Remembering Grandma Shirley

This weekend my family and I are mourning the loss of and remembering the life of my Grandma Shirley, who passed away at age 86 on Friday. She and my Grandpa Roy just celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary in June and and together had 3 children: my dad, my uncle Tom and my aunt Kim. As well as 7 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. She was a very special lady who we all loved. She will surely be missed.

Grandma holding Kim, Tom is on her side and my dad is down in front. 

The kids all grown up: Tom, Kevin (my dad), Grandpa, Kim and Grandma

Me and my brother Eric with Grandma

Grandma all dressed up at our wedding. 

Me and Greg with both sets of my grandparents at our wedding. 

Grandma meeting Kennedy when she was just 8 weeks old. 

Shabby Chic

A few weeks ago, Kelli asked me if I wanted to bring Kennedy to a special shoot she was putting together. Of course I did. So last night I took the Little Lady to the park to meet up with Kelli where she had set the scene with vintage trinkets and suitcases. She even put together the wardrobe with vintage looking lace rompers and flower headbands. I totally wanted to keep the wardrobe...but alas, we don't have many occasions to wear a pink lace romper to. Anyway, Kennedy was in a fantastic mood and had a lot of fun playing with all the vintage treasures. Here's a sneak peek...as usual, I can't wait to see the rest. 

Balance Beaming

Look who stands up on her own. She will do it in her crib and every now and them while pushing her walker, but tonight she did it all on her own. We cheered loudly and she continued to proudly repeat her new trick over and over again. She looks like such a little person standing up.

Baby Bird wants a little more Frostee. 

From Fussy to Funny

Its been an interesting week around the Hunter House. Kennedy is cutting two new toofins as well as having a reaction to her 1st year vaccines. Long story short - its been a hard 4 days. Kennedy is usually quite playful and silly but this week she has been extremely fussy and cries easily. Once she gets crying its been hard to console her. There have also been little baby fits of rage, which would be funny to watch if she weren't my baby. She's allergic to the numbing teething medication but I was able to find this homeopathic gel from Hylands with no benzocaine in it. A swab of this new magic gel and a 3 hour nap later - I have my baby back. Baby back. Baby back. 

She spent the reminder of the afternoon playing with her Korean toy, Pororo. Correction, her voice and motion activated, Korean singing toy, Pororo. A little treat for you, a video of Pororo singing below. Anyway, my brother shipped her this little penguin friend all the way from South Korea. Due to the North Korean "involvement" in the production of Pororo he and his arctic friends have been banned in the US. So, Kennedy thanks her Uncle Eric for a truly one of a kind toy (and is happy it made it past customs)!

 Dance, Pororo, Dance!

  

Showing off those bottom toofins. 

Obsessed

The last post was all about how Kennedy tried and loved her new bike. However, I don't think love fully encapsulates how she really feels about this new addition. She's obsessed. If she is awake she wants to be in it. Not near it, not looking at it, IN it. We don't have to go anywhere, she just wants to sit in it. She has a new tooth breaking through and has been a little sour lately - so anything that keeps her happy and content works for me. We spent a solid hour in this yesterday. In Toddler Time, 3 minutes is a long span to do the same thing on repeat. So an hour is basically a Toddler Eternity.

Today is the same story. She even had her morning snack sitting in the bike.

 Little Rascal did not want to wear clothes yesterday afternoon. 

The bike gets hugs.

New Wheels

Kennedy got a pretty sweet little bike for her birthday. I've been dying to take her on a walk through the neighborhood, but its too hot. I think we are at 15 days in a row of temps over 100. Anyway, yesterday afternoon our driveway was perfectly shaded and we decided to test out the new wheels. The verdict? She loves them! I put a sunhat on her and she about lost the will to live, but as soon as I removed her hat, she was back to a happy girl. 

Sailor Girl

We got our 1 year pictures from Kelli last night and I just had to share a few favorites. We did the shoot a couple weeks ago at a park near the lake in Rockwall. I didn't even need to go to the gym that day because chasing after Kennedy in such a big, open space was a workout!

Bambina

Dollar meatball night at Kenny't Italian Kitchen. Know about it.

We met some friends for a delicious Italian feast last night. I had to really go out with a bang since I started a boot-camp session this morning. Meatballs, ziti, wine and tiramisu. Yum. Kennedy also enjoyed her Big Girl meal of meatballs and spaghetti. The waitress even gave her a mini fork to twirl her noodles. 1 out of every 15 noodles made it to her mouth. The rest, as you will see, ended up on the floor.

Party Girl

Kennedy got to have two birthday parties to celebrate her first birthday. The theme was One Sweet Year and we went all out with the sweets, pink and green theme for both the NM and Dallas soirees. My mom and I made most of the food and all of the desserts. And they all came out pretty good, if I do say so myself. 

 Sweet Greetings

 Sweets table in NM with Chocolate cupcakes, s'mores pops, chocolate covered pretzels and candies.

Cupcake table set up in Kennedy's playroom. 

Custom cupcake toppers


Gifts table.

B-day girl in her b-day pettiskirt. 

Blowing out her candle.

Really getting into that smash cake. 

The Pi Phi girls and the three little future Pi Phis: Kaylie, Kennedy and Natalie.

Kennedy and Audrey in their pink tutus.

The invitations and party printables (banners, cupcake toppers, lollipop arrangements, etc) are all custom made from Jill at Stamped Paper Co. Amazing.

The

 topiaries are made from hot pink gum balls. Each gum ball was glued on one at a time by me and my mother. Time consuming and we both suffered minor burns, but totally worth it!

What's a pink and green party with out a little Lilly? The party favors are boxes of Lilly Pulitzer animal crackers with candy shaped hair clippies (bubbles for the boys). Kennedy also wore a onesie and party hat made from vintage Lilly fabric from alphabulous.

A couple of the desserts are recipes or ideas from a yummy blog called K Bakes. I dare you to not salivate when you look at all these sweet treats. 

Happy Birthday Little Girl

Kennedy Rose, 

It's hard to believe that a year ago we were welcoming you into our world. I remember so vividly looking over at your daddy and telling him it was time to go to the hospital. The day we had been waiting for had finally arrived and we drove to the hospital excited, scared and full of anticipation to meet our little boy or girl. Both of your sets of grandparents were in the waiting room waiting to meet you as well. Your daddy and I both cried out of joy when the doctor said, "its a girl!" We knew we wanted to name you Rose, after your great grandmother. And we both had always liked the name Kennedy. So we decided to call you Kennedy Rose. 

Fast forward to today and we are sitting here while you are taking a nap talking about what an amazing adventure this year has been. 

You are so happy and so silly. We love your playful personality and funny faces you make. You like to mimic everything you see your mommy and daddy do. You are babbling a lot. Right now, you point at everything and say "what's this?" in the cutest little voice. I can't wait to hear you start talking more, I think you are going to be a little chatterbox. Just like mommy. And daddy. 

Right now your favorite foods are mac and cheese, strawberries and cantaloupe. You will eat just about anything and you really like to try to feed yourself. You know how to sign 'all-done' and love to feed your food to your puppy Olive. 

You have been to so many places this year. Albuquerque more times than I can count, Midland, Austin and Houston. You've gone all the way to Disneyworld in Florida. And you got to play on the beach for the first time in St. Thomas and St. John. 

Kennedy, you are so loved by everyone around you. You light up our world and bring us so much joy. You mean the world to me and your daddy and we are so excited to see what this next year has in store. 

Here's a look back at your first year:

 Kennedy Rose, 6lbs 9oz