Monday, March 30, 2009

Kensley's One Year Photos Part II

The weekend after Kensley's birthday we took her to Kiddie Kandids to have her pictures taken. It would be a huge understatement to say that they did not go well. First, she woke up really late that morning and since her pictures were scheduled for one in the afternoon, she did not get a nap in beforehand. That was mistake number one. She also didn't eat much before the pictures either since she was in a weird, my schedule is way off course mood. This was mistake number two. So we get to Kiddi Kandids and we start getting her dressed for the pictures. Unfortunately, the adorable outfit that I had planned- a tutu and birthday hat would not work. Since K is over 9 months old she has to have something on covering her top. They dont take naked pictures of babies after 9 months. The only top I had with me was a stained and old white onesie. Mistake number 3. K wouldnt smile for the camera, she wanted me to hold her the entire time and in the 3 pictures the photographer managed to take she had her arm in front of her face as she reached for me. We left without ordering a single picture and I was more than a little discouraged. How in the world do you take pictures of a one-year-old? I was starting to wish I had done the tutu pic when she was 6 months and sat perfectly content and happy.

So yesterday we tried again. This time she had two naps before we went (we scheduled them later in the afternoon), she had lunch and a snack and I brought her elmo for the photographer to use to distract her. We also bought her a leotard, and I decided since she wanted me to hold her so bad last time, we would just be in the picture with her holding her hands. Her mood was infinately better yesterday and we managed to get some adorable pictures. I didnt get any with her birthday hat, she kept ripping it off and started fussing so her hair looks a little plain, but I love them. I hope you do too.

Also, I must say that our photographer Stephanie is the best one we have ever had. We have been lucky enough to get her 3 times now and I don't think I would pick anyone else. She is fabulous with kids!

Our Favorite-









Our beautiful ballarina



What snow? I am ready for summer!




Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Squeaky Green

I wish I had a video monitor. I laid K down for a nap and she is in her room squeeling and laughing. I wish I could find out what she found so funny

Tomorrow we are taking her for a free class at Gymboree. Have any of you ever taken your kids there? It sounds like something she will absolutely love. It has music and games and she gets to crawl around on things. It is all age-appropriate too. Its a good amount to join each month, but I can take her 4 times a week. One class per week and then 3 times she can just go and do as she pleases. It will get us out of the house and give her a chance to play with other kids too. I'm pretty excited. And I may meet other mothers with kids my age, which is also a perk.

Dave is working a 24 hour shift today so it is just us girls fending for ourselves. We ran to T.J.Maxx and Target and I spent way too much money there. I am really wanting a GREEN purse for spring but have had no luck finding a cute one. I bought K some baby legs, leggings, a new sippy to try, some more spoons and snacks. I also bought some organizational things for my desk and kitchen.


I also bought K some natural diaper cream, lotion and shampoo. It is all by Method. I buy all Method or seventh generation cleaning supplies because they are all natural and dont use any dyes, chemicals or perfumes and since I saw that they made baby products I figured I would give them a try. I am hoping the diaper cream works, she has never had a rash yet but I have been using a regular diaper cream and have heard so many bad things lately about what is in shampoos, lotions and diaper cream. Nasty chemicals and all that. And since I feed her organic foods and milk, this was just another thing to add to my list. You may already know this, but tear-free shampoo is NOT a mild soap that doesn't cause tears, it just contains a numbing agent that numbs your baby's eyes so they can't feel it burning. I learned that back in my early-childhood education days. Anyway, enough with that rant. ha! If I really like the diaper cream I may do a giveaway and send one of you a bottle to try if you are interested.

Anyway, I am off to get some things done around the house. Maybe a picture post later?

Vanessa

Monday, March 23, 2009

Waking up on the wrong side of the crib

Here is some photographic proof that my child does not always wake up happy.









But it does not take much to bring on that smile...











I love you punky.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Spaghetti Face!

As K gets older and has been starting to eat more and more of the things Dave and I eat, I am so happy that she seems to be a pretty good eater. Between Dave and I we are pretty picky. The only vegetables Dave likes are corn and carrots. It is a rare occurrence that he will eat a salad. He HATES mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, hash browns and home fries! But of course loves potato chips and fries. ha! And then I just like to have things a certain way. I LOVE salads, but I HATE lettuce on sandwiches and tacos. I love onions in my salad or burgers, but HATE them on pizza. I remember one summer I ate the same exact subway sandwich every single day for lunch. I'm really easy to please. I guess I am simple. haha!

But K has been taking after me (thank goodness) in the things that she likes to eat. I actually prayed she would like mashed potatoes as much as I do so that I would have a reason to make them. And she does! She also gobbles up tomatoes in my salad. She will literally eat every last one if I let her. She loves bananas and yogurt in the morning. And one thing the girl can not get enough of is PASTA.







Good thing I work in an Italian restaurant huh? She is such a girl after my carb-loving heart.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Mommy's Lucky Charm

Did you all have a nice St. Patty's Day? It was gorgeous here and we managed to get outside to play for a bit yesterday so we were really happy. K even got to try out her new wagon she got for her birthday. The weather is supposed to be just as nice, yet rainy but we may try to get to the park for a bit at some point.

I heard a story on the radio last night about how so many people go over to Ireland to kiss the Blarney stone and that the people over there find this hilarious. I guess they pee all over the stone and then watch as people lean over and kiss it! I guess it rains a lot over there...so you never know! I think Ill just blow it a kiss if we ever get to see it!

Here is K playing with my shamrock necklace



She didn't like the necklace around her neck...



Enjoying the beautiful weather and a ride in her wagon!



I don't think that smile left her face the entire time ;)



Hope you all had a safe and fun holiday. Its always great to have an excuse to wear green!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

First Day at the Park!

We had a bit of a heat wave last week here in Ohio and since Dave and I both had the morning off, we decided to take Kensley to the park while we could. Because if any of you know the weather in Ohio, if you so much as mention the fact that it is nice out the next hour it takes a turn for the worse and will drop 30 degrees. I cant tell you how many times I start out my day with the heat on in my car, the air on at lunchtime and finish the night drive home with the heat on again. Gotta love Ohio weather. Actually, you dont. And I dont. But thats a whole other story.

Anyway, I am pretty sure this is one of the first times K has been to the park. We may have had a picnic or two last summer, but she was only a few months old then and I was worried about the sun and all that so this was her first REAL trip to the park. We didn's stay too long because it ended up getting pretty windy, but she had a fabulous time. I know as soon as she starts walking more she will be ALL OVER the park and I will be scrambling to catch up with her. Plus that grin hardly left her face the entire time we were there. I know we will be spending many days at the park come spring/summer.












Could you all please say a prayer for my Grandma Rhea. I don't mention it much, but she has not been doing well for some time now. She is back in the hospital. She suffers from dementia and Alzheimers and so she has no idea what is going on. She talked about people who have been gone for years as if they just visited her yesterday and I dont think she is going to know what is really going on much longer. I think it is such a shame that she never had the chance to know K and she will never really know her grandma.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Kensley's Birthday Party Post!

I think I took a little over 200 pictures, so I will spare you from a never-ending picture post. These are just some of our favorites ;)

The Birthday Cake...

It was made by the same lady that did all of Dave's birthday cakes, it was delish and she did those character's from a picture we showed her :)



The presents!



A quick glimpse of the nemo madness. Each of the little kids got a stuffed nemo, nemo cup with straw and little eggs with fish on them stuffed with candy. All the adults got to take home a framed picture of Kensley. That is what is all over the tables.



Kensley with my brother Colton.



She did NOT want to part with her sippy.



My favorite pic of the day.



Where is the CAKE! Bring me the CAKE!



Oooh this stuff is pretty good!



She ate it ever so delicately. Hardly made a mess at all.





Here Daddy, You HAVE to try this!



She loved her Minnie Mouse.



Playing with her Choo Choo. With Kyle's help.



Elmo!



The party was a huge success. Everyone had a great time and told us they thought we did such a great job. We completely forgot to video tape everyone singing Happy Birthday which I am a little bummed about, but we were trying to juggle 7 million things and we just forgot. Its alright though. We had pizza, a fruit and veggie tray and a chocolate fountain with marshmallows, strawberries and pretzels. That thing was a huge hit. One of the helium balloons got sucked into the chocolate fountain and chocolate was flying all over the place. That was fun. haha! Kensley was a perfect angel and the weather was so warm that we got to go outside and play on the swings and the slides. Such a complete 180 from last year's weather!



Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Special Delivery!

Just look at what we got yesterday:



We got our new LG washing machine and dryer! And we couldnt be more excited about it :) Coming from someone who has been paying $3 per load of wash for the past, oh...six years, these things are God sent. We actually sat on the basement floor last night and watched a whole cycle. By the way, who knew that front loading washers took so long? around 53 minutes! But they clean your clothes much better and more gently, so I cant complain. And my dryer can get the clothes done in close to 30 so that is a huge improvement. So anyway, these are our new babies ;)

I got some adorable pictures of Kensley yesterday. She was way into watching Madagascar 2 so she stood still long enough for me to get a few good ones :)

In this one you can see how light her hair is getting. It always looks so dark in pictures, but its really getting light :)













Well, I am off to wash some more laundry ;) Does anyone want to come fold and put everything away? Its the part about laundry that I HATE. haha!