Birthday Party Slideshow

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Happy 1st Birthday Kiley!

We are so, so blessed to celebrate this day.  It was so much more than a 1st birthday party, it was also a celebration of life.  Kiley has brought an incredible amount of joy not only to us, but to our family and friends as well.  For that, we are truly grateful to God.

Planning and preparation for this party took several weeks.  We invited around 30 people and with Ohio weather, you never know what you're going to get.  So, we held the celebration in the garage.  Now, at first, it doesn't sound like a very fun place to have a party, but it ended up being perfect.  We'd decorate and organize things into piles, when munchkin went to bed each night, so it was all ready on the big day.

After hours of perusing Pinterest this summer, I knew we had to go with the monkey girl theme.  It's way cute and there were plenty of party things that were easy to find in stores. Although, I did become obsessed with just the right outfit and I did get an outfit from Etsy.  I couldn't wait to dress her this afternoon.

Here are just a few pictures for now, but I promise to post more very soon!  It has been a busy day, but it was all worth it!

  

11 months and Flying By!!

Oh my word!  School started and the whirlwind has begun!  Kiley turned 11 months on August 22nd and I'm just NOW posting.  Well, our princess is officially into everything!  She loves exploring every little nook and cranny of the house that we thought was baby proof, but found out quickly, it isn't!  Recently this week, she discovered that the cupboards open and almost every single plastic Glad container and lid was pulled out onto the kitchen floor and played with.  Yep, we got video of her doing it, too.  You would have thought she found gold!  No toy, bottle or binkie could beat it!  We let her enjoy and play, but now the cupboards have the locks on them.

Bath time is ... interesting now.  Kiley is beginning to pull herself up or get on her knees and start to stand around the house.  Now during her bath, she tries to kneel and stand.  Ahhhhh!  Let's just say I get a bath too, now.

She is teething again this weekend.  She got her first teeth very early at 4-5 months, so we aren't surprised she is getting her first molars early now.  They are so swollen.  She has been fussy and running a slight temperature the last couple days.  Cold teething rings, wet washcloths, toys, nothing seems to remedy her pain.  Our pediatrician said NOT to use Orajel to numb it.  We thought about pulling a "Meet the Parents", and put some rum on it, but didn't.  We just hold her and give her lots of TLC.

Fun Facts

- Kiley weighs 20.3 lbs.  She is currently wearing size 12 mo., some 9 mo. clothes still fit.  She can wear size 18 mo., but they are loose and she definitely has room to grow.

- Some solid foods we've given her recently that she loves are bananas, potatoes (she LOVES!), cheese, daddy gave her a nibble of a chocolate muffin just to see if she'll like chocolate for her birthday cake.

-  She has said mom, but only a few times.  Still not as much as dada, or dad.  She still jibber jabbers, lots of la, la, la's, na, na, na's, etc...

-Kiley is crawling like crazy and picking up speed.  She often gets so excited and takes off too fast, then does a face plant on the carpet.  She just gets right back up and goes for it again.

- She sleeps really well, all night through.  Usually she'll go down between 9-10 o'clock and not get up until 7:00, 7:15ish.  I sometimes have to wake her up to get her dressed and off to daycare so I can be on time to school.  

- She is still Smiley Kiley most of the time. She's just happy and content to play with her toys or go for a ride in the stroller on these beautiful end of summer evenings.

Here are some pics of our little girl.  We are just amazed at how fast this year has flown!  We feel extremely blessed Kiley is a healthy, happy girl.  It is hard to believe we'll be celebrating her first birthday in just 3 short weeks!!  We have been planning and are finalizing everything this weekend.

My mom and her flowery headbands!  Stop already!

Books, books, where are my books?

O.k., read that one, where is the next book?  What else we got in here?

Ooooo, I love the music in that commercial.  

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, love that song too!

My mom wants me to turn and face her with a big smile.  I can't take my eyes off  my Baby Einstein video.

Mom, you should really dust the bottom of this table before my birthday party!   Seriously, look at all the dust!

Oh, and there are a TON of fingerprints on this glass... you should really clean this too!

                       

Whew, just taking a little break here.  This crawling is exhausting!

I will open that gate, I will, I will.

I can't wait to turn one and get that smash cake!!!!

                                                       

Summer Bucket List

I have this list of things I wanted to do or accomplish over the summer before school starts.  I will be honest and say, I've really only done a couple things on the list, but yesterday, I did get to do the ONE thing that I've been waiting to do for a long time.  My Aunt Pat, Kiley, and I drove out to the cemetery.  I have not been out to Ohio Western Reserve Cemetery in Rittman for quite a while.  It is a bit of drive, but so worth it.   It's like a miniature Arlington Cemetery.  Kiley napped on the way down.  Dark clouds lurked in the distance.  Just as we pulled up to my parents section, it began to rain. The giant football field sprinklers were spraying like fire hoses, too.  Thank goodness they were a few rows down and we didn't have to get drenched.  The rain stopped almost as quickly as it began.  It will be 3 years since my mom passed away in November, and 12 since my dad passed in September.  It doesn't seem like it could be that long for either.  While Kiley will never meet her heavenly grandparents, she will certainly know what they were like and what she would've meant to them.  Kiley has already listened to her Grandma's sweet voice read her stories before bedtime.  My mom recorded several children's books on tape when she knew she probably wouldn't be around to see another grandchild.  Kiley plays on a special quilt she and my Aunt Pat made, too.  These are just some the little "gifts" that will help our sweet little girl know what special people her grandparents were.  

Beautiful Angels

Beautiful angels are all that is here

Saying O'Lord please leave me here

Weren't ready to leave, but had to go

Wanted to go back, but God said no

A family, children

Grandchildren and friends

Meaningful lives that suddenly end

Angels are what they are meant to be

Now think of all that they can see

Watching over their family night and day

Saying we love you in their own special way

In the night we sleep and in the day we cry

While they watch us all from their stars in the sky  

Love and miss you so much Mom and Dad!

10 months - a little late

This post is a few days behind!  Kiley turned 10 months on Sunday.  Scott's family picnic was that day and it was a hot one indeed!  Kiley did well overall.  Her cheeks got a little rosy.  I did what Mom always used to do, put a cold washcloth in a baggie and kept that in her insulated lunch bag.  I put her bottle, Cheerios, and baby food in there with an ice pack.  When she was looking kind of warm, I pulled out that wash cloth and just wiped her face down, her neck and head a little bit.  She loved it actually.   After we got home from pigging out, we just kind of all "vegged" out and laid around the house.  It was a lazy day.  Then, the beginning of the week just kind of took off with housework, planning for school, and here we are at Wednesday already!  MY gosh!  I am going into school to begin setting up my classroom a week from today, August 1st.   Kiley will go back to daycare. : - (    It won't be the full day, just a partial day to get her (and me) back into the groove.  I think she'll love going back and seeing her little baby friends again!  She'll likely be one of the older ones now, in the infant room.  She won't transition into the "First Steps" room until 15 months.  I think it will probably be more difficult on me than her!  It will be like maternity leave, 6 weeks give or take a day.  I am SURE going to miss taking our time waking up.  Holding her and cuddling each morning before feeding her.  Playing on the floor, reading stories, trying to teach her to crawl.  Yeah, that's not quite happened yet!  She still is a little crab and just maneuvers backwards mainly.  Kiley is SO close though!  We still think she's probably just going to skip crawling and go straight to walking.

There are a few new things our little munchkin is now doing though.  She does "Patty Cake" all the time, claps her hands a lot.  She also is waving now.  We were sitting on the front porch the other night, watching for daddy to come home and as cars went up and down our street, she'd wave to them as I said, "bye-bye". It's cute!  When it's time for bed too, she'll wave to daddy when I take her upstairs.  She knows what it means.

I wish I could say I had a great photo session for her 10 months, but this one was a little more difficult.  It kind of took place over a couple days and the pictures are not the best.  But, here are a few snapshots of Miss Kiley to see how she's growing.

I LOVE my mommy's cell phone!  There are pictures of me on there and I love to look at myself!

Kiley loves bags and the chewing on the handles or straps.

Mommy wants me to wear my big girl sunglasses, but I'm more interested int chewing or licking them.

When I actually DO wear them (for all of about 2 seconds), I look like a cross between Bono and Elton John!

I love this picture because it shows her blonde hair a she's just sitting up  like a big girl.  

First 4th of July

Kiley's 9 month check up went very well.  She now weighs 19 lbs. and 4 oz.  (57th percentile), she is 27 and 1/2 in. long. (47th percentile), and her head circumference is 46.2 cm (95th percentile). She is learning so much now so quickly!  Just this week, we gave her Cheerios for the first time and her coordination is pretty good.  She can grasp the cereal pieces between her thumb and forefinger and bring them to her mouth.  The release is sometimes an issue.  Kiley will have so much slobber, the Cheerio disintegrates, then  it is either smeared on her face, or it falls down in her high chair.  She loves to hear herself crunch it, so she tries to take a bite of such a small piece of food anyways, half goes in her mouth, the other half falls.  Yesterday and today though, she tried to pick up more than one piece and put multiple Cheerios in her mouth at the same time.  Then, some gagging usually occurs.  So, mama has learned to only put one piece out at a time until she learns.  Or, I put 2 or 3 out on her tray, but space them far apart and monitor her very closely.  Nevertheless, the faces she makes are priceless and I love watching this new skill!

Another new thing she JUST learned this week is the little "hermit crab" move I like to call it.  She is laying on her belly, then she backs herself up into a sitting position.  She did this on the floor a few times, now her Pack N Play and crib.  She's still trying to master crawling.  Kiley will be on all fours and she just kind of "revs" up like a car.  It's like she's going to move, but she just rocks back and fourth on her hands and knees.  She's SOOOOOO close though.  We think it's just a matter of time.

I got to hear her laugh a true, belly laugh.  Not just a giggle, but a hardy, gut, hysterical laugh.  She did it while watching one of her Baby Einstein videos.  She busted out in this silly laugh whenever this one puppet would introduce a new instrument or pretend to play an instrument.  This was the best thing ever!  I actually was thinking and got it on video.  If I can manage to figure out how to upload it, I will share.

And Miss Kiley loves to blow "raspberries" at the most convenient times.  Typically in church and when it is completely silent!  Or, when we are out and about, in a store shopping or at Panera.  It's cute though.  Everyone laughs.  She recently this week was sitting on my lap, leaned over and did a raspberry on my arm. It not only sounded cute this time, but it felt cute too!  She just turned and looked at me like, "How'd you like that mama?" Even though she won't say my name yet.  We're working on it though!  Both verbally and with sign language.  Usually, I'll say "mama", "mama" and she answer back with a "dada", "dada".  That's o.k. though, she's talking and that's a good thing!

Here are some recent pics and a Fourth of July little scrapbook of photos on Smilebox.  Enjoy!

I LOVE Cheerios!  (and holding a spoon at the same time!)  It makes me feel like I'm a big  girl!

See, I can do it by myself!

Ha ha, I don't need to take a nap!  I can sit up and play and talk to myself instead!  BTW... I see you  mom taking a picture of me!

9 Months!

Still amazed and floored at how old my baby girl is already!  Nine months today.  Wow!  Well we are in full summer mode and it is really nice to be out of school!  I was taken aback a little when Miss Kiley didn't enjoy our first full week together.  I should've expected it though.  You'd think I'd know as a teacher, anytime you change routine and schedule for a child, their behavior changes.  DUH!!! I think she actually had daycare withdrawal.  Mommy is not as fun as my 10 baby friends!  Oh no!  She refused to sit in her high chair several times.  Naps...what are naps? Certainly not the hour or two hour ones (and even longer) she took at daycare!!  Oh no, twenty minutes at best in the morning, AND afternoon.  OMG!!! Although, the last few days have been better.  I kick myself for thinking I'd get tons of housework and projects done! ha!!! But, then I realized...does it really matter?  I try now to think positive and ask myself, what DID you get accomplished today?  When I do that, it forces me to realize I got a lot more done than I thought and should be thankful. When she fell asleep in my arms last night, I just gazed at her sweet face and said, "Thank you God for this precious gift!"

What is the little monkey up to lately?  Well... here are some fun facts and happenings...

- Kiley can sit up on her own for long periods of time,  Occasionally, she forgets and leans back.  I try to put her Boppy pillow behind her, just in case.  (you can see in the pictures)

- She has 7 teeth!  Yes, 7!!! That's not a typo!  3 on top, 4 on bottom, 2 are still pushing their way through, but you can definitely see them.

- She says "dada" now.  Although, Scott isn't completely convinced she knows what she's saying.  She actually jibber jabbers more now than ever!  It's really cute!

- Kiley is not crawling yet, but still rolling EVERYWHERE!  She is still doing the "Superman" pose, extending her arms and legs straight out, trying to "will" things to come to her.  The one and only time she kinda, sort of did an "army" crawl, was when I put my cell phone on the floor in front of her.  Boy, did that motivate her!

-Her 9 month appointment is next Tuesday, the 26th.  We can't wait to see what her new stats are.  We are guessing she's going to jump from the 40% percentile from her 6 mo. appt. to the 90% percentile for weight! She's a lil' "chump-a-lump", especially her legs!  But, it's cute on her!  Hopefully once she gets moving, crawling or walking, she'll slim down.

- She is eating more solids(baby food), less bottles.  This is good, since her fornula is $27 a can and it lasts 2 days.  It's like filling up your gas tank every other day!

- Kiley still smiles 90% of the time and is generally a very happy baby.  Recently, she starts to cry, if I get up to drop something off in the kitchen or use the bathroom.  Not all the time, but that separation anxiety is supposed to peak about now.

- Scott is the best at getting her to go to sleep.  I stink at it!  He has a way to hold her and "shushes" her in a manner that just makes her fall fast asleep.  I've been trying to perfect that during the day for naps, but I still have some work to do.

- She loves the Baby Einstein videos.  Kinda corny, but she seems to like them.

Here are recent pictures to show how much she has grown!  Unbelievable!

See all my "toofers"?

I'm a big girl, I can sit all by myself!

That was hilarious!!

Oh how I love bath time!

Chewing on my bath toys!

Uuuuugggggg, sitting up is exhausting!  I think I will take a break.

Outside Photo Shoot with Mommy 6/22/2012

Oooo, what's that?  Is that the Fed Ex truck?

Yep! It was, there he goes!

And here comes those jogger ladies mommy always seems to say a\lot  about!

There THEY go!

I can still see them!

Now. where did my monkey go?

Outdoor Photo Shoot - afternoon 6/22/2012

Ooooooo, pretty!

The lady bug hair clip was a gift from a parent of one of my students.  LOVE it!  

We went indoors, mommy saw a bee and freaked out!

I LOVE that my mommy is home with me all day now!