The Motherland

In my (almost) 26 years of life, I've only lived in Utah for not quite 10 years, including several months as a baby and my three years at BYU.  Tucson is 'home', Maryland is 'home' now, too.  But my roots in Utah run really deep.  I don't know if it was because my childhood was spent there or because (with the exception of one aunt and my immediate family) my ENTIRE family lives there, but Utah will always be 'home', too.  Although it really is weird to call someplace 'home' when you haven't actually called it 'home' since you were eleven...

Our last trip to Utah was when Seth was still a baby.  Considering we added a new little one to the family and that Seth was so much bigger (in height if not weight--that kid was a CHUBBSTER as a baby), we decided it was time to go again.

Amazingly enough, both kids did fantastically on our flights from Philadelphia to Chicago and then Chicago to Salt Lake.  Guess all my stressing/praying paid off!  In Salt Lake we rented ourselves a minivan just for Aaron and Timmy.  Even with satellite radio, power doors and a backing-up camera, I still missed our Odyssey.  I love my van.

We booked our trip long before we realized that 1) it would be Easter Sunday and 2) that my brother-in-law Brian would be graduating that week and that my family would come up from Tucson to see him.  So we got to spend Easter Sunday with ALL of my family!  It was lovely.

Well, maybe Marah didn't think it was so lovely.  At least not when Seth woke up at 5am to play with her...

My kids were adorably matching for Easter.  Mom bought Seth's sweet outfit, and Catherine wore one of my old dresses.  I tried to make her a matching bow, but it turns out I suck at bow making.  Kind of like I suck at scrapbooking and all other crafty things.  Good thing Kenna got that talent!

Speaking of Kenna, my kids weren't the only ones who were all matchy-matchy for Easter:

I love imagining the look on Jon's face if I had suggested we color coordinate for Easter Sunday...

We enjoyed a lovely musical program at the Carnahan's ward.  Or at least I enjoyed it until Seth wet his pants in the middle of it.  Thank heaven that was really the only big accident he had--he even started napping in underwear while we were there!

After church we managed to get all the Carnahans together for a picture.  I can't even remember the last time we pulled that one off.

And yes, the front row was reserved for unmarried grandchildren.  We've got to shame them into matrimony somehow...

Then, of course, there was the Easter egg hunt.  And since Seth is the only grandchild capable of actually hunting (Catherine was just not up to it at 2.5 months), he was spoiled completely rotten. 

Aunt Marah is a fantastic basket holder.

Two buckets: one for Seth, one for Catherine.  

But since Catherine is not quite up for candy yet, guess who gets to eat it all?

Yep.  

Of course, it wouldn't be Easter without egg dying!  Seth was less than thrilled since Marah & I did all the actual dying, but he was happy to eat the results!

Monday we headed to Provo to meet up with our old friend Lynda (and to eat some fabulous Korean food) and to meet Kenna's horses.  Of course, I failed to get pictures of either of those things.  

We ended the day with some delicious shrimp scampi (made by yours truly) and fresh pineapple (carefully selected by Aaron).  Oh, and by watching some chubby freshman wheel himself across the parking lot in an office chair during a rainstorm.  Oh, BYU...

The next few days were spent in Roy with my grandparents, just relaxing, as well as visiting Mindy & Nathan, some old friends from Iowa.  We also took Seth to the Hill AFB Museum, thinking he would love seeing all the airplanes.

Actually, all he cared about was playing in the Children's Center.  Specifically, playing with this ping pong ball and blow dryer.  So really we could have just stayed at home and done exactly the same thing, but whatever.

Then we made the mistake of trying to take him to Chickfila for lunch.  He refused to eat, so we didn't let him play in the playplace.  Which led to the BIGGEST meltdown I have ever seen him perform.  RIDICULOUS. Thank heaven he's only tried it that one time--I have no idea what I would do if he pulled stunts like that more often.

After a much needed nap, we took him to the park and let him play.  He loved playing with Leighton's old RC cars--guess we know what to get for his 'happy birthday'...

Friday we did our craziest adventure--driving 5 hours to Winnemucca, Nevada to see Jon's sister Elizabeth and her husband, Kade.  Want to know what there is to do in Winnemucca?  Well, you can drive a tractor:

Or you can shoot squirrels.

From inside a Suburban.

Or you can see how many Bloods you can fit on one four-wheeler (I think Jon could have climbed on, too).

And that's pretty much it.  (Just kidding!  I'm sure there's got to be some cows to tip somewhere, too).  And for those of you who are disgusted with us for shooting innocent little squirrels (Mom & Kenna), know that they were eating the alfalfa fields and that they quickly get out of hand if you don't work to keep their numbers down.  Shooting them is probably not the most efficient method, but it works.  And yes, I shot a squirrel.  Two, actually. 

Sunday we headed to Elizabeth's ward Sacrament Meeting before we made the drive back to Salt Lake.  Catherine looked stunning in her dress from Grandma Cathy:

And yes, those socks really are the same color.  Weird lighting.

 And this is what happens when you leave your camera laying around where Aaron can get it:

Pretty sure he wasn't quite that happy after spending 5 hours in the backseat of a minivan with Catherine next to him (actually, for a girl who hates her car seat, she did pretty darn good).  Although, come to think of it, Aaron pretty much just slept through everything.  Timmy, on the other hand, had a pretty long drive.  We're trying to make sure Jon's brothers never have children.

Monday morning Jon flew home, leaving me and Marah alone with the kids.  I was definitely nervous about surviving without him, but Marah was awesome.  

Tuesday we headed up to Logan to visit my Mikesell grandparents.  We only had a couple of days with them, but we loved every minute of it.  Catherine loved being held:

Seth loved following Grandpa around and mooching treats whenever possible.  Unfortunately, he refused to ride with Grandpa on the lawnmower like he did when we visited two years ago.  Can't wait for this wimpy phase to be over...

And I loved getting a chance to just relax!  Turns out if you're tired enough, you really can sleep with a grunting little baby right next to you (don't worry--she was tightly swaddled and can't roll over yet):

We managed to see Aunt Pam, Amber (along with her new husband and amazing house), Garth & Linda's family, and Matt & Chelsea's family.  Not too shabby for how short of a time we had with them!  But I guess you have to grasp every opportunity when you don't know when you'll be out there again...

Before I knew it, it was time to head back home.  We said goodbye and a big thank you to the Carnahans:

(Want to know why Catherine is called The Princess?  Check out her pose in this shot.)

Then it was off to the airport for another round of flights.  Once again, both kids did amazingly well.  

Catherine was happy as could be:

I could have done without the poo-splosion she shared with me mid-flight, but at least she didn't scream!

And Seth?  Well, he spent a good chunk of the flight doing this:

Poor tired little man!

We made it home safely and haven't had a chance to slow down since (as you can tell by the fact that this post is over a month late).  We are so grateful for our wonderful family.  Thank you for letting us come mooch off you and mess up your schedules with our little monkeys.  We love you all and can't wait to see you again!

Two Months

(I really did write this last month, but then we headed to Utah and things got...crazy.  Better late than never!)

Official 2 Month Stats: 

10 lbs. 10 oz.

 23 inches

 38.3 cm head circumference.  

Which makes her a little below average, and a LOT below her brother.  

He was over 12 pounds by this point.

Here's what Catherine is doing at two months:

*Smiling.  Oh my goodness, she is a smiler.  We are totally in love.  Seth was SO SERIOUS, so this is a thrill for us.  Her favorite person to smile at is her daddy.  She LOVES him.

*Talking.  She is a little chatterbox--cooing, shrieking, even doing little half-laughs (usually when Seth is around).  Once again, her favorite person to talk to is her daddy.

*Great head support.  Her tummy times are much more impressive than Seth's were--she'll actually hold her head up and look at you!

*Rolling over!  She's not doing it all the time, but she has repeatedly rolled from belly to back.  And she is quite pleased with herself when she does it.

*Sleeping from 10-11pm until 3-4am, then again until 7am, then again until 8-9am.  I'm desperately trying to get her to bed earlier, but she is not interested.  She's slowly going down earlier (it used to be 11 on the dot, now it's closer to 10:30), but I want to be in bed at 9:45 with my husband!  She was sleeping from 11 to 4 or 5 am, but the past week or so it's been earlier.  But it's okay--we're doing remarkably well for two months!

*Waking herself up to poo.  I hate this phase of baby life.

*She's started concentrating hard on the toy hanging from her car seat.  She's also bound and determined to get her hands to her mouth despite our swaddling attempts.

*She still prefers to be held all the time, but will actually let me put her down in her vibrating chair occasionally.

*She's still sleeping in her swings (turned off).  I keep wanting to move her to her crib, but she doesn't seem to sleep as long when she's laying flat.  I keep telling myself I'll move her at four months...

*We're still 50/50 on the car seat.  Our 5 hour drive from Salt Lake to Nevada next week should be interesting.

*I swear she poops through three or four outfits every week.

*Still in size one diapers, but finally outgrew her newborn outfits.  0-3 months are still a little big, but she's wearing them!

*Nursing every three hours.  In the evenings she'll nurse more frequently (every 1.5 to 2 hours), but then she'll sleep her big long chunk.

*Loves, loves, loves her baths.  She'll settle right down and splash her feet in the water.  Seth loves to keep her warm by pouring water over her belly (and her face, occasionally).  She'll be happy as long as the water stays warm!

*Did not do so well with her two month shots.  Poor thing spent an hour yesterday afternoon trying to sleep but not being able to because she was hurting (and screaming).  I loaded both kids in the van and ran to Walgreens (while illegally leaving my two children in the van so Catherine could scream her heart our) to buy baby drugs.  As soon as I got back to the van I gave the kid some Tylenol.  She needed a dose of Motrin that evening for a slight fever, but now she's almost 100% back to her sweet happy self.  That one afternoon of screaming made me very, very grateful we don't have to deal with colic.  Bless all you poor moms and dads who do.

*Loves to be outside.  She'll either go right to sleep, or will just lay happily in her sling (thanks, Dawn!).

*She is the happiest little baby.  She will just smile, coo, and kick until she gets tired.  Then she'll squawk at you, which means "wrap me up nice and tight, give me my pacifier, and hold me."  Usually within 15-25 minutes she'll be out cold.  Even her nightly fussy period is almost entirely gone now.

I'm already noticing that time is going quickly by.  Once the slow, painful days of the first three weeks were over, it's just been going faster and faster.  I'm still excited to get to the point where she's on a more consistent sleeping schedule, but I'm doing much better than I expected to be at this point.  I don't know how we got so lucky to have two easy kids, but I am most definitely not taking it for granted.

Now cross your fingers that we can survive a cross-country flight with a two-and-a-half year old and a two month old this weekend...

Potty Trained!

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I'm calling it: Seth is officially potty-trained!

He had been ready for a few months, but had NO interest.  We tried taking away his pacifiers when he messed his diaper, but he didn't care about the five on his dresser as long as he still had one in bed.

So we tried positive reinforcement--a treat every time he went on the potty.  Bingo.  Between candy and dollar-store toys, he's a happy kid.

We started him off with a little plastic potty from Ikea that he could sit on easily.  Then I got tired of cleaning and sanitizing it all day, so we moved him to a little potty seat that fits on top of the big potty.  Then I got tired of cleaning and sanitizing that (how did people potty train before Clorox wipes?!), so we taught him how to hold himself up on the big potty.  Now he can run to the bathroom, pull down pants and undies, sit down on the potty and take care of business all without any help.  All I have to do is wipe, pull up the pants, and help wash his hands.  Oh, and then give him his treat, of course.  Not looking forward to weaning him off of the treats.

Here's what we've learned about potty training with Seth:

-Once Upon a Potty worked like a charm.  He loved going on the potty "like Joshua".

-Pull-ups are a joke for him.  He knows he can pee in them and not get wet, so he won't even bother going to the bathroom.  We put diapers on him for naps and bedtime because diapers are cheaper than Pull-ups.  Once he starts waking up dry, we'll put him in underwear.

-He's already amazingly good at letting me know when he needs to go, even if we're not at home.  He's also amazingly good at holding it when he doesn't want to go.  Must get that from his father because it sure didn't come from me...

-Little boy underwear is SO CUTE.  Cars, dinosaurs, trains...

Overall, it was much easier than I expected.  I heard from lots of experienced moms that we shouldn't push him--he'd train when he was ready, but trying to make him train earlier would just make us both frustrated.  It was a little annoying watching many of his friends start training before him, but I'm glad we waited until he was ready!  Now we're just praying he doesn't decide to revert back here in a month or so.  Hopefully as long as he gets an M&M every time he goes potty he'll keep going.  I'll keep giving him M&M's until he's in kindergarten if that's what it takes to keep him out of diapers!

I Hate Bees.

As a survivor of 6 rounds of bee stings, I have a legitimate reason to hate the stupid bugs.  Now I have another.

Last Sunday we were heading to a friend's house for dinner.  I was upstairs getting ready when I heard Seth screaming.  He's been a little bit of a punk lately (pushing the rules to see if we'll follow through with the punishment) so I assumed he'd gotten in trouble with his daddy.

But then Catherine started screaming, too, so I headed downstairs to see what Jon was up to.  He had a sobbing Seth in his arms (Catherine was ticked off because he put her down).  Apparently Seth had stepped outside without shoes on and somehow managed to land right on a bumblebee.  One of those big, fuzzy ones that I didn't think could sting.  They can.

I got a baking soda paste on his toe as quickly as possible and then Googled, "How to tell if your kid is allergic to bee stings."  Reminding ourselves to check him for swelling and rashes, we headed out the door.

He was totally fine by the time we left.  No allergies, no pain.  All that's left is pure terror--every time he sees a bee he panics and runs.  Yesterday he even wet his pants because he was so scared.  Part of me is so sad that he's afraid of everything that looks like a bee (flies included).  But the other part of me is glad--now he knows them for what they are: horrible, nasty little monsters who are out to get him.

If I were in charge, all pollinating would be done by butterflies.  And yes, I can totally live without honey, thank you very much.

Repeat After Me

Things Seth says that crack us up (nothing funnier than hearing what you say translated into toddler-ese):

"When you get so big?"

"Good morning, big world!"

"What nice day."

(As I'm getting ready to change Catherine's diaper): "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness..."

(If the diaper is particularly disgusting): "Holy Shniekies!"

"Mom, go 'way." (I don't).

"Mom, go 'way to work." (Still not moving).

"Mom, go in Seth's new van and go to work."  (Pulling a sad face but still sitting on the couch).

"MOM!  1 2 3, GO 'WAY!" 

He just doesn't understand why counting to three doesn't strike the same fear into my heart that it does into his...

Happy Birthday

Seth has taken to stealing all the grocery bags after a shopping trip.  He then proceeds to fill them with random toys and then delivers them to you with the announcement, "It's Mommy/Catherine/Seth's Happy Birthday!"  And don't you dare try to put some of those toys back--he'll hunt you down and ask with a scowl, "Where's my Happy Birthday?"

Just for Fun

 "I need my beauty sleep!"

A huge mess, but at least it's a sanitary mess... 

"Hands off--this is MINE!!!" 

 What Catherine has to put up with every diaper change.

Or every tummy time.

Basically any time she's within Seth's reach...

I pulled out some of my baby clothes from my cedar chest for Catherine to wear:

First, my BYU shirt (this one's for you, Tracie!):

Train 'em up young, that's our motto!

And next, the orange dress: 

Catherine was thrilled to be modeling for me...

How about a sibling comparison? 

 They are most definitely related.

And she most definitely looks like her daddy.

Grand Finale:

Seth modeling Catherine's headbands (or 'colors of the rainbow' as he calls them)

No, I did not pose this.

Anyone know how to explain to my  two-year-old why he can't wear bows?

PS--to celebrate her 7 week birthday, Catherine has (twice now) slept from 10:30-11:00pm until 5:45am.  I am a very happy mommy.  But I would be even happier if she would go back to sleep at 5:45 am instead of fussing until I bring her into bed with me...  She is a very spoiled princess.

Mikesells!

My parents and baby sister (okay, she's 16) flew out for Catherine's blessing, but then got to stick around for another week.  We were really exciting, too.  They've already done D.C. and New York and we were not up for a tour of Philadelphia with a month-old baby.  So here's what we did instead:

Played with Grandpa (who ended up on the couch most of the time with an injured knee...boo...)

Got a haircut:

(He screamed bloody murder last time--this time he was all grins.  Explain that one, please)

Read books with Grandpa.  Grandpa especially loved 'Once Upon a Potty':

Showed off:

Went to the library: 

(Bad idea--Seth was grumpy and BOTH kids pooped. Oh, joy.)

Played cars: 

Went to White Marsh Mall and Ikea:

(Sorry, Beth--this really was the best shot)

(Catherine enjoying her first trip to the mall)

(Riding the cars is great fun until Grandpa puts money in them--then they MOVE and are SCARY)

Went to 'the pumps':

(Beth and Catherine were thrilled to be there)

Helped Grandpa feel better:

Went to the temple:

(Mom & Beth took the kids so we could do a session together.  Awesome date--thank you, Mom & Beth!)

Took lots of naps:

Began potty-training:

Definitely not our most exciting hosting, but they swore they just wanted to hang out with us.  Hope you meant that, cause that's what you got!  

My mom, of course, was amazing--laundry, dishes, and cleaning were magically done; babies were held so I could nap; and pictures were taken since I never seem to remember my camera.  My dad was a pro at getting Catherine to nap, plus he cooked us AMAZING meals.  And Beth was very good at letting Seth jump all over her while she slept and at introducing us to Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Justin Bieber (and yes, I just had to Google their names for correct spelling).  We are all a little dumber now (love you, Beth!).

I know I say this a lot, but I really feel like families are meant to live near each other.  Not necessarily next door, but close enough that a mom with a newborn could call for help when things are getting too overwhelming.  I know my mom would LOVE to help--not living near us is very hard for her.  So we are so grateful for the time we do get to spend with them!  Thank you for everything (and see you in a couple of weeks!!!).

Blessing Day

We blessed Catherine on March 20th at our ward here in Maryland.  Once again, we were lucky to have both of our families there.  Okay, SOME of both of our families, but we'll take what we can get.  Beth and my parents flew from Tucson (and stayed for a week--more to come!) and Jon's parents plus Stephen & Claudia, James & the twins drove from West Virginia.

Times like this make me wish we weren't so far away from our families.  Seth was in HEAVEN--so many people to show cars to, wrestle with, and take him outside to play.  And Catherine was in heaven, too--I don't think she was put down that entire weekend, which is exactly what she prefers.  I think she spent most of the time in Stephen & Claudia's arms--they're getting in some good practice before their little girl arrives in August (yay!).

Catherine's blessing dress was the same one my mom and her sister Lori were blessed in.  Since she's named after my mom, Mom & Lori decided it was only fitting to pass the dress on to Catherine.  Please excuse the slightly yellowed color--I took it to the cleaners and they wanted to charge me $45 to whiten it.  No, thank you...

And can I just say that I'm in LOVE with her little booties?  Possibly as much as I'm in love with her ruffle-bottom tights?  Little girls are SO FUN to dress up.

Sara Catherine was given a name and beautiful blessing by her father.  In the circle were her dad, both grandpas, Uncle Stephen and Bishop Brady.  She was very cooperative--no screaming and no pooping on her dress (my two biggest worries).

And now for picture overload:

Our family.

The attending Bloods.

The attending Mikesells

Sara Catherine & her two namesakes (Grandma Cathy & Grandma Sara)

And yes, she's totally covering her face.

I was not kidding about her being constantly held:

Catherine & Aunt Joanna

Catherine & Aunt Bethany

Catherine & Tia Claudia

Catherine & Mommy 

(Notice the angelic glowing?  From my legs, I mean.)

A smile (for real!)

The reason we have so many pictures:

My dad's favorite--tongue out!

And just so you don't forget, we also have a very handsome son:

Even with only one eye...

We are so grateful to have this little one in our family.