It's a rare occasion these days to get this girl to actually look at the camera, so we take what we can get.
She is wearing a gift from Nana and reading Christmas book from Grandma. Thank you to thoughtful grandparents who have made this Christmas so special.We are looking forward to spending it with you.
Right after she got dressed this morning, she wanted me to find Geoff and present her officially as a princess being announced at a ball. It was so cute.
The best is she actually kept her bows in her hair the entire time we were at church!!
We had our Christmas program today. I sang in the choir and Katherine sat with Geoff until it was time for him to leave for work. Normally, Katherine grabs at the chance to sit with Ella Shea, but today when Geoff dropped her off, she lost it! She did not want him to go and she would not be assuaged. She ended up joining me on the stand, and as you know, the girl came right into her element. She quickly put herself together and began trying to sing with the rest of us. What a trooper! Katherine, you made my day!
This year's Christmas party was a total blast! We had a hay ride, a bonfire, a craft room, Santa and lots of good food! Several members had invited their neighbors and friends so we got to meet a lot of new people.
Katherine was obsessed with Santa Claus! When she saw him join everyone in the gym for dinner, she couldn't help but become his shadow, following him around everywhere. She convinced him to sit next to her and kept kissing his arms and legs. She didn't know what to tell him when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas but she sure liked it when he talked to her.
So many good friends. We love our ward family! Merry Christmas!!
Our neighbor, Amaya, just turned 3 and her mother owns a business from home making tutus. So this was a Juju's Tutus Pinkalicious birthday party!
All girls received a custom made Pinkalicious tutu, ate Pinkalicious cupcakes, were read a Pinkalicious story, and got their faces and nails painted in Pinkalicious splendor!
Katherine did pretty well, but by the end she became a little jealous of all the presents Amaya got to open. I had to remind her that Christmas was right around the corner.
The best part of the afternoon was the runway walk where the girls got strut their stuff. Then they just danced. This party was every 3 year old girl's dream come true! Thanks Amaya!!
The red sweater is out so it must be Christmas! I was invited to a wonderful party by a good friend. It was thrown by one her friends in Surprise. I didn't know anyone, (my friend only knew a couple of people) didn't have obligations to plan or clean. We could just go and enjoy ourselves. It was AWESOME. The food was incredible! The theme was My Favorite Things and each guest was asked to bring 5 items of one of their favorite things at Christmastime. I brought my family's special recipe for hot chocolate mix and loved the variety things of five items I got in return. Such a fun idea!
We were invited over to our friends, Sally and Olivia's, to make Christmas cookies. We attempted a craft but I forgot the glitter and we didn't want to use a glue gun around two extremely helpful girls, so settled to have a picnic on the living room floor while we watched A Muppet's Christmas Carol. A totally fun morning!
It was mine turn to host Friend School this week. The theme was the letter M, we learned a little about music, decorated #10 food storage cans and turned them into drums! We practiced drumming to the The Little Drummer Boy and make a racket!
I was feeling ambitious and we decorated graham cracker houses as well. To my surprise, it went so smoothly. The kids had so much fun and loved making them.
We had a surprise visit today from Katherine's favorite people, the Beazers. The girls immediately threw off their clothes to get their princess gear on, chasing each other all over the house, yelling "The power of destiny! The power of destiny!" It was hilarious!
I'm just really grateful that fun times have returned and we are loving every minute!! We love you all for sticking it through with us. Here's to the best Christmas yet!!
Since the following post has listed several of the highlights during our visit to Prescott. This one has some of the lowest points ever... Am I brave for posting this sad sight? Just read with a sense of humor and compassion!
When we arrived at the house we discovered that mice have moved in. They were upstairs, downstairs, and even nested inside one of the cars! The water heater had stopped working because a lizard had crawled into the motor and died, causing it to shake badly enough that a part had to be replaced. The car died. As the kids became homesick for the parents, the whining and arguing increased exponentially.
Relief came upon us as all the family began to return to the house, but as soon as the Williams shared their horrifying tale of Jonah throwing up at security and twice on the airplane, the illness began to spread. Geoff came down with stomach flu Wednesday, my father Thursday morning, Katherine, my mother and I Thursday night. I counted Katherine throwing up 17x. I managed to hold on till 11pm when my mother and I began taking turns in the bathroom and my father took over caring for Katherine. It was so pathetically horrible and violent, we will never forget it. It took us all several days to recover, but mine rapidly evolved into a painful sore throat. Katherine proceeded to continue vomiting every day though her personality and energy returned.
I went to the doctor after we all returned home on Wednesday to discover that I have strep. As of tonight, we have determined that Genet, my mom, Bennett, Sarah, Paxton, and Katherine all have strep. How did Katherine react when it was time to give her the antibiotic? Even with the help of a friend, she managed to throw up over all of us and give herself a nosebleed... I petitioning tomorrow to get this girl some shots. I'm done with wrestling!
We had to cancel a very special Sarager family reunion because of it and made me mom really sad. We thank you, Mom, for all the effort you make getting us all together. We love you.
The week before Thanksgiving, Mark and Genet dropped off their kids and took off to Hawaii. We got to all play together for a good week! I was so glad to have one-on-one time with each of them. These kids are amazing and fun and wonderful to be with.
We spent one day at Out of Africa to see the lions and tigers. We took a safari ride where all the kids got to feed a giraffe and Nana kissed a camel! Jack convinced us to stick around for the snake show and the entire time, Katherine BEGGED to be able to touch it, on the verge of tears. Of course, when it became our turn to get close, she wanted NOTHING to do with it. So what happened when our family got in position to take an exclusive picture with it?? The staff member places the head right on our lap. Katherine FREAKED. We had to sing Carebears to calm her down...
Nana had prepared a couple of really fun games that played later on that week when everyone was there. This one is moving M&Ms from cup to cup using only a straw.
We had a talent show and Jack impressed us with his memorization of the Table of Elements using a song as a mnemonic device. Mark sang along with him because it moves superfast! It was awesome! Lucas played a Christmas song on the piano which all the girls danced to. Bennett performed a joke. And the little ones... Well, you'll see if you watch the videos...
Most of the time, we played and wrestled, watched movies and played games. We saw "Tangled" at the movie theater in 3D, which was totally fun.
The boys were so good to play with Katherine. Here they are teaching her how to draw dragons, inspired after a group favorite "How To Train Your Dragon" watched several times this trip.
The actual birthday was somewhat of a nonevent this year. However, because we had to stay home for a couple of weeks, it was WONDERFUL to open a birthday present to add some excitement whenever the time lagged. THANK YOU to everyone who remembered her.
Katherine grew comfortable with our new quiet routine at home. She LOVED her movies and the books and the games. It came the point where I had to remind her that she was not sick and that she needed to get out and be active. So every day around 4pm, when there was not direct sunlight, we would go to the park and play. I've noticed a huge amount of growth during the this time involving her speech, her pretend play, her manners.
So when we got to Nana's the week before Thanksgiving, we made sure that we got to do cupcakes in Katherine's honor. Baking is one of her favorite things to do with Nana.
Bennett and Katherine became good buddies during this trip. They made up special games like Light Saber Pool and Caloonan Ball (jumping off the ladder of the bunk beds onto a pillow).
Everyone got to decorate three cupcakes. I think Sarah Jane is the only one who remembered to eat them all (if only, the frosting!)
I tried to find birthday footage that had the most entertainment value... and this is all I could come up with...
Thank you again! We love you!
I had to give myself a good month before I could post.
By now, most of you know that Katherine was bit by our neighbor's dog on Oct 28th.
Two days later, we noticed that an abrasion under her chin had become infected. Since she didn't have a fever, we leisurely went back to the hospital for the staff to look at it... It was a puncture wound an inch and a half deep. The surgeon was immediately called and Katherine had to go back into surgery to clean it thoroughly. The nurses tried 3x to stick an IV, but ultimately she had to get a shot to go into conscious sedation.... That was the worst part for me.
However, I think Katherine has become infamous on Facebook due to my ranting about her unrelenting non-conformance to taking her meds. I devoted 30+ hours to getting her to swallow her medicine. During those 10 days, I spat on, peed on, pooped on, thrown up on, kicked, hit, almost bit, as we cried together because she had to take her medicine twice a day. Geoff was a genius several times and I love him for his bright ideas.
We would like to thank everyone for helping our family get through this. So many people in our ward brought dinner, delivered care packages, offered their entire Disney DVD collections (some of which we need to still return!) Our families called consistently. I felt the most peace as people visited. They truly helped us feel like we were not alone. We could not have made it through without you.
This is her Halloween costume - compliments of Grandma! Katherine chose the fuzzy pink sparkly crocs herself...
This recent development of independent thinking has been accompanied by a fierce sense of entitlement. Constant demands. Endless whining. Tantrums. Hitting (mostly her mom). Hysterics... followed by many time outs and a locked bedroom door. I start her time out once she is done with her come apart. Bath time is the worst and I'm taking my friend Mandy's advice to just let her go to bed dirty and let her shower in the morning because it's been so bad. It has never been more important for us to keep a straight face and keep a "Don't Mess With Me" voice. She gets away with a lot and I'm not ashamed to say that we're still figuring out what motivates this girl to behave... I mean, in sacrament meeting today even people around us were trying to bribe her to behave! On top of that, I think she's also going through a growth spurt which should mean that she's sleeping more, but she's not (she's even waking up earlier) so I think she's just really cranky. This has been one of the hardest weeks for parenting. As Genet said, she's not old enough to reason with to really understand why she can't do certain things I attempt to explain, but when it comes down to it, she just needs to learn how to obey because Mom said so... End of discussion.
We made it to Prescott last week for a much needed break even if it was only 24 hrs. We had perfect weather and we made good use of it!
I bought her some new clothes in the next size up since she doesn't have anything for the cold weather. In her current pant size they are an inch above the ankle and the next size up she is she is swimming in them! What's a girl to do?
I overheard a conversation Katherine had with her friend the other day. Her friend asked her mom if she could go to Taco Bell. Katherine immediately got inflamed and said, "No! I want to talk to Belle!" An argument ensued... and I laughed so hard.
Some of Geoff's coworkers came up for a barbecue. They are really great guys. They dote on Katherine so it makes me happy. It will be fun when they are married and have kids of their own.
I love our family.
- Katherine loves her daddy. Lately she has been very concerned about where to find him when she wants him. When he leaves for work, she walks him to the garage and then runs to the front door to watch him drive away.
- On September 3o, Katherine finally learned how to swim! At first she would let go only if I was directly underneath her so she could grab my neck when she got scared... I felt like a mother dolphin with her baby! But her confidence grew quickly and soon she progressed to swim beside me, in a circle, to swim to me from 5 ft away. We met a retired couple in the pool who had just moved here and (because Katherine makes friends SO easily) they joined us and Katherine swam to each one of us, swimming in a triangle! I was amazed! A detail I don't want to forget: Katherine arches up her arms and legs just like Spiderman when she jumps off the side of the pool.
- We go to the book store and the library every week. I am constantly trying to increase her interest in her books and last week we hit a break through: At Barnes & Noble after story time, Katherine pulled a book of the shelf, sat in my lap and asked me to read it to her... the entire book! and then reached for another and another and didn't try to take over the reading once! We read for two hours! Geoff took her and had the same experience. Now at bedtime, she is actually letting us read to her! I'm so excited I can't stand it!
- We listened to General Conference on the radio this year since we don't have cable and it's uncomfortable to sit for so many hours at the stake center. It was WONDERFUL! Katherine and I just worked on crafts and building blocks as we listened to the speakers. Geoff had to work and joined us when he could. The messages this session seemed to focus on how to be happy, how to heal from addiction, why we are blessed to have a prophet. It answered so many prayers. I have been going back to the church website to read them and I can't wait for the Conference edition of the Ensign.
- Last week was B-I-Z-Z-Y! I got to teach the Family Life Merit Badge to the scouts, the letter "F" to Katherine's joy school and how to make rolls for our Relief Society Super Saturday activity. The scouts were a lot of fun. I was amazed at how quickly we flew through all my "F" activities with the joy schoolers - Flag, Fishing, Five Little Speckled Frogs song with a flannel board, Family, Facial Expressions, making cut out Faces to paste onto to popsicle sticks... (My friend teaches pre-school and let me raid her closet!) The rolls turned out well, but earlier I had forgotten two things: milk needed in the recipe and the keys to get into the church... We sat outside for 30 minutes waiting for someone to bail us out because we all live 20 minutes from the church... Ugh, why am I so absent minded?? Even if I put a post-it note on my forehead to remind myself of something I need to bring, I wouldn't remember it if I didn't walk by a mirror!!
- Tonight I did something bold! I decided to cut Katherine's hair. I know it was impulsive, but I invented all these safety measures for myself (i.e. I will only take an inch off so in case I mess up, it won't be too hard for the stylist to fix it). It didn't turn out half bad considering that she didn't stop moving once! Don't most kids behave better for other adults? She did not do that when I took her to my salon last time, but I really wanted to save $10... I will take a picture when I'm confident it's the best I can do. But I think it looks good!
_ I finished the Hunger Games series if anyone wants to talk about it??
- I picked her up from nursery after church one Sunday and her teacher told me that Katherine convinced a boy, Brandon, in their class to dance with her. He had his hand at her waist and her hand on his shoulder and they were pretty good! So the teacher decided to teach them how to turn under holding hands and Katherine was in heaven, kept calling Brandon her prince.. !
So today we had Jess come over to play and I turned on the radio and the two of them go to town! Now, I know my daughter and I know what's going through her dreamy little mind. As you watch her, you can see that she is trying to lift her leg in an arabesque like Barbie does in the Nutcracker and she has a gooey-eyed look like Belle in Beauty in the Beast and then she tries to do the turn that her nursery leader showed her... and Jess is just having a merry old time! Such a good sport!
We had a little Family Home evening on temples this week. When I told her that the Lord lives at the temple, she emphatically declared "NO WAY!!!" Good thing the Ensign this month is all about temples and there will be plenty of opportunities to teach her.
Katherine climbed into bed with us at 5am and, miracle of miracles, ended sleeping until 7:20!!! Lately she's been waking before 6am... When she finally stirred, she began our routine where she hands me my house clothes, puts on my "Harry Potter" glasses, and says "Mom, I know it's hard..."reassuringly. Well, this morning, she looks over at Geoff sleeping and asks me, "What's that?... That's my daddy. He's my prince!"
We are really looking forward to General Conference this weekend. I love being able to set aside the world for an entire 2 days and listen to the words of a living prophet. Revelation is the most wonderful thing! I'm so thankful that the Lord loves enough to have current, inspired men and women who can guide us through these tough times. Have a wonderful weekend!
I've mentioned before that Katherine does not like to be read to, but likes to tell you what the story should be about... So here's a taste.
Our friend, Sally, invited us the to Wells Fargo history museum downtown this week. The Bank, you ask? Yes, of course! We had a blast! Plenty of stuff for the kids to do and interesting for the adults to learn the history of how the bank helped to develop the West.
Katherine kept trying to ride the horse... She loved the old style phone and scale to weigh the gold.
The cowgirl inside bursting to come out...
Could be the face of the new president one day!!
Too funny... She looks like she's in pain...
Sally, I just couldn't help but post this one! We, mothers, had tried to get the girls to give each other a hug for this picture. They normally give hugs all the time, but for this picture all we could get was an air hug! They wouldn't touch each other! And I love how happy Olivia looks even with her eyes shut!
I took these pictures to show off my mom's roses at her house in Prescott. They looked absolutely beautiful!
Seconds later, Katherine wanted to show Geoff her roses and tripped on the stone steps going up... Major bloody scrapes and no one can play the martyr like she does... It was a performance not to be missed!
Are you noticing the flower motif yet? Even her legos are not overlooked. Special thanks to my friend, Tracy, for the new dress up clothes. Katherine is entralled!
Katherine was on a roll one night, trying to stall us before going to bed and she started telling the most elaborate story. Of course, by the time we got the camera going, she got completely distracted and this was what we got...
Geoff has reminded me several times that the last time I updated the blog was over a month ago. So, in honor of my husband, I post this next video and say "Anything for you, honey..."
Special K update:
- runs up to every car door & gate and yells, "Alohomora," the spell that opens locks in Harry Potter
- has had more accidents, falls, scrapes, cuts in the past two weeks than she has had in her entire life. She refuses to let me take off her Hello Kitty Bandaids, not because she loves Hello Kitty so much, but because she figured out that pulling the bandaid can hurt.
- cannot pass up an opportunity to tell a story, most of which you cannot understand but usually involves kicking and screaming, bleeding and bandaids, going to the doctor, and "Mommy says no! Daddy says yes!"
- loves to invent new stall tactics for preventing going to bed: last night she tried to order Geoff and I to put our hands on our hearts, stand & balance one foot on top of the other, close our eyes and jump, and then say the "Ledge" [of Allegiance]... Should I wonder what she's learning in joy school??
- LOVES to swim. Ever since I realized that this girl is not going to under the water unless I do, this girl cannot swim long enough to be satisfied. She can float, dive down to touch the bottom, retrieve diving sticks, but she cannot let go of my fingers - one of these days she's going to take my pinky finger right off! At times I try to pry my fingers away, but it sends her into hysterics and a major panic attack. She's so close and she's going to kick herself when she realizes how much easier it is to swim when you can use both your hands.
- I cannot get this kid to keep her hair out of her face. The moment we get into the car she takes out the ponytails I have just wrestled her to the ground to put in. It drives me insane. I've gotten her conditioner, detangler spray, everything I can think of to try to make her hurt her less when I brush it, but I really think she just prefers her hair in her face.
- is OBSESSED with twirling. Both Geoff and I get so dizzy, she can do it forever, especially while dancing to "Dawn," again and again and again
- She has been waking up at 5:30 every morning to see if it's okay that she crawl into bed with me... Normally I am not a fan of the Family Bed but these days, if it allows me to sleep a little bit longer... I try to milk it at least another half hour... Yes, she's an early riser.
- She started to not let me read to her again. SHE has to read it aloud and tell me what's happening in each picture. The same with singing her to sleep. I used to think maybe the sound of my voice soothing and that's why she wanted me to sing the same songs over and over, but no... She has learned enough of the words that she wants to sing and I am required to cheer her at the end of each Disney song. Same order every night: Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, Mulan. She has completely rejected all primary and nursery songs...
We had a fabulous trip to Washington to visit my family. Geoff, unfortunately, couldn't come with us but he was able to go home to Detroit for Jake's burial. I am so grateful for our families.You make life worth it!
We took a much needed family getaway for two days this week. It's about a 6hr drive from Phoenix and totally worth the effort.
The weather was 70 degrees and sunny. A little cold to go swimming but perfect to wade in the waves and dig in the sand.
We had not trouble getting this one to go into the water. She seemed to know exactly what to do.
The view from our window from the Shorebreak Hotel
Katherine was very excited about the hotel. As soon as we arrived she squealed and tucked herself into one the fluffy white beds... Since she never wants to go to bed, I had to document the moment...
Wrestling on the bed while Geoff chivalrously brought up our bags from the car
I love this girl!
After a fabulous afternoon on the beach, we cleaned up and took ourselves to dinner at a place called BJ's. Katherine behaved pretty well and the food was excellent.
Afterward, we read stories and tucked Katherine in. Needless to say, she was asleep within 5 minutes of putting her down.
Her first time going into the water
