Kendall, what can you do at two?

So, I'm almost a month late with this post, but I want to make sure I record milestones!

Eating-You are a really great eater. Off the top of my head, the only thing I can think of that you won't eat is roast, carrots, and potatoes cooked together. Good thing mommy doesn't make that very often! You love spicy things, any and all beans, and would make an entire meal off guacamole if we let you. You also have a very sweet tooth and love dessert! Although you can be very squirmy at times, I look forward to sitting down at the table each day with our little family.

Sleeping-You are a GREAT sleeper. (Although I think this last time change did something to your system since you are now waking up at 6:00 in the morning!) Usually, you wake up in the 7:00 hour and go to bed in the 8:00 hour in the evenings. You take one nap a day and it usually starts in the 1:00 hour. You have some routines that are fun...in the morning, you like milk and cartoons when you first wake up. When you go to bed, you like for us to hold you and sing "Rock-a-Bye Baby" before we put you in the bed. If we forget, you quickly remind us. Sometimes, you don't immediately go to sleep and we can hear you playing and singing. We love that. You like to sleep with your "miney" blanket, Hog bear, and a baby. You have never tried climbing out of your crib, so we have not moved you to a big girl bed yet, but probably should in the next few months.

Playing-You love to read books, play with your baby dolls, dress up (especially in mommy and daddy's shoes), and color. Really, you will do anything that we promote and play with you. You can play by yourself, but of course prefer when we play with you. You also love to play outside and take walks around the block.

Potty Training-You are still doing GREAT with the potty. You rarely have pee-pee accidents and are for the most part trained in that area. In fact, just last night you went in the bathroom and took care of business all by yourself! I was so surprised and proud! The poop part is taking a little bit longer. You like to be at home with mommy and daddy helping you! (Although I can't blame you!) :) You are in panties any time you are with mommy and daddy and when you are at school, but are in pull-ups for church and nap-time. I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...

Talking-Oh boy! You say anything and everything! We have full conversations with you and are amazed at your level of understanding and the sentences that come out of your mouth. It's so fun. Just the other night you asked your daddy, "You have juice?" to which he replied yes because he was drinking a Mountain Dew. You then said, "Awesome!" Hilarious. We never know what you are going to say!

Clothes/Shoes-I'm not sure of your weight and height (we go next week for well-baby check up) but right now you wear 24 month/2T clothes and a size 6 1/2 or 7 shoe. (6 1/2 is difficult to find!) You certainly have an opinion about your outfits and sometimes it's not a battle that is not worth the fight.

What do you know?-You can say all of your ABCs and count to ten. You know many, many songs...more than I can name--Wheels on the Bus, Old McDonald, Jesus Loves Me, Hokey Pokey, He's Got the Whole World In His Hands, Chris Tomlin's Holy is the Lord, Itsy Bitsy Spider...the list could go on and on. We've worked so hard on your colors and you can finally recognize pink, red, orange, black, brown, silver and gold. (Yes, my child knows her metallics.) We are still working on blue and green. :) You can also say Colossians 3:20 with some prompting, as we use this bible verse when we correct/discipline.

How do you help?-This is one area where I have been completely amazed. Before bath, you always take your clothes to the dirty clothes hamper. I don't really remember teaching you this...you sort-of did it on your own. Sometimes you will even take your dirty dishes to the sink after a meal. You are very good about helping unload the dishwasher and put away groceries. Last week when we were putting away grocery items, I gave you some items to take to the bathroom. Later I went in the bathroom to put them away, expecting everything to be either in the floor or in the sink and you had put EVERYTHING in the correct place!

Oh, Kendall Grace, we love you more than you know! You fill our lives with so much joy! Our prayer is that you will grow up to KNOW and LOVE God and have a desire to serve Him only. We look forward to watching you learn and grow during year number three!

Fall Fun

We didn't throw a big party for Kendall's birthday, Evan's birthday was yesterday and then Halloween falling on a Saturday seemed to be enough reasons to invite some friends over for fun!

I really love having people in our home and I'm thankful that I learned it from my mom. She was really good at opening up their home to people. She never felt the need to be elaborate--she would find a new recipe to try out or buy a new serving piece--just something to make the event special. My parents never lived in a fancy house or had fancy things, but they entertained anyway, and entertained all kinds. Oh how I cherish these lessons!

I think we ended up with about six families at our house this evening. It's always so neat to see how space and food expand! At the beginning of the week, there was a 70% chance of rain and I came really close to cancelling, since the plan was for the kids to play outside. I knew I could clean up the basement for some extra space, but what in the world could we do inside with the kids??? By yesterday morning, the rain chances decreased to about 20%, and we ended up with no rain at all! It all came last night, and the weather ended up being decent enough for the kids to enjoy being outside.

The great fall comfort foods of hot dogs and chili were served, and we ended up having enough chili leftover to send some home with one family, plus more for us to put in the freezer! I made homemade iced sugar cookies in the shape of pumpkins and leaves for dessert. I also had each family bring a bag of candy and we set up a "candy bar" for the kids to fill paper sacks.

Costumes were optional, although I think most ended up being dressed as something. We had a puppy, Yoda, Snow White, Beauty Queen, Dallas Cowboy football player, a bride, a dinosaur, and a lady bug. All the kids were super cute!

I have to be honest and say that I've really struggled with Halloween costumes for Kendall in the last two years. I don't know...I guess I'm cheap. She's not really "into" anything yet, and it's not like she's got a sibling that I can dress in coordinating costumes. I looked at a couple of costumes with wings and masks, and even showed Evan, but he didn't think it was worth it because she probably wouldn't keep them on for very long. I just can't fork over the money for a costume that she will only wear once unless it's something she could put in her dress up basket. Maybe next year I will come up with something...we'll see!

For the party, I was just going to let her wear jeans and a fall shirt, but Evan said, "She can be a Razorback cheerleader!" So we put her in her cheer-leading uniform and she was cute all the same, especially since she wore her red and black lady bug boots to match.

The kids spent most of the time outside playing. The swing set is always a hit and Preston and Erica brought their inflatable bouncer over, which was tons of fun for the kiddos.

I think Kendall's dinner consisted of a couple of bites of chili, two Capri Suns, and lots and lots of candy. She was in bed before 8:00 tonight without ever hearing a peep! Hopefully, she'll sleep right through that extra hour we gain tonight! :)

It was a fun way to spend the evening!

end of an era

fall is a special time of year for me that always makes me nostalgic, especially october.

october brings lots of birthdays in our family and is also the anniversary month of when evan and i began dating, then a year later were engaged. i get a little teary-eyed thinking about it. not because of sadness, but because i'm so thankful.

six years ago was also when evan began his job at courthouse data, which later turned into a job at clear title. while his career at clear title ended about a year ago, we still look back and are grateful for his time there and how God was so gracious to let that job extend into our move to louisville.

when evan started at courthouse data, he was given this coffee mug.
not just any stainless steel coffee mug. the perfect one. it held the right amount of coffee that wouldn't get lukewarm before drinking it all. it had the right type of spout at the top that didn't leak. it also fit perfectly into the car's cup holder.

in six years, this coffee mug has been to the golf course, to church, and on long car trips. it's been fought over, misplaced, and even put in the dishwasher. it's cracked at the bottom and all the insulation is gone. we have several other stainless steel mugs, but for some reason, nothing compares to this one.

while we were in memphis this weekend, evan's mom gave him a brand new coffee mug. a plastic arkansas razorback one that is made exactly like the beloved courthouse data mug. evan was actually very excited about his gift.

why then, are we having such a hard time throwing the old one away???

i tried monday evening, and couldn't bite the bullet. i told evan that i couldn't do it, that it was like the end of an era! he told me he would do it, but it continues to sit so lonely on our counter...

somebody help us. we are oh so pitiful.

Birthday Number Two!

What a fantastic birthday weekend!!! Here is the birthday girl herself! Notice her crocs...Kendall has become very opinionated about what shoes she would like to wear, and it's just not a battle I'm willing to fight. At least they are pink, right?!?! :)

Here we are are with our sweet friends, Brian and Kendra. We love them. I really wanted to pack them in my suitcase and bring them back to Louisville. Maybe next time.

The boys wanted to eat ribs at the Rendezvous on Friday night, so I took cupcakes for dessert to celebrate Kendall's big day. The Rendezvous is well known for a fun atmosphere before Razorback games, and that it was! We got there fairly early, but it was getting pretty hype with Hog calling as the evening progressed. Kendall was pretty antsy from sitting in a car seat for six hours already that day, and wasn't real keen on sitting in a high chair for dinner. She also got a little overwhelmed at all the noise. While she knows and loves "Woo Pig Sooie" she flipped out a little at the full-fledged Hog call!

Lets CALL THOSE HOGS!!!

Evan's birthday is this coming Friday, so he got to blow out a birthday candle, too!

I was very excited to see two of my good friends from high school, too. Robin (far left) lives close to Memphis and drove over for Kendall's birthday dinner. She and I have been friends since pre-school. Adriane (middle) missed the dinner, but got to drive me back to the hotel that night, then I saw her for a few minutes after the game on Saturday. Love them!!!

Evan's mom, dad, and sister were all able to come celebrate with us, so we shared a hotel room with them. After dinner, Kendall had a few more gifts to open. She was so very excited to open up her new pack-pack!

Saturday morning, we got up bright and early to get ready for the game. Kendall stayed with her Nana and "Aunt Merenith" so mommy and daddy could go to the game with their friends. She makes a pretty cute cheerleader, huh???

The game stunk.

It's not fun being at someone else's field watching your team lose.

Kendra and I got some good visiting in while watching the game, and we also experienced the guy sitting next to us throw up. GROSS!! Kendra then overhears the girl with him say, "He'd been eating and drinking all morning, I had no idea he had a bleeding ulcer!" Really, people. Not smart!

When the game was over, we walked to The Grove and found The Pond's tailgate. We got some good food (I ate two brownies and a huge iced sugar cookie. Both were GOOOOOD!!!) and I got to visit with my sweet friends for a few minutes before we had to leave.

Evan and I then drove down to my dad's house for the night. When we arrived, he had dinner all ready for us--complete with the table set and a plate of pickles, cheese, and banana peppers. He even made cornbread from scratch! We ate and let him play with Kendall for a little bit before we all CRASHED before 10:00. Kendall slept in a big bed for the first time all by herself, and did GREAT! (Maybe we should bring the twin bed up from the basement?!?!)




On Sunday, both sets of grandparents, Aunt Judy and Faith all came for lunch. We had a great time visiting and eating!

Evan and I loaded up and made it back to Louisville around 10:45 last night. We didn't even get the 4-Runner unloaded all the way before we crashed! It was a whirlwind trip, but I'll take it. I'd rather see my friends and family for a short period than not see them at all. We leave a little piece of our hearts every time we go home, but are confident that Louisville is where we need to be for now! We are so loved and so very blessed...and so thankful for such a great weekend!

reasons i'm smiling...

we get celebrate kendall's birthday tomorrow with sweet friends and family. i couldn't be happier. we also get to cheer on the HOGS this weekend IN PERSON, instead of from our living room. oh, i've missed my razorback game dates.


speaking of razorback game dates, it was on this particular weekend SIX years ago that evan first asked me to hang out. and guess what we did??? watched ole miss and arkansas play football. i remember it very vividly, mainly because i called my friend jennifer when i left and said, "He's SOOO not interested." it's fun to think back on the things i remember about that night now that we are married. especially since now i know he WAS indeed interested, he was just mad that the Hogs lost the game!


i shared a honeycrisp apple with kendall today. apples don't get much better...


when kendall and i were making the bed this morning, i said, "tomorrow is your birthday." Kendall replies with, "i get my new pack-pack?" she was with me when i bought it, and i told her we were saving it for her birthday. i love that her little brain remembered that. how excited will she be to open it?!?!?


i attended Thursday Morning Bible Study this morning. oh, how i miss it when i am working. what a wonderful group of women, and such great encouragement.


because David Crowder Band's Remedy is playing right now. love that song. love the words.


yesterday kendall and i were driving and we passed a Moby Dick restaurant. kendall says, "Ooohh, scary whale." yes, Kendall, that whale is pretty scary. never eaten there, but the food probably is a little scary too. :)


evan and i had a random opportunity present itself this week. we talked and prayed about it, not sure of what to do. today when he got home, i said "let's write down yes or no on separate sheets of paper to see if we're on the same page." we did, and we had the same answer. God is so faithful to us to hear our prayers and i'm so thankful.

some man stopped by our house today, selling steaks or something. when i answered the door, he asked if my mother or father was at home. really??? do i look that young???

because I'm about to wrap a birthday present for kendall that evan picked out ON HIS OWN. what a sweet, sweet daddy she has!

What are your reasons for smiling today?!?!?

Goin' on a Train Ride

This morning, I spent a good bit of time in the kitchen getting a meal ready for a friend who recently had a baby. Kendall was very cooperative while doing this and played around me. When I was almost finished, she started lining up Beep Beep (that's what she calls that little car you see in the picture) and her chairs from her room saying, "Make a train, Make a train!"

So we did. We made a train and took turns being the engineer.

Oh, I love the imagination I already see in this little grl! And I love even more that I get full days at home to see her imagination run wild!

Judah's Shoes

Everytime we see rain boots at the store, Kendall exclaims, "Judah's shoes!"

We have this sweet friend, Judah, who went through a phase where he wanted to wear is rain boots everywhere.

Now, Kendall is the proud owner of her very own pair. And boy is she in love. She wanted to wear them during her nap yesterday and you better believe her new boots were the first thing she showed her daddy when he came home from work!

We love our new shoes!