Potty, Pool, & Pretty girls

The end of May & the month of June were fun months as were getting settled into our new home.

Kinley enjoyed watching the delivery guy install our new washer/dryer.  Lookin' super cute in her romper!

We celebrated Andy & Alicia's nursing school graduation.  And this is a major milestone - Kinley is finally letting guys hold her!  Woohoo for little victories!

Oh this face...

And Laiken wanted to do a little cheer for her uncle & aunt:

We had lots of fun on my maternity leave.  Kinley learned to "pose" from her older cousins and this is how she did hers:

Her little personality is SO funny!  I won't try to claim that one, I'll give the credit to my hubs. :)

Kinley kept showing an interest in the potty so we took her potty at every demand.  Her baby even wanted to go!

Another random day at home & Kinley posing...

(I'm pretty sure her fingers are supposed to be doing a peace sign).
We spent lots of time loving on lil sis, too.

And I say this all the time but these pictures melt my heart!

I got the girls all dressed up in their red, white, & blue for memorial day weekend.  Aaaah, the start to summer!

The sweet girlies hanging out before everyone came over to swim.

Kinley enjoyed her guacamole by the pool (it's been a fave since she turned 1)!

My little poser by the pool.  I had to crop out the bottom because she may have been holding my adult beverage...

This little one continued to steal our hearts every day.

We also did a little mowing:

and lots of hanging out.

Our little Laikey just hung out and was so content just watching everyone.

We were in the pool almost every weekend & had so much fun!  The weather didn't get super hot which was annoying but we still got in all the pool time that we could!

My sis-in-law came down from Aurora a lot this summer and it was SO awesome to have all the cousins together to play! Yes, my child is swimming with a coordinating bow in her hair.  I've already been made fun of for that.  She needs her hair out of her face!  :)  :) These girls had a few matching outfits... Kinley got a little play time in while Laiken napped.
I swear I'm raising a fish.  Kinley is so happy in the water and I hope that continues. A little baby yoga by the pool... And one last sister shot.  Kinley likes to lay down and play with Laiken on her play mat.  Such a good big sis!

Laiken: 2 months old!

Laiken -

 

 

You had quite an eventful second month!  You were carted around from house to house and store to store and you just went with the flow.  That was a very welcome change from your big sis.

Here's a comparison of Kinley's 2 month picture.  I still think you two look alike but have your own look, too.

You are such a smiley baby and love interacting and "talking" to people.  You don't know a stranger and love when you get attention!  You're usually only fussy if you're hungry or your tummy hurts.

You look like such a big girl already, too!  I don't know where my newborn baby went!  You don't care for tummy time but you love your bath time.

You also love to grab toys on your play mat.  We wondered if you were about to get teeth because you're hands are constantly in your mouth!  No teeth to report yet though.

You were such a good girl at your doctor appointment!  You just hung out and smiled and chatted with the nurses.  You weighed 12 pounds 5 ounces and were 23.25 inches long.  Obviously, you hated your shots but got over it pretty quick.

You are in 0-3 month clothes and fill them out pretty well already!  You wear size 1 diapers and eat around 4 ounces of milk every 3 hours.  You definitely don't miss a meal!   We absolutely love watching you grow every day and you are such a joy to have in our family!  Your smile can light up a room and always makes my stressful days better.  We love you, "Ka!"

May 2013

May was a very eventful Month so here's a quick recap:

 

Laiken loves her baths.

We had some major sissy cuddle time.

Kinley loved drawing with chalk at the old house.

 

Laiken's looks kept changing.

We tested out the double stroller.

Scott took both of the girls to Sue's for the first time so I could get some packing done.  I might have shed a tear but it was nice to be productive!

 We closed on our house May 1 and started moving around the 10th.  We had pizza parties and hung out in our empty house a lot!

 Andy, my dad, Cora, & Christie were great help when we painted the girls rooms!  I'll have to get a little room tour up sometime before the girls go to college...haha.

We also tackled the wallpaper in the kitchen which proved to be the worst job ever!  My mom, Cora, Aunt Rindie, Andy's soon to be mother-in-law, Rob, and even my grandma helped with the awful job and I'm SO thankful!  There were a few hack jobs and we learned a big lesson in wallpaper removal. :(

Laiken slept through most of this excitement.

She also started getting chubby cheeks!

 

 Our friends Ryan & Courtney got married and for the first time ever, I couldn't find a babysitter - that never happens!  I decided to take the girls with me to the reception and they did pretty well.  Scott's mom was so sweet to take the girls with her when she left so Scott & I could have some adult fun!  And these are the only pictures I got of that night...

Laiken stayed snuggled in her seat because it was still super windy and chilly outside.

 

We went to cheer on Scott at his annual hockey tournament!

Laiken took one of many trips to Lowe's with me.

and she kept growing...

We played a lot while we got settled into our new house.

Buddha belly baby!

We had more bath fun!

Towards the end of May it finally got nice enough to open our pool.

Learning how to open the pool and get the water clear was quite a process.  I never realized how much work really goes into maintaining a pool... 

 Kinley loved helping grandpa vacuum and playing in the pool

 I don't care that the water is ice cold!

Laiken took lots of trips with me during my maternity leave - this Walmart trip got interesting when we ran out of cart room!

And one last sweet angel picture of Laiken...

I'll stop here since, apparently, I took a lot of pictures in May!



Mothers & Fathers Day 2013

We hosted Mother's Day Brunch and my birthday at our new house.  We were barely moved in but we had lots of room for everyone to hang out.

We (my family) cooked a huge brunch and it was SO good!  We were super full but still had to make room for some birthday cake that afternoon.

Kinley loved everyone singing to me! :)

She's also becoming a pro at blowing out the candles.

She loved my card that sang a song.

We had lots of fun celebrating all of the wonderful mommies in my family.  I seriously feel SO lucky to be surrounded by such awesome role models. I don't know how my mom kept it together with 4 kids, I can barely handle 2!

And she helps me SO much, I don't know what I would do without her.  I hate to admit it because I feel like a slacker but she helps clean my house, shows me how to get stains out of clothes & catches up my laundry (yes I'm 29 & still need help with this, ha), helps me through my freak out sessions, and is the best grandma ever to my girls!  

My mother-in-law totally rocks, too!  We went to Scott's parents house that evening for dinner and I desperately wanted a family picture!  This, my friends, is real life:

I'm lookin' like a hot mess, no smile from Kinley, Laiken's ticked off, and Scott's pretty content.  HA!  Oh well, I don't expect much from pictures anymore, as long as everyone is in them.  

While I'm on the subject of awesome parents - my sis-in-laws (and BIL's) provide so much guidance for me that they probably don't even realize.  They've been through it all pretty recently so I remember many of the stories they've told and the advice they've given.  I think my nieces and nephews turned out pretty awesome so why I wouldn't I look up to them!?  And they're about as sweet and funny as they come!

While I'm feeling all lovey towards the mama's in the family, I might as well recap father's day, too!  We hung out at our pool for most of the day with my family to celebrate my dad.  I've always been a daddy's a girl and that hasn't changed a bit.  My mom claims that he carried me everywhere until I was 2 and I still remember him carrying me to bed from the couch when my feet were dragging the floor! haha, can we say spoiled?!  I love watching my girls fall in love with their grandpa, too!

We went to IBYC that night with Scott's fam and got some family pictures by the lake that turned out much better than my mother's day ones.

These girls already have him wrapped around their fingers!

Some of the girls hanging out with Laiken.

Scott's dad is also just about as sweet as they come.  I have always felt like I was part of their family since day one, 14 years ago.  He has the kindest heart and doesn't meet a stranger.

These girls are so lucky to have 2 awesome sets of grandparents!

And this guy - almost 14 years together and I love him more every day, well most days. ;)  He works so hard for us and would do anything for his girls.  He has a heart of gold and I'm sure nearly anyone he's ever met would agree.  We are SO lucky to have him as our hubby/daddy!

Even though you don't need special holidays to celebrate amazing mommies and daddies, it's still fun to take some time out to let them know how much they mean to you and how special they are!