Miracles

Do you believe in miracles?  Because I sure do.  Why?  Because they happen to us ALL the time.  Today was another huge example to me of how someone is definitely looking out for us.  I have been incredibly stressed the last little while, mostly due to a very evil former company of mine and an equally evil health insurance company.  But today I had a HUGE burden taken off of my shoulders.  I even shed a tear or two, although we can blame that on pregnancy hormones.  All I can say is that I have been blessed!!

Just the four of us

I know- I've been a big slacker on my blog lately.  And we've even had my birthday, Mother's Day, and our anniversary in the last week!  But I've been waiting to blog about the most important announcement of all:

Baby #2 is heading our way November 30, 2011!!!!!  We are super excited but I still can't believe that we will be a family of FOUR in Ohio, this year!  So many big changes happening.

Heading to Ohio

I have just not had the motivation to write on my blog lately, it's weird how it kind of goes in spurts.  But I did want to announce that we have officially made our decision about PhD schools (phew!) and we are heading to Columbus, Ohio in August.  I am 1/3 part terrified, 1/3 part excited, and 1/3 (or more) part a nervous wreck :)  Right now I am mostly worried about the actual move and making a 27 hour trip with Kaylee stuck in the car that whole time.  Richard is SO excited, it's fun to see.  He's pretty much planned out our whole trip already and spends every night looking up facts about Ohio or places to stop on the way.  Neither one of us has ever lived out of Utah for an extended period of time so we'll see how it goes- Go Buckeyes!

I Feel Like A Better Parent Already

As of 11:04 this morning, Kaylee has officially been introduced to the beautiful world that is Saved By The Bell.  I know, I shouldn't have waited this long to introduce her.  But I wanted to make sure she could fully appreciate what she was getting into :)  Normally she lasts about two minutes during any kind of tv show but she actually sat through an entire episode with me!  What can I say? The girl has good taste.

Rain Slicker

Don't worry guys- even though it has been raining/snowing here all day, Kaylee is totally ready to take on the storm.

The Big ONE

Yesterday was Kaylee's first birthday!  I can't believe what a big girl she is now- she is definitely not a baby anymore. She refuses to take a bottle and since her birthday just yesterday she has taken more steps than ever before.  She went from only taking 1 or 2 steps before falling to walking about halfway across the room overnight! I guess she decided that since she's one now, she has to start walking since only babies crawl :) My sister put together an amazing birthday party for her on Saturday and we played some awesome games, watched a slide show of her 1st year, and opened lots of fun presents.  It was a great day and I am so grateful to have this amazing little girl in my life.  She has taught us so much and is tons of fun!  Every day I think I love her more and more and know that I am incredibly blessed to have her with me all the time.

 Playing with her birthday balloon

 Opening one of her many presents- thank you everyone!

 Enjoying her first taste of cake

Showing off her adorable new Cinderella dress!

A Rare Occasion

Most of the time, I'm too hard on myself.  I always feel as if I should be doing something more.  I don't spend enough time with Kaylee, I don't get enough done around the house, I don't get ready like I used to, I don't give Richard enough attention, etc, etc, etc.  But the last four days I was pretty much passed out on the couch from being so sick and Richard had to take over 90% of parent duty.  So yesterday when I was feeling better, I actually had enough energy to play with Kaylee.  We read books and I chased her around and we went to the store, and I taught her some new things and we laughed together.  And at the end of the day I sat down with a smile on my face because I. felt. like. a. good. mother!  That is so rare to give myself enough credit and actually feel that I am doing the best I can.  I guess the contrast between not being able to do anything and finally feeling normal again was enough to show me that a lot of times, I do more than I think I do. It was a great feeling :)  Besides, how could you not feel good with this face smiling at you all day??