She's a wild one!

What? You mean it doesn't work?!

This is the Garmin GPS that I bought Dave. He really wanted it for work since he drives an ambulance and I guess it would be kinda helpful to know where the nearest hospital is and the best route to get there in an emergency. Of course, he insisted on using it ON THE DRIVE TO MY PARENTS. You know, a trip we have taken only 1,876,986,743,789 times. The funny thing is it actually got us all the way to my parents street and then insisted that their house was on the left side of the street when it is in fact on the right. Way to get us all the way there Garmin and then let us down. Good thing we werent in an ambulance in an emergency (oh, and knew EXACTLY where we were going)...

The two best gifts I received this Christmas

Along with the necklace that Dave bought me for Christmas was a tiny little card. I got some amazing gifts this Christmas, but none of them mean a thing compared to the gift of my husband, the man who has put up with me for 6 years, and our beautiful baby girl. The card was simple enough, but I cried once I finished it. My husband is so thoughtful and sweet. Here is what it said-

To My Beautiful Wife
I love you so much, I wanted to wish you the very best Christmas ever.
It's our daughter's first of many.
This is something you can pass on to her and her kids and their kids...
I love you.
Love, Dave


They make every day Christmas for me.

The Aftermath

Me: I dont think she got enough stuff for Christmas.

Dave: I think someone is spoiled haha

Me: Really? Who on earth could you mean?

Dave: haha

Me: You know, with all the cool stuff she got she is laying here playing with an old used cell phone.

Dave: She wants to be just like us!

Me: yeah...A HUGE NERD.

Merry Christmas!

I may not be on again until after Christmas. I wanted to wish you all a wonderful holiday. I hope you get everything your heart desires and then some.

We took Kensley to see Santa today and to my surprise she didnt get upset when we handed her over. In fact, she thought he was the funniest thing. When he handed her a present she busted out squealing. It was priceless. He got her a sing-a-long elmo. That Santa knows his stuff

Happy 9 months Kensley!

Dear Kensley,

Today you turn 9 months old. What can I say besides the fact that each day gets better and better with you in our lives? You bring your daddy and me such joy and your little smiley face is all we need at the end of a long day. Also, it seems that each day you do something new and fascinating and we are scrambling to catch up with all of your new accomplishments.

This month you began pulling yourself up into a sitting position from laying flat on your back. When I walked into your bedroom the first time and saw you sitting in your crib smiling up at me I was so happy. Because you’re a little bit on the chunky side it seems that tasks other babies have been doing for months take you a little bit longer. In no way are you delayed, you just have more body to maneuver. Its actually been hilarious to watch you try to pull yourself up into a sitting position because you grunt and groan and your face turns all red and you completely look like your momma as she tries to complete her pilates dvd.

You are still crawling backwards and I’m starting to wonder if you will ever truly learn how to crawl. You are much more interested in standing, either by us holding your hands or as you hold on to the couch or your crib. Today I stood you up to hold on to the couch and you let go and held it with one hand! You little dare devil. So needless to say this month has brought on a lot of bumps and bruises and I have seen you smack your head more times than I would ever like to. I’ve read in all the doctor books that when this happens we are supposed to smile or do something to distract you so that you don’t learn to cry when things like that happen. But honestly, none of those doctors could possibly be a mother because when I see you fall down I know instantly that it is going to make you cry and I scoop you up and wipe your tears as you cry out “momma”. Wasn’t this the exact reason God made mothers? To fix the boo boo’s?

You are definitely more mobile this month even if it is by you crawling backwards. You have a toy shelf full of toys in the corner of the room and you finally found it this month and sit there and pull out toy after toy. You got a little giraffe tricycle and you love being pushed back and forth across the living room riding it. You figured out that we have Christmas presents under the tree and you try to play with all the boxes and bags. The surprising thing to me is that you couldn’t care less about the Christmas tree. I figured you would try to grab it and pull it over, but so far it hasn’t interested you one bit. You also figured out how to scoot right up to the tv and will be inches from the screen while watching Shrek and Nemo. You flap your arms up and down and kick your legs and your eyes are the size of silver dollars because you are so excited. I’m sure in your mind it seem like your INSIDE the movie when your that close.

We started to try to give you more big girl foods this month but that’s not necessarily working out. I cooked you some peas, carrots and corn and put them all finely chopped on your highchair tray to see if you would pick them up and put them in your mouth but instead you had more fun smooshing them with your fingers while I fed you your baby food. The things you do like are these little puffs and yogurt melts that melt in your mouth when you eat them. And you are quite good at feeding yourself these things. The whole time you are eating them I can hear you say, “mmm” and “nom nom” and it’s the cutest thing and I hope you continue to do that until your 25. One reason I really haven’t pushed table food is because you still don’t have a tooth! I know I can see about four along the bottom so maybe any day now. I am hoping you won’t be a toothless wonder for much longer.

This month you celebrated your first Thanksgiving at Great Grandma Sally’s and then at your Aunt Cathy and Uncle Larry’s. You had mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce. Even though you don’t yet understand the significance of holidays like these, this time of year is my absolute favorite. I have so many good memories from when I was a little girl spending the holidays with my family and I only hope that as you grow up we can create great memories and traditions for you to pass on to your babies. I may be getting ahead of myself but I would like grandchildren very much please.

As we are headed into Christmas now, your daddy and I are like 6 year olds all over again. You have brought back the excitement of the holidays for not only us, but everyone in the family. We can’t wait to see your face on Christmas’ to come and to teach you the real reason for the season. We just want you to know that you truly are the best gift we have ever received.

Love,
Momma

Why are these soo hard to find?!

This is Kensley's absolute favorite sippy cup and for some reason NO ONE carries them. I must have received it as a baby shower gift and I dont remember from who. Ive been to babiesRUs, Target, Walmart, Baby Depot...I did happen to find them online and I guess I may just have to order them there.

I think it has something to do with the nipple on this cup, its really soft like a bottle. Ive given her every other kind of sippy cup (Avent, some BPA free ones...) but she refuses to drink from them and fusses till I go and put her juice in this one. Sigh.

Do any of your children prefer one type of sippy cup? Toy? etc?

Christmas Pictures

My Favorites...










Our Christmas cards are going to be adorable. Im so happy with how the pictures came out. Kiddie Kandids always does such a great job :)

Halloween Pictures

This weekend went far too fast for my liking. We took Kensley down to my mom and dad so they could take pics of her in her Halloween costume. Its calling for snow here the week of Halloween so I have a feeling we wont be taking her around the neighborhood to trick or treat and figured this weekend would be a good opportunity to get pics. We got a few good ones, but poor baby girl was exhausted and was not having it. I did get a few good ones though.

Ill be in Columbus for 2 days this week. Im really having a hard time with being away from my family for that long, but it has to be done. I just hope the two days fly by.

Anyway, I dont have much time to post. Here are a few of the pics I took this weekend...

I just love her cute little bum. She will hate me for this later, but I had to. Of course she peed all over the blanket while I took these...



Our little princess...



She wasnt feeling it at this point...



Enjoying a cookie :)

My Sleepy Head

Last night I laid Kensley down for a quick nap at 7. She ended up sleeping until 5 this morning! I felt awful because she was in jeans and a onesie, but I didnt want to wake her. She got up at 5, ate and then slept till 830. She is now laying down for her nap. I took some pics of her today during tummy and floor time. I figured I would share!







Such an intellectual. She takes after me! haha



A preview of her Halloween costume- Isnt she the prettiest princess?

We got a new car!

Happy 6 months Kensley!

Dear Kensley,

Today you turn 6 months old. Goodness child, you are half a year old already! We went to a birthday party yesterday and I thought about how in just 6 months we will be having one for you. And if the next six months go as fast as your last six months then your party will be tomorrow and your dad and I better start planning.

This month you have been absolutely occupied with shoving things into your mouth. There is nothing in your world that is off-limits to your munching and chewing. Even if the object of your desire is three times the size of your face, I watch as you try to devour it. You have chewed on your hands, your feet (and all of them at the same time) the television remote, Spencer’s tail, the telephone, my face and your dad’s nose. But still no tooth. We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of your first tooth like a kid at Christmas, but nothing yet. Your dad stood there and told me the other day that he could see them poking through but I looked in your mouth the other night and didn’t see a thing. So obviously your dad’s enthusiasm is causing him to see things. We shouldn’t point this out to him though, he likes being right. Learn this early and it will save you loads of headaches, plus it will probably get you out of everything you do. Simply agree with your father and your golden.

Another sign that your getting older (When will you start to pay rent?) is that you no longer lay in my arms calmly when I feed you. You reach up and look at me with your adorable puppy dog eyes and you lay your hand on my face. Then you slap me. Pinch me. Inspect my mouth like the most skilled orthodontist. The other day you punched me in the nose and it throbbed in agony for the rest of the day. Is that any way to repay the woman who feeds you?

The other day we wandered into a BabiesRUs and a really nice woman asked us if she could use you in a few poses and we would get a free 5x7 out of the deal. You were such a great baby and you smiled at her and we finally got a picture of you sitting up all by yourself. The sweet lady talked about how you were such a well-behaved baby and so happy and smiley. We agreed with her because we know this is true, even though it has nothing to do with your dad or my parenting skills. You are just an easy-going, laidback baby. You began to sleep through the night when you were 6 weeks old and you have never woken up in the middle of the night, you will lie on the floor and entertain yourself for hours. You are the most content baby I have ever met. I’m not saying these things to brag to other parents who may have a more challenging baby, I’m saying it because that’s exactly what your personality is.

In honor of your six month birthday we took you to the zoo today. We walked you all over and showed you the penguins, lions, tigers and bears (OH MY!). Even though you didn’t get it, it was so much fun walking you around and pointing out the animals to you. It was great to think that in a few short years you will be like the kids we saw today, running and jumping up and down, full of excitement. These past six months with you have been life changing. Our lives have changed completely. Our lives now are much more full and fun and interesting. We wake up everyday excited to come in your room and see your bright shining face, and to know that its just going to keep getting better.

Love,

Momma

A stroke of good luck!

We were running all over the place today shopping and stopped into Babies R' Us to get a few things and we ended up with these!





A lady offered us a free 5x7 if we let her pose Kensley and take some test shots. We can order these prints online if we want more...and just in time for her 6 month pictures! I think they turned out sooo well and we hadnt planned a thing. Luckily we put her in a cute top today and it worked out great! How neat is that?!

Wordless Wednesday

Picture Post

I have a bazillion pics to post and just have not got around to it yet. So here they are...

Kensley in one of the few onsies that actually says "Mommy" on it haha. Take a look at those delicious thighs!



Getting a better look at her shoes.



Playing with the doll Great Grandma bought her.



Who wouldn't want to wake up to this face every morning?



My new hairdo..the curly version today because thats how I did it. Ill try to post a pic of it straight as well. You cant really tell here that it gets longer in the front.



The back view...



And some of you had questions about the baby food I make. How I store it, how long it lasts etc. After I steam and puree the fruits/veggies I scoop them into individual servings in a ice cube tray. Then I freeze them and pop them out of the tray. (These are apples and pears...)



They make cute little serving cubes like this and then I just defrost them in the microwave.



Then I store the rest in a double freezer bag like this and take out two at a time when I need them. I've read that you can keep them frozen like this in your freezer for several months.




And finally, this is the teether that I highly recommend. Its from Khol's but they don't have it on their website. When Kensley chews on the orange (antenna?) it vibrates in her mouth and soothes her gums. She absolutely loves it.




Thats all for now...It takes so long to upload, resize and add pictures on here. Such a pain!