CHRISTMAS EVE

On Christmas Eve we went to the Baldwin's house. We ate good food and did some fireworks. We made the mistake of sending the boys (Dusky, Lance, and Douglas) to the store for fireworks. I think Dusky was the bad influence on this one. They went to get a few fireworks and came back with a better fireworks show than any city ever does. Needless to say, they spent a lot of money. But it sure was fun!!!!

Kaia loved the fireworks. She would clap everytime they would set one off.

More Kaia...

Here are some new words that Kaia has learned how to say.

Here is Kaia in her Christmas dress. She looked so stinkin' cute.

YES, She's finally a walker. She took her first step right after she turned one, but it took her a good month to decide she wanted to start actually walking.

Stuck on the icing can

I heard Kaia crying so I came into the kitchen and this is what was going on. I hate it when I get stuck on icing cans.

Our Christmas Angel

I read Rennie's blog about her fun filled day and I was laughing so hard. I realize that at this point I only have one child so my stress is minimized, but I had to share these pictures of the things that Kaia has learned to do in the last week.....

I'll start off by saying that I've decorated my Christmas Tree about 17 times. Finally I got smart and everytime she pulled an ornament off I just added it to the top of the tree. So we have a half decorated Christmas Tree and it is staying that way!

Yes, that is part of an ornament in her mouth.

This is what our nativity looks like. An earthquake keeps coming through and knocking everyone on their faces. That must hurt!



And last but NOT least......

Kaia has learned how to open Christmas presents. YIPPIE!!!!

The Barney Family Christmas Party!

Here are a few pics from our annual Barney Christmas Party. It was a fun time.

Kaia wasn't sure about santa....

So dad helped her out...

Okay dad, Save me now!

GOOD OL' NATCHITOCHES

Here at the Goulding household we had a fun filled weekend with family. My mom, dad, Naomi, Zach, Tasha, Darren, Tricia, Kerry, Chase and Branson all came out. We spent most of the time working on the house in Pineville, but we did stop to play a little. I would like to share this picture with all of you.....

If you are wondering what it is, I will now explain. Every year they have this FABULOUS Christmas Festival in the little town of Natchitoches. (The town where they filmed Steel Magnolias) They have little cobblestone streets filled with booths that sell the best Meat Pies and Funnel Cakes you've ever had. They light up the whole river with millions of Christmas lights and they do parades, activities, and fireworks.

Us girls decided we were going to leave the boys working at the house and take the kids to Natchitoches to enjoy ourselves at the festival. The problem is, my car won't fit everyone and we all wanted to go together. So I had this great plan to take the 15 passenger van from the school. We all loaded up and headed up north.

We were running a little late so as we passed the park I decided just to drive up over the curb and park on the grass. It was kind of a last minute decision so after I was on the grass I decided it would be smart to turn around in the middle of the park and so I would be parked the other way. That way we could escape easier. Since we probably weren't supposed to have our cars in the middle of the park anyway. As I driving speedily across the grass I hit the one wet spot in the whole stinkin' park. And you guessed it, we got stuck. Not just kind of stuck, our wheel was 3/4 of the way deep in mud. And to top that off we missed the fireworks. We had to watch them as we all stood around the stuck van.

Too late, we were already stuck, so we left the van in the middle of the park and went to enjoy the Christmas Festival.

By the time we were done playing, my wonderful husband had driven all the way up to Natchitoches to save us. He pulled us out with his truck (and a little help from a police officer) It was great fun!!!!

If anyone feels the need for driving lessons, please ask. I'd be happy to help out wherever I can.

THANKSGIVING

This Thanksgiving was so wonderful. We spent the day with the Gouldings. I had craved this meal for months. And it was worth the wait. I ate until I was sick. And then none of us could move so we sat in the living room and hung out. Dusky loaded up on mashed potatoes and then went out and played football.

I thought about all of the things that I have to be Thankful for. I have the most wonderful husband and we are so blessed to live where we do and have the job that we do. And more than anything we've been blessed with the most beautiful little girl ever. And another one on the way. I'm so thankful for the gospel and the knowledge that we have. We can have our families for all eternity. That is something that has helped us (the Goulding family, especially Sis and her boys) through the last year. That is such an amazing blessing.

MORE FAMILY FUN....

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

It was raining like crazy in Louisiana (Wierd, I know) and after two years of living here I still haven't bought an umberella. So my mom got creative and put a bag over her head. Kaia wasn't quite sure who was holding her.

I put this on our family fun page, but this wasn't so fun. Kaia was so sick for a few days. She had a virus and her fever was 103. She was not a happy camper. We felt so bad for her.

I was sitting in the kitchen at my mom's house and I realized that Kaia was awfully quiet. That's never a good sign. I went in to check on her, and she had found a king size symphony bar and she was chowing down. She saw me coming and she knew exactly what I was going to take from her, so she turned around and sucked on the chocolate bar as hard as she could. I guess she figured she would get as much out of it as she good before mean ol' mom took it away.

We had fun playing on the grass at the temple.

Kaia with 4 of her grandma's. And grandpa too.

I hate this picture because Kaia is not my baby anymore. She's such a little girl. It happened way too fast.

And a few short videos for your entertainment.....

Kaia loves the swing.

THIS ONE IS FOR YOU MOM...

As we were sitting in church today I found myself wondering, as I often do.....Why is it that you can hear Kaia above all other babies. Maybe all of the other babies just happen to be sleeping at this very moment. Maybe our ward is just unusually quiet. But then I remembered being in Robbie and Helayna's ward last week and I came to the realization that my daughter just happens to be EXTREMELY loud. "What's that? What's that? Oi tu de bam (spelling???) and every other word that she knows as loud as possible. Good thing everyone thinks she is cute.

This video is for you mom...

KAIA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

KAIA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!

Kaia wasn't sure about the cake at first. She had about 2 little tastes and then she just smooshed it everywhere for the rest of the time.

Ammon was giving Kaia a little birthday kiss. It was so stinkin' cute. She kept coming back for more. She would put her forhead back up to his mouth.

Time to open the presents...

All of the kids helped her. She would cry everytime I took a present away from her until she got the next one. Then she was fine.

A short little video...

MMMMMM! SUGAR!

This is what happens when Kaia gets around the grandparents. Candy, Candy, and more Candy. I should have known it would be that way when Rob tried to give her m&m's at 2 months old. =) She got lots of candy in utah, then we took her trick-or-treating on Halloween. I'm a dummy and I forgot to bring the camera. She was teh cutest little pumpkin that you ever did see. She couldn't say trick-or-treat so when the people opened their door holding a bucket of candy she said her famous "ooooh, what's that?" She's on a sugar high!

ITS A GIRL!!!

Yes, we are having another girl! YIPPIE!!! I was sure that it was going to be a boy. Just like I was sure that Kaia was going to be a boy. I really stink at that whole motherly instinct thing. I'm always wrong and Dusky is always right. (just in the baby guessing game. I'm right in everything else) I can't wait to have two cute little girls. I hope she's just like Kaia.

DEER HUNT

These are pictures from the fabulous deer hunt. We spent a few days up at the cabin. It was really fun. The boys got some really good bucks and the girls just hung out at the cabin. Kaia loved the ranger, four wheeler, and jeep rides.

PICTURE TIME

We had aunt Rennie take Kaia's pictures down by the river at Robbie's house. I know I'm her mom but I think she's dang cute.