First Dentist attempt

So quite a while ago we took Lij for his first dentist appointment. It went okay but not "ideal" as they put it. The dentist was able to look at all his teeth and give us a clean bill of health...NO cavities! They hooked Lij up and gave him tokens and a monkey and then a coupon for a free scoop of ice cream from Baskin Robbins. So being the good mom I am I completely forgot until the night of. So I ran out late and picked it up so he could have it in the morning. And boy was it worth it! He LOVED it!!

 Showing his messy little ice cream face

The best "cheese" I could get when he is watching Little Einstiens

9 Months a couple weeks late...

So really she is 9.5 months now!

Stats:

17lbs---28 1/2in



Crawling...mostly army crawl but she will get on her knees...if she wants

Pulling up on everything

Already attempting stairs...SCARY!

Now is strictly bottle fed...4.5 months longer than last time

Still eating everything, but loves table food more than anything

Grunts when she wants your attention

Reaches for mom or dad

Still has stranger danger pretty bad

Was left with a teenage babysitter for the first time(goes for Lij too)...cried for some time then wouldn't let the babysitter sit her down

Bugs her brother incessantly whenever she possibly can...sharing a room has become quite interesting

Getting cuter every day...if that is even possible

Now for pictures...enjoy

What the crap! Not this again!!

Admiring her brothers skills

9 months and so happy

Chubby finger on my camera lens

And the full chubby hand

Love me some Minnie

Brother-sister...two cute little faces

Found something curious

Cheese...the stage of no normal smiles

Roaring like a dinosaur

I told him to show me his teeth thinking I might get a normal smile...boy was I wrong!

Rockies Game!

We finally made it to a game! I LOVE baseball!! Plus Lij loves it more so it was a great time for us all.

We were in the rockpile seats...but even though they are out there and the cheap seats, you can still see everything really well.

Handsome little baseball fanatic

Genesee grabbing for the camera...of course!

My man and little girl

It was a good time..Rockies LOST but what is new! Oh well...we had a great time together doing something we all love! What more could I ask for?

Mother's Day

I am not one to love days that are all about me, but let me tell ya...Mothers Day is really growing on me! I love that we celebrate motherhood and fatherhood. I feel it is what I do best because quite literally it is all I really do. I love to do many things but because of time constraints and laziness and sometimes sheer exhaustion those things never get the attention I would LOVE to give them. Lucky for me my kids always override those 3 excuses and will always need my attention. So they are what I focus on and how I spend all of my time. Some days when we are just having a rough time and all I feel like I do is yell, discipline, change DIRTY diapers and clean up messes, I think to myself "Is this really worth it!? Do I really like this?" And then I check in on the little ones sleeping and I realize..."I LOVE being a mom. This is what I have wanted to do since I was just little. I love kids and I LOVE my family."

I seem to find myself not living in the moment a lot. I want try to live each moment much more enthusiastically because I LOVE everything about being a mom and doing the things I do. I feel each day I am getting better at it too. Don't get me wrong, we are not perfect and we have some pretty bad days where all I do is cry myself to sleep after asking over and over again for forgiveness for the bad things I did all day. I also feel the strength from my Heavenly Father when I am humbled down to ask him.

Being a mom is the HARDEST job EVER!! But it is my most favorite job I have ever had and will ever have. Love my sweet boy that is as smart as a whip(whatever that means) and teaches me patience constantly. Love my spunky little girl that is getting feistier everyday but will cuddle with me when going to sleep. Love my husband for joining me in this crazy journey of raising children of God.

LOVE being a MOM!!

So our day consisted of...FAMILY time ALL day long!! We went to church and I got a bag of CANDY! One of my favorite things in life. Went home and let Genesee nap. We went for a bike ride after nap time and we rode a long way, but it was a blast. We stopped just before turning around and had a snack. Fresh fruit and water!!! YUM!! Watermelon, that my family bought me for mothers day, was the perfect treat. And Lij loved it the most I think. We had a great day. Just a lot of time together and a warm Sunday afternoon. It was the best and Dillon spoiled me with lots of presents...Rockies tickets(!!!YAHOO!!!), a wok because I LOVE Chinese food, a gardening book so I can start learning that art, and the watermelon. Lij picked out a card with a spaceship on it. He was super excited about it because of the spaceship. LOVE my family!!!!

Lij enjoying the watermelon

He could hear the train not too far away...on the ride home we stopped by the tracks as the train passed by. Dillon did the whole arm thing to see if he would pull the horn. The conductor did and it made my little boy's day! Now anytime we see a train he starts with his arm and I LOVE it!

My baby girl!

My boys!

The girls of the Kotter home

Look at this cute face! He really loved the watermelon. My dad would be so proud!

LOVE him!!

Watching a bug chow down on the rind

Lij had eaten down to the green and then Dillon took it and acted like he was going to eat. Lij was upset!!

Family shot

Just the two of us!

Our yummy dinner! We actually made it on Monday because we got home so late on Sunday and were starving. So instead we had some yummy french bread pizza. Monday we had a quiet dinner as a couple and enjoyed stir-fry together. It was DELISH!!

Then a couple days later it snowed like mad and about took down my lilacs!! The snow was so WET that it laid my lilacs to the ground. So I went out and and knocked all of the snow off just to make sure they weren't completely destroyed.

Lij all bundled to play in the snow...we could barely get out the back door

See what I'm talking about...to the ground!

This is COOL!

Click http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/-57962-1.html and scroll down to Colorado. I thought it was pretty cool to see that the Accounting world actually makes notice of everyone in every state. Good Job to Dillon again!!

Look Below

I HAVE 3 NEW POSTS!!!

More Idaho trip

After Sandy we headed up to the actual Idaho part. My family typically gets together for Easter and this year most of my brothers and sisters were going to be there. So when I found out we could actually be there this year I was ecstatic. We made it to Malad on Friday afternoon and everyone was already there! So exciting!! Not too much happened Friday. Although we did get to eat at the Drive-In and then we all went and watched Ashley run in the Malad Invitational. I am amazed at how much I miss Malad and even track! Saturday is the day we do everything. First it was the Samaria Easter Egg Hunt. We got up there a little late so Lij didn't score too many. Which  is a good thing since he is only 2 1/2 and we do a huge family Hunt later in the day. In the afternoon we dyed eggs(no pictures because I showed up at the end) but Lij had a good time. Then once all the eggs are dyed and dry we head up the mountain to the "S". It is a tradition to hike the hill and then chuck the eggs down the hill. Someone usually gets nailed pretty good by an incoming egg and this year it was McKenzie. She got nailed in the face and it looked like it HURT. Best part about the hike is that we made it with both kids(thanks to Heidi and Sandor for the backpack...I'm sure we will put it to good use before you need it back), and also my 80 year old Grandma made it up and down! GO my amazing Grandma!!   

Dad with BOTH the kids...he finally gave in and let me take Genesee

Enjoying it so far(not quite half way)

(L-R) Me and Genesee, Aunt Laurie and My Grandma!

Some of the group that made it up

So once we came back down the hill we had a potluck lunch. Then the kids headed to the park to wait for the Easter bunny to show! That night a fire and smores and lots of visiting and relaxing. I love carrying on traditions even though most of the family is older and having their own families. It was great to see some of my cousins that I haven't seen in such a long time. They all have beautiful children that I haven't even met! Sunday and  Monday we had a good time with Janson and Brooke. Love getting to know everyone better and also talking with Brooke who is getting so excited to hold her little Cooper! We stayed until Tuesday and then had to head back to Denver. All in all it was a good trip except for my crazy emotions going all over the place. I'm sure my family thinks I'm psychotic!! It is just hard to keep sleep schedules when there is not one quiet place in the house. We had a great time though and were sad to leave once again but were also very anxious to get home.

Lij cooking with Gma :)

My mom will get a laugh out of this...back story-my dad had a blood clot back in January and he still had Edema problems. So this is a picture of his swollen leg. Not the greatest but when my sister had my camera my dad stopped her and told her to take a picture of his leg. He was teasing but she did it anyway! LOVE my silly Dad!!

 Finding a treasure...

SEE!!