2 Years old!

Kenley turned 2 a few weeks ago!  We had the family over at the house for an "Elmo" themed party.  In her usual style, she was a little nervous at first with having everyone over, but within the hour she warmed up and had a great time.  When we first woke up with her that morning, Ray and I gave her her pink cadillac battery operated car!  She was excited about it, and she got to try it out later in the day with Caden.  I know she will be cruising around the block once spring comes!

She was very excited to open her presents and got so many fun toys, and nice clothes.  When it was time to sing, "Happy Birthday" she got a little shy, but I know she loved that everyone was singing to her.  We got her a really cute Elmo cake from Orland Bakery.  The rest of the night she played with all of her new toys.  Kenley and Caden played, "pin the nose on Elmo,"  Aunt Katie made Elmo and Oscar the Grouch vegetable trays, and I made buckets with little stuff for the kids.  We were disappointed that the Elmo costume didn't get here in time, and we are still in a fight with the seller through e-bay about that.  But, Kenley had fun, and that's all that mattered to me.

2 years old has been so much fun, and we have had a great few weeks with lots of excitement over her birthday, and Christmas.  Ray and I took her to see Santa for the 2nd time the day after her birthday.  She was a little bit braver this time, but didn't get up the courage to sit on his lap.  The Santa at Orland mall was amazing!  No fake beard, this guy is the real deal!  He was so patient with us, and really took time talking to us.  He gave Kenley stickers, and she gave him a high five and even a quick hug before we left.  That's progress!  Of course, the second we left she couldn't stop talking about him!

 

She had her 2 year check up, and is doing great!  She is still really tall for her age, and the nurse commented on how verbal she was.  She kept asking the nurse and our doctor to "check my eyes, my ears, and my nose."  and said, "I want to get the flu shot!" even though she already had it and didn't need it.  Ha, ha!  I guess the new doctor's kit she got for her birthday made her very brave.

She says so many funny things, and this morning she said, "That was pretty funny, don't you think?"  She also knows a lot of Christmas songs including Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer, We wish you a Merry Christmas, and Santa Claus is coming to town.  I love when she spontaneously breaks into song.  It's going to be a really fun Christmas.  Only 2 days away!  I just finished wrapping a few gifts, and tomorrow will be a few last-minute things. 

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Parties & traditions

I have been to the park twice this week.  I don't think I have ever said that in the month of December!  It's pretty crazy to have days in the 60's for this time of year. While I will take that anytime over the negative temps that I know we are bound to have, I would also love to take Kenley sledding sometime this year. She has been asking to build a snowman, which I know that she got from watching one too many Caillou episodes.
I have my first official Christmas party this weekend with my girlfriends from high school tomorrow, and then, Saturday is Kenley's 2nd birthday! So, the weekend will be filled with lots of fun stuff! Tonight we celebrated Saint Nicholas day.  And, really I didn't know it was today until I got to work, so I scrounged up some stocking stuffers that were supposed to be for Christmas and put them in the stockings.  But, it was something I always celebrated as a kid, and I would like to continue that tradition. Kenley was so excited to pull her little surprises out of her stocking,  It made me look forward to Christmas even more.  I wonder how she will react opening her birthday presents this weekend.
I know pretty much everyone with kids is doing elf on a shelf. We have one, but Kenley doesn't quite understand it yet. But, she did name our elf, "Chewy." We have no idea where that came from. We took her to breakfast with Santa past weekend, and she had a great time getting her face painted, eating breakfast, and doing the crafts, but wanted no part of sitting on The Big Guy's lap. She clung to me like a spider monkey. Since then, she keeps asking me if she can go see Santa, and says she wants to sit on his lap. Maybe we will try another day. Or, there is always next year!

It was such a nice weekend and I'm sad to see it end, but I made the most of every minute.  Thanksgiving was really nice, and we had such a good time with our families.  The food was amazing, and we are still eating leftovers.  We are so thankful for our families, and it was great to spend the day with them.  I got to meet the newest member of our family, Rachel.  It was so cool going from Kenley being the only baby last year, to her being the oldest of 3 now!  Kenley had a fun Thanksgiving, and took a little while to warm up at my Grandma's house, but was great the rest of the day.

I went shopping Thanksgiving night for the first time ever.  It was insane, but I am so happy I went because I was able to get Kenley's birthday present at a great price!  It was worth the hour long wait at Toy's-R-Us.  Ray came and picked it up around midnight, and then dropped me off at Kohl's to meet up with my mom and sister. Between us all being so tired, my mom & sister's cell phones dying, and pure maddness throughout the store, I panicked when we all got separated.  We were all delirious by the time we left the store at 2:00 am.  But, it was a fun, and I kind of liked not rushing out early in the morning even though I still made a quick stop at the mall to Carson's and Macy's.  I got quite a lot of gifts, and I even started wrapping a few!

We put up all of our Christmas decorations throughout the weekend.  I was happy at the end of the day when Ray started up the fire place for the first time this year, and it felt very cozy.  Kenley was so excited about every decoration, and she has had fun checking everything out.  Ray and I watched Kayla for the first time this weekend for a few hours, and my sister took our family Christmas photo before they left.  There was a lot of bribing going on, but we got a few good ones. 

I'm excited to do a lot of fun holiday things over the next few weeks.  We started "elf on a shelf" today.  I don't think Kenley quite understands it, but she has named our elf, Chewy.  No idea where that came from!  I can't wait to take her to see Santa, to play in the snow, to look at all the Christmas lights, to build our gingerbread train, and lots of other holiday stuff.  We have a busy couple of weeks between her birthday and the holidays, so it should be really fun.

Let the Holidays Begin

I am so looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend, and it is almost here.  Besides getting an extra long weekend off of work, I am looking forward to spending some time with family,  eating good food, doing some "Black Friday" shopping, decorating our Christmas tree, and having some downtime at home. I am actually considering going to Kohl's at midnight on Thursday depending on how our day goes.  It might be kind of nice to beat some of the crowds and not have to worry about chasing Kenley around or pushing a stroller.  I also will probably hit up Toys R' Us since I need to get Birthday and Christmas gifts for her.

This weekend I got almost all of my indoor decorations up!  I was having fun digging through all of my boxes of holiday stuff, and remembering what I have accumulated throughout the year.  Kenley's little pink tree in her room went up and she loved it.  She kept saying, "Come see my Christmas Tree Daddy!"  She wants us to leave the lights on all the time.  I know it is going to be extra fun this year now that she's older and is starting to understand the holidays.  She has even started learning a few songs and can sing most of, "Santa Claus is coming to town."  It is so adorable. 

Well, I'm off to finish the rest of this work week.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with their loved ones!

Here are a few pictures from Halloween that I never posted.  Once she got a hold of the candy it was hard to get a shot where she wasn't eating!  She wouldn't really say, "trick-or-treat," to anyone, but everytime they put something in her bag she would look at it and say, "I got candy!!"  and then she would want to eat it right away.  We just went to a few of our neighbor's houses, but she had a good time.

Celebrations

I have been M.I.A. here for a few weeks, so here is my catch up!

Kayla's christening was 2 weeks ago, and I was honored to be her Godmother!  She looked so beautiful in her gown made from Katie's wedding dress.  She was so good during the whole ceremony, and I think she enjoyed the actual process of having the water on her head.  Katie and Greg had all their friends and family for a big party afterword for the first big party at their new house. 

In other baby news, my cousin, Darcie, had her baby this week!  We have seen a few pictures of Rachel, and we are so excited about the newest addition to the family.  We can't wait to meet her on Thanksgiving or Christmas!  Also, Cheryl's baby shower was today.  It was really nice, and only 2 more months until her baby boy is due!  I also got to meet up with Ashlee this week, who is due with #3!  So many babies this year!  And, yes, it does give me baby fever :)

I truly CAN NOT believe that it is almost Thanksgiving!  I know everybody, including me, says this every year.  But, for real, where did the year go? I think part of the reason this year seems to be going extra fast is that I am having a better school year so far.  I am teaching 2 honors classes this year, and it is like night and day.  So, fingers crossed that the rest of the year goes well. 

I have already been buying Christmas stuff, and I am ready to start decorating.  But, is there some law against decorating before Thanksgiving?  I also don't want my neighbors to think I'm nuts!  I saw people "liking" on facebook that Nordstrom's won't be decorating until after Thanksgiving, but I don't mind the early celebrating one bit.  Ray came home from work the other day to find me and Kenley rocking out to Christmas music in the kitchen. I keep telling Ray that we have to go Grizwald style this year.  I don't think he quite shares my love of decorating, especially since he's the one who has to get up on the roof!

We are also starting to plan for Kenley's 2nd birthday!  It's less than a month away now, and all I'll say for now is that there will be a "special guest" attending.  I'm not sure if Kenley will be happy or scared about that, but either way, it will be fun.  I've spent way too much time looking at pinterest and other sites to get ideas about her themed party.  Totally worth it, she only turns 2 once!

Hope the start of November is treating everybody well, and I'm pretty happy that it's been in the 60's here this weekend!

Fall Festivities

So, I failed in uploading pictures for over a month now, and I have a lot saved up on my camera since then.  I had an amazing 30th birthday with my husband and baby girl, and family, and friends.  Ray surprised me by telling me that I would be picked up at 9:00 and to get ready.  My sister picked me up, and we drove to a nail salon.  I thought that was so sweet that he planned that, and I was happy to get pampered with my sister.  I walked into the salon and found my mom, mother-in-law, and best friends were there to surprise me!  We had our own room for pedicures, plus wine and snacks.  It was a great start to the day.  Later, we hung out at our house, and went to Trio later that night.  I had such a fun day, and I was happy to celebrate with my family and friends.

The last few weeks we have been to a lot of fall fests and little activites around the neighborhood.  I have had so much fun taking Kenley to these events now that she is old enough to do things like pet/feed animals, ride ponies, and jump in the bounce houses.  Also, since I'm a kid at heart, it gives me an excuse to do all of these things without looking like a complete nut!  I can't believe that Haloween is only about a week away. I know things will start getting crazy after that with the holidays approaching. We have already started talking about what we are going to do for Kenley's 2nd birthday, since it is only a month and a half away.  The great thing about time going by fast is that I am finishing the 1st quarter of school this week!  That truly makes me happy, and despite a few bumps in the road, I think the year is going okay so far. 

Happy Haloween Everyone!  You know I'll be posting pictures soon of Kenley in her costume!

Thoughts on 30

I have officially been 30 for an entire day now!  I've had mixed thoughts about turning 30, but so far it's been pretty good to me.  Most of my friends are already 30, so I'll still always be younger :)  I don't think of my friends as older, so that must mean that I'm not getting older either!  Ray sent me flowers and a huge balloon boquet at work, so it was pretty obvious that it was my birthday.  Several of my classes of students sang to me, and I was pretty happy when most of them didn't question me when I told them I was turning 21! Ha!

  I don't "feel" 30, even though I don't really know what that means.  Maybe I thought I would feel older hitting this milestone, or maybe that was just because when I would think about being 30 it always seemed pretty far away.  And, in some ways I do "feel" 30.  I'm doing the things that I thought I would be doing, that I wanted to be doing at 30.  I have a job, a husband, a house, and a kid.  Considering that those were my main goals by 30, I know that I am very lucky. 

A few times recentlly, I've thought, "Am I too old for...." Like, am I too old to shop in the juniors section, or to rock out to teeny-bopper music?  I also feel kind of old when I talk about being in college OVER ten years ago, or reminiscing about my high school days. Wow, those years really creep up on you.

I also have thought about how much has changed in those 10 years, and how I am different now than I was at 20.  At 20, I was thinking about where I would get a job, when I would get married, and when I would have kids. I wonder about what life will be like in another 10, 20, or 30 years. 


I'm looking forward to celebrating this weekend, and I am hoping to do some serious picture up-loading!  Until then, here are a few of my favorites from a few weeks ago!

Hi there, September!

It's  been a few weeks since I've updated, and it's partly because we've been busy, and partly because there is not as much to blog about when you are working all day.  But, we have had some really good weekends, and I am happy that another one is here.  Last weekend, we went to Alison and Ken's housewarming party, and had a lot of fun.  They have such a beautiful house, and a really nice yard.  The kids had fun playing in the jumpy house that we brought, so that provided a full day of entertainment.  I also went to the Frankfort Fest twice. The first time I went with Kenley, my mom, Ray's mom, and Aunt for the crafts, and in-between rain and a few major temper tantrums, and a half-hour time-out in the car, I was able to buy a few cool things. Then, Ray and I took Kenley back for a little bit on Monday and she got to go on a few little rides.


I can't believe that September is already here, and I am kind of excited for the fall.  Even though I don't want it to get cold out, as long as it stays nice for a while, I will be happy.  I'm ready to put out my ever growing collection of fall decorations soon.  I'm also excited because there are a few fun things coming up the next few weekends including a few local fall/halloween fests & pumpkin farms, a wedding, and my 30th birthday.  (yikes!)  I haven't even taken any pictures lately, except for a few on my phone, so I will have to figure out how to upload those soon.  Also, my niece is turning 1 month old tomorrow already!  I have to get new pictures of her, and I know that Katie and Greg are taking her to get professional shots tonight, so I can't wait to see them.  Well, that's all I got for now.  Have a great weekend!

Back to being a working mom

Written on 8-23
Today was my first day back at school, even though I don't meet my new students until next week. I had been in complete denial about going back. So much so that it kind of felt like it hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday. I broke out in tears several times just thinking about it. I even made a comment to Ray about Kenley & I having our last breakfast together, and he responded, "honey, you're not dying!" I know it's dramatic, but I feel like I'm in some kind of mourning of my summer. I know I'm going to miss so much over the hours each day I am at work. It kills me.  And it killed me even more to hear a few of my colleagues say that they were ready to come back to work, to get away from their kids, and that they could only handle going to the park so many times.  I was pretty surprised to hear that from some moms that have kids right around Kenley's age. But, I also know a lot of my colleagues were probably sad like I was to leave their kids.


I know I have to suck it up. I know that I'm lucky to have the summers off, and I know that so many moms do not get that perk. I know I will get through this year and be greatful when a 3 day weekend, or Chritmas break, and especially another summer rolls around. But, me, I thoroughly loved my summer with my girl.  I loved our mornings eating breakfast in the kitchen when she would want to "cheers" her milk with my iced coffee. I loved our afternoons of running errands, going on play dates, splash parks, playing in the backyard, and just having fun. And, our countless times at the park were no where near enough for me. I could push her on the swing & run around from slide to slide all day. I loved hearing all the new words she learned and laughing when she said funny things.  Even though she is having some tantrums that mostly start over the "I do it!" or hearing "No" powerstruggle, I loved that I got to experience them, soothe them, and eventually laugh about them.


I knowI am going to figure out this schedule again.  I might not be there for every moment, but I will make the ones I am here for count.

Kicking the Habit

Compared to my last few posts, this one may seem really boring, but I wanted to write about it because it is a milestone in my book. We are officially one week pacifier free!  I was a little to hesitant to write about it before, and as you can see, I have had more fun things to post about the last few days.

One of my goals this summer was to break Kenley of her pacifier addiction.  She mostly only used it for naps and sleeping, but a few weeks back when she got sick, she seemed to get more attached to it.  I know it was comforting her when she wasn't feeling so good, so I let her have it.  Then, when we were on vacation, I was worried about her not napping or sleeping well being away from home, so she had it a little bit more then too.  The last few weeks, she also would ask for it by saying, "The Pac!  The Pac!" Or asking for her blanket and "Pac Too!"  I knew it was time to try and take it, even though I dreaded it, and thought for sure it would be a few days of Hell.

So, she went to bed with it one last night, and when she woke up in the morning I took it, and I hid all of the other pacifiers laying around the house too. (so I thought)  I cut the tip off of one of the pacifiers and when she asked for it I gave her the "broken" one.  She threw a big fit, but I distracted her and then we left the house for the day.  I showed her the broken one a few times throughout the day and when she was in a really good mood I asked her if she wanted to throw the paci away.  Of course I had to say it in a voice that seemed like this would be something really fun to do, so she did it received a big round of applause afterward. 

She did not ask for it anymore that day, but a few hours later when it was time for bed, I knew that the hard part was just beginning.  She cried in her crib for almost an hour, feel asleep for about 2 hours and then woke up and cried a bit more before going back to sleep, but then slept through the night!  Ray and I didn't even have to use he ear plugs that were on our bedstands "just in case." 

The next morning I told her how proud I was and how she was such a big girl.  She only asked for it once or twice over the next day or two.  We only had one little setback.  We were in my room and I was straightening up, when I looked over and saw her sucking on a paci!  I have no idea where she got it from or how she found it, but I immediately snatched it away from her.  Again, she was not happy that I took it away after she only had a few seconds of being reuinted with it, but there was no way I was going to undo the 2 days of hard work.

The last few days she hasn't asked for it once, and she has been going down for naps and bedtime really good!  I am proud of Kenley and proud of myself for not giving in and knowing it would be a few hard days and then (hopefully) it would be over, and it was.  Although, I have to admit, looking back at all these pictures makes me remember the good old "baby" days with her paci. 

Here's where it all began, at the hospital!  I should have known by the way she was gripping it that it would be hard to say goodbye!

Yee haw!

To celebrate our anniversary, Ray and I have gone on vacation every year right around August 2nd.  Since we went to New Buffalo a week early this year, we still were going to make plans to do a little weekend get-away following that trip that would be just the two of us.  I was thinking maybe we would go to Lake Geneva, or stay overnight in Oakbrook.  When I mentioned this to Ray the weeks leading up to it he told me he had it all covered and had planned something.  I knew it was killing him keeping a secret, and then while we were in New Buffalo he surprised me by telling me that we were going to see Carrie Underwood....in Nashville! He gets major husband points for this one.

We had the best time in Nashville and stayed at the most amazing hotel, The Grand Opry Resort.  It was huge and beautiful with waterfalls, plants, resturaunts, and shops.  It was comparable to the nicest hotels in Las Vegas.  We had a chance to meet up with my cousin Darcie and her husband John and go to lunch with them.  Then we explored the main strip of bars listening to many amazing country bands.  We stayed out in that area the whole day and went to all the main bars Tootsies, Honkey-Tonk, Ripps.  We also met up with another couple that we are friends with from home when we found out through facebook they were in Nashville too! 

The next day we explored our hotel, went to the pool, went shopping, and then went to the Opry.  It was so much fun being there.  I loved every second of the show and all of the groups that played.  I was even suprised myself that I really enjoyed one of the gospel groups that performed.  It was so cool being at such a small venue, and they did a great job of mixing the old and new country acts.  Carrie Underwood was amazing, and she sounded better live than any cd.  I will never forget that concert. 

We had a great weekend, and it was fun being just the 2 of  us.  I feel so lucky that Ray would plan something so special for me.  Of course, we really missed Kenley while we were gone, and we were excited when we got to see her.  It sounded like she had a great time spending the weekend with our parents, and I know she got spoiled! I have only seen her for one hour so far because she napped, then went right back to sleep, and she has been sleeping for 14 hours!  Those grandparents really know how to party!

Here are some pictures from our trip!  4 Years and I wouldn't change a thing!

Welcome to the World!

My niece, Kayla Ann Cooney, was born last night on August 9, 2012!

What a surprise she gave to all of us!  Katie's due date was August 23rd, but this week we found out that she would be having a scheduled c-section on August 16th.  Katie ended up getting really sick from the antibiotics that they gave her a few weeks ago when she was in the hospital the first time with an infection.  She was so sick the last 3 days that on Wednesday night, my parents ended up taking her to the emergency room.  Greg was working, and met them there once Katie was checked in.  So, Thursday morning she was in the hospital and while they were treating her they noticed she was having a lot of contractions. 

I stayed in contact with my mom, and she kept me updated.  Around 3:00 I talked to her and she said that the nurse was going to have Katie's doctor come check her out because it looked like she might be going into labor.  The next call I got my mom said that most likely the c-section would be that night, and an hour later we got another call saying it was probably going to be soon!  Ray and my dad were supposed to be going to the Bears game with Ray's mom and uncle, but stayed back because they wanted to be there.  So, Ray and I took Kenley and went to the hospital.  We said hi to Katie and Greg, and within about 15 minutes they were wheeling Katie into the operating room.

Us, my parents, and Greg's parents all waited anxiously in the waiting room.  They said the c-section would take about an hour and ten minutes total, and believe me, we were all counting down.  Every minute beyond that seemed to take forever!  Kenley entertained us and she was so unbelievably good. I think she was just as excited to finally meet her cousin who we have been talking about for months. Finally, a nurse came and said everything went great, and then the Proud Daddy, Greg. came in to see us.  We were all asking a million questions, but knew we had to wait a little longer to meet Kayla and see Katie. 

Katie looked so content holding Kayla, and she was just smiling ear to ear.  Kayla was all bundeled up with a little pink hat on, and her eyes were open.  She has the cutest little face, and seemed so tiny!  We all took turns holding her and took a bunch of pictures. I am so excited about the newest addition to our family, and I am so happy for Katie & Greg!