Kyleigh's 1 year Well Check-Up

I took Kyleigh to see Dr. Sullivan today for her 1 year well check-up. Here are her stats:

Weight: 22.4 lbs (75th percentile)
Length: 31 1/4 in (98th percentile)

I had no idea she was so tall! I guess she gets that from her daddy :) The doctor was very pleased with her growth and development. She is talking more and more these days saying Mama and Dada and also waving at everyone she sees and saying BaBye in the sweetest little high pitched voice I've ever heard! We also discussed taking her off of her formula and completely switching to whole milk. I have been trying to introduce milk to her but she has continually made sour faces at me when I give it to her. What I had not thought of that the doctor mentioned is warming it a bit in the microwave...yuck. Kyleigh is so used to having her bottles at room temperature that it didn't occur to me that she may just not like the temperature of the milk and not the taste. SO this evening I decided to try again and this time I warmed it for about 10 seconds in the microwave. EUREKA! It seemed to do the trick because she drank almost a whole sippy cup of milk! She also enjoyed eating some turkey and cheese I had from the deli. I suppose the just decided that today was the day she was ready to eat table food and drink milk. I should've known she had a mind of her own......she's my child right?

Kyleigh's 1st Birthday Party Weekend!

I was so thrilled that Kyleigh's birthday fell on a Saturday because it made it rather easy to plan the party. Everyone came in for the party except for Aunt Amanda and Jerrod because they were attending his mom's law school graduation....congratulations to her and we missed them! We had such a fun time watching the kids play outside, lots of good food, and lots and LOTS of great conversation. The only downfall to the whole weekend was me getting the lovely stomach bug. It has now passed through pretty much the entire family except for Cooper, Kyleigh, and Nana. Let's hope it stays that way because it's no fun and I wouldn't wish it on anyone!

A huge thank you needs to be said for MiMi, MawMaw B, Nana, & Amy because without them I would never have been able to pull the party off. They helped with everything and anything that they could have to make the party go off without a hitch! We even were able to invite our new friends, Leah, Brad, and their boys to the party. They are a great family we met at our church and have been having lots of fun doing things together. Kyleigh got lots of pretty clothes and pretty pink toys to play with! She has really been enjoying all of them so thank you to everyone!!

To My Sweet Baby Girl.....

Where do I start? I can't believe a year has passed since you came into our lives. I knew this day would come eventually but I think I kept telling myself it was "a ways into the future". Little did I know that the future would creep up on me like a roaring freight train.

I tried to prepare myself mentally and emotionally but I don't think I anticipated your birthday hitting me this hard. You are my last baby and making through that first year is such a milestone. I guess I never thought much about it with Cooper even though I was so thrilled to have made it through that first year with him because he was kind of our "guinea pig". Your dad and I were just like everyone else and continually learning and weaving our way through the joys of parenthood. You, on the other hand, were much easier for us because we all ready knew what to expect. I think that is why I took the past few months for granted that they would last longer than they did.

You have been such a joy to watch over these last 12 months. You have learned so much in such a short amount of time by watching your brother ever so intently. I must say that you catch on rather quickly although some things I really wish he did that you would ignore...haha. We love watching you explore even though that usually includes putting EVERYTHING imaginable in your mouth. I love how you wrinkle your nose, smile, and clap crazily when you're excited about seeing Daddy when he comes home in the evening. I love how you make a fish face every time you start crawling and are on a mission.

I just want you to know how much your dad, brother, and I love you and how we can't imagine our lives without you in it. I look forward to continuing to watch you grow, learn, and becoming the beautiful, intelligent, and lovely woman I know you will one day be.

With love,
Mom

Kyleigh's 1 year Portraits

The Friday before Kyleigh's birthday, I took her to Portrait Innovations here in College Station to get some pictures made in her birthday outfit and also a cute little smocked dress I had bought for her. My great friend, Codi Crouch, made Kyleigh a onesie and matching tutu for her birthday to coordinate with our theme, "Look Whoo's One"! It turned out even better than I could have imagined and it looked so cute with the party decor. Kyleigh did so good when taking her pictures and I didn't have to act too much like an idiot to get her to smile! It's amazing what kinds of things you will do as a parent just to get a smile out of your child.....I only had to sing Pat-a-Cake about 50 times and only had to do my ridiculous baby talk 200 times. I had many many more pictures than what I posted here so I had to just choose a few of my favorites. All in all it was a great photo experience and I look forward to our next portrait adventure sometime this summer when we take family portraits!

Family Time in Ptown

Last weekend we headed to Pleasanton for a weekend of family fun! Everyone was attending the wedding of our good friends in San Antonio so it was a great chance for us all to get together. It is so rare that all of us get the chance to be together in one place and strangely enough we really all LOVE being together! I feel so fortunate and blessed to be a part of a close knit family that all gets along......I know it seems like anymore people fight over petty things and fall out with each other. God has blessed our family beyond measure!

Friday night we all enjoyed a fantastic meal prepared by my mother-in-law and then just had a great time visiting and catching up. Saturday was a treat because my father-in-law prepared his famous enchiladas. They were yummy!! I also got to visit with my friend, Juli, who is getting ready to have her baby next week!! I am so excited to find out what the baby is and to see it's beautiful face! Saturday night we all headed up to San Antonio to Garrett and Lana's wedding. It was a gorgeous wedding at Alamo Heights Methodist Church. We also enjoyed a beautiful reception at the Witte Museum. The reception just happened to be catered by the same company that caters the Pioneer Christmas party every year so the food was fabulous! I look forward to the next opportunity we all have to get together which I guess will be in July when we all head to Rockport!

Mother's Day 2011

This year for Mother's Day, we went to visit my family in Winnsboro. Mom's birthday was the Saturday before so we decided to make a weekend out of it and get two celebrations in one! I always feel like I miss out on holidays with my family so I try to get up there every chance I get. We had such a great time and I got to eat at all my favorite places. This was my first mother's day with 2 children and I must say it was the greatest so far! I got 2 wonderful cards from the hubby and then from my sweet kiddos.

I hate to get on my soapbox during such a nice post but I just have some things to say about the word "mom". I sometimes believe that being a mom is the most underappreciated job there is. "Mom" means being a cook, maid, scavenger hunt leader, mender of booboo's, child police, and so many many more. A mother's work is never done. When I go to bed at night after a long day of chasing around 2 kids under the age of 3, you would think that I would immediate fall asleep, right? Not so much.....and no it's not just because of my insomnia problem. It's also because I lie awake thinking about the next day....what will we do? what will we eat? what, if any, appointments do we have for the day? It never ends..... I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all the mothers in my life, including all my mommy friends. Just know that I appreciate you and I know how hard it is sometimes to keep it all together. I love each and every one of you and appreciate the influence you have had in my life. I wouldn't be the mother I am today without you!

I would also like to thank my children. Without you I would not even BE a mother. You both mean everything to me and you continue to amaze me each day with the new things you discover and learn. I hope that each Mother's Day we celebrate after this one is just as meaningful and memorable as the last.

A Few Easter Pics

As I mentioned earlier, we were in Pleasanton for Easter so we enjoyed getting to visit with lots of old friends and family while we were there. I even got to attend a great friend of mine, Juli's, shower at Amy's house. It was the absolute cutest shower and my crafty sister-in-law outdid herself once again! I wish I had her craftiness....if that's even a word.

Anyways, we also were able to attend our former church, Cowboy Fellowship. It was so nice to see so many familiar faces. We really love our church in College Station but are still getting to know people and it's hard when we are gone so much visiting family here and there. SO, it's nice to feel like you are going "home" when you see all those people that we miss so dearly!

You can go ahead and call me "Mother of the Year" because I didn't have a proper easter egg hunt for my kids. Hey- They are still too young to even understand what that means and neither one of them eat candy yet so? I did manage to snap a few pictures in their spiffy duds after church and threw a few eggs in there just so you know what holiday it is...lol Enjoy!

Sea World

While we were in Pleasanton for Easter, we took the opportunity to take Cooper to Sea World for the first time. We had some friends from College Station that wanted to meet up with us so we asked Clifton, Amy, and Layton to tag along and we went! Nana and Papa were so gracious to watch Kyleigh for us....I knew she was too small to enjoy anything there but I really look forward to taking her when she gets a bit older.

I really thought that it would be a quick trip and the boys would be ready to call it quits after lunchtime. Boy was I wrong! We ended up staying until 5! They had so much fun and I was so impressed at everything that had to offer the little ones. Sea World recently opened a new part that is geared towards the younger kids and it has such a fitting theme of Sesame Street! The boys loved the carousel and the huge water area they had....well Layton loved the water area but Cooper not so much. There was a huge bucket overhead and everytime it filled with water it would dump over. Well....you can probably tell what I'm going to say next. Cooper happen to be one of the victims of the huge bucket of water. It scared him and the water was really cold! Poor thing just decided to have a little meltdown after that one.....luckily we found another area that he loved and made him completely forget about that mean ol bucket!

We also decided to venture over to the actual water park that Sea World has after lunch. It was a lot of fun for the kids but even more fun for the adults! Daniel even shot Clifton in the head with one of the water guns! We also enjoyed the wave pool....I mean who doesn't love a wave pool!

Our passes are good for one more trip before January so I know we will be going back very soon!