First Birthday!

We celebrated Kendall's birthday on the 26th. We started out with a fabulous lunch, made by my mom - these awesome feta cheese quesadillas and meditteranean rice salad. Delish.



Then, we opened presents. Kendall's new thing is to say, "Ooooohhh" in a sing-songy way, which is really cute. So she did that with every gift that we opened.





Next was the cake. I made this Carob Cake and Frosting (which was actually really good) in little Christmas tree molds, and tried to decorate them to actually look like Christmas trees.



She started out not quite sure what to do with the cake.



Then she kind of liked playing with it.



Until we all started laughing at her reaction...



to which she broke down and cried. No cake for her!





After she calmed down a bit, she let me feed her some cake, and she ended up eating about half of one little tree.



All in all, it was a successful lunch and party. Kendall really liked being the center of attention (except for the whole laughing at her thing), and loved all her gifts, and was especially happy to celebrate her first birthday with her aunt and uncle, grandparents, and cousins.

Photo Challenge - Day 25

We had a fantastic Christmas! And Kendall turned 1!!! Her birthday party is today, though, so I'll post pictures of that later.

Photo Challenge - Days 20-24

Well, I guess it's obvious that I haven't really gotten around to blogging much. I had a feeling this is how it would be. We've just been having way too much fun to make time for the blog world!

On Saturday, we met up with very good, very old high school friends. David C. and Joy, and David A. and Stephanie. The boys started out by playing basketball, while the girls and the kids hung out at David and Stephanie's house. Once the boys got cleaned up (and after David A. and Grant played quite a few rounds of Mario Kart, which is a tradition they've had since high school), we went out to Texas Roadhouse, which was a sight to be seen, with 6 adults and 6 kids!





Sunday, we went to church, and Kendall was quite the attraction with her cute little red velvet shoes.



On Monday, we went to the CrossFit gym with Grant's parents. For a little background, John (Grant's brother) is really involved in CrossFit, and has been for a while now. So, Betty (Grant's mom) decided she would start CrossFit, too. Grant with her a couple of times last week, and I went on Monday. Needless to say, I was pretty tired (exhausted, really) afterwards, and had a hard time holding Kendall.



After CrossFit, we went to King Buffet, which is this HUGE Chinese Buffet. You know how a lot of buffets have self-serve ice cream machines? Well, King Buffet had self-serve Blue Bell ice cream tubs!! So this picture is for Edie.



Tuesday, we met up with David C. and Joy again, before they headed back to Birmingham. We met at Chick-Fil-A, and I think there might have been a love connection between Seth and Kendall.



Okay, this picture looks way more grown up than it actually was. Kendall was tilting her head to get a better look at Seth, then Seth leaned in for the kiss (after a little prodding from Joy and I).

And today, Christmas Eve, Kendall and her cousin, Jessica, wore matching outfits. It's very cute seeing them play together.





So, that's pretty much what's been going on with us these last several days. That, and Kendall is getting her 8th tooth, and is not very happy with anything right now. Except for my mom. She's always happy when my mom is around.

Photo Challenge - Days 18 &19

Well, we made it! And these pictures are techinically from the same day, but who cares....

This first one is from the military lounge at the airport in Atlanta. Such a great thing! We got cookies, drinks, doughnuts, chips and salsa - all for free! And Kendall got to play with some toys. It was a nice little escape from the regular terminal, and gave Kendall a chance to roam around and play before our flight to Pensacola.



This next picture, we had Kendall walk to meet my mom at the airport. My mom was just a little excited to see her.

Momentous

Last night, Grant threw something away that I never thought he would. His ratty, natty wallet that he's had since he was about 15! Some people back in Albuquerque know how much I hated this wallet. A few years ago, I bought him this really nice leather wallet from American Eagle to try to coax him into replacing his blue velcro one, but he said it hadn't lived up to its full potential yet. Earlier this year, he finally made the switch, but he still held onto the wallet for some reason. Last night, he finally said goodbye.



Look how ratty it was!



Now it's gone - FOREVER! It's a happy day!

Photo Challenge - Day 17

How cool am I? I signed up for wifi service through our cell phone company, so I can access the internet on my laptop while we're gone. Um, maybe that's old news for some people, but for us, this is pretty advanced. So, I'm in the airport right now blogging!

Anyways, we made it through security without a hitch (actually, the lines haven't been bad at all - maybe it's good we're travelling on a Wednesday, as opposed to this weekend), and now we're just waiting for our plane to leave. This is where my photo challenge posts might get fewer and fewer. But I'm gonna try.

Photo Challenge - Day 16

And so the packing begins. We leave tomorrow for Florida, so I'm trying to get everything ready, so I'm not waiting until the last minute.

This is a pile of just some of the random stuff I'm bringing, like our Christmas stockings, some recipes, Christmas gifts, and even hazelnuts and hazelnut liqueur to make hazelnut truffles (the liqueur is like $20, and I just bought a big bottle of it, and don't want to have to buy another one in Florida, only to be used 1 time, so I poured some in baby food jars and put them in a zip-lock bag. We'll see how that goes). Plus, I got a brand new, mamma-jamma suitcase, since Delta decided to charge for the first checked bag. If they're charging, I'm taking advantage of that and making sure everything fits into 1 bag.

I have a lot to do still, so enough blogging, I have to get back to packing.

Photo Challenge - Day 15

We finally put the child-proof do-hickeys on the cabinets. Now she's moved on to something else.

Photo Challenge - Day 14

I know this is super-crooked, but I took it out of the window as we were driving to church this morning. Check out how clear it was in LA today!! I've never seen it so smog-free before. Everything was just so crisp and clear and beautiful! I guess the hurricane-force winds we had all day yesterday cleared everything out. I should take a picture in this same spot on any other day to compare how smoggy it usually is.

Photo Challenge - Day 13

This isn't a picture, it's a video. But many, many pictures were taken today, because we took Kendall to Target Portrait Studio to get her 1-year pictures taken. More on that later.

But my friend, Ange, was spending the day with us, and we were flipping through the channels, and found a special showing of Celtic Woman on PBS. Ange loves celtic music, and got onto Grant for calling it celtic (with a soft "c" sound, as in the Bostin Celtics. Ange was pronouncing it with a hard "c"). Ange quickly learned that you can't say something like that to Grant without him putting up a fight, so a 20 or 30 minute argument ensued. Here's just a bit of that argument, obviously ending in Grant looking up on Wikipedia which is the correct pronunciation. It was really annoying. But kind of funny, too.

Photo Challenge - Day 12

Grant's wing had their "holiday" party today, but we didn't get any pictures of that.

On our way home, we saw Santa on a motorcycle, but I wasn't quick enough to get my camera out.

Then we got home, and I checked the mail. There was a package for Kendall inside - a birthday present from one of her friends in Albuquerque.

As you can see, she loves it! Thanks Lily!!

All Aboard!

Photo Challenge - Day 11

Almost done...

Photo Challenge - Day 10

I know, I know...I've turned into one of "those" moms. The kind of mom that posts a hundred different pictures of virtually the same thing. But I tell you honestly, when trying to pick just ONE picture for the photo challenge today - it was impossible. So here are a lot. And I'm sure that to you, the indifferent reader, they will all look mostly the same. But to me, the doting mother, they all show different parts of her personality that I just adore, and cannot be forced to choose which one is my favorite. Just a side note - I get so sick of strangers calling her a boy, no matter how girly the outfit is, that I'm forced to stick bows in her hair now.

It was such a beautiful day outside, so we were enjoying it!

This is just cute.

She makes this face so much, and I just love it!

Acting as if she's seeing the nativity scenes for the first time.

Really excited about said nativity scenes.

Just hangin' out.

Again, really excited!

Comtemplating it all.

Photo Challenge - Day 9

At first, I thought Kendall was just getting a really close look at herself in the mirror. She did this for about a minute straight, coming up, and then leaning down into the mirror. After she was done, though, the amount of slobber on the mirror told me that she was actually kissing herself. She must know how cute she is.

Photo Challenge - Day 8

This is LA, people. So, it's not unusual to see filmings taking place throughout the city. Specifically, in San Pedro, where we live, I've heard that they film 300 days out of the year. In fact, I found a blog that lists a lot of the movies and tv shows that are filmed down here - a lot I never knew about. Two really popular locations to film at are just minutes from our house.

Grant takes the bus in the mornings, and the bus goes by both of these locations. So sometimes, he'll tell me that he sees film equipment set up, and I usually go check it out.

Today was one of those days. So, I went down to White Point (which is where we took our picture for the Christmas card), and sure enough, there were lots of trailers and tents and crew scattered around. Turns out, they were filming the tv show Bones, which I've never watched, but it's still cool to see.

A couple months back, and just down the road from White Point, they were filming the tv show Numbers, which is another one we don't watch, but I was curious to see how the location was used in the show. So, I set the DVR to record it every week, and finally saw the episode. It's just cool to see the place you live on tv!

The rocky area sticking out in the water in this first picture is where we go tide pooling every now and then.

Photo Challenge - Day 7

Startin' her out young...

Photo Challenge - Day 6

Well, we braved the mall today. It actually wasn't that bad. While we were there, we ate lunch at Chick-fil-A, which always makes everything better!

More Shout Outs and Babies Walking

Check out Mrs. J's latest entry. Girl makes me laugh.

On another note, Grant has been bugging me to post new, more current video of Kendall walking. I've been so consumed with the Photo Challenge, that I've kind of forgotten about it. But after seeing Maddy's video, I got inspired.

This past Sunday, Kendall decided that taking a step here and there just wouldn't do. She went from 2 steps, to 4, to 11 all in one day!! Since then, she's just gotten sturdier, and stronger, and braver.

Photo Challenge - Day 5

This could really be a daily picture for me. I'm obsessed with Edamame!!!! First time I ever had Edamame was with Brent, Edie, and the kids at Pei Wei in Albuquerque. I haven't really eaten it too much since then. But I recently discovered it in the frozen food section at Trader Joe's. I stock up on the packages every time I go, and probably eat a whole package every day.

Photo Challenge - Day 4

I'm up bright and early this morning, trying to finish up my last sewing project. So far this week, I've made a Christmas stocking, a few pairs of baby legs (leg warmers), and now I'm working on a blanket - all for Kendall, of course. This is, by far, the most sewing of different things that I've ever done at one time.

I'm not really the most organized crafter, and I would really love to have a craft room, so our dining room is not rendered useless for so long. But, I should be done with the blanket today, so hopefully this mess will be cleared up soon. Okay, after looking at the picture, I realize it doesn't look that messy. But what you don't see is the scraps of fabric laying all over the floor on the side closest to the wall, and the thousands of tiny little threads spread all over the table.

Photo Challenge - Day 3

This is my official picture for today's challenge, and I don't really think I need to explain it.



Last night, the base had the tree lighting ceremony, after which was a Santa meet-and-greet. I really like this picture a lot. Even though some random people kind of got in my shot of the Christmas tree, I like that the palm trees are silhouetted against the night sky.



And here's another Santa-torture picture. The poor girl. Do we win worst parents of the year, or what?



For what it's worth, she wasn't too traumatized by it. When we came home, she was all smiles (and so was Daddy).

Photo Challenge - Day 2

This is kind of a weird picture to do for a photo challenge, but here's the story...

Last night, Grant and I went to Urban Outfitters at the Del Amo Fashion Center to pick out a White Elephant gift that he needed for his office Christmas party. I should've taken my camera (and I meant to take it, but forgot) to take pictures of the outdoor promenade of the mall, because it was so beautifully decorated for Christmas.

Anyways, since I didn't take it, I took a picture of my proudest purchase from the night. I loved Mad Libs as a kid. Grant's childhood, apparently, was severely lacking in this area, because he'd never even heard of Mad Libs until I told him about them, which I've been doing for years.

Last night, at Urban Outfitters, I found this HUGE book of them! I got so very excited, and am still very excited - thus, the picture of the day.

Photo Challenge - Day 1

I took this picture on Saturday when we were setting up our tree. Kendall had just woken up from her nap, so this was her first time seeing this huge, twinkling, spikey, green thing!

Since her birthday falls on Christmas Day, I think in the future she'll really grow to love the day we put out the Christmas decorations, thinking that we're decorating for her birthday!

New Zealand Shout Out!

I have to give a BIG shout out to my girl in the land down under. Not Australia, though. The the other one down under. The cooler one. New Zealand.

A few days ago, I got a package from her. It was these super cute kiwi socks for me and Kendall!! Jen understands that I have an obsessive fascination with New Zealand, and that I would really, really LOVE kiwi socks, and that I want to get Kendall in on the same obsessive fascination.

Also, before Jen moved there, she let me and Melissa go through some stuff to see if we wanted anything. I picked out these small wooden Ikea picture frames. I didn't know what I would use them for, but I knew they had potential.

Then it hit me. I've been wanting to do a family collage. We have this really long wall, and I decided that would be the perfect place for it. I think I'm painted out, so I didn't want to paint anymore walls, so to achieve color, I decided to just get a bunch of frames and paint them different colors. This is where Jen's frames come in.

With the frames she sent me, plus the ones I had lying around the house, I only had to buy one frame, which was awesome.



And if you think I'm talented enough to paint that "Family is Everything," well, you're right. I am that talented.

Okay, maybe I bought that phrase from Uppercase Living. But, I like to think I'm that talented.

Oh, and one more thing. I was reading Haley's blog, and I got inspired to try this December Photo Challenge. I really am going to try. I mean, I've been blogging every day now for the past few days anyway, so what's the difference?

Any day now...

Kendall is so close to walking. Since taking this video a couple of days ago, she has already progressed so much!

She now stands on her own without pulling up on anything. She's been doing this randomly for a week or so, but today, she's been doing it very regularly.

Every now and then she'll take a step or two right after she stands, but we've come to realize that this girl is going to walk on her own terms. I really think that the only reason she's not walking, is because Grant and I are always watching her. If I'm not watching her, and then I see her out of the corner of my eye standing and taking a step, as soon as she realizes I'm watching, she stops, falls down, and crawls away. Little Miss Independent. So now, whenever she stands and looks like she's about to walk, we turn our heads, and corner-look at her to see what she does. So far, she hasn't taken anymore than 2 steps before falling down.

It's so much fun to watch, and we get so excited for her when she does take a step!