Standing, walking, teeth...oh my

My precious baby is trying to walk. Most of our friends who have kids as young as Kendall are all bragging and telling stories of how their young ones are already walking, even if they are younger than Kendall. I think I may have a lazy baby on my hands. She is trying, but she loves to have someone hold her hand while she teeters around. I'm glad she's not growing up too fast. I know she will do it when she is ready. Usually as soon as she decides to actually do something, there is no going back for her! In one weekend, at Stephanie's, she learned to sit up on her own.
Everyday, it seems, we are finding new teeth coming through. She has four on top and three on bottom that are all the way through, but it looks like she has two more on top and some molars coming through soon. Let me tell you, she's a drool pot. She's usually soaked by the end of the day. Good thing she has a walk-in closet full of clothes.
WHEN I get a job this coming school year, fingers crossed, she will be starting day care at Shepherds Way. We went and checked it out a few months ago and it's exactly what I have been looking for. Everything is catered to the child's age, even the play yard. I really enjoyed talking to the people who were in charge and taking the tour around. I absolutely love the fact that they do intergenerational works with the retirement center next door. It will be like having a grandparent over every day! Plus, they will get to read together. Kendall loves to be read to. I really hope that with all the reading we do together, that she will have a high vocabulary content.
She gets to spend the day with her Mawmaw today. Thank goodness for my mother in law. She is truly a God spend, as is my mom. I don't know what I would do if they weren't around! About once or twice a week they will take her for the day, which is good for Kendall as well. She gets to go to a new environment, with new animals and she gets to learn how to cope without her Mommy.

Well, there is a lot of cleaning to do while she is at her grandmas, so I better get to it. I hope everyone is having a fabulous start to their summer!

May 21, 2011

In just two days, my angel will be a 1 year old. A toddler...WHAT?! Ugh, it seems like warp speed has just blown through my life, taking Kendall with it. I am SO thankful that I got to spend this year with her at home. She her crawl for the first time, pull herself up into standing position, watch her WALK (yesterday, for the first time!!), smile, giggle, snuggle, love me unconditionally (except when I wash her face :) ).

Two days...that's all I have left of this year with her! It's bittersweet for me. I want to help her grow into a great little girl, but I'm so afraid to let her grow up and away from me already.

She is the happiest little girl, 90 percent of the time. The other 10 percent is when she's really tired or hungry, or when she bumps her head on something. I'm not sure what I did right, but I'm thankful.

I'm missing her so much right now, she's at the zoo with her Nana and Aunt Sara and Cousin Robert. I know they are having a great time. It's such a pretty day out!

This summer is going to be fantastic. I'm planning on taking her to the pool a few times so she can swim, and maybe even go to the beach with some friends like we used to do. Kendall hasn't been to the beach yet, but I would LOVE to be able to take her every year since we aren't too terribly far from it.

Saturday is going to be a wonderful and big celebration. I hope that a lot of people get to come and join us. I have everything planned out, and hopefully it will work out!

Alright, now that I have a few minutes of alone time, I guess I am going to go relax

i love you kendall paige cranford :) <3

May

Kendall will be one year old in two weeks. She is pulling herself up and standing and trying to talk. She is just the most beautiful little girl i have ever encountered. I know that it sounds bias, but I can't help it. She is the best nature girl. Every day she waves and laughs at everyone. I hardly hear her cry unless she is really tired or hungry. I love every waking moment with her. I'm not sure that I want another child because she is the best and I don't know if another one will live up to my expectations. Am I being silly? I don't know. God made the best daughter for me the first time around and I hope that I don't feel differently towards another child. I love her more than everything.

Her party is going to be amazing. Butterflies in pink and purple. Her cake is really a butterfly made up of cupcakes. Purple and pink decorations and lots of balloons. Should be awesome. I hope that she has a lot of people come to celebrate with us!

2 more months

It's absolutely mind-blowing to think that Kendall will be 1 year old in just two months. This year has just flown by! I can't believe it. She is crawling, trying to stand, trying to talk, rolling around, sitting up on her own...just growing by the minute. I am the most blessed person in the world for God to have chosen Kendall to be my daughter. She is the best gift I have ever received. We are going to hold her birthday party at our church. I'm hoping to order decorations for it soon, we're thinking of doing the "1" party with butterflies and flowers. Her cake will be cupcakes making the shape of a butterfly, but she'll have her very own cake to massacre! I am so excited, yet dreading all in the same breath. I wish time would slow down more so I could enjoy my moments with her longer!! Thank you God for the most precious gift in the world :)

My little low-ride

All within a few weeks of each other, Kendall has learned to sit on her own and to crawl. She is so funny to watch. Especially if we sit her down near the cats, she will roll to her tummy and take off after them, which they don't appreciate. And to boot, she is standing up, too. We can hold her hands and she will stand on her tip-toes. Ahhh...make it slow down!!
I've started planning for her birthday party. What...in...the...world!!!! I cannot believe she is 9 months old already. Anyone have a machine that'll slow down time. I'm freaking out!!! I've been out of work for almost a year, as well. But I wouldn't trade that for anything. I've been really steady working as a substitute but I spend at least 2-3 days each week at home with Kendall. And as a sub, I get to leave as soon as the day is over, no later than 3. I love it. If it weren't for missing out on the benefits and paying back Teaching Fellows, I think I would just sub until she's 5.
I'm also thinking about taking my Praxis for elementary school. Have I really gone mad??? I guess working with all the elementary schools around here has me liking them a little bit more than I did. I really like 1st and 4th grade (take about a huge difference between the two). We'll see how it goes though...not trying to hurry along anything!

update

It's been over a month. So far Kendall has 2 teeth, still rolling, sitting up on her own (but she can't pull herself up yet), we had Valentine's Day pictures done and we got to hang out with her cousin, Robert.

We do have one bad thing that has happened. When we were using Pampers stay dry diapers and they ended up giving Kendall a chemical burn. The poor baby!!! It's still there and we have to watch it. Some people say we aren't changing her enough, but that's not it. She doesn't have a rash, it was an actual burn where it blistered up and everything. But, she was a trooper through it all. Such an angel.
I've been able to substitute a lot lately which is good financially, but I miss her a lot during the day. We have started putting her in the tub to have her bath and she loves it! She splashes and tries to swim. I love her so much.

I hope that she can start crawling and sitting up on her own. She keeps trying to talk, but no definite words yet. I'll keep everyone updated, though.

Toofers

Kendall has her first tooth! It's a sharp little booger, too! I wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't drug my fingers in her mouth and started chomping. We took her to get her check up last week. She weights 16 lbs and 12 ozs which means she is in the 48% percentile for her age and stuff. She is 27 1/4 " tall which is 75% and her head was also 75%. So she is tall, skinny and has a big head!! But that's just because she has a big brain! I read to her every night when she goes to bed. Right now we are reading the Hobbit, purely for language development. When she is older I'll still read more kiddie books, but I'm just exposing her to bigger words. I don't know when or if she'll ever crawl anywhere. She rolls. I'll set up the quilt on the floor and place animals/toys strategically around it and she'll roll from one to another and play for awhile. She's a happy baby, everyone always says. She very rarely cries, only when she's super tired or super hungry. Otherwise she's all giggles and smiles!! I love her so much. I never knew you could love someone this much! I almost through the vacuum cleaner out the other day because it scared her. That was a horrible look and it made me so sad that I wanted to get rid of anything and everything that scared her. Guess I'm finally turning into a mom???

Lots of firsts!!!

It was Kendall's first Christmas! We had so much fun! Matthew and I opened up our presents on Christmas Eve and Kendall was a pro at opening up wrapping paper! It was soooo adorable watching her do it, of course she was more interested in the paper than the gift, but that was okay. Then we went to Matthew's parent's house and spent the night. We got to hang out with his grandparents (Kendall's great-grandparents). Kendall again got to eat wrapping paper. By now I think she may have ate a lot more than we would like!! At noon we went to my parent's house for lunch. Kendall got to eat turkey for the first time. She seemed to really love it. Then my parents graciously babysat while Matthew and I went to a movie. Then we came home and cleaned...really romantic, I know. It was Kendall's first night away from me. But it was nice. Then we woke up this morning and saw it snowing!!! I love snow since I grew up in Vermont. It was the first "white" Christmas that I've had down here. We drove to my mom's and got Kendall all bundled up and brought her outside. I don't really think she cared about the snow...oh, well!! We braved the roads again and decided we were going to go to Walmart...boy they were packed! But we did a little shopping there and headed to the mall. Got to run into Erin and my old best friend. Then we came home and relaxed the rest of the day. Now Kendall is asleep...I wonder if she is happy to be home and sleeping her in own bed since she hasn't the last two nights?
Well I thank God every day for my little girl. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect gift in my life!!!

Christmas play

Kendall gets to be baby Jesus in the Christmas play tomorrow! Matthew and I have played Mary and Joseph before but it's quite exciting to bring Kendall into this as well!! I think my parents and hopefully Matthew's parents will be able to come as well. I love the fact that she is growing up in the church and we get to participate. I hope that she will continue this when she is old enough to make decisions.
We are also very excited for Christmas this year!! Our first Christmas with the baby. She has a billion and one presents under our tree this year including outfits toys and some summer stuff. I am going to go consignment shopping someday and get her a few more books. We have been reading a lot from the library (since we read every night) but I like for her to have her own books as well. We are going to open presents at our house on Christmas Eve then go to Matthew's parent's house and spend the night. We've done that for the past few years but this year will be new and exciting! Then we will do Christmas with them that morning and head to my parents house for more Christmas stuff! Hopefully we will get to spend some time with Matthew's grandparents when they come up from Georgia.

I finally sent my Christmas cards yesterday. That took forever!! And I misplaced my address book so I didn't send as many as I hoped to. But that's okay.

Alright, I'm going to catch up on some reading then go to bed. Jesus and her parents have to get up early in the morning!

Solid Foods

We've started Kendall on solid foods. So far we have tried: bananas (loves the fresh, but not the mashed too much), peas, carrots (loves), sweet potato (loves), prunes (loves) and some Mum Mum teething things. She really hasn't hated anything yet, which is good. I think I'll try some pears with her tomorrow. I think she'll like them!
We went to the Asheboro parade tonight. My mom and dad were in it with their motorcycles. Kendall seemed to enjoy it except when the fire engines would honk or anything would be realllly loud. She cried two or three times. But mostly enjoyed herself. It was cold! I hope that it snows tomorrow. It would be great to have Kendall out in it!
Not much else is going on. Kendall and I are headed to Lincolnton to see Stephanie for her Christmas party. I know that we will enjoy seeing her!