Ten on Wednesday

1. To mark the start of another baseball season Kendry aptly sported his Seattle Mariners onesie on Monday.

2. Is it a sign that I'm getting old when my beloved Girl Scout cookies are tasting too sweet for me to eat? Seriously, I waited all year for these babies to arrive and now this?! Whats happening to me?!

3. Our spare bedroom is once again a work in progress. Actually, its the closet that I'm working on, which requires that everything currently in the closet be removed and piled on any piece of furniture or open floor space I can find, and then placed back into the closet in a structured order that only my OCD self could concoct. I should have a picture of a wonderfully organized craft closet to show you next week. I'm giddy just thinking about it; how sick is that?

4. A little shout out to my sister Angel, my guru for all things fashion and cosmetic. You will be so proud of me, sis - I just purchased my very first hair straightener this week!

5. Justin has been hard at work getting our lawn started for the year. It is so wonderful to have a big fenced yard where Kendry will be able to run and play to his heart's content.

In order to fully appreciate the work that has gone into our yard you have to see a before and after. When we moved into our house in the fall of 2006, two-thirds of the back yard was just pasture grass and the other third was an overgrown garden. We cleaned up the garden mess, had the whole area leveled, had a sprinkler system installed, and then hydro-seeded. Ta-da!

BEFORE:AFTER:

I anticipate us spending a lot more time back there this summer as we keep up with our little toddler.

6. Hmmm...my Easter decorations storage box appears to have shrunk since I pulled out my decorations a few weeks ago. There is no way all the decorations are fitting back into that one storage box. I wonder how that happened.

7. I got a filling and my fourth and final wisdom tooth pulled this afternoon. Why just one, you ask? Well, I was a poor little young'un, just out of college, when I couldn't wait any longer to get my bottom two wisdom teeth pulled by an oral surgeon. Looking back, I should have just hit up the P's for a small loan and had all four teeth pulled rather than just the two. Let me tell ya, its a much better experience when you get to sleep through the procedure as opposed to watching your dentist brace himself to pull out a tooth from the farthest corner of your mouth with a pair of dental pliers.

8. Does anyone else think it is positively fascinating what you can find at the $1 store? I'm saving so much money shopping there for Kendry's birthday rather than the party store. Alright, so our small town doesn't actually have a party store, but you understand my point.

9. Hooray for a "Friends" marathon in my jammies and in bed at 2:30 in the afternoon on a Wednesday, with no hubby or kiddo in the house! Going to the dentist bites, but spoiling myself during the recovery phase is divine.

10. And as a follow up to last week's 10, do I really need to explain why this Easter outfit is beyond cute?

I didn't think so.

Oh Joyous Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter celebration this year. Granted, we have a wonderful celebration every year as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Talk about a joyous occasion! And there is something even more precious about it when you have a child. Allow me to share our celebration with you.

I had the table set on Saturday. Eat your heart out, Martha.

Ironically, the eggs in my centerpiece are, in fact, a Martha Stewart Easter craft.

Justin and I did prepwork on Saturday evening for our Easter brunch. Fortunately, our menu allowed for most of the dishes to be prepared ahead of time and then popped in the oven the following morning. Simplicity is wonderful. Our menu consisted of baked french toast casserole, honey yogurt fruit salad, banana crunch muffins, deep-dish ham and onion quiche, and maple candied bacon. Perfection!

Justin's grandparents joined us for church. But before we left the house we snapped a few pics because, let's face it, you really can't count on a baby's Easter outfit to last an entire day. (Amazingly enough, however, it actually did!)

Aren't my boys handsome?After church we headed back to the house to enjoy our delicious meal and let the kiddos play. Amanda, Jeremy and Ava came down from Spokane to spend the day with us. These two little cousins will be toddling around together very soon.
While still a little young to understand the thrill of an Easter egg hunt, they certainly loved playing with the eggs. It will be fun to hide the eggs for them next year.

Rain was in our forecast for Sunday, but God blessed us with some sunshine instead, which made for some good outdoor photos.


And the day wouldn't be complete without a family photo.

It was a glorious Easter. Thank you, Lord, for sending your Son that we might have life to the fullest!

Early Horsemanship

If you know anything about Justin and his father, you know it will only be natural for Kendry to enjoy horses as he gets older. While our dream house plans include acreage where we can have a few horses, that dream is still a few years (and at least one more IVF cycle) down the road. So in the meantime, Kendry will just have to continue practicing his early riding skills in the comfort of our own home.

Alright, so the dismount needs a little work, but otherwise I think he is a natural.

On a Roll!

It is now nearly eleven p.m. and I am still awake. I will no doubt be suffering the consequences of this tomorrow. But at least I've got two pages to show for my late night. Plus, crafting and sewing are my preferred methods of relaxation - and trust me, a relaxation session was entirely necessary tonight. I've got a bite mark on my arm to prove it.

Page 1: Coming home from the hospital w/ Kendry. We had purchased his take home outfit in a newborn size a few weeks prior, but his 10lb arrival made it clear he wouldn't be sporting any newborn clothes. So while we were still at the hospital my mother-in-law went and exchanged the outfit for the next size bigger. Page 2: Kendry's first bath. Despite his face in the lower picture he has loved his baths from Day 1.

Next few pages on my to-do list: 1st haircut, 6mth mark, AK trip, and Christmas 2009.

And to clarify my earlier comment, the bite came from my kiddo, and it wasn't really intentional. He was using me to pull himself up to his feet and, in the process, my arm got in the way of his mouth. Apparently biting is part of his concentration process for standing up. Boy, did it hurt. And things just kinda went downhill from there. By the time I got Kendry to bed I was feeling pretty emotionally drained, not to mention bruised. But, God gives us strength for a new day, and tomorrow I start a fresh day of parenting. On that note, I suppose I had better get to bed.

Ten on Tuesday

1. We got our Girl Scout cookies this weekend. Tagalongs, Samoas and Thin Mints, oh my! I let Kendry have his very first Thin Mint on Saturday but he barely ate any of it. Are we sure this kiddo belongs to me?

2. Our multi-talented son is starting to develop his dancing skills. Lets hope he doesn't plan on learning any moves from his parents. As you can see in the video, mine are a bit spastic and are sure to embarrass him for years to come. But for the time being he thinks they are cool enough to mimic.

3. We're planning to make Paula Deen's Baked French Toast Casserole w/ Maple Syrup for Easter brunch (along with 3-4 other accompanying menu items). Dee-lish!

4. It seems I am in trouble with my husband for purchasing a pastel argyle sweater vest for Kendry to wear on Easter Sunday. Its the argyle part he dislikes. Isn't it a rule that argyle can't be dorky until you are at least out of the toddler years? Naturally, I will be posting photos of this controversial outfit for you to weigh in.

5. Voila! Another scrapbook page completed:

6. It was beautiful here again this weekend. Kendry enjoys keeping us company outside as we start spring projects in the yard. He may only be crawling still, but he is certainly the little explorer.
7. I'm putting Kendry's Easter basket together tonight. I didn't buy him any candy - he is, after all, only 10 months old and, let's face it, all of it would be eaten by Mommy and Daddy anyway. Like we need that. But I did find him a few cute Easter goodies.

8. I was pretty bummed when our local Christian book and gift store closed in December, but I just found out that a new, revamped store supplying books, gifts and, wait for it... COFFEE (hooray!) has opened in a new location. I might need to check that out this weekend.

9. Veggie Tales Toddler Songs is such a fun CD. Kendry and I rock out to "This is the Day" and "If You're Happy and You Know It" in the car each morning, although I have yet to get him to clap along with me.

10. Kendry seems to pick up some new talent every time we spend a weekend with Justin's family. In February, after a few days with Miss Ava, it was finally figuring out how to crawl on all fours. Then, when I left Justin and Kendry in Quincy for the Big Climb, I returned to find my son doing this repeatedly:

Cute, but I would rather he had learned how to do his own laundry.