Kaya's 3rd Month and Updates

Our Kaiju baby is 3 months!  (Yes, I know that a Kaiju is an big monster from Pacific Rim, but it's a term of endearment for our actually very charming Kaya Jane).  I can't believe how fast time is screaming by with our little girl.  She is such a joy to us and enlightens my life daily!
Kaya is quickly becoming a little lady.  She is a huge flirt with her daddy and smiles at him ALL the time!  She has the best smile in the world!  Her mouth opens up super wide and her whole face just crinkles up and the world has to just stop and smile with her!  She loves to laugh and is super ticklish on her tummy and thighs.  She can stand up with support and can almost sit up on her own!  Almost.  She's a rolly-polly girl and can roll from front to back pretty easily (and tends to do it every time mom wants to have some tummy time with her) and has rolled from back to front a couple times, but not as easily.  Kaya does NOT like the car seat, but loves going to Grandma and Papa's house where she gets smothered in loves and kisses from her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousin, Tate.  She is most definitely a red head and has an attitude to match when she's not happy!  Otherwise, she is SOOOOO mellow!  Although she likes to be held, she's usually okay with hanging out in the bouncer or swing while mom takes care of Austin or gets the house cleaned up.  She went on a long roadtrip up to Ogden to visit Great-Grandma and Papa Smith and actually travelled pretty well.  She's still a great sleeper and a perfect addition to our little family!
Austin is still my 2-and-a-half little monster!  Hammer is definitely the best nickname for him!  He's been dealing with a lot of sickness over the past couple months (which totally SUCKS) and has caused him to act out a lot more because he just doesn't feel good.  Things are finally on the upswing, though and the past two days have been wonderful with him!  He's been sleeping much better and coughing less (yea for croup, NOT!) and has been so much fun.  Back to the Austin we know and love, for sure!  He got totally hooked up for Christmas this year with a race track, an electric train, and a HUGE transformer robot that he's been asking for since summer.  Lately his favorite phrase is "please help us" when he wants me to do something for him.  It cracks me up because he sounds like he's channelling Gollum from LOTR, when actually he got it from saying prayers.  Kinda funny. Today we were able to have a pretty relaxed morning playing with toys and then we decided to go up to Salt Lake to check out a cool aquarium and go see the ZooLights.  It was absolutely FREEZING, but Austin was so much fun and was completely mesmerized by the Tiger who was roaring and pacing around his enclosure.  We went to dinner at the Olive Garden in SLC, too and Aus got to eat his favorite food, meatballs and broccoli.  Weird kid, I know.  Don't worry, he loves his chocolate, chips and candy, too!  Austin is the most beautiful boy on the planet!  He has these eyes that stare into your soul and a smile that melts my heart.  He is my baby boy and I love that kid with all my heart, even when he's hard.  I'm constantly seeking the council of my Heavenly Father in how to parent my children.  I'm so imperfect and I get frustrated with myself for being impatient.  I have such wonderful kids, I hope they can survive my parenting!!!
We had a great Christmas with our family here in Utah and were able to FaceTime with the Greiner's down in Texas.  I wish we could somehow get both sides of the family together for the holidays.  Maybe someday!!!
Flash back to Thanksgiving...We had a great day at my parent's house with my family, again, Karl Greiner, Gma and Gpa Vogl and the Goodwins.  It was such a wonderful day and it really made me grateful for all of my blessings.  The Goodwin's are in the process of adopting three boys from Haiti and man, has it been a PROCESS!  They've been working the adoption for over a year and the boys still aren't home with them yet.  I'm sure they are so frustrated, but they will have them so soon, I know it!
Candice and Collin got to go down to Haiti for 5 days to serve in the orphanage the Goodwin's are adopting from.  I don't know who was changed more, the kids or my siblings.  Unfortunately I can't post pictures of the Haitian kids on the internet for interferring with adoptions, but the light the iminated from my siblings faces was angelic!  The beautiful children down there are so incredible and I know the experiences Dice and Whack had with them will be forever remembered!  They came home with literally the clothes on their backs and a few gifts they had found in the markets.  Candice told me that she literally pulled her favorite pair of earrings out of her ears and put them into one of her friends down there because she had nothing.  They witnessed the pure love of Christ as they saw the caretakers in the orphanage eating less than the kids in many circumstances (one meal a day) and still giving all they could to care for 30 babies and 60 children and teens.  It makes me so excited to go and serve those around me and far away, too!  I get to serve around here while my babies are little and then I hope to get to help around the world a little, too!
We've had a lot of fun activities over the past month like setting up our Christmas tree, playing with friends, going sledding on Christmas Eve, Gregor and I getting a couple dates in, and growing together as a family.  I sure love this little group of mine, they're the best!  Photo dump to come!

Play hard, sleep harder.

Jumping on the bed with Kaya's headband on...

He totally cracks me up!

Keep on jumpin'

Baby Kaiju.  Look at those LIPS!!!

Mama's little Ginger!!!

Christmas Post and Feelings

I rarely get the urge to write without feeling guilty about being behind on my journal-keeping, but tonight has sparked a desire to record my thoughts lately.
Today I found out that a distant friend of mine lost her 2-year old daughter yesterday due to a drowning incident.  My heart is absolutely broken for this sweet lady and her family.  To lose a child would be immensely devastating, but on Christmas just seems to add insult to injury.  I question why a loving Heavenly Father would take a child in that way, or take a child in any way for that matter?  In my limited opinion, children should bury their parents, not the other way around.  I look at my Grandmother who carried my mother and her twin sister for nine-months, getting excited to meet and raise two beautiful little girls, only to find that one of them would have fatal birth-defects and die only a month later.  My heart aches for families who lose children.  It seems so unfair in so many ways.
But, at the same moment, there is a small amount of envy for those children who get to go home to a loving Heavenly Father, who get to embrace our Master so soon after leaving His presence.  These angels don't have to experience many of the pains and anguish that rack us almost daily in our mortal exsistence.  They don't sin.  They don't fail.  They are pure and sweet and perfect and only needed a body to fulfill their mission in establishing their place in the Celestial Kingdom of God.  They will have families, and increase, and love, and experience, and opportunities for growth beyond anything we here on earth can comprehend!  Having this knowledge makes me so incredibly grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.  In celebrating His birth only yesterday, I am reminded of His infinite love for each of His children.  For in His atonement we have all become His, we have been saved by His grace.  I know that He has provided a way that I can have my family for Eternity and that my sweet friend will be able to hold her daughter again in her arms, to look into her eyes, to smell her hair, to tickle her tummy, to laugh, and play, and grow together forever.  What joy and comfort can be taken in this knowledge!
I often scare myself with the thoughts of losing my family.  It's something that I don't like to think about as I am sure many don't as well.  It's a horrible thought.  But then, again, I think of my Savior.  I think of the Plan of Salvation and am comforted to know that no matter what happens, I am sealed to my family for Eternity and death CANNOT conquer that sealing.  What is mine here will be mine forever if I keep myself worthy of that supreme blessing.
This mortal exsistence is not easy.  In our heartaches we can seek out the comfort of our loved ones and that which the Lord provides for us, but it still hurts.  We still cry and feel and hurt.  That, my friends, is when we can get on our knees and admit to our loving, merciful, and perfect Heavenly Father that what we have been given, we cannot do alone.  We need to be willing in those hard moments to allow Him to take that burden for us and walk along side us, just like those in our lives who lift not only our burdens, but us as well when we can't go any further.  He will send us angels on both sides of the veil who will strengthen our hearts and our backs to pick up our loads and carry on.
Again, my heart goes out to this sweet family.  I love you, and even though we are not close, you reflect on my heart and mind at this time and always.  I know that God lives.  I know that His Son, Jesus Christ, IS the Savior of the World.  I know that we can be comforted by the Holy Ghost and that we are truly the children of a loving God.  He is the perfect parent and entrusts these little ones to us here on earth because He loves us enough to allow these perfect angels into our homes to teach us, to try us, and to love us unconditionally.  I will hold my children a little closer tonight and thank God for the opportunity I have of being their mother.  Remember the first gift of Christmas was a child.  The child.  The Son of God who came into the world to save us from sin and from death.  With this knowledge, I am happy and know that there can be peace even through our challenges.

Kaya's 2nd Month AND October/November Family Adventures

Whew!  October and November have been extremely busy for our little family!  Kaya is growing like a weed, Austin is quickly becoming more of a little boy than a toddler, and Gregor and I are constantly running around with work, church callings, family, and athletics.  How I love our crazy life!
Kaya's 2nd month of life has been full of fun and smiles!  She is a total doll and is showing more and more of her BIG personality every day.  We've been so blessed to have her in our home!  A few interesting things about Kaya this past month were:
-She has continued to be a great sleeper.  She loves to sleep more than eat sometimes!
-Kaya was throwing up a lot during her 2nd month.  We were really worried that she had pyloric stenosis (a condition where the pyloric sphincter of the stomach is closed off).  Gregor and his brother, Erik, both suffered with that when they were babies, so we were worried that she could have it, too.  We went to the doctor a few times about it and finally decided to have an infant ultrasound done on her little tummy.  I was so relieved when I could see liquid passing easily through her stomach to her intestine!  What a blessing!  She does have a little bit of reflux, though, so we have her on some medication for that.
-This chick is a SMILER!  She loves to be talked to and just smiles and smiles when you do.  She's had many coo-ing conversations with her family members and just about owns anybody who sees her.
-Her Mana made her a beautiful blessing gown for her baby blessing.  Her daddy, Papa, uncles, cousins, and great-grandpa stood in the circle and blessed her to be strong and healthy and happy.  It was a sweet day and we had a lot of family come and wish her well.
-Kaya Jane is a RED HEAD!!!  This is so awesome to me!  Her grandma, Mana Kathy, has this gorgeous red hair and between the couple red heads in my family and her grandma Kathy, Kaya has a really pretty shade of strawberry blondish, reddish hair.  Pretty, pretty!
-Austin absolutely ADORES his sister.  He loves to take care of her and has been very helpful in getting diapers and wipes for her, along with trying to hold her constantly.  He showers her with kisses and hugs and always says "Okay, baby Kaya, okay!!!" when she's crying.
-At her two-month appointment, she had gained almost 5 pounds from her birthweight!  This girl can EAT!  She was in the 98th percentile for height, 61st for weight and 90th for head circumfrence.  She's got a little melon-head, but it doesn't look out of proportion.  I think she's beautiful!
-She continues to be a strong baby.  She rolls all over the place, fights getting in the carseat and loves to 'stand-up' (with help, of course).  She also LOVES showers and baths, the sound of running water, her daddy, and of course, eating and sleeping.

A few fun things about Austin this past month:
-He can count to 16!  This caught me by surprise.  My sister was playing with him and started counting with him.  He just kept going!  I was so impressed because, although we work with letters and numbers daily, he hadn't shown me that he could go past 4 or 5.  So smart!
-Another smart thing he can do (which drives me CRAZY!) is take off all of his clothes.  Seriously, people!  I was so happy that I hadn't had a stripper baby, he never seemed to care about learning to take his own clothes off.  He liked putting on his own shirt, but never off.  So now, I get to re-dress him about 6 times a day and look for the clothes he hides in random places.  UGH!
-He LOVES to "help".  The other day, I went to take a quick shower while he was watching cartoons.  I called down to check on him and didn't get an answer.  All you mommy's out there know that silence is definitely NOT something you want to hear when looking for your 2-year old.  I ran downstairs to check on him and found him in the kitchen with the fridge open wide and the egg carton torn apart.  He was standing on a chair by the stove cracking eggs into a pan.  I decided not to get upset with him and instead taught him that he needed to ask to cook things and then helped him cook up his eggs (after we took about about 40 pieces of shell).  Maybe my little guy is gonna be a chef???  Who knows?
-Austin is still so much my baby.  He loves to snuggle mom and dad, always wants to show us something and gives the sweetest hugs and kisses.
-His common phrases lately are : "Come with me mom!" "Look at me!" "Wanna play cars" "Firetruck" "Opet da doors" "Thank you, MOM!" "Go outside!" "Carly's house?" "Wanna play with Oakley" and "Luf you, Mom (or Dad)".  Melt my heart, seriously...

The end of October/beginning of November have been busy for us.  We've had a lot of fun getting ready for Halloween, playing with friends, visiting family, and helping out here and there with different things.
We decided to be the Flintstones for Halloween.  Our costumes were handmade and super awesome!  I thought we looked pretty good for only spending about $15 on all four of us!  We went trick-or-treating at Bluehost and did a couple of trunk-or-treats around our neighborhood.  Aus didn't get a ton of candy, but that was completely fine by me!
Our family also went to Cornbelly's a couple times this year, too!  They do a great job with their Fall Fair and the cornmaze isn't too shabby either.  It's a little bit pricey, but I thought it was worth it for getting around 2-3 hours worth of stuff to do for both kids and adults.  We hit up just about everything we could that wasn't haunted and got some delicious hot cocoa and pumpkin spice donuts, too!  YUM!
Gregor and Austin had the chance to go down to Abilene a couple weeks ago to help Gutti and Opa move off their ranch and into town.  It was such a great trip for the two of them and I know it meant a lot to Gregor to get to see his grandparents.  Gutti hasn't been doing very well lately, so we don't know how much we'll get to see her before she passes away.  Gregor was pretty sad when he left because of that, but that's the beauty of the Plan of Salvation.  Neither of his grandparents are members of the church,  but it's going to be AWESOME to do their temple work.  I hope I get to be a part of it!
While they were gone, I got kinda crafty!  My bff came down and we made wreaths for Christmas, my sisters and I tried (yes, tried) to make tulle skirts.  They didn't really work out.  I've made a few headbands for Kaya, and have generally been WAY more domestic than ever.  Maybe it's having a girl...I dunno.
My grandparents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary last weekend, too.  It was great to go to Ogden and see them and spend time with my dad's side of the family.  They are great people and I'm so proud of my Smith heritage.  They stuck it out through some MAJORLY hard times and have come out so well on the other side.  I'm so grateful for their examples and their love.  It was neat to see their posterity and realize that my children really are here because of their love for each other and then my parents meeting and having me and then Gregor and I having children.  Family is everything!
Other than the big standouts, things for us Greiners has been going well.  We've had a little bit of sickness pass through, but really we're doing great!  We are really looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas and a brand new year!  LOVES!

Kaya's 1st Month

Holy cow!  Has it been a month already???!!!  Our little Kaya Jane is already a month old!  I can't tell you what a joy she has been to our little family.  She is an absolute doll and makes everyone who meets her feel so peaceful and happy!
Kaya is a beauty!  Her dark hair is already starting to turn lighter and has gone to a light brown color with her roots being super blonde.  I think she's going to end up looking just like her big brother, Austin.  Hammer's hair is so gorgeous!  I've wanted to let it grow out so many times, but in keeping with wanting my beautiful little BOY to keep looking like a boy, I cut it off.  I'm SOOOOOO excited to let Kaya's hair just grow and grow!  I'm hoping that she gets the same kind of "mop-top" my sisters and I had growing up.  We all had this long, blonde, wavy/curly, thick hair that was just amazing!  She's also got these eyes that are so deep and dark blue.  I never want them to change!  She looks into your eyes and into your soul.  She's already got Gregor completely wrapped around her tiny finger, he's admitted it more than once already!

We've already had some fun adventures this past month, too!  I am so not one to shy away from taking my babies out pretty soon, but I'm very cautious on who gets to hold her, hand-washing, and not going too crazy with our little adventures by keeping her in her carseat or a chest-carrier most of the time.  Because it's fall, but not too cold out yet, we've already been fishing a few times, hiking a couple times, visited family and friends, the pumpkin patch, a couple stores, church, and Thanksgiving Point.  Austin has absolutely loved being able to get out and move and "take care" of his little sister.  He's a great big brother and helps a lot.  His favorite thing to do with Kaya lately has been to blow on her belly when I'm changing her.  He cracks up and she doesn't usually freak out too bad...
This girl is such a joy!  Ten cool facts about Kaya:

1) At her 2-week appointment she had gained a full pound over her birthweight and grown almost two inches!
2) She is an AWESOME sleeper!  It's been a huge change from how Austin slept (he's still a crappy sleeper).
3) She's a stinker!  Whenever Gregor or I say that she's being a challenge or something like that, she totally smiles!
4) Kaya has this super cute, super ROUND belly!  It cracks me up because her arms and legs are so skinny and then she's got this huge tummy!  So funny!
5) Like her Mama, she LOVES sunshine!  On warm days, we go outside to let Austin play and we just sunbathe.  We're two peas in a warm pod!
6) She can sleep through anything!  At least for right now...
7) Unfortunately, she doesn't like when mom drinks DC.  Sad day for me, but we're working it out.
8) I can already tell that she's a tough cookie.  She looks at Aus when he's throwing fits like "chill out, baby!"
9) She is the first grandbaby girl on my side ( SPOILED )!  And the 3rd on Gregor's side ( STILL SPOILED )!!!
10) She gets more and more beautiful every day!


My sister, Kate, did her newborn photoshoot.  She's amazing!!!

Probably my favorite picture!  We told him to give her a kiss and this is what we got!