A Happy MN Christmas and WY New Year!

This year we went to Minnesota for Christmas! We had a wonderful time! My parents as always went all out! The first couple nights were hard on Kaylen's sleep routine as we got in pretty late and in the middle of a snow storm! So, she went to be late that night and the next night as it was Christmas Eve and we always go to the candlelight service at church! But I think we've learned our lesson. I do love the candlelight service, but it's not really worth keeping Kaylen up too late for it. She did "pretty good" overall. She did good with naps and sleep, but as the week wore on, she ended up in our bed in the middle of the night. But the nice part of all of it, was having my parents there in the morning! We were spoiled! When Kaylen would wake up, my parents would pretty much take care of everything and feed her... so we got to sleep in quite a bit! I think it was the most sleep I'd gotten since Kaylen was born! It was a wonderful treat!

Here is our beautiful girl all dressed up for church on Christmas Eve! I didn't get any pictures on the blog of Christmas morning, but she was a spoiled little girl! She had a wonderful time eating the wrapping to the presents and playing with her new toys. Her definite favorite was a table top toy thingy that makes noise, has all the flashy lights and does all kinds of things Jeff gave her! Ohh... and quite funny was this singing, dancing donkey my parents gave her. She's still not to sure what to think of that one. We got spoiled by ALL of our family! Gregg's parents sent presents to us in Salt Lake and we had a mini Christmas with Leslie in early December and then they sent a few to Minnesota for us. Our big present to both our parents this year was a 2010 Calendar we made of Kaylen. It definitely hit the spot... but now they've warned us that they expect a calendar every year! :-)

My Mom bought Kaylen her very own tiny sled, so we had to get all bundled up and take her for her first sledding excursion around the front yard! She went down the little slope in the front yard, but the sled definitely handled best on the street... don't worry, no cars! Once her little nose got red, we called it good and went inside! It was fun to have a little time in the snow with her!

These door jumpers are by far her favorite thing to play with/in. There is one at daycare and we actually have one at home, but can't use it! There are no full door frames in our apartment... how ridiculous is that!!! So, my Mom, being as savvy as she is, went out and bought this one toward the end of our trip so Kaylen could bounce like crazy in it! She was adorable to watch. Then, my Mom took it back after we left! How smart!

Minnesota was wonderful! We had a wonderful, blessed Christmas with my family. My Mom held an Open House that Sunday and we got to see lots of people we hadn't seen in a long time! If we weren't able to see people there, we made a point to try to see everyone we could before we left. It was great! But mostly, we spent as much time with my family as we could as they loved each and every minute they got with Kaylen. She is also very loved by her Uncle Jeff! He likes to have little conversations with her... but he doesn't like anyone else to hear them! They are fast friends! Thanks again to my family for being wonderful hosts and giving us a wonderful time in Minnesota!

It was hard on the Jones side as it was for us to be away for Christmas. It's always the hardest part of having family so far apart. But they had a wonderful Christmas in Wyoming with the rest of the family. It snowed a ton in Minnesota as it did in Wyoming! So, we decided to make use of our long weekend over New Year's to head to Star Valley when we got home. Gregg worked New Year's Eve, so we headed to Star Valley New Year's Day and spent Friday through Sunday with them. Again... so wonderful! Kaylen has even more people to entertain her and love on her there! As we have two more grandparents to let us sleep a little extra in the morning! ;-) We played lots of games together and even got a chance to take out the snowmobiles thanks to the new snow! We actually took Kaylen around a couple times with Gregg and I on the sled behind the snowmobiles! Don't worry, we went S-L-O-W! :-) She didn't seem to care for it one way or another, so soon we let her go in with Grandma Cherie and the rest of us played a little more outside! Gregg always comes in the house looking like the abominable snowman! We get to have lots of fun with him! We should be back in Star Valley over President's Day in February for the annual cousins ski extravaganza and Warren's Birthday.

Gregg starts school again tomorrow for the semester. He got a 4.0 this last semester and was taking SUPER difficult classes! This semester his main focus is going to be preparation for the MCAT which he is going to be taking May 27th! He's already started one MCAT prep class and is already stressed out! I think it is going to be a stressful semester, but we'll get through it! We are also trying to plan a now LARGE family trip to Australia this summer! We're trying to work out exactly who's going, then to purchase tickets, then on to the fun details! Kaylen is 7 months now and is really thinking about crawling, but she's not quite there yet... but hopefully soon! Again, I could say I'm going to get better with this whole blogging business, but who am I kidding! Sooner or later, I'll post again!

So, this was Kaylen's new accomplishment the week of Thanksgiving! She learned to sit up by herself! When she was in her crib for this picture, she went 10 minutes without help! As soon as Gregg went to get the video camera and turned it on, she fell! But so it goes! She's so adorable though sitting up all by herself! This was still in November and now she doesn't even really need the help of a pillow, etc! It's fun to watch her sit and play!

We hosted ALL of the Jones family in Salt Lake for Thanksgiving! Gregg had to work that day so it was the only way for us to have it altogether! And it was wonderful! Minus a few sleeping arrangement hangups, it went super well! We crowded everyone into our tiny kitchen to eat. There was just enough room to fit the card table the Joneses brought so everyone could sit together. We pulled Kaylen's highchair up close so she could play while we ate! Cherie did a WONDERFUL job making ... yep, everything! I was in charge of a couple appetizer-ish foods and that was fine by me! I really am going to have to learn one of these days! But she did a great job and it was appreciated by all!

Tradition called for putting up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, so that's what we did! We bought our first fake tree this year! Kaylen was curious about its going up, but was most interested in the lights! The Jones side brought most of their gifts as we weren't going to get a chance to see them again before Christmas. So, our tree had LOTS of presents under it very quickly!

I had to put up a picture of Kaylen's best pal, Dane. Outside of daycare, it's her friend she gets to see most! Dane is our friends, Jason and Ali's baby boy. He is just over a month and a half younger than her! He's adorable! We've already thought about arranging their marriage!

And yet another adorable picture of our little boo boo! Light of our lives, apple of our eye, center of our universe! Yes, we gush and gush and gush. But seriously... look at her! Who wouldn't! :-)

Pieces of November

So, I uploaded these pictures a while back, but never got around to posting a blog! Gregg and I celebrated our 4 year Anniversary November 5th! He made reservations at the restaurant we went to for our 1st year Anniversary. It's called Cafe Molise... yummy Italian! Our 1st year trip was so memorable and I can say that our 4th one was as well! Not quite as eventful, but WONDERFUL! My husband is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I am one LUCKY girl!

We've started giving Kaylen solids. We started out with the typical rice cereal. We got a little bit of a delayed start as she was having such a hard time getting rid of her ear infection. We then moved onto a jar of sweet potatoes over Thanksgiving... which she Loved! But she ate the whole jar which was a little much for her system. So, we back tracked a little to oatmeal and then started back to some green vegetables. So, far she seems to love peas, likes carrots a little less and we're moving onto green beans... probably tomorrow night as Gregg works tonight and I always like for him to be around for the first night of the new vegetable! But above is a picture we LOVE! Sometimes she could take or leave her vegetable feeding, but sometimes she gets ecstatic! Just last night, Gregg was saying how she just plunges her face toward the spoon! Obviously, in the picture above, she just took the spoon right out of Gregg's hand!

Grandpa Marv and Grandma Ruby came to visit... early November. My Mom and Dad did lots of reading and playing with Kaylen. She does a little better with board books because of the books have paper pages... you have to watch her closely! She likes to grab for the pages so I foresee a lot of missing pages in books!

We took her outside to show Grandma and Grandpa how she loves the swing! Which she did! We had to bundle her up really good so that she didn't freeze her little tooshie off!

Gregg and Kaylen made snow angels!

Much much more has happened as it is now nearing Christmas! I'm going to try to get a picture or two up from Thanksgiving hopefully before Christmas with a few more updates!

Halloween.... late! :-)

How cute is that little sweet pea!? Wearing Daddy's sweat suit from when he was a baby. She's ADORABLE!

This is our happy little girl in her early Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa Koski. They bought her an exersaucer but wanted her to get to use it sooner than later! Plus, that is not something we could've hauled on the plane with us! She loves it, so thank you!

Auntie JJ came down from Logan for Halloween weekend. The Utes were playing the University of Wyoming. Gregg kept joking around with Jay that her costume was being a "loser" since she wore Wyoming gear and Wyoming was going to lose. We let Kaylen wear her Wyoming shirt that Jay bought her for part of the day so Jay didn't feel so alone! :-)

Kaylen had three costumes; a pumpkin, pea pod and ladybug. The pea pod seemed to be the overall favorite and I love the above picture, so had to put it up!

Gregg decided at the last minute Halloween morning that he was going to be Wolverine. And he did SUCH a great job for last minute! He shaved his beard and styled his hair perfectly! So, I guess I was the only party pooper without a costume! But as she gets older, I'll have to start getting creative! Gregg was super excited to not have to work for the first Halloween since we've lived in Utah. He loves getting to pass out candy to the kids who come to the door. At one point, he even tried to fake them out by trying to give them bananas. It was pretty funny. Don't worry, they all got candy! :-) One thing is for sure, we had a wonderful first Halloween with Kaylen!

What a great Fall!

Gregg picked out this super cute fleece outfit for Kaylen and she's so cuddly in it! The little ears on the top of the hood are especially cute! My parents finally did it! They came out to visit Salt Lake and we drove to Star Valley, Wyoming so they could check out Gregg's neck of the woods! It meant a lot to all of us to get to share that with them! It's about a 3.5 hour road trip there and it went well! We had a good visit Friday when we got there and Saturday we drove up to Jackson Hole. My Mom fell in love with the canyon drive up to Jackson!

It wasn't a great day to check out The Tetons and it was especially hard to really see how great the Grand Teton is because of the low clouds, but we at least had to take the picture!

We stopped in at the visitor center, had a yummy lunch at the Mexican restaurant in Jackson and did a little walking around town. We got a great picture in front of the Elk Horn arch, my Mom got to check out the Million Dollar bar with saddle bar stools and to top of their Jackson visit... a visit to the Elks Lodge! I swear, if my parents find out there's an Elks Lodge around, they definitely try to stop! It was wonderful having everyone together! Leslie came from Logan to hang, so it was a wonderful weekend! Great company, great food (thanks Cherie) and good times! Well, I suppose the only downfall to the weekend was Gregg getting super sick on Sunday. We got nervous it was one of the "flus"and didn't want Kaylen to get it, so we went to the ER in Star Valley to make sure it wasn't the flu. Turns out Gregg had a bacterial infection of some kind and got some meds for it. I ended up having to pack the car and drive us back to SLC, but for all the times Gregg has done it... well, pretty much every time but this one, it was definitely my turn! Too bad more of us caught some of it! The only people that didn't get it was Katie, Ian, my Dad and Kaylen! Sheesh! But we're all over that now... Kaylen just has a pretty awful cold!

My Mom is a sucker for great deals, so she bought costumes for a baby before Gregg and I were even thinking about having a baby! But good thing she did because look how cute she is in all of these! We had to have a fashion show so we could see what fit and which ones we liked the most! There is this pumpkin one, a pea pod and a lady bug! She was cute in ALL of them! We'll probably have to find excuses so she can wear all three come Halloween!

We don't have apple orchards here or at least none close that I know of, so we took our sweet pea to the pumpkin patch! She tried to sleep through it, but we couldn't let her do that! She got her picture taken with lots of pumpkins and seemed to enjoy herself! We bought a good size pumpkin that Gregg and I will carve, two littler ones and one tiny one just for our tiny one!

It's been a beautiful weekend here, so we sure made the most of our day! We got professional pictures taken in the morning, had lunch, went to the pumpkin patch and took a walk before dinner! Daddy is going to be busy tomorrow. He's shadowing a Dr in the morning, will come hang out with us for a few hours and then has to work until midnight! But we're sure glad we had him while we did!

Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Kaylen had her first trip to the zoo! We went to the Utah Hogle Zoo just up the street from our apartment Saturday September 26. The weather was starting to get cooler, but it was supposed to be a great day and it was! It was gorgeous! We got there nice and early to get a good parking spot, which we did and to avoid some of the crowd, which we did! The picture above is how she spent a good portion of our trip, asleep in her car seat, but she did get to see some great stuff!

There was a new baby elephant, a baby girl name Zuri! She was SO CUTE! Kaylen was awake to see the baby elephant! She didn't have much of a clue that she was looking at the cutest little elephant around! To commemorate the occasion, we bought Kaylen a super cute stuffed elephant, of course!

Usually the bears are in the deep hole that's right below so normally we don't get that great of a view, but that day, they were out and playing. While I was feeding Kaylen her bottle, two of the bears actually stood up on there legs and were wrestling around!

There was also a baby giraffe! Isn't he super cute! Kaylen was asleep by this point, but I took lots of pictures of the giraffe! As we were about to leave the area, the baby giraffe laid down, so we had great timing!

And there's adorable Daddy! It was such a great day to go to the zoo! She got to see the new baby elephant, the baby giraffe as well as the baby snow leopard and the baby tiger cubs! Gregg and I already love the Zoo, but it was a fun experience to take Kaylen for the first time! It will be lots more fun when we take her and she understands it for the first time! :-)

Rolling Over Machine!

Kaylen rolled over for the first time on Sep 20 and I missed it! I put her down on her play mat, seriously went 7 steps to get a banana, came back and she had rolled over! I attached a picture of what I saw! I could've died! I tried to get her to do it again, but she wouldn't... not then, but the next time we saw her do it was at her 4 month Dr. appt in front of Gregg, myself and the Dr! She was definitely trying to impress the Dr! It was adorable! We all just sat there and watched her roll right into the wall! It was SO CUTE! She only likes to roll to her left and once there, it doesn't take long for her to get mad. She doesn't quite get the cause and effect thing... she likes to roll over, but doesn't realize it's her fault she's on her tummy! She's flipping adorable! Now, she's a rolling over machine! She loves to roll from her back to her tummy. Now we have to work on tummy to back!

So, I have to start somewhere! It's been FOREVER since I posted! Work has been crazy, life has been crazy, and not much time to get on the computer! I thought I would start here for once. For once I tried to put her down for a little nap before bed and thought I would try the pack-and-play. So far so good! Normally, I just want to cuddle her, but I thought I would try it this time so I could get a few things done!

I've been back to work for over a month now. When I got back to work, I was given two new jobs because another person got a promotion. Would be a good thing if I got paid more for doing those two new jobs on top of mine, but nope! So, now I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off every day. I keep hoping there will be a slow day, but nope, not yet! It's definitely been a transition. It got easier bringing Kaylen to daycare, but it's still hard. I wish I didn't have to, but it is what it is. They are very good to her and take very good care of her. It's nice to not have to worry about the care she's getting.

Gregg's been working his new job. He works Sundays now, which stinks to give up half our weekends, but he's home more nights during the week. He really enjoys it. He has a lot more patient involvement and has been doing such a great job! He's been really busy just getting ready for when he'll apply to med schools. He's shadowing doctors and has to do a ton of hours for an internship that will start this week. He's a busy guy and we hate every minute that he's not home, but we are VERY proud of him. He works so hard and is doing SUCH a great job!

Kaylen has been LOVING bath time... as long as I don't wait until too late at night to do it! She loves to splash around in her little tub. She didn't like the little hammock it came with because she loves being submerged in the water, but as soon as she was big enough, we took it out and the tub was a hit! Every new thing is fun with her! She is a rather serious little monkey, but she's been smiling more and more lately! She had her first GREAT giggle Oct 3, the day before her 4 month birthday!