Christmas Update

We survived Christmas!!! It was a little hectic (there were 8 people and 4 dogs here) at times but pretty low key the rest of the day. I don't have any pictures downloaded yet, i let my mom and sister take most of them so I could help Kendall unwrap presents. Here is a little timeline of our day:

~Things really started out for us on Christmas Eve. Kendall and I went down to Jason's and spent time with his family and exchanged gifts. Jason's mom, Marci, got Kendall a beautiful toy box and it fits all her old and new toys into it.

~When we got home (back to my house) my mother and I, with some help from my older sister, put together a couple of breakfast traditions for us. We ALWAYS make bubble bread, it is a yummy gooey roll that sits over night and you bake in the morning, it tastes good all day long. We also make a Sausage Strata, only a few of us like this so we don't always make it, but i really like it and found a new recipe we tried out and it was pretty good. They both have to rest overnight so its perfect Christmas breakfasts.

~Christmas morning, we all got up between 7 and 8 and got our breakfasts in the oven and got ready for church. Our church was one of a few having a church service Sunday morning it was after all Christmas morning and Jesus's birthday so the right and proper thing to do was go to church. We went at 10 and were home a few minutes after 11 and by then it was time for Kendall to nap.

~On Christmas eve when everyone was opening presents Kendall got a little overwhelmed, there was too much going on for her to focus on and she got a little scared. So while she was napping we opened all our presents and saved hers for when she woke up and Jason got there. She ended up taking a 3 hour nap so we all watched one of the movies we got.

~Finally when we all got rounded back up into the living room once she was awake, she had a lot of presents. At first she wasn't so sure about the wrapping paper, usually she loves shredding paper up. As soon as a toy was open she would get so distracted she didn't want to open anything else up. She got so many clothes (yay more laundry) and whole bunch of new toys. She has got to the point where the little baby toys are too boring but the older ones are a little to challenging, either way she still likes to play with them all but the new ones will challenge her mind a little more.

~We had planned on having an early dinner around 4 but it didn't end up being until around 6. By the time we had dinner Kendall was extremely over stimulated and tired and was cranky, when i tried to give her a nap she got herself worked up to the point of being hysterical, so i just got her up. She had a little bit of dinner and after a bath was pretty happy until she went to bed.

Over all we had a very good day and Kendall got lots of practice opening presents. I am glad we separated her presents and opened them after her nap, as it was she was already really overwhelmed and it helped that it was just her opening instead of 8 of us at 1 time. I will get the pictures from my mom and sister in the next couple days and will be posting them up to show everyone. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

Maybe the BEST gift ever!

Yesterday, Grandpa Gabe (Jason's Grandpa) called me and said he had a gift for Jason and I and we needed to stop by and pick it up. I didn't have a chance to stop by after work as i had other plans so we made arrangements to meet up this morning after I dropped Kendall off at daycare (its just a few blocks from his house) so it worked out for me to stop by.

I had no clue what this "gift" could be that he got us, he had said on the phone we both would be able to use it, so it got me thinking. When I got there this morning, he was waiting at the door for me. We talked for a few minutes and he showed me a couple things Jason had given him as a kid and then he handed me the gift. It was not wrapped but just in the box it came in and it was none other then a.....

I am not even kidding a little bit, I was standing there trying not to laugh as he was telling me it came with its own instructional DVD. He also wrote a little note on the box saying "Now you both can get ripped!"

We all know what they are and have seen the slightly inappropriate commercials for them, Jason has poked a little fun at them from time to time when he sees it on the TV. It has to be one of the funniest gifts I have ever received. It does not surprise me one bit cause Gabe is so random and he is a really one of the nicest guys and very funny. He is very generous, he gave Kendall her present last week and its a little Fisher Price buggy she can walk with and she loves it. He is a very proud Great Grandpa.

Maybe the Shake-Weight works....stay tuned for results.

Santa is coming :)

Words cannot describe how excited I am for Kendalls first Christmas. I already know she likes her presents, the other day she found there hiding place and was playing with them in the boxes. They are now wrapped but she keeps going back to were she found them to look for them. on Christmas day she will probably be more distracted by the wrapping paper then the actual presents.

On a more disappointing note.... Jason and I took her to get Santa pictures taken. She looked so adorable in her little dress. They were supposed to be done by the following Wednesday, which was the day I stayed home with her during her illness. I asked my mom to stop in and pick them up and when she got there the lady couldn't find them and said she would call her as soon as she did. Well a few days went by and we didn't hear anything. We had to go to town Saturday and we near the store so we stopped in and this is the story I got: " We are really sorry but somehow your pictures got deleted. There was a malfunction with the camera, yours and about 50 other pictures got deleted." Now Kendall has no Santa picture from her first Christmas. One would think they would get Santa back to fix their "malfunction" but they didn't. I cant really complain too much because they were doing this for free which a lot of people really appreciated. But 50 peoples pictures got deleted. The only opportunity I have left for her to get one is if I drive an hour to the mall. I am still undecided if we will be doing this or not.

On another happy note, my sister Prairie Princess and her Hubs are going to be here Friday night to spend the weekend with us. It will be a short visit thanks to people not passing drug tests making Pat have to work extra hard and not getting to take an extra day off. But we will enjoy the time they are here!

Sick baby :(

Kendall is sick again. This time i think its a flu bug. She did have a flu shot, i don't think it had enough time to work into her system before she got exposed to the virus. On Tuesday I had to pick up from daycare 2 hours early cause they called and said her temp was 102! I took her home and she napped good and was just fussy, she managed to eat a little but i wasn't going to force her to eat it is impossible. After she went to bed it went downhill. She slept good for a few hours and then woke up and was throwing up, which happened to be all over me. She slept better then i was thinking she would probably cause we spent the night in the rocking chair, and she managed to keep down a small bottle in the middle of the night but in the morning she threw up again. I had to stay home from work obviously i wasn't going to send her to daycare sick and they also have a rule that a child has to be kept out of school 24 hours AFTER the fever goes away.

We spent the day at home and it was pretty uneventful. She took a 3 hour nap in the morning and Jason came over to visit us in the afternoon and she just sat there in a daze and then went back to sleep after about an hour. It was nice getting to stay home in an empty house. I was able to get most of my Christmas stuff done (I still have to get something for my brother and I dont know what), I had to move back into my room (the one i share with Kendall) cause my brother will be home and needs a room to sleep in. I got all my laundry done although it is still sitting on the couch folded cause Kendall was sleeping and i couldn't get in there to put it away without her waking up. I have been living out of 2 bedrooms for the past couple of weeks so i had quite the pile of clean and dirty clothes. Last night she was feeling much better after her fever went away and she slept better. However, her fever is back this morning at about 100. I had to come into work so Jason is watching her for a few hours, I will stop in on my lunch break to see how things are going and then my sister will pick her up when she is done working at 2.

I called the Dr yesterday and they said if she wasn't better by this afternoon to call again and they will see her. Hopefully it goes away cause this bug is making her miserable and taking a toll on her little body.

Bumps and Bruises

Just taking a little snack break in the cart watching the world speed by upside down.

Last night Kendall had a little run in with the floor and got herself a little black eye, which is just red and swollen now. But last night it was the end of the world for her, she did one of those cries where they hold their breath until they are bright red and then let out this big scream. It was close to bed time so she was tired and it just went downhill after the incident.

I think I have all my Christmas shopping done, I just need to get one more small thing and I can do that here in town. Now I just need a few moments time to put some things together and I will be done. Jason and I are doing presents together for all our family this year, it is so much easier and it saves a lot of money. We are just getting each other something small cause we wanted to put a majority of our focus on Kendall. We are only getting her a few things and we decided this because EVERYONE is getting her a few things, so she will not be without anything. As much as I want to go all out and buy her tons of presents I am resisting cause she will be getting a lot of gifts and half of them she wont know what to do with. Right now we have 3 things and I want to get her 1 more but i am resisting. She doesn't know what Christmas is yet or the meaning behind it, next year we will be able to explain it to her better and she will probably understand the concept of it.

Christmas cards are in the mail today! We had a little printer malfunction so we had to go out and buy a whole new printer and we just got it yesterday. This is the first year I have done my own cards. Its looking to become a nice tradition.

I am pretty excited for Prairie Princess and her Hubs to come down and visit us for the holiday, they will be here in 10 days!!!! Its just a short visit but we are going to have so much fun. We have a game night planned and will be making lots of yummy food to eat. It is going to be a lot of fun.

I have been thinking of changing my blog a little bit. As much as I love posting about Kendall I sometimes feel I want to post a wider variety of things. I have been cooking a lot and its been some really good recipes. I would like to share those with you and just random other things that are going on. Its still in the thinking process, mostly cause i need to come up with a new name and cant think of anything. Any suggestions????

Immunizations

There was never question in my mind about getting Kendall all the necessary shots. As hard as it is to see it hurt her for a few seconds, i know she will be protected from things for much longer and will have a healthy immune system. Today I am surprising her with the second half of her flu shot (when they are little they have to give it to them in 2 doses so they can get the correct amount). I personally am for kids getting all the vaccines they need to keep diseases from spreading and also from epidemics of illnesses coming about. I guess I don't fully understand why people don't choose to have their children "pumped full of poison" as they put it. Yes the phrase sounds bad, but its not poison. If you plan on being a stay at home mom and your child is home all the time and not out in public places or with other kids i could understand not getting them. But, if your child goes to daycare, like Kendall, then i think it is 100% necessary. I chose for her to get the flu shot seeing as it is optional and everyone in my family also got one. She is around 15 other kids everyday, their parents, the teachers and the staff at the facility. That is a lot of germs to be brought into one little place where there are a bunch of kids under the age of 3 with immune systems that are not fully developed. Plus you know, if you have been kids of that age group EVERYTHING gets put in their mouth. I believe every vaccine is necessary and she will be getting all of them, not only to protect her but to protect the other kids she is around.

Cheese

This is Kendall, she likes suckers on Halloween and drooling green...

She likes playing with her "cars" and making cheesy grins when she sees the camera...

When she gets excited she claps....
and makes silly poses for the camera while her shirt is covered in drool.

She is ready for Santa to come, she is wearing her Christmas jammies with camo socks on. She probably wont know what to do with the presents she gets but she is sure going to love all the paper they come wrapped in. She is good at ripping it to shreds and eating it.

This Christmas will be so exciting since it is her first, but next year will be even more fun when she can understand and appreciate it better. She turns 10 months in 2 days!!!! Where did the time go, pretty soon I will be planning her first birthday in the middle of winter, i hope i can come up with something good.

Christmas cards part 2

Can you guess which one of these pictures I used on our Christmas card?

I made my Christmas cards the other day. I was going to look into having them done on Shutterfly or Tinyprints and I couldn't find anything i liked or a price i liked. So i decided to bring out my creative side and I made my own. It took me a couple tries to make what i wanted. I am not super computer smart but i know how to do some things. I got on Microsoft Publisher and used the template for a 5X7 flier and basically changed everything on it. You can use your own color scheme, add borders, 1 or more pictures and add in whatever caption you want to use. It was very simple and it saves me about $30 cause now I can print them off at home on photo paper and it will be a nice surprise for people to get in the mail. All I have to do is get the envelopes to mail them in and the stamps. I am all about doing things the easiest way and this was definitely it. It took me about 20 minutes to do on my lunch break 1 day. Maybe this will inspire me to do more things like this instead of ordering them, say for instance.....Kendall's first birthday invitations :) As much as I don't want her to be growing up this fast, I cant wait to celebrate her 1st birthday with her and all our friends.

Christmas Cards

I finally got my pictures from out little photo shoot we did for Halloween and I LOVE how all the pictures turned out. The one above is my absolute favorite!!! I love everything about it. When I decided to get her pictures taken and had an ulterior motive as well. I am going to get some printed off for Christmas cards. Yes they are Halloween pictures, but they are so cute. I try to cut costs as much as possible to save money and having professional pictures taken all the time for every occasion just is not possible for me right now. I try to take a lot of pictures of her myself and I know I am bad at posting them, it just takes time and that is not something I have a lot of these days. I was thinking things would slow down come winter and boy was I wrong. Since I have a long weekend this week I will try to get some of the ones I have on the camera posted. I only posted a few from the photo shoot on FB cause I want the rest of them to be a surprise. Have a happy Tuesday and if anyone is travelling for the holiday I hope you have safe travels :)

2nd Hand

I encourage everyone to buy a lot of their baby needs at second hand stores or from other people. When you start looking and realizing how expensive stuff is you will highly consider it. Things I bought used are:

~Crib: It was never used the lady didn't like what her parents picked out i got it for $20! I saved over $100.

~Changing Table: From one of my moms coworkers for $30! Again I saved over $100.

~Highchair: Jason got this at the second hand store in town but I have no idea what he paid for it, but again save at least $75!

~Jogging stroller: Again Jason picked this up so I don't know how much he pair for it but they cost about $150 brand new for a good one.

~Walkers: I had 2 for a while and spent a total of $15 ($5 for one, $10 on the other) Brand new they are $50 each. I gave one away to a family friend after Kendall started daycare.

~Clothes: I have only bought a few articles of clothing used cause she is at an age right now where they are more worn from crawling. Plus she has SO many outfits to choose from. Also brand new baby clothes are really not that expensive.

~Backpacks: I have 3 of these all used, one is the little front baby pack that I got for $12 and it is regularly $75. One of the hiking packs i got was $15, regularly probably $50 (it was a cheaper one), the third one is a heavy duty for long hikes Kelty brand pack. We got it for $20 regularly well over $100.

Just by buying a few things used we have saved so much money. Everyone tells you babies are expensive and they are, but you don't really realize how expensive. Above is at least $500 dollars we have saved so I have been able to buy other things for Kendall. One of the second hand stores we have in town is called Little Britches and is specifically aimed towards pregnant women and kids age 0-5ish. I called them and said I was looking for a crib and they had one and held it for me. The same goes for one of the walkers, my mom went in and said we were looking for a walker and when they got one it they called her and she had first dibs on it. Most places will do this if you are looking for something specific, so don't hesitate to call.

Things you need

I was thinking today and I remembered I was going to make a post about things you do and don't need for a baby, these are all things I did/didn't use:

Must Haves:

• 
  
  Changing table: I use this every single day, I have a couple different pads so I can alternate between them and wash them. Also it has shelves for storage (which i put baskets on). They are designed to be a good height so you don't strain your back.

• 
  
  Crib: This is obviously a given. You cant live without it.

• 
  
  Swing: This is a lifesaver, K didn't like it when she was really but once she hit about 2-3 months she loved it. I would put her in and she would fall right to sleep and then i could take her out and put her in bed. Saved me a lot of rocking and walking.

• Bouncy Chair: This is great for when you are the only one home and need to get things done. I would stick her in the bathroom while I was taking a shower or in the kitchen, very handy to have. I almost wish they had a bigger size for when she grew out of it.



• Bassinet: We didn't have one of these at first and so the first few nights home K slept in a laundry basket in my bed with me. The crib is just to big for them, when they are that little and plus its almost like having separation anxiety when they are that far from you.



• What to Expect when you're Expecting: The book. Now a days you can just look something up online real quick. I liked having the book cause it was month by month with all sorts of questions that you might have and it was easier then running to the computer to look something up.



• Cloth Diapers: and not for the purpose of diapering. K spit up a lot, every single time she ate and sometimes in between. She stopped when she was about 6 months old. These are so absorbent and can clean up big or little messes.



• Robeez: These shoes are amazing, they are super comfy for babies and they make it so socks don't fall off.



• Breast Pump: It was hard with this at first cause K didn't like bottles and it took a while for her to get used to them, but this makes it so you can leave her for longer then a couple hours and know that she will be able to eat. I don't use it anymore. But very good to have.



• Highchair: Good place for them to play while you are busy in the kitchen. Also it makes feeding so much easier.



• Walker: Helps strengthen their leg muscles and if your child is very independent like mine it is a must. She wants to do everything on her own.



• Baby Gates: If you have stairs or rooms baby cant go or want to block off a safe area for them to play, these are a must.

Must NOT Have:

• Wipe Warmer: I had one of these I got at a garage sale so I didn't spend a lot of money on it. It was such a pain you keep having to soak the little pad in warm water and if you didn't do it, it would ruin the wipes on the bottom of the stack turning them brown. Just hold the wipe in your hand for a few seconds or blow warm air on it.



• Diaper Gene: I started off with one of these and it is great i do recommend it. But I was trying to cut costs any way I could and I didn't want to keep having to buy refills. I now just have a garbage with a lid and i would suggest using odor blocking garbage bags.



• Boppy Pillow: Not necessary at all! Use a regular pillow. There is absolutely no point in spending $35 for a pillow and $10/each for extra covers. Save your money.



• What to Expect the First Year: The Book, pointless, every baby that first year does things at their own pace. I didn't even read the whole thing. I liked the What to Expect When your Expecting so i bought this one thinking it would be just as good.



• Bumbo: Again save your money. I didn't really need one of these since K could sit up on her own since she was 5 months old and from then on she sat in a highchair or a walker.



• Jumper: I would rather have the walker. A jumper is a lot of fun for them but they cant go anywhere. I think it is more geared to babies who cant figure out the walking motion yet. But they do eventually get to that point, so I think the walker would be the way to go.

• Baby Monitor: I have mixed feelings about this. I did use it A LOT and still use it from time to time. But at the same time i don't really NEED it. I can hear her crying down the hall without having the monitor on. Its not a necessity but it does come in handy. I also use it at night occasionally. But the batteries die easily and its a pain to constantly be replacing them.

All of the things listed above are things i found helpful or not helpful at all. Every baby has different likes and dislikes. All the things on the Not list are things i thought i would need (some of them i didn't buy cause i couldn't afford them) mostly i thought i would need them cause "Everyone" had them and i thought i should have them too. That is not the case. I try to be as reasonably as possible with my money and have a hard time spending $100 on something that is only used for a couple months. It might helps some of you out in the future when you are looking to buy things for a baby.

Stats

The little monster went to her 9 month Doctor appointment today. Yes I said monster, she kept me up for 3 hours last night walking around the house because that's what she wanted to do between the hours of 11pm and 2 am.

She is off the charts for the percentile for her age group. She is just a bigger baby, the size of a 1 year old. Since she has started crawling the weight gain has slowed down a little.

Weight: 24lbs 2oz

Height: 30 Inches

I asked the Doctor what to do about night time since she is a horrible sleeper and by this age she should be able to sleep through the night. But however that is not Kendalls plan she still wakes up 3-5 times a night depending on her mood. 2 of those times are to eat, another thing which she doesn't need to do but it has become a habit for her. So starting tonight I will be sleeping in my parents room (they are going out of town for a week) and just letting her cry it out. I tried this last night but it didn't work. Instead of giving her a bottle full of formula I will be giving her a bottle with water in it. I know she wont be starving and she really can wait until morning but I will still feel bad making her cry. These habits need to be broken if we are ever going to get any sleep.

I am not looking forward to it at all but I realize I have been a bit of an enabler letting her do these things. She knows at night time it is bedtime and she goes to sleep fine around 8pm and she usually wakes for the day between 6:30 and 7:30 am. Its all the time in between that is the problem. It will be hard listening to her cry but she needs to learn. I will step in if she gets to hysterical but other then that she is going to stay in her bed and cry :(

Learning week

Some really good family friends of ours have a daughter who is extremely talented with drawing and painting and creative things. She has been doing a lot of pencil work lately and sketching pictures she has taken. She also makes jewelry. She took this picture and for my birthday her parents "hired" her to do a pencil drawing of it. It is perfect and looks exactly like Kendall her attention to detail is amazing and I love the picture. She did an awesome job.

Onto the learning. This past week, more like the past couple days, Kendall has learned a few new things. Tuesday night she started shaking her head no, she doesn't know that is means no she just thinks its funny and smiles when she does it. She can now wave, she used to do it randomly but now if you wave to her she will wave back. When you get excited at her for waving and clap and smile at her she will do the same and clap her hands (although it makes no sound when she does it). Its really cute. We have not pushed her to do it, but we play patty cake and clap her hands but now she can do it herself and she LOVES it.

She really likes going to school as we call it, but it is more of a day care. At first she wasn't so sure when i would drop her off in the morning and it would take her a few minutes to warm up to everyone else. Now that she is familiar with everyone she has such a good time. I take her in and set her on the floor and she just takes off and will stop for a split second when i get her attention and wave at me. She is excited to see me at the end of the day. I am so glad she likes it and has such a fun time playing with the other kids.

Pinterest!!!

A while back Prairie Princess talked me into getting a Pinterest account cause it was so amazing according to her. I thought differently, i didn't get how to use it. I kept seeing and hearing people talk about how addicting and awesome it was and i was like eh, its not my thing and i ignored it. Until today, I decided it was worth it to get back on and check things out and boy am I glad I did. I LOVE IT!!! It may be an understatement. There are so many good ideas on everything and its all so easy to do. All the DIY toys and kids activities are going to be perfect for Kendall next summer when she is old enough to run outside and play in the sprinklers on a hot day. Or when its cold outside and we can make reindeer cookies together. The DIY gift ideas are perfect too. For Bunco this Christmas we are doing a homemade gift, gift exchange and I have found some really neat ideas for that. Needless to say my hesitation at from not knowing how to use it is long gone and i am now going to be addicted!

Bumps and Bonks

Kendall has reached the stage where she has bruises and scratches and is constantly running into things. In the picture you can kind of see the end stage of rug burn on her nose from when she decided to crawl off on Auntie Danielle's bed, oopsies! (OK so maybe you cant see if very well at all).

Wednesday at school she got bit by one of the other kids cause she had a toy he wanted to play with. So I had to sign an accident report and she has a spot on her arm which kind of just looks like a little pinch mark.

Yesterday Danielle picked her up from school and when I got home from work I noticed she had a nice bruise smack dab in the middle of her forehead. I brushed it off cause i figured it had happened the night before when she hit her head on the TV twice or when she lost her balance holding on to the couch and hit her head on the side of it. But when I dropped her off this morning I had to sign another paper cause apparently she got the bruise from standing at the shelf in her classroom and losing her balance and hitting her head on the corner of it.

I know its going to happen. She is at the age where she is SO curious about everything and can crawl and try to get it. She just runs into everything and loses her balance a lot. It does bother me a little that she got bit, but i know that's going to happen too and it will probably only worry me if the biting becomes a regular occurrence. I cant prevent her from falling and hitting her head, she will have to learn the hard way.

Monday Night Football

Almost every Monday night we go to our friends (Kurt and Chrissy's) house for dinner and football. This Monday Chrissy wasn't there (she had to work) so Kurt cooked us dinner. We had fried eggs, hash browns and sausage links. I love having breakfast for dinner. Kendall got to have some of the hash browns so she really like it too. We all take turns cooking dinner. Usually Chrissy and I do most of it while the guys are yelling at the TV and playing with Kendall. But there are times they cook for us too (dinner seems to take longer on those days between cooking and trying to watch football).

Since this Monday we were there was Halloween we had a bowl of candy to give out to the trick-or-treaters who stopped by. Kendall was being whiny since she didn't get a good nap and it was almost her bedtime so hey lets give her a sucker before bedtime. Thank goodness the sugar didn't seem to effect her but sitting there on Jason's lap playing with it made her pretty happy. I had taken her clothes off and she was just in her diaper and there was green drool running down her stomach getting all over the place.

We have been going to dinner there once a week (sometimes twice) for at least the last year so Kurt and Chrissy have kind of become extended family. Since Kendall was a mess i had to give her a bath there. There was no i was going to get all the sticky goo off her with just wipes. After words she cuddles up with Jason and had her bottle and fell asleep laying with him. I didn't get any pictures of her asleep but the one above is right before. The only time she really likes to cuddle is right before bed.

I have been bowling on Monday nights so I haven't been able to go to as many of our dinners as I would like, but Jason takes Kendall and then I meet them when I am done so I can take her home. Bowling has been fun but I have to many other things going on Monday nights (I also have bunko once a month) and it is also a 26 week long season and I just cant make that long of a commitment right now so I have a replacement and will fill in for her if she needs a night off. I really enjoy our dinners its a fun thing for all of us to do after work we just get to relax and hang out.

Babyshower

This is going to be a long post, but it is all pictures with descriptions.

My older sister Prairie Princess hosted my baby shower (she planned everything only asking my preference for things). She ordered the invitations off of here i don't have a picture of those. She came into town for a special visit just for the shower and we had a really good time with lots of friends.

The picture below is of our party favors. Its a "Candy Bar" we bought little boxes and a bunch of different kinds of candy which we put into different size wine glasses.

The next 2 pictures are of the gift table, there were so many and we really appreciate how generous everyone was. It was a lot of thank you cards that had to be written, it took me forever!

I decided cupcakes would be better then cake, so we had strawberry cupcakes with pink and yellow frosting flowers on top. My dad even helped decorate them.

The party was in the middle of the afternoon so we made a few finger foods that were easy to eat

The theme was pink and yellow so we did pink lemonade with lemon slices in it.

We had 3 games but only have pictures of this one (you hold a paper plate on your head and try to draw a baby, you are not allowed to look until time is up)

Choosing who the winner is

Opening gifts

Everyone was so generous, and it was fun getting to spend time with Jason's mom (we had never really spent time together before) after it was over we had a nice family dinner with some of our closest friends (who we consider family). Its hard to believe it was almost a year ago (December 5Th)

*** To add a little note, the camera cord has been found, there are lots of pictures to come from the last couple of months.

Hooray

This morning I dropped Kendall off at her first day of Head start, and I only have a LITTLE anxiety over it. Not really, it was a lot harder to leave then I thought it would be. Leaving her with the babysitter this last week and a half was easy cause i knew it was just her and Kendall and she would get plenty of attention. Now she is in a classroom with a teacher and a helper and 7 other kids. She is the only girl in her class so she will get lots of attention from all the little boys. It will be an adjustment for her but she will get into a better routine and make lots of friends.

We also have to get up at 6am now (currently on my second cup o coffee with a new peppermint mocha creamer in it, reminds me of Christmas), so she can be to the center by 8. It is rather dark and cold that early in the morning. I was hoping Kendall would sleep in until 7 but no such luck there, she woke up with me at 6. I am hoping now that she will be started on a consistent schedule sleeping at night time will be easier for her and she will be able to sleep better or at least want to sleep.

I miss her a lot and I cant wait to go pick her up this afternoon to see how much fun she had. Since she has to be picked up by 3 my sister will do it most days. I am picking her up today and I will on Fridays, most days it will be my lil sister DM since she is done with work earlier then I am. Who knows though, since I will now be getting to work an hour earlier i might finish earlier then i normally do. Up next look for my post about my babyshower (it was almost exactly 1 year ago)

Pictures!!!

Kendall got her Halloween pictures taken on Saturday by my friend LA who is a photographer (you can see some of her work here) She does a lot of work with babies and takes some awesome pictures. She will be putting a sneak peak of Kendall's photos up on Facebook once she gets some of them edited. I cant wait to see them they are going to be so cute, and make really great gifts.

Being Pregnant

When I was pregnant I never really got "Huge" although I felt that way. The picture above was a week give or take a few days before Kendall was born. . I do have a few more belly pictures from earlier on except they are on my phone memory card and I at the moment cant get them off, i need to get an adapter and put them onto the computer.

• I don't really recall how much weight I gained because I lost a bunch at first and then gained it all back and then some on top of that all in my belly area. If I guessed I would say between 25-30 pounds.

• I did get cravings but it wasn't all the time or anything weird (I don't think anyways) the only thing I consistently wanted and I HAD to eat one everyday was an orange, I cannot even begin to tell you how good they tasted. On several other occasions I wanted fried chicken, chocolate cake, and fruit loops. Those are the only things that really stick in my mind.

• I did get morning sickness but a very very mild case of it. In the very beginning I just didn't feel like eating so I snacked on pretzels. When I started to get my appetite back I ate whatever I want (except the things they tell you not to eat). I only got sick during my first trimester and I did throw up a handful of times, it was only when I would wait to long to eat and have an empty stomach and then fill it up with food.

• Heartburn was the worst! The old wives tail of if you have heartburn while you are pregnant your baby will come out with a full head of hair. Not in my case, Kendall was pretty much as bald as they come. Everything gave me heartburn. I ate Tums like they were candy, we bought the gigantic bottle of them and I also carried a smaller bottle around in my purse.

• Maternity clothes are expensive. As you can see in the picture above I was wearing sweatpants. With the job I have I can wear whatever I want, we don't have a retail store and customers rarely stop by. So I lived in sweatpants and had a few pairs of maternity pants and shirts for occasions when I needed to dress up a little nicer. I just couldn't see spending as much on maternity clothes as i would for regular clothes and then only wear them for a few months.

• I got health insurance through the state (thank goodness!!!) All of my doctors visits were paid for as were my ultrasounds and the delivery and my hospital stay. Since I qualified for state assistance Kendall automatically was signed up for it and had/has it since she was born.

• I was never really uncomfortable, I slept great and very rarely woke up to use the bathroom except for the last month. I slept with a body pillow. They sell pregnancy pillow that are almost exactly like a body pillow just like 4X the price and again I couldn't see myself spending that kind of money on something I would only use for a few months. I was tired all the time from the very beginning to the very end and well now I don't get sleep at all. I remember one time i went to the lake with my friend and we were laying out in the sun on the beach and i fell asleep but only for a few minutes

That is all I have for you for now. Coming soon will be the baby shower my sisters threw for me and the baby basics, things you have to have and the things you can live without.

Head Start

Today is kind of bittersweet and ironic in ways. I got the call this morning that Kendall got accepted into head start. I am ready for her to start cause she will love all the play time and interaction with other kids, but at the same time I will miss her a lot. After she was babysat by Vicki Friday afternoon and did so well for her i figured i might as well have her start watching her Monday (today) so she is there with her and loving it. I had told Vicki she would be starting head start i just didn't know when she would get accepted. What are the chances the day I start having her watched is the day I get the call she is accepted??? I have 1 more home based meeting this week on Wednesday and I will have a meeting next Monday with her teacher and my caseworker to fill out the paperwork also so Kendall can meet her teacher and then next week on Wednesday is when she will start school. I am very excited for her, this is definitely what she needs. She likes playing with other kids but we just are not around them often enough so this will give her the opportunity and also be a great way for her to make new friends and develop her social skills.

New Page Design!!!!

You may have noticed my fabulous new blog design, thanks to my very creative sister Prairie Princess, you can visit her blog here where she talks about her life living on her "Franch" as she calls it. She gets a lot of ideas from Pinterest (I tried and I have no idea how to use it yet) she has always been the creative one, I have my moments but they are few and far between and mostly spur of the moment and random like me.

Also, I think I have found a solution to the missing camera cord. My mother has the same brand camera but the newer version so I might be able to use her cord to transfer my pictures to the computer, I have so many waiting to show you from the last month.

We stayed at Jason's house last night. The last time we did was a couple weeks ago right before Kendall was sick and she slept horrible and was up so many times. She did so much better this time. At the house Jason lives his bedroom is rather small so there isn't really a lot of room for her port-a-crib. Last night, his roommate (the guy who owns the house) was out of town so we decided to just leave her crib in the living room, that way if she decided to lay in bed talking to herself it wouldn't keep us from getting sleep. I was a little hesitant at first because with the exceptions of 3 nights when i have been away from her we have always shared a room and I can hear every sound she makes, and i was worried i wouldn't be able to hear her which turned out wasn't a problem. It turned out to be a great idea, i actually think she slept a little bit better too cause she couldn't hear me moving in bed. So it was a success, which was a relief. Its nice to know when we don't live with my parents, or a bedroom frees up here she will be able to sleep in a room alone without being scared.

Babysitters

I think one of the main reasons I have only had my family watch Kendall for me is that it kind of freaks me out having a stranger watch her and its some one she is not familiar with so she will probably cry the whole time. Well its time i got over my fear and tomorrow afternoon while I get a massage I will let the girlfriend of one of my coworkers watch her. Her name is Vicki, I have met her a few times and I talk to her on the phone a lot when she calls into the office. She used to run a daycare and has offered several times to watch Kendall for me. I have kind of been putting it off and making up excuses and to why i haven't had anyone else watch her.

She loves kids and used to run a daycare so I know she is fully capable of watching Kendall. I guess my biggest fear is leaving Kendall and having her cry the whole time like a lot of other babies do. So tomorrow I am getting over my fear so I can get some quality time alone with my massage therapist who has magic hands.

Vicki also offered to watch Kendall while I am at work for the price of ......... $40 a month. Yep you heard it right and it is not a typo. Its only temporary until a spot opens up at head start, she knew Jason and I can't afford much so this will be perfect for us. So tomorrow is a trial run for Kendall to get to know Vicki and for her to get familiar to her house, I hope it all goes as planned.

Happy Monday

Kendall and I don't have to many pictures together mostly because i am the one taking all of them. This one my sister Prairie Princess got while she was visiting us for a few days. She looks kind of scared but its a good photo. Hope everyone is having a happy Monday.

BTW....the camera cord is still missing. I might have to switch back to my camera even though its kind of on the fritz.

8 Months

The search for the missing camera cord is still ongoing so i decided since Kendall is almost 8 months old (she will be in 4 days) I would do a little recap in pictures of how she has grown and changed since she was born.

Just a few hours old

1 Month Old (this is my favorite pic)


2 Months Old

3 Months Old

4 Months Old

5 Months old (1st time sitting up alone)

6 Months (happy all the time)

7 Months (You really see her personality in this one)

She is such a joy to be around and it is hard to believe that 8 months have gone by already. Every time i go back and look at the pictures from when she was born it makes me tear up, she was so small and tiny and she is growing up so fast.

Missing Camera Cable

As of lately i have been using my sisters camera for taking photos of Kendall, my camera is slowly dying. When i use my own camera i just take the memory card out and plug it into my computer to get the pictures off. Well her camera has a special memory card that is long and skinny so it is to small to fit into the computer. I think that is a flaw about the camera, not everyone wants to carry around a cord with them all the time when they want to download pictures, plus it's one more thing you have to remember where you put. I currently can't find the cord, go figure. I will have to see if she still has it tucked away somewhere in her belongings. So for now i have no pictures to post unless i take them with my phone and those are not of the best quality. Thus begins the ongoing search of the missing camera cord. Have a happy Sunday friends!

Little Fairy

I know this is a little premature posting about Halloween but we have put together Kendalls costume for her first one. Her GG got her a Tutu when they were here for the summer and she wore it a couple times for kicks and giggles. We very recently have a new store in town called Fairytales and Fantasies. If you just think about the name for a minute you will figure out it is every girls favorite store. It is tutus and wings and headbands galore. It look like a fairy exploded in there, there is so much girly fairy stuff. The best part is, it is all very reasonably priced.

I have been driving by this store twice a day for the last week and wanting to stop but just never have had the time. So while Prairie Princess was here visiting us, we decided to take one day and go to town and visit the local farmers market and make a few other stops in town. Once again I kind of spaced it that I wanted to stop in there and just as we were getting ready to pass it my mom remembered and we zipped in. I was very surprised with all the stuff they have. Its actually a national company (its called Halo Heaven, you should be able to google it if you want to look it up) that is based out of Connor, MT which if you have ever been there its a extremely small town that contains a gas station, bar, Post office and mini mart (all in 1 building might i add). Anyways we found a little shirt with some ruffles, a couple flower clips to attach to a headband I already had and some fairy wings. We only spend $11 which is a great price i think. Below is a picture of the end results. The shirt didn't stay white very long since we gave her a cracker but she is all ready to go for her first Halloween. I have a photographer friend who is doing a Halloween photo special so I think I am going to get her all dressed up and get her pictures done.

I just love her, she is so cute!!!

Today is the day!!!!

My sister Prairie Princess (if I abbreviated her name it would be PP and that's weird so i think i will stick to typing the whole thing out) gets here today, we are all so very excited to be able to see her for a few days. She is going to help me revamp my blog so its prettier, i really only know how to do a few basic things and the design is not one of them, i just chose one of the templates provided. Kendall gets to see her Auntie, which she is very excited about. She is currently screaming in her bed cause she wants her to be here already (its more of a whine cause she doesn't want to nap) but for now we can call it impatience. They are going to spend the day together tomorrow playing while i am at work, i think they are also going to be spending Friday together as well.
I have not been so great about taking pictures lately, my camera is not working very well so i have been using my sisters, and to be honest i really haven't had time to take many, so when i think about it i snap a few shots of her sleeping or eating lunch and there may be a couple of her super cute zebra shoes. But these next few days I will be sure to take some good ones while we are out and about with my sister.

Hope everyone is having a Happy Wednesday :)

Facebook

This post has absolutely nothing to do with parenting or being a "Mommy".

I cannot stand when people put their drama on facebook. Its supposed to be a happy place where friends can stay in contact after parting ways from school or moving. Yes you may have family issues but keep them in the family and not for everyone and their "friend" to see. It is not appropriate and it can hurt people. If you are going to complain about the comments other people put on your posts why post about your cheating spouse or about how much you hate someone? Unfriend them!! I am tired of seeing so many negative things about other people. Write it in a journal or call up your bff and vent to them about it cause facebook is NOT the place for it. Seriously, how much sympathy can you find in a typed statement? It really can't make you feel that much better. If you don't like your life you are the only one who can change it, not your "friends" on facebook. I know i am not the only person who feels this way, cause i have seen several posts from different people regarding this topic. That's all I am going to say on the subject, just had to get it off my chest.

Update

Kendall is now 7 months old!!! Crazy how fast time goes by. She is about 27 inches long (i haven't measured her recently) and she is about 22 pounds. At work we stick her on the postage scale to see how much she weighs, its pretty funny.

• She does this thing now were she bobs her head and it looks like she is shaking her head yes, so I will sit there and ask her questions where the answer is always "Yes" its pretty hilarious. I will ask the question and she will shake her head and smile and then stop and i will ask another question and she will nod and smile and it goes on until she gets bored. I think last night i got in about 20 questions.




• Says "Da da da da da da" she can also say "ba" and "ta" but "da" is her favorite. We hadn't seen Jason for a few days over the weekend cause we were all sick and just wanted to stay home. Come Monday all day long all she said was "da da da da" so he came over and saw us and she was so excited. I tried to get her to say "ma" but she just looked and me and said "da"




• She can army crawl (i think it looks more like an inch worm) she is getting really good at it and if she wants you to pick her up she will cry and crawl over to were you are, this morning she crawled all the way down the hall to try and find me.




• Sitting in her highchair watching is one of her favorite things to do, probably cause she gets to play with the wooden cooking spoons (she loves them) also usually while she is in there she gets cheerios or a graham cracker to munch on.




• We all had a cold this weekend and Kendall had her first fever and for once she wanted to just cuddle and be held (usually she cant sit still).




• While we are waiting for her to get a spot in head start, we have a weekly home visit from our caseworker. Its kind of a pain in the butt having to take off early from work 1 day every week so this lady can come over and watch us play. I got a scholarship application to fill out so maybe we can get some funds from an alternate source to send Kendall to daycare. I think the home meetings are a waste of time and the only reason I am doing it is so that it helps get her into a center spot faster.




• You can almost always get her to smile, she is very happy all the time unless she is not getting what she wants, which is usually when she is hungry or you are putting her down for a nap.

My older sister "Auntie Colie" will be here in a week from today and we are so excited cause we have not seen her since May. Kendall looks scared in this picture but she really does lover her Auntie.

Inch worm

Kendall is a moving machine. She cant crawl but she can scoot herself across the floor when she sees something that she wants. I suppose it would be kind of like and army crawl but she looks like an inch worm when she does it. It is now officially time to baby proof the house cause as soon as she sees something she wants she will scoot over there as fast as she can to snatch it up, just random things like the dog brush but books and magazines are her favorite. If she gets a hold of one of those she will rip it to shreds.

We unfortunately didn't get into head start this go around but they have 3 more openings in another month and they will do another round of selecting who gets those spots and hopefully we are one of them. Having her at work now is another full time job in itself, there are so many things she sees here that she wants and she definitely cannot have them. Just today i had to give her a piece of paper to distract her from all the other "fun" things she sees. I don't want to put her in daycare for a month if she gets one of the head start spots. My sister still watches her occasionally (mostly just when she feels like it and that's not very often anymore). But its looking like that might be what i have to do, she is to mobile to keep her here much longer. Just in writing this post i have probably had to stop between 5-10 times cause she has gotten into something she is not supposed to.

Sleepy heads

Kendall and Jason sleep exactly the same. On the floor with her toys, and him outside after playing softball (and with her toys).