Erin at 27 Years Old

Erin and I 7 years ago, after a day spent spelunking and repelling in the Canadian Rockies.

Today is Erin's B-day, and I can't believe how much she has grown up and matured over the years (as demonstrated in picture above).

• She is is still the best thing to happen to me, and I'm so glad to have her.
• I love spending time with her, she is always up for adventure, and we have fun together.
• She is still super hot!
• She is a great mom, and I know she appreciates being a mother.
• She is great to converse with--from small talk to deeper discussions, and she lets me get up on my soapbox once in a while.
• She pushes me to be better. She is always on the move, so I can't sit around for long without feeling a little guilty. She helps us make sure we are doing the little things to help build our, Skylie's, and Kaitlyn's gospel understanding (still working on it, but maybe it will sink in someday, I guess that's the point of starting the process when they are young).

I love you more than ever! Happy Birthday, Erin!

Utah Vacation

Zane Family Reunion

Heber City, Utah

August 15-18 

After spending time in Canada, our family headed to Heber to meet up with my family. Everyone except for Troy's older kids made it for the reunion. It was great to see everyone!

Family pictures

Savannah is always the best caretaker of Skylie when we're in Utah!

Searching for treasure in my parents' yard

Sky, Savannah, Porter, Ethan, Rhys, and Morgan after the treasure hunt

Matt and Kaitlyn

Lee, Morgan, Matt B., Skylie, Porter, Ethan, Rhys, and Savannah feeding the ducks at the Wasatch Mountain State Park pond

Matt, my brother Lee, and I hiked Mt. Timpanogos. Matt and I camped overnight at Glacier Lake and met up with some of my friends from high school. It was great hanging out and catching up with Sam! Pictured above are me and Matt at one of the first waterfalls.

Only about halfway to the lake. Lee headed back at this point since he'd decided not to camp overnight.

At the meadow. Love this guy.

On top of Mt. Timpanogos Saturday mid-morning. Below us is the meadow and Emerald Lake where we had camped the night before.

Sliding down the glacier after we'd reached the summit.

After the other families and Matt had left Heber, my parents took me, Skylie, and Kaitlyn to the zoo. The girls loved it!

Skylie putting shades on Grandpa.

Kaitlyn at the zoo

Since I stayed in Heber longer than usual I ended up meeting up with a few friends from high school. Heather and I go way back--back before I could say my R's and S's. That's a long time, folks.

Play date at the park. It was great to see Kim and her kids. Sam willingly spent a morning with a bunch of kids and their moms. If that isn't true friendship, I don't know what is!

Colton, Karlee, Kaitlyn, and Skylie

I snapped this photo from the car as Matt and I drove past Jordanelle Dam. Fires raged in Utah this year.

A few highlights I want to remember are:

• Swimming at the Kamas Rec Center
• The treasure hunt where all the kids looked after Skylie and gave her far more loot than her share
• Picnicking at the duck pond
• Family pictures
• Food, food, and more food
• Lots of games
• Hiking Timp with Matt, Lee, and Sam
• Catching up and reminiscing with Heather, Kim, Sam, and Kyle
• Spending an entire day shopping in Provo ALL. BY. MY. SELF. I know this sounds trite, but it was my favorite day of the entire vacation! Thanks to my sweet mom for watching the kids.
• Seeing animals at the zoo with my parents and my kids
• Checking out the new high school in town
• All the kindness and love my parents give to me, Matt, and our kids
• Realizing again how much I love Heber

Canada Vacation

Pitcher Family Reunion

August 9-13, 2012

Payne Lake Lodge

Cardston, Alberta, Canada

In August, Matt's family went back to their roots--Cardston, Alberta, Canada--for a family reunion. Me and Matt and our kids flew into Salt Lake late Wednesday night and caravaned with his parents and sister up to northern Montana on Thursday. We met up with Layne, Ginny, and their families on Friday morning and began the reunion. The entire gang stayed at Payne Lake Lodge, and we spent most of our time at Glacier and Waterton National Parks.

Kaitlyn

Skylie on the car ride to Canada

Sky, Matt, and Kaitlyn at breakfast

Kaitlyn's Great-Grandpa Cahoon

Kaitlyn's Great-Grandma Cahoon
I am kicking myself for not getting pictures of Skylie with her grandparents and great-grandparents

Great-Grandma Pitcher

Papa, Braylie, and Skylie hiking Bear's Hump in Waterton National Park. Skylie hiked nearly every step of it all by herself.

Our gang atop Bear's Hump

Matt and Skylie on Bear's Hump overlooking Waterton

Sky, Addy, Ben, and Brayden during the picnic before hiking at Grinnell

Skylie and Braylie

Our family on the boat ride before hiking to Grinnell Lake in Glacier National Park

Matt with a a mustache? Maybe?

Perhaps the entire family could pull it off.

Skylie and Braylie at Grinnell Lake. These two became fast friends, and Sky still talks about her cousin often.

At Grinnell Lake--one of the prettiest places I've seen.

Our family with Grandma and Grandpa Cahoon at Grinnell Lake Lodge. Despite their age they hiked right along with us.

Matt's cousin, Kenny, graciously agreed to take the entire family boating Monday evening. Nana stayed home with Kaitlyn, so we got to spend some one-on-one time with Sky.

Matt, Tyler, and Layne had a wild ride on the tube.

Eventually Kenny succeeded in sending them overboard.

Laura and I enjoyed a much more mild ride with the little girls.

See Skylie grinning ear-to-ear? She was in heaven. (I remember when I was young my friend, Heather, would invite me to go boating with her family. Heather and I would go on the tube together, and I'd always be signaling a thumbs up sign to "Go faster! Go faster!") I think we've got another little dare devil--or two--on our hands.

Braylie, Skylie, Kohen, and Kael playing in the sand while some when boating  for one last ride at dusk.

A few highlights I want to remember are:

• Swimming and dining in Montana
• Talks with Matt's mom and dad on the car ride to Canada
• Hiking--a lot. Bear's Hump in Waterton and the Grinnell Lake Trail in Glacier are a few hikes I can recall
• All the quarters Nana and Papa gave the grandkids for finding cool stuff on the hikes (or for any other reason Nana could think of)
• Playing Minute-to-Win-It
• Picking berries 
• Braylie and Skylie watching movies in Brad and Laura's van
• Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Cahoon's
• Searching for golden rocks
• The candy store in Waterton
• All the time and efforts Matt parents put into making this reunion run smoothly
• Boating with Kenny
• How loopy and funny Skylie became when she got so, so tired
• How sad I felt to leave. I had to fight back a tear or two. It is always hard leaving when I know it will probably be a year--or more--before we see family again.

Kaitlyn at One Year Old

This first picture is my favorite!

I think Anne captured both my daughters' looks and personalities so well.

All family pictures courtesy Anne Pearson Photography.

Kaitlyn's Stats At Thirteen Months:

Length: 28 1/8th inches; below first percentile

Weight: 14 pounds, 13 ounces; below first percentile

Head Circumference: 17 1/2 inches; below first percentile

Kaitlyn at One Year:

• Is still crawling but will often stand and walk around with the the assistance of furniture or toys. She's also climbing up and down stairs and is becoming more vocal. She's not saying any words yet, but she's great at indicating what she wants. (At least I understand what she needs--can't say that anyone else has a clue.)
• She's a great eater, and there are few foods she dislikes. 
• Despite her good appetite, she is still far below the first percentile in weight and has continued to drop off her growth curve. At her one year well-child check the pediatrician referred us to another specialist--this time to a Gastroenterologist. Last week she had her appointment and doctors ran some tests. Thus far they've come back fine and there's no medical reason why she's not gaining weight more rapidly. A friend asked me if I'm worried about Kaitlyn. I am concerned, a little. But if testing shows no problems and she's happy, healthy, eating all the calories I can get in her, and meeting milestones--I don't see the point in stressing too much.
• She's still meeting with a physical therapist from First Steps twice a month and is growing stronger.
• On Monday while grocery shopping at Aldi an older man told me, "You have such well behaved children!" I almost laughed out loud because had he seen me minutes earlier with two crying girls--me frantically shoveling milk into Kaitlyn and bribing Skylie with snacks--he would not have complimented me. They are good girls, though, and Kaitlyn is especially chill. She's content sitting for long periods of time in the seat of the stroller and is great at entertaining herself for long periods of time.
• She gets a kick out of all the crazy stuff Skylie does and is quick to laugh at her older sister. 
• Once while Matt fed Kaitlyn, she spit some food out and got it everywhere. Instantly she laughed those great big belly laughs! 
• She loves her daddy is still a little bit of a mommy's girl.
• She's a good sleeper. She goes to bed between 7 and 8 p.m. and will sometimes wake up between 5 and 6 a.m. I'll give her a bottle, and she'll sleep a few more hours. If we're out and about she only takes a long afternoon nap, but on days we stay at home she takes both a morning and an afternoon nap.
• She loves swinging and laughs while going down slides. 
• Recently she taken an interest in the TV, and it will catch her attention for short periods of time.
• I still gets comments about her big blue eyes. Last week while at the doctor with Sky and Kaitlyn two different people commented on our family's big blue eyes. 
• We love Kaitlyn and the sweet addition that she's made in our family!

Skylie's Bedroom Makeover

BEFORE 

The only item in Skylie's room previously was her crib turned toddler bed. When Skylie began asking me to put the decorations from Kaitlyn's room into her bedroom, I figured it was time to spice up her space a bit.

This ended up being an epic waste of time. I painted those fun Chevron stripes on one wall which took days. (Think primer, two layers of white paint, measuring, taping, and painting pink.)

The light pink stripes looked too light. I figured if I'm going to spend so much time making Chevrons, I want them to pop. So I painted two of the stripes slightly darker with leftover paint from Kaitlyn's room.

The lines seemed perfect and it looked good (some of you may like this better than the final product), but it just seemed a little crazy for me. Part of the problem, I realized, was that I'd used white glossy paint that we had on hand, and the shine bugged me. I loved the calming, simple blue. Matt seriously questioned my sanity at this point. 

 AFTER

So I sanded the edges of the Chevron stripes, and repainted those walls blue (Benjamin Moore's Blue Bonnet color matched to Behr's Premium Plus Ultra eggshell finish). Love it.

A friend gave us a double mattress and queen box spring. Someday we'll get the bed and box matching sizes, but for now it works. Sky and Kaitlyn will share this room eventually, so the big bed will come in handy. I searched high and low for bedding that I liked and finally found this at Target, sold online only. It's called Camden Market Soho Comforter. The children's table and chairs set is the MAMMUT style from IKEA and was Kaitlyn's birthday gift from her grandparents.

I've got lots of ideas for the rest of her room--making a headboard, curtains, adding some wall art, and repainting a dresser--but it's all a work in progress. And I'd say we've definitely made some progress.