update!

Katie: She is doing very well. She now knows all of her upper and lower case letters and most of the letter sounds. She is constantly begging me to do preschool and to play with her learning toys. She is super excited about being a big sister and is always asking questions about the baby and telling me all the wonderful things she is going to do with her little sister. I know she is going to be such a BIG helper when this baby comes. Katie is really just such a wonderful child and everyday I am thankful for her laughter and smile in my life.

Stephen: He has applied to AA school and has had one interview so far. We are excited at the prospect of this new adventure. We should be hearing back soon to see if he has been accepted to that school as well as if he will get any more interviews at the other schools he applied to. He is also currently volunteering at the children's hospital here in town. He gets to help do fun activities with the sick children who are there for serious health concerns. He really enjoys it so far and it has really made him appreciate how blessed we are to have a healthy happy child.

Becky: I am feeling very pregnant. This pregnancy seems to just be flying by! We got to have our 4th ultra sound the other day and it was so neat to see how this little girl is growing. This little girl (we still don't know what to name her) reminds me very much of when I was pregnant with Katie. She is very active and seems to almost jump around and do flips and turns. I feel more tired with this pregnancy then I remember feeling with Katie but that might be because I am now chasing after a two year old all day long! We could not feel more excited about having another little girl in our family. I recently just had a birthday and am feeling old. I know that 25 is not super old but it sounds old! Half way through my twenties...wow time sure does fly!

Okay well I think that about sums up everything going on in our small world. Sorry I haven't been the best at updating the blog recently. Here are some pictures of Katie at a "children's museum" that we took her to the other week. I would hardly call this a museum because it was so poorly ran and most of the toys and experiments were outdated and run down but Katie had fun regardless. I have been trying to find less expensive and yet fun activities to take katie to and this was one of them that I found online. I was a little disappointed with it. So if anyone out there has some awesome places to take young kids to please let me know! Thanks!

Katie-isms #5

Sorry, I know you might not think these are very funny but she sure cracks me up!


Katie accidentally bumped her elbow and started to cry due to the pain
Mommy said, "Oh honey I think you bumped your funny bone, I'm sorry."
Katie said through tears, "It's not funny mommy! It hurts!"


Driving in the car at night Katie asked while looking out the window, "Why is the moon following us? Do you think it wants to come inside the house too?"


While the sacrament is being passed Katie takes two pieces of bread and quickly shoves both in her mouth
Mommy said, "Katie how many pieces of bread are we supposed to take during the sacrament?"
Katie said, "Only one... but I'm two so I can take two!"
Who can argue with that kind of logic?!

Smart!

Obviously katie does not get her brains from me! This kid is so smart that at two years old I feel like she is already passing up mommy in some areas! I have been having a mommy and me preschool with Katie for a little while now where we work on letters and play games and do little crafts. To my amazement Katie could easily remember letters and now she knows all of the lower case letters in the alphabet! We are currently working on all of the letter sounds and the upper case letters and she is already about half way done with that too. I wish I could say it was my unbelievable ability and knowledge as a teacher that got her to this point but as Grandma Pehrson pointed out, "Katie would have learned this no matter who taught her because she is just so smart!" But anyway here is the video of Katie saying her lower case letters with daddy. Sorry about the quality it was shot with our camera not our video camera!


Here are just some silly picture of Katie with the valentines treat we made! I sure love my little Katie Bug!

This kid is driving me CRAZY!!

Warning: The following is a rant from a tired and haggled pregnant mother. Proceed with caution.

So Katie having mastered the unbelievable skill of getting herself dressed has now made my life a ton more difficult! Now you may be thinking, "She can get herself dressed shouldn't that make your life easier because now you don't have to get her dressed?" Ahh this kind of first time parenting thought process that I was delusional enough to believe as well is what has gotten me into this situation! The first thing Katie wants to do when she wakes up is get dressed. She wants to pick out her outfit and she does NOT want any form of help. So inevitably she comes back into the room wearing mismatched pajamas with a skirt on top of it that are almost ALL backwards and inside out! Not to mention that underwear to Katie is an accessory that she chooses to take along with her occasionally! I then proceed (with as much love and patience that it would amaze you) to tell her that she looks a little silly and that we should try and find something a little bit more suitable for the days activities. Then ensues a battle of wits and strength as Katie and I work together through screaming and tears (not all Katie's) to get her into clothing that I won't need to feel quite as embarrassed about her wearing in public. This often does not mean the clothing will match or that she will be warm enough given the weather but it is a compromise that we can both somewhat agree with. If you think this is the end of the problem think again! Then through out the course of the day Katie will spill the tiniest little drop of water on her shirt while washing her hands or she might "accidentally" spill her breakfast cereal all down herself. This will ensure that she needs to get changed again. We go through the same routine as listed above although this time I have a lot less patience! This continues multiple times during the day until I can feel wrinkles denting into my face! Nap time and bed time are no exceptions to this behavior. I lay katie down to sleep in one outfit and when she wakes up she is mysteriously in an entirely new outfit. Last night I went to check on Katie before I wondered off to bed and found her sleeping peacefully in her.... SWIM SUIT! That's right! I did laugh out loud when I saw her and I should have taken a picture but I just pulled the blankets up around her and let her continue to sleep. By the end of a day katie will have gone through multiple pairs of pants, shirts, underwear, socks, dress up clothes, sweaters, dresses, and skirts! I find all of these clothes (some dirty, some only worn for five minutes, others mearly pulled out as possible options) lying on the ground in piles on her floor. Then begins what I like to call the "shake it, look at it, smell it" routine. I go through the piles of clothes and do my upmost to determine if they are clean or dirty. Needless to say I am now doing more laundry for Katie then when she was a newborn and I am not kidding. I remember (back before I had kids) when I used to see a child dressed in pajamas or not matching or in some ridiculous outfit at the store and I would think, "Oh I will NEVER allow my child to look like that! Good mothers dress their children in cute perfect outfits!" Oh how foolish I was! Yet another lesson from parenting. So if you happen to come across my child in any setting and she looks umm...silly please please understand that she could look a lot worse! Sometimes some battles (especially with two year olds) are not worth fighting to the death instead we meet half way!

Okay if anyone made it through that crazy long rant I apologize but I needed a place to vent! Thanks for listening or rather reading.

It's a...

GIRL! I know that most of you have probably already heard because we have known for three weeks now but I haven't officially posted it on the blog. It is a girl and after three different ultra sound technicians all confirmed it we are pretty certain. So my guess was wrong but we couldn't be happier about another sweet girl in our family. Katie said she wanted it to be a little sister and it looks like she got her way. So poor Stephen will be up to his elbows in princess clothes, make up, pink, and more and more bows! Stephen is pretty happy about it too though in all honesty. He is such a good daddy to his little princess. Now all we need to do is pick out a name. We have some in the running but we haven't nailed any down as of yet. So any suggestions are welcome! We feel so blessed and are very excited for this new little one to join in our happy family!

Christmas 2009

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I know I know I am over a month late but I still had to publish it! Here is a glimpse at our Christmas this year. It was a great Christmas season for the Smiths. We spent the month of December looking at Christmas lights and drinking hot coco! Steve and I gave each other clothes and a few other little things but Katie was what made it such a blast this year. She was very excited for Santa to come and was constantly shaking the presents under the tree and guessing what was in them. She loved playing with her little people nativity scene and placing baby Jesus in the manger with his mommy and daddy! On Christmas morning she ran straight out for the tree and took her time (surprisingly) playing with each toy she got before moving on to opening up another one. She received many wonderful gifts and is still enjoying them today! I would say that her two favorite gifts over all were her kitchen and her tricycle. She was the angel in the family nativity scene and played her role perfectly! It was so fun to watch the season through her young eyes she was just so happy and excited over every aspect of the season! Needless to say I am already counting down until next year! I feel so blessed to have such a special little girl in my life!

Katie-isms #4

#1 As we were traveling to Utah we stopped for some fine dining at Dennys. While we were waiting to be seated I suggested to Stephen that he and Katie play that silly machine that has the stuffed animals in it that you try to grab the toy out of the machine with "the claw". Hopefully you know what I am talking about! Anyway Stephen said sadly they couldn't because the machine had a sign on it (that I had missed) that said it was out of order and Katie said, "awwww go get more order Daddy!" It made us both laugh out loud. Often we will be out of something such as milk and Katie will tell us to go to the store and get more so apparently the Dennys just needed to go and get some more order!

#2 Stephen's stomach was hurting and so Katie said, "Here daddy put my blankie on it and then I will tuck it around you, that would be sweet of me!"
It is pretty sweet of her especially because this wasn't just any blanket this was the blankie the one that Katie treasures!

#3 While looking up at the moon one night Katie asked, "Hey, who cut the moon in half!"

I love these little moments. She is growing up way too fast and I can't believe she is already 2 and a half. Childhood only lasts for a little while but you are an adult for a long time. I wish I could just hit the pause button for a little bit and keep her at each stage of life a little longer. Anyway treasure the little moments that is my advice for today!

Kaden's House!

Our little family went for a fun road trip to Utah to visit Spencer and Andrea. We were able to stay for almost two weeks! We had a lot of fun letting the cousins play and play! Kaden and Katie played super well together and had a blast with one another. We played in the snow, made cookies, went to some fascinating museums (hehehe), looked at Christmas lights, played games (for the adults), and basically had fun! Here are the pictures from our wonderful Utah trip! Katie misses Kaden and asks for us to go back and play again. I wish we all lived closer to one another but I guess I should be thankful for the time we do get to see each other.

Spencer and Andrea got new furniture and so Stephen and Spencer were moving the old furniture and the kids decided to take a ride!

All three Kiddos in the bath.


Out in the snow brrrrr! Katie loved playing in the snow especially when she could ride on the sled.








The daddies were great at chasing, throwing, catching, and rough housing with the kids.


Katie and Kaden playing at the indoor play ground in the mall












At the Christmas lights!




Katie being Katie!



Making cookies!


Just hanging out!





Bed time stories!

Katie's hair cut

I realize my blogging has been slacking lately and truthfully I have no idea why. I can only chalk it up to laziness and being busy with the holidays! Anyway I have a ton of things to recap before I can move on to the present but I accidentally uploaded these pictures of Katie's hair cut which actually took place after a lot of other things but oh well here they are anyway! Katie (as most of you know) has a mullet! I have taken her to get her hair cut before at Super Cuts and was told there was nothing they could do . I then waited it out for awhile and then I couldn't take it another day so I looked up a hair cutting place that specializes in kid hair cuts and took her there. Now they didn't do a whole lot and most people probably won't even be able to tell but they cut off two inches from the back of her hair which took away the mullet look considerably. This was a long explanation but to say the least I was happy with the results and the place was super cute and completely designed for kids. They had fun chairs that look like rocket ships or fire trucks and they even let the kids pick out a movie or show to watch while they are getting their hair cut.

Before:




During:




after:




So this was probably like a month ago that I took her and she already needs it cut again (sigh)! But really look at the first picture of the back of her hair and compare it to the back of her hair after the cut, huge difference!

Katie-isms #3

So Katie is constantly saying funny things so here are some of the new ones!

We are cleaning up the dinner plates when Katie says, "Mommy my tummy thanks you for dinner!"

Grandma has two pilgrims Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim who are supposed to be on the holiday shelf but in actuality have spent very little time on it. Katie carries the pilgrims everywhere and takes care of them just like babies. These pilgrims have been everywhere that katie goes and Grandma has finally given up and given them to Katie. I don't know why these two stuffed pilgrims have gotten more love and attention than ANY other toy Katie has ever had, but it is sure cute! Anyway the other day I asked Katie if she loved her pilgrims and she said, "Mommy I do I love my pilgrims because they are the best pilgrims I have ever seen in all my whole life!" Well I don't know how many more pilgrims my two year old has seen but what an honor for those pilgrims! Super cute!

While katie was sitting down to lunch she asked me if she had to eat all of it and I told her yes that would make mommy so happy and she responded by saying, "If I eat my whole lunch I will be soo proud of myself!"

I don't know where she comes up with these things but it sure makes me laugh! I love this little girl with all my heart!