April 2013

This month was a good month. The first weekend we enjoyed listening to General Conference. Beforehand, I printed a nursery packet for General Conference off of sugardoodle.net for Daniel to use for conference. He loved to color the apostles and insisted I hang the accordion fan on the wall. He memorized the order of the apostles! It was very cute to see him say the order for anyone to watch.
        Chris and I celebrated our 6th anniversary on April 12th. On that Saturday, we went to eat at Brick Oven Pizza, which was so good. Also that weekend, Chris's brother Scott was in Salt Lake for a training. We were able to visit with him for a couple of hours.
   The last weekend in April we went to zoo since it was the last Saturday before summer prices would start. It was crowded!!! A nice lady gave us a voucher to get Daniel in for free. Kathryn slept the entire time. Daniel liked saying hi to all the animals. His favorite animal was the giraffe.
   Chris's work is going well. They extended his job until the end of May, with the possibility of going longer. He didn't have too many interviews this month. It seems that the job hunting has been very slow since March.
    Daniel has become very independent. He wants to do EVERYTHING himself. Sometimes this is very frustrating because it takes a long time or causes more of mess. We also started potty training at the end of the month. That has gone very well.
   Kathryn has become quite a happy baby. She loves to laugh(especially at her brother), smile, roll over, pull hair, scoot along the floor, and coo loudly when eating or tired. She wants to crawl very badly and I think she will accomplish this very soon. She does better with her sleeping. She is sleeping on average around 6 hours a night. She also started eating rice cereal which she loves.

Daniel playing with Uncle Scott.

Kathryn and Uncle Scott.

Daniel hiding underneath the dishwasher.

Kathryn eating cereal.

March 2013

Wow! What a busy month this has been.
    Both kids have been very busy. Daniel turned 3 years old on March 12. We took him to dinner and dessert that night and held a bowling party for him on the Saturday after his birthday. He had a lot of fun. He has gotten so independent, wanting to do everything on his own. In fact,he burnt his hand at the end of the month by trying to do something himself. He wanted to push the buttons on the microwave and burned his wrist on the edge of the crockpot. He had his well-child check up and weighs 30 pounds and 5 ounces. He continues to adore his sister and makes her laugh.
    Kathryn still likes to roll over and smile at her brother. We introduced her to the jumperoo and she loves it. She will try to play with the toys and move her feet around. She has also started to squeal very loudly. At her appointment, she weighed 13 lbs and 7 ozf .
   Chris got called to teach the 10 and 11-year olds in Primary. It is a large class, but he knows most of the kids because him and Katina taught this class when the students were younger.
   Chris's sister, Cynthia, came to visit for a few days. We have not seen her since we got married almost 6 years ago. The kids loved her and Daniel wanted to do everything with her. We dyed eggs with Daniel and took Cynthia to City Creek and Temple Square. She also come over for dinner after church. It was nice to catch up with her and can't wait to see her again.
   We didn't do anything special for Easter. We took Daniel to Smith's for the candy hunt. They had about 14 pounds of candy in each aisle. Daniel got a ton of candy. We also had family pictures that day. On Saturday evening we went to Kearns to a missionary open house for one of our friends whose daughter got called to the San Antonio Texas mission. Daniel discovered what a trampoline is and left in tears when we made him stop jumping to go home.

Kathryn in the jumperoo.

Daniel showing off his muscles.

Aunt Cynthia with the kids.

Dying eggs with Aunt Cynthia.

Daniel getting his bowling ball.

Daniel bowling.

February 2013

  Being a short month, this was an incredibly busy month. The first weekend, Katina received a new calling as Primary secretary. She hates to miss Relief Society,but enjoys working with the children without having to prepare a lesson. At the end of the month, Chris as called as a teacher for the 10 and 11 year olds.
    Daniel has really started liking Mickey Mouse and listening to Train. We have some videos of him singing and dancing along. He has also really been using his manners recently. He likes to say Please, Thank you and excuse me. That kid does something every day to crack me up.
    Kathryn has really grown the last month. At the end of the month,she started to roll over.She loves it! She also has laughed out a couple of times. She is little less cranky at night. If she doesn't get much sleep in the daytime, she tends to get really cranky in the evening. Weekends are the worst because we don't normally follow an exact schedule like on the weekdays.
   We also became semi-famous this month. We appeared on the KSL news at 10pm. They interviewed us about dealing with Department of Workforce Services in getting Medicaid or CHIP.The kids were very cute. Daniel likes to watch himself on TV frequently.
    Chris's job situation is going okay. Currently, he is working a temp job at the LDS Church. It is expected to go until May. He has had a few interviews that we are hoping will turn into jobs. It is nice for him to have some income coming in, no matter how long.

Daniel singing to "Drive By" in the tub.

Kathryn

Daniel telling Kathryn how old he is

Kathryn

Daniel reading with Jennifer Stagg from KSL news.

January 2013

This month went by very quickly. The first weekend we had the wonderful opportunity to attend a sealing of an adopted baby to his parents in the temple. It was a wonderful sealing!! The temple is such a great place to spend a birthday weekend!
     My parents came down on January 7th before they flew down to Mississippi to visit my sister's family. We picked them up some food and visited with them for a little while. They flew back in on Saturday and we spent very little time downtown due to how cold it was. We enjoyed eating at the Red Iguana that Saturday night. On Sunday, we had to get up early to get both kids ready for church as we meet at 9 am this year. Kathryn was blessed that day. It was a great blessing. A lot of friends showed up to support us. We left after sacrament meeting because my parents had to go back to Idaho.
       Chris and Katina were both released from their callings this month. Chris got asked to coordinate service opportunities in the Elder's Quorum. Katina got released at the perfect time as there were 2 babies born, a surgery, and a funeral the week she was released. She did get a new calling, but cannot announce it because she has not been sustained yet (it will happen tomorrow).
        Our dear neighbor, Lynette Fisher (Grandma Nette to Daniel) passed away a couple of weeks ago. Daniel and I would go visit her nearly every day after his nap. She suffered from many health problems, but never complained about them. She shared many stories with us, and taught me so much about loving other people. She will be greatly missed.
         Daniel has very started singing recently. I catch him singing Primary songs and talking about nursery quite a bit. He has also been saying  a lot of prayers. He will repeat what we way and loves to shout "AMEN" very loudly at the end of his prayers.
         Kathryn has become quite the drama queen. She is extremely fussy, especially in the evenings. The doctor prescribed her some antacids thinking she might her reflux. She would either throw the medicine up or spit it out. The doctor doesn't think she has reflux anymore. She is just a fussy baby. We are hoping she grows out of it very soon.At her 2 month appointment, she weighed 11 lbs. 5 oz and was 23 1/2 inches tall. She is bigger than Daniel was at that age. She is very active and loves to be on the floor and kick around. She likes tummy time and is getting really good at holding her head up. She has the most adorable smile when she wants to smile. She is eating less, which is a big relief to Katina.

Kathryn in her blessing dress.

Kathryn at 6 weeks.

Kathryn at 2 months.

December 2012

This month was full of a lot of things, sleep not included! It has been very interesting to see how Daniel has gotten to love his little sister. He always talks to her and lays next to her when she is playing on the floor.
        Kathryn has grown so much in the last month. At her 2 week appointment, she had already gained close to two pounds. When she was about 2 weeks old, she started to become really fussy when she was eating and started throwing up a lot of her food. Just this week, she was diagnosed with acid reflux and has started medication.
        We went to Idaho for Christmas. The kids traveled very well. Kathryn slept the entire time except to be fed. Daniel played on Chris's IPAD a majority of the trip. We enjoyed the time with my family. The drive back was not fun as the roads were very slick and we had to drive slow.
         Daniel keeps getting smarter and smarter. We bought him some flash cards with beginning words on them and he knew 25 out of 35 of them without being prompted. He also started praying more and ending them the proper way. He has learned how to count to 120 with very little help. Luckily, he started feeding himself again, but still eats a limited variety of food.
          Here are some pictures from Christmas of the kids:

Daniel trying out grandpa's bike.

Daniel opening his Santa present.

Where Kathryn spent the majority of her time at her grandparents.

Pictures of Kathryn

Look how cute she is.

I love this pouty expression.

Kathryn looking drowsy,

The proud brother holding his sister.

It is weird having 2 kids. One kid was so much easier! I am feeling good except for being incredibly tired. In fact, my recovery went went smoother than it did with Daniel.
   My mom came to stay with us for a 3 days. She did a fantastic job of cleaning our condo and entertaining Daniel when I attempted to take a nap or took Kathryn to the doctor. I have had quite a few visitors, which makes it easier as having a winter baby is hard. I really miss being able to go to church and socialize.
   Daniel loves being a big brother. In fact, I have to really watch him as he will try to pick her up when I am not looking. He likes to watch me change her diaper or put her on tummy time. As expected, he is showing some behavioral things. We anticipated this, so are trying our best to ignore it.
  Kathryn is a very good baby, for the most part. She absolutely hates getting her diaper changed and does not like to be undressed. She is a great eater. We are still working on the sleeping thing at night. She is such a blessing to us.

Kathryn Judith Anthony

We are excited to share the news of our brand new addition to the Anthony family. Kathryn Judith was born on November 29 at 2:45 pm. Here is the story of her arrival:
   Chris and I have been preparing for the past few weeks on who would take care of Daniel while the baby was born. We compiled a list of sitters with days available. We even packed his bag and were ready to go each night. We really thought it would happen the same way as it did with Daniel--that my water would break and we would head to the hospital. The final two ob appointments I had made little progress so my doctor suggested we induce me on November 29, a week before my due date. Everybody was assuming I would have it before than anyway.
  We got a sitter arranged for November 29th with instructions that we could be asked to be at the hospital anytime from 5 am till 9am. We anxiously awaited a phone call from the hospital that morning. I was instructed to call the hospital by 10 am if I had not heard anything by then. When I called them then, the told me they typically don't induce patients in the afternoon, but I could call again in an hour. I anxiously waited an hour all the time worrying that we would have to arrange babysitters the next day. When I finally called at 11, they said to come in. We dropped Daniel off at the sitters and arrived at the hospital at 11:40. I registered and was taken to my room. I got dressed and waited for a nurse. She came in at 12:15 and checked me. I was dilated to a 4 or 5 then.They started me on Pitocin and broke my water at about 12:30. Within 30 minutes the contractions were very strong and getting unbearable. (Funny sidenote: I don't remember the contractions from Daniel's birth and was very worried with this pregnancy that I wouldn't know what a contraction felt like. Crazy me! They are unforgettable!) I asked for an epidural and was told the anestiologist was finishing up a c-section and could be awhile. They shut off the Pitocin and gave me a narcotic to take the edge off the pain. I have never felt this loopy and the world has never spun so much as it did with that medicine. About 20 minutes later, I received my epidural. As soon as it was placed in me and I was instructed to turn to the other side to level out the medicine, I felt horrible pressure and knew the baby was coming. They checked me and sure enough, I was ready to push. I had dilated 5 cm in 20 minutes! My epidural had not reached its full power, so I was very miserable at this point. My doctor came in and after persuading me to push through the pain, Kathryn Judith made her appearance at 2:45 pm, 2 hours 15 minutes after I arrived at the hospital. I was told this is very rare to have an induction take so little time. Here is her 1st picture from the hospital.

She weighed 7 lb. 5 oz and was 19 inches tall