I Did It!

Okay, this may not seem like a big deal to a lot of you, but for me I accomplished something that I have had anxiety about since having Kenley...so much anxiety that I have not done it until today. I went to the store and bought groceries by myself with both girls. I know, you are probably laughing, but this is really a big deal for me. I have been so nervous about being at the grocery store with a cart full of food and having some catastrophe like Ashlyn having an accident and Kenley having a meltdown and me not having any idea how to handle it. And not to mention that I had no idea where I was going to put all of the food with two kids and a diaper bag riding in the cart. But I woke up this morning optimistic that I could accomplish this feat that millions of mothers of two (and 3, 4 and 5) do everyday. I got one of those giant carts with the toddler seats in back. Kenley sat in her bucket in the top and Ashlyn rode in the toddler seat. I was so proud of my two girls for how well they did. Kenley got a little fussy when she started to get sleepy and then went right to sleep. My little superstar almost-three-year-old sat right in her seat the whole time and just talked to me about her day. She is the best kid. So anyway, I am so proud of myself for doing that. I feel such a sense of accomplishment.

I have a scrapbook retreat coming up this weekend that I am sooo excited about. It is actually Shelly's birthday present from Matt. There are three of us going away for the weekend to get scrap happy! I can't wait. I am so excited to just go hang out, but I am also pretty nervous. This will be my first time to be away from Kenley overnight. I think that she will do okay with Ken, but she doesn't have a good track record of being away from her mommy. I have left her for short periods of time with friends to run errands only to come back and find that she has been crying the entire time. As soon as I take her back from whoever was watching her and hold her she stops crying. It is really quite pathetic. She is just a Mommy's girl.


I think we are going to start Kenley on rice cereal today or tomorrow. I was set on not doing this until it was absolutely necessary. I wasn't planning on starting her for another month, but I am thinking that it might help her sleep through the night. She was doing really well sleeping there for awhile, but the past several nights she just can't make it. The night before last I was up with her three times and the last time just didn't have it in me to walk her all the way back upstairs. So this is what we looked like when Ken woke up that morning. My sweet little Kenley Lael.....

Ashlyn also has a new word..."Lasteryear": Defined as any day that was before today....very cute. She has been using it frequently lately. I know it's improper grammar, but as any mom knows there are a few things that your kids say that you just don't want to correct because it is so cute and all too soon they will be saying it properly and you will long for the days when they spoke in that toddler language. So for now I will enjoy Ashlyn talking to me about what she did "lasteryear". How we love her so.

The Latest Looks

Ashlyn has begun the stage of wanting to dress herself. For the most part, we just let her pick out her pajamas. But tonight she was going to the babysitting co-op at the church so that Ken and I could go on our date night. She wanted to pick her own clothes out so here is what she looked like. I had to get a picture because she is just so stinking cute. She was so proud of her outfit.
Kenley has begun the stage of sucking her fingers. I am now convinced that there is a genetic factor to finger and thumb sucking because we have now worked very hard on two kids to get them to take pacifiers and it didn't work with either one. Ashlyn sucks her thumb and Kenley has opted for the first two fingers on her left hand. And she holds her fingers in her mouth by shoving her right hand over her left to make sure they don't fall out. Quite amusing.


And now...the latest "Ashlynism"...her little neighbor friend was over this afternoon for a few minutes while we were getting ready to go. They were upstairs playing in the game room and having normal 3 year old conversation. Insuring Jacob's safety while at our house Ashlyn told him, "Now Jacob, you know that if you cut your spleen open, then you will die." While laughing out loud, I thought to myself, "You have got to be kidding me...my two year old just used the word spleen....properly. What in the world!?" She is absolutely adorable.

Celebration of New Life

Our church had a Celebration of New Life this past Sunday. They do a little slideshow with all of the babies that were born the previous year and present the parents with a book and a Bible for the babies. So we borrowed a dress from Kenley's BFF, Avery and got all dressed up for the occasion. I even got Ken to wear a pink tie. He didn't like it, but I think it looked good on him! Ashlyn got to wear a new pair of pink sparkle flip flops (her first pair) for church. She doesn't quite know how to walk in them yet so they kept coming off all morning. Here are a couple of pictures of the girls on Kenley's special day.

Always Rushing, But Found The Time

People keep telling me, "You have to create a blog so that everyone can keep up with what is going on and you can put pictures of the girls on there." My response has always been, "Okay, I'll be sure and get to that in my spare time this week. Somewhere between chasing my excessively energetic almost 3 year old, and entertaining my 4 month old." By the time I get a spare minute in the evenings, I am not interested in creating a blog. I just want to sit and talk to an adult and relax. But today I have found the time. I have been at my mom's for the past several days and Ashlyn is exhausted and Kenley is asleep in her swing. I am anticipating having a quiet afternoon with Ken away on a business trip, so here I sit...creating our family blog. I am excited to learn this new world of blogging and being able to keep our friends up on our family's happenings. Not sure how often I will be able to keep it updated but for now, here we go.