family pics

Jessica posted some of our family pics on her blog. This is one of my favorites. They came out SOO well!! If you want to see the rest, click here. Also, PLEASE leave a comment on her site since we'll get some free prints if we get 20 comments!!! Thanks!!!

ramblings

*Don't you just love how you can be having the hardest afternoon, but with one cute thing from your child, your whole perspective changes in an instant? Yesterday we had a pretty rough time dealing with some issues with Cameron. I would explain but I honestly don't think anyone could understand what I was talking about. So let's just say I was sitting on the couch, nursing Kendall, crying. I knew we needed to get out as that always seems to help. We went to one of the best parks I've found to date and had a picnic. I was still feeling slightly crummy until on the way home, after pointing a train out to Cam, he said, "The train is going to the train people store to get more people to ride the train!" A huge smile crossed my face. For a child who has struggled with speech, this was one of the cutest sentences he has come up with. My "5" afternoon jumped a few points after that. :)

*Yesterday afternoon we had our first family photo shoot at a park in Oak Glen. Jessica took the pictures and I'm SO excited to see them!! Photo shoots aren't ever that easy with two little kids. Luckily this one went pretty well, especially considering Kendall refused her second nap and was therefore a little on the crabby side.

*Today we went to Palm Springs for a Costco lunch and playtime at the mall. Cam loves to go to Hollister because they have a really cool TV on the wall with a live feed from Huntington pier. I even like to stand and watch the surfers.

*Both Chris and I have come to the conclusion that Adidas shoes are quite possibly the most comfortable shoe ever made.

*Bachelorette favorite after the first episode: Phil

*Lakers game on tonight. Chris will be watching downstairs...I'll be watching, "Dear John" upstairs. Thanks, Red Box!

*Chris had a guy cuss him out from his car window because he felt Chris was following too close (Chris had been a little due to the guy being in the fast lane and refusing to move over). There were a lot of things Chris wanted to say, but obviously didn't. A few seconds later a large truck drove up to the car, exchanged heated words, and threw their soda into the guy's car. Wow. Was Chris secretly laughing inside? Come on, wouldn't you? :)

*I love this picture from when Cam was little. His smile is so funny. :)

very belated birthday

Because my mom was out of the country for several weeks a while back, we never celebrated my birthday together. Tonight we all went over and had a great dinner, cake, and I received some fun presents. After I heard my mom rave out this dish she had when visiting my sister, I decided to request it for my birthday dinner. It was amazing. Equally amazing was the dessert I requested. Despite my opinion that fruit and dessert don't mix, my mom's strawberry cake is wonderful and the most moist cake I have ever had. Sidenote: I specifically requested a round cake rather than a sheet cake. The icing to cake ratio is much better, in my opinion. However this cake is SO moist, my mom said she had to do it as a sheet. It still was awesome. :)

While it was a rather hectic meal due to two noisy and antsy kids, we had a nice time and I felt very special.

Here is my little present helper. Notice his party hat. He had asked if we were going to wear party hats for my party. After school, we went to a party store so he could pick some out. Out of all the cute ones, including Elmo, he chose horses. Really, Cam?? :)
Ahhhh...too cute.

lunch boxes

I feel like Cam eats pretty healthy for the most part. My big problem has to do with variety. I'm horrible with varying his diet, especially his school lunches. His main entree is always either a PB sandwich, or one of my muffins. His sides always vary between a piece of fruit, applesauce, string cheese, peanuts/raisins and crackers. My dilemma is whether or not to send foods in the "grey" area, meaning foods that take a little coaxing at home for him to eat. I know his teacher doesn't police the kids and make them eat everything in their boxes (which she shouldn't have to), so do I risk the food going uneaten? Or do I send the same things each day...things I know he'll eat?

I decided to venture out and try some new things. I remember a couple of good blogs I had stumbled across a while back. This first one is my favorite. It's called Lunch Box limbo. You can see below that she can get VERY creative. While I don't have the motivation to make Cam's lunches quite so elaborate, she really does have some great ideas.



The second one is called Easy lunch box blog. Hopefully I can find some good things to add to my lunch box repertoire...things he'll actually eat. :)

gourmet ratings

Tonight I went and got Gourmet Pizza to go. Before we ordered, Chris came up with a very "Kelly" idea, and I was quite proud. He suggested we print out the menu so we have it on hand. Then, as we order new pizzas, we give them a rating so we know whether or not to order them in the future. You can see in the picture what we both gave, "That's A Gouda." I would say a 9 and above is a repeatable pizza. :)

a few baby things

*I made my first successful Ebay sale this week. I was able to get $40 for my Seatbelt diaper bag (I've transitioned to a backpack). I'm excited and my Baby Bjorn will be next, once I'm done with it.



*How does one start out with 6+ pacifiers, and not only dwindle their stash down to 1, but dwindle that down to 0 right at bedtime? Not sure, but I'm sure I'm not the only one. So as I browse Wallgreens overpriced stash, I debate, "Do I buy two of her normal ones for $6, or four different ones for $4?" Not worth the risk, fork out $6. Thanks, Wallgreens, for preying on desperate parents. :)



*Top Baby things I couldn't have lived without:
- Baby Bjorn- both of my kids lived (and Kendall continues to) in this. I love how content they are and how it frees up my hands.
-Miracle Blanket- quite possibly the best swaddling blanket I've ever come across.
-Snack Trap- love how it's less messy and lasts Cam quite a while (great for car trips).


-DVD player for car- going to be honest and say that I use this more often with Kendall than I did with Cam. Due to the crying issues with Cam, this provides peaceful longer car rides for us...and it's worth it.

I'm sure you are all dying to know how Kendall's sleep is going, right? :) The last two nights I've not gone in from 6pm-6am. Her fussing has been very half hearted, which I'm grateful for. Here is to the official end of night feedings!

date with a cute boy

Yesterday I picked up Cam from school and we headed to Disneyland. I've wanted to do this for a while but have been limited by Kendall's nursing schedule. It was SO fun to just have it be Cam and I. While the four of us have a great time, it was very relaxing for me to just have to worry about one kid, especially one that walks for himself! The weather was beautiful and the crowds were very small. We got there about 2:30 and left at 6:00. Kendall did great with Chris...except going down for bed. Apparently she missed her bedtime feeding from me and let Chris know it in a VERY loud way. But she eventually went to sleep. :)

I think Winnie the Pooh is his favorite right now. Before we even went on it he said, "Can we go twice?" :)


Here we are eating dinner on Main Street. There was a piano player playing jazz music and it was so relaxing. I hadn't realized how tired my legs were from pushing the stroller until I finally sat down for a few minutes.



I love this picture because it captures perfectly Cam's face that he pretty much had the entire time. He was so excited about everything, which made my day.

2 things

2 things I did yesterdayy: Walked to the park with Cam riding his Big Wheel; read some of my book, Seabiscuit (really enjoying it)

2 cute things the kids did: While Cam was riding to the park, he would very carefully ride around the numerous Potato Bugs that lined the sidewalk; Kendall SCARFED her muffin I gave her (she is not interested in the least in baby food anymore)

last 2 clothing items I bought: plain brown t-shirt; denim short jumper (Chris says it look a little too J-Lo, so I'm not sure I'll keep it)

2 things I ate yesterday: wheat thins; white chicken enchiladas

2 random things about me: when I eat peanuts, I'll dig around for the whole ones. I don't like halves; I don't like to change clothes during the day. Once I shower, I want to put on what I'll wear all day. So if I'm going somewhere that night, I'll put something on in the morning that I can wear that evening.

2 TV shows I last watched: 30 Minutes Meals, Giuliana and Bill

2 things I don't like: How much the dogs bark next door. We've had to start napping Kendall in my closet because she is such a light sleeper and kept waking up; chopping onions (I should just break down and buy the pre chopped)

last 2 people I talked to on the phone: Jen; my mom

2 things I'm thankful for: what a great hands-on dad Chris is; Dr. Laura podcasts for my walks

birthday girl

Yesterday we celebrated Kendall's first birthday. The weather was great and we had a nice turnout of friends and family. The bounce house we rented was a hit and WELL worth it for all the kids. Kendall did great. She never got overwhelmed with all the people, but she did need to mostly be in mommy's arms...which I didn't mind. :)

Chris's family stayed with us overnight and were a great help throughout the day. We had a good mix of friends, neighbors and family, which made the event very fun.

I have more pics of the actual party as well as family, but for some reason I can't download them from Costco, where my mom put them (they were on her camera). These next few pictures are AMAZING. My friend Jessica, who recently started her own photography business, offered to take some for us. They are gorgeous!!!



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Today we took Kendall in her bounce house, considering it was FOR her. :) She loved it and could have stayed there all day!



My only regret from the day was the amount of food we had left over. Yes, I would much rather have had too much than too little, but the tight-wad side of me was bummed at how much pizza we had left over as well dessert. Oh well, if that was the worst thing of the day, I think we did pretty well!!

12 hours

5:30 Cam wakes after somehow managing to get all his covers up by his head. I go in and arrange him back to sleep. Decide I might as well get up since I know I won't go back to sleep. Unload dishwasher, make Cam's lunch, make breakfast
6:15 Kendall wakes
6:30 Chris brings Cam down and we have breakfast
6:45-7:45 Play upstairs with toys while listening to my Jock Jams CD (Cam's new favorite--loves the fast techno beat)
7:45 Take Cam to school and hit Staters on the way home to get a few things, including watermelon for 19 cents a pound!
8:30 Get home and put Kendall down for early nap (cried for an hour last night so I know she's extra tired...still trying to master our nights)
8:35 Work on cutting materials for Cam's class, making suckers for Kendall's party favors, and taking pics for another scavenger hunt for Cam (see previous post)

I'm secretly kicking myself for starting these suckers. They are SO labor intensive!

9:30 Kendall wakes (hmmm...not long considering how tired she was)
10:00 Get Kendall (luckily she talked for 30 min) and play until it's time to go
10:45 Leave for her 1 year doc's appointment. Went great!
11:35 Arrive home and make lunch for Chris and I
12:00-1 Playtime
1:00 Kendall down for nap and Chris arrives home with Cam
1:00-1:15 Cam does scavenger hunt
1:15-1:45 Cam watches Umi Zoomie while I work on more suckers
2:00 Kendall wakes (hmmm...still not long enough and I can tell when I go get her)
2:10 Leave for Chick Filet. Due to being tired, Kendall screams off and on the whole way. Cam gets pretty hysterical (sadly the sticker chart hasn't helped him when she really gets going)
2:30 Arrive. Cam looks at me through tears and says, "I'm sorry I cry". I almost break down as I tell him that he doesn't have to be sorry. What a sweetie.
3:00 Head over to the fountain to throw coins in
3:15 Walk over to Michael's to get a couple things
4:10 Arrive back home
4:10-5 Cam has special room time. I feed Kendall, play, and go get the mail. I'm excited to find this:

5:00-5:25 Chris takes Kendall for walk while I give Cam a bath
5:30 Put Kendall down for bed. Little thing is kaput.

Sidenote: Later we had some very yummy tacos for dinner. We added chopped up and sauteed potatos to the tacos (along with ground beef and sauteed onions). The potatoes made them so flavorful.

my biker dudes

One of Cam's FAVORITE things is to ride in our bike trailer. Even better is to get is ride to/from school in the trailer. The funny part is that if it ever takes place in the afternoon, he always falls asleep. When he gets home, he'll typically wake up as they ride up the drive way. As soon as he opens his eyes he'll say, "Want to go on bike ride?". Sadly we have to tell him that he did, in fact go on one, he just doesn't remember.

You can see in the second picture that he again missed another ride. This was on his way home from school today. :)

happy mother's day!

Today our friends, Jason and Breanna, invited us to the Wild Animal Park. We had a fun time and the weather was great. Here are a few pics:

This was probably Cam's favorite part, the play area where we ate lunch.


Kendall was such a trooper. She skipped her morning nap, but was still a happy camper. We practically ran to the car at the end of our day since she was falling asleep, only to have her sleep in the car a whopping 15 minutes. :)




Since both kids had taken their cat naps in the car, and we still had a few hours until bedtime, we decided to stop at the mall on the way home for them to play. It was quite crowded, but Cam loved running around and Kendall adored crawling around. After a quick stop at Sweet Factory for some goodies, we headed home.

creative husband

Cameron likes to pretend that his Little People go different places together (zoo, Disneyland, library, etc.). I'm not sure how it started, but lately while he is at school each day, I'll move his group of "friends" to different places. The game is then to come home and find where I put them. I've placed them all on the window sill, lining his bed frame, and other weird places. He gets a kick out of finding them each time.

Yesterday while Cam and I were at my mom's group, Chris took it one step further and came up with a very creative game, which proved to be a humongous hit. He placed each Little People in a different spot throughout the house. He then took pictures of each one. When we got home, Cam quickly caught on to how it worked. Every time he found one of the toys, he would race back to the computer to hit the button and find where the next one was hiding. Chris put them in pretty obvious places so Cam could tell from the pictures where they were. I cannot tell you how into this game Cam got. I was so impressed that Chris came up with it and we have already taken a fresh batch of pictures to do it again today. :)

Here is one of the many hiding places...

my baby is 1

I simply cannot believe my baby turns 1 today. I'm soo in love with her and this past year has been wonderful. She truly is the easiest baby I could ask for. She is happy most all the time, even with skipped naps or a bad night's sleep. She smiles at the drop of a hat and giggles all the time. Nicknames thus far have included: Fat Cheeks, Sissy my love, and Angry Cat (since she can't be in your arms without reaching for EVERYTHING). I look forward to each morning she wakes up and couldn't ask for a better addition to our family. I LOVE YOU SWEET BABY!!!

ice cream soup

Ice Cream is good, but it has never been a favorite dessert for me. Despite this, I do partake pretty much every single night. We buy the big box of Skinny Cow Ice Cream sandwiches. I like to eat mine in a different sort of way. I don't like any ice cream super cold and hard. I like it VERY soft...like melted soft. Whenever we get ice cream from a shop, I'll let it sit for a long time before I eat. With my Skinny Cow, I put it in the bowl and microwave it for 15 seconds. Then it is ready to eat. You can see in the picture what the Skinny Cow starts out at on the right. How I like it is on the left. :)

a few things

*Last night Chris and I finished up a movie we rented, Sherlock Holmes (which we both loved!). We love RedBox because it's only $1 per night. However the funny thing is that we usually end up spending $3 on the rental. We always take two nights to watch a movie. On top of that, we ALWAYS forget to take it back. The bad part is that Kendall and I literally walk right by the store each day on our walk. But I still always forget to take it with me. For a tight wad like myself, I'm surprised I'm so bad about this!

*Last night we were spent from our day at Disneyland. I didn't feel like making dinner for Cam. I decided to create a "name your dinner" night for him. It was very cute to see those wheels turning in his head as he came up with each item he wanted. So what was on his plate (I allowed him 5 things)? Grapes, apples, raisins, Wheat Thins, and Cheerios. :)


*I like to give credit where credit is due, but I'm going to toot my own horn with this one. Today I created German Chocolate Cake balls (to freeze for Kendall's b-day party) and they are AWESOME. I basically topped a chocolate cake ball with German Chocolate frosting, then dipped it in chocolate. They are quite decadent. :)



*Cam has been doing great with his chart (with Kendall's crying). He bursts into song as soon as she fusses. Sometimes it is difficult for him to do and it might be accompanied by eyes brimming with tears, but he still does it. Kendall rarely REALLY cries for extended periods, so he hasn't had to tackle that. But so far I'm so proud of his progress.

weekend highlights

T-ball: Seeing Cam hit one of his hardest hits yet!

My mom: She got back after being out of the country (missions trip and visiting my sister) for 3 1/2 weeks! Considering we talk almost daily, this was a long stretch for me!! I got to talk to her after she landed on Saturday and it was great to hear her voice. :)

Holland Festival: We've never been to this and it was such fun. Cam loved the bounce houses and game booths. We enjoyed hanging out with Jen and her family and trying Oliebollens for the first time. :) Here Kendall is enjoying her lunch...not quite as tasty as the fried donuts!



Quesadillas: Chris offered to make dinner last night. He made deluxe quesadillas. Mine had meat, black beans, green onions, bacon, cheese, and homemade guacamole. Very good!



Disneyland: Today we met Jeremy and Ana and their kids at Disneyland. Despite the crowds, we had a fun time together. Kendall hasn't been since she was tiny and she actually enjoyed the carousel and Small World.





We are both exhausted, but it is a good tired because we had a very fun weekend. :)