Chatter Box Kendy

And it's over...

The long awaited vacation has come and gone. We had a wonderful, relaxing, fun time! Three words best describe the trip: "jellyfish" and "HHHHHiiiiii Ken-nol!" The tropical storm that hit southern Texas must have brought in the jellyfish or something...we have been to that area a couple times over the past few years and I never once saw a jellyfish but there were TONS of them this last week. We went to a few different beaches and rented a boat to try to escape them but they found us wherever we went. "HHHHiiii Ken-nol" could be heard MANY times throughout the day from Presley, Molly, and Ridge directed towards baby Kendall. They just adored her and vice versa - she found them extremely facinating.

I really enjoyed getting to know the kids better...Presley is an absolute sweetheart and such a talented gymnast. Molly can tell you a really good story - with a slightly scary kick to the finale! And after Ridge warms up to you, he is such a doll. He really looked after baby Kendall. One day she started crying in her swing and I wasn't in the room. Ridge came running to find me and said "Ken-nol is crying...I gave her my toy." Sure enough, I came in the room to find Kendall clutching a little white dinosaur toy. It was such a cute moment!

We got to visit with my grandma Austin on Wednesday...I will update the blog with pictures later. We only get to see her maybe once or twice a year so it was very nice to get the opportunity. Kendall grows by leaps and bounds every day...I'm glad that Grandma was able to see her again.

Kendall did so well...better than I could have ever hoped for. She was in such great spirits the whole trip - and even on the long drives she was such a trooper. I will probably upload pictures to snapfish or something, but will update when I do. I hope everyone had a good week - I hear it was sweltering here in Texas!

Kristi

First few days...

A cool drink on the beach...

View from the condo

Getting ready to leave!

We have arrived!

We made it to the beach safe and sound yesterday! We finally departed the house around 3pm on Friday - Kendall slept for almost 4 hours! She woke up right about the time we were stopping for dinner in Monroe, LA. Then she went right back to sleep and was blissfully unaware of the rest of the drive to our final stop of the day -- Jackson, MS.

Yesterday we left the hotel around 10, had a leasurely lunch somewhere along the way in Alabama and arrived at the condo around 5ish. The beach condo is awesome -- brand new and very spaciously. Most of y'all know how weird I am about kitchens and bathrooms...and I feel completely comfortable here :o)

More later...getting the prep work done for the beach...may end up there in a couple hours LOL.

Muffin Austin...1991-2008

We lost a beloved family member yesterday...Muffin was the second dog (after Sam the cocker spaniel) that I remember as a child. The above picture was taken on my 14th birthday - I can hardly believe that was 50% of my current life ago!

Muffin was a part of so many things in the past 17 years of our lives...one memory that comes to mind...as most children are, I was not particularly gentle with dogs. I remember chasing her around the house to where she would finally jump up onto our blue L-shaped couch in the game room. I would then pick her up, hug her probably WAY too hard, and then let her go on her merry way.



R.I.P. Muffy...we will miss you...

Happy early Birthday to me...

My parents and my little family went out for an early birthday celebration last night...I wanted to try out Fireside Pies so we had my birthday dinner there. It was really good - the crust is very light and crispy. True to most of my family's dinners, there was enough food for a small army to eat! We tried out the bruschetta, triple roni-pizza, hot 'n crumbled pizza, and pepperoni pizza...yum...and their sangrias are to die for!

Today I'm trying to do the usual house cleaning and also get packed up for our vacation next week. We leave in the early afternoon Friday for Destin Beach, Florida. We had considered doing the 13+ hour drive straight (gasp) but decided to stop in Mississippi for the night. This is our first road trip with Kendall and I'm not quite sure how she'll handle it. Now we only have to worry about 6 straight hours of screaming at a time, instead of 13 :)

I'm so excited about this vacation - work has been so hectic that I am in dire need of a break! I haven't had a day off since my leave, which ended 4/14! Funny that I can still remember that exact date...

In an indecisively 'me' moment...are checks okay to give as wedding presents? It's too late anyway, the card and check are already in the mail, but I'm having senders remorse...is that seen as impersonal? And is impersonal a word? Well, in my own defense, I don't really know this person very well and I personally have always enjoyed getting a nice check in the mail...

New toy...

We splurged on the Burley...Kendall really seems to enjoy it, but that may have more to do with the Podee than the ride...we took her out for a spin last night and had a great time. Look for more pictures in the near future...

Bubbles!

Kendall had her first exposure to bubbles this evening! Like most things, at first she wasn't very interested but they soon caught her attention. We struck out with the oatmeal this evening...I guess we'll keep trying and maybe it will grow on her...

Sunday Snap Shots...

Happy girl

Wuz up?

No pictures!

Can I help you?

Happy 4th!

I hope that everyone had a fun and restful Independence Day! Kendall's 1st 4th of July was calm and uneventful...we watched a little Wimbledon in the morning and took a long nap in the afternoon. Bedford has a festival that day and fireworks in the evening...I was a little nervous as to how Kendall might respond to the fireworks so we decided to keep our distance from the show. My fear was that she would begin crying and then we would be stuck in the middle of a crowded location - the people around us probably wouldn't care but I would feel horrible to be the ones with the crying baby. So we ended up going to a parking lot relatively close to the Boy's Ranch. The location was very crowded so apparently a lot of others had a similiar idea...some of the people were somewhat questionable but there were enough families that I felt safe. It was a good show - not quite like Boomtown, which we visited a few years ago - but perfect for Kendall. I think she was aware of the sounds but couldn't quite place where they were coming from.

Today we are in search for a decent baby bike 'puller'...I bought a very nice Gary Fisher bike a couple years ago that I've barely been able to use because of the pregnancy and now having Kendall. We would like something that has dual uses - many have kits so that they can be running strollers as well. Unfortunately, all the ones we have seen are upwards of $600...that's more than our two bikes cost together! This may be a family birthday/Christmas/every holiday for the next couple years gift :o)

First Meal!

Kendall had her first meal of milk and rice cereal on Sunday night - she did so well! She doesn't particularly LIKE it...but she will take down at least 5% of what we put in her mouth...which is better than nothing, right? Trenton actually figured out tonight that she likes to feed herself better - well, we still hold the spoon but with some "help" from Miss B. It was kinda funny - tonight when I was feeding her she was getting fussy so she would blow half of the spoonfull right in my face as I was putting it up to her mouth! I guess that is her passive-agressive protest.

We also took some pictures before church Sunday, so I added some of those...we helped with the nursery again this week but it was a night and day difference. The last time we helped out there were almost 15 babies...this time there were only 4 or 5. Sooooo much more relaxing...if child-care can ever be considered "relaxing."