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!