miss diva kate

Recently Katelyn has started a stage.  I think I will call it her "diva" stage.  She has just started realizing that she sometimes has different plans than I do.  She's also figuring out that she has a voice when it comes to not getting her way.  ...a very loud voice.

When Kate was first born, she was so quiet and rarely ever cried.  No one could believe what a good baby I had.  We could take her anywhere and she would just sit quietly in her car seat for hours on end.  Eventually, we discovered that she was so tired because of her jaundice.  Once she got her bilirubin under control, she let us know what was what.

One night, we went to Bountiful to eat dinner with my uncle and his family.  We drove separate cars so Dave drove our car back to the condo and I followed behind with my mom and Kate.  Kate decided that she didn't really feel like making the drive through Parley's Canyon to Park City.  Before we left, I nursed her so she wouldn't be hungry.  I positioned her in her car seat just right and swaddled her with a blanket so she would be warm.  Like a nervous new mother, I made sure that everything was perfect before we started our journey.

That just wasn't good enough for my little diva.  She started crying before we backed out of the driveway.  By the time we had reached the freeway she had upgraded her crying to screaming and once we were in the canyon, it became obvious that she was furious.

We tried everything we could think of: making sure she had her pacifier, giving her a toy, singing songs.  At one point, my mom reached back to try and hold her little hand.  That just mad her more angry.  We looked at each other and nervously laughed as I started to realize that my precious little angel might have more devil in her than I thought.  Now whenever Kate screams angrily or throws a fit, we call it Parley's.

Today, we were shopping at Target when I passed the cutest little floppy hat.  I put it on Katelyn's head and she loved it.  She thought she looked so beautiful.  I looked at the eight dollar price tag and said, "No way," and took the hat away.  Kate freaked out.

I put a bag of beans next to her and when I took it away (fearing that she would open it and beans would spill everywhere) she freaked out.  When I wouldn't give her a sip of my drink (she makes a huge mess and soda isn't good for babies) she freaked out.  When I wouldn't let her hold the bag of turkey (that had just been cut at the deli) she freaked out.

Finally, we got to the dollar section and found these cute little sunglasses.  "Okay," I thought, "She can have these."  When I put them on her little face, she beamed and started waving at people like some kind of celebrity.  At the few people who were not mesmerized by her beauty, she yelled.  It took nearly thirty minutes to finish shopping, check out, and get to the car and Kate never once tried to take the sunglasses off.

 Temper tantrums?  An affinity for accessories?  Waving to her adoring fans?

I think I just might have a diva on my hands.

chillin katelyn style

Today Katelyn and I went to the grocery store with my mom.  We went to HEB because they have the best deals.  But HEB overwhelms me.  It is so big and there are so many people and the carts are twice the size of a normal cart and it just stresses me out there.  It is like Walmart on a Saturday any time you go there.  It is that crazy all the time.

Anyway, we got home from shopping and my mom watched Katelyn in the car while I made a few trips to get the groceries up the three flights of stairs to our apartment.  Finally, I got Kate upstairs as well and collapsed on the couch.  The shopping trip had the unfortunate timing of taking place during Katelyn's afternoon nap and although, she was being very sweet and patient, it was obvious that she was so very tired.

So I put her in the saucer and set up my computer so that she could watch Wonder Pets.  She rarely watches TV but we were both just so exhausted that we just needed it.  I could barely put away the refrigerated groceries before I plopped back down on the couch next to her to watch the singing guinea pig, duck, and really annoying turtle save the world, one animal at a time.  That's how tired I was.

(Singing animals are way worse than talking ones.)

So, I am sitting there staring at the computer screen watching the Wonder Pets save the itsy bitsy spider from the rain with an umbrella.  I wonder how an umbrella would help a spider who I presume needs all eight legs to successfully crawl up a spout.  As I am contemplating this, I look up to see Katelyn just chilling with a beverage.

Reclined in her saucer, arms resting comfortably, with her bottle propped on her belly.

And that is how tired we were after grocery shopping.

our target adventure

The weather was absolutely beautiful today.  I'm ashamed to say that I was planning on net even setting foot outside of the house at all.  It was actually a stroke of luck that brought me outside.  I went into the garage to deposit a particularly fragrant diaper into the outdoor trash, when I realized,

"Hey!  It's not absolutely, terribly, horrifyingly stifling in here!!!"

When my mom came home from work, we decided to take Baby K out for a walk.  We packed up the stroller and ventured out to walk to Target.  We needed a few things and the walk to and from Target is a nice two miles almost.

Along the way, we noticed a small gathering by the side of the lake.  There was been some construction along the bank of the water but we didn't really think it was that exciting.   It turns out that Allie, the resident neighborhood alligator was sunning himself on the fountain that had been turned off.

We took some pictures and got out of there pretty quick because I'm pretty sure that Katelyn looks like a bite sized snack to an alligator.

disappointed...

...it started as a trip to Sonic. Sitting there with D and my siblings, I noticed the BRAND NEW Dollar Tree had opened!

(Blogger only lets me choose from five font sizes. I'm not sure if the size and bold red lettering really convey the excitement of the occasion but ... )

The new store was everything I had imagined it would be. Every shelf called my name. As I scurried up and down the aisles, filling my arms with things I didn't even know I needed, D gently requested that I limit my purchases to three.

I'm sure you are wondering what my three lucky selections were. The suspense ... Oh, get on with the story? Okay.

First - a GIANT panda stamp. A truly versatile item, the stamp is great because when I correct papers at school, the GIANT panda takes over the whole page. This investment was an all around winner.

Second - a 500 piece blueberry puzzle. I forced D to spend "quality time" putting this puzzle together with me and for two weeks, it took over my kitchen table. Hours of puzzle work later, and it was discovered that five pieces were missing. Strike one Dollar Tree.

Third - a plastic alligator that promised to grow by 600% when submerged in water. This purchased was obviously a no - brainer and the dollar prize I was most excited about. I saved it for weeks, waiting for the perfect time to unleash the gator. Finally, I secretly filled the tub with water late one night and tucked in my new gator friend. I went to sleep dreaming of a life sized alligator greeting whoever showered first in the morning.

Well, days later (or should I say LATOR lololololol... no? okay.) my gator is about 5% bigger and I recently noticed his legs and tail are curling upward like a shrimp that was cooked too long.

Really Dollar Tree?!? Strike three. Safe for now, but strike three.

For now, Gator is a part time resident of the tub floor. He may or may not be a permanent addition to our family but - let this be a cautionary tale. Dollar Tree prizes are not always what they seem...

here comes the ox cart

Today I had a walmart experience. On the 24th of July. In Provo. Bad idea.

It was insanely crowded and very hot. It was also one of those grocery trips in which nearly all of my living staples had run out. Shampoo and deodorant, flour and baking soda, olive oil and vinegar, bleach and laundry detergent, trash bags and paper towels. You name it and I was probably out. Not that any of those items are inherently expensive. But when you're putting your husband through school, it can be overwhelming.

They don't put clocks in casinos or walmart. I think for the same reason. Every time I'm there (walmart, not the casino), I seem to get sucked in to a black hole of wasting time thinking about spending money on things I don't need. Two hours and $ later, I finally made my way out of the crowded store and into the crowded parking lot. I wanted to get home and take a cool shower, some ibuprofen, and a nap.

"The pioneers sure picked a hot day to get here!" I thought.

Then, "Wait a minute. Seriously?" I imagined what my pioneer ancestors would have thought if they had stumbled upon the air conditioned walmart equipped with carts that roll with out oxen and aisles lined with nearly any necessity one could imagine. If the shock of the incredible convenience didn't knock them off their feet, my spoiled attitude would have.

It crashed my pity party for a moment to consider what my people did. I'm grateful for my pioneer heritage, not so much because I'm directly related to them, but because I'm proud to be a part of an organization whose forebears literally walked across the country for something they cared about.

I'm grateful for a people so strong and so faithful that they saw what needed to be done and just did it. It gives me an example and a heritage to live up to. More importantly, because of their sacrifices, I am blessed with the freedom to practice my faith.


So in true Provo fashion, D and I bought some cheap grocery store fireworks.

Oh No! Don't light them all at once D!



Happy Pioneer Day!