3's Preschool

Kennedy had her first day of preschool today! She is now in the 3's class with Ms. Rona as her teacher.
She had such a fun morning seeing a few old friends and meeting some new ones... I am so glad we are getting back in our preschool routine. I think it is so good for her ... (and for me!!!) ;)

 The class goldfish... Alina

 Tofu... the class desert turtle

Leo... the class water turtle

Family Photos - 2012

We had some much needed family photos taken a few weeks ago! We had not had professional ones taken since a) Mara has been born and b) since Kennedy was 13 months old! Though I am constantly taking photos of the girls... we rarely get really nice ones of the four of us.

Thank you to Jessica Hamlin for taking these gorgeous photos. She is a friend of a friend and I have been admiring her work for a long time. When she offered a summer special, I just had to jump on it! :)

Kennedy has a goofy expression on her face in most of these... but, that is just true to her personality right now and now we have it beautifully documented... LOL! :)

Payton's 2nd Birthday

We had a great time celebrating little Miss Payton's second birthday, a few weeks ago.
I was super impressed that Heidi and Brian put together such a fun party given that they had a ONE week old baby. You guys rock.

Dinosaur Eggs

Last time Sean's mom came to visit, she brought dinosaur eggs with her!
The kids had a great time digging out the eggs to find their own little dinosaur :)

Grandma Linda always thinks of fun things to do with the kids, love that about her!

Imaginary Play

She tells me she is a princess... with a baby... and she's going grocery shopping. 

And she might stop at Starbucks and get a latte, too. 

My Protege.

Kennedy has been practicing her photography skills with my little point and shoot camera lately.
I thought her "work" needed to be shared :)

Our Family Performer...

We were in stitches today watching Mara perform with the microphone. 

She sticks the whole thing in her mouth and then "sings" as loud as she possibly can. 

She is such a ham... I kind of love her.

Did I mention she's walking now?!?! (She took off just a few days shy of turning fourteen months!)

Kennedy-isms

Kennedy has been saying all sorts of funny things lately and I want to get them documented before I, inevitably, forget them!

Upon seeing a man in a wheelchair at Target the other day, Kennedy thoughtfully stared at him for a moment and then, in her typically loud voice, said: "Mom, why is that man's butt broken?"
Cue conversation about the disabled. #oneembarassedmama.


Kennedy and I like to lay in bed at night and sing songs, say prayers, and talk.
This is one of our funny conversations:

Me: "Kennedy, I love you to the moon and back."
K: "Mom, I love you more than hair on your lip."
Me: "I love you more than all the sand on the beach."
K: "I love you more than caterpillars in the dirt."
Me: "I love you more than all the stars in the sky."
K: "I love you more than su-sa deedeeda." (Um... what? LOL).

My Aunt Jeanie is one of my favorite people and she has made an amazing effort to know my girls and be a part of their lives. When we went to Europe in May, she came and stayed at our house and took care of them for four days. Both of my girls love her to pieces. However, when she came down for Mara's baptism in June, Kennedy gave her a bit of the cold shoulder (there were tons of kids distracting her)... so when Aunt Jeanie went to say goodbye to her and asked for a kiss we about died when she said "Yeahhh (sigh)... you're a nice lady" and then begrudgingly gave her a kiss. What a goofball!

A few other things about Kennedy at this lovely age of 3 1/2:
- she loves to be outside
- she loves to check on the garden she and Sean have planted
- she is pretty equally attached to both Sean and I... we can safely say she is both a "mama's girl" and a "daddy's girl." She prefers each one of us for certain things. Me for bedtime, Sean for bath time, etc.
- she is ob-sesssed with the t.v. show Caillou. Seriously.... OBSESSED. It is the only show she cares to watch. It is about a four year old boy, his parents and his little sister. I think she loves it so much because she can really relate to the story lines. It is a super cute show but man... I am pretty sure I dream about Caillou and the theme song may haunt me forever ;)
- she can throw a temper tantrum like nobody's business
- she wants to do everything... and I mean, everything... by herself. She dresses her self (mostly), buckles herself in her car seat (mostly), pours her own juice or milk (mostly). It is the mostly's that get us in trouble... if she can't do something, her level of frustration is unbelievable and will almost always fuel a screaming, crying tantrum.

Age three is fun, challenging, heartwarming, and exhausting... all in one :)

Road Trippin'

Last weekend, we made a quick, marathon-like trip to Montana for my cousin Bryan's wedding. We left on Thursday, got there on Friday... went to the wedding Saturday and drove home Sunday! Whew! And because my mom had knee surgery and couldn't make the wedding, we took Rachael along with us so we got to experience life with THREE kiddos! It was busy, chaotic, and completely un-relaxing but we had a GREAT time. As always, I love getting to see so much of my family! I am embarassed to say that I did not get a picture of the bride and groom... quite frankly, I am amazed that I have these few photos (most of which I did not take... thanks to my little sis who loves to snap photos!). Mara is walking now (stay tuned for a post about that!) so I pretty much never sit down... especially in public places where there are no baby gates. :)

I borrowed two DVD players for the girls on the trip... best. invention. EVER. 

 Cousins! Slightly confusing to explain how they are my cousins but they are! 

These three cousins are not as confusing... they are just simply my first cousins... love these ladies... we called ourselves the "four musketeers" growing up. We try to get a photo every time we see each other :) Love you Heidi, Mar and Rach. 

 Cousin Arielle and Kennedy... best buds! 

the main ladies of the family (minus my mama!)