Summer Time Fun

This summer has been a lot of fun. I haven't taken my camera hardly anywhere, so most of these pictures are from others. Olivia started crawling a couple weeks ago, and now we can't even hold her she wants to just be on the ground moving. I'm getting a little nervous that she is going to be as out going as her brother.

We have seen so many fireworks this summer already... here are Tate and Olivia on the 4th of July.

We went to boating at Pineview reservoir with the family

We visited the "UP" house in Herriman.

both my sisters in law had their babies.
Avery and Davis are only 1 month apart, and Olivia is 6-7 months older than them. They will all be in the same grade in school

This is what Tate looks like when we are around the house. He loves being "free"

We went to a family reunion for a couple days up in Heber. We decided to ride the Heber creeper since we never had before, and since Tate loves trains. He was pretty much in aw the whole time, but SO hot on that dang train. they don't have AC and some of the windows are nailed shut. So if you decide to go, don't do it in the middle of the summer. They had a robber come aboard and still all our gold

We started this summer with a trip to St George. have been to seven peaks a lot. been to splash parks. grown tomatoes! made new friends. And now we are ending our summer with a trip to California

Mike should be officially done with his summer classes in 2 days and I'm relieved. This summer has been mostly him at home or school studying while I'm out having fun (or getting overwhelmed). So thanks to my family that have helped me out this summer and kept me company.

Joggercize

Sometimes I go out running and blast my music so loud, I catch myself singing along and doing a little dance with my arms, discretely . A couple days ago while running I came up with a great idea. I should invent a new workout called joggercize, or something like that. Choreographed running/dancing. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a dancer... but I'm pretty good at grooving in the car when a good song comes on. As to my knowledge nothing like this has been invented. So i think I'm going to take it upon myself to start this trend. it seems like ZUMBA is the "new thing", So this is just ZUMBA while running- sort of.

On Monday while i was running I made sure no cars were around and I just really got into it, It was so fun It had me laughing out loud. And it was a GREAT workout, I has exhausted! If I got a bunch of women to go with me and we all had the same playlist it wouldn't look so weird, right? Would you do this? Or am I the only one that has the need to groove while running? I'm thinking of starting with women in my ward just to go with me and try it out.

We are leaving for California next week with a couple of friends of ours, so maybe I will try it there. I can go "joggercizing" on the beach, and i won't have to worry about anyone I know seeing me look like a fool.

ah cute

Tate is his own little man. His interpretation of russel from UP!

nothiing important

Thank you all for the advice on shopping! It sounds like a lot of you do the whole Couponing thing. I have never been able to figure that out. One time I went to the store with like 20 coupons and It took me like 2 hours to shop because you need to read the fine print and get the exact and brand and size they say and rule out any restrictions. My friend Heidi texted me and told me about something called e-mealz and I have to say that I am converted. The past 3 weeks I've been using it and saving a lot of money in groceries. So a big Thank You to Heidi!


Olivia loves tummy time, and is getting very strong. I think she is close to rolling over now. This might not be very exciting to read... But it's very helpful to me to write it down so that I can remember when these milestones are happening. I feel like I forgot when Tate did anything, and I just look back on the blog to find out.



We blessed Oliva on March 6th and it was beautiful. Thank you to all our friends and family that came.



This was one of the longest days. Olivia would not stop crying for like a day straight, so when we got home from church she and mike were so tired... this is how I found them sleeping.

And we started the whole potty training thing about 2 weeks ago, and it's been ok. I think potty training is my very least favorite thing to go through so far. Poop and Pee everywhere, and being a clean freak myself, it's just GROSS. But tate has done pretty well. He has kept the bed dry for a whole week straight, but the one big thing he doesn't seem to grasp is going #2 in the toilet.

Groceries

Does anyone else get this many off brand items at the grocery store? I went shopping today and I didn't notice until I put it away that I have almost all Great Value items (the Walmart brand). I am soooo sick of spending so much at the grocery store. I want to know how much you all spend on Groceries each month. I think I spend close to $500-$600! How is this possible, we are only a family of 4, and only 3 of us eat food. Now I am included everything... diapers, shampoo, etc. So please tell me i'm not the only one spending this much. Or if I am, what am I doing wrong?

And of course more pics of my adorable children:

Olivia is now 3 months old and is cooing so much this week. It's so fun to hear her little voice. I love it! She is usually in bed by 9, then awake at 2:00, 5:00, and 8:00 to eat. But i'm sure by next week this will change again. I CANNOT wait until she can sleep through the night. I'm considering the whole sleep training thing.

Our church meetings start at 1:00 on Sunday so Tate misses his usual 2-3 HOUR NAP, and we get one GRUMPY kid. He gets so worked up, he wears himself out and always falls asleep on the couch

And this is the beautiful Cke Mike and I made on Valentines day. It was COVERED in so much frosting...It was so sugary that we split one piece and Mike took the rest to work to share.

I had a baby, ahhhhhhhhhhh

Yes, that's right, I had a baby. My 2nd one down, and only 1 more to go (I think). I have a new respect for any mother that has more than 2 children. That is a lot to put your body through, I cannot imagine getting pregnant more than absolutely necessary. I'm pretty sure my body will only be able to handle it one more time and then I'm done. (please remind me of this in a couple years when I want another kid) Our little girl was born November 29th at 2:54 in the afternoon. She came exactly 1 week early. We named her Olivia Kitterman. 7.2 lbs
She is the most content baby, never crying and always smiling., and has made this whole transition from 1 kid to 2 a lot easier than I thought. I love her so much. But It's a lot of work having a newborn and a 2 year old, well not just any 2 year old, Tate. I really really really love him but I can honestly say I think he is the most active 2 year old there is. Anywhere we go he has to touch and feel everything, turn on and off the lights, climb all over the furniture, run around like a crazy person, throw things. I feel like whenever we go anywhere that is not kid proofed I'm constantly saying no and just wishing he could just sit still. But I promise, I love him! I just want to know when this phase will end.
The first month of Olivia's life, Tate pretty much just ignored her presence in our house. He is just starting to come around now. I have heard that 2 kids is easier than 1 because they can entertain each other, So I'm hoping that eventually they will be good friends.

Man Time

The Men took on a lot this weekend. Mike, my brothers , and dad decided they wanted to go on a boys only camping trip with the kids. Crazy, yes! We all thought so. But no one objected because this meant FREEDOM. It was hard to say goodbye, but so worth it! I got my hair done, a massage, shopping, went to a movie, and slept a lot. Mike however, didn't sleep a lot, went fishing, hiking, and chased Tate the whole time. Tate came home covered in bruises and scratches and a very raspy voice from screaming so much. If they decide to make this an annual event, I will be very happy

Are you still there???

How long has it been... let's see, my last post was way back in March! Since then our lives have kind of done a 180. In those 4 short months a lot has been going on. First a foremost I should mention we are having another baby! This was a huge and very very very very very very unexpected surprise. It has taken me a while to come around to the idea of having another kid since I wasn't exactly thrilled about it in the first place. I have since learned the importance of using birth control on a regular basis. The first couple months of being pregnant is also a very hard time for me, besides being sick constantly and knowing you still have months to go before it's over, I went through kind of a small depression. I remember now how it felt the first time and I think the Lord gives me this challenge to make me realize how important it is to bring another spirit into this world. I am finally over the big sick part and today we just found out we are having a girl! She is due December 6th.

This pregnancy has been very different in the fact that I need to eat everything I see, so when you see me 400 lbs from now, please blame the baby. We also just moved 4 weeks ago up to South Weber, which is just south of Ogden. Mike is going to Weber next month so he made me move with him! I have to say that it has been A LOT better than I thought it would be. I keep finding more things to like and it is BEAUTIFUL up here. We love our neighborhood, the views, the ward, and it feels like home. We'll see if that opinion changes in a year or so, but we are stuck up here for at least 2 or 3 years.

More catch up:

We went to Disneyland in May with my whole family. IT WAS A BLAST






We hiked the Subway in Zion. I do not recommend this, at least not in May in freezing cold 30 degree water.

Tate broke his leg. If I can let this happen when we just have 1 kid, how am I going to handle 2?




I ran the SLC 1/2 marathon with my mom and sister in law Alexis. My goal was to run the full down in St George in October, but 2 days before signing up I found out I was pregnant. I will do it next year


and Tate is getting bigger!

This little guy will do everything I do, EVERYTHING.

Don't ask me why he is either pantless or naked in every picture. He hates clothes so we just fore go them in our house. So don't come over unannounced! haha, but seriously. J/k!

Well, hope you have a great Easter/Conference weekend!

Old Men are people too

I have come to realize Tate has a pretty original sense of humor. I have no clue where this came from, but he loves men, especially Old Men. Yes, a little weird, I Know. We've been out a couple times and he will see an older man and run to go get him, and reach up for this stranger to hold him. It gets a little creepy sometimes! But I'm more surprised at all the men that pick him up and hold him when he does this. It can get awkward. The other day we were at the library and there was an older gentleman that looked a little like a hobo, his beard was long and gross, but Tate ran right to him- ahhhh. luckily I caught him in time before the guy picked him up.

Here are a couple recent pictures and videos. And the videos are a little boring because I can only catch the end of the good part. But I still watch them over and over again because I can't get enough of him, he's so cute.

His dancing is all spins and stomping feet. It's adorable

We don't have baby proofed cupboards so he is always grabbing food and digging in

This is Tate's 2nd haircut. for some odd reason he has old man hair. It's very thin and he doesn't have a lot of it.

Just messy