It's a "buggy" life

Bugs bugs bugs.  It seems these days I just can't get away from them.  Some bugs are cute and some are just icky! 

Our cute little Katelynn bug was a butterfly for Halloween (that happens to be my favorite type of bug).  I tried to be crafty and make her costume mostly from scratch. I think it turned out really cute!

Her wings I made from a hard foam butterfly shape, added glitter glue and puff paint, and glued a feather boa on the edge.  I attached fold over elastic on the front with some velcro to wrap around Katelynn's tummy so the wings would stay on. 

I made her antenna from pipe cleaners glued onto a stretchy headband, and I added ribbons and flowers to her tutu skirt. 

I think she was the cutest little bug ever!

 

As for those other kind of bugs- the icky ones- I think it has been a nonstop battle with them ever since we moved to Hawaii.  The biggest battle has been cockroaches! Ew! They were in our first apartment and this one.  Steve did literally everything to get rid of them- bug spray, traps, poison, sealing up every single hole in the house either with caulk or duct tape.  We saw less and less of them, but they were never completely gone, until the bug bomb!  We set one off while we were on vacation last summer, and we have had a cockroach free apartment for 3 months---until two days ago.  I found one in the cupboard. . . the battle has resumed.  At least we smashed that one.  And now it will be back to checking the kitchen and cupboards every time we wake up in the middle of the night to smash and kill any we may see. . .

 

And now another bug story- another gross one.  A few weeks ago I noticed little bugs on Katelynn's sunday dress.  I brushed them off and finished getting ready for church. But at church I kept noticing more bugs in the seams etc.  So I came home and checked the closet (I hang her dresses in my closet) and found more bugs on her clothes, my clothes, on my shelves, in everything!  Weevils.  Evil weevils.  So over the next few days I take everything out of my closet (a huge task in itself since we have limited storage and we pack our storage areas tight) and bag it up.  I found the evil weevil source- a rice sock I had made when I was pregnant- that I would warm up in the microwave and have Steve roll up and down my back when it hurt.  Yea- it was full of weevils.  So disgusting!  After that was thrown out and everything was bagged up, we started going through the bags and brushing out the weevils or checking to make sure the items were weevil free.  I can't believe the little spaces they got into- jewelry boxes, packaged items, closed containers- yuck.  I ran literally all the clothes from the closet through the washing machine.  And yesterday we rented a carpet cleaner and cleaned the carpet.  I haven't seen any weevils for a while, so I think we are going to win this battle.  And the lesson to learn- do not leave rice in your closet!  Even if it has been through the microwave a few times!

Items in bags to either suffocate or starve the evil weevils.

Clothes bagged up and ready to be washed.

 

 

Are you grossed out enough for one day?  Cause I could keep going with the stories about the ants, the mosquitos, the bugs in my nightmares. . . Ok, I'll save those stories for another day.



 

 



 

Two teeth. . . and a tsunami

Katelynn officially has her first two bottom teeth.  The Dr. has ordered flouride drops in fact (they don't put flouride in the water here).  The first one made its appearance on Oct 16, with some blood along with it.  Poor girl!  I wonder when her top two will start coming in. . . She is still chewing on everything she can get her hands on, including my fingers- ouch!  We went to see Dr. Loui last Friday for her 6 month check-up.  She is doing great in everything except her weight.  She weighs 12 lbs 1.5 oz and is in the <3%.   But she is 26 1/4 inches, in the 70% and her head is 42 cm and in the 35%.  So she just needs to put on the pounds!

In other news, we survived our second tsunami!  The loud warning sirens went off last night at about 8 pm.  I was rocking Katelynn to sleep and Steve was out getting jamba juice for our date night.  Those sirens are loud and scary sounding.  Luckily, Katelynn still went to sleep.  But then we got a phone call from our friends, the LeSueurs, who live just a 1/2 block outside the evacuation zone.  We told them to come over to our place!  Not only are we outside the evacuation zone, but we are on the 12th floor.   And then the Skeems, who also live a 1/2 block outside the evacuation zone, called as well.  So they made their way over, fighting the crazy traffic and long gas lines.    We all camped out in the living room, watching the news, and playing the waiting game.  The evacuation they showed on the news were crazy, so many cars and so much traffic.  And then a few minutes before the wave was supposed to hit, authorities told people that if they were stuck in traffic in the evacuation zone they should leave their cars and go to higher ground.  So 10:28 came and went, and. . . nothing happened.  Apparently there were a few small waves, but nothing else.  We kept waiting and waiting, but still nothing.  So around 1:00 our friends returned to their homes, and we finally went to bed.  It was a fun night, and we were glad nothing happened, but also glad for the adventure.

Cute things

Almost 6 months!  What a cute stage!  Some cute things to remember:  She is a rolly polly bug- rolling around all over, back and forth.  She rolls around a lot in her crib too.  We never know what position we'll find her in.  The other day she was on her tummy with her legs in the air, feet against against the wall, and her waist was all twisted.  It's hard to explain, I wish we could have gotten a pictures, but you can use your imagination.  She loves chewing on everything.  Her first tooth popped up yesterday!  A bottom one.  She not only graps for everything in sight, but she has started to find the tags on everythings- pillows, toys, etc.  It's her favorite thing to put in her mouth.  She also loves to have me drag my hair across her face or blow on her neck and face.  She is ticklish in her thighs, and occasionally other places.  She likes to try and hang upside down- especially if she's in my lap on the couch, and daddy is on the couch too, she'll hang upside down off my lap to watch what he is doing.  She can sit up for a few seconds, and looks like she wants to crawl.  She thinks it's so funny when I give her eskimo kisses, or when we startle her.  She doesn't like it when we stick a pacifier in her mouth, but if she chooses to grab it and stick it in, then it's ok!  Her newest "trick" is shaking her head.  She learned how, and now she will copy us when we shake our head at her.  It is the cutest thing!  We love our adorable Katelynn bug!

Being a Mommy

So the other day as I was trying to fall asleep that voice inside my head kept reminding of all the things I wanted to get done that week, but didn't.  Things like update this blog, finish a quilt I've been working on, write emails, make flower headbands, cook new recipes, finish creating a photo book, organize my pictures, etc, etc, etc.  And I'm a stay at home mom, so I should have time for all that, right?  Not really.  And I realized that's okay.  Because right now I am doing the most important job- being a mommy.  And if I don't get anything else done, that's okay, because they're not important.  It's the good, better, best concept.  All those things are good, but the best thing is being a mommy to Katelynn.  And I love being her mommy. 

She caught her first cold yesterday and it breaks my heart.  Sad little cough.  Sad little runny nose.  Sad little hoarse voice.  But the cutest little sneeze.  She even smiles or laughs every time she sneezes!  It is hilarious.  But it is hard work taking care of a sick baby.  Especially one who already doesn't like to be put down or left to play by herself.  But I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

Katelynn is so amazing!  She is so full of life and curiosity for everything.  She reaches to grab anything she sees, and anything she grabs she quickly pulls into her mouth.  She is rolling from tummy to back and back to tummy, and is starting to act like she wants to crawl or at least scoot.  She can sit up by herself just for a few seconds.  She ate rice cereal for the first time last week and seemed to enjoy at least the new experience if not the food.  She seems to get bored pretty quickly, so we always have to find new toys or things for her to play with and put in her mouth.  Her favorite right now is her spoon.  She also likes a little caterpillar teething toy. 

Even though she's a mommy's girl and doesn't like many other people holding her, she loves to watch other people, especially kids.  And she acts like she wants to get up and run around with them!  She always has a big smile for daddy when he gets home and is constantly watching what he does.  She's such a cutie!

It's Walmart

Oh, the random things you see in Walmart.  Especially a big city Walmart.  Especially big city Honolulu Walmart.  So I go into the bathroom to change Katelynn's dirty diaper and on the changing table are 4 plastic bags all from different stores, a few crumpled up dollar bills, a lighter, and 2 cigarettes already lit, leaving little ashes on the table. I stand there and the lady next to the changing table looks over, washes her hands. Dries them. Washes them again. Dries them again. Decides to move the bags and other miscallaneous items to the ground since I was still standing there. And washes her hands three more times, and then washes and dries the sink she was at.  Now, I have nothing against homeless people, but I do believe changing tables are meant to hold babies, not smoldering cigarettes. 

Which reminds me of another homeless story.  A few weeks ago we were at the beach park with a few friends and their kids.  One cute little toddler just loved walking around, and towards the end of the evening decided to walk up to the homeless man pushing a shopping cart filled with all sorts of things.  And she just started pointing to different things in his cart.  He was a nice old man and started to offer her what she was pointing to.  Like a grocery sack, and a cup, and a rope.  Luckily her dad intervened and after a playful goodbye they parted ways.  I love kids!  They love everything about the world and they do not judge.  We all enjoyed watching that little scenario.

On another note, I made my first batch of homemade cupcakes today- Lemonade cupcakes with fresh raspberry buttercream topped with a fresh raspberry.  Yum!  They turned out pretty good!

Sunshine, sand, and surfing

Sometimes you just need a little sun (although I also think sometimes you need a little snow).  Yesterday we went with a bunch of friends to Waimanalo Beach.  It was sunny, windy, and sandy!  It was Katelynn's first long beach day- we've taken her to the beach close by for a an hour or two, but yesterday was about a 6 hour excursion.  She still is too young to be in the sun, so thinking ahead we bought a beach umbrella.  It lasted about an hour, and then the wind took it down.  Poor umbrella, but we'll still use it for non-windy days.  We kept a light blanket on Katelynn, or she was in her car seat which blocked the sun.  We had her touch her feet in the water, but the moment she felt it she screamed.  Same thing for the sand.  But that's just her personality- she doesn't like new things right off. She did like the wind and the sound of the waves.  And she really liked watching all the other kids in our group playing on the beach.  She even took two naps!  For her that is amazing. 

Sand!

Her face says it all!



Cute baby feet!
 

The waves were just right for using our body boards.  We had fun for about 20 minutes and then Katelynn woke up and we played in the water in shifts.  The kids in the group dug some pretty big sand pits, and they found a couple of crabs that they enjoyed torturing.  There was sand volleyball and eating of course.  Steve even tried surfing!  Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures because Katelynn decided to fall asleep in my arms, and I was afraid to put her down because she would just wake up.  Steve got a few cuts and bruises from the board, but he got up quite a few times!  It was a much needed fun in the sun day!  Can't wait for the next one!

 

Katelynn birth to 1 month

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Photo Book

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Utah- part 1

Our summer trip to Utah was fabulous!  It went by a little too fast, though.  We left July 12 at 10 pm and took a night flight and arrived in Utah July 13 in the morning.  We had one layover in Seattle.  It was Katelynn's first flight and she was a trooper!  She slept most of the time and only cried a little.  She slept for take-off, landing, and take-off again.  The second landing she was awake and it was really funny when the captain came on the overhead speaker.  Her eyes got so wide and she looked straight above her trying to find the source.  As Steve put it, it was a "God, is that you?" look.  :) 

Katelynn's first airplane ride!

Steve's dad and sister picked us up from the airport, but I think all three of us fell asleep on the drive to American Fork.  It was great to see everyone.  Katelynn met her cousins Andrew and Abby for the first time.  Abby wasn't so sure about her mom holding another baby. . . Andrew was super cute with Katelynn.  He was excited to finally see his only cousin. 


Later that night we made it over to the Thurlow household, where everyone stopped by to meet Katelynn.  Again, her cousins were super cute and wanted to hold her and cuddle her.  Brielle kept asking if she could teach her to walk! And LJ just kept pointing at her.  I think he was excited to see a baby younger then him. 

The best husband

I just have to say I have the very best husband.  Tonight is just one example of his endless sacrifices and thoughtfulness.  He has been at church since 9:00 this morning and got home at 5:30. (He's the executive secretary for a very needy and busy ward).  And the first thing he did when he got home was take little Katelynn (having quite the crying fest) so I could have a break and rest.  Now, 3 hours later he is rocking her to sleep (and tonight that's quite the job!)  For as busy as he is with school, work, homework, more work, and his church calling he definitely makes time for the most important things- being a good  husband and a good dad.  How did I get so lucky??  Katelynn and I- we sure do love him a whole lot!!

Two months. . .

I can't believe it's been almost two months since our little angel joined us here in this life.  I can't seem to remember what life was like without her.  I've been meaning to start this blog since her birth, but haven't gotten around to it.  But tonight I couldn't help but feel so much love and gratitude for this little girl.  Steve was teaching a night class, so it was just Katelynn and I hanging out.  After an evening walk, I got her ready for bed and rocked and sang to her.  She fell asleep, or so I thought, so I put her in her crib.  Ten minutes later she started fussing.  She was having some tummy troubles so I picked her up and set her in my lap.  After a few minutes she settled down, but did not fall asleep.  She lay there staring at me with her beautiful eyes.  And then she would smile.  And stare.  And smile.  Sometimes I would look away at other things, but when I looked at her again, there she was staring.  And smiling.  I think she was telling me she was just happy to be here.  It's such an amazing feeling to stare into the eyes of an innocent tender baby.  She is so full of love, wonder, excitement, and trust.  I only hope I can be worthy of all she brings to our family.