17 Months Old...

What has happened to our little baby?!  

Kensley was recently snuggling with me on the couch and all of a sudden seemed so big!  I'm not sure how time has flown by so quickly!  She continues to make us laugh and is learning and catching onto things so quickly.  I can't believe we have a 17 month old already!

Kensley is a little girl on the move these days.  She is busy, busy, busy all day long and we've discovered that she can move quick.  She can empty a drawer in the mere few seconds I leave her alone in a room.  I'm also shocked at how quickly she can get a hold of things before I even realize she's gone after them.  A few weeks ago, Jeremy taught her how to open doors....which has proved to be interesting.  She's constantly helping herself into the pantry (looking for snacks), opening the hall closet to check out the vacuum (which is she obsessed with) and letting herself "out" into the garage (which has proved to be scary when we leave the garage door open).  While we found this funny at first and shocked she could reach the handles, we're hoping maybe the next house has round knobs or something tougher to maneuver.

Kensley is still working hard to communicate and seems to learn new words every day.  She's got command words down and knows exacting how and when to use them!  She frequently expresses herself through: up, down, off, out, more, and all done.  We've moved into the "hi" stage and she says this frequently.  There is no sweeter sound than hearing the pitter patter of little feet running into a room, followed by a high pitched "hi" to whoever is standing there.  Kens is also saying a handful of other words as well: bye (dye), yes, waff (waffle), luv (I love you), boon (balloon), boom, uh oh (uh uh), cheese (keese), Mama, Dada, Papa, shoes (soos), boots, socks (ocks), snack (nak), etc.  She can also tell you what some animals 'say': dog (woof), chicken (bok bok), bird (teet teet), sheep (baaa), bear (rah), cow (boo).  This is such a fun stage and we love hearing her little voice.

Kensley is such a little sweetheart and she is generous (and sometimes forceful) with kisses.  She's still not a huge snuggler as she likes to be on the go, but she does enjoy relaxing on the couch with us while drinking her milk and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (her show of choice).  She also likes to have her belly and feet/legs tickled (or rubbed) and it's so funny to see her lift her shirt up or lift her leg up asking for us to rub it.

Kens tends to be happy the vast majority of the time and is frequently offering smiles and laughs throughout the day.  She has moved into more of the tantrum stage when she doesn't get something she wants.  It doesn't tend to last for long, but if we tell her "no" to something she wants she'll sit down on the ground, point her chin up and out comes the lip and whine/mad cry.  Often times I find it hard not to laugh as it's such a pathetic little face.

Kensley loves being outdoors and frequently begs to go outside and will find her shoes and try to put them on.  She is so happy outside and just loves to run around the yard and watch cars and people go by.  I have a feeling we'll be spending lots of time outdoors this summer.

A big reality that our baby girl is growing up quickly is that she has started showing some signs of interest in the potty.  We aren't sure if she is quite ready to start the whole potty training process (as she seems SO young), but she is definitely interested.  She even went #2 on the big potty for Grammy on Tuesday.  She'll often grab her diaper or tell us before/after she's gone to let us know to change her.  On Tuesday she grabbed her diaper, took Grammy into the bathroom and tried to lift the toilet seat...and it was a success!  So needless to say, this has caught Mommy and Daddy off guard as we weren't prepared to even try this until several months after baby sister arrives.  We're on the hunt for a little potty now to see if this was just a fluke or if Kens really is ready.  Stay tuned for future updates.

Here are a few recent pictures of our 17 month old.

Practicing floating on her back during swim lessons.  She loved it!

The reason for the life vest...a canoe trip around the pool.

With her buddies Nolan (18 months) and Grady (12 months) at Grady's birthday party.  
It's tough to get all three to look at the same time! 

A sweet wave for the camera...Grady was over it.

Kensley's "cheese" face at her last swim class.

29 Weeks and Third Trimester...

Wow...I can't believe that we're already into the third trimester of this pregnancy!  I don't necessarily feel like this pregnancy has been flying by, but it is hard to believe that I'm already 29 weeks along!  I'm honestly hoping that the next few months go by much more slowly as we have a laundry list of things we hope to get done before baby girl's arrival.

Overall I'm still feeling pretty good.  I'm looking forward to the time where I can go throughout the day without taking a heartburn pill or feeling the burning affects of eating basically anything.  Also my asthma seems to be bothering me more this pregnancy than it did with Kensley's.  I'm not sure exactly why, but it could be a number of things.  My doctor has upped my medicines so I'm just hoping that it doesn't get worse as I continue to get bigger. 

We (or more so I) have started thinking more seriously about baby girl's room...where ever that may be.  I have an idea in my head for color scheme and what I want to do.  We're slowly starting to buy some smaller things, but are holding off on big furniture items as we really have nowhere to store them and obviously don't want to set up a crib, etc. here if we end up moving.  I'm just hoping it ends up coming together and looking like I have imagined in my head.  I guess we'll see once the time comes to officially put it together (hoping for sooner rather than later, but can't really control that).

As I mentioned before, I think we've decided on baby girl's name.  In fact I bought letters for her room!  Our running joke is whoever wins our annual March Madness bracket competition gets to pick baby girl's name...I'm hoping we don't actually stick to that since I've already lost this year.  Baby girl's middle name is still up in the air, but we have a couple good contenders.

I had my glucose test last week and for those that know me well, know that I do not do well with getting my blood taken or IV's.  It went surprisingly well and I even made it through without my moral support (Jeremy was running late for the appt).  My guess is it went so well because I had my eye on Kens hoping she would stay occupied and wouldn't melt down before I was done.  So now I just wait and hope I passed so I don't have to go through this again!

The doctor said everything looks good and I am measuring right on track.  I was sure she would say I am measuring ahead as I'm feeling large these days.  I've started to have some Braxton Hicks contractions over the past few weeks and my doctor said I will most likely experience them more frequently with this pregnancy.  I just have to monitor them to make sure they aren't consistent and growing stronger.

It's wild to think we're already to the point where appointments are every two weeks now.  We are also all scheduled with appointments throughout the end of my pregnancy so we're all set there.  It will be June before we know it!

Pictures...

Well we don't have a whole lot to report on here lately so I thought I'd just post a bunch of recent pictures.

Reading with daddy.  She loves propping her books up like this for her stuffed animals and dolls to read as well.

Ready to go to the zoo.  She really was excited...just looks a little tired here.

Waiting patiently to get in the pool for swim lessons.

Here are a bunch of pictures from my phone, which is how I tend to capture most things these days.

Getting pretty...this is where I normally do Kensley's cute little pigtails.

Girls lunch out!  This is her silly smile.  She's really into squinting her eyes when she smiles for pictures.

Excited about getting her toenails painted for the first time!  She held so still!

I peeked in on her during naptime and this is what I found...yes, that's her sitting in the corner with the blanket over her head.  This is why she no longer takes a morning nap!

Kens loves to be outside!

She thinks her sunglasses are so funny.

"Helping" mommy grocery shop.

Now there's an excited face for the zoo!

Holding her blankey and waiting to leave.

25 weeks and Baby #2 Update...

We officially have less than 4 months until Baby #2 makes her debut.  This pregnancy seems to be going by much faster than Kensley's did and we know these next few months will be a whirlwind.

Overall I've been feeling pretty good, but definitely think the aches and pains have started earlier this pregnancy.  My back has started to hurt more these days, but I think the biggest reason is from carrying and picking up Kensley (that combined with the growing belly).  I try to limit picking Kens up, but she obviously doesn't understand so it tends to make things a little tough.  I also have been getting heartburn lately, so my doctor encouraged me to start taking Zantac as that will help to prevent and relieve the pain. 

Even with the heartburn, I am still enjoying food and indulging (occasionally) in my cravings.  My most consistent food cravings include donuts, soda (but I try to limit to caffeine free only since I still enjoy coffee as well), pizza, sweets, and here lately Chinese food.  Yeah, real healthy, I know.

As far as the baby goes, she is moving like crazy these days.  She tends to be most active in the evenings when I'm relaxed, but I feel her multiple times a day now.  We think we have almost settled on a name (this time around I think I'm more set than Jeremy is).  We're also pretty sure we're going to keep her name a secret as we did with Kensley.  I can already hear the collective groan from our families.

As far as big sister goes, she is still clueless about changes that are coming to our family.  She loves to check on baby sister many times throughout the day and will come over and tug or lift up my shirt.  She is quick to give my tummy kisses, hugs, pats and often likes to try to "share" things with the baby (her milk, cheerios, toys, etc.). 

Here is the latest picture of me at 25 weeks (on the left).  For comparison sake, 25 weeks with Kensley on the right.

16 months old...

Well not only is our little girl seeming so much older (wow...16 months already?!), but she is really acting and looking much older as well.  She feels much less like a baby and more like a big girl as she is communicating and understanding much more, getting more and longer hair (YAY!), losing some of that baby fat (however still has those kissable cheeks) and showing us more of her personality and temperament every day.

Kensley is so funny....at least we think so.  She makes us laugh all the time and what's even funnier these days, is that she knows she is funny so she does stuff or continues to do things that make us laugh.  Such the little entertainer!  I think Jeremy and I would tend to say Kens will have quite the personality...social and dramatic. 

Kensley is in the midst of finally dropping her morning nap.  At her 15 month appointment, the doctor told me I could encourage her to drop it (and change her schedule) or wait for her to drop it on her own.  I opted to wait as she was taking at least an hour and a half nap in the morning and afternoon...which she needed.  For the past week, she's been spending most of the time during her morning nap just playing in her crib.  She specifically likes to throw everything out of her crib and also kick the side of the crib when laying or rolling around (I'm sure she likes the banging sound it produces).  So we're working on readjusting her schedule since she's been using her morning nap as playtime.  She's still going to bed around 7 or 7:30 p.m. and usually wakes up anywhere from 7 - 7:30 a.m.  She will usually just lay in her crib or play quietly with her stuffed animals and blankets in the morning, until she hears us up and wants out.  Some mornings (specifically when we can sleep in), we wonder how long she's been in her crib awake as she rarely makes a peep!

Physically, Kensley seems to be growing and getting taller every day.  She is finally at the point where the majority of her 12 month shirts are too short on her.  She fits comfortably into 12 - 18 month clothes (from Old Navy/Gap), but seems to be in between sizes with pants as 18 months are still a little long on her.  Kens has 11 teeth now (front top 4, front bottom 5 and top 2 molars)!  I had no idea she had that many until I stuck my finger in her mouth and investigated last week.  Those little baby teeth are super sharp as she bit down and about drew blood!  Also physically as you have noticed in recent posts, she is really getting lots of hair.  Her hair seems to be lightening up some, but is still brown though not near as dark as Mommy or Daddy's.  It's still baby thin, but she seems to have quite a bit of it.  It's also stick straight, but will occasionally curl in the back at the bottom especially if it's wet.

Kens is still a pretty good eater, however she does seem pickier these days (which I hear is common of most toddlers).  Some days she has no interest in dinner (swimming nights when she just wants to change and go) and will barely eat anything.  Other days, we can't believe how much food she eats.  She loves to snack and multiple times a day will go to the pantry and bang on the door and whine until we open it.  She knows right where her favorite snacks are located (which we moved to a higher shelf so she couldn't reach them).  She's taking full advantage of mommy's pregnancy cravings and snacks and loves to indulge with me!

Kensley is really into animals and can spot a dog anywhere...outside our house, on the TV, in a book, etc.  She is very apprehensive around dogs though and tends to be scared and often cries if they get too close or show too much interest in her.  Kensley also loves to be out an about and gets so excited to leave the house.  She is usually the perfect little errand companion, however she does tend to get antsy when grocery trips or car rides take too long.  Lately she hasn't been wanting to ride in the cart and often yells down or "dow" until I let her out of the cart.  This makes our trips much more lengthy and complicated as she likes to explore, help push the cart and stop and stare at kids/various people.

So we haven't done the greatest job taking pictures here lately.  Here are a few of our 16 month old after church today.

And lastly one picture from last week. 

I guess the piano just sounds better if played while riding a school bus.

It's so hard to believe that we already have a 16 month old!  Happy 16 month birthday, sweet Kensley!

Swim Lessons (Round 2)

Kensley started swim lessons at the YMCA again last week.  Since she loves the water, we thought it'd be a good chance to get her out of the house during these cold months to burn off some energy.  This little girl loves to swim!

"Mom, is it time to get in yet?"

Ready to go!

Walking in like a big girl!

She loves it!

"Hi, Mom!"

Such a sweet face

Practicing her kicking

Having fun!

 We're hoping to make lots of trips to the pool this summer!

For Sale!

Our house is officially on the market and for sale!

We thought only appropriate to designate our 100th post (I only know this because of our blogger account) to our first home.  With the new addition to our family coming in June, we decided we are in definite need of more space.  We've always talked about possibly moving before the next baby so of course this was frequently a topic of discussion when we found out we were expecting last fall.  We are well aware that the next few months are going to be filled with many chaotic moments as we try to sell, buy a new house and hopefully move all before the baby arrives (and of course if it's up to me...get some painting and decorating done as well!). 

We're of course excited to move and get some more space, but a little sad to leave our current house.  We have loved this house and can't believe we've almost been here 5 years (in May)!  It was not only our first house as a married couple, but also Kensley's first home. 

We have so many great memories in this house: hosting our first Thanksgiving (with 14 guests!), surviving our first hail storm (and learning how to deal with a contractor and insurance company), bringing home our baby girl, hosting many house guests and get togethers...just to name a few.  We can't wait to see what the next few months will bring and hope to have exciting updates along the way!