Keelyn's Baby Dedication

Going way back, but I want to get this on the blog for sure..... Back in June, we had Keelyn dedicated at our church. Basically, this ceremony is where the parents commit to raising them in a Christian home and to encourage them in their faith walk to one day know Jesus personally. An elder in our church prayed over our family and Keelyn, and it was great because the elder also has two little girls so he prayed specifically for Brannon and being a father surrounded by pink & bows :) That he would be the father these two little girls need. Not an easy role, for sure!

Keelyn fell dead asleep as we were waiting for the dedication to begin (which NEVER happens without rocking/bouncing/walking her......except this morning!). So, I was holding a dead weight sleeping baby the whole time! I guess better than a screaming baby!





















Our family being prayed over





















The grandmothers couldn't resist taking her picture during the service!





















The whole gang















Cute picture of these two















Keelyn tried some avocado at lunch & loved it!















Mackenzie thoroughly enjoying her dessert!

Playtime Photo Fun

Still sorting through photos from last month, and wanted to include these on the blog. There's not a lot to tell, so hope it's not too boring for everyone, but I want to include these on here because one day (when I have time.....when will that be, BTW???) I want to print this all out :) So here's a few shots from one of our last playtimes in the "red house" (as we called it). I guess one fun thing to notice about this playtime photo shoot is you may notice that Mackenzie is wearing two dresses! She was wearing one from what I put on her that morning. That afternoon, she went and pulled out the second dress from her dirty clothes hamper. She brought it to me to change, and I didn't really want to change her, much less into yesterday's dirty dress. So, she decided to put it on herself since I wouldn't help. And she did. I did help her tie the bows after she put it on because at that point, who cares?!?! I thought it was pretty funny. She really does have a STRONG opinion about her clothes and she felt very strongly at that moment that she needed to be in the blue/green turtle dress...... Life is never boring with a 2 (almost 3!) year old :)


A little building with blocks





















Keelyn playing in her typical way - toy in mouth.
Mackenzie was serenading us with her singing into the microphone.














Keelyn's turn with the microphone.....and into the mouth it goes!





















Skylar trying to join in on the fun





















Our budding musician - this time playing her recorder





















Pure joy! I love that it takes so little to bring this much joy to her face. A recorder & some company :) That's it. Being a toddler must be great.





















Happy baby

Finger Foods

People aren't kidding when they tell you your children will be very different from one another. One way (of many) in which Keelyn is different than her sister is how quickly she has taken to finger foods - and really prefers them. Keelyn didn't really like too many pureed veggies (besides the sweet ones like carrots, squash & sweet potatoes). So, I attempted real green beans & she gobbled them up. Then, peas. Gobbled them up. Now, she seems to really enjoy all sorts of finger foods & is not as much into the purees. Mackenzie on the other hand, would've eaten pureed for as long as I let her! She didn't even like the thicker purees & would often gag/puke them up! Then, adding finger foods, she didn't like to bother chewing (even into her second year!) and would gag/puke when she just swallowed big pieces...... And now Keelyn seems to only want real food. It's so funny how different, even in random things like this, they are!

Standing Tall

Getting caught up......a few weeks back shortly before we moved, I dressed Keelyn up in one of my old dresses. My mom saved a lot of my old dresses, but sadly with so much going on, I (a) have not taken nearly as many pictures as I'd like and (b) have not taken too many of her in these dresses. Hopefully as life settles down, I can get back to snapping away :)

This was right after she started crawling. She had started standing next to her pull up toys if you placed her in front of them (hadn't quite learned to pull up herself). And her sister was starting to enjoy the new mobility of her sister. Makes me think about how in the near future, the little one will be following the big one all over the place!







Continuing to work on her crawling skills!














Love these baby blues :)














Princess Mackenzie & her sidekick

First Day of Preschool 2011

Summer is over, and the school year has begun here (YAY!). Hello small amount of free time! Mackenzie is in a 2 day a week (T/Th) program again this year. She's still in a 2 year old room b/c of her early birthday - she'll be the oldest in her class. I have to say as I look at pictures of my friends with school age children posted on Face.book, I am so happy that she has an early birthday & I still have THREE whole years before she starts school. Her best bud is just a month older, but her mommy only has 2 years with her home. It's gonna be a fun three years I think!

Anyways, she started her 2 year old class this year, but I was happy to see that her class is "older 2's" so all of them turn 3 by January. There is even an August birthday (guess her mommy is going to have her stay back & be the oldest) and two September birthdays. I think it's going to be a great class & I liked her teacher.

Keelyn will be right down the hall, going to their drop off Mother's Morning Out program when I want to take her. She will probably go every Tuesday and then can go on Thursdays when I need/want her to go :)

We took some pictures before school and they (mostly) cooperated!

All dressed up & ready to go :)






















I'm ready mom!





















A little more apprehensive as we pose outside her door. She had started to cry, but did manage to stop and grimace for a photo. She cried when I dropped her off, but when I picked her up, came running to me and said "I calmed down mommy!". Her teacher confirmed she only cried for a minute or so.





















Last year......and I thought she was so big.

We Moved, She's Crawling, and Other Updates

Well, I'm once again, way behind on this blog. But I think I have a good excuse :) We moved two and half weeks ago, while Brannon was traveling every week & flew in the Thursday before we moved on Friday.....AND while we were trying to finish renovating the house we moved into. (It wasn't even done when we moved......it's really been quite interesting!)

BUT we're in our house now. Three moves in three years & we are done for quite some time. No one believes us, of course, but I say that we've never claimed we would stay put before, so it's different this time. Really! No seriously!!! We love this house, even in its unfinished state! That's when you know you're gonna really love a house. Folks say my husband (and me by association!) were crazy for moving so much, but we got a great deal in a great neighborhood in a great school zone (K-12) and not a bad commute as far as the 'burbs go. So, as far as we can see, there is no need to move. And we got to remodel the house in a unique more modern style that we like, and more importantly, that Brannon likes! This photo is of us walking at night on the golf cart path on the course that our house is on :)

So, that's one major update. The other major update is right before we moved - Keelyn started crawling at about 8 1/2 months. She just all of a sudden started wanting to be on the floor more and pushing up and then started taking off. It was great timing (HA!) since our house is under construction, half unpacked, and consequently.....not baby proofed! But she's not too quick yet, so I can keep her contained fairly simply. But I definitely am working towards baby-proofing because it won't be long before she's into EVERYTHING ;)

Here's an attempt to upload the video from some of her first crawls before we moved and one of Mackenzie when she started peddling her own tricycle: