February 2014

At the end of January, Kaitlyn and I went to Utah to visit family and see Kaitlyn's new little cousin Olive.  Olive and Shalane had just gotten home from the hospital and she was so tiny and so beautiful!  Kaitlyn thought it was cool she had baby toes, other than that she didn't seem to care at all.  Somehow I didn't take any pictures with cousins, but I wanted to make sure I didn't forget the fun we had.  One of the best moments of the trip was when Kaitlyn and I went over to play with Alta, Ellie and Olive too.  We got to run around the couch in circles, play ring around the rosie (Kaitlyn's first time and she was hooked from the beginning), and play with trains and get a little out of control.  It was a blast and hopefully I didn't leave the girls too wound up for Shalane when we left.  Kaitlyn loved reading with Grandma and Grandpa, especially the Wheels on the Bus Book.  She loved it enough that I bought it when I got home.

 I went to Deer Valley with my Dad and had a wonderful day skiing.  Kaitlyn had so much fun with Grandma that I was able to have a real vacation.  

Just a cute picture of her eating snacks.

The Stanford student families got a free ice skating day, so we thought it could be good or bad but it was free.  They also said you couldn't have kids on the ice without ice skates unless they were in a stroller.  So naturally that meant we got her the smallest ice skates they had even though they were 6's and she is in size 3. It took some warming up, but she was having a blast by the end.  Also, it was raining on the open half of the ice rink.

Kaitlyn loves when I let her play with the umbrella.  She even figured out how to spin it.  The only reason I don't let her play with it all day every day is because I still need a functioning umbrella.  She has a tendency to bang it in to everything and step on it when it tips.  It does make an awesome dancing prop or hiding place though.

Kaitlyn hasn't shown much interest in her bike lately.  She loves to walk it around, but as soon as we try to make her straddle it, she is done.

We got a cute valentines outfit from Grandma Brower.  

Playing with "swords."

Chasing Dad is one of our favorite before bedtime games.  Kaitlyn always gets a little hyper and very energetic before bedtime, she knows if she is cute enough, we might let her keep playing...

Running from Dad.

Kaitlyn is very ticklish, but only if she is in the mood.

Her first Happy Meal!

This was our first Sumo orange of the year and boy are they delicious!   Kaitlyn is the only 2 year old who calls oranges Sumos.

I cut my hair.  It's not at all what I wanted, but hey, it turned out pretty good and I have fast growing hair.

January 2014!

We started off the year by biking on the 17 Mile Drive at Pebble Beach.  It was a beautiful day and Kaitlyn loved riding with us along the beach.  Here is a family photo by Seal Beach.  Kaitlyn loved barking like them.

The rock further in the distance was covered with seals.  They were pretty funny to watch.

Here's the famous Pebble Beach tree.

After riding for quite a long time for Kaitlyn, we got back to the car and ate lunch and played on the beach.  She loved playing in the sand and chasing the seagulls.

Kaitlyn got legos or "wagos" for Christmas and loves to make towers, tunnels, gates, and stairs.  Here she is trying to walk up the stairs...

We are starting to read more paper books that aren't board books.  We still don't leave her alone with them, but she's getting a little more careful with some things.

 One of Kaitlyn's favorite things to do is get out all her plates, bowls and cups and stack them and unstack them and organize them in different ways.

Painting was so much fun until the end when she realized her hands were too dirty.  She loves to be clean, at least when she's done playing.

Another of Kaitlyn's favorite things to do is to feed the ducks at the Palo Alto duck pond.  She loves them and they love her.

This goose is bigger than her, but that doesn't scare Kaitlyn.

We were having so much fun until she ran and tripped into the concrete bench.  She cut her lip and was bleeding all over us and her cute pink dress.  She was not happy and had a hard time eating or drinking for a few days.  Luckily the mouth heals fast.  The only injuries Kaitlyn has had are bruises everywhere, raspberries on her knees and bleeding from her mouth. I'd say we've been pretty lucky so far.

One Saturday we went to the Oakland Zoo to change things up.  We also wanted Kaitlyn to see the elephants that the SF Zoo doesn't have.  Kaitlyn was so excited to go to the zoo, but didn't believe that we were at the zoo until we went through the entire zoo once.   She was not her normal happy self.  She didn't even care about the elephants!  Luckily we had time to go through one more time. This time, she must have realized that this zoo was fun too even if it wasn't her zoo.  She was perfectly happy the second time through and loved everything.  What a relief!

Here's a monkey who really wanted to be in the limelight.  Total crowd-pleaser.

At the turtles, Kaitlyn felt extra thankful and sat down and folded her arms to say a prayer.  I guess she's learning something...

Balancing on the giant snake was fun.

"Mommy's eyes!"

December 2013

December was wonderful and here are a bunch of pictures to prove it.  We got to babysit Daniel Richards and Kaitlyn and him have become best friends.  It's pretty funny to watch how Kaitlyn acts differently with well behaved friends.  So far, I love peer pressure.

We made many trips to the zoo.  Every time we get in the car and get on the freeway, Kaitlyn thinks we are going to the zoo.  About once a week, she isn't disappointed.

Kaitlyn is always, and I mean always, taking her shoes and socks off no matter where we are.  Here she is struggling to get her socks off before going down the slide.

Such a good helper.  I wish I was that happy to mop...

She loves hiking!

We went to see the monarch butterflies in Santa Cruz, but we got there before most of them woke up.  Apparently there are thousands of butterflies who stay the winter here every year, but it was too early and cold so we only saw about 5 of them.  Stephen was holding one for Daniel and Kaitlyn but it fell off his finger.  They weren't so sure about it.

After the butterflies, we played in the sand at the beach.  We love Santa Cruz.

We went to see the lights at the Oakland Temple and saw a live Nativity and a portion of a dance concert.  So beautiful.

We went to the zoo lights, but the highlight was still the playground.  The zoo lights were a little disappointing.

Here's our quick Christmas photo.  We were a little late for church so don't mind the mess around us.

We went to Ellensburg, WA for Christmas.  We had a blast and Kaitlyn was laughing and prancing around the entire time she was awake.  Mykelle and Hailey were so great with Kailtyn and made her feel so special.

Jeremy's family always celebrates Christmas Eve at Kaitlyn's Great Grandma and Grandpa Gibb's house.  We had a wonderful dinner together and all sat around the dancing children.  It is pretty impressive to see all the grandkids and great-grandkids singing together.  We acted out the birth of Christ and Kaitlyn got to be a shepherd but she did NOT want to wear the robe.  All the kids danced to us singing and Kaitlyn had the time of her life.  She especially loved trying to copy Mykelle's dancing.  

Christmas morning 2013!  We all had a wonderful Christmas and had so much fun watching the girls open presents.

It's more fun to be the present ;)

She loved playing with Mykelle and Hailey's dollhouse.

Kaitlyn spent a lot of time on this horse.  She could climb up all by herself by the end.

Another favorite toy at Mama and Papa's house is their swords.  Every time we Skype, Kaitlyn demands to see the swords and the wagons.

Cute Hailey

Mykelle with a rose.

Hailey and Kaitlyn were pretty excited to wear matching jammies.

Our attempts at a Christmas photo of the three cousins didn't go that well, but it was fun anyways.

Stories with Papa.

Kaitlyn with her Great Grandparents.

We love the tractors!

Throwing rocks into the ditch.