kennedy three and a half

Kennedy Jane is three and a half!  Three and a half is so far very good for us.  Kennedy is patient and kind (for the most part) with her sister.  She is a thoughtful, gracious daughter, and we are so blessed to have her in our family!



Sleep:
Kennedy finally moved out of her crib and into a toddler bed.  She had pretty much stopped napping awhile ago, but I would keep her locked in her crib for 45 minutes every day.  I assumed that if she was in a bed, that would go away.  Fortunately, we have been able to work out a system where she *mostly* stays in her room for 35 minutes every day.  She gets bribed with a show or MnM's if she makes it the whole time.  She sleeps usually from 7:00-7:00 at night.  So far, she has never come out of her bed once she's in it for the night so that is a huge blessing.

Social:
Kennedy really enjoys playing with her friends these days.  If we spend the day with a friend (most days), she will interact with the other children the whole time and not require much from me.  Of course, I have to break up arguments, make sure that she is being kind, etc, but she's a lot more engaged with her peers.  She plays a ton with Violet now, and I can usually make dinner in peace.  Kennedy will be started preschool in the fall two days a week 9-12 at our church, and I think that she's going to love it!

Favorites:
Books: Thumbelina, Fairy Tale Collection, Ladybug Girl Books

Foods: Mac and cheese, peaches, goldfish, sausage, hamburgers, pizza

Songs: Let it Go, Part of Your World, Music Together Songs, The Grand Old Duke of York

Toys:  Painting supplies, trampoline, baby swing that she loves to push Violet in

Skills/Milestones:
Kennedy draws people with all of their parts most of the time.
She recognizes most letters.
Kennedy loves to hop on one foot and do other "tricks."  It's so cute!
Fully potty trained including nights.

As I mentioned in Violet's post, we went to Florida this month for Jimbo and Emily's wedding.  Kennedy was so cute as a flower girl.  She walked down the aisle slowly and carefully, smiling at everyone over her shoulder as she walked.  I'll have to do a separate post once we get all of the pictures, but we had the time of our lives!  Kennedy had a blast at Disneyworld, and even enjoyed a few of the thrill rides.  She LOVED meeting the characters.  She's still obsessed with suited animals.  She was confused by the princesses because they weren't cartoons, but still had a fun time meeting them.  I am enjoying watching this girl grow so much, and I am so honored to be helping shepherd her little heart.

Matching "white mustaches"

violet nineteen months

Baby Violet isn't a baby anymore!  Violet is such a spirited little lady.  She is very determined, loves to laugh, and can be very mischievous at times.  She is very physical and loves to slide, climb, swing, and go upside down.  We have been having so much fun with our little Vivi lately!

Weight: 25lbs (80%)

Height: 33.25 inches (90%)

Sleep:
Goes to bed on her own like a champ!  Usually sleeps form 7-6:30 and naps 12-2:30.  Violet loves her pillow, Simba, blanket, and a water cup with ice.  Unless she has all four, she will ask for whatever she is missing until she gets it.  Thankfully, she goes to bed ridiculously easy once she has everything and almost always sleeps through the night.

Social:
Violet loves to play with Kennedy these days.  The two of them chase each other around the house, Kennedy will read books to both of them from memory, and they love to snuggle.  Violet has a harder time with kids her size; she sometimes gets upset when other kids are playing with her toys or in her space but loves to be a part of things and play peek-a-boo.

Favorites:
Books: Nursery rhymes, Hop and Pop and all Dr. Seuss, Mr. Paint Pig, Ladybug Girl books

Foods: Yogurt, cheese, blueberries, peaches, grilled chicken, goldfish, and quesadillas.  We've discovered that strawberries and raspberries irritate her rashes, so we've stopped giving them to her.

Songs: Let it Go, Music Together Songs, ABC's, Row Row Row Your Boat

Toys: Violet LOVES pushing strollers around.  She will do this for long periods of time!  She also loves looking through the pictures of books.  Another favorite is the Disney Princess Little People Castle

Milestones/Skills:
Violet started speaking in three word sentences this month which is so nice.  She is such a determined little girl and gets so frustrated when we can't figure out what she's saying.  She loves repeating lines from books that she knows and can count to 10 with help.

Violet loves to scribble and draw, but still puts EVERYTHING in her mouth.  This makes for a challenging art time.

Has peed on the potty once.  And speaking of bathroom stuff, this girl poops in the bath fairly frequently.  It's so bad!  It really upsets her, and she has been screaming when I bathe her lately.  Poor baby :(

Violet climbs onto everything including the kitchen table, couch, etc.  Fortunately, she doesn't tumble off anymore as often...

Loves to say "Amen!" after we pray.

Speaking of praying, when I was praying with her a few nights ago, I said "Thank you for Violet" and she chimed in, "For Mommy!"  Heart explosion.  Definitely cried.

We are pretty obsessed with Miss Violet, or Vivi as she calls herself.  Violet loves to speak in third person and LOVES her daddy.  We got back from our Disney World trip a few weeks ago, and had a blast!  Violet loved seeing all of the characters, going on the rides, and napped like a champ in her stroller.  She is still talking about the "fire" she saw at the lion king show and meeting Ariel.  She loved the waterslide at our hotel which we went down probably 100 times.  We love you Violet Girl!

house updates

While I'm on a roll with blog posts, I thought I'd do a little house update.

The biggest thing we have done is our backyard!  We got all of the trees removed, took out the flagstone patio and fireplace, built a retaining wall, bulldozed, and lay sod.  It's a complete transformation, and we are loving the space to play!

 Here are some before pictures:

And here it is after!  Can you believe it!?!  It was A LOT of work, and man, are we glad it's done!

As for the inside, the main things we've done are rearrange the living room and worked on Violet's room.

I don't love our cabinet.  I would liketo paint it another color.  Possibly white or gray?

New additions to gallery wall.

I would like to put a new piece of art above these chairs and relocate the ocean scene.

I bought gray curtains for these windows that will hopefully be hung this weekend.  I love having the couch centered under the window!

I made a tassel garland and some art for Violet's room.  We also hung the little shelf.

winter 2015

I kind of giggle writing a post about "winter" this year while I sit in my living room with the 75 degree sun warming my back.  We have had a very mild winter with lots of beach days and tons of time outside.  The girls and I have been having so much fun and life is getting a lot easier.  While I'm a little sad not to have a baby anymore, the girls have been playing so well together, and we have been having so much fun!

We went to Disneyland in December with some friends and had the time of our lives!  I literally cried at the parade.  It is all so magical!

Owen, Doug's brother, and Leana got married, and Kennedy was the flower girl!  I have some adorable professional shots of the whole gang, but I have to dig them up.  Doug's brothers, grandma, and other family were all in town for that, and it was so nice to see everyone.

We celebrated Christmas in LA with the Hulses.  Both of the girls loved opening presents and we had Leana's family over for Christmas brunch.

We also went up to Santa Cruz for a few days and had a great time playing with friends and family!

Both of the girls had doctors appointments this month, so I have to give an update on that:

Violet is tipping the scales at 23 lbs (80th %) and 31 inches (90th %).  She's a beast, and I get so tired carrying her around.  The plus side is that my arms are super toned right now ;)

Kennedy has finally packed on some pounds and is 32 lbs (75th %) and 39 inches (75th %).

We are enjoying lots of outside play in our backyard and have been playing LOTS of dress up lately.  We had a friend come over last week, and we counted 8 times that Kennedy changed her outfit in the two hours that they were over.  It's bonkers.

Violet is pretty good about independent play.  She loves pushing strollers around, the Little People Princess Castle, and I forgot to mention that Grandpa Carl and Grandma Chris got the girls a trampoline for Christmas that they both love!

Now that the girls are sleeping really well, I have been enjoying more nights out.  I went to a Women's Ministry event this month and had a couple of mom's nights out with friends which has been really fun.

Doug has some exciting things going on at work, so we are looking forward to seeing what the future brings there.

Other than that, life is good!  The Lord is faithful to his promises, and I love walking daily with him.  This last year has been a huge year of growth in my faith, and God continues to peel the layers back and refine me.

kennedy three years old

My girl is three!  Wow!  Three is so much fun!  There are definitely some more challenging parts, but I love love the conversations that I get to have with this sweet girl!

We had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese for Kennedy this year.  Kennedy loves large characters and pizza, so Chuck E Cheese really is her favorite place (although we have yet to go to Disneyland so this could change soon!)

Sleep:

Kennedy sleeps through the night almost every night.  We got rid of the pacifier when she turned three, and it has been surprisingly easy.  She is only napping 2-3 days a week, but she will lay in her crib (yep!  Still in a crib) for about an hour.

Social:

Kennedy really enjoys playing with other children and is very interactive now.  She loves seeing her friends, chasing other kids, dancing, playing games, and make believe.  She has conversations with children her age which is totally cute!

Favorites:

Books: Nursery Rhymes (she knows almost all by heart), Fairy Tale Collection, Corduroy, and she can read most of the board books we have by memory.  I love it when she "reads" to Violet!

Foods: Sausage, meat, oatmeal, crackers, cookies, quesadillas, and carrots with bbq sauce or ketchup (weird!)

Songs: Pirate Code (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates), ABC's, Children of the World, all of the songs from music class.  Kennedy also has some seriously awesome dance moves!

Toys: Kennedy loves playing pretend.  We use the couch as our ship and pretend to be Peter Pan or Jake almost daily.  The baby dolls are also in heavy rotation as various other Peter Pan and Jake characters.  Kennedy also loves chapstick and carrying around her chapstick in her purses.

Skills/Milestones:

Kennedy's comprehension always surprises me.  She asks lots of "why" questions, is very concerned about how people are feeling, and remembers very obscure things.  It's so much fun to watch her grow in this way. 

The pictures that Kennedy draws are pretty great!  She can draw a human figure with almost all of its body parts.  Today she even included boobs :)

Knows almost all of her capital letters and a handful of lowercase.

Still pretty unsure in her climbing and gross motor abilities.  She can do a lot, but she is afraid to unless I'm right with her.

Dresses herself and is fully potty trained.

Has some level of understanding about Jesus and his sacrifice.  Knows that God made everything and about his love for us.  Has many short bible verses memorized via songs.

I am having so much fun with this girl these days!  She is such a daddy's girl which I love and hate.  Daddy is always the one she wants when she is sad, and daddy does her bedtime routine.  She is tender and kind, and loves taking care of babies.  Kennedy tries to do things correctly and does not like to disappoint other people.

Kennedy, you are such a special girl!  We are so thankful that you are part of our family!