Zoo & Kendall's First Train Ride

County Show

Trace has been raising rabbits for the county show in February. We started with 5 cute little bunnies...

And after our dog met one of them the week of the show, he was left with 4 to choose from. The goal is to have a pen of three rabbits that are identical to each other. He fed and watered them twice a day for five weeks and weighed them once or twice a day for the last two weeks before the show. Chad and I were worried about him getting too attached to them only to have to get rid of them after the show. We didn't want him to name them, but he called them all Gertrude. All five of them.

 All that dedication really paid off. Here he is when they announced that he had the Grand Champion rabbits!

He also baked a cake and got third place for his age group! It was a really good experience for him and now any time we talk about baking a Texas Sheet Cake, he thinks he needs to be the one to make it.

Pee Wee Show

Kinsey isn't old enough to raise an animal for the County Show, but she 'showed' a friend's goat in the Pee Wee Show. She loved it!

8 Months Old

Kendall turned 8 months old on February 9th. 

She started crawling on January 15th. She crawled and pulled up to standing on the same day!  She also rolled from her back to her tummy and can hold a sippy cup and drink from it. She got her 2nd bottom tooth just after she turned 7 months old and she also got one of her top teeth this month.

7 months old

Kendall was 7 months old on Monday, January 9th. When she was brand new, I took her picture on her changing table and I have kept taking them there so that we can see how much she is growing each month.

She has two teeth now, the bottom ones. She is eating just about anything we put in her mouth. Cold foods always make her shudder a little, though. She is drinking from a sippy cup but won't hold it on her own.

Kendall's First Haircut

Kendall's having 6 month pictures taken next week so I thought it was time for a haircut. My hairstylist did a great job cleaning up the ends. Kendall was so good! I was worried about all the wiggling around, but she was a trooper.

Her new 'do! 

Kendall is 6 Months Old

SIX MONTHS!!! I can't believe it's already here.

She had her check-up last week and weighed 17 pounds 8 ounces and is 26.5 inches long. She's loving baby food and she's really loving saltine crackers and some watered down white grape juice in a sippy cup. She doesn't suck from the cup. She bites on it and lets the liquid drip out into her mouth. So far the only food she has rejected has been avocado. But who can blame her? Plain avocado with no salsa or salt mixed in? I'd spit it out, too.

At the end of her 5th month she started sitting up unassisted. And now, at 6 months and 1 week, when placed on her hands and knees she will stay up and even rock a little. She can also get (mostly) from sitting to all fours. Crawling is on the horizon!

She is talking a lot (ahhhhhhhhhh) and is ticklish on the back of her neck like Chad's grandmother. She picks up toys and transfers things from one hand to the other. She has slept through the night in her own bed 4 times so far!!! We're (sort of) working on it.

She responds to her name and squeals if someone isn't paying attention to her. That's the good thing about having older siblings...always someone to do something to keep her entertained! Her brother and sister are her favorite form of entertainment.

We had to lower her crib mattress. She was sitting in her bed and pulled herself up to an almost standing position using the side rail. Chad saw her doing it so we were able to get in the room to keep her from falling out.

She has a new favorite toy. Rather, ten of them...her toes! She LOVES playing This Little Piggy. When she's fussy, Hush Little Baby can usually get her to quit crying. She has pretty much given up using a pacifier.

She gets a big kick out of the dogs. She smiles at Katie, but really laughs and squeals when Macy is nearby.

I can hardly wait to watch her play in the wrapping paper at Christmas!!!

Sisters

This picture needs no words.

Kendall is 5 months old

Kendall turned 5 months old on November 9th. She didn't have a doctor's appointment this month, so I'm not sure how much she weighs. But I know she is still growing like a weed! We have started feeding her a little baby food. She has eaten rice cereal, and I have pureed sweet potatoes, squash, pears, and apples. We are just getting started, but she's eating like a champ so far!

 She is so close to sitting up. It won't be very long and she'll be sitting all by herself!

She is a very happy girl. She really enjoys her big brother and sister and all they do to keep her entertained. Her reflux is all but gone and we are all thrilled about that! She doesn't really mind the car so much anymore.

She has developed a little fake cough that she uses when she thinks she needs a little attention. It's precious. She also likes sneezing. After every sneeze she gives a smile and sometimes a little chuckle.

Lights and Dragons

In the car this morning Kinsey and I were listening to Justin Bieber. (She's sick, I was feeling sorry for her.) She started talking about his birthday and this naturally brought up discussion of Hunee's birthday, since she is lucky enough to share her special day with the golden boy. Hers is the one family birthday Kinsey will never ever forget.

Kins wanted to know how old Hunee was when she was born. So I told her that Hunee was born in 1950, so she was 55. Here's how the conversation went:

Kins: 1950!?!?!?!?!? Did they have good stuff back then?

Me: Like what?

Kins: Like seat pockets? (that's the thing on the back of the driver's seat that holds her stuff)

Me: Not sure.

Kins: What about dry erase boards and pencils????

Me: Yes, they had pencils but not sure about dry erase boards.

Kins: Did you have tv???

Me: I wasn't alive then, but yes.

Kins: What about lights?

Me: Yes, they had lights.

Kins: Sometimes people have a house but no lights and they have to use candles. Was it like that?

Me: No, that was a very long time ago.

Kins: Like when there were dinosaurs and dragons?

I couldn't talk anymore after that quesion.

A Budding Artist

When they've not been busy arguing, the kids have been getting along pretty well lately.

I walked into the kitchen and saw this:

 The masterpiece.

I laughed out loud when he showed me. The most shocking part is that she didn't even get mad when she saw her portrait!



True Love

This little girl has her sweet big brother wrapped right around her little finger. He absolutely adores her and will do anything to try and make her laugh.

She was in the kitchen, becoming tired of her Exersaucer and he was in the dining room trying to finish his homework. I walked in the room to see that he moved his homework onto the floor beside her to try and keep her happy.

Here they are squealing together. She has recently figured this out and now does it all the time. When she's happy. When she's mad. When she's needing a little attention.

It sounds like she's trying to speak dolphin. 

I'm going to try really hard to remember how happy he is with her right now. Because I know that pretty soon he'll be wanting her to get out of his stuff!

Our Punkins

Instead of carving pumpkins, this year we painted them. Kendall even helped me do hers. Well, the K anyway. I wanted a picture with them showing off their masterpieces. The ONE of them all smiling/looking at the camera is at the bottom. Waaaaaaaay down there...

So close... 

FINALLY! SUCCESS!!! I love, love, love this picture. Trace got tickled and it makes me laugh just looking at this one. Kinsey is looking sweet and Kendall is looking at the camera! 

BOO!

Presenting...The Unknown Phantom and the cutest little Karate Girls around!

Kinsey's costume came from Trace's dress-up box. She wanted Kendall to match her outfit, so Hunee whipped up a baby black belt costume. I tried and tried to get Trace to be a black belt, too, but no. He wanted something scary.

Our neighborhood doesn't really do much for Halloween so we decided to go to a Trunk or Treat at the Methodist Church. Our neighbor, the other Unknown Phantom, went with us.

I don't know why this picture keeps uploading sideways. And I'm too annoyed right now to figure it out, so just tilt your head. There aren't any pictures of the boys because they were far too busy throwing darts and sticking their hands in mysterious buckets of goop to pose for pictures.

 Hi-Ya!

Trace had pink eye and got to stay home from school today. We were in the car on the way to eat lunch with Chad when he says, "Mom, when Kinsey gets mad she pretends to know karate." As I was giggling, he added, with a chuckle, "Yeah, it's fun to make her mad."

Spoken like a true big brother.