Something to Remember

If Max ever sees Rob and I hugging, he immediately says, "Excuse me! Excuse me!" and comes over and tries to get in between us. We then do a Max sandwich, and hug with Max in the middle.

Kate: 9 Months

I can't believe my baby girl is already 9 months! At her 9 month check-up, she weighed 24 pounds, 6 ounces (98%ile), was 30 inches long (98%ile), and her head was 18 inches around (89%ile).

Kate is a great eater! On the drive home from Utah, she decided she was done nursing, so she now takes a sipper of formula. She doesn't like to be fed, but would rather feed herself. She only eats table foods (with the exception of yogurt melts). She typically has Cheerios or Crispix for breakfast (with formula milk). Bread with avacodo, turkey and string cheese for lunch. She LOVES fruit and vegetables. Bananas, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, blueberries, apples, peas and corn in particular. She has crackers for snacks. She has exceptional fine motor skills, and 90% of what she puts to her mouth gets into her mouth. We believe Kate is allergic to eggs. We hope she will grow out of it.

Kate likes to talk, and says mamamamama, dadadadada, lalalalalala, and uh-oh. She says uh-oh when she drops something, so it has meaning. She will also yell for Max, "Maaaaaaa!" when she is looking for him.

Kate started crawling last Friday, September 23. She just decided she was ready, and she was off! She finished all physical therapy for her arm. There really is no difference whatsoever between her left and her right. She is right-handed, but will use her left to assist.

Kate likes to read books. She loves watching Signing Time. She has started sleeping through the night on a consistent basis. Kate's right tear duct finally opened, so we did not have to have surgery on it yesterday. Kate loves the swings, and laughs when she is on them. She does not like the elevator, and gets really nervous when we go up and down it. Kate's hair will curl if I put gel in it. It is long enough to put it in a twistie up on top.

Kate loves playing with Max. She tries to keep up with him. Max is typically pretty good about sharing with Kate, but Max would rather Mom plays with him than Kate. Max gets very excited when Kate wakes up in the morning and after her nap. He is always quick to go in and tell her, "Good morning Princess (or Baby Girl). How are you?" It is darling.

We love you Kate!

Utah Part 3

Although I have been home from Utah for a month, I did not put the pictures onto my computer until today. There are a few more that are just too fantastic for me to pass by. Take this one, for example, that my sister Mary took of Kate. I love it! Kate has beautiful blue eyes. Her shirt is off so we can remember what a tubby tot she is.

As you can see, we posed her to be "Fairy Kate." This pose shows how flexible she is, even with her thighs! I know it won't last long. Max was a chunk too, but he has thinned out.

We took a number of pictures inside, but Kate started tearing everything apart so we moved outside. I do like this backdrop too.

I thought Kate might have sensory issues in the sand because of her arm, but it turns out she DID NOT! She loved everything about the sand, including the taste!

We visited my Grandmother Savage while we there. I don't think my kids will remember the visit, but we had a great time playing with her.

4 generations of women.

My mom's garden has been growing and producing like crazy. I try not to get jealous. We had high hopes for our garden here, but unfortunately it has not done well. There are too many critters eating our harvest, even with a net enclosing it. Max thought it was awesome to pull carrots out of the ground. He likes to bite carrots, but then he spits them out after he chews on them. Silly boy!

I celebrated my birthday out there. A tradition I grew up with (and still carry on) is decorating the mantle/fireplace area. It was a fantastic day, although I really missed my husband. Rob and his parents got me a treadmill! It has been so nice to have here. I can run in the leisure of my own home. Although I do prefer running outdoors, it was really hard to do with Rob's long work hours.

One evening we went with my family to American Fork Canyon to do a cook-out. We ate right next to the river. The mountains are so beautiful.

Blowing bubbles for Max to stomp on. He loves to use his feet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he will be a soccer player!

We visited with Grandma and Grandpa Milar. The kids had a fun time getting to know their Great-Grandparents. It was a nice visit.

We met with all the "cousins" at Thanksgiving Point a couple of different times. Here are most of the cousins together. Kate was taking a nap, so I know she isn't in the picture. Max had such a fun time playing with all his cousins. He still inquires about them on a frequent basis.

Last year when Max rode the horse at The Barn, he had a perma-smile. This year he was a bit more timid.

Posing by a bear in the cave at Thanksgiving Point gardens.

Floating a "boat" down the river at the gardens.

Grandma and Kate watching the boats float down the river.

Max is getting to be a great jumper on the trampoline. Although he is blurry, it shows how high he is jumping! Go Max go!

We had a great time in Utah with our families. Thanks for letting us come out and play!

Stomp Rockets and Swimming

Grandpa took Max, Jack, and Davis over to the park yesterday to play with these stomp rockets. Max loves them. He couldn't resist pulling them out and playing with them again today.

Tonight for Family Home Evening, we had a BBQ and went swimming. Max loved having his uncles Mark and Andy throw him around in the pool.

Max really warmed up to Mark. When we got out of the pool to eat ice cream and brownies, Max wanted to sit with Mark, not me! It was so cute.

Kate even smiled at Mark. She has been really struggling these past few days. I hope she is just teething.

Max and Mark.

Kate, Mark, Megan, Courtney, Nicole and Max. The Powells were at the pool too, but they had already gotten out when I snapped the picture.

Tomorrow we head back to SLC. We will miss our St. George family.

Utah Trip Part 1

After talking with my family, we decided to DRIVE out to Utah to visit. The kids did awesome on the 25 hour drive. Rob and I drove all through the night, and we couldn't have had better kids. We have had a great time out here. We went to Hogle Zoo with my family.

Max really thought this elephant was real as there is a speaker inside it that makes noise.

Max hatching.

Kate and Lexi. Kate has a really bad eye infection in her right eye. She developed it on the drive out.

We had a surprise party for my sister, Mary. Here Max and Paige are watching a balloon fly up in the sky.

Kate at the party. She is teething.

All my siblings, in order from oldest to youngest. Sara, Matt, Mary, me, Danny, Rachel, Ben, Sheri, Holly, Paige and Tiffany.

My family with spouses and kids. Adam, Sara's husband, is the only one missing.

We went to St. George for Rob's 10 year class reunion. Here Mark is having the kids race to Grandpa.

Max sharing his popsicle with Kate.

Kate deciding if she likes the popsicle.

Robert wrestling with Doug.

We went to Fiesta Fun to do the bumper boats. Max was in awe over the cars. Here he is watching the cars with Mark, Courtney and Megan.

Bumper boats with Grandpa.

Getting another snowcone with Grandpa as his first one fell out on the grass.

Max and Kate with his Madsen cousins.

Cheering for cousin Ben during his cross country race in Cedar City.

My family came to St. George for a few days. Here Max is playing with Grandpa Milar at the pool.

Going down the slide.

Grandma Madsen has these 5-gallon buckets in her pantry. Max likes to make forts with them.

Grandma and Kate. Kate is actually smiling! She has MAJOR separation anxiety. She screams when anyone but me holds her.

Utah Trip Part 2

Max and his cousin Jack. They had a fantastic time playing together.

Davis and Kate.

Max has been taking swimming lesson from Alisha, my sister-in-law. She has done a great job teaching Max how to swim and float.

Diving for rockets.

We went to Red Cliffs for a hike. I had to carry Kate the whole hike- she hated the hiking backpack I brought. Max loved playing in the sand.

We found a tiny little frog.

Relief for my arms- Kate sitting in an iKea bag.

I took the kids over to the St. George temple for some pictures. It is tricky to get my kids to cooperate, but here are some of the better shots.

Max reading scriptures on the temple stairs.

I really wish my camera was in auto focus, not manual, for this picture. I didn't realize I hadn't switched it back when I snapped this. I will have to take them back over.

We are going to be going to Salt Lake on Tuesday, and staying there for a couple more weeks. It has been a lot of fun being out here with family.