Summer Fun!

Photo Shoot with Daddy!















New Play area on our deck for Kyla


Patio after- upgraded from a hottub to a wading pool!


Patio before


Worn out from all the hiking!


Mommy and Kyla in the mountains


Smelling the pretty flowers!


Kyla and Daddy out on a hike


Kyla and Daddy on another hike!


Kyla is now taking swim lessons and having a blast in the water. She is in lessons twice a week with a great instructor named Crystal. Crystal is well known in the area for teaching babies as well as children with special needs how to swim. Kyla's first lesson was a huge success. In her half an hour lesson she was floating on her back with little assistance, swimming under water and kicking her legs for a few seconds, jumping from the side of the pool and blowing bubbles under the water. The class is a lot of fun, there are six babies/toddlers and their parents in the class. Much of what Crystal teaches the babies is through playing with them while singing songs. Her instructor was amazed how well she was doing and could not believe that it was her first lesson. Several times during the class she told Kyla that she was a natural swimmer. Kyla had so much fun and was smiling and laughing during much of the class. Our second lesson did not go as well, Kyla only wanted Mommy and would not go to the instructor. However, she still was happy just playing in the water. We are so excited to have Kyla in swim lessons this summer and enjoy watching her have so much fun swimming. Jon will be doing the lesson with Kyla on Tuesday so I will take some pictures of them to post.

Over Memorial day weekend Jon, Kyla and I were able to spend a lot of time together. Jon has been so busy at work lately, so it was very nice to be together. We sold our hot tub and in it's place put a small wading pool for Kyla and a water table for her to play with during our hot summer. It will be much more enjoyable to have this play area for her since we rarely used the hot tub anyway. Over the weekend we also took Kyla on her first hike in the backpack. She had so much fun on the hike and was smiling and singing the entire time. We are happy that she has been enjoying her time outside so much. Both Jon and I like going on hikes and walks and just being outside, so we are happy that we can do this with Kyla too.

We took Kyla for another hike this weekend and she again loved it. We are so happy to be able to get her outside and have her enjoy it so much.

Kyla's Ninth Month

Out for a walk at Red Butte Gardens


Madeline and Kyla in matching swimsuits


Making Bam Bam mad!


So Tierd!


Pretty Tulips!


Out with Grandma at Thanksgiving Point


Playing with Madeline and Mason in California


Loving the sprinklers at California Adventures


Mater and Lightening McQueen


Fun in the sun!


Enjoying Newport Beach!


Beach Babe!


Playing in the sand with Mason!


Mickey Mouse!


Jasmine and Aladdin!


Kyla is now almost 10 months old, it is so hard to believe that in just two months she will be turning one. We have had a fun 9th month with our baby girl. She is now walking everywhere, her balance has improved a ton and she is even turning corners while walking. We are amazed at how strong and determined she is. We have been getting nice weather and spending a lot of time outside.

My mom came to Utah to visit us for a few days and then I went to California with her and Kyla to visit my sister and then my mom came back here again for a few more days. It was great to spend time with my family. The school I work at was closed for a week and a half due to the swine flu, there were 30+ cases in Park City. The school closure was nice for me since it allowed me to spend more time with my mom and take a longer trip out to California.

Kyla had a great time with my mom being in town and also loved her time in California. In California we spent one day at Disneyland, one day at California Adventures, a day at Newport Beach and a day shopping and playing around the yard in the water.

At Disneyland Kyla's favorite ride was It's a Small World. She also really liked Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Carribean. On the rides her eyes were as wide as could be, she had a huge smile on her face and she would jump up and down. Kyla also got to meet Mickey Mouse while there. At California Adventures she did not go on as many rides, but loved playing in the water fountain. Kyla has so much fun playing in the water.

At the beach Kyla had a wonderful time playing in the ocean and with the sand. She wanted to do everything that her cousin Mason did. Kyla also played in the water table and hot tub at Marcie's house with Mason and Madeline.

While my mom was in town we spent a lot of time playing with Kyla. We were having very nice weather and went to both Thanksgiving Point and Red Butte to walk around the beautiful gardens.

Kyla and I were back in Utah for our first Mothers Day. Jon, Kyla and I had a great brunch at Red Butte and they gave me a very nice diamond swiss watch as a mothers day gift.

Kyla has had a lot of fun lately with all of the vacations she has been able to go on and the amount of time that she has been able to spend with our families.

We are looking forward to summer and being able to get outside and spend a lot of time together as a family.

Below is a tribute to mothers that a friend from the moms group I am in e-mailed to me. As a new mom I have not experienced much of what she wrote below, but know it will be coming someday. I love being a mother and enjoy every minute of it, but I don't think anyone but a mother can understand the love, fear, care and hard work that goes into being a mother and raising a wonderful child.

A Tribute to Mothers

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you have had a baby. Somebody does not know that once you are a mother, "normal", is history.

Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct. Somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.

Somebody said being a mother is boring. Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.

Somebody said if you are a "good" mother, your child will "turn out good".
Somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.

Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their voices. Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through the neighbor's kitchen window.

Somebody said you do not need an education to be a mother. Somebody never helped a fourth grader with his math.

Somebody said you could not love the fifth child as much as you love the first. Somebody doesn't have five children.

Somebody said a mother could find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books. Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery.
Somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten or on a plane headed for military "boot camp".

Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back. Somebody never organized seven giggling Brownies to sell cookies.

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married.
Somebody does not know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother's heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home.
Somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you do not need to tell her.
Somebody is not a mother.

Swine Flu in Park City

Kyla just got her passport and is ready to travel!

Working on walking

Kyla with her new walker

Kyla and BamBam

Kyla on a playdate with Dillon (6 months) at the Natural History Museum

Kyla at the frog exhibit




Kyla and I are home for a long weekend this week, at least 5 days. All of the schools in Park City School District have been closed due to the Swine Flu. The closure is through atleast Tuesday, possibly longer depending on if more cases are identified. I am looking forward to the extra days that I will have off of work, but the reasoning behind why we are out is very unfortunate. I thought that Park City would be one of the last places to get it, but with our late Spring Break and how many people just returned from Mexico it seems to be hitting hard. My friend Ana is in Cancun through this Saturday, it is so scary to think about how fast this new strain of the flu is spreading. The town we live in is currently out of Tamiflu and waiting for more to arrive. Our school was being deep cleaned today and everything was being disenfected even though none of the Park City cases have occured at our school.

Kyla and I are going to spend a lot of time outdoors, as long as the weather cooperates, and do our best to avoid crowded places. I think that we will also be cancelling our plans to go to California next week and definitly Mexico in June. I was so excited for both trips. Jon's cousin is getting married in Mexico this June and we were looking forward to their wedding as well as spending our fourth Anniversary in a beautiful place. I was going to go to California for Mothers Day weekend and spend a day at Disneyland, but I would feel much more comfortable avoiding flying right now. I was really looking forward to this trip and being able to visit with my sister and her kids as well as being with my mom for Mothers Day.

My mom is coming to visit us tommorrow from Alaska and then she will be going to California afterwards. We are looking forward to her coming down. She has not seen Kyla since February and I am sure she will be amazed by how much she has grown and developed since then. I am looking forward to visiting with her for the six days that she will be in Utah.

9 Months Old

Kyla is now 9 months old, it is really hard to believe how fast she is growing. She is such a fun little girl. She has so much energy and is constantly on the go. She is getting much better at walking, she can now walk all the way across the room at times and even stops to take a little break before walking more. She has also got much faster at crawling, it is amazing how fast she can move. She has recently learned how to wave bye bye, clap her hands and is now talking much more. She loves to try to copy what you are saying. She is great at saying "Hi", "Bye Bye", "Mama", "Dada" and "Baa Baa". She also thinks that it is fun to shake her head no when she is done eating or does not want to do something, I think she learned this from watching her cousin Taylor while we were in Seattle. It is hard to believe how fast a baby can learn so many new skills, we love watching her learn and grow everyday and are always so excited to see what she is going to do next.

Another big thing that Kyla has just started doing is putting herself to sleep at night without being cuddled and rocked. When we were in Hawaii Matt and Tiffany introduced us to this great little projector/sound machine and it has worked so good for Kyla. She would now prefer to lay in her crib listening to music and watching the images on the wall than being cuddled at bedtime. She is now putting herself to sleep in 15 minutes or less without even crying. We are so happy with her sleeping habits, besides putting herself to sleep, she also sleeps through the night almost every night. Kyla is such a great baby. Everyday we are so thankful for having such a happy, healthy, beautiful and fun daughter.

We are finally having warm beautiful weather and all of our snow is starting to melt. We have now finally been able to get outside more and go for walks around the neighborhood. We have such great trails in Park City for walking/jogging and are having fun getting Kyla out.

I am back at work this week after having the past 3 weeks off. It was so nice having all that time off and spending so much time with Kyla. Now that I am back at work we are going to be short an infant teacher until the end of the school year on most days, so I will be spending many of my days at work with her in the infant room. I am so lucky to be able to work and spend so much time with Kyla, I really cannot think of a better job for me at this time. Kyla was happy to be back in the day care and see other babies. Over the past 3 weeks the other 4 babies in the daycare seemed to have grown so much. It is so amazing how fast babies change. Her friend Claire who is 4 months old has been colicky and is now so happy and alert. Another one of her friends, Bailey, who is 6 months old is now bigger than Kyla. It is so much fun to see a baby develop so many new skills in such a short time and see their personalities come through. Each baby in Kyla's daycare has such a distinct temperment and personality from one another.

Kyla went in to the Doctor for her 9 month check up yesterday. She is now 29 1/4 inches tall which is the 90% for height. She is 17 pounds and 4 ounces which is the 25% for weight, so she continues to be tall and skinny. Her head circumference is 40%. The Doctor said that she is very healthy and has mastered all of the skills that she would expect her to do by now plus more. We always knew that we had a strong girl and she has proven that to us by how active and involved she is in everything. We just hope she gets a little more balanced on her feet soon so that we don't have to deal with so many falls and so much crying during all of her attempts to walk.

Below I have two short videos, one of her crawling and one walking.

April Vacations- Washington & Hawaii

Napping at the pool after playing hard in the pool

Kyla had a blast playing in the pool

Having fun with Grandma

So much fun in the pool with Daddy!

Having a great time playing in the sand

Mommy and Kyla at the Hyatt

Daddy, Mommy and Kyla at the Beach on the North Shore

Playing in the ocean

Beach Bum

Having fun in Kauai

Happy Easter!

Kyla and Landon

Hanging out at the Hyatt with Tiffany and Matt!

Daddy, Mommy and Kyla in Hawaii

Jon with Landon and a very jealous Kyla

Playing in the pool

The entire group at the Beach House to celebrate Mary and Brian and Tony and Sharons Anniversary's.

Kyla's first day at the beach

Kyla's first time playing in the ocean in Hawaii

Kyla and her cousins in Seattle!

We have had a great past two weeks visiting with Jon's family. We started out the month on a somber note going to Seattle to attend Jon's Grandmas Funeral. The Funeral was followed by a celebration of her life at David and Lisa's house. A lot of Jon's family was there and it was great to hear their stories and memories of Grandma Doreen. We were hoping for nice weather in Seattle since we are still getting snow in Park City, but we had rain and snow the entire time we were there.

Jon and I were happy to see many of his relatives that we only see every two years at their family reunion in Sun River, Oregon. Since we were not able to attend the reunion last summer it was nice to have them see Kyla while she is still a baby. Kyla also had a great time playing with Taylor. David and Lisa offered to have Kyla stay with Taylor and their nanny while we attended the funeral. Kyla loves to be around other babies and had a great time playing with Taylor and all of her toys. Kyla also played with Rory and Lauren, who are 8 and 6 years old. They dressed her up in all of Laurens necklaces and tried playing barbies with her. Kyla thought it was great getting so much attention from them. They thought that holding her was just the coolest thing and took turns passing her back and forth.

We returned home from Seattle and then left 12 hours later to fly to Hawaii for another vacation with Jon's family. Jon's parents have a time share in Kauai and invited us to go with them on Vacation. Jon's Aunt Sharon and Uncle Tony also have a tine share so they also went with their son Matt and his wife Tiffany and their 6 week old baby boy Landon. Their other son Steve and his girlfriend Paige also came for a few days. We had such a great time spending a week and half with family.

Kyla went swimming almost every day in either the pool at the resort or in the ocean. She was not so sure about the water at first but each day she liked it more and more and by the day we left she was just having a blast in the pool. She was even kicking her legs and trying to put her head under the water. I think that we are going to have to look into putting her in swim lessons this summer. Jon wants to make sure that she learns how to swim well and likes the water since I am such a poor swimmer and do not enjoy being in the water very much.

Kyla was great on our vacation and on the long airplane ride, but has become very attached to me lately. She has a hard time letting anyone play with her or hold her if I am in sight. But when we would leave her with her Grandma and Grandpa so we could spend time with Jon's cousins she was perfectly fine. We hope that she will outgrow this soon.

A couple of weeks ago Kyla took her first steps. She will now often take 3-5 steps before falling down. She walks very well holding onto furniture or toys and then gets too confident and lets go and tries to attempt walking on her own. She is very determined to walk on her own and we think that she will probably be doing it very soon. But while learning she has been falling so much, but so far has not got any bumps or bruises.

One of the highlights of our vacation was visiting with Jon's cousin Matt and his wife Tiffany and their baby boy. We were so excited to meet Landon and he is such a cute little baby boy. The one thing that suprised me was how tiny he seemed to me, and he is not a small baby. He was a big baby like Kyla when he was born, but for some reason I can already not even remember Kyla being that tiny. It is really so hard to beleive how fast they grow and how easily you forget how tiny they once were. Everyone always told me to enjoy her as a newborn because they grow so fast, and now I can understand why they say this. Kyla enjoyed being around Landon. Since he is so young he is still sleeping the majority of the day and Kyla did her best to try to wake him up whenever she was around him. She liked trying to climb on top of him and grab at his face. We look forward to the next time that we see them when he is a little older and able to play with Kyla.

Kyla spent her first Easter in Hawaii. In the morning we walked over to the Hyatt resort, which is so beautiful. Later in the morning we went to Brunch and then spent the majority of the day at the pool. Kyla recieved easter books and stuffed animals for Easter presents.

We are so grateful of Jon's parents for inviting us along on this vacation. It was such a great time and we look forward to going there with them again in the future. I am off of work again this week since it is spring break, so I am enjoying another week of spending time with Kyla and we are doing are best trying to get adjusted to the four hour time difference between Hawaii and Utah.