Sweet Baby Of Mine

I LOVE playing with Kendall in the afternoons. I never knew how much fun I could have playing the same things with the same toys over and over. But every day it seems Kendall is learning and noticing something new. Right now, her greatest challenge is trying to crawl. Poor thing is just not quite ready. Instead of pushing herself up, she goes down on her belly and flaps her arms and legs. Too bad she's not swimming - looks like a pretty good breast stroke to me.

Thank you to my friends and fellow bloggers who continue to check us out. Some of you may be thinking, "Does she have ANYTHING else to write about than a baby?!?" Well, actually no, I don't. At least not at the moment. Kendall is my life right now. All my free time (ha!) and energy is devoted to her. And as it should. Yes, I'm getting back into "the world" but I'm not in too much of a hurry to do so though I do find myself easing back into life. I'm realizing how quickly these little precious ones grow up, and I don't want to miss it.

Here's a typical afternoon in our household:

- play with Kendall in the den
- play with Kendall in her room
- feed Kendall dinner
- decide what Mommy and Daddy will eat for dinner (that's IF my wonderful mother-in-law hasn't already cooked for us!)
- throw a quick dinner together (and make sure there are leftovers for the next night!)
- eat with one hand while trying to keep Kendall from pulling my plate into my lap with the other
- clean quickly while Daddy and Kendall play some more in her room
- family play time (yes, this includes Sophie as well) in Kendall's room
- bathe Kendall
- rock Kendall
- put Kendall to bed
- clean quickly before heading to bed ourselves

I know one day I'll look back at this nightly ritual and wish I could do it all over again. What sweet memories I will have of it all. Everything else can wait. Phone calls can be returned later. Gourmet meals can be cooked some other time. Cleaning (yes, I'm still a neat freak, some things will never change) can be done over the weekend - maybe. Books will be read and scrapbooks scrapped in the future hopefully. But Kendall grows up once - and it's happening right in front of our eyes!

Here are some pictures of Kendall and Mommy hanging out in her room:



Kendall worked really hard to get this little firefly into her mouth as evidenced below (Mommy had to help her out a little):









Yeah! Daddy's home! Time for some sugar!




The little things in life are the most precious. I know I'll have other things to blog about, but right now I'm just so eaten up by this sweet precious baby of mine.

'Lil Bookworm

We should have known Kendall was bound to get the bookworm gene which runs all throughout both sides. She absolutely LOVES to read books. I'm impressed with her attention span already. Books and her Baby Einstein videos captivate her right now.

Her reading list has expanded to include about five different books. We read through almost all of them just about every night. As I mentioned in her Six Month entry, Sesame Street's At the Zoo tops her list, though. She squeals and laughs, and then either beats on the book or pulls it to her mouth.

Gabe and I both have this book (and several others) memorized by now. But, oh, how I cherish those minutes each night. I love when she sits in my lap (the only position in which to read!) and leans back against me. As soon as we pull out the "book drawer", she gets so excited. What a sweet time as we snuggle together and enjoy the stories. Such precious moments. I guess it reminds me of all the nights my dad used to read to me when I was growing up.

Clink Clink

One of Kendall's favorite toys is her piggy bank. It does all kinds of cool stuff including singing songs about colors and numbers and counting the coins as they are dropped in the slot. She likes to open and close the door. And open and close. And open and close. And open and close some more.


We're teaching Kendall that money goes in the bank. Pappy, my grandfather, would have been so proud!


But Kendall would rather put it in her mouth instead.

Wish I looked this cute stuffing MY face!

Happy Six Months!

I cannot believe that my little baby is six months old today! Half a year!! How quickly time truly does fly. And I don't see any end in sight though I am trying my hardest to slow life down a little to savor every moment. We've already had to do several difficult things such as putting the baby bathtub away to graduate to the "big girl" tub, and eliminating two bottles a day for baby food. Next on the horizon very soon is lowering the mattress and switching to a car seat instead of a carrier. At least I'm not alone in this "time marching" boat since all my other friends with children have reported the same drastic "flying by whirlwind" called time.

So to celebrate six of the sweetest months of our lives, I'd like to share six quirky/funny things about Kendall.

1. Kendall LOVES to read. The bookworm gene that runs through both her parents has been passed on to her. A friend babysat Kendall recently and commented how she has never seen such a young baby who loves books. We read to her every night before bathtime. Her favorite is still "Brown Bear Brown Bear", but she has also expanded her list to include her Sesame Street "At the Zoo" and "Farm Animals". (I know - doesn't mean much to you - but one day I will look back and think, Ah, yes, I remember those books well!)

2. Kendall has a weird sense of humor (like her mother). Things that Daddy Gabe and I are convinced are justified a laugh just don't seem to cut it with her. There is one assured way to produce that hilarious little laugh of hers. And that is to say, "Sophie says, 'woof woof!'" Huh? Yeah, that's hysterical to a six month old. I can repeat it over and over and she belly laughs every time. Which leads to the next thing...

3. Kendall loves Sophie, and Sophie loves Kendall. I have a feeling these two will be best buddies soon. Sophie is very particular as to who is allowed near Kendall. And Kendall just loves to tough her scruffy hair and laugh as she gets licked. And licked. And licked. We just try to keep Sophie away from her face, and Kendall away from Sophie's ears that she's just dying to grab a hold of and tug.

4. Kendall eats like a bird. A baby bird. A very hungry baby bird. We can't get the next bite to her mouth fast enough and she usually lets us know. She opens her mouth like a baby bird anticipating that next coveted bite. And why should I be surprised since she's always sucked a bottle dry? The day she was born she downed a bottle in two minutes flat. No kidding. I don't think we'll have trouble weaning fro m the bottle when the time comes. And she has yet to try a food she hasn't liked.

5. Kendall sleeps UNSWADDLED! Yes, my faithful blog followers, our "little burrito" no longer sleeps in her baby straight jacket. She has finally mastered the art of controlling her little arms that used to flail and knock her upside her little head, thus waking her up - over and over. And now she has discovered how great it is to sleep on her tummy. She flips right over, tucks her hands under her stomach and sticks her little rear up in the air. And, she sleeps like this for 10 straight hours each night. Oh how thankful we are for that!!!

6. Kendall loves to be on the go. She has always enjoyed car rides and buggy rides. And she can be amused with people watching the entire time we're out. She has always been easy to tote around. I don't think she'll be shy - unlike both her parents when they were little.

It's so fun to see her little personality starting to emerge. She can definitely be a little ham! She loves to grin real big and then turn and bury her head as if she's actually bashful, only to peek a few seconds later to make sure you're still watching her!

We are so blessed to have such a precious little girl. We thank God every day for her. What an awesome responsibility God has placed before us as we raise her. Our prayer is that she grow to be a godly young lady who loves the Lord with all her heart, soul, mind and strength. There's nothing more I as her mother could want.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub, There's A Baby in the Tub!

Kendall took another big step this week. She moved to the "big girl" tub. Mommy tried to put it off as long as possible, but now that she hangs off the sides, top and bottom of the baby bathtub, I figured it was time. Kendall wasn't sure what to think at first, but she was captivated by her floating hippo, and loves to have me pour water onto her hands.

Kendall's parents had plans to lower the crib mattress as well, but it was all too much for Mommy to handle at one time. Her baby is growing so fast! One step at a time!