Beach Bum Baby

Kendall took her first trip to the beach, and Mommy and Daddy their first vacation in two years. We went with Gabe's parents - Papa and Gigi - and Gabe's brother, Ben, and his wife, Kim. We had a great time despite some uncooperative weather and got much needed rest.

As you can see from the pictures, Kendall loves her diamond-studded sunglasses. They didn't leave her face, even as she lay limp in my arms on the way back to the condo after too much fun in the sun. The same cannot be said for waves or sand, though. But one thing's for sure. The sound of the waves lulled her to sleep several times. Mommy and Daddy decided that the only thing to do was to buy ocean front property so she can sleep and relax all the time! Gigi mentioned one of the wave sounding machines, but that wouldn't be nearly as fun!



Another big hit was the blow-up baby pool that we got for her. It helped corral her in (yes, bloggers, she can go anywhere she pleases now!) and kept the sand off her in the process (another two thumbs up from Kendall). I got this ingenious idea from a friend who posted pictures on fb of her family's trip. Thanks, Melissa! Owe ya one!


Such a sweet picture of Daddy and Kendall! You're seeing the back of Kendall's sleepy head. She fell asleep here watching the waves. Hello time share??


Ok, the rest of these pictures are in reverse order. (Gotta love a Mac.) This picture of little twinkle toes and Daddy's feet is so sweet. And the best part of the picture is that you can't see Kendall's screaming face as she pitched an absolute fit to be whisked up and away from the grit and water.



These two pictures above are actually Kendall's first experience with the waves and sand-before she knew to hate it. Daddy made sure not to miss this moment on his way to the golf course for a tee time with Papa and Uncle Ben.


Mommy and Kendall checked to see if the sand and waves were still there. Yup. Time to head back to the floatie pool!


And the happy family enjoying their first official family vacation.

Sunday Afternoons

So Sunday afternoons are pretty laid back and relaxing around here. After getting home from church (and a cruise through Wendy's drive thru) we just hung around and relaxed. I wanted to get some cute pictures of Kendall in her dress. I remember getting this dress at one of my showers. I LOVED it, but at the same time thought, "This dress is a size 9 months! She'll NEVER be big enough to wear it!" HA! How laughable that thought is to me now! I barely turned around and here she is wearing it. So I was insistent on getting some cute, adorable, sweet, angelic pictures of Kendall in it. HA again! This little busy body doesn't have time to stand still long for pictures these days. She has too much to do and too many places to go. (She's just like her Mama).

Who knew this first picture - with her collar turned up - would be the best I would get.

For this picture, Daddy was out of sight of the camera trying to get Kendall to laugh. I guess she didn't think it was all that amusing. "Really, Daddy, could you try a little harder, please?"


Crawling towards Mommy and the camera...The love for the camera lives on!


Turning for a split SECOND from what she is doing to give me a half-smile.


And off to the races!

I gave up at this point. Oh well, everyone was getting hungry and sleepy anyway. But we did what was priority on the agenda: relax, play, and just enjoy the day.

New Swing

Kendall got a new swing, and Daddy and Papa hung it for her last weekend. She LOVES it. Funny, she would have nothing to do with the baby swing when she was little. It got packed away in storage fairly quickly. But she likes her big girl swing!

Mobility Awareness

Well, it's finally set in. Kendall is now mobile. She's had the ability to crawl for a while, but just couldn't quite muster the bravery to get from a sitting position down onto all fours...until now. She would JUST about lean forward far enough only to back out and sit back up. Here in this picture you can see how she overcame that hurdle.


And off she goes!


And did I mention she's pulling up now as well? What a grin of satisfaction on her face when she does!

Side note: Yes, there is a reason Kendall is nekked. We were just about to head off to get a bath after yet another night of unsuccessful crawling - or so Mommy thought. She snagged the camera and got a few quick pics before calling it quits.

After Her Mama's Heart

Mommy sent Daddy to the grocery this past weekend. One of the things on the list was baby food. Now, this may come as a shock, but I organize my grocery list by category to hopefully alleviate back tracking across the store. And being the neat freak I am, I can't imagine going without a list at all! But I digress... On the list was written to get 6 vegetable and 6 fruit. One of the "vegetables" Daddy came home with was macaroni and cheese. WHAT?!?! Since when is mac-n-cheese a vegetable? And what's with all the gourmet baby foods?? Anyway, I figured this treat would not stunt my baby's growth so I just laughed it off. After all, a treat like this every so often is not a bad thing, right? And daddies have a right to spoil their little girls anyway. Well, tonight I decided to crack open the treat. (It was paired with "spring vegetables with whole grain rice and added omega-3" as an off-set.)

Kendall - being the avid eater she is - scarfed down the green stuff. (Good girl!) And the prized cheesy mac? Not so much. What?? Could my little girl be taking after me?? I mean, she's named after Daddy, she looks like Daddy. Could it be that she has taken a liking to healthy, vitamin-packed foods that will make her strong and full of antioxidents? You need to understand, Kendall doesn't turn away food. She eat as much as she is given. So for her to decline something is unusual.

Kendall just follows after the other female Gozas (Sophie included) in this house. Gabe said that only I would have a dog that LOVES lettuce. I swear she dreams of running through fields of lettuce. She comes bounding around the corner if she hears me open the lettuce drawer in the fridge, and then continues to pester me until I break off the white crunchy ends. Same thing with the apple slicer or the cutting board.

So it makes perfect sense that my child prefers vegetables to carb loaded foods with little to no nutritional value. A girl after my own heart.