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

November 2012

November was a pretty dull month minus the end! I spent every week going to my ob appointments. Chris continued to look for work, with no luck as of yet. We spent a lot of this month preparing Daniel to be a big brother. We did, not travel to Idaho for Thanksgiving as it was too close to the due date. In fact, we didn't even celebrate Thanksgiving. However, we all three took naps which we are very thankful for.
   Daniel discovered Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck this month. He loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and dance to the hot dog song. He is quite a funny kid.

October 2012

       This month started out by listening to wonderful speakers during General Conference. We love to hear the words of the prophets and apostles to help us deal with our challenges. We were really shocked that the missionary age was decreased. Makes me happy to know that we will have more missionaries bringing people to Christ.
         This month, the pregnancy was very rough. After 3 weeks of doing blood tests, it was found out that I have borderline gestational diabetes. I need to avoid eating much sugar at all and have to keep up exercising. Luckily, I don't have full-blown gestational diabetes or I would have to be on medicine or give myself insulin. In the middle of the month, I started feeling very sick and lost 5 pounds in 2 weeks. They were thinking I had a GI bug or was feeling the effects of too much sugar. It didn't help that Chris and Daniel were both sick. Daniel had a cold and Chris was put on antibiotics for a bacterial infection in his nasals. Luckily, the cold I got only last 2 days.
        Katina had her last day of work on the 15th. It has taken her a few weeks to get her sleep cycle back. Luckily, she quit working before she started getting really sick. The money, though it wasn't much, has been missed, though.
         This was a also a very emotionally tough month. Earlier in the month, Katina's mom was involved in a car accident. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt. The next week, a dear family in the ward, the Kellys, lost their precious 4-year Miles due to an accidental drowning. They are a wonderful family who love each other dearly. It affected everyone in the stake and the funeral was beautiful. The Spirit was so strong and the everyone could feel the love of Heavenly Father. Having tragedies like this make the gospel mean so much more. How thankful I am for the gospel and what it teaches about the salvation of little children. I know Miles is loving being with Jesus and helping Him spread the gospel. I can't imagine living this tragedy without the knowledge of the restored gospel.
         Chris is still looking for work. He has had an average of 2 interviews a week. So far, no news, but we continue to have faith that God is in control and knows what job Chris needs and when he will receive it.
          Daniel continues to say the funniest things. Last week during family scripture study, Katina was reading in 2 Nephi. Right after she read the scripture about angels speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost, Daniel yelled out, "That's a lie!" After a few minutes of this repeated phrase, we realized he was saying, "That's a Y." He has also started telling us what each sound the letters make. He is so vocal and talks all the time. He likes to copy what people say and loves to talk on the phone, whether our real phones or the pretend one in his pocket. We have really started to see his imagination come out. We received an Amazon gift card and used it to buy a chef's hat for him. For Halloween, he was a chef. He was so cute! Before we went out, he was saying, "Trick or treat. Give me something to eat." When we actually went door to door, he  didn't say anything. Here are some pictures from Halloween.

Carving pumpkins.

The flower on his face and shirt only lasted a few minutes.

His bucket of candy.

Sept. 2012

  September was a fairly busy and stressful month. The first weekend we went to visit the Brigham City temple. Daniel really enjoyed riding the bus to and from the temple and sliding on the floor of the temple with the white booties.

The bride's room

An ordinance room

The celestial room

A sealing room

  The second weekend was regional conference where we heard some great talks from our church leaders. The third weekend we really enjoyed watching the Primary program at church. The next weekend was the Brigham City Temple dedication. It was crazy as there were 5 Sundays in September, but only attended 3 Sundays of normal church. 

   The weekend of the 21st we traveled up to Idaho where we met my mom and aunt. We enjoyed the never -ending pasta bowl at the Olive Garden before my mom went with us to Rexburg where we attended a Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra concert at the new BYUI center. The concert was awesome!  Daniel stayed with my aunt while we went to the concert. It was his first time staying in a motel and he loved it. On Saturday, we went to back to Rexburg to look around campus. I haven't seen the campus since 2007 and it had grown so much. We made it back to Utah just in time to attend the Ward carnival that night.

     Daniel is quite the character. He says so many words and says the funniest things. Last week in church, I grabbed the back of his shirt so he wouldn't fall off the pew. He told me to 'quit playing with my tail.' We have also broken him from his binky except for nap and bedtime. He has done surprising well without it.

     The pregnancy is not going too well. Katina has been sicker this time than she was with Daniel. She did a glucose test and the levels were very high. She did another one last week with the levels being even higher, indicating gestational diabetes. Today she had to take the 3-hour test to determine what type of treatment to do. She sees the doctor next week, so will know more. The main problem has been the extreme fatigue, lightheadedness, and headache that occurs almost all day. Her last day of work is October 15th, so hopefully  that will help with the fatigue.

   Chris is still looking for work. He has at least 4 interviews lined up for next week. We pray he gets a job soon.