It was bound to happen

Let the record show that our family went three years, three months and nine days after having children to get an ear infection. 

Boo.

Kenny-girl is not a happy camper (although already doing loads better since starting antibiotics).

Easton remains the ear infection proof one (knock on wood).

Add that to the sore throats and hacking coughs and we are one sorry mess!

At least we have moving into our new house this weekend to pick up our spirits {squeal!}.

See how I'm trying to look past all of the crappy stuff about moving with two sick kids, there?  I'm attempting to trick myself, we'll see how it goes.

Let's take the load off of our own shoulders, shall we?

A good friend and I were talking the other day.

The conversation turned to how sometimes we place ridiculous amounts of pressure on ourselves.

She talked about how she was debating whether to ramp up her photography business again, and the time/effort that goes into all that she does with it.  I talked about the many good things I seem to have pulling on my time. I discussed how I would much rather see her darling little boy and her life on her blog in only semi-edited (or straight out of the camera) pictures instead of no posts with zero pictures, but that I understand the pressure that she feels for the pictures on her blog to be perfect.

People know she is a photographer, so she wants every picture "out there" to represent her craft.  Similarly, people know I make homemade cards and so I feel that if I can't send a handmade card, then I better just not send anything to them at all.  This happened just last month.  I was out of handmade birthday cards, and family birthdays were coming up, so you know what I did?  I sent a store bought card {gasp!}.  Guess what else?  No one died.

Seriously.

The world kept on turning.

The birthday girls received a handwritten card through snail mail and everything was okay.

And you know what?  It felt kinda good.

So here's to taking that burden off of our shoulders.

Buy a card.
Post an unedited picture.
Give some one a store bought gift.
Make a frozen lasagna.
Have less than seven side dishes when you feed the missionaries.

I think we'll all be happier when we do.

March Madness

Apparently, I am one of those people.

The people who actually watch March Madness games in the middle of the day.

Games between two teams I have never watched in my entire life.

Just because Ronnie has one team on his bracket and I have the other on mine.

Darn competitiveness.

More Crafts

If you read the kids blog you saw a picture of Kendree at her party where she looked like this:

 And here's a shot where you can see the crown a little better.

For the purpose of documenting/sharing, I thought I would let you know how I made it all. 

Tutu: made using the rolls of tulle that you can buy at Hobby Lobby in alternating colors.  Tutorial can be found here, although instead of messing with elastic, I just used one of those skinny headbands as the base.

Shirt: Onesie purchased at Hobby Lobby.  Fabric was from my stash, but originally purchased at Wal-mart.  I used Heat N' Bond light and then zigzag stitched around the outside.

Crown: Used the tutorial here, but thought I had a better chance of keeping something on top of her head, instead of around it (didn't seem to help at all, bytheway).  I altered the pattern slightly by centering it in on the rectangle sheets of felt you buy at any craft store and then making the sides extend to the edge of the rectangle.  The two ends were then sewn together to create the circle.  Elastic was stapled to each side, just like a party hat.  I also did not use two different colors of felt and stitched the "1" on top of the outside layer of felt instead of cutting open the number (as shown in the tutorial). 

Whew, feels good to have that in a place where I you can find it if I you need it.

Kendree's Birthday Party

We celebrated Kendree's birthday on Saturday, the 19th of February.  We were happy to host both sets of Grandparents and the local aunts and uncles at our house.

Obviously, Kendree was thrilled to be the birthday girl!

Aunt Sassy took care of all of the present opening and Kendree loved it.

Easton was a very good boy during the present opening and only played with things after Kendree had moved on to the next item.  The corn popper was a particular favorite.

I just loved this shot of Kendree crawling in her tutu.

Then, while we ate lunch, Kendree chilled with various family members.  Here she is with Grandpa Wyo.

After lunch, it was time for CAKE!  Easton helped to blow out the candle...

And then Kendree got to dig in!

The final result:

Next, we had a quick sink bath...

and then posed for some pictures!

Grandpa and Grandma Wyo

The whole clan that traveled over from Laramie

Grandma and the Kenny-girl.

Kenny and Sassy playing games with braces and glasses.

Thanks to everyone who came...it was a great party and we had a great time!

Adam & Alicia's Wedding Guest Book

And, the last thing I had to finish before the big wedding this Friday is complete!

Here's just two of the pages, you can check out all 15 here.

Items 7 and 8

I'm slowly checking off items on the "wedding to-do list." and here we have the two items for the E-man.

The pink vest: 

And the bow tie (made using this tutorial with a strap and Velcro added).

And here's the man himself modeling them (red shirt on underneath and everything).

To-Dos Checked Off

So, my brother is getting married next weekend.

I volunteered to take on a few projects.

A few projects that I have procrastinated.

But, this week I have completed items 1 through 6 on my 9 item list (not too shabby!).

Alayna's "Flower Girl" Dress

{Bodice created from scratch using this tutorial (it was waaaay easier than I was anticipating).  Skirt is made from Ruffle Fabric and used the skirt portion of this tutorial.  Some of the most fun fabric I have sewn with in a while.}

 A close up of the flower.

{Burned circles of the satin-ish material with glass pearls sewn into the middle.}

The back of the dress (this one is actually Kendree's but you get the drift).

 Front of Kendree's (for good measure).

And, a pleated pearl headband for each girl as well.

{Used this tutorial}

Also sewn, but not pictured, two of the Coastal Curtsy Skirts from this tutorial.  Mine were in the black 2-inch ruffle fabric and if you are looking for an incredibly easy and fun skirt--you should get to ordering!

Next up?  A vest and bow tie for Easton and the sign in scrapbook. {like this one, or this one, or this one that I have made before}

Sorry for the less that stellar pictures.  My camera is "in the shop" and all I have is my ipod.

Oh yeah, and Kendree has a brother too...

Hanging out on the floor during the FREEZING cold days we had a few weeks ago.

 Wearing Kendree's tunnel

 A picture of the potty training prizes...these worked wonders!

 Eating a Popsicle, watching a movie on the ipod and going potty.  Multi-tasker.

 Pulling silly faces when we were out to eat in Denver a month ago.

 Cheesing on the couch (Note the beloved container of cars...the thing goes EVERYWHERE with him throughout the house.  Mama has a not in the car rule).

Recent Videos

Kendree having ice cream for the first time:




Easton naming all of his cars (sorry for the sideway-ness of it all)


Easton eats a lemon. He begged for it. Literally begged for it.

Kendree - 1 year

At one year, Kendree:

• Is finally crawling.  About 2 weeks before her birthday she started to experiment with it more regularly and then about a week before she turned one there was no more army crawling!
• Has seemed to grow a lot more hair in the front...now mama is forced to think about what to do with it!
• Wants to be wherever you are, doing whatever you are doing.  If I stand still for more than 30 seconds, you can bet I will have a little friend attempting to crawl up my leg and see what is going on.
• Is a master at the stairs (going up that is).  Leave her unsupervised for a moment or two and she is up 6 stairs and on the landing (where the stairs turn).  Scary, scary and the baby gate is a permanent fixture around here now.
• Is starting to prefer to feed herself.  She will tolerate just one container of baby food before she decides that she has had enough of the spoon feeding (although she is no where close to full at that point).
• Has no qualms about getting dirty or having things on her hands (a LOT different than her older brother).
• Says mama, dada, more (mo), hi and bye.
• Signs more, all done, food, and attempts mama, dada, grandma, grandpa.
• Eats anything put in front of her.  Seriously, we have yet to find something she will turn her nose up at.
• Takes two naps a day.
• Still doesn't sleep through the night (one feeding, if she is feeling well. more, if she has a cold like she does currently).
• Is an expert couch "cruiser."
• Will take a few steps when holding onto mama's hands
• Has no idea what the walker toy is for.  She holds onto it and then proceeds to fall forward as it rolls and her feet don't move.
• Is nursing to sleep at night (and has a feeding during the night) but that is it.
• Weighs 19 lbs. 13 oz. and is 29.5 inches long
• Might be getting teeth?  Because she is a year now and still shows no sign of teeth, anytime she is cranky, I always assume that she has teeth coming in.  Last time, that was a mis-diagnosis, just a runny nose-cold.
• Loves baths with her brother.  Mama loves that she can get away with one bath for the time being.  However, she hates to get her hair rinsed (laying down, sitting up, it doesn't matter).  Both of my kids are that way (Easton still!) what am I doing wrong?
• Is exclusively in 12 month clothes currently, but shirts and onesies are starting to get tight so mama is starting to think about pulling out the 18 month stuff.
• Is still a little bit stranger shy around men.  It hits at the weirdest times.  For instance, the Applebee's waiter a few weeks ago.  Took one look at him and bawled like she was going to die. 
• Worships her brother and is starting to hold her own when they "wrestle."  Easton is really good at laying down fairly "dead-like" and Kendree crawls all over him and then gets in a few face slaps for good measure.  Mama figures it is payback for the many, many times he has been not the nicest to her.

Now, on to some pictures. You can see a month by month post of our Kenny-girl on mama's blog here if you missed it.

Tackling mama

 Ahhh....a cute picture of the siblings.

 We were picking up Ronnie's parents from the airport on Kenny's actual birthday, so she got to wear a "I'm One" bib at Red Robin when we stopped for dinner on the way back. Here she is cheesing for mama.

 Clapping with daddy.

 Watching intently as she was sung to.

 And SOOOOO excited for her ice cream dessert (a girl after her mother's heart).

Next up...a post all about the birthday party!

6 years

The day after Kendree's birthday, Ronnie and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary.  I'm always amazed at how time seems to fly by, but at the same time I can barely remember what it was like to not be married to Ronnie.

Because Grandma and Grandpa Cali had come into town for the birthday celebrations, we were able to go out on an actual anniversary date. 

Wanna know what we did?

Shopped for a new fridge for our new house and then had dinner at Olive Garden.  We are insane party animals.  As you can imagine, our social calendar is completely empty totally full, so you better contact me as soon as you can to get in on the party action. 

We may or may not take you to Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears and other appliance stores all over the city.

Get excited.

And, I thought it would be fun for me to record the short-ish kinda long version of how Ronnie and I met, etc. (you know, for posterity).

Ronnie was just home from his mission in the fall of 2002 and moved into The Riviera (affectionally referred to as "The Riv" by those who know it well).  I was beginning my second year at BYU and was also living at The Riv.  We happened to be in the same ward.  I remember meeting Ronnie fairly quickly after the semester started.  He and his roommate Clay went around to visit every apartment of girls in the ward, and ours was just another stop on their "tour."  Since they had both only been off of their missions for about 6 weeks (or less), most of our conversation was church related.  I remember temples as a main topic.

Fast forward a few weeks and I was dating his roommate.  It lasted just a week or two and then we both moved on.  I remember gossiping chatting with Ronnie about how it all went down afterward.  That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

That year we both had lots of fun in groups and with each other, but we never dated.  The summer of 2003, Ronnie returned to Califonia to work and be with his family and I stayed in the Provo area while I worked for BYU Broadcasting part-time, took a few online classes and traveled back to Wyoming for several weeks to be a nanny/housemaid.  We continued to stay in touch and even saw each other once or twice when I went down to California or he came up to Provo.  During that summer, I realized that I liked him, but knew that he was a little weirded out with the whole "date someone your roommate dated" thing.  I guess I was a lot braver then than I am now, because during one phone coversation I just asked him, "Do you think we could ever date?"  I don't remember his exact answer, but I do remember that essentially his answer was no. Surprisingly, our friendship survived such a phone call. 

The next fall, I was living in The Riv once again, but Ronnie had decided to move to another complex.  We still saw a lot of each other and this was the year that we became "go to" dates for one another.  Need a date to participate on a group date? Call Ronnie/KaLee.  This is when Ronnie says that he started thinking maybe he could be more than friends. I on the other hand, had moved on to new crushes.  I still considered him one of my closest friends, but had stopped thinking of him as anything more.

The summer of 2004 found us both staying in Provo for work.  We continued to hang out and he even traveled to Laramie with me when I went home for my youngest brother's baptism, so he got to meet the fam.  On that road trip was when I realized that he was acting differently and began to pick up that he might be thinking that we could try that dating thing.  I was very unsure about how I felt about this...after all, I had laid my heart out on the line the summer before and gotten shot down.  According to Ronnie, the result of all of my swirling feelings was that I treated him like dirt for a few weeks (sorry, hon!).

Early in the fall of 2004, Ronnie decided he had to act.  Most don't know that he is very thoughtful and sentimental, but that side of him led him to write me a poem about how his feelings had changed and he wanted to start dating.  He planned to ask me to hang out (something that wouldn't seem weird to me based on our friendship).  We would go out for ice cream and then go for a walk, then he would pull out the poem and wait for my reaction. This was all supposed to be a surprise to me.

Unfortunately for Ronnie, he told the plan to my former roommate and close friend, Carissa, who felt that I REALLY needed to know what was going to hit me and proceeded to tell me.  (I don't know if Ronnie will ever completely forgive Carissa for that one. :)  )  So, I had about a day to process this all in my head and decide what I wanted to do.  I remember praying for guidance all day.  I knew Ronnie so well, that I knew deciding to date him was essentially deciding to marry him.  We had 2+ years of close friendship and there weren't many things I didn't know about him.

I remember my mind racing that evening as I tried to act like I had no idea what was going on.  I pre-thought every facial expression and comment to make sure it sounded "natural." We went out for ice cream (Cold Stone, delicious) and as we were getting in the car, Ronnie asked if I wanted to go on a walk.  I responded with, "Walk? We don't walk!"  I can't remember Ronnie's excuse to actually get me to walk at this point, but before I knew it we were in Rock Park, walking.  We came to a bench, Ronnie pulled out the poem and I proceeded with my practiced "surprised" facial expressions and responses. 

Thus began the dating of KaLee and Ronnie.

A month later we were talking about marriage and picking out rings.  We got engaged December 1, 2004 and were married February 18, 2005. (BYU doesn't have a spring break, but they do have a long President's Day weekend).

And here we are, 6 years, 6 (almost 7) houses, 7 jobs, 4 cars, 3 degrees, and 2 kids later, absolutely loving life!

And now a few pictures from our college years for your enjoyment (if you made it through that novel up above).

At the alpine slides

 Hanging out at KaLee's apartment

 Dinner at Red Robin

More hanging out pictures (I have a feeling there will be ramifications for this one).

 On my 21st birthday after I had to crawl through the "butt-slap" tunnel.  He's not even helping me up!

The night we got engaged

 Our wedding day