Katelyn's Eye Surgery

An early morning spent at Primary Children s Hospital! 
Ever since Katelyn was a new baby she has had a blocked tear duct in her left eye.  After months of hoping and praying that it would clear up on it's own, we had to decide to take her to see a pediatric eye doctor.  Since she was already 12 months it was highly unlikely it would heal on its own now.  So the surgery was scheduled for the end of September.  Even thought this was just a minor surgery I was a basket-case the day before. I was scared to have my little baby put under anesthesia.

We had to be there bright and early at six a.m. even though the surgery wasn't scheduled for 7:30.  We were so concerned Katelyn would be sad and ornery since she couldn't have any food or drink before the surgery.  To our great and happy surprise we found that she was very happy to play with all the new toys and other kids.  I am so grateful to have Primary so close, they are so great with kids.  It also made me so thankful that this was just a minor routine surgery and that there was nothing seriously wrong with Katelyn.  She looked so cute in her little pj's they provided!

 In the actual surgery the doctor places a probe into her tear duct to unplug it. They found that Katelyn's tear duct was too narrow so they had to insert a sort of balloon to help expand it.  It was only a twenty minute surgery and seemed to be very successful!
After the surgery she wasn't nearly has happy as before!  By the time I got back to the recovery room she was screaming.  I tried to nurse her, but every time she heard the nurse talk she would freak-out thinking she would take her again.  It took about thirty minuets to calm her down and then about an hour after the surgery we were free to go home.  We then came home and all slept for a few hours!! She woke up as if nothing had happened! She no longer has a sad weepy eye and looks as if nothing was ever wrong. 

Hike to Doughnut Falls

It was such a beautiful day we decided to take the kids up the mountains and go on a hike to Doughnut Falls.  The kids did great and Katelyn liked the hike as long as she was moving.  It was kind of sad once we got there to see the the hole had be covered up by a rock slide.  Still Alyssa and Blake loved climbing in the middle of the river.  It was a beautiful afternoon!!

4th Grade Egg Drop!!

This week the 4th graders were asked to package an egg so that it would survive a drop off the school!!  Two teachers went to the top of the school and began throwing them off the roof, the kids would retrieved theirs and see if they succeeded!!  The night before we tried a few different things, none of which seemed to work!! At last Doug thought to put it in a thermos lunch box of Alyssa's, then Alyssa thought to wrap it in bubble wrap! 

Here is Alyssa's flying off the building!

She was successful!!

Altara Jog-a-thon

Lead by the principle in his convertible mustang the younger classes started the annual jog-a-thon!  This is their fundraiser each year!  All the kids collect donations and then they jog one of the neighborhoods by the school.  This year I was able to go and watch, so Katelyn and I went to cheer them on!  Blake being the funny boy that he is, dumped a cup of water over his head at one of the drink stations.  I later got a phone call in which Blake asked for some dry clothes!  After K-2nd graders were done, the older grades were able to start.  We were able to see Alyssa at the beginning of the race.  Good job guys!!!

Bike ride

 We went on a family bike ride on the Jordan River Park Way!  It was a beautiful and warm Saturday afternoon.  Katelyn was lucky to ride in the bike stroller and Alyssa and Blake rode their bikes with us.  Look at those beautiful blue eyes!! As long as we were moving Katelyn was a happy baby!

Katelyn's Birthday Party

I can't believe how fast this past year has gone by! I am amazed at how much Katelyn has grown since her birth.  It is hard to believe she came into the world weighing only 3lbs and now she is a large 16 lbs.  It is crazy to look at the difference from those first few days in the hospital to now.  I am so grateful that she is healthy and sometimes happy little baby.  She has been such a great addition to our family!  It has been such fun to watch Alyssa and Blake step up and be a good big sister and brother to her.

Katelyn born 9-9-09

 So the Sunday after we were back from Park City we had a little party for Katelyn.  We invited Doug's parents, my parents and my sister Camille and her family. The theme for the party was monkey's since Kate is our little monkey! So I made BBQ chicken on the grill, and we had fruit and salad.  I also made a mango drink to go with the festive theme.  It was beautiful weather and we had a fun night!  My mom made a cute birthday cake with monkeys and palm trees.

As you can tell from the above picture Katelyn freaked out after we sang happy birthday.  She did have a few bites of the cake, but I think she was a little overwhelmed.  She was helped by all the kids to unwrap all her presents, she had lots of fun with the paper and the ribbon.  I am grateful for the clothes my parents gave her, so cute.  The Larsen's gave her a fun toy with animals and lots of music.  Camille and Brett gave her a cute purple monkey!! Thank you all for the fun night!!

I thought in celebrating Katelyn's birthday I would write down a few things about her so I will remember them.
- Katelyn is a great sleeper, and has been sleeping threw the night since about 4 months(one of her best qualities).
- She loves to crawl and has been moving since around 10 months, and she has no desire to walk.
- She loves to climb up and down the stairs, great and safe place to play!
- She loves listening and dancing to music!
- Katelyn hates milk and any-other liquids, she wont drink out of a bottle, cup or a straw or anything else.
- First words, da da , ma ma, and hi!! She loves to say nama nama na! She has such a cute little voice.
- She loves most every food I put in her mouth, she especially loves fruit.
- Kate loves to play with anything I don't want her too, things in drawers, plastic bags, loves the dishwasher, and helping with laundry.
- She adores her brother and sister, she loves to play with them.
- A total mama's girl, it drives me crazy!

Grandma Day!!

My mom got together with her sisters and decided they would do a grandma day with all their grand-kids.  It was to celebrate their mother since she is no longer around. We had it in my Aunt Daryl's backyard.  There was a bounce house and slide, cotton candy machine, and snow-cone machine.  We all had lunch together and then the kids had fun playing together.

 This is Katelyn and my cousins Austin's baby Livvy, they are about two months apart!  They played well together on the blanket.

 Nana had lots of fun with the cotton candy machine, it was so sticky and sweet! Mmmmmm good! Blake somehow stepped in the snow-cone flavoring and came home with bright green feet!  No amount of cleaning and soaking got his feel cleaned off.  It wasn't until the next week when we went swimming that they came clean.  We learned to stay clear of the snow cone machine without shoes on!

Here are all the kids, I think there were about sixteen in all, ranging from age nine to a new baby.  I am greatful to my mom and my Aunt Daryl and Collette for the fun time they planned for all the kids.

Thank you!! Hopefully we will do it again next year!

Park City Vacation September 4th-11th

This Summer we had lots of extended family vacations with my family and Doug's.  Since July and August are Doug's busiest times at work he was unable to take any more time off in the summer for a family vacation.  So we decided to take Labor Day weekend and then the rest of the next weekend as our vacation.  We wanted to go somewhere close enough but far enough away. So Park City was a perfect choice! 

We stayed at the Marriott Summit Watch that sits right on main street.  It was perfect for our family, it had one bedroom and a full kitchen with plenty of space.

Katelyn had fun crawling and exploring every thing she could.  Here she is with her new favorite toy, a snake!

 On Sunday the kids wanted to take their dad to this old cemetery that is hidden against the mountain. Most of the graves date back to when the miners first settled the area.  It was fun to go around an read all of headstones. Then on Monday, Park City celebrates Miners Day.  They have a rolling of the balls down main street and then a little parade.  So I took Blake and Alyssa while Katelyn had a nap.  People could buy little ping pong sized balls to race down main street for prizes.  This was a type of fundraiser for the city. Here are kids along side the track, balls would bounce out and they would put them back in.

Another great thing about the Marriott is that they have lots of activities for families.  They have a pool that is half indoor and half outdoor with four hot tubs of all heat levels. There is also kids play room with a Wii and other games and activities for kids of all ages.  During the week they have a schedule of different arts and crafts that you can sign up for.  Alyssa and Blake were able to decorated a flower pot and made some bracelets.  They also couldn't get enough of Lego Harry Potter and would beg to play every chance they could get.  There is also a sports court that they had fun attempting to play basket ball on.

While we were in Park City we were able to celebrate Katelyn's 1st birthday.  September 9th my sweet little girl turn one, can't believe how fast the year has gone.  It is amazing to think that a year ago we were in the hospital and she only weighed 3lbs.  She now looks like a happy healthy 9 month old.  We are so thankful that she is a healthy happy baby.  I can't imagine our family without her in it!  We are planning a birthday party with her when we get home so that our families can celebrate with us.

To celebrate we went out for pizza and then came back to the room and had cupcakes while she opened some presents.  She was a little overwhelmed, and wasn't into her yummy cupcake like I wanted her to be!  Oh well, we had fun celebrating with her!  Then we all headed to the pool for a fun swim before bed!

We are so thankful for the fun we were able to have as a family for one uninterrupted week.  We were able to go on a bike ride or two and had fun wandering around main street.  On one of the rainy days I was able to take the kids to see a movie, we saw Despicable Me and had a fun time.  I am so blessed to have such great kids and a great husband, I enjoyed being with them playing games and just having fun.  I wish we were able to slow down and relax and enjoy each others company more often!  For now I will take it when I can.