She Speaks

First official word: doggie. She has been saying ma-ma and da-da for a while, but we can never 100% guarantee that she actually means Mama or Dada. But she has said doggie a few times now and it is quite clear.

This afternoon, as she stared down my parent's golden retriever, she pointed and said doggie. She then said it a few more times just to make sure we heard her. If you you ask her where the doggie is, she points and smiles at the back door.

I'm hoping to recreate this little moment again tomorrow so I can be a little faster with the video camera.

Under The Sea

I put Kennedy is her best fish themed shift dress to visit the Children's Aquarium at Fair Park. The aquarium is just like a grown-ups aquarium but much, much smaller (and cheaper). Most of the tanks are at toddler eye level and there are a few interactive exhibits. You can pet and feed the stingrays and pick up crustaceans and starfish from big tanks. Kennedy didn't pet any stingrays this time, but she and her friends sure had fun looking at all the fish.

 The Girls: Kennedy, Emily, Alex and Hadley.

Shark hunting.  

 Hello there Mr. Stingray. 

So many colorful fish. 

Popeye

So, we make funny faces now. 

Doc-In-Law

Uncle Ross graduated from dental school this weekend, so we headed down to Houston to celebrate with the Houston Hunters. Kennedy did well on the drive thanks to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on repeat on the DVD player. 

Following the graduation ceremony, we got together with family for fajitas, margaritas and cake. Kennedy loved playing with her cousins, Julia and Natalie, and especially loved playing with all their toys!

Congratulations Dr. Hunter!

Blue Steele

 Kennedy playing in the window with Julia and Natalie. 

I made these little dental treats out of white chocolate. 

Kennedy, Dr. Hunter, Natalie

The Houston Hunters are about to be known as the North Carolina Hunters. They are getting ready to relocate Chapel Hill so Ross can attend orthodontic school. We will miss having them so close, but can't wait to come visit!

We all met up Saturday morning at the zoo. This was Kennedy's first trip to the zoo and she loved looking at all the animals. 

 Giraffe Safari.  

 Riding the carousel. 

The North Carolina Hunters 

We spent the rest of the afternoon letting the girls play together at the house. It was so cute to watch Julia and Natalie share their toys and play with Kennedy. They crawled/ran around, played in the swings, played with the water table, blew bubbles, had dinner and read bed time stories together. Kennedy was asleep before we left and slept peacefully for the drive back to Dallas.

Greg and Julia 

Girl Talk.

That hair!

Playing with water. 

 Splashies!

Dangerous. Who let the baby hold the water hose?

Soaked and happy. 

High-Five, Daddy

Kennedy loved having Greg push her in the swing tonight. Normally, I am the funniest person in her world, but from time to time she lets Greg have that title. Tonight she squealed, smiled and high-fived him. 

 High-Five

 

Daddy is very amusing. 

 Look, no hands!

Deep in thought. 

Boat Safety

We rented a lake house with the Pfeiffers and Williams for Memorial Day weekend. Since we are going to spend a little time on the water, we decided all three girls needed life jackets. I picked one up for Kennedy today, and to say that she enjoys being in it would be a bit of a stretch. She looks hilarious and lost the will to stand while she had it on. Now all she needs to be boat ready is her sun hat, swimmies and 8 layers of sunscreen.

Pink & Ink

The blog got a schmancy new design, and in support of the new color scheme, Kennedy is in one of my favorite pink and navy outfits she has. We are also showing off a new trick. I say, put 'em up! and she reaches up above her head.

Austin Adventures

We just got back from a very quick trip down to Austin. Greg was doing a portfolio critique for the ad students at UT and we thought it would be fun if The Girls tagged along. We got to have dinner and margs with some of our Cool Austin Friends on Sunday night.

I had read (and heard) a lot of great things about the Austin Children's Museum, so I was pretty excited to take Kennedy there this morning. On Mondays they only open the museum to kids ages 2 and under. They had story time, music time and bubble time. Plus, the little ones could crawl and toddle around with out being run over by the big kids.

Climbing up the slide. Hard work.

Playing house.

The Children's Museum is fun, but it has nothing on the windows in our hotel room.

Kennedy and I continued our Austin adventure at an indoor mall before heading up to a newer outdoor mall called The Domain. I think Greg may have 'forgotten' to tell me there was a Lilly store there. I nearly spilled my Frappuccino in delight when I spotted it and some colorful little treasures made their way home with me.

We shopped a little at the University Co-op and Kennedy got her first set of pom-poms. We walked around campus and had a little snack before meeting up with Greg for the drive home.

Little Cheerleader.

Hanging out on campus. Felt a little out of place with a stroller and a baby.

Oh, also, Kennedy has red spots all over. They are hives and not contagious. Her pediatrician doesn't know what is causing them and they look worse than they actually are and really don't seem to bother her. We are on a variety of anti-histamines and are trying to figure out the source of the allergy.

Neverending Weekend Fun

I feel like we have already had a full weekend and its only Sunday morning! We kicked off the weekend with the new mommy version of Patio Fridays with Caroline and Ashley Friday afternoon. We let the girls play on the splash pad and with the water table while we got some sun and drank margaritas. Not a bad way to start the weekend. Not bad at all.

Kennedy on the baby trampoline.

Baby face off. They are surrounded by toys, but that Dasani bottle is the sought after object.

Saturday was one of the busiest days I have had in a long time. I went to a baby shower brunch for my friend Heidi. I am so excited for her because she is waiting to find out the baby's sex until delivery day. And she is due the same week I had Kennedy! I loved meeting all her friends and family and can't wait to meet her baby in July.

After the brunch, I rushed home to get Greg and Kennedy so we could head out to the Ranger's game for the afternoon. David and Ashley invited us and the Pfeiffers to come hang out in David's office, which happens to be a suite at the ballpark. Now that's the way to take a baby to a sporting event! She could crawl around and I could keep her out of the sun while I enjoyed some stadium nachos.

We left a little before the game ended so Greg and I could get home and get ready for Jill's 30th birthday party. By getting ready, I mean combing my wig and putting on my lashes. She had a wig party and asked all of her guests to wear a wig. Not necessarily a costume. I went with a Jackie-O style wig and pearls. Greg and I enjoyed a baby-free evening of drinks and dancing with friends.

Now we are about to start packing for a quick overnight trip to Austin!

10 Months

Kennedy is 10 months old. This means she is going to be, gasp, a year old in 2 more months. As much fun as I am having planning her parties, I can't believe how fast this (almost) year has flown by.

So, what is she up to at 10 months? Well, she has her Sea Legs and we now find her standing in her crib every morning. She is pulling up on just about everything and doesn't want to sit still. She plays pat-a-cake with us and loves banging different toys/objects together. She crawls really fast and can cover the length of the house in the blink of an eye.

Still a great little eater. We haven't found anything she outright refuses yet and definitely loves to snack on strawberries and cheese. The girl loves breads. We have found this is particularly helpful in restaurants when she is getting a little restless. We skipped the sippy cup, she was never a fan, and just went straight to the straw. Its both hilarious and adorable to watch her drink from it.

Kennedy is quite a little chatterbox and has full babble conversations with her baby doll and Minnie. She has been saying "ma-ma" for a while, but we are starting to think she now knows what it means. I mean, she points, looks directly at me and says, 'ma-ma.'

Speaking of pointing, she points (and grunts) at everything! She has a few picture books that she can point out the doggie and baby if we ask her where they are. Just today she started correctly pointing at her nose when I asked her where it was.

This is such a fun stage that she is in. She thinks everything is funny, waves at everyone and is generally a very happy baby. We love watching her as she is becoming a more independent little lady.

Full on Squish Face. Whatever I was saying when I took this was quite amusing.

Sitting still in the chair for photos is clearly no longer an option.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! Today I am celebrating my first official Mother's Day with Greg and Kennedy. Greg took over baby duty this morning so I could get dressed and not have to worry about her breakfast, diapers and what she is getting into (that she shouldn't be). While I was finishing my make-up, Kennedy crawled up to my feet and I noticed he had dressed her in a cute little onesie that read, "I Love Mommy." This was so sweet...it means he went into Baby Gap all on his own and picked it out.

We went for a delicious breakfast (plus mimosas and cake balls) and Greg surprised me with a gift certificate to one of my favorite schmancy spas in Dallas. He offered to keep Kennedy so I could go enjoy it today, but I'm in a food coma, so I opted to use it another afternoon. He also wrote lots of sweet things in a card, but we waited to open that until we got home. He knew I wouldn't want to get all misty eyed over my french toast.

I couldn't think of a better way to spend my first Mother's Day than relaxing at home with my little family.