Already?!

Happy Anniversary to Us! We've been married 4 beautiful years! So much has happened in 4 years.... Top 10 Highlights from 2007 to present:
1.Ben got a new job with the State of Utah
2.We moved into our first home
3. Kat graduates with Masters in Social Work
4. We move to Washington
5. Ben starts his MBA
6. Kat gets a job as a Behavior Specialist
7. We finally get pregnant
8. Norah joins the family!
9. Kat quits her job and we move from our duplex to be Apartment Managers
10. We begin the countdown to when Ben finishes his MBA.

Who knows what's next, but if this much has happened in only 4 years, I can't wait to see what the next few years have in store for us!

I love you Ben!! Thanks for making the last 4 years so wonderful :)

Oh how my life has changed!

What a weekend it's been! I was lucky enough to get out of the house on my own for a bit yesterday. It was the church Relief Society Birthday Celebration. It was so nice to be among other women who are experiencing the same things I am. I left feeling great and seriously enjoyed being somewhere by myself knowing that for a few hours, I was Kathryn, and not mommy. After the "Birthday Party" I hit up the fabric store with a friend so she could show me the in's and out's of all things crafty :) As I was driving home I had to laugh out loud as I thought about how quickly my life has changed. Here I am a mom, a wife, and my life's pleasures are new clothes for my baby, and lately, sewing. What happened to me?! But then I had to laugh a little more, laugh tears of joy almost, because THIS is what I have wanted ever since I can remember. I LOVE my husband, I LOVE our little girl, and I LOVE my life. Seriously, there are things that really get me ticked but I take deep breaths and everything is just fine :) For example:
Tonight it took us about 2 hours to eat dinner! In fact the whole day tested our patience a bit, but I'm sure this is nothing compared to what others have experienced, because I only have ONE little monster. We were finally sitting down to eat dinner tonight after a few setbacks, and I noticed Norah's back...yep, blowout...awesome. *Sidenote*(She had a blowout as soon as we sat down in Sacrament Meeting today too, so back home we went because of course, the one time I don't have a change of clothes for her, of course.) Anyhow, back to the blowout of the evening. We finally got her cleaned up, bathed, and we settled back down to dinner. Norah was playing on the floor but if you have seen her lately, she climbs all over everything. Well she lost her balance and smacked her face on the legs of a chair.
Bleeding gums and a fat lip. We gave her a cold washcloth and she sucked away on it. After all this I had kind of lost my appetite. So we started cleaning up and now Norah is finally in bed and the dishes are done. Sigh...but I love this crazy life, can't wait to see that beautiful girl again tomorrow, but for now...me time. Thank heavens children need more sleep than adults!
P.S. I am considering a short haircut, I guess you could say the "mom haircut", because now that I am a mom, I can't find time to do my hair! Ben cringes, because he loves my long hair, but seriously what's the point of having long hair when it's up in a ponytail all day everyday. I guess I'll keep thinking about it though, maybe in the summer.

Hello Readers! All 10 of you :)

1. Thanks for all the child entertainment suggestions. We will not be adding a little brother or sister to the family anytime soon(way to much work!)...So we went with the pot and wooden spoon idea, kept Norah busy for nearly 30 minutes!

2. It's Ben's Spring Break this week and I am LOVING the extra help around here. He is GREAT on diaper duty, and has even been making time to give me foot rubs, what a guy!

3. I found a fabulous dress today. Yes I said "dress" mom, you'd never believe it but I actually went out with the intent to purchase a dress and not just a skirt. I've always been somewhat of a tom boy and dresses never fit right anyway as I am SO tall. Found a great sale though and purchased this beauty. Can't wait for the sun to come out so I can actually wear it!

4. Our Anniversary is quickly approaching! At the end of March I will have been married to my "shmoopsie" for 4 years. Love him :)

(Valentines Day 07, We were engaged. Yep, this guy use to own bathrobes, and wore them frequently. Here he was outside grilling up our romantic dinner and rockin out to his ipod.)

5. My mom started up another fun blog. As previously posted, Check out This Grandmothers Garden. However, this time I get to be a part of the blogging too! My Mom's latest venture is a cooking blog, a collaborated effort by all of the women in the fam. That's right, I can cook too :) Or at least I give it my best! Check out Our Sweet Lemons. Bet you can't read that without your mouth watering...Our Sweet Lemons ;)

Happy Weekend my friends, I am loving how fast these weeks are flying by. Soon we will be on our way to a new residence and a new career, go us! :)

Just a little girl!

Growing up my younger sister was full of spunk, in fact she still is! One time when she was in trouble for something or other, she was asked to leave the dinner table and was sent to her room. She walked down the stairs to her room but before she slammed the door, yelled back to us all "I'M JUST A LITTLE GIRL!" So I still laugh about this...So funny :) Anyway, this came to my mind because of MY little girl.
I think this is becoming a monthly post, ALL ABOUT NORAH :) Really, not much else(exciting anyway) goes on around here, so life is all about her!
Some of my favorite pics as of late:

Norah use to fall asleep like this after every feeding when she was an infant; this rarely happens anymore, she must have been super tired!

We still burp her after she eats, is that weird? She seems to spit up later if we don't.

This is NOT how I put her down for bed, but without fail she always finds her way out of her blanket and sleeps with her booty in the air. Also, its a rare occasion when the thumb is out of her mouth.

You can see the remains of a nasty bruise on her right cheek. She was climbing up the chair and fell on the bottom support slats. Ouch! I guess she'll learn though right?!

Spontaneity

DID YOU KNOW that Krispy Kreme sells their doughnuts half price weekdays after 9? Our Krispy Kreme does anyway. I was in need of a little me time tonight anyway, so Ben stayed with the sleeping babe while I made my getaway :0
15 minutes there and 15 minutes back...but it was oh so worth it. Mmmmm, doughnuts!

What to do with this girl....

She looks innocent enough, but believe me, this girl is a STINKER! I can't believe that my 7 month old is already crawling around the house like a maniac and climbing up and onto everything in sight. She climbs up the walls, tries to lunge out of our arms, and just won't sit still! She definitely has a mind of her own and is becoming her own little person.

So I need some help, what kinds of things keep your pre-toddler entertained. We have a few toys and books but they only seem to capture her attention for like a minute and then she is off trying to climb up something. She also has a saucer and a jump up, but again, 5 minutes max and she is yelling to get out. Toy suggestions would be great, I am getting a little worn out being Norah's playmate 24/7! Please tell me once they get older they can entertain themselves a bit more...otherwise I may only have ONE child :)

I'm on a roll!

I'm pretty proud to announce that I have done THREE different projects now with my sewing machine. It's weird because before I even finish something I am already thinking about what I want to make next. In fact I've started a list on my blog of things I plan on making someday. Again, don't laugh, most of the things I attempt are probably things you all did in Home Ec or something...but I never took that class, so give me a break! :)

Onto the projects-
"Crib Rail Cover"

Norah is getting pretty wild with her standing and will chew on anything she can get her two little teeth on. Yes, I am aware that you can buy crib rail covers at several stores, but they retail for WAY too much money. It took me more time than it should have, but I was able to make some covers for half the price. I found a great tutorial here. I made them for all three sides, but took pictures as soon as I finished the one because I didn't know how motivated I would be to finish all three. Finally finished them all this last week.


I also made one of these baby blocks. This wasn't really that hard, but I was kinda bummed when Norah only held it for about 30 seconds and then dropped it and crawled away. I've since tried to get her to play with it more, but she doesn't really care for it.

Oh well, next on my list, this cute "owl teether". Norah is nuts about crinkly noises. I hope this one is a hit :)

*Update* I started the owl teether today....this one is going to be tough!

DELIGHTFUL day

I celebrated my first day of 27 by sleeping in! Ben was sweet and got up to feed Norah so I could relax a bit longer. We spent the morning making a birthday cake, playing with our cute baby, and just kickin' it in our pj's.

We ventured downtown to the Olive Garden later for lunch and then took a walk around the riverfront as Norah slept cozily in the stroller.
Ben made me a yummy dinner of salmon and artichokes in the evening and we topped it off with cake, a movie, and a foot rub(it's a guilty pleasure of mine, and Ben does it so well!)
It was such a great day, and the best part, besides sharing the day with my two favorite people, was not having to change any diapers! Thank you Benjo! Happy 27 to ME :)

Be Mine

"Lucky I'm in love with my Best Friend"...and our lil' Sweetie Pie.

Happy Valentines Day!

Roooaaaaarrrrrr!!!

Grandma and Grandpa O. got me this very cool shirt in Mexico.


This is how cool it is....Roooaaarrr!


Doesn't fit me just right yet, but I've got room to grow :)

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa O!