Ohh I want a hippopotamus for Christmas...

...only a hippopotamus will do!

I am having a hard time accepting that the holidays are over. It seems that it went by faster than any year before. Kenley and I listened to Christmas music on the radio each morning as we drove to baby school. We would light up our Christmas tree, mantel and banister each night... I was so excited to celebrate Kenley's first Christmas (even though I knew she wouldn't remember any of it.) Oh! Thanks to Erika we made Kenley's hand and foot print ornaments. They are so cute, I can't wait until next year when we pull them out and see how big she has gotten. We had a little extra of the clay so we decided to do Gibbs' paw print. Needless to say he hated every second of it. Can you see the terror in his eyes?

I think that a few of us (myself included) got a bit carried away with buying things for Kenley this year. She even got two stockings.

It was truly a Kenley Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, my parents and sister came in to town early in the morning. I was still at work and Andrew had just gotten home from his night shift and was in bed. When Kenley and I got home, we played with her new blocks and she investigated all the gifts under (more like around) the tree.

We spent the day reading books, playing with Kenley's blocks, watching movies like White Christmas, Elf and of course A Christmas Story. We woke Andrew up in the late afternoon and had our traditional german dinner, brats, potato latkes (which aren't really that german) and homemade applesauce. It was so delicious. That Wegman's, they sure do sell a good brat. Everyone then opened up one gift, we all got new slippers! Yay!

Christmas morning was very leisurely. We all woke early thanks to Kenley and enjoyed coffee while we waited for Andrew to get home from his night shift. Mom had made cinnamon rolls, we made this strata dish the night before and popped it in the oven and we had a fruit salad. It was so delicious. So much bread it put us in a food coma before we even opened any gifts.

See all those gifts behind her and the cow? Majority of them are for Kenley. I know. Overboard, indeed. But we loved every single one of them.

Howdy the bouncy cow -- so cool!

Ice skate booties!

Since Andrew was working nights over Christmas and slept during the day, Gibbs was all about my dad. He loves Dad since he always gets pieces of whatever Dad eats but he took it to a new level a couple times.

Dad and his bff Gibbs. He would not let him nap.

Gibbs wanted to check his facebook while Dad was on the computer.

Christmas night, we had braciole, homemade fettucini alfredo and salad. It was, once again, delicious. Kenley got her very first popper, which is a tradition for the Paradise family during Christmas.

Kenley did not win the contest of "who would sweat through their crown first."

Saturday, I had a great birthday-- full of shopping, Five Guys and a movie. It was a really nice holiday weekend and I was sad when Sunday came. I enjoyed Kenley's first Christmas so much, I cannot wait for next year and the years that follow, when she will understand more.

Hope everyone had great holiday season! Happy new year!

CD. BG OS. BNIP.

[Cloth Diapers]. [bumGenius OneSize]. [Brand New In Package].

I have learned so many new acronyms the past few days along with how many different types of cloth diapers there are. Prefolds, pockets, all in one's, fitted, one size, hybrid... It's like there is this secret society of moms who use cloth diapers and want to keep their secret knowledge from everyone else by using as many acronyms as possible. And you are only a part of this group if you can learn how to speak and decode the exuberant number of acronyms and put them together in a sentence that is coherent to other CD moms.

I have been looking all over for bumGenius! diapers, there are brand news one eBay, diapperswappers, craigslist... There are also some used ones. Not too sure how I feel about a used cloth diaper.

This past weekend we used our bumGenius! 3.0 pocket diapers and the new Flip system diapers (also by bumGenius!). I was so nervous for some reason, afraid I wouldn't be able to pull off a transition to cloth. I was wrong. We started on Saturday morning with the Flip system. The Flip is really cool; it is a cover that holds a microfiber insert. Changing the diaper is as easy as swapping out the insert for a clean, dry one. I can really see us using this type of cloth diaper on the weekends since they are so quick and easy. Our only hiccup was when we went to the commissary in the afternoon. When we were getting back in the car, I could smell that Kenley needed to be changed. I didn't have a clean cover/insert to use and had brought a disposable in case she needed a change. Thankfully (since I am a newbie and hadn't that it through yet) I had two plastic bags. The storing of the poop dipe in a plastic bag in the car while we drove home weirded Andrew out a bit but if that was the only "eww" part of the weekend than I think we can do this.

We made it through the first night nice and dry. The weekend was a success. Kenley has been using the disposables at daycare for now until I have enough of a stash to give to them to use. The past three days we are using the BG's at night only. I just bought a handful more so I think I am going on 10 BG's. Getting close to having enough to fully transition.

Doesn't she look adorable in her little bumGenius? Her expression makes me laugh though. Notice her legs are red. Not because her circulation is cut off but because Andrew likes to get in the tub with her and he always makes the water too hot. That's right Andrew, just called you out on the blog. Looooooove you.

Kenley's 1st birthday... party.

Baby Blake, who is quickly outgrowing the word baby, had his 1st birthday party last weekend. We all had a great time;

Kenley got to wear a party hat,

she played with some plastic spoons and paper napkins,

Blake got some cake

and there were lots of cute kids and fun toys to entertain them with. Good thinking, Hill's.

Blake got this super cool truck which he loved. Andrew (and the little boy in this picture) were a bit jealous. Happy 1st Birthday Blake!

better late than never!

Remember when I went to my friend Michelle's wedding? Yea, it was a month ago. I finally loaded the pictures from that camera to my macbook. I only use that camera every now and then, when I don't want to lug around my fancy camera. I digress. Michelle and Noel, now the Mercado's (!), had a beautiful fall wedding. The ceremony was great and I thought that the reception at the VB Convention center was fantastic! The ambiance, decor, flowers and food were all amazing. Nice work Michelle-pie. :)

The ballroom at the convention center had these really cool colors coming through the walls which cast this red/orange glow over the whole room. Loved that.

Alicia (in the back, hiding) is going to be so mad when she sees I posted this picture. She is so funny, she h-a-t-e-s having her picture taken. I like this picture though. So it stays. Ha.

And everyone looks cute. For those who don't know my lovely friends whom I met at CBP, in this picture is Michelle, Alicia, Kanchan and Lisa.

Look at this pur-dy bride. Congratulations again, Michelle and Noel! Hope you two have had a great start to your marriage!

a new phase. for a baby hiney.

This weekend marks the start of a diaper stage for Kenley. We are going to try out some new cloth diapers. Before we make the big switch, we are going to gradually ease in to it. Last week I purchased a couple BumGenius All-In-One diapers and the new BumGenius Flip system. I am washing them tonight and we will give them a go after we get home from work/baby school tomorrow.

Why am I switching, you ask? I wanted to start out with cloth diapers when Kenley was first born but Andrew didn't really jump on board with the idea. Now that we have the hang of baby-dom, I really thought it would be a great money saver since if we stick with it we can use them for the next baby too.

Wish us luck!

Kenley's First Thanksgiving

Kenley had a lovely 1st Thanksgiving, it was spent having some sweet potatoes and apples, watching the Dog Show, and hanging out with Grammy, Pap-Pap and Aunt Lauren.

Our first Thanksgiving as a family. Not really fond of this picture but it is the only one of all 3 of us before we ate.

Kenley loves to sit in her toy basket. She had a great time playing with Pap-Pap.

Aunt Lauren made a delish pie. Actually two pies. This one was my favorite.

Kenley has grown to love her little laughing elephant toy. It makes her smile and giggle every time we pull the string.

We had her 6 month pictures taken the Saturday after Thanksgiving and there were so many cute ones to choose from. Here are the ones we picked.

This is her serious baby school picture.

Wrinkle nose.

Being super cute.

On Sunday, we had Aunt Lauren and Grammy Hawk take some pictures of all three of us to see if we could get a decent shot to use as a Christmas card. We settled on one, which will not be unveiled here. There were some other nice ones of each of us with Kenley.

We also started putting up the Christmas decorations that weekend. Yesterday, Andrew, Kenley and I got our Christmas tree. We spent the day decorating and putting up the ornaments. Kenley got a new sock monkey from St. Nicholas Tag too!

Stay tuned for more pictures! I will hopefully have more opportunities to write and post this week.

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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