The Gatewood Family

Welcome!

2010-10-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

My husband Josh and I created this blog a couple years ago. We planned on sharing the happenings in our life with family and friends. However, there were very few, mediocre posts and we just kind of let our blog die. I have wanted to really get this little blog up and going for some time now. I read many different blogs on a daily basis and they are all so interesting and have so much to offer their readers! There are so many very talented bloggers out there, it is kind of intimidating to start a blog! I mean some of these people have such a way with words! They are creative, have picture perfect houses, they wear trendy clothes, their hair is always perfect, their kids are adorable, they cook good food, do lots of fun things, are inspiring, ask good questions, etc… I am not sure that my blog will be as great as all of theirs, but I do hope you will check back here often as I build my blog! You can expect to read posts about my family, our life, recipes, crafts and some other random fun things I will participate in by linking up to other blogs! I will also be adding more info to the side bars of my blog once I figure out how!

Disney World Pictures

2009-06-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Disney World in February.

It's Official....

2009-06-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

It's official! We are the worlds WORST bloggers! We are going to *attempt* to be more exciting bloggers and to update much more frequently!

Life is good around here! We went camping last weekend and have another trip planned this weekend. Last weekend we went with my Mom, Dan and Tommy to Rampart Reservoir and had such a good time. It was a bit chilly and night but so fun. Next weekend we are going to Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park with one of Josh's friends, his girlfriend and her daughter. I am super glad summer is here and the weather is getting nice!

Karlee is doing great. She got braces on last month and turns 9 years old on the 25th. I don't know where time goes and it is mind boggling to me that she is already so old! She gets out of school next Wednesday and is looking forward to a long summer. We enrolled her in a charter school next year and she doesn't go back until September 21st. She is a little sad to say goodbye to some of her friends, but is excited to get a better education and to be challenged more and go to school where my Mom teaches. We think it is a great opportunity for her and feel blessed she is able to go!

Izabella is doing wonderful as well. She turns 3 in September. She is learning so much new stuff everyday and we are hoping to be able to enroll her in preschool this fall. At times she can be a bit strong willed, but all in all is super sweet and funny. She had been begging us for a few months now and we finally caved and let her get her ears pierced a couple of weeks ago. She is definitely a girly girl, she loves to go shopping, dress up, have her nails painted etc...

Josh says to say that he looks good in a green shirt and is happy...... LOL Work is good and he is excited for summer.... he says that he will update tomorrow himself!

I am doing good. I quit my job doing daycare in April and I am cherishing my time how with my kids without other kids here. I think we are all a lot happier now. This will be the first summer in a long time that I haven't worked and I am so excited to make the most of it. I just finished a cake class and am thinking of taking the second course. It was a lot of fun, I learned a lot and it was nice to get out of the house alone and do something for myself. I have been spending a lot of time playing outside with Izabella (Karlee is in school) and working in my yard. Hooray for summer!

Now that I have somewhat updated, hopefully we will post little tidbits of our daily life here soon! Hopefully we still have some readers!

Slackers!

2008-11-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

Gosh we are slackers! We haven't blogged in forever. =/ We keep meaning too and then don't. I have had loads of pictures on my camera that needed downloaded, which when you wait too long is quite a chore! We promise to blog more! Please come back readers!

I promise I will add pictures from the last couple of months within the next few days. I will post pictures of Izabella's birthday, Halloween, the pumpkin patch, park, etc...

Other than being extremely busy, things have been going pretty good. We have had some stressful events, but things seem to be looking up. =)

Josh has been super busy and stressed with work and I have been busy with the kids, daycare and other everyday stuff! Karlee is doing great and is enjoying school and Izabella is being Izabella.

Last night my Mom and Dan kept both of the girls overnight! Only the second time we have ever left Izabella and she loved it!. They both had a GREAT time and it was nice to have some alone time without the kids! We did some shopping and browsing in Castle Rock and then went to the mall and to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We were going to go to a movie but we were too tired (I took the girls to the zoo yesterday) so we went home and played dominoes instead!

Today was exhausting. Greg and Dixie were super nice and came over and helped us out all day. We painted our entire first floor! It looks awesome! I will try to take some pictures tomorrow. We have two green walls (the color of the inside of an avocado) and the rest is a medium brownish color with the exception of the kitchen that is a beige with one green wall. It looks like a different house! We were so back and forth on the paint colors and I was down right scared, but it came out great! After we were done with the painting and put the furniture back, Josh went to work. I am feeling pretty awful for him! He was going to get their at 4am tomorrow, but decided to go in this evening and is planning on working until 2am or 3am. Thanks again Greg and Dixie for your help painting, we couldn't have done it without you, and thank you Mom for taking Karlee to her friends party across town! =)

Cross Your Fingers!

2008-09-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

I went to the doctor again today for a follow up and we have decided to start fertility treatments in a couple of weeks. If you could cross your fingers or say a prayer for us, we would really appreciate it! =) I am nervous, but excited all at the same time! This will hopefully aid us in getting our baby we so desperately want! For those of you who don't know, I was officially diagnosed with PCOS a year ago and Josh was just diagnosed with fertility issues as well last month. We aren't using potent fertility drugs, but are using Clomid combined with sperm washing and IUI. Anyway, hopefully this wasn't too much information! We are just really excited that we are finally moving in the direction we want to move in after 21 months of trying to have another baby!

New Pictures!

2008-09-09T20:14:00.000-07:00

Hi! Anyone still out there? We are really slacking at this blogging thing. We have been super busy and haven't found the time to update!

Karlee started 3rd grade last Thursday and is loving it! She is so excited to be back in school. She spends most of her days playing with her friends (and well school now of course!). There are pictures in the post below, just click on the over sized picture and it will take you to the album in our Photobucket account. =)

Izabella is doing good, talking and repeating everything and starting to talk in sentences, she is getting really excited for her birthday and for Halloween! She decided on her own that she wants to be a "Ballerina Dolly", so ballerina it is, now I just have to decide on a tutu for her! Karlee keeps saying she isn't dressing up and she would go trick-or-treating, but only if she can wear her clothes... she likes to be dramatic, can you tell? I told her I think she should be a fairy!

We had a busy weekend with all kinds of relatives in town and my Grandparents 50th Anniversary party. It was a good time! I will post some pictures of the girls before we left the house in a day or two. Speaking of my Grandparents, my Grandma was diagnosed with lung cancer. =( She is going in to have surgery again this Thursday to have her lower left lung removed, any and all prayers would be appreciated!

Josh has been busy at work again and I have been staying busy with our girls, daycare and house stuff. We are still trying to find renters for our other house, which is getting very stressful, it is no fun doing repairs and having to pay 2 mortgages. Our old tenants bailed and owe us thousands of dollars and it has been vacant now for 20 something days, and totally bad timing. Someone came and looked at it today, but I am not sure if it will work out for us to wait for them (money wise). I have someone else coming to look tomorrow afternoon, so please keep your fingers crossed for us that they will take it and sign a lease and pay the security deposit (we are now offering the first months rent free to try and get someone moved in).

Anyway, that is about it for now! Feel free to click the picture in the link below to see pictures of Karlee's first day of school and a couple goofy ones of Izabella! Hope everyone is doing well!

Kristi

Josh's Cake and Karlee's First Day of 3rd Grade!

2008-09-09T20:10:00.001-07:00

Photobucket Album

Today

2008-08-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday and thanks to my wonderful family for already making it special, and it's only 9:30AM! I got donuts and sausage and candy so I'm on this sort of sugar high at the moment! Other than that, life is hectic for all of us at the moment. Busy busy. Thanks for reading!

Pictures 1 of 2!

2008-08-13T19:17:00.000-07:00

Izabella thought it was fun to *style* Karlee's hair.

This is Izabella's funny face.

The girls playing train. Karlee was pushing Izabella around saying, "Chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga." and Izabella yelling, "Choo! Choo!".

Pictures 2 of 2

2008-08-13T19:13:00.001-07:00

Izabella Coloring

Karlee painting!

Cheesy smile!

Family Pictures!

2008-08-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

We got family pictures taken on Sunday for my Grandparents 50th Anniversary that is next month. We also got some pictures taken of our little family. Izabella didn't cooperate too well (she was exhausted!) but they came out decent enough, even if they aren't perfect or very smiley. Here are a few I copied off of the photographers website. That is about it for now, I am exhausted after having 8 kids here today! I am not used to waking up so early, I should go to bed at a decent time tonight... not past midnight!

A Door, Orange and More

2008-07-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

So, I managed to install a door. Scary yes. Also, Kristi managed to paint the powder room orange, and even though with the green in there too, it looks sherbety, it came out good. Work slowed down significantly for me now and Kristi starts working on Monday. Karlee is still being Karlee... doing what she does best :-) and Izabella, well, she's learning new words and phrases every day. We also decided to go to church again on Sunday, which was fun. This seems like a very normal, ordinary blog post, yep, but I felt like writing it! Have a good one!!!

Working Woman

2008-07-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

I am going to be starting daycare again on August 4th. I had an interview last night and she just called me back and wants me to watch her girls. Julia is 19 months and Bella is 5 weeks. It will be REALLY good for Izabella to have interaction with someone her age.... boy does she need it. My hours are good too, 7:30-3:00 M-F. It will be great to have more money coming in again. =)

1st Black Eye

2008-07-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

Izabella got her 1st, and hopefully last, black eye yesterday. I am not really sure how she did it. She did run into a drawer in the kitchen I had opened while getting something else, but she hit above her other eye. She woke up from her nap with it and it continues to bruise more. Poor baby!

I just thought I would upload a picture or two of her in the tubby, with her bruised eye. I am picking Josh up from work at 4:00 and we are going camping for the weekend, YAY!!! They did make him work, so we are just going up a later and I am killing myself trying to get everything together alone!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Randomness

2008-07-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

We haven't blogged in awhile, so I thought I better write something so people keep reading!

Not a lot is new here though. My friend Kim and her kids are in town and they spent last weekend with us. Karlee and Breanna had fun playing together and Izabella had fun playing with Dylan, who is 2.

I have just kind of hung around the house this week with the girls. I did get out for a little bit on Monday night (alone!!!) and got my hair cut... it is really short. I wanted it shoulder length, but the lady cut it about 3 inches above my shoulders... it is going to take some getting used to! Karlee had a sleepover at her friends house last night and Josh, Izabella and I went to Sweet Tomato's for dinner Josh has been really busy with work the last month; we are supposed to go camping in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park this weekend, but he still isn't sure if he is getting Friday off, and said today he may have to work all weekend. =/ Bummer! I am hoping we get to go, we could ALL use a weekend away! It is our favorite place to camp and we got the same campsite we had 2 years ago... cross your fingers for us!

That is about it around here! I hope you are all having a great week!!! =)

4th of July Pictures!!!

2008-07-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a fun 4th of July weekend! We had a busy but good weekend here. We spent the morning and afternoon of the 4th going to breakfast, running errands and doing stuff around the house. We went to a park and had a picnic and let the kids have fun with all of the festivities. The fireworks were really good, but they were abruptly shut down after a small fire started. Saturday Josh got his blood drawn and I am happy to report he did not faint again! The rest of the weekend we stayed around the house and we built our fence, yay! Here are a few pictures of the girls.

Blogger will only let me put 5 pictures is a post (anyone know if there is a way to put more!??!) so here are a few for now, unfortunately, I posted 5 of the pictures below this blog but they are in the wrong order, not that anyone probably cares. We are still going to find another site to upload all of them to that links from this blog.

Have a happy Tuesday!

Karlee walking in the kids parade.
Izabella with Grandma and the light up toy she bought her!
Dog the Bounty hunter was there. He has a house near Castle Rock, and it appeared they were shooting his show. The other one's came out blurry. He is in the tent in this picture...
Karlee and Izabella waiting for the fireworks to start!

More 4th of July Pictures

2008-07-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Izabella the morning of the 4th at home.
Izabella at the park with her flags.
Karlee at the park.
Izabella with Karlee's sunglasses on. She loves them.
Karlee being cute.

July 3rd

2008-07-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

These pictures were from July 3rd when we did fireworks at home. They didn't come out great because of the lighting. Thanks for looking!

Josh and the girls watching fireworks in our driveway.
Izabella doing a sparkler, it wasn't smoky in her face... just in front of the camera. =)
Karlee being silly.
He looks like he was dancing... he was lighting a firework.

Josh, Izabella, and Karlee and the neighbor kids watching the big one.

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

Glitter Graphics - GlitterLive.com

I know it is still the 3rd, but I wanted to wish everyone a happy, and safe 4th of July tomorrow! We will be busy all day finishing our fence (I can't wait to have it up!) and then we are going to the park for a picnic with my family at 5pm; I am excited to make my new favorite sandwich, a vegetarian BLT.... YUMMY!!!! and a caramel apple pie. We will hang out and have some fun and watch fireworks. There are supposed to be vendors, local merchants, a kids parade and games, and Radio Disney is supposed to be there as well, which Karlee is excited about. Fireworks will be shot off there after 9pm. It should be a good time! I am really excited to see Izabella's reaction to the fireworks! We did some tonight here at home and she enjoyed them. =) That's it for now! Have a good day everyone!

The Doctor

2008-07-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

I was going to post this on Random Thoughts instead, but Kristi got a good laugh. So I went in for a physical today and they wanted to take blood. OK, all good. Problem, I had only eaten a banana all day as I've been so busy at work. So I am sitting in the chair, the guy puts a rubber strap around my arm to pop a vein out and then says, 'Wow that vein is deep, I need a bigger needle'. I'm not the queasy type typically, I mean I've been there done that before with this. So he sticks the needle in, no problem, sweet. Ok, so a little blood comes out, then it stops... stops totally. So he proceeds to pull out that needle and begins looking in my left arm for a vein. As he is doing this, I start feeling really strange. Total nausea comes over me. Like a little kid I say, 'I don't feel so good. The room is spinning.' The guy asks me if I can make it the room to lie down, next thing I know, I say quietly, 'I feel like I am going to puke'. The other nurse comes running over and puts me on the floor with a pillow and an ice pack and my feet up. Next thing I know, I'm drinking Powerade. The other nurse says she couldn't tell the difference from my skin and the white tile floor I was so pale. I feel bad for the other nurse. He was new on the job and apparently this may have freaked him out. I was able to drive home OK, but I get to go back Saturday AM now... wish me luck!!! They say it's probably related to low blood sugar with the not eating... oh well...

Karlee's Birthday Morning

2008-06-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the morning on Karlee's birthday 06/25. I have a ton of pictures, but I need to find a better way to post them! Here are a few though!

Karlee with her presents from us and one from Uncle Tommy!
It was bright and early before Josh went to work. No one was quite awake yet. Izabella wanted to sleep in her ballet outfit.
Opening her card.
The Doodle Pet from Izabella.
Josh and I got her a Nintendo DS and Uncle Tommy bought her the Hannah Montana game.

Hi!

2008-06-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

Hi all! I'm a busy daddy right now but just wanted to say hi and hello!!! Enjoy!

Welcome!

2008-06-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to our first family blog! We will be uploading our family pictures here and keeping you all up to date with our happenings; opposed to sending out numerous emails and bogging you down with pictures. We are still trying to figure out how to navigate this site, but we will upload lots of recent pictures very soon!

I also want to thank my sweet, and very talented friend Sarah, for custom designing this website for me, she did an excellent job and I just love it!

Check back often for updates and lots of new pictures!

~Kristi