6 Little Known Facts About KATIE

OK Julie here you go.....

1. I don't like to swim in ANY body of water alone (including swimming pools) for fear of a shark or alligator attack.

I guess growing up in Florida where they tell you that an alligator can hide in 2 feet of water helped to produce that fear. I would ALWAYS check Grandmommy and Granddaddy's pool quite thoroughly before actually diving in and if there were no sharks or gators then I would get in.

2. I hate when people have belt loops on their pants and don't wear a belt.

I think you can classify this as an OCD problem. I don't know why but it really bothers me when people don't wear belts. Its not even a fashion issue for me. It just really bugs me. I HATED not being able to wear a belt when I was pregnant.

3. I have never had a Big Mac

I don't know why. I guess 2 all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun just never sounded appealing to me. However, at this point in my life I refuse to eat one just for the sake of saying I've never had one.

4. The first theatrical production I was in was The Three Little Pigs.

And I have loved the theatre ever since. I was the mother pig in my Kindergarden play and even had a solo that I had to sing. That was the first of 14 stage productions I have been in. Thanks to my mom and dad for my appreciation of the theatre.

5. I have been to 31 of the 50 US States. (And D.C.)

My family always drove if we were going somewhere because with 9 people driving is cheaper. I LOVED all of our family roadtrips. We always got to see so many cool things. My favorite was the roadtrip Kimmy and I took and we made a stop in Palmyra. It was such an awesome experience. Ohio is the only state that I've only been in the airport for a layover. (but I still count it.)

6. Mary Poppins is one of my ALL TIME favorite movies.

I have loved Mary Poppins since I was little. I remember, before I was old enough to go to school, my dad was home with me during the day and we would watch Mary Poppins together. Sometimes I would try and snap my fingers to see if my toys would put themselves away. I would also stand with my feet just like hers and talk to the end of my umbrella. Strange I know, but at least I had a good imagination.

Now that I have finished this, it took me FOREVER to think of 6 things, I challenge anyone who has the time to think of 6 things about them and post it. Its kinda fun if you have the time.

Hope everyone is well! ~LOVE YA~

Thoughts on Parenting

This is in response to Jess' question in her "One day at a time" blog...

Being a parent is such a wonderful thing but it sure is scary at times. I haven't been a parent very long but one of my biggest fears is that I won't teach Cayden enough. The other night he was upset and I was singing "Love is Spoken Here" to him. As I was singing I started crying because I want him to be able to hear that song and think "my home really is just like that." Along with what we teach him I want him to know that, most importantly, he is loved. I am most grateful to have such a wonderful husband who honors his priesthood so that we can have it in our home. I never want Cayden to feel he needs to question the things that we teach him.

I'm thankful that I have parents who taught me all they knew so that I can go on and share that knowledge with my kids. What a blessing it is to be able to take someone so small and start teaching him, now, the things that I know. I don't know how much he understands but I don't want to miss any opportunities to teach and talk to him.

I feel so blessed to be able to be a mom. (especially the mom of such a cutie)

BRRRRRRR!!!!!

We have been freezing our tails off these past few days with below zero wind chill. But we have been doing our best to stay warm. With nice hot soup and lots of hot chocolate we have done pretty well.

Cayden was even able to use his super warm jumpsuit. Its still a little big.

Lots of naps keep us warm too. He thinks he's a Charlie's Angel. I think he's just a little angel.

Cayden and Spencer (his cousin) are already becoming the best of friends. Aren't they CUTE?!?!?!?!?!

Granddaddy loves playing with Cayden (even when he is cranky)

Six weeks old and just as happy as ever. Cayden is growing big and strong. He is enjoying his days with his Grandmommy and always smiles at me when I get off work and pick him up. Its still hard for me to leave him but at least I know he is with someone who loves him and will take good care of him.

We hope everyone is doing well!!! LOVE TO ALL!!!

Cayden's Blessing

We had a wonderful weekend. On Sunday we had the opportunity to bless Cayden at church. Jared gave him such a beautiful blessing and the spirit was so strong throughout the whole meeting. I won't give all the details because I'm sure you all have already read Julie's blog and she took care of giving every detail of the whole weekend. So, I'll just post some pics from our weekend and won't bore you with telling you again.

Proud Daddy!

Proud Mommy!
Me, Mom, and Daddy

"Are they twins?" (Grandma B.)

"Is that a doll?" (Grandma B.)

Cayden did get pretty sleepy but...

he had a GREAT day!!!

Jared and I are still doing great. Jared started back to school today and I went back to work. I was supposed to go back yesterday but called in sick. I just couldn't leave Cayden. Then I cried all the way to work this morning and fought off tears all day. I just wanted to be home with him. I don't understand women who look forward to returning to work. Anyway, We hope all is well with everyone. Special thanks to mom and Jess and Jayson for being here to share the weekend with us. We wish everyone could have come but we understand reasons for not being able to make it.

Hope everyone has a GREAT week!!!!

LOVE TO ALL!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I just can't get over how fast time goes by. It seems like just yesterday I was packing my bag to go to the hospital and now almost 4 weeks have passed.

I want to start by wishing everyone a very Happy New Year. I hope 2008 brings many new adventures and exciting times. I also hope it is a year of many rich blessings and lots of love.

Jared, Cayden and I are doing GREAT! Jared and I love to just sit and watch Cayden. Its so much fun being a parent. Jared has been an AMAZING help to me. He is making sure I get enough sleep and takes Cayden for me when I' m not. We tag team in the middle if the night when Cayden wakes up every 2 hours. Hopefully he will start sleeping for longer periods of time.

Since all Cayden really does is sleep we thought it would be fun to post some of his favorite sleeping positions....

Our Christmas was wonderful! We spent the morning, just the 3 of us, at home. Jared and I combined our traditional Christmas breakfasts and had scrambled eggs, cinnamon rolls, and oatmeal. It was quite the filling breakfast. After opening our gifts and stockings we went to my mom and dad's house for more presents and then dinner. It was the perfect Christmas day.

We spent New Year's eve at my parents house as well. Just hanging out and playing games was the plan for the evening. We had a great time and even stayed awake enough to watch the ball drop. We got home about 12:30 and then Jared left to go and clean up after the youth dance. I couldn't believe that he was asked to just go out and clean up. Especially because the building it was at is about 30 mins. from home. But Jared being the great person that he is did it without complaining. He made it home safely so I was grateful for that.

Jared has actually had time off of work which is SO nice. We have enjoyed spending the last week together. It has been spent sleeping, shopping and just hanging out. Jared's boss is very generous when it comes to giving a Christmas bonus and this year we were able to buy a washer and dryer as well as a dining table. It finally feels like we are living in an actual home rather than a broke newly wed home.

Sadly Jared must return to work tomorrow so our fun is over. But you can't live if you don't work so it's back to the grinding stone for both of us. I have to go back to work on the 7th which will be hard but with Jared still in school I have no other option. Thankfully my mom has offered to watch Cayden for us during the day. It will be hard to leave him but at least he will be with someone who loves him and someone we trust.

Well, we hope everyone has enjoyed their holidays. Good luck in the new year! We love you all!!

Here's to a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Cayden Merle Linton

Well the wait is finally over. We have our wonderful baby boy. Cayden Merle Linton was born on Friday, December 7, 2007 at 7:31 pm. He weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. He looks a lot like his daddy. We are so happy to have him here.

Our doctor had told us to check into the hospital on Thursday at 11:00 pm. We were excited that Katie would be induced the next morning and we could have our baby. Thursday night Katie and I had gone to a Maya 2008 (the software that I use at school for animation - 2008 is the newest version) release party, but while there we got a phone call from the hospital saying that we wouldn't be able to check in that night because they didn't have any beds for us. So we were told to call later or else just go in the next morning. A little while later we got another phone call from the hospital saying that we would have a room afterall but it wouldn't be ready until about 11 or 12 pm. So Katie and I went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory after the release party and had a nice meal together. Then we headed for the hospital.

We made it to the hospital just before midnight. They checked us in and got Katie all hooked up to the monitors, etc. We had a wonderful nurse named Alissa that took great care of Katie and I that first night.

This is where I got to sleep. Comfy huh?

Doesn't Katie look great? This is her that 1st

night at the hospital.

We didn't get much sleep that night. In fact we didn't make it to bed until after 2:00 am. So it was quite the long night. Friday morning came way to quickly. We were woken up at 7:00 by our new nurse Barb to start the whole labor process off. They started Katie on Pitocin which started her contractions. It wasn't until about 11:30 that our doctor, Michael Johnson, actually came and broke her water. Once that happened it wasn't long before the epidural came in handy. Once that was in place we were set. Then it was just a waiting game.

At about 6:00pm or so our delivery nurse, Autumn, prepped everyone and got everything for delivery. Our doctor showed up and it was show time. There just happened to be another lady delivering her 4th child at the same time Katie was delivering. So about halfway through our delivery our doctor announced that he had to go deliver this other baby and that he would be back. So we were just supposed to hang out and wait for him to get back. Katie was feeling cold and our nurse gave her blankets to help her feel warmer. She put one on her stomach and she wrapped one around her head.

Katie resting while our doctor went to deliver another baby. Doesn't she look like Mary?

Once our doctor returned it wasn't long until our little one made his entrance into this life. He was so sweet and precious from the first moment we saw him. He kind of gave us a scare because he had a hard time taking breath for a minute or so. But the nurses were terrific and in no time they handed us our precious baby boy for the first time.

He has been such a good baby. We stayed for another day and half and were finally able to bring him home today, Sunday, December 9, 2007 at about 4:00 pm.

He was so little his clothes didn't even fit him right.

It has been a long couple of days, but we are so happy to have Cayden with us now. He is so special and we love him very much. We hope all of you are doing well and can't wait until you can all meet him. We love you very much!

Lots of love,

Jared, Katie, and Cayden

Haircuts, Holidays, Birthdays, and Shopping days!!!

Its been a while I know, but here I am again! Life is going well. We are still awaiting the arrival of our little one and can't wait until he comes. It gets harder and harder to wait but we are trying our best to be patient. We went out and purchased our travel system and play yard and Jared put them all together on Saturday. It feels more real now that we have a place for the baby to sleep all set up in our room. However, come Dec. 7th we get to move it all to our new place. (I'm SOOO excited for that!!!)

Jared putting together the play yard

Jared putting together the stroller

About two weeks ago I had the fun and exciting experience of cutting my little brothers hair. Timmy had no objections to it and willingly sat in the chair and let me cut away. Matt on the other hand had to be forced into it. Daddy had to play the "you're not 18 for another week" card to get Matt to sit down. You see, Matt has this incredibly thick curly hair and likes having his "white man's fro" as he calls it, so he was pretty bummed to have to cut it off. But he looks SO much better with short hair.

Timmy's haircut-almost done!

Matt and Tim-What nice haircuts

Thanksgiving was great! Jared got a phone call at 8:30am from Timmy asking if he was going to play football with them. It was about 30 degrees and there was snow on the ground. But he happily went and the 4 boys enjoyed themselves. Then we went home so we could get ready to go back to mom and dad's house for our Thanksgiving dinner. We had a wonderful day.

Thanksgiving also happened to be Matt's 18th birthday. What a lucky boy, not everyone gets a huge feast for their birthday. I can't believe how grown up he is. He is such a HUGE help to my mom and dad and rarely complains about it. Its so strange to think that my little brother is now an adult and that in a year he'll be leaving for his mission. But what an AWESOME and special man he is. WE LOVE YOU MATT!!!!

Matt and cutie Spencer

Jared and I went Midnight shopping on Thanksgiving this year. The outlet mall just south of us started their "Black Friday" sales at midnight. SO we got up at 11:30 to drive down there and sat in traffic until 1:15 when we finally pulled into the parking lot and were ready to shop. Our main goal was to find a robe for me to have at the hospital and we couldn't find one. We shopped until about 3 and got home at 3:30. Then Jared had to get up and go to work at 6:30. He was such a sweetheart to take me shopping. So I went to my parent's house on Friday and they took me to Kohls where I walked straight back to the sleepwear and found a robe in 30 seconds. It was only $18 too. Then mom and I put Dad in the line that wrapped around the store and we shopped a little more. We were quite successful at Kohls.

Since it would be silly for us to put up our Christmas tree and then move it in 2 weeks we helped put up Mom and Dad's tree on Friday. It is quite the large tree but we always have fun putting it up. Jared was the head honcho of the tree committee this year. I think we got it up faster than we ever have.

Matt and Jared putting on the last few branches

Now I get to start packing up our apartment and Jared is finishing up his semester. And hopefully its only a matter of days until we can give you all a call and tell you our little man has arrived.

Hope all is well with everyone. LOVE TO ALL!!!!!

Growing and Expanding

It seems that as I expand with the pregnancy everything around me expands too. Life just seems to get more and more crazy and it seems as if I never have a free moment. So this week has been nice. The schools are on Fall Break so I have had the week off. Its been nice to get somewhat organized again. I have been able to sleep in too, which I relish because I'm sure that won't happen very often once "little man" comes along.

Jared and I have been counting our blessings lately. I think that its a really good thing to do when I feel like I have no control over what is going on in my life. We have been planning to move as soon as our lease was up but really wanted to be able to stay in our ward. Well, our ward is mainly houses and town houses and the apt. complex we live in now is SUPER expensive. HOWEVER, I went on-line to check prices at our complex and found that they have 2 bed 2 bath apts. for a price that we can actually afford. So, WE ARE MOVING!!! On Dec. 7th we get to move into our own apt. again. I'm SUPER excited. It is definitely going to be a hard time to move, with a brand new baby and Jared's finals week. But it is going to be GREAT!!!

So, life is crazy but good. Jared is working Saturday's again which is a blessing and a curse. I only have 3 weeks left of work until I start maternity leave. We have been trying to spend as much time together as we can. We went to our ward Halloween party which we actually enjoyed! One of the games there was eating a donut off of a string, I didn't play but Jared did.

My car finally hit 100,000 miles. I thought it was cool so as I was driving down the road I pulled out my camera to take a picture. (I know, I'm kind of a dork.)




Kimmy and Tyson just moved up the street from us! They got a wicked deal on renting a house. So, its fun to have them closer. Plus I get to babysit cute little Spencer.

Spencer sleeping while I babysat

Houdini Helping me babysit

Jared and I actually got to spend Halloween together! His teacher basically cancelled class because she figured no one would come anyway. So, we went to a Trunk or Treat with my sister and her husband but it was over by the time we got there. So then we went out to a diner type restaurant called Gunther Toody's. They have 5 cent burgers on Wed. We went with Kimmy and Tyson, Chris, Matt, Tim and a friend of Tim's. It was a fun night. But I just enjoyed being with Jared.

Jared, me, and my growing belly on Halloween

Kimmy, Tyson, and Spencer on Halloween

So That's been our life lately. I really will try to blog again soon.

LOVE TO ALL!!!

I am a SERIOUS slacker!!!

I have to apologize to those of you who actually take the time to look at our blog. I have been a huge slacker. Now that I'm back to working again I pretty much come home, eat, take a small nap, wake up to watch my shows, and then I back to sleep for the night. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to work while I am pregnant. I do enjoy my job though. There is just something about special needs children that I love and its such a blessing to me that I get to work with them.



Things have been going really well for us though. Jared is back in school so I NEVER get to see him during the week (except on Wed. when he comes home to spend time with me before he heads off to school). He is doing well though and is creating some really cool things. I love it when he is home and wants to show me what he's been working on, he is SO talented.

The past month has kind of flown by. At the beginning of Sept. we were able to go to Utah for Labor Day weekend. It was a special trip because we went for the blessing of Jared's sister's new baby boy, Jayson. He is such a precious little boy. We always have fun when we go to Utah because we get to see Jared's mom and sister and her family. We just love playing with our nieces so whenever we get the opportunity to we take it.

Jared with our new nephew Jayson

Jared and Jayson (doesn't he look GREAT with a baby in his arms?)

Me and Rylee (she was enjoying playing with our camera)

Jared in the play tent with Rylee and Tayler

Then came my birthday! Woo hoo another year older and I'm not sure I feel a whole lot wiser. But my birthday was fun. We woke up and had a yummy breakfast and then just hung out until it was time to go to church. After church we went to my mom and dad's house for my FAVORITE spaghetti dinner and cake and ice cream. Kimmy and Tyson came down and my brother Mikey was even visiting from Florida. So it was an extra special day because I had most of my family there to spend it with. (Thank to all those who sent birthday wishes!!!)

My sister Kimmy made my birthday cake

We also ended the month of Sept. in Utah. Jared's wonderful Grandpa B. passed away on Sept. 24th. He was such a great man and I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to know him. We were able to see him quite a bit in our travels this summer and every time he saw him was special. He always made me feel loved and that he genuinely cared about me. He also always made sure Jared was taking care of me of smiled big when I told him Jared was doing a wonderful job. I'm so thankful that Grandpa B. was the one who sealed Jared and me and I'm thankful for the many times I heard his testimony. What an awesome man!!! While in Utah for the funeral we were able to spend time with ALL of Jared's brothers and sisters. It was special for Jared to be with them all again but it was wonderful for me too because I'm still getting to know most of them and I LOVE spending time with them. I always like I'm with my own family when I'm with them, which is such a nice feeling.

Jared and Grandpa B. on our wedding day Grandpa B. on Jared and my wedding day

Last but not least Happy Birthday to my baby brother Timmy who turns 16 tomorrow. He is such a wonderful and special boy and I couldn't ask for a better baby bro. I LOVE YOU TIMMY!!!

OK, so I hope this can tide everyone over until I have more exciting things to write. Our life really isn't all that exciting right now. We are just awaiting the arrival of our little man. Only 9 weeks to go!!! Until next time!

LOVE TO ALL!!!!!