we were gone and not sleep very well, but Tammy said she was a perfect angel. I guess she had som much fun playing with her cousins, she didn't even know we were gone.

Paul and Kate watching Monsters Inc. in the theater room.

On Saturday morning we went to Tammy's ward easter egg hunt with them. Kate loved to waddle around and find the eggs and to play with her cousins. Here she is with cute cousin Hazel.

Of course we had to hit up Judd's in St. George on the way home for some soup and breadsticks. Kate was so worn out from all the fun, she conked right out.

On Sunday, we went to to Paul's house for his birthday dinner. Every year Paul's mom makes all of the kids a German Chocolate cake from scratch for the b days. This year she turned it over to me. So this was my first attempt, and I must say it turned out delicious. It's not much to look at, but Paul was impressed. His dad told my I am finally an official Broadbent.

Happy Birthday baby, we love you!

16 months...

2009-03-14T12:42:00.003-06:00

So our tiny girl turned 16 months on Tuesday the 10th. Paul had the day off yesterday, so we decided to go up to the Childrens Discovery Museum at Gateway. Kate had so much fun getting to run around and get into everything. Here are a few pics...

playing in the little house

By the end, her cheeks were so flushed from all of her walking. She was definatley worn out for the ride home.

Here are a few things that she has been doing lately. She is absolutely obsessed with dogs. Anytime we go outside or she even looks out the window, she starts barking like a dog. Her favorite words right now are: hi, cheese and hosh. She walks around saying "hi" to everyone, especially at church. She loves string cheese and always goes to the fridge and says "cheese". And then there is "hosh". We still haven't quite figured out what that means, but she says it all the time. Whenever she wants something, she points to it and says "hosh". Any ideas?

Here she is watching Lady and the Tramp. She loves to carry around the case with her and bark.

Feeding herself lunch. I have the hardest time letting her make a mess, but I know that is the only way she will learn. So I let her go at it with some ravioli and green beans the other day.

24 weeks along...

2009-02-22T20:34:00.006-07:00

I swear the last month has flown by. I was all excited to hit 20 weeks, and now I am already 24. We had a dr. appt. last week and everthing is looking good. We are so excited for this baby boy to get here. We are trying to get Kate to notice my belly, but I think she is still a little too young. I had to put a cheerio on there to even get a picture.

he's getting big...

On saturday, we went to visit great grandma and grandpa Dayton. Grandpa had just cut my dad's hair so I wanted to get a picture of kate in the barber chair. Well, that was a little risky and Kate ended up with a little trim in the back. It looks good though, thanks gramps!

She loved playing around in the chair.

She's a walkin'...

2009-02-17T23:48:00.005-07:00

So Kate has been able to walk for a little while now, but she just has chose not to. We would practice with her and she would do it for us, but she didn't really want to do it on her own. Well on Sunday, something finally clicked and now she's a walking machine. I knew it would just have to be her decision. It is very cute and exciting for us becuase we have kind of been waiting an extra long time. Here is a little clip....

Day in the ER...

2009-02-12T19:03:00.003-07:00

Well today was a really fun day. I woke up feeling a little sick to my stomach and within in an hour I had constant horrible pain in my left side. It was quite unbearable so I had my mom take me to the ER. So after 6 hours of horrible pain, hyperventilating, a lot of throwing up, blood tests and a shot of morphine that did absolutely nothing, it finally started feeling better. All they could figure out was that it was a kidney stone that hopefully passed, or at least stopped traveling. I am just so grateful that it had nothing to do with our baby. All I can say is that it was a million times worse than anything I felt when I was in labor with Kate. Just glad to be home.... Thanks to everyone for helping out with Kate and taking care of me.

15 months...

2009-02-10T20:38:00.005-07:00

So another month has already passed and our baby girl is 15 months old. Kate and I were sick for a couple of weeks so there hasn't been a whole lot going on around here, but here are a few random pics from the last month.

Here she is on her new little ride along toy. She loves to push it around and she gets going so fast on the wood floor. She loves to push all of the buttons and especially to honk the horn. To bad it doesn't have an off switch....

We took her to Chuck E. Cheese yesterday to celebrate her 15 months. We have kind of been lacking in the fun department lately, so we decided she needed a fun little outing. We had already eaten, so we just went and rode a couple of rides.

playing in the robot

Going for a ride in the monster truck

She got a little freaked out on this one when it went up high.

A couple weeks ago, I went in to check on her during her nap and this is what I found. So stinking cute, she had fallen asleep sitting up.

Oh ya, we did go to the dr. when she was sick and got her weight. She is now a whoppin 22 pounds!

14 months old...

2009-01-18T13:45:00.004-07:00

Kate turned 14 months on the 10th. I finally got a few pictures of her in the dress that I made her for Christmas. She wasn't really cooperating because it was after church and she was definitely ready for a nap, but they are still pretty cute. She is learning so much right now. Everyday she surprises us with something new. She is very good at blowing kisses, making animals sounds including, snake, kitty, tiger, bee, and cow. She can point to her nose and mouth. and is very helpful. If I am putting on her shoes and socks, she will lay down, lift upher legs and hand them to me. She is quite the little talker and will sit and have a full on conversation with you in her own language. We are still working on the walking though. She is very cautious and does great if we are barely holding on, but she is still a little scared to do it herself.

The other day I decided to let her try to feed herself with a spoon. I have just never thought to have her do it yet, but I put a bowl of applesauce in front of her, and helped her with one spoonful, and then let her try. She did so good! It was so cute to watch.

baby broadbent...

2009-01-06T10:29:00.004-07:00

We are going to have a boy! We went yesterday to one of my brother Nate's buddies who works at the hospital and was able to get us a free ultrasound. Here is our new boy at 17 weeks. We are way excited now that we are going to have one of each. While we were listening to the heart beat, Kate started bobbing her head to the beat and trying to immitate the sound with her voice. It was way funny. We are still trying to figure out a name so anyone with a REAL suggestion is welcome to help us out. We reserve the right to shoot you down though. -Paul

happy new year!

2009-01-03T20:56:00.005-07:00

My dad decided to treat the family to a new years day dinner at my favorite restaurant, Carrabba's. It was so delicious, thanks dad!

Also, I am really excited about this. My sister Mindy found the recipe for the dipping spices at Carrabba's so we tried it out last night, and it is exact. So for anyone that loves their dipping bread as much as I do, here is the recipe....

1 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. dried rosemary
1 tbsp. dried basil
1 tbsp. parsley flakes
1 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
1 tbsp. mince garlic
1 tbsp. kosher salt

(You can vary the amounts of red and black pepper depending on how spicy you want it, and also the garlic)

Mix spices and then add a little extra virgin olive oil to moisten a bit. Place desired amount of spice mixture on a plate, then drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Serve with fresh-baked bread for dipping.

To use as a sprinkle for breadsticks, mix just enough oil to moisten the mixture. Sprinkle over shaped breadsticks and let rise.

Store the leftover spice mixture in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

oh Christmas tree...

2008-12-30T12:54:00.007-07:00

So this is my new favorite picture. After the Christmas Eve party at Paul's house, we came home and tried to get a few family pictures in front of the tree. Afterward, Kate just sat staring up at the tree, it was so sweet. Oh, and I am in love with her new Christmas jammies, she looks like such a doll in them.

Here is our best shot. Kate was quite excited for Santa to come.

Playing with grandma and grandpa Broadbent.

This Christmas was so nice becuase we got to be at home for the first time on Christmas morning since we have been married. Our first Christmas we were in Maui,(which was also nice) and the next two, we lived in St. George, so we came up here. So anyway, I loved getting to wake up and have our own little Christmas. Here is Kate on her new cedar chest that I painted for her. It was kind of a project, but I love to make things for her.

helping Paul open his presents

Pulling her treats from her stocking. And yes, that is a snake coming out. That was a surprise from Paul that I didn't even know about. Kate loves to make snake sounds lately, so he wanted to get her one to play with.

Helping me with my presents

Kate in her "spot". She got a snowsuit, cedar chest, some new clothes, 6 disney movies and some other little toys and books. I also made her a dress (top left corner). I will have to post pictures of her wearing it later.

Paul at is spot. He got a snowskate, electronic toothbrush, jacket, movies, etc.

I got a new diaper bag, clothes, pj's, boots, a jewelry organizer and jewelry, bath pillow (I love baths), some kitchen gadgets, etc. Thanks santa!

After our little Christmas we went up to my parents for a few gifts and then had our traditional Christmas breakfast.

Trying out her new coloring book. She is very good at scribbling.

Dancing with great grandpa Gary at the Dayton family party.

All in all we had a wonderful Christmas. I couldn't ask for anything more than my darling little family. Kate was so much fun. She loved dancing to Christmas music and was just a sweetheart the whole time.

sledding...

2008-12-29T17:36:00.005-07:00

After the first big snow, my dad pulled the grandkids down the street on a sled with his lawnmower. Kate loved it! It was this day that we realized that we weren't in St. George anymore and we better get Kate some real snow clothes. She had on Hali's old coat that was too big and some slicky pants that we got at DI. (they were out of snowpants)

Cute kids!

So after that, I went out and got her a cute new snowsuit for Christmas, but we cheated and used it on Christmas Eve. Before all our parties, we had time to play in the snow in the backyard. On her first run down the hill in the sled, she did a face plant in the snow, which she wasn't too excited about. After that, she loved it, even though she wouldn't smile for any pictures.

Isn't the snowsuit quite slimming?

Going down the hill, this time with supervision.

Trying to do a snow angel, but she couldn't really move.

I loved watching her get pulled around the yard.

forever in blue jeans.....

2008-12-29T17:26:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we saw a show of a lifetime. Paul and I went with Heather and Brett and my parents, first to Buca di Beppo for dinner then to the NEIL DIAMOND concert! It was so much fun. He still has the best voice ever and quite the moves. Oh, it sure brought back memories of dancing to Neil's records in my grandparent's basement.

better late than never...

2008-12-16T19:54:00.015-07:00

Okay, so I know I am slightly ridiculous when it comes to posting pictures. I just always have too many to chose from and can never decide, so I really apologize, but here goes.

So our Christmas present from my parents this year was a trip to Disneyland with the whole family. I have been wanting to go ever since we got married. I have always loved Disneyland but Paul hadn't been since he was like 8 and didn't remember a thing. We left a couple of days before Thanksgiving and went and stayed and Tammy's new house in Mesquite. We then left to California and were in Disneyland on Thanksgiving Day and the day after. It was so much fun! The lines weren't bad and it was such nice weather, even though it got a little chilly at nights. I couldn't go on all the big rides, but we had so much fun taking Kate on everything. Here are a ton a pics in no particular order.... Oh ya, and of course Kate had to get sick right when we got to Tammy's house, so she looks a little dozy in a lot of the pictures. She was still such a good girl though.

All 17 of us on Thanksgiving Day

thanks mom and dad!

It was all decorated for Christmas, it was quite magical.

(me, with my baby sisters, Heather and Amanda)

We stayed at the Castle Inn. Kate really liked this chair, actually she was probably just really excited to be out of the car.

Before we left Tammy's house we exchanged all of our Christmas gifts. Tammy won't be here for Christmas so we decided it would be more fun to do it when we were all together rather than shipping stuff to each other. Kate got a new book and pj's from aunt tam.

Trying to pull the sword out....We took this same pic probably about 15 years ago, so we had to redo it.

Do we look any different? All I can say is holy bangs...

Kate with cute cousin, Hazel.

All bundled up, riding the train around at night.

Playing around in Toon Town

Our cute little fam on Main Street

Waiting for the Pixar parade to start at California Adventure. It was amazing, Kate loved it!

Eating ice cream on main street

Kate looks like she is really enjoying herself, don't you think?

in a happy daze...

Kate loved seeing the disney characters, she always tried to squeeze their nose.

traditional disneyland pic

My prince charming (wow, I am cheesy)

The Bug's Life 3D movie... I love Kate in her glasses.

sweet little girl was so tired at the end of each night..

watching the Christmas parade, again Kate really enjoyed the parades. We are not usually parade people, but it was so fun to see her get so excited.

On our last day in California, we went down to Huntington Beach to let the kids see the ocean, go shopping and have some lunch at Ruby's on the Pier.

Kate was definately a Ruby's fan. She loved watching the surfers as we walked down the pier.

She was a little unsure of the sand at first, but she ended burying herself in it.

the end... wow, that was a lot of work.

update...

2008-12-10T22:46:00.005-07:00

So here is a little update, just so you know that we are still alive. We went to Disneyland for Thanksgiving with my whole family (17 of us). I still haven't had time to get all of those pics posted, so here are a few others to hold you over.

They had free pictures with Santa at Thanksgiving Point on Monday, so Kate and I went with Mindy and her kids. The picture is pretty bad quality, but oh well. I was shocked that Kate was scared of Santa. They also had reindeer there that you could feed and pet. Kate really liked them even though she doesn't look overly happy here. She is starting to slim down a lot, but I am so happy that she still has those cheeks!

I had my first doctor appt. a few weeks ago, and when Kate heard the baby's heartbeat, she started boppin her head to the beat. She is very into dancing lately. We also got an ultrasound a few days later and when she saw the baby moving on the screen, she totally starting laughing, it was very cute. We are getting so anxious to find out what we are having!

birthday party pics....finally!

2008-11-20T09:46:00.010-07:00

So maybe the reason why I took so long to post these pictures is that I had 173 to choose from. I kept trying to narrow down, but this is as far as I could go. So, I realize there are way to many, but she is just way too cute to cut any more out.

On her birthday morning, we decided to start a tradition and kidnap her and take her out to breakfast. You know, how we use to do in junior high, and make your friends go to school in their pajamas. So anyway, the three of us went to Magleby's Fresh for breakfast and she had some yummy french toast.

I tried to get everything done the day before so I wasn't stressing out the day of the party. It was at 7 so I was scared that if Kate didn't take her afternoon nap, she would be too tired. But she was a perfect angel all day. She took both of her naps and was in a great mood for the party. With all of my family, Paul's family, and a few friends we had about 50 people, but it was so much fun. This little girl gets plenty of love.

Eating dinner. We had 5 different yummy homemade soups and homemade bread and breadsticks.

Playing games with the kids.

Lots of friends and family.

Kate with grandma and grandpa.

Kate had so much fun opening all of her presents. She got so much fun stuff, we won't need to get her anything for Christmas...

She loves the little people barn we gave her.

reading her card...

So I wanted to make her a tutu a little while ago, but I wanted it to have a purpose. So I decided when we stripped her down to eat her cake, rather than just being in her diaper, she would get to wear her tutu.

Here is a darling cake. I am quite proud of it, but I can't take all of the credit, Mindy and Amanda helped.

Blowing out her candle...

I was pretty shocked that she didn't dig into her cake. She didn't really know what to do with it. She pulled out the doll, but wouldn't touch the cake. I gave her some and she liked it, but she wouldn't get it herself.

Everyone else got cupcakes. I went a little overboard, because I didn't want to run out so I made like 80 cupcakes, and yes I had quite a few left over.

We attempted putting her in her chair to eat it, but she still wasn't very interested.

After the party with our tiny girl, she was so worn out from her day of fun!

Here's a little clip of her and her cake.

She got lots of bath toys for her birthday. This pic makes me laugh, she is so modest.

Kate loves to reorganize our dvd's, multiple times a day. On the day after her birthday, we went to the Dr. for her 1 year check up. She weighs 20 lb 12 oz. and is 29 3/4 inches. She is now in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th for height. It looks likes she is finally started to slim down. (I am already missing her knee rolls)

So that's it! Now on to the next project, getting packed for our our big Disneyland trip next week.....

Oh ya, here is her invitation I made. So I can't figure out what is wrong with it, but every time I try to upload it, the words look all blurry, so I give up. You get the idea. If you click to enlarge, it doesn't look like this, very weird.

birthday girl...

2008-11-12T16:57:00.004-07:00

Well, Kate turned 1 on Monday and we had such a good day. I haven't had time to post all of her birthday party pictures yet, but hopefully I will get to it in the next couple of days. So here are a few other pics for now.

Here she is going for a ride in her new big girl car seat from my parents. She loves to get to face forward. I love this smile, but her sock is falling off and it's about to kill me.

Kate in her new shirt that I made for her. Cute, huh?

We are all quite excited about the big news......

kate's favorite song....

2008-11-07T17:28:00.004-07:00

So this is definitely not to show off my singing skills, so please try to ignore me. Kate just loves when we sing this song, she gets so excited and claps her hands in the right spot. It is so much fun to see her learning so much. I can't believe she is going to be 1 on Monday!

Trick or treat...

2008-11-01T21:22:00.004-06:00

Halloween is so much more fun with Kate around. We have had some great costumes in the past, but we didn't dress up this year and let her have all the glory. She looked so stinking cute as little red riding hood!

I love these pics of her knocking on grandma's door, then crawling in.

Trying to get a good picture of Little Red Riding Hood was a little difficult. She loves to ignore the camera.

Again, ignoring me and trying to eat dirt of the back of the pumpkin.

Kate with her cousins. Garret was making very funny faces in every one, this was definitely the best.

Trick or treating with momma and papa.

She really liked this huge pumpkin at our neighbor's house.

After trick or treating, and dinner at my parents, we went to see Paul's fam. Kate sat on the deck playing in the candy bowl for like 45 minutes, while we all watched and laughed. She loved taking the candy out and putting it all back in, over and over again. So cute!

pumpkin party...

2008-10-29T21:18:00.004-06:00

On Sunday we had a birthday party for Mindy and our annual pumpkin carving party. It was so much fun, with caramel apples and all.

When Kate pulled out the insides of her pumpkin, she tried to eat it, of course.

little pumpkin with her pumpkin

These are supposedly our scary faces. Don't mind Paul's creepy mustache, he's growing it out for halloween just in case he needs it for a costume.

I'm not very creative, so I left the carving to Paul. I was quite impressed with his glasses.

The whole gang (except for dad, he was taking the picture. oh and kate, she went to bed)