Mother's Day

As I catch up I am remembering back a month or so to Mother's Day. I never posted anything for this so of course first I want to pay tribute to the wonderful women in my life. My mom, Grandma, sister, mother in law, sister in laws, friends. I have such amazing women in my life and to each of you I look for examples of righteous, wonderful moms. I have to esp. say that my mother and grandmother are two of the most influential people in my life, without whom I would not be the person I am today!

(This was Mother's Day last year. I wish I could do this with my sisters, Mom and Grandma every year!!)

My husband never forgets a holiday and he always spoils me. I awoke Sunday morning to breakfast in bed. He now has help. Emma got up on her own at 6:00am wanting to help make breakfast. She is a really good helper. They made crepes with fresh berries and whipped cream. It was so delicious. When they brought it in there were gifts from each of them and a dozen roses!! Joseph gave me a new video camera which I am so excited about and a new pair of sunglasses(one of the perks to being his wife)! But my favorite gifts were from my kiddos. They were so excited to give me their presents and each was nearly bursting with enthusiasm. Taylor had made a card and a magnet with his picture on it, Emma gave me a paper tea pot with tea to relax with that she made at school and a beautiful homemade card (she had taken the tea off and explained that we can't drink it;0), Madelyn made a wheelbarrow out of wood that she made with her Dad at Home Depot and a flower in it. She was esp. pleased that she had gotten to make her own gift. The day continued to be wonderful as the kids tried to be kind and helped their Dad also make dinner. Joseph made chicken alfredo and homemade rolls. I must say they were so good that I think I will relinquish that job to him. It was a wonderful day. I get so much pleasure from being a mom and am so grateful for my family!!
(Boy I look terrible, I was really ready to have a baby!)

New Arrival

Olivia Lynae was born at 12:22pm on June 5, 2009
She weighed 7 lbs. 4 1/2 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long



The delivery went great with no complications. About a half hour after the delivery however, complications started for me. I began bleeding a lot and after about 3 hours of intense pain and a lot of bleeding they called in my doctors. They did an emergency D & C and found that I had two additional placenta lobes attached to the uterus causing the problems. Shortly after the D & C I began to feel better and my blood pressure began to go back up. Olivia and I both came home from the hospital on Saturday, but I lost 2 units and blood and will be staying close to my bed for a month to recover. It scared Joseph and I quite a bit, but we feel very blessed and witnessed the hand of the Lord guiding and blessing us many times that day and the days after.


We want to thank all our family for their prayers of support this past week. Esp. Joseph's parents who were willing and ready to come if needed, and my parents for taking the kids back. The doctors were willing to release me only after they heard I would have a couple weeks to heal, so my dad and mom headed to Utah on Thursday with the kids! We already miss them so much, but are so thankful they are happy and I have this time to rest and gain my strength back!! Thanks Dad, Mom, Ashley, Carly, and anyone else who will assist in caring for my children over the next couple weeks. I wouldn't be able to get through this time without you!

Why Mormons Build Temples!

Sheridan First Ward Idol

Our kids performed at the ward talent show (1st Ward Idol). I was such a proud mom. They were nervous and didn't sing out very well, but I am proud of them for even trying. Here is a clip of their performance.


(I don't know how this happened, but somehow when I uploaded this video the music is about 3 seconds behind the kids. weird because it isn't that way on the original video. Anyways, sorry for my lack of technology, but it gives you an idea of their performance!)


Joseph played the role of host, aka Ryan Seacrest!

For Mom and Ashley!

I promised I would not be putting pregnancy shots on this site. I just feel very self-conscious when I am pregnant and figure that is the advantage to living far from you all, I can just see you after the baby is born and I am not as large as a whale anymore. However, I am giving in just this once for my mom and Ashley. All others feel free to scroll over this post. Mom, Ash, here is the view at 33 weeks. There won't be anymore coming so enjoy!!

Thanks to Joseph's Family!

One of many statues for sale on Main in Sheridan, we had such a fun time visiting the antique shops in town!

Pics at the Wild Life Reserve, we have Elk and Buffalo living in this reserve.

Easter Saturday at the park for the community Egg Hunt.

Since I have been on partial bed rest we have had so many people serve us in kind ways. April was no exception. I want to give a BIG thank you to Joseph's parents and his youngest brother Kenneth and wife Aimee. The second week in April we were excited to welcome Grandpa and Grandma to our home for a week. The kids were thrilled to have them here. They did a lot of cooking and dishes and gave me a chance to rest. We had a few more painful days and having them here really helped out. It was also fun to celebrate Grandma's birthday and Easter while they were here. Then we had a week alone before we again were privileged to have company come to help. Kenneth and Aimee were so amazing. They were constantly entertaining the kids and the kids couldn't get enough them. They took them to parks, a movie, and played with them just about every minute they were here. We really had a great time with you Ken and Aimee! Thanks for all the memories!

I really appreciate both our parents and siblings for all the encouragement and support we have received the past few months! You guys are the best!!

Easter Weekend!

We got a new basketball hoop for Easter this year. Taylor has been begging for one and is esp. excited. So, in each of their baskets they got a new basketball from the Easter Bunny. Well, except for Taylor who already has two balls and needed a new mitt for baseball this year. We went to a community egg hunt on Saturday. It was very crowded and I think we will avoid it next year, but on Sunday we went to our friends house for dinner and had an egg hunt there with them. It is so nice to have good friends to celebrate with.

Chicken Pox?!

Emma said the cutest thing the other night. We were talking about the Holy Ghost and feelings it gives us.

Emma says: "When we feel the Holy Ghost we get chicken pox all over our arms and lots of prinklies and it makes us cry."

We all got a good laugh from that one, I think she was referring to goose bumps.

Sisters!

Madelyn has been having bad dreams the past couple months. At first she would come up to us, but after a little while I started to notice that after I put Madelyn in her bed, she would climb in bed with Emma. Emma has been such a good sport about this. Madi has to be close enough to Emma that they touch and many times she is wrapped in Emma's arms. Emma has told us many times the next morning that Madelyn had a bad dream in the night, but Emma hugged her and then she was okay. I am so glad that these two are so close and that Emma is so sweet to her little sister!

Getting out of Sheridan!

Having not left Sheridan since the beginning of November, I was really wanting a change of scenery. Traveling is not particularly easy for me right now, but we decided to just go to Billings for Spring Break and have a little mini family vacation. It

was just what I needed. We went with a couple families from here and stayed for 2 nights. We stayed in the Wingate so we could try out their new indoor water park, went to Build a Bear and Chuck E Cheese's for the kids, and did a little shopping for me and Joseph. A stop at Target, the mall, and Costco are always a must. The weekend was very relaxing for me and fun for us all. I was also glad to get to attend the temple since I hadn't been since our last trip in November. Every family needs a few days away every now and then!

Scientific or Disgusting?!

While visiting our friends and seeing the Owls living up in their tree, Taylor was fascinated to find some interesting things in the Owl pellets. I must say I was grossed out by the whole thing and not so thrilled when my friend provided him with a baggie to take home his treasures in. Treasures like, mouse bones and skulls and such. However, disgusting it was for me, Taylor and his friend thought it was great. Their own little science project of an Owl's digestive system!

Wyoming Spring Weather

Since moving to Wyoming, I have really enjoyed having the four seasons again. However, I never miss California more than in the spring time. By March I have had enough snow and am ready for 60 degree days. Sunny spring days here bring so much excitement as we are surrounded by friends who have baby animals being born and new growth coming from the plants, trees, flowers.











However, as I said, I never miss California more than in the spring because just when I think spring has sprung, we wake up to...

YEP! You guessed it, the morning after we went to see the baby calf, we woke up to a few inches of snow. To make matters more fun, it was the first day of our Spring Break, some spring break I know. The kids were as sick of snow as I was so it made for a long week of being indoors since it stayed cold all week. This was only the beginning, the next Monday when the kids were supposed to head back to school, (yeah for Mom) it snowed again; dumping over a foot of snow on us this time. (I didn't get a picture of this though) So school was canceled and the Mayor of Sheridan declared it a snow emergency and the town shut down for the day. The kids didn't return to school until Tuesday afternoon. AUGH! I don't mind April Showers, but when they come in the form of 12 inches of snow I am sorely upset! So here is to a hope for Spring and a return to 60-70 degree days.

Emma's Birthday!

Happy Sixth Birthday Emma!!

Party at Burger King!














This year we let the kids choose one thing they wanted to do and they were only supposed to get to invite a couple friends. Emma's list ended up with a few more than a couple by the time we combined church and school friends. She chose a party at Burger King. I must say I recommend this. We had the whole play place reserved for our group. The did the cleaning before and after and it was quite relaxing for me. Joseph was a little annoyed with the amount of food the kids wasted from their Kid's Meals, but that is young children for you! She had a great birthday!

We had a family party the night of Emma's birthday. I made a small cake for that night because her big cake would be the next day at her friend party. She requested fish sticks and homemade rolls for dinner. Odd choice?!

Although Emma had begged for an I-pod and this was her main present from us, she was most excited about the Easy Bake Oven she received. She also enjoyed getting mail for a week as many family and friends sent letters, cards, money, and gifts. Thank you all so much for always remembering the kids!!

Madelyn and I enjoyed bringing cupcakes to school to celebrate with Emma's

class! We also stayed and had lunch with her!

Baby Girl!

We are having a Baby....
GIRL!!
My scanner is giving me fits and since most of you already know I thought it was about time I posted this. After our ultrasound we would say that we are 99% sure that this baby is a girl. We were all quite surprised. I guess to even out the numbers we all thought it would be a boy, but we are very happy to be having another sister. The day of the ultrasound was quite funny. Here are the responses when the doctor announced the gender:
Emma: "Madelyn you were right, the baby is a girl."
Madelyn(in an upset tone): "I changed my mind, I don't want another sister I want a brother!"
Taylor(in a shocked tone): "WHY??"

We all kind of laughed and the doctor continued the ultrasound, but every couple minutes we would hear:
Taylor(exasperated): "Why does it have to be a girl? I really need a brother!"

Poor boy, since then he is adjusting to the idea of having another sister. We have told him that this just means that he will have to be extra tough to be his sisters' protectors. We also assured him that he isn't the only boy and he and his Dad can always be best buds!

So, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of
Olivia Lynae Katschke

Keeping Time Moving!

As February ended, I looked back over the past two weeks and couldn't believe all that had happened. No wonder the month had gone so fast. There were good and bad things that occurred, but to this mother's great joy it made the month fly by and now as I am posting this there is only 2 and a half months left of this pregnancy!! YEAH! We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of this baby and so whatever needs to come our way to help the time move more quickly we welcome! Here is a recap of the two weeks:
*Everyone got nasty virus and was home sick for 5 days of school (for Tay and Emma)
*Daddy's Birthday
*Taylor and My Birthday
*Madelyn's virus turns into Pneumonia and she has a chest x-ray and is put on Meds
*Valentine's Day (and the school parties and such that go with it)
*President's Day (no school, as if they hadn't missed enough last week being sick)
*Grandpa, Grandma, and Ashley come to visit
*Emma comes home sick from school, ends up having a double ear infection
*Taylor comes home sick from school, ends up with preseptal cellulitis
*Ultrasound reassuring us of healthy baby and identifying the gender (stay tuned)
*Daily visits to the doctor for Taylor
*Kids head back to school finally healthy!
*Life calms back down!!!
*YEAH March is already here, now if only the next 3 months will go by as fast.

Eye Problems!

Can you say Preseptal Cellulitis?
I had never heard of such a thing, but after complaining for a couple of days of a bad headache I decided to take Taylor to the doctor for what I thought would probably end up being a sinus infection. The morning of our appointment when he woke up he looked like he had a black eye. It took a shot to his bottom, (which he hated) daily visits to the doctor, and a very strong antibiotic 4 times a day for 10 days to finally get his eye to heal. This picture doesn't quite do it justice, but we are very grateful the medicine worked and we avoided the hospital. So, if like me you have not heard of preseptal cellulitis it is an infection in the front part of the eye. Taylor's had started out as a sinus infection and then it spread up to the eye. It would only have become serious if it had moved to the back part of the eye becoming orbital cellulitis. ( I am not sure I explained that completely right, but if you want a better explanation ask Joseph:)

Surprise Visit from Home!!

Visit from Grandpa, Grandma, and AshleyWe were so thrilled to have a surprise visit from Ashley and Grandpa and Grandma. They arrived late Thursday night the last weekend in February. They had let Joseph know, but the kids and I awoke to them here at the house! It was such a great treat! I had been feeling down with the pregnancy and such and this visit was just what I needed!! Thanks Dad and Ashley for all the cleaning and help and thanks to all three for playing with the kids and lifting my spirits. (mom was hurt and wasn't able to clean, but she helped tons by entertaining me and the kids, we later found out she has three blood clots in her leg and we feel very blessed that she made the drive home okay and is doing much better!)

Celebtrating "Our" Birthday!

Taylor with his cake!

Joseph gave me these beautiful flowers for my birthday!!
He always makes my day very special.

Sharing a birthday is something that both Taylor and I really enjoy. I took Wendy's up to school and had lunch with Tay. That evening Joseph made dinner for us and we opened gifts. A couple of days later Tay had a couple of friends go ice skating with him to celebrate! We both had a great birthday!

Baking for Birthday!

Taylor is still very interested in lions so we tried to recreate one with cupcakes for school and a cake for the night of his birthday! Although cake decorating really isn't my thing, I was pleased with how they turned out!

Night of Daddy's Birthday!

As Taylor and Emma helped me decorate for Joseph's birthday some not so planned or fun things happened. First Madelyn...

Threw up all over the carpet.

She started coughing and threw up a little bit. Then said "MOM!" I said run to the bathroom, instead of following that sane advice she proceeded to finish her business on the carpet instead. Here she is helping me clean it up.

(The kids had all had a nasty virus this week that gave them a horrible cough. Madi wasn't sick to her stomach, but had taken to making herself cough so hard that she would gag and throw up. By the end of the week, we finally trained her to use a bowl or the toilet!)

While we were cleaning up after Madelyn I heard a loud crash and found...

Emma had knocked over the lamp.

To top the evening off Joseph's co-worker had offered to make the cake for his birthday and come and celebrate with us. But when they ended up getting stuck at work and sent home the cake from the office that day to have for our party that night, I was really wishing I had just done it myself and made him a cake. Birthdays are a big deal to me and I was sad that his wasn't turning out very well.
(that is how the cake came home, we hadn't eaten any yet:( )

But even though the evening started off rough, we ended up having a nice night celebrating our dad!!

Aprons!!

Thanks Aunt Carly!
We love helping Mom cook while wearing our new aprons!(if anyone knows how to rotate a picture on a blog I would love to know! I am still an amateur when it comes to blogging!)

Little Helpers!

Madelyn has adjusted really well to Mommy having to be down a lot. Everyone asks about her and if she is bored, but really she is doing great. Of course she has her days when she gets a little tired of it, but most days I find her like this. She has become very good at entertaining herself. Besides playing well alone, she loves to have mom one on one. Every morning she tells me of her plans and they usually sound something like,
"first we can play Memory, then Uno Attack, then the Wii together and then I will do your hair, okay Mom!!"
At first I think my being down affected Emma the most, she was definitely bummed that the regular visitors and play dates had dramatically slowed down. She was sure this was ruining her social life. But now that she is adjusting to it, she has become quite the helper! Madi anxiously awaits Emma's return from school and then Emma is great to help entertain her for the afternoon. They have taken to walking down to get the mail together! Thanks Emma for being a good sport and for all your help!!

My Sweet Husband!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!
It seems like all we do is celebrate when this week rolls around each year. Between 3 birthdays and Valentine's Day, it is a job to make sure each person gets honored on their special day. However, we love our week long party and it started out today with Joseph! Happy Birthday Babe! Both Joseph and I love holidays, esp. birthdays so today on his I want him to know how much we truly love him. I especially love that he has crossed the 30 threshold and I still have not:) Joseph is the love of my life and that is not mushy, it is just true. I feel very fortunate to have all my dreams come true in him. He is everything I always dreamt of as a girl and more! I hope he has a wonderful day, below are some reasons why I love him!Top 5 Reasons I love you!
1-You Honor your Priesthood and Use it to bless our Family.
2-You consider your role as Father and Husband your most important job.
3-You find ways to show me you care (like surprising me with Phantom of the Opera tickets in Cali--pic above--or by doing something simple like doing the dishes!
4-Your sarcastic humor that always keeps the kids and I laughing
5-Your positive attitude towards life and the future!

Tag from Jennie!

I don't do a lot of tags, but I admit I was bored today and decided I would respond to this one that Jen tagged me with like a month ago!

8 Things about You
1. 8 TV shows I love to watch: American Idol, Color Splash, Myles of Styles, Smallville, Bachelor, Design on a Dime, HouseHunters, Everybody loves Raymond (reruns)
2. 8 Favorite Restaurants:-My favorite restaurants that you would recognize I don't ever eat at because they don't have them in Sheridan. We did just get a Goodtime Burger here and we really like eat, I love the Chinese Buffet here in town and when we go to Billings, I love Red Robin's fresh strawberry lemonade.
3. 8 Things that happened yesterday:-Lay on the couch, lay on the bed, played beauty shop with Madi, read to the kids, listened to Tay and Emma practice the piano, played WII with Madi, watched David Osmond make it to the next round on American Idol, lay some more!
4. 8 Things I'm looking forward to:-warmer weather, upcoming ultrasound to find out what we are having, birthdays(we love Feb.), having a baby, going home to see family this summer, exercising vigorously again, going somewhere fun for our 10 year, going back to Disneyland someday(hopefully with our old California friends!)
5. 8 Things on my Wish List:-I have a lot of future dreams with Joseph and our kids but honestly the only thing on my wish list right now is to have a healthy baby and then get back to good health myself!!
6. 8 people I am tagging:I will do this one at the end of the next tag.

Hubby Tag:
WHAT IS YOUR HUSBAND'S NAME? Joseph Katschke
HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN MARRIED? 8 years
HOW LONG DID YOU DATE? 9 months
HOW OLD IS HE? 31
WHO IS TALLER? He is
WHO CAN SING BEST? I can, but he is willing to try.
WHO IS SMARTER? Joseph
WHO DOES LAUNDRY? I do.
WHO PAYS BILLS? I did in school, but it since then it has slowly worked towards sharing and now he does most of it.
WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED?Me
WHO MOWS THE LAWN? He does, but I enjoy it too, so sometimes I do it during the day before he gets a chance.
WHO COOKS DINNER? prior to now I would have said me, but now he does or my friends do.
WHO'S THE FIRST TO ADMIT THEY ARE WRONG? we usually just avoid the topic until we both have cooled off and then just both forgive and forget
WHO KISSED WHO FIRST & WHERE? Joseph kissed me in my car while our roomates were standing right outside. He said it was like kissing a wall, I wasn't expecting it then, but we got much better. Practice makes perfect right?! (for the record he would say that I was looking at his lips acting like I wanted him to kiss me then!
WHO WEARS THE PANTS? In our house we tell our kids that Dad is the boss, because mom says so. I like to think we each help each other and support each other in our roles.
I tag: Jamie, Brooke, Cali, Jacey, Marcy, and any others who have the time or want to share, I would love to read them!

January Happenings!

As I was reflecting on the fact that it is now February, I was marveling how that simple fact alone seems to raise my spirits each year. There is something about January that always makes me a little depressed. I guess it is the lull of Christmas ending and nothing but snow and cold around (at least where we live). But February comes and there are more warm days, birthdays (in our home) and it seems like my spirits just lift simply because January is done and we are on to February. I don't have any pictures to post. We really haven't had a lot going on to take pictures of, but I thought I would write what we have been up to. Taylor is in Basketball and loves it. To his Daddy's joy, he wants a basketball hoop for his birthday. I think they will both have to wait until the Springtime though. Emma is as energetic as ever and is struggling with the fact that Mom doesn't take her out as much. If only I could have half her energy. She is still involved with Dance and is excited about her upcoming recital. Madelyn is coping with my partial bed rest the best. She has become a pro at puzzles, loves to color, and also loves to play the WII with me at home. She is quite content to sit by my side and play. However, she does anxiously watch the window throughout the day awaiting the time when her playmates (Taylor and Emma) come home. Joseph is still having success at WyoVision and they are in the process of working out the details for him to buy into the practice. I guess Sheridan is going to become permanent for us. I am okay with that though, it has taken longer than other places, but I am really starting to love it here. That is impart because of the love and support I am feeling from our friends here. I am having a bit of pain and discomfort with this pregnancy due to my pelvic congestion. Because of this I have about 2-3 hours on my feet a day and the rest of the day I have to be laying down. It is as a result of this that so many friends have showered their service and love on us. Four of my friends decided they would bring in meals once a week until the baby comes and a couple times a week someone comes by and gets Madelyn so she can get out. I can't say how hard this has been for us to accept the help and yet how grateful we are for their kindness that is making this more bearable. We are finally half way through ( 20 weeks YEAH) and although the days are long, we are doing really well. I told Joseph he is going to become a culinary artist by the time the baby comes. I have to say that Joseph deserves Husband of the year award, he calls daily to check up on me, cleans the bathrooms, takes the kids on the weekend so I can rest, cooks, grocery shops, the list could go on and on. This really is as much his trial as it is mine and he is rising to the task like a pro! I am so very grateful for a wonderful husband. Well, this is an incredibly long post, but since I am not good at keeping a journal this is my recap for the past couple weeks. To all my friends that keep in touch through this with me, I hope you are all well! Love ya!

My Hero!

One of my favorite songs is called "She's Somebody's Hero" by Jamie O'Neal. My all time hero is not legendary, well-known, famous or any of the other things most people might think of when they hear the term hero. My hero would deny that she is really that important at all to the world, but as the song says, she is the one who "brought Snow White to life, has been a waiter, a cook, a taxi driver, and her life's ambition has been to make her children's lives better." As you have guessed, my hero is my mother!! I know it is cliche, but I mean it most sincerely. There is NO ONE (sorry Dad you come in a close second!) that has impacted my life as much as my mother has. Her sacrifice has not gone unnoticed, I am the person I am today largely because of the example, love, and support of an amazing mother! Still to this day she is the first person I call to share good, bad, or just plain funny news! Tomorrow is her birthday so in the most public forum I have I want to tell her I love her. I want her to know that all those sleepless nights, meals cooked, and miles driven are appreciated. Even more than all of that, I thank her for still caring. When she could easily have counted me as raised and off the list of worries, she still find ways to take care of me and I thank her for it. My mom may not be famous or important to very many in the world, but She is my HERO!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!
I love you!