Noisemaker

At church one of us can usually be found in the halls with Phoebe. Not because she is fussy, but because she is constantly talking or making spit bubbles. I love laying her down in the hall and sitting by her while we talk and make faces at each other. -Katie

no boogers

Phoebe has had a tiny cold so we have to clear out her nose a few times a day. While this is going on . . .

Conrad is:

trying to cover Phoebe's face with his hands

crying, "no boogers"

throwing himself on the floor crying

trying to make the other parent stop it

or a combination of them

He is one protective brother! -Katie

arachnophobia

I HATE HATE HATE SPIDERS WITH A PASSION. When I see one my whole body shutters and I feel like they are crawling all over me. Growing up Lindsey and I would put a cup over them and then my dad would kill it when he saw the cup. After I got married I had to teach Ransom the cup system. Once Conrad started moving around that put an end to the cup. When I feel really brave I kill it (I've done that maybe 3 times!) or I just let it keep crawling. I know the second option is gross and I think about the spider for weeks after, but I just can't bring myself to get close to the spider.

Today when I saw a spider I tried convincing Ransom to come home from work. When that didn't work I gave Conrad a tissue and told him to squish it. He thought it was much more fun to pretend to shoot it or throw the tissue at it so I was brave and squished it so I could show him how it's done. I'm hoping he can learn to get rid of them for me soon!

-Katie

cookies with dad

This morning I started making cookies with Conrad, but quickly realized we were out of brown sugar. I called Ransom to pick some up on his way home. For the rest of the afternoon Conrad kept asking to make cookies. As soon as Rans got home I had to go to Pebbles to help my dad get some orders out while Ash was on bed rest. The second I got home Conrad was back to asking about cookies and apparently that is all he asked for while I was gone.

Phoebe was hungry so I told Ransom he could make the cookies with Conrad. He didn't trust himself to read the directions so I had to tell them what to do while I fed Phoebe. It was pretty funny. Conrad discovered making his own music with a measuring cup and spoon. The cookies turned out really good so I'm hoping they start making things together more often! -Katie

Phoebe at 3 months

It's hard to believe she is 3 months already. I hate that she is getting bigger, but having her smile at you makes it worth it! -Katie

Some random things about Phoebe:

• She wakes up as soon as you lay her down.
• When you hold her, your arm gets soaked with spit.
• She sucks her thumb really good now, but pokes her eyes with her fingers at the same time.
• She is going to start laughing soon because sometimes she gets so excited that she just contain it!
• She is an expert spit bubble maker.
• She knows how to put herself to sleep during the day, but forgets how to at night.
• She smiles as soon as she recognizes your face. That is one of the best things in the world!

12/15/2010

Santa's Reindeer

Tonight we went to Thanksgiving Point to see Santa's reindeer and the lights. Conrad was scared of the reindeer at first, but pretty soon he was ready to pet them and I think he would have jumped into their cage if we had let him. After a few minutes Ransom took Phoebe inside to keep her warm. Conrad couldn't decide if he liked the reindeer or baby sister more so we kept going back and forth between Phoebe and the reindeer. We ordered the yummiest philly cheese steak sandwich I have ever had while we waited for Cord, Whitney, and Avery.

As soon as they got there we piled into the car and drove through the lights. Conrad and Avery were fascinated by all the lights and shapes. Phoebe was getting hungry and tired by the end so we listened to her cry as we watched the lights. Conrad was distraught when the lights were over so we took him to see the reindeer one last time. I think we might need to take another trip to see the reindeer before Christmas comes!

-Katie

one opinionated boy

After Conrad saw Phoebe all dressed this morning this is how our conversation went:

Conrad: "I want," as he points to baby sister

me: "Do you want to get dressed?"

Conrad: "YES! Blue."

I take him to his room and show him all his blue shirts.

He gets more and more frustrated after I show him each one.

He goes back out by Phoebe and says, "I want."

me: "You're too big for baby sister's clothes."

Conrad: "I want."

I go to my closet, pull out something that looks kind of similar to her outfit.

me: "Do you want to wear this?"

Conrad: "YES!"

Problem finally solved! He is such a goof ball and knows more and more what he wants each day. -Katie

Christmas Countdown

Last Christmas I ordered a countdown Christmas tree from Pottery Barn Kids (with the help of Lindsey's discount!) because a real Christmas tree wouldn't fit in our apartment. I never ended up putting anything in the pockets so I was determined to actually use it this year. I sat down with Ransom and we made a list of fun Christmas activities that we could do. I was going to put each activity in a pocket, but then I decided it would be too hard to figure out what activity we could do each day so I decided to just make it a point to make sure we do one Christmas activity a day. Some days it will be as a family and some days it will be just me and the kids. I hope this helps me focus more on my family and Christ this season because I can become a stress case in December trying to get ready for Christmas!

Day 1 rolled around and it was over before I knew it. Conrad was already asleep before I realized we hadn't done a Christmas activity. I decided I would just read a Christmas book to him in his sleep because I couldn't blow my countdown on the first day! It's the thought that counts right? -Katie

diapers & wipes

"Do you want to go on the potty?" He simply says, "No, diapers and wipes."

I don't think we are close to potty training yet! He is always too busy running around to sit and think about going to the potty. Plus, you usually have to tackle him to the floor before he lets you change his diaper and he rarely tells us that he went "eww." It is driving Ransom crazy, but for now I will just enjoy the convenience of the diaper! -Katie

caught

Lately when the house is quiet I find Conrad playing in our room with the door shut. He has his favorite few things he likes to play with, but today he found a new toy. When Ransom found him today he was on our bed trying to put on mascara. Luckily he was sweet enough to take off our nice blanket and just get it in our sheets. -Katie

happy day all day

Conrad's birthday started out with snuggle time with baby sister. After Ransom left for work I gave him his birthday muffin. He had so much fun blowing out the candles that he would take a bite and then I had to sing again so he could blow out more candles. We had quite a pile of matches by the end!

Looking outside the weather looked nice and sunny so we decided to meet Ransom at the park during his lunch break. It may have looked nice outside, but it was actually really cold so we let him run around for a little bit and then went back to APX to eat our lunch. I thought it would be hard to make him leave, but he loves the elevators at APX.

I hid all of his presents under a blanket this year because I just never felt ambitious enough to wrap them. He didn't seem to mind at all. My mom was nice enough to watch Phoebe while we took Conrad to the BIG movie. We went and saw Despicable Me. I think it is one of our most favorite movies of all time. When we were driving back from the movie we asked him if he had a happy birthday and he said, "Happy day all day!" -Katie

Phoebe at 2 months

Here is a little bit about Phoebe at 2 months:

• She is not the best snuggler because she is so wiggly.
• She is grouchy when she is tired.
• She is never happy when she has a messy diaper, but as soon as you start unbuttoning her onesie she is all smiles.
• She is a very happy and smily baby.
• She doesn't do well with sudden loud noises, but with Conrad for an older brother they are unavoidable. He tries to get her to smile by yelling at her.
• She loves to curl her toes.
• She is a VERY light sleeper. I usually put her in our room with the door shut and I constantly have to watch the door so that Conrad doesn't go wake her up. He does not like her to be asleep!
• She always kicks off all of her blankets.
• She is so strong. She can stand up when we hold her hands.
• She is always covering everyone in spit when she makes spit bubbles.
• She is starting to "talk".
• Once we get her to bed she will usually sleep through the night and won't wake up until 6 or 7. It is so nice, but sometimes I wish she woke up because that is usually the only time I get to spend with her without Conrad.

Weight: 9 lbs. 14 oz.

Height: 23"

Head: 15"

a visit to the doctor

Conrad and Phoebe went to visit the doctor today. Ransom came along to help because I haven't gotten over the experience of Conrad getting the flu shot and just couldn't bring myself to go alone. As soon as we pulled up to the building Conrad starting saying, "Momma, no" in a sad and desperate voice. They are both very healthy and had to get immunizations. The nurse was definitely more experienced at giving kids shots then they were at APX. Phoebe quickly forgot about the shots, but Conrad complained of "owies" the rest of the day. He spent a nice relaxing day on the couch recovering. Luckily, he won't get more shots until he goes to kindergarten (hopefully I will be recovered by then)! -Katie

Conrad has been busy . . .

playing with and riding "big whales"

Free Willy is one of his new favorite movies

"building" fires

He has watched Ash & Paul make fires at their

house so he knows just what to do!

"making" tasty cakes

being a "big monkey"

He loves to be Joe from Mighty Joe Young, another new favorite movie.

He always has to hit his chest, get shot and fall down

just like Joe does in the movie.

an unexpected splurge

I was in desperate need of a new pair of pants and it got more desperate after my mom tried patching up my pants. My pants looked like I put knee pads under my pants! My mom couldn't stop laughing as she handed them back to me.

My sisters had a coupon for 50% off your entire purchase to Banana Republic so I thought it would be a good time to see if I could find some pants. I brought Kelsie along because she is our families fashion expert! She has a way of making us try things that we wouldn't normally. Before I knew it I had a whole dressing room of clothes to try on and every time Kelsie went out to get a different size she would come back with more for me to try on. Banana Republic shirts for $12 and pants for $30. How do you say no to that? It felt so good to have clothes that fit after pregnancy so I purchased my favorites and went home to break the news to Ransom. He wasn't too thrilled that I broke budget (after all he thought I was going to come home with 1 pair of $30 pants), but luckily he let me keep it all. He must love me! I can't remember the last time I walked out of a store with a bag full of clothes just for me or owned more than 1 pair of pants. Now I just need to remember all the rules Kelsie gave me about what shirts can be worn with what pants and what shoes I'm allowed to wear! -Katie

Prison Break

We started watching Prison Break less than 2 months ago and tonight we just finished the last season. I have loved every minute of it. Just about every night Rans and I would lay in bed and watch it, sometimes until 3am. I could have stayed awake all night because this show gets my heart racing, but Rans would fall asleep (I would get irritated with him). Now that it is over I feel a little empty inside because now I don't know what I am going to do with all that spare time. Hopefully I will fill it with something productive, maybe even sleep, but probably not! I feel like these people are my good friends (well just the good guys like Lincoln, Michael, Sarah, Sucre, and Mahone) and I hope that they can have some happiness in their life because they have been through a lot in the last few years. How lame am I! -Katie

Rans (aka paint expert)

I was clearing old e-mails out of my account today and found these. A couple years ago Ransom went through a little phase where he would make me pictures on the paint program with random little notes and e-mail them to me. He can work that program better than anyone I know! Ransom has always been sweet at making me cute little things like this. I consider myself one lucky girl to be married to such a sweet, creative, thoughtful guy! -Katie

9/25/08

10/1/08

I sent you a flower! FREE SHIPPING! I Love YOU BABE!! (10/9/08)

Here is a Bear protecting your flower! I love you! (10/15/08)

Pin Cushion

I am taking an EMT Intermediate class right now. Tonight was not my favorite class. We were practicing IV's and I was poked 5 times! Twice in each forearm and once on my wrist. For the first three I was doing ok but then for the fourth and fifth I was not a happy camper! But I guess its kinda like how cops have to be sprayed with pepper spray before they can carry it, I have to get poked before I can be the poker. The best part of my night was by far coming home to my girls and my little buddy. I am a lucky guy! -Rans

Conrad's prayer

We have been working with Conrad to try and get him to say the prayer, but usually he would say it was our turn. A couple of weeks ago we were trying and whispering in his ear what to say. We got through "Dear Heavenly Father" and he just took it from there. Now, usually all we have to say is Conrad we're going to say a prayer and he just starts going. He blesses everything he can see and anything that is on his mind. It is so hard to not to laugh, but I think I love him more every time I hear him pray! -Katie

trying to study

Ransom is taking an intermediate EMT class this semester at Mount Nebo to help prepare him for Paramedic school next fall. Life is pretty busy with him working full time, going to school, playing, entertaining, and taking care of 2 kids (still weird to say), me working occasionally, all the crafty projects that I think I have to do, and all the other things that come with life. Ransom has to squeeze in studying when he can. Conrad is an expert at keeping his daddy entertained when he needs to be studying! -Katie

Phoebe at 1 month

Today I wanted to cry. My baby is already growing up too fast and I hate how the time is just flying by me. It's crazy how time has gone by so fast, but it seems like she has always been a part of our family. We are crazy about her! -Katie

Some random things about Phoebe:

• I don't know if it is coincidence, but she gets the biggest smiles on her face when her daddy comes home. I'm pretty sure she is going to be a daddy's girl.
• She has fussy time from around 8pm-midnight. After we get her to bed she usually doesn't wake up until 6am. She rarely cries any other time unless she is hungry or needs a diaper change. I consider myself very very lucky!
• She is the most smily when she is falling asleep.
• She just might be a thumb sucker just like me - my mom says they make the best babies.
• Her newborn clothes are getting smaller and smaller on her. It won't be long before we will be packing them away. I'm thinking of bringing out 3-6 months already so that she looks small in her clothes again!
• I think she already has everyone wrapped around her finger.

10/9/2010

dumbo

Yesterday morning my mom came over to see the kids for a minute. Conrad was hungry so I got him his "brown" cereal. I went back over to talk to my mom, looked up at Conrad and this is what I saw:

I don't know how it took me so long to see! I hurried and called the doctor to see what to do. She said to give him Benadryl and to call back if that didn't work. A few hours later I had to call back because his ear was just as large. The doctor gave us a much stronger medicine for allergies. Luckily it worked, but we still have no idea what caused it. Today his ear is pretty much back to normal, but I already miss that huge ear that would jiggle when he moved. I think he looked adorable with it! -Katie

video of phoebe

I just love to watch this girl when she is awake and happy. She has the biggest eyes and they usually look pretty crazy. I wish we had videos like this of Conrad because they don't stay babies for long. -Katie

yard work

Our landlord hired Ransom towards the end of the summer to take care of our yard and another duplex right by ours. It makes life a bit busier, but who can say no to cheaper rent? Conrad loves to be outside so he is usually outside watching Ransom. One day Conrad found a pair of pliers and went to the door saying "fix tree". We opened the door and he started "trimming" away just like his daddy does. -Katie

Phoebe's visitor

Once Conrad discovered how to climb into Phoebe's crib you can often find him in there. I am a pretty deep sleeper so sometimes it takes me a little while to hear her crying in the morning. Conrad generally beats me in there and is trying to comfort his baby sister. When I come in he excitedly tells me that his tiny baby sister is awake or that baby sister is sad. It melts my heart every time and I feel so grateful that he loves her and wants to take care of her. He is one amazing big brother. -Katie

too much of a good thing

In our house vitamin time is happy time. Conrad calls them "snack" because they look just like fruit snacks, which he LOVES. Whenever I give them to him he gives me the most happy, drawn out "tank you mama".

I was spending a little time with Phoebe on the couch when Conrad came to me with his bottle of "snacks". He had already has his for the day so I told him no more and he went away to pout. A little later he came up to me so happy and said, "mamma look". He opened his mouth and it was packed with "snacks". Looks like they need to get off our counter (hopefully I can still remember to give them to him!) and a little more out of reach! -Katie

late night snack

It's a common sight to see Conrad holding Phoebe's hand when we get them out of the car, but tonight he was fast asleep and she was sucking on his hand. It made us smile and laugh. -Katie

dice game

One of Conrad's favorite things to do now is play the dice game - aka Yahtzee. It's cute to watch him play as he rolls the dice, arranges them, writes his score and then says, "mamma's turn". When you ask what he got, he will always say 26. I love watching his brain work! -Katie

flu shots

Yesterday I came home for lunch and told Katie that at work they were giving flu shots. We thought it would be a good idea that we all get flu shots so that we don't get Phoebe sick. The plan was to get everyone ready to go by the time my lunch was supposed to be over and get there in time for the shots, but it seemed like everything was working against us. First we both lost our cool with Conrad and yelled at him. I hate yelling at him because he is just a fun loving little guy. I apologized and we went out to the cars. Next, I forgot my keys. Then, we were half way down our street and had to turn around to get the forms I had filled out for the shots. So we were off again. This time we got to the end of our street when I heard Conrad say, "oh baby sister spill!" That means that she threw up. I looked back and her car seat was full of spit up! "We should have been there by now!" I was thinking. We turned around again and went to clean her up. I got her changed and cleaned out her seat. When I went outside Katie was crying and Conrad had this guilty look on his face, he had hit her in the head. Now we were off for the third time. Kate had to drive the suzuki. She was ahead of me and when we went into the APX parking lot she went the wrong way and we got separated, but we made it in there.

I got my shot, it wasn't bad. But then I looked over and the girl that was giving Conrad his shot was not holding his leg and he was of course moving around trying to get away, but she was holding the needle right there at his leg so every time he moved it poked him again! I ran over there and held his leg and she finished. I felt so bad for him. It had to have felt like running his leg thru a sewing machine! Lucky for us it was ice cream day at APX so we all got a treat. Now after all that Katie went home with the kids to take a nap and when she woke up she was having a reaction to the flu shot and felt sick as a dog and couldn't go to her own dinner and a movie party at her parent's house. Poor girl. What a crazy day!

rans

sunken sailboats

I've been searching websites trying to find activities to do with Conrad to keep us all entertained. It's been harder than I thought because most of the stuff I found he just isn't quite old enough yet, but I thought making these sailboats would be fun.

Ransom made the boats and Conrad drew on the sails. We were excited to go test them out. They placed them in the river and they immediately started to sink. Next time we need to find a calmer place or make heavier duty boats. Luckily Conrad wasn't too disappointed because there were plenty of rocks to throw in the river! -Katie

looks like she might be a thumb sucker

Phoebe at 2 weeks

Phoebe had her 2 week check up today. Conrad was very good at the appointment with the help of games on an Ipod touch. She is perfectly healthy and unfortunately already growing. -Katie

Weight: 7 lbs. 8 oz.

Height: 20.5"

Head: 14.25"

puppy

Before Phoebe was born we bought Conrad some new toys that he could play with while I nursed Phoebe so that he had something to look forward to whenever she was hungry. We should have skipped buying the toys and just given him the basket because 9 times out of 10 he dumps the toys out and puts the basket on his head and runs around on all fours saying he is a puppy. He sure is a character! -Katie

swaddling

Ransom LOVES soft blankets so he always wraps our kids up in them. I usually try to convince him that we should just use a receiving blanket, but Phoebe is only waking up twice a night so how can I argue with him? -Katie

Phoebe (5 days old)