Hapy Easter

The kids were very excited to wake up on Easter morning and find baskets of goodies waiting for them. This was the first year that we did that and it was nice to be able to take some of the credit for the goodies instead of letting the Easter bunny receive all of the love. We goofed off the rest of the day and planned to hunt eggs that evening at Grandpa Bill and Grandma Dale's house, but our lack of weather watching left us hunting eggs in the living room during a storm. Whoopse. The kids didn't mind at all! Tyler did catch Travis and Grandpa Bill hiding the eggs and we had to explain that the Easter Bunny just dropped everything off on the front porch since it was raining. ;-) And after the rain clouds cleared, we got to enjoy a beautiful rainbow (although it didn't really show up in the picture below). We hope everyone had a wonderful day [outside or indoors] spent with loved ones!!

Addict

Somebody is as addicted to her chapstick as her mommy is......

Kinley's 2 year check-up

Kinley had her 2 year check-up and it was a pretty quick and painless appointment. Getting her weight and height stats have always been very difficult because she's screaming and squirming while I hold her down on the baby scale or stretch her neck to get her height, but now that she's a "big girl," she got to walk right up to the big scale to check her weight and measure her height. She loved it! She weighs 26lbs 8oz (25-50th percentile) and is 33 1.4 inches tall (25-50th percentile). It's only taken her two years to even out. :-) For comparison purposes, Tyler weighed 29lbs (25-50th percentile) and was 37 1/4 inches tall (75-90th percentile) at his 24/30 month check-up (his appt was done closer to 2 1/2 years old because of delaying some vaccines). We have struggled with giving both kids all the recommended vaccines since Tyler was just a baby and as a result/compromise with our pediatrician, both have been on a delayed schedule and don't have all of their shots, but Travis and I recently decided that we need to be done with the vaccines, at least for a good while. Don't worry, I'm not turning into some crazy anti-vaccine person that will flame anyone who chooses to fully vaccinate. We've weighed the pros and cons to both sides and it's just a personal decision... what we feel is best for our children. I will say that a tremendous amount of pressure, stress, and anxiety was immediately lifted off my shoulders when coming to this decision, which reassures me that we're doing the right thing for our family right now. And I'm happy that Travis and I are on the same page for our babies. That's big!! So with all of that said, Kinley didn't receive any shots and she certainly didn't complain about that. :-)

Sweet on each other...

**melt** These moments don't always happen, but you can bet that I capture them when they do! :-)

Austin Rodeo!

Happy Second Birthday, Baby Girl

It’s your special day and we are celebrating two years with you. Only two years and yet... two whole years! I think only a parent can understand how a length of time can seem so long ago and yet fly by so fast. I would say that the past two years have been anything but easy with you. You are challenging, my dear. Oh so very challenging. It's definitely a good thing I love you unconditionally. :-) You give meaning to the word sassy. You have a temper like no other. You are bossy, persistent, stubborn, loud, opinionated, emotional and very strong willed. And although it’s made for some difficult moments for us, I know that you will channel these traits into something very positive one day. I can see you as this successful, strong and independent woman way down the road and I love that thought!

And in all fairness, things aren’t always rough. We have some really great moments as well! You are generally hilarious! You do the funniest things and make the funniest face expressions. You are so animated. You love to sing and have a really remarkable pitch for a two year old. You prefer rocking out to loud music with your tongue hanging out and your fists in the air. You love dancing and we just started a Mommy and Me dance class and you seem to really enjoy it. You are definitely our family entertainer and yet a little shy and reserved in public. I know that I see you with my mommy glasses, but I’m really not kidding when I say that you are one of the most beautiful little girls I have ever seen! I can assure you that I will always feel this way! The attention you receive over your big blue eyes, smile and dimples, pug nose and blonde curls is crazy! Everyone falls in love with you and it's pretty hard not to with a personality like yours! :-)

You never met my Pappa (Grammy’s dad), but I’d like to think that he and I had a pretty good relationship. Pappa always affectionately referred to me as “the brat” from as long as I can remember and before until he passed away when I was 29. Although I completely disagree (haha), your Daddy thinks that I must have been a true brat at some point for him to give me a nick name that stuck for 29 years. He didn’t even cut me any slack on my wedding day when he told me “Congratulations, brat.” :-) I was just “the brat” and everyone knew that. Funny, if I had to pick one word to (affectionately) describe you, it would be brat. You now get this title! And while you may be a brat a lot of the time, one thing is certain and that is you are MY brat! You are precious to me and I can’t imagine you any other way! Happy second birthday, baby girl. I love you forever and always!

Love, Mommy

Kinley is TWO years old!

My baby girl is TWO years old now! I'm feeling sad that I didn't get to do a post for 22 or 23 months, although I took pictures, a post just didn't happen. I know I keep saying this, but we have all been so sick this season with everything from double ear infections, clogged ears, double pink eye, stomach bugs, the flu, RSV, walking pneumonia, sinus infections, bronchitis, bruised ribs, chronic coughing/runny nose to random crap like hives. Seriously, check out these pictures. I'll keep the fully nude ones that show her entire legs and butt covered in these things. Poor baby!





It has literally been one thing after another since last October. And while we didn't all have each of those illnesses, several of them made their course through the whole family and we've had very few days where we've all been healthy at once. However, things have been looking up this past week! It's getting warmer and we're playing outside more. My 9 weeks of intense coughing is gone, Kinley's 6 weeks of annoying runny nose is gone and Tyler's dark/pink circles under his eyes from sinus/ear infections are gone. And I think Travis' allergies are better, too. We're all feeling much better! Bring on summertime... I'm SO over winter and all the germies that came along with it! Worst.Season.EVER!!!

Anyway, on to my little BIG TWO year old love! Despite being pretty ill lately, Kinley has been a lot more enjoyable to be around. How horrible does that sound?? But really! I have found myself many times over the last couple of months thinking about how much fun we're having instead of wanting to pull my hair out from her constant screaming. She is definitely still a turkey, but she's getting more pleasant by the day! She's communicating so much more now. It's crazy how fast her vocabulary is picking up. She repeats most things we say and while most people wouldn't be able to understand her, I completely do and it's made things a lot easier. She can vocalize her wants and needs more without just screaming at the top of her lungs while we play a two hour guessing game of what she wants or needs. She is less clingy these days. She still wants me in sight a lot of the time, but she's becoming more content being with Travis or playing by herself and I've even managed to get out of the house a few times while Aunt Andrea watched her for a couple of hours! I'm not sure how you say clingy in one sentence and independent in the next, but she's also exploring her independent nature. She wants to do everything by herself. It's always Me, Me, Me, ME. She's also entering that very helpful toddler phase. I really like this phase! She likes to help pick up toys, carry laundry to the laundry room, throw trash away, etc. It's kind of nice- when I'm cooking dinner sometimes, I'll give her a duster and she'll go to town in the living room. :-)

We haven't had any progress with potty training, but I can't say that we're really trying. It'll happen when we're both ready, I guess. She's still sleeping with me in my bed and I'm just not sure I see a transition in sight yet. I guess that will happen when we're both ready as well. ;-)

Her favorite meals are eggs and jelly toast for breakfast, corndogs and cheetos for lunch, and grilled chicken, broccoli or corn, and cantaloup or grapes for dinner. She loves cheese, any fresh fruit, fruit snacks and chips and salsa for snacks and she loves when she gets an occasional "bite" (Sprite, which is actually Sierra Mist) treat. She is addicted to chapstick, just like her mommy, loves having her toenails painted and wants to brush her teeth all the time. She loves watching Doc McStuffins, Dora, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and UmiZoomi. Her two year molars are coming in right on schedule and now I'm just hoping that she's not turning into my sweet girl just in time for the terrible twos to hit! Stay tuned for more on that......

Since I took the pictures, here's Kinley at 22 months old~


And 23 months old~ Goofball!






And now officially two years old!



















Birthday girl enjoying some yummy donuts for breakfast!




Followed by playing at the park with our friends~










Just as we were leaving, Tyler ran into one of his best buddies from school, Carter. It ended up being a LONG day at the park. ;-)












Waking up from naptime with balloons~






Ending the day with a couple of presents from Mommy and Daddy~