sEaTtLe TrIp!

We are finally home! Right after Kaitlyn was born, a week and a half, we moved to Texas for Almas Internship. Now we are back in our Apartment in Rexburg and I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it feels to be together as our little family in our own space! It was such a great experience in Texas but it sure does feel good to be home! Alma drove back from Texas to Idaho all by himself and since we didn't want to drive with Kaitlyn, we decided me and her should fly. Since i had to buy a ticket anyway, I figured why not see my Sister Kenna in Seattle on the way! It was so much fun to get to see her family and be able to spend some good quality time with them! Thanks again Kenna for an awesome week!

Here is Jayna and Lilly (Kennas girls) with Kaitlyn! Cousins!
Us riding a Ferry in Seattle!
They were being Silly! Love it!
Kaitlyn with The Smith Gang
So since Kaitlyn was born, less than 5 months ago, she has been on 6 planes.

From Salt Lake to Phoenix/ Phoenix to Houston/ Houston to Denver/ Denver to Seattle/ Seattle to Salt Lake/ Salt Lake to Idaho Falls.

WHEW~ That was a lot!

She has been in different 7 States!
Idaho/ Nevada/Utah/Arizona/Texas/Colorado/Washington

She is quite the traveler if I may say so myself. She did awesome on all of those plane rides except Seattle to Salt Lake. So I can't complain!

It sure is great to be home!

4 MoNtHs aLrEaDy?

Kaitlyn has been so much fun lately!

There are two things you can count on while being around her:

1. She has to have something in her mouth! ANYTHING! doesn't matter what... fingers... binki... toys... blankets... just has to have something in there. (I have a feeling I am going to be saying, "Kaitlyn, don't put that in your mouth!" a lot in the future).

2. She always has to be on the move. She hates staying still. Even in her chair she has to be moving a ton. Just wants to see what the world is all about, I guess!

We took Kaitlyn to the mall and got professional photos taken. Here is her afterwards in her dress and bow. A little bit of a close up, I know, but I just love that little face! ;)

(And of course, fingers in her mouth...)

Here she is with Grandma Chamberlain. We have had so much fun being here during Almas internship and I know Kaitlyn is going to miss Grandma and Grandpa Chamberlain, as well as them missing her! They have had so much fun together during these short months~

Here she is giggling! Tonight we were giving her a bath and she made this "mmmmm" noise and so Alma copied her and she just kept giggling when he did it.

She is so much fun to have in our lives~ She just has such a love for life that rubs off on anyone that is around her!

Silly Silly Silly Post

So sometimes I wonder what Kaitlyn would look like with hair, so me and my mom decided to have a little bit of fun yesterday.

So, I tipped my head forward... and these were our results:

Big forehead!!

And.... Back to Normal.

Maybe it isn't such a bad thing she doesn't have a lot of hair!

I will say, she hated doing this. Otherwise we probably would have taken a lot more of them. I guess the hair was really tickling her face!

NeW cHaIr aNd PiNk fLoWeRs!

Our little girl is growing everyday and I am loving all the new things that she does daily!

Every night I am excited about what tomorrow will bring! She is using her hands more and more. She is getting good at grabbing things and is starting to suck on her hands, which I think is adorable.

We bought her a new chair, she always wants to sit up and be a big girl, which is hard to constantly sit her on my lap.... I would never get anything done! She doesn't mind laying on the floor, flat, but she doesn't last as long as I would like.

Here she is in her new chair. She turns her head so she can look at the Elephants on it. She is so observant and we personally think she is a genius.



She loves the toy that Grandma Chamberlain got for her! Always hugging it and holding it! and of course tasting it.
And she loves her warm booties that Grandma Bates made for her!
Thanks Grandmas!



She was dressed all pretty in pink and since the rain stopped after 4 straight days, we just had to go outside in the sun and take pictures today. My parents have this beautiful bush with all these pink flowers!


Oh! and she is starting to giggle and laugh out loud which is the most fun thing that a Mom and Dad can hear. We just adore everything about her!

Kaitlyn Rolled Over!

We are so proud of our little girl! Last night we were getting ready to give her a bath and we laid her on the counter by the mirror on a towel and she was looking at herself in the mirror. Really arching her back and then she started to Roll Over!

We tried so hard to not help her and then she did it!

I ran and got my mom and she did it again~ (we weren't sure if it was a mistake)

Now today she has done it a ton, so we got one of her on video to share! We are so proud of her~ Back to front seems really hard! She just turned 3 months on March 3rd so we think she is a quick learner!

Tres Meses!

I can't believe Kaitlyn is 3 months! She is so much fun and is growing so fast. Sorry all my posts are about her, she is more interesting than Alma and I.

Tummy time is getting better!!

I will tell you a little about what is going on with us. Alma's internship is going great. He is working hard and commuting an hour and a half to Houston. Becoming a great freeway driver!

I am so proud of his hard work and all that he does for us.

They just gave him the OK to work overtime if he would like now that it is getting to the busy season!

And he just found out that he got accepted to Boise State for Graduate School! We are still waiting to hear back from other schools too but it is great to know that we have that as an option!

'CaUsE yOu'Ve OnLy GoT 1o0 yEaRs To LiVe!

As you can see, Kaitlyn is growing fast. She will be 12 weeks this Wed. and I am surprised at all the things she can do. She is starting to really focus on things better now like her hands and the writing on the inside of her car seat.

She has this look like, "When did this get here!"
I love seeing her grow and progress and do new things.

Always showing cute little faces!

Smiling with mom!


"Gotta love me!"


She is always looking around not wanting to miss anything~

This is a new toy that Grandma Chamberlain bought her.
Now that she is starting to use her hands~
She loves looking at it and every now and again she gives it a little smile.


She did get really sick this last week and I am not going to lie, it really hard to see such a small thing so helpless and in pain. We hung in there and took good care of her and she is doing A LOT better now and we are so happy to have our cute little smiley girl back!
She is such a sweetheart and we love her so much!

BaTh TiMe!!

Kaitlyn LOVES bath time! We give her a bath every single night and she loves being pampered! I know that through the years, we most likely will not get around to doing this for all our kids, but it is fun for us right now!

She gets so excited. No matter how cranky, hungry or tired she is, as soon as she gets in the bathroom, she knows!!! IT'S BATH TIME!!! She is all smiles and boy does she love it!

She gets to spend some quality time with Mom & Dad...

And even though she is too big for her tub... she still loves it...


And she always checks herself out in the mirror.
(Probably wondering why she sees two daddies and two mommies!)

And then she is all ready to go to bed!

Our Weekend fun~

So it was Superbowl Sunday so we had a little PaRtY with yummy snacks. Ice cooler with Rootbeer, chicken fingers, Taquitos, Chips Salsa/ spinach dip, deviled eggs, smoked sausages, and a yummy veggie tray. It was so fun!!! Who played... i am not sure... jk. But for those of you who know me, i am not a huge football fan. But it was a lot of fun~



So Saturday was a Beautiful day so we played basketball. It was so nice to get out and play hoops- We played knock out and 2 on 2. Right after playing 2 hours of basketball we played 2 hours of frisbee with some friends of mine from the singles ward who are all married now. It was a very active day but we love it, especially since it is in January!






So, while we all played basketball, Kaitlyn hung out in her stroller on the grass in the shade. She was such a great girl. (she always is) and a couple times when i went over there to check on her, she had lost her pacifier and was going to town sucking on the pillow around her. (picture below)

It was really funny to see. She just likes to lick everything. Whenever i hold her she licks my shirt. It is pretty fun to see her tongue always busy, even right after i feed her. She was presented with a problem (loosing the pacifier) and she solved it. She is our little problem solver~ Doesn't need mom and dad to fix her problems~ she can do it on her own!!



So tummy time has been the only thing i would say Kaitlyn has struggled with. But within the last couple days she has been doing better and she is happy about it, which makes me happy too!



On Friday, we had our friends Anna and Jeff and Andy and Heather over and we made Pizzas (Chicken Alfredo and Pepperoni) and had chocolate fondue and played Clue~ It was so much fun to hang out with them and enjoy their company. All in all, it was an awesome weekend!

The JoY of Becoming a MoM~

There is certainly a type of joy that comes from becoming a mom that doesn't come from anywhere else. I am so amazed at my little girl when I look at her and how much she has grown.

She has become my "buddy" - we hang out all the time together and I love that she knows who I am and recognizes me and I love that I know everything about her. What makes her sad, how she likes to be held and what makes her smile. I feel like i am Physic because i even know about when she will wake up from her naps... and what her routine is~ it is pretty fun! Oh, and I LOVE how she watches me when i leave a room and smiles at me when i get back! Makes a mom feel good!

She is so adorable and I can't believe that she truly belongs to Alma and I. It is so amazing!

I will admit, at first it is a little overwhelming because your life does change, but boy oh boy does it change for the better. I can't imagine our lives with out her. After the delievery and recovery, and those endless nights without sleep, i wondered how anyone could ever have more than one, but now i see all the joy and love that comes right along with this bundle of joy.

All the things that are hard about getting them here, all disappear (9 months of pregnancy... being uncomfortable and sick and watching the scale climb higher than you ever thought you see in your lifetime. especially in a short amount of time... stretch marks, labor, DELIVERY... (i promised after that last one (delivery) i was done having kids.) everyone told me that i would forget all the bad things. I didn't think that was possible. But it is. I don't know if there is just a delete button that gets pushed and deletes all of those bad things. But it happens!

There is a love and Joy that comes from becoming a mom and it is truly amazing. I heard about it but you don't know what it is like until you truly experience it and also getting to see that little perfect being look right at you and smile! It truly makes your heart melt~