Kenzie's 1 year post...

So she turned 1 on Feb. 17 which was 2 weeks ago and I am just now getting a chance to blog about it...sorry, the spring is pure craziness for any teacher. So here are her measurments

weight- 19 lbs 5 oz- 20%
height- 28.75"- 37%
head-17.5"


Her birthday party went really well. It was a tad bit windy, but we mananged. Her cake was the same style that I used for Maddie's 1st birthday. She had no interest in opening gifts, she just wanted to play with them. Maddie quickly took over the toys she found more appropriate for herself. (Such as a rolling backpack bag, from my always dependable bag lady, yes Shyanne, thats you! and her Jack in the box). It took several days for me to explain to Maddie that for now Kenzie doesnt mind sharing, but she needs to remember that those are KENZIES things, so that when Kenzie decides to take them back she doesnt get upset.

As far as her eating her first piece of cake...it went about the same way it did with Maddie...she touched the icing and tasted it and wasnt sure what to do, so it took her a long time to get going. Even though she didnt seem to be hungry, she squeeled when I tried to take her out of her high chair, so I guess she liked it, lol.

Kenzie waking up as a 1 year old.

"I just cant believe I'm 1!!"

Cake table

Sitting in her high chair waiting to get her first taste of cake.
After I finally took it away (30 minutes) This is what she had accomplished, lol.

Kenzie Layne is 1!

My darling baby girl turned 1 yesterday (bittersweet of course). Here birthday party is tomorrow and her 1 year checkup is next week as well. So I will update on that stuff on a later post.

• Kenzie has been walking like a champ for a month now...right after 11 months.
• She drinks about 4 6 oz. bottles a day and 3-4 jars of #3 foods. On top of that she thinks shes ready to eat everything that we do and wants a bite no matter what it is. If she doesn't get it, she throws a fit!
• She is a busy body- she loves to dance and climb on things.
• She gives kisses, waves bye-bye, gives high fives, and claps
• Lately the only thing she has been saying is "da da", but she says it for everything not necessarily referring to her Daddy. She occsionally says momma, but not very often.
• She is so facinated with Maddie, it is hilarious to me.
• She is also very demanding and will scream bloody murder if she doesnt get what she wants and can cry the biggest crocodile tears at the drop of a hat. (As sad as she looks, she will soon learn that it wont change my mind, lol)
• She has a very lively personality and will keep things interesting in our house for many years to come!

Happy Birthday Kenzie Layne, we love you so very much!

February!!

Well Feburary is off to a wonderful start! As much as I despise cold weather... I do love getting to stay home unexpectantly due to weather conditions. February is always the longest month of the year for a teacher (not one holiday, arg). So finding out that we had Tuesday off was awesome, and to find out we had a late start today was just a cherry on top!
February is a busy month, and I have lots of things to get done, so I am hoping that it flies by.
Here is my February schedule:
4th- Get together with Lacy for Dustys birthday
6th- Super Bowl Sunday (not sure what Im doing for this yet, but Im sure we will find something)
12th- my deadline for having Lacy's shower invitations in the mail
13th- Tina's babyshower
11-13th- All the men in my family will be in Junction on their man hunt. So the ladies will get together and do something, not sure yet what that will be.
14th- Valentines Day
15th- District walk-throughs at work
17th- Kenzie turns 1
19th- Kenzie's 1st birthday party at my Dads house.

During this time we have decided to also get our house cleaned, and more organized, and do some touch ups so that we could possibly put our house up for sale. We found a house in Bronte that I just love, and its a good price, but we have to sell our house first before we could get the loan. So as of now we are just packing up all the "stuff" that is just creating chaos in our house and taking it to the clinic in Bronte. (all the while hoping no one else buys the house in Bronte).

Ahhhh....my schedule for March is filling up just as quick, but I will save that for later, lol.

I love my life, my family, and the many things we are blessed with!

Christmas Breakdown

Yes, my posts lately have been few and far between and then they are probobly entirely to long to read....for this I apoligize. But for now I have to hit you with another long one to get all the details of Christmas and New Years down. So to start off the holidays we went to Clyde the Saturday after I got out from school. We went to my Memaws house that morning to have a little Christmas for the girls there. My mom bought them this super cool red wagon and they loved it! It even has an unfoldable backpack thats attached to the back that has storage on top and a cooler on the bottom. Genious! This is my sister Terra pulling them around my Memaw's yard, because I got worn out after 2 trips around the yard.
After we left Memaws, we drove to Baird to have Christmas with my dad's side of the family. We played dominoes as usual and did Chinese Christmas. Fun Fun! We stayed the night there and came home the next morning. I was to busy playing games and having fun to take any pictures, so I am counting on my family to send me some, lol.

Christmas Eve we went to Bronte to have Christmas with my mom's (Amy) family. We did Chinese christmas there as well. Then we drove home to get ready for Christmas morning. Maddie and I had already made sugar cookies for Santa so we put them out with some milk and got them into bed. We woke up at 6 Christmas morning and Maddie found that Santa left her a kitchen (not what she asked for, but still very excited). Kenzie also got a small kitchen from Santa. Then we packed up and headed to my dads for Christmas at their house. As soon as we finished there, we packed up again and headed to my Uncle Tobins house to have Christmas with the whole family and breakfast. (We had to be there by 9 o'clock). So needless to say that as much fun as we had, we were worn out fast, lol. Throughout all of these visits, I failed to get any pictures either :( We videoed the girls opening their presents at our house, but no pics.

We did Christmas with Joshs family the next Wednesday, and it turned into a two day party. We ended up staying the night so Josh could smoke a brisket for the family with his new smoker. We all had a good time. We even went across the street from Lacy's house to feed the geese. This was so memorable! We were feeding them as fast as I could get the bread out of the bag....well they were VICIOUS! I turned around at one point to see my mother-in-law holding a goose by its neck..At first I was thinking "What in the world is she doing?!" Then to find out that the thing had bit her and wouldnt let go..HAHAHAHA She even had a bruise on her leg from that darn goose. She was wearing jeans to! So needless to say when we were out of bread we took off running, lol.

Here are a few of the crazy geese attacking us for food. Jensen had to pick Maddie up so they wouldn't eat her.
Kenzie and I hanging outside at Lacy's.

Santa brought Maddie what she asked him for at Lacy's. She wanted a guitar, and stuck with that everytime someone asked her. So Dusty, I mean Santa, bought her a real minature acoustic guitar and also a toy electronic (very annoying) guitar. She put on a show for me, and sang Big Green Tractor....so funny! She also got a Gator from Santa, and this was a big hit too. Kenzie enjoyed it just as much as Maddie. This is Justing walking beside the Gator while Maddie presses the pedal and Kenzie tries not to fall out.

We went back to my Uncle Tobins for New Years Eve and had a great time playing games and watching the kids play. My cousin Tim has a daughter who is 3 weeks older than Kenzie so its fun to watch them play. My daughters are very alike in many ways and another to add to the list is thier interest in climbing stairs. Maddie loved to play on these stairs when she was little, and now Kenzie is doing the same thing. She crawled all the way to the top by herself. AH!

This is her looking down from above.

My girls and I the first few minutes of 2011! I cannot believe Kenzie stayed awake for it...barely apparently.

The 2 most important men in my life! My wonderful dad and husband. Here is to 2011!

This was actually a few weeks before Christmas, but I thought I would throw it in anyway. We went to the Tour of Lights with people I work with at school, and got to take a bus! One of my friends at work has a daughter that is about 6 months older than Maddie, and they are both very talkative which was funny. They both enjoyed the bus ride as well as the lights. It was a wonderful memory!

Josh and I sitting on the bus together, hehe. It made me feel like I was back in highschool :) Goodtimes!

Kenzie is 10 months already?! Among other things.

On the 17th Kenzie turned 10 months old. She is growing up very fast and is always on the move. She is a very happy baby and I love her beautiful eyes, big smile, and playful attitude. She is a ring tail tooter though and gets into EVERYTHING! Everything she can get her hands on still goes in her mouth, and if she cant find something to put in her mouth she has started to go to our little divider between the two living rooms and gnaw on it. (When she was standing there the first time we didnt realize what she was doing until we went to pick her up and saw the paint missing from the corner of the wood. (YIKES!) Here are a few more things about Kenzie-

• she can stand for long periods of time and can walk holding just one hand, but does not really want to move on her own. She took 2 steps on Dec. 17th, but thats all she wrote.
• She thinks the funniest thing in the world is to knock something down or throw something down over and over again when you pick it up (such as stacking blocks, or when I sit her pacifiers on the rail of her crib)
• She is wearing mostly 9 month or 9-12 month clothes.
• She is eating 3 or 4 #3 jars of babyfood a day as well as 4- 6 oz. bottles of formula a day. We have started giving her juice on occasion and she seems to do well with the sippy cup.
• We lay her in her crib at 9 oclock and she falls asleep on her own and sleeps till about 8 in the morning. She is a very sporadic napper and there is no pattern of how many naps or how long her naps will be day to day.
• She loves to clap and give high fives.
• She has one tooth on top and the other one should come in at any time. 3 teeth on bottom.
• Her hair is still very short whisps and doesnt seem to be growing.
• She loves Christmas trees!! Well, it may be she loves lights, lol.

I am so blessed to have 2 wonderful daughters who are healthy and happy!

I also got my braces taken off yesterday and am very excited to finally have straight teeth! The retainers are a little difficult to deal with when trying to talk, but I am really trying to get it down so I wont be slurring and spitting on my students when I go back to school, lol.

As far as other things go- my principal got a bus for us and our families so we could go see the light tour. Well Maddie was supper excited about seeing the lights, but was Extatic when I told her we were going on a bus! She always sees buses and says "Mommy, theres your bus" or "Mommy, there goes your kids". She loves "the tunnel" and "the huge santa" (by the post office).

As far as potty training goes, we are wearing only panties now, and do very well most of the time besides the occasional poopy accidents. She even wears panties to bed and hasnt had any accidents until 2 nights ago and again last night. Not sure whats up with that, but 2 nights in a row is not cool. :(

The only other news I have for those of you that dont know, is that Chief unexpectantly passed away at the vet 2 weeks ago. He was throwing up and had diarreha so we took him to the emergency vet since it was a Sunday to check him out. They said that they have had several cases similar to his recently and that they would run some tests and hook him up to an IV overnight to get him some fluids. The nurse said they had him set up and were fixing to take him to his bed and as she was walking him down the hall he just instantly fell limp in her arms. So about 30 minutes after leaving the vet, we got a call saying that Chief was gone. :..( This has been extremely hard for us for many reasons.

• 1st because I expected to pick him up the next morning and didnt really say goodbye when we left that day.
• 2nd because he was 4 1/2 years old and was as happy as could be on Saturday.
• and lastly because explaining to Maddie why Chief couldnt come home, or where heaven was, or why God wanted Chief, or the various other questions she has asked that are hard to explain to a 3 year old. Everyday since then she has asked "when Chief was coming home?" or "why does God want Chief?"

To end things on not such a sad note, I just want to wish everyone a very Merry CHRISTmas and a Happy New Year! 2011 is going to be filled with many more exciting events and I am looking foward to it!

Kenzie's 9 month checkup

Kenzie's 9 month check up was Wednesday (which was actually 9 1/2 months), but here are the results.
Weight- 17 lbs. 7 oz 20%
Height- 27.5" 33%
Head- 17.25" 45%

She's an inch taller and 1 1/2 pounds heavier than Maddie was at 9 months, but their heads are the same size.

She smiled or stared at Dr. Sawyer the whole time and she only pouted (no crying at all) when she got her flu shot. She is such a happy baby and I love her big gummy smile! She has started standing by herself for long periods of time, but she refuses to take any steps without holding on to something. She can wave, clap, and give high fives. She also started shaking her head when you tell her no. Then she just smiles and keeps doing whatever it was that I told her not to do. She is a stinker for sure!

While we were there the dr. checked Kenzies gums for teeth, and as soon as he left Maddie told Josh. If he thinks he's checking my teeth, he's not!.... She is also such a stinker.
As we were leaving she bent down and picked something up (or so Josh thought) and told Josh she had a lizzard. So we played along and asked her what his name was and she simply replied "Johnny Lizzard". So on occasion I ask her what he's doing, and most of the time she says he's sleeping, lol. He was playing with his friends once and I asked who his friends were, and she said she didnt know his friends because she hasnt met them. WOW...What an imaginiation!
Well I have to run....my very demanding daughter (Kenzie) is ready to eat!

Kenzie is 9 months old!

I just cant believe she is already 9 months old!!
She is a busy girl.

• Busy putting things in her mouth, it doesnt matter what it is and where she found it. :/


• Busy climbing in things, out of things, around things, and on things.


• Busy eating....all the time! She is eating 4-5 six ounce bottles a day as well as 2-3 #3 jars of baby food, and an occasional snack (cheerios are her favorite!, but she likes Gerber cheetos too)


• Busy being a jealous belly....she does not like for me to hold anyone or anything else. She gets jealous if I am holding Maddie, Chief, or my laptop in my lap.


• Busy SMILING :) - She has such a beautiful checky smile, that I love to look at every morning.


• Busy crawling. She can crawl as fast as Maddie can run, lol...not really, but she is very quick. She does not however seem to have much interest in walking. She will let go of her rail and stand alone for a few seconds or move from one table to another chair close by, but if I tried to hold her hands and stand her up, she will immediately sit down.

She does go to sleep close to 9 oclock every night and wake up between 7 and 8. She is very good at playing peek-a-boo, and can play for a long time. She also thinks the funniest thing in the world is to twist and turn when you are trying to change her diaper. Now Maddie did that like Im sure most children do to a certain extent, but Kenzie is super quick and really flexable which makes it MUCH harder to make her be still. The whole time she is doing this she is laughing like a hyena, which makes me laugh, thus making her want to keep doing it.

I am completely in awe of my 2 wonderful girls, I love them both so very much and just cant get enough of them. Now I am excited to announce that I will be the proud Aunt of a niece! I am so happy for Lacy because she will have a blast with a daughter, and I am excited for my girls that they will have a girl cousin to grow up with and have girly slumber parties and other things that I enjoyed so much when I was a kid. I have such a wonderful relationship with my cousins, and I pray that my girls and my neice will become best friends! My cousin Tina is having a boy and I am also excited about that because he will be the first Grandson on that side of the family and it will be nice to have a little boy running around during family get togethers.

Kenzie's 1st Halloween....she wore the same costume that Maddie did her 1st Halloween...However, we lost one of the feet while trick or treating in Bronte :(

Maddie's 4th Halloween...She was Cinderella!

Maddie and Annalise at the schools trunk or treat.