Greensburg

The rebuilt Town Hall

The new, greener John Deere

We had to turn around and stop so we could take a picture of this one!!!!

And I even laced up a pair of skates and got out on the rink!

On the way out to Ulysses, we drive through Greensburg. I've posted pictures from the past two times we've gone, so in tradition, I went ahead and posted a few from our last drive through. It's starting to look more like a town and less like a disaster! The're rebuilding and there's a lot of activity in the area.

Even Bryce skated!
Kendall skating with Bryce's cousin Josh

Blake skating with Melanie

Twins Lila and Leila (I can't tell which is which!), Dominic, Blake, Kendall, Bella--The Eddie cousins!

Kendall and Bella


Bryce's cousin Josh and his wife opened a skating rink in town. We got to go there the night before we left town. This was Blake's first skating experience! He did so well! He told me he wished he was Dominic so he could skate really well...lol! Maybe we'll have to find a rink here in town and have a family skating night...Uh...or not!

The kiddos eating together
Me and Kendall as taken by Bella...lol!

Bella, Kendall, Blake

Look at the super strength my son has! He can hold an entire watermelon over his head!

Grandma Jane and Kendall

Christmas

Mimi let the kiddos open up their Christmas PJ's...This was Kendall's first time opening a gift! She thought it would be more fun to go ahead and eat it! Lol! The picture of her in the square seat deal is a special picture....That, my friends, is the Babee Tenda. Lol, I'm sure you're wondering why that's so special. Well, my Mimi and Papa bought that Babee Tenda when my mom and Aunt Sandy were little! We've all sat in it as babies! Sorry to date you mom and Sandy, but that seat is 50 years old and still seating the generations! I am sure there's a picture of me in it somewhere and I know I have one of Blake in it.

These pictures were taken at Mimi's house before we headed West to Ulysses to see Bryce's family. We spent the night at Mimi and Papa's before making the additional trip.

9 Months

I thought I had a picture of her crawling, but I really don't....this is as close as it gets and it was just taken Monday. She's been crawling about 3 weeks now...

Kendall turned 9 months on Christmas Day! Such a big girl! She finally did it--she's officially crawling! She's all over the place now! I couldn't get her into the doctor until the 12th, so I won't know her officl stats until then. I did take her to the doctor about three weeks ago and she was 18.2lbs--little baby! She had yet another ear infection...poor kiddo! She waives and says bye bye, signs the word "more", pulls up on things a little bit, stands unsupported for a few seconds, cracks up laughing at her big brother, climbs one stair from our living room into our entry way...That's all I can think of off the top of my head. She's growing so much and changing! She's a joy in our lives!

We made the long trek to Kansas for Christmas. Unfortunately, we didn't get to make it all the way to Lansing this year, but we hope to make an extra trip sometime later this year. We went to Wichita to see my family and to Ulysses to see Bryce's family. We were gone a little over a week and got to see so many people and spend time with so many of our beloved family members! It was a nice vacation. I have tons and tons and tons of Christmas photos to upload, but I don't want ot overload you all, so I'll do it slowly so as not to bore anyone!

Christmas Party

If you make a face like this in a picture I take, expect to have it posted on the blog!

My company Christmas party was on the 12th at III Forks restaurant in downtown Austin (gosh, I am really behind with my posting!). We had a really nice time! It was Kendall's first night away from us! She refused to take formula, though she has had it before, so that was interesting....she only ate baby food the entire night!!! Even though I had a kid-free night and could really do whatever I wanted, Bryce and I just went home and hung out and were in bed well before midnight! Exciting, huh? Oh, well!

She's not pulling herself up on things just yet, but she can kind of walk behind this hippo deal....She can stand supported like that for awhile, too. She's just about a week or two away from full-fledged crawling! I think I just taught her a baby sign--more--and she says something that sounds like "more" as well.....It could be a coincidence at this point, but who knows.....I'll have to test it out some more!

And Take Two....

Dessert with Daddy
Kendall kept flirting with Brad! I tried to tell her he's family, but she couldn't resist making ga ga eyes and cooing at him! It was just hilarious!

Sign of a good supper....a dirty face and an empty tray...

La familia

Aw, all of the cousins! We were just missing Aaron!!! Ryan, me, Kendall, Brad, Blake and Mimi


Our second Thanksgiving dinner was at my Aunt Sandy's house Friday after Thanksgiving. Mimi went all out, as usual, and made so many yummy things for all of us to eat! I think I gained 5 pounds after all of that eating! Easy on, difficult off!!!! Such a nice family dinner. We loved spending time with everyone basking in what the holidays are really about--family! (oh, and food....right?)

Thanksgiving Take One

We went to Gramma Pam's house for a very yummy Thanksgiving lunch. We pretty much camped out the entire day and into the evening. UT was playing that night....I don't remember who or what or if they won, nor do I particularly care about college football. We stayed to watch the game and to snack on the left overs! It was a nice day!

Slow Close

Well, these pictures should have uploaded with the bottom one on top and vice versa, but oh well. Kendall is so stinking close to crawling, but she just can't seem to do it! She gets in the crawling position and then moves her arms and hands until she gets what it is she's reaching for. She's figured out that this position gives her a little more reach and she's been taking full advantage! Nothing is safe around this kid! If she falls on her tummy, as she did in the top picture, she screams until you pick her up...lol! She can roll over, she just chooses not to. She is such a helpless little thing!!!! I took her to the doctor today because they wouldn't tell me over the phone if there was anything I could give her over the counter for her cough that would go safely with her heart medication. So, I am glad I took her in because she has another ear infection. Poor girl! She weighs 18lbs 2 ounces, just in case you wanted to know. Anywhoo, I have tons of pictures from Thanksgiving and such that I need to get up here. I won't overload you with everything tonight, but I'll work on getting them up this week!

WWWOOO HHOOOOO!!!!!!!

What is this, you ask!?!?!!!??!?! IT'S FREAKING SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!! SNOW I SAY, PEOPLE, SSSNNNOOOOWWWWW!!!!! This business does not happen here every day, so this is super exciting for us Southerners! I know you Kansas folk are thinking I'm nuts to be so excited I'd stay up late, stand out in the freezing cold taking pictures of snow, but I swear, I have only seen it snow here like two times in the 8 years I've lived in Austin! Let's hope for a snow day tomorrow, kids! Woo hoo!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving full of yummy food and wonderful family time! I asked Blake what he was thankful for yesterday and the first thing he said was "Daddy". Too sweet!

Ok, A Few More....

It's really hard to get everyone looking at the same time!
And here's the bridge I was talking about before....The sun started to mess with us a bit...

He's getting so gosh darn big!

We were doing a wardrobe change and Kendall took it as the perfect opportunity to pick up her shoes and get some real eating time in on them...

Family Photo Shoot

A co-worker of mine has a photography business on the side, so we had a nice photo shoot with him a week ago! He did a great job!!! We went to a location by Lake Austin near a famous bridge in Austin. You can't really clearly see the bridge in these shots, but you can sort of see it in the background of a couple of them. We have so many pictures to choose from, I guess you all will just be surprised what I choose for the Christmas card! Here's a little sampling of our pictures!

Kendall

Here are some shots of Kendall hanging out in her saucer while I was working the other day. She goes back and forth sitting in her saucer or on a blanket on the floor surrounded by toys (none of which she cares to play with because she's too busy trying to reach for things she's not supposed to have or finding the smallest spec of dirt ot put in her mouth). She and I have a nice time spending the extra time together while I work from home. She is an attention kid...she can't get enough of it! She loves people to watch her and laugh at her....She's going to be quite the little girl--she already is!