Our last days of summer

I can't believe that summer is about over! Well, it is over for Craig I guess. They had two a day football practices all week last week. We are glad that he work is fairly flexible and he was able to make all but one practice. Coaching sure takes a lot of his time, but he enjoys it. I have decided his only problem is that he has too many hobbies that it "cuts into." He drew his first archery elk tag this year. He won't have many days to hunt, but is hoping to go up and get something quick over Labor Day weekend. We have gone up the mountain a couple of times to get a load of wood here and there and have seen quite a few elk in his area, so he is encouraged. We bought a camper at the end of July and have only gotten to use it once. I, of course, can't remember to take the camera when we do that sort of thing. Craig and Hailee love to camp, and it is almost barable for me with the camper ( I really do enjoy the mountain, just not with a 6 month old). We are so lucky to have it so close! It is fun to just run up for the evening and get a quick load of wood and roast a hot dog or two.

I downloaded my pictures backwards... one of these days I will figure all of that out. Anyhow, I snapped a few quick pictures of the girls yesterday. I got a few of Kortney before church and tried to get a few of Hailee after church, but she didn't want me to take her picture for some reason. We had a rough go at church yesterday. It was my first one all on my own with the kids for a while... It was sure nice having Cailee and Chris here for those weeks when Craig had to work! I was feeling good to make it through sacrament meeting and thought we were home free... wrong! Hailee's sunbeam teacher didn't show up, so she was having a melt down over that. I had to do sharing time yesterday, and I had to pass Kortney off anyway. Normally my mother-in-law takes her, but she was out of town. Sometimes just doing sharing time makes me nervous enough, having Hailee at my feet never helps. When it was time to send the junior primary up to class Hailee refused to go, so I just let her stay downstairs with me since I had to do sharing time for the senior primary as soon as they came down. Sharing time went ok except for the part where Hailee was trying to lift up my shirt to see the buttons on my skirt... after I got done with sharing time I tried to take her up to her class and and she refused to stay even though they were coloring and having snacks. At that point I just gave up and went home. Luckily I will have Craig for 3 weeks before he has to work another Sunday! Unfortunately I think it just might fall on the week that I have to do sharing time again, I will just be praying her teacher comes that week :)

Last week we had Breanne come over and stay the night before school starts, since Breanne will be going to preschool this year. I must say it is nice to have the distraction for Hailee, but they just get into a lot more when there are two of them and think to do things they normally wouldn't do. For Christmas we bought Hailee and easel... she loves it, but I had to take the dry erase markers away because they stain stuff so bad. Luckily she doesn't write on things on purpose anymore, but when you are 3 things just kind of happen sometimes. I was really glad to hear that crayola had come out with washable dry erase crayons... I don't know why I thought we were safe.... I was outside mowing my grass and Hailee and Breanne came out looking like indians!! I guess in my mind I was thinking they were like regular crayons and fairly harmless. They do write on people though. Luckily they do wash off! I am not sure if they were their own make-up artists or if they drew on each other... Breanne definately had more on her than Hailee.

6 months old!

Time is flying by! Our little Kortney is already 6 months old. We had her 6 month check-up with the doc last week. She weighs 14 1/2 pounds and is 26 1/2 inches long. That puts her in the 75th percentile for her height and 25th for her weight! She is tall like Hailee was, just not quite as heavy. Hailee was always in the 75-95 percentile for height and weight. Kortney is rolling and scooting all over the place! She knows where she wants to go these days and is pretty proficient at getting there. The days of leaving her on the bed are over! I am so sad that she is growing up so fast, but it is still fun to watch her grow. She also loves food and wants everything that we are eating. I think she is starting to cut teeth... let the games begin. She is so fun and cute, we just love her!

Otherwise, we are just busy as can be. We did lots of seedless raspberry jam this year and the green beans are just starting, fall is always a busy time with canning and everything. I can't believe that the summer is almost over! Football practice starts next week for Craig and we are down to like 3 weeks before volleyball season (reffing) starts. I am not looking forward to finding babysitters, but I am looking forward to officiating this year. It is kind of nice to have a good excuse to have some time for myself.

Hailee showing me some of her "moves" the other day!

Short and sweet and to the point this time... We have lots to get done this afternoon!

4th

We've got kind of a picture overload going on here. They are in no particular order, but I'll try to come up with some explanation. We made it through the fourth with all of our limbs and fingers in tact. Craig and some of his buddies got together and bought a bunch of fireworks, so we had quite the display at our house. I personally would rather go watch someone else blow their money up, but Craig thinks otherwise. It must be a male thing. I was also a little worried about blowing up such big fireworks on our street, I didn't want to be responsible for any of the neighbor's property. We made it through without any major accidents though. We had our families over and a few friends over for a BBQ, so that was fun. We enjoy "entertaining" at our house. Hailee wasn't sure she liked the big ones so close, but had lots of fun with the little stuff before it got dark. Kortney slept for a little while at the beginning, but woke up a little ways into it and wasn't a fan. I just stayed in the house with her after that with her, it was probably better for my blood pressure that way :) Anyway, here are a few pictures from the evening.


Last week we discovered that someone decided to steal Hailee's beloved red tricycle. It was the saddest thing! She was devastated! I just can't figure out what kind of a person would do such a thing. She spend hours riding that thing daily. It was perfect for her. The day after we figured out it was gone we got on good old walmart.com and ordered a new one. We got a pink one this time. Hopefully we can keep it safe... They are nice and sturdy so maybe we can keep this one around long enough for Kortney to be able to ride it someday.

I went ahead and put Hailee in swimming lessons this summer. She just loves the water, so we figured we'd get a head start on it. She did the first session with Breanne. She loved it. They taught them to put their face in the water, kick their legs, and use water wings. She was kind of sad to have the first session over with. We had a little break for a few weeks and just started the 3rd session on Tuesday. I am so glad to have her in them, it gives me a little peace of mind when it comes to the water.

Kortney is growing like a weed! She started eating yellow veggies and rice cereal about a month ago. She picks up new things everyday and likes to make noise. She loves to be entertained and cries when I leave the room, but she is still as sweet as ever. I just wish she would slow down a little, it makes me sad that she is growing up so fast. Well I suppose that is all I have for now, life just keeps going on faster and faster. Craig and I will celebrate our 5th anniversary tomorrow... I can't believe it's been 5 years already. Love you Craig!!

Easter

We had a busy Easter week at our house. We had a bbq at our house Monday night for Chanda's birthday. Tuesday my Mom, Becca, and I went to Billings. Wednesday we actually stayed home, so I shampooed the carpet in Hailee's room and that night we colored Easter eggs. It was lots of fun! Hailee especially enjoyed it this year.

Thursday we went over to Burlington and dyed some more Easter eggs with Becca and her kids. It was much more messy the second time! Poor Kole's hand was almost pickled! They really enjoyed themselves though. Mom and I normally clean for Val on Wed. but she switched to Friday, so Friday afternoon we went and cleaned. Saturday we went over to Burlington for the annual Easter egg hunt that Grandma Cook puts on. It was really fun. We had a dinner after that, so we enjoyed some really good food afterward. Then Saturday night we had some family over to play games. We finally got to meet Chris and Shawna's little Miley. She is SO tiny! Her and Kortney are six weeks apart in age. This picture is of them in their matching jammies. Just a little bit of a size difference! I think Shawna said that Miley is up to 5 lbs 10 oz. I think she was 3 lbs 14 oz when she was born!

Easter morning was a little chaotic here. Craig had to work so I was on my own. Hailee was very pleased that the Easter bunny had been by. He brought too many goodies and "the dancing game." She has been begging for it since Christmas. She loves to play at Grandma's house, so we finally gave in and got it. It has been some great entertainment. It is Just Dance for the wii. After church we went and shared a delicious Easter dinner with Craig's family. It was a great day overall!

Isn't it time for spring yet?

I can't believe it has already been a month since I have posted anything... Life at the Winterholler house has been a little crazy. Our days have been filled with running to dr. appointments, dentist appointments, meetings and all kinds of other reasons to keep us on the go. I suppose it is a good thing my kids are "go-ers."

Kortney had her 2 month check-up on the 1st of this month. We are happy to report she is growing and developing quite nicely. Ok, so maybe I am not so happy she is growing so fast! She weighed 10 lbs and was 24 inches long at her appointment. I wish she would stay little a while longer. I love watching her grow and discover new things, but I kind of miss those days of just rocking in the chair and snuggling her all day long! She is a delight though, and such an easy going baby. One of these days she will get the giggle thing down. She wants to do it really bad and sometimes gets little ones out, so I am sure in no time she will get it figured out.

I think we are just hitting the adjustment period with Hailee. She has been kind of a handful lately. I don't know if the newness of it all has just kind of worn off or what. Our first week at church without Craig was "interesting" to say the least. I'll just say I am just grateful a fellow member of the primary presidency was sitting in front of us to help with Kortney while I drug Hailee out of the chapel wailing, "I hate church!" She still loves Kortney and is always telling me how cute she is, so hopefully this stage will pass.

We are definitely ready for spring, and hopefully we get it before summer arrives! We are looking forward to some warmer weather and the chance to get outside. Lauren is moving home next week so we are all very excited about that. Cailee and Chris are coming home for the summer too, so we are excited about that too! Hailee can hardly contain herself. I am going to to try to post a little more often, so I guess we'll see how that goes :)

Blessing Day

We blessed Kortney on the evening of February27th. We had it in the Relief Society room here in Lovell. It worked out really well to do it that way. Cailee and Chris were in town because my nephew Kaiden was baptised earlier that evening over in Powell, so the crew just loaded up and came over to Lovell when that was over. Lauren was also able to be in town, so we were glad to have our families all able to be there. We feel very blessed to have Kortney in our home. She continues to be a very good baby! She is growing up too fast though. We have her 2 month check-up with Dr. J on the 1st of April, so it will be interesting to see how much she has grown. She has been smiling for almost a month now and starting to coo and "talk" to us.

Hailee is still doing really well being the big sister. She is enough help, but not too much. We were able to go down to regional and state basketball. It was so much fun to go and support Leanne. Both of the Lovell teams did very well. They both won the regional tournament. The girls went on to win the state tournament and the boys ended up taking 3rd place. It was sure a nice little vacation for us. Hailee loved the hotel and asks almost daily if we can go back.

The girls and I spent all week last week over in Burlington since Craig was in Ohio all week for some training. It was fun to spend time with my family, it went fast but we are happy to be home too. I guess I am not sure Hailee is as glad as I am, life definitely isn't as exciting here as it is over there. Here are a few pictures from the blessing (compliments of Lauren, I just handed her the camera and she took care of it!). I put Kortney back in her dress the other day and tried to get a few more pictures of her dress.

Blessing

Hi everyone,
Since I am so disorganized, I figured I would just post on here... We are going to bless Kortney this Sunday (the 27th) at 7:30 p.m. in the Relief Society Room here in Lovell. We would love to have anyone who wants to be there come!

why do I wait so long...

I am not sure why I wait so long to post when new stuff happens in our lives. We have definitely had A LOT going on around here this past month! I am not even sure where to start... Tuesday the 25th I had a dr. appointment, she finally checked my and I was 3 1/2 cm dilated, so I was ecstatic. I spent some time over at the hospital that day in observation to see if things would go anywhere after walking around and things like that with the possibility of having Dr. Cruz just start me anyway. Well, long story short the nurse that was assigned to me had a different idea and didn't exactly get me the correct message from the Dr. so I ended up going home. I had contractions pretty good for a while on Wednesday and by Thursday morning they were coming every 5 to 6 minutes so Craig and I headed up to Cody. I was only 4 cm dilated, but after everything Tuesday I was assured they weren't sending me home. I was still contracting regularly all day with very little change. At around 2:30 they started me on pit and still very change so, Dr. Cruz came in a broke my water at around 6. That was all it took, with in 15 minutes my contractions were coming right on top of each other. I felt like a wimp cause I was only 5 cm, but I asked for my epidural anyway. I had my epidural by 8:30 and got a little rest. My nurse came in around 10:15 and wasn't going to check me, but figured she would since it had been 2 hours thinking I was probably around 7 cm... well, to every one's surprise I was complete! I just kind of hung out until Dr. Cruz got there. As soon as they were ready I started pushing and only pushed through 5 contractions before our little angel arrived. Kortney Marie was born at 11:15 p.m. 1/27/11 and was 7 lbs. 3.3 oz and 19.5 inches long. This time was SO much easier than Hailee was!

Hailee meeting Kortney for the first time.

1 week Old

2 Weeks Old

Kortney has been an amazing baby. She sleeps very well and eats every three hours or so. We even got a 5 hour stretch in last night (I was a little upset that I spent the first hour and a half in my recliner because I had fallen asleep burping her). She has a really sweet and calm disposition. I'll admit that most days I just sit in my recliner and cuddle her. Hailee was a screamer and rarely slept so I am taking it all in this time, I can't believe she'll already be 3 weeks old tomorrow! :(

Hailee is a very proud big sister. I was afraid she'd be "too much" help, but she has been really good. She likes to hold her a little bit, but otherwise she is just satisfied knowing that she is finally a big sister.

Last week we got new flooring put down in the kitchen and bathroom, but I will post about that next time when I get some pictures taken...

Is it really 2011?

I can't believe another year has come and gone. Time just never seems to slow down. We had a good year though! We had lots of adventures and learned a lot, hopefully this coming year will be just as much of an adventure. December was a wild month, but we all finished our Christmas shopping in time to enjoy the season. I was so glad to finish with a few weeks to spare! Our first Christmas present was Lauren returning safely from Russia on the 19th!! It was great to have her back, even if it was only for a few weeks. She had a wonderful time! She is such a brave girl and did some great things while she was over there. She had some GREAT experiences doing family history. I am in awe of the things she was able to accomplish; she definately had the help of the spirit! It seems like we just partied the rest of that week.

On the 23rd we went to Worland to celebrate with my father-in-law's sister. It's always a good time when we get to spend time with the Doerr's. It was great to sit and visit with everyone. Worland isn't very far away but it seems like we hardly see them! We spent Christmas Eve with my mother-in-law's family. They are such wonderful people. They have some great traditions and am glad that we got to be a part of it. Hailee was wiped out by the time we left there, she fell asleep on our way home. Craig woke her up so she could open up her Christmas jammies... big mistake, she was up until like 12:30. I dozed on and off until she finally went to sleep then I drug Craig downstairs so we could bring everything up! We finally woke Hailee up at about 8:30 Christmas morning so that we could open gifts and get down to Dave and Suz's for breakfast. Hailee had a ball. She had been talking about "big" presents all week, so I was suprised when she went for the little stuff first. Everything was so exciting though, it was fun to watch her. We got her an easel with a bunch of art supplies, a little vanity, a new pair of boots, and a few other odds and ends. My parents got her a princess cd player for her room and Craigs parents got her a bunch of art supplies. She was quite impressed and maybe a little overwhelmed. Craig and I just kind of got some joint gifts. We got a new camera (ok it was more for me). I was very excited to get something a little nicer though. I had kind of quite taking pictures because I hated my old one so bad. Craig got new tires for the pickup. Not real exciting, but tires are so expensive!! We got each other a few little things, but overall it was great Christmas! We just relaxed all day with Craig's family.

Craig used the rest of his vacation for the year so he didn't have to go back to work between Christmas and New Years. It was kind of nice even though we didn't see a whole lot of him. He got in lots of fishing and snowmobiling though. For New Year's eve Craigs family came over. We just snacked and played a couple games. It was lots of fun. I kind of feel bad that I didn't spend much time with my own family, but my parents left New Year's day for a cruise. They went with Cailee and Chris and Chris's family. They will be back Sunday, it should be interesting to see how it went. I think my dad was a little skeptical about it, but I am sure they are having a great time! I have to admit I am a little jealous!

With the holidays behind us and things getting back to normal our next plan of action is to get ready for this baby to get here. These last few months have gone by SO fast. But I have to admit, I think I am ready to be done being pregnant! Overall it has been a much better pregnancy than I had with Hailee, but I am still ready to be done. I had an ultrasound done yesterday. They are still confident it is a girl, which makes me feel a little better. I just really like to have a plan. They are estimating her weight at 6lbs 4oz... so hopefully we don't go a whole lot longer! There are a few things I have left to get done before she comes, so hopefully I can get them done before she gets here. I relented and allowed a pregnancy picture the other day... I suppose one day I might want to remember what I looked like. I don't know why I am so against them, maybe it's just from being so tired and uncomfortable all of the time... but here it is. And a sneak peak at our little one! 36 weeks

Since I have no ambition to do anything else at the moment, I figured I would update my blog. Life has been so crazy lately. I don't know what I expect with the holidays and whatnot upon us. Craig has finished football season which is a relief! His team did very well, they made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs losing to Thermopolis, the would-be state champs. He loved it, but was ready to be done. He has so many different hobbies that it really cut into his "play" time. I can't say we have seen him a whole lot since, but at least he is available.

I can't believe Thanksgiving has been here and gone. Unfortunately, Craig had to work this year. It was our year to be in Burlington, so Hailee and I went to Burlington to spend the day with my family. Craig went to his mom's when he got off of work to eat, then just watched football. I was going to come back over, but was wiped out by the time evening rolled around. We just stayed in Burlington Thursday night since Craig had to work the day after too. Friday morning Mom and I ran to Cody to hit the sale at Walmart. Becca ended up staying home with the kiddos and just sent a list with us. It was kind of a bummer, Mom had one big item she was after and we figured out after we got there that it didn't go on sale until Saturday... We still got some decent deals and got some Christmas shopping out of the way though. I was feeling really bad about not spending any of the day with Craig, but by Saturday I was glad I hadn't come back over... All of Craig's family ended up with the flu!! Rob had it Thanksgiving Day, Jacob got it Friday, and by Saturday everyone was sick! Craig didn't get it, but I am SO glad that Hailee and I avoided that one!

Hailee turned 3 on Tuesday. I can't believe my baby is already 3! For some reason I was awake that morning about 5, which is when she was born, and I couldn't help but think how much our lives have changed since she came to our family. I don't really even remember life before we had her. It seems like she is just the center of our lives. Hailee had kind of a long day of waiting before we got to party. I had a dr. appointment in Cody that morning, so she and I ventured up there first thing. I was a little worried that she would want everything in sight while we were at Walmart, but she was actually really good. I took her to McDonalds to get a happy meal for lunch though and that was when she fell apart. I was ordering and she was howling in the backseat. Finally when I was done ordering I asked her what she wanted if she didn't want a happy meal... she told me that she wanted birthday cake for lunch! After some discussion she decided that she would eat the happy meal and we would make cake when we got home. We had my family and Craig's family over for dinner and cake. Hailee had an absolute ball! She loved everything she got, especially her cake. Lorraine made her cake again this year and she couldn't have done a better job, it was exactly what Hailee was expecting! She got some great gifts that she is just thrilled about. 2 tea sets, an apron, books, a tutu... We have done a lot of playing since! We are so glad that our families we able to share Hailee's special day.

I can't believe we are into December! I have a feeling this month is going to fly by. I keep telling myself I need to get my sewing machine out so I can start sewing on a few Christmas stockings for Cailee's "new" family. We'll see how that goes ;)

Where does the time go!

I am such a slacker! I guess life has just been too crazy to feel like I have time to sit down and blog. Since I don't feel like doing the other things that I should be doing at the moment, I figured I would sit down and update this thing. Life with a 2 (almost 3) year old, volleyball, and football have definitely kept us on our toes around here lately. I was feeling pretty good about the load I had taken at the beginning of the season, but have been much busier lately. We are down to the last week of reffing though. I am glad that I won't be having to find a babysitter quite as often, but I will miss the extra money! I just can't believe how quickly it goes... new clothes for me, new clothes for Hailee (who never stops growing), tags for cars. I am glad the extra money is there right now for all of those expenses. I am going to splurge and buy a nice recliner for my nursery this time. I thought about a glider, but I figured I might as well get something that will be a little more comfortable to sleep in if the need arises.

I had my 20 week ultrasound almost a month ago and found out that we are expecting another little girl. I was kind of hoping for a boy, but I am excited for another little girl. Now we just have to start trying to come up with some options for names... We had a hard time with Hailee so this time ought to be interesting. I just hope we can come up with something we agree on a little quicker than last time.

Hailee is forever growing up on us. She is hardly a little girl anymore. I just can't believe how big she is getting. I keep waiting for her to slow down in that department, she just never does. She loves to dance and sing. It cracks me up, I am not sure where that came from. I definitely do not dance! I suppose music has always had that effect on her though. Since she was just little she has always really liked music. I should find out about putting her in a dance class or something, she would thoroughly enjoy it! I was asking my mother-in-law the other day how we were ever going to get her on the court, she just smiled and said, "I do, in a cheerleader's skirt..." We'll have to see how it goes I guess :)

Well, that is kind of an update on the goings on around here. Maybe after this week we'll do a little better, or have a little more time on our hands.