twelve months old

Our pumpkin is twelve months old!

Kennedy understands so much now!  She's totally becoming a toddler and doing all of the funny things that toddlers do.  She makes me laugh all day.

Such a big girl!

At twelve months you:

• Say "hello," "dada," and "toes."  There have been times when you say other words, but these are the only consistent ones.
• Do three animal sounds.  Dogs, cows, and elephants.
• Know where your toes and ears are.
• Play "How big is Kennedy?"

SO BIG!

• We can ask you to bring us a certain toy or book.  You know all of them.
• Are one busy girl!  You can crawl SO fast.  All of our friends with babies your age comment on how fast you are.

• Walk with your walker.  No steps on your own yet, but you're standing for longer periods of time.

You love:

• Mylar balloons.  The grocery store is the highlight of your life because there are so many balloons to point to.

• Your Cookie Monster stuffed animal.  Grandpa Carl bought it for you when he came down to visit us for your birthday, and it was love at first sight.  

• People.  You are seriously, the most social little girl.  You love getting attention from people, playing peek-a-boo, and are so friendly.

Highlights of the Month:

• Your first birthday party!  I have so many pictures that I'm going to do a separate post for it, but it was quite the event.
• Mommy turned 29.  We got to practice blowing our candles out before your party.

• You've been doing GREAT at nursery.  No tears and lots happy smiles.  
• Your hair is long enough to do the "Pebbles" ponytail.  It lasts a few seconds before it's ripped out.

I don't usually let Kennedy play with wire hangers, but whatever it takes to get a picture :)

• Mor mor and Gramps came to stay while Doug was in New York for work.  Kennedy got a horrible double ear infection and bronchitis while he was gone, so I was very thankful that they were here to help out.
• Grandpa Carl came down for Kennedy's party, and we had a great time hanging out with him.  Kennedy HATED taking her antibiotics, and it took two of us to hold her down and try to stuff the antibiotics down her throat.  Thanks Grandpa for your professional help with that!

one. year. old.

My baby is ONE!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet girl!  God has been so good to us, blessing us with you and choosing us to love you, shepherd you, and teach you.  Sometimes when I watch you sleep, my heart could just explode.  We adore you.  You have given us a glimpse of how God loves us and cares for us as his children.  Seeing how much you love your daddy and how much he loves you is one of my favorite things ever.  Happy Birthday to our little Nutty!

trick or treat!

Everyone knows that Doug and I love Halloween.  And in our pre-Kennedy days, we always said that we would continue to go to Vegas once we had kids.  ha. ha ha.  How life changes :)

Halloween morning began with story time at the library.  We dressed up all the kids in their costumes, and the librarian read special Halloween books.

Yes.  Sometimes I wear fake nerd glasses.  And not just on Halloween.

Just the madness of story time with this bunch.

My favorite picture from Halloween.  Kennedy tipped over backward due to her cumbersome costume just as the picture was snapped.

That night we went trick or treating with Ben and Holly in their neighborhood.  It was so. much. fun.  Their almost three year old daughter was super excited about it and dragged the seven adults that accompanied the kids from house to house as fast as she could.  Kennedy loved it too.  She loved seeing all of the kids, the pumpkins, and the decorations.  A few things that were awesome:

• One of the houses had "treats" for the grownups.  Wine and beer in red solo cups.  Don't mind if I do.
• Kennedy got A LOT of candy.  We totally had a bag for her and accepted candy on her behalf.  We got multiple full sized candy bars.  They live in a good neighborhood.
• Ben made a delicious stew and served it in a carved out pumpkin.  Once we got home from trick or treating, we put Kennedy to bed again at their house (second time that week) and were able to hang out for awhile.

Fancy wagon

Daddy reused Uncle Jimmy's Mr. Potato head costume.

Love these three.

Rachey was a snowman.  

Mary Beth was a jellyfish.

Seriously, nothing beats Halloween with kiddos.  What were we thinking?  Yes, Vegas is really, really fun.  But Halloween 2012 (baby's first Halloween) was one for the books.

halloween weekend

Our weekend was:

• A slumber party (until 10pm) at Ben and Holly's house while daddy was in San Diego and mommy was at a baby shower.  I put Kennedy down for the night in their pack and play at around 6:30, and she slept until I came to back to get her!  I was then able to transfer her to the car and back to bed in her crib.  Winning.
• Napping through a birthday party.  The first of many, I'm sure.
• A super fun Halloween party with some little friends.

A skunk, a Trekkie, a goldfish, a dinosaur, and a cow girl.

Funny story: Kennedy is really into pretending like everything is a phone right now.  She picks things up, holds them to her ear and says "hello?".  Well, Kennedy was playing in a pot of dirt at the party (I was trying to stop her).  She picked up a big handful of dirt, flung it at her ear and said "hello?".  Dirt EVERYWHERE.  On her face, in her ear, down her shirt, it was sad.  But funny.  Cause and effect.  Still learning.

• Getting to meet up with Sarah, Matt, and Savannah for a picnic!  We miss them SO much!

 Friends who happen to get pregnant (all on our first try) and have babies within a week of each other!?!?  Only explained by God choosing to bless us together and knit us closer together through this.  Love them!

The only time my 6'3" husband ever looks like a shorty.  They are a tall bunch.

• Celebrating Conor's first birthday!  He did a number on his cake.  Mommy, daddy, and big sissy were proud.

pumpkin patch

My dream of dreams was to go to the pumpkin patch in Avila Beach, but we decided it was a bit ambitious to drive all the way up to SLO for a pumpkin patch experience that Kennedy could probably care less about.  We stayed local and went to a pretty cheesy little pumpkin patch in the parking lot of our local mall.

Now, calling this place a pumpkin "patch" is perhaps an elaboration.  The pumpkins are pre-picked and are waiting in neat little piles around the hay covered tent for selection.  All that being said, we had a great time!  Kennedy got to see animals, eat hay, and saw lots of pumpkins. Since then, whenever she sees a pumpkin, she points to it like she knows it's something special.  We make many stops on our morning walk to admire the neighbor's pumpkins, and she always spots them in the grocery store.

Baby's first pumpkin patch SUCCESS!  We had a great photo op and didn't feel the least bit guilty when we only stayed for twenty minutes.  If we would have driven more than ten minutes down the road, I would have been determined to stay longer.  "You WILL look at more pumpkins and you WILL like it."

eleven months old

Kennedy Jane is ELEVEN MONTHS OLD!!!

We have had so much fun this month with our little lady.  She understands so much of what we are saying now, and loves going new places and seeing new things.


At eleven months you:

• Crawl everywhere, pull up on things, and cruise furniture.  No steps yet, but you have stood by yourself for a second or two.

• You say two words: "Dada" and "doggie."  Your language skills have exploded!  You babble as if you are actually saying something, and you point to things and name them in your baby language.

•  Are sleeping much better at night.  Like, sometimes THROUGH THE NIGHT.  You may have dropped your second nap though? Maybe?  We're a bit confused at the moment.
• Know where your toes are.  We ask, "Kennedy, where are your toes?" You point to them.  Cutest thing ever.
• Give high fives, clap, wave, and blow kisses.

You love:

• Stuffed animals.  Especially your giraffe and your dinosaur.  Your face lights up when you see them.
• Balloons.  Like. So much.  When we walk around the grocery store, you point to each and every one that you see.  Never noticed how many balloons there are at the grocery store.
• Daddy is seriously the love of your life.  

• Dogs and cats.  A common outing is to go to Petsmart and watch the dogs playing in the doggie day care.  Free entertainment, right?

You don't love:

• Taking naps.  Too much fun to be had during the day.
• Wearing bows, headbands, or hats.  Sad days for mommy.

• Food.  Seriously, after a cold you had earlier this month, you're back to not eating anything and nursing eight times a day...

Highlights of the Month:

• Fun outings that we actually took our camera on!  We fed the ducks.

• All your little friends are turning one!  Here Kennedy is dressed up for a birthday party.  Little miss Sassy-pants.

• We started going to story time with some friends on Tuesdays.  You could care less about the story but love hanging out with your friends.  One week we somehow got all of you to sit still for at least two whole minutes while we listened to stories.

• A week in Santa Cruz.  Always so fun to see so many people we love.
• Your first babysitter while you were awake.  Special thanks to Mor Mor and Gramps for buying Doug and I tickets to The Book of Mormon, driving us back to LA, AND babysitting a very awake baby from 5:30pm to 11:30pm.  They deserve medals.  She will not going to sleep for anyone but me :(
• A trip to the pumpkin patch with the Desparte family!  We saw sheep and goats, took advantage of the photo op, and left without a pumpkin due to a hideously long line...

I seriously can't believe that Kennedy will be ONE next time I do one of these posts.  Can I keep doing these until she's 18?  Or longer?  "Kennedy Jane is 309 months old!"

friday favorites

I'm not usually a big graphic tee fan, but this one from Old Navy stole my heart.

work it kennedy

Now that Kennedy is a crawling maniac, her wardrobe has become somewhat limited.  Dresses catch on her knees and most jeans are too stiff.  A few days ago she was wearing a pair of jean shorts that were too big for her.  I was trying to figure out why she was sort of dragging one leg behind her.  Oops.

Kennedy is wearing:
Tee: Target
Pants: Hand-me-down Target
Shoes: Vintage Nikes (my baby shoes)
Bow: Wal-Mart

ten months old

The little lady is ten months old today!

This last month has been a huge one for Kennedy.  She has so many new tricks!  On the flip side, month 9 was the month of NO SLEEP.  Hooooooly cow.  Will we ever sleep again?

At ten months you:

• Crawl like a maniac.  The inch worm is gone.

• Clap your hands.  Love this!  You haven't quite figured out context for hand clapping.  Clap when you're tired, clap when you're crying, any time is a good time for clapping.
• Pull yourself up on everything.  It's a whole new world.

• Eat a little better then you have been.  We're doing a lot of yogurt, cheese, and whole fruit that I let you take bites of. 

• Naps are going great.  You're still on a two nap schedule.  It's the night sleep that is killing us.
• Have five seven teeth.  The two bottom front, a molar, and the fangs.  Here's hoping this lasts until Halloween. *didn't work out.  two front teeth broke through yesterday

• Juuuust started cruising.  A few steps at a time to get to a toy that you really want.
• Still nursing.  You take a sippy cup pretty well, so I plan on giving you a sippy of breast milk if I ever have anywhere to go.  Not that I do...
• 
  

You love:

• Dancing!  You spontaneously break into dance moves constantly.
• Your Baby Jamz chair.  It plays hip hop versions of baby songs.  Most ridic hand-me-down ever.  And by ridic, I mean awesome.

• Giving high fives. 
• Brie.  New favorite cheese.  
• Other babies.  You go crazy.

Struggles:

• Sleeping through the night.  Haha.  Now that you can pull yourself up, you wake yourself up and get stuck standing up at your crib.  This makes it very difficult to self soothe.  

• You've started to have stranger anxiety toward men if they get in your face.  It's happened three times when a man is really excited to see you.  You start freaking out and crying hysterically.  Poor baby :(

Highlights of the Month:

• I'm so tired that I can't remember...
• Mormor and Grandpa Cliff came to visit.
• Ridiculous heat!  We've been using our kiddie pool to beat it.

• An epic labor day weekend.
• Baby's first pigtails.

We are so thankful for you, Kennedy Jane!  You are the light of our life!