Little Helper

Kendra takes after her daddy in lots of ways.  She's still got those awfully sweaty feet (seriously, it's the weirdest thing).  She's got an insatiable thirst for attention and affection (I know that most children her age do, but it's also something she gets from him).  And she's totally into the DIY projects.  She pretty much can't be convinced that she is anything but a huge help around this place.  It might just fall apart without her, really.

So when it was time to weather-proof her bedroom window, she just hopped right in.

"Here, Daddy.  I'll help."

I don't know how we would manage without her...  :)

Our pretty, happy Little Helper!

Remember when I said I was caught up on blogging?

I totally LIED.  But on accident, promise.

So waa-aaaaaaaaaaay back in September the playgroups in both wards here headed out to a fruit farm not far outside town.  It was pretty fun times.  Especially since my awesome sister-in-law and her youngest came, too!

Though Stephie might not have been so "into" having a Kodak moment.

Why didn't I take off my sunglasses for his picture?

I look like a giant bug.

There were all kinds of fun things to see and do at the little farm, but Kendra's favorite thing about the whole place?  Gravel.  I'm not kidding, she had a ball just sitting down and tossing rocks in her lap while all the other children were playing on all the fun equipment and stuff.  But I don't really blame her.  I'd rather sit and look at rocks than try to fight my way through a pulsing throng of people significantly larger than me, too (there were a lot of kids there, and she was the youngest, smallest one walking).

 The look of satisfaction.

Unfortunately when a bigger kid saw her doing it, he started chucking them as hard and far as he could, thus sending his mother into a mild, eye-twitching panic.  Oops.  But by then most of the families had scattered and wandered home, leaving the play stuff almost barren so that littler ones could enjoy it.

Stephie totally had Kendra's back.

 

And my personal favorite shot from the trip:

"Hey, Mom.  'Sup."

And eventually all the other kids either went home or lost interest in the tractor.

"Don't bug me, I'm driving here."

JOY RIDE!!

Debbie and I decided to go back inside to browse at the store and there was a little play area there, too.  It had a sandbox filled with corn instead of sand so we took turns watching the kids so that we could look around a little easier.  The kids had some fun with it.

And unfortunately, Kendra was having so much fun I couldn't convince her to take a break and smile for the camera--never underestimate the power of corn.  :)

We had ourselves some Big Fun, made all the more awesome by getting to share it with our family!  Have we mentioned how much we loooooove living in the same town as these guys?  Seriously.  In fact, we highly recommend that everyone move here, too!

Just kidding.

Except not really.

Kendra's BEST Shirt

Kendra likes it because the sparklies are fun to touch.

We LOVE it because it means exactly what it looks like it means.

Baby #2 is due in June.  :)

Around the house...

Well, with winter we've been hanging out around the house lately.

A lot.

While we ain't in Chicago anymore, it still gets pretty cold in Pennsylvania.

Kendra and I have been wearing long underwear for weeks now.

But we still manage to have some fun...

"I so pretty!"

Too true, my Love.

Then one morning I walked into the living room and found this:

I'll be straight up, I have no idea how she ended up behind this gate...

Kids keep you on your toes, I guess...

Later that same morning I was working on something at the computer and turned around and saw this:

Just sittin' back, watching the lights on the tree.

In a doll stroller.

She looked pretty comfy to me.

And of course, when she realized I was taking pictures, I got one of these:

LOVE.  IT.

Then one evening as I was doing laundry and bustling about from room to room, I noticed that she was following me with a laundry basket of her own in tow.

But she wasn't putting laundry in it.

"Can I help you with something?"

Though a few seconds later this happened:

No children were harmed in the photographing of the this blog.

Promise.

(See the long underwear?  I wasn't kidding.  We both look fat, but we're OH-SO comfy!)

Yep, she's my buddy.

We have all kinds of fun together.

Headbands!

Kendra has recently figured out where I stash all of her headbands and bows.  While she still doesn't wear them for an extended period of time, she sure does love to play with them.  All of them.  At.  The same.  Time.  It's hilarious!

O, Christmas tree

We decided to get our first full-sized tree this year.

It's only the very cheapest and thinnest $20 model, but it's still fun.

And as this is only our 3rd Christmas as a family, we've only got a few ornaments, anyway.

(And these days, we have at least one "Whacha doin, Mom?" shot in every set of pictures we take...)

But the few we do have are all on the top half of the tree.

Y'know, out of the reach of little hands.

We also are only using shatter-proof ornaments next year.

Merry Christmas!

"Hey, ya wanna s'more?"

"Some more what?"

"No, no, you want a s'more?"

"I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?"

"You're killing me, Smalls!

These are s'mores stuff.

Okay, pay attention.

First, you take the graham.

[Though before that, you do have to get a fire going.]

You stick the chocolate on the graham.

[But sometimes you have to call in an expert to get a fire to last.]

[Success!]

Then, you roast the 'mallow.

 [CHECK and CHECK!]

When the 'mallow's flaming, you stick it on the chocolate.

Then...you cover it with the other end.

[With some assistance, if needed.]

Then, you stuff."

[And you don't bother taking pictures of that because...Oh.  My.  YUM.]

S'mores instructions courtesy of The Sandlot.

And, we're finally caught up with blogging.  Shew.

Practical Solutions

Kendra really hates it when we're riding in the car and the bright glaring sun shines in her face and she can't escape it.  Actually, come to think of it, I really hate that too.  Don't we all?  So I found her a pair of sunglasses that are actually designed to block sun and not just make my favorite toddler look like she should be on the cover of Baby Vogue or something.

And as you can tell, she's a pretty satisfied customer.

Mommy WIN.

Does this hat make my face look fat?

What's nice about being a one-year-old is that nothing makes you look fat.

Only adorable.

Even when your parents don't realize that you're posed right next to the training bras when they take the picture...

A few pics for funsies

Sights like this just melt my heart...

Can you tell who's having more fun there?  Me neither.

Wanna see my cute laundry helper?

These baskets sure are Kendra-sized, aren't they?  :)

And, when we drove to our apartment for the first time, we noticed a recumbent bike store on the main drag of town.  One sunny afternoon we stopped in to check it out.

We weren't the only ones who wanted to try one.

Seriously.  She screamed until I took this picture.

We have us some fun around here, yes siree!