Visitors and Visitors and Visitors Oh My!

We had a pretty eventful 4th of July holiday weekend this past weekend.  Not only did we have Cousin Calyn's 1st Birthday party on Saturday and the holiday of course, but we had tons of visitors in town.  The Browns came from Little Rock for the weekend and stayed with us.  We were also lucky to have Grandpa Des come from Nebraska to stay with us for the entire weekend.  Uncle Mike and Aunt Mallory drove in from South Dakota for the party, and they came to visit us several times.  We also got to see Uncle Jim, Aunt Nola, Cousin Stella, G & G Barb & Barney who all drove in from Nebraska for Calyn's birthday.  And, we of course go to spend time with Uncle Greg, Aunt Emily and Cousin Calyn who we don't get to see enough living so close.  It was a VERY busy, yet fun-filled weekend.

We seemed to either always be on the run to an air conditioned restaurant or anything we could think of to beat the heat.  Mother Nature did us no favors this year as we moved from a cool Spring to a VERY HOT summer.  The temperatures have stayed right around 100 for quite some time now, and it makes outdoor activities really difficult with little ones!  However, we were able to sneak in a fun boat ride with Grandpa Des and the Browns, a pool day at the Millers, Calyn's 1st birthday party, fireworks on the boat, fireworks at our house, many good dinners and play time. 

Saturday, July 2nd, was Calyn's birthday and party.  Despite the fact that it was miserably hot, we had such a fun time!  Calyn had a pool and other outdoor activities but paired with the over tired factor and heat, Kyley did not get in the water.  However, she did enjoy the company of all of the family and Calyn's friends at Calyn's Grandma & Grandpa Higgins house.  Calyn loved her cake and all of her gifts.   We will have so much fun celebrating with her over the years.  I know we have said it before, but we are so lucky to live so close.

Sunday, we spent the day at the Miller's pool with the old crew (Kubik's, Brown's, Miller's and Ewy's) and then finished up with fireworks at our house.  We were not sure what Kyley would think of them, and we were very surprised to learn that she really liked them.  She would just sit and stare at the lights, and when they made sound she would stare even more...a few startles and hands on the head in response to the loud ones.  But, she did not shed any tears or look away...in fact she was looking around people and objects to see them.

The 4th of July holds a special place in our hearts for reasons outside of the obvious.  Last year Kyley was released from the NICU on the 4th and allowed to come home with us.  Her Cousin Calyn also went home from the hospital that day.  It was such an exciting day...a bit nerve-wracking though too.  What a homecoming, right?  Well, she celebrated in true fashion this year with lots of family and friends, on the boat and a neighborhood fireworks show that you cannot beat!  We are so VERY blessed. 

Thankfully the weekend did not fly by (unlike most these days), and we really got to enjoy our visitors and friends as much as possible.  We hope to celebrate every 4th of July as we did this one!

Learning to Crawl

Surprise, Surprise...I am behind again in my posts, but that is what happens when you have a busy summer of activities and company...making up for last summer when we stayed home all the time to get the little one healthy.

On a lighter note Ms. Kyley is learning to crawl, and I mean it for real this time (I am sure I have said that before).  We are not crying wolf...I promise she is really going to take off anyday now.  She has been taking a few "steps" or whatever you call them when they are crawling.  The minute we put her on the floor she is up on all fours ready to move.  Kyley definitely gets where she wants to much easier these days, and in no time she will be getting every where we DON'T want her:)!  

I think everyone is excited to see her moving.  Even Uncle Greg enlisted his help over the weekend.  He just wants us to see what it is like to have a mobile child since Calyn has been walking for 3 months lol!  Kyley is just doing things in Kyley fashion at her own pace...before long she will be moving a 100 mph, and we will never get her to stop.  Look out Wichita here she comes!

A day at the zoo

Last weekend the three of us made a trip to the zoo.  Daddy had never gone with us, and we really have not gone as often as we would like since we got our family pass for the summer.   We went in the morning, but it was still quite warm.  However, this did not stop us from having fun.  

 Kyley loves to sit in her stroller with her cheerios and water and take in all the sights and sounds.  When she makes eye contact with an animal...watch out...she yells and talks loudly at them.  Thankfully there are not any rules at the zoo to "keep your voices down".  We got quite a few chuckles out of her.  Unfortunately for sharing purposes we took more video than pictures because it was so cute and funny to hear her talk to the animals. 

 She loved the giraffes, elephants, birds and especially the penguins.  She loves when we have Happy Feet on the tv so this did not surprise us at all.  Of course she loves seeing all the other people walking around too.  

The American Kid's Petting Farm was the end of our visit, and as you can tell she was getting pretty pooped...rose red cheeks, lack of a smile and complete exhaustion.  She still had enough energy to be interested though!  We cannot wait to go again, but we may wait until it is a bit cooler this time!

 

Yesterday was 14 months already

Can you believe that this big girl is 14 months old?  She was not even supposed to be born for another month!!  We cannot believe how much she has grown and how fast time has gone...where is our little baby?  Kyley is getting so long/tall and she really has a belly since starting to eat all of this big kid food.

 Meal time has become so much fun for all of us.  We get to try new things, textures, shapes and flavors.  She seems to be a bit pickier than she was with the baby food, but we are happy to have made that transition.  She does still eat some baby food fruits in her morning cereal, but we will be out of all of that soon too.  Her favorites seem to be bread, cheese and avocado right now.  She definitely makes more of a mess, but it is so fun to see her growing into a little girl and feeding herself (although I will miss my baby dearly).  Meal time also takes a bit longer, but it is good to get her in the practice of slow eating right??

 After dinner time often directly comes bath time...and not because I am OCD...just because that is our routine.   We have graduated to only using the big girl tub, and she loves it!  She could play in there for hours, and she is actually much easier to control as she gets more mobile.  Our swim classes have also made all water activities a fun time.  So, it is a game to pour water on her head to rinse out the soap.  I think it is obvious that she doesn't seem to mind bath time at all!  This is just another sign that our baby is growing up:( :)!

Work hard, play hard and short sleeved pajamas?

No, I have not lost my mind based on the title of the post today.  But, I seem to always be playing catch up these days so I wanted to share what was on my mind when I looked through the recent upload of pictures.  And, I wanted to get it posted before something else came up and ate up all of my time.

 Kyley works and plays hard from the minute she wakes up these days.  We used to have some down time in the mornings, but that is an activity of the past.  She still loves the darn remote, phones and cameras (note the toy phone and camera are her favorite...but not as good as the real deal). 

 Kyley loves to sit and play and play and play.  However, she is never in the same spot for long.  I know we have said it a million times before but she is ready to move.  She goes from sitting to crawling position to rolling to army crawl to trying to pull up on things.  I know that when I turn my back she will be in a different position every time.  I am afraid that one of these times I will turn my back and she will be on the move for real!

 Okay, the story behind the short sleeved pajamas.  When Kyley came home from the NICU last summer the doctors made it very clear to keep her warm to help control her body temperature which in turn will help her grow.  Well, I have had a really hard time breaking out of that pattern.  I think that I was cooking her a few nights in long sleeved pajamas.  And, it was not that I did not have any of the short sleeved ones...I just was worried my baby would freeze.  Well, surprise, surprise...she has been sleeping through the night again (for the most part) since I started putting her in the short sleeved version a few weeks ago when the temps have stayed in the near 100's every day.  Is it coincidence or fact...we will never know.  However, I do know that she seems to be doing and growing just fine, and she looks cuter than ever in them!

 

A special Father's Day weekend

Of course Father's Day was going to be special no matter what as Kyley loves her daddy, and he sure loves her.  However, we had a few special visitors for the weekend.  Great Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Bob came to visit.  It was a VERY fun weekend, and Kyley got to spend a lot of quality time with both of them.  And, I think Great Grandma had a hard time leaving her side which Kyley did not seem to mind.  The extra attention was right up her alley.  They sat and played for hours every day on the very blanket that Great Grandma made for Kyley back on Christmas.  I hope Kyley looks back some day and realizes how lucky she is to have her Great Grandma in her life! 

 

 Grandpa Bob had a special delivery when he came.  For Kyley's birthday her Uncle Brian, Aunt Angie and cousins, Ian and Erin had given her this ball pool.  Well, due to travel issues and changes of plans, we were never able to get part of the gift back to Wichita.  So, Grandpa Bob brought the "missing pieces" with him last weekend...all of the balls!!!  Kyley had so much fun in her ball pool.  She did not know what to think at first, but she easily made herself comfortable.  She got so excited Saturday morning when she woke up and saw the ball pool still sitting there. 

Kyley got to spend lots of quality time with the most important person of the weekend...her daddy!  We went to dinner, for a boat ride, relaxed, danced and played.  It is not tough to notice that she loves driving the boat with her daddy, dancing with her daddy and goofing around with her daddy! 

 Kyley and Grandpa Bob had fun being foolish as always.  She was so busy trying to get the pen out of his pocket that she did not realize he had put it on her hat several times...they sure will be quite the pair in the years to come.  All in all I think it was a pretty special weekend for everyone!