Awww. Exhale. It's nice to be back on a blog. I was just on Facebook and it's great for keeping up with friends, but I prefer blogs. I love how every one's blog page is personalized, with cute pictures and longer updates. Thank you for keeping the blogging world alive. I LOVE reading your updates. :)

Kate did 2 amazing things today! She crawled across the living room, many times!!!! :) and she clapped! Soooo cute! :)

Here's a video of her crawling. Great job Kate! You're growing up!

CHEEEEEESE!

This is hilarious! On Mother's Day, Kate started to mimic us. I was about to take a picture of her. I was trying to get her to smile; so I guess I was smiling and squinting, b/c she did that. I kept taking pictures of her and every time she saw the camera on her, she did this face! Hilarious!

Here's a video-SO FUNNY!

May's Mullet of the Month

I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY ABOUT THIS ONE......

St. George IRONMAN :) Saturday, May 1st

Last week we headed to St. George for Greg's triathlon. He's really been training hard for this...basically ever since Kate was born. It was a great day for a race. We were so darned proud of him!!! It was a long day and he did a great job. Here are lots of pics...

The Swim Start...1,900 People

Sand Hallow Res. About 60 degree water. So cold they had to wear a swim cap made out of wetsuit material underneath their colored swim caps! Greg said he had a brain freeze for about 10 minutes. They swam 2.4 miles. HELLOOOO!

Lookin' good! I don't think I'd look this happy after biking 110 miles. This was Greg at mile 110, with only 2 miles left. I guess I can see why he was so happy!!!

Baby Kate and Momma, waiting for Daddy. This was the best place to stand. We saw Greg 4 times at this location. We had a great time cheering him on!

Greg's dad (G-pa) with Baby Kate. Kate had a great day. She loved seeing Daddy!

Video of Kate with G-ma's Bell

Kate, G-pa and G-ma. Thank you SO much for coming and supporting your Greggy Poo. We REALLY appreciated it. That was so nice of you!
...We were waiting for Greg to start the run. I say "the run", 26.2 miles. Wow!

Video of Greg Running (Just starting his run)

This was our boy, 15 miles into the run. This was when he told us "I'm really starting to feel it". I was SO impressed that it took 2.4 miles of swimming in frigid water, 112 miles of HARD hill climbs on the bike, and 15 miles of running up and down hills for him to say; "I'm really starting to feel it". Greg, you ARE an IRONMAN! We are all soo proud of you.


Video 0f Greg after the Race!





Me right after the race, so happy he made it.

Dale and Laure were ecstatic!

That's a very cool medal... I guess you earned it ;)

Greg even took time to kiss me. He crossed the finish line and as soon as he saw me, he gave me a kiss! Wow, that made me feel great. He said we both earned this. Aww :)

A couple days later, we had our farewells. :( Farewell to the Econo Lodge and farewell to G-ma and G-pa. So sad to say goodbye (not to the Econo Lodge).

The front of that t-shirt says it all. Great job Hon. I love you and we're all so proud of ya.

Baby Kate in the Mirror

Before and After

This is Greg doing his normal eyebrow raise. Nothing too out of the ordinary...

This is Greg trying to raise his OTHER eyebrow. YOU SHOULD TRY IT TOO! It's way harder than it looks!

April's Mullets of the Month

Double the Pleasure, Double the Fun!

March 2010

Well, Hello All!

We have been going through some changes the past 5 days. I read "Sleep Sense" and we have been trying our darnedest to implement it to a T. It's been hard (to see her so tired during the day, and not be able to swaddle her and put her in her swing).

Saturday afternoon was when it all began. I finished the book and got really excited to implement it. The basic gist of the book is that, if you'd like your sweet baby to sleep through the night, (as well as you sleeping through the night again) then you have to stop anything that makes her dependent on you in the middle of the night (ex: binkie, swaddling, rocking, nursing, bottle to put her to sleep) The main quote is "put her in her crib, AWAKE".

It makes a lot of sense. PS I am still feeding Kate during the night. My Dr. said she could go 6 hours with out eating but if she seems hungry, then I feed her. It's as simple as that. But I make sure she doesn't fall asleep while eating and I talk to her before putting her in the crib. It's so counter intuitive to be kinda loud before laying her down but I think it makes a lot of sense.

Well, the first day was hard for her to fall asleep for a nap and she only napped about 15 minutes...but HEY, she DID fall asleep and we were so happy for her. That night she fell asleep in 17 minutes, but she couldn't stay sleep, b/c her little arms kept jumping and waking her up. It was a really hard night. I stayed in her room and cheered her on, rubbed her tummy, fed her, cried with her, talked to her and held her a couple times, but made sure I didn't let her fall asleep in my arms. It was SOOO hard to see her so tired and not be able to really help. :(

She took lots of naps on Sunday (during each part of church pretty much).

Then Sunday night went well. She slept 3 hrs, 5 hrs, 4hrs. ( she only woke up twice!) I was sooo excited! But I knew she was probably catching up on sleep, so I wasn't sure that we were over the hard part yet. So,

Monday night was so tough. She woke up every 2 hours for a while and then every hour. She kept rolling onto her tummy...which scared me, so I kept rolling her back. That made it so hard for her to fall back asleep. I'm sorry Kate.

I cannot remember what happened on Tuesday. I think she woke up every 3 hours. Only b/c I kept putting her back on her back. Otherwise, I think she would have slept well.

Last night was crazy! She slept 8 1/2 hours straight. Not a peep! She was on her tummy, but I am not ready to let her sleep on her tummy until she can roll back to her back with ease. Right now it's still a struggle. So, from 3 am- 6:30am she had a tough time sleeping.

Tonight, so far she's been sleeping for 4 hours. She's on her sweet little side. She looks so cute.

I really like "Sleep Sense", b/c it gives you two approaches. Either: you can stay with your little sweetie and make sure she doesn't feel abandoned, encouraging her intermittently and letting her see you're there, and letting her know you love her so much. The other option is more for moms who have more than one kid. You still show them you love them and support them, but you don't stay in their room until they fall asleep. You to check on her intermittently until she stops crying. I am kinda to this point now, b/c she doesn't cry anymore at night. Hip hip hooray!

I have put this off for sooo long, b/c I didn't know that I had a choice. I am SOOOOO thankful for my friend, Stephanie, for recommending this. It's been an answer to prayers. I would recommend it to anyone. It's not only for newborns/infants. This woman has helped hundreds of families with toddlers too. So, cheers to Dana (Sleep Sense Author) hopefully this is the beginning of many full-night's sleep :)

PICTURE TIME!!!

I love making baby Kate laugh!

My Momma stayed the night with us a few weeks ago, while my Dad was out of town. She was sooo thoughtful and brought me flowers!

This little shnookems rolls onto her tummy all the time now. She's so cute. The poor thing sometimes can't figure out how to get back onto her back. That frustrates her. I'm hoping she'll get it down pat, soon, b/c then I can let her sleep on her tummy at night. Right now she's sleeping on her side or back.

"GG" Great Grandma. She's 95 but honestly she's sharper than a sharpened tack! She came for the day and we had such a great time! We went to lunch at Applebee's, chatted, and played with Kate. To wrap up the visit, we watched back-to-back episodes of Bonanza! hahah :D We loved it. They were filled with romance! Both of us were like "We thought Bonanza was about sheriffs and tumble weed!" I guess not. Maybe we were thinking about Gunsmoke. Bonanza, I love you!
We love you too, GG! :)


This one looks like she's holding her breath! She's so dang funny. Love those rosy cheeks. I am not sure what makes them so rosy. I check her temp. often to see if she's running a slight fever. It's always normal. In case you didn't' know, that's the reason why her middle name is Rose. We gave it to her a week or so after her birth. She had jaundice really bad, and as soon as it cleared up, we saw that she had beautiful rosy cheeks! Before that, she didn't have a middle name.




That little ray of light is perfect. This little ensemble is from her G-ma (Greg's Mom) and the boots are from my friend, Dara (Auntie Dairy). BTW (by the way) I didn't put her arm on the arm rest. That was all her!



This was what she wore to church on Sunday. So sweet! The only thing I was bugged about was that I found the brown tights that day, and she's almost too big for them. Today I totally reorganized her closet and drawers. I organized the closet according to type of clothes, rather than what age it's for. I put all of her pants in one drawer. I think it will be much easier for me to find stuff now. Thank you so much, everyone for being so generous at our shower and since. Kate has tons of adorable things to wear. I feel a little guilty though, b/c I put her in pjs many days. I'll try to do better! :)

March's Mullet of the Month

Don't they wear helmets in hockey?

What's going on...

Hello Folks,
Sorry it's been awhile since I updated. Here's what's happenin' in "our neck of the woods' (Al Roker).
With Kate:
So, our sweetie has had a cold for the past couple of days :( I think she's doing better. We'll go back to the Dr. tomorrow just to double check. The little sweetie. It's so scary when a little sweetheart gets a cold. Greg and a friend gave her a blessing last night and within an hour she was already much better (not coughing, and she slept really well). I am so thankful for that. I feel so blessed.
The latest with Greg:
He's really enjoying his job and he's having fun training for his upcoming triathlon. He's also great to help with Kate when he gets home.
With Me:
Lately, I've really been thinking about one main thing. Being a mom is such a joy and responsibility. I often get asked the question "do you work?". I think to myself, "I do." It's so important to be a full-time mom. I wouldn't want it any other way. I love it and am so thankful for Kate.

Mommy and Daddy with Baby

February's Mullet of the Month

BE MINE?

WE'LL MAKE IT AN EXPLOSIVE VALENTINE'S!!!

January's Mullet of the Month

Maybe the "Storm in the Heartland" explains the hair.

Hello All, Here's Some Updates :)

Greg is so great at taking pictures. I really think that this is the PRETTIEST sunset picture I've ever seen.

This is Hon-Hon on our little walk. We took a walk almost every morning before the sun came up. Kinda ambitious to be up by 6:30am on vaction, if I may say so. This is actually what I miss most about the trip (beside family).

Nicole, Wes, Tessa and Kate. They are so great with Kate. I've already learned so many great things from Wes and Nicole about parenting. Cute Tessa is almost exactly 2 years older than Kate. They're going to be best friends! Callie wasn't in the picture, but she is also going to be best buds with Kate. She was very good at holding Kate.

A Kate sandwich! Warm sun...I miss you.

Wes and Cole at the golf course. We all had such a great time golfing. Am I good at golfing? I'll tell you how good I was. My newphew, 8 years old, had only golfed twice. HE beat ME by one stroke! ha! (In his defense, he had some great shots! I was very impressed! ) He rode in my cart. At one point, I asked him to drive the cart to the green. He was like "uh, I don't thin I can". I thought, it can't be too hard. Wes looked at me and thought I was a little crazy. Cole said, "I'm only eight". I guess sometimes I forget how old he is! So Wes comprimised and told Cole he could press the pedal for the rest of the day. He was very good and careful. By the way, don't you think golf carts are hilarious!? Someone in our party always seems to skid, bobble from side to side, or fall out. I always ended up crying from laughing so hard. Wes and I used to rearend each other. For your information, it hurts worse than you'd think.
Such loving Grandparents.

Like I already mentioned...Greg is an incredible photographer.

Here's our little hula girl. She's growing so quickly!

This is Cole and Dad.

Blue Eyed Girl!

Greg loves Kate. He is smitten!

We spent Christmas break with my (Abbey's) side of the family. We had such a great time being with family all of the time. It was also incredible to get to be somewhere warm while it was snowing at home. That really makes you appreciate it! Melekelikimaka!

A Mullet Family Christmas!

Little Love

How sweet :)

Lil' Homey

I placed her in her swing and she fell asleep for awhile. The next time I checked on her, I saw that her head band had done this! So funny!

A little later... Hilarious! :)

November's Mullet of the Month

Beautiful