Babies, Birthdays, and Easter! Oh My!

Slacker. That's what I am. See how it's been three months since my last post? Yeah. Mostly that's because January and February just sucked. Nothing horrible or terrible... just the pollution, weather, and stress of life seemed to suck the life out of us.

Of course, one of the bitter-sweet parts of February was the passing of my Grandma McLelland. Such an amazing lady. Sad that her health and life were quickly taken away after a "routine" colonoscopy (don't even get me stared...) But so so happy that she's back with Grandpa and Uncle Mike. We'll miss her dearly, but I know she's in a much better place. I will forever be grateful for the example she was. The love she shared. And for being one of those people who make you feel like you're always doing something good. Lover her dearly.

In much happier news... March has been a huge shift in goodness and happiness. Especially the last couple of weeks.

ABC

Just wanted to write this down for my own memory: Several weeks ago, while C was taking a bath she kept making an "O" sound while holding her little letter O. (She has some foam letters in the bathtub.) I didn't think much of it because she likes to make an "O" sound a lot. So I simply said, "Yes, that's an O" and went on my way.

Well, a week or two later, I noticed that she kept making this pirate "aarrrgh" sound... and I also noticed that this time she was holding the letter "R." So I began to wonder what this girl knew.

Keep in mind, C is not much a talker. We know she understands A LOT and is really smart... she just much rather be moving than talking.

Well that night as Tom and I were reading to her I wanted to perform a little experiment. I went and grabbed 12 random letters and then put them on my lap. I asked C, "Where's the letter G" and one by one she very quickly and decidedly always found the right letter. Holy Cow!? Where did this girl learn her alphabet!?

It's really fun to see how much she knows... especially because she keeps so much of it to herself.

Other exciting things...

On March 23rd I hit the half-way mark for pregnancy #2 (that's 20 weeks, in case you were wondering.) And we were able to get a sneak peek of our little GUY who'll be here the beginning of August!

See how cute he is:

We also celebrated C's 2nd birthday that same weekend!  We took a train ride, carousel ride, and tried to make it a fun day for her.

She was super blessed with all sorts of fun presents. We are so lucky to have such amazing family both far and near. Here she is opening one of her favorite gifts from Tom's aunt and uncle (who are basically just AWESOME.)

This is here peeking around the corner as I bring in Grandma and Grandpa Konie's gift!

A new bike! Yay!

Later that night we went to Grandma and Grandpa McLelland's where she got more fun gifts (including the bubble machine that made both C and A very happy!) and she got to show off her awesome "blowing" skills at cake time.

Thank you, everyone!!!

Our main gift for her was a new big girl bed! She's been sleeping in the crib (as a toddler bed) but we'll need to transform that back to crib in the next few months. It's a good thing we got it early as she now has two beds in that room and has now decided to sleep on the floor instead. *sigh*

Easter

And here's how "on top of things" I am. I'm blogging about Easter on the actual day. Way to go me. We keep things pretty simple. We had a lovely time at Church today. Came home and did a little Easter Egg hunt. Most of C's eggs were filled with stickers... which she loved putting all over herself (and on my belly... which she points at and says "ball." Thanks, kid.). She also got a little treat of dark chocolate chips (one of her favorite special snacks).

Before church. I know I'm biased, but she's so beautiful:

And look! I did her hair (something more than throwing a bow in it). It lasted almost all of church. (I call that a win.)

mmmm.... Chocolate.

"This is mine, Dad. Lay off."

Hope you are all well!!!

We are failures.

So it's continued to be busy in the Konie world these past couple of months. Working, working, working. We were looking forward to our "staycation" that we had planned this past week. Both Tom and I needed a break from the day to day stuff that has consumed our life.

But here's the thing: We suck at taking breaks.

In fact, somehow we sucked ourselves into another project. On a whim (kind of) we decided to "make over" our kitchen and living room. We don't have a lot of money, but we were able to do quite a bit on our $500 budget. Take a look:

kitchen - before
(We were just about to start painting, hence the
supplies on the counter.)

kitchen - after
(We painted the cabinets and used the Rustoleum counter
transformation kit on the counters.)

Before

After (I even painted our clock!)

Before

After (Notice the awesome stools that Tom did!)

Living Room - Before

After
(We covered our couches, pillows, and rearranged artwork.
I covered the old artwork on the wall with my own  "masterpiece.")

Even though it was a lot of work, and tricky doing with a VERY active 1 year old, we really love it. Everything is so much brighter! Love it.

In other news... we work a lot.  :)  Just kidding. I celebrated my 31st birthday (31 on the 31st!) It was a lovely day filled with my favorite people.  We also were able to see Tom's parents who came into town at the very beginning of June. I have some more pics from that and our staycation hopefully soon.

Guess what?

The past few days have been pretty fun as C has really learned to balance and move. But today she was repeatedly and consistently taking 5 - 10 steps at a time! This girl can walk.

Watch out world.

9 months

Where did this year go? Seriously! I can't believe we are just days away from a new year.

Let's start by talking about Christmas, okay? Okay. (Like you have a choice.)

Christmas was great. Simple. Stress-free. Peaceful. Great. Christmas Eve was spent at my parents where my mother put on a beautiful dinner. We sang carols. Opened gifts. Watched the Muppet's Christmas Carol. And ate a lot of good food. (Thanks to my brother and his fancy-schmancy smoker our meal included some delicious ribs. Yum.)

Christmas day was very laid back. We woke up and went to church. Tom was in charge of the program (he's the ward music chair/choir director). It went off beautifully. We came home, put Cdown for a nap, ate some lunch, opened gifts, napped. When the monkey woke up we opened her gifts with her. Tom and I decided to forgo gifts to each other. We are saving our nickles and dimes for a new camera. But we did get a few small things for C. We are also hugely blessed by wonderful parents (on both sides), and Tom's amazing aunt and uncle who send us beautiful packages to make the day feel a little more magical.

After that we just headed to my grandma's for a short visit, came back and visited with my parents for a little. Ate some food. Called some family. And sighed a joyous relaxed sigh.

Christmas also marked C's nine month milestone. It's amazing how fast time has flown. These nine month feel like seconds compared to the lifetime pregnancy felt like. Today we went to C's nine month checkup. I love our pediatrician. He is really great. He says C is healthy and vibrant and "perfect." What mom doesn't want to hear that?

Here are her latest stats:

Head Circumference: 17.75" (80% - Dr. Mumford says, "It's big to fit her very smart brain.")
Weight: 18.96 lbs (52.46% - The doc exclaimed when he first walked in, "What a beautiful chubby baby. We love chubby babies. Means you're doing something good, mom.") I realize just over 50% may not seem very chubby, but when you take into account her height... yeah.
Height: 25.75" (4.92% - Doctor's remarks, "You can tell people you doubled her percentage from last time. See it's a good thing.")

As you can tell the doctor is really great and trying to boost egos.  The nurse is also wonderful. She commented on C's beautiful long eyelashes. Not sure why it's so satisfying to have strangers say nice things about your offspring, but it is.  :)

She's our little shorty brainiac. She's is as determined, strong-willed, and loud as ever. We love her curious perseverance, her "I want to walk now" dedication, and her adorable little laugh. She sleeps an amazing 12 hours a night, naps well (as long as she is in her crib), and eats like nobody's business. We love you C-monkey!

Here are some photos to send you on your way:

A few days before Christmas. This is a monkey obstacle course. 

C practicing her Santa impression. The girl loves yogurt.

mmmmm....

C with her favorite aunt Katie. (Just for you, Katie.)  :)

At Grandma and Grandpa McLelland's. Getting ready for her first gift!

Yeah, we dressed her up as Santa.  :)

"For me!?"

Looking at the coolest book ever from Aunt Judy and Uncle Craig!

Mmmm... blocks are tasty!

Opening "the big one" from Grandma and Grandpa Konie.

Pretty much the most intense toy train ever. (This is only half of it.) She's off!

Made From Moments

Today I am grateful for finished projects! I've been working on our family "year book." And just ordered it today. You can check out the preview of it:

Made From Moments by Year Three: 2010 - 2011 | Make Your Own Book

A New Decade

Hello Blog World!  Did you miss me?  I'm sure you did.  Well, time for another edition of bullet-list-blogs!

• Last week I turned the BIG 3 - 0.  Seriously, how did I get to be 30?!  I'm actually okay with a new decade.  I figure it's going to be rock-star awesome.
• For said birthday, Tom took me on a hot air balloon ride!  It was was awesome.  Despite the fact that we had to leave at 5 in the morning (which meant I had to wake up at 4 to feed the girl and get ready), AND that the baby decided that for my birthday she would sleep ZERO hours the night before, it was really awesome.  I'll post some pics below of the fun event.
• The rest of the birthday was nice and relaxing.  We took some naps (much needed naps.  See above bullet point), we ate some yummy milkshakes, and Tom created a most wonderful blog for me featuring the nicest messages from friends and family.  It was beautiful.  Thanks to all who sent my good vibes.  I definitely feel the love.
• The Parade of Homes is back on!  This is our favorite yearly tradition--something we've been able to do every year since we were dating.  I love looking at beautiful homes with Tom.  Thankfully, Baby Girl loves it as well.
• Speaking of the babe, here are her latest stats: Weight is 11 lbs 2 oz (45%), Height is 22.25" (29%), and Head Circumference is 15.5 (53%).  Yeah, she inherited her parent's big noggin.  
• A funny thing: Recently I have found the baby with her arms behind her head.  This seems to be how she likes to fall asleep lately.  I think it's hilarious.  I've been able to get a small sampling of photos to prove this funny phenomenon.  :)
• I am performing in a benefit concert this week.  It's the first time I've performed in over two years (!) ... hopefully it goes well.  Should be fun.
• Well, that's about it.  Life just keeps on moving, one day after the other.  It's pretty boring, but really good nonetheless.

Here are some pics to send you on your way!

Some Birthday Pics:

Tired but happy.

Tom helped hold the balloon while they filled it.

The inside top of the balloon.

Heber City.  Beautiful.

We survived!

Parade of Homes:

The Girl's Favorite Resting Position:

Yes, it's dark... that because she was supposed to be asleep.

Another night time snap shot.

Chillin' on the couch.

Chillin' on the floor.

A few other cute photos for good measure:

Ready for church.  Taken last week.

This is a couple of weeks old, but a rare pic of the girl smiling.  She smiles all the time, but always changes to a confused face when I put a camera up.

Ditto to the caption above.  :)