A Fun Christmas Craft

Yesterday while we were on potty training kitchen restriction we did a fun Christmas craft.  I had seen several people do this hand paint Christmas tree and decided to try it with Kenlee.  She loved it.  I was originally only going to have Kenlee make one but she insisted that I join in on the fun so I made more of a bush then a tree with my big hands.

Here are some of the few good shots I got when I got a chance to snap one or two:

 The finished projects, they turned out so cute and now our fridge has its own festive decorations.

28 Weeks

Well we are all most down to the single digit count down, yep only 12 weeks left til Baby Girl Daines should be here. The last week and a half I have started to feel really big.  I had my appointment yesterday and she is a really healthy and happy baby.  I am now measuring at 31 weeks but my doctor laughed and said it was probably because she had her foot shoved into my rib and stretching things so we shall see what I measure next time.  I was supposed start the two week rotations for appointments but that would put me right in the middle of the holidays so she said where she was such a healthy baby and there were no worries that we would do one more four week.

This pregnancy has been really different in a lot of ways, one obvious thing is that fact that I haven't been sick this time.  But another one is that this little girl is a lot different in her movements too.  Kenlee was always punching and kicking me and so I felt a lot of sharp hits.  This one has been more about rolling and pushing so that I just get weird bumps but very little pain.  

Also in preparation for babies arrival we have started the lovely task of potty training Kenlee.  I wasn't sure I really wanted to push the issue during the holidays with all the ins and outs of parties and family time but her interest peeked again and I wasn't going to miss another opportunity. She did really well for a couple of days and only had two accidents on Sunday and that included the fact that I felt silly going into nursery to ask her if she needed to go potty.  So that one was my fault.  Then all of a sudden Monday she lost total interest.  I tried and tried all day with her and she would not cooperate at all.  Tuesday and Wednesday was about the same and I was about ready to through in the towel till January when I decided to try one last tactic.  We went straight to panties, she wasn't aloud to wear diapers or pull-ups, which meant spending all our time in the kitchen so that we didn't have to clean carpets. Thursday afternoon it clicked, she has fallen in love with some puppy panties and now she goes all the time.  We haven't had an accident (minus night time which I will deal with after we get good at day) since 4:30 yesterday.  I am so proud of her, I have even given up the kitchen restriction. I hope things keep going well and that we can get her potty trained in the next few weeks.

Meeting Santa

This year I really wanted to try the whole meeting Santa thing.  I had considered it the last two years but never really had a good opportunity to do so and didn't really force it.  My parents were planning on watching Kenlee so that Blake and I could got the The Christmas Carol that was put on by the Four Seasons Theater Company but the had there ward party that same night.  They were totally willing to take her with them but one of the other advantages was that Santa was making an appearance before the party began.  Blake and I took Kenlee over early to meet my parents and so that we could witness this occasion. Knowing Kenlee's personality I completely expected her to cry and crawl up the persons face who was trying to introduce them.  I was pleased that she at least talked to him.  He was not aloud to touch her but she had been practicing all day what she wanted to ask him for and she was able to do it.  She got really excited when he gave her a candy cane too. 

                                       

All in all it was not a bad experience and we will definitely be trying again next year and maybe eventually getting her to sit on his lap and take a good picture.

Gingerbread Houses

As a tradition, we all got together and decorated gingerbread houses with Blake's family agian.  This year Kenlee was really into decorating the gingerbread houses. She and daddy made a great team.  Kenlee would tell him where to put the frosting and then Blake would help her make sure the candy she had chosen would stick to the frosting.  It was so cute to watch her face light up every time she put a new piece on the house.  She really focused on the roof, which makes sense since that is what everyone could see.  We really had to talk fast to get her to put any on the sides of the house and even then only got two decorated.  I think she ate more candy then she actually put on the house but I guess that's all part of the experience.  

 I got so many of these cute shoots that I didn't know which ones to use.  They are so photogenic.

The finished produced, isn't it just the most wonderful house you have ever seen.  She has quite the artistic eye........or maybe she is just two, only time will tell.

24 Weeks

Glucose Test, that wonderful sugar coma orange beverage. Yep that's where we are at, yesterday I went in for my 24 week appointment and had to do the gestational diabetes test. Other then that everything was really good. Baby girl is looking really good and getting stronger by the day. My exciting moment was when they told me I am measuring right on with 24 weeks. With Kenlee I was always measuring BIG. They did an early ultra sound to see if I was pregnant with twins I was so big with Kenlee so I was excited to be smaller this time around. We only have one more 4 week appointment and then we are on to the two week appointments. We are getting to the last few months here. I feeling pretty good, tired which is to be expected but feel pretty good other then that. My hips are finally starting to bother me a little but its not even close to slowing me down yet so we will just keep doing what we are doing and hope that it doesn't hit to bad.

And now for the lovely pictures:

Batman's True Identity

We have recently discovered Batman's true identity.  Can you tell who he is?

Halloween 2011

This Halloween was a lot of fun because Kenlee finally understood what she was supposed to do (for the most part.) This year we asked Kenlee what she wanted to be for Halloween and she would say "No Just Me."  Finally she picked to wear her purple tutu (her purple dress) so we went to the dollar store and got a purple crown and jewelry and she was a Purple Princess.

Our first stop for the days festivities was the annual Trick or Treat at Lee's Marketplace.  We found Waldo (Blake was Waldo at work again this year) and then went through all the stops.  Kenlee had a great time, even though she was a little apprehensive about all the costumes. 

After trick or treating at Lee's we headed home so that Kenlee could get a good nap before heading out to trick or treat again. At around 6 we meet with our friends the McKenna's to go trick or treating around our ward.  Kenlee and Cameron had such a great time running up to all the doors.  Good thing Cameron would say trick or treat because Kenlee just wanted the candy to go in her bag.

After Blake got off work we headed to both parents houses so that Kenlee could do a little more trick or treating.  All in all, I think she really enjoyed her Halloween experience.

Carving Pumpkins

Saturday night my family got together to carve our pumpkins. This year the garden did really good and we had enough pumpkins for everyone to carve one. Kenlee loved the pumpkin guts last year but this year she was a little more reluctant to put her hand into the pumpkin. I am not one that really enjoys the gutting part either so we tried it together. I will still do it but it

is definitely something I will hurry through.

We are both a little grossed out.

Eventually Blake took over the gutting responsibility while I took pictures. Kenlee was more willing to get involved when daddy was having fun with it. She always has to be like daddy. Its pretty dang cute.

After the pumpkin walk I decided to try making Kenlee a minion from Despicable Me. I painted the pumpkin so that it looked like Kevin. He turned out pretty cute if you ask me. Blake carved an AWESOME batman signal. He always carves one of the coolest pumpkins. When I finally got around to actually carving my pumpkin I had put a lot of time into painting Kevin so I did a normal jack-o-lantern face.

All the pumpkins that were done that night. From left to right: My jack-o-lantern face, Tiffany and Brock's haunted house, Karlee's scared jack-o-lantern, Mom's jack-o-lantern, Blake's batman signal, Kenlee's Kevin minion, and Nate's angry bird.

Pumpkin Walk

For fall break we decided to attended the Pumpkin Walk. Blake had not been since he was in 5th grade and I haven't been since I was little. Kenlee didn't know what to think about it at first but when we finally got around to scenes that she recognized she LOVED it! The first scene that Blake loved was the Angry Birds. Blake has liked this game forever and thought that the pumpkin piggies were hilarious.

Of course we had to get a family picture with the piggies....

Lately Kenlee has really started to like football. She calls it "daddy's ball." When she saw the football game scene she ran past one other scene and started yelling "daddy's ball." Blake was so proud of her....

Thursday we decided to borrow several movies from April so that we could have a movie night while Blake was off. Kenlee borrowed Despicable Me. Ever since she watched it she has been obsessed with the minions. She calls them her babies. If you ask her what her babies say she will stick her tongue out and act like the minions. So when she saw the Despicable Me scene she got so excited, she tried to convince us to take one of the minions home.

She also likes to watch Phineas and Ferb with my brothers....

I thought that the Winnie the Pooh set was really well done and so Kenlee and I got our pictures in front of Pooh Bear. She also likes Pooh Bear so that was a bonus...

Of course we had to take advantage of the cute character cut outs at the end of the pumpkin walk. Kenlee insisted that we take a picture at everyone of them so these are just some of my favorites.

We had such a great time at the Pumpkin Walk and I think we will try to do it every year as a family activity.

Sugar n' Spice and Everything Nice

That's right, its a GIRL!! We had our ultrasound on Tuesday and found out we are having another little girl! We are so excited that Kenlee will be getting a sister. This little one is just as active as Kenlee was in her ultrasound so if that says anything about their personalities we have another active little girl on the way. The poor ultrasound tech had a hard time capturing the pictures she needed to because she was kicking and rolling all over the place. Everything is looking great, she is a happy and healthy little baby. She still measures exactly to her March 8th due date (she is very determined to be born on our anniversary.) We are working on names for her but probably won't name her officially til she is here and we can see what she looks like.

Sorry the 4-d pics are sideways, I couldn't get them to turn.

We are officially at our half way point in this pregnancy. I am 20 weeks today! I don't feel like I look too much bigger then my 16 week pictures but I finally had to break down and buy maternity pants cause my belly band was not working anymore so I know that I have to be bigger. I am feeling pretty good, we have been able to keep my hip pain down so far and I am able to sleep now because I have retrained myself to sleep on my side.

Kenlee is slowly catching on to what is going on. We have asked her for the last two weeks whether she wanted a brother or sister and every time she told us "no just me." I asked her again Monday night ( the day before the appointment) and finally she anwsered "no just a baby." It was so cute. Also we have been telling her that the baby is in mommies tummy and she finally will say hi to my tummy and blow it kisses for the baby. I LOVE to watch her do that. She is going to be such a great big sister.

October Fun Beginnings

These are some of the fun holiday projects that we have done so far. Our first one is painting baby pumpkins. Kenlee loved painting her baby Mmms (which is what she calls her baby pumpkins). She was able to paint four of them, two for grandma to use as decorations and two to take home for her to decorate with. I did fear that this project may get a little crazy with her just freely painting but she did soooo good. She calmly painted her pumpkins, the only issue was that she wanted her paint brush to play in the rinsing cup of water too much.

Our next project was Halloween Sugar Cookies. Blake had last Saturday off so we took advantage of the down time and made sugar cookies or hot kitties as Kenlee loves to call them. I had her pick out the cookie cutters when we were shopping a week earlier and she loved the kitty cut out the most. We had a ghost, a moon, a witch, a cat, a pumpkin, and a bat. Kenlee helped cut them out of the dough and then later helped to frost them.

Can you tell which ones are Kenlee's beautiful masterpieces? Hint: she LOVED the sprinkles most of all :)