So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu....

Well, we have reached our last few days in Provo. 

Tomorrow we will be loading up the truck and then come early Monday morning we'll be rolling out of this town. 

I am really excited to get to Washington because I think that it's going to be fun, but I am sad to be leaving Tyler's family. 

They are all so great and I know that it will take some getting used to not to have any family nearby.

But that's life and I'm ready for it!

Although I must say that I am truly not looking forward to the drive.

Mostly because of Kale; he's normally a good boy in the car,

but when he gets mad, watch out!

Hopefully we can keep him distracted with treats :)

Speaking of Kale, let's give an update on his doings.

He turned 10 months old yesterday!

He started walking just about a week and a half ago and he's getting

better at it all the time. 

He eats all kinds of food now and actually prefers

real food to baby food.

He can say mama and dad, which is absolutely adorable.

One of his top teeth has come down and the other

one is just behind it! 

He looks pretty silly when he smiles right now.

The other day we went to the pool for the last time in Provo,

and it was the BEST pool day ever.

We were there for almost 3 hours!

Kale discovered the stairs and was pretty obsessed with going up and down them

for a while.

Then, he discovered that he could walk around in the deeper end

if he held on to my hand.

And so, I spent the better part of an hour walking

around with him while he watched the bigger

kids play and I watched

him squeal with delight.

He does this thing now where he picks things up 

off the ground and then holds

them high above his head

for me to see.

What an adorable little boy!

I call him Kale-Bear now :)

Kale and I were sitting in front of our apartment when a storm suddenly blew in.

We decided to run around in the 

rain for a bit.

He was fascinated by it all.

He's always happy after a nice bath!

Look at him walk!!!

He is even more adorable when he sleeps.

We went to visit Marlee and ended up going to the little

park area right next to her apartment.

We just can't say no to an opportunity to swing!

Well, that's about all the update I have.

Tomorrow we will be picking up our truck and then

heading to my niece, Addison's, baptism.

Then, it will be time to load 

the truck up and clean the apartment.

Hopefully we can relax tomorrow night and all

day Sunday to prepare for the long trip.

Farewell Provo!

Next post will be coming at you from Washington :)

Happy Belated Birthday Uncle Jake!

Yesterday was my older brother's 26th birthday! Unfortunately he is all the way in Missouri right now so we couldn't celebrate with him :( I hope he was able to do something fun with his friends though.
My post is a little bit late because yesterday we were very busy with going to church and then heading out Payson way to celebrate Tyler's mom's birthday (which is actually today). Birthdays, birthdays, birthdays! Anyway, I am just so sad that I can't celebrate Jake's birthday with him, but I am grateful for the technology that enables me to do this:

I hope that smile brightens your day like it does mine, Jake! 

And I would just like to take this time to say that although our relationship hasn't

been the most conventional, ever since you went on your mission I have 

always known that my big brother loves me very much.

And now, nothing makes me happier than to know 

how much he loves my little boy. 

I love you Jake and we all miss you!

Happy Belated Birthday :)

Happy Birthday Uncle Dain!

Well, today is my youngest brother's 18th birthday. I can hardly believe that! Whenever I think of him, he's that adorable 10-year-old. I'm sure he doesn't appreciate that, but that's life buddy! Having him be turning 18 makes me feel super old, I can only imagine how old it makes my parents feel. (Love you mom and dad! :)

I remember when Dain was a baby. He was A-DORABLE. He had the biggest blue eyes and he was just so sweet. I remember calling him "Bubba" because he was such a chunker and "Dainy Boy" just for kicks. Now, he's the exact opposite of being a chunker, but I still call him Dainy Boy every once in a while.

Well, anyways, Happy Birthday Dain! Congratulations on being able to vote this year :)

So......this is going to be the longest post of all time.

Greetings all! I know it has been MONTHS since my last post, but I have a perfectly legitimate excuse: I lost our camera chord and therefore could not upload adorable pictures of Kale. And really, no one wants to read these posts unless they include adorable pictures of Kale. And so, now that the camera chord has finally been located, a new post may come forth!

Alright, so A LOT has happened since the last post. I will update by pictures and maybe add more as I remember things.

For Christmas, Tyler's dad gave Kale this adorable little suit and this was the first time he could fit into it. And may a just say, what a studly pair of boys I have :)

 I took Kale to an indoor pool in Lehi where my friend, Brittany Crumback, works. We went with my sister-in-law Realyn and her daughter Sadie. It was so much fun! Kale loves being in the water, and these baby swings were just the thing for him. He just chilled while I pushed him and he observed the other kids that were playing.

This is the outfit Nana Gerber sent to Kale for St. Patrick's Day. It has little froggy feet! We didn't do anything special for St. Patrick's Day, but I you best believe I wore my green!

Daddy and Kale doing some good snuggles.

 

 My little guy makes the cutest faces and has the cutest clothes!

This is Kale's Easter outfit. I love the sweater vest!

Family Easter Picture :)

So for my mom's birthday I sent a picture  of Kale to her, so of course I had to do the same for my dad! 

Tyler had to go up to Ogden with the track team for a meet and Kale and I wen with him. So, I decided that since we were up there we might as well get a picture by the wildcat of my parents' alumni.  

Kale goes wherever he wants now. He's very crafty. I try to use things, like boxes, to keep him out of stuff, but he always manages to find a way to get through the barriers. 

My first Mother's Day!

Sometimes, we like to take Kale to the park. He doesn't like the grass, so we lay out a blanket for him. It's hilarious to watch him go all the way to the edge of the blanket and then stop. He's started trying to eat the grass but he still won't go out on it.

Kale just loves to be outside. He loves to watch the other kids at the park and the cars that drive by. He's just super curious!

Yup, Kale can stand up all by himself!

Look at those big blue eyes!

Daddy helped him climb a tree!

Best. Picture. Ever. ( It only took like 5 tries before we got this one)

We took Kale to the aquarium in Sandy. He really liked it, but he was more
interested in the other kids that were there than the animals.

Penguins!!

Momma and Kale just bein a little goofy.

My grandma stopped to visit us on her way home from my my cousin's baby blessing.
It was so awesome to see her!

So, Tyler and I went looking for something to do besides watch T.V. and we came up with the idea of a puzzle. We found this one and loved it. We put it together in about a week, glued it, and framed it. Now, it's in Kale's room. :)

Happy Fourth of July! Kale kept blinking when I took his picture, but he still looks cute! Unfortunately he was sick for the Fourth. He had a fever all day and a INSANELY runny nose. I felt so bad for the poor little guy. His fever broke at about 6 PM so we figured the worst was over. However, at about 4 A.M. his fever shot sky high so we took him to the E.R. Turns out, he had croup. When the doctor told us my first thought was, oh, like Diana's little sister in Anne of Green Gables! They gave him some medicine that was to help his throat relax, and the next day Tyler's mom was nice enough to bring us a humidifier for him. He's doing better now, but still a little sick. The poor guy has lost his voice! And he's also passed his sickness on to his mommy. But we'll make it through, right? Needless to say, it was an interesting Fourth of July.

At the beginning of June we went on a family vacation to....IOWA!!!! 

It was so great. I loved being able to see my family and friends. It was the best to watch my parents be grandparents. They are just so adorable with Kale, and I'm so grateful for how much they love him.

We took Kale to the Anamosa pool and went down the slide with him. I totally biffed it at the bottom of the slide. Tyler did a much better job with him :)

We also took him to the Lost Island water park up in Cedar Falls. It wasn't quite warm enough though, so Kale only played in the water for a little bit.

Uncle Dain the lifeguard! Kale would just stare at Dain. They would have staring contests, Kale usually won. Kale is so loved by so many people!

Also, on our trip to Iowa, I got to see my two best friends in the entire world! (Brittney May and Alison Yanda) I couldn't believe that everything worked out that way. I was so happy to see them and ecstatic for them to meet my little boy.

Well, that's just about it. Now, we're just focusing on finding a place to live in Washington and getting all our stuff packed up. I'm really going to try to be better about posting regularly, 

but we'll see how that goes!

The Winds of Change Are Approaching

Well, February is almost over and I can barely believe it. Where did the past few months go?? Nothing major has happened to make time go by any faster, but it feels like it is. A lot of things will be happening soon, but right now we are in limbo. We're waiting to see if any schools offer Tyler a Graduate Assistantship; we might be going to Philadelphia for the summer to do security systems (which would be so awesome); or we might stay here for the summer. We might go to school in Washington, or Iowa, or Utah....or maybe we'll just sell all our stuff and take Kale on a trip around the world! Can you tell I really don't like this waiting game?

Anyway, I swear Kale is growing ever single day. At his 4 month appointment he was 16 pounds 1 ounce and he was 26 1/2 inches long. He's really tall; like, in the 90th percentile tall. I look at other babies at church and he is bigger than 6 month olds. I swear he is the product of Tyler and I, somehow.

He's become a real mover. If he's on the ground or in his crib, he doesn't stay in that same spot for very long. He gets really talkative as well. He has 3 different ways to talk: he yells, he coos, and I don't really know how to describe the third way, but they're all adorable.

He doesn't like to take a bath in his little baby bath, but if I get in the bath with him and hold him he kicks and kicks and splashes and yells and plays with his rubber duckies. It is the most adorable thing!

He puts everything in his mouth and he is getting really good at grabbing things and switching what he's holding from hand to hand.


I just love this outfit!


He didn't think this was as fun as I did.



He loves to stand up so that he can see everything.


We went for a little walk together :)


Look at my handsome Valentine! His Grandpa Patterson came by to give him this cute dog for Valentine's Day. Tyler named him Rockford; I don't know how he came up with that, but we like it.


It was my mom's birthday recently and this was how we said Happy Birthday to her. It sucks that she is so far away, but I'm so glad we have amazing technology that makes the distance not seem so bad!