Thanksgiving Day

Scott had to work all day Thanksgiving, but we were able to still see him when he was done with work.  Kylie slept in late and I tried curling my hair for the second time.  It takes me forever to curl my hair, but it looks cute so I hope to get the hang of it soon.  I packed up some stuff and Kylie and I headed over to grandma's to hang out until it was time for dinner.  Kylie took a little nap, but not nearly long enough for the upcoming activities.  We arrived at the Bitner's home around 3:30pm and dinner started at 4:00pm.  Only two of the Bitner's six kids were present, so there weren't as many people as usual though they did arrive during pie.  Dinner was delicious and 4 turkeys were cooked!  Two of them were smoked and were actually pretty good.  Kylie loved eating mashed potatoes, rolls and some sweet potatoes. 

Kylie didn't play with Marley much, but Marley would look around for Kylie.  After dinner, people just sat around and talked for a while until it was time to eat some pie.  I brought a pie from Costco because I had a coupon that let me get it for free.  Kylie loved eating pumpkin pie with whipped cream.  Kylie also enjoyed running around with the Bitner boys upstairs.  Time started to drag on after having pie and Kylie was tired and fussy since she didn't get a long nap.  It took forever to get my mom and grandma out of the house to leave, but once we did it was nice to head home.  It is nice to have Thanksgiving with extended family, but I am looking forward to the day where we will have dinner with just our small family.  It will be nice to start some of my own holiday traditions.

Kylie would not cooperate for pictures.

November Goals

Like I predicted, November was a very low-key month.  Scott was working a lot and we didn't really have time to go do any activities.  That and there just weren't any activities to do in November.  My house project was to decorate for Thanksgiving and I wanted to do some fall cleaning.  I got motivated, made a list and then got like 5 things checked off.  I finally cleaned our microwave and wiped down the outside of the cabinet doors.  I still want to clean out the refrigerator as it is a little dirty.  I also dusted the bookshelves, windowsills and blinds in the family room.  Those blinds were pretty dusty!  Cleaning is not something I am a big fan of, so remembering to clean the non-obvious things is hard.  Maybe I'll make it one of my new year's goals to complete the rest of my cleaning.  It'll give me something to do during the winter when it's cold and we're stuck indoors.  Plus, Kylie actually loves watching and helping me clean.  She'll hold either the broom or the dustpan and wipe down counters with a sponge.  I'm sure she would love helping me dust other things and cleaning out the refrigerator.

My goal for Kylie was to make her a church picture book, but I don't have any Friend magazines to cut pictures out of, so I need to get a few of those and then make it.  I think it will really help her sit still during sacrament meeting because she loves to look at pictures.  Scott and I did have a date night and we went to dinner and saw Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.  We both really enjoyed it and I was happy to go to the movies.  Scott had so many late soccer games this month that Kylie and I were not able to attend one.  The one day he had an early game, we were at Dylan's birthday party.  I didn't get to doing a craft this month,but I'm sure I'll be doing some Christmas crafts next month to make up for it.  I planned a pie night with friends and we all got together on the 14th.  I had plans to take pictures this time, but failed again.  I made a cherry pie and these peanut butter Oreo baby pies.  The cherry pie was delicious and the baby pies were okay.  I think they would taste great right out of the oven because then the cookie would be soft, but they hardened up pretty quickly.  Joni made a yummy eggnog pie and Nichole made pie crust cookies.  We played True Colors, Bounce Off and Make a Million.  It was fun!  I'm not sure we'll get together in December, but we'll see.

We did go out the first week of November to temple square, but I put those pictures on another post.  The next week, we did make it over to celebrate Dylan's second birthday.  Scott and I have gotten Brita and Lane addicted to Ticket to Ride.  I guess we talked up how much we loved the game during the blessing weekend to where David and Kristene bought the game for us!!  We were able to give my mom's game back and we have been playing it often.  The third week of November, our outing was our date night.  I had plans to go to the zoo the day before Thanksgiving as it was a free day.  The last Wednesday of the month from November-February is free at the zoo.  Well, the weather was actually nice and while I was meeting Scott there, I told him to turn around as it was insanely crowded!  There was no way I was going to try to find a place to park and then maneuver a stroller when it's crowded.  We ended up just heading back home.  Oh! I forgot that on the 22nd, Target was having a Frozen Extravaganza in all their stores.  Kylie dressed up as Elsa and we went out to eat at IHOP, which was busy again.  This extravaganza was such a bust.  It was just this small section of the store with a small background and a lame gift bag.  Kylie enjoyed wearing her outfit and she has started wanting to push the carts as well!  She is such a crack-up.

I'm not going to lie, I'm glad that Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is coming!!  We already have our first Christmas activity planned for tomorrow which is going to be super fun.  I'm going to drag poor Scott to all these things he probably doesn't care about at all.  I'm glad that he is a good sport about it, though.  I'm ready for the fun month of December!

Happy Thanksgiving!

There's so much to be grateful for this year.  On the way to dinner last night, Scott and I went back and forth saying things that we were grateful for.  It's easy to recognize the big things in life, but being thankful for the small things matter just as much.  I kind of wish I wrote them down as we said them so I could repeat them here, but that didn't happen.  All I know is that my heart is overflowing with gratitude and I couldn't be happier.

Happy Thanksgiving!! 

Enjoy time spent with loved ones.

15 Months

Kylie had her 15-month doctor appointment last week so it made a perfect opportunity to do an update on how Kylie is doing!  She didn't have to get any shots at this appointment and we found out that our doctor is moving to Los Angeles (in June) to take care of his parents.  We are sad that he is leaving as we both really like his personality.  We'll see if the doctor that takes his place is someone that we will enjoy or if we'll need to look for a new doctor (which is something i really don't want to do).  Kylie weighs 20 lbs and is in the 33% for weight, is 31.5 inches long and in the 78% for height and is in the 30% for head circumference.  Kylie didn't have an ear infection and showed the doctor just how busy she is.

Kylie still doesn't say a lot of words, but she babbles quite often.  I need to get better at not having her pacifier available when she doesn't need it.  It'll be easier to wean her off of it if it isn't in her mouth all the time.  Words she can say: up, help, mama, dada, uh-oh, ball (says ba).  Kylie repeats a lot of words, but she doesn't consistently repeat them.  Even though she doesn't talk a lot, she understands a lot.  There's a word book I like to read to her almost daily and the first word is girl.  I ask Kylie who is a girl and she points to herself.  Scott's not usually home when I read it, so she can't point to him to represent boy yet.  She can also identify her shirt, pants and socks.  Kylie knows all the body parts (except shoulders and knees) in the song "head, shoulders, knees and toes".  She doesn't point to the facial features on herself, but can do it on my or Scott's face.  Along with eyes, ears, mouth and nose, Kylie can point to her belly and chin. 

Kylie's favorite toy of the moment is this elephant that goes through the alphabet and plays music.  There is a shape sorter toy, but she asks for help with that one.  Books are another favorite toy of hers.  It is funny to see which books she likes and which ones she doesn't.  There are some books that I bring home from the library that she just does not care to read, so it can be a hit or miss. Our present to her for Christmas is giving her a play room downstairs.  We think she'll have a blast playing with the toys she has now and new ones she'll be getting. 

Kylie is like any toddler and likes some foods and dislikes others.  She loves string cheese, eggs, yogurt, any fruit, pasta, pancakes, frozen peas & carrots, green beans, broccoli, rice, lunch meat ham, Cheerios, graham crackers, macaroni & cheese, applesauce and probably more that I can't think of.  She used to eat chicken fine, but now won't touch it or any other meat that's not a lunch meat.  She'll drink anything as well (milk, water, orange juice, apple juice, grape juice).  Oh, we recently found out that Kylie is a fan of pudding! :)

 It is so fun to see Kylie's personality start showing.  I went shopping last week and I put the bananas next to her so they don't get squished and she bit off the end of one and proceeded to eat the rest!  It made me laugh as I gave her some banana right before we went shopping, but apparently she wanted more.  I can just tell that she is going to keep us entertained.

She colored her first picture in nursery on Sunday!  Too bad we have to wait until she's 18-months to officially let her be in nursery.

I don't have a sticker, but I took some 15-month pictures this morning.  She cried and screamed like we were torturing her while I put her hair in pigtails.  I should have started doing her hair when she was younger, but oh well.  Poor girl will have to deal with it.

She was so done with this photo shoot.

We love this girl so much!

Monday Madness

1. Kylie has been sick for about a week now with a stuffy nose and a small cough.  Today, I noticed her tugging on her ear so I think she might have an ear infection.  Luckily, she has her 15-month appointment on Thursday so I'll talk to her doctor about it then.  Of course, Kylie doesn't act like she's sick at all.  She's been eating the same, sometimes more, and will play like nothing is wrong.  Kylie is such a strong girl and we love her.

We made some delicious homemade orange juice.

2. On November 1st, Scott's family came into town for the baby blessing of Charlotte.  David & Kristene stayed with us and poor Maddie had to deal with 2 little girls chasing after her.  We spent all day at Brita's on Sunday and played a fun catch phrase/charades game.  Monday, we ate breakfast at Kneader's and then headed down to temple square.  We checked out the visitor's center and wanted to go to the roof of the conference center.  The lady who gave us our tour was really into it and took forever!  Abrie, Kylie and Brooke were all tired and struggling, but the lady had to show us everything.  It got a little frustrating as the kids were restless and we were all hungry.  We then talked and played games at Brita's that night.  It was fun to see everyone and got me excited to go to California for New Years!

3. I took the plunge and cut my hair short!  Lane's brother's wife does hair and I asked her about a hairstyle at the baby blessing.  She asked me if I had a stylist, I said no and so I drove up to Clearfield to get it cut by her!  It was really nice to feel comfortable while getting my hair cut.  Jenn was so great to give me tips on how to curl and style it and she just really wanted to make sure I got the hair cut I wanted.  Most stylists just look at a picture and start cutting, but Jenn kept asking questions until she could tell I was confident with what I wanted.  I just wish she wasn't so far away!  I love the cut and so does Scott, which is great.  I curled it the other day, but I definitely need a few more times of practice to get it down. It's the perfect hairstyle for me, right now.

4. I found the website www.sendmeasurprise.com on Facebook and looked it up late one night.  I was really intrigued by it, so I decided to sign up for a 3-month subscription.  It's $30 a box, so $90 total.  It might have been a waste of money, however I'm glad I decided to try it out.  I got my first box the other day in the mail and it was exciting! You fill out a survey on the website where you tell the company all about yourself. They take whatever you write and try to give you things you would enjoy.  I mentioned that I like to cook and that I'm a mom, so I'm not surprised at what I received at all.  The only thing I don't know what to do with is the large jar of coriander seeds.  I've never cooked with that spice, so I guess I'll have to look up some recipes using it! (or maybe give it away as a gift)

I love the cupcake pot holder (which included a red velvet cupcake mix) and I'm excited to try out the flavored hot chocolate mixes.  The company doesn't give you any tracking information so it truly is a surprise when the box comes.  I won't sign up for any more subscriptions, but it was fun to try once!

5.  Scott's application for BYU is due December 1st, so it's coming up soon!  We are trying to balance him working and finding time to write his statement of intent. Scott started his new job at Emeritus last week and worked 5 days.  He'll be working 5 days the rest of the month as well.  Most people work 5 days a week, but they aren't 12-hour shifts.  He'll go to 4 days a week in December, which will be nice as I'm sure there's Christmas activities I want us to do together.  Scott working a lot is a good indicator of how busy he will be once he starts school, so I guess it's nice to get used to beforehand.  I will admit that it will be different for Scott to be in school as it's been so nice with him out of school!  It will definitely be something we both have to adjust to.

6. I know that it's not even Thanksgiving, but I am so excited for Christmas!  I'm refraining from decorating the house until after Thanksgiving, but I just want to do Christmas activities, bake Christmas goodies and watch Elf.  Christmas is such a magical holiday.

My Little Elsa

It was a no-brainer to have Kylie be Elsa from Frozen for Halloween.  She loves the movie and Elsa's dress is the most popular one for girls to dress up in.  Since Kylie is still young, there aren't really any dresses in the stores in her size.  It was even a little tricky to find patterns to make a dress for a 14 month old.  I do want to keep up my sewing skills, so I decided to make her dress.  I wanted something simple so I searched pinterest for ideas.  I found a website where all the pieces to the costume are separate.  It was catered to an older child, but I was able to accommodate the pattern to fit Kylie very easily.  Instead of sewing sleeves, I just bought a white onesie to wear underneath the top and skirt.  The sparkly top should have been an easy sew, but the material I bought made it a little difficult.  Because of the sequins, it made folding and sewing tricky.  The sequins would sometimes get stuck while I was sewing and my thread would bunch.  I tried the best I could to fold evenly, but it ended up being lopsided after I sewed it.  I had to unpick and resew one part and it looked a little better, but it was still uneven.  I know that it's just a Halloween costume and people won't look that close, but it's hard not to make things perfect.  I didn't want to make it too tight around Kylie so she could grow into it some, but it ended up being a little too big, so I had to sew two strips of velcro on the back, which I don't necessarily like the look of.

That same website had a link for a YouTube video on how to sew a simple skirt.  The video was so helpful!  Directions were easy to understand and super simple.  The skirt was originally going to be plain blue, but my mom had some leftover table fabric from Brianna's wedding that matched perfectly!  I love the way the skirt turned out.  It's the perfect length and just looks so clean.

The fabric I bought for the cape was plain and I found some fun ribbon to put around the edge.  The ribbon didn't give the cape as much sparkle as I thought it would, so I kind of wish I had bought a more sparkly fabric.  The cape didn't hold up very well either as it had two holes in it before Halloween even came!  I'm actually not too sad about the cape as whenever Kylie wears the outfit, I probably wouldn't put the cape with it anyway.  I'm glad I didn't sew the cape to the top and decided to use velcro.

I thought about making her a headband with snowflakes, but I never got around to it and that's okay.  Her white headband she had worked just fine and her sparkly gray shoes matched great!  I love how the whole outfit came together and it was so fun to hear people exclaim "oh, cute! It's a baby Elsa!"  Kylie had no idea that she was Elsa from Frozen, but she does love the outfit (I think because the top is so sparkly)!  If she sees it, she'll grab it and show it to me which means that she wants to wear it (she does it with her shoes too).  If Kylie loves it, then the work and effort put into her costume was totally worth it.

Wearing her costume at story time!

October Goals

This is going to be a long post with lots of pictures, but that's because October was such a busy month!  We did a lot of fun activities and I loved it.  October has so many fun activities that I'm pretty sure November is going to be more low-key.  I'm having a hard time finding any activities that are cheap and free.  There are so many sports (basketball, hockey, football, some soccer), but it can get pricey to go to sport games.  Anyway, I'm glad that we did so many fun things in October that it would probably make up if we don't do much in November.

My house project was to put up the Halloween decorations and then try and clean out my closet of some clothes I don't wear anymore.  I took pictures and put them on the yard sale sites on Facebook and I've only had one person come to buy 2 skirts.  I might just have to keep trying or donate them.  My craft and Kylie project was making her Elsa costume (on a separate post).  Since October was so busy, our "date night" consisted of going around and "boo-ing" families in the ward.  I don't count it as a true date night, but it was something.  Apparently I wasn't the only one who had the idea to "boo" families as 4 or 5 of the ones we had in mind had already gotten treats.  I do wonder if  someone knew that it was us because we got "boo-ed" the next day.  I made 4 different types of treats while making grape juice and it got to be a little hectic trying to do both at the same time; so I'll make sure not to do that next year (if we do it).

The treats I made plus pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

We received homemade salsa and chips!

Kylie and I were able to go see a soccer game and we had a friend get together.  We played the newlywed game again and it just didn't seem as fun as before for some reason.  Scott and I did not do well and we had a hard time keeping Kylie occupied.

On October 1st, the zoo had a free admission day and so I went and met Natalie and Bryan (along with Bryan's mom) there.  I might get a zoo membership when Kylie turns 2 as it is a small zoo to go through and I think Kylie would really enjoy seeing the animals often. 

The next week Becky came into town and we did a lot of fun activities which are all written on a separate post.  The week of the 12th, the new aquarium also had a free admission day so again, we met Bryan and Natalie there.  I'm glad that we were able to check it out for free as it wasn't all that exciting.  Aquarium-type animals just don't interest me as much as animals that are at a zoo.  I also had a movie night with my friend Amanda that weekend and we had soup and bread bowls and watched Hocus Pocus.  It's pretty much tradition to watch that movie every Halloween.  I might even made having soup and bread bowls while watching it a tradition too.  It just felt like a perfect fall night.

Cute otters playing.

Penguins!

This was a fun bridge in the rainforest portion of the aquarium.

Kylie insisted on pushing Max's stroller.

On the 24th I took Kylie to trick or treat at the Olympic Oval just up the street.  We got there at rush hour and had to wait in line for about 30 minutes outside.  There weren't many vendors to trick or treat from and the only activities were a bounce house and ice skating.  I stood in line to get a picture with Kylie, but after getting candy from like 5 tables, we left.  I'm glad that wasn't her only trick or treating experience as it wasn't all that fun (luckily, it was free!).

Our plans on when we wanted to go to Cornbelly's didn't work out, so I ended up buying pumpkins at Wal-Mart instead of a pumpkin patch.  It actually worked out better as I got 2 pumpkins for $2 (I price matched).  We carved pumpkins and Kylie wasn't super interested in the pumpkin guts.  She played with it for a few minutes and then was done.  The jack-o-lantern face is Scott's and the cat is mine.

Like I said, the day we wanted to go to Cornbelly's didn't work out as it was only open in the evening and the first game of the World Series was the same day.  The tickets I bought were only good for Monday-Thursday and Cornbelly's was only open during the day on the weekend.  So, we had to go at night and went the day before Halloween.  It was a colder evening and I was silly and completely forgot to bring a jacket for Kylie! Because it was so cold and late, we didn't stay long and weren't able to see everything that was there.  I'll be making sure of the times that it's open next year so we can go earlier in the day and in the month when the weather is warmer. 

I think October might become one of my favorite months!