Happy (almost) 1st Birthday!

So, 3 weeks before we are "allowed" to, we gave Kendall a couple presents before her big day. Today, while Kendall was taking a nap, Shane and I flipped her car seat around to the forward facing position. The past couple of times we've been in the car, Kendall required a bit of attention. She loves to look outside and we just couldn't wait until the 1 year/20 pound rule. She's well over the weight limit and bigger than most year old babies. (Justification at it's finest!)


When she woke up from her nap, we put her in her seat and drove her around the block to see her reaction. She loved it!!!

Another one of the one year birthday privileges, is NO MORE formula! Yeah! That stuff is expensive. I have a little bit more formula left to go and I just don't want to buy anymore. So, whole milk it is!

In order for her to get used to it, we gave a little to Kendall today in her sippy cup. She mainly has only had water in there, so she was a bit surprised. But, after the initial shock, she continued to drink it up. She even smacked her lips, which means "yummy". Click on the photo below to see her expressions.

Kendall's First Dentist Appointment

Since the day Kendall was born, I thought that she might have some issues with her two front teeth coming together. She has a very thick, low frenum that attaches to the bottom of her gums (see photo taken 8/10/08 below). I waited patiently until her top teeth came in and then requested to see an oral surgeon. A bit much?...maybe, but I just want to be on top of it. I know there are procedures that can be done about it.

So, we went to the dentist to get a referral. This pediatric dentist told us to wait until she gets her permanent canine teeth in (around age 12). Apparently, when the canine teeth come in, they push the other teeth together. The age of 12 seems a bit too late, so I am going to get a second opinion. The Dr. said that the procedure consists of having to cut through all the muscle fibers and sometimes they reattach. He also said that the procedure is kind of painful, but my thinking is getting teased by your peers is a bit painful too! We'll just have to wait and see!

Kendall did such a great job with the dentist. He asked if he could clone her...she didn't make a peep the entire time he had his hands in her mouth. What a trooper! She definitely deserved a prize from the prize box!

We learned that the water in our city does not contain floride. We got a prescription and then we were on our way.

Kendall loved the toys in the playroom.

Kendall's facial expression in this photo pretty much says it all... She is always really apprehensive about anything new.

Kendall was definitely not impressed with her rubber gloves.

Nana and Papa Come for a Visit

My parents came up for a visit. We had some home improvement projects that Shane needed help doing and the best man for the job is my dad. They arrived Tuesday night and left Saturday. (See photos of the home improvement projects on the next post)

Wednesday: Was dedicated to shopping at Home Depot and putting up the cabinets in the laundry room.

Thursday: They babysat Kendall while we went to work, my dad started on our closet, but claims he was distracted by Kendall wanting to take him for a walk outside.

Friday: We went to IHOP for breakfast, then Lowe's for some molding, and then home for some more work.

Saturday: We finished organizing the house, we went to Chili's for lunch, then my parents headed home.

I was sad to see them go. It was so much fun having them here. They are so cute with Kendall and Kendall loved the attention. Visits are always good, but it would be great to live closer to my family. Maybe someday!

Over the summer, my mom bought Kendall a shirt from Gymboree, but had not worn it yet. On Thursday, my mom got dressed to get ready for her babysitting duties- she was wearing a shirt almost identical to the shirt she bought Kendall. She got her shirt most likely at Kohl's. Crazy coincidence! So they were twinsies for the day. So cute!

My mom brought some little boy toys for Kendall to play with. They played on the floor together for awhile. Kendall loved it! She was very intrigued.

Kendall taking Papa on a walk outside...

Kendall wanted to be in the garage with Papa, so she found this ball to play with.

Lunch at Chili's- Papa fed her an ice cream sundae. She was loving it. She was winning Papa over for sure. Click on the picture to see her loving facial expressions. So cute!

Nana bought Kendall a little football rider and after they left she figured out how to climb on top of it. Crazy girl!

ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS... WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT PARENTS???

Thanks again, Mom and Dad.

Mini Makeover: Home Edition

Due to the large amount of "stuff" we have, our closet needed more shelving. We added 2 shelves above the one that was already there, another hanging bar, and 2 custom shelves with 5 cubbies on each side of the closet. Oh what a difference!!!

The laundry room just had one shelf and I wanted cabinets. Don't they look fabulous? Now it's my favorite room in the house! ;-) Check out those handsome men...

My mom is notorious for giving away her cute things in her house for her children. We needed to get rid of this cafe table in the hallway because Kendall pulled down the table and it was unsafe. So, my mom brought up this beautiful painted chest that goes so perfectly in the hallway. I love it! She even put some decorative items on top.

11 Months

I am amazed at how quickly time flies. Next month it will be an entire year since our lives have changed forever because of this little girl. She has been such a blessing in our home. We absolutely love her to pieces. She is so much fun and has so much personality. I am excited to watch her learn and grow over the years.

At 11 months, Kendall:

• is walking everywhere
• gives hugs and cuddles upon request
• loves to bring you toys to play with her
• loves to go outside
• receptively knows approximately 25+ words (ie: outside, fan, tv, push, all done, bye-bye, hi, flower, tree, dog, cat, bear, horse, bees, mommy, daddy, key, bottle, nigh-nigh, kisses, cuddles, hugs, toes/piggies, shoes...)
• uses baby sign language for "all done", "more", and "please"
• loves to take your finger to go "bye-bye"
• loves to be chased
• loves turning the pages of a book
• insists upon seeing what's going on
• loves music and loves to dance
• loves when you sing to her
• wears size 4-5 shoe, 12-18/18-24 mo clothes

I was excited to take these picture all month long. Kendall looks so cute in little hats, however she never leaves them on long enough to wear with cute outfits. I was hoping she would leave it on long enough to take these photos. She did a great job...only tried to take it off once! My mom came with me...she was on hat duty.

Cuddle Bug

I love this picture! I snapped this photo as we were walking to the circus. Kendall is quite the cuddle bug. If you ask her to give you hugs or cuddles, she puts her head down on your shoulder. I love this age...she is so playful and interactive.

Under the BiG ToP

Seriously...they are right when they say that it's "the greatest show on earth!" We went to the circus on Friday night and we had a blast. If you ever have the chance to go...don't pass it up. It was well worth the $50 bucks we spent on tickets! We were 5 rows back from the center and saw everything. Shane and I were totally entertained the entire time. Kendall was even entertain for the first hour. She sat on the edge of my lap, rocking side to side, and back and forth. She loved the music, the elephants, the horses, the clowns, and all the lights and colors. We had just as much fun watching Kendall enjoy herself as we did watching the show. We took tons of pictures, but it's really hard to capture the excitement she had within her entire body on film.

Bonk!

Kendall's first major walking injury!

She loves to carry things around with her as she walks throughout the house. The other day, she was walking down the hallway with her baby doll and tripped. The only thing there to catch her was the WALL. Ouch! She cried for a bit, then walked it off. Now she just has a nice battle wound on her forehead to show for it.

Doing the dishes with Kendall

The only way anything gets done around here is if Kendall is doing things right along with me. If I am standing at the sink trying to do the dishes, she is right there at my feet wanting up or trying to push me out of the way. The solution to this problem is plopping her right next to me and giving her things to do. The other night it was a tomato and a box of raisins. Oh the things we do!!! She was happy and the dishes were completed.

Little Miss Independent

Lately, Kendall has not wanted to be fed by anybody other than herself. The other night we had enchilladas, rice, and beans for dinner and she insisted that she feed herself. She brought the food to her mouth a few times, but other than that it was everywhere. Nasty! She enjoyed herself and that's all that matters, right?

One Baby Band

This is one of the many reasons why she makes us smile. The past week or two we have been trying to teach Kendall how to blow, so that she can blow out her first birthday candle. She loves this kazoo! She will put it in her mouth and walk around blowing it. Then, of course, she has to have something in each hand banging it together. She is our one baby band for sure!

Watergirl!

We buy these water jugs to make Kendall's bottles. When they are empty, we put them next to the trash can. The other day, Kendall picked one up, put it over her head, and came walking towards me laughing. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera to capture that moment. Luckily, she carried it around the house the whole day.

Popcorn Popping

The other night, I had a "graving" for carmel popcorn and decided to make some. Kendall loved watching the popcorn come out of the popper. She was impressed to say the least.

Dannielle, this one's for you!

Loving Sweet Expressions

I love these expressions of her. She is THE sweetest, fun-loving baby I have ever been around. Love her to pieces!

Speghetti Anyone?

She loves pasta! Any kind, any time!

She never seems to be able to get it in her mouth fast enough.

Playing chase with Daddy

She is a barrel of laughs. This past month, Kendall has enjoyed been chased throughout the house. She especially loves going around and around the ottoman. Occasionally, she will break free and take off...trying to run. She is a crack up. She really thinks she can win. I love this video of her daddy playing with her. Everyday when he gets home from work, he takes time to spend with her. He loves playing with her and teaching her new things.

Swinging Monkey

Kendall was playing around on her swing in a very different way than it's supposed to be played with. She would grab on to the ropes, walk or crawl as far as she could go and then the swing would whip her around. She was hanging on with all she had. She was doing this for about 20-30 minutes. She thought it was pretty fun. It was hysterical to watch. (Press play)

Indian Call

Kendall is SO funny and so much fun to play with.

She is so interactive.

I love her fun personality!

Sitting Bull

Our little Indian is always sitting with her feet crossed...on the floor, in her highchair, in the bathtub, on my lap, in her crib. She has been doing this for awhile and it makes me smile every time. She is such a lady!

Kendall's First Puppy

The only kind I like! She thinks it's real, so what's the diff???

Shane bought it for her on our trip to the mall. Last Saturday, we headed out for a day 'o fun. We went to Il Fornio Restaurant for a yummy lunch, went to the Galleria, and then went minivan (window) shopping. We have a major issue with our Pilot... fitting 2 car seats and a 6'5" man in the driver seat just isn't going to happen. Oh the dilemmas! We are still not sure what we are going to do. We are just in the preplanning stage.

Walk Like an Egyptian

Kendall has been "practicing" her walking skills by herself since she was 8 months, however she has just recently mastered the skill. It is so fun to be a spectator as she learns all these new things. She loves the attention and the applause after she has completed a long journey across the room. I love the pictures above (click on the picture to see her concentration). She is too cute!

Random Weekly Photos

Kendall plays so well independently...until she sees one of us doing something, then she is right there to help (or get in the way). I love watching her play by herself and seeing all the stuff she does with her toys. She has assess to all her toys in large baskets under the entertainment center. Whenever she wants to play, she goes over to the baskets and pulls her stuff out. It's very convenient!

Like I mentioned previously, if she sees one of us going to do something, she follows. It's pretty funny when we try to sneak past her...sometimes we get away with it and sometimes we don't. This past week, I attempted to do laundry and there she was! So, I stuck her in the washing machine so I could at least attend to a few of my tasks. Don't worry...I only kept her in there over night!

The other day we were in the kitchen, cooking dinner and we usually let Kendall play in the fridge to keep her occupied. We know she's up to something when things are super quiet. This is what she was up to...

She's got a thing for peaches these days. Shane and I just started laughing.

Another thing that Kendall has a thing for these days is "going outside". Anytime a door opens to the outside, she makes a B-line! She loves the outdoors.

Kendall's new found instrument...talking, yelling, laughing into cups. She thinks it's hilarious and will sit there and play away. She always looks around to see if she has an audience watching her. She's a ham!

On Labor Day, we got up early in the morning and went to IHOP then ran some errands. At breakfast, Shane and I were amazed at how much food this girl can pack in her tiny little body. She just kept shoveling it in! (that's for you, mom). After breakfast, Shane dropped Kendall and I off at Wal-Mart, while he went to Home Depot. After an hour of Wal-Mart...I was DONE! Kendall was tired, I was carrying all 25 lbs of her, the cart was full and I had nowhere to put her, so I plopped her down in the watermelons and waited for Shane. As she sat there, she waved to the passer-byers and got lots of attention.