It's only cute when you're two.

Happy Birthday Mom!

A big shout out to my mom today!

I wish we could be there to celebrate this special day with you mom.

We love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

PS I found this cake on the web, isn't it awesome! I have no idea what GS stands for but we are going to pretend that is stands for "Grandmas Sweet!"...or maybe it says 65... I can't tell.

Blog Safety

My friend Jamie posted a tutorial on how to keep your blog secure. It's really easy and it protects you and the people that visit and are linked to your blog.
Click here to read.
Thanks Jamie

1 year old

365 days, 22lbs 7 oz (30%), 29 1/2inches (50%)

1 down -> more to come

Campbell had his first birthday this week and he loved it. He really liked the attention, the phone calls, and his cupcake. He even had some friends over ... I didn't witness the event, but I believe there was a lot of drooling, chewing, and sucking on things. And even Campbell and his friends did some of the same. Campbell has been such a great addition to our family. He adds a little spunk to everything. We are blessed to have him in our lives. Hallie and Megan have been great big sisters. I think when he grows up he would be best suited to a government or special ops job where he identifies anything dangerous. Just at the mention of the word his ears perk up and his mind races. Even as I type he is making plans for his next move. We love him.

Thanks

Hey, thanks everybody for your thoughts on my previous post.

I just want to be blog smart, after all, I share a lot about the people I love most on this blog and I don't want to open our lives to people who would do us harm.

It also doesn't help that Trevor makes a lot of addicts mad when he won't give them drugs in the ER and we don't want those guys looking us up.

So for now, I'm going to try to at least get my last name out of the blogging world. If you have my last name on your link list will you please change it to "Kathryn" or "Kathryn and Trevor" or "my crazy friend"... whatever you like as long as is it doesn't have the "G" word in it ;). Thanks for your help!!!


BTW- you will notice on my link list I had to change the Planet sites to take out last names. Go to "Planet G" for Trevor's fam and “Planet L” for my fam.

Going Private

I'm thinking about making my blog private. I'm not sure yet...

Life as we know it

-Megan is learning how to read and write the letters. She loves to color and lately when she is done with her picture she adds some of the letters she has been practicing ex. "LMRGOLH" etc. The letters never spell a word; they are just a bunch of letters. The other day she finished her picture and then wrote "DANG". I got all excited and told Megan that she had made a real word! She thought that was great. For the next few days all of her drawings were signed with "DANG", as in -DANG I'm good!

-We recently joined the YMCA. (As a side note, up until a few months ago I thought the YMCA was a community center for the hoodlums in the area.) Anyway, it was a cold morning and I ran in the front door with Cam on my hip and Megan at my side. There were people in front of me and people coming up behind me and I was digging around in my exercise bag for my keys, which have my card. I finally found them at the very bottom so I yanked them out -with force- and out they came along with a maxi pad, which flew into the air and landed about 5 feet away from me on the floor... whoops

-Yesterday it was 68 degrees. Today it is 72 degrees. Megan is running around the house in a swimsuit with a winter scarf around her neck. So confusing.

- Campbell finally figured out how to get the muffin tin out of the drawer (it took 10 very frustrating minutes- with lots of grunting. He is a very determined little boy). He was carrying the tin in front of him when Megan saw him. She laughed and said, "Look at Campbell, he looks like a Lamanite!"

-Trevor and I have decided to build a room over the garage. We have never built a room before... we have never built a wall before... what are we thinking?

Fun with Jerry and Kaye

Jerry and Kaye stopped by Louisville on their way home from Florida and stayed for 2 nights. It was really nice to have them here. They went to lunch with Hallie at her school and then we went swimming at the YMCA- which we joined about a week ago (more to follow on that subject later).

(Yes this is my mother-in-law. Yes she looks too young to be Trevor's mom (not to mention his 3 older siblings). Yes it is a little intimidating. Yes I love her anyway. :) )


Unfortunately, I didn't pull out our camera and all of these pictures were taken by Jerry which is why there isn't a picture of Jerry but I promise he was here. Everytime he visits (this was his 3rd time to Kentucky in 7 months) he is busy actively playing with the kids and making my job easier (cleaning up after every meal, hello!). It's great!

The kids sure love having family come visit... so do the adults :). We miss you guys!

There I was sitting on the bench of the chapel in my underwear looking around and noticing that everyone else is fully clothed.
I think to myself- why didn't I get dressed before I came to church?
I silently answer myself- because I would have been late!
Then the thought hits me- Next time I think I will come fully dressed, even if that means being a little late to church...

...good thinking Kathryn.

Am I the only one that has crazy dreams like this? This one has been making me laugh for several days now. Does the fact that I was in my underwear mean I have self-esteem issues? (Any dream interpreters out there? ;)).

I found my word

I didn’t have any new years resolutions this year like I normally do (not because I couldn’t think of anything I needed to improve on, but because there were just too many things for my list) then I read a friends blog and I was inspired by it and decided to do like she did and choose a word to focus on for the new year. I’ve been thinking about my word a lot ever since I read her post and her beautiful thoughts.

So many words have come to my mind but none were exactly what I wanted to focus on and then today it came to me.

“Embrace”

I’m constantly learning about myself and one thing I’ve recently recognized is that I’m often disappointed with who I am. I feel like I should be a better wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, missionary etc. especially with the knowledge I have of the eternal importance of these things. Too often I compare myself with others, their talents, abilities, etc and feel that I come up short. Why do I do this? I get frustrated with myself because I feel that I have been so very blessed and I often just sit at home hording all my blessings and feeling ungrateful because I’m not good enough.

I know that it is good to have desires to be better but for me all of these desires sometimes just turn into anxiety and a feeling of panic because I can’t do it all.

And so for me, this word is perfect as I strive to embrace who I am with my talents, my weaknesses, my desires and my blessings and not wish for someone else’s or apologize for my own.
*Embrace the fact that I am not perfect and some of my flaws make me…me.
*Embrace my desire to be good and do right and remember that the Lord knows that about me and sometimes that is good enough.
*Embrace my husband and children; embrace them physically- because I don’t give enough hugs- and embrace who they are and their uniqueness.
*Embrace my dreams and desires and move towards them without fear of failure.
*Embrace my individuality and not look for others approval but find my self-confidence grounded in the love of my Father in Heaven.
*Embrace the plan he has for me.
*Embrace the life I have, the lessons I’m learning, the joy I feel, the challenges I face, the person I am now.

Most of all this year, and hopefully for the rest of my life, I hope that I can stop trying to do everything on my own and embrace the help the Lord so generously offers me. I know that He is there with outstretched arms, waiting for me to take those steps toward Him so that He can wrap those loving arms around me.
That’s the embrace I am ultimately seeking…

Please pass the Tylenol

I promise I don't beat him.

He does this to himself. It's like he has a huge magnet in his forehead that is attracted to any hard or pointy object that is sure to leave a bruise or puncture wound.

Seriously, what is the deal with boys?!? If we even say the word danger Campbell's head pops up like "where?"

His favorite things are cords, electrical outlets, stairs, sharp objects, and anything he might possibly be able to choke on. I'm serious! I can put a pile of brightly colored, brand-new, fun toys in front of him and he will climb right over them (probably trip on them and smack his head on the coffee table) and head for the newly sharpened pencil or electrical outlet 4 feet away.

I have a feeling Campbell's grandmas are feeling a little worried right about now...sorry grandmas ;).

Campbell's other favorite thing to do (at least twice a day) is find each an every cabinet in our house and open the cabinet then slam the cabinet on his fingers and scream. This is a really fun game.

Trevor is trying to come up with a bungee cord system. Maybe attach the bungee to the ceiling fan in our family room and clip it onto a harness for Cam with like an 8 ft radius.

I think it just might work.

Finally posting the scrapbook pages

I promised some of you (awhile ago... sorry it's taken so long) that I would post a few of the scrap book pages I did for my sister and sister-in-law for Christmas. I made a 8x8 scrapbook for each of them with the bridals/ wedding pics I took. These were really fun to do because I kept them really simple. I didn't use a lot of embellishments mostly just beautiful paper I found and a lot of sewing. The best part of these pages are the women in the pictures. Melissa and Julie are two of my very favorite people in this world. I'm not just saying that. They brighten my life and I feel so blessed to call them my sisters.

SNOW DAY!!

The phone was ringing at 6:20 this morning (way too early!) It was a recorded message telling me that school was cancelled on account of all the snow (approximately 2-3 inches, I know, I know, but this is Kentucky not Utah! ;)).

YA, SNOW DAY! I felt like a kid, I couldn't wait to tell Hallie that school was cancelled and that there was enough snow to build a snowman! We spent the morning sledding, building a snowman with the neighbors, coloring, and playing checkers- we don't have checkers so we weaved a board out of black and red paper... I felt like such the creative mom :) It was a fun morning.

I remember my best snow day. I was in high school and we were already in class but it was snowing heavily and the snow just kept piling up until the power eventually went out in the whole school. It was awesome! The teachers tried to keep control but eventually gave up and everyone left their classes and were running around the school acting like crazy people (we were teenagers after all). I found some of my friends and we jumped in a car and took off to the nearest church parking lot to do some doughnuts and have a snowball fight. Then we were off to another friends home to raid their kitchen and gather our others friends to hang out.

I just remember wishing everyday could be a snow day!

Strollers are for Girls

She's one tough cookie!

I remember when Meg was about 2 years-old. In the middle of the night I heard her cough and then call in a soft little voice "Momma". I slowly got up and headed to her room where she was sitting up in bed and she pointed to her pillow and said, "I spit". It was dark in the room so I turned on a night light to find that she had thrown-up all over her bed. I was amazed because I had no clue she was even sick, she was just her happy self. I changed her bedding and she smiled at me as I said goodnight and tucked her in. I remember thinking she can't be related to me... she is too tough (you don't want to see me with the stomach flu... it's pathetic!) . The night continued like that, a cough, a "momma", and a smile as I tucked her back in.
About a year later Hallie and Megan were playing in our neighbors backyard during a family party. They were holding hands and running around chasing some of the other kids. They were running very fast and Hallie made a sharp turn and swung Megan around. Hallie didn't see the tree (it was late evening) and pulled Megan right into it. I still remember the sound when Megan's little head hit the tree. It was the sound of someone dropping a big boulder on a wood floor. There was a gasp and then silence from the group of adults as I ran over to Megan in a panic- fully expecting blood and a trip to the ER. She was just laying there a little dazed and whimpering slightly. Hallie looked down at her and immediately broke into hysterics. Megan cried for 5 minutes and then was up playing again... Hallie cried for the next hour and a half. I remember waking Megan up every few hours that night to make sure she didn't have a concussion.
Megan had a cold this week. She had a runny nose and cough and was just uncomfortable for most the week. Two days ago she told me that her ear hurt so I gave her some Tylenol and a hot pad for her ear and made a mental note to have Trev look at it when he got home. Well, she didn't say much about it again so we forgot about it. Yesterday I noticed her whimper and put her hand on her ear so I asked Trev just to check it and make sure it wasn't infected. He checked the "good ear" (not the one she had complained about) first to find the ear drum bulging and infected then he went to check the sore ear only to find blood oozing out of the eardrum! Apparently her eardrum had already ruptured! We just felt sick... we didn't have a clue that it was this bad! Most kids would be screaming bloody murder!

Our little Megan, she is one tough cookie.

Crazy blogging lady that changes her template every other day!

That's me! Always in the mood for something new and different. :) Plus I need an outlet since I don't have time to scrapbook anymore... scrapbook night anyone?... at my house?... I'll provide the chocolate?

By the way my sweet friend emailed me detailed instructions on how to "customize" your blog. I already sent them out to some of you but if anyone else is interested let me know (leave a comment or email me at kathrynsphotography@gmail.com). They are very helpful. Thanks Steph!

FUN! FUN! FUN!

We got Ticket to Ride for Christmas from my sis. Have you played it? It is really fun! I played it with Melissa about 6-10 times (I lost track) while she was here.

She won every single time and I still love the game! I think that says a lot... and not just that I am terrible at games. ;)

If you want to play let me know and we will have a game night soon... If you live somewhere other than Kentucky it won't be as soon. :)

We Love Aunt Melissa!

We got our biggest Christmas present Christmas night when my sister flew in!
It was so, so good to have her here. Knowing she was coming made being away from family this Christmas more bearable. We spent a lot of the time inside (due to the freezing weather) making gingerbread houses, bracelets, playing games, shopping, and watching movies.
Of course Melissa and I had to visit the GAP clearance center in Cincinnati. Trevor watched the kids and we enjoyed perusing the isles and trying on like 50 items of clothing and let's not even start with the shoes and handbags. Bargain shopping without kids is SO FUN!



We stayed up way too late playing games and just talking, it was so nice to spend that time with Melis. Every morning the girls would beg me to wake her up (different time zones) so they could play with her and every meal or ride in the car they would fight over who got to sit by her... she is a very popular girl at our house.
We miss her already and can't wait for her next visit... maybe in 3 more months;) ?!? Please?!?
We love you Melissa!

Merry Christmas

Yes, Christmas was almost 2 weeks ago. I'm falling behind but I wanted to real quick post about our Christmas.

We were up late Christmas Eve getting things ready for Santa's visit.
Christmas morning Campbell must have been really excited because he was up at 5:30am... so, Trevor and I were up at 5:30. :( soooo tired!
We decided to watch my favorite movie (definitely NOT Trevor's favorite movie)- White Christmas- while we waited for the kids to wake up. Finally at 7:00 we couldn't wait any longer so we woke them up.

We had such a nice Christmas. The kids were thrilled with their new toys... and Trevor and I spent most the morning opening, untwisting, and assembling those toys (what is the deal with all of the twisty ties... SO Annoying!) We stayed in our pjs for most of the day and Trevor and I took turns taking naps.
At the end of the day when Hallie and Megan were getting ready for bed Hallie said, "This was the best Christmas Ever!!" Then the girls started talking about how Santa must really know them well because he got them everything they wanted. That Santa, he is a smart man, although I can't help but wonder if Mrs. Claus deserves more credit than we give her. ;)

Christmas 2008

We had a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve we went to our friend's home for a party. We had a yummy dinner and then we tied some blankets for a sick little girl and her siblings. I thought it was such a great idea to do a service project at the party. It really helped our family focus on the true meaning of Christmas and count our blessings. I want it to be a new tradition for us to do some sort of service every Christmas Eve. Even with the kids running around and the chaos of a big party, I really felt a sense of peace as we worked on that project together.The kids performed the nativity (notice the beautiful angels in the back).
It was a really nice nativity, until one of the shepherds decided to use his shepherd's cane as a weapon and beat up one of the beautiful angels. ;)It was fun to spend the evening with great friends and after some karaoke and pool we called it a night and headed home to get ready for Santa's visit. On the way home we thought about all of you at the Burton Christmas Eve party and we chanted "rubber chicken" in memory of you... hope you had a great party. We miss all of you so much.

I was worried that Hallie and Megan wouldn't be able to sleep that night from the excitement of Santa coming but thanks to the party they were beat and

were fast asleep minutes after their heads hit the pillows.

More on Christmas soon... as soon as

I figure out why I can't get to my other Christmas pictures, ugh!

Christmas 2006

I was organizing our pictures and came across our Christmas pictures from last year in our West Bountiful home. I was 7 months pregnant and Trevor was in the middle of residency interviews. A lot has changed in just one year.
I can't believe how much the girls have grown. It freaks me out a little bit because I know that next year I'll look back on the pictures of 2007 and think the same thing. How can they be growing so quickly? I'm with them every single day and yet in some ways I feel like I'm missing it. Does that make sense?

As I look back on this past year and all that has changed for our family I can see the Lord's hand in our lives. I feel so loved by Him and so grateful to know that He cares enough about me and my little family to personally guide us here to our new home in Kentucky. I'm so grateful for His birth and for His life and to know that He still lives!

I can't wait to see what 2008 brings.

We love you and wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!