solid food

I, like most moms, have a love/hate relationship with solid food. I love that I don't have to think in increments of 3 hours, I don't have to constantly survey every public place for a good/quiet/discreet place to nurse, and it means Drew can do some of the feeding! But that little Sayla is getting bigger and moving into the next stage is not so fun. I know its good and I know I'll love the next stage, but it seems like once solid food comes into the picture it is a rapid change from baby to toddler. Also, can I just say I LOVE the convience of nursing? 7-10 minutes, no cleanup, sweet time with my baby girl and we're done!

Well, whether I want it to happen or not, Sayla has started to wean herself. She L-O-V-E-S food. So far she has eaten everything we have given but squash is her favorite...which brings me to my next conflict with food- it is so darn messy! Look at this picture closely, someone asked me if Sayla had pink eye and I realized she had squash in her eyelashes from lunch!

...and then I won one hundred bucks

Sayla was in rare form on our trip home from Dallas the other night. Very uncharacteristically she wouldn't sleep and was not happy about being in the car seat. We kept stopping for mini feedings, and I was done with her fussing. At one of our random stops Drew, sensing my frustration, bought me a scratch off loto ticket. Since we have been married we have bought maybe three of these little guys and I have never won. But I still love them and, for whatever reason, they make me smile. Drew decided it was a good purchase to make some time pass and get my mind off Sayla, so I played the scratch off bingo game and didn't get a single bingo...bummer.

but, just when all hope was lost- I saw a little "instant bonus" scratch off and (you already know the ending) I scratched it away to find $100! whoo hoo!

I bought a new vacuum with it. That makes me really cool, I suppose.

baby announcements

I have been doing these photo birth announcements for friends (and family) lately and loving it! I just send mama the jpeg and she can get the photos printed wherever is convenient, and then order 4x6 envelopes online. so fun.

(I changed the name and stats for the example, so that little addie's full name and info weren't one here for who-ever to read...)

weekend with the remkes

We had a fun and relaxing weekend with Drew's family and got to do all sorts of celebrating and spending time with family.

celebrating addie's baptism:

little addie with mama, daddy, the priest who baptized her and her God parents, Dan and Grace.

celebrating kead turning two:

great-grandma and grandpa remke got to meet addie (and sayla) for the first time:

Other than that we generally had a great time relaxing and enjoying each others company. Good times.

love this girl

one thing that we hear over and over again with Sayla is "Seriously, is she always like this?" and by "like this" they mean self entertaining, happy and chilled out! The answer is: almost always. Things that make her not as happy include:

cleaning her nose (I would say this is 50% of her crying)
going to bed if she isn't tired
if we don't keep the cheerios coming
diaper rash

...thats about it. Other than that it is a whole lot of chillin and smiles and giggles. What a blessing!

goddess shoes

Kead is very particular about shoes. She is really in love with Crocs and there are only two or three other pairs of shoes that she will ever wear.

SO we decided to go to the Crocs. outlet store this weekend in Dallas to find some more neutral pairs. We were seriously disappointed. There were NONE. No black, brown, tan- nothing (in a kids size 6 anyway). Just as we were getting ready to leave I spotted these at the bottom of a clearance bin...be totally honest- is the gold too much?

Drew's dad calls them her goddess shoes, is that a good thing?

it was a good day

the park, water bottles (one of kead's favorite thing, who knows why...), lots and lots of cupcakes and then a drive to Dallas. :) it was a great birthday and the celebration will continue with granny, pops and family this weekend.

(in case you were wondering- I bought mini muffins and iced them. i hate baking, love decorating.)

celebrating keadryn

...just another post showing kead's personality in pictures, instead of words. I love this kid.

two

My favorite things about Kead at two:

• The way she (and she alone) can get Sayla to giggle and say "dada". Their bond is precious.
• Her logic. She is really putting things together and tries to bargain a treat or park visit into just about everything.
• She is talking up a storm! The other day I drove into Sonic and from the back seat she said "Large coke and large pepper, please" I love how she communicates!
• Her love of climbing (check out this you tube video for proof)
• Her adventurous spirit.
• Her eyes.
• Her passion. When the girl is happy there is no way anyone could be sad (of course, that has a flip side, but let's focus on the positive).
• The way she says "my" in place of "I" ex: "my cookin, mama!"
• Her love of the outdoors.
• The way she dances!
• Her name recollection. She know every ones name, including that mama is Jordan and daddy is Drew.
• How much she loves Hays.
• That she is now at the age where she can entertain herself!
• The way she wants to pray for everyone... including Aladdin and The Wiggles.
• How even though it is going by so fast and she is getting so big, there are still so many sweet moments in which she still seems so little and dependent on mama and daddy to make things right- whether that be a simple kiss on a scratched knee, or holding her when there are too many new faces. She is still our Baby-K.

can it be?

Really? Burke is ONE? It never ceases to amaze me how fast that first year zooms by and yet I cannot imagine life without Burke, and it seems like he has always been here. I LOVE this little man and am so thankful for him.

I didn't know I could love him so much and could genuinely care about what kind of babbling noises he is making, what kind of demeanor he has on any given day, and what kinds of silly things he loves. I want to know everything that is going on with him and don't want to miss a minute. He melts my heart. Happy first birthday, my sweet nephew.

burke actually turns 1 on monday, but since kead turns 2 on wednesday, I wanted to celebrate him a little longer!

new food obsession

nonfat plain yogurt. that's right. I am obsessed with this stuff since I learned this trick; drain it! (here's a you tube video on how to do that) Seriously, it's fabulous. You can substitute it in just about anything that calls for a creamy-cheese or mayonnaise. My favorite these days is this simple ranch dip-It even passes Drew's tastiness test!

yogurt ranch dip
1 large container nonfat plain yogurt-drained
1/2 packet ranch dip mix

mix and serve with veggies...and don't feel guilty saying "pass the ranch!"

Next on the list is using it in a potato salad for a barbecue this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes.

my man

I love this guy more every year. I can't believe he's in his last year of the 20s. happy birthday 29th, drew.

natural light

I am loving my new camera, when we are outside.It's crazy how much better pictures look in natural light! So far, I don't think I have taken a single picture worth saving inside my house. If I try to change the aperture or shutter speed, my little busy bodies are always fuzzy. grrrr. any tips on how to get better pictures in a poorly lit house (without getting a flash-lit looking picture)?

my mama

This morning at church the sermon was about biblical womanhood. The passage was Proverbs 31. As I sat thinking about that woman and how she is a model for what a Godly woman should be, I got teary eyed thinking about my mom and how much her life reflects what the passage says a woman should be. She is hardworking, diligent, wise, a good business woman, a wonderful homemaker, a great wife and, above all, she loves the Lord. I am so blessed to have a physical example of biblical womanhood in my own mother and so thankful that I have such a great role model in how to do this mom thing.

Happy Mothers Day!

my mom's mother's day card

loving summer weather

thanks for that

So, its week two in the couch-to-5k. I downloaded a podcast that does the timing for me and has some sweet running music and it has made a huge difference. The guy on the podcast is usually encouraging but at about the 15 minute mark he come on and says "you should be feeling the effects from the run right now, but not be out of breath."

hmmm, either:
a) I am running harder than I should .
or
b) I am WAY more out of shape than the normal couch-to-5k runner.

I am pretty sure it's b.

I already said this...

but Sayla really really loves chillin in the hammock. (so does Drew, by the way)

maniac hair

I need your opinion please! It seems like in the last week Keadryn's hair has grown into a crazy, wild animal with a mind of it's own. WHAT should I do with this hair?! I mean, do I have any choices?

happy 25 "little" brother

I have always called Adj my little brother. Never mind that he was taller than me by the time he was 12, and that I have good friends younger than him, and that he is 25! He is still my little bro and I love him so dearly. We haven't lived in the same town in over 8 years and I miss being around him on a daily basis so much, especially on his birthday. Us girls use to make him do scavanger hunts and bake for him and do all sorts of crazy things to make his special day extra special, but I know that his rock-star wife, Tricia, will do an amzaing job of making him feel loved.

So from across the miles, happy birthday, little brother!