A Snapagus on Strike

The concerned look of a Snapagus on strike.

How has she been wronged? Workers' rights violations? Mistreatment of Snapaguses?

Sources say it could have been brought on by any number of situations - teeth, hormones, self-weaning - but the Snapagus isn't talking.

This is the second of such movements and most likely will not be the last. The last was successful and her demands were met with complete surrender.

Unfortunately, only one side can win in these situations, and the past record indicates the victor is sure.

(Hopefully this one doesn't last as long as the last one. Any suggestions? She insists on using a sippy cup, not even a bottle, and even further, she screams if you try to help her, she has to do it herself. Is this a vision of the future?)

Another Carli Video

You might find this boring, but watching Carli feed herself is one of my favorite pastimes.

Finally something fun to look at. . .

I finally got new batteries for the camera, so here are some updated pics and a video.

I was trying to get a picture of Carli's two little toothies, but she insisted on putting things in her mouth right when I clicked. Is there a sense of humor in those eyes, or what?!

What a cute little grin with her daddy's grooved chin!

This is the how-are-you-going-to-react-Mom look she gives me when she's doing something she's not supposed to. I had just cleaned up her room and left for a second only to come back and find her emptying the shelf again.

This is a video of her army crawl. She's just started to rock on her knees and to try to pull herself up on things. She's moving right along!

Happy Anniversary!

3 Years! Here's the run-down in pictures. . . First, I'd like to thank. . .

The Jeep

Lanie,

And, of course, Logan's coolness.

Thanks to them, we got engaged,

Then married.

We had our honeymoon,

My graduation (can't find the pics) and the move across the country.

Our first anniversary at Chesapeake Bay.

Our second anniversary in St. George. (Sorry for the crooked pic.)

Logan's graduation.

Another move across the country (baby en route).

And, sadly enough, I think this is the most recent picture of us as a family. I know, we better work on that. Anyway, I won't get too mushy here, but the last three years have gone by so quickly because they have been the most fun of my life. I knew exactly what I was getting into when I married Logan - pure happiness! Turns out, it's even better than I thought it would be. Happy Anniversary!

Memories

My friend Michelle had this on her blog and it looked fun! Now I see that it's a blogging epidemic (like tags, etc), so I guess I'd better join the club.

Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

It was funny when I was thinking of memories for other people. I haven't thought about some of those memories in years. It's a fun way of reminiscing.

Mallory and Kurt said...

Walking all over downtown D.C. desperately trying to find jobs for the summer and feeling pretty much hopeless. Can you believe that was already two years ago? Oh oh oh and that time we walked all over who knows where trying to find some place to eat and finally finding that ghetto hole in the ground (literally) fish place. Then sitting on the side of the street to eat and being harassed by that homeless man who told me I looked like Julia Roberts.

JULY 14, 2008 AT 10:08 PM 

Michelle said...

First of all the memory you left made me laugh! How could I forget that? :)

I have a lot of fun memories with you in Park Place. You were my life line when our place was messy. You were the best homemaker even before you were married. I loved taking the foods class with you the year after we roomed together. That was fun. I remember you were always so friendly with everyone in our ward and made friends quickly. Do you remember the ward water activity at the bishop's house? I can't believe that has been 5 years ago! Wow.

JULY 15, 2008 AT 12:06 PM 

Jenks Family said...

That's funny that you remember my yellow dress from when I was 7 (I absolutely loved that dress, but my mom always tried to get me to wear something else - yellow isn't always the best color on toeheads). haha You have a great memory!
I, definitely, remember the sleep overs at Sara's house. We would try to stay up really late talking, but Sara's mom would shush us and we'd all crash.
I remember eating popcorn and watching movies there. I'm glad we had Sara's house. :)
I remember that you were the most kind and relaxed person I knew growing up. You always befriended everybody - I love that about you!

JULY 16, 2008 AT 12:24 PM 

Jess & Jessica said...

I remember being in young women's with you so many years ago and acting in the play that sister billing's wrote for our road show. I think it was a spin off of grease. You were always so nice to me. Thank you!!!

JULY 21, 2008 AT 10:32 AM 

Shanna said...

I remember changing your diapers. And a little later in life, giving you an adjective and having you "show us" what it looked like by displaying a particular facial expression. You were such a cute little girl. I also have some other great memories of you that I better not share...

JULY 22, 2008 AT 1:29 PM 

keekerann said...

oh so many memories... what to choose? how about the time you got that grow a date as a present, and you rejected him, and jed and i hung him from the toilet? or how you named all of your dolls and stuffed animals pinki? or you getting mad every time we told you to settle grettle? or telling you to run around the house 5 times to get your energy out, and you did it? or, or, or... this list could go on and on. but they were all fun, right baby sis? oh yeah, there the one where you would tell everyone that you may be the youngest, but there were bigger babies in the family! :) i love you!

JULY 22, 2008 AT 4:36 PM 

Callie said...

Hmmm...so many to pick from. I liked Kera's...
I was just thinking of the time Andrew and I tried to convince you it was alright to kiss *** (I leave names out for privacy sake :)) Good thing you had better taste?

JULY 22, 2008 AT 5:22 PM 

AubsofSteel said...

KATE!!! I have been trying to contact you for forever! I was just reading through some old journals and letters I have and I came across your name and your handwriting a lot! I am totally serious, I just came downstairs thinking, "Alright, enoughs enough, I'm gonna find that girl!" And here you are! I love you! I miss you! I hope you are doing fantastically well. Your Carli is precious! Anyway, I hope to hear from you soon...and I suppose I should put in a memory to make this little comment have a point. Do you remember that time I made you a beautiful gift of tootsie rolls and a dead tree twig? Ah, that was a a beautiful gift, wasn't it? Talk to you later babe! Love you!!

Happy July!

I can hardly believe it's actually July! Life is good here. All I can say is that the summer weather here almost makes up for the winter weather (minus all the severe thunderstorms, but they usually happen at night anyway). I guess I wouldn't say that if my house was flooded though. Needless to say, we are enjoying summertime. The 4th of July was great. Ben, Rachel, Haven and Rory stayed with us and we loved it. We had a great barbecue, a fun round of croquet, and we went to the fireworks here in our little town. Carli sure wasn't a fan of them, but they were nice all the same. I have to say though, nothing will ever compare to this sight -

Watching the fireworks from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial will always be one of my most incredible memories. (That was already 2 years ago!)

We were happy to celebrate Haven's 3rd birthday while they were here as well, princess cake and all. What a cutie! She sure is growing up.

Other than that, I'm just trying to keep up with this little one.

I know, she looks sweet and innocent in this picture (and she is), but she sure can move. She's right on the verge of crawling, and she is fast! She also seems to be developing some opinions. She is so much fun right now. She's learning new tricks everyday and is discovering all sorts of things. Hopefully soon I'll be able to post a video of her "pre-crawling". (The battery only lasted long enough to get the pictures.)

This is a big month for our family - a nephew blessed, another nephew got his Eagle Scout Award, another nephew turns 2, a niece turns 3, another niece is blessed, my brother turns 34 (today - Happy Birthday Jason!), my sister turns 29, our third anniversary, my sister's 16th (I think) anniversary, and there's probably more. Pretty exciting, except that all those numbers make me feel old. Anyway, that's what calls for - HAPPY JULY!

Our trip home

We spent the last couple of weeks with Logan's family. Carli's probably bored now that we're home, I know I am. We did a lot of fun stuff, but it was great just being with the family. Logan only got to spend a few days with all of us, than he had to get back to work, so that was the only downer. We were glad to be able to spend so much time with Aubrey before she goes on her mission. Hard to believe she leaves tomorrow!
Her talk was great and the brothers' musical number was beautiful. I wish I could have taped them both. I didn't take very many pictures (again) and I'm so sad about it. I guess I just get distracted. We went swimming a couple of times and Carli absolutely loved it. She shrieked, giggled, kicked and splashed like nobody's business.
Here's and in-action picture of Carli and Uncle Will on the carousel. Carli loved getting to know her uncles and Papa Tommy. She was sure happy to see Grammy and Aunt Aubrey again too.

I caught this exchange a little late on the camera, but it's still cute. Haven realized that when she moved around on the air mattress it bounced Carli. Before this video Carli was laughing harder than I've ever seen. Thanks Grammy, Papa Tommy, Uncle "Kelby", Uncle "Wilbur" and Aunt Aubrey for letting us come visit and for such a fun time. And thanks to Ben, Rachel, Haven and Rory for helping us on the trip to and from.

Our little girl is seven months old! She's learning to sit on her own pretty well, has added a few more sounds to her repertoire (including dada), rolls around quicker than I can keep up, has mastered cereal, fruits, vegetables and the sippy cup, and loves to be tickled and sung to. She gets more and more fun everyday and I'm starting to think my decision to stay home with her was purely selfish because I enjoy it so much. What a blessing!

Our first tornado weather experience

At the beginning of the month we had our first brush with tornado weather. It was kind of exciting at first, but when we realized that we were being sent to the basement and that the little town where our church is was hit (a couple of houses, a church and a barn were damaged) it was less exciting and a little scarier. We were happy to have a sturdy home to protect us. The clouds got much darker than this picture (this was just before we went to the basement.) We got a lot of wind and tons of rain, and we're still under a flood warning. A few roads around us were closed for awhile, but our basement stayed dry and nothing was damaged.


Here's our little stash for the hour or more we were under the tornado warning. We played yahtzee and had a good time.

More pics

You'd think I was trying to win a cutest baby contest. Nope - just suffering from PMS - proud mom syndrome.

6 Months!

Carli turned six months old while we were in Chicago, and she had her checkup yesterday. She's healthy and happy, but the poor girl has some unique proportions. Height - 26" (46%) Weight - 15 lbs (26%) Head - 45 cm (96%) I think we have a smartie! We think those proportions must be just about perfect, because she is.

She's sure growing up on us, we're sort of sad about it so it's a good thing she just gets cuter and more fun everyday. She is so active now. We put her in her crib to go to sleep and find her crosswise all tangled up in her blanket giggling. She loves her cereal and vegetables and will grab anything within (or not) reach. You can tell by those eyes that she is a curious one.

She says "mama" - and we're pretty sure she knows what it means (she always says it in reference to me). She rolls all over and has started to scoot backwards, even though she means to scoot forward. She loves giving her mom and dad big, slobbery kisses and giggles and squeals everytime her dad comes home (even when she was not very happy with mom one minute earlier). Her hair is coming in thick, and we love the double cowlick in the back, even if she'll hate it when she gets older.

She loves going on walks outside, especially following her dad around the frisbee golf course. She's doing great in her baby etiquette classes. Not really, we just love how dainty she is. She almost always sits with her ankles crossed and her hands folded in her lap like this. When she stands it's always in a ballet position. We'll laugh when she wants nothing to do with the girly stuff later on.

She sure is a cutie and we just can't get enough of her!

Other than that, we're doing well here. I got a new calling after only a few months of being the Primary chorister (which I loved). I am now in the Young Womens presidency and I'm a little nervous. I suppose I'm destined to work with teenagers. I figure it's one of two things: to help me survive Carli when she's a teenager, or to help Carli survive me when she's a teenager. I am excited to work with the girls too. This is the first time I've been in a ward with YW so it should be quite a learning experience.

We're also looking forward to a trip to Logan's home to see all the family next week. Carli has never met her uncles or her Papa Tommy. I can already tell she will love them. It will be a fun vacation, although I will be without Logan again for part of it, which I am sad about. Good thing I married him, since I can't get enough of him either!

Well, there's our update, complete with pictures of Carli - the most important part!

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend I went with Logan on a business trip to Chicago. He had to work 13 hour days on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, but Carli and I had a lot of fun wandering the city. I, of course, didn't take any pictures. My excuse is that it was too hard with just me and Carli. Besides, I found pictures that are way better than any I would have taken (except that they don't have Carli in them). We stayed at a hotel on the Magnificent Mile and we got there Saturday night. My first Chicago experience was deep dish pizza. I found out why we call them "pizza pies". Mmmmm. . .

Sunday we walked around Navy Pier. It was a cool place and it was perfect weather. At Navy Pier we walked through the stained glass museum. It had beautiful artwork. We also went to a "beach" on the lake.
Monday we walked the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Avenue. It was fun to "shop". Logan said I'm ruining Carli's idea of shopping - she's never heard the "ding" of the cash register. I should have come home with some $300 Prada sunglasses or something. . .

This picture isn't very clear, but I saw this guy on Michigan Avenue. I wouldn't have taken a picture of him anyway since he charged for pictures. Ha ha, I got one anyway. He was pretty good, but he certainly was serious about no photos until he got paid.
Tuesday we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art. Not my thing. I like the old stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love art, those were some of my favorite classes in college. But, I'm not really into the stuff I feel like I (or Carli) could do myself or that makes me feel really uncomfortable. Call me shallow, but I'm a feel-good type. I don't particularly like to ponder drugs, or school masacres, or other such things the way those artists portray them. I feel like they often try to blame society and me as an individual for the horrible things in life instead of calling for change through their art. I suppose I just don't have the mind of an artist, I just don't comprehend what they're point is a lot of the time. Anyway, I guess it made me think, either way.
I also went to American Girl Place Tuesday. It was one of my favorite places, as I was very much into American Girl when I was younger. It of course had a store where you could buy the dolls and the books and everything. (There are a lot more girls than there were when I was into it!) It also had a photo studio where you could get your picture on the cover of the magazine. There was a theater with live characters, a doll hair salon, and a place where you and your doll could dress alike. I almost envied the little girls carrying their dolls around in the store because I had always wanted a doll - not that I ever could have decided which one I wanted anyway. It was a fun trip down memory lane.

Otherwise we ate a lot of pizza, walked a lot and I took Carli to dip her toes in the pool. She absolutely loved it. In fact, she splashed her feet so much that the bottom of her onesie was soaked, so I took it off and dipped her in the pool up to her shoulders. She gasped a tiny bit but then shrieked with delight. All in all it was a great time for Carli and me. It sure beat being alone all weekend without Logan. And, fun for us, he gets a 3 day weekend this weekend to compensate.

Carli is growing up and is so much fun. She is becoming incredibly social and she gets so sad if you walk away even just a little. Then she giggles when you come back into view. She does this cute little chirp when she "talks" to you now and she can hardly get to sleep because she has so much fun talking, wrestling her blankets and trying to grab the little bunny and kitty in her crib. What a cutie! I'll post pictures of her soon.