Katelyn is 2!

Our little Miss Katelyn is 2! I call her baby, so this 2 business is catching me off guard. Plus, she's very small. We went to her 2 year doctor's appt. and confirmed her smallness.

Weight: 21 lbs (6%)

Height: 32 inches (5%)

They didn't check her head, but I'm sure it would have measured big. But that big head sure protects her face a lot. She recently got a pretty bad bruise on her forehead from falling on our driveway. She was trying to ride Liam's bike down the driveway and I was looking the other way. Silly me, why would I actually talk to a neighbor. She was pretty tough, and the bruise went away pretty quick. Liam's is still visible and looks like eye shadow.

On Katelyn's birthday we went to her appointment, and then went to McD's for lunch at her "request." She loves their parfaits.

These two are great little friends. Liam can always make Katelyn laugh (and cry) and laugh.

We had chicken pot pie for dinner of course. She ate two full bowls. Then we had her cake. This girl was carrying around the birthday cake box for two days. To say she was excited, just doesn't fully express how happy she was. "Dirtday cae? Happy Dirtday to me!" She sang that song every few minutes for several days. She got a lot of practice from all of the recent birthdays! Love this girl!

After cake, we went to Troy's school for an activity night. There were several stations to do different things. Katelyn actually participated! With Daddy's help of course. Troy is growing up so much and loves to create. He loves to draw and color. Liam is having longer attention spans and actually did the activities. Not for very long, but he did them! It was pretty fun.

Some things about Katelyn:

-She calls her blankets, her babies and has to have one to sleep. We learned that the hard way on the flight home from Utah. 

-Katelyn loves her daddy and runs to him when he gets home with a big smile and shriek of joy. 

-She loves to carry things. She finds anything that will hold things, like a bucket or bag, and fill it with random things. 

-If we tell her no, she usually obeys. Which is wonderful! But if it involves candy.. then she probably won't.

-Her favorite game to play is ring-around-the-rosies. 

-She loves pink things and always chooses pink articles of clothing.

-Still obsessed with shoes. We went shopping for shoes the other night for the boys and she couldn't stop grabbing shoes to try on.

-She sings the abc's like this: "abcdabsabbabbabbadasdasdas" and can count to 5 very well. That's the number I count to when Liam or Troy are in trouble. 

-She hates lying on her back. Every diaper change is a struggle. The doctor had her lay down to check everything. You would think we just poked her in the eye! But she was instantly better with a sucker on the way out.

-She loves the new trampoline and has learned to sit on the side when the boys are jumping high. She does somersaults by simply bending all the way down and her body just kind of does the rest. Haha. 

-Katelyn loves to copy her brothers. Whatever they request, she says it too, and she usually doesn't know what she is asking for. 

-Miss Katelyn is just so special to us. She can make me smile so quickly. Everything she does is cute. We love to just watch her explore and grow. I am grateful everyday for this little girl. Love you Kate.

Enjoying Every Day Life

I've been playing catch up on the blog. Here are some random pics from our every day. Looking back at these pictures helps me want to have more joy in the every day.

"Flowers for you, mom!"

Once a week I teach piano to the Boyers. They play with the kids while they take turns having lessons. Katelyn loves Sam and Alex and Liam and Troy love to play with Michael. 

The Boyer's have been raising chickens. Their daughter, Morgan, is part of FFA with her school. The kids think the chickens are so funny.

Preschool 2015

I got to host Liam's preschool a couple of times recently and it's been fun. Thanks to Liss, we tried out Mother Goose Time this time around and I like it SO much better. In these pics, there were three birthdays and Valentines. Lots of fun!

Kate, Sebastien, (Katelyn), Ava, Liam, and Jack

 We always start out with circle time on the blanket. We sing songs, talk about the weather, what day it is and what we will be talking about. Then on to letter writing and different activities.

We always have a snack halfway and today was sandwich boats, thanks to Rachel (Jack's mom.)

Ava had a birthday, and she blew out her candles like a pro. 

 The next week was Liam and Seb's birthday, as well as Valentine's. We had heart shaped cakes.

Katelyn joins on some of the activities. 

Alan and Malika's Wedding

My oldest brother Alan got married this past weekend in the Logan, Utah temple to Malika Wimmer. Ben, Katelyn and I flew up to attend. Troy and Liam stayed home with the Boyers. We are incredibly grateful for their help! The wedding was wonderful. I could not stop crying because there was so much love there. I loved seeing Alan treat his beautiful new wife with such sweetness.

Alan and Malika Andersen

Everyone had such great things to say about Malika. I'm truly excited to have her as my sister-in-law. Alan is a lucky man and Malika is lucky to have Alan. I always knew the girl he married would have to be just wonderful, because of who Alan is. I'm looking forward to all of the memories we will make and relationships that will grow.

Me, Katelyn, Ben

Jason and Tyler

Tim and Katelyn

The reception was at this adorable house. The inside was so beautiful, I couldn't stop taking pictures. But a lot of them are on Ben's phone. So.. they will have to come later.

They had cold stone and a candy bar. Katelyn had a lot..

Jason and Katelyn were pretty pooped and fell asleep on the way home.

The night before the wedding we got together at my moms as a family and had pizza. I love just hanging out with them and talking and laughing.

The night after the wedding, we went out with Ben's family and shopped and ate. It was the perfect little trip. Each time we go to Utah, my heart brakes a little that we are not there because we miss our families. But we also love our place in Texas right now. It was just a great little Utah trip and we get excited to think about the next one ;)

Liam's 4th Birthday

We started out Liam's birthday with decorations all over the kitchen. He was SO excited when he woke up. I forgot a pic. He sang happy birthday to himself all day. 

For lunch, we went and got pizza at his request "at the place with the cookies."

Katelyn managed to get into the cake before I frosted it. I was able to hide it, but it still looked a little sunken. Liam said sadly, "Katelyn wuined my birtday cake." But he quickly smiled when I started frosting over it. He then cried when I told him we were not eating it till that night. Luckily, Troy was coming home and that worked to distract Liam.

I had been looking online at used tramps for awhile. After talking to a few families that had tramps, it sounded like it would be a really great purchase for our family.  I just decided that I really wanted the enclosure and most used tramps didn't have them. So, I would have ended up spending quite a bit anyway to get what I wanted. Ben and I decided to get a new one that isn't the best quality but I think it will work fine for little kids. On Liam's birthday, Ben had to work and then go to young mens, so I decided to take the kids and we would go get it ourselves. They loved helping me. 

The box was too heavy for me to take out of the car, so we had to take each piece from the car to the backyard. 

We only got the frame done by the time Ben got home and it was dark anyway. Actually, Liam ran into the frame and got a black eye that he still has. Poor guy. It was really funny though... Anyway, we went inside and had the cake! Can't believe Mr. Liam is 4! 

The next morning, I finished the tramp part in the freezing cold. Liam didn't mind the cold a bit.

Mr. Liam is keeping us laughing all the time. Last week he told me, "mom, give me nickels." Then he held his hand out in a fist. Haha. I explained to him what knuckles are.

Liam is still pretty active. He throws really hard and loves to play baseball. But he loses most of his balls and bats by either braking them or losing them in the gutter.

Liam is also very quick to pick things up. He has a great memory and absorbs things while he looks like he is not paying attention. He is so busy in primary and I know he is a struggle for his teachers, but he comes home singing the songs pretty well.

He still gives the biggest hugs and screams out of joy when you get home. He randomly says, "Mom, Dad, I love you bery much."

He loves to dress up like Iron Man and Captain America. He misses his playmate when Troy goes to school and wants to go with him. He loves Katelyn and sometimes smothers her.

Liam still loves food and will eat most of what I make. Still very independent, "no, I can do it myself!"

We can't imagine life without our Liam. Happy Birthday 4 year old!

Ben's Birthday

The weekend before Ben's birthday, we headed up to Dallas to visit the Kitchen's and see little Harvey's baby blessing! Oh he is so sweet and cute. We had a great time, as always, with them. They spoil us.

Liss made Ben a birthday cake. It was SO good. I loved having friends with us to celebrate Ben's birthday!

These boys have a lot of fun together. 

Ben's birthday was on Monday, so we decorated the house (not that you can see it, Liam actually tore most of it down before Ben got home. He thought his Iron Man could hang on the streamers.) He got lots of candy and nuts.

We tried out this huge tres leeches cake. Happy 31!

As always, our awesome selfies with bad lighting and so-so phone camera. But I still love this picture.

On Tuesday, we went out on a date to Lupe Tortilla. They had the BEST fajitas ever. They came recommended and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Then we went to Nordstrom Rack and got some nice clothes using his dad's birthday gift card. It's fun seeing him shop for himself.

Ben has accomplished a lot in the last year. First, with his family, he is trying to make sure he gives every oz of energy he has left to the kids when he gets home. He always says that his biggest goal in life is to be their best friend. Second, he makes sure that I am happy. I'm such a better person when I have more Ben time. He treats me so well, makes sure I know that he is grateful for my efforts as a mom, helps me sort through my thoughts and tries to help me get a break. 

Third, I feel that he has progressed in his career moreso in the last year than ever before. Part of it is opportunity, and a lot of it is Ben's efforts with those he works with. He loves his job, the work that he is doing is exactly what he wants to be doing. There is great potential in this company and we really like them. The people he works with are just GOOD people. One of his coworkers even told him to go home because, "your wife has two hands and three kids." Haha. LOVE that coworker. 

Fourth, he has worked hard to develop relationships with the young men in our ward. He is with the teachers and he's always thinking about how he can make sure they stay involved and interested in the activities. It's been a juggling act with trying to fit everything in. But he is always trying to "manage his time better." Ben will never stop trying to improve. 

Looking forward to another great year with this wonderful man!