i love you brett

thank you for being my prince charming

and giving me my happily ever after and helping me write my favorite love story.

 xoxo, Kate

friday favorites...

favorite laugh (excuse the title):

favorite manicure:

favorite tip:

favorite decor idea (vintage vases):

favorite quote:

favorite outfit:

favorite color trend:

happy friday everyone :)

let's try this again...

okay so last week, Wednesday to be exact, i was supposed to blog about my "things i love Thursdays" because i was going out of town Thursday in the a.m. well, it just so happened that my mom's internet (i am currently living in her basement) was out the ENTIRE day on Wednesday. not just for a few hours...the entire 24 hour period.

but, that isn't even my excuse. i was packing the entire day for our vacation, and, if you have ever taken a baby on a vacation before, you know what i mean when i say that packing for them is a nightmare! i felt like his entire stash of clothing, diapers, food and toys were tucked in my massive bag. and i had never anticipated how long it would take to pack all of Dylan's stuff and my stuff. wow. i am going to remember that the next time so i start packing like a week before we leave, not the day before. but, it was SO worth it. the trip was fabulous. warm, sunny, palm trees, junk food, being with my favorite girls, constant breakdowns of laughter, games every night...it was amazing. i will blog about it once i get the pics from my sis-in-law and madre since i didn't have my camera.

oh, and another thing. for those of you who even read this, i have thought about it, and "Friday Favorites" sounds a lot more catchy then "things i love Thursday." so, i am switching to that. every Friday i will post my favorite things throughout the week, or just some of my favorite things period. same concept, different name. got it? mmkay :)

one last random note in this post. i am super excited to get this on my doorstep tomorrow:

yes, this baby is the newest addition to our family. we couldn't be happier! okay, i couldn't be happier! i don't think Brett or Dylan really care...but they will, once i cook them up delicious treats and goodies in it! i have wanted one for so long but didn't want to spend the money because they are flipping expensive, but Amazon.com is having an AMAZING deal on them today!! this puppy is normally $269, well, i got it for $159, with free shipping. yep, it's a pretty sweet deal. 

See you Friday :)

guess who got her craft on...

this girl! can you believe it?! Brett was sick for like 4 days last week, and i wouldn't let him come near me or Dylan because if you have a baby, you know that having them be sick is pretty much H on earth, so he slept away from me, couldn't kiss me or Dylan, or even touch us. pretty much he couldn't come closer than within a 10 ft radius of me or the babe. it royally sucked. and Saturday happened to be his last day of being the sickness carrier, but since he was still sick with his super nasty viral cold, i decided that it was the day to start getting my craft on since i couldn't do anything with Brett anyways except sit across the room from him. i have been saying that i have wanted to start crafting for a loooong time now, and i finally went, bought my supplies (word to the wise: NEVER go to Hobby Lobby on a Saturday. seriously, it was a complete madhouse) and came home and made a little something i am super proud of. i found it on Pinterest, of course, and it looked super easy, and it was!

behold my first (but not last ) homemade craft: 

what ya think?! not too bad for my first time at it eh? i also made a lace-flower headband which i will show in my next post. if you want the tutorial for this pom-pom necklace...you can find it here yeah i am going to be making one in a few more colors...i just can't get enough of it :) yay for crafting!! 

Dylan is now beckoning me to go get him from his crib so until next time :)

things i love thursday...

as part of my new resolutions (see post below this one), i wanted to start blogging at least once a week. and i figured out a good way to guarantee that i do. every Thursday i am going to blog about things i love :) and it's going to be called...wait for it..."things i love Thursday." kinda catchy eh? there are no boundaries here, so if you don't like to hear about mushy things or about makeup and hair products or about babies or about anything awesome and amazing, you should probably avoid my blog from now on when Thursdays come around. some "things i love Thursdays" are going to have quite a few things i have loved throughout the week, others will only have one or two. every week will be different according to my mood and how much time i have. i am kinda excited about this!! am i a little too excited? maybe. but, i can't wait to share what i love when i post every Thursday. it's gonna be awesome!
they are going to start next week, and they are actually going to be posted on Wednesday next week because i will be going out of town on Thursday morning. yep, the babe and i, along with my madre, my sissy and my sis-in-law are all flying to Vegas for a night then going to Lake Havasu for a few days. i know, hard life right? :) so yes, look for that next Wednesday then starting the week after they will be every Thursday. kinda fun and different i think...at least for my blog. i'm lookin' forward to it :)

oh, random thought. i chopped my bangs last night. i couldn't help myself. i have seen A LOT of cute bangs lately. we were watching Bride Wars (if you haven't seen it, go rent it or borrow it from me. it's one of my favorite chick flicks) and Kate Hudson's hair and bangs are adorable in that movie! i will prove it:

her hair makes me want to go back blonde. but i won't do it. too drastic. but, since my bangs were almost to my chin i figured it was time for a change. and since dying my hair would be too much, and since i have been obsessing over Kate's bangs for some time, chopping the bangs it was! here is a little pic to show you the end result...

i hate when people take pictures like this but i took a bunch doing the whole 'hold my phone out in front of me, snap the pic, turn it around to see what it looks like'...and none of the 100 i took looked any good at all. so i gave into the whole take-a-pic-in-your-mirror thing (and if you were wondering why my sweater is 7x too big its because i'm in my pj's). you will most likely never see me take another pic like this again from me, and yes, you're welcome :) we will see if i still love doing them and having them in my face in a week or two from now. probably will. hopefully i will, it's kinda hard to go back once they've been chopped. but, i think they are keepers, especially since the Mr. is loving them :)

twenty-twelve resolutions...

resolutions. i have a love slash hate relationship with them. i love that i set out to make new goals for myself each year, but i hate that i usually end up making such massive goals that they never even get thought of after they get written on paper. so, this year, i decided to change it up for myself. i decided to make resolutions that were actually achievable and that i wouldn't just throw aside two days after writing them down. and i must say, so far i have been doing better than i expected. a lot better, actually. like, i am achieving most of them except-for-the-ones-that-start-later-in-the-year better. i think i need to have a little more faith in myself...i wish i wasn't surprised that i have actually been following my own goals. lame. i will work on that. but for now, i will just share with you what i wrote down, since me trying to take a picture of my written resolutions only resulted in the amazing shots above :)

they are as follows:
- exercise 5x a week doing 3 days of Pilates, 2 days Cardio  (i've been rocking this one!!)
- eat healthier and drink more water
- make personal scripture study part of my daily routine
- personal prayers are vital both AM & PM
- give more compliments
- cook dinner each night for my man
- read to Dylan everyday
- be more selfless
- go on an amazing vacation this summer with the Mr. and the little one
- buy a house!!
- get ready every day (this means not just getting out of my pj's, but actually do my hair and makeup)
- keep practicing photography and Photoshop
- date night with the hubs once a week
- go to the temple at least once a month, try to make it twice though
- blog at least 1x per week
- remind myself that i have bought 10 pairs of shoes and boots in the last 2 months and that no matter how cute or cheap any other pair of shoes might be, that is enough.

and there you have it. i really have been doing really well. i am not perfect at them yet, but i will get there. being home all day long, i don't have an excuse.
oh, and please feel free to love the new header on the ol' blog. i am just a tad obsessed with it :)

six & seven months...

oh man. moving just really through me out of the loop in every aspect in my life...including keeping up on my little babe's stats every month. well, most of you are probably rejoicing because it probably gets boring to read month after month, but for me, i was sad that i had missed his six month date. real sad. crying like my husband had just lost his job sad. i have been so good to post Dylan's stats each month right on the exact date of him turning one-month older, and last month i failed. moving...i blame you! well, i got over it and decided that since i can't change it...who cares. combining two months stats isn't the end of my world. and, like i said before, it probably makes the people who actually read my blog happy they got a month off from reading it last month.

now...doesn't this little man's facials just melt your heart?

okay, newbies for the last couple months:

-Dylan is over a half a year old...say WHAT?! i won't go into how fast time is going and blah blah blah...but really, time is flying! STOP! i want to rewind and play from when i was in the delivery room and first saw this little man. pretty please?

-Dylan is now a sitting baby. not a supported sitter. an actual sitter. for about 5 minutes then he gets lazy and falls over. but, he does it. and he is great at it. you can tell he is proud of himself when he is doing it, it's written all over that cute little face.

-he is a pro-roller-over and a pro at scooting himself right out of his bouncer. if he is sick of being in there, he will scoot himself down so he is laying on the floor in front of it, then he rolls his way around the room to whatever he is trying to get at. it's a very long process and takes a while, but, he succeeds! just don't crawl yet buddy.

-he still eats formula for every meal. sometimes, if we get him at a good time, he will eat banana's or rice cereal mixed with apple juice. he did suck on a strawberry yesterday and LOVED it! he also loves to suck on apples. but peas and pickles...in my dreams.

-he loves Christmas wrapping paper and the boxes his toys come in more than the actual toys themselves.

-he sits in his baths and just splashes. with both hands. he is such a water baby! takes after his mama :)

-he is looking a lot more like me when i was little than brett. he looks nothing like brett. we watched home videos and i was about 3 in them, and it freaked me out how much of Dylan i saw in those videos. i admit, i love it.

-he LOVES being put down for a nap. i love this fact! we have a ritual where i make a bottle, take him and lay him in his blanket and he HAS to have his bottle in his hands sucking on it before i start swaddling him or else he is going to die. seriously. then we turn on his sound machine that plays the sounds of the ocean or a babbling brook and he falls asleep. this happens about every 2 hours throughout the day.

-he is going to bed at about 7pm right now...and sleeps until 7am the next morning. this little guy loves his sleep.

-his top two teeth are comin' in. he is going to be a little bunny-rabbit here pretty soon. his bottom two are completely in.

-he loves to play with his mama and dada. we dance with him and tickle him and sing to him and he just laughs and laughs. love at it's finest.

-he doesn't have a pediatrician down here yet...i gotta get on that.

-he prefers laying on his back over his stomach...tummy time is getting much better but still doesn't like it too much.

-he is starting to get a little clingy. if i leave the room unless he is going down for a nap...he is not very pleased. but it's not just me, he does this with anyone if they are the only one in the room with him.

-this kid sure knows how to make explosions. seriously, i don't even understand where he gets the force to make such bombs. it's nuts!

-he is constantly sticking out his tongue. this little fad started a few days ago. but it's adorable. and if he isn't doing it at the time, if he sees you doing it, he will imitate you.

-he loves watching Disney movies, especially The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. but, he is terrified of Ursula in the little mermaid. he will be happy as a clam during "Under the Sea" just trying to sing with it and getting really excited...then it gets to Ursula 2 minutes later and he is screaming bloody murder and gets the most terrified look on his little face. this has happened on more than one occasion so i know it just wasn't that he was tired or something. so sad.

i think i got most of it. seriously, he really has me wrapped around his tiny little finger. with one little smile, i am at the surrender of whatever this little ball of drool wants or needs. don't worry, i am totally cool with this. we have a bond, you see. a very strong one. i am with him literally 24/7, and i don't mind. he makes me the happiest and luckiest mom in the world. yeah, my life is pretty picture-perfect with this little man in it (and my husband of course, but this post is about Dylan so that's why he wasn't included in that statement).

first update: moving...

so, here i am a week after i said that i would start updating. does that give you an idea of how crazy busy things have been? it's weird to be busy. not that i wasn't before, but now that Brett is working all day everyday, i am pretty busy playing with and taking care of the little one, paying bills, running errands, doing stuff with friends, working out (yes, i am on day 8 in a row minus weekends...nice eh?), cooking dinner and all the other random things that come up in my day. i am quite enjoying it so far to be honest. i haven't really had any down-time to get bored or wish that i was more busy, so i am grateful for that. hopefully it stays that way. i think it should, since i already have a pretty good routine going. cross your fingers.

and now, the update. we have moved. obviously most of you knew that. but, it was a big deal so i must document it. we moved about a month ago, and it was pretty much the biggest pain in the butt we have ever had to deal with, for more than the obvious of packing up and moving all our crap out of our place (by the way, moving freaking sucks. once we get into a house, i am never moving again unless we get a moving service. biggest pain ever). our landlord was a massive pain in the behind, and, a very very long story short, kept our entire deposit ($550 people) and made us fork over another $250 because of stupid 'late fees' she had apparently acquired over our 18 months of living there (without ever letting us know) because, apparently, our rent wasn't on time and for each day it was late, she charged 30 bucks. yeah, we were pissed. we fought it, and she says that she gave us a 'deal' and wasn't making us pay the entire amount, but whatever. she is basically Satan's mistress, and can go to H. yeah, if you couldn't tell, we are still a tad miffed about it. it's hard not to be. i am not to the point where i need counseling about how angry i am, but if i keep typing about it i might get there, so let's move on...

it took about a week to unpack all our stuff and we are now happily settled in my mother's basement. it's quite cozy. Dylan is happy sleeping and napping in my mom's exercise room in his crib, and we have the one bedroom in the basement that happens to be right next door to him. most of our stuff is still boxed up and sitting in my sister's basement (thank you Cami and Brandon!!) and so luckily we aren't paying for a storage unit. i like being here, it's nice having my mom right upstairs and it's nice living rent-free for a little bit. and we LOVE being in Salt Lake! i seriously got sooo sick of Logan, i was getting to the point where i would've moved to flipping India to get out of there. i don't miss it even a little bit. 

i know i have lots more to update about but i just checked 2 off my list of things to update on. yay! more updates to come in next day or two.

i will leave you with these little goodies that brett and i took tonight...because, of course, we are awesome and goofing around with a photobooth app on my tablet is just how we roll. enjoy :)

I'm still here...

I cant believe its almost been a month since i last blogged! my how time flies. i will soon be posting about 9 posts full of what we have been up to the lastmonth which include but are not limited too:

- moving
- dylan turning 6 months (now almost 7 months)
- christmas
- moving in
- new years
- new years resolutions
- brett started his new job
- me being an official stay at home mom
- my usual random rantings

yep thats a lot of stuff to catch up. i guess thats what happens when you decide to move in the already craziest month of the year, you try to get all unpacked before Christmas all the while spending every second with your little family before the husband starts his full-time job. now that the rush is over, i willbe posting again. so for those of you out there who care, i will be postingprobably starting tonight or tomorrow...we will see how much free time i get from the little sitting-up baby.

loves

ana + will

this was my first-ever photoshoot...and it was a blast! these two are seriously hilarious. we were laughing pretty much the entire time. they are adorable together and i am so glad they were so willing to help me get some good practice and be patient with me posing them and switching my camera settings constantly!! thanks guys! you did awesome!

thanks again guys!!


(ps, sorry for all the different editing techniques...i found a lot of actions and was trying them out. these are practice runs after all)