Babysitting

Melody and Katie

A girl in my ward is taking classes this semester, and she needed someone to watch her baby while she took a final today. So Melody (the 6 month old baby) came over to play for a couple hours. Katie loved Melody, but Melody didn't love Katie. In fact Katie scared her. Katie wanted to be friends...she even tried to hold Melody's hand, but Melody didn't want to hold hands. Katie was content to sit and wave at her. Then Melody started crying. Now it was Katie's turn to be scared. both of them were scared by each other, but both wanted me to hold them, but not together. How do you solve that one?
Well, both were getting tired. I put baby 1 in crib and let her cry until I got baby 2 to sleep in living room on couch and barricaded with pillows lest she roll or crawl or move somehow. Then took baby 1 (she had only been left to cry for 10 minutes, don't worry, I don't let babies cry for too long...I'm too soft-hearted) and rocked her until she fell asleep.
I know, I am amazing...

Update on the Days

So while Justin is feverishly working on take-home finals and slacing away at work...I'm hanging out with Katelyn who is currently taking a nap (thank goodness). She's teething pretty hard-core right now so the last week has been up and down. She had such a rough day yesterday. We went to the store to buy some biter biscuits, and I showed her this stuffed bear that giggles. She fell in love with it, and when I put it back on the shelf, she had a meltdown. Considering that I've only ever bought one toy for her (a dollar store doll), we decided to splurge and buy the bear. She snuggles it and laughs with it, and it is so cute to watch her. I was afraid the doll would be like Woody in "Toy Story" and get left in the dust, but much to my pleasure, Katelyn still loves her doll. (In this video, she is a little more interested in getting the camera from me than she is in showing us her new toy.)

Justin is finished with school tomorrow until September and I am counting down the minutes until I get to play with him. We're planning some fun stuff for Pioneer Day, and then cmaping in Montana sometime in August. And I am looking forward to getting so much doen since Justin can play with Katie in the evenings instead of doing homework. Woot woot.

I am currently expanding my sewing horizons. I have decided to make Katelyn a jean skirt. So far I have it cut out and one seam down...two seams to go, the waist band, and the hem. I'm hoping to finish it tonight after Katelyn goes to bed. My next project is Amber's quilt. I've never made a quilt by myself so that should be interesting. My visiting teacher sews quite a bit, and she volunteered to help me if I need it, so hopefully it will turn out well. I like to sew, but sometimes, I'm not very good at following through with projects.

Eight Months

Katelyn turned 8 months today. In the last week she has moved from her inch worm crawl that started last week to full out crawling. She also pulls herself up on the furniture and is beginning to cruise along the edges. And today she learned to clap. She's so proud of her accomplishments that she has a hard time stopping them for bedtime. We play the stand up/put down game for an hour before she settles down to sleep. And then during her nap today she started clapping in her sleep. It was so cute. And the other night she was talking in her sleep not moaning or crying but telling a story and smiling. It was adorable.

Time to Catch Up

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Thanks to having the computer in the repair shop and being on vacation, I feel like I haven't blogged in forever, and I have so much to catch up on. So here goes...

June went by so fast, I think I can still feel my head spinning. We had so much at the family reunion. I can't believe all 12 kids were together in the same place for once. It was crazy with all the people and adults around, but it was fun. Some of my favorite quotes from the week were:

"Oh, my trusty ol' golf ball."- Cole, age 3

"You who, Ethan, come out of the bathroom and play ball with me." Cole

"Does everyone in here know that Jesus created all this [the planets and stars], or do we just know that?" Elise, age 7

"It's okay Katie, I do it too all the time" Alexus said this to Katie after I told her that Katie was crabby because she was tired and hungry.

"Everybody just calm down" Ainsley, age 3

Some of my favorite parts of the reunion were:

Watching Alexus's face when she crab walked
Playing kickball and volleyball
Singing "down by the banks" with my nieces and Tyse
Staying in the tent with Haleigh, Elise, and Emma
Watching the planetarium show with all the kids
Going fishing with Justin, Jordan, and John
Sending my husband off on a fishing trip with my brothers
All the girls dragging Shane out of the house for the picture
Our taboo game on the way back from Basin Creek
The impromptu talent show at the Museum of the Rockies




Independence Day
We went to Toni's in Orem for the 4th of July. It was lots of fun. We went to the zoo, watched the parade, and had a BBQ. Katie liked the zoo even though she didn't last very long in the stroller, and she liked the parade. She was scared by the fire engines, but once the floats started coming by and she could wave back at the people waving to her, she loved it. We watched the fireworks from a little bit of a distance so that she wouldn't be scared by the loud noises, and so she enjoyed those too. It was a fun holiday for us.