Thanksgiving 2012

We geared up bright and early Thursday morning for our normal Thanksgiving craziness!  I was in the kitchen at 7:00 pealing & slicing potatoes for garlic mashed potatoes and prepping the stuffing for my stuffed mushrooms, yum!  My only plan for that morning was to take some time to relax with my little family and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I thought Kinley would LOVE it!

 

Turns out that I was in the kitchen all morning and barely had enough time to jump in the shower and head out the door.  Kinley decided to nap through most of the parade so better luck next year? (I do still have the parade on our dvr and I'm debating if we should recreate the moment, haha!)

 

Our 1st stop was my families' Thanksgiving at the KC Club on the lake.  My grandma and her brothers and sisters have been going there for 46 years - what a tradition!  That makes for quite a large family gathering every year but it's fun!

 

We decided to pose for some quick family photos before lunch.  As usual, someone didn't want to smile but we did get a little smirk!

Beth & Michael

My brother took this of my cousin Laura and I think she's modeling so I had to post it! :)  I promise her b/f Craig was there, too!

Another family pic with our little sassafras!

We also had to get a new pic with cousin Ava!  These sweet baby dolls are only a few weeks apart.

(Kinley's turkey shirt is from Initial Here Gifts on Etsy).

 

After stuffing our faces and catching up with family, we loaded up the truck and drove out to Clayville for Scott's Thanksgiving.  We had to sneak in family pictures before it got dark and I still need to get my hands on a picture of everyone.

 

Here are the girl cousins (or 2nd cousins I think?)

And the boys.

 

Little miss wanted to show off her new walking skills.

 

Does this lady ever put her camera away??





 After round 2 of Thanksgiving dinner, we were spent and someone was getting a little crabby so we headed home.  Maybe next year I can focus on getting pictures of other people and other things besides the kids.  Oh well, it's always so nice to get to spend quality time with family that we don't see often enough all while eating huge amounts of food.  Bring on Christmas!

14 Months Old

Since these monthly posts are hard to keep up on, I'm going to combine this with my leftover November pictures that never made the blog.  Two birds with one stone - but it might get confusing with picture captions and lots of rambling, I apologize in advance.

 

So what have you been up to lately, Kinley?

Thought it was pretty funny that your carseat was in the house.

You're finally walking!  After your 13 month "birthday" you took your first series of steps and you've been practicing ever since.  You run around the coffee table with one hand and bravely walk from the table to your car or toys.  Usually it's only 5 steps and then you'll fall to your knees to crawl but you're getting more daring every day! 

Making a silly face eating a whole sandwich

I held off on calling you a "walker" but I think it's safe to say that you're basically there.  You've walked across the room a few times and you hold onto any wall or object that's around so you can stay upright.  I'm sure in the next week or two it will totally click and you'll be a full time walker - yikes!

Daddy found a frog in the garage & you said Ooooohhh

You are also quite the daredevil and I swear you get that from your daddy!  You love crawling up on your rocking chair, standing backwards, and rocking as hard as you can.  Needless to say, you've been hearing 'no no' a lot lately.  You also like trying to go down the stairs by holding the rail or the wall instead of going "safe way."

Who doesn't mow the carpet on their knees?

You have 4 teeth on the top & 4 on the bottom and we even found that a molar started popping through a few weeks ago!  You love to act like you're brushing your teeth.

Pulled the ads off the table & fell asleep in your nest.

You've taken a bigger interest in the dogs and like to tell them no-no when they bark.  I even caught you hitting their head and saying it...oops!  (Maybe I need to quick swatting at them when they're annoying).

This happened at 9pm one night when daddy was gone.  Your bedtime is at 8pm.  Fun times.

You're really enjoying music class and have finally started to warm up.  You even got off my lap when we were using instruments and crawled over to the mom & baby sitting next to us.  This is huge, people!  You're teacher still likes to say that you're the super serious one but we got a smile and giggle out of you a few times!

Bed.head. Hilarious.

 Your vocabulary is still kind of the same as last month, no new major words lately.  You love saying mamamama when you're playing or when you're crying and I swear you say the word "more" 123,082,342 times a day!  We've even heard you say it in your sleep so it's pretty hilarious!  Sometimes I catch you trying to repeat what we say by practicing your "s" and "t" sounds.

Helping grandpa open his birthday presents

 I'm starting to wish that I had kept you in 12 month clothes longer because all the 18 month outfits are still too big.  You're still in size 4 diapers so no major change in your height or weight.

Riding my bouncy horse from the 80's (you aren't a fan yet).

 You're such a little lovey and love to snuggle.  Sometimes when you're really tired you'll pat me or daddy's back and sing aaahhhaahh...  It's too sweet.

Daddy told you this was ok, not my fault.  ;)

 I've heard people say that every stage was their favorite and I totally agree.  Just as soon as I think you're doing the cutest, most awesome thing, you do something totally new the next week and you've impressed me even more!  I know I'll regret saying this but I can't wait until you use your words to communicate more so we know exactly what you want.  But for now, pointing and head shakes/nods are working just fine.

We love you, big sister!

Baby #2 is a...

GIRL!!!

 

We couldn't be more excited!  Two little girls make everything sweeter, right?  And sassier, too, I'm afraid. :)

 

With this baby we decided not to find out at our doctor appointment and wait to find out with our families.  In case you missed it, here's our gender reveal party with Kinley.  I had a plan in my head and it ended up working perfectly!  The sonographer told us to turn our heads when she was looking for the gender and then she printed out a picture and sealed it in an envelope.

 

I took the surprise back to work and 2 ladies that I work with wrapped a pink or blue outfit depending on the sonogram.  Then we had to wait 24 whole hours to open the "early Christmas gift."

 

The men of the family had already planned to go to a stag at IBYC on Wednesday night so we gathered our brothers, sisters, and parents for a quick reveal before they left.  (Once I figure out how to load the video from our video camera to YouTube, I'll post that, too).

 

Basically, there was a present inside of a present inside of a present.  What tricksters!!  But it made it fun!

 

I think this picture is pretty fitting for a first child's reaction:

 

I thought her little outfit was blog worthy so here's a picture of her playing before the big reveal.

 

She just wasn't into the excitement that evening...

 

Soon to be family of four!  I still can't believe I'm saying that!

After the guys left, all the girls (and Brayden) came to my house for pizza and relaxation time to prep for Thanksgiving the next day.  What a fun little celebration!  Now we're getting pestered non-stop about a name but that's something we will NOT budge on. :)

Bump Watch 2013: Weeks 19 & 20

These last 2 weeks absolutely flew by so I'm combining weeks 19 & 20 since they have one thing in common...we found out that we're having another girl! That has another post dedicated to our gender reveal so I'll leave it at that.

Here are some sonogram pictures from our appointment:

 

Front view of the head on the left, a little fist in the middle, and belly at the right.

Little foot

 

The it's a girl shot!

Back view of the spine all stretched out (head is at the left).

  

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 20 weeks

 

Size of baby: 6.0 inches, size of a subway sandwich

 

Total weight gain/loss: Gained 7 pounds

 

Maternity clothes: I wear some maternity bottoms and regular tops.

 

Gender: It's a GIRL!!  We were right!

Movement: Consistent flutters depending on the time of day.

 

Sleep: Don't ask.  Kinley's sleep habits have taken a turn.

 

What I miss: Shopping at Loft, Limited, Express, etc now that they all have major Christmas sales going on!

 

Cravings: Spicy and sweets.

Symptoms: My growing belly.

Bump Watch 2013: Week 18

Another week in the books.  I had my first pregnant marathon shopping trip and held up surprisingly well.  My feet and back didn't bother me at all!

 

Someone is done taking these silly pictures with mommy...

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along: 18 weeks

Size of baby: 5.6 inches, size of a sweet potato (just in time for Thanksgiving!)

Total weight gain/loss: Gained 6 pounds

Maternity clothes: Leggings & dresses are my go-to wardrobe until I get maternity dress pants for work.  I bought a pair of maternity skinnies from Gap to wear with my boots this fall/winter!  I've definitely embraced maternity clothes sooner than last time.

Gender: I'm feeling girl since this pregnancy is so similar.  We'll find out soon!

Movement: Little flutters & a few big movements.

Sleep: My lower back is already bothering me.  This was a big issue last time as it hurt anytime I tried to roll over.

What I miss: Shopping at my normal stores now that all the big sales are popping up!

Cravings: Nothing really this week.

Symptoms: Lower back pain.

Girls day in STL!

We took a trip to St. Louis to do a little pre-Christmas shopping with my mom, sister, aunt, cousin, and grandma on Veterans' Day. (and Kinley!)

 

We arrived around 10:00, bought some Christmas decor at HomeGoods and Michaels, and grabbed some lunch to fuel our shop-a-thon.  We lunched at Nadoz Cafe - good food but a little pricy.  Here's K 'playing' with her turkey & cheese sandwich and devouring her fruit.

 

After lunch we hit the galleria.  A few highlights include:

 

Shopping at Nordstrom for the perfect pair of Tory Burch flats for mommy & Aunt Beth (in our dreams)!  But how cute would they be in Kinley size?!

 Trying on Toms for our "shopaholic-in-training" but they were too big still. :(

Kinley's 1st Disney Store experience!  (Even though I look terrible in the pic below, I'm taking one for the team b/c the important person looks adorable!)

 

Kinley discovered the princess mirror and had fun dancing and making faces at herself...

She tried on her first princess crown...

and thought it looked better on her than Aunt B...sorry!  ;)

  After a loooong day (8 hours) of shopping we hit Bare Escentuals to freshen our make-up before dinner.  (Really, we just like playing with make-up).   Our little diva loved trying on lip glosses and standing at the counter like a big girl!

Mom & her girls (minus Cora)

 

Our shopping crew - 4 generations of Conboy girls!  I'm so thankful that my grandma is still in good health and was able to shop with us the whole time and to have such close family.  What great memories were made!

I'm thinking (crossing my fingers) that this will become an annual tradition for us!

Maille's Confirmation & Cheer

 We went up to Aurora to watch our niece Maille cheer and to celebrate her confirmation on the 1st weekend in November .  She's a freshman this year (how is this even possible?!?!) and cheers on the varsity squad.  (Proud auntie right here!)

 

We arrived Saturday morning, grabbed some Chick-fil-a on the way, and got all bundled up for the game!  Of course, I took a million pictures so enjoy a few of them...

Kinley snuggled with daddy.

Showing off her new hat & coat from Grandma (can we say spoiled)?  But you know I love it. :)

 

Our nephew Rian is the ball boy so he gets to hang out on the sideline with the team!  I think that's about as cool as it gets as a junior high kid.

 

The cheerleaders performed a fun routine at halftime:

Maille is such a great tumbler as well: 

Montini barely pulled out a win with one of the most intense last 5 minutes I've ever seen!  That means they get to move on in the playoffs and maybe play SHG from Springfield soon??

 

After the game we snapped a cousin pic!  I've watched these kids grow up before my eyes and am so proud of the amazing "big kids" they're becoming. I'm sure I'm one of "those people" that brags about her nieces & nephews way too much but I don't care. :) They all have very big spots in my heart.

And don't even get me started on this one...those eyes, that grin...melt me into a puddle!

 

Enough sap...Sunday morning we woke up and enjoyed, coffee, donuts, and smoothies!  Can you guess who ate a whole donut and drank most of my smoothie??

I did a little early Christmas shopping at the outlet mall near their house that morning and found some major bargains!

 

That afternoon we helped get ready for Maille's confirmation party.  (She got confirmed Saturday morning but we couldn't make it up in time).

 

I didn't get many pictures from the party but did get a couple of the kids playing downstairs.  Kinley plays great when I'm not there but the 2nd I walk in and she realizes that I'm not holding her, this happens:

Kinley loved playing with the firetruck!

Maille's cousin Claire LOVED playing with "Kimley" - too bad I didn't get a good shot of them together!

Hhhhmmm...not too sure about something.

We hit the road early but snapped a quick pic with Maille before we left.

 We love you, MayMay!