kendal's new fascinations...

who needs a kitten in the house when you have an 20 month old! oh yea, kendal loves to watch it pile on the floor. good thing he hasn't figured out that it goes in the wc yet! so, like a kitten, not only does he like TP, he also likes the drip of the faucet! his recent-new found freedom (walking) lead to his discovery of the water spigot in the tub. you can see that not only did he ream the TP roll, but he also turned on the water and started playing in it.

"new" toy for holly!

this jumper was a gift from grammie and grandpa last christmas when kendal was 3 months old - a little early for him to use it, but by the time kendal was 8 months, he figured it out. holly is 5 months and although she didn't "bounce", she LOVED sitting in the jumper last night. she stayed in it for at least 20 minutes, which is a long time for her (the other bouncer we have at mom's house - well 5 minutes is about all she can take). anyway, she slept like a rock last night (well for a while anyway, she did wake up twice to eat). she slept like a newborn - on her back, arms and legs spread. she rarely sleeps like that now, so i know it wore her out! i made a bunch of videos too, but none of them turned out any good. either nathaniel is reading which diverts her attention), kendal is whining, or kendal is crying. (it was WAY past bedtime.) so... maybe today i'll get the chance to take a better video of JUST holly in the jumper... with just holly noises!

you can lead a horse to water...

but you can't make them drink. angel food orders are due for june: you $60 or $70 worth of restaurant quality food for $30. all you have to do is pick it up from your local distributor. there is NO reason everyone shouldn't be taking advantage of this!!!

just making the statement...

june 6th - we're officially booked. june 7th, well we'll need that day to relax!

holly's wardrobe

after having trouble buttoning some of holly's onesie's this past week, i went through holly's closet and sorted out the clothes that don't fit... this also prompted a trip into the attic to get out the 6 to 9 month "hand-me-down" bag of clothes (which some are new that we bought before she was borh). so i picked through them all, washed most of them (not the whites, mom was sick yesterday so i stayed away from her house), hung all that i washed - and in holly's closet, i moved around the ones that will fit soon, fit now, and, well you get the drift. (she is so long and lean that although she is 5 months old, she's been wearing lots of 3 month stuff. the 3 month stuff will fit her sometimes since she's so skinny. even some of her 6 month stuff is too big around the waist! so that is what i mean by sorting it by what doesn't fit, what fits now and what will fit soon...)

the 3 to 6 month rack

so not including the white clothes or my old clothes (the "vintage" clothes), holly has 22 outfits in the "3 to 6 month" range. these include "things that fit now." i know there are about 4 dresses that i wore back in the day, but i'm not sure how many white things will add to this collection. this also doesn't include random onesie's (she usually sleeps in those).

the 6 to 9 month rack

again, not including my old clothes OR any white outfits, i counted 26 - 6 to 9 month outfits to finish off our summer in the "things that will fit later" category. these things will definitely fit soon enough with her rapid rate of growth these days. she's eating good now that her ears have cleared up. i noticed that the 6 - 9 month rack has a nice little theme going on too... FRUIT! we have watermelon, lemons, strawberries... you name it. lots of fruity dresses on that rack. i can't wait for her to wear them!!! yay! a bunch of those dresses/outfits are ones that we bought last summer post-season when i was pregnant. the rest came from allison/samantha, melissa/grace-faith, and angela/krista. i'm SO grateful that my friends and family passed along such great clothes! i hope i can do the same after we finish having babies! you know i've saved every single thing (that wasn't stained) - so one day, somebody will rack up!

kendal vs holly @ 5 months

i thought for fun, i'd compare my two children since i always say they are polar opposites. so i got out my photo cds of kendal when he was 5 months... so not only can i talk about their actions, we can also look at how they look different! ok, so here goes! 1. first of all, kendal was a monster. at his 5 month weigh in, i measured him to be 16.65 lbs and 26-1/2 in long. holly measured in at 14.8 pounds and 25-1/2 inches long (or longer, not sure since that was her "official" length at 4 months). holly is such a tiny little thing, as you can tell by all the pictures! 2. kendal was already in size 3 diapers. holly just recently went up to the size 2 diapers - like maybe a month ago. she's nowhere near moving up to size 3. 3. kendal had so much hair at 5 months. he already had those curls down in front of his ears. holly... well, if you didn't get close you'd think she was still bald. poor kid. glad it isn't the winter on her head. 4. at 5 months, kendal wasn't doing to well holding up his head. he most certainly wasn't rolling over. he liked to sleep on his belly and i'd let him for naps, but it was all-back sleeping for nighttime. holly, on the other hand, can roll from belly to back with no problem, and can almost roll from back to belly. she also ALWAYS sleeps on her side, unless she is really zonked out, then you may find her on her back. 5. speaking of sleeping, kendal, at 5 months, was (and had been for 2 months) sleeping through the night. holly, on the other hand, still wakes up 2 or 3 times to eat. there is no end in sight when it comes to a wakeless night for her, i suspect. 6. and speaking of mobility, kendal was pretty much a stay-put baby until he learned how to scoot at about 15 months. holly, however, for at least a month or two scoots on her back. you can't leave her anywhere unless you barricade her in with elevation (i.e. a pillow under the covers/rug so that she can't scoot UP it). she's already had carpet burn on the back of her head! 7. kendal LOVED to take nice, warm baths. he always has (still does). and when i mean warm, i mean like you and i would like to take. holly not only doesn't really like a bath, she doesn't even like warm baths. the water i have to put her in is cold (to me) - if it is warm at all she arches her back (and i'm talking lukewarm water is too hot, room temperature water is what she prefers). she hasn't even splashed in the bath yet. kendal by this point was splashing so much the ceiling was getting a bath!!! 8. kendal was and still is a great shopper. that kid loves people and social settings. holly, however, is a homebody. she is not a good shopper. yesterday she and i went to smithfield and she was miserable - screamed so loud and so much that i got the "horrible mom" stare from lots of folks. there wasn't anything wrong with her, she just doesn't like to leave the house. 9. kendal was eating 6 - 6oz bottles a day plus solid food at 5 months. holly, however, she's a picky eater. she sometimes eats 2 oz, sometimes 4 oz, and sometimes 6 oz. (yes, we waste a lot of formula in this house.) and as for solid food, well she makes the most horrible face every time i try to give her any. she isn't ready for it yet. well, she IS ready - she watches, opens her mouth, etc. just when i give her oatmeal or pears or whatever, she spits it out like it tastes bad. dad gave her a tiny piece of bread yesterday and she actually chewed on it for a while and ended up swallowing it. with no ugly faces too! so who knows. she is a finicky one! 10. though you can't tell it from these pictures of holly, she typically is very camera shy. kendal, he was always such a ham for the camera. i really have to WORK to get her to smile. again, a way they are different! 11. kendal always loved his paci. later he came to love his blanket. holly, she loves her blanket. the paci comes second. kendal was also into rattles by this point. she isn't so much, but she will play with them some. there are other toys she likes though - they aren't rattles. 12. i thought holly was white. but after looking at these pictures, kendal seems to be whiter!!! 13. by this point in kendal's life, he had had surgery once, a CT scan, and had been sick once. holly, well she's been to the ER 3 times for colds, has had 2 ear infections, 2 yeast infections, eczema, skin infection (where the carpet burn was), etc. i wouldn't say she is sickly by any means, but she sure has had her share of sick scares!!! (kendal's sick times came much later when he started daycare, and i'm sure he's where she gets all her germs! ...and i'm totally ok with that. i'd rather them be sick and under my care now then they are little than sick once they start school and have to miss tons of days! mom always said that she could tell the kids that had never "been out of the house" because they'd come to school the first day, miss a week, come again one day, miss another week, and pretty much continue that cycle of a variation of it for the entire first year of school! my kids won't be like that!!!) so that is it! and here is a cute little video i took of holly kind of giggling at me saying boo and fake-sneezing!

so i'm not much of a political speaker (rather, sharer of my political thoughts), but last night i got to thinking about how obama's motto was "change we can believe in" and i just wanted to put down a few things that have changed since he took office. which i'm sure aren't a result of his being in office, but he IS in office, and he is the one who could change things if he wanted to... 1. third deployment - to a more dangerous area. need i say more. 2. fed govt 'cuts' our taxes, the state takes more of our paychecks and then furloughs hours. 3. we are paying a more for health insurance per month come july 1st, not to mention an increase in the copays and drug tiers. yup... our family of 4 who usually spends probably $150 a month on medical bills (copays to doctor visits, PT visits, and medicines) will now increase to over $200/month. add that to the $30 or so that is already increasing in our monthly dues! {3-1/2. add that increase in medical expenses to the decrease in salary... and you've got yourself about $100 difference PER MONTH in expendable income! maybe that doesn't hurt us too much, but what about those families whose ends barely met before the cut and raise?) 4. not that i was swamped with work last year, but this year i've only done TWO projects!!! that is even LESS than last year! i'd say that my job is on even thinner ice! (not to mean thin ice as in hockey season is over!) 5. has anyone seen the price of rice lately? the bag i used to get for less than $1 is now over $3. and i'm talking cheap-o white rice. 6. and he wants to close guantanimo bay? so sure there are already terrorists in our prisons, but does that mean we need more? that prison was established for a reason. would you like it if you knew that they were shipping some of them to OUR local federal-highsecurity prison? well i wouldn't. those men/women(?) are there for a reason! i certianly hope they are treated humanely, but i don't want them here. there needs to be some other solution if keeping that prison open is NOT a solution. 7. we own a new car, but our old one is now obsolete since the parent company is dissolved (pontiac). it is just a matter of time before our new car follows suit (gmc). well, i know last night i thought of more, and maybe i'll add to my list later, but holly is getting hungry so i must go. and i'm not saying that any other president could have done any better, just really. is this change we can believe in? or are they the ones counting our change? (no, they aren't counting it either because the US debt is larger than ever... after bailing out companies whose rich presidents and owners need to take dave ramsey's financial peace class! come on people!!!) maybe the things i dream are weird (like this past weekend when the house alarm "went off" at 11:30 pm on friday night and i quickly jumped up and disarmed it so it wouldn't wake the kids - not real smart, eh?) but like my dream on friday night, it made me think about things, so maybe that isn't so bad!

race day

i'm not a race fan, but that isn't a reason to not enjoy spending time with those who are, right??? yesterday, holly and i went to see nathaniel's parents while the race was on. i ate and ate and ate (as there is always way too much yummy food there) - so much so that i didn't even eat supper last night. still was stuffed! holly ate one time while we were there, and then she got sleepy. grammy took her and disappeared... turns out, she rocked her to sleep in THE cradle! (this is the cradle that grandpa made for ??? long time ago - maybe josh, the oldest cousin.) i think all the kids have used it - josh, natalie and zach, then kendal, i think sophie and jacqueline used it (but i'm not sure about that) - and now holly did too! how cute is she sleeping in it? she was sleeping good too, i had to wake her to leave!

this or that

Coke or Pepsi? coke Regular pool or heated pool? heated, since i think that implies that it is indoor (thus out of the sun's harmful rays) Hot tea or ice tea? iced (and sweetened!) Sunflower or daisy? daisy Red rose or pink rose? pink Salt or pepper? pepper Red or Green Apple? green Red or Blue? red Christmas or Thanksgiving? Christmas Pink or Green? this one is close... i'm gonna have to say green, but again - very close! Hamburger or Hotdogs? hamburger (yuck to hotdogs!) Music or Movies? music Heaven or hell? heaven!! Comedy or horror? comedy Purse or backpack? purse Myspace or Facebook? facebook Paris or England? well, i've not been to either, but i'd say i'd prefer to visit england simply because i already know the language! Milky Way or Snickers? snickers Vanilla or Chocolate? chocolate Phone or Internet? internet Steak or Shrimp? shrimp (with a side of filet) Outdoors or Indoors indoors (unless there is shade or it isn't hot - then outdoors!)

american pride car wash coupon

american pride car washes are those drive through touch-free washes that you can find around wake county (and johnston county too apparently). today i went through the one in wake forest and the owner (who was very nice and also a vietnam vet) scrubbed the bugs off my hood and gave me a discount coupon good for the entire summer. it is just a code, so anyone can use it. (this is only for the most expensive wash, at the one i was at today was the $10 wash. the next less expensive wash is $8 (which is the one i got today)... so basicaly you'd get the BEST one for the next best price!) thought i'd post it on here so ya'll could use it too: "To celebrate our nation's birthday, American Pride is giving you $2.00 off our best wash "the Works Wash" from June 1st to August 31st, 2009. Simply enter your secret code to savings on the key pad before selecting a wash or depsiting money and the cashier will prompt you to enter the balance due to receive "the Works Wash" for $2.00 less than the normal price. Use the code as often as you like through August 31st, 2009 with our compliments. Thank you for choosing American Pride touchfree Laserwash. Your secret code is 3210. This offer is good at any of the following American Pride Car Washes: Angier 801 N. Main St. across from PO Cary 125 S. West Maynard Rd. Clayton 11571 Hwy 70 W. (Clayton Corners Shopping Center) Fuquay Varina 7510 Purfoy Road (behind Taco Bell) Garner 1421 Hwy 70 W Knightdale 913 McKnight Dr. (next to Walmart) Raleigh 3806 NewBern Ave, 1901 E. Millbrook Rd., 9200 Brier Creek Parkway (next to fire station) Smithfield 1203 N. Bri8ghtleaf Blvd (across from Lowe's) Wake Forest 12317 Capital Blvd (behind KFC), S. Main St. (Next to Advance Auto)

LETS GO CANES!!!

everytime i read the joke at the top of my blog (and i read it EVERYTIME i go to my own page)... i laugh. man i love a good geology joke.

kendal and the suckers!

another, faster, one of the holly flip

i had to hold her down to KEEP her from rolling. she's quick! and, she's almost figured out how to go the other way (from back to belly).

vintage holly

this dress was worn by me, then melissa, then katelyn. it is made of the thinnest, gauze-like cotton. yesterday, holly was sick and feverish, plus it was hot and humid outside - it was the perfect day for a light dress like this. she actually loved wearing it. fortunately i have about 4 more just like it so she can keep wearing them on the hot days! you can't even tell she was sick! double ear infection plus her fever was over 101! she's a trooper (but poor me having two kids who just don't let you know when they are sick!)

she was smiling at kendal in this picture. he was calling her "guh guh" (we think it means good girl). kiss my foot! she likes to play with her dress! those cute little bloomers came from the silly goose! i suppose back in the old days we wore cloth diapers with a cover on them, thus no need for bloomers. isn't she pretty?

holly roller

little miss holly wolly bo bolly has learned how to roll over (from front to back only). she's actually been doing this for a little bit, just i haven't had both the battery and the SD card in the camera at the same time... something else funny, when she watches the video of herself, she laughs at it.

financial peace university

with the addition of baby #2 and the subsequent hospital bills and ER visits, etc., we just can't seem to get ahead. seems like everytime we turn around, we have another bill. (not to mention outgrowing one car which happened the same time the other one practically died...) anyway, nathaniel heard about dave ramsey's financial peace university which (i'm not sure if he realized this), but it is a biblical based way to do finances (plus some advice from mr. ramsey). nathaniel missed the first class, so just i went to it. it is a 12 week class (once a week) and is held at one of the local churches (the one that i like to go to, faith baptist). anyway, i thought i'd share a bit of what we learned last week for any of you who were interested in the program. the first step is to save $1000 for emergencies. this has to be a priority. fortunately we already had this in place so that wasn't a big deal. he called this the "GOK" fund (god only knows) and should never be touched unless there really was an emergency. (incidentally, if you make under $20k/year, you should only save $500. this is for my semi-unemployeed newly-graduated sister.) some of the points and quotes he used for this lesson were: 1. building wealth is not evil or wrong. money is amoral (i.e. the LOVE of money is immoral) "for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" 1 timothy 6:10 2. saving must become a priority. and, the difference between saving and hoarding is attitude. he used a visual with this one that i particularly liked... money clinched tight in a fist: hoarding. the tight fist represents anger. money lying in an open hand can come and go freely. even a dog can understand the open hand (treat in the open hand). "in the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has." proverbs 21:20 3. if you get a raise, don't raise your standard of living - save more. "if riches increase, do not set your heart on them" psalm 62:10 the next two steps were not covered in this lesson, but he hinted as to what they were: step 2: pay off all debt except the house. (the more you pay off, the more you HAVE to pay off - get it??? he calls it the debt snowball.) step 3: save for 3 to 6 months of expenses (which you may think will be hard, but without any debt to pay each month (i.e.car payments, hospital bills, college loans), you have a lot more money left over at the end of the month to put towards savings!) so our homework was to make a quicky budget. really it wasn't much of a budget but more a list of where our money goes PER MONTH. i recommend each of you doing one today. include: mortgage (plus the payoff) any extra you pay on mortgage 401k gifts/donations/all those 5k fees! church tithing electricity (i did a 6 month average since our rates just went up) water gas internet cell phones home phone trash security system cable/satellite *food car payment(s) plus the(ir) payoff(s) *gas and oil (which is hard since you don't change your oil each month plus you travel more some months than others) *car repairs and tires (our cars are new and under warranty so i didn't put anything here) car/home insurance *clothing college loan(s) dental insurance health insurance life insurance medical expenses (doctor visits, medicines, etc.) child care entertainment pool dues/fitness club fees/etc. hospital bills credit card bills other loans

long time no blog

last week was rough. i'm still catching up on sleep. that is my #1 excuse for not blogging recently. (and by the way, dad is fine and pretty much back up to par - excuse the pun, because he isn't really playing any golf. but he is dusting potatoes and tomatoes and cutting grass (but not changing the blades) and napping holly just like normal.) anyway, i also haven't taken any pictures in over a week now of my kids, so that leaves me with not much to talk about. usually i like to accompany a blog with a picture of one of the cute little buggers. but, can't do that either. (well, not a new picture anyway.) but i do need to do some updating. so, here goes: 1. kendal is officially a walker. i mean, like the whole -if-you-turn-your-back-he-is-gone kind of walker. so now even the bathroom doors have holly's bloomers on them (because he likes to go in a room and shut the door, yet he cannot open the door unless it does not shut..) {insert useful tip: little baby bloomers really are great for wrapping around door knobs - you know how when your windows are open and the pressure changes and the door slam shut? well that helps the doors from SLAMMING or latching... plus if the bloomers are thick enough, they may actually keep little fingers from getting squished!} 2. holly can almost hold her own bottle. 3. holly can almost roll over. 4. holly almost always sleeps on her side now. 5. until last night, holly hadn't pooped for 10 days - which now she has pooped about 10 times today, and they have hurt her, she's a total grump today! (which is her first time being a grump so it is ok.) 6. kendal can walk backwards, and sometimes prefers this direction to the forwards one. 7. kendal can run (sort of, he tries to). 8. kendal is learning (with some success) to climb on the stairs. (talk about hitting tons of developmental milestones...) 9. kendal likes corn, but it has to be yellow corn. 10. tomorrow we start with a new physical therapist - in a clinical setting rather than at home. hopefully this will help him have a surge of learning much like he did when we started with our last therapist (who i loved, but it ended up was just at a bad time of day for him i think). 11. holly scoots so much on her back that #1 she's gotten carpet burn on the back of her head, and #2 she's ALMOST scooted off the bed. can't leave her alone anywhere either! so next time i take pictures, i'll post them. but for now, this is all i can think of!

see it

maybe you'll recognize it if i post it again.

holly milestone

what it took kendal 12 - 15 months to do... holly accomplished in 4. today, holly picked up her paci by the nipple, juggled it around, tried to put it in her mouth backwards, and eventually turned it around got it in there the right way. repeat. (so it wasn't a fluke the one time.) hum. so now that it's taken him 20 months to walk, maybe that means she'll do it in... (15-4 = 11, 20 - 11 = 9) by 9 months??? we'll see about that. if she follows cousin sam, she'll be close! sidenote: want to hear a great song? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U5HpeA_WSo

kendal and straws

its official, he can drink out of a straw!