Friday, December 18, 2009

Kenzer at Xmas



This poor dog! MacKenzie is our 8 year old long haired Jack Russell Terrior (um, terror). Since the kids have come along she has been slowly downgraded from most beloved first born child, to barely there, 5th on the list, d-o-g. We still love her to pieces of course, but we are so consumed with children that we often wonder, "Did we feed the dog? Is she inside or outside? Have you seen the dog today?" She is now an after-thought instead of our focal point. Every now and then Kenzie will dig her way out of our yard and go on a neighborhood joy run and we feel that panic..."what if she is gone forever?" So, the love is there, we just need to pay more attention to the dang dog! So, TA-DA! Here is Kenzie!! She has been neglected on this blog and in light of a couple of pet passings that my friends have recently endured, I thought I would give her the moment in the sun that she deserves. She is a most loyal and loving friend, and she is AWESOME with our girls. She even lets Camdyn take her own bone out of her mouth in mid chew. She doesn't snip, growl, or object. She just goes with the flow.

I must mention that the goal in this picture was to play with some of the settings on my camera. In particular, I wanted to learn how to adjust the aperture to blur the background yet keep my subject in focus. I was unable to pull Camdyn away from Dora and Chloe was in bed, so I counted on my 1st born, most wise, and obedient pet child to perform as my subject. Kenzie willingly obliged and I have this neat photo, with the background appropriately blurred and taken using the ambient lighting feature on my camera. Note that the room was completely dark save for the lights on the Xmas tree when I pushed the button. Pretty cool, huh?

So, Kenzie here's to many more years of entertainment, stunts, escapades, and faithful nights cuddled under the covers in the crook of my knees. I may not act like it all the time but this dang dog is family! Love you Kenzer!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Chloe is a Crawlin'

My first response to this was a big giant "HOORAY" and ear to ear smiles. At almost 9 months, Chloe looks as cute as a button as she tries to figure out how to move her knees and her hands at the same time and inch herself forward. I was able to get her first crawl on video (both on my digital camera, video camera, and phone) and witness her little mind processing her achievement first hand. Chloe was so excited and proud that she kept attempting the crawl over and over and over, with a wide smile and the cutest coos. When she got to where she wanted to go, she would look up at me and Chris for approval. It was too cute for words! When Camdyn started crawling she just took off....there was no hesitation, not timid motions, she just motored on. Chloe isn't quite as brave or strong, so it's fun to see her do it her own way. Not to mention, that Chris missed this phase with Camdyn (he was playing baseball in Canada when Camdyn started crawling). What fun!

My second reaction was "Oh no." This means that Chloe is going to become completely enthralled with exploring her world and she is no longer going to LOVE to be HELD. She's going to prefer to be on her own and the independence of toddlerhood is going to rush in. Her baby days are really numbered! I'm a little sad about this. I don't want to hold her back or force her to stay my baby, but it's sad to think that I probably won't ever witness this exact moment with a baby again. Life keeps moving forward and there are still plenty of firsts to tackle.

** Will post the video soon!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Busch Whacked

We took the kiddos to Busch Gardens last weekend and had an enjoyable time despite the 60 degree weather. It was COLD! Camdyn is still fascinated by the elephants, although the hippos are gaining speed on her...she couldn't wait to see them this time too. I actually (almost) got in the sky buckets. We parked the stroller and walked up to the line and then decided it was too long to wait. I'm proud of myself. Those things scare the crap out of me, and on a windy day, I almost did it. Maybe next time! Chris and I are figuring out how to handle the amuzement park thing with 2 kids in tow. We've done Sea World and Busch now, and we recently had to reschedule our Disney trip. We'll tackle that one in January. It's definitely exhausting, but so worth it.
Here are some highlights of our day trip:

Camdyn waiting for the dragon boat ride, it was her first time on this ride. She liked it :)


Chloe and Chris trying to stay warm. Baby had a drippy nose and goopy eyes and this would be the start of a week long illness....


Sweet sisters riding the carousel together. It almost appears that Chloe is hanging on herself. Don't most 8 month old babies do this?


Camdyn's wittle hands...

Camdyn on stage with the rest of the children & Santa. She kept waving and smiling at him. You would have thought she was the only kid up there the way her face lit up like he was singing just to her. This was one of those moments that brought tears to my eyes.

Chloe the Thief

In Chloe's Little Baby Head:

What'cha got there sissy?
Ohhh, a small toy. that looks like fun...I can almost reach it....stretch, stretch....

Hey! No Fair! Don't take all the small toys away, sissy! I won't choke on it, I swear. I just want to put some slobber on it....PLEASE!

Seriously!! GIVE ME BACK THAT TOY!

Ahhh, Forget it. Just wait, I'll get you back....

And, take this Fargin' flower off my head!