Missy K

I've been talking about getting a nicer newer camera for quite a while now. This weekend, with Dad's help, I finally made a decision on a Canon Rebel XS. So far I'm loving it! It's not super fancy, but it's nice enough I can quickly snap pictures (no delay, yeah!) and it gives me a few more options than a traditional point and shoot camera. My first attempt at being a little more creative was to try and copy a picture I had seen in a scrapbook magazine where a baby's toes were in focus but the body/head were not. Getting the angle on this shot was as difficult as figuring out the focus issues especially since I couldn't get Kennedy to stay sleeping on her back... :) I had a good time playing with the camera in anycase. :)

On to more traditional precious sleeping baby pictures

Such sweet little feet!

My little honey bear waking up

Wide awake and happy! :)

Kennedy can go from zero to sixty with no problem! :)

Am I cute or what?

Am I being naughty???

Naughty or not I sure think I'm funny!

More like hilarious

Maybe just downright hysterical!

Time to catch my breath

or maybe it's time to make some really silly faces

Wild and Crazy Baby Time!

Really Wild and Crazy Baby Time!!!

I am way too funny lol :)

I crack myself up! lol :)

Kennedy Walking!

Kennedy took her first step, thanks to lots of encouragement from Grammy, on Monday afternoon. Last night she took another step for Daddy. I've witnessed both but didn't have the camera handy enough to catch either step. She is so funny that she isn't walking yet. She has been able to free stand for such long periods of time for so long now. She can stand herself up completely unaided in the middle of a room and she can even lean over and pick up an object and stand back up without any assistance. For some reason, however, she is quite tentative about taking those steps. Having said that, she is so far ahead of Reagan at this age! Reagan was just beginning to crawl at 9 1/2 months and here Kennedy is beginning to walk! Amazing how different little people are. :)

As for other progress Kennedy has started to try and do the movements to "If You're Happy and You Know It." She is best at the "Hooray" section but is so super excited throughout the song. Tim has also witnessed her clap very well but I haven't seen that as much. Tim also taught Kennedy to stick out her tongue when you stick yours out at her. She thinks she is hilarious when she does this and as you can see she gets that tongue completely out of her mouth! She think she is so funny and is continuously cracking herself and us up! lol :)

I Love You, My Eggs!

Lately we have been working on getting Reagan to sit nicely and not get up until she has finished eating her meal. Yesterday morning she was horsing around and horsing around at breakfast. She wouldn't sit on her bottom and had been hopping off and on her chair. I had just warned her about being careful when there was a big bang and her full plate of eggs hit the floor. I told her to go sit in time out. She went running/crying to time out because her eggs were on the floor and she couldn't eat them. While I was cleaning up the mess I could hear her crying "I love you, my eggs! I love you, my eggs!" What a little goof. lol :) I guess sometimes it's just hard to be two! :)

Last week in DC

I again apologize for being so woefully behind in certain posts... I wouldn't even bother to post this at this point except a couple of friends have been asking about the pics. The other reason is while I started this blog to keep family and friends who lived far away updated I now use it as much for a journal of our activities. That said, here are the pictures of friends and places we visited our last week in DC at the end of June.

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One place I knew we had to work in before we left was the National Zoo. Reagan loves the Giant Pandas and I knew we weren't likely to see them anywhere else for a while. So first thing Monday morning we headed off to say goodbye to the Pandas. They cooperated beautifully and were more active than we've ever seen them before. It was so much fun to watch them walk around!

I had told Reagan we would be able to pick out one Panda stuffed animal. She found these two and told me we needed a Mommy and a baby because "they love each other." :)
Reagan selected a very soft and snuggly panda for Kennedy too
On Tuesday evening we walked to the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington Cemetary to see the Marine Bugle Core show. They also do an amazing silent show with rifles and bayonets.

On the way back from Arlington I stopped to snap a picture of our apartment building. You can see how close to DC it was with the Lincoln Memorial in the background. We actually had a beautiful view of the Potomac and the Jefferson Memorial at night.

On Wednesday we spent the day with the Montantes. Ms. Liz invited us to come swimming at their community pool. It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time.

When we got back to the house the girls had fun riding bikes together and playing with chalk.

This might not be the best picture of Olivia and Reagan but I had to include it because Audrey has the most beautiful blue eyes! What a little doll!

Watching TV together (I think while we were waiting for pizza)

After pizza and popcicles we were a pretty big mess so Ms. Liz suggested throwing everyone in the bathtub. It was one full bathtub with 4 adorable little girls! :)

On Friday we had a playdate with Ms. Mo'mina and the boys at one of our favorite playgrounds. We thought about you at the park last Friday and wished you could have been there with us!

The babies chilling out together

With all the things to do on the playground the three big kids needed to stop and watch the garbage truck in action. Big trucks are pretty cool!

This would have been better on video as the three of them exchanged and swung that big stick around. It's amazing how little kids can do that and not take all their eyes out...

On Friday night we met several friends at Generous George's Positive Pizza and Pasta Place. If you ever visited us in DC I'm sure we took you there. :) It is an eclectic pizza parlor with super yummy pizza and lots of old decorations. This Mickey Mouse greets you as you walk in the door and Reagan loves him. It also happenned there was a clown making balloon animals there that night so Reagan is holding a truly amazing balloon Elmo. Wish I could have gotten more pictures and especially of Jarret, Taron, Sam and company but my camera battery died... :(

On Saturday we headed down to DC to enjoy the National BBQ Festival with Aunt Kim and Uncle Nathan. The food was great and the company was even better! :)

One last picture with the US Capital in the background

After the BBQ Festival we went to church one last time at St. John's and then headed back to the apartment to finish packing up. We didn't end up getting on the road until around 8:00-8:30 so we had a long last trip to Kentucky. It was so nice to get to our new home as a family and permanently that weekend, but we sure do miss all our DC friends!!! You all were so wonderful to us during our 6 years in DC and we hope to make it back sometime next year to visit with you all again. Keep in touch and come and visit us anytime!!! :)

Friday at the Park

Last Friday, September 4, it was so nice outside we decided to pack a picnic and take a walk to a nearby playground. We had a great time and I think we'll do a picnic lunch at the park again this week, weather permitting.

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Swinging together! This was so cute but so hard to get a good picture of! :)

Gotta love that smile!

Gotta love this smile too! :)

Reagan showing Kennedy how to climb through the tunnel

There she goes!

Are you watching?

After sliding back down Kennedy would just giggle and then scoot right off to try again. :)

Boy, am I hot stuff!

Almost there!

This is as far as she ever got. I don't know if she was nervous about taking a step down or if the tunnel was just to slick for her to be able to boost herself out. In anycase she would get this far and then go sliding back down on her tummy. Regardless, she had a wonderful time and I know it won't be long before she's got it completely figured out!

Are you going to let me try this Mom?

I love being naughty!!!

Kennedy never actually got brave enough to get down the slide any further than this but she sure lived crawling out that far before squealing and retreating. lol :)