The Christmas Tree Farm

Yesterday we went to get our Christmas tree. This is the first year since Kate has been born that we've been able to afford a tree, so Brett and I were really excited. Brett found a Christmas tree "farm" online. Really, this should have been called a Christmas tree forest because the ground was not flat at all. You basically were handed a saw and went out into the forest canyon to cut down your tree. This was some really fun terrain to traverse as a largely pregnant person. Also, Kate declared she was scared of the tree stumps and so I was holding her on my hip at least half the time. Looking back I'm not sure how I did it, but it was actually really fun!

Getting ready to venture into the forest

Look at that smile! I don't think she was really that scared, I think she just wanted to be held :)

Cutting down our tree!

Kate's "say cheese" face

Our tree

Enjoying a drink of water before we head home

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday. I love getting together with family and enjoying wonderful food (though I can't stand turkey). I was a bit bummed that we had to stay home this year. Being 38 weeks pregnant, I wasn't cleared to travel more than an hour away. But Brett's mom came to celebrate with us. Kate was sooooooo excited to have Grandma and Kira (her dog) here. And even though we didn't have all the fun chaos that comes with lots of family, it was a wonderful, relaxing day that reminded me how many things I have to be grateful for (including a husband that wouldn't let me help with dinner and a little girl whose smile is probably the best thing ever).

Martinelli's sparkling apple cider. Yum.

Our little feast

Big Girl Bed

Kate now sleeps in a big girl bed! I feel like moving her out of her crib was letting go of the last sign of her babyhood. I thought since she was so attached to her crib this might be a hard transition for her. Wrong. She already seems perfectly comfortable in her bed and has proclaimed that the crib is now for Annabel to sleep in. I just hope she isn't disappointed to learn the baby won't be sleeping in it right away!

I hyped up the idea of her new bed for weeks, so she was very excited. Then we started out by just putting a thin mattress from Ikea on the floor for her. The first night she probably left her room about 50 times and it was 10:30pm before she went to bed. But there were minimal tears involved and she slept straight through the night! It only took her a few days to really adjust and now she hardly ever gets out of bed anymore (although sometimes I find she sneaks books into bed with her during nap time). After a week or two on the floor we moved the mattress onto the bed frame. We stuck some rolled up towels under the sheets to try to keep her from falling off the bed in the night. So far she has fallen off once--and that was when she was awake. So I think we will try removing the towels soon. She has done so well with the transition. I love listening to her on the monitor talking to her stuffed animals or reading books to herself before she falls asleep or right when she wakes up. And while she still is a major procrastinator when it comes to bedtime, I have found that since we put her in her big girl bed there are generally less tears and tantrums during the whole process. She does seem to be waking up more at night then in her crib, but she was sick a week or two ago and I'm blaming it on that. I haven't really worried too much about the night waking since her sister will be joining us any day now and I'm guessing that will take some adjusting before she learns to sleep through the new baby's sounds (Annabel will be in our room at first, but it is right next to Kate's because our house is tiny). Overall I'm super happy with the transition-and it seems like Kate is too.

Twinkle Twinkle

Kate has never really been into singing. From the time she could say "all done" she would insist that I not sing to her most of the time. She never really liked to dance to music. But she has recently had a change of heart and has started singing songs. The first song she ever sang was the ABCs--she just started singing it one day with zero prompting from me. She has since moved on to many others and likes to be sung to a bit more than she used to (although she will still censor me fairly frequently). Here is a video of her singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

Halloween

So I should probably write a little about Halloween. It was really fun because it was the first time Kate understood the concept (at least a little). She decided she wanted to be a cat (although at first she wanted to be a cow, then a sheep. I think I actually suggested a cat because there are about zero cute sheep costumes available). Brett and I dressed up as Ron and Hermione, so we affectionately referred to Kate as Baby McGonagall. On the actual day of Halloween we stayed inside; Brett was working late and I was not about to venture out trick-or-treating with her on my own.  But we took her to the ward Halloween party for her first trunk-or-treat and she had a great time. She even got the hang of saying "Trick or Treat" and I think managed an occasional "Thank you". She was very excited to come home with a bag of "special treats"--what she calls any kind of treat or candy. Of course, I forgot to take any pictures of her in her costume until after we got home. So these pictures are of a kid who is already up past her bedtime, won't sit still to have her picture taken, and whose costume and makeup have undergone several hours of wear. And she is still adorable.

Unfortunately, Deacon ate pretty much all of her Halloween candy a day or two later when we accidentally left the bag on the floor. Kate was very forgiving, which was good, because Brett and I were planning on eating most of it anyway!

Conversations with Kate: What's That?

"What's that?" is the question of the week. She has been asking this about everything, even when she knows what things are. Sometimes she wants you to answer her question, and sometimes she will answer the question herself. So last night I go into Kate's room to check on her because she isn't going to sleep. She tells me she needs her diaper changed. So I lay her down on the floor. Keep in mind that I haven't turned the light on, so it is dark. Kate hands me something and asks, "What's that?" I take it from her without even thinking about it. I don't know what it is, probably something she found on the floor. So I say, "I don't know." Kate gleefully replies with, "It's a booger!"

Yup, it is indeed a booger.

Hot Chocolate

Fall is here! Kate recently got to experience hot chocolate for the first time. I think she likes it :)

The Pumpkin Patch

No, we didn't go to the pumpkin patch in November. We went before Halloween. By now we already know that I am not proficient at writing posts as they happen. But I still want to record all the fun adventures of our little family.

Kate loved the pumpkin patch--she talked about it for weeks afterward. It was the first time since Brett and I have been married that we picked out pumpkins and carved them, so it was equally as fun for the two of us.

First we went on a little train that circled the pumpkin patch. We tried taking pictures of Kate on the train, but she was just way more interested in looking around at everything that was happening.

Kate kept on going up to various pumpkins and trying to pick them up. Then she would declare that they were "too heavy". 

It was exciting once we found some that were more her size!

We kept on trying to get Kate to pose for various cute pictures. She had about zero interest in looking at the camera.

Once Brett and I found some we liked Kate helped push the wheelbarrow around.

She loved watching the bees on the flowers.

And at the very end of our trip Kate got to pick out her very own little pumpkin. In truth she had picked out many pumpkins during our wanderings around the patch, but this was the one she got to take home.

It was the perfect fall outing for our little family.

Mommy and Me

Do you know how hard and frustrating it is to be a mom and have almost no good pictures of you with your kid? Yeah, I spend almost all day everyday with Kate, but when she looks back at the photos she might never know it. One day I was taking pictures of her and she decided she needed to sit in my lap, so we tried to take some together. We learned that clearly I need some help in the photography department. But at least we have some pictures to prove that we actually hang out together!

I originally started taking pictures because I thought she looked adorable in this dress

Classic finger up the nose pose

Terrible lighting, but I just love that smile

Together

Yup, mom rocks at this

Love this girl

Birthday Videos

And here is the birthday fun we were able to catch on video:

Happy Birthday 2 You!

My baby is now 2. And yes, I am writing this birthday post over a month after she had her birthday. I could make up lots of excuses for why that is--but I'll skip that. Here's what I was thinking about on and around her birthday:

I was thinking about the actual word: birthday. The day she was born. The day I gave birth to her. I was remembering that day, and reliving all of its sweetness in my mind. It was the day she grew our family. I could not have imagined how much joy she would bring to us. Her smile and laughter light up my life every single day. Sometimes I just look at her and kiss her and think about how beautiful she is. Everything about her little self is so amazing. I love watching her grow and learn. I love how I grow and learn when I am with her. Two years ago, I could never have perceived how I would be able to love someone as much as I love her.

Ok, now that I have released a small fraction of my mom emotions, I can write about her actual birthday. Like her previous birthday, it was a nice relaxing day. We opted to skip a party and just celebrate as a family.

 

We spent a good deal of the morning playing with Play-Doh. It is her favorite "toy". Sometimes she even asks to kiss the Play-Doh goodnight before she goes to bed.

Play-Doh was literally the only activity I had planned. Other than that I just let her take the lead and did pretty much whatever she wanted (including eating cinnamon toast crunch). Then when Daddy came home we had dinner, cake, and presents.

 

I am so grateful for the past two years I've spent getting to know this amazing little girl.