Happy Half Year Birthday Kenley!

Saturday was Kenley's 1/2 year birthday. We celebrated by having some bananas. We ran some errands and just hung out. She got a new toy that she is still learning how to use, I will try to get some pictures over the Thanksgiving weekend.


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sophie lovin'

If you have/are having a baby and don't know about Sophie the Giraffe... pay attention. Sophie the Giraffe is probably one of Kenley's favorite toys. And the best part is it's BPA free, made from 100% natural rubber and food paint. Super safe for chewing on.


It's a pretty popular toy, seen on the trains of Chicago by my family, in our house, with celebrities babies....

We love Sophie. That is all.

A November Nor'easter

Kenley had a long weekend thanks to the November Nor'easter that hit Virginia Beach this past week. Thursday, we had heavy rain that by noon had caused the baby school to flood. I had to go pick her up and they let me know that they would be closed on Friday also. The roads were getting worse as we drove home. Andrew also got out of work early so he met us at home. We prepared the first floor in case the water came up into the house. The riviera (thanks, Lou) was creeping up hour by hour. After about 4pm, the high tide had passed and we were in the clear. The rain and wind and flooding continued through Friday morning. The water was almost touching the bridge on the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.

The Lynnhaven Fishing Pier on the Chesapeake Bay collapsed which is so sad. We were just there at the end of July with Andrew's parents... we ate dinner at the Lynnhaven Fish House which is on that pier. Here are some pictures of the damage. Reminders of the storm remain, passing peoples houses where the fences have fallen, trees broken, debris in the roads... but everyone seems to be safe. And after today's beautiful 70+ weather we are drying out finally.

Friday, I worked from home with Kenley. I practiced my photo editing skills and learned some tricks with layering.... There was a third picture that was supposed to be in the middle but for some reason the coloring was different. Boo.

In the afternoon, my Mom arrived after traveling through the wind and rain. She came to be our babysitter on Saturday night while Andrew and I went to a friends wedding (pictures will be in a new post). We had a fun weekend filled with shopping, eating out and rearranging furniture. At lunch on Saturday, Kenley kept putting her mouth on the cold metal table at Qdoba. It must have made her gums feel better because no matter how much we tried to stop her she kept playing the table harmonica. I was able to get a short video of it before she bonked her mouth... the video also has a clip of Kenley cracking up with Grammy in the background.

Grammy went home this afternoon... I tried to convince her to stay overnight again. It is always nice when she visits, sometimes I get to sleep in till 8 or 9-- which is amazing!

In two weeks, Aunt Lauren is coming to our house for Thanksgiving! Yay! You know there will be a picture of Kenley and a turkey leg. There are a few other things planned but I will not share them now. I will try to keep the hilarity a secret until then.

See you soon Aunt LaLa!

(We are practicing for our xmas photo. )

Kenley and Braydon sitting in a tree... K-I-S-S-I-N-G

This past weekend, I threw a baby shower for my friend Christina and their little man Braydon, expected arrival date January 5. Christina looks great! In fact, in the picture below she doesn't even look pregnant.

(jealous)
Kenley loved Christina's long hair. I am not sure if she has ever even seen long hair. She poked herself in the face a lot. She was a great baby at the shower. She is starting to show a little stranger anxiety the past week but it seems to only be when she wakes up from a nap.

Mom made the party favors which were Ghiradelli chocolate bars wrapped up in baby socks. After we passed them out, people gave Christina their sock. Hopefully she ended up with 6 or 7 new pairs of baby socks. Very important.

I made some delicious cake pops, which can be found over at the amazing Bakerella.

The plan was to buy a cute flag banner from Etsy, I just had a lot of trouble finding one I liked. So Mom made one instead. And it was super cute.

The soon to be dad with Kenley. He's a natural.

This is Erin. I already loved Erin. And then I discovered I loved her more when she came into where the food was laid out and said, "oh, Bakerella??" Erin loves baking too. Looks like we should be in cohoots.



Christina opened up so many fantastic gifts, I think her and Timmy are all set now. They just need a baby and they're good to go! We can't wait to meet Kenley's new boyfriend!

I had forgotten allllllll about it.

Got home from Kenley's doctor appointment around 2 today. No ear infections just a wicked cold. My chubby peanut weighed in at 20lbs 6oz and she is now 28 inches. She weighs almost as much as Gibbs.

Andrew is working the night shift for the next 4 days, 11pm - 7am, and he was upstairs sleeping when I got home. He had gotten the mail and left it on the kitchen table. I was hoping for some diaper coupons or baby clothes catalog to look through. (I know, I am so lame.)

No coupons. No Hanna Andersson catalogs. And then I saw it....

The envelope with a return address marked

The White House

Washington DC 20500

I had sent in the request to have a birth acknowledgement from the White House for Kenley so long ago, I had completely forgotten about it. What a lovely surprise.

Kenley got a baby food popsicle for a little snack while I prepared a fantastic apple crisp for Andrew and myself.

She looks a little under the weather in these pictures... Her eyes have been reddish with dark circles the past few days. It's too early for her to be developing the dark circles her mom and Grammy have, right? Good lord I don't have time to put make up on the baby too.

She has just figured out how to pull herself up using my hands. She is still learning that she can grab onto other things to pull herself up. So far, hands are her favorite. Andrew and I lowered her crib tonight (well, really it was Andrew)... it felt like a right of passage. Ha.

Let's all hope Kenley does not have an ear infection.

Kenley has been a bit under the weather since Friday. I picked her up from baby school on Friday and she had this crazy crough. She was a bit fussy at times over the weekend, not wanting to lay down and having trouble sleeping. She also wasn't as smiley which made me sad, we had her 5 month pictures taken and I think out of the 40 or so pictures they took she smiled in maybe 3. She also isn't drinking any bottles while she's at babyschool during the day. I have been dropping her off in the morning with out her eating before we leave and then when I go see her at lunch she hasn't had any bottles. This morning she went almost 6 hours without eating... I am glad to be taking her to the doctor tomorrow. Her loss of appetite makes me concerned. She usually LOVES to eat. She was eating 6-7oz at a time and now she just waits for me to come and nurse her. We think she is also teething. Grand.

I guess we will find out if anything is wrong tomorrow afternoon. Get better soon baby!

Happy (late) Halloween!

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