The Pemberton's

what we've been up to

2011-10-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has been forever since I have blogged. I just don't find it a priority but since Kate is growing up so fast, I really want to capture these memories to last forever, because we all know my memory is shot. So I'll try my best to remember what we have done for the past 10 months.

December- I celebrated my 23 birthday. I am getting old (ha!) We also had a fabulous Christmas in Denver with my family minus the fact that my entire family woke up with the flu Christmas morning. Kate had a blast playing in all the snow we got in Kansas. We actually got a lot of snow this winter which was a fun change from Vegas but I think I had my fix and would be just fine if it didn't snow this winter.

kate stuck in the snow

January- I can't really remember what happened this month. Phil started up school again. We are so proud of his hard work in law school. He is really enjoying it.

February- Phil turned 25!

kate decorated the cake!

March- school, school, more school

April- I went home to Denver with Kate while Phil studied and took his finals. While I was there my dad got released from being Bishop and it happened that all my siblings were in town that weekend too. What a tender mercy. We got to see my brother Jeff rock it in his school play while we were there. Kate really loved watching Jeff on stage. And Phil rocked his finals. We also had a fun time going to the Children's museum with Angie and Ethan while we were there.

at the children's muesum

May- Phil started taking classes again for the first half of the summer..

June- We had a great time going to a Royals game with our friends. It was really hot but we had a great time. Phil finished up his classes.

kate and her friend lily riding the carousel at the ballpark

July- July was a busy month for us. We moved to a new house. It is bigger and has the best backyard. We love it. 2 days later we moved to Denver for 7 weeks because Phil got an internship there for the second half of the summer. We lived with my parents. It was such a fun summer. More on that later. Kate turned 3 while we were there! How did that happen? Phil's family came to Denver that week so we celebrated Kate's birthday by going to a Rockies game and having a little birthday party in the parking lot before the game started.

old house

new house (ours is on the left)

August- We returned home from Denver and Phil started school up again. I also quit my job at jcpenney. It has made this semester so much easier and a lot less stressful.

September- Kate started preschool. She has the best teachers and really loves getting to interact with other kids. She has already learned to spell her name!

too bright mom!

that's better! (kind of)

Thanksgiving

2010-12-08T10:09:00.001-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving my mom, dad and Jeff came to Kansas! It was such a blast. It was a quick trip but am so glad that we actually had visitors here. We probably won't be having to many of those the next 3 years. We didn't do a whole lot while they were here. On Thanksgiving we just cooked and ate all day. That night we went to go see Tangled. It was really cute movie. Kate loved it. It was the first movie she has sat all the way through. Phil's Grandpa unfortunately passed away on the Monday before Thanksgiving. The funeral was held in Rockford, IL where we was from. Because it was thanksgiving weekend plane tickets were super expensive and Phil didn't want to drive to Chicago with Kate by himself (I unfortunately had to work or else I would have gone.) So they decided to take the train! They even had their own Harry Potter room. Kate absolutely loved riding the train. She still talks about it. They even had a train stop in Naperville. How is it that Kate and Phil got to go back there before me? They had to be at the train at 5am the day after Thanksgiving. I dropped them off and then went black friday shopping with my family. We went to walmart, target, kohls, gap, and jcpenney. That afternoon my parents left and I had to go to work from 1-11:30. It was a super long day. But Phil and Kate made it safely to Chicago and had a beautiful funeral service for his Grandpa. He will be missed but is definitely in a better place.
Here are a few pics from the train.

This is why I coupon

2010-10-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me probably knows of my love of couponing. It is a fun hobby for me. It isn't even about saving the money (which is an awesome part too since we don't have any being in law school and still having our house in Vegas) but it also gives me something to do and it is so exciting walking into a store and seeing what awesome deals I can get. But when I tell most people that I coupon, they usually just laugh at me. Well I got everything in the picture below for .94 (I only had to pay tax) So who should be the one laughing? I also threw in a picture of Kate because she is just great and was so excited to help take the pictures. Oh and totally ignore the messy table in the background. It's my catch all in the house (we all to have one of those right? I'll just keep telling myself that)

Governor Kate Pemberton

2010-08-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

Phil and I are trying to get out and see this state we just moved to so this past week our family took a trip to Topeka, about 20 minutes away, to visit the Capitol Building. They were in the process of renovating the building and because of the construction we were able to visit all of the rooms including the Senate Chamber, the House of Representatives Chamber and the Governor's Office. Our favorite room was the Senate Chamber because it had marble everywhere as well as a beautiful dome ceiling. It was funny to see all of the different representatives show their school spirit. Different desks in the Chamber had cardboard stand-ups of the different schools throughout the area (KU, Wichita State, Kansas State). Kate has learned how to say not only "Jayhawk" but the Rock Chalk Chant that is famous around here so whenever she sees a Jayhawk she yells it out except she combines some words and ends up saying "Jaychalk." Kate loved the Governor's Office and even got to sit in his chair! Hopefully she didn't break anything... We are still loving Kansas as we get to look around at the surrounding cities and are excited to spend the next few years here.

Birthday Girl

2010-07-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

Kate turned 2 on Thursday. I really cannot believe I have a 2 year old. We had such a fun day!! She loved every second of it. She woke up to a birthday rope (it's a tradition in my family to have a rope go all through out the house with fun little toys and stuff on it) then she had pancakes with bacon and orange juice. It was like Christmas at our house with the amount of stuff she got. I don't feel too bad about it though because she has no age appropriate toys at all and most all day she just wants to watch tv. Well the day of her birthday she had so much fun stuff to play with she didn't ask to watch a "show" (as she calls it) once! That is a big deal if you know how much Kate loves movies and tv. We then took her to her favorite restaurant for lunch, McDonalds. She had a blast playing there. In the afternoon we took her to see Despicable Me. It was a really cute movie except Kate and I didn't get to see the last half because she thought it was more fun to play with the arcade games in the lobby then watch the movie but Phil said the last half was really good. I don't think we will be taking her to see another movie for a while. That night she opened some more presents and we had yummy cake. It was a day all about Kate and we loved every minute of it. Kate is such a cute and fun girl. We love having her here and can't wait to see what she will show us this year. Happy Birthday Kate!

got rain?

2010-06-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

Kansas has definitely welcomed us with A LOT of rain. Right now we are having probably the worst storm yet and our yard is flooding. Some people in our ward that lived on our street just moved and gave Kate this awesome little tikes slide. She loves it. It entertains her for hours. Well here is stuck in our yard.

We have this window seat in our house and it must be the cool hangout spot because Kate loves to sit up there and read books. She isn't afraid of the lighting or thunder at all going off every minute right outside the window. I love my tough little girl.

Tozzle, Lawrence and Kate

2010-06-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

One of Kate's best talents is to use the Iphone. (what does this say about my parenting skills?) Phil has a number of apps to get her through various outings, one of which is Tozzle. Basically it is a puzzle game geared towards toddlers. The other day we were sitting in bed and Kate was playing the game and all of the sudden this clapping sound came on, SHE BEAT THE GAME BY HERSELF! She knows how to move from app to app, go and start movies, play different games such as Frogger although she can never make it across the logs, she surprisingly usually makes it through traffic. She is too smart for her own good.

As for Lawrence, we are loving it. The humidity does wonders with my hair, but it is fun to be in a college town. Lawrence is all about the Jayhawks, there are even little Jayhawk statues all over town. Kate already loves the mascot, whenever we go to a place where the mascot is on a flag or there is a physical Jayhawk, Kate stops, points and says "OH, WOW!." I am so excited to live the college life we never got to experience together. Phil is loving law school. For the summer he only has class from 9-12, although his books are huge and he in constantly reading, we are getting to spend more time together. By a miracle, we found a place to live. It's a cute 2 bedroom duplex. I will post pictures when it's actually clean. Life is good and we feel so blessed!

rock chalk jayhawk

2010-05-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

The last 3 days at our house have been CRAZY. We found out Friday that Phil was accepted into the University of Kansas law school but he is starting this summer so we are moving to Kansas in a week! Phil has to be there May 21st. I don't know how we are going to move and get everything together in a week but we are so excited! This is a really good law school and we have really been blessed these past 3 days. We are really going to miss Vegas. The past 3 years here haven't been the easiest but I am really going to miss this place. It was always so nice having so many people come visit but it's time to move on and start the next chapter. Now, I have to go pack and do a million things. Save me! This is going to be the most hectic week ever.

feel better kate

2010-04-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

Kate woke up Saturday morning with a really bad cough and by monday it wasn't better so I (very unwillingly) took Kate to the doctor. I dread taking Kate to the doctor for my own selfish reasons. It always takes FOREVER and Kate seriously can't sit still for 30 seconds so chasing around my crazy child in a doctors office for 2 hours is a form of torture in my eyes but she really needed to go. So I forced myself in the car and to my surprise from the second we walked into the doctors office, Kate laid on my chest and never left for 2 hours. I know Kate was miserable because for her to do that means she is very sick but I was in heaven. I cherish anytime Kate will lay and cuddle with me for 2 hours straight was a dream come true, I just felt so bad though because she was really sick. So we get in to the see the doctor and she listens to Kate's chest and says she is wheezing way to much so Kate had to get chest x-rays. I was shocked! I was definitely glad I decided to go to the doctor. It was nearly impossible for us to take the x-rays because Kate was freaking out. I felt soo bad. She was crying so hard and I just wanted to pick her up and calm her down. They had to strap in her into this device that put her hands over her head so we wouldn't move around. After we barely got those done the doctor came back in and said Kate has really bad bronchitis and has to have breathing treatments for 2 weeks and she is on 5 medicines. The breathing treatments haven't been going very well. She really hates it. I just hope she starts getting better. Lesson learned on my part, always take your child to the doctor if they are sick.

this is kate getting doing her breathing treatments and for the first 30 seconds she does okay and then it takes both phil and I to hold her down to finish it.

call me crazy

2010-04-11T16:57:00.001-07:00

I have finally found my niche in life, cooking. I am not a good decorator. I am horrible with fashion. I am not creative at all. Couldn't scrapbook to save my life, but I have really fallen in love with cooking and am actually pretty decent. For me, it is the one thing in life I can control. I can't control the situation I am in with life. I can't control my really out of control child but I can control food. I find cooking very relaxing and I really enjoy doing it. I haven't found that love yet with baking but I am getting there. And I just have to announce my love for www.melskitchencafe.com It is truly the best cooking website I have found. I go to that site at least 5 times a day. I use it everyday to plan my meals. She matches my cooking style perfectly. So the other night I thought why not go for the grand daddy of them all, homemade chicken noodle soup with homemade rolls even with homemade chicken broth and noodles. And oh man, it was exhausting and sucked the fun right out of cooking for me. I first had to cut up a whole chicken. It was disgusting and gross and something I never want to do again. After I had tackled that beast, I had to make the noodles. They turned out alright. They were a little thick and dense but the flavor was good. The rolls were my 4th attempt at homemade rolls and my worst too. I was so disappointed because my 3 others times were awesome and these ones came out all hard. So after, 4 hours straight in the kitchen the meal turned out pretty good. I think I'll leave the chicken noodle soup to my grandma. And I apologize if a lot of my future posts are about cooking. I can't help it. I have become addicted.

Valentines

2010-03-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

My valentines day post is a little late but at least I'm doing it, right? Anyway, since we have lived in Vegas we have never stayed on the strip. I have been to almost every hotel down there but never stayed in one. So we decided on Friday to spend the night at Mandalay Bay. It was lots of fun. The room was stayed in was really nice and it was really nice to get away. We went to dinner at some restaurant at the hotel (it was just okay) and afterwards we went to the shark reef. This was our 3rd time going there but Kate's first time really knowing what was going on. She LOVED it. It was fun to see her get all excited about everything. The only bummer was that the beach at Mandalay Bay was closed. I was so excited to finally be going to it but I guess they close it seasonally. It was nice enough outside to lay on the beach but we had to go to the pool instead. It was a great to get away. Anyone who comes here (you are obviously allowed to stay with us) but if you want a great place to stay, I recommend going there! I forgot my camera so the ones I have are only from my phone.

Miss Independent

2010-01-20T09:46:00.001-08:00

If you thought of the Kelly Clarkson song "miss indepedent" when you read the title of this post you are exactly right. That song is the most perfect way I could describe Kate. I don't know what has happened this past few weeks but she has turned into Miss independent. The song goes like this: "Miss independent, miss self-sufficient, miss keep your distance, miss unafraid, miss out of my way, miss don't let a man interfere." Okay she's not the last part but still. She has to do EVERYTHING herself or else she throws a huge tantrum. She has to drink out of a big girl cup or she won't drink at all. She has to feed herself or she won't eat at all. She knows what she wants and has to have it but can't communicate it so she just whines. She is trying my patience! I'm sure this is totally normal and any other mother who has a kid this stage is just laughing at this post but I just want it to be over. She turned 18 months on Friday and I really can't believe it. Which means she went into the nursery for the first time Sunday! She did really well. I heard her crying twice so I went in and checked on her. But I am very proud of myself because I never got her. We went to her 18 month check up yesterday. She weighs 27 pounds 6 ounces which is the 90%. She is 35 inches tall which is the 97%. That is the first comment I ever get on her these is day is how tall she is. I really am loving this age though and am excited for when she can really start talking. This is the most recent picture I have of her. We had family pictures taken in Salt Lake for christmas (more on that later) They turned out really cute.

Truly blessed

2010-01-19T12:18:00.000-08:00

I have been so bad and blogging and I apologize. I have had many things to blog about but my lazy side wins the battle every time I remember to do it. So my goal for this week is to blog everyday (ha we'll see) but it's good goal to have.

Anyway, we could not be happier to see 2009 go. It was a very difficult year for our family. Phil lost his job and luckily found another in a matter of weeks thanks to great friends but the job left him working in Kingman, AZ monday-friday. Phil and I have spent almost every week apart since May. It has been very lonely and awful for the both of us. I wish to never see another 2009 again. So we have been thrilled to have 2010 start off great! We have been thinking for a while to go to law school. We finally decided to apply and the 2nd day in January we found out Phil got accepted into the first school we have heard back from! The University of Maine! (so far away, I know) but we are so excited and it is a true blessing. For a while I was thinking we were being forgotten about, but it is good to be reminded that the Lord is always watching over us and has a plan even if it's the plan I don't want. We look forward to hearing back from other schools and to see where life will be taking us this year. The most exciting part of it for me is to see the light at the end of the tunnel when Phil and I can be back together again. 2010 is already looking up and am excited to see where else we get accepted to so we can make our decision!

I know it's dorky but I really wanted to take pictures opening his first letter.

Day One

2009-12-10T18:39:00.000-08:00

Well today was the first day of my new healthier life. That's right, I'm going to start working out and eating healthy. Ever since Phil has been working in Arizona all week I have been eating terribly with a capital T. I don't want to cook just for myself so I have been living off the dollar menu and easy and definitely not nutritious food. The only good thing about that has been I have really started to enjoy cooking, a lot. Since I don't cook all week I really look forward to it on the weekends and I think I'm actually pretty good. Phil has been quite impressed. Well anyway, I have been using Kate as an excuse not to go to the gym. I really don't like leaving her at the daycare at the gym. But I figured she is a little older now and really enjoys playing with other kids so she will be fine. Boy, was I wrong. About 25 minutes into my workout, they page me. I get to the daycare and Kate is hysterically balling. I have never seen her crying so hard in my life. I felt SO bad. But I will not let this setback defeat me! I'll just have to do pilates at home or something. The main thing for me is to start eating healthier. I haven't eaten out all week and it's not as hard as I thought it would be. Phil got me a food saver for my birthday so I am really looking forward to making lots of meals and freezing them so they are quick, yet healthy. Although my day wasn't the greatest kickoff of my new lifestyle, I learned I don't weight as much as I thought. sweet! I would be fine with losing only 5 pounds but with lots and lots and lots of situps. So, wish me luck and keep me motivated because I know I am going to need it!

thanksgiving in cali

2009-12-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving this year, we went to San Diego with Phil's family. Two of my sister in laws had soccer tournaments there over Thanksgiving so we went with them. It turned out to be a lot of fun. Kendra, my sister is law, even won the whole tournament for her age group. Go Kendra! We went to Sea-world. That was a lot of fun! Kate really loved it. For Thanksgiving, we went to my mother- in-law brother's house. Kate got sick while we were there and was pretty awful during Thanksgiving so we didn't fully get to enjoy our Thanksgiving dinner but that is okay. She hadn't been getting better since we got home either so I took her to the doctor and it turns out she has bronchiolitis. On Thanksgiving night, Jessica and I went black friday shopping at midnight. That was lots of fun too. I even got to go see New Moon and loved it. 1000x better than Twilight. On the way out of town Phil, Kate and I stopped at Disneyland and had a blast. It was a really relaxing, fun Thanksgiving and we were reminded how blessed and lucky we are.

phoenix

2009-12-01T09:30:00.001-08:00

About 2 weeks ago Phil and I went to Phoenix. Yes, you read that right JUST Phil and I. My mom was nice enough to watch Kate for 5 days while we went. It involved a lot of flying to make it happen but it was worth it. Phil had to go there for work and I thought I would tag along for fun. It was my first time being away for Kate more than 3 hours. We hardly ever get a babysitter so it was really hard for me to let her go but I totally trust my mom. While Phil worked I just went shopping, got my nails done and hung out with my friend Natalie who came down with her husband for work too. It turned out to be a really fun trip except for the part where I was sick for all of it. But to be honest, life is pretty boring without Kate. I learned I can't sleep in anymore and my days were pretty lonely. Thanks mom so much for doing that!

trunk or treat

2009-11-02T11:57:00.001-08:00

On friday we went to our wards trunk or treat. Kate had a blast! I knew she would. The way she entertains herself all day long is carrying around a bucket of some sort and putting things into it and then coming and giving them to me. So when it came to trick or treating she was a pro! She was little red riding hood this year and was adorable. We didn't take her trick or treating but the candy she got is more than enough. We hardly had any trick or treaters come to our house this year so we still have way to much candy in our house. I should probably throw it away. It isn't going to help me any trying to lose 10 pounds. We had a great halloween and can't wait til next year when Kate really understands the concept. Happy Halloween!

Little Piggy

2009-10-21T20:47:00.001-07:00

last night while Kate was eating dinner I gave her her first pigtails! She looked so cute! Kate has a major mullet and thought it was time to do something about it. Only problem is she won't let me put anything on her head. It is probably my fault because I never put headbands or flowers in her hair as baby and is now not used to it. So these only lasted in her hair for about 2 minutes but was able to get some cute pics. After I put them in her hair she kept laughing and thought it was the funniest thing ever. I love that girl.

most magical place on earth

2009-10-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

Last week was the very first Wray family reunion! My dad's family has been having one every year for over 25 years and we thought it was a good time to start our own. Where else to kick off our reunion....DISNEYWORLD! Some how I got put in charge of planning it and so of course that is what I would choose. This year we switched it up though. Everytime my family has ever been to Disneyworld, we stay on property at this place called Coronado Springs. We love it. But we wanted to stay at a hotel that had a suite big enough so we could all fit in the same room, only problem is there are only a couple of hotels on property that have rooms big enough. We decided on staying at the new Bay Lake tower, right next to the contemporary and we were not disappointed!! It is steps away from magic kingdom and we could watch the fireworks from our room everynight! We also got to use the monorail which was great!

I was actually having an anxiety attack about going because I thought it would be a nightmare with Kate. A 5 hour plane ride a 15 month old don't go hand in hand. But once the plane ride was over all my worries were gone and glad to have Kate with us. We spent 5 awesome days playing and spending time together. We also ate and ate and ate. When you stay on property you can get the disney dining plan which gives you 2 meals a day and a snack but these meals are massive and you get entree, dessert and drink. We had some awesome food though. Unfortunately my sister, Angela, had to be a wheelchair the whole time but actually turned out in our favor as we could to skip most lines. It was great to get away and be together as a family. Here are some pictures from our trip (mostly stolen from my sister because my camera didn't work most of the time and she took 600 pictures. thanks sis)eating at one of our favorite dinner's, Ohana

Kate is obsessed with toy story and here she is picking out her toy, Woody

To "eternity" and beyond! that was the theme of the reunion

utah

2009-09-24T12:08:00.000-07:00

Last week on a whim, I decided to go up to utah. Kate had been really really sick all last week so having been trapped in my house and hadn't really gotten any sleep for 5 days, I needed to get away so Phil got home on Friday at 5 and I said we're going to salt lake. Phil stayed til Sunday and flew home and I stayed til the following Friday. It was nice to spend a week with my in laws and hang out with my sister a little bit. I unfortunately forgot to bring my camera (which I figured out yesterday is broken, so if anyone has a good camera suggestion let me know) so I don't have any pictures. Besides Kate still being sick for the first part of the week and wouldn't let be put her down and let anymore touch her, it was a really fun week and got spoiled with a pedicure. We are now looking forward to our Disneyworld trip in 6 days!!!

very late

2009-09-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

Here is my very very late post about Kate turning 12 months. She is now 13 1/2 months and just went to her 1 year check up this morning. She is doing great but she did have to get 5 shots. I was freaking out because that is way to many in my opinion. She screamed just for a minute and is now sleeping it off. She is 31.5 inches and 26 pounds 10 ounces, both in the 95th percentile. She is huge but I love it. She is wearing 24 month clothes. She has been walking for a month now and I really enjoy it. People always told me that I would regret her walking because she would be getting into everything but she already did that anyway and now she doesn't get as dirty crawling around. This is the age I have been waiting for and it is really fun. Here is her last bear picture. Now I am only going to take them every year until she hates me for it. We had it taken when we got our family pictures done.

lights, camera, action!

2009-08-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

So for Kate's birthday we decided as her big gift to get family pictures taken. I figured she won't remember some useless toy, but can have these pictures forever. I have never really liked many pictures of Kate because I think she is way more beautiful and cute in person and they don't do her justice but I LOVE these! My friend in the ward is a photographer and did them for us. Her website is www.allysonkayephotography.com She did an amazing job. Here are some of them. There are so many I love I don't know how I'm going to choose.

to infinity and beyond

2009-07-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

On June 28th we celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary! I can't believe what a lucky girl I am. We didn't do anything to exciting, but it was nice to go out to a nice dinner without Kate. We went to a brazilian steakhouse on the strip. It was super yummy. It had the best meat of any brazilian steakhouse I had ever been to but the lamest buffet. So overall it was delicious. The only downside was no grilled pineapple. After dinner we went to go see Transformers since that is Phil's favorite. It was a great night and a great reminder of how lucky I am to have an eternal marriage with the love of my life.

happy birthday!

2009-07-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

Today Kate turns 1! I cannot believe it. I seriously cannot think how we got from July 15th last year to July 15th today. It went by SO fast. Being a mom has been quite the experience. I have struggled with the idea of being a mom since I got pregnant. I wasn't ready when I got pregnant and have had a love/hate relationship with it ever since. It is not what I would choose to be doing if I had the choice. I never got to really be married and my college education is now a meer thought. That being said I love Kate more than anything. I couldn't imagine my life without her now and although there are days I wish things were different I would never change it. She is the perfect child for me. Heavenly Father knew exactly what He was doing when He gave me Kate. I have never written down Kate's birth story so I am just going to do this so I will always remember. I went in at 8am July 15th to be induced. I was really nervous about getting pitocin because I don't do well with pain at all but everything went really great. I started having contractions about an hour after they gave me pitocin and it really wasn't that bad. It certainly wasn't comfortable but I didn't even need an epidural. I decided to get one anyway at 6 cm because I didn't want to feel while I was pushing. Right after that they broke my water and I stayed at 6 cm for about 4 hours. My doctor came in at about 7:30 pm and told me that the reason I wasn't progressing anymore is because my pelvis is too small and thought I should have a c-section. After a few tears I decided we should do that since that would be the safest thing to do. Literally the second after I said yes to the c section about 10 people swarmed into my room to prep me for surgery. I was into the operating room about 3 minutes later and at 7:53pm Kate was born.

It sure has been a crazy year with many ups and downs. I love you SO much Kate. Happy birthday!!

california

2009-06-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

This past week I went to California with my in-laws. My sister in law, Kendra, had a soccer tournament so the whole family was going and asked if I wanted to come since I am home alone all week now while Phil works in Arizona. I jumped at the chance! We had a packed week. On Tuesday we went to the Los Angeles zoo. That zoo is actually really nice and huge. We even saw Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz there with their baby. Kate didn't really seem to care much about the animals but we still had a good time. The next day we went to Kendra's game and hung out at the pool. That night we went to Santa Monica Pier. We had a fun time riding the rides and going to the beach. On Thursday, we decided to go to Six Flags Magic Mountain. Just Nicole, Connor and I went. That park is all roller coasters that are very scary! I was very brave that day and am proud of myself for going on most of the rides. Phil came up from Arizona on Friday and the next day we headed to Disneyland! We can't stop in California without going to Disneyland. We had a great time there. Kate loved the rides this time and was really fascinated and payed attention. She is growing up. It made me really excited for our trip to Disneyworld in October because I think Kate is going to love it. While we were there Kate turned 11 months and forgot to bring her bear to take her picture with and I still have forgotten to do it since I've been home. I better get on that. When we came home on Saturday night we were exhausted but excited that my sister decided to come to Vegas that morning with her boyfriend and so we got to hang out with them for a day and in half. It was such a fun trip!

Kate with Grandma and Nicole. Kate is eating her new favorite snack, an apple. She seriously sat there for a half hour just nibbling on her apple

Inside the very lame six flags museum. We only went inside because it was air conditioned

Kate riding on her dad's shoulders for the first time in line at the toy story ride. I think this picture perfectly describes Kate.

one silly girl

2009-06-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few of the funny things that Kate has done.

She has a humidifier in her room and she loves going up to it while it is on and sticking her face in it. She thinks it is hilarious and could do it for hours!

This is the time that she dumped her whole bowl of applesauce all over herself.

One time while I was doing the dishes I kept hearing this squeaking noise and couldn't figure out what it was until I looked at Kate and found that she was using a bottle nipple as a pacifier.

This is one of the 2 times that she feel asleep sitting up

10 months

2009-05-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

Kate is now 10 months wow! (well 10 1/2 months now) and she is growing up so quick. She unfortunately got sick and was throwing up and everything. It was not a fun couple of days. She didn't get sick once til she was 7 months and now it seems she is sick all the time now. I guess that is what happens when you eat shoes and everything else on the floor when mom isn't watching. She can now stand up on her own for a long time and I think is starting to stop gaining weight. It is about time she slows down. She is so fun to be around. She loves being around other people and just cracks up when they are around. She has no signs of seperation anxiety yet which is good. This month while we were taking pictures next to her bear she didn't want cooperate and thought it was more fun to climb all over the chair rather than just sit there so sorry these ones aren't that good but she is always a cutie no matter what.

I found it!

2009-05-26T14:14:00.001-07:00

So I found the cord to upload my photos! I actually found it a while ago, thanks to my friend Gloria who asked to stay at our house, which meant I actually had to clean the guest bedroom. While doing this I found it so in thanks, I owe it you Glo. So enjoy looking at all my insanely late pictures.

fun with the parents!

2009-05-04T18:30:00.000-07:00

This past week, my dad had to work here in Vegas so my Mom tagged along for fun. My dad had to work until Thursday so Kate and I had fun with my mom for 2 days before we could meet up with my dad. My parents stayed at the Bellagio so on Thursday we went down there to hang out at the pool. My friend Rachel met us down there with her 2 kids and we had fun playing in the pool. Kate really liked it. It isn't really a family oriented pool but we still had a good time. I had to learn the hard way that swimming diapers are not effective at all. That night we met up with with my dad and Phil and went over to Caesars Palace and ate at a Bobby Flay restaurant called Mesa Grill. It was super yummy! After that we went to Serendipity. There is one that just opened right out front of Caesars Palace. It is just like the one in New York and we ordered frozen hot chocolate. It was a very fun day. The next day my parents were nice enough to stock Kate up with formula, diapers, wipes, clothes, baby food and snacks. It was a short trip but it was great to see them! Now I am excited to go home to Denver for a week on Thursday.

frozen hot chocolate. so yummy!

playgroup

2009-04-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, the playgroup in my ward went to a petting zoo. It is in this little old western themed town up red rock canyon. I usually don't go to playgroup because Kate is still to young to go play at the park and other activities, but somedays I just want to get out of the house and interact with people who actually talk. It was fun to get out and hang out with friends but this place was seriously disgusting. Thank goodness Kate was still young enough to not care because if she were old enough, I wouldn't have let her go anywhere near the animals. After the gross animals (I swear some of them were dead) we went to a western show. The show was a hanging. A real man pretended to get hung in front of all the little children. Yikes. Let's just say we won't be going there again anytime soon.

On a side note, Kate has now been sick for over 2 weeks. I feel so bad for her. It has been a sleepless two weeks for the both of us. I finally took her to the doctor on Friday and they said she has fluid in her ears that is causing her runny nose and coughing that could turn into an ear infection. Let's hope not! Get better Kate.

9 months

2009-04-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

Kate turned 9 months on Wednesday. Her 9 month check-up was on Tuesday. She weighs 23 pound, which is the 95% and is 28 3/4 inches long, which is the 75%. Luckily she didn't have to get any shots because they would not have been able to give them to her anyway because she is sick. On Monday and Tuesday she had fever and now she has a terrible cough and runny nose. I feel so bad for her, she is miserable. But besides her being sick, she is so fun to be around and she is a great workout. She can climb up the stairs now (scary!) and is starting to cruise around furniture. We took her 9 months pictures a little early on easter Sunday because we wanted to take them in her cute easter dress. I still can't find my cord (I think it is it time I order a new one.) I can't believe she is almost 1 already.

easter

2009-04-15T19:05:00.000-07:00

We had a great easter this year! We just celebrated by ourselves but it was still really fun. Kate loved her easter basket. She got a baseball toy, a ball, and lots of clothes. Kate, unfortunately got a fever that day and still is not feeling 100%. For dinner we had a yummy ham, jello and asparagus. I'll upload the pictures of Kate with her basket when I find my cord. I love celebrating easter and am so thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ who died for us.

kate's easter basket

go rockies!

2009-04-13T15:20:00.001-07:00

I have been doing a terrible job at updating my blog but I have a (sort of) excuse. I can't find the cord to upload the pictures from my camera to the computer and I still can't find it so we are going pictureless. As soon as a find it I'll post the pictures. Anyway, a couple of weekends ago the Colorado Rockies were in town playing the Mariners. Since there are no professional sports here, they always get two teams each year to come and play at the minor's stadium. Phil loves the rockies, so we had to go! Unfortunately, it was FREEZING! We only stayed for 3 innings. But it was still fun to go to the game and have a date night to ourselves.

8 months

2009-03-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

Kate turned 8 months on sunday! She is getting so old! She also gets cuter everyday. She is really fast at crawling now. She has also decided this whole past week she doesn't want to sleep anymore. It is very frustrating. Ever since she has figured out how to pull herself up in her crib, that's all she wants to do in it. She has the biggest personality of any 8 month old I've ever seen. She is a very good baby but always has to doing something. She could not sit still if her life depended on it. We love her so much though and can't wait to see what else she is going to show us.

Date night

2009-03-17T12:53:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend, Phil's mom and sister, Kendra, were in town for Kendra's soccer tournament. Phil's mom was nice enough to offer to babysit Kate on Friday so we could go on a date. We jumped at the chance! First, Phil went to go get his haircut (it was badly needed) and after we went to dinner at Roy's. It is a hawaiian fushion restaurant. It was SO yummy! Definitely one of my new favorite and I highly recommend going there. We told the waiter it was our date night and so they gave us a free dessert and wrote on the plate "happy date night." It was the perfect way to end our delicious meal and awesome date. It was weird going to a restaurant and not just try and hurry to finish as fast as possible before Kate looses her patience. We need to have date nights more often!

with our free dessert! so yummy!

disneyland

2009-03-12T09:24:00.001-07:00

Over this past weekend, I went to Disneyland (again)! Phil didn't join me this time. It was just a ladies trip. I went with my visiting teacher, Rachel, her 2 kids, and another lady in the ward, Tiffani, with her 3 kids. We had a blast! Since I have an annual pass, I figured why not go! The first night we got there, we went to Huntington Beach and went to this really cool restaurant, Ruby's. It was way out on the water on a pier and is a really fun 50's diner. The next two days we spent having tons of fun at Disneyland. Kate loved all the rides this time. It wasn't crowded at all and we were so sad to leave.

Kate with Rachel's daughter, Ella. Ella is 2 weeks older than Kate

Kate with her favorite man (besides her dad)

first tooth!

2009-03-09T10:23:00.000-07:00

So this happened a week ago but life has been so crazy around here I haven't had time to blog about it, but Kate cut her first tooth! I keep trying to take a picture of it but it's a lot harder to get than you would think. She won't let me go anywhere near her mouth. She has been so good about it and still sleeps through the night (thankfully!) You can see the one next to it will be coming in any day. She is also starting to pull herself up on furniture. It won't be long til we have a walker!

1st time for everything

2009-02-28T12:24:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official, Kate is sick for the first time. She just has a cold but it is still so sad. We took her to the doctor this morning and he gave us 2 prescriptions. She is definitely being more whinny but being a trooper for the most part. She has a runny nose, sneezing, and is all stuffed up. Feel better Kate!

Phil's Birthday

2009-02-26T08:19:00.000-08:00

On Monday, it was Phil's 23rd golden birthday! (that's when you turn the age of what day you were born) so I decorated everything in gold. He woke up to a french toast breakfast. That night we went to a nice dinner at melting pot. It took so long though that we didn't even get to finish our meal because we had to get home to Kate but it was still really fun and just got a raincheck for the dessert. Phil got a subscription to gamefly, (it's like netflix for video games) new suits, and a book. It was so fun to celebrate Phil's birthday. We love you Phil.

new ride

2009-02-20T16:01:00.001-08:00

No, we did not get a new car, but Kate did get a new car seat! I seriously cannot believe that she already too big for the one she has now. The new one can face rear and forward, so until she is 1 she will still be backwards. It goes up to 65 pounds, which is about 4 or 5 years old. I am happy and sad about this because we can't just carry her around in her seat anymore and just easily put her in and out of the car. We now have to take her out, which means always sitting in highchairs and shopping carts which is always a nightmare because she always gets into everything. But my arm is very happy about this because I don't have to lug her around in her seat anymore. It is SO heavy. My arm has popped blood vessels all over it. Kate, you are growing up to fast!

this was the 1st time Kate sat in her carseat which she is to big for now. this really shows just how big she is getting!

Kate's new car seat next to her old one

7 months

2009-02-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

Kate turned 7 months on Sunday and boy, has she changed since last month. She is really starting to show us who she really is. Here are some fun facts about Kate:

-Sleeps through the night like a pro (well mostly)

-Now sleeps without being wrapped up

-Wears size 4 diapers

-Wears 18 months pants and shirts

-Crawls and scoots around everywhere

-Tried crackers for the 1st time yesterday

-Anytime you give her anything it goes straight in her month

-Over 20 pounds

-Over 28 inches

-Has to always being doing something or getting into everything

-Will not refuse any food you give her except juice (which I am totally fine with)

-Brings more joy to mom and dad each day

Love is in the air

2009-02-16T10:17:00.000-08:00

Although I have never been a huge fan and Valentine's Day because I think you should show someone you love them everyday, it was still fun to celebrate it this year. We didn't do anything that special but we did get a new dishwasher and refrigerator and I am SO excited. I can't describe how much I hate my dishwasher and maybe this will give me an incentive to actually do the dishes. That night we made a nice dinner at home with lobster tails, shrimp fettuccine alfredo and roasted asparagus. It was great to be reminded how lucky I am to have a great husband who I love so much.

San Diego

2009-02-06T09:05:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we took a trip to San Diego! Phil's parents were so nice to let us use a week of their timeshare. Thank you so much! My first choice was to go to Aruba but I don't think that would have worked so well with Kate, so we went for a more practical location. It was so fun to get away for 5 days. The first day we went to Point Loma. It was so beautiful there. The next day we went to La Jolla. That was my favorite. On Monday we decided to go to the San Diego Zoo but woke up and both thought, let's go to Disneyland! How could we pass that up with being only an hour away. We had a blast at Disneyland and California Adventure. Kate hated Pirates of the Caribbean but loved Buzz Lightyear. We even went back on Tuesday. We also became annual passport members so we can go unlimited all year long! On Wednesday while we were driving back we saw a Pottery Barn outlet and I yelled "We have to stop!" If anyone has a chance to go there it is amazing! We got all new bedding which we needed desperately, for a steal! (I hated the old we had!) We had such a fun time and I can't thank my in-laws enough for giving us this chance to get away.

Point Loma

Kate playing with Minnie

Kate crawling around waiting to see Muppet's 3D

red rock canyon

2009-01-27T14:26:00.001-08:00

Over the Martin Luther King 3 day weekend, Phil's best friend, Lance, and his girlfriend, Angela, came down from BYU to visit Phil and I. It was so fun to see them again and catch up. While they were here, we went up to Red Rock Canyon here in Vegas. It reminds me a lot of the Red Rocks in Colorado. We live only 20 minutes away from it and had never been there since we have lived here. Phil's boss for a baby present gave us this child backpack for hiking, I never thought we would use it because anyone that knows me, knows how much I hate doing outdoor things. Kate absolutely loved it and it was actually pretty fun to go hiking there. Phil was such a trooper and carried Kate in that the whole time. Here are some pictures from the trail.

On a side note, Kate's 6 month check-up was today. She weighs 20 pound 2 ounces. She is in the 95th percentile for weight and height. She had to get 3 shots and was so brave about it. We love our chunky girl.

6 months old

2009-01-21T09:48:00.000-08:00

Kate is already 6 months! She is a half year old and I don't know where the time has gone. She is getting to be so fun and has the biggest personality. This month was the first time we have been able to take pictures next to the bear with her sitting up! Everyday she is showing me something new she can do. She still doesn't have any teeth and hates juice! She is also starting to crawl! That is way to early in my opinion but there is no stopping Kate. She gets on her hands and knees and pushes herself forward but doesn't move her hands forward so she goes crashing to the ground. She doesn't mind though, she just gets up and does it again. She also gets in a push up position and just stays like that for a minute. It is so funny. I keep trying to take a picture of it but I am never quick enough. We love having our baby Kate!

New Years and Milestones

2009-01-08T15:49:00.001-08:00

So I'm sad to report that for New Years we did absolutely nothing. It is especially sad considering we live in one of the cities that probably has one of the most fun New Year's parties around. I even bought hats, and sparkling cider and poppers but we went to bed at 10:00. New Years just isn't the same when you have a 5 month old baby. 2008 was quite the year for us. We bought a house and had a baby. This year we are hoping to just take it easy and not make any big decisions but knowing us, that probably won't happen.

Well at least there is something exciting going on around here, Kate is doing so well at sitting up! She will still topple over but she can sit up for a long time before she does. She is also showing she is just like her mom by liking the finer things in life. One of her most favorite thing to eat and play with is an Iphone. We love our Kate so much!

Kate sitting up all by herself!

kate eating her favorite toy

food!

2009-01-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

So this happened awhile ago but I thought I should blog about it anyway. Kate has started to eat solids! It has been so fun feeding her all these different kinds of food. We fed her rice cereal for the first time on Thanksgiving and have been giving her a new kind of food every 3 days since then. She has tried bananas, applesauce, peaches, peas, green beans, squash, carrots, and pears. So far she has loved every single one! And just starting this week she has totally gotten down eating off a spoon. It used to be SO messy but not anymore (thank goodness!) And thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Pemberton to buying her a highchair for Christmas to feed her in! She now eats 2 meals a day, a fruit or vegetable in the morning and rice cereal at night and still drinks tons of formula! She can't get enough of her food! Here are some pictures from the first time we fed her.

daddy feeding kate

mommy feeding kate

kate playing with her spoon

messy face!

Nuggets!

2008-12-31T11:45:00.000-08:00

So while we were home in Colorado for Christmas we went to a Nuggets game. My dad gets free tickets from work and the tickets came with $20 each to spend on food or merchandise. We went with my sister and brother, Lauren and Jeff. It was so much fun! Phil was most excited to go since he loves all Colorado sports teams and since there are no professional sport teams in Vegas we never get to go to anything like this anymore. Since we $80 worth of free money to blow through, we ordered so much food! We had wings, hamburgers, nachos, chicken tenders, cotton candy, ice cream sundaes, and tons of pop! The food was pretty disgusting, but hey, it was free. We spent $78.50. If only there was something else we could have spent the rest on. The game was really exciting and we came out ahead in the last 9 seconds. Of course, my favorite player J.R. Smith was the player of the game! Go Nuggets!

Phil eating his beloved cotton candy

Me and my sister Lauren having fun!

Christmas!

2008-12-30T09:26:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Christmas this year! We went home to Colorado to spend Christmas with Whitney's family, The Wray's. We are so bummed that Phil's family doesn't live in Colorado anymore so we don't get to see both of our families when we go home, but we still had a great time. On the way there we stopped at Whitney's parents condo in Keystone to just hang out and relax for a few days. Then on Tuesday we went down the her parents to have a yummy Christmas dinner. The next day was Christmas eve and it is tradition to go see a movie. We got stuck having to see 'The day the earth stood still' (i recommend doing everything you can go avoid seeing the movie) but it was still fun to continue that tradition. That night we opened our Christmas pajamas, played Christmas games, and read 'The night before Christmas.' The next morning we woke up to a room full of presents and had a time seeing what each other got and spending the whole day in our pjs. It was so fun to watch Kate try to open up all her presents. It was such a fun Christmas and was so great getting to spend it with Whitney's family.

Kate trying to open her first gift with Grandpa

The after

Kate had Santa's face on the feet of her pjs and kept trying to eat them. It was so funny

our cute baby!

the before

5 months old

2008-12-16T09:26:00.000-08:00

So I finally gave in and made a blog. I had never made one before because to me our lives are pretty boring and there is nothing to write about but I guess there has to be something I can say. So here we go...Yesterday Kate turned 5 months old. That is so crazy to me. It hasn't seemed that long at all. And although as much as a struggle with being a mom and if this is what I really want right to be doing with my life right now, I love her death. She is so fun and does the cutest things. I wouldn't change one thing about her. And it couldn't have been a better day to celebrate because it snowed here like crazy. Not just a little bit of snow but like a blizzard. It was the perfect christmas gift. So everytime Kate turns 1 month older, I take a picture of her next to the bear Phil made for her at Build-a-Bear to compare her size. So here is what I have taken so far and this months photo shoot was really fun because she wouldn't stop laughing

Kate at 1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months