Somebody's One!

This little miss had a birthday last week!

We had a little luncheon on her actual birthday with some friends from town to celebrate. We played "Pass the Cow" (basically "Hot Potato" but with a cow, because Kate likes cows, or at least the sound they make) and read The Birthday Box by Leslie Patricelli. We ate pigs-in-blankets, clementines, cheese cubes, and popcorn (the former two because they're small and the latter two because they are some of Kate's very favorite foods) and, of course, had cupcakes. Yum!

Then over the weekend, we had a little joint party with some family for Kate and her cousin who was turning two. I made Kate a block cake like I did for Maggie's first birthday. Kate liked it. We read The Birthday Box again. It is about a baby boy who gets a stuffed animal for a present, but thinks the real gift is the box the animal came in. I have decided we need to write a book about Kate called The Birthday Bag, because I think she had as much fun with her gift bags as she did with her gifts. She must get it from her sister, who was known to tote a small gift bag as her pocket-book for several months before it finally broke one day in Walmart.


We feel so lucky to have our sweet little Kate in our lives. Her ready, crinkly-nosed smile makes every day better. She has such a fun and fun-loving personality, she is always making me laugh. I love the little way she has of reaching for you to pick her up, giving a good hard snuggle, cuddling up for a moment and then turning herself around so she can see the world or be on her way. She has made a lot of friends this way. I love how active, independent and adventurous she is, except when she won't sit in her high chair, eat what I am offering her or lay down to go to sleep. She just loves to be moving and exploring and playing :). She toddles so fast on her little bowed legs. I love her easy-going nature, especially in her interchanges with her older sister :). I love watching her learn new things and grow and change. She is getting so smart. She gets excited every time we mention an animal she knows and will start making their sound. She is extremely observant and knows what lots of everyday objects are for and will pick up on what Maggie, Mike and I are doing. She is getting very good with her utensils, scribbling, combing her hair, and brushing her teeth. And she is already starting to take over Maggie's job of helping me with the laundry. Recently, she noticed Maggie was taking laundry from a pile and putting it in the washer for me, so she picked up some and brought it to the washer too.

Kate favorite foods are lasagna, popcorn, goldfish, and rice. She loves baths. She used to go crawling towards the bathroom at full-speed whenever she heard us start the water in the tub, no matter where she was in the house. One time she did it when I was starting the washer, because she got mixed up. :) She loves hugging babies, real and fake. For her birthday, we gave her her own baby doll and doll stroller, so that she and Maggie could use theirs together (Maggie wasn't too keen on sharing her baby or stroller, but she is enjoying borrowing Kate's now). Another thing Kate loves to do is sing. It started because Maggie loves to sing like Princess Ariel, "Ah-ah-aaah, ah-ah-aaah..." Kate would join in with her own "ah." Now she joins in with her "aaah" whenever she hears a song she likes and even "sings" on command. She is also quite the phone talker and loves to get ahold of the phone, press buttons, and babble.

Kate is just such a sweet girl and I'm so lucky to be her mom. Where is the time going? (Probably into laundry and cooking and cleaning and diaper changes and spoon-feeding and nursing...along with a whole lot of fun.)

I just love my Kate.

Fall Festivities

Well, as autumn quickly draws to a close and we jump into the Christmas season, I feel a need to unload some pictures of our fall. We had a fun one filled with lots of walks, picnics at the park, and playtime. We saw our newest niece, Ivy, blessed and another one, Emma, baptized. We spent a lovely Conference weekend at the girls' grandparents. And we did plenty of autumntime activities. Besides the pumpkin-carving and half-marathon mentioned in previous posts, we had fun making cupcakes and sugar cookies (basically we like to eat Halloween sprinkles any way we can), visiting a corn maze with the youth in our ward (both Mike and I are in the Young Men's/Women's right now...yes, we are just that cool) and meeting our cousins at a nearby farmstead. I also made a brave trip to the pumpkin patch alone with the girls, which was fun, until we had to leave and Maggie got sad in the middle of all the pumpkins and wanted to be carried back to the car and I was already toting Kate. (She had this splinter in her finger from the hayride, which was actually easy to get out once I understood what was bothering her. She likes to reminisce, "I hurt my finger on the hayride. But I feel better now.")

We celebrated Halloween at the library and at a church party. Maggie was a Chiefs' cheerleader and Kate was a fairy. We dressed up for our library party as well as for one at the church. We had a lot of excitement and anticipation built up about Maggie finally using her cheerleader outfit as we got it from Maggie's uncle and cousin when we first moved here. (Thanks Shawn and Emma!)

Mike and I finally had our awesomely fun bike date--we saw Paola's historical mission site and got hot chocolate. I had been looking forward to a bike date for about five-and-a-half months, give or take a day, so I'm glad it did not disappoint. Other items I felt worthy of photo-documentation this fall were my first attempt at soft pretzels (they were fairly easy and SO good...just like at the mall, but way cheaper) and my semi-annual hair straightening (it took a long time).

And last, but definitely not least, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my in-laws. It was so good to see Kevin and Jenn, who came up from Wichita, and Tina and Jason, who came in from Ohio. But the stars this holiday were Mike's brother Scot and his fiancée Tara, whom we were all excited to meet, as they flew in from Utah for the occasion. She was as sweet and beautiful as we expected and little girls could not get enough of her. She rarely had a free lap. Highlights of the holiday included the delicious feast (of course), two-on-two football--Tara and Scot had a good streak going (Mike and I got beat pretty badly and they went on to beat Kevin and Jenn...I guess we need to make time for some serious practice :) ), lots of dancing (yes, Greg and Steve again, see previous posts), playdough, stickers, and playtime with the kids, and a visit to Independence to see some beautiful bronze sculptures of Christ at the church visitors' center and give Tara a taste of church history in the area. And, of course, we had to have a bridal shower for the bride-to-be. We gave Tara some Pampered Chef odds-and-ends (we wrapped pictures and had the real goods shipped out, so she did not have to try to get them on the plane) and a recipe binder (already stocked with some Gotfredson family favorites). I made Tara a ruffled apron, so she could feel fancy when she is homemaking. I threatened to make her pose for a picture in her new apron, but in the end did not make her. I figured we had already put her on the spot enough. So you do not get a picture of that.

Without further ado, here are some pictures:

Picnic, Park Time, General Conference Bingo and a look at the Kansas City LDS temple site

Corn Maze, Farmstead, and Pumpkin Patch (the infamous hayride)

Cookie-making, Bike-riding, Soft Pretzels, and Straight Hair

Halloween!! (Maggie had a twin at the library)

Thanksgiving: Tara with the kids, playdough, Maggie and Abigail walking into the sunset, cousins in a covered wagon at the visitors' center, the happy couple holding Kate, and our bridal shower

Build an Ark

We were watching this music video to this new Primary song in the Friend magazine (a children's magazine published by my church). It is one I started to learn with my nieces several weeks ago. It has a very sweet melody and message. Enjoy!

LDS.org - Friend Article - Build an Ark

Baby Steps

About a week-and-a-half ago, our little eleven-month-old Kate took her first steps. She'd been close for quite a while and got brave enough to start standing at the beginning of the month. After that, we knew walking was not far off. And it wasn't. This video was taken Friday. Now she nearly always chooses to walk rather than crawl. It's pretty cute.

Maggie likes to practice walking too. Sometimes after Kate walks to one of us, Maggie asks for a turn, tries to look all uncertain, and stumble/falls into our arms. It's pretty cute too.

I am trying to appreciate baby steps of my own. I think it may be a life-long quest. Sometimes I get discouraged when I think I should have been able to get more done or when I don't have time to accomplish everything I want to or when I realize that I've spent the whole day just cleaning, vacuuming, changing diapers, feeding kids, cooking, and doing errands, with a little time-wasting thrown in, when I wanted to just sit down with the kids and play on the floor or work on a household project or write in my journal or blog.

I hate when I have a project I want to start or journal item I want to write that stays on my to-do list for weeks on end. (Though better on my to-do list than cluttering my head.) I think what bothers me most is that I can never get ahead. I tend to be overly optimistic in my planning, even when I am trying to be realistic, and always seem to think I am Wonder Woman or something and can do more than is possible and do it perfectly. I will always have more ideas of things to do than time to do it. I can be super efficient sometimes, but then other times I can't even figure out where the time has gone. And I don't even watch much television or spend a lot of time on hobbies. Nothing I am trying to do is usually very long or difficult in and of itself, it's just hard to account for all that laundry-folding and dish-doing, the hand-washing and shoe-finding, the vegetable-chopping and counter-wiping. And Kate turning off the computer when I am in the middle of typing (I guess she was trying to tell me something :0) ). Or Maggie putting soap all over her legs while on the potty right before we are trying to go somewhere.

Recently I was trying so hard to get ahead, feeling a bit discouraged about all the goals I had, and feeling that I couldn't possibly get them all done. But then I began to reflect on all the improvements and accomplishments of the past year and came away feeling encouraged. I really have done a lot this past year. And what's more, I've been making a lot of small changes that have led to improvements in my cooking, baking, and housekeeping abilities, my parenting skills, my spirituality, and my relationship with Mike. Also, we do have a lot of fun around here. That should count too. We sing princess songs and dance to "the lady" (an old Nursery tape) and play Candyland and go on outings and eat pretend food. I just always want more.

So I keep adjusting our schedules and creating new, hopefully more productive, routines. Reprioritizing. Reorganizing. Finding fifteen minutes here and fifteen minutes there for praying and scripture-studying. Blogging and writing. Sewing and reading. Calling or writing people I love. Working on church assignments or helping with my community mom's club. Just thinking. Holding Mike's hand. And holding my little ones on my lap. And enjoying it. Because they are growing much too fast.

Maggie tells me: "I three years old. Kate three years old too."

"Really," I say. "I thought you were two."

Maggie: "Oh yeah. I two old."

Our sweet neighbor Iris, who is in her seventies, really got a kick out of Maggie saying she was "two old." "I'm too old too, Maggie."

Maggie and Kate are really getting too old too fast for my liking. But I am loving every minute. They are so much fun. Kate has such a fun-loving personality and loves to laugh and hug and play and Maggie talks up a storm and is liberal with her compliments. I am so lucky. My life is great. And it just keeps getting greater. It's been a wonderful year. I have a lot to be thankful for.

So in conclusion, even though I like to make big improvements and do major projects all at once, I am slowly learning to do a little here and a little there. And isn't that the Lord's way?

"For precept must be upon precept; line upon line; here a little, and there a little" (Isaiah 28:10). "And out of small things proceedeth that which is great” (D&C 64:33). Or as Alma said to his son Helaman, “But behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6).

Someday soon, I will make time to paint the girls' room. And hopefully my kitchen. (Those are two items have been on the to-do list a little too long for my liking.) But in the meantime, I am thankful. For all the fun times my girls and I have together. For the autumn walks. The fun outings. The generally tidy house. The projects I have been able to complete (like the curtains in my living room or the bench in the girls' room). The yummy meals I get to make and eat. The time I find to exercise. The library books I have read recently. The phone calls with my sisters. The dates Mike and I have together (biking + gourmet hot chocolate = bliss). That I haven't had potatoes go bad in a very long time. Video chats with my family. Our new/old car we were just given (blessing!!!). The routines that are making a difference. Wonderful conference talks that change my life. Inspiration I received when I needed it. Time spent with friends and family. The good haircut I got today (my first in eleven months...I know, I should get it cut more often). And all those other small and simple things that are helping me in my quest to become better than I currently am.

Just saw this on my soon-to-be-sister-in-law's blog. Watch it. Love it. Happy Thanksgiving!!

My Little Nap Fighters

Sometimes when Maggie doesn't want to take a nap, a nap takes her.

It happens to Kate too.

Recent Accomplishments

Accomplishment #1:

Earlier this month, I got to run a half-marathon here in KC with these two lovely ladies! It was such a fun way to see the city and I loved training and running with my wonderful sisters-in-law. It feels so good to be running long distances again. I used to regularly do ten-mile runs, but it had been a few years and two babies since then and I didn't have time for more than three to four runs a week, so I was a little nervous at first.

Nadine and Lisa definitely pushed me. I have run a couple marathons and a half-marathon before, but I had never run with a goal time. And I beat it by almost thirteen minutes, clocking in at just over 1:47...and didn't feel completely dead. So I was pretty happy.

But the best part really was getting to know Nadine and Lisa better. They are such talented, patient, amazing women, mothers, and wives, and I look up to them so much. I really appreciate their examples as well as the examples of my other sister-in-laws because as the oldest in my family, I never had the benefit of an older sister until I got married. I feel truly blessed to not only have seven amazing sister-in-laws, but to have also had opportunities to get to know each of them in different ways. (And I'm getting another sister-in-law come December!!! Wahoo!)

And no. I don't know why I am hunching like the Hunchback of Kansas City in these pictures. If you want to see some more awkward pictures of me, click this link to see pictures of me in the race. I definitely need to work on my race face. Though I am pretty sure I was smiling a lot of the race, but they must have taken most of these during the last mile, when I was not smiling so much. Especially since I was with Nadine and Lisa the majority of the race and they aren't in the pictures. Also, they mistook a couple of old people running together for me. I think their numbers were close to mine. But don't be fooled. I do not have short gray hair or glasses on.

Accomplishment #2:

Mike's took his first mid-term! He is really back to the books. This is a picture of him on his first day--backpack on and ready to roll. It's hard to believe he is already halfway through the semester. And surprisingly, we are enjoying having him in school: Maggie's cousins live just a mile from Mike's school, so we spend family time driving up to his class, drop him off, then get to spend fun time visiting with Shawn and Nadine's family, who are fantastic hosts and usually provide us with dinner. I am learning some great recipes and housekeeping tips from Nadine, that is for sure. Maggie loves playing with Emma and Ava. And Kate gets to do fun things like try on lion outfits and be held and carried (only slightly scary :) ) by older cousins.














Accomplishment #3:

Can you tell what this is?

If you guessed the Angel Moroni, you guessed right. That's the little gold guy on top of LDS temples for those of my friends that are less familiar with Mormon lingo. Mike was the brains behind that family activity. Maggie wasn't too sure about the yucky pumpkin, but after Mike got it all cleaned out, she was really happy to pinprick it for the outline. Then Mike and I carved it together after the girls were in bed. Another winning family/date night! Next we have plans to do the Nauvoo temple...we'll see if we get to that this year or if we end up pushing it to next.

Accomplishment #4&5:

We got to go to the temple on Saturday for the first time in quite a while. It was such a nice trip. The girls were so good in the car and Maggie was so excited to see the temple. (Her favorite song has been "I Love to See the Temple" since before she turned two.) Then that night we finally got our turn to watch this crew for a couple hours while their parents took their turn for date night. Mike's brothers' families and ours have been taking turns swapping babysitting and it was our turn to watch the kids. It was a blast! We ate spaghetti, made cupcakes, picked bouquets, played, and danced to favorites like "Freeze Dance" and "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" (Greg and Steve, see post below). Seven kids under eight would be a blast if they were all as good as these ones. :) Maggie was, of course, thrilled. Her cousins are her favorite people in the world, I think. (Her most recent prayers all center around the phrase, "and pease bess my cuz-ins to be safe.") And it was so fun to see Mike interact with his girls, nieces, and nephew. He may have had even more fun than the kids did.

Yesterday and A Few Too Many Words on Cars

Yesterday, Mike rode to work. He's been doing that more and more lately.

Back in June, we were in a car-shopping phase again and passed up this baby for these...

Needs v. wants and all that jazz. With Mike working a mile-and-a-half from our home, it's easy to share a car. And even easier now that Mike has a bike. I love this quote from Elder Hales' talk "Becoming Provident Providers": "These two lessons are the essence of provident living. When faced with the choice to buy, consume, or engage in worldly things and activities, we all need to learn to say to one another, 'We can’t afford it, even though we want it!' or 'We can afford it, but we don’t need it—and we really don’t even want it!'” Loved this talk ever since it was first given. Go here to watch a cute clip. (Though I must say, Sister Hales must be a better person than me. With smaller want-glands. She probably doesn't go through a week-long mourning period after she tells her husband not to get her something.)

I really did like the Mazda5. Don't ask me why, but I have always loved hatchbacks and station wagons. And sliding doors would be really nice for getting the kids in and out of the car. The 5 is like a station wagon with sliding doors. My main reservation was that it only had six seats, rather than seven as I would like, and if they were all being used, practically no cargo space. I was glad we didn't get it. It just wasn't right for us. And we just didn't quite need it. Someday we'll be a two-car family again, but not yet. And to tell you the truth, I'm glad. We are in a fun and simple stage of life. And it's fun to dream.

Speaking of dreaming, just found out about this. It has the station wagon look I love in both the Kia Rondo and the Mazda5 and has the seven seats of the Rondo and sliding doors of the 5. Maybe this Ford C-Max is just what I've been waiting for. Probably we should start looking more at real minivans. Maybe now that I'm twenty-five I can do it. At twenty-four I just wasn't ready to go there.

And, by the way, I have wanted bikes for a while and am so excited to finally have some! I want to go on bike dates to get ice cream or go play tennis or what-not. I couldn't convince Mike in the summer because it was too hot, but now that it's cooler, we are so going. Even if he's right and we do look like middle-schoolers.

I would have posted about this long ago, but Mike was being difficult about getting pictured on his bike. And is it incredibly dorky that I spent 11:14 to 11:23pm in the garage just me, my bike, and the camera on self-timer?

Okay, long tangent. Back to yesterday.

It was a great day. I got up with the girls at seven (hurray for Kate sleeping over six hours in a row for the first time in over a month...ever since those teeth started coming in this summer, my perfect sleeper is no more). By ten, the sheets were washed, we had read a bunch of books, everyone was fed and dressed, dishes were done, and we were headed to the park. And since Mike had taken his bike, we didn't even have to walk. (Not that I don't love walking. I do. It's just nice to change it up so that everywhere we go doesn't have to be an expedition.) We were going to meet up with some friends there, but they canceled, and I must say, it was nice just being us. I could really focus on my girls. They are so fun. Kate napped in the car the first bit and Maggie and I swung on the swings. I can't remember what she was saying, but it was cute and I remember looking at her and thinking, "I'm so glad to have this time with my little Maggie. This is what life's all about." She is such a good girl. I want her to always know that she is loved and special and beautiful. And one of my very best friends. I hope I communicate that enough in my words, looks, and actions.

After Kate woke up, we played a little longer. Kate is such a sweet and good-tempered baby. She loves to have fun.

When we were on the slides, we met a nice woman who was watching her cousin's little guy. She is getting married in May and moving to Texas. Before we left, I told her she might want to look up the Church when she got there, as a way to meet people. I really need to start carrying around pass-along cards. I wish everyone had the gospel.

While Mike watched the girls at lunch, I got to go visiting teaching. I love my friend Stephanie. She is probably in her fifties and is so wise and fun to talk to.

After lunch, Maggie settled herself to quietly look at picture books and I wasted some time internet browsing before sitting down to play with Kate. We haven't even tried for a nap the last couple days. Maggie has had trouble taking a nap the last couple weeks and when she does, she is up until nine-thirty or ten. Since she is settling herself down for some quiet time today, I don't really mind. And then I can put her to bed right at eight...or even a little before.

Before dinner, we grooved to Greg and Steve and Sing and Learn French! that I got from the library. I think I was born on the wrong continent because I really dig European techno. Especially the kids' stuff. Seriously. You've got to follow the link. My favorite is either "Léon le chaméléon" or "Un, deux, trois." Listen. Love it. (And yes. I am very proud of myself for remembering how to get the accent to come up over the "e" from tenth grade French class.)

While our own Johnny Appleseed planted a tree he found in our development's open space, I made yummy taquitos and cilantro-lime beans and rice for dinner, inspired by my friend Julie's new blog. He said it will be Kate's tree, since Maggie already has this other one that Mike found on clearance at Home Depot last fall. I think Mike was actually going for a bigger tree, but it's roots were wound around a neighboring tree and a fence and he lost that battle. Or at least didn't have time for it. But it served it's purpose of relieving stress from a long day, so it was all good.

And the girls went to bed early. Which was nice.

And I really should go. While I've spent all this time boring you all, "Cinderella" (that would be Maggie) has managed to "help" by pouring out half a container of baby rice puffs all over "Snow White" (Kate), the highchair, and the floor and emptying all of her shirts out of her drawer. This is why I don't blog anymore.