Amber Waves of Grain

Kennedy turned 14 months old last week! Here is her latest update.... Kennedy loves to climb and will perch herself up on anything she can find. She also gets into things around the house that Keegan never touched as a baby. I often find her 'stuck' in things or wedged in between things. Here she is stuck in a bucket yesterday: She also responds to "no" much differently than Keegan did at that age. Actually, I use the word 'respond' pretty loosely. She doesn't respond to it at all, I'm afraid! She will usually laugh, smile, and repeat the offense again. We're working on it! :) She loves bath time and enjoys splashing. She also loves meat . Not just any meat, but cheap, processed meat like bologna and hotdogs. Her favorite foods are meatballs, pizza, kiwi, and spaghetti. I'm not sure how much she weighs but at her 1 year appointment she was 17 lbs 7 oz. So, she's probably close to 20lbs by now, I would think. She'll get ...

I'm pretty sure we have the next Zoolander..... here are the many faces of Keegan today!

It recently occurred to me that this year marks 15 years since my high school graduation ! I'm sure most of you are thinking, "But she looks so young!" or "She must have graduated at age 9!". Right? But, really, it's been 15 whopping years. So, who was I in high school? Some of you didn't know me then. So, today I will take you back down memory lane with me! Here's my senior picture: Most people would say I was quiet. I think all my yearbook notes start with, "To a quiet girl...". I wonder what my yearbook entries would say today; certainly I'm no longer quiet! I cared too much about what others thought of me. I was in the advanced academic classes , I played on the golf team, and will blush while I admit I was also a girl scout..... still. I had dreams of becoming a photo journalist or something in healthcare after school. I turned 17 that year (I started Kindergarten when I was 4. I don't think that's allowed these...

Nathan has graciously allowed me to be in charge of our Netflix queue . I guess that makes me his ' Queue-T Pie ", right? Sure, he'll add some occasional 'man movies', but for the most part Netflix is my job. I've picked some really, really bad ones before..... so bad that we turned them off mid-movie. The movie Nothing Like The Holidays comes to mind. However, I'd like to brag by saying I'm on a roll right now with picking winners. We're watching a lot of old Chevy Chase & Steve Martin movies. So, what's in your queue? Feel free to send me your suggestions. I don't get anything above a PG-13 rating. You know, because I'm so young and naive still. Here are some good ones we've watched recently, along with the descriptions I copied straight from Netflix: All of Me - 1984 Just before stubborn millionaire Edwina Cutwater ( Lily Tomlin ) dies, she asks her uptight lawyer, Roger Cobb ( Steve Martin ), to amend her will so t...

Last year for Valentine's Day, I blogged 50 reasons why I love Nathan ( link ). The reasons haven't changed a whole lot, so I don't have anything new to write about for Valentine's Day this year! However, I did realize that it was exactly 5 years ago today that we were on an airplane headed for Hawaii. It was our "we have to take a trip before we have kids" kind of trip. A month later I got pregnant with Keegan . In the midst of all the snow we've had, I enjoy looking back at our pre -kid trip to such a warm and beautiful place. So, let me reminisce . Bare with me, this was before digital cameras. We started on Oahu where we climbed to the top of Diamond Head: Diamond Head is a dormant volcano, basically. Here it is from the top after the climb: We visited Pearl Harbor. Wow, look at me 20lbs thinner before babies: And took an evening dinner cruise: Then we headed to Maui (our favorite). That white building on the right was our hotel: We rented a...

On Saturday I co-hosted a pig themed baby shower for my sister-in-law, Margaret (she loves pigs). Her friends also helped and even brought much of the food. I was happy to have guests arrive despite the 10" of snow we woke up to that morning! (by the way, thanks to Nathan for being the official shoveler and kid-watcher during the shower) Here are some photos! The front of the invitations: Matching thank you notes I made for Margaret: The mantle with the seat of honor: I made this banner to match the theme: Pig-shaped sandwiches that Margaret's friend made: Even chocolate pigs. What were the chances of me finding chocolate pigs!?: Part of the buffet centerpiece where we 'pigged out': A peppermint pig that Margaret's cousin sent which we used a mini hammer to break open: A piggy bank to start out baby's savings: Here's Margaret! 'Squealing' with delight: A rubber piggy I used on my gift instead of a bow: My co-host, Jenn, made these fun cookie f...

We bought Keegan a kid's camera for his birthday in December. It's one of those super-durable Fisher Price cameras that can be dropped from skyscrapers or dragged behind a pickup truck and supposedly never break . Durable, it is. However, it takes horrible, blurry, dark pictures. Next time we'll just get him a cheap digital camera for adults instead. Anyway, here is our life through his little photographer eyes. Most of his photos come out like this: Yes, that's my kitchen island. Most of his pictures include the floor or a decapitated person. However, I enjoy still seeing what "he sees"..... and sometimes I find out how dirty my floor really is when he gets a nice closeup from down there. Here's Nathan & me at Christmas. This is the day we got 7 out of 9 guests sick with the stomach flu we were still carrying. I'm glad the day was caught on camera. Here I am at the table feeding Kennedy. Yes, that's Jesus on the right. He likes to...