New Year’s Eve

Leave it up to South Carolina to throw a curve ball in the weather.  The day after Christmas we had snow and the day before the new year we have 72 degree, sunny weather.  We’ll take it!  Kendall loves to play outdoors so after her nap we changed into a short sleeve shirt and out to play. There are leaves galore in our back yard right now and Kendall was having a blast playing with them.  She even decided to taste one.  She wasn’t quite ready to go inside but it was time for a snack and she was okay with that.

Christmas in Columbia

We woke up early Christmas morning to see what Santa brought for Kendall before heading to Columbia.  We weren’t too sure how Kendall would do with her presents but she was a pro.  She required a little rip from mommy and she knew just what to do.  I think it’s safe to safe her favorite toy might have been her cuddly Mickey Mouse stuffed animal.  She can pick him out of her toys in a heartbeat.  It is a blessing to experience Christmas through a child’s eyes and I am glad we got the experience this year.  Oh, the joys to come! Can’t wait!

I’m sad to say I have misplaced my camera and we were only able to get pictures of Kendall with her presents on our phone (while still at home), which were incredibly blurry.  Thank goodness for Aunt Michelle and her camera once we were in Columbia.Kendall had so much fun playing with Jack and all of his toys.  thanks for sharing, buddy. Sam took it all in, so peaceful. Jack showed us his guitar skills, his very own request from Santa. Grandma helped Kendall and Jack open some presents.  And Jack helped Uncle Adam! Group photos are fun to take with little ones. It’s a game of who will look away first.  Too cute! And of course, our family photo for Christmas.  We have a new addition since Thanksgiving. Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

The Grant Family

Merry Christmas Eve!

I tried my best to get a picture of Kendall near the stockings but she was too fast, hence the blurriness.  Then she wouldn’t look at me, only the Christmas tree!

Love,

Lindsey, Ryan and Kendall

Samuel Jay…

Made his grand debut on December 17, 2010 at 11:38 am.  He weighed 9 pounds 12 ounces and was 22.5 inches long.  Mommy and baby are doing great and big brother Jack is adjusting well.  I was so happy to be in Columbia for this special day and so proud to be an aunt again.  We are so happy for you and your new family of four, seester! We love you!  Can’t wait to see you all again, real soon! Sam got his name from part of Mark’s family and his middle name from my dad and brother. What a lucky little guy! 

Christmas at the Grant’s

Today, we had an early Christmas with the Grant family.  It was one of the only days we ALL had to get together with all of the hectic holiday schedules ahead of us.  Kendall, Sullivan and Emory all enjoyed opening and playing with presents before dinner and of course the adults did too.  Christmas through a child's eyes is truly priceless.  I am so thankful this year to experience this holiday in a whole different perspective.

Kendall got a rocking horse from Sullivan, Emory, Aunt Mollie and Uncle Randy.  She played with it as soon as we opened it and when we got home.  Lil’ miss has already figured out the rocking concept, how to push its ears to make music and how to get off.  What a fast learner!  She also got a nice V-tech toy and a push car/stroller from Lindy and Granddaddy. (We missed those pictures). Sullivan got a Razor scooter and a Nintendo DS game.Ryan and Randy tried their skills on the scooter.  Apparently it’s pretty tricky! Emory got a Moxie girl that you can put make up on and style her hair, and a Leap Frog with a book.  You should hear her read!Smile for the camera! Excuse the blurriness of this picture.  I took it as fast as I could while they were all cooperating! What would Christmas be without a picture in front of the tree? ‘Tis the reason for the season! What a special time we all had together! The Grant’s house was beautifully decorated and Kendall enjoyed looking at all of the pretty decorations, especially the stockings and computer screen saver.  Mr. Grant always has such pretty pictures for each season and Kendall could sit in front of the computer all day watching the pictures change.

Thank you to the Grant’s for hosting such a nice gathering.  The food was great, the company was better and we look forward to many more Christmas celebrations with all of you!

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Love,

Ryan, Lindsey and Kendall

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Each year there is a Christmas Made in the South, arts and crafts holiday event at the fairgrounds.  This was my first year to go and I decided to take Kendall.  It was a little chilly so we weren’t there too long.  I wasn’t prepared for outside vendors, jacket wise, but there were plenty of things to see inside so we did stay warm.  Santa was there and I decided to see how Kendall would do with sitting on his lap.  She did great! She liked him for a few pictures worth and then was ready to come back to momma! Santa even gave Kendall a candy cane that we might try on bath night.  (Santa looked at me and Kendall looked at the elf with a stuffed dog). Oops!

Eleven months old

I officially have one month to plan a FIRST birthday party! Whew, what a statement! Time has seem to creep up from behind quicker and quicker each month.  It is amazing to watch a baby grow in utero but even more so in person.  Their tiny minds are learning so many things every second of every day. 

Kendall has learned so much in these past few months and makes us proud to be her parents every day.  She is running all over the place and prefers to be playing with her toys or down walking then being held anymore.  This isn’t supposed to be the case quite yet.  My little baby is supposed to want me to hold her all the time.  I know she is growing up but she will always be my little baby and I will hold her anytime I want to for as long as I want to.  I don’t have many pictures to post with this entry because we have been busy with getting settled in our new house.  Kendall has adjusted well to the new house and makes her way from room to room in record time.  She loves to explore and is very in tune to what is around each corner.We are still trying new finger foods daily and she hasn’t really added too many new foods to her list.  She is a great eater with the food I have been making her but the finger foods still aren’t her favorite.  A few new items we have added are chicken salad and mango.   We started a sippy cup with no handles today and she took to it with no problem.  She loves her water.   I have noticed a few “words” coming from her little voice lately and they sound like bubble, baby and puppy. It could just be a mommy thing but I really here the syllables and pronunciation of these words, clearly.  Slowly but surely she is building her vocabulary.  I talk to her all the time.

She loves to laugh.  She loves to smile.  She loves to climb and roll on the bed.  She loves to walk.  She loves Mickey Mouse.  She loves looking at books.  She loves dogs.  She loves Cheerios.  She is full of life and brightens my day at the drop of a hat.  I can’t wait to see her each morning when I pick her up from her crib.  Her smile is amazing! Kendall doesn’t like to be still for very long. These were two lucky shots I got while she was playing with her toys and sitting in a chair at Babies R Us while visiting Grandma.  I love chasing her around.  She has the cutest smirk and laugh when she sees me behind her.

Kendalll-

Just one more month and you will be one.  I can’t believe it! I say some of the same things over and over each month but I just can’t help myself.  You are so smart and funny. You are a beautiful, happy baby. You are our baby! You are growing before our eyes and I love to try and figure out what you are learning.  I continue to pray for your health and happiness and that you will grow in to a happy, healthy little girl, teenager and adult.  You deserve the best in life and we will provide only the best for you, always.  We love you!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Happy Thanksgiving

We headed up to Columbia again this year for our family Thanksgiving meal. Mark’s parents and brother were there too.  It is nice to be able to gather together in one place for such a wonderful meal.  Each family had their own responsibility for what to bring, made for easy cooking.  Thank you to Michelle and Mark for baking the turkey and dessert and having everyone in your home.Kendall and Jack were able to have some cousin time while we waited for all of the yummy food to finish cooking.  The two of them always have so much fun together.Thanks for sharing all of your fun toys with me, Jack!  ~Kendall I love these three pictures! So sweet!Aunt Michelle made Kendall and Jack some fun pilgrim and Indian headdresses. She’s so creative!Jack had to have his picture taken after we were already gone, after his nap.   The Singer kids with their kids. This was at the request of our proud mommy!Kendall and Jack love their Uncle Adam.  We were so glad to spend time with you and Regal! Kendall enjoyed Thanksgiving lunch with the rest of us.  Her favorite this year was mac and cheese.  She tried turkey, green bean casserole and mashed potatoes and strawberry salad.  I’m so proud of her for trying news things even though she may not always like them on the first try.We enjoyed Thanksgiving on Sunday at church with the Grant’s.  There was so much socializing and good food we forgot to take out our cameras for pictures. 

We continue to have so much to be thankful for each year and this year is no different.  We look forward to getting settled in our new home and for the upcoming holiday season.

She’s walking…slowly but surely

Kendall started taking a few steps over the last few weeks however it’s only been about one or two steps at a time.  Yesterday, she decided she was going to take more.  It was so cute to watch how proud she was of herself after each time she was finished walking.  The video is the best of the seven.  She is quick!  I am excited for this milestone and know now, we are all officially ON THE MOVE! Way to go baby girl! We’re so proud of you!

Ten months old and off to the fair

The Coastal Carolina Fair is in town and what better way to celebrate Kendall’s ten month birthday.  After work, we bundled Kendall up and headed out early to beat the traffic and the crowds. We timed everything perfectly.  There was absolutely no traffic, we pulled right in and waited in NO lines.  Ryan was able to win free tickets from a local radio station so we eased our way passed all the ticket buyers and braved the madness.  I thought for sure that a Friday, the second to last day of the fair, that it would be crazy but our timing couldn’t have been better.

Our first stop, the carousel!  I was super excited however, Kendall wasn’t too sure about it.  The carnies waited for the entire carousel to be full before starting the ride.  She didn’t mind it once we started moving, although these pictures seem to show otherwise.  (Excuse the quality of the fair pictures.  I forgot the camera in the car so these are all with the iPhone). After the carousel, we headed over to eat and get out of the wind for a little bit.  Ryan and I both had a gyro…and waited in NO line to order them.  The animals were our next stop and I think I was more excited to bring Kendall here then to ride on the carousel.  This was Kendall’s third time seeing animals and each time she loves it even more.  We saw cows, pigs, horses, ducks, turkeys, goats, rabbits, hares and chickens, OH MY!! Her favorite this time were the cows and horses.  She laughed each time we passed a cow. Mooooo!!!A quick pose in the rocking chair before saying bye to the animals. We had so much fun at the fair and were there the perfect amount of time.  I am already looking forward to next year when Kendall can ride the kiddie rides and maybe try some fair food. But don’t let it come around too fast. I can wait a year, I promise!   Of course we didn’t leave without an elephant ear for dessert.  Mmmm, it was warm, sugary goodness of 1000+ calories!

Another month older and another month to know how lucky we are to be Kendall’s parents.  It continues to be a joy raising her.  We are so blessed and couldn’t be more proud of our baby girl.  Her first tooth has started popping through and it hasn’t seemed to bother her at this point.  It is the bottom left tooth.  She has started rolling her tongue over the top of it and then sticking her tongue all the way out, too cute!  Two weeks ago she also took her first steps and has done so twice since then.  Right now it’s just 2-3 steps at a time.  I believe she’ll have the hang of it by the end of the month for sure.  You can definitely tell she is ready to walk but knows she can get to where she wants to go quicker by crawling.  I love watching her learn and grow daily. 

One of her favorites right now is reading bedtime stories.  I can’t even put one book down before she is grabbing another.  Bedtime is one of my most favorite times of the day, cuddling with my baby girl.  Nothing could compare!  She also LOVES Sadie.  She will play with Sadie until she runs away and poor ole’ Sade just lets Kendall do whatever she wants.  Thanks for being such a good dog Sadier-meister!! Sadie is my dog from college who is now 12 years old. Love her!She has started eating a few more finger foods but still prefers the blends I make.  Her favorite right now is shredded cheese.  Slowly but surely we’ll keep adding more.  She is drinking a total of 18 ounces of formula a day and nursing only at night.

Kendall-

Thank you for another amazing month.  You continue to make everyone around you happy and put a smile on even a stranger’s face.  You are starting to show signs of understanding us when we don’t want you to play with something, you know when you want your sippy cup and just how much water you want to drink and you continue to try new foods that mommy gives you for any meal.  I’m glad you don’t put up too much of a fuss with the foods and at least try them all.  Thank you for making our hearts bigger and our lives complete, baby girl.

We love you!

Mommy and Daddy

Happ-bee Halloween!

Another first for our family, Halloween! I was so excited to see Kendall in her bee costume and interested to see how she would do with her flower headband.  Surprisingly she left it on for a little over and hour before remembering it was there and then pulling it off!  Good job, sweet bee!

We headed over to some friends house to roast hot dogs and make smores.  All of the kids were able to play and run around before the mommies and kids did some trick or treating.  We designated the dads to stay at the house and pass out candy, they didn’t mind.  Kendall enjoyed all of the excitement from her stroller as we walked around the neighborhood with all the big kids.  I know next year I’ll look back and think, “remember when she was just watching from her stroller? Now she’s running door to door with all the big kids!”  A girl I know hand made Kendall’s costume and she got so many compliments. I loved it!! Kendall and Stryker have so much fun when they are together.  These pictures of Kendall were too cute for me to not share.  They were motion shots so they are somewhat blurry not to mention the one on the right was with my iPhone with the reverse camera…it cracks me up! On the way home we stopped by Grandma and Grandpa’s house to show off our little bee! She had a fun filled night and was more than ready for bed when we got home!  We had so much fun with you, sweet girl and glad you enjoyed your first Halloween! I am already thinking of what she can be for next Halloween. It was so much fun for our little family!

And we have a pumpkin!

The afternoon that we picked out Kendall’s first pumpkin, we also headed up to Publix for a pumpkin carving kit.  Ryan and I don’t have many carving skills so we cheated with a stencil.  Once we decided on our picture and copied it to the pumpkin, daddy was hard at work making Kendall’s first pumpkin extra special.  Look at that concentration!I missed out on pictures as the work was in progress because the ladies were busy preparing pumpkin seeds for baking. Mmmm, they were good…the first night.  Then they were too chewy. 

I tried my best to get a few pictures of Kendall with her pumpkin but she wasn’t all that interested.  However, she loved looking at the glow of the candle from a distance.  We’ll try again on Halloween when she is in her costume. Here is a before and after picture.  Ryan proved to have some great carving skills. Thanks Daddy!Kendall enjoyed some playtime before bed after she checked out her pumpkin.