Kenley | ...back to the basics...

A Day with a Train

April 22, 2013 by julie · 2 Comments

My brother in law Eric has always wanted to take Brayden to the rail where they load the trains with grain from the elevator. It’s been in the back of our heads to do it for months, and last week, we finally got our chance.

We got to go inside and see all of the controls, and the kids even got to honk the horn. That was their favorite part. Kenley wanted to touch all of the buttons, but mostly the horn button.

We drove around and looked at all of the train cars sitting on the tracks waiting to be loaded.

Honestly, I am not sure who had more fun out of these two!

Even though it was cold and windy, I was SO glad it worked out to be able to go. The kids had a great time, and I am so glad that we could be spontaneous and go. Brayden won’t stop talking about it!

Filed Under: Brayden, family, just for fun, Kenley ·

Spunk and Sass

April 9, 2013 by julie · 3 Comments

Miss Kenley. Oh this girl is a ball of fire and honestly, I can’t imagine life without her.

(coat: Columbia, jeans: Old Navy, shoes: Toms)

18 months is such a glorious age. Kenley is starting to communicate, curious, loves pretty much everything and everyone, yet still seemingly a baby. She still wants to be cuddled and held and rocked before naps and bedtime. Loves the outdoors. Loves the swing and the slide and running after her brother.

As sweet as she is, she is also showing her dislike for things by saying “no”, waving her hands, or my personal favorite, hitting. *sigh* We are working on it.

She can say “bye”, “hi”, “more”, “yes” and “no” and “meow.” She blows kisses and waves, and tries to do a peace sign, since her brother’s classic new phrase when leaving anywhere is “peace out!” She is wearing 12-18 month and 18 month clothes. I just boxed up most of her 12 month things (which was kind of sad). She wears a size 5 shoe and looks SO STINKIN’ CUTE in her baby Toms.

Kenley is a great eater, with clear favorites being yogurt, blueberries, chocolate chips, cereal with milk, green beans, apples, and oatmeal. This girl will try anything and she is SUCH a better eater than her brother currently is. We started swimming once a week at an indoor pool and she is loving it.

She is also my amazing sleeper, going to bed between 8-8:30pm and sleeping until at LEAST 8am. Sometimes, its as late as 9:30am. She takes an afternoon nap that is anywhere from 1.5-3 hours. She hates being woken up before she is ready so I really, really try not to do that. I end up paying for it later!

She loves being outside and being independent. She doesn’t take too well to Brayden trying to coddle her all the time. She is also more adventurous, being the first child to ever set foot in the field behind the trees in our back yard. ::sigh:: BOTH eyes must be on her at all times, or who knows where she will end up!

I remember loving Brayden at this age, and it’s no different for her. Their personalities at this age are very similar yet– Kenley is a tad bit spunkier and sassier.

She’s hilarious and smart and funny and goodness, I just love that girl.

Linking up with Sunny with a Chance of Sprinkles for Trendy Little Linkup

Filed Under: blog friends, Kenley · Tagged With: sass, spunk

Lately…

April 4, 2013 by julie · 3 Comments

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We have been BUSY lately! The weather is getting nicer, we are out and about a little bit more, and Easter weekend had us spending lots of time with family.

There’s been some iPad time…

A little more iPad time without big brother helping!

Easter naps…

Zero cooperation for Easter morning photos…

and some lost eggs that needed to be found.

(I just noticed that Kenley has a paci in almost EVERY SINGLE PHOTO! That girl…so attached. It’s going to be a fight and an entirely different blog post.)

Life is good. Honestly. My camera is capturing lots of moments, I am feeling IN THOSE MOMENTS, and I am excited for warmer weather!

Happy Friday!

Filed Under: about me, Brayden, family, holidays, Kenley · Tagged With: easter, kids, photos

Wordless Wednesday {Easter Edition}

April 2, 2013 by julie · 3 Comments

Linking up with In The Moment With.

Filed Under: Brayden, holidays, Kenley, Wordless Wednesday ·

Just add “referee” to my job title…

March 28, 2013 by julie · 6 Comments

When Kenley was a newborn, I secretly longed for the day that both kids could and WOULD play together. Civil like. And then I could go about my business and they could entertain each other for 5 minutes so that I could use the bathroom alone, prep dinner, or BLINK.

Sadly my friends, that was not to become a reality. Well, 90% of the time it’s not.

Exhibit A.

While Brayden was a pretty mild mannered toddler (for the most part), Kenley is the total opposite. She wants what she wants and she wanted it 5 minutes ago. We actually laugh a little when she starts getting really mad about something. She’s so determined. She’s headstrong, bossy, and needs her own country to run.

She’s feisty and that has posed a totally new ballgame up in this house.

TWO strong willed children.

The other night, my sister and brother-in-law were over, and Eric asked “What do you think would happen if you left them alone for an hour?” Brandon immediately said “they would kill each other.”

All joking aside, I have $10 on Kenley. Every. Time.

Girl knows what she wants! And I know this will pay off later in life. (I hope.) And it isn’t a bad trait whatsoever, but it makes parenting an almost 18 month old somewhat of a challenge.

Generally, when I hear crying or arguing from another room and I don’t know who started it, I generally guess it was Brayden. But then I will catch Kenley being an instigator. So, I pull them apart, ask Brayden “what happened?” instead of “what did you do?” and go from there. It’s not perfect but at least then it’s giving him a fair chance to say “I hurt her because” or “she took that from me”– the most popular answers.

80% of my day is spent as a referee. Please tell me I am not the only one.

Filed Under: Brayden, discipline, Kenley, life as a mom ·

You Just Have to Laugh

March 18, 2013 by julie · 2 Comments

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that last week, I was having quite a time with that spunky, sassy 17 month old that resides here. If you still aren’t sure who that is, her name starts with a K.

Oh my.

She was fighting naps, bedtime, crying more than she was NOT crying, being overly clingy, not playing at all– and I just could not figure it out. I blamed her 15 month shots, teeth, the time change– to no avail. No fever, no cough– no other possible warning signs.

To say I was losing it would be an understatement.

Now, to be fair, I haven’t struggled with anxiety this time around like I did after having Brayden, but after relentless crying for that long, I was at a breaking point. My shoulders, back, and neck ached from holding her and carrying her. My mind hurt from trying to figure her out. And physically, I was not a pretty version of myself.

Finally, I decided to call the dr. office again, just to talk to a nurse, see if I missed anything. They told me to bring her in so they could check for a possible ear infection or strep. And said they could see her in 45 min. I live an hour away. And both kids were napping.

So, naturally, I said we would be there.

(Thankfully, I remembered to put on a bra.)

I got the kids up, dressed, threw a few things in Kenley’s bag, and off we went.

And my car didn’t have enough gas. And then I flung gas all over my nice yoga pants and sweatshirt.

We were 15 minutes late but they still got us in, and could not find anything. Strep test came back negative, so our doctor ordered some blood work just to be safe, so make sure she didn’t have anything that could be making her this way.

I was a mess. A MESS.

My mother in law met me at the hospital and sat with Brayden in the car while I took Kenley in. Of course, I got a tech that couldn’t get it on the first try, and trying to pin Kenley down for THAT long was not an experience I care to repeat anytime soon. I held it together until I got back out to the car, and then proceeded to lose it again.

IS THIS REALLY MY LIFE RIGHT NOW? I just couldn’t believe how this day was turning out.

But, as we left the hospital, I just prayed. I thanked God that it was nothing serious with Kenley, that the blood draw was just a precaution. I prayed for strength. I prayed for my attitude. I prayed that my sweet girl would stop crying.

As I was texting a dear friend, she couldn’t believe everything I was telling her and said “you just have to laugh now!”. And laugh I did. It just all seemed SO ridiculous and HARD at the time, but at the end of the day, that’s just the life of a mom.

Never easy. Never ending. And I was able to find that I was blessed even in those tough moments.

(As is turns out, my mom had a terrible sore throat after all of this, and her strep test came back negative as well. Kenley broke out in a rash like she does at the end of all viruses, so I am assuming that she just had a bug of some sort. Her blood work came back fine.)

Filed Under: anxiety, Kenley, Kids, life as a mom, Life with two ·

A recap of the past two weekends…

March 11, 2013 by julie · 1 Comment

I am beat. Mentally, physically, emotionally. My neck and shoulders ache. My head hurts.

Two weekends ago we all had the stomach flu. Every. Single. One. Of. Us. And this past weekend, Kenley has been not herself. And that’s putting it nicely.

After getting her 15 month vaccinations last Thursday (yes, 2 months late), I knew I was probably in for a long day. I didn’t know it would last 3 days. She has been totally crabby, crying nonstop, freaks when I leave her sight, and clingy doesn’t even accurately describe her. She has been crying when I put her down for naps and at bedtime, and I can’t figure it out. I had the pediatrician look at her Thursday just to be sure she didn’t have an ear infection or anything– and she was perfect, just crabby. Her eye teeth have poked through, but the doctor said they could still be giving her trouble.

I have tried it all. My body hurts from holding and carrying her around all weekend.

I am weary.

Not only is it mentally taxing to listen to her cry with no break, it makes my anxiety rear it’s ugly head. I have been on the verge of a breakdown all weekend, and trying to balance being a good mom and responding to Kenley’s needs.

It’s hard. And hopefully just a phase.

Thankfully, Brandon did a LOT around here over the weekend, and he really did try to help with her. But she only wanted me.

I try to see the silver lining in that she won’t want to be cuddled for long, but when it literally makes my skin crawl, it’s so hard.

Filed Under: anxiety, Kenley ·

First Pigtails

March 10, 2013 by julie · 2 Comments

Having been a boy mom first, I am pretty clueless about what to do with Kenley’s hair. When Brayden’s started to look pretty shaggy, we trimmed it–and I may have shed a few tears. But with Kenley, I don’t want to cut bangs and have the back of her hair long and look mullet-like. But it is ALWAYS in her face.

You might be thinking “Julie, just get a cute barrette and clip it out of her face.” And to that I say “Do you KNOW my daughter?” She won’t leave a barrette in her hair for longer than 2 seconds. I try almost daily, and within a few seconds she has it ripped out and is laughing at me. She also tends to cry when I mess with her hair, so I really had never tried anything else. Until one day 2 weeks ago…

My friend Laura suggested pigtails while we were playing at her house one day. And wouldn’t you know, Kenley sat (almost) perfectly still while Laura did her first pigtails.

And I pretty much died right there from the cuteness AND the face that instantly, she looked more like 2 years old instead of closer to 1. But it wasn’t until I saw the photo that Laura snagged on her camera that I REALLY fell in love.

I am smitten with pigtails now, and hope that Kenley will keep letting my play with her hair because I am sort of (REALLY) enjoying this new phase of having a daughter.

Filed Under: hair, Kenley · Tagged With: pigtails

Wordless Wednesday

February 12, 2013 by julie · 2 Comments

Filed Under: Kenley, photography, photos · Tagged With: black and white, photography

Moments of Realization

February 3, 2013 by julie · 2 Comments

Do you ever have a moment where something just clicks? An “aha” moment, as Oprah would say. I have had a few of those lately, and 99% of them have to do with my kids.

In my reading of No More Perfect Moms, I learned that I am in fact, NOT perfect. No one is. But– I can do better.

We seem to be in a winter/hibernation rut. Too cold to be outside, nowhere to go, and battling the sickies. We all have a slight case of cabin fever, and I am just at my wit’s end with these kiddos of mine.

Coupled with myself getting over being sick, Kenley’s newest discovery-tantrums!, and more TV being watched than I would like to admit, I am feeling like a failure. I am dreading the start of another week. Dreading another day stuck in this house with two kids that are totally over any activity I put in front of them.

I shouldn’t feel like this.

I just feel like I am losing at this whole mom thing lately….and I can’t put my finger on it.

But, just like today and yesterday and the day before, tomorrow I will get up, kiss those sweet babies and try to make the most of the day even when I feel like it can’t go uphill. These moments are fleeting–even the trying ones.

Here’s to a better tomorrow.