Tour of apartment for mom

My mom asked to see pictures of our new apartment once we were in and settled. It still isn't as clean/organized as I'd like, but I'm not sure there is anything else I can do about it right now.

Also, since I had a couple of requests for the story of WHY we moved, I'll share a little of that too. Skip the next paragraph if you already know or don't care. :)

If you didn't already know, we were renting our last apartment from Nate's great-grandma. She gave us a terrific deal for rent if we would act as managers - mow the lawn, take care of any issues with the other apartments in the triplex. We were so grateful to be able to live there for pretty cheap. Once we had Karly though, there were a few things that started to be worrisome. For example, the windows are about 30 years old and let a lot of cold air in during the winter. It was fine when it was just Nate and I and we were at work all day and could just turn on a space heater at night. However, with Karly in the picture now, we didn't want either an outrageous heating bill or a freezing baby. :) Another reason was that the neighborhood wasn't all that safe OR quiet. It was on a pretty busy (and noisy road) and we had a lot of really noisy neighbors. Nate also wanted to be closer to campus and since he is so busy with school, he really didn't have time to manage the apartments anymore and it was getting more and more crazy to do so. So we decided to move! We really love where we are now. It's very quiet and while the apartment is much smaller, we think that's a plus not a minus! Less space to clean and it forced us to get rid of the junk we don't need. We like our new ward, but definitely miss our old ward and all our friends there!

ANYWAY...here's the tour mom!

Walk in the front door and turn to the left and the living room

It's a good sized area and we really like it

Dining room which is basically just part of

the kitchen! (fridge is across from the stove in an alcove)

down the hallway to the right is...

the bathroom (LOVE our shower curtain :D) And to the left is...

Our bedroom

We put curtains over the closet because there aren't doors. Straight down the hall and next to our room is...

Karly's room!

Also known as "the where everything that doesn't have a place goes here room!"

So there you have it!

She's a petite little one!

Karly had a rough day today.

1. Mommy got baby wash in her eyes during her bath.

2. Mommy bent her hand funny while trying to feed her.

3. She exploded her diaper and it dripped down her pants onto her super cute outfit mommy put her in to take pictures.

4. She wiggled so much in the bathtub (yes, the 2nd bath) that she slipped from mommy's hand a little and bonked her head.

5. She's teething.

6. She went to the doctor for her 4 month checkup and got prodded and poked and REALLY didn't like it.

7. At said doctor's visit, she got two shots.

So this is the only picture you get of her:

And her stats (for those who care):

Height: 24.4 inches -- 49%

Weight: 13 lb 6 oz -- 39%

Head: 16 in -- 49%

Her head finally caught up to her body! And she's no longer super tall - that's more like her parents.

And hopefully tomorrow is better.

(I'm really not a bad mommy - the day was probably worse for me than her because of all those things. Please don't call child protective services...)

Daddy's little nerd!

3 Months! ... a month ago...

I took pictures of Karly when she was 3 months and never had/took the time to post them. So here they are! I will be taking her 4 month pictures in the next couple of days.

She won't be wearing the strawberry outfit for her 4 month pictures...it doesn't fit anymore!

She has her 4 month check up next Tuesday, so we'll find out how much she's grown too!

Yeah...still working on sitting up on her own....

"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans...."

*Ten points if you can tell me what song that is from....

I've been meaning to post for weeks, but the last couple of weeks have been a little crazy to say the least. In fact, I'm not even sure if all of my siblings know what's happened.

That's how crazy it's been.

You see, we moved.

Nate has 8 more months of school before we'll be leaving the Provo/Orem area for Denver. Why on earth did we move for 8 months? Yeah, we've wondered that a couple of times as we packed up everything and unpacked it again, realizing we'd be doing this again all too soon. (My mom requested pics of the new place, but it's still too messy for that! I'll post those when I get it cleaned up a little more) There were, honestly, a lot of reasons and if you want to hear them all, give me a call or shoot me an e-mail or something. This blog is for better things than long stories!

Like this girl:

She is a silly, sweet, even tempered, crazy girl! It's fun to see her little personality - like the fact that she won't smile at people right when she meets them. She'll just sort of look at them, study them and then if she thinks they're okay, then she'll smile. Or when she gets tired at night - around 8:00 - she gets really silly and will laugh at the weirdest things (like me saying "you're naked!" in a really high pitched voice). Or (her latest) talking in her sleep! (she is like her mama in some ways I guess!)

She's started rolling a little bit as well, though she doesn't do it consistently because her arm gets in the way of the roll and she can't figure out how to move it. :)

She actually seems to like rolling from her back to her tummy more.

She is VERY good with her hands too. For a couple of months, she's been able to reach for her little toys that hang above her and pull them to her mouth. Now she can grab her binky from my hand or the ground in front of her and put it in her mouth (sometimes it's the wrong side, but it's still there!).

Her head is getting bigger too. :) She's actually grown out of some of her clothes, which is SO weird! She can't be getting bigger!

Dream Job

You know how sometimes when you start a new job or are really busy/stressed with work you dream about it?

Well.

Last night I had a dream that I was trying to load the dishes from yesterday into the dishwasher, but they wouldn't all fit because it was already almost full. I was getting really frustrated because it had almost NO dishes in it when I went to bed. How did all those dishes get dirty! I was really frustrated.

The night before, I had a dream that we had basically no food in our house. I went grocery shopping last Saturday and had meals planned for every night and enough food for lunches as well. Where did all our food go?!!? Once again, I got really frustrated.

Ah, the life of a stay-at-home mom.

But, as the title of my post says, this really is my dream job.

That's why I dream about it.

Just TRY not to watch these more than once

This girl is so funny.

Karly has started give kisses. Now, these aren't your cute little pecks on the cheek. These are...well...see for yourself.

She also does this thing that we're not quite sure what to call it. We think maybe it's her way of laughing? (second 10 in the video clip) We're open to any other suggestions.

P.S. We e-mailed these videos to my in-laws and I think they've already watched them about 100 times. Right Dan and Kippy? :)

Guess who went to Floridaaa?!

Hah. I wish.

Nate has been gone since Wednesday for an Ernst and Young Conference in Orlando. They went to Disneyworld and have been mostly playing for three days.

I'll be honest, I'm a little jealous.

But it's fine, because I got my vacation last week! Karly and I drove - yes, DROVE - to North Dakota last week to spend a few days. We drove to Denver last Sunday, then rode with Kippy (Nate's mom) to Bismarck on Monday. It ended up being about 20 hours of driving. And Karly did GREAT! Clear up until we hit Mandan (which is 10 minutes from Bismarck), Karly didn't even complain. Then, I accidentally scratched her and she realized she couldn't handle it anymore. :) She didn't do quite as well on the way back, but let's see how you handle being in a car seat for 40 hours in one week!

Anyway, being the amazing picture taker I am, here are ALL the pictures I took while we were there....

Uhh...yeah. That's all I took.

I think my mom took a few. And she got a couple of cute videos too...I'll have to get those from her.

Anyway, I feel bad about the lack of pictures now because Karly had SUCH a good time with her Aunties Mel and Suzie and her Grandpa and Grandma!

We went to the play "Into the Woods." Mel was in the pit orchestra for it, so we thought we'd go check it out.

I'll be honest. I thought it was really weird. It had moments that I enjoyed, but overall...weird. Also, it was acted by high school students and they tend to overact...but it was fun! :)

Other than that, we were pretty dang lazy, but it was really fun to be home. Thanks mom and dad for letting us burst in on you last minute!

(By the way, I'd like all of you who think mom can't keep a secret, she found out we were coming about 4 days before and didn't tell dad, Mel or Suzie. So there! She can keep a secret! :D )

Anyway, since Nate's been gone Karly and I have just been chillin' together. I've been trying to get some things organized around the house and get some projects finished I've been working on. I haven't had much luck though, because look how CUTE she is!

I keep trying to get a video of her talking to her little bug and this is the best I've gotten so far. When she's in a good mood, she will just talk and talk to whatever/whoever will listen! We're thinking she's going to be an early talker and that she's going to be a chatterbox like her dad! :)

Also, she's getting so close to rolling over!

She sorta got stuck. She got her arms over but couldn't get her legs over. So, being the great mother I am, I grabbed the camera and laughed (until she got mad, of course). :D

Oh, and remember when I was pregnant and I said I either had a boxer or a soccer player inside of me?

I think she's a boxer.

Look at that hair!

2 months...and more!

This is going to be a major Karly overload, since I've been such a slacker this month.

I've tried to be good about taking pictures and videos - hopefully we got a good amount of the cute things this little munchkin does. It's so fun to see her personality coming through!

We had her 2 month check-up this week and she got her shots. She was such a trooper! She cried, of course, when they poked her little legs, but only cried for a couple of minutes (got to love the pacifier!). The worst point was when she looked at me like "Mommy, why would you let them do that to me?!" My sister AJ says it only gets worse as they get older. Wonderful. That night, I went visiting teaching, so Nate stayed home with Karly and apparently, the pain set into her legs while I was gone - she cried for about an hour! Luckily, she's got a terrific dad who took VERY good care of her.

So here are that stats:

Weight: 10 lbs, 13 oz -- 42%

Length: 23 1/4 inches -- 76%

Head: 15.2 inches -- 38%

Still tall and skinny with a little head! :)

I took some pictures in her strawberry outfit - to compare to her one month pictures. I also took some pictures next to her big monkey, so I can compare every month how she compares to him. Apparently, I should have done it while she was sleeping because she was SO wiggly. It took several attempts to get something decent.

It's so fun to see Karly's personality coming out. She's a VERY happy baby - I've had several people ask me if she ever cries. She really doesn't cry all that often. Usually, she cries if I wait too long to feed her or when we take her out of the bathtub. She loves the bath.

She's also a very talkative little munchkin (such a girl) :D

This is a little donkey that attaches to her car seat. She'll just stare at him for like 20 minutes. She also likes to make him move - she'll bat at him and then watch him swing around. She's got really good hand/eye coordination already! She also does that with her little toy in her bouncer chair - looks at it and hits it. Too cute!

She started doing this kind of fake cry lately - it's her precurser to really getting mad. :) We think she sounds like a dying cat when she does it.

Did you notice the major slobber at the beginning? This girl is a drool queen. She is also an expert spit bubble blower.

Speaking of girl, as you can see she's got quite a bit of hair. One of the funniest things she does I can't really get a picture or video of, because she only does it when she's nursing...yeah...so I'd rather not have that on the internet. But she'll take her hand and run it along the side of her head, like she's tring to fix her hair. And she does it over and over again. It's hard to explain and hilarious to watch. Sorry you don't get to see. :)

She's discovered a new best friend too!

Herself!

I'm not sure if you can tell in this pictures, but she's smiling at herself.

(Also, I just noticed this, but she's in her strawberry outfit again. I swear she doens't wear it everyday. Just often...)

Karly's quite a social butterfly - she doesn't like to be by herself and she loves interacting with people. She also likes to be up and looking around; she hates being held cradle style and would rather be standing than sitting or laying down. It's gotten to the point where, if you hold both of her hands, she'll pull herself up:

Remember how I said she has good hand/eye coordination? She's also got a killer grip.

"Hey dad! Can you help me get this back in my mouth?!"

Okay, last thing for today. She hates tummy time. I've been really bad about doing it since we've been so busy the last month and all she does is cry when I do it. At her doctor's appointment though, he said I need to do it for 20 minutes 3 times a day. Are you kidding me?! I told him she cries basically the whole time and is there anything I can do to make her like it. He said strip her down to her diaper or put the toys that sounds like paper near her so she can play with them. I've tried both and she seems to be doing better...a little...

Except this morning.

I guess she was tired...

So that's our little Karly bug! I'll try to be better about posting now that I've kind of caught up and I'm figuring out how to get stuff done with her around. :)

4 & 5 Generations

In the last month, we've gotten to take a couple of generation pictures on the Frakes side (generation pictures on my side of the family only go as far as my parents...).

Here is a 5 generation picture with the Dewey side (Nate's mom's side):

Then, a couple of weeks ago, we went to Grandma Frakes' house and got a 4 generation picture there.

Karly's Blessing

The girl of the day...

We blessed Karly on June 28, right after the family reunion, so my whole family could be there. The Frakes were also all there, except Connor, Linds & Graham (we missed you guys!)

Nate gave a great blessing. My favorite part was that he blessed her to have an obedient spirit. She is already such a good baby and I'm just hoping that blessing helps her to continue to be so good. :)

Have I ever mentioned this girl adores her dad?

Since we had the entire Cox clan together, we decided to take advantage and get a family picture. Pretty good for 25 people huh? :) I sure love this bunch!

Grandpa bonding with his 11th grandchild (and his favorite, I might add... (okay, okay, he never said that - but I'm his favorite daughter so it only makes sense!...he he)).

Is it so weird that I have a baby?! Boy, I love that little girl.

Aunty AJ and Baby Karly looking oh so cute together.

I have to give a shout out to my amazing mom. She made Karly's blessing dress! I knew she could sew and everything, but it was absolutely beautiful. I don't think I ever really thanked her, so thank you mom!

Mel made fun of how long it was, but I loved it!

I just wanted to show some of the detail on the dress (and her pretty little hand).

Also, thank you to all the men who participated in the blessing - we're so glad you were able to be there!

Bench Family Reunion 2009

At the end of June, we had a family reunion for my mom's side of the family, the Benches (go ahead, laugh at the last name - my mom actually got sat on in junior high).

Anyway...a majority of the extended family got together for a few days (we sure missed those of you that weren't there!). I think we figured out there were 19 of the 3rd generation, all under the age of 9 and MOST under the age of 4.

It was crazy, to say the least...and a whole lot of fun!

Here's the whole clan! We divided families into colors. The red? Yep, that's the Coxes - 25 of the 52 in the picture...

Have you ever tried to get 25 people to look at the camera at the same time and all be smiling and not have at least one person talking?

Yeah, not an easy task. I think this is the best one we got of our family....

The camp was pretty organized with fun things for the kids to do and hikes and other things. THIS is what we did a good portion of the time. Just talked. :) It's what we do best.

The weather wasn't the greatest - it was kinda cold and a little bit rainy, so we make sure to keep the Karly bug nice and bundled - thanks AJ for bringing the nice warm clothes just in time!

Doesn't she just look so stinkin' cute? :D

Uh...this isn't the best picture of either of us, but I like it. That's my girl!

Karly was one loved little girl! It was fun to have a chance for everyone to meet her. She sure got passed around too! I'd hand her to someone and look over at them 5 minutes later and she'd be gone! Already passed through 2 more people! :)

She was definitely a good sport about all the craziness. And I think she was pretty glad to get to meet all of her cousins and LOTS of her 2nd cousins too!

(By the way, it was a camping reunion, but since it took place just 30 minutes from our house, we just camped one night. I wasn't ready to try to brave 2 nights of camping with a 6 week old.)

Daunting task

You know how sometimes, when you put something off a long time, it gets harder to do it? And all the stuff you need/want to do just builds up and makes it harder?

Yep. That's my blog.

It doesn't help that I have that journalist in me forcing me to have it written and laid out perfectly. Sigh...

But here goes!

It only took 3 years...

For 3 years, I have been completely jealous of all those blogs out there that could post Titles on their blogs.

Mine wouldn't let me.

Apparently there was an option I had to select. LAME.

And I had some really good titles I wanted to use...for the past. three. years.

(I know, I know. I need to post pictures and tell you what I've been doing for the last month. I'm gathering pictures and planning a couple of great blogs. I still post more than AJ, so give me a break. Love you AJ!)

Random Family Reunion 2009 pictures