Making Groceries and a Little Lagniappe

While in New Orleans for Thanksgiving we took Kendall to the Children's Museum.  I remembered it from when I was a kid, and I was just as excited as Kendall to go.  I just knew that my all time favorite thing there would be hers. And I was right.

The grocery store.  It is so cool.  The kids get real buggies, load up their groceries, and get to play cashier on a real cash register.  The only unpopular job it the shelf restocking.

Here's Kendall making groceries New Orleans style.

And here she is checking Mama out.

She loved it, eventually donning a cashier apron.  She was serious about her work.

So serious that she checked out all the other kids as well!

Next she was off practicing her waitressing skills with Grandpa.

She provided excellent service.

Daddy and JuJu were loyal customers.

A quick ride on Andrew Jackson's horse at Jackson Square then we were off again.

Another favorite was the Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood exhibit.  Kendall is a huge fan of Mr. Rogers, watching episodes on pbskids.org.  She was probably the only kid there who knew all the characters' names.  She squealed with delight when Henrietta popped out of her tree house.

She loved playing with King Friday's castle puppet stage as well.

Poor thing, we had to cut her visit to a mere three hours when we left in time to grab seafood poboys and get home in time for the LSU game.  We'll definitely have to take her back on a return visit.

Santa's List

So what do you get when you mix Clifford Goes Camping...

...with Christmas toy catalogs?

A two-year-old asking Santa for a tent!

Mommy:  Kendall, what do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?

Kendall:  A tent (affirmative head nod) Cause...tent...Cis-mas.

Mommy:  What will you do in your tent?

Kendall:  Go night-night.  Daddy go night-night.  Tent. (more affirmative head nods)

Oh, yes, Kendall has been flipping through her Wal-Mart toy catalog.   (How did they know I have a toddler?)  Santa had better be making his list and checking it twice.  She doesn't miss much these days.  We've relived the above conversation dozens of times lately.

Here's the page that gave Kendall the tent idea...




And the cover with the bears climbing a tree has given her other ideas as well.  Her new favorite thing to do in the backyard is climb a tree.  Fortunately it has several low branches so with Mommy's help she can make a climb.

I know what you're thinking...I thought you said she LIKED to climb trees.  She does.  She pitched a little fit when I stopped helping her long enough to snap a picture.

And another first:  Kendall and Mommy made homemade play dough.  She had fun helping mix the ingredients.

For the holidays we dyed it orange and added pumpkin spice.  Ahhh...smells like pumpkin pie!

Kendall made several batches of pumpkin play dough cupcakes.

And the weather has cooperated around here lately, so everyone's gearing up for the holidays!

Picnic Fun

Today has proven to be a beautiful spring-like day, so we took full advantage of it. I had a friend lined up to take Kendall's pictures in the nearby park this morning. After a photo shoot full of action shots, Kendall and Mommy hung out at the playground for a while. This fearless bundle of energy had a blast as usual. She even insisted on swinging solo on the big kid swings. The only way I could pry her away from all the fun was to entice her with chicken nuggets for lunch. (Her love affair with food comes in handy sometimes!) After a swing through Wendy's we went home and had a picnic in the front yard. Kendall loved it!

What could be better than food, outside, and her tutu skirt??

Add to that list her juice box with a straw. Very cool.

And top it all off with her Elmo plate as well. Fun overload!

My lovely camera delay results...

Mommy, Kendall and a bendy straw...

Kendall still drinks watered down juice in sippy cups, so this coveted juice box was quite the treat. Mmmmm!


I always love the first hint of spring. It's a reminder that summer is around the corner and school will soon be out. And I've already thought about summer, only this time from a Mommy perspective. I'm going to have to plan ways to keep this curious busybody busy this summer, that's for sure!

Quite the Mess

Toddler fun. Rearranging project. Daddy slacking on the clean up job. Call it what you want, but Kendall's room was quite the mess. While Mommy was slaving away in the kitchen to get dinner on the table, Daddy and Kendall were patiently waiting and playing in her room. And you see what I found when I called the family to the table. Daddy had fun getting all the jammies put back in the drawer, organized by sets, size and long/short sleeve, of course. (teethy grin) I coulnd't help but post it for several reasons. First, it's just plain cute. Second, it reminds me that play comes before neatness sometimes. And lastly, one day all too soon I will not have a messy, curious toddler to pick up after.

Pool Time

Unlike at the beach, Mommy filled Kendall's pool up with water for some much needed relief from this ridiculous heat. (Seriously, this massive heat wave has been absolutely unbearable, with no drop of rain anywhere on the extended forecast.) Kendall had a blast splashing in the water, and Sophie had just as much fun lapping up as much as she could. Kendall seems to love the water which is not much of a surprise since she has always loved bath time. I'm sure this little pool will get much use this summer.

Update status: Kendall now LOVES puffs. (See previous post.) We even ventured on to green beans last night. Progress!

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.

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!