A Great Time In '09

Wow! What a FAST and FUN year it has been! The older I get, the faster time flies. Boo hoo on that :( 2009 has been a great year for our family, filled with many wonderful blessings and fun memories. Here is an '09 recap of how our year went.Our 2009 started with the celebrating of Aaron's birthday in January, and then shortly after, selling our house in one full day of being on the market!We moved in with Papa and Kay Kay March 5th in an effort to try and figure our what we wanted to do--house wise. The sell of the house in a day was actually a blessing in disguise because in April, Aaron received an unexpected promotion, which required us to live 30 miles from his office. My parents are 26 miles. I would say that was just about perfect!In April, we took a little trip to Atlanta. We had fun visiting the Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta and a Braves game, oh, and lots of shopping, due to the fact that somehow Kenadie's clothes got left behind? We'll just leave it at that :)Kenadie and I enjoyed attending our Mommy and Me class every Tuesday a.m. In the summer, we enjoyed our pet turtle, "turtle" for a couple of weeks. We checked on him daily, and after NEVER seeing him eat anything we gave him, we decided to let "turtle" go.In June, we took another quick road trip to Omaha, NB to see our Eagles at the College World Series. This is where Kenadie would discover frozen lemonade :)In July, we went on our annual beach trip to Destin with my family. This was also the same time that I discovered Kenadie's hair was actually long enough for a ponytail, therefore meaning her bow would stay put now :) July was a big month for milestones, because this is also when Kenadie's talking seemed to take off. She hasn't slowed down since! One things for sure, I ALWAYS have someone ready to talk to :) and what a sweet little voice she has that I never get tired of hearing :)The bow even survives in the swimming pool :) "I swimming, I swimming", as Kenadie was telling me and everyone else in the pool.God blessed my brother and his wife with a precious, healthy baby boy in October. Shortly after baby Henry was born, we said goodbye to Wes, Joy, Hayden and Henry as they made the move to North Carolina--hoping this is only temporary and that Wes gets transferred back ASAP!I guess the latest news would be that we recently bought a house. We are excited about it and look forward to making many memories here. We have truly enjoyed the 10 months spent with Papa and Kay Kay. I am so glad, as are they, trust me, that they have been such a part of seeing Kenadie grow and change so much this year! I'm sure many tears from my mother and I will be shed as our "move" approaches :( I could make a whole post on "How to successfully live with your parents." Ha ha--seriously though--It's been GREAT Mom and Dad! Thanks for having us! We've enjoyed every minute :) Guess it's time for me to get back to reality though :) It's been fun!

Looking forward to a great 2010! Happy New year everyone!!!

Christmas Cheer

Here is a glimpse of all our fun!Kenadie LOVED going to see the Lewis Lights! She was so much fun to watch. Papa and Kay Kay went with us, and for two years now, we went to eat at Cracker Barrel before going to see the lights. Sounds like a tradition in the making to me :)Barney, Baby Bop and B.J. were, by far, her favorites!"Making" cookies for Santa. She was quite proud of herself :)After making our cookies, we head out to do Christmas with the Smith and Zumwalt families. Our first stop was the Christmas Eve service at First Baptist Church in Ellisville. Much to my surprise, Kenadie went straight in to the nursery, without looking back! Couldn't believe it!Kenadie and cousin Ava at the Smith's. After dinner and exchanging gifts with the Smith family, we head to Laurel to see the Zumwalts.We're back from the Christmas Eve festivities and pouring Santa his milk.Santa made his visit!and so did Uncle Wes, Aunt Joy, Hayden and Henry!!! We spend Christmas morning and day with my family and then go to Papaw and D's house for dinner and presents.
Merry Christmas!!!

"My Christmas List"

As I was working on some projects in the dining room, I hear Kenadie repeatedly saying "my Christmas list, my Christmas list." I check to see what she is talking about and this is what I see...If you look closely, someone got into the baby wipes and had a little fun pretending it was her Christmas list :)

So long, farewell

Well...we have achieved another milestone, but unlike crawling, walking, talking etc., this one leaves me a bit sadder. I remind you, I am VERY sentimental :) As of Friday, we are paci-less. I had always had in my mind that we would get rid of the pacifier when Kenadie turned two. That was the magic number/time. Well, October came and I just wasn't ready. Just the thought of it made me want to cry. It meant that Kenadie would have one less thing that was strongly labeled "baby."

It's something how when you have an infant, you can't wait for them to be able to keep the pacifier in their mouth. I am pretty sure when Kenadie was a newborn I purchased EVERY style of pacifier just to find one she could keep in her mouth. When she turned one, "pat-pat" as she originally called it, only appeared in her bed and her bag at church. That was a good thing for us because it made getting in her bed less of an issue. It gave her something to look forward to because she knew it was in there. "Pat pat" at some point became "pap-si" and then eventually "paci."

So how are we doing without it? It wasn't as bad as I thought. The first night was quite pitiful because somehow a paci ventured downstairs and she knew it was on the kitchen counter. She kept telling us "paci downstairs" while doing the cry that TOTALLY breaks your heart. We just told her that we didn't have paci anymore--very original, huh :) Then, yesterday at nap time, she asked for it, and I told her we didn't have it anymore. She then asked "why" which was also a first, the 3 letter word that I'm sure we will hear over and over and over again... I just told her she was a big girl now and that seemed to "pacify" her. She layed down and told me goodnight. So, I would say we are doing pretty good :) I think next year, when this is all off her mind, one of her pacis may just have to turn into a Christmas ornament or something :)

Santa and Snow, Ho Ho Ho...

A special guest recently made a stop by Aaron's work...This is about how happy Kenadie was to see Santa :)

All day long, prior to going to see Santa, I kept telling Kenadie who we were going to see, what he might say to her, etc. I asked her what she was going to say to him and she told me "Hi Santa, I Kenadie." I told her that would be perfect to tell Santa. I then told her he may ask her what she wants for Christmas... which I have never even done :) but anyway, she actually responded with "presents." So, somehow, I guess they pick up on that pretty quickly... I then asked her what she would like inside the presents and she paused for a second, looked down at my feet, and said "socks" cute :) Well, from the above picture, you can probably tell that she wasn't about to greet Santa with a friendly "Hi Santa, I Kenadie." Or for that matter, even mutter out that she wanted socks :)I finally must have said something to get her to look up.

After the Santa excitement on Friday, it only got better when we woke up to this Saturday morning...
It's a bit hard to believe that in south MS, this is Kenadie's 3rd snow and she is only two! She had started to get a little bit congested, so we pretty much just went out for a quick photo shoot :) Lily, on the other hand, would have played in the snow until it melted :)Kenadie's pink hat was definitely the highlight of her 3rd snow experience. She LOVES hats and wore this one until nap time :) So long snow. Hopefully we will see you again next year :)

These Are A Few of Our Favorite Things

So, I received a request for a post, and I am fulfilling it :) Thought I would share some of Kenadie's favorite toys/books that she has really enjoyed. Maybe you have a toddler on your Christmas list and this may give you some ideas. These are in no particular order, just some things I thought of.
She just got this trampoline for her birthday and I ordered it from here.
Kenadie received this last Christmas and was the perfect age for it. She was 14 months old. She still plays with it, and it is machine washable. It is here.
She loves anything Little People, especially her dollhouse. She got a similar one on her first birthday and for the longest, she just played with all the people. Now, at two, she is interacting with the people with the house. After she has played with any of her Little People, I just love to see where she puts the animals/people inside the house, circus, Noah's Ark etc. It's so funny to see where things end up :) I can only imagine what was going on in her little mind :)
We love, love, love this book! It is one of the few that she will sit through from start to finish. She got this for her 1st birthday, and I have since, given it to several of our friends.
Aqua Doodle Draw 'n' Doodle. Kenadie loves to "draw" and color, so I thought I would try this. She's not drawing pictures yet, but loves to do her scribbling on it :) You fill up a pen with water and draw away on the mat. When it drys, you can start all over again.
This is a classic book that everyone should own :) This was the first book I read to Kenadie. Definitely one you also want a board book version of. She loves it and now likes to try to "read" it to me :) Cute :)
Ok, so maybe this one is just a little out of season :) but by far, this one is tops on Kenadie's list! It's a sand and water table. The sand side is her favorite. Her favorite thing to do at the moment is pour stuff. So, this greatly fullfills that desire :) I will tell you that if you leave the umbrella out 24/7 it won't take it long to rot. There are lots of sand/water tables to choose from, and I do like this one alot, however; we no longer have an umbrella. She has loved this since we got it and that was when she was 18 months old.
Kenadie got this her first Christmas. We started using it once she could sit up well. She still likes to be pushed around in it, so it has definitely gotten much use out of it. Wal Mart and Toys R Us carry it. It is made by Step2. Great purchase!

These are just some of the things Kenadie has really liked, I could go on... Please leave a comment if you have something your child has really liked. I'm always looking for good, "tried and true" toys :)

Give Thanks

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever."
Psalm 136:1

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am actually still full from this cake :)There are over 100 Reese's miniature cups in it! Also on our menu were the following:

Turkey
Dressing
Sweet Potato Casserole
Broccoli Casserole
Layered Salad
Chicken and Dumplings
Butterbeans
Rolls
Pecan PieNow, before you think I prepared this wonderful feast, let me get that straight. My mom does it ALL. I can only claim the chopping of ingredients that went into it :) As Mom was making the dressing, I told her "I should probably learn how to make dressing. That would just be something good for me to know how to do." Then she says "Can you make cornbread?" Knowing good and well I couldn't :) So, I guess I need to start with the basics and learn how to make cornbread. I know how to make the "Jiffy" stuff. I'm not too sure how that would taste in cornbread though. Oh well... I think I've decided I will just let Mom continue making the dressing. Mom and I ended the Thanksgiving holiday by going shopping on Friday. We didn't really have anything we were going after, so we decided to leave the house around 7 a.m. We have been going shopping on "black friday" for about 10 years now. After about 12 hours of shopping, the car was FULL. Don't know how much of our stuff was actually a bargain, but we had fun anyway :)