Walker Family Adventures

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!!

2012-02-12T21:27:00.001-05:00

Oh Valentine's Day, how I love thee! No but really, Valentine's day is my very favorite holiday of the year. As a die-hard romantic, I just love taking the time to tell the people we care about how much we love them. Since Nate and I are going on a hot date on Valentine's day, we decided to designate today as our family Valentine's day. To celebrate, we had a candlelight dinner with heart shaped pizzas and chocolate cake. In fact, the kids both ate so much chocolate cake that they are still up at 8:30 bouncing around in their beds. Next time I'll have to remember not to give the kids massive amounts of chocolate/sugar right before bed.

Brayden's face in this picture makes me giggle. He's so excited to open his present! We gave them both a little Valentine's gift. Brayden got a megaphone that he's enjoyed saying "Moo!" into.

Here's Kennedy's new apron. She my little sous-chef, so she was super excited to have an apron just like mommy. She's already got a hoard of M&Ms in her apron pocket that she claims to be saving for later.

Happy Valentine's Day from the Walkers!!

The Monsters

2012-02-12T20:47:00.003-05:00

I have discovered a couple things over the last few weeks. The first is that the differences between boys and girls constantly amaze me. Kennedy picks up a toy and pretends to be its mommy, Brayden pretends to eat it while roaring like a lion. In typical boy fashion, Brayden has turned into our resident garbage disposal. Despite being smaller than 92% of other children, the kid eats a ridiculous amount of food. The other day my 19 month old boy crammed down 3 pancakes, an applesauce, his sister's applesauce, and a his and his sister's milks for breakfast. He's constantly finishing off Kennedy's leftovers and she doesn't mind slipping him her food when I'm not looking.

Little man made his first word combination and it is exactly what Nate and I would have expected from him, "hold me". He also learned how to say "luh you" (love you) this week. My life is now complete:)

In other news, Kennedy gave her first talk in Primary (the children's organization in our church) this week. Her talk was on Noah and we prepped all week, even went to church on Saturday to practice. There's never any telling what will come out of her mouth, but it ended up being pretty sweet. Some highlights include:

"Heavenly Father knows stuff"
"The octopus didn't get in the ship because he knew how to swim"
and
"Mom I am trying to give a talk, go to the corner"

Despite my giggling like a 12 year old the whole time, I was so proud of Kennedy for getting up there and not being intimidated by talking in front of her peers, she must have her daddy's genes.

Date Weekend

2012-01-23T22:53:00.001-05:00

We decided this weekend that our kids were due for some one-on-one time with their parents, so we decided it was their turn to go on a date.

Every morning from 5 am until 8 am Brayden and I get loads of one on one time., so we decided what he really needed was some boy time with Daddy. For Bray's date, Nate bundled him up and took him outside. The first few times we've tried to take him out as soon as we get out there he says, "cold! cold!" and shakes his head no. The stars aligned Saturday and he played outside for a long time with Nate. He was so happy getting to run around and throw snow with his daddy, despite having to wear his sister's pink boots.


Then they came inside and Brayden gave all of our windows a thorough cleaning. I think he inherited his father's very clean nature. Isn't he looking like such a big boy these days? When he was little we always called him Baby Bray, but it's so hard to get out of the habit of calling him a baby. He'll always be my baby boy though. Today we took him for his very first haircut at a good ole fashioned small town barber. It was such an adventure. A friend had recommended the place to me, but when I walked in and saw four deer mounted on the wall, an 80 year old barber, and a cash register from the early 1900's, I started to question her judgement. The sweet old man was so kind and eager to have customers though. He turned on Chuck Norris and put the TV in front of Brayden and him a sucker and Brayden sat still like a champ for the whole haircut. I personally think it was the Church Norris that kept him still.

On Saturday Nate took Kennedy out to lunch to get her favorite cheese curds (sounds nasty but oh are they heavenly) and ice cream. The whole experience was perfected when Kennedy saw a bigger man with a beard and yelled extremely loud, "Daddy! Santa's here!" Which is only slightly less embarrassing than when she pointed to an androgynous looking woman and yelled, "Mommy, is that a man or a woman?" When I covered her mouth and told her to shut it she was like, "but Mommmmmyyyy, I just want to know if it's a man or woman". Needless to say, I made a beeline out of that store.

Anyway, after their lunch date, I took Kennedy to her very first movie theater movie, "The Muppets". The movie was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, we had such a fun time. Kennedy kept applauding after every song she was so thrilled.

We loved taking our sweethearts on dates this weekend and letting them be the sole focus of our attention for a few hours. You really can't beat cheese curds and snow, we must be becoming true Wisconsinites.

Things I learned while Nate was gone

2012-01-16T06:42:00.000-05:00

Nate came back late Thursday night/Friday morning from an 8 day trip business trip to these hugs. Brayden won't leave his side now that he's home. Today when the kids and I got to church I was in the foyer taking Kennedy's coat off and Brayden heard Nate talking at the pulpit and he got this huge smile on his face and starting yelling "Daddy! Daddy!" and ran into the chapel up to the front row with his arms stretched up to Nate before I could snatch him and take him away.

Here are a few things I learned while Nate was gone:

1) Nate does a lot around the house and I missed oh so much. Changing the trash, washing dishes, picking up the mail. I don't know how single mom's do it.

2) It's not a good idea to put your cell phone in your back pocket before going pee.

3) It's also not a good idea to put your backup cell phone on your bed while you take a shower because Little Man might put it in the tub and turn the water on.

4) It's also doubly inconvenient if your son is sick and has spent 2 hours at the Dr the day before

5) I have amazing neighbors and friends. We had a snowfall Thursday night before Nate got home and I looked outside to see our missionaries cleaning our driveway for us and our neighbor snowblowed our sidewalks.

6) In Nate's absence, Kennedy started saying and doing some pretty hilarious stuff. Like she started pretending Brayden was Daddy and has now officially dubbed him "Daddy Brayden" while they play house and such. One day she was dressed up at Dorothy for the day and she said, "Mom if you want to see Dorothy just go to Sprout online dot com". Lately I put her in her room and let her read books for 30 min (or an hour and a half if I forget she is in there which has happened a couple times) and I went in and asked if I could read her some stories and she said, "Mom, you have two choices. Leave and don't come back until it's time for me to go to bed so I can read books." Love and logic anyone?

7) Lastly, that we love our Daddy oh so much. He is funny and fun and kind and loving and life we are so glad we have him home again.

PS - After a long week we may or may not have gone to bed at 8:30 last night. I am both fully rested and slightly in awe of that accomplishment.

Two of my favorite things

2012-01-08T15:37:00.000-05:00

I don't think life gets better than watching your kids voluntarily hug

And sipping hot chocolate with this sweet munchkin. It's a good day.

Christmas in pictures

2011-12-28T23:02:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas around these parts (despite my Grinch-y tendencies with the help of lots of cocoa and Mariah Carey Christmas tunes).

We had "Christmas" morning two weeks early with the kids because it was the only day we were going to all actually be home to spend the day enjoying our presents together. Since we went to my parent's house for actual Christmas and our presents were too big to take along. It was very non-traditional - we roll like that. I got the best of both worlds, Christmas with family and "Christmas day" relaxing, making waffles, and playing with new toys for hours at home.

For Christmas weekend we trekked down to Iowa to visit Granny, Grandpa, Aunt Christie and Uncle Travis. We decorated gingerbread men and Brayden had a blast eating blue frosting.

Christmas Eve morning Kennedy woke up sick and starting throwing up. She threw up all day but perked up long enough to decorate gingerbread men with us. She was such a trooper though. All day she kept saying, "Mommy, I'm getting better. Don't worry!" She then spent the next 3 nights waking up every 30 min to an hour screaming with nightmares about Brayden taking her toys..

Christmas Eve we watched this video with the kids, got our Christmas PJs, and colored pictures for Santa. It was a perfect evening of snuggling and celebrating.

We made it to a bounce house and the kids were in heaven. We had to drag them out after 3 hours and they were still not ready. Brayden loved pretending to drive the cars - what a little boy.

What would Christmas be with out nightmares, puking, gingerbread men and snuggling? All in all we had a wonderful Christmas!

Cahoots

2011-12-14T13:46:00.000-05:00

These two are definitely in cahoots. I think they are planning a secret conspiracy to takeover the world and force everyone to wear aluminum foil. Actually, these two have blossomed into the best of friends. When they were little and we had two babies for a little while, everyone told me that after 1 it just gets better and I didn't imagine how right they would be. Kennedy and Brayden love to play together. In the morning when Brayden wakes up precisely between 5:31 and 5:35 without fail, he spends the next two hours saying "Sissy? Sissy?" He wants her to get up and play with him so badly.

Speaking of Brayden, he has emerged from babyhood and I have fallen in love with his hilarious personality. He loves to tease Kennedy and make all of us laugh. He's constantly got a smile on his face and a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. He's talking a lot and I love knowing what he wants and what he's thinking about. He knows "yah" and "no" so almost any answer can be dervied from a simple yes/no question. For example he was standing in the kitchen today pointing to my computer, "Brayden do you want my phone?" "no", "Do you want a drink?" "no", "Do you want some music?" "Yah!" I love it.

Don't get me wrong though, there's a fair amount of smushing, smashing, and wrestling that goes on between these two. But they seem to enjoy it...most of the time.

Kennedy's seemed to have emerged from the Terrible Two's and my sweet girl has returned. She is always thinking and has been asking some pretty hilarious questions lately. Nate's sister Mel is pregnant and has a cute little bump, so one day we got home and Kennedy looked at Brayden and said, "Mommy, Brayden has a big belly too. Does he have a baby growing in his belly?" To this we had to inform her on the difference between food babies and real babies.

One things for sure, whenever these two are together they are up to something fishy. Whether it be carpeting my house with aluminum foil, emptying the cupboards and hiding inside them, or putting on my makeup, these two always find a way to make some mischief.

Ever since Brayden was a baby Kennedy really wanted to hold him, and he never really let her. The other day he sat on her (in an attempt to get her to wrestle) and she wrapped her arms around him and said "Oh Daddy! Brayden's letting me hold him!" So Nate snapped a picture of the momentous occasion.

Nothing does a mother's heart more good than watching her kids become best friends. I just consider myself lucky that I get to be their mom and hobnob around with these two schemers every day.

Kennedy 3rd Birthday

2011-11-20T16:58:00.000-05:00

Our little three year old! I can't imagine our life without Kennedy. She bring such energy, enthusiasm, passion, and joy with her. She loves taking care of others and is always so empathetic to the feelings and experiences of other children. She loves to do crafts, sing, dance, and pretend to be a mommy. She is my little snuggle bug, and loves nothing more than to snuggle together on the couch or sneak into our bed in the morning and cuddle until we wake up. She makes our family so complete and full of joy. I am so glad her joyful spirit was sent to our family.

Instead of celebrating her birthday the day after Thanksgiving when we wouldn't have any family in town with us, we pretended this Saturday was her birthday and she had such as special day. She donned her princess gear and we thew a princess bash with all of her friends to celebrate her three years of life. Nate made this adorable princess cake for her using the chocolate recipe we just posted and it turned out delicious.

My parents came up from Iowa for the weekend for Kennedy's special day. Kennedy was so glad to have her Granny and Grandpa here to play with her.

Every second of preparation and decoration was worth it when I saw her face light up as we lit the candles and sang her happy birthday.

Aunt Christie and Uncle Travis even made the drive up here for Kennedy's special day. We loved getting to share the time with them and we are pretty sure that their weekend with us made them rethink the idea of having children for a long time. I'm always happy to help :)

We love you little Noodle!

Chocolate Cake

2011-11-06T21:33:00.001-05:00

Nate made this delicious chocolate cake this week, and it was so yummy we just had to share it. In fact, he made two - one to take to work, and one for Kennedy. It might look like a lot of steps, but they are all simple and come together in not that much time. It's worth every minute. If this is death by chocolate, I think it's a good way to go!

All year Kennedy knew that her birthday was in November and now November has come. Every day Kennedy thinks it's her birthday, since it is November after all, and when we made this chocolate cake it sealed the deal for her. "My birthday cake!" All day long she kept asking when we would eat her birthday cake. Despite how many times we've tried to explain it, I think the girl is just going to think it's her birthday for the next month. I took Brayden out so Kennedy and Nate could have some alone time to make this cake together, and they had so much fun getting that 1 on 1 time.

Cake

A big thanks to Mel for directing us to the Hershey's chocolate cake recipe.

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Cocoa (I use Dutch Process)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

1 Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2 Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3 Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
Place first layer of cake topside down on cake platter. Pipe ring of icing around edge using wide round icing tip. Fill center with about ½ (or a little less) of the ganache recipe. Place second layer on cake, place in fridge for about 30 minutes to help firm-up the ganache. While the cake is in the fridge, fold the remaining ganache into the whipped icing; cover until ready to use.
Remove cake from fridge and ice.
Top with chocolate curls.

Ganache (used two places)

America's Test Kitchen recipe

· 1 1/2 cup heavy cream

· 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

· 12 ounces semisweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate (high-quality), chopped

· 1 ½ tablespoon pure vanilla

Microwave cream and butter in measuring cup on high until bubbling, about 1 1/2 minutes. (Alternatively, bring to simmer in small saucepan over medium-high heat.) Place chocolate in bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade. With machine running, gradually add hot cream and vanilla through feed tube and process until smooth and thickened, about 3 minutes. Transfer ganache to medium bowl and let stand at room temperature 1 hour, until spreadable (ganache should have consistency of soft icing).

Butter Cream Ganache Icing

1 cup butter
1 cup shortening
7 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup heavy whipping cream
½ Ganache recipe

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and butter until fluffy for a few minutes on med-high speed. Sift sugar and cocoa together, add to butter/shortening mixture, and continue creaming until well blended.
Add salt, vanilla, and 6 ounces whipping cream. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional 2 ounces whipping cream if necessary. Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.
Put about 1/3 cup of frosting aside to pipe ring around middle of cake.
Fold remaining ganache into icing.
Cover until ready to use.
Can be stored in air tight container for a few weeks

Chocolate Curls

Easiest way to make curls is to follow this tutorial:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/how-tomake-chocolate-curls/

If you follow the tutorial, the curls are easy to make. I usually do 2 batches.

Trick or Treating

2011-11-03T21:53:00.000-04:00

I love all holidays, but Halloween is one of my favorite. It's so much fun getting to see all the kids dress up as little creatures and how excited they get when their bags are full of candy. I know some take Halloween in a more nefarious direction, but I love the sweet innocence that kids bring to it. We had so much fun this year because it was the first year we've had a kid old enough to really get excited about all of the festivities.

Here is the cutest binky-toting lion on the block

And our buzzing little bumble bee. Kennedy was just giddy all day and dancing in her seat every time we talked about trick or treating. She wanted to hold that heavy bag full of candy all by her independent self and loved telling anyone who would listen "I am a bumble bee!"

Nate's parents came all the way from Montana to visit with us and Mel last week and we were lucky enough to get to go trick or treating with them.

Michel kindly pushed Little Man around the neighborhood

And Ryan stayed home slaving away on home improvement projects for us. We were so glad to get to share Halloween with our family. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for all of your hard work and fun this week!

I had to add this picture just for fun. Notice how Kennedy has her tongue stuck out? Whenever she is super concentrated she sticks her tongue out between her lips and I think it's very endearing. You have to give the girl props for being focused!

Halloween Mansions

2011-10-25T11:36:00.000-04:00

There are all kinds of husbands out there and I just so happen to think that I have one of the funnest and funniest of the bunch. Last week Nate got the idea to make haunted gingerbread houses for our kids and the cousins to decorate together. Using his crazy sled gingerbread skills, he spent three nights making these houses for the kids to decorate. Aren't they spooky?

The kids had a blast decorating the houses and devouring candy corn. We're glad we got to share the adventure with our cousins. Brayden mostly took the sit in mommy's lap and eat candy corn approach.

Nate and Kennedy got so into decorating together, look at how focused they are.

If I ever doubted it before, I think Nate officially won the funnest dad in the world award this year. Thanks for all your hard work Daddy!

2011-10-16T22:28:00.000-04:00

This week Nate took his very first business trip this week. I consider this a huge milestone, and the first of many business trips in our future. I still think it's a little weird that my husband goes on business trips. Mind you, it doesn't sound weird to me that I have a husband, or that I have two children, but it does sound weird that my husband goes on business trips. We are getting so old and responsible these days.

Earlier this week Nate went to Shady Grove, Pennsylvania to the plant where all of their Grove cranes are manufactured. They took Nate on a tour of the plant and one of their tower cranes was set up for testing, so they had Nate climb to the top so they could explain the various components to him. He got to sit in a glass bubble at the top of the crane and swing the "boom" around, and dropped the hook block. He also got to climb on top of the mast section and
walk to the end along a narrow catwalk.

Needless to say, Nate was totally thrilled about the whole experience and I think it fulfilled some major boyhood fantasy. I'm just glad he made it back in one piece :)

Mulberry Lane Farm

2011-10-09T21:33:00.001-04:00

The more I discover the gems of Wisconsin, the more I fall in love with our new home. I love how friendly and kind everyone is here and that the pace of life is so slow. We found another gem this week in Mulberry Lane Farm. A friend from church introduced the farm to us and we will definitely be going back. The farm is an awesome interactive farm where the kids can milk a cow, catch a chicken, go on a hayride, ride a pony, etc. You know how we loved Brooksvale farm in CT, but I was really excited for the kids to have more of a chance to interact with the animals and see some they hadn't seen before.

Here is Kennedy petting a sheep, they were so friendly that they were rubbing their heads on our hands. It was about this time the Brayden came exclaiming excitedly "Shee Shee" (which we loosely interpret to mean "see, see") up to me with a Sheep poo in his hands and tried to feed it to the sheep. Don't worry, they knew better.

Brayden was so brave with all of the animals, he had no qualms getting up close and personal with them, even if they were horned and twice his size. Here he is checking out some pigs.

Then both of them go to ride a pony. We had attempted this with Kennedy once about a year ago and she started screaming bloody murder, but this time around she went all by herself and was begging for more at the end.

The kids also got to catch a chicken. The whole process was frankly pretty disturbing to me. The poor chickens were hiding under the chicken coop trying not to get caught, and I just couldn't get myself to help the kids catch one.

Then came the kitten room. We seriously spent like 45 minutes in this place while Kennedy held the little kittens like babies. She was so still and quiet, just gazing down at them. It was truly precious. Brayden, on the other hand, ran around the room screaming at them and trying to pick them up by their tails. On our way back to the car after picking pumpkins and milking a cow, Kennedy disappeared twice back to the kitten barn. The whole way home she kept saying, "Will you please get me a kitty? Tell Daddy I want a kitty."

Unfortunately, we all know what happened to Chaco so we know that won't be happening. Sorry kiddo!

Mulberry Lane farm was an incredible experience for the kids, now when we read our farm books they know more about the animals we are reading about and they are excited about them. I can't wait to take them back!

No Shirt..No Shoes...No Walkers

2011-10-04T13:43:00.000-04:00

Today it is 70 degrees outside, after being 50 all week last week. All of the laundry for the week was done and put away, we had no obligations for the day, and I decided that today was going to be a good day.

Later after a morning of playing outside, we had three time outs for Kennedy. I knew I had some library books due so I thought it might be a distraction to take the kids to the library. We went potty first, of course, and loaded up in the car ready to find some Fancy Nancy books and go to the farmer's market.

A couple minutes into the library Kennedy says to me, "Mommy.. I need to potty.." but she has this look on her face like it's already too late. So I pick up her and Brayden and sprint to the bathroom while the whole children's library stares at me with my two children and two bags hobbling across the library. We get to the bathroom, I pull her pants down and liquid diarrehea poop drips out of her pants, onto her shoes, and all over the toilet. I try to wipe it off the best I can, but there is more poop than I can get to and it is spreading fast. Brayden starts to try and put his hands in it, so I run to the librarian and ask her to watch him while I try to clean up the disaster. After going back to Kennedy and cleaning it up as much as I can, I have to strip her naked and take her only non-poop covered item of clothing, a jacket, and wrap it around her bare bottom to carry her out of the library stares and looks of pity. I ultimately abandon my efforts to clean up the bathroom with poop grime all over the floor and toilet, take Brayden form the children's librarian and make a mad dash with the kids out the door. I don't know if I can ever show my face there again, but I'm pretty sure they are going to post a sign on the front door:

No Shirt..No Shoes..No Walkers

Fun with the munchkins

2011-09-25T17:12:00.000-04:00

I have been trying to be more creative in how I spend my time with the kids during the day. Almost all of the kids in the neighborhod go to preschool and one day Kennedy asked me why she didn't go, so I told her that she goes to Mommy School. So now every day for Mommy School we take 15 - 30 min doing some kind of creative learning activity. We are working on letter H right now so one day we glued balls onto the letter and read books about horses.

Another day we made a spider

I made a rice bucket with beans, rice, pine cones, and measuring cups for the kids to play in

One night or FHE we made a Tower of Babel. We made this yummy cake and we cut it into squares for the bricks and used icing to build a tower. It was a fun hands-on way to have FHE together.

Lastly, there is a ship that crosses Lake Michigan to take people across the lake that comes to Manitowoc every day at 12. We packed a lunch one day and had a picnic while we watched the ship. The kids loved asking questions about the ship and we even walked around and took a peek inside.

It's been rewarding and fun to try to be more creative and learning focused in my time with the kids, I hope they have enjoyed it as much as I have.

Family

2011-09-25T16:46:00.003-04:00

We have been so busy getting settled and learning about Wisconsin that I have been lax in my picture posting, which means that I've got loads of pictures to catch up on. I'd have to say that one of the best highlights of living here in Barnville (aka. Wisconsin) is having our family so close, aside of course the extra large cow in the center of our town.

Nate's sister and her husband, Mel and Brian, live just 30 minutes away from us in Green Bay. We have loved playing with her boys and spending time with family. Mel and Brian have 4 boys and Kennedy affectionately calls them "Cousins", rather than using their name she just refers to them all as one entity. A typical application of this nickname would be, "Hey Cousins! Wait for me, I want to come!" Brayden was in heaven having other boys around who understood his affinity for bug eating and cars. Here they are playing the boy version of dress up. I think it was a good exercise for Kennedy to not be dresses in a pink tulle dress with a tiara.

Mel and Brian kindly let us stay there for a week while we were waiting to close on our home. I have to say, I loved having two hands around and instant entertainment in the form of "Cousins" all day. They were so kind and patient to endure us for so long. During our week, Mel and I got our Betty Crocker on and canned some homemade salsa.

Then we were lucky enough to be there for their family's back to school dinner. Brayden's cute little crown stayed on for about .5 seconds.

Funny story about Barnville. On our first trip from Green Bay to Manitowoc Kennedy kept looking out the window and saying "A Barn! A Barn! Look Mommy!" Then about 5 seconds would pass and she would see another barn, "Mommy! It's another Barn! Loooookkkk!" For our entire thirty minute drive Kennedy was ecstatic about getting to see all of the barns. Apparently, my poor deprived children had grown unaccustomed to the sight of a barn in Connecticut, a problem that will soon be remedied I think.

This weekend my mom came up to see our new place. She had a list of fun things going on while she was there and we tried to do every one of them that we could. A local alpaca farm was having an open house and it was so much fun. They let the kids feed and touch the alpacas. Their fur was so soft and they were very gentle, I really wanted to take one home.

Brayden the Walker

2011-09-13T22:11:00.005-04:00

I can't believe that the day has finally come! My handsome, sweet, happy little man is toddling around the house! About two weeks ago little Brayden took his first steps and he has perfected the art over the last couples weeks. He is the cutest little thing when he walks. He toddles around the house and every time he stumbles and falls he starts giggling and gets back up until he looses his balance again and giggles. Kennedy loves knocking him over while he is walking and the two of them just laugh and laugh. Today I took the kids to the most gorgeous beach. It was pure white sand with no rocks, no shells, and lots of waves. Brayden was toddling around in the sand and walked right out into the water and sat down- jeans and all.

I have to say, I feel like I've been liberated. If you spent much time with Brayden at all you would know that that boy loved to be held. Morning, noon and night he wanted someone to carry his chunky little bum around the house, but now that he's learned to walk he toddles around discovering things on his own - mommy free. The other day I had to go to the bank to set up a new bank account and the kids just walked around the bank while I did my business. Then when I had to go to the bathroom, I didn't have to hold Brayden on my shoulder to keep him from crawling all over the bathroom floor. TMI? Just telling it like it is.

I'm so proud of my little man for cutting the cord and taking off on his own. There's nothing better than listening to he and his sister's giggles while he falls over and pops back up again.

Update

2011-09-10T21:05:00.001-04:00

So where do we begin? If I were to sum up the last month in just a few words it would be this: 1200 miles, 10 gallons of paint, new home, new city, new callings, Brayden walking, living close to Nate's sister Mel (Yipee!), broken fridge, broken car, missing couch, and new beginnings.

The last month has been such a roller coaster. For a while they were saying that we wouldn't close on our house until the end of September, but once Nate got all Connecticut on them we were able to get into the house when we originally planned. Fast forward two weeks and we are all moved in and just working away on a few yard projects and starting to feel more at home here in Wisconsin. There are tons of kids in our neighborhood and we've already met several neighbors who have been so friendly and open armed. I'm not someone who always deals perfectly with change and I've been missing Connecticut and my friends, and routines, but I am feeling more at home every day and soon I know I'll learn to love Wisconsin too. The kids are loving the new house. They can't get enough of the yard, driveway, and playroom in the basement. We have some sweet neighbors behind us who have kids who are 11 and 9, and Kennedy is always sneaking outside when they are out to go play with them.

I think we've made a lot of progress on the house. I am certainly not a decorator and we are just starting out, but it's starting to feel more homey and "ours". It's a work in progress, but I thought I'd share pictures of what we accomplished so far. For a week Nate seriously worked his tush off painting our house and getting it just right for us. He was so dedicated and sweet to work so hard to paint the house so we would love it.

Bathroom Before:

Bathroom After:

While we were driving to Wisconsin from Iowa, Kennedy looked at Nate with those big doe eyes and said, "Daddy, can you paint me a pink room?" We hadn't originally planned on painting Kennedy's room, but Nate couldn't help but give his little girl a pink room and she loves it. What a good daddy these guys have.

Table

2011-08-21T21:21:00.000-04:00

Maybe it's that I don't have much measurable success in my day to day life as a stay at home mom, but lately I've been feeling pretty empowered by our recent move. Move out of our apartment alone with two kids? Sure (I would be remiss not to thank my wonderful friends on this one!). Fly by myself with two squirmy toddlers? Sure. Live without a husband for two weeks? I can do it. Don't get me wrong here, I miss Nate like crazy, but the whole moving process has helped me see that I'm often capable of more than I think I am.

So last week when I was wasting time looking at furniture and decor ideas, I decided that I wanted to sand and repaint our dressers. They are old hand-me-downs with carvings and chips all over them. I knew I needed to practice on something before I took on our big dressers, so plugged in the sander and went to town on a side table my mom found at Goodwill.

Here's the before:

Here's the after:

I've got a bookcase and kids chair up next on my list before the dressers - but I'm resolved to make them a success.

Zoo with the Wards

2011-08-21T20:56:00.000-04:00

Staying at my parents place for the last couple weeks has felt like such a treat after apartment living. We've got luxuries like being able to bang on pots and pans without bothering a neighbor, running on the treadmill in the basement without worrying that the kids will hear, room upon room for the kids to explore and decimate, and a swing set in the backyard. When you add all of that to Aunt Christie and Uncle Travis coming to visit - I can almost say that I almost forgot my Missing Connecticut Blues.

I want to say that the kids were super happy to see their Aunt and Uncle, but we were all a hot sick mess when they came. Aunt Christie and Uncle Travis stepped in like champs and helped me change diapers, wipe noses, feed the kids, and saved my sanity. I owe them.

Towards the end of the week, we decided to get the kids out of the house and go to the zoo. I want to say it rocked, I really really do. But let me just say that the day may or may not have included rain, getting lost, and Kennedy begging to go home the whole day. Whether or not these things actually happened, the important thing is that we got some very cute pictures on our trip.

Baby Brayden loves Uncle Travis. Anytime he was in the room Brayden crawled as fast as he could in his direction and stuck his arms up and grunted for Travis to pick him up. It was super sweet how attached he was to him, and I'm glad to know that Brayden wholeheartedly approves of Christie's choice in husband.

We miss our Aunt and Uncle already - come visit us again ASAP!

Big Day

2011-08-11T16:09:00.000-04:00

Today is a big day around here. Since Daddy is in Wisconsin working his tail off and the kids and I are at my mom's in Iowa waiting to close on our house, we have to show him our big news via the internet. In case you are wondering, Brayden is not walking and is giving no indication that he ever will....

...BUT...

Kennedy drew her first face! You see the face just to the left of her wrist? She drew it and said "Look Mommy! It's you!" I've got two hairs on top and just under her wrist is a four eyed baby Brayden. To the non-maternal eye it may seem like no big deal, but I am so excited about her first coherent picture that I think we will frame it :)

Backtracking

2011-08-11T15:55:00.001-04:00

Remember when we went on a house hunting trip a month ago? I am just now getting to posting pictures from our trip. I can't tell you how much fun it was be alone with Nate for a week. At the end of our week we headed up to Door County, which is the top of Wisconsin's little tail. The area is very pretty with water close to the land. Apparently they grow cherries there because there were cute little cherry orchards all over the place and they were so sweet and fresh.

Nate and I checked out bicylces to ride around the state park. For the first 20 minutes I was really scared because I realized I hadn't ridden a bicycle since I was like 6. Nate was looking at me like I was crazy for being scared of a bike, but I eventually got my bike legs under me and we were racing down the hills before long. The path was gorgeous and followed the water around the park.

After our bike ride we decided to hike up to the lookout tower of the park. The rocks around the park were these interesting square shaped rocks and there were lots of caves along the way.

It was a fun week together and I'm glad we had that time before spending a long time apart in August.

Segway Tour

2011-08-01T14:20:00.000-04:00

Ever heard of a Segway? If you have been unfortunate enough to see Paul Blart in "Mall Cop", you may have some negative predispositions towards the Segway. Nevertheless, let me assure you that the Segway is the coolest motorized machine to hit the pavement. The base has 6 gyroscopes that direct the movement of the machine based on the movement of your feet. You lean forward and you go faster, you lean back and you slow down.

About a month ago we went on a segway tour of Guilford, CT with our two friends Judy and Linda from church. We really became close to these two ladies while we were in Connecticut. They love nice food, we love nice food. They love babies, we have babies. They are funny funny ladies and we had such a wonderful time on our Segway tour of Guilford.

This place was something like the oldest something or other house. I'm not sure and I only vaugly remember what we saw on our "tour', mostly it was just fun to ride the segway.

Aren't we just the coolest people you know?

Fun Pics

2011-07-25T20:37:00.001-04:00

Miracle of miracles, we got a family picture where 3 out of 4 people were looking.

I can't lie, I am convinced that Brayden is the handsomest baby in the whole world.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

C'mon, don't you just want to take him home?

Our New House!

2011-07-17T15:25:00.001-04:00

We are in the midst of our house hunting trip in Wisconsin right now and having a blast so far. We stayed at a nice hotel, went to see Harry Potter, and both got massages. Nate couldn't get past the having a stranger rub him thing and didn't enjoy his at all - but I loved my massage, it was dreamy!

In more important news... WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! It's only a couple streets over from Lake Michigan and is situated in a gorgeous neighborhood. We are still dotting our I's and crossing our T's, but only a few weeks until it's all ours!

I am totally in love with it and we feel like we've won the lottery. The inside has some interesting colors and the house had been on the market for a year and a half, so we got it for a steal. I can't wait for the kids to have their own yard and play room. This big house is going to look super empty when we got our stuff in there but I'm thinking we are just going to have to keep a few doors shut for a while :)

If you're really interested here's a link to a tour of the inside. http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?t=2331684

P.S.

2011-07-09T23:19:00.000-04:00

Did I forget to mention our news? We are moving to Manitowoc Wisconsin! You might be wondering where that is, so I will show you.

Looks like we are going to have to pretend we know what sport the Packers play. Cheese-land here we come!

Milford Mall

2011-07-09T23:09:00.003-04:00

For the 4th of July we headed down to the Milford Mall with our fun friends the Kahmanns. The kids got mall pizza for dinner (YUM!). Don't they just look giddy?

My red white and blue boys

Then we got to listen an awesome kid's band give a concert. The girlies loved dancing to tunes like "itsy bitsy spider" and "head shoulders knees and toes". Lily was always right there pulling Kennedy to the front of the crowd. Can you spot the girls? They were absolutely fascinated by the dancing dog-man.

Look at those moves! We loved the celebration and we are glad we got to spend it with friends.

My One Year Old!

2011-07-02T21:28:00.001-04:00

Our little boy turned one this week! How weird is that? This year has zipped by faster than I can keep track of and it seems unreal that my baby boy is getting to be less of a baby every day. Brayden is pure joy. He is such a happy content guy and no one in the family can help but be happy when he is around. He loves to get into my lazy susan to bang around pots and pan, climb our stairs, climb up onto Kennedy's bed and bounce around, dance to music, eat dirt, and generally be as messy as he can. He is always willing to give million dollar smiles and loves being held by anyone who had willing arms.

Nate stayed up late Wednesday making our little monkey this monkey cake for his birthday. I think he did such a good job on the cake.

Brayden just touched the cake at first.

Then he just decided to take the bull by the horns.

And he loved his birthday cake. In fact, he cleared off at least half of that ginormous piece of cake.

Kennedy loved her party hat

And Brayden was happy to finally have some boy toys. Thanks Grandma and Granny!

Fun with Mom

2011-07-02T21:03:00.002-04:00

My mom came into town last Sunday just before Brayden's birthday. She is staying for the month of July and we are so glad we still get her for three more weeks. This week we spent hours playing at parks, sprinklers, visiting the farm and loving having my mom here to help me remember to treasure up all of these little moments.

I don't know if I've told you enough about my mom, but she is undoubtedly the most generous and giving person I've ever met. She has been letting us sleep in, helping with diapers, letting us go on dates, washing dishes, and she is folding our laundry as we speak. If her love language is service, I had better feel loved by now. We love love love having our Granny come to visit. Actually, now that I think about it Granny has lived here for at least four months out of the last four years. We're pretty lucky huh?

Today we moseyed on down to Cosey Beach and we've got the lobster skin to prove it. Naturally, Nate dug a hole for Brayden to stand in.

Granny got Brayden this blue chair for his birthday and it's been getting good use

We set up the sprinkler outside and after three years in apartments it feels like such a luxury to have a yard to run around in

Of course, we went to visit our favorite friends at Brooksvale. Brayden was a brave little man and loved getting up close and personal to the horses

Iowa Pictures

2011-06-23T22:31:00.000-04:00

We finally got some pictures from our trip to Iowa and all of the fun there. I know it's been three weeks ago, but they are too cute to pass up.

This sink was in the nursery at Travis's (Christie's hubby) church. It was just toddler height and the kids spent hours playing in the water while we set up for the wedding.

Kennedy loved playing dress up at Granny's.

I thought this was pretty funny. Brayden just crawling around the perfectly decorated chapel before Christie's wedding.

We also spent hours swinging on the swings in the back yard.

Our CSA

2011-06-23T14:29:00.003-04:00

While we were in Iowa I misplaced my camera (shocking I know) but we found it two days ago and now we are back in memory keeping business. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to document one of the funnest weekends we have had in a long time! We went to a fun restaurant in New Haven called Barcelona to celebrate having the best dad in the world and it was definitely in my top two favorite dining experiences. The restaurant had these giant wooden doors and was kind of tucked away in a large building. Then when you went inside it was a striking combination of wood, metal, and stone. The food was tapas and it was a dream just relaxing and talking while we got to try some amazing things; friend soft shell crab, artichokes, goat cheese with sauteed mushrooms, chorizo and figs, chicken empanadas, and lobster risotto. The food was perfect and I discovered that tapas is perfect for Nate and I because A) we love rich food B) you get to share it C) you get to try lots of different things.

Speaking of food, this year we decided to get a farm share at a local farm. We are only two weeks in and I am already raving about it! Every Friday they have baskets of produce ready to pick up at the farm filled with whatever is in season there. Last week we got kale, red leaf lettuce, cilantro, bib lettuce and some others. This week we had beets, radishes, asparagus, red leaf lettuce, arugula, cilantro, scallions, kohlrabi, and broccoli. It has been so much fun seeing what we get and planning our meals around our produce. It has definitely helped us branch out and try recipes and vegetables we would not have tried before. This Italian wedding soup was so yummy. The meatballs were tender and the soup had a ton of flavor. I had never had kohlrabi before this but it tasted really good roasted and reminded me of broccoli stems. It's a fun challenge to try and use up all of the produce we get.

We tried these cilantro-scallion rolls and I really enjoyed them. Nate didn't love them as much as I did, but we will agree to disagree this time :)

I can't wait to see what we will get tomorrow!

Christie's Wedding

2011-06-09T15:01:00.000-04:00

My hottie of a sister got married last week. Not only did she get married, but she married the second best guy in the world (next to my Nate of course). In fact, let me tell you what a good guy he is. One morning my kids woke up at five. Naturally, I stumbled down the stairs and passed them off to my mom (who is always awake by then). But when 8 o'clock rolled around and I realized I had way over slept, I came downstairs to find Travis (my new brother-in-law) playing with my kids. How sweet is that?

Not only is Travis wonderful, I love how happy Christie is with Travis. I couldn't imagine wanting anything more for my little sis than a happy and loving marriage, and she got just that. And now I had better stop gushing before I get all misty-eyed.

Our first week back home we got to spend it just playing together and hanging out. Lot's of playing outside, splash pads, double dates, and general fun. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures during our trip because we were too busy having fun, so here are some pictures of the wedding I snagged from others.

Here's the happy couple

Check out that adorable little curly-headed flower girl. She did such an awesome job throwing her flowers. We were very proud of Kennedy

The bridesmaids and the lucky groom, Travis

Christie and her new sister-in-law

Nate's beautiful cupcakes and cakes. I can't believe he pumped out 400 of those babies in two days. They turned out beautifully and I thought the cake was very cute. Way to go hubby!

Kennedy + Quinn = BFF

2011-05-22T22:18:00.004-04:00

I have to tell you a story. It's about Kennedy and her best friend Quinn. Three years ago Quinn's mommy and I were law wives, transplants, and soon to be first time mommies. We would take long, braxton-hicks inducing walks dreaming about what our little babies would be like.

Then those little babies came out 6 weeks apart. Quinn was the sweetest, happiest little baby (and I may have hoped some of that good baby-ness would rub off on Kennedy..) From day one those two played together while we went to the temple.

They dressed up at 70's singers

And ascott wearing gentlemen

We had Star Parties together and Kennedy loved brushing Quinn's hair and rubbing his back (see above). Whenever Quinn would come over, these two would would disappear and I would hear giggles all around the house as they played the silliest little games together.

Then we just so happened to have our second babies six weeks apart, too spooky to call coincidence.

Then the day came when Quinn's daddy finished school and they had to move on to bigger and better things and Kennedy's BFF had to move to "Tu-Tah", also translated as Utah.

But this last weekend Quinn's Mommy and Daddy had to come back for graduation and the BFFs were reunited again. It was like not a moment had passed, they were running around giggling and entertaining each other for hours on end. I have never seen Kennedy love spending time with anyone as much as she loves playing with Quinn. I'm not technically arranging a marriage, but if things turned out that way I can't say I would be dissappointed...

Beach

2011-05-20T21:44:00.001-04:00

During one of the brief moments when it wasn't raining this week, we snuck off to the beach to play. It was our first time going this year and I have missed it oh so much. Feeling the sand under our toes and the salty air is better than chocolate and So You Think You Can Dance combined.

It's going to be a fun summer, I can feel it.

Anniversary

2011-05-18T15:30:00.000-04:00

This year marks Nate and I's four year anniversary. To celebrate our anniversary this year we went out to dinner at a fun little vegetarian cafe and went to see Legally Blonde the musical. It was a super fun night and we are finishing our anniversary up tomorrow by going to "our" restaurant for lunch.

It seems like it must have been so much longer than four years with everything we have done in that time. Four homes, one cross country move, law school, two babies, and so much more and I can't imagine doing it all with anyone but Nate. He is truly the most generous person I know. He makes me laugh, helps me be a better person, he is so patient and kind, and is such a fun and loving dad. I really can't think of anyone I would rather be around than him.

I sure am one lucky lady.

Mother's Day

2011-05-16T09:54:00.001-04:00

Mother's day this year was so wonderful. Usually mother's day has fallen in the middle of finals, and last year it was on the day of Nate's graduation, we have never really celebrated it before. This year Nate absolutely spoiled me rotten. He was so generous and sweet.

The Saturday before mother's day we all went to a nearby state park and "hiked" a trail for a while. It went along a little creek bed and the kids had such a blast playing in the creek and throwing rocks. The last time I weighed Brayden, about a month ago, he was 21 lbs. I imagine he has to be at least 22 by now (which is only 3 lbs shy of Kennedy by the way). So our spur of the moment decision to "hike" was a little impeded by carrying his girth, but we still made it pretty far. It was actually really cute because Kennedy was so excited that she wanted to run the first half of the trail, so she and Nate ran for quite a long ways.

Then that night we went on a date to see Water for Elephants. Now that's devotion right? I really loved the movie, and I think Nate didn't hate it too much. Then on Sunday Nate let me sleep, made me Caramel Apple Cheesecake bars and lasagna, and spent all day spoiling me rotten. Nate was so kind and generous, I can't imagine having a better mother's day with these rascals or having a sweeter husband.

What we did last weekend

2011-05-04T11:25:00.004-04:00

Hmm the video is being funky. Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCjaxgbVMcw

Easter

2011-05-01T08:06:00.000-04:00

Next up we dyed Easter eggs together, which was a lot of fun. Kennedy loved her pink egg and wanted all of her eggs pink. Then once all of her eggs were pink, she kept dipping them into other colors so they all ended up that muddled brown color.

While Kennedy was sleeping Friday night, we hid eggs all over the living room and set out a Peter Rabbit bunny (that unfortunately sings) with the kids Easter surprises around them. When Kennedy woke up at 6 am it took us a bit to drag ourselves out of bed, and by the time we got downstairs she looked like this.

Shortly after, Brayden woke up and we began our Easter hunt. The kids loved finding the eggs and loved what was inside even more. Brayden even got his first (unintended) taste of chocolate.

Mostly, he just liked shaking Kennedy's M&M container. I love his cheesy "caught in the act" smile right here.

Then we spent hours just playing together with the kid's new toys. I love Easter and getting to celebrate the Savior's atonement. It might just be my new favorite holiday.

This is just a picture from a different morning, but check out Kennedy's curls!

Easter Hunt

2011-05-01T07:46:00.000-04:00

We had such a fun Easter this year. Kennedy is just the perfect age for enjoying all of the fun traditions, so it was fun to start deciding how we wanted to celebrate the holiday. I think we found a good balance between celebrating the cultural aspect of Easter and emphasizing the more important spiritual aspect of the holiday.

To begin our Easter fun, the Catholic private school in town held a Easter celebration a couple weeks ahead. They had pictures with the Easter bunny, face painting, Easter bowling, a magic show, and a candy race. The kids had a lot of fun and I was actually surprised at how into the Easter bunny and the magic show Kennedy was.

For the candy race, they had all of the 2-3 year olds line up at one of the gym and they had the gym covered in chocolate. Then they gave they go-ahead and the kids booked it to fill up their Easter baskets with as much loot as possible. Well little miss Kennedy figured out real quick that we were collecting chocolate and just decided to sit down and eat what she had.

.
Of course, handsome little Brayden was just a gem that day. He loved all of the craziness and just kind of soaked it all in. Doesn't he look darling in his Easter outfit?

Little Monsters 2

2011-04-21T14:35:00.003-04:00

After my last post about our kids funny little antics, I thought I'd post a few more for the family.

Miss Thang over here discovered that my name is Kylie about a month ago. At first she would occasionally call me Kylie, but when I had a talk with her telling her that I am mommy not Kylie, it turned into my name of choice. I am changing tactics and hoping that if I ignore it she will give it up after a while. I'm always embarrassed when I go to the park though because I figure I look more like a nanny than a mom (since women here tend to have their kids in their mid to late 30's) and when Kennedy walks around saying "Kylie come here, I want to slide" it doesn't help my case. One thing is for sure, no one is paying me to wipe those cute bums.

Lately, whenever we ask Kennedy to do something she doesn't want to do she says, "No Kylie, I too little". For example, I microwaved some "delicious" spinach pasta for dinner and told her it was time to eat. She took one look at the pasta and said, "I too little for dinner".

She also loves her friend Keaton. Keaton is about 1 year older than Kennedy and he has the most creative imagination I've ever seen. He makes up these play stories where he and Kennedy are escaping from the evil dragon, so they have to make it cookies so it will become a nice dragon and the two of them get so immersed in their play together. One day last week I turned on Sesame Street for the two of them and I found them snuggled up like this on the couch.

Little Brayden is a boy through and through. He loves to be thrown, wrestled, and destroy anything and everything. My mom got him this crawl tunnel when she visited last and he loves to crawl through as fast as he can. He is also such a little dancer. Anytime we are singing or music is playing he starts bouncing around and wiggling his arms to dance to the music. At the bottom is a quick clip of some of his moves.

Date Week

2011-04-16T20:15:00.000-04:00

Can I just tell you what a wonderful week and a half we have had? I know I know, I'm asking for pnemonia, but we really did have such a fun week. Aparently, we must have been feeling bored with our dates in January, because we booked ourselves for three awesome dates in April and only realized at the last minute that they were all in the same week.

First up was Stomp. I got Nate tickets for Valentine's day and it was a long wait to see the fulfillment of that gift. I knew Stomp had been around for a long time so I was kind of skeptical about it still being relevant and was a wee bit concerned about being entertained for an hour and a half with no words spoken. I could not have been more wrong! It was amazing, exciting and wonderful! The way they used their bodies to tell a story and create these amazing sounds out of thing as simple as trash bags or lighters was just awesome.

Next up was a day date to New York City. We went with some friends who knew the city much better than we did and it was very nice to not have to worry about where we were going the whole time. We went to some different areas than we have been in the past and we had a lot of fun exploring SOHO, the fashion district, and MOMA.

Here is a picture of the inside of St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC. It was absolutely gorgeous and I was glad we stumbled upon it as we were walking around.

Then we visited the Museum of Modern Art to see their exhibit on Picasso's guitars. The museum was so interesting. The people were almost as fascinating as the pictures. I like this picture because you can see the contrast between the modern art in the building and the classic architecture surrounding it.

It was such a random day in New York. We stumbled upon a Scottish heritage festival, full of Scotty terriers, kilts, and bagpipes. Then we came upon a man dressed in all black letting white rats run all over his head and eat out of his mouth. Ew. This guy was doing Stomp style percussion on the street.

Finally, we ran into anti war protests. It was quite a large amount of people but pretty mild in terms of temperament. It was fun to read their signs and listen to their chants. Very interesting and the perfect way to end our day in NYC.

Last but certainly not least, Nate and I took a cooking class this week. Where do I begin with this class? It deserves a post of its own. The lady teaching the class was as self taught chef who teaches gourmet cooking classes in her private Viking kitchen. Up on the menu was Cream of Asparagus soup (shockingly delicious), rack of lamb with orange-rosemary-Dijon sauce, salad with pear pancetta and walnuts, and a chocolate-walnut torte. The food was amazing and we learned a lot about different cooking tools and methods. It was such a blast, I think I will definitely be going back again.

After our week of good weather and fun dates, it was like a mini-vacation away from real life. I loved spending the week with Nate getting to do such fun interesting things together.

Chocolate-Caramel Slice

2011-04-08T14:30:00.001-04:00

On the day Nate came home from work telling me about the $4 deal he scored on a subscription to Bon Appetit, I had come home from the library with their newest massive publication Bon Appetit Desserts. The second I saw these babies I knew I had to make them ASAP. They were positively delicious with a chocolate ganache on top and chewy caramel layer. But I was totally surprised that the bottom was more of a sweet pie crust than a bar. If you'd like to see how they are really supposed to look, go here.

Chocolate-Caramel Slice
from Bon Appetit
Makes 20 to 24

INGREDIENTS

Crust
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon ice water
1 large egg yolk

Caramel Topping
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, diced
2 tablespoons golden syrup (such as Lyle's Golden Syrup) or dark corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons whipping cream
Flaked sea salt (such as Maldon)

PREPARATION

For Crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 11x7x2-inch metal baking pan. Blend first 4 ingredients in processor. Add butter. Using on/off turns, blend until coarse meal forms. Add 1 tablespoon ice water and egg yolk. Blend until moist clumps form. Press dough onto bottom of pan; pierce all over with fork. Bake until golden, piercing if crust bubbles, about 20 minutes. Cool completely.

For Caramel Topping:
Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves, butter melts, and mixture comes to boil. Attach candy thermometer to side of pan. Boil gently until caramel is thick and temperature registers 225 degrees F, whisking constantly, about 6 minutes. Pour caramel evenly over crust; cool 15 minutes to set.

For Chocolate Glaze:
Meanwhile, melt chocolate with cream in microwave in 15-second intervals, stirring occasionally. Spread chocolate over warm caramel; sprinkle with sea salt. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, at least 1 hour. DO AHEAD Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.

Cut dessert lengthwise into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 5 or 6 slices. Transfer to platter and serve.

Funny Monsters

2011-04-04T22:18:00.001-04:00

We had a long week last week. The kids and I all got a stomach flu and a cold simultaneously and PBS was the only thing to get us through a very disgusting week. If I had any dignity left (which I am not sure that I did) it is certainly gone now. Sure enough, one week and many loads of laundry later we actually did survive. It turns out that it was the perfect weekend for General Conference and to be reminded that these bumps in the road chisel away our rough edges and help us become the people Heavenly Father knows we can be.

Our little monsters have been doing some funny stuff lately. Our kids absolutely adore bath time, especially if there are bubbles involved. Every time I give Brayden a bath he flings himself onto his belly and wildly kicks his legs and flaps his arms like he is trying to swim. The funniest part is that he sucks in his breath really hard and shoves his face down into the bubbles. It always scares me to see him taking that big gulp of breath and shoving his face into the water, but he does it over and over and over again. I personally think he likes to get a reaction (like another other male in this family...). He always comes up looking like this.

We joked with Kennedy that Brayden looked like Santa Claus, so now whenever he does it Kennedy says HoHoHo. Kennedy's very favorite thing is to pretend to put Nate and I to sleep. She goes through the whole routine of reading us scriptures, saying prayers, covering us with her beloved blankie, making us hold her also-beloved doggy, turning out the lights, and singing Silent Night. Which, by the way, Silent Night is her very favorite song in the whole world. We started singing it at Christmas time and she won't let us fade it out with the season. Anyway, the "bedtime routine" game is a win-win situation in my book because Kennedy gets to get her boss on and I may catch an occasional cat nap in the process. The other day we were playing this game when Kennedy crawled into her bed with me and wrapped her arms around me, rubbing my back while she sang me songs. It was such a sweet and tender moment. She has recently become so cuddly and loving, she is always wanting hugs and kisses and while she sits in our laps she gently rubs our arms or backs. She calls these "feel good" and when we stop rubbing her back she'll say "more feel good! more feel good NOW!"

Kennedy also loves to sing. While we were shopping the other day she was belting out a tune as we made our way through the store and was complimented with a "you go girrrrlllll" along the way. We sure have some funny monsters.

Changes

2011-03-28T14:17:00.001-04:00

I find this picture so funny. It was Nate's birthday and we managed to snap 7 shots and this is the best shot :)

We have been making some big changes at our house the last couple weeks and we are getting settled into our new routines. While Mom was visiting, Brayden decided he hated nursing, like really hated it. Every time I would try to nurse him he would scream and cry and try to bite me. After a few weeks of trying to pump and work through it, I threw my hands up and said "OK, we're done." Brayden loves taking a bottle and drinking his formula, and he is finally sleeping through the night. Can you believe it? Here is what I think he thought, "Mom is a grump ball when she doesn't sleep and her milk tastes like water, I'm done." As bummed as I was that we were done nursing, I am thrilled to be sleeping again! Plus, Nate and I got a chance to go to New York while my parents were here and enjoy our newly discovered freedom!

A few weeks ago Kennedy mastered the art of climbing out of her crib. Since then nap time was a constant battle of her climbing out and me replacing her 10+ times. Again, I finally threw up my hands last Thursday and changed her to a toddler bed and switched the locks on her door. (Yeah that's right, I did that all by myself). She has been going to bed great in her new bed, but nap time is another story. We are now going on 1 1/2 weeks without napping, with respite in sight. Maybe she needs some chamomile or benadryl? That's ethical right?

Anyway, our little stinkers are getting cuter every day and I am grateful to be their mom. Most especially, I am thankful for my ever patient and loving husband. Last night we were playing games with some friends when we were asked, "if you could do one heroic act what would it be?" I responded with an uninspired lame answer but I honestly couldn't be any prouder that Nate's answer was "assassinate Kim Jong-il". I love that man.

Visit from Granny and Grandpa Abbott

2011-03-21T14:45:00.001-04:00

My mom and dad came to visit for 5 days last week. They were so brave, they spent a total of four days driving to come see us but we were so glad they did! As always, the kids had such a blast getting spoiled rotten and played with from dawn until dusk.

We went to Stew Leonard's for third time this month, I can't get enough of that place!

As usual, Kennedy loved waking up Grandpa while he was sleeping and overall just following him around like a little puppy dog the whole trip.

We got all piggy-ed out for the children's museum and Granny had almost as much fun as Kennedy there.

Even Brayden got into the action

Doesn't Brayden look so big in this picture? He's definitely not my little baby anymore, that's fore sure.

We went on walks in the warm weather

We went back to the farm I am always posting about. Our little friends grew so much in the last few months! We have sure missed them

We even celebrated Nate's 29th birthday together with a delicious caramel cheesecake.

It was a perfect week, I'm so glad they trekked all the way here to see us. We sure love having family come visit us!

Lazy Weekends

2011-03-13T16:25:00.001-04:00

I love lazy days together as a family. This weekend we scrubbed and scrubbed to get ready for my mom and dad to visit, I couldn't let them see the ginormous piles of junk in our room now could I? Little Kennedy was playing with her beloved pink play dough making cookies.

The weather has been gorgeous this week, so Nate took the kids out in the wagon for a walk and they loved it.

Then we came home and Brayden, my 8 month old weirdo-baby, decided he was ready to start climbing the stairs. Nate and I were chatting when I looked down and saw that he was going up the stairs by himself! That boy is such a wiggle worm.

Taking care of number 1 - or number 4 as the case may be

2011-03-08T14:58:00.000-05:00

Through much introspection and discussion with my husband/therapist, over the last month or so I've realized that my priorities were off. Somehow over the course of the last 2 1/2 years, between law school and motherhood, I've forgotten to take care of myself. Not just the exterior, but really listening to what is going on internally. There's this weird shift between the independence of life pre-children, and the postpartum reality of life with a child. Your life revolves around taking care of all of these little beings wants and needs, trying to fit in laundry, make dinner, do dishes, look presentable, make time for child A, make time for child B, make time for your spouse, do your calling, read your scriptures and collapse into the bed at the end of the day. I have these unrealistic expectations for myself of fulfilling all of these needs, without ever stopping to check in with me. Often I would end my day realizing I forgot to eat lunch or dinner, or both, or realize that I had somehow managed to go through 24 hours without ever checking in to see how I am feeling. Despite feeling this internal sense that the pendulum was unbalanced, I felt guilt at wanting to take time for me. I felt like I was doing my children a disservice by leaving them with Nate or that I was doing Nate a disservice.

I realize now that I am doing both my kids and Nate a disservice when I don't take care of myself. How can I be excited to fulfill my kids needs when my own aren't being met? How can I communicate with Nate if I am unaware of my own feelings? Realizing this has freed me from the guilt of taking time for myself, and made me refocus on making myself a priority again. It probably sounds ridiculous, but it is such a learning process to reacquaint myself with my own feelings. I'm trying focus on taking time throughout the day to pause (even if it's only for a moment) to listen to myself. Sometimes that means letting everyone scream while I make myself lunch, or taking a nap when I have a 2 page list of "To Do's", or leaving the house when Nate gets home for a me night, or learning to say no and knowing my limits. Sometimes I go to the library after the kids go to bed, or go walk around the mall, or go to Yoga with a friend. Sometimes it's as simple as reading a book by myself in my car parked in at Sleeping Giant. The single best thing has been the gym membership Nate surprised me with.

I have to say that since beginning to make these changes, I have felt such a difference. I feel like a better mother to my kids. I have more patience, more energy, more positivity. I feel like a better spouse to my husband. I am so much more willing to help him have his needs fulfilled and excited to come home and talk about our days together. I still find it difficult sometimes to let my unrealistic expectations go, but it's a learning process and I'm glad I'm learning how to juggle all of these balls.

2011-03-06T15:36:00.001-05:00

Speaking of interesting characters, here is a picture of Kennedy decked out in her princess/mommy gear. I think it's cute how her arms and just loaded with stuff, all of it too precious to be set down.

Last week the kids and I went to the Peabody museum for their Dinosaur week. The museum put on a puppet show about a fox that goes hunting through time for dinosaurs,and Kennedy had a blast. I think she made the curators a little bit nervous when she was trying to some fossils and throw them, we made a swift exit after that.

I nabbed this picture of Brayden when the kids were in the tub yesterday. Isn't he the most precious thing?

Any time I need a smile, this video is sure to do the trick

Video Post

2011-02-28T09:32:00.003-05:00

My mom has been requesting videos of the kids, and although I don't have one of Brayden laughing like she wanted, I thought I'd post these two videos because they are cute.

I love the second video because it captures one of Kennedy's favorite things to do, which is making up songs. I always get a kick out of what ends up in her songs. I think I heard "I helper", "I wash my shoulders, I wash my face, I wash my play dough", "Spaghetti on my shoulders, wash spaghetti, wash paper, ducky."

I sure have some funny kids

Motherload

2011-02-21T14:46:00.003-05:00

Today I got out of the shower and found Brayden like this. Gross.
A coworker of Nate's just happens to be ultra-wealthy and ultra-nice. This co-worker decided to downsize from his mansion and condescended to give his daughter's old toys to us. We hit the mother load!
We scored a baby doll high chair, changing table, doll house, a dress up fur coat (!), and tons of fake pearls. Since Kennedy spends all day mothering her little baby doll, putting her to sleep, changing her diapers, and reading her stories, it was absolutely perfect.
I love how happy her new toys made her. Maybe if I was a prudent mother I would have put them away for Christmas or something, but I just knew she would fall in love with them.
Don't you love her cheesy smile? I told her she could have a chocolate chip if she smiled at the camera, and this is what we got :)

Oh boy

2011-02-19T14:18:00.003-05:00

It's nap time around these parts and what do you think my sweet baby boy is doing?

Well he ain't sleepin, I can tell you that much.
Little man learned to pull up last week and just can't resist the urge to pull up at every opportunity.

Next step: learning to sit down

Valentine's Day

2011-02-16T09:30:00.003-05:00

We had a blast getting ready for Valentine's this year. Nate and I went on a date to a ritzy Italian restaurant in New Haven where the tables were elbow distance apart and the local Italians were plenty of entertainment for the night. It was such a blast, and so lovely to spend the evening alone enjoying each others company. As usual, Nate completely spoiled me for Valentine's. He got me a chi straightener (which I am in love with) and a huge collection of Sephora makeup that gets me so excited to get ready everyday and play with all of the colors. I got him tickets to see Stomp this spring, which will be a lot of fun I think.

For the kids, we decorated the house in red streamers and hearts (which I can't get the heart to take down because they are so cute). We made cupcakes for Kennedy and she was just itching to eat them all day.
Here she is checking out her Valentine's decorations.
And trying so hard not to take a lick out of those cupcakes.
This little guy has had quite the varied diet lately. Now that he is all over the place, I am having such a hard time keeping out of the "big kid" food. This morning he snuck some of Kennedy's pancake, yesterday goldfish, a triscuit a couple days ago, and on Valentine's he got a hold of a sugar packet. You know those candies where it's a sugar stick you dip in flavored sugar and the kid licks it off? Well I was carrying Brayden around and didn't notice he had gotten a hold of one of those packets. He managed to rip it open and suck out all of the sugar. When I finally noticed what he had done, he was covered in green and licking his fingers furiously. Afterward he was shaking his head back and forth and laughing hysterically at himself (can we say sugar high?) He took one 20 minute nap later that afternoon and then collapsed into bed at 6. Needless to say, I think he had a pretty good Valentine's Day :)

Picture Catch Up

2011-02-16T09:11:00.003-05:00

Last week our computer started randomly turning off for no reason. We were suspicious, but not overly cautious. Then a few days ago it died. RIP computer. So while I am anxiously waiting for a computer whiz to get all of my precious budget excel sheets off of our computer, we got a new desktop that will hopefully withstand our resident havoc-wrecking cuties.

Here are some cute pictures from the last couple weeks. We made Mel's homemade play dough and Kennedy had a blast helping make it and play with her very own pink play dough.

Don't you love how messy Brayden is? You can never see it as well in a picture, but he was just covered in sticky goop.

Nate's Surprise

2011-02-08T13:38:00.004-05:00

Nate came home with a surprise for Kennedy yesterday

I gasped in shock when I saw the anatomically correct pages
Not to mention the detailed picture of the "process"
Despite my cringing, Kennedy loves her surprise from her daddy. I think I've read her this book precisely one billion times today.

I suppose I'll have to get over my feelings. Their right, everyone poops.

Aquarium

2011-02-05T21:21:00.003-05:00

Nate had a busy work week the last few weeks and the kids were sick, so we were hibernating inside for what seems like ages. Now that everyone is feeling better, it feels so refreshing to leave the house again.

We went to the aquarium this weekend
The kids had such a blast seeing all of the fishes, meerkats, and sea lions.
I love this picture of the two of them looking at the river otter. He loved showing off for the kids and we spent ages watching him.

Mostly, she ran circles around the aquarium, briefly stopped to catch her breath and say "hey! you so cute!" and Nate ran around and chased her. Brayden loved people watching and getting pushed around in the stroller. A perfect family day.

Swan Lake

2011-01-31T07:58:00.004-05:00

A couple weeks ago I bought tickets to see Swan Lake for this weekend. I was itching with exciting for days. At the time all were healthy and it seemed like a great idea to get non-refundable ballet tickets. When Brayden got so sick this last week, we knew we didn't feel comfortable leaving him with a teenager or taking him to someone else's house. I was heartbroken to miss the ballet but we tried to sell the tickets. Jodee, being the wonderful friend she is, insisted we go anyway and spent her night alone in our house with our sick boy. You can't buy friends like that can you?

The ballet was so beautiful. The Russian State ballet was phenomenal and every move was exquisite. It was such a peaceful and relaxing experience. I loved it. Nate was so sweet to go with me. He said nothing but positive things during the ballet although I did catch him falling asleep once. I will have to make it up to him by going to some outdoor survival expo or something.

Sickos

2011-01-30T20:13:00.003-05:00

Look at this sweet little man. This guy has an ear infection, bronchiolitis, and is cutting two teeth on top. The bronchiolitis peaked Friday, and has been steadily getting better since then (which we are grateful for). Boy oh boy, we are sure glad that he is feeling happy again.

Despite his little setbacks, this little guy is taking off around the house these days. When Kennedy learned to crawl she crawled away from us. She was inside the toy box, pulling the books off the book shelves, and playing in that little Kennedy world she loves to play in. There was no more time for hugs, as long as I provided the food. Little Brayden follows his mama everywhere. He can constantly be found following me around the house, sucking on my legs and wanting me to pick him up and hold him. It's funny how different these two are, but they have one thing in common: they love playing with each other. He loves all of Kennedy's mothering and she loves to mother him, it works out perfect. I'll often come in and find Kennedy undressing Brayden to change his diaper, and him laughing his head off at her. One funny thing about Brayden is that he loves to be surprised. We'll often hide around the corner and jump out to say Boo! and he just cracks up laughing. I think he gets that from his dad because Nate loves to scare the living daylights out of me. Last week we were getting ready for bed and I had turned all of the lights out in the house when Nate jumped out of a tent we had set up for the kids and grabbed me. I dropped to the floor screaming!

Anyway, it's fun seeing how Brayden's personlity is developing and it is secretly precious how attached he is to his mamma.

Snowmageddon

2011-01-27T09:27:00.005-05:00

Snowmaggedon has officially hit Connecticut. We got another snow storm last night, apparently breaking the long-standing record for snowfall in one month in Connecticut. 47.8 inches of snow since Christmas. The Governor asked people not to travel this morning and I was happy to oblige.

Sweet Nate has done a lot of shoveling for us lately. The other day he was gone late at work and the kids and I wanted to go out, so I attempted to shovel out the snow on our porch. After about two scoops I decided to just climb through the snow to get to the car. Good thing I have Nate around huh?

Kennedy had a whole lot of fun helping Daddy clean up all the snow.

Date night

2011-01-26T10:22:00.006-05:00

0Last weekend Nate and I went on perfect date to watch a symphony by the Yale Philharmonic Orchestra. It was such a peaceful and relaxing evening. All of the kinks in our shoulders had magically melted by the time we got home. Date night is my favorite night of the week.

I wanted to share some pictures of the hall where listened to the concert. The gold organ pipes and reliefs of Greek muses were entrancing, almost as much as the people we got to people watch while we were there. The couple in front of us was on an awkward first date :)

Good News

2011-01-19T13:41:00.006-05:00

I know you are asking yourself, why is she posting again? It's simple. When you combine the fact that we have been getting a gargantuan dose of snowy weather with two kids who alternate their nap schedules all day long and a deep rooted fear of sick children (which has more to do with a fear of their grumpiness than it does their illness), the result is three Walkers staying inside their house for days at a time.

Last week I left the house twice 1) church 2) the store. I need to leave the house!

BUT I have good news!

Last night for the first time in SEVEN MONTHS I slept for nine hours uninterrupted. I knew you could do it Brayden, keep it up!

Brayden's Method

2011-01-17T14:09:00.005-05:00

We promised the Grandmas some videos of Brayden's method of moving, but first I had to show you a couple pictures.

Is it possible to look at all of this sweet chubbiness and not fall in love?
I nabbed these pictures while we were hanging out this morning and it gives you a good idea of how play time goes in this house.

Now here's the little dude in action. Don't worry, I am not even claiming that he is crawling, but his pre-crawling technique is cute. I love how he pushes up in to the crawling position, and because he can't quite figure it out he just lurches himself forward and pushes up to try again.
The fact that I captured Kennedy trying to sit on his head is just the icing on top of the cake.

Kennedy's phrases

2011-01-17T13:24:00.002-05:00

Lately Kennedy has been latching on to the little phrases I use every day and they pop up out of no where except she doesn't quite know how to use them so they get jumbled in such a cute way. I get a kick out of hearing them.

We were driving in the car a couple days ago and Kennedy said, "oh shoot, I forgot it" (apparently she has heard that one a lot lately.. )

We were playing in my bedroom this morning and she said, "hey mom, guess what" "what?" "lions are upstairs"

On our way home from church yesterday Kennedy said. "People go home. People see Daddy."

Standing in front of the window this morning she said, "hey Mom, I see everywhere"

We were sitting on the floor playing when out of no where, "ch ch. I shut the door".

This morning when she woke up she was in her crib yelling"Mooooooom! I can't!" So naturally I came in and said, "you can't what?" " I can't change my diaper. I poopy. Please no, I can't" ( she was trying to tell me not to change her diaper but she was saying I can't instead).

Snow Day

2011-01-12T15:08:00.006-05:00

The other day a friend mentioned how she is trying to write down happy moments in her journal so that she can go back and look at them later, and what she said really struck a cord with me. Christie got me a journal for Christmas, so I am trying to stop to record those sweet moments so I can go back and relive them all over again later.

Last night we got 16+ inches of snow. It is absolutely gorgeous. Nate put on his snow gear and attempted to dig his car out to get to work, but by the time he finished the stairs it was already re-covered in snow. He abandoned that idea and decided to hike to work instead. He trekked over in his snow gear and a backpack filled with clean clothes and food. The kids and I stayed in our PJ's all morning, made banana bread, snuggled up on the couch and watched The Princess and the Frog together. I put Kennedy down after the movie was over and sat back down with Brayden for a while only to wake up a few minutes ago. We had both fallen asleep snuggled on the couch. It has been such a perfect day snowed together.

A couple days ago I took the kids sledding for the first time this season. I strapped Brayden in the chest carrier and the three of us went zipping down a surprisingly steep hill. I thought Kennedy would be scared but she screamed "weeee!" the whole way down and "Again!" the second we finished. Brayden was very chill with the whole experience. Kind of like "I don't know what the big deal is but Mommy is holding me all day so I'm happy." We actually lasted over an hour out there. I can't wait to go again with Nate.

Christmas in Tennessee

2011-01-07T14:20:00.004-05:00

For Christmas this year we loaded up our four suitcases, stroller, carseat, and cary-ons and made the trek down to Tennessee to be with my extended family. The weather was beautiful and we loved being able to spend the holiday with family. I've been spending Christmas in TN since I was born I don't know that there has been more than one or two holidays that I haven't spent it with with my family. We knew that this would probably be our last chance to get down there for the holidays and so we tried to soak up our time. On our second day my granny's water well ran out so we had to rough it for the rest of the trip boiling jugs of water, using the bathroom outside, and showering at the local gym). It was about this time that I realized how shocking it is that Nate married me. As I was bemoaning the lack of running water and heat, Nate was like "what's the big deal?" How that rugged wilderness man ended up with such a girly girl, I don't know.

We spent a lot of time at this McDonald's trying to get the kids' winter energy out

Granny got tons of snuggle time with Brayden, and he ate it up

Kennedy and Granny decorated gingerbread men together

We played out in the snow

Brayden loved all of the attention my grannies gave him

Here we all are modeling our Christmas PJ's from Nate

The Sleep Thief

2011-01-02T13:29:00.007-05:00

On New Years Eve Nate and I were talking about all that our not-so-little family experienced in 2010, and what we hope for 2011. In 2010 Nate graduated from law school, we moved, we added the Sleep Thief to our brood, Nate passed the bar exam, and Nate got his first job. All very exciting things.

Our trip down memory lane left us with two extra hopes for 2011 beyond health and happiness.

1) That 2011 is more boring than 2010

2) That we sleep significantly more than we have in 2010

Are you catching what I'm throwing?

We have unofficially dubbed this dude the Sleep Thief. He looks deceptively handsome, doesn't he? Don't be fooled. This little guy is 6 months old and still wakes up every 2-3 hours most nights of the week. After getting myself and my two monkeys ready for church, down our ice covered two flights of stairs and loaded in the car today, I discovered that I had lost my keys for the millionth time since sleep deprivation ravaged my brain.

The lost keys were never found but I have one message for the Sleep Thief: You will not prevail in 2011.

Christmas Videos

2010-12-30T12:38:00.003-05:00

Mom and Dad got us a Flip Camera for Christmas so we could capture all of those sweet little moments. Here are a couple of my favorite videos from our holiday.

Christmas Galore

2010-12-30T12:22:00.004-05:00

Since returning back to civilization, I have a gazillion pictures and stories to post about. I'll have to try my hardest to moderate.

For the first year since Nate and I got married, we did his family tradition of decorating gingerbread sleighs for Christmas. In the past finals and poverty always impeded the tradition, but this year Nate decided to make up for all of the years we missed by making 30 sleighs. We spent every night during the week before we left making, shaping, baking and decorating gingerbread sleighs and the goodies to fill them. We had a blast doing it together while listening to Christmas music and reading Christmas stories to each other, and we learned a few lessons along the way (i.e., next year 5 sleighs sounds perfect).

Just look at that spread.
Lesson number two: Don't leave your sleighs over a warm oven.

Doggie Brayden

2010-12-14T14:51:00.003-05:00

Here is a cute video of Brayden from this morning. Whenever Kennedy sees Brayden get up on his hands and knees Kennedy says, "Look momma! Brayden's a doggie! Woof woof." I'm not sure why this makes his a dog, but he doesn't seem to mind be "woofed" at every time he does it.

I promise you, I tried as hard as I could not to talk in an ear-piercing baby voice in this video but I couldn't help it. There is something about all his little baby cuteness that brings out the screech in me. It is what it is.

Ho Ho Ho

2010-12-11T20:27:00.005-05:00

We went all the way up to the North Pole to visit Santa this weekend. Despite Nate's deep rooted distrust of Santa (a topic for another day) we braved the icy winds to let the kids get a glance at the Big Guy.

Besides trying to chew his fingers off, Brayden seemed to like meeting Santa. I think he asked for his sister to stop sitting on his head.

Foreseeably, Kennedy was not sold on sitting on Santa's lap. We improvised and took a family pic instead. Although I hoped against hope that Santa would prove Nate's suspisions were false, the photographer asked the mom after us to lay on the floor for her family shot. I think he was joking. I hope.

Until next year creepy mall Santa!

Little Cuties

2010-12-06T07:32:00.003-05:00

Look at these two little cuties Yesterday Brayden kept working on his plank pose. It's good that one of us is working on it.

We took the kids to an amazing children's museum this weekend. Kennedy had so much fun.

We even dressed Brayden up as Santa. He doesn't look very happy to be Santa does he?

I can't say who had more fun at the museum, Kennedy or Nate. We think next time we'll go and just leave the kiddos at home so we can have some real fun with those fish conveyor belts and dry ice machines.

Grandma and Grandpa's Visit

2010-12-06T06:54:00.002-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa Walker came to all the way out to Connecticut to spend the Thanksgiving weekend with us this year, and we were so glad to have them to share the holiday with. Grandpa fixed up all of the little glitches in our house (which is a good thing because, apparently, our house was an electrical disaster waiting to happen), he raked up our leafy yard, and spent hours taking Kennedy on walks and playing with the kids. Kennedy and Brayden had a blast playing with Grandma, and we all got thoroughly spoiled rotten.
Grandma and Grandpa got Kennedy the pink shopping cart in the background and it has awoken a monster within her. Every precious baby doll item in our house must be carted around everywhere Kennedy goes in that shopping cart (car seat included) and heaven forbid another child comes over to our house and looks at her Precious.

Since we couldn't handle a second helping of cake, we blew out candles on some delicious cheesecake.

We trimmed the tree and all sat down to watch a video about the birth of Jesus together.

Brayden loved getting to watch the lights and sparkly ornaments in Grandpa's arms.

Then he passed out from over stimulation and we were forced to take our family picture, sans baby.

It was such a great visit, we can't wait 'til we get to see Grandma and Grandpa Walker again!

2 years old

2010-12-02T21:04:00.009-05:00

Last week Kennedy turned two years old. Nate stayed up all night making a last minute cake for her and Kennedy loved devouring the chocolaty goodness. She was in agony all day looking at the "birfday cake" and not being able to eat it. When the time finally came, she had so much fun blowing out her candles that we re-lit them and let her do it three times. Later, after she had devoured a gargantuan slice of cake, she started bouncing off the walls like a monkey and ended the birthday fun with a nice little goose egg on her forehead. Ever since she has been singing "happy birthday to ___" (insert Daddy, Mommy, Doggy, etc). I can't imagine life without her shining little spirit. We sure love our little Noodle.

Waking Up

2010-12-01T08:31:00.006-05:00

Have you ever felt like you woke up and realized that the world around you has been moving, and you haven't noticed? Somewhere in the last couple weeks it has been like I have woken up and realized that my children are growing up right under my nose. Life has settled into a peaceful equilibrium and now that I have emerged from the fog of no sleep and busy munchkins, I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that I have a 5 month old and a 2 year old!

Brayden is 5 months old now, can you believe it? Five months ago he was this little peanut.
And now he is so full of energy. He is obsessed with arching his back and looking at the world from an upside down point of view. He refuses to let me work on sitting up with him, he stiffens his back like a board and tries to arch back to his favorite upside down position. But, can you believe this, he is pushing up onto his hands and knees! He started doing it while Nate's parents were here this last week and is getting better at it by the day. It is all happening too fast for me.
This was Kennedy right before Brayden was born. Doesn't she look so tiny?

In these last five months her hair, body, and vocabulary have just sprouted. She is such a responsible big sister and such a nut. She'll do anything for a laugh.

If I had to pic one picture to summarize Kennedy's personality, it would be this one.

Here's hoping I take more pictures of our next five months.

Update

2010-11-18T14:04:00.007-05:00

I know I only update about the kids, but if I were to blog about Nate and I it would be extremely boring. All that I can tell you is that Nate is a sneaky Canasta player who always wins but I look past his lawyerly nature because he is also the best husband in the world. Brayden woke up at 4:56 this morning. The numbers are still burning into my brain. When I thought I couldn't stay awake a second longer, I crawled back into the bed at 6:15 and begged Nate to put Brayden down for a nap in 15 minutes and then he could go to the gym, as usual. Lo and behold, I awoke later that morning to German pancakes, Nate taking care of the kids, and a free pass to do whatever I wanted for the rest of the morning before he had to take off for work. And can you believe that all of this transpired before 9am?

Speaking of those little munchkins, they have been keeping me laughing with their sweet smiles and funny antics. Brayden started sitting up on his own this week. He braces himself up against the floor and panics that I'm not holding him up anymore. In fact, whenever he can't see me he starts to panic, which is both endearing and annoying. He's convinced I'm going to abandon him and take off for Tahiti (not that I haven't considered it once or twice in the wee hours of the morning). Despite his fears, he is still such a friendly little man and always full of smiles as long as he is wrapped up in some one's arms.

Now that Kennedy is talking more, she comes is always putting funny words together to make us laugh. When I was leaving to go to the dentist the other night Kennedy said, "Bye stinky mom!" Actually, now that I think about it, Kennedy calls me "stinky mom" a lot, maybe I really do stink? Anyway, we have been having lots of talks lately about how I don't hear whiny voices, but I love to listen to nice voices. So now when Kennedy is feeling whiny she just says "whhhiiiinnnniiiing" (which I have to try to not to let her see me laugh at). Her favorite thing is to get centimeters from Brayden's face and say (in the highest pitch voice possible) "BABYYYYY! tickle tickle tickle" and tickle his chin. The other day I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and I heard laughing in the living room. Kennedy was roughly pushing Brayden over and saying "roll over Brayden" then she would yank him back onto his belly. He was laughing the hardest I've ever seen him laugh. She also loves to stand in his bouncer (with him in it) and jump up and down really fast, which he thinks is hilarious too. I love seeing how mothering and sweet Kennedy is to Brayden and how much he loves everything she does.

Two is definitely better than one!

Dress up time

2010-11-06T08:13:00.004-04:00

I know I've already posted a few princess pictures recently, but Kennedy has suddenly gotten really into dressing up lately. A friend let us borrow this beautiful dress for Kennedy to play with, and she has been having a blast in it. Yesterday she danced around in it for over an hour, and I had to make her take it off when it was finally time for lunch. The funny thing is that seh won't take off her normal clothes to put on dress up clothes, so her dress up clothes are always in huge layers on top of whatever outfit she is wearing that day. The other day we took my scarf from dressing up as an old lady for Halloween and put it around her head so she could be an old lady too, which she loved. The pictures were so cute, I just had to share. That girl is all girl.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T21:46:00.004-04:00

We hope you all had a happy Halloween! We had a blast celebrating with our kiddos and doing all kinds of fun fall activities. You can't see it too well in this picture, but Kennedy and I made this Halloween shirt early in the week. We found the iron on for $1 and the shirt for $1, so it was a fun and cheap little craft to do together.
Here's a picture of all of us at our ward's Trunk or Treat party. Trunk or Treat is a party where all the kids dress up in their Halloween costumes and go around from trunk to trunk trick or treating (or classroom to classroom when its cold) so they can have a safe environment to celebrate Halloween. I was an old lady for Halloween, Brayden was a lobster and Kennedy was a cow. I totally expected Kennedy to want her costume off 5 minutes after she put it on, but she wore it all night long. Brayden was the one who didn't want to wear his costume, so we just carried him around in his onesie most of the night. Can you believe the whole family dressed up besides Nate? I couldn't convince him and even tried to bribe him with promises to buy him a new TV, but he didn't dress up (which gets me out of having to get him a new TV).

Can you believe how big Brayden is getting?! It's all happening too fast now. He's four months old and rolling over both ways and now his 6 month clothes are getting too tight!! I need him to slow down!

We went on a fall walk after church yesterday as a family. It was pretty cold out but we bundled the kids up in coats, fleeces, blankets, and hats and they seemed to have a good time.

Kennedy loved carving pumpkins with her daddy. He scooped out the seeds and she stirred them with her spoon saying "spoooky!" Then when we were all done she had a great time putting all of the seeds back into the pumpkin.

Here are a couple videos for the grandparents of our Halloween festivities

Apple Picking

2010-10-29T14:01:00.002-04:00

I took this little princess (and her royal brother) apple picking at a quaint little farm this week.
What do you notice about this picture? I notice my herculean stregnth at carrying two kids and a bag that easily weighs more than either kid.

Even though I said it the last time we went apple picking, these apples were easily some of the yummies apples I've ever tasted. Kennedy loved going around and sampling the windfall apples from various kinds of trees.

Playing in the hayride cart. I think I yelled something about being poopy to make Kennedy smile for this picture, but you do whatever it takes right?

They had this adorable wooden train play area for the kids, which was perfect since Kennedy is really into trains right now.

Those delicious fall apples didn't even last a day in our house, I can hardly wait ten more months until it's apple picking season again.

2010-10-27T14:44:00.002-04:00

Isn't it amazing how much easier life's little road bumps seem when you are getting a good night of sleep? Last week when I felt like I had reached my limit, we all got better and the kids started sleeping again. I am often reminded of Doctrine and Covenants 122:

"If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false bretheren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea... And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou shouldst be cast into the deap; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?"

Each time we go through a difficult phase like that, I find myself appreciating the good days more. And there are so many good days. Our fall has been filled with memories of playing with friends, cinnamon rolls and running around in the fall leaves in our back yard. Brayden learned to roll over and laugh last week and has become so interactive. When he smiles his whole face lights up and his laugh is the sweetest sound. Kennedy loves to make him laugh by playing "patty cake" or tickling him. And how can I not have mentioned the best part? Nate is around a lot! He usually gets home around 6 every day and is all ours. It has been so wonderful having him home for dinner every night, watching him play with the kids after work, and getting alone time together after the kids go to sleep. Last weekend we went on our annual pumpkin picking trip (which, by tradition, includes arriving ten minutes before the orchard closes) and Kennedy got a teeny-tiny mini pumpkin just for her. Since Saturday she has been carrying around her "tiny pumpkin" everywhere she goes. We have big plans for pumpkin carving, cookie icing, and trick-or-treating coming up this week, so more pictures and more interesting posts are coming soon!

2010-10-21T15:39:00.006-04:00

Look at these two sick little sweeties snuggled up on the couch. I love this picture. We are on our second week of colds/flu's in this house and (whining alert!) I am scraping the bottom of my energy and patience reservoirs. Kennedy woke up 3 times last night and Brayden woke up a whopping 6 times. After two weeks of this, I am officially not winning the parenting award right now. I've been grumpy and short with the kids and so so sleepy.

I hope they will forgive me one day for snapping at them. Yesterday Kennedy threw a massive tantrum , throwing herself on the floor, kicking and screaming because she wanted to take a nap. In a moment of parental inspiration I video taped the melodrama and showed it to Kennedy. I stopped her and said "Kennedy please look at this" and as she watched herself she laughed. I said "This is mad Kennedy, we don't want mad Kennedy" then I showed her the video of her jabbering and said "This is happy Kennedy! We love happy Kennedy!" She stopped her tantrum right then and there and since then whenever she starts to throw a fuss we talk about "Happy Kennedy" and "Mad Kennedy" and how we want to be happy Kennedy. It seemed to work for her and it was exciting to see her recognising that her behavior was not appropriate.

Please please please let next week be a better week.

Nate Walker, Esquire

2010-10-18T23:37:00.004-04:00

Four years ago, I took the LSAT examination in Jackson Hole, WY. At the time, I could have never imagined the roller coaster ride that would ensue. Immediatley after the exam, I began applying to law schools. I had no idea where I wanted to go to school, so I applied to every school that was appealing (or offered free application). In total, I applied to 14 law schools. I was accepted for enrollment at universities in Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Idaho, Michegan, Connecticut, Virginia, Massechusets, Colorado, Nevada and Utah.

One of the schools I applied to was Quinnipiac University School of Law in Hamden, Connecticut. I had never heard of the place, but they sent a fancy brochure and waived my application fees so I saw no harm in applying. The thought of going to Connecticut was completely foreign to me.

In February, 2006, I received a call from Quinnipiac offering to fly me out to their campus for a weekend. I saw the opportunity as an all-expense paid vacation to the East Coast. I never, ever expected that I would end up actually going to the school, but my relationship with Kylie was progressing…rapidly…and I needed to clear my head.

When Quinnipiac flew me out, they put me up in a beautiful hotel next to the Yale campus. During the days I toured the Quinnipiac campus, and at night I wandered around Yale. Something about the area enchanted me. Perhaps it was the absolutely beautiful Quinnipiac campus that was set back from the city across the street from a state park; or maybe it was the prospect of being in an area rich with historical significance; or maybe it was because I realized during my visit that I wanted-needed-to ask Kylie, a girl I had only known for two months, to marry me before I moved away to law school and lost the chance forever. Although it didn’t make any sense to me whatsoever, something about Connecticut just felt right to me. And since I didn’t apply to Yale, I accepted enrollment at Quinnipiac.

I accepted enrollment almost blindly. I had no idea about the importance of law school rankings, or how law school location greatly affects where you end up working. I had no idea that the seemingly great scholarship Quinnipiac offered barely covered East Coast rent; let alone tuition. I just knew it felt right.

I accepted enrollment in March, we got married in May, and we moved to Connecticut in August. It took some time for us to warm up to the East; Kylie came home from the grocery store in tears more than once – because of the prices, and the pushy people. I missed the mountains. We both missed our families. Fortunately, our congregation at church was fantastic. People were extremely kind and accepting to us, and before long, we began feeling comfortable in Connecticut.

Law school was brutal at the beginning. My first semester of school was rough. I spent looooong hours in the basement of the law library, but fortunately I had some good buddies to help keep me sane. I also had my new wife that provided me with much-needed perspective. Between school, Kylie, and my new calling as Young Men’s President I felt like I could barely keep up with life. Then, during my second semester of law school, we found out Kylie was pregnant. I ignored all advice and got a job to help save up for the baby. At the time, I took the job because it was convenient – it was right across the street, and the boss – Richard – was very flexible with my time. School. Preganant Wife. Busy church service. Job. Somehow, amidst it all, we still enjoyed life during my first year.

I spent my first summer working for Richard, Outback Steakhouse, and preparing for the baby. By my second year, I finally hit my stride in law school, and then Kylie had the baby the week of first semester final exams. School. Post-partum wife. Baby. Busy church service. Job(s). Somehow, amidst it all, we survived; especially when Kennedy started sleeping.

By my third year, I was a law school pro. I learned the system which meant I spent far less time (like, WAY far less) studying. My grades were where I wanted them. I thought that things were finally settling down. I was teaching early morning seminary, Kennedy was so much fun, and I still had my job with Richard. Then, one September day, I was walking to class when Kylie called me – before she even said the words I knew…she was preganant. I almost literally hung up on her. I was shocked. The first thing I did was calculate…and yep, the second baby was due one month before the bar exam.

During my final semester of law school I traded early morning seminary to help with the clergy at our church. I made it through my classes, graduated, moved to a new apartment, and immediately began preparing for the bar. I prefer to forget the entire bar preparation experience. It was terrible. Our lease at our old apartment hadn’t expired, so I set up a table and a bed and spent my days and nights studying. My study center looked like a terrorist cell. I took a brief break from studying the night that Kylie went into labor.

I took the bar in July and I distinctly remember during the middle of the exam thinking to myself: I just failed the bar. I was convinced of it. I knew it. The thought depressed me. There was no consolation to my worries because second to studying, the worst part of the exam was waiting three months for the results to be “revealed.”

On Friday, at 10:00 a.m., all my fears, anxieties and worries were laid to rest. A list of all the persons who passed the bar was posted online. The worst part of having a “W” name was having to scroll to the bottom of a list to see if my name was there, but sure enough, printed in black and white I saw one of the single-most comforting sights of my life:

Walker, Nathan Ryan of Hamden, CT

I passed the bar. Needless to say, I slept very well Friday night. It feels so great to have closure with the schooling stage of my life. In November, I will be admitted to the Connecticut bar and will begin my formal life as a “lawyer.” Thankfully, Richard offered me a full-time position with his law firm: www.gmr-law-firm.com ; my profile won’t be posted until I’m officially part of the Connecticut bar in November, in case you notice that my information isn’t listed and you think I’m making the whole job up.

We are so grateful to have the bar exam behind us. We have felt incredibly blessed throughout law school and the bar exam process, and we have seen the Lord’s hand in our lives many times. For whatever reason, we know that Connecticut was the right place for our family to attend school. We are excited about our futures, and look forward to seeing where the path of life takes us from here (crossing my fingers that the path leads closer to the Rocky Mountains). It is nice, for now, to trade schooling for a career – even if it means confronting those dreaded loan payments. We sincerely appreciate the help and support of our family and friends over the last few years.

The lessons we've learned in the course of law school have certainly shaped our lives, and changed us for the better. We are aware of the challenges that still lie ahead, but we are confident that we can come out okay.

For now, enjoy your last month knowing me as just Nate, because in a month, I will become Nate Walker, Esq. Also, this is the last month that I will wish for your safety and well-being. Starting next month, I need you all to suffer mild harm at the hands of someone rich and insured.

Story time with Kennedy

2010-10-13T16:04:00.004-04:00

Have I told you enough about how sweet little Brayden is? He spends all day smiling at us, playing with his toes, and trying to figure out how to roll over. We took him to the doctor today and he is a whopping 14 and 1/2 lbs. I love seeing his little personality develop and getting more of those cute little smiles.Yesterday Kennedy woke up with a fever and promptly threw up all over Nate. She spent the rest of the day resting on my blanket covered couch watching Sesame Street on repeat and laying in a semi-coma. Around dinner time her fever broke and she decided she had stories to tell and everyone in the house had to listen! I love how animated she is with her arms. She had been doing this for about 20 minutes when we finally got camera out and started recording, so you are a catching the tail end of her story about stars, sad people, and pretty shirts. By the way, she is really into labeling feelings right now so everyone she wants to label as sad or happy. One morning I woke up grumpy as could be because Brayden had woken up every hour the night before. I stalked around the house until I got my chores done and then sat down with Kennedy in her room. She ran up to me and said, "Mommy sad! Kisses all better!" and gave me kisses all over my face. No one can be sad around that sweetness.

Be still my heart..

2010-10-09T17:31:00.001-04:00

Today Nate was taking Kennedy to the park while I got some cooking done and Kennedy turned as she walked out the door and said, "Bye bye mommy. Love you!"

Oh I love being a mom!

While the wife is away..

2010-10-08T15:26:00.003-04:00

While I was gone, and Nate was at home pining away for me, he took one of the young men in our ward fishing. I'm sure Nate could (and would be happy to) tell this story with much more accuracy and detail, but I'll do my best. There is some company that you can charter that will take you out into the ocean, give you the correct supplies and instructions for the type of fish you want to catch, with no license required. Nate had a blast going fishing and came back as rugged and manly as ever, albeit with a lobster colored sun burn.

Now I'm off to go get pretty for a date with this manly man.

Visiting Iowa

2010-10-08T13:56:00.010-04:00

We got back Tuesday night from our trip to Iowa to visit my family. My original flight there was 3 1/2 hours to Dallas, 2 1/2 hours to Chicago, a 3 hour layover in Chicago, and a 1 hour flight to Iowa. What a tender mercy that when we were checking in to fly out, the lady who was helping us was able to change it to just a 2 hour flight to Chicago (lady, whoever you are, you won't be forgotten)! I was so scared to fly to Iowa by myself with the two kiddos, but they were awesome! Kennedy watched Sesame Street on the DVD player and Brayden sleep the day away in my arms.

Besides missing my family, we also went to Iowa to see Christie get baptized. It was a special day for her, and I am so glad we were able to be there to support her. I am seriously proud of the kind of life she is living the choices she is making, and I know the Lord is too.
Christie got some serious bonding time with my children while I took uninterrupted showers, actually sat down and ate lunch, and read books. Aunt Christie..you are the best!

Not to mention my mom, who is undeniably the best mom ever. She watched the kids while Christie and I went shopping, running, and out for dinner. She had a fun playroom filled with a bed for Kennedy's precious "baydoll" (baby doll to the rest of us), a kid table, sand box, wagon, toy car, and books galore.

And we can't forget Grandpa. Kennedy loves her Grandpa. She woke up every morning and ran through the house looking for him and whenever he took a nap she excitedly ran right up to his face and screamed "Grandpa's nappin!!" Dad helped me wrangle the kids when they were out of control, played countless hours with Kennedy, and got the best smiles from Brayden.

When you add all of that to quality time with your family and adventures in the corn fields, I'd say that's some major inspiration for going back to Iowa ASAP, don't you think?

On a side note: I was putting Brayden down for a nap one day and came down stairs to find Kennedy with one of my mom's decorative bowls filled with cat food, cat litter, and the cat's water. I said, "Kennedy what are you doing?!" and she beamed back at me with buckets of pride, "I cookin'!" She cracks me up.

Visiting Granny

2010-09-30T15:20:00.005-04:00

We are midway through our trip to Iowa, and having such a good time being together with family. Even though I have lots of pictures and stories to tell from our trip, I couldn't wait to post these pictures of our trip to Mom's school. After a couple days of long hours in the car, Kennedy was skeptical to say the least when I got the kids ready to go visit Mom.

Kennedy (after being strapped into her car seat): all done! all done! Please mom!
Me: Kennedy, we are going to visit Granny at school! Won't that be so fun!
Kennedy: allll doooonnneeee!
Me: School is like nursery Kennedy, you will have so much fun! There will be lots of kids to play with and slides and swings.
Kennedy: Nursery? Scriptures?
Me: No, no scriptures. But Granny will be there!
Kennedy: Nursery! Yay!

So by convincing her we were going to a kind of nursery, we successfully made the 3 minute trip to Mom's school. (I love that she loves nursery so much). And I did not disappoint! Kennedy had a blast getting to hang out with the 5 year olds ( who were just enamored with her and Bradyen). She walked into the building and went up to every adult she could find and said "hi!" Then she got to experience toddler nirvana by getting to play with all of the toys in Mom's room.
This is just because he's so darn cute.
Then we went outside and played on their incredible playground.
Kennedy got to help Mom lead the class in a couple alphabet dancing songs, which she thought was absolutely fascinating.

After another hour on the playground, Kennedy begged the whole way home to go back to school with Granny. She'll be ready for kindergarten in no time!

Bronx Zoo

2010-09-18T15:39:00.004-04:00

Since Nate is starting work full time next week, he took a day off to spend with the family this week and we all ventured down to the Bronx Zoo.I had been to the zoo in the middle of summer on a free day a couple years ago and there was barely standing room, so I was hesitant to ever go back. Since we waited until the kids were back in school, the zoo was not crowded at all and the weather was pleasantly cool. I have been to many a zoo, and let me tell you, this is hands down my favorite. We spent six hours there and didn't even come close to seeing everything. My favorite part was the gorilla exhibit. They have them all in natural enclosures with glass so that you are standing just a few feet away. Their behavior is so human-like, it's fascinating. The baby gorillas were banging on the glass because they loved to see the kids get riled up. There is so much there I don't know where to begin, but suffice it to say we had a blast.

One of the most enjoyable parts of our trip was seeing Kennedy's reaction to the animals. We spend a lot of time reading about animals and this was our first time going to a zoo where she recognized the animals from our stories and was excited to see them and talk about them. She also loved watching the gorillas and is still really excited about them. Brayden and Kennedy were absolute champs during our trip. With the one exception of getting stuck in rush hour traffic on the way home for 3 hours, we loved our trip to the zoo.
Of course Brayden was a happy little camper during our adventures. He is so good natured and happy, he is a joy to have around.
The giraffees

This is one of those underground tunnels you can pop up out of and look at the groundhogs, we couldn't pry Kennedy away from this.

Feeding the goats with Nate. That's my girl, not scared of anything!

Kennedy with Nate in front of some warthog type thing.

Star Party

2010-09-14T15:25:00.006-04:00

I got a call Saturday and lo and behold it was my husband. "I just wanted you to know, we decided to invite you" he says.

"To what?"

"Our star party. It's an exclusive guest list, but we thought we would let you in."

Nate and Kennedy returned home from their Saturday night run-to-the-store-to-get-milk-before-Sunday-trip with star plates, cupcake liners, and star sprinkles and we threw Kennedy a Star Extravaganza.

We sang "Twinkle Twinkle" a bajillion times. We lined the table with paper and colored stars together while Kennedy snacked on nasty kid food (aka pizza pockets and mini wrapped hot dogs..)
We gave her this star watch we found at the dollar store.
Best of all.. we let Kennedy decorate cupcakes with star sprinkles. She loved eating the chocolate butter cream off of the tops, a trick she may or may not have learned from a certain parent...

And this little munchkin just enjoyed being a part of all of the excitement and cuddling his mama.
These two kids are pretty lucky to have such a fun dad. I can't wait to throw another party in the near future. Yesterday Kennedy discovered the moon....

Apple Picking

2010-09-13T15:23:00.005-04:00

'Tis the season for apple picking, pumpkin finding, and beautiful fall leaves. Fall is my very favorite season and I am excited to experience yet another New England fall. The leaves are juts barely beginning to get a hint of color and the weather has been nice and cool. This weekend we went back up to Lyman Orchards to pick apples together and had so much fun. On Saturdays they have horse drawn carriage rides, pony rides, corn mazes, and fresh kettle corn. Kennedy had fun petting the horses, but she preferred to admire them from the ground.

Let me tell you, these apples were so succulent and juicy plucked right off of the tree. They were absolutely divine in this apple bundt cake: http://kyliewalker.blogspot.com/2009/07/apple-bundt-cake.html
Kennedy loved holding the basket and picking the few remaining raspberries leftover from raspberry season.

She had never eaten raspberries before (they are expensive!) but once she got a taste for them she was shoveling them by the handfuls into her mouth.

I can't wait to go back soon and pick our family pumpkin together!

Twinkle Twinkle

2010-09-07T10:13:00.005-04:00

Last night was so precious. Nate took Kennedy outside around 7:45 to grab something and, for the first time, Kennedy noticed the stars in the sky. She kept poiting up at the sky and exclaiming, "stars, stars!" Then she sang "Twinkle, twinkle little star" over and over. When she finally came back inside, already past her bedtime, she ran up to me and pointed up to the sky and she couldn't tell me about what she had discovered fast enough, "pretty stars! cute stars! bright stars! stars sky! up high! STARS!" We said her prayers and while we were trying to read scriptures together Kennedy kept sneaking off to her window and trying to pull back the curtain so she could see the stars again. Even when the lights were turned off and I was snuggling her a little bit before bed, she had her head on my shoulder and was jabbering about "bright stars". The first thing she said when she woke up this morning was "STARS!".

It's so fun seeing the world discovered through a child's eyes.

Love me some Pier 1

2010-09-04T22:16:00.006-04:00

Watch out folks, I finally bribed Nate into putting up our pictures in our house. It only took us 2 months of living here, but we are finally settled in. I still have a few nick knacks I would love to put up, but I just can't find a place that feels right. I was getting ready to call Mom gush to her about how much I love my new pillows and tree, but I decided it would be easier to just show her how cute they are. The best part about them is that Nate got them for me!

Speaking of Nate, I have been thinking about what a wonderful husband I have. This week was a crazy week, it seemed like one thing came up after another that kept Nate away all night and me alone at home with the kids. Kennedy threw up on me at the park on Monday, and I think that succinctly summarized how the rest of the week went. By the time five o'clock came around on Wednesday, Nate came home to a house covered in toys, half folded laundry, tape wrapped around our treadmill, squished food on the floor and me and the two kids all crying at the same time. He promptly sent me out of the house with strict orders to eat dinner at Panera and not come back until late. I spent the whole night reading my book alone and re-gaining the energy to come home and be a mom again and came home to a clean house and sleeping children. I am lucky to have such a supportive and thoughtful husband as my partner. He's the best.

Now I'm going to get back to enjoying the precious quiet of nap time.

Like Father, Like Son

2010-09-04T19:41:00.003-04:00

My men have a knack for sleeping anywhere.

Like father...
Like son..

By the way, I love how Brayden's car seat is full of baby chub. Don't you just want to kiss those little cheeks?

Danger

2010-08-29T20:34:00.004-04:00

Upon looking at that face you wouldn't know that this little boy is in constant danger, would you?
Despite it being a perilous world to bring children into, you might be wondering which specific danger I am referring to. I will give you two hints. It loves trying to stick it's fingers down my plumber crack given any opportunity and is inseperable from straw hats.

If you guessed miss Kennedy Celeste, then you would be correct. Upon first inspection, it appears she is innocently pushing her baby brother in the swing.

And she takes a break for a quick kiss. Might this be an attempt to distract her caregiver?

But now we see that the pushing has gone a little too far. Thank goodness someone remembered to strap Brayden in.

It appears that Brayden does not realize the precariousness of the situation. This looks like a baby that likes living on the edge.

Lazy Saturdays

2010-08-22T21:20:00.004-04:00

I wanted to catch some pictures of our family playing outside this past Saturday, but every picture I take seems to turn out like this:

That's because this little girl does not slow down. From morning to night she runs a million miles an hour making me laugh with her silly songs, funny dances, and wild antics.

We got to this abandoned field in the ghetto (don't ask me why we picked an abandoned field in the ghetto) and gave Kennedy free reign to run loose. Although we had to keep her away from nasty unmentionables and empty cocaine bags left on the ground, she didn't seem to notice. This girl was in toddler heaven.

Can't you see the mischeif brewing behind those eyes?

She ran and "jumped" -which consists of stopping running really quickly and lifting on leg off the ground and raising her shoulders really high - and spun in circles until she fell down.

All the while our sweet little boy cuddled Mommy and enjoyed being outside. What a perfect evenining. I love lazy Saturdays.

2010-08-19T20:48:00.003-04:00

How cute is this little man? Enough said.

2010-07-31T13:33:00.004-04:00

What we've been up to:

Granny went back to Iowa this week. We were sad to have her leave, it was absolutely wonderful having her here. I couldn't have done it without her! This trip only confirmed what I already knew; I have the best mom in the whole world.

Daddy is BACK! Nate finally took the Bar this week and came home to us. We are jumping for joy around here to have Nate home again. On his first night back, Kennedy ran around like a ADHD ballerina showing off and woke up bright and early at 5 am because she was so excited to see her daddy again. It was precious waking up to find them cuddled up on the couch together the next morning. Kennedy is still a little gun shy of daddy leaving, but these two are quickly catching up on lost play time.

We love having Daddy back!

Ice cream Bliss

2010-07-25T20:21:00.006-04:00

This little turkey got her first ice cream cone on a trip to the beach with Granny this week. In truth, Granny bought herself an ice cream cone and Kennedy a Popsicle...but little miss Kennedy snatched Granny's cone and give her the Popsicle. What can I say? The girl knows what she wants.

After her first bite, she loudly proclaimed, "NUMMY!"

Now her focus is intensifying. I can just hear the wheels turning.. "step away birds, this cone is MINE"

Finally, she reached the heavenly bit of chocolatly goodness at the bottom of the cone. Pure happiness. After 20 months of waiting, Kennedy has finally experienced an ice cream cone and I can't say I've seen anything cuter.