5 months old! (pics and a few videos)

My sweet girl is 5 months old already! I just love this stage she is at right now (I'm sure I say that every month, lol). And now that those ugly ear infections are out of the way, she is one a happy little girl. Aand finally back to sleeping at night, which is a relief. She takes about 2 naps a day now (with an occasional evening cat nap if she is really tired) and goes to bed around 8 every night. She will wake up around 6 for an early morning feeding and then I put her back in her bed and she usually sleeps a little longer until between 7:30 and 8:30.. She always wakes up talking to herself and playing, nowadays. That is my favorite sound. :)

Still not a very big eater and even though we've been doing rice cereal pretty often these days, can't say she is a big fan yet. I really think she just isn't interested in eating, haha.. But she sure is growing! Finally fits in to almost all of her 3-6 month sized stuff. Yay!

She loves to play on the floor and explore her toys, especially while on her tummy. Oh and I FINALLY heard her laugh!! This is big news! It was her first time ever just a couple days ago! It was just a few giggles but it was so cute. And she hasn't done it since then. haha! It is seriously soo hard to get this girl to laugh. She will smile at just about anything but laughs are a different story. I'm sure in time, this will change.

Anyways, everyday brings something new and it is so fun to watch her grow..

My two favorite people in the whole world:

Learning new noises, hehe. I think this video shows her cute personality really well:

Practicing sitting up. Not too good at this one yet. Still learning:

New kicks! My neighbor recently introduced me to the resale store Kid to Kid and this was one of my great finds from there. Ivy looks adorable in them but not sure she is a fan of this new thing called shoes. She always kicks at them, lol:

She has started scooting around a ton lately. Sort of Army-scooting, really. Here is a video clip of her in action:

Happy girl!!

Another recent development is how Ivy has been with Max these past couple weeks. She talks to him and grabs at him and he just loves it. They are hilarious together. I put this video together from a couple of different videos that Sam took the other day. It's the first video I've ever made so it's pretty basic. Hopefully I'll get better at it so I can make more in the future...

Y hike

Last weekend Sam's brothers came down to Provo to hike the Y. I was originally just gonna let Sam hike it while I stayed home to watch Ivy but I thought, what the hey.. I'll give it a try. And although I wanted to quit after the about the 3rd or 4th switchback, I pushed through and made it all the way to the Y. This was quite a feat given how out of shape I am these days (it actually is a pretty tricky hike because the whole thing is on an incline). I'm glad I did it though. It showed me that I can do more than I think... Sam was also super patient, which I appreciated. I'm sure he could've been the first one up there if he wasn't been with me. But he stayed with me and kept telling me I could do it, which was very helpful. And of course it was fun to have Baby girl with us, smiling at me every time I turned to look at her....

Thank you self-timer, lol.. the rest of the family had gone to the top of the Y so we were pretty much on our own when we got there (hey, the bottom of the Y still counts tho!):

...and as to be expected, Ivy passed out on the way down, haha. She had started getting fussy so Sam turned her around and a little while later, she was out, lol:

Homecoming '11

Last week was Homecoming for BYU and we actually went to the parade! It was our first time ever and probably the last considering this is our last year here, lol.. It was pretty fun but freezing! Luckily Ivy fell asleep in her seat right before we got there so she was able to stay bundled up for a good portion of it. That is, until the Army group came through... We were right near some bleachers set up for people to watch and they stopped right in front of them to fire off a cannon. She definitely woke up from that one.. When we checked on her, she had the biggest glare on her face, haha...

The game was scheduled for 8:15pm that night, right around Ivy's bedtime so we didn't think we were going to be able to watch it (we've been watching it up on campus, lately when it's not shown online). Luckily, we have some awesome friends close by who said we could watch it at their place and put Ivy to bed in the crib they have (they're expecting a baby boy in about a month). After the first few minutes of game, I looked over and saw this:

She was totally glued the game, hehe.. Guess we have a future football fan on our hands. ;) Ooor maybe it was just the bright colors... Either way, she was pretty glued, lol. (I'd like to think she's just an early cougars fan though..)

Neighbors and gardening

This was taken next to our neighbors fence down in the car port. Both the neighbors in our complex AND the neighbors in the house next door to our building have amazing gardens. Our neighbors in our complex have graciously shared yummy zucchini, tomatoes, and cucumbers with us, and I've even spotted some beautiful peppers and artichokes down there at some point or another.. The neighbors next door to us grow these grapes and they smell wonderful! They also have a fabulous plum tree and moderately sized pumpkin patch. It's so much fun to see all the cool stuff people are able to grow. I've never been one for gardening but living next to both these neighbors has been pretty inspiring (as well as seeing Mom R.'s and Kelli's awesome gardens back home in Houston). It definitely motivates me to try gardening out on my own some day. Maybe when I have a yard to do so, hehe.....

Sunday Drive

Finally got around to checking out Squaw Peak and Bridal Veil Falls. Can't believe we've never stopped at either of them before.. Beautiful day, beautiful drives, beautiful views. I just love spending time with my little family. Even if it's something as simple as a Sunday drive together. :)

Few firsts

First time in a jumper! Found this one used on the KSL classifieds. I'm pretty sure she loves it, even though her feet don't quite touch the ground yet, hehe (see second picture):

Not really a first but she is starting to roll lots more these days.. turning around to find that she has rolled a few feet away is becoming a daily occurrence, lately:

First time trying rice cereal.. We don't do this very often yet but just every now and again so she starts to get used to it.. The picture on the left was her reaction after the first few bites, haha.. but after she started getting the hang of things, she didn't mind it so much... although, I think she rather liked the spoon more than the cereal, lol:

And poor baby girl got her first ear infections this week in both ears (she had a little cold all last week so I'm sure that's what it's from). not fun. she has been so sad these past few days and only wants to be held. poor thing. this pic was just this morning. she was just sitting on my lap telling me just how much she hurts:

Wedding

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A couple weekends ago Sam's cousin got married in downtown SLC at the Grand America hotel.. The theme was vintage romance and everything was beautiful! The reception was pretty fancy and everyone was dressed to the nines. Lots of Sam's family came into town for the occasion and it was so much fun to see everyone. I wish we would've taken more pictures than we did with certain people but no worries... we were having too much fun! ;)

Right as the ceremony was starting in the courtyard, Ivy started making too much noise because she was getting tired/hungry (perfect timing for sure, lol)... So after everyone walked down the isle, I headed inside to make a bottle and found a lounge that had a perfect view of the ceremony. I was able to watch while I fed Ivy. Couldn't hear much but it was nice to be able to see what was going on. Here was my view:

Next few pics are at the reception in the ballroom, notice Sam and Dad R.'s tuxes. Jeff wore a tux too (not pictured). The boys looked so great. I also wish I would've gotten a pic with Emily and Michelle all dressed up. They looked awesome as well. :) (and in case you were wondering, it's a black feather in my hair. kinda hard to tell in the pics):

Pictures from the photo booth they had.. This was so fun. We did do some silly ones before these but something happened with the computer and they didn't transfer from the camera to the comp correctly.. oh well:

Ivy dancing with her daddy. Isn't she just the cutest?? She was such a trooper. We ended up staying fairly late and she was pretty wiped out by the end. poor thing. But always a smile on her face until she fell asleep in my arms before we left. Even with the loud music playing.. Oh and the other two pics are from the gorgeous and huge guest bathroom. I couldn't resist, hehe:

Congrats to the bride and groom Sadie and David! And to all you cousins who were there, it was so fun to see all of you!

Rock Canyon Trail

The awesome thing about Utah is there are amazing hikes everywhere! The mountains are our backyard and scenic hikes are just minutes from where we live (It's like this throughout the valley and in SLC too). We have decided to start hiking a little more this semester and a couple weekends ago we started out with Rock Canyon Trail just behind the Temple and Rock Canyon Park (for those of you that are familiar with Provo area). It was Ivy's first hike and she couldn't have been more happy. She loves to be up looking around a lot so this was perfect for her. She didn't get cranky at all until she started to get tired towards the end. She let out one little cry and the next thing we see is her just lean her head back and close her eyes. She was OUT! It was hilarious....

tired girl....

This hike was beautiful! And a great start for someone who is super out of shape (me! ), even though it just about killed me at some parts, haha. Next up, Stewart Falls.... I've heard that's a fun one. Any other favorites around here?

Throwback

Finally got around to digging through my baby pictures and just wanted to post a few to compare with Ivy. It was funny because any pictures from when I was younger than 4 months were all with my mom holding me while standing back with the whole family, where you couldn't even see my face haha! So this is all I've got. Hopefully one of these days, I can get a hold of some of Sam's baby pics, too. Anywho, I give you... Baby Kathryn at 4 months. 

I'm pretty sure Ivy has my exact eyes but different nose and mouth. and thank goodness she didn't get my ginormous ears. lol.. Here I am with my Papa:

With big sis Kristin:

Aaaand just some other fun ones I found while digging.. me with Kari and Alexa, oh wait I mean Kelli, hehe:

It's crazy to me how much my niece Alexa looks like Kelli!

Halloween:

This last one is my favorite. Kari was a MOM for halloween. haha!! and we weren't ever sure what kelli was...

School pride

WELL. Let's just say after last Saturday's game, I was slightly embarrassed to be associated with BYU. (only half kidding, lol)..... Until I saw this little number from Monday night's show called The Sing Off:

I've heard Vocal Point in the past and seen them in concert a few times and thought they were good but this performance was pretty awesome. And the judges and crowd seemed to really like them too. Great job guys! So proud to say I'm from BYU again. Thanks for restoring my alumnus dignity. haha! Good luck in the rest of the competition! Oh and if you haven't seen this show yet, I highly recommend it. There are some great groups this year.