work it kennedy- sjp

I call this outfit Kennedy's Sarah Jessica Parker outfit.  Two sets of stripes, a rainbow of colors, and yet, it works.  And holy cuteness.  Seriously?  Man, I love this kid.

Kennedy is wearing:

Hat: knit by Grandma

Sweater: Carters

Shirt: Target

Pants: Old Navy

Shoes: Children's Place

work it kennedy- pumped up kicks

Thank goodness my mother saved one item from my babyhood.  These Nike sneakers are the only thing that made it.

In more important news, Leigha and Brian welcomed sweet baby Jackson into the world on Saturday.  I can not wait to meet that little nugget.  I literally cried my eyes out watching this video and later realized that I was mostly just emotional because I'm not up there to see him in those magical first days of baby newness.

six months old

Happy half-Birthday to our sweet baby!  The last six months have FLOWN BY.  I know everyone says that, but man oh man, it is true!

Weight: 16 lbs (50%)

Height: 28 in (95%)

Isn't this picture amazing?  It was taken by our friend, Emily (Ben and Mary Beth's big sister.)


At six months you:

• Are tall and skinny just like your daddy.  You don't seems skinny to us, but I guess the fact that you're still in size 1 diapers kind of speaks for itself.
• Love your toes!  You try to eat them all day.  Most of time you are successful.
• You've grown out of most of your 3 month clothes.  You still wear 3 month pants, but we call them capris now.

• Blow raspberries like no one's business.  Sometimes it's slightly embarrassing when we're out in public...
• Continue to scoot in a circle and roll from back to front a ton.  You don't really roll from tummy to back anymore.  You prefer to be on your stomach.
• Sleep 10-12 hours at night and take a 2 hour nap in the morning.  The afternoon nap is a bit unpredictable.  Sometimes I'll get an hour out of you, but it's usually just a quick 15 minutes.
• Are so much better in the car.  You only fuss if you're tired or if we've been driving too long.  Such a relief!
• Sit up!  And then get over it or see a toy you want and tip over.

You love:

• New faces.  You love being out where there are new people.  You save your biggest smiles for strangers.

• Your jumperoo.

• Iphones.  For eating.

You don't love:

• Being away from mom and dad.  We continue to have struggles with nursery.
• Your stroller.  You don't hate it per say...but you get over it pretty quick.  The ergo is usually a better option.

Highlights of the Month:

• Eating rice cereal for the first time last week. We had a slight issue though...we used some old frozen breast milk and discovered that it was spoiled after we fed it to you.  Sorry about that.  Luckily, you didn't get sick.  Probably because only about a teaspoon made it into your tummy.
• We joined a playgroup!  We meet every Thursday, and it is so much fun.  You love watching the other babies, and I love talking to the other mommies!

• Visiting Santa Cruz for baby Charlotte Grace's shower.  Of course, I didn't take any pictures at the actual shower, but we had such a great time celebrating the coming of a new sweet baby girl.  We can't WAIT to meet her!

• Going to the Aquarium for the first time with the Eroens.  Seriously, everything is more fun with a two year old.  Each and every exhibit was thrilling.  Thrilling, I tell you.  Even, like, the lame non-colorful fish.

• Baby's first Boardwalk trip with Mor mor, Grandpa Cliff, Uncle Brent, and Auntie Jamie!

Baby girl, we love you SOOOO much, and we have a hard time remembering life without you.  You are the greatest gift ever!  We pray every day that we can raise you up to follow Jesus and put him first in your life.  We are enjoying watching you grow and learn every day.

work it kennedy- mouthy

We have a tradition when naming Kennedy's toys.  It started back with Auntie Mimi, circa 1991.  See, Mimi named all of her pets, stuffed animals, and toys after a physical trait of the creature.  Take one look at the creature in question, point out it's most obvious feature, and chances were that you had guessed the name of the animal.  There was "Silky" (our silky cat), "Brownie" (our brown mouse), "Peachy" (her peach colored stuffed bear), you get the picture.

Doug and I decided that we would continue on in this tradition as a tribute to Kennedy's auntie while she's off exploring the globe.  We have "Mrs. Pigeon" (her stuffed pigeon), "Mermaidy" (her mermaid), "Bluey Big Nose" (her blue elephant), and "Beaky" (her duck).  For Easter this year, Doug's mom knit Kennedy the sweetest little bunny rabbit.  We informed Doug's brothers of our naming process.  Brendan took one look at the bunny and said, "Why don't you call her 'Mouthy'?"

We all looked at him confused.  "Umm...Brendan...she doesn't even have a mouth..."

"But she puts the bunny in her mouth!"  And sure enough.  That thing is in her mouth all the time (along with everything else).  Good work Brendan.  And welcome to the family Mouthy.

Kennedy is wearing:

Headband: Made by cousin

Sweater: Thrifted by Grandma

Pants: Hand-me-down Carters

Boots: Hand-me down awesome

Onesie: Carters

work it kennedy- tights

Has anyone else noticed that a lot of baby tights look like ladies pantyhose?  I'm not even down with those, and I'm certainly not going to make Kennedy wear them.

My advice?  Proceed with caution when purchasing baby tights.  Look for thick tights made out of knit material.  Babies in pantyhose are seriously creepy.

Kennedy is wearing:
Headband: DIY
Dress: Penelope Mack
Tights: Deux par Deux
Shoes: Etsy

love story- part two

We're continuing with Doug and my love story.  You can find part 1 here.

Doug and I spent the next two years as friends.  Junior year, I moved into the small apartment attached to the fraternity house (sounds scandy but it really wasn't,) so we saw each other pretty much every day if only for a few minutes.  The more I got to know Doug, the more I thought that he was excellent husband material.  Doug was paying his own way through school by bartending and waiting tables at the Madonna Inn.  He had a truck and was always helping someone move over the weekends.  Doug tithed every Sunday; he wasn't obvious about it or anything, but I was just hanging on to his every move.  Doug was home schooled and had five brothers, so he was a total guys guys and a bit awkward around the ladies.

There were times when we hung out a lot and other times when we only saw each other in passing around the house, but he was always the crush lingering in the back of my mind.

a particularly attractive time in my life.

Doug and I both grew up so much in those years.  We built life long friendships, studied hard, and just weren't ready to date.  Neither of us really did.  

Spring of Junior year.

Doug is getting ready to graduate.  He has an absurdly easy workload and is available to hang out all the time.  We go to breakfast every Thursday; we go out to bars occasionally; we cook dinner together (ha.  actually Doug just cooks me dinner); we make day trips to Santa Barbara; suddenly I realize that it's just the two of us most of the time.  But Doug is leaving.  In, like, a month.  Doug is leaving.  In, like, 2 weeks.

The DTR.

I know that I want to be with Doug.  I realize that if I don't make the first move, Doug might leave for LA to start his big kid job and never come back.  Sometimes, I think this may have been impatience on my part.  So, one night after going to a party at a friend's house, I decide to do it.  I say, "Doug, we need to talk...do you know what this is about?"

Doug: "No."  Liar.  

So I just bite the bullet and do it.  "What are we doing?  Do you like me or what."

Doug: "I don't know."

Lizzie: "Ok, then I guess we can't hang out anymore."

Doug: "No.  I don't want that."

Lizzie: "Ok, then I guess we're dating."

Doug: "Ok, we should pray."

Seriously, that's pretty much our conversation.  Doug and I.  Always great with our words.  So, we prayed.  We prayed that God would be the center of our relationship from the beginning.  And there began Doug+Lizzie.

work it kennedy- motto

Hi Guys, it's Kennedy.  You know, just writing my first blog post.  Now, I don't want to brag or anything, but my dad is an Eagle Scout.  He's taught me a few things in the five months that we've been hanging out.  I can tie a slip knot, start a fire without a match, and, most importantly, I learned the boy scout motto.  So when the weather forecast said 'rain' last week, I naturally went to my closet and grabbed my rain coat.  Nothing spoils a great day like water spots on my onesies.  And lets be honest, nothing says 'chic' like a great trench.  It's win-win.