Easter Weekend

My mom's birthday was April 6th, so my dad took us out to Chili's for dinner, then to Michael's to pick up some flowers, then to the cemetery to pay respect to my mom. I hate to say it but we don't go to the cemetery all that much, we just honestly don't put much stock into it because there's really not much there to remember her by. My sister Michelle always says that its basically just like a big park for her kids and they love to run up and down the hill, and thats basically what it was to Jackson also! It was nice to go there though, even if Jackson didn't fully understand why we were there.

My grandma is buried just above my mom

We even saw some wild turkeys!

Easter Sunday we went to the Welty's house, where its just Robert while Brian's mom is in Washington while Lynn has her baby. We invited my dad over and we made homemade pizzas, and I made cream cheese monkey bread, and we had an Easter egg hunt!

It actually turned out a lot better than I had expected! Most holidays he doesn't even know whats going on, this was the first time that he was really participating in and was really enjoying himself! He found all the Easter eggs and put them into his basket, and we even had to throw most of them across the lawn so he could find them again! But its not surprising, Jackson loves anything that resembles a ball.

Happy Easter!!!



My Life Through My Iphone II

We had a beach day on my day off last week. We had lunch with daddy in SLO, then went off to Avila for some fun in the sun.

This is kind of a big deal because up until this day Jackson HATED getting his hands dirty! We once saw him fall down in the sand, and instead of putting his hands out to stop himself he just tuck and rolled and laid there until we helped him get up. So Jackson actually putting his hands in the sand and playing around in it was a really big deal! Usually he would just chase seagulls and run with the tide as it rised and fell.

We played with corn starch, water, and food coloring one day as a science project! Pretty sure mom had more fun with it then he did (you know, the whole doesn't like to get his hands dirty thing) but we still made a big mess and had lots of fun!

Jackson is the cuddliest thing you'll ever meet, he is just adorable!!

My Life Through My Iphone

I recently ran my first ever half marathon! I did pretty well, my goal was to run each mile under 10 min. and I averaged a 9'54 mile for over 13 miles! 2 hours 12 min and 3 seconds of running, not bad!

I also discovered that I was in the Atascadero newspaper for the half marathon :)

Jackson sometimes goes to a gymnastics class in Atascadero, as you can see he really gets his exercise in ;) 

My beautiful, wonderful, coveted brand new equipment coming in. Thanks to Brian for being the most wonderful, supportive husband a girl could ask for! <3 Shortly after getting this I shot my first wedding, it was so much fun!

Brian and I chaperoned an etiquette dinner  for the youth, we got an awesome table of kids and I got to decorate a table, I went with a lemone lime theme!

Yeah this picture definitely needs an explanation.... Our good friends the Espinal's were taking birthing classes and asked us to join! No, we're not pregnant, but we will be someday and we thought we might as well learn a few things with the lovely Becky Snider! Ray was nice enough to show us ladies what it looks like inside his womb... I mean A womb....

Jackson loves his time with Dad, even if it is while he's sleeping <3

Jackson is SO funny and is currently OBSESSED with cows! So we stopped off the other day so Jackson could enjoy watching some real, live cows and yell and moo at them. He is such a sweet boy!



Catching Up

Wow I wish I was better at blogging. To catch up, here is a quick summary of what THE WELTY'S have got going on.

Kaitlin: Works part time for a local family who runs their business out of their home, working part time as a photographer, mother of the cutest little boy around, playing with the idea of going to school to get an Associate's Degree in Photography? Who knows, we'll see, oh and I'm the Primary Chorister, officially the all time BEST calling in existance, because I get to play and sing with the most adorable kids who I absolutely LOVE. And not the kind of love like "I LOVE that dress she's wearing", more like the kind of love that I would seriously do anything for those kids.

Brian: Works partly as a supervisor for a local business and partly as an engineer for them. Its actually really cool how he's getting his feet wet in the engineering field and he just so happens to be awesome at it! He and his boss are currently working on some new products that Brian himself is creating from the ground up, how cool is that? He's also going to school to be an engineer AND he's a really amazing father AND husband AND he's our ward's Young Men's president. Yeah, he's kind of busy.

Jackson: Oh, Jackson. That little boy is so full of, spunk? Spirit? Excess energy? Dunno. But I seriously wouldn't have it any other way. He is always on the go, always running around, always barking like a dog at the top of his lungs while in the grocery store. (Sigh) He just recently learned to crawl out of his crib, which is rather impressive considering the crib goes up to his shoulders. But like I said, I wouldn't have it any other way because he really is so full of life. I love that he's adventurous, active, daring, fearless, and social and outgoing. But even with all that going on, he is still my little cuddly boy he's always been. In the morning he just follows me around like a little puppy as I'm tidying up. When he's eating breakfast and I'm cleaning up breakfast he follows me with his eyes as I go back and forth. And when its time for bed and he's eaten dinner he'll sweetly say "Night night!' and bury his head into my neck. He sleeps so great, from about 7:30 pm - 7:30 am which works for mom! And when I go into his room in the morning he's quietly curled up in the fetal position just chattting away to himself, like anyone who's spent any time at all with him knows how he does.

For Valentine's Day last night Brian got me pretty flowers (because he's knows I'm a sucker for them) and I made lobster tail and coconut shrimp and Red Lobster biscuits. Needless to say our house permanently smells like fish. Then we went to the movie theater in Atascadero which, turns out, is only $5 on Tuesdays! We saw The Vow which we both really loved even though Brian probably won't ever admit it. "Papa" Jim watched Jackson while we did that so he got some one on one time with his grandpa.

Please excuse the poor quality of pictures, they were all taken on my iphone. Here's Jackson in the fort Daddy and he made on a Sunday morning :)

This is how Jackson watches movies

Okay so this picture has a story to it. The other morning Jackson and I were sitting down and eating breakfast when he reminds me that we hadn't said prayers. So he folded his arms and started talking in his soft, sweet prayer voice that just melts my heart. Once I folded my arms he stopped and waited for me to say it, and as I'm in the middle he starts yelling "Dada! Dada!" Apparently I hadnt said "thank you for dada" fast enough for him :) It was so sweet and just melted my heart! This is a quick picture I got of him kind of folding his arms, I guess I wasn't quick enough to get the full effect. But it really is sweet how Jackson will fold his arms and say prayers. Even when we're not sitting down for a meal he'll go over to the table and lean on it and fold his arms and use his prayer voice, it is SO cute!!!

Jackson's typical Sunday attire. Thank you Ray Espinal.

This video just highlights a typical Saturday morning in the Welty house. Includes music and dancing on our messy bed in our pajamas. Please excuse my not so entertaining commentary, and my obnoxious voice.

Christmas 2011

While I realize that this post is almost a month late, I am finally, FINALLY getting around to updating my family blog! Between working, my photography business, and taking care of Jackson, blogging has gotten just a little behind. Okay, so those are all just major excuses but I'm trying! Anyways, this year we spent Christmas with my family at my dad's house with my 3 sisters. Here are some pictures with them.

This was my niece Emeline's "angel" costume, can't you see the resemblance?

My sister Michelle made all the kids reindeer food that they sprinkled on the porch, how cute!

We always take a picture on the stairs where we would wait for my dad to light the fire, but Jackson wasn't cooperating. Can't you tell how excited everyone was?? ;)

Jackson's Christmas PJ's

Jackson's new sock monkey! He sleeps with it every night!

Okay, so I would've put up a picture of Brian where he didn't look under the influence...

...if there were any.

Brian thought it would be funny to put my dad's kidney stones that have been sitting on the counter for forever. I thought it was HILARIOUS.

Mom was trying to help him unwrap his gifts, but he's easily distracted!

BY THE WAY, in case you haven't heard (IF there's even anyone who still reads this) I'm doing free photoshoots for cancer patients on the Central Coast and I need referrals. Take a look at this post to read more about it.