Mmmmm, Key lime pie. 

I was so bummed about not eating Key lime pie in Florida, that I had to make one for myself.

Sarah's new big girl bed. I found this at a thrift store for $10. It's in great condition and Sarah adores it.

More birthday presents. This is from Auntie Ashley - beautiful butterfly wings and skirt.

So cute! She got them from some online store for about $2 a piece (+ shipping). I don't think I could buy the materials for that price.

She even got a pair for Sarah. Thanks Ashley!!

We also got some new toys from Grandma Carol. I love quality, educational, multi-use toys like these.

The little bear board has snaps, buckles, zippers, buttons, etc. for practicing.

These fountains are at one of our favorite city parks. Just perfect for a hot summer day.

All FOUR kids!

Kathryn wanted to "hold" David, but he's big enough now that he sort of sits up next to her while she puts an arm around him. Check out her tan -- where did she get such great skin? Not from this freckle-faced mama.

Joseph wanted to hold David too, but by this time, he was getting a little tired of all the squeezing.

Kathryn still adores her baby doll, and Sarah is still trying to convince Kathryn to give her the stroller.

This has been a nice week. We've gone to the park three times and to story time at the library. I baked bread, rolls and pizza dough (all from the same recipe/batch) and muffins last night. Most of it turned out great. I'm trying to bake bread to use for sandwiches. Now that David is eating lunch, we go through three loaves of bread a week. I like to buy 100% whole wheat bread without any nasty additives, so that can get kind of pricey. I also started making our own yogurt. It's so much easier than I thought it would be. I made yogurt once about two years ago and let it get a little too tangy, so I gave up because I didn't want to waste a ton of expensive rice or almond milk while I learned how to do it. This time around I bought cheap cow's milk to practice with. So far I've made three batches of yogurt and they have all turned out wonderfully! Using a gallon of cow's milk I can make 4 quarts of yogurt (or 128oz) for around $2 -- compare that to the 4 small cups of yoplait that usually cost around 50/ea (or in other words $2.00 for 24oz). My kids LOVE yogurt and the pro-biotic cultures are really healthy, so this is an easy way to save some money and give them more wholesome yogurt (no added sugars, artificial flavors or colors, etc.) Once I feel really confident in my yogurt making skills I'll try using Almond milk (maybe vanilla - yum!) to see how it turns out. Almond Milk costs just under $3 for a half gallon here, so I wouldn't be saving much money, but the yogurt would then be dairy-free. (And free of any hormones or unwanted additives commonly found in cows milk).

Kathryn is TWO!!

Two years ago on July 11th, our darling little girl was born at 12:31pm at our home in Antioch, Tennessee.
This is the very first picture we took of her, she was just an hour old:

She dozed on the couch while David made lunch for the midwife, her assistant, and me.
Here she is a few hours later in something pink:

She's so tiny! Just 6 lbs, 15 oz and 20 inches long. She seemed too small to be real at the time.

Kathryn at 6 months old. She is wearing the dress that I wore when I was blessed as a baby. She's our only baby that was blessed outside of Utah.

Her 1st birthday. She crumbled the cake, but didn't really eat much. We were in Silver City that summer. I had forgotten how bald she was -- no wonder everyone thought she was a boy, even when she was decked out in pink.

She's 17 months old here, has a little more hair, and can play games with the big kids. She helped them set this table with play dishes and food...or "pood", as she says.

Sunday was Kathryn's 2nd birthday. (Check out those eye lashes and red lips! And she finally has some hair too). The only traditional birthday thing we did was open presents and sing "Happy Birthday". Poor girl didn't even get a cake or candles to blow out, no balloons or crate paper or giant posters. There's still time for that, right? I made a key lime pie, but that was mostly for me (so selfish!) She didn't even want to try the pie and opted for ice cream instead. Maybe I'll make her some cupcakes this week...maybe. Anyway, she got some really fun presents and all she wanted to do was play with them-- so she was happy and I saved myself all the trouble of decorating and baking. Her Grandma and Grandpa Wiseman sent her a baby doll, baby stroller, and bassinet. The stroller was by far the biggest hit -- even Sarah and Joseph can hardly keep their hands off it. Some of her other presents are still en route in the mail.

Sarah already has a little baby bed for her dolls, so she didn't care about the bassinet. But Joseph, that poor boy, has wanted a little crib for his "doggie" for the last year. When Kathryn got one for her baby, that was the last straw. He was a pill all day long, pouting about not having his birthday yet (it's in 4 weeks, and the last one for our family this year).

Look at Sarah's sad face here.

Cute drool-y baby...he watched the whole scene unfold from my lap...and made the camera very wobbly.

Patiently waiting for Daddy to get the present out of the box. Why do they have to use so many twist ties?
In the background you see her stroller and a new beanbag type chair...aka her "throne".

Kathryn wasn't all giggly or super smiley, but rather just quietly enjoyed her new stuff. Here she is admiring her new doll who is sitting in the stroller.

Putting her baby to bed while David watches.

And, trying on some new sandals from Mom and Dad. She loves shoes...I think she's going to be like Auntie Ashley. =)

Now she is letting Sarah play with this little house from Aunt Jennifer. All day long Sarah would ask Kathryn if she could play with the new stuff and Kathryn always said yes, but then 30 seconds later she was ready for Sarah's turn to be over. Kathryn likes to share, as long as the recipient follows Kathryn's rules.

Cute baby! With the little guy on my lap while I was snapping pictures of the present opening ceremony, I couldn't help but snap a few of him too.

David is 4 months old now.

Sarah is showing off the little kitten card.

Joseph's new mischievous face. He must be almost 4. He has started acting really silly like the other boys his age. Our quiet, shy boy is now the terror of the Sunbeam class. This Sunday he had to call his teacher and apologize after church for his bad behavior. (Two missed naps, a birthday party for sister, and a late afternoon church schedule don't make it easy for him).

So big!

 So, that was the big day. Nothing too extravagant...but just right for Kathryn.

Baby, Anniversary, and Apricots

Kathryn's hair is getting longer. I put it in pig tails in June and tried to get a picture, but she was not in the mood. She's still so cute though.

Sarah and Joseph are playing an old favorite game. They bounce on the empty laundry baskets like they are bull riding and sing "Bum-bo-bea". I don't know what it means, but it's funny to watch. They pretend to get bucked off the basket.

All of the kids like to help in the kitchen. Joseph sliced/chopped this tomato all by himself with a real knife. I was supervising, but he knows what he's doing. I think he learned it at school. =) Gotta love Montessori!

July 2nd was our 8th anniversary. So we went to the 2nd Mexican restaurant in town. We've now been to all the Mexican restaurants here. Pathetic...it was an average place - but I did try mole for the first time and enjoyed for the first few bites. The sauce became a big heavy - too rich? - toward the end though. We dropped off the older kids with some friends, but took little David with us. He was pleasant company because he can't complain or whine too much yet. =)
I can't believe that David and I have been married for 8 years! It hardly seems possible and I didn't think that I was that old yet. He's still the best husband ever. =)

I don't have any pictures of us together, just lots of pictures of my adorable baby (wearing a girly bib to catch all of his drool).

Sorry, I didn't edit any of the pictures to get rid of the red eyes. Little David lost most of his newborn hair and now he has light brown fuzz growing in.

Check out how big he is getting! 15 pounds now, and 25 inches long! He turned 4 months old today.

Sarah adores the little guy. If he's crying she will go talk to him, make faces, sing to him, and generally just be silly until he smiles -- it never takes long. If he's awake then Sarah always wants to be right next to him.

Playing in the exersaucer. He's now tall enough to touch the bottom and spin around to the different toys. See Sarah? That's her regular spot.

We woke up to these guys in our backyard this week. Joseph thought they were the coolest thing ever and wanted to go outside and talk to them. They didn't stay long...I think they were on the run. =)

Lunch...we brought out the second high chair again. Even though David isn't eating solid foods yet, he likes to sit up at the table and see what's happening. The chair is nice because it frees up my hands, so I can actually eat too without dropping half my lunch on his head. Notice Sarah right next to him again?

Whenever I ask Joseph to "Say Cheese" for a picture, or "Smile", he always looks away from me, like this.

On Monday I bought 20lbs of apricots from an orchard at 70 cents/lb. They were so tasty! Perfectly ripe and smelled wonderful. We made 8 pints of preserves, an apricot pie, and ate the other 5lbs all day long. Not a good idea for a toddler in diapers. =(

The kids helped wash and pit the apricots for me. It kept them busy and not fighting (most of the time) for a good half hour.