Cutest little boy!!!!

These funny pictures were all Amos! Kirk & I only contributed by smiling and laughing! He is a smart boy!

From 3 to 4 to 3!

This was the way we announced the pregnancy of our second baby! Hooray!! Our baby was to be born on Feb 26th 2013, but after a long struggle for the momma, our sweet baby didn't make it and I experienced a natural miscarriage at 10 weeks.

Gratefully I have begone the healing process and am feeling a little better every day! I still have some womanly issues I am working through, and I still feel weak, light headed and tired most of the day. But I have gained a deeper gratitude for physical Pain. This is a memory I embrace and feel thankful to add to my experience here on Earth. We were able to see our baby through Ultra Sound multiple times and to witness his or her sweet heart beat strong. Because of this, we know our second little one is still ours. xoxo

Thank you to my wonderful family, my beautiful mother-in-law, nephew, visiting teachers, friends, neighbors and ward members who helped my family! Especially my mother who cleaned, scrubbed my bathrooms, did my laundry, washed sheets, babysat, did my grocery shopping, cleaned out my fridge, took out my garbages, stocked my freezer with meals, vacuumed, cooked, did my dishes, cleaned my room...... everything! For 9 days! I love you and appreciate you all so SO much.

Las Vegas

When Kirk came home from work on the 23rd we were trying to think of something fun to do! He had July 24th off work because it's a Utah holiday, so we had to do something exciting!! Not to mention, our Anniversary was 2 days away! SooOoOoo we decided we'd go spend the night in Vegas! We had a BLAST!!

We stayed at the Stratosphere on the strip. My favorite part was taking Amos to Circus Circus! We rode the Farris Wheel, the Carousel and Kirk took him on a Flying Bus ride! Then we went on to find the acrobats and play the carnival games. Kirk won Amos the CUTEST stuffed horse. Amos was so happy! He smiled a HUGE smile and cuddled it up to his face all night! He held it so 

  tight in his stroller! It was the cutest thing. I love my cute boys! 

We also went to the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay! It was really really cool. And of course, we walked in and out of the cool Casino's and saw neat water shows, chocolate fountains, gardens, etc! Thank you to my great husband for the wonderful 2 days!

Grandma Fortuna memories!

My wonderful mother has been in town off and on for the last two weeks! Amos and I came across these old memory filled pictures on her phone:

At home facials with the Fortuna girls!

 My monkey man! Playing with his tractor from Grandma and Pa Fortuna!

 Yummy rice crispy treats in his new chair from Grandma!

 Playing in the sprinklers at Grandma Fortuna's!

 Scipio Petting Zoo! Our favorite stopping point between Salt Lake and St George

 Tracy Aviary with Grandma!

New swim outfit from Grandma!

Best Friends

This is my best friends little girl! And I'm confident that she'd agree with this statement.... 

This is just house Amos and Little Miss are!!! The only thing that makes this time momentous is that we actually pulled out our camera fast enough to get the picture this time!!!!! They're always huggin and sharing their kisses! We're just never fast enough!

Today while I was talking to the Nursery leader at Church she shared that there were 21 kids coming into Nursery this year with these two! I love that there are sooo many kids Amos and M's age in our ward! We feel pretty lucky!

Only time will tell if these two end up being childhood sweethearts or childhood best friends for life! :)

Date Night

I can't quite exactly remember if we went on this date when my little sister came, or my wonderful mother! They are both so awesome at PUSHING us out the door together! And boy, we underestimate how important it is for us!

Kirk and I went to dinner to our most favorite place... Texas Roadhouse! I just love being Kirks wife. I forget how much fun it is to get dolled up for a night out together. Life goes so fast when you are busy raising a family, finishing school and making a living! It was so refreshing to date each other again. I'm sure people thought we weren't married by the romance we found in just being alone at a delicious restaurant.

and we'll end on that note! A poop filled one year old just tugged at my dress, when I picked him up it alllllllll fell out! As I look around my family room I'm seeing little poops EVERYWHERE!........ Thus is the life of Kirk & Catharine :) And the crazy thing is, we want more of it!

Cheers!

Amos Unleashed!

I love love love my man cub!! This precious little baby is mine, all mine! His 10 little fingers, his 10 little toes, his kisses, his every little thing!

 This toddler has brought whole new meaning to "Baby Proof," in that it is only what it advertises, BABY proof... The fridge is fair game! As well as unlatching the dishwasher! And my personal favorite, the oven.... the first time he opened the oven I was baking bread and about died! This was the first and only time I have raised my voice to Amos. Opening the oven in my new fear as a mother! And that's saying a lot, considering he opens and runs out the front door on a daily basis! The garage freaks me out too! Boy are we learning the value of locks!

About a week ago Amos and I were playing Peek-A-Boo with the bathroom door. He would open and close it in my face because IT'S SO FUN!!! Well, after closing it at some point he got bored and opened the drawers... locking himself in! I went into mommy panic mode again.... how am I going to get my 1 year old out of the bathroom alive!? I called Kirk at the Fire Department and he didn't answer. Luckily, I was just over stressing it and Amos knew what he was doing. When he wanted out he closed the drawers and opened the door. Thank Heavens! And, the shampoo was untouched, the razors were where they were suppose to be and the toilet was left alone too! Victory was mine, and he didn't even know what fun he could have had!!

 Yes, in a fraction of a second my sweet baby boy turns wild! :) Hahaha As illustrated! Being the mother of an active 1 year old is so fun! It is very exhausting, but I have come to really enjoy the energy and spontaneity of it all! Actually, I've always loved it! Because he's mine all mine :) This particular tubby time was after making rice crispy messes treats! He LOVES playing with anything messy! And every once in a while, I love letting him!

 One of my Best Friends in St George mentioned how grateful she is that her daughter stays clean because she wouldn't want to change her clothes multiple times a day ..... I thought to myself, "What in the world would that be like?!" For, that IS my life hahaha! It's moments like this that make me laugh and realize how spirited my child is!

 Aww!! He almost looks little again!!!!! 

Nap time=mommy break time!!! 

Usually Amos takes either 1 three hour nap, or 2 ninety minute naps!

What would I do without nap time?!

 

 Amos loves to try to dress himself! He loves putting anything on his head and he loves to try to put on his shoes!

Amos also loves tooo......

1. Go for walks! We usually go twice a day!
2. Jump on his bed! He also has figured out how to get off the bed/couch going feet first instead of falling on his head! It is VERY convenient for mom and also nerve calming!
3. Color on the couches... yay
4. Play with Moja! He loves loves loves Moja! A couple nights ago at the park she was letting him ride her like a horse, all by himself! She'll lay on the grass and let him crawl all over him. She's a good family dog!
5. Eat toothpaste! Heaven forbid we brush his teeth, but please let him eat toothpaste! He opens the bathroom drawers all by himself, grabs the tube, OPENS it and eats it! ....Pop cap, twist cap... it makes no difference! He has mastered them both!
6. Play with "Dadda!" When dad walks in the door, mom disappears! :)  (And she is totally okay with that!!)
7. Eat by himself! Fork and all!
8. Pull of his diaper. That was fun, let's say that again...

 PULL OFFFFFFFFFFF HIS DIAPER!!

Churchy Lurchy

 Boy has our church experience changed drastically! 

We now understand first hand the embarrassment of flying toys, missing children that appear at the pulpit, uncontrollable screaming and head-butting during the Sacrament, and zero attention span.... 

But do we love it? Oh, we love it. Do we do it? Oh, we do it. 3 hrs a week? Every week. 

Sometimes it feels like we run a Church Boot Camp around here! It is hard, exhausting work!! It only takes 3 hrs at Church to get us all nap ready! But, if we can't do it with 1 child, how on earth are we going to be active when we have more?! 

Here's how: 1 Sunday At A Time!!

 False Advertising!! He may look innocent....

:)

Zions

We had another wonderful day up at Zions yesterday! For being the middle of July, the weather was wonderful! We did our favorite hike, the Narrows! Amos did awesome!!!!! He loves being outside so much! And to our delight, he loved swimming in the deep deep Virgin River. We didn't take a camera because we knew it would get soaked but boy was that a regret of mine! Kirk and Amos were so cute together! We got lots of nice comments from people who loved Amos's enthusiasm for the deep water. It was a joy to get to make this memory together. We also found tons of baby fish and tadpoles! They were surprisingly easy to catch! Amos was so funny with them. He tried and tried to pick them up, but his big marshmallow fingers slowed him down. (We may or may not have caught some to bring home! THAT'S a big no-no! :)   )

Father's Day

 For Father's Day this year Amos and I got together with a bunch of other women & kids in our neighborhood and took these cute pictures! Amos did such a great job! It spells out "I heart DADDA" It was hard for me to choose which pictures to use because so many turned out well! Kirk loved the banner I made out of them so much, that it's still up! I also screen printed matching shirts for Amos and Kirk that say "Big Guy" & "Little Guy". Both of these were Pinterest ideas that became a hit!

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful Father leading our family. We can't be more grateful for the happiness and joy we find in him! And he is ours, FOREVER!

An extra "I" because I loved it so!

McAllister Weekend!

 Here are some jumbled pictures of our McAllister weekend! (It was at the beginning of June! I'm only a month behind lol) We only had the best weekend EVER! We went to the Animal Museum, Movies in the Park, the Splash Pad, Fishing, the Trampoline Gym, and ate lots of yummy family meals together! This was right after Amos's birthday so he also got spoiled with an awesome Fire Engine from Grandma Peggy! We sure missed Jason and Blake, but nonetheless we had a wonderful time!