MacLennans come to visit!

This past week, Connor, Lindsey and Graham came to visit, so I actually had an excuse to pull out the camera and take pictures! It was fun to have them here and since they were coming, Trav, Rachel and Kim decided to come as well) We loved having everyone together (except Bran Muffin :D - missed you!).

Here are a few pics for your enjoyment (prepare yourself for picture overload! and most of them of Karly!):

Tuesday: ZOO

Oh man, this day was so fun. Karly loves saying animals and it's SO much better when she can say it right in front of them!

Wednesday: WATER PARK

This was just a little kid park and my kid LOVES water. She was shivering and still didn't want to get out. Though she definitely does NOT like laying on her back. Might not do backstroke like her mama.

My cute little fishy. :)

Thursday: ESTES PARK/ROCKY MTN NAT'L PARK

Not surprisingly, I took more pictures on this trip of one stupid elk than people. I don't know why I do that. Just pray I forget my camera when we go to Yellowstone in the fall. :D

Once again, my water loving baby wanted to play in the freezing water, right next to a waterfall.
I just love having random strangers take your picture. They turn out so well....
The stupid elk. This was actually just about the only wildlife we saw. And he was practically IN Estes Park.

I love this picture of Karly. She looks like a little puppy hanging out the car window (she CAN pant like a dog - she just wasn't here...)

I don't really have any updates, but it's almost 2:00 AM and I can't sleep and I've already looked at all my blogs and Facebook, so I thought I'd write a little on here.

First of all, anyone know any cures for undiagnosed insomnia? And don't suggest Tylenol PM or anything like that. I still take forever to fall asleep when I take that and then I can't wake up in the morning and take care of my kid. But anything else? :)

So anyway, last weekend we went to a Frakes Family Reunion. First time in over 10 years (so I hear) that the whole family has gotten together. First time I had met 2 of Dan's (my Father in law) siblings. It was so fun to meet everyone and get to know even better those I had met! I, of course, took zero pictures. I think Kim is the only one from the Dan Frakes family who took any, so you get nothing here. Just imagine a lot of laughing and making fun of each other and river rafting and babies and food!

Other than that, life has been pretty chill. Since Dan and Kippy moved into a brand new house, we are helping to put the yard in this summer and that's about the most exciting that that has happened. :) But honestly, it's been really good to have down time and let Karly play with her cousin and work on a normal schedule (I feel like I've always been working on that?).

Nate, however, has not been "chilling." He is working full time while studying for the CPA exam. He has one section on Saturday (pray for him!) and has already taken one. Can I brag for a minute? You need 75% to pass each section. My super smarty pants hubby got a 94% on that first section! Woohoo! Okay, done bragging.

And for those who don't care about our life here are pictures of Karly. :) And other randomness (keep in mind it's 2 in the morning).

Karly is learning the parts of the face and will come up to you and says "ahs" and poke you (hard) in the eye. I'm not sure that's what she's doing in the above picture, but it reminded me of that.

Refried Beans.

One of my favorite times is when she's just waking up. She's so loopy and hilarious.
I miss this place:
Also, do you remember when my feet looked like this?

For those who don't know what my feet normally look like:

Doesn't even look like the same person's feet.

Anyway, I'm going to go try to fall asleep. Wish me luck!

Another evidence she is my child

So now the internet world can see a glimpse of what I was like as a child.

Here's Karly's story. Nate picked us up from the airport when we got back from Arizona. Karly had taken a grand total of 5 minutes worth of naps that day (this was at 5:00 pm). I had given her a bottle, but she kept pushing it away and it ended up on the back seat. I looked back and she had her big toe in her mouth and was sucking on it. She was literally almost asleep. SO funny. Not quite sucking her thumb, but close enough I guess?

My little water baby

Hey family: that's a rock in her hand/mouth. Does that remind you of anyone? :)

She would have stayed in that water all night had I let her.

Also, notice her little cousin in a couple of the pictures - she's the anti water baby. :)

Arizona!

My family all got together in Arizona last week - except Nate who had to work and study for the CPA Exam :(. It's a little crazy getting together with my family as there are 12 grandkids, 9 of which are under the age of 4. And only 4 of them are girls.

Yeah. Crazy.

This picture is minus Karly and Eliza (the newest baby)

Also, there always seems to be a sickness that circulates (mostly through the kids) when we all get together, so Karly has been sick (no idea what it is...) off and on since we got home. Bummer. But we had so much fun while we were there!!

We spent a good part of our time there in the pool (where else would we be when it's like 300 degrees down there?!). Karly totally hated it the first time and cried the whole time (I think she was tired to add to it) but loved it after that. She even started kicking in her little feet. Maybe she'll be a swimmer like her mommy!

She is pretty much asleep in this picture. She almost fell asleep a couple of times in the pool. Thanks for playing with her AJ!

We tried to do activities that would keep the kids (ok, let's be honest, and the adults) entertained and sane. :) We went to the Children's Museum. Karly had a blast with a table covered in sand. She got bored by the time I thought of taking a picture. Sigh...

Natalie, Ben, Myles, Mel, Suzie and Charlie in the Art Room

We also went to a place called Amazing Jakes - it's an indoor (aka COOL - as in not roasting) little amusement park and all you can eat buffet. Don't worry, we got our money's worth with the soft serve ice cream. Seriously. I alone had about 5 of them (and I wonder why I can't lose those last few pounds I've been trying to...). Anyway, they had bumper cars, a bowling alley, a carousel, a train ride of kids, tons of arcade games, etc. Way fun.

Despite her expression in this picture, she did like the carousel.

AJ and James on the carousel in front of us.

Since it's so stinkin' hot in Arizona, I thought I'd see if I could cook an egg on the street.

It didn't work. I think after like an hour, the edges started to turn white. So don't believe it when you hear "it's hot enough to cook an egg." Lies. :)

Let me just tell you a little about my dad. He was on vacation. And this is what he was doing:
And this was only one of his many projects. I love it - he's always doing something. :) He did spend quite a bit of time with his grandkids though and loved holding Karly. And did I get a picture? Of course not.

And this is what Mel did the whole time. :) hehe

And finally, a big part of the reason we were all there, was to meet this little girl:

The newest addition to this crazy clan, Eliza. Such a little cutie who hates her car seat as much as Karly! :)

Thanks for the great week you guys! I miss you already!

Walking for Realz

Walking is not her primary form of movement yet, but she's getting pretty good!

Aren't I such a good mom for laughing when she falls? I'm actually trying to get her to not be a whiny kid when she falls. :)

Have you ever seen anyone so proud of themselves?

She's been standing for a couple of days and today, I was having her stand up. This was her reaction:

Sorry it's sideways. I didn't think about it until after I had already recorded it.

Cinderella/Harry Potter

Lest you think we are bad parents for making our child sleep under the stairs, it's really the only place that is close to us and quiet/dark. (Like it even matters since she has started waking up between 4:30 and 6 every single morning)

1 Year of Karly

And what a fun year it has been!

It's fun to look at these pictures and think about how much she has changed, not only in the way she looks, but how much she has learned. Even with all the changes, she's still got her little personality she's had from the beginning. I love it.

By the way, Karly now stands up by herself and yesterday, she took 3 steps (she actually did it several times)!

At her 1 year appointment, she was 17 lbs, 5 oz and 28 inches. So she's no taller and still weighs so little! Her doctor wasn't worried, so neither am I! :)

Karly Jane

My baby is one.

1.

No more counting her age in months.

This morning, Nate said "Can you believe how much has happened this year? This has been the busiest year of our lives."

And it's only beginning.

Anyway, on to the birthday girl!! We had a little party on Wednesday with Dan and Kippy because they are out of town today (by little party I mean the four of us and Karly). We watched her open presents and eat cake. Get ready for picture and video overload.

This was my first attempt at b-day pictures. A nap was needed first apparently. But that's such a cute sad face.

The final monkey picture! I'm going to do a collage. Maybe later today.

So much bigger than the monkey!
Opening presents took FOREVER. She'd rip part and then smile and clap and try to see what was inside. I helped a little...Peeking...

Hugging her new dolly. (Anytime she gives hugs or kisses, she says "awwww")

She loves all her presents! In case you can't see (and you care), she got a walking shopping cart (to help her learn how to walk), a dolly, an Elmo movie (see below) and one of those little toys that the animals pop up when you push the buttons, little people and cute summer clothes!

Any of you read Cake Wrecks (http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/)? If I were a professional, this one would be worthy of the site. Good thing I have lots more years and kids to practice on.

Man, that's bad.

If I thought presents took forever, cake took even longer. And she never actually ate any of the cake. Just a little of the frosting and destroyed the rest.

And here she is today watching her Elmo movie. She liked it, but definitely didn't have the attention span for the whole thing.

I sure love that little one year old!

Apparently we moved to Siberia

Also, Karly woke up at 5:30 this morning. Awesome.

And I was hanging blinds last night and it was taking forever, so this morning I used a drill and it took about 1/10 of the time. Do you ever do that? Realize after you've caused yourself pain (like a throbbing hand from putting screws into a wall with a screwdriver) that you could have done something SO much faster another way? I hate that.

Way too long...

Everyday for the last 2 weeks, I've been planning to blog. I'm writing this on May 10th - let's see if I actually post it today. :)

So, since I last posted:

*Nate graduated from BYU's Marriott School of Management with a Bachelor's and Masters of Accountancy.

Please ignore the fact that I look pregnant in this dress. I'm not.

Nate and one of his good friend Shawn Hansen.

Kippy, Nate and Dan Frakes

My dad came too - thanks for coming dad! We missed you mom!

*Karly lost 4 pounds (that might be an exaggeration) from being sick the week and day of graduation.

*I did too many loads of puke laundry.

* Packed our apartment and sold nearly all of our furniture (over about 4 weeks).

*Packed our stuff into a moving truck and drove the 7 hours from Provo to Denver, Colorado.

For those who don't know, Nate's parent's are graciously letting us live in their house for a while, as well as Nate's older brother, wife and baby. Since we moved here two weeks ago, we have helped Nate's parents unpack their new house (while being frustrated with how long the basement was taking to be finished - it's finally done!) and moved half of our possessions into the house and half into a storage shed.

We are exploring Denver now that we're here and have found some good hiking spots, walked around downtown, checked out the mall nearby and researched some fun things to do (ahem....this is not an advertisement to come to Denver and visit us or anything...yes it is)