Can it get any busier than this?

Our little family has been so blessed! In the span of about a month, we stumbled upon a new home that we fell in love with, put our own house up for sale, and started a new business project! We close on our new home in mid-December and will be moving in the week after Christmas...I just love the character of the new home and the gorgeous acre lot that it rests on! I'm sure I will have plenty of pictures to share with the girls exploring their new environment in early 2011. Because we weren't exactly looking to move, our own home had to be fixed up and put on the market for sale. That has been a very time and energy intensive process - it never fails to amaze me how quickly the kids can undo what I just did. Anyone that tries to live in a home with 2 toddlers and two dogs that must be ready for showings at any moment is crazy! We definitely must have been...

Last but not least...I have begun my photography business - Two Pink Boots Photography. My little 'baby' was born in late November and I've had sessions pretty much every weekend - in case all the other things in life right now weren't keeping me busy enough :) Before each session, I pray that I'll capture some of the beauty God has blessed these families with. I feel so grateful with each opportunity and I think God's teaching me about the goodness in his creation.

Hope everyone is doing well during the Holiday season...although we likely won't send out Christmas cards this year, look for "We've Moved" card in early 2011 :o)

Much love,

Kristi

State Fair...and Photo Shoot Fun!

This weekend was a busy one...we road the train to the State Fair on Friday and then I got to take pictures of a friend and her daughter the next morning. I'm taking the lazy way out...lots of pictures!

When you need a good laugh...

There are times in life when you need a good laugh...like today while I was sitting in an hour long teleconference that was running 15 minutes past...everyone was virtually bored stiff and suddenly a random participant forgot they didn't have their phone on hold and started chit chatting very loudly for all 100 plus of us to hear. I believe her conversation ended with "oh my gosh today has been such a bad day....oh no, I hit myself in the face with this door!"

The entire room of 50 or so burst out into immediate laughter...and we all definitely needed it.

Well, this picture does that for me as well...no matter what mood I may be in at the time, I can't help but laugh at this picture...perhaps it's the look of absolute terror in Leah's eyes...or perhaps its the serene bliss of Kendall's...whatever it is, I can't help but laugh, so I thought I'd share in case you needed a laugh today as well...

Update on Jolie

After a couple costly visits to a regular vet and also a specialist, we now know that Jolie suffers from congestive heart failure...she has a very oversized heart for her miniature size and is now on a number of different medications to help the rest of her time with us be as pleasant as possible.

I feel like I was blessed with a warning - to be thankful for her doggie pugnacity - because she won't be around forever. So now I am more patient when she has little accidents on the floor - after all, she is almost 12 years old - and to laugh it off when she is again digging in the trash, because at least she feels well enough to, well, be her normal crazy self.

"It rained and poured for 40 daisy, daisies..."

Okay, so not exactly 40 days did it rain, but it sure did pour this past week and the whole family realized the 'devastation' of it all this morning. Daddy was mowing the grass so I decided to take the two girls to their favorite park...or what was left it!

Kendall kept asking me "what happened Mommy?" and "oh my goodness, somebody messed up the park!"

Loving and Precocious Jolie

My best friend is very sick. My history with my miniature schnauzer goes back a long way - almost 12 years. I was a freshman at A&M - the start of my spring semester. I had just moved into an apartment alone after my dorm mate decided to pursue interests in other places and was in need of a pal. There was a pet store next to the coffee shop I used to frequent and one day I stumbled upon the cutest puppies ever. They were so dignified with their gray beards and white bellies - even their puppy barks were aristocratic.

That was the day that Jolie became my first baby girl. We have had a rocky history to say the least. Jolie can be the sweetest dog - she seems to sense when you are ill or sad and runs immediately to your side. If nothing else, she is perhaps too loving, and very jealous. She wants to be in your lap at all times and does not share attention well at all. We have had our down moments...the make-up experience, the poop mine field, the scratches on our brand-new-still-being-financed kitchen table....but she will always be my first baby.

We used to race through my 5 mile run across Research Park while I was still in college, then through Wolf Pen Creek the year after. It just seems like yesterday that we were running at a local park when we saw a coyote - thankfully she didn't pick a fight with that one.

But today when we tried to go for a walk, something very different happened. Instead of racing ahead and pulling with excitement, Jolie fell limp and lifeless to the sidewalk. For minutes her eyes were rolled back into her head and she didn't seem to be breathing. She has struggled with a cough recently, but I didn't realize it had gotten quite that progressed.

Now I feel horrible to have not caught her heart trouble earlier...each time I pushed her away, angry that she was again under my feet or shushed her for panting almost ceaselessly...she was very very sick and I didn't even notice. It was almost too much to sit and pet her this evening, not wanting her to leave us, but painfully aware of how labored her breathing has become.

We love you Jolie...hope you sleep peacefully this evening...

You Know You're A Mom When...

...trying to get into the bathroom can be a seriously frustrating experience...no handles...ever since your toddler became tall enough to open the french door handles.

...maxi pads have become your children's impromptu band-aids and stickers...they are all over the walls, your arms, legs, feet, etc.

...you forget your wallet, but you have plenty of diapers, wet-ones, pull-ups, clothes, big girl panties, fruit snacks, apple juice boxes, pacifiers...

...going to the market without children is a luxury worth lingering over...at least an hour or two...

Best Buds

Kendall loves her cousin Ella. Not that she doesn't love her other cousins, but she seems to have a special bond with Ella. Many times the only way I can get her to put on a certain pair of shoes or a particular outfit is to tell her they were Ella's, or that Ella has a pair just like them. I thought after our full week away in Colorado she might have forgotten a bit, but as soon as we said we were going home she said "Going to Ella's home?"

She missed her best friend dearly.

It's hilarious to watch them in their toddler conversations. My sister caught them in such a moment on Saturday during Leah's birthday party. The rest of the crowd was outside in the pool, but not Ella and Kendall. They were playing dress-up in Ella's room. It was just too precious to listen to Kendall putting a necklace on Ella and vice versa, than the other stating how 'coot' they looked.

Kendall and Ella through the years...

Leah's First Year

Sweet Leah, who can believe you are already a year old today? It seems like just yesterday I was going in for a routine prenatal visit and was told that you were to be born the next day! How could we ever forget how our air conditioner broke on your birth day and your daddy had to run home to meet the repair man so the dogs wouldn't burn up.


You've come a long way from dipping under 6 pounds to your cuddly, chunky self today. You crawl when you want to, but find that most things are delivered to you by Ma and big sister Kendall, so why would you need to? You pull up on anything that sits still - and sometimes some things (aka people) that don't!


We get so many comments and compliments on your fabulously spiky auburn hair. You have so many nicknames that you may not even know your real first name. Big sister likes to call you 'sissy wendy' - a combination of what I call you both sometimes 'kendy wendy' and 'sissy wissy.' I've tried to correct her, but she adamantly tells me you are 'sissy wendy' not 'sissy wissy.'


No one makes you laugh or cry harder than your big sister and I love watching you two grow up together.


Love you, Love you, Love you

A Glimpse of Heaven

I've been to Colorado a time or two, but I must have forgotten how pretty it all is...from the aspen trees, with their small fan-shaped leaves that seem to sparkle in the wind, to the majestic mountains, covered in their earthy gray velour...

We spent this past fourth of July in Aspen, and what a beautiful place it was. Beyond the pricey shops and the fresh water streams that feed impossibly perfect flowers, there was a moment where I swear we all got a glimpse of heaven. In fact, if I could guess what God was saying, it was "Aspen, see if you can outdo this!"

We were rounding a street to watch fireworks when suddenly we saw the sunset on the neighboring mountains - it was just a brilliant gold in the near-evening sky. I tried to take a picture, but I'm sure my camera could not do it justice:

As with all good things, this one quickly came to an end. I walked a few yards back to get a better picture (minus the building) and it was gone...just as quickly as it appeared it was gone.

Sing, Sing a Song

I inherited this strange family trait...it involves taking a popular (well, sometimes only popular to me) song and changing the words to apply to whatever situation is happening at the moment. Perhaps this is normal, however I have yet to run across many that do it (other than my dad, which again is why I believe it to be a family trait), but many times I myself even find it strange and annoying. It's even more bizarre because I cannot sing and would never think to try it in public. I couldn't carry a note to save my life and I usually save most family and friends from the torture of it...

I thought of this yesterday while I was randomly singing new words to an old song again and thinking "why on earth do I do this?"

The part that has become funny to me is that I think Kendall has inherited this family trait. Although perhaps more on the part of misunderstanding, she will sing "Are you sleeping?" with a wide variety of words and phrases. Unfortunately she usually does this in the car while I'm driving, so I have few opportunities to record her toddler sweetness, butchering the words to another lullaby.

What's your embarrassing 'family trait?'

Fruitcake

I've lacked a bit of creativity lately...cute things happen in life and I think "wow I should really blog about that" but then I lack the energy to put it into words. I've even taken a break from my 'mama-razzi' status in the house...I think it's due to a combination of a lot of factors ranging from the usual lack of time to our old pc flaking out and us having to switch over to a Mac.

At any rate, I had a moment of freedom with Leah snacking on finger foods in her high chair and big sister asleep, so I thought I'd share a quick update...fruit you ask? Well, because fruitcake has about every bit and piece of something all rolled into one, so I thought that might be an appropriate description of this post...

Kendall is starting to use complete sentences and it's so funny. One tidbit from the other evening...I was rocking her to sleep and asked her "Kendall, don't you want some daddy time?" since her daddy is normally the one who puts her to bed, to which she replied "no, Mommy, I want some mommy time." Another popular phrase in the house is "uh oh, Mommy, what happened?" and it's usually asked repeatedly - like a good 100 times or more. One great example was a couple weeks ago when I accidentally dropped a coffee cup on the floor. The cup shattered into a million pieces, as well as the residual coffee that splattered all over the floor and surrounding walls. For the next at least three hours, I heard "uh oh, Mommy, what happened?!?" Thanks Bee for the constant reminder of mommy's clumsiness...

Leah is getting more teeth by the day it seems...she has two on the bottom and getting 4 on the top! Her favorite food is Gerber Graduates 'lil crunchies (kinda like cheetos puffs) and she is taking to a sippy cup like a champ. Although almost 11 months, she still cannot crawl or walk yet but she finds her own unique way to get around...she has started making this 'snuffy' sound recently, where she will scrunch up her nose and snuff like a little piggy. She is still the Sleeping Champion of 2010 and if only I could get her to teach her big sister some lessons on that!

Someone recently said (in different words)...you always knew you would love your kids, but you never thought about how much you could love watching them love each other. This so true - nothing makes me happier than to watch Kendall give Leah a kiss or to watch them laugh hysterically at one another in the bathtub.

Password on Giggles

I've decided to put a password on this blog - I plan to do so by this Wednesday so if you would like to continue reading please let me know and I'll add you on the list to allow. FYI you will need a google id in on order to read going forward.

Thanks friends!

My Mother's Day Present

I received my Mother's Day (and probably my birthday as well) gift this week! It was a Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens...for non-camera enthusiasts (or camera ignoramuses like myself) this is basically a short lens for up-close and super personal. I'm still getting to used to a few details, like not having a zoom and just how small 1.4 aperture really is, but here are some test shots over the past couple days...

The Hooters Debacle

In one of the recent Facebook notes asking "have you ever," I responded to a question about "Have you ever marched/protested?" with a reference to my Hooters experience of the early '90s...since I had a couple requests to blog about this, here is the joy that was that day:

Being a pilot, my dad had an opportunity to visit many restaurants in different locations across the US and beyond. Over one trip in the early 90's, he returned talking about this place called "Hooters." The restaurant they apparently visited was family-friendly and even had male waitstaff, plus they served these great chicken wings.

So off my family goes, and I can still remember it was the Hooters in Arlington's Lincoln Square, my sister was roughly in her late teens and I was roughly in my early teens (maybe 12 or 13). We enter the restaurant and I have no doubt I will never forget the horror that my tween eyes encountered. Men were everywhere, leering at my sister, and the waitresses that had their t-shirts pulled up and back with rubber bands.

I was horrified and disappointed. Why on earth would a girl want to reduce themselves in that way?

I refused to drink even water from this establishment or look at the waitress the entire time. I would not eat and wouldn't even order.

So this may be why I have such an aversion to places of this nature...

Me from roughly the time period of the "offense"

My New Perspective on Mother's Day

I've been thinking about this post over the past week...a couple details remain the same - I still feel very grateful for my mother and all she does for my family and I. I still feel amazed by all the fabulous mothers I know and wonder how they seem to 'do it all.'

However, I had planned to go into how, having now been through 3 Mother's Days as a mom, instead of feeling like I deserved some huge, special day, I felt so grateful to be a mother. Because we were ready for Kendall almost 2 years before she was delivered, I always felt like I wouldn't take my children for granted. It definitely wasn't as easy as we perhaps thought!

And perhaps I should rephrase...I still do feel very grateful...I love little Leah's smiles and giggles...her 'deliciously chunky' baby-ness...I love Kendall's silly monster faces and her scrunchy nosed smiley face...but the past 10 days in general have been hard.

They are still feeling really hard right now. It's not that I need help. It's just not easy. Tantrums happen. Discipline must be enforced. Mommy is not so good with these two little details.

But maybe that's what makes a mom a mom, and not a dad (no offense Dad's)...you work all day (either in the home other otherwise), you might be sick (ready to not be sick at this point), but you keep going. Kids get baths and put to bed, dinner is made and dishes are cleaned, home is kept and laundry is done.

So early Happy Mother's Day to all my Super Mom family and friends! But now I'm thinking we should totally get more than just one day...

The Flip Side

This has been an eventful week in home...Daddy left for a work conference on Monday morning and I received a call around 10:30 from Kendall's daycare revealing her 3 bouts of poopies that morning and that I needed to come get her. Whatever bug she had was brutal - not just from the poopy situation - but it made her extremely fussy and needy.

Monday continues with no more bathroom incidents, so Tuesday morning I prepare her for preschool, sadly relieved because she was being so high maintenance and I have been struggling with some sort of sinus infection/cold that hasn't left me in the most patient of moods. We walk into her classroom and her teacher says "Kendall can't come back for at least 24 hours."

I almost cried...that's how bad you know it's become, when you'd rather work than stay at home. So I take her back home and we wash all the yuckiness out of the house from the previous day and make it to the store to pick up some pedialyte and other necessities...I felt really grumpy for about an hour...I'd invisioned how this day was supposed to go down, and this was NOT IT...but then something miraculous happened...I prayed about the situation and really got over it...Kendall had a gloriously long nap and I had the chance to continue my study of Proverbs in the merciful afternoon sun...this all again showed me that just because I plan something doesn't mean that 1) it's going to happen or 2) that I can ever have the best plan...because in this case, it was such a blessing that I ended up staying home that day. I had the chance to snuggle with my sick baby, mop up the pieces of my home, and give my sanity a much needed rest.

More from the Book of Kendall

A typical morning conversation between Kendall and myself...

Kendall: "Mucky, Mommy" (translation = milk)
Me: "What do you say?" (trying to ease manners into every day life)
Kendall: "Warm it up!"

We'll keep working on that one...

Stay-cation here we 'go'?

This past week (and a half, for part timers like me) was vacation time for our little family. I think the last real break we had was our mini-vacation to College Station over Memorial weekend 2009, since I refuse to count maternity leave as vacation. We have a trip scheduled for July but neither of us could stand to wait that long, so we decided to try out the 'stay-cation' and booked a couple nights at Great Wolf Lodge.

I will say this...the trip to Great Wolf (as with the rest of the time off) was fun but definitely not relaxing...I think the day of the relaxing vacation is on hiatus for awhile, unless we can budget in a few nannies here and there. My dad described it best - if you take the kids, you have the stress of the kids...but if you leave the kids, you miss the kids...not sure what the solution is yet, but we have another decade or so to figure it out.

So we stayed a couple nights at Great Wolf early on in the week and I would definitely recommend it. Loved the water park. The rooms are super clean and safe. A little pricey, but considering it took us 10 minutes to get there, it had an automatic advantage, plus what vacation is not expensive? Kendall was a little apprehensive but she tried (aka we pushed her) down one of the baby slides a couple times. Trenton and I had a blast on the adult rides, particularly on the day my sister and her daughter Rachel were able to join us. I have never been a huge water park fan ever since I got a bloody nose from going down one of the slides at Wet 'n Wild and park security 'tracked me down', but I think I may be reconsidering...

Each evening the hotel has a story time, complete with singing and dancing trees and forest creatures. We only caught story time the 2nd night, of which I only saw about 5 minutes before I heard a gurgle gurgle and suddenly saw the explosion rise up on Leah's shirt. Trenton said that Kendall enjoyed it and even took a picture with "Wylie," although instead of howling at him, like the rest of the children were instructed to do, she did her classic "funny face" which I'll have to detail down below...the rest of the evening she talked about Wylie...when we asked her where he was, she explained that he was 'outside the door' but when we offered to let him in, she was no longer such a big fan.

For those of you who know me well...my feet were horribly bruised from the rides, but sadly I did not photograph the injuries as I usually do...strange since I photograph most things these days...but I didn't have much time to dawdle on the injury before we were unpacking from the trip (from which we had an obscene amount of baggage for only 1 full day) and moving the furniture around for the carpet cleaners to come Friday.

Pan to Saturday, Rangers baseball day! Yes, we did take both children and no, we won't make that mistake ever again. Oddly, Kendall was fine and it was baby Leah that put up all the fuss. I think the poor child is teething horribly and she cried for probably about 2 hours on the outing. I think I got to see a few innings, but the rest of the time was spent walking her back and forth outside the stands.

Trenton, Kendall, and Wylie

The Water Park

Blessed Easter

I love Easter more as an adult than I ever did as a child. Partly I think this is because many of my Easter memories were with my mom and sister solo with my dad on a trip somewhere. I find that slightly odd because even though, as a pilot, my dad was typically gone 3 to 4 days out of every week, I don't remember him being gone much. My dad was always great about being involved the whole days he was at home.

But returning back to Easter, for some reason I have memories of my dad being away, my sister (almost 6 years older) away at some friend's house, and my mother and I alone at home. I really don't recall many egg hunts, in fact the most noteable Easter memory may have been the one time it snowed that year and my chinese uncle Jack and a neighborhood friend walked the whole mile to the local Kroger for marshmallow eggs and jelly beans. That frigid walk felt like the longest mile of my life, at 7 years of age. In fact, I think Uncle Jack had to run home and drive to pick us up - we were that cold.

I also have a much greater appreciation of God's sacrifice - as a mother, but most importantly as a wretched sinner that has no business being anywhere near the glory of God. However, in some miracle of events that we can never fully thank Him enough for "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." I would post a few pictures, but I have so many that I love I decided to put together a slide show. Maybe it's the beautifully colored dresses, or the looks of genuine joy as the kids find 'candy gold', but I always end up with so many precious pictures that I can never decide which ones to include...

Kiss?

Kendall definitely has her super sweet moments...today at work I had an unfortunate accident...on the way into the bathroom, I somehow caught my pointer finger in the door.  It actually didn't hurt that bad, really surprised me more than anything, but suddenly I started to feel dizzy.  I head back to my desk, barely able to keep from falling over and put my head on my desk.  I sat there for probably 15 minutes - completely freaking out my two coworkers next to me...my ears were ringing, I had tunnel vision, I felt sick to my stomach, and sweat started to pour down my face and neck.  Finally the feeling passed, but the rest of the day my finger has felt numb and I get flashes of pain at the tip.

But that is actually not the point of this blog entry...I pick up the girls, we head to the park and then home for dinner.  As we are sitting down to play, almost more to myself than anyone, I say "Mommy has an ouchie."  The next thing I see is Kendall's head poking around the play house saying "kiss?"  I nod my head and she runs over and gives me the sweetest little kiss on the end of my finger asking "all better?"

This moment ties with another last week when she threw her arms around my neck and said "Bee miss you."

Thomas the Train

This post is a little delayed, but the 'lock out' incident of last week took precidence over this one at the time...a couple weeks ago we visited "Thomas the Train" at the railroad station in Grapevine.  It was a little chilly with the very strong wind, but the sun made it more pleasant.  I don't recall ever being on a train, so I found it interesting loading up into the old-fashioned car...the trip wasn't terribly long (it was carting mostly 2 year olds) as it moved in one direction for about 15 minutes, then reversed directions and came back.

Kendall wasn't hugely aware of Thomas the Train prior to the trip, other than that her cousin Jake is a giant fan...but after being pulled by him and now checking out his website, she can scream "THOMAS!!!!" with the best of them.

Here are some shots of the day:

Our Fam - minus Jake, who was next to me

but too short for the pic

Jake, Pa, Maili, Ella -

with Thomas watching in the background

They had a small petting zoo near by...Kendall just loved the animals, although you'll notice the "blur" of her hand "petting" aka "smacking" the poor bunny upon my request to touch the poor dear...

Bee and "Rosie"

Tread these waters carefully...Toddler on the loose!

I find Kendall to be intensely facinating...she is pint-sized but packs a punch of contradiction and extremity.  What can possess a child's mind to lovingly pat her crying baby sister one minute and then steal her pacifier the next?  Or give Mommy a 'Bee Hug' followed up by screaming 'No Mommy!'

Today was again a prime day for observing Kendall's greatness...this morning, Kendall and I were out back picking up 4, possibly 5, months of accumulated doggy doodie...or should I rephrase, I was picking up doggy doodie and Kendall was trying to shove the dogs in her playhouse, jump on my back, climb on the patio furniture, and dump bubbles all over her tricycle...so as I am thinking two things:

1. Picking up Doggie Poopie is like an Easter Egg Hunt without any of the candy reward

and

2.  How ridiculous is it that I have to buy oodles for dog food and also have to pick up the by-products from it?

I realize that the backyard has become ominously quiet...for my 2 year old daughter has gone in the house and...just like daddy...locked me out!  So I start peering through the screens of our back windows - trying to spot the little squirt and hope that she can remember how to unlock, not just lock - but the child is no where to be seen.  I run around the side of the house to try and catch Trenton's attention, who is mowing the front lawn, but he can't hear me.  The gate to the front of the house is locked - which I've silently (and sometimes not so silently - sorry neighbors) cursed numerous times from being locked out by Daddy - and now by Kendall.  I run back to the house and try banging again on the door and windows.  I start to get nervous - fortunately Leah is fast asleep in her bed - but Kendall being on the loose unsupervised can be horribly scary.

I realize then that Kendall is standing right by the window now - probably laughing and pointing her little chubby fingers at me the whole time - and I try to coax aka BRIBE her to open the door with candy and cookies...whatever will work faster...but she can't figure out the lock and tells me it's 'boken' through the window.

Finally I flag down Trenton over the fence and he comes to my rescue...little stinker.

I'll conclude with my Kendall laugh of the day...I had taken the girls in the double stroller on a run to the park while Trenton was 'de-thatching' our yard (what this functionally does, I do not know)...at any rate, on the way back from the park Kendall wanted to run herself and kept telling me "no talking - we running" over and over...

Move over Elmo...Abby has arrived!

Yesterday was Kendall's first experience with 'live theater'...1-2-3 Imagine with Elmo and Friends was in town and we wouldn't have missed it for the world.  Courtesy of Daddy, we were front and center, right in the middle of all the Sesame Street action.  Both girls did so well - in their own very different ways...I wasn't sure what to expect from Kendall, but true to her typical nature, she sat back and calmly took it all in...no giggles or laughter, no clapping or foot stomping, and really not much smiling either.  The first half of the 90 minute show she sat on Daddy's lap and Leah sat on mine.  In contrast to Kendall's seriousness, Leah was all smiles and laughter.  She would wildly swing her arms in the air and then pitch her head back to smile up at me.  The 2nd half of the show, Kendall sat in my lap...she didn't say or do much, other than point at Abby Cadabby and then ask "Abby?" any time she wasn't visible on stage.

Unfortunately, Abby dolls were the only Sesame Street character NOT on sale in the theater...I even snuck into a Target on the way home - no Abby...so we are all learning patience while Abby is on her 'trip' through the mail to our house - hopefully to arrive sometime later this week..

Below are some pictures from the show...

Snow, snow...oh yeah, and more snow...

Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words...which is good, since I'm short on time and have lots of details to share...

Action shot of Jolie prancing through the crazy snow storm

we are having today

Cutie Pie Leah in Cousin Rachel's dress...I was meaning to get a shot of

her in the dress during Christmas, but I suppose Valentines Day isn't so bad.....

Another of the sweet bean...

Kendall, inspecting the snowy scenery

So I'm thinking she isn't going to like snow skiing...

if you need additional proof, check out

http://trentkrisfamily.blogspot.com/2008/12/snow-bunny.html

Was our house moved to Alaska overnight without us knowing it?