Friday, December 30, 2011

A full and fun Christmas

 We have LOVED spending all these extra moments with Kendall over the break! She is at such a fun age and has been soaking in all that this season brings, and we have enjoyed watching through her eyes. She has taught us new dance moves to "Away in a Manger", all the characters in the manger scene are "babies," insists that the tree is lit, points to any and all "Dantas" (Santas), tells us that Santa says "Whoa Whoa Whoa," discovered a love of candy canes, and that anything white is "no" (snow). I know there is more that I can't think of right now...but, boy is she CUTE!

On to our break...(sorry,this is boring, but I have to write it down or I'll forget what we did year to year!)

The first few days of the break were spent cleaning and organizing the house and working on some craft projects so I could feel caught up on life a little bit. I even spent some time in my classroom getting organized there and ready for the next month (a teachers work is never done!). The goal was to get on top of it all so that Christmas could actually be relaxing. 


We spent Christmas in Spokane this year. Christmas Eve day we laid low at home and watched it snow! Kendall kept going to the window announcing "no, no" (aka snow, snow). Although we didn't get enough to get out and play in, it did make it feel just a little more like Christmas. Keith's Mom, Grandma, and Aunt joined us at church for a peaceful service of singing Christmas carols and listening to the cutest little girls recite the Christmas story. There wasn't childcare so Kendall ran free in the back of church and Keith lovingly chased her around so I could relax and participate in the service. :)




Christmas morning was spent with our little family of 3 exchanging gifts and teaching Kendall how to open them (she's practically a master at it now!). She was genuinely excited about everything she received, especially her books which she carefully read before moving on to other gifts. Grandma and Papa had shipped over a new "bike" for Kendall which she enjoyed riding backwards (hasn't mastered how to move it forward yet!). 




We ventured out to Keith's Mom's house for the rest of Christmas day where Santa had made a visit bringing Kendall her first real dolly (who she now gently kisses on the forehead!) and a stroller that plays music! We were all spoiled rotten by Bernie, whose love language is most certainly gift giving!!! 



The day after Christmas was a reorganization day to make sure the toys don't take over the house. We also packed up for a trip to my parents. We then flew to Longview for round 2 of Christmas. Kendall's Great Grandpa Dave was also visiting during our stay and Kendall loved all the extra attention from him and her Papa and Grandma. Of course we all exchanged more gifts and some of us used our gifts to go shopping for new boots! Keith and I finished our stay with a date night, while the 3 grandparents took care of dinner and bed time---thank you! All in all it was a full and wonderful break. We head home tomorrow and have 2 days to fit in our relaxing :)

 Watching Calliou on the iPod on our flight---it only kept her attention for 15 minutes!
 Loves her new Color Wonder!
 Flirting with Great Grandpa


 Grunting as she tears into the gifts!
 Kissing her baby
riding my childhood horse

I know you can't really tell by these pictures, we do actually dress our child in clothes other than pajamas! HA!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Santa Claus

Kendall wasn't diggin' Santa this morning at the annual "Breakfast with Santa." We weren't surprised because she generally doesn't like strangers all that much.  Although there was a glimmer of hope as she was pointing at him and saying "Danta," but the closer we got the tighter her grip on me was. There was no way she was letting us leave her with him so we have a family Santa picture this year. Here is a little video of her Santa encounter...notice she is very curious and looking for him as he pumped up the crowd.



And our little ham was all smiles again once we were home.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

We are Thankful!














Saturday, November 5, 2011

Would you like to try our Pumpkin Spice Latte?

 We were all set to have a cute, plushy little pumpkin this Halloween. Until I had a last minute inspiration by way of a Starbucks apron (thanks to Trish).  So, I printed off a few Sbux emblems, taped up a little coffee cup sleeve (paper bag) and a lid (foam paper) complete with the classic green Starbucks straw (toilet paper roll)---and, Wah Lah:
 our little latte!!!!

Trick-or-Treat!
Brentwood Costume Parade with Monkey Liam
Welcome Addy! To a Halloween tradition :)
A very serious Halloween tradition.
Last year (7mo & 3mo)
Then it was time to go Trick-Or-Treating with the Strate and vanAnrooy boys. 
Kendall doesn't know how to say "Trick-or-Treat" yet, but if you ask her what a ghost says she'll tell you! Despite this, Kendall scored candy at 2 houses (One being Trish and Johnny's---our costume inspiration!)...we don't have a picture of that though. We let her play with the candy and she figured out how to bite through the wrapper, which we discovered after we noticed green drool running down her chin---oops! 

It was a fun and Happy Halloween for all of us!


Tuesday, November 1, 2011

It isn't Fall until you've been to Green Bluff


Family day at Hidden Acres Farm

Just your classic northwest Fall picture

Kendall viewing the huge pig. Her sweet little "oink" sounds nothing like what the real pig says!






 Second trip to GB with the cousins
Kendall was screaming until Mimi joined the picture!

And she didn't want a picture with us holding her either, she wanted to stand all by herself---we've got an opinionated toddler now!

Selecting the perfect pumpkin

Our Fall babe---complete with "pretties"

Saturday, October 15, 2011

a lot can change in 3 months time

Oh my word---where did my baby go??? Kendall is a full blown toddler now! It seems as though in the past 3 months she has exploded with new tricks (especially this past month). First and foremost she can walk! She started cruising around 10 or 11 months, took her first few independent steps just after her first birthday, and took off walking around 14 months. For awhile she still preferred crawling as that got her to her destination a little faster. But now she pretty much walks to get around, can bend over to pick things up and stay standing, and occasionally "runs," which is hilarious!





Perhaps the next most exciting "trick" is that her hair has finally grown in enough to get a teeny tiny ponytail on top of her head! As long as we can distract her as soon as I put it in and ensure that nothing draws attention to it, it can stay in all day. Next step is adding bows...we need a little more hair for this next phase.


 Kendall has always been a talker, but now she has about 30 real words that she uses in the correct context (mostly). A few of these words she's said for a while, but about 20 of them she just recently started (like in the last 2 weeks!). She can say: uh-oh, no, moow (meow), woo  woo (woof woof), quack quack, titty (kitty), daw (dog), bebe (binky), ba ba (bottle), wa wa (water), cado (avocado), toes (toast), cheese, nana (banana), bberry (strawberry), baby, sue (shoe), gock (sock), ba (ball---or pumpkins), down, peas (please), take oo (thank you), mo (more), poop (when she is going!), ello (hello), bye bye, lights on, owie, Mama, Dada, Mimi (Keith's mom), Bama (my mom), Bapa (my dad), and today she started saying "ta-da!" She'll also repeat any word she hears us say (scary!).


She is a little jokester already and enjoys playing pretend. She loves to pretend to give you things then quickly pulls it away and giggles, she'll hide behind furniture and peek around and say "hi" or "bye." If we ask her to do something like sit down she'll fake it and giggle then finally do it the right way. She pretends to go "nigh nigh," tucks her baby into bed, gives her baby her binky, and the other day was using the snot sucker on her baby. She still enjoys "reading" books and cards and occasionally snacking on them, too. The gray kitty continues to be her favorite night time friend and we're getting to the  point that if we ever lose it, it's going to be rough! Her other favorite toys include anything that isn't really a toy at all, such as tupperware, sippy cups, shoes, pieces of paper, empty food containers, pens, cell phones, electrical cords, etc. She also loves to sing, dance and clap whenever she hears music or her daddy singing. If you sing "itsy bitsy spider" she'll do all the moves and cheer for herself at the end of the song.

Our little peanut is weighing in at 18lbs and 4oz at her 15 month appointment this week, holding steady below the 5% for weight. She is 28 3/4in tall (10%), and has an 18in head (50%). She is still wearing most of her 12 month clothes, but is starting to get too tall for some pjs and pants, although she swims in 18 month clothes.

She pretty much eats everything we do these days. Her favorites include avocado, spinach, and cheese. We recently introduced her to Red Robin french fries and they may now top the chart as she was frantically signing "Please" to us for more! She also loves yogurt, toast and jam, peas, carrots, corn, squash, and tofu.

We've been so impressed with Kendall's flexibility with me going back to work full time. She spends time with family and friends throughout the week and has adjusted really well. She continues to be the happy playful baby we've come to know this past year. My favorite parts of my day are snuggling with her while she drinks her morning bottle, seeing her light up when I pick her up after work, and playing with her before dinner time. I even like it when she waves and tells me "bye bye" when I leave her in the morning, it's like she is telling me "I love you Mama, have a great day! I'm going to be just fine today!" and I usually need that reassurance. I'm so glad she still loves me, even though I feel that mommy guilt about going back to work.  We are so grateful to have a pretty easy going kid (so far!). The one place she is not easy going is at the nursery at church...go figure, she is a pastor's grandkid!

Last, but not least, Kendall graduated to her big girl car seat! It's still rear facing, but much roomier than the carrier type---which she could have stayed in for a few more pounds but her feet were starting to get crammed in the car.

Even after documenting all this amazing growth of our sweet little Kendall, I'm still in shock that our baby isn't really a baby anymore! I know I've said this on every stats blog post, but this is my new favorite stage. I think Kendall is such a fun toddler, I just love being around her, playing with her, reading to her, and watching her learn new things. I know we're biased, but she's the best baby in the world! Here are a few pictures from the past few months.
Not quite ready for the bike



Kendall, where is your nose?



With her cousins at Stoneridge

She can't get enough, even when she is hissed at or scratched!

Being silly by climbing in her car seat and saying "bye bye"

Yogi and Alison's wedding