Home Sweet Home

Here are a few fun P'cola pictures. If you want to see the rest go to the link that I added in the below post. I had such a fantastic time and was reminded how awesome my family is. I loved spending time with Jenn, she is one cool chick. It is good to be home though. We had a great day today with just the right mixture of productivity and laziness. I vacuumed out my car, washed and folded laundry, and weeded our back flower bed. I also spent the entire morning napping and laid on the floor a good portion of the day with Kendall crawling/walking all over me. She has become SO kissy lately, it is really sweet. The three of us took a bike ride this afternoon and then after dinner (very yummy meatloaf and mac-n-cheese) Brian mowed the grass, Kendall played next to me with her blocks and I weeded. Her nap schedule was back to normal today but she was up later then usual tonight. It's going to take a little while to get that back to our regular schedule.

More Fun Times

It's hard to make yourself blog, email, talk on the phone when you are out of town but here are a couple of the day's highlights.

Jenn, Jessy, and I went out on the fishing pier and saw a sea turtle and dolphin. Alex and Dani had the better show when they went later in the day and saw a six foot shark caught (yes, it is very close to where we swim!).

Kendall proved to be a genius, ha. We had a lot of different colored rings on the floor from one of the Survivor challenges and Kendall was using them to play her favorite game...put them all on the coffee table then put them all on the floor then repeat.... well, when she was putting them on the table she sorted them by color. WOW! I was so impressed. She is being really good but a little bit clingy. I think that she knows her daddy isn't around and is very afraid that I'm going to go missing too so she doesn't want to be away from me much to the dismay of her aunts and cousins!

Other then that just the normal everyday stuff such as beach time, eating, and the usual drama that you get from having a lot of emotional women sharing a house.

Fun Times

We are here in P'cola having a blast. Monday and Tuesday night we had Survivor challenges for Sara's birthday. My team was not one of the winningest teams but we did dominate one challenge. Jenn's team won the entire games, they were fantastic. You can find LOTS of pictures here.

Going to get suited up for the beach....more later

Home at Last

We made it home after a 12 hour car ride today. We had such a great time but it was nice to walk into our own house tonight. I'm dreading another 10 hours in the car and I hate to leave my home after just getting her but I'm anxious to be with my mom and sisters at the beach house! I'm so excited that Jenn is coming along, I think we're going to have a blast. Okay, I have to go to bed now...here are a few fun pics from this week

Cause I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...er I mean in an SUV

No access to computer for one week and temporary access the following week. I'll update when I can.

Wanna see my bicep?

Spunky Monkey Gets a Haircut

This post is a warning: However fun brainless reading can be it can also be very depressing. DO NOT read "Trading Up" by Candace Bushnell.

I picked it up at the YMCA (they have a 'trade em out bookcase) and it really depressed me. It was so superficial and shallow. However, I did not stop there after that I read "Shopaholic Ties the Knot" which was very funny but still slightly depressing. So now I'm going to focus on my two non-fiction books "Love and Respect" & "The Tipping Point" (with a little brainless reading at the beach thrown in for a well rounded reading diet).

Kendall had her haircut this week. I like it more and more but I'm still a little sad about the bangs. We've gotten a few comments from people saying that she looks like one of the Olsen twins from their Full House days.

Note: some of you may have noticed the comments from my last post. When Brian saw the title of my book he laughed as though it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. From that point on everything was 'Shopaholic this' and ' Shopaholic that' ex: Shopaholic goes to the zoo, Shopaholic get groceries...well, I think Brian looks like Curious George thus the "Curious George Goes to Harvard" comment. What book title would your life be??

Three cheers for the red white and blue.

My brother-in-law (on the right) is in Rome right now competing in a military pentathlon. USA ranked 1st in the swimming event. They have to swim in full fatigues and pull themselves over and under obstacles, cool huh? They are currently ninth overall. Today (I think) was orienteering so we hope to hear soon how they did.

Kendall and I went to the pool today she was so good and actually sat in her stroller a lot of the time watching the wild kiddos running all around. Tonight she had a fever so we are going to watch it closely and just hope that it goes down. We had planned to go to the blueberry farm with the Fornwalts tomorrow but Kendall may change those plans!

Like Mommy Like Daughter

I played with my hair this morning and I do like it. She had made it all flat in back which made it look a lot shorter. Brian and I both wish it were a little shorter/spikier/funkier on top so I may go back in. Here are a couple of images:


Here is a fun picture of Kendall posing in her b-suit. Also, I couple of pictures that show how Kendall likes to mimic her mommy...cleaning up and talking on the phone. Kendall is also like mommy in that today (at the request of her daddy) she will be getting her own little hair "trim". I'm more nervous about her's then I was about mine but we both hate how her hair hangs in her eyes when she doesn't have a baret in it.

Just a relaxing (?) day at the spa

So today was the big day, I get so excited about haircuts and I had one scheduled for today. If you are a faithful blog reader you will notice that my last one was.....uh (shamefully) Valentine's Day.

Anyway, so I made my way down town to the spa, had zero time waiting and actually had a nice chat with my colorist. Usually I don't like small talk (at all) but she was pregnant so we talked about babies and little girls with their daddies and it was nice. Once my hair was nicely highlighted I received a gloss (complimentary...I love my salon), I was reclined in the chair having the gloss applied when I feel something on my face. I'm thinking, "WHAT THE?!?!?!" and then hear, "just a little makeup touch up for you. Hmmmm, un-asked for but maybe I needed it. I close my eyes again enjoying the feeling of being pampered and it happened AGAIN.... "A little bronzer for you" I was beginning to wonder if I looked that bad when I came in. Don't worry about it, I think to myself, and then the final straw- I feel some sticky, foul tasting "lip gloss" being painted on my lips. I must have given her a look because my seat was pushed back up to the upright position and I was directed to the lounge area. I settle in and open my book. At some point I glance up and kind of smirk when I see a woman sitting across from me with far too much make-up on...But then the smirk fades away as I realize I'm looking in a mirror (groan).

Finally, my stylist comes to pick me up, ushers me to the sinks to remove my gloss and before I know it she's asking me if I had my makeup refreshed yet. "Uh, yeah" I stammer, "she's got me covered" (literally and figuratively I think). On to the cut. I proudly pull out the picture that I have brought along for her to use as a guide and after a brief "consultation" she starts to snip. I notice a problem right a way, she is hardly cutting at all! I keep having to say, "I'm envisioning this a lot shorter here on top and on the sides" and "this is just looking a little heavy to me". Centimeter by centimeter the hair starts to fall. At some point she says, let me just tell my next client that I'm running a little behind. Finally she is finished and as I had feared the finished product doesn't quite (or more accurately doesn't at all) look like my photo. She realizes this though and tells me to come back in a couple of days if I'm unhappy with it.

And now, I'm going to leave you hanging and not put a picture of it. SORRY! I've now taken a bath and removed all makeup and it's such a startling contrast to pre-bath face that I can't post pictures of it online :) Once I'm able to style my hair on my own tomorrow I'll post pictures.

P.S. Brian's comment when he came home tonight was "I thought it would be good shorter on top"
P.S.S. Yes, make-up was applied to my face, however I may have over embellished the drastic-ness of it for the sake of story telling (but, still I wasn't expecting it and I didn't quite recognize myself in the mirror).

Grab Bag

Not too much going on here. My sweet little girl is finally herself again. Yesterday I cleaned all day. This morning we had Bible study and then Jennie and I got lunch. Kendall entertained us all by covering her head with her blanket and then peek-a-booing out of it.

The second picture shows the front seat of my car. Yes, I love bags but obviously they are put to good use. Bag 1 (on floor) books for used book store, bag 2 books for library, bag 3 Oh, so cute diaper bag (gift from my cutie patootie sister Sara), bag 4 Bible Study stuff, bag 5 (not shown) gym stuff. In highschool it was cool to carry all your books without a bag. Now that I also have to balance a baby that just isn't happening so a bag for all occassions is necessary.

We're going to play for 15 more minutes and then head over to the gym. Just a couple more weeks before I have to wear a bathing suit and I'm going to cram every workout I can in between now and then!

That's My Girl

Cool Dude

Today at Target I got Kendall her first set of "So Big Washable Crayola Crayons" This is her first masterpiece. I see a lot of talent here, having majored in art I've done a lot of studying of different works, so I know. The composition is balanced and the work just oozes brilliance.
Hmmmm, on another note we are moving right along on the weaning from nursing. As of today Kendall is nursing only once a day (down from four). Next week it will be zilch, zero, nada. She has been a little fussy lately due to a sore throat but my sweet gal was back in full force today with lots of smiles and a healthy appetite. Tonight we went out for pizza and Kendall had to be stripped down to her bloomers and flowered flip flops before being put into her new carseat since she had decided that she would wipe off her messy table with her dress.


While we were at Target I witnessed one of my pet peeves...Indoor sunglasses wearing. Unless there is a medical necessity then sunglasses should come off once you walk indoors. If they remain on the face you look like you are just trying really hard to be cool (but we all know you are thinking, 'gee ,it's kind of dark with these things on). So today Kendall and I were just strolling along and there before us stood a "cool dude" with white shirt, blue jeans, black boots and you guessed it, sunglasses. He is walking in front of us and I say, "Excuse me, sir" (no, really I did). He turns around slowly, I think because he's afraid he will run into something if he makes sudden movements. He looks at me and I say: "You still have the size sticker stuck to the back of your jeans". HAAAAAA, guess he got dressed with the sunglasses on too. Oh brother.

And finally, the moment we've all been waiting for....Kendall officially took one step today!! I was sitting on the floor in the bedroom with her, she was standing at the bed and she wanted to come to me, she let go took a step and grabbed onto my neck with a ferocious grip. She'll be running and pole vaulting before we know it! (That's a little shout out to my hubby the pole vaulter)

Happy Daddy Day

Kendall is very lucky to have this daddy. I don't think anyone could love her any more then Brian does. It is obvious that she loves him back just as much, you should see her face when he pulls in the driveway. We always wait on the front porch when he is on the way home, she knows his car and smiles so big, waves, and says "da da da da"
when she sees it coming down the street.

Say Meatballs

The night following the cheese episode was spaghetti night. "Is that an unfortunate mole on your eyebrow?" you ask. "Why no, it's just a little meatball." I also have a picture with a pasta star in her ear, saving it for later I guess. Amazingly enough there is a lot of food that is actually making its way into her mouth.
Maybe the better picture would have been the one of Brian grimacing. He actually said, "I think that they need some cleaner food." Ah, life is good

Say Cheesy

Mmmmm, cheesy pasta, Kendall likes it......to smear on her face and to secure her hair-do. Oh, she likes to use it to color her eyebrows too. Doesn't she just look so pleased with herself rubbing her hands together like that?. I can just read her thoughts...."he he he, guess I'm gonna get a bath tonight, eh??" (sometimes she talks with a Canadian accent, don't cha know?)

We had a great day today. This morning I had Bible Study so Kendall got to go play in the nursery with the other kiddos. Her room had a window in it so I could spy on her, I peaked in the window after class and she was rolling this gy-nor-mous ball around and then crawling after it with great fury. She is so funny, she pushes the ball away and then swing her arms around like a delayed wind up. After study we went out to lunch with Jennie and Anna. The girls had a great time "window shopping" and chatting about life (the big girls that is). The little girls had fun staring at people and generally just looking cute. Kendall rode around in her big girl car seat (still facing backwards) today. After nap time we rushed to the gym for a fitness ball class. Kendall did aerobics (Sweating to the Oldies, I think) in the nursery...man she just loves Richard Simmons and those tiny shorts. Ha, just kidding she played puppets with the other kids.

Tomorrow Jennie and Anna are coming over to go see Woody the wiener Dog at the library. We're not exactly sure what Woody does, but we know we don't want to miss it. I'm a little gung-ho about all the mother/daughter summer activities that are occurring in the city and I don't know if Kendall can fully appreciate it. It gets us out of the house though and gives her play time with other kids.

Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz

While Brian and I were living in Seattle (internship between his two years at HBS) Kim, Brian's sister, sent him some coffee from Mexico. He decided to make it one Saturday morning and he started running around like a banshee. I was relaxed on the sofa and he was cleaning like a madman (Note: we had a cleaning service that came once a week and they had been there the day before). He was scrubbing the sink, jumping from one thing to the next, taking out the trash and even took a few laps around the apartment complex. Well, I feel a bit like that right now. I'm thinking that coffee ice cream may have a LOT of caffeine in it. I came upstairs to take a relaxing bath but somehow managed to end up in my office working and cleaning like a mad woman. But, I can't concentrate on one task. For instance I grabbed a box to put my Kendall pictures in, set it on my desk and got distracted by my computer and blogger. Oops, my attention span is starting to fade....back to the box 'o' pictures.

More tomorrow...when my brain is functioning a little more clearly.

In the meantime, here is a picture of Kendall and her Gram in honor of her upcoming return from Peru!

Ahh, One Good Mess

Okay, I have attempted to post twice since my last update but Blogger has been down. Yeah, excuses...excuses. Dani is playing with Kendall today so that I can get a little caught up on some work. I did a few pages for a clients album and a few pages for the online class I'm teaching (I'm the teacher and I'm dreadfully behind). Anyway, sometimes a mess can stress me out, but a messy scrapping desk is a great sign of a successful day so I just had to capture it on film. Note that the mess was so massive that I had to stand on my desk chair (and hold my camera over my head) to capture it all, hence the toes in the picture. I can just imagine Brian shaking his head at that image too...just an accident waiting to happen right honey??? Life will never be boring with me.

Also, here is a look at Kendall at her first baseball game. Buddy Bat didn't make if very close to her but she was very interested in him from a distance (well, it was either him or the four wheeler he was driving around on).

Tomorrow is Dani's graduation, yippee!!! We're all having dinner together afterward. I made the ever popular Eclair Cake. It was on Paula Deen yesterday!!!! Sara, how did she get your recipe?!?! I would draw the line at her putting it in her cookbook though if I were you, or just demand royalties, ha.

Well, I'm going to get a little be more done and then head over to Lorie's house.

All in a Day's Work

You learn something new every day. I did not know that the Consumer Reports people gave advice such as the kind we received from them today. Evidently when our specific make and model of television has some sort of wire shortage or other such problem you should just buy a new one. Hmmmmm, who knew?? Luckily for me Brian was well learned in this Consumer Report advice and so he could pass the information on to me. So, we are now the owners of a new TV that will soon be hung on the wall out of reach of little fingers carrying Weeble Wobbles. It is possible that those little fingers may be responsible for current TV dilemma since holding the Weeble Wobbles is not enough entertainment and they most bang the characters (Jack & Jill to be exact) against the TV.

In other news, I'm currently concerned that I will be banned from checking out library books since my Ben & Jerry's Phish Food ice cream managed to drip on a page of my current book. The ice cream turned out to be much more trouble then it was worth considering that this evening when I was on the Ben & Jerry mission I was fast stepping it through the frozen food department and my flip flop found a small puddle of water and I took a tumble right in front of the Lean Cuisine dinners.

All a day in the life of a stay-at-home mom.

Oh and this photo is completly unrelated but I just love little boy pictures of Brian and I wanted to share it. Note the Purdue shirt...we also have a photo of him in Harvard shorts/pants(?)....a little foreshadowing, eh?

Kendall and I have been hanging out at home all week. She had her one year check up on Monday, she received two shots (MMR and Chicken Pox vaccine) and since then she has slept horribly and been extremely clingy. I called yesterday to see if she is having some kind of reaction and they want me to bring her back in today. Tuesday we went to story time at the library and to the gym. Yesterday her friend Anna was going to come swim in the pool but they got stuck in traffic and decided to turn around and go home. Our new Bible study starts next Tuesday so Kendall and Anna will be able to play together then.

Just got home from the doctor and Kendall has one ear infection and the other ear is gathering fluid so it's on its way to an infection too. That explains a lot! Poor little Bug

You're Fired

If blogging were my job I would be fired. Week before last Brian's dad, Ron, was in town visiting and we had Kendall's birthday party. Last week Kendall and I were in Pensacola all week. We had a great time seeing everyone. Every time I go there it makes me wish that much more that we lived there now. I am, however, happy to be back and getting back into our schedule (I just wish our schedule occurred there). Kendall had her one year check up today. She fell even lower off the bottom of the growth chart in weight. He was only slightly concerned and said that we will just monitor it. I started to wean her off of nursing today, we skipped her morning feeding. She is in the 10th percentile for height and he said that she was smart and that she looked mischievous. She was showing off for the doctor and showed him all her tricks: "Kendall what does a bear say?" "Roooooawwww"

Blogger isn't uploading pictures right now so I'll add some once it's back up.

This time last year I was sitting in a hospital room knowing that tomorrow I would have a c-section. I was feeling excitement and a lot of fear. Would she be okay? Could I do this?
Here is a little remembering:
Sunday night Brian arrived in Louisville after driving from Boston with Justin & all of our stuff (the day following HBS graduation).
Monday morning we closed on our house and then spent the entire day negotiating on his car. We arrived at our house at 4pm and started to move in. I was 37 weeks pregnant so I plopped down in Kendall's room with Lorie and assembled her crib and changing table. It was my one true night of nesting.
Tuesday morning I had an ultrasound scheduled. Kendall was breech and they wanted to see if they could maneuver her around. Brian wanted to come but he had to be home for our appliance delivery. Lorie wanted to come too but she was teaching that day. During the ultrasound the technician kept saying how little fluid was in there. The doctor came in and kept asking me, are you sure your water didn't break?? They wanted me to go home and pack and go to the hospital. I cried the whole way home, I called Brian hysterical, I called my mom hysterical, and I left multiple messages for Lorie. Brian was in the driveway waiting for me when I got home, I just hugged him and cried (and he said "did you know you just pulled into the neighbor's grass?"). Lorie saw that I had called a billion times and knew something was wrong, she met us at the hospital. I hadn't sent in my pre-admission forms, I hadn't called a pediatrician yet, I hadn't taken the hospital tour yet, it wasn't time. I spent the night getting "hydrated" the next morning I had another ultrasound with the same results and they scheduled my c-section. Kendall was born at 4:06 the next day. Five pounds 13 ounces and 19" of pure joy. My heart that loved so much grew immeasurably more that day.

I've slept in this house only one night more then she has. Sometimes I have to creep into her room at night to make sure it isn't all a dream, sometimes I want to pick her up and cuddle her because my arms feel empty without her. All the time I love her, all the time I love my husband because he loves her and works so that I can stay home with her. My life will never be the same, thank you God.

My Internet No Workie

Just a little note to let you know my internet is down (Kendall and I are at the library updatingt his). So if I'm not responding to your email that is why. It should be fixed by the end of the week (lets hope)!!!

Whetever Happened to Cows & Dogs!?!?

So Brian and I were trying to think of ways we could be stimulating Kendall's brain. My friend Karin loaned me some cute Baby Einstein flash cards that Kendall is loving. Well, I decided we needed to get more since she is so excited about learning (my little genius). Today I picked up some animal flashcards. The box had a picture of a cute little penguin on the front. Well, we got home and I started looking through them and they had the following animals:
red spotted newt, spadefoot toad, piranha, komodo dragon, tuatara???? White sturgeon, sockeye salmon, peregrine falcon, mud puppy, eastern hellbender salamander, caecilian (worm like creature), lamprey, bullhead catfish! Whatever happened to dog, cow, kitty, fish...?!?!?! Well, Kendall started crying when she was looking at the pictures so I think that these may be a little too advanced or maybe scary is a better word.

We had a fantastic busy weekend. Kendall got pretty wound up I think because she has had a couple of bad sleep nights and poor nap times. Or perhaps she is having nightmares about the Eastern Hellbender Salamander.

Note: even the spellcheck doesn't recognize most of those animal names.