A pirate's life is NOT for her

Yesterday we went to Disneyland to celebrate Aunt Netty's birthday. Your cousin, Hunter, wanted to go on Pirates of the Caribbean first and you were thrilled about the idea of going on a boat. You were such a big girl while we waited in line and once you saw the boats, you were even more excited. So on we went and we headed down the bayou. Then we hit the first drop.... you were never the same :( You jumped quickly into my lap, and never let go until we were safely off the boat.


I thought for sure I had scared you away from boats for life.... So to test my "theory" we headed over to Small World. Again, you saw the boats and were excited. Here is a short video of the blast that you had during this ride:)

After Small World, we headed over to the carousel so you could ride the horsies.

You had a blast on the horsies, in fact you gave everyone at the happiest place on earth a little taste of a Kendyl meltdown because you didn't want to get off. You screamed the whole walk back to the stroller and fought with me to get in the stroller... Fun times.

After dinner, we did a little shopping while Hailee, Netty, Hunter, Natalie, and Trisha went on Dumbo. You were getting a little sleepy, so I decided not to take you on that ride. We met them back at Dumbo and you and Hunter had some fun while the big girls went potty.




We wanted to try to get on Nemo before the firworks show, but the line was sooooo long. So we went on Astro Blaster instead.

Here you girls are giving a group hug

After that ride, I was pooped.... You were still hanging in there, but I was done. So you and I headed back to the car and came home. You were a trooper without your usual nap all afternoon. Thanks for such a fun time at Disneyland. I can't wait to take you back soon :) Love you french fry. Thanks for letting us tag along Aunt Netty.

Happy Birthday Aunt Netty

Here we go again.... another birthday to celebrate. The good part is, at least we know we have lots of love in our lives to be able to celebrate sooooo many bdays. Today is your Aunt Netty's birthday. We had fun with her, Hailee and Hunter last night when we took them to dinner and a special Golden Spoon dessert. Today we are going to go with them to Disneyland after mommy gets off work to celebrate some more.

Have a great day Netty. C-you later gator.

Birthday Weekend

This has been a birthday weekend around here, and I feel like I have said that before. We seem to always have some type of celebration around here and if we don't we'll find a way to celebrate something. This weekend was no exception....

Friday was your Auntie Lauri's birthday. She lives in Ohio,and you haven't met her yet, but you will one day. So, Happy Birthday Auntie Lauri.

Yesterday, we celebrated grandma's birthday by having dinner and our first American Idol singing contest on the Wii followed by a bowling match. You had a lot of fun with your cousins, but I think you had the most fun experimenting with the olives. Grandpa helped you put them on each of your fingers, and at first, you weren't too sure, but after awhile you loved it... you even loved them after trying one for the first time.. I don't know why I'm shocked - you like everything you try!!
Here are some pictures from grandma's party...






And today is your cousin, Aaren's, birthday. We hear she received a special birthday gift from her long time boyfiend, Robert and that wedding plans are in the near future:) CONGRATULATIONS to you both and Happy Birthday cousin.. I miss you. Hope to see you soon.

Hanging out with grandpa

Tonight we went to Logan's footall game and you got to hang out with your BFF....grandpa. You had a lot of fun and you kept him very entertained (especially while eating applesauce). Thanks for being such a joy. I love you.

Here comes Peter Cottontail

Here you are getting ready for Easter :) Love you, french fry.

Another day of firsts

Today you experienced a few more firsts. It started off when you were with Jen Jen in the car. She looked back and noticed that you were picking your "brain." She said your finger was so far up your nose that it actually started bleeding. So you experienced your 1st nose bleed. After we got home you took your normal nap. While you were sleeping (hahaha isn't that a movie title) I got a call from Dr. Tran and she said that your blood work came back normal except that you are mildly anemic :( So she gave me some iron drops to give you daily to help.
After you woke up, you helped me make dinner (another first) and then me and you had some yummy chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and green beans and you loved every bite. Next you tried for the first time and love V8 Strawberry Banana juice, which I am thankful for because it is gross to me and I didn't want to waste it :)
I went to the store to get your medicine and when I came home you experienced my favorite first............... I took you to your room to get ready for your bath and to clean you off cause, well you did what people do, poop. So as I was cleaning you off I asked you if you were ready to take a bath and of course you gave your usual answer, "No". Then I said, "Do you want to try to potty?" "Potty" you replied and you got really excited. So I grabbed you off the table naked and ran into the bathroom. Normally you sit there and pretend and then we get into the tub where you make lemonade, but tonight......................You went pee-pee in the potty. I couldn't believe it!! I called for Daddy and he witnessed it too. About 20 seconds after I sat you down, you stood up and there it was. I was sooooo proud of you. You then proceeded to "wipe" yourself before saying, "bubbles?" because you were apparently ready for your bath :) I'm still in shock that you actually went, but I am very proud of you.. So here's to a great day of firsts and hopefully lasts on the nose bleeds, but many more on the potty :) I think there are a few more firsts but I'm so excited about the pee I can't remember.
Love you french fry.

Tricky french fry!

This is how we have found you the last 2 mornings. I thought it was just a lucky pull the first night, but this morning you did it again. You are quite tricky my little french fry:) Love you

Sneaky Sneaky...or so she thinks

This is video from Hailee's birthday party yesterday.
You thought no one was watching you, but I was missy. Unfortunately, I missed the first 30 finger dips:) You little sneaky fry. Love you.

Happy Birthday Hailee

Today we celebrated your cousin (and neighbor) Hailee's 3rd birthday. We had such a fun time. You took a big girl nap and then we got ready for the party. You were so excited, you kept saying, "pary, pary" and once you remembered about the jumpy you were really ready to go.


You met a few of Hailee's other friends there and had fun with them too. Hailee got somre really cool presents, and I bet you are glad you live next door so you can play with them too :)
It was really a great day. After cake, ice cream and an outfit change due to the cold weather, you headed back in the jumpy with Aunt Netty, Sophia, and Hailee. The 4 of you had the best time playing Ring Around the Rosie. It was great. Here are some pics from it....




You stayed up the whole night, until finally after a "time-out" for hitting, you decided you were exhausted. So me and you came home and you crashed. Thanks for a great day and thanks for inviting us to your birthday Hailee. We hope you had as much fun as we did. We love you, Happy Birthday!

Hulk-a-mania

Last night we went over to the Seyfried's for our, what is becoming, weekly bowling tournament. You had a great time with Hunter, Mal Mal, Logan, and Hailee. Here are you and Hailee being "Hulk-tastic" Love you.


PS... night #2 : no bottle/no problem :)

Cold Turkey

A typical night here consists of you and Daddy watching Shrek while you have your night "ba ba" before falling asleep on the couch. Then Daddy takes you to your room and you are out for the count. Yesterday Dr. Tran said that we need to get you off that bottle and the only way to probably do it now was to go cold turkey. I thought, well, maybe we'll wait until summer when I'm off so that the mornings aren't too rough around here because I know it's going to be rough. HA, I guess I forgot who I was talking about.
Last night I made your bottle as normal, and then left you and Daddy to do your thing. I watched him put you to bed awake (which never happens) and you cried for about a minute and a half. Next thing I knew you were crashed out, snoring. I was very proud of you both. So this morning when I went into the kitchen to get your breakfast, I opened the fridge and your bottle was still there..not touched. I guess Daddy took the Dr. advice seriously. He cold turkey'd you already and you did a great job (for night #1). So keep it up, french fry. Guess I better go get you up now:) Love you. TGIF

Doctor, Doctor

Today we had to go for your 18 month check-up. You were such a big girl, in fact you even learned how to open the door and escape from the room while we were waiting for Dr. Tran to come in. You ran into the play area to grab the chair. Apparently you wanted a place to sit down too. So you brought the chair in, grabbed your book and read, "Goodnight Moon" while Dr. Tran checked you out. She said you looked pretty darn good. She was glad to see that you are talking so much and impressed at how fast you run. She didn't hear any murmur and even said your ezcema looks a lot better. She did say that it's time to go cold turkey on the bottle before bed. Shucks:)
You now weigh 26 pounds and are 31 inches long. In other words....perfect! You did have to get one shot, but you did a great job. You cried just for a second and then stopped. Dr. Tran said she wanted to get your blood drawn, so when we left there we went to the lab and had it done. I figured we might as well get it done today since you've already been poked. I think I was more scared than you were. The lady that took your blood was really good. You sat in my lap and I held you real tight. Then came the needle..."No, NO, NO" you told her. You were sooooo brave. She stuck you with the needle and you cried the whole time she was taking your blood. When she finished and took the needle out though, you stopped, looked and her and said, "All done?" It was classic Kendyl:) We both laughed at you, I gave you a big kiss and she gave you, not 1, not 2, but 3 stickers to take home. You fell asleep on the way home, and are now taking a very well deserved nap. Thanks for being such a big girl today. I was sooo proud of you. I love you very much.
This is a picture of how cute you started off the day :

Here you are running/playing in your diaper @ the Dr. office

This was right after we got in the car after having your blood drawn... you definitely deserved the passy.

Here's your war wounded arm :(

My little leprechaun

Twist-a-roonie

I'm still not really sure how she fell and twisted like that, but I love that she is such a good sport about getting right back up and even laughs about it. She's awesome. Love you, Kendyl

Got Milk?

Lately, you have been really fighting me and Daddy to drink milk. You will only really drink it if it's right before bedtime and in a bottle. We've tried the sippy cups, the big girl cups, everything. Tonight you did a little better because I bribed you with Dora yogurt. After every bite, you had to take a drink. You fell for it until I ran out of yogurt. I kept telling you that you had to "make the milky go all gone." (I know - nice grammar for a teacher)
So I went to my next trick... I took off the lid of the sippy cup and helped you drink it like a big girl. You thought this was soooo cool. You sipped a little, laughed and were so excited to have more. Great, I thought, it's working :) Next thing I knew you wanted to do it yourself, so I pretended not to help you and before I knew it you poured almost the whole thing down your shirt. It scared the ba-geezies out of you too. Your eyes got really big and you even started shaking because you couldn't figure out what had just happened. You didn't cry though. You just looked at me like, "HELP." So we took off your shirt, wiped off your milky belly and changed your clothes. After we changed your clothes, you grabbed your dirty shirt and said, "Miky?" Boy, I love you. I guess you out smarted me this time, cause like daddy said; spilling your milk down your shirt was one way to make your milky "go all gone." He was right too, because I sure didn't make you drink anymore. Love you soggy french fry.

Jamba Kendyl

This morning we went to Mallorey's soccer game and on the way stopped for a Jamba Juice. Clearly, you enjoyed it :) Then we had a nice quiet day at home. Love you, french fry.

Knocked out

I hope you were having a good dream, french fry. I love you.

18 months

Today you turn 18 months old. Wow, a year and a half already. Where has the time gone? You have become more than I could EVER have imagined and I am sooo thankful for you and everyone who is a part of your life. I'm not going to write a huge long post about all your "accomplishments" and about how much I love you. Hopefully by now, you and everyone in the world knows that a) you are a genius, and b) you are my life. So instead, I'm going to post 18 pictures. My favorite for each month you have been alive. Which, by the way, is realllllly hard to choose:)
Month 1: the first moment I laid eyes of you

Month 2: my pumpkin baby

Month 3: the personality begins

Month 4: my Disney baby

Month 5: the food begins

Month 6: pretty in pink

Month 7: my swimsuit model

Month 8: bapstismal angel

Month 9: the money shot

Month 10: my peaceful angel

Month 11: my summer girl

Month 12: birthday girl

Month 13: thing 1 and thing 2

Month 14: my little piggy

Month 15: my xmas baby

Month 16: my snow bunny

Month 17: my electric socket baby

Month 18: my "Got Milk" baby

Love you soooo much, Kendyl. Happy Birthday

Just can't get enough

This weekend proved one thing.... Our family just can't get enough of each other. On Friday, Daddy came home early and so the three of us went out to dinner and then to Logan's football game. He plays flag football for a league called, Friday Night Lights. Everyone had a really fun time watching him play. You fell asleep on the way home from his game, but grandma, grandpa, Aunt Cici and Uncle Doug all came over to play Wii. We had alot of fun, but we were all lonely, so we woke you up :) You weren't very happy, but if I would have let you sleep, you would have got up in the middle of the night. And I didn't want to do that to Daddy:) So we played all night. After they left you fell back asleep and had a great sleep. On Saturday, we hung out at home for most of the day. Daddy helped Uncle Mark next door and you got to play with Hailee for a little bit before she went to a party. You have missed Hailee so much since she has been a little sick lately. After your nap, me, you and Daddy left to run some errands and while we were out Aunt Heidi called and told us to stop by. So on our way home, we stopped by and before you knew it, grandma, grandpa, Cici, Uncle Doug, Jimmy, Aleisha, and Meagan were there. Not to mention, Aunt Heidi, Uncle Applesaue, Mallorey, and Logan. So we had another long family night. When we first got there we started playing basketball and you had your first SLAM DUNK. You were so cute running around.
After the basketball game we had some yummy BBQ, and you would only eat if you were with Aunt Heidi. Then came the best part of the night.... CUPCAKES! You had been asking for one from just about the minute we walked in, but you were a really good girl about waiting. So after dinner, Aunt Heidi brought you over to me and you endulged (to say the least)
Once just about all the frosting was gone, you decided to dive right in. You were a little hesitant at first, but once you started it was hard to get you to stop.
We came home and went to sleep. This morning me and you woke up to a missing Daddy. He went to play golf with Uncle Eric and grandpa. So me and you hung out all morning. When Daddy came home, he brought Uncle Eric with him and before we knew it, Aunt Cyndi and Brandon were here too. It was a great day. You were soooo happy to see Brandon. You just wanted to kiss him over and over. I really can't blame you, he is a looker:) We hung out with the Nordlanders for most of the afternoon and then low and behold up the walkway comes; Mallorey, Logan, grandma and grandpa... I couldn't believe it. I guess they just missed your adorable face. :) They actually went next door because Brandon was taking a nap and being quiet is not their strongest quality :) After Brandon woke up and Daddy and Uncle Eric decided they had played enough Wii, I took Mallorey with me to Target and you went next door with Daddy to play. Needless to say, the whole gang (minus Cici and Doug) ended up next door for yet another dinner and social time, because apparently we didn't get enough of that Friday or Saturday :) Actually, we loved every minute of each day. Having such a close family is the best thing I could ask for. I know you will appreciate them all as much as I do one day. I love you, Kendyl.

P.S. Tonight when we were getting ready for a bath we tried the potty thing again. You were really tired and I could tell you weren't really in the mood. When I went to sit you down you fought me for a minute because I thought you didn't want to sit. Little did I know it was because you wanted to pee on the floor again:) Yep, the minute I helped you up and said, "Ok, let's get in the bath," you looked at the potty, rubbed your belly and squirted all over the floor. However, some of it did land in the pot. Does that count?