First Easter

Although this is Kendall's first Easter it sorta feels like her second because I have such vivid memories from last Easter. The pregnancy was feeling very real at that point and we were already imagining what Easter might be like with our little baby Ross. 

We were happy the sun decided to finally show itself just in time for several Easter egg hunts. First, Kendall and I went to the home of a former student of mine & his sister who is a current student and golfer for Keith. They have a perfect backyard for an egg hunt. But Kendall wasn't very interested in the eggs, she was crazy about the grass! At first she was tentatively touching the grass, but once she figured out how to pull it out and put it in her mouth she was having a blast! That afternoon Keith and I took Kendall to the park to enjoy the sunshine. EVERYONE was at the park enjoying the sunshine!

On Sunday we helped it the church nursery---it was a packed house in there! We did get to hear snippets of the sermon, too. After church there was an Easter egg hunt for all the kids, once again Kendall couldn't care less about the eggs, instead she was eating pine needles. Later on Sunday we went to Keith's mom's neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Then Easter dinner with his family. It was a great weekend!

Liam, Rachel & Kendall (2010 Brentwood babies)

Eating grass---yum!

My teaching partner, Heather.

eating pine needles at church

Accessorize! 

More grass to eat!

Easter chick cupcakes

Wet raspberry contest with Jeter!

Name Sake

Happy Birthday to Marissa Marin, Kendall's Auntie Riss. 

9 months: mobility and opinions

Our smiley girl is 9 months old today! 

It's strange to me how 9 months of pregnancy seemed like an eternity, but 9 months of baby continues to move faster than the speed of light! I bumped in to an old Starbucks friend at JoAnn Fabric last night, who I hadn't seen in 9 months. She reminded me that the last time we spoke (other than Facebook) was also at JoAnn's and it was the day before I had Kendall. It felt like just yesterday. 

Kendall's personality continues to crack us up! She is so interactive. She loves to play peek-a-boo and she'll even initiate a game when we aren't around to play. She thinks it funny to mimic the faces and sounds we make and then totally bust up laughing. This month we began to see another side to her personality as she started to really assert her opinions.  Foods she loves or hates seem to completely switch daily. One day she'll eat an entire banana and the next gag at the sight of it.  For a few days she chose to not eat a thing (then she got her tooth). Rice puffs are a favorite. If we want her to eat anything else we can't offer puffs until the end, because when given the choice she pushes all carrots, apples, peas, you name it, off her tray, gathers up the puffs and starts shoveling them in her mouth. When she decides she is done eating or doesn't want something she scrunches up her nose and mouth and shakes her head "no." She's also developed some preferences with toys, too.  She likes having a small soft blanky to hold while she falls asleep, and gravitates toward her stacking cups and books while she plays by herself on the floor. Her favorite book is Touch and Feel Kittens. She'll flap her arms wildly when she discovers it and flips right to her two favorite pages (the fur and the straw basket). Every book we read that has realistic pictures in it she grabs and pets hoping they will be textured. She is getting seriously mobile! She actually started crawling forward this week (YIKES!). Her biggest motivators are electric cords and magazines (really, why do we buy toys for kids!?). In fact, magazines has become a favorite of hers in general. She likes to take them all off the shelf and push/slide them around. Then she'll flip through the pages before she decided which one to rip out and eat! With her mobility comes additional vacuuming and more vigilant parenting (soon enough we'll be chasing her!).

It's been a fun month with many big milestones and notables.
*First tooth (it's actually visible now)
*Slow army crawl FORWARD (on occasion)
*Standing (aka dancing) without help, and even taking a few cruising steps.
*Clapping (in her own unique way---I'll post a video)
*She is still sleeping through the night consistently (7pm-7am most nights)
*Saying "Mama" (at everything, but often in her high chair---not sure what that means!)
*Several time's she's reached for the puffs container and said "mo" (similar, yet distinctly different than her "mama."
* Pointing (in general)  and inspecting things with just one finger.
* Meeting baby Ian on our trip to Utah (not taking a nap the entire 5 hours of traveling!)
*Sitting like a big girl in the shopping cart (kicks her legs and squeals with delight the whole time!).
*First bruise from a face plant (hazards of moving around)

Kendall and I participated in the first annual YL fun run this morning.  Hence the track suit in pictures below! She had her running shoes on earlier, too.

Dolly pictures!

Can you see my tooth now?

Here I am brushing it!

My first bruise :(

I love standing!

My  Daddy and Mommy are so silly!

Sometimes I read my favorite book while I wait for Mommy or Daddy to get me up from my nap.

Practicing my Yoga.

9 months in and 9 months out!

We love the Hooglands!

Kendall and I made a little Spring Break trip to the beautiful state of Utah (almost as warm and tropical as Hawaii...almost), to visit my best friend Leah. It seems like we get together almost every year and it's become a special tradition that we spend some time crafting. This trip was no exception! In fact, we did some crazy crafting --- our backs were aching from hunching over sewing machines, ribbons, beads, and hot glue guns! I think next year we need to include a spa day or massage on the last day.

Right off the bat we were warmly greeted by 3 adorable Hoogland kids on Friday afternoon. Leah and I  immediately began scheming what projects needed to happen. Rylan wanted in on our project/craft extravaganza and was really excited to help (he wanted to make his mom and teacher something special---very cute!). On Saturday, Leah took us to the Women's Expo where we squeezed our two strollers through ridiculous crowds, spent too much money, and were inspired to add in about 238 new ideas! Next stop: JoAnn Fabrics. Sunday afternoon (er...night) through Monday, brought the real crafting. Bows, flowers, skirts, tutus, watch bands, bow ties, and a pirate ship. The babies spent a good amount of time entertaining themselves (or being entertained by Maddy & Rylan). Scott was a trooper, too. Our only regret from the weekend was we never had a dance party! And I hear that Rylan has some sweet new break dancing moves.

It was a successful weekend all around! I love spending quality time reconnecting with Leah. It always feels like we just pick up where we left off; talking and laughing and sharing stories and reminicsing the good ol' days. Getting together is refreshing and good for my soul. Thanks Leah, for taking care of us, I am SO blessed by your friendship! 

Kendall was the "big kid" for once!

Baby Ian has way more hair than Kendall---she and I are both a little jealous and really wanted to put bows in it!

Flat Stanley came with us

Kendall got stuck under various pieces of furniture.

A fraction of the crafts!

The kids!

 

Maddy is a fast and feisty 2 year old, and Kendall couldn't take her eyes off of her!  Everything Maddy did or said sent Kendall into giggles. And Maddy was heard saying "she likes this" about everything she gave to, or did for,  Kendall.  I was just as entertained by Maddy and loved that she calls food "bood," has an imaginary "goggy," and carries around her "coinies." She is a riot!

I couldn't get enough of this handsome little guy! He is cooing and smiling and smells so great!  Snuggling with Ian made me miss this stage with Kendall---it feels like that was a million years ago.

We always forget to get a picture of US! So here we are on our way to the airport this morning.

Spending a few hours in the Boise airport.

Papa & Gramma Williams

 Kendall loved getting to spend a couple days with my parents, who came to visit last week. She did great with them and I think they were in Grandparent heaven watching all of Kendall's new accomplishments since Christmas.  

The Tooth

***update: upon further investigations it looks like just ONE tooth has actually poked through, although the area next door is looking white, so we expect another one to be popping up any day now. Also I added a few new pictures and a video documenting the afore mentioned investigations.

We have been anticipating the arrival of Kendall's teeth for about 5 months now. At 3 months she started drooling like a Saint Bernard. By 4 months old she was aggressively rubbing her gums on anything she could fit in her mouth. Around 6 months old she started waking up in the middle of the night in pain, only to be relieved with Ora-Gel on her gums.  During her 7th month she went on a few different eating strikes (stressful!). This past month she started playing with her tongue on her gums (and I always freaked out thinking she had just put something small in her mouth and was on the verge of choking!---nope, always just her tongue.) And throughout this whole time every runny nose she got we thought "it's teething time." I'm pretty sure we went to bed saying "Oh my word, if she doesn't wake up with teeth we are CRAZY" every night! And every morning we would check for teeth, only to be disappointed to find out we were just crazy. Until today. Kendall has what we think are TWO teeth (or one really big one!) just poking through on the bottom. They are easier to feel than to see, especially since she sticks her tongue out to cover up her new little pearly whites. I'm probably a little more excited than I should be. HOORAY KENDALL! I wonder when the rest of her teeth with join the party? Tonight, to celebrate, we will be adding "teeth brushing" to our bedtime  rituals.

If you look really hard you'll see the tooth is next to my thumb...wow, my hands are starting to look old!