Long Overdue

In July Koryn and I headed to Coeur d' Alene, ID for a reunion with my mom's side of the family. It was very different traveling with Koryn by myself this time. We spent almost an entire day on planes to get there. That was interesting to say the least :) Once we arrived we had a very busy, but fun week.

Here's all the siblings together.


We were able to get together with most of the aunts, uncles and cousins


My mom enjoyed being able to spen a week with both of her grandbabies.


Koryn really enjoyed getting to see her cousin for the first time. They had a great time together!


We spent a day playing at the beach at Lake Coeur d' Alene. Koryn wasn't too fond of the pebble sand, but enjoyed the water.





We spent another day at Silverwood (local amusement park) and had pictures taken of the babies. How cute is this!?


Koryn is getting bigger everyday. She now pulls up on everything and can walk if we hold her hands. As of this last weekend, she now has 11 teeth! She decided she would get all 4 1-year old molars in the same day. The funny thing was I had no idea she was teething until she bit my finger and I felt the teeth. haha! She also just turned 1 (pictures to come this weekend). We took a trip down to Myrtle Beach, SC for a few days the week before her birthday. It was way to short and so much fun.

We spent some time walking around the outlet mall and the outdoor mall called "Broadway at the Beach" One of Koryn's favorite things to do was to feed the fish. I was afraid she would try to eat the fish food, but she picked up pretty quickly how to pick up the food and drop it in the water. She would pick the food up 1 piece at a time and then hang her arm over the edge and open her hand or twist her fingers until it fell out. It was so cute to watch!



We spent 1/2 a day down at the beach. We would have like to have stayed longer, but it was getting pretty windy. Koryn didn't seem to mind though and started crying when she realized we were leaving.


Dad built a sandcastle and Koryn helped destroy it.


She also loved walking on the beach and would watch the waves as they came up and went over her feet.



We also visited the Ripley's Aquarium. Koryn loves anything to do with animals and this was no exception. She loved it!

She thought this touch tank for the stingrays was pretty cool.




She LOVED this touch tank. As much as she loves animals, she loves water even more.




She splashed so much that she scared all the horseshoe crabs away from her area. haha! When Justin decided she was done splashing both him and Koryn were pretty wet!





So cute!


This one is a little blurry, but one of my favorite pictures from the aquarium.


We took Koryn to a pumkin patch this year. She was not too sure about it at first, but once she saw Justin and I touching the pumpkins she was fine with it.

Here's just a preview, but to see the rest of the pictures click here.


We also took pictures of Koryn in her Halloween costume. She was the cutest fairy princess if you ask me. :) Again, click here to see the rest.


Due to bad weather, Koryn's only trick-or-treating this year was at the mall. We met up with a family from church. It was crowded and crazy, but we had a great time!



Enjoy until next time!

April/May

This is going to be a post with lots of pictures.

Justin and I dyed Easter eggs for Koryn :) Here she is with the eggs I made for her.


Here's Koryn in her adorable Easter dress!


My mom made each of us our own Easter baskets and I always loved getting it out each year and looking at it. I decided I to do this with my kids so I made Koryn a basket this year. Here's her basket with all of her goodies.


It turned out so cute and I love it! Here's a close up of the flower on the front.


Here's a picture of the little flower that is on each side.


Here's Justin's basket with all of his goodies. I made this basket for him our first Easter together.


We got our sod put in. Here's the front yard

We also finally got our fence put up. Here's Justin helping put up the cross bars.


Here's all of the planks up. We cut the top of the fence in a rainbow pattern, but I haven't taken a picture of that yet. I'll get one once we get the fence stained.


Here's a picture of the copper tops that we put on all the posts. You can get an idea of what the rainbow pattern looks like.


While the guys worked on the fence I took Koryn out to try out swimming. How cute is this swimsuit?


We got Koryn her very own tiny swimming pool. It was basically like a bath :)


We started Koryn on solid foods about 1 month ago. She loves rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, pears, bananas and apples. I thought we get some funny faces out of her, but we didn't get a single one! She loves it all!


Koryn is such a ham in front of the camera! How's this for a cute picture?


Justin was brave enough to do a Mother's Day project with Koryn involving paint. Here's some pictures of the process.





She looks so cute and I loved my artwork!

We also celebrated Justin's birthday. We had a football themed surprise party. Our friends the Allens and the Cooks came to celebrate.

Here's the cake. Yummy!


We also did a pinata. This was partly for Justin's entertainment, but also for our friends' daughters.


Sadly, we STILL have candy from the pinata and it's already been 2 weeks!

Justin and I also celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. Has it really been 5 years? We got a babysitter for Koryn (her 2nd ever!) and she did so well! We went out to dinner at the Melting Pot. It was sooooo good!


For Memorial Day we got together with some friends for a BBQ. Too bad it kinda rained that day. Oh well, it was still fun. Here's Koryn all decked out in red, white and blue.

The other day Justin went to change Koryn's diaper and she came back looking like this.


Is it really that hard to dress a kid the right way? haha!

She loves to watch Baby Einstein movies. I usually get some from the library, but I haven't gone lately so we just watch the short clips on YouTube. Look at how happy she is! She was laughing at some animals that were on the screen right before I took the picture.


She loves tummy time and she just started working on getting up on her knees. She doesn't stay up too long so it's hard to get a picture. This is the best one I've gotten so far.


Her other new trick is to scoot backwards. She usually finds herself in situations like this.


She'll go backwards and turn at the same time and somehow always manages to get under the couches or stuck against the leg of the coffee table. I have a feeling it won't be too long before she's crawling. Where has my baby gone?

This is how she fell asleep the other night.

Is that not too cute!?

These are just some cute pictures I've taken lately.




Here's a video of her waving. It's so cute! She's kinda starting to figure it out.

Click To Play

You HAVE to watch this one. It's adorable! She has the cutest laugh! (Not that I'm biased or anything) :)

Click To Play

When Dad's In Charge

I know it's only been a week, so why am I updating? Because I have more cute pictures of course!

I can't believe that my little girl is 5 months old already! She's getting so big!


She is starting to roll from front to back more often and is getting so close to rolling from her back to her front. She usually gets stuck in this position though.


She fell asleep in her bouncer again. Too cute!


She loves holding things while she sleeps. From stuffed animals in her crib, toys in her carseat, and now the beads on her bouncer.


You may have noticed in the picture above that she was sleeping in quite a weird position. I was wondering where her other hand was and I discovered this.


Haha! How can that be comfortable?

Now for the point of the title of this post. Over the weekend I let Justin feed Koryn her rice cereal. I think these pictures explain everything. :)


Don't I look cute?


Wiping the cereal all over!



Looking at Dad (the person responsible for this cute mess!)

February/March

February and March have been so busy! I haven't had time to post about our many adventures! February 14th we left to go visit Justin's family. As always, Koryn was an angel on the plane. How cute is this picture!

This was probably the 2nd time ever that she found her thumb. It didn't last too long, but I happened to catch a picture of it.

The first leg of our flight was pretty empty, so we were able to spread out. Here's how Koryn spent most of the flight.

While in Oregon we were able to visit most of the family. Here's a picture of us with Grandma and Grandpa Bell and Aunt Tess from Justin's Mom's family.

We also had a little down time :)

The next day, Aunt Barb and cousins Wyatt and Wade came to visit. Here's Koryn with Aunt Barb.

Here's the crazy cousins!

While in Oregon we were also able to go visit the Waterfront Park and Carousel. I was excited to take Koryn on her first carousel ride. She loved it! We rode on a stationary horse, but she was totally amazed watching the horses in front of her move up and down.

After riding the carousel we went out to eat and Koryn got to spend a little time with Grandpa.

Our week was so busy, but we were able to squeeze in some family pictures. Justin's dad is an amazing photographer and I was so excited to get some pictures taken. Here are a few of my favorites.

Koryn also got to spend some time with Grandma Eva. Here is one of the few good pictures I got.

Most of Grandma Eva's pictures look like this. Where's Grandma? haha!

While in Oregon I was so excited to get Koryn ears pierced! I know there's a lot of debate about getting a baby's ears pierced so think what you want, but I love it! Here's a picture right before. She looks worried, but she was intently watching the lady prepare the earrings.


Here's a picture right after. The screaming didn't last too long. I gave her a bottle right after this picture and she stopped crying.

Don't they look so cute?

We also got to see cousin Haylee!

One last picture with Grandma and Grandpa Beasley.

We had a very busy, but amazing week in Oregon. I love being in North Carolina, but I wish we lived closer to both sides of the family.

Right before going to Oregon, Koryn (at almost 4 months old) finally outgrew her newborn clothes! Here's some of her latest outfits!

I love these gold shoes!

How cute are these jeans?

Go Cougars!!!

The week after after we got home Koryn rolled from her front to her back! I was so excited! She did it quite a few times and to both sides! However, it appears that the rolling was a one day thing. She loves being on her stomach so much that she gets mad when she rolls onto her back. She's done it a few more times, but not too many.

March 4th we had Koryn's 4 month doctor's appointment. She now weighs 14 lbs and 6.5 ounces, which puts her in the 95th percentile and she's 26 inches long, which is the 75th percentile. I was amazed at how big she is! Who would have ever thought that I would have such a big kid!? At this appointment the doctor checked her mouth and told me he could see her teeth! They are still way down in the gums, but you can see the white lines! We're not expecting them any time soon, but they should be here before her 6 month appointment.

On our way home from the doctor's I stopped by the store and bought some rice cereal. I figured it's a good time to start introducing it. That night Justin and I tried feeding it to her and she hated it. As soon as it touched her tounge she started screaming! Oh well, we'll try again later.

Another milestone we hit was sleeping through the night! The first night was March 6th and I woke up at 5:30 and realized I hadn't heard from her yet! I checked on her and she was fine so I went back to bed. She slept until 7:30! She slept through the night again the next night. However, the next two nights were horrible! She was up 3-4 times each night! Luckily that only lasted 2 nights and she has been sleeping through the night since then! I love it!

On March 14th we had a new addition to the family. We got a boxer puppy named Roxy. At least I had almost a week of sleeping through the night, right? Roxy wasn't too bad. We only had a couple of nights at home before she slept through the night as well. Roxy is a pretty good puppy. She loves Koryn and will sniff and lick her to death! Koryn will tolerate it for a little while, and she lets us know when she's had enough.


Koryn now has enough hair for a ponytail! I love it! She has also started hamming it up for the camera. As soon as I pull it out she starts smiling!


She's also found her toes! They are her new favorite toy.


As you can see my life has been pretty crazy, but apparently not crazy enough because my yard now looks like this.


We tore up our entire yard and now have sod and the beginning of a fence. Our yard (if you can call it that) was all weeds, so we now have sod and we will soon have a fence so that the dog can run around and eventually Koryn can enjoy it as well.

After trying rice cereal every few days and Koryn still not too sure about it, she finally likes it! Here's some pictures of her finally enjoying the yummy food!

My turn!

Much to my dismay, I went into check on Koryn the other night and found this.


Don't get me wrong, I think it's cute when kids suck their thumb. I just didn't want my kid to suck her thumb. She took the pacifier for a long time and I was happy because I think it would be easier to break the habit of a pacifier than a thumb. For a few combined reasons, including not knowing how to put the pacifier in her mouth by herself, and two lovely bottom teeth coming in, I think I might give in to the thumb. I've tried during the day to make sure she has her pacifier, but she usually spits it out and finds her thumb. What do you think? Should I just give in to the thumb?

Anyways, our lives are pretty crazy and hopefully now that I've caught up I'll be able to keep current. Fingers crossed, right?

Finally!

So I finally have time for an update! Things have been pretty busy here, as you can tell by my lack of posting. A lot has been happening lately. Koryn is now 3 months old. At her 2 month appointment she was 24 in. long (90th percentile again) and 10 lbs 12 oz (50th percentile...still). She still a long skinny baby. She is just now starting to grow out of her newborn clothes. It's so sad! Here's one of my many favorite newborn outfits. How cute are the shoes?


January 18th was her blessing day. Grandma and Grandpa Gallup and Grandma Sterner were all able to come out for the special day.


She was adorable in her blessing dress. Who knew that the Distribution Center would have such a cute dress?



It also snowed in January. We got 2-3 inches of snow overnight and so the next day we got all bundled up and went out to play. Here's her first snowball. Her nose is so red, but so cute!


Our mini snowman.


Our little snow angel!


She is smiling a ton and i just can't get enough of it!


How can you resist this?


This girl has soooo many bows and I didn't know what to do with them. So I got a little creative and made this. I love it because it can hang in her closet and it's so easy to find the bow I want.

Here's a view of the whole thing with all the bows on it.

A close up of the hanger


Close up of the bow


I think it turned out pretty good!

We've also been doing more tummy time lately. Sometimes she likes it and other times not so much. Here's one of the times in between :)


She's discovered her hands and now they are ALWAYS in her mouth. She hasn't eally discovered her thumb yet, but that's fine by me!


How pretty are these blue eyes! So far they've stayed really blue and I think they're gonna stay!


We have brought out a new toy for her. She loves to bounce and it has a motion setting where it'll play music when she bounces. It's great! Apparently it's hard work though.



That's all for now! We are going to Oregon in 1 week, so there will be lots more pictures and stories to come!

Cheese!

So our little munchkin has started smiling! She first smiled in response to something when her Grandpa Gallup was whistling at her. She smiling more often now and I love it! This picture was taken at the airport while waiting for our luggage when we got back from Houston.

Quick Update

Sorry it's been so long since I last updated! Koryn is doing well, but can be very demanding. She wants to be held all the time and refuses to take naps! She's now almost 2 months old! At her 1 month doctor's appointment she weighed 8 lbs. 15 ounces (50th percentile) and measured 21 3/4 inches long (75th percentile). She got 1 shot and cried for about 5 minutes afterward. Not too bad!

We spent Christmas vacation in Houston with my family. We flew down and Koryn slept the entire time on the flight there and on the way back. I was worried about the flying, but it turned out well. Vacation with my family was so nice! Everybody loved seeing Koryn and she loved all the attention! Unfortunately I don't have pictures. They are all on my parents' and sisters' cameras so when I get copies I'll post some. We had a wonderful Christmas. Koryn was so spoiled! She got tons of adorable clothes (including some from my parents' visit to China).

As part of my New Year's Resolution (yes I made one) I've started another blog. The address is http://myjourneythrough09.blogspot.com/ and it's mostly just for me. Feel free to read it if you want though! Also, a Gallup family blog has been started (http://gallupfam.blogspot.com/) but there are no guarantees how often it'll be updated. This was just a quick update since it's time for Koryn to eat and she is currently screaming at me! Happy New Year's and enjoy 2009!