Is it Emilie or is it Kendyl?

This is a picture I took of Kendyl at the beach:

and this is a picture Michelle took of Emilie in 2002 at the same beach :

CRAZY!! Definitely could be the same child!!

Kendyl's First Beach Vacation

Where to start?!?! Our trip to the beach was phenomenal and now that the pictures from our five cameras have been merged, I can give you an update!

It’s a tradition for us to take pictures of the kids sitting on the front porch and unlocking the door to the "new house." They like to check everything out before the rest of us enter. Of course, Kendyl started her exploring after the doors were opened but her knees hit the ground running.

After unpacking the cars, we headed to the pool. This was Kendyl’s first time in a pool so we were extremely excited. Even better, when we were walking to the pool, we realized Emilie and Kendyl had on the same bathing suit – Michelle and I had not even planned this!

We left the pool and took the kids to the beach. Here’s a peek at Kendyl’s first sand and ocean experience…

We had to have our 'Yes Dear' moment as we carried all of our gear to the beach. After getting settled in, it didn’t take Kendyl long to become a beach babe! She had the relaxin’ down pat!

Of course, I have to touch on a few of my favorite things about Sea Pines (in no particular order):

1. The Dolphin Experience – Dolphins frequent the sound where we stay and this year, one came within 10 feet of Kevin and I was able to snap a shot!





2. The Bike Experience – Bikes are a must in Sea Pines and Kendyl had her first bike riding experience. After the initial ride (1st picture), she really started to enjoy it (second picture). It may have had something to do with the helmet. . .



3. The Salty Dog Experience – Many afternoons and evening have been spent hanging out at the Salty Dog.





4. The Sunset Experience – These pictures say it all!





5. The Kite Experience – The area where we stay is at the end of Hilton Head Island so the beach is never crowded which allows for a lot of room to fly kites. So much fun!





6. The Harbour Town Experience – A trip to Hilton Head wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Harbour Town. Kendyl really enjoyed the playground!





7. The Dunes Picture Experience – Each year, the kids have their picture taken with the Dunes in the background. This year, we did it twice, once with a professional photographer and once on our last day. Since it was the 4th of July, the kids were dressed patriotically so the pictures look too cute with their coordinated outfits. Once again, Emilie and Kendyl matched and Michelle and I had not planned it!

Every year, there is some funny theme that carries throughout the week. This year we had two themes but I have three new favorite things about Hilton Head (drum roll):

1. The High Tide – When the tide came in, the water took over our beach - literally, there was NO beach left. Our chairs, coolers, baby pool, books, EZ ups, and other beach necessities were swallowed. We refused to go without a fight though and I quickly became a fan of swimming under the tents. It didn’t do much for my Casper skin tone though.





2. The Crabs – When the tide was out, the crabs took over the beach! I have never seen so many little guys and they hate the water, so when the tide crept up the sand, they took cover under/on our chairs.





This picture is only a small indication as to what we really saw.

3. The Disney Resort – Since none of us wanted to travel on the 4th, my mom booked a night at the Disney Resort within Shelter Cove. It turned about to be perfection! Our villa was directly next to the pool which had the 'Big Dipper' water slide. I don't know who enjoyed it more: Emilie, Mason, or Owens! It was great! Our balcony had the best view of the sunset and fireworks in the entire resort so we hung out on our porch to watch the AMAZING Shelter Cove fireworks show. We may have to make this our new 4th of July tradition!

Here are just a few other fun pictures. It's easy to see how much we enjoyed our vacay!

I just love this picture!

and the countdown begins for next year!

So Big!

Kendyl and I were having snack time tonight (her new favorite thing) and I was telling her what a big girl she was for chewing the whole puff and not the half I had been giving her. Every time I said the word 'big' she raised one or two of her hands. I realized she was playing 'SO big' all by herself. We have been playing this with her for awhile but we usually raise her hands for her. Now she really is SO big....

As I rewatched this video, I realized she is looking up too.

How smart is she?!?!

Ahhh....

Summer school is finished! Kevin survived my marriage and family counseling class without too many 'guinea pig' moments. So now I only have five classes left before graduation. Whoop Whoop! I also completed all of the housing assignments and deposit refunds so I am actually caught up at work too! What an amazing feeling. Now we are preparing for our trip to Hilton Head and I am proud to report to all the doubters out there - I actually HAVE started packing! That still doesn't mean I won't be doing laundry at 2am (sorry, Mom) or that we won't show up at the rendezvous point late, but I certainly don't want to disappoint anyone. As I learned in class - we all have a role to play in our families and if you deviate from that role, you cause chaos in the family system. Now, you wouldn't want me to cause chaos, would you......

Stay tuned for Kendyl's beach debut pictures!

Baseball Baby!

Kendyl went to her first baseball game tonight! Kevin's mom scored us tickets from work to the Greenville Drive game. The five of us had a great time - here are a few pictures:

A 90's Reunion

I have always been a true child of the 80's but I read an article today on MSN that made me realize just how awesome the 90's were too! The article was about the top 7 TV shows from the 90's that we would love to see a reunion show made. Here is there list:

1. Full House
2. Growing Pains
3. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
4. Home Improvement
5. Family Matters
6. Boy Meets World
7. Step by Step

I am ALL for #'s 2, 3, and 6. How awesome would it be to see Kirk Cameron again?!?! And the Carlton dance is just plain awesome! At the wedding I went to this weekend, Trina featured the Carlton dance while we were in the buffet line. It was priceless! Here is a video from YouTube just to refresh your memory:

Now the one that is not mentioned on the list but is actually the highlight of the article (weird, right?) is Saved by the Bell. In case you aren't up on the recent news, Jimmy Fallon is trying to coordinate a Saved by the Bell reunion. He already has Mr. Belding, Slater, and Lisa on board and as of last night, has Zach and Jessie. All that is missing now is Kelly and Screech. If you are an avid Saved by the Bell fan, here is a video of Mark-Paul Goselaar from last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It is a little long but the references to old episodes is great (including the giant cell phone and the band 'Zach Attack'.) and Mark-Paul is actually 'in character' the whole time:

Just thought I would keep you up-to-date on the important goings on in the world! I mean, New Kids on the Block have reunited so, really, the rest of this is just icing.

It's Been a Whirlwind!

It has been a while since my last update and so much has happened. This entry will be more of a catch up then a deep, meaningful post. Hopefully, when I finish with summer school, I will actually have time to think about the world around me. Right now, I do good to remember to put shoes on before I leave!

(side note…. the other morning, I was on my way out the door with two COMPLETELY different shoes on! Fortunately, I caught it before I was really embarrassed! Agh, the joys of being totally distracted!)

Ok, now for the update:

• Kendyl’s food bank is growing by leaps and bounds! She has tried all of the veggies and is almost through the fruits (she is trying peaches for lunch and that will complete her list). Next stop, combinations! Still no teeth so we are holding off on Cheerios but I’m sure it won’t be long. We have also introduced sippy cups and apple juice. When you sit the sippy cup in front of Kendyl, she puts her hands up, leans forward, and opens her mouth – WIDE!. She just can’t figure out why the juice doesn’t jump right in.
  
  Kendyl is also extremely fascinated by us when we eat. She watches our mouths so closely as if she is trying to figure out the whole chewing concept. She has actually started smacking her lips when she sees food. I feel so guilty to eat in front of her! She just looks so sweet (and confused).

• Kendyl met with a plastic surgeon recently to assess her little red marks. In two places (on her side and back), she has red round spots where the blood vessels have come to the surface. Apparently, this is quite common in babies (Barrett had one on his back) so they are just monitoring the growth. The doc said they should start shrinking when she is around 18 months but if they continue to grow, she may have to have them lasered. We have a follow up appointment scheduled for August so I will definitely keep you posted.

• We have been the proud Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin at Emilie’s, Haylie’s and Davis’s graduations, at Emilie’s dance recital, and at Davis’s soccer games. We also celebrated SMC's graduation, Elizabeth's graduation, Sarah's bridal shower, Cortney's baby shower, Kevin's mom's birthday, Kayla's birthday, and my birthday. I also had the wonderful opportunity to have dinner with a much-missed friend and to attend the wedding of a soon-to-be missed student. Not to mention the cookout at the house for my staff and the day at Carowinds to celebrate an end to an awesome year. Busy!?!? Not us!

• We spent Memorial Day with my parents, Shell, Kevin, and the kids at Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock, NC. Kendyl road the carousel and the mini-train and although it rained most of the day, she had a blast!

(please ignore my hairdo - it had been raining ALL day)

• Kendyl’s baby bathtub is officially retired. She has now moved up to a bath seat in the big girl tub. I am amazed at how hard it was to find a seat, but fortunately, I ordered one online that folds for "easy storage." Of course, my only thought was buying something that would be easy to transport to the beach. Vacation, here we come!
  
  



(appartanly, as long as she has something to chew on, she's good!)

• Kendyl is definitely working on her biceps and triceps. Any chance she gets, she is pulling up. This includes pulling up on the sides of her crib. We had to lower her crib mattress last week just to keep her in there! I don't think she was too sure of her new view:

• The biggest news we have is that Kendyl is now a mobile munchkin! She is crawling everywhere! It is too cute to hear her talking to herself and she heads down the hall to find us. So much for trying to teach her to play in a room alone for a few minutes (at least long enough for a bathroom break)! Abby is also having to make a few adjustments to where she lays so she doesn’t become a jungle gym.
  
  Kendyl made her way over to the laundry basket to help mommy fold her clothes. Of course she had to pull up on the side so she could stand while folding:

• As you may have read in a previous post, I have been very frustrated with my camera. I definitely needed something better to capture these wonderful moments in our lives! So, for my birthday, my parents bought me a new, fancy, camera. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to deal with the size until I compared photos. Here are two pictures, taken from the exact same spot in our living room. Can you tell which was taken with the new camera? If you can't tell right away, click on each picture for a closer look.

• Summer school is kicking my tail with two classes a week for four hours each night! I want to thank my dad for covering the store so Kevin can leave to pick up sweetie pie. I also want to say thanks to Kevin for washing bottles, cleaning up, cooking dinner, handling bathtime, and supporting me in a thousand other ways so I can focus on schoolwork. Although, when he tells me no TV until my homework is done, I am not always the happiest but I appreciate the kick in the pants. (He is kidding of course, but seriously!) More thanks to Michelle and my mom for putting in extra time with Kendyl while Kevin and I juggle work and school.

• Kevin and I had a date night last week. We went to see the Cubs play the Braves in Atlanta. Crazy thing – friends of ours from Rock Hill were also going to the game so we had dinner with them and snuck down to their awesome seats. It was GREAT spending time with them and with each other! Even better, the Cubs won in extra innings!
  
  
  

I’m sure I am forgetting something, but that’s all I have time for (it has actually taken me three days just to write this)! School and work are lurking around the corner so I need to attack them while I still have the motivation. Here are a few more pictures just for fun:

A Day to Remember

Sometimes you have days when you look back you realize what a special day it really was. K and I had one of those days Wednesday. We didn't do anything special except spend time together. Our day started just as any other with breakfast and a little play time. Following a nap it was time for K to take her normal Wednesday bath. Bath-time is some what of a challenge right now in our house as K has outgrown her current baby tube but isn't actually big enough for the next step up, just another challenge to hurdle. As I was drying her off I was able snap a couple great pictures.





Following the bath it was time for another meal for K and then off to meet Stac at the doctors office for a round of immunizations. As usual K was a trooper. Even after a forty-five minute wait in the waiting room it was just a short crying spell after the stick and everything is good. I think the shots hurt Stac and I more than her. After lunch for Stac and I (then back to work for her)and a quick trip to Wally world for K and I it was back to the homestead. K and I enjoyed some more play time. K also continued to improve on her crawling and pulling up.




Like Stac says she sure is growing up fast...but it sure it fun watching it happen!