6 month side by side

Man, it's crazy to see these two at the same age side by side.

People often tell me they look a lot alike. It's true.

 Definitely siblings.

Oh, these two make my heart ache in the best kind of way.

the present & gratitude

I have often been guilty of the sin of ingratitude(or perhaps I should label it insufficient gratitude.) Blinded by things that I felt ought to be different, or by a cloud of pessimism hanging above my head, or by simply not paying attention.

I read or saw a quote somewhere that said "if you want to be happy stay in the present." If I think about the future I stress out. If I think about the past I'm filled with regrets. I really feel that quote is for me right now. It's hard to let go of my expectations as to what my future should be, or what it could be, but I think it might help if I did. It's hard to look back and wonder 'if only I'd done this or that.' When I live my life day by day I really feel a lot better. I hope that in the coming year I can be more self-aware, and more aware of the Lord's hand in my life, more present.

We had Thanksgiving with some of our good friends tonight. It was wonderful. The food was delicious, the company was choice, I almost didn't miss my family. Almost. I made two pies, my first pies, and they were surprisingly good!
Now to the heart of the matter. Gratitude. What am I grateful for? The list probably hasn't changed too much from last year's (here) except for number 7. Now, I am thankful for our darling G and how she adds to our family with her sweet spirit. I love my life. I love it. I hope that I can remember to be grateful, to be more ready and able to acknowledge the good, the blessings, the experiences that the Lord places in front of me. I hope I will remember to stay in the present. Because really, the present is pretty good.

Oh, and don't mind the pictures. Again. Nothing to do with the text. Just some of my favorites from instagram. (For those of you who aren't IGers)

Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving.

love,
Katie

the plant blues

I bought my first house plant sometime in high school. It was some kind of succulent. It was beautiful, but that didn't last, after a few months it was a spindly, tall, awkward looking plant. Per haps it was going through plant puberty (which it would never out grow) to reflect the stage of life I was passing through? I passed it on to my green-thumbed mother and who knows she may still have it growing somewhere.

Well, awhile back I decided to try again. It would be lovely to have some green living things in our apartment. I bought an orchid. It was beautiful. Then slowly but surely the flowers fell off, then the stalks, the growing medium grew mold, and I just noticed the other day that one of it's leaves had turned yellow so I pulled it off. I will admit that it has survived a lot longer than I ever would have thought. I don't know much about orchids so perhaps this is just part of it's normal cycle.

I convinced Adam that it would be nice to have some flowers around again (as our orchid my never bloom again) and it's much cheaper to buy some living begonias than a bouquet. So, some beautiful begonias were placed in a shopping cart, purchased, and not long after graced our table. Well, a month passed and the poor begonia is not the better for it. It followed a similar but much more hasty path to the yard waste bin...(well, that isn't exactly true, I still have both plants on my windowsill but that will be their final destination).

completely unrelated photo of a four leaf clover I found

Why are you bothering us with this you may well ask? The answer? I feel like complaining. Did I miss the green-thumb gene that some in my family clearly have? (check this out for proof).

J. Tidbit

J: "What kind of socks are these?"
K: "Ankle socks."
J: "What are ankles?"
K:"They're these boney parts before your feet." 
K: "And what are these?" 
J: "Knees." 
K: "And these are your thighs, and these are your calves."
J "And these are my itchys!" (He says as he scratches behind his knees.)

He loves Photo Booth on our computer. I often find very silly pictures he's taken of himself.

blessed

On Sunday the 26th we had G.'s blessing.

She wore a dress made by my mother that I wore 26 years ago.

  When J. saw her in her dress he said "She's so pretty, mom!" Yes, she is.

 I'm glad we didn't wait longer (we thought about it) because the dress barely fit over her succulent arms. Yes, succulent. They are squishy goodness that just beg to be chewed (without teeth of course).

 The only family that could make it were Adam's darling aunt Cheri and uncle Dale. While the rest of our family members were greatly missed it felt good to have her blessed in front of our ward family.

She was blessed by her father, surrounded by Nate Williams, Nate Grow, Rob Egbert, Steve Watson, Geoff Bean,  Russell Johnson, & Chris Layton.

 It was a sweet blessing for our sweet little jewel.

 

I really am so very blessed.

J. Quotes

This boy is making up new definitions, and similes.

apparently opening your mouth really wide is the new smile for pictures.

Earlier today-

J: "If someone picks up the spoon, they will beef me."
K & A: "What?!"
K: "What does beef mean?"
J: "beef means to poke and hit."
J: "I like beefaroni so..."
A: "You like the word beefaroni?"
J: "Yeah, it's good."

Earlier this month-

K: "I'm going to sunbathe. It's like taking a bath in the sun."
J: "Oh! you're going to go take a shower in the grass?"

3 years + 3 months

 3 years

 J. had a birthday on the 11th. It was a quiet birthday but very fun. He requested balloons and chocolate cupcakes. His birthday dinner request was "Mickey-Mac" and broccoli.  (He also eats butter, not with toast, just plain butter, sound familiar? Mickey-mac, broccoli, and butter...yes, he loves the same foods his uncle Michael did at the same age).

adding some purple- 8.11.12 

riding a unicorn

We went to a park to take some birthday pictures and to play. It was lovely. When he was playing on the playground a little half-asian girl came and they ended up playing together. There are little plastic hammock type things at said playground and J. likes to pretend to sleep on them. At one point the little girl was standing near her parents and J. asks her "do you want to sleep with me?" Her parents thought it was pretty funny and said something along the lines of how forward boys are these days and how it starts younger and younger.

twins (J. loves to be twins with his dad, and has requested I get him pajamas that match G.'s)

When we went home we had cupcakes, sang the song, and opened presents. We then all played together with them until J's bedtime. It was a good day.

3 months

We can't believe little G. is already three months. She is growing so fast and is so determined to continue doing just that.

I don't know if we're remembering incorrectly or if it's true, but it seems like she is reaching her benchmarks a lot faster than J. did at the same age.

She loves tummy time. She is interested in toys and bats at them (and at our faces) with her little hands. She seems to love being naked and is always ready to smile. She's very patient and is becoming a tough little lady. I imagine that she'll be able to run circles around J. in a year or so.

Here comes trouble.

This little boy... He has split personalities right now. One is sweet, sensitive, and funny. The other is aggressive, crazy, and stubborn. Parenting is no joke. 

 He loves legos (already) and will play with them for 30 minutes at a time or more, which is quite long in the toddler world. We keep his crayons and coloring books in a drawer he can reach and at least once a day I find him coloring at the table.

He loves to pretend to be characters (and people) he likes, such as Puss in Boots, Nausicaa, Darth Vader, Tron, Captain America, Jasper, Gideon, and my favorite Adam. When he pretends to be Adam he has to gel his hair, wear undies, and call me "sweetie."

 He enjoys going to parks around Seattle, and loves Nature School. His favorite color is blue. His favorite food is vegetables (yep, I'm lucky I know), "Mickey-mac," pizza, and kimchi + bop. He still hates peanut butter and can't understand why anyone would eat it. 

He calls me Kate and Katie about half the time. He hums and sings all through-out the day (with a very eclectic mix of Gotye, Children's Hymns, and movie soundtracks.)  He enjoys "helping" me cook. He is generally a good big-brother but certainly likes to keep us guessing on that subject. I'm grateful for him and his antics that keep me on my toes and add variety to my days.

tick-tock-tick-tock

Time is such a strange thing. Time can fly, and drag, and cease to exist. And yet it passes predictably, second by second, minute to minute, hours, days, weeks, months, and years.

day 1

Just two and half months ago every day felt longer than the Great Wall. Now, time is a silky scarf that brushes quickly against my skin as it flutters by. It is elusive to my grasping hands that want to hold said scarf, keep it still, bunched up, and hidden in my hands.

day 28

I hold my baby girl and she smiles, charming her way into a place in my heart that will only be for her. I look at my little boy, who not long ago was a baby himself, he's humming the Star Wars theme as he plays. Oh, how I love them. I wish that time would take a nap, stop running around all the time, and just hide in my hands until I felt it was time to move again

day 59

A Shower

I have the most wonderful friends. I never thought I would have such amazing and giving women for friends when I moved to Seattle. Four of these said friends threw me a baby shower that could have been featured in a magazine. Take a look.

My lovely friends pre-party getting ready.

My one regret is that I forgot to have any pictures taken during the party so there aren't any pictures of 1: the delicious food (which included a white bean stew, spinach salad with poppy seed dressing, lemon mousse with fresh berries, and dark chocolate covered strawberries), and 2: all of the wonderful women that came to celebrate with me. I think everyone had a good time we ate, talked up a storm, and oohed and awed at the adorable little gifts. I couldn't keep from smiling on my way home alone in my car, feeling grateful for all of the wonderful people I've met and made friends with here in Seattle.