Kensley McQ Makes Her Debut

Christmas 2010

2011-01-02T16:05:00.006-06:00

Christmas 2010 was so much fun! It was great to get together to see family and have Dad around. Kensley loved celebrating the holidays with all the family gatherings and opening all of her gifts. She scoped out all the presents and was so excited when it came time to open gifts. She figured out to start opening the wrapping at the corners. After watching her open several gifts I came to the conclusion that it wasn't even so much what was inside that she loved, or realized was hers to take home; it was more of the surprise of finding out what was under the wrapping paper or in the box. Either way, she was in a present coma for the Christmas weekend.
In addition to the presents, Kensley loved spending time and hanging out with everyone! She thoroughly enjoyed her Christmas break from regular nap times and bed times. She wanted to stay up and continue to party with everyone. So although I am sad to say that the holiday season has now come to a close, it probably will do Kensley well to get back onto a schedule. Below are some of my favorite highlights from the weekend!

Playing with the cousins!. I can't believe how big everyone is getting... and how much fun it is to see them all be by one another (aka "play") and grow. Next year we definitely need matching PJs!

Kensley loves dogs! Welly is thinking about giving Kensley a kiss, but I don't know if he ever did. Her giggles were too distracting for him!

Grandma and Grandpa McQuillan on Christmas eve.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with the McQuillan family. It was fun to have everyone around and play games.

The 26th and the 27th we spent time with the Dingels' famikly. Kensley loved going from one family event to the next. She had a lot of fun with all the members of the family and didn't want the celebrations to end!

Grandma and Grandpa Dingels and Kensley. Kensley really got into posing for pictures by the end of the holidays. She was excited to say "Cheese" and then run and look at the camera to see how the picture turned out. She also really liked to pose by putting her arms around the people she was next to for some reason.

A family picture from Christmas Eve. It was nice to have Dad around and be able to take a current family pic.

Coming downstairs on Christmas morning. Kensley saw that Santa had come and that there were more presents to open. She was very curious about what she was getting. She was defiantly overly spoiled!

Picture with Santa. She was very hesistant to sit on his lap. She enjoyed pointing out who Santa was but got scared when she had to move close to him and sit on his lap.

Kensley turns 2

2010-12-29T12:30:00.007-06:00

Kensley was able to celebrate her 2^nd birthday in our new house in Eden Prairie. It was great to have enough space and room to have both the McQuillan family and Dingels family over to celebrate at the same time. Kensley’s birthday dinner consisted of her favorite foods: pizza, cake, and ice cream. She loved helping to make the cake and mix everything together. She was all smiles when we sang Happy Birthday to her and she couldn’t wait to open all the presents.
Her two year old doctor’s appointment went really well. She has now graduated to standing up to have her height measured which presented a small challenge of getting an accurate reading. They measured her at 32 ½ inches, 25%. She weighed 31 lbs and 13 oz, 90-95%. Her head size still measures larger, 20 inches, which is above the 97%. A new measurement was taken, BMI: 20.5 or 10-25%. The doctor said that she is growing fine and that he has no concerns.
My hopes for her as she tackles the age of two are that she starts sleeping consistently through the night again. With the many transitions that we went through this summer and fall, her sleeping patterns have taken a hit. A couple of times during the week she wakes up at 4:00 am and wants Mom. Now that her language development is continuing to grow it is very easy and clear to understand what she wants. It would be great for her to be able to move to a big girl bed soon but I think we need to wait until she is consistently sleeping. Another hope is that she will start potty training soon. She likes to have her privacy when she is pooping. She will ask people to leave the room or squat when she thinks no one is ready. We will continue to talk about using a big girl potty and hope that she makes the move in that direction soon!
On positive notes, her language growth is amazing. She loves to sing and will often just bellow out songs whenever. Her favorites right now are, “Frosty the Snowman,” “Jingle Bells,” “Baa, Baa, Baa Black Sheep,” and “Old MacDonald.” She can often be heard singing when she thinks no one is paying attention to her. Her memory is something else that strikes me. When I lay her down for a nap or bedtime she often wakes up ready to discuss what we were talking about before she went to bed. She also connects sights and sounds with pervious events. For example, a parking garage = airport. We were in a parking garage last week and she connected it to the memory of being in a parking garage when we saw Frank in Baltimore in October. She will also look at pictures on the fridge and make connections to events we shared with those people. If only my memory would be this good! Finally, she still loves to be tickled and will often ask for tickles. Her laughter and smile are contagious and I often find myself thinking about how lucky I am.

Playing in the leaves with Grandma this fall. Kensley loved jumping into the leaf piles and kicking the leaves around. One of her favorite activities was to stay a few feet away and say, "Ready, set GO!" as she ran and jumped into the leaf pile.

Kensley was a little witch for Halloween. We went trick or treating in the McQuillan's neighborhood and made one stop at our old neighborhood in Richfield. Kensley loved the candy treats she got. However, walking up to the few doors we stopped at to say trick or treat she was always more interested in the pumpkins, decorations, and dogs that greeted her rather than the candy that was dropped into her bag.

Cousin Jarett was baptised in the middle of November and Dad came home for the big event!

We went out to Baltimore to visit Dad during the middle of October. Kensley loved getting into the pool and swimming. She was a little skeptical at first but soon was splashing and smiling as her and Dad swam and blew bubbles.

Kensley is excited to turn two. She still has some problems with the small motor skill of showing 2 on two fingers so she uses two hands.Birthday girl was so excited to celebrate. "Cheese!!!"
Kensley loves birthday cake. She continued the celebration the next morning with another helping of the cake she help make for the previous evening's festivities.

Start of Fall 2010

2010-10-02T16:02:00.006-05:00

The end of the summer was a busy one as Kensley and I moved back from Winona and into the McQuillan’s house again. We have settled in and feel really lucky to have a place to stay but we are looking forward to moving in our own place at the end of October. It was also nice to have Frank home for a week at the beginning of September.
It was great to drop Kensley off again at Ms. Jane’s place for daycare. Although Kensley was a little skeptical at first when I dropped her off that morning, she was running in circles, like always, that afternoon when I picked her up. Jane was surprised at how much Kensley remembered of her routines. She went straight to the drawer to pull out her bib for breakfast right after I left and then yelled up the stairs for “Joe, Joe” like Jane did all last year to get her son up.
Kensley continues to amaze us with her speech and language development. She can easily repeat things that we ask her to say. She also knows how to communicate what she wants and will continue to repeat her requests until we understand it. She loves to play outside with chalk, bubbles, balls, and now has finally enjoyed the tractor rides on Grandpa’s farm. Inside she like playing with watercolor paints, colored pencils, and crayons. Books are still a lot of fun to read. It is funny watching her mimic how other people read to her. Music and dancing are still entertaining forms of exercise for both her and others joining her. Her little feet move so quickly, and are moving all the time. She is getting better at her counting: counting bottles of water, stairs, and anything we point out. She also has mastered most of her colors as well. Finally, laughing is still her absolute favorite activity. She loves being tickled, loves smiling, and loves to laugh. She can bring a smile to anyone’s face.

Kensley loved hanging out with the Gossen's this summer. She had a lot of fun having a friend to play with all the time. We loved going to the park together and Kensley had fun crawling around with "DD". Kensley dealt with bad diaper rash at the end of the summer but as a result her 4 eye teeth popped through.

The Dingels' family vacation to Niagara Falls was a lot of fun! Kensley did a great job traveling and seemed to enjoy spending time with family. The beach was definately a highlight of the trip. She could not get enough of the water and sand.

One of my favorite pictures of us. She finally smiled for the camera.

Proud big cousin! Kensley loves to hold baby Jarett. Above, Jarett is only a few hours old. It looks like she is holding a little doll and she didn't want to let him go.

Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins.

We went to an "Amazing Farm" with grandma and grandpa one weekend in September. Kensley loved holding and petting all the animals. The big slide was definately a highlight going down it many times. It was a great way to spend a Fall afternoon!

Summer 2010

2010-07-12T15:18:00.004-05:00

It has been a crazy summer already. We moved down to live with Ashley, Tim, and Damian in the middle of June but not before spending a few weeks at the McQuillans. It has been an interesting transition for both Kensley and I with Frank training in GA. I can’t tell if Kensley is different because of the transitions or because of her development, or probably a little of both.

We again made several doctor’s visits during the month of June. Kensley had her 18 month check up appointment a little late but she weighed 27 lbs, 5 oz (75%-90%), her height was 32 ¼” (75%-90%), and her head is 19 ¾” (>97%). Doctor said she is growing at an excellent rate. She didn’t have any shots so that was great! Kensley was just at the doctor’s a week before this check up when she experienced her first X-ray and found out she had Nurse Maid’s elbow. The night before she had tripped and fallen and knocked her elbow on the table. I didn’t think much of it until daycare Jane called the next day and said that Kensley was favoring her left side. Once the doctor diagnosed her she popped the elbow back into place and Kensley was fine within 2 minutes. About 5 days prior to this visit Kensley was back seeing the doctor with a slight fever and ear infection. Even with all these visits, the doctor’s office is still not high on the list of things Kensley likes to do.

It has been lots of fun watching Kensley develop and grow this summer. She talks all of the time, and mostly you can understand what she is saying, although she speaks in her bubble talk at times. Ask her any question and her usual response is “Yeah” even if she doesn’t understand what you are saying. Once in a while she will say “No” especially if you are asking her about naptime or bedtime. She also loves to take you by your finger and bring you to whatever activity she wants you to participate in. Usually this nonverbal sort of communication will result in loud verbal communication if you don’t comply with her. Kensley is still not doing a very good job with her eating habits. She has either figured out she has the ability to say no or she has very strong likes/dislikes. She still loves fruit and bread which has become her main diet. She doesn’t care for spaghetti any longer but likes Mac and Cheese. She doesn’t like to eat meat and vegetables are still a struggle to get down. What happened to when she was little and would eat anything? She has gone to bed a few times without any supper and then wakes up a couple of times during the night because of hunger. Hopefully, soon, a light switch will go back on again and she will be devouring all sorts of food.

She has become quite the puzzlemaker. Her ability to remember things over a longer period of time has also become very apparent. As soon as she woke up from her nap the other day she went right into the toyroom to play because this is what we had talked about before she went to down for her nap. She likes to sing songs (“Twinkle, Twinkle..” and “ABC”) and still loves to dance. She also likes to hang out with her cousin Damian. We have fallen into a nice routine of eating dinner, going to the park, taking a bath, and then getting ready for bed. Kensley always makes sure Damian is right there with her when we get the wagon ready for the park or start the bath water. It has been fun to watch her interact with him.

Pool party with the Keiffer's. Kensley was really funny when it came to the pool. She was such a girl compared to Owen who would dive head first into the pool and come up laughing. Kensley, however, would bend over and splash her one hand in the pool and laugh. It was like she didn't want to get wet or she was trying to act very lady like. Eventually she warmed up to the idea of the pool and would sit down but this took a few hours.

A side note, Kensley is more skeptical when it comes to water than going wandering off by herself. She has no problem running ahead of me to the park or going off in her own direction by herself. But when it comes to pools, she needs a lot of coaxing and still needs 10-20 minutes to feel "safe" to walk in the water. True evidence of Dingels' blood.

Loves to show off her belly! Especially when she wears a dress.

Amanda and Phil's wedding was so much fun to watch Kensley dance. She loved it!!! It took a few minutes for her to get out on the dance floor because she didn't like the big group dances that were going on (Hokey Pokey, Chicken Dance, etc.). Once the dance floor opened up for her own style she didn't want to leave.

One of her favorite moves was bending over and slapping her thighs. It was halirous to watch, and I am excited for the next couple of wedding dances to come up!

Bathtime with Damian!

I updated pictures on shutterfly as well!

18 months

2010-05-22T13:12:00.004-05:00

A year and a half already? I love watching Kensley grow and mature everyday and can’t believe how big she has gotten since coming into this world. But, let’s face it, she never was really “small.” Our neighbors from across the street have brought over their grandson to visit a couple of times, and it is amazing to hold someone so tiny, just over 7 pounds, and thinking back to what Kensley was like at this point in her life. It is crazy how quickly Kensley continues to grow and change all the time.

Recently, there have been some big changes in her development. She now has started to play independently for longer periods of time. She usually is quite content taking the towels and rags out of the kitchen drawer and repeatedly stacks and restacks them while I make dinner. She still loves her music and dancing whenever she gets the chance. She has gotten much more accurate putting puzzle pieces into her farm fridge and making puzzles in general. (Side note: We are one farm fridge animal short as she flushed one down the toilet last week. Frank claims it was my fault, but I don’t remember standing by the toilet and cheering her on to throw it in). She loves to play with stickers and coloring. She carries around her “briefcase” (art easel), stickers, and paper to come find me to sit and play with her. It is amusing watching her try to gather her many supplies while trying to carry them all at once. Reading books still remains among her favorite activities. We can spend the whole night simply looking through books and not even touching any toys.

Another big change that I have noticed is Kensley’s ability to really express what she wants and how unhappy she is when things don’t go her way. I honestly was hoping that the “terrible twos” would simply skip over this “golden child’s” daughter but it seems like we aren’t going to be so lucky. Kensley definitely has a mind of her own and very easily communicates her desires. Whether it is taking you by the finger and guiding you to her choice of activity or breaking down and crying/demanding that things go her way. Usually after she cries for a few minutes she cheers up and the only remains of her unhappiness are the tears streaming down her cheeks.

Kensley has really been enjoying the warm spring weather and her time outside. We have fallen into a pretty comfortable routine of coming home from daycare/grandma’s, eating dinner, and then spending the rest of the evening outside or at the park. She loves to draw with chalk, throw balls, go for bike rides, and play with bubbles. Her knees and legs have really taken a beating from her still perfecting her balance and keeping her legs under her while running. Rarely do her falls seem to upset her. She usually picks herself back up and continues on her way.

We took Kensley in for an emergency doctor’s visit at the beginning of May. As the doctor said, “Kensley, you’re falling apart bit by bit.” We brought her in with the symptoms of a 3-4 week deep throaty cough that she wasn’t shaking, a rash, minor constipation, and a slightly elevated temperature. The diagnosis: ear infection on the left side and a positive test for strep throat. Although she wasn’t a happy camper at the doctor’s office she loved the medicine prescribed and was soon back to her normal self. We also found out that she weighed 27 pounds just a few weeks shy of 18 months. She now has been working on getting her molars in. Her top left side popped through two weeks ago and it seems like a few more are on their way. She has been drooling more, crying out during the night, chewing on her fingers, and her diaper rash has picked up again. Hopefully she will be feeling better soon.

We will be going through a big transition here in next week. Sadly we will say good bye to our residence in Richfield and make our way to the McQuillans for a couple of weeks before our final resting spot for the summer in Lewiston. It has been refreshing and challenging packing everything up. Even though our house was pretty small we somehow managed to squeeze into all the cracks and crannies of the house. Luckily we have lots of volunteers helping us with the move. It looks to be an exciting summer ahead.

Mom's Day 2010!

Spring 2010

2010-04-11T17:31:00.005-05:00

It has been a beautiful spring! The weather has been sunny and warm so we have been able to spend a lot of time outside. Kensley loves being outside and seems very content bouncing from one activity to the next. At first putting rocks in a bucket was the most exciting thing. Now chasing after balls or throwing them or drawing with chalk has become pretty thrilling. She also likes to go over to the neighbor’s house to see if they have any treats for her. She is always greeted with open arms and quickly ushered inside only to come out a few minutes later with a bag full of crackers. The park still tops the list of exciting outings. She loves to take the stroller or even walk to the park almost everyday. Right now the swings are her favorite!

At the park swinging with Aunt Brooke and Uncle Casey. They got to watch her one day last week since daycare was closed. I think it gave them good practice for the exiting times to come. Kensley can't wait for another cousin!!!

We went to the MN Zoo today with Chad, Jenny, and Paige to see the farm babies. Although there were a lot of people we had a great time looking at animals. Kensley liked to get down on her knees and take a closer look at the animals.
Petting the cows. Kensley also enjoyed petting a turtle, snake, and lizard yesterday at the Baby Expo. These are defiantly not going to be pets we have!

This is how Kensley uses her potty chair. She climbs into it to play her piano. Hopefully she will learn that she has to sit down to use the bathroom and not stand up like boys.

Can you believe they are related? :) Katie was over visiting us one night. Super cute!

We scoped out the new Twin's stadium the last week in March. Beautiful park and I can't wait to see a Twins game. I don't know if Kensley has the patience for 9 innings of baseball yet.

Easter 2010

2010-04-11T16:55:00.005-05:00

This year we were fortunate to celebrate Easter two times. The weekend before Easter we had the whole Dingels’ family over to our house to celebrate. The food was yummy and we had a lot of fun watching Kensley do her first egg hunt. She didn’t fully grasp the concept of looking for eggs right away. Once we showed her a few times she caught on and then would point and say or whisper something along the lines of “There’s another egg.” After picking up all the eggs she grabbed her basket and starting dragging it across the yard in which all the collected eggs started falling out. It was quite humorous!

On Easter we were with the McQuillans! We were over at Frank’s parents’ place and shared a big meal together. It was another gorgeous day so we spent a lot of time outside playing with chalk and blowing bubbles. The bubbles were a little intense for Kensley at first but she seemed to get the hang of it.

We dyed eggs with Aunt Katie with on Easter Eve. Kensley loved moving the eggs from one cup to the next. She didn't like the taste of the vinegar flavored water so much.

Busy with the chalk on Easter.

Cute family picture!

Easter morning basket! Kensley is looking over her new toothbrush that she was pretty excited about getting. Now we try and brush every night after we put on her pjs.

Running around the yard to find the Easter Eggs.

Celebrating.... "Yeah!!! I found an egg."

What a picture... Nice expression!

Things we have been up to

2010-03-16T21:22:00.005-05:00

The second weekend in March Kensley and I went down to Winona to see Dad and spend some time with Uncle Tim, Aunt Ashley, and Cousin Damian. We had a great time and enjoyed the beautiful spring like weather. It was strange to not have Dad come home with us on Sunday night though when we headed back to the cities.

Kensley had Uncle Tim wrapped around her finger. Uncle Tim got a great bicep workout as he carried both Kensley and Damian around the house. What cuties... and Ashley. :)
Caught one of Kensley's great laughs on camera.
Frank and I came up on Sunday morning to see that Aunt Ashley had put Kensley's hair up in pigtails. This is the only time she has sat long enough for her hair to be put up. I have tried all week to get the pigtail look back, but so far she has refused.
Kensley is trying to share the legos with Damian, although he wasn't too interested. It is difficult to see in the picture but Kensley is sitting in Damian's Bumbo chair. This was her favorite spot to sit throughout the weekend. It was funny watching her try to position herself into the chair. She is so much bigger than when she last used it. Aunt Katie got Kensley these leggings last year. We pulled them out the other day to wear to daycare. Mrs. Jane noticed them right away and remarked how cute they were. When I picked Kensley up at the end of the day Jane said that Kensley must have known she was looking pretty cute. As the other parents dropped their kids off Kensley hung out in the front room, leaned against the chair, and showed off her leggings to everyone. Jane said it was almost like she was in a photo shoot for a magazine and posing for the camera. Crazy girl!
As always, bathtime is a lot of fun! Kensley has really taken to tasting, and now trying to drink, the bath water. Usually she tries to drink by dipping her month into the water and taking a few sips. However last week she discovered that she could get a few drinks while laying down when her hair was being washed. As she was lounging on her back she twisted her head slightly to the right, pulled her chin down, and open her mouth as the water flowed in. And of course, she laughed at herself for discovering how easy this was.
A few weekends ago we took Kensley to Edinborough Park in Edina. It was great to watch her play around in the big gym and climb through the chutes and ladders. Kensley didn't seem to mind the swarm of kids all around. She enjoyed watching everyone climb and move about! Definately more of an observer than a dare devil at this point in her life.
Lovin' to be pushed around in the chairs.

A week of exciting changes...

2010-01-26T22:04:00.001-06:00

Last week Frank started his job in Winona. Luckily he is able to live with Ashley and Tim during the week and Kensley and myself during the weekends. Kensley and I are still settling into a routine during the week but so far so good.

Kensley also had her 15 month check up last week and things went well. She is still scared of the doctor and cried for half of the appointment. I think it is due to the experience she had at Urgent Care when we visited there a couple of months ago. Her height and weight have averaged out more. She is 25 lbs (75%-90%), 31 ¾ ” (75%-90%), and her head is 19 ½” (>97%). It appears that her head is growing at a consistent rate.

"Love you!!"

Look at me... I climbed into the laundry basket all by myself! :)

These are a few of my favorite things

2010-01-26T21:46:00.006-06:00

Kensley reached her 14th month birthday last Saturday and I started to recount some of her verbal milestones and favorite activities. Below, in no particular order, are some of the trademarks of her personality.
~Looking at pictures of herself and calling herself Dada (spends at least 15 minutes with photo album each day)
~Dancing, “Dance, Dance, Dance”
~Reading, reading some more, and reading some more
~Digging through the toilet
~Climbing up and down the stairs
~Pointing
~Blowing kisses
~Sledding
~Bathtime!!
~Touching her fat
~Brushing her teeth
~Showing off for visitors/family
~Hugging her mouse
~Laughing and Smiling

Memorable words and phrases
~Banana
~Waz that?
~Cool Dude (while shaking her head yes)
~Mama
~Dada (referring to herself most of the time)
~Joe
~Santa (at daycare Jane has heard this a few times, today it she said it while looking up the chimmey)
~Num num

Lots of giggles and smiles. First, appreciating the cupcake...

Finally devouring the cupcake.
"Cool Dude!"

Chilin' in the sled

Happy Holidays

2010-01-07T20:50:00.003-06:00

Xmas was a blast this year! It was fun visiting with family and watching Kensley enjoy the holiday season. She really got into gift opening; you could tell when she really loved the gift because she would grab it and give it a hug or she would blow kisses at it and wave her arms up and down excitedly. Either way it was pretty cute!!
We spent Xmas and Xmas Eve with the McQuillans visiting with extended family and just hanging out together. Santa managed to find his way to Eden Prairie to drop off plenty of gifts for Kensley.
On the 26th we went to Union Hill to visit with my extended family. Kensley loved hanging out with the cousins and seeing the baby cousins. She was having too much fun and forgot to take her naps for the day. She finally crashed around 7:30, but was back up by 8:45 just in time to point out all the decorations and lights in the church. As soon as her eyes opened up, her pointer finger shot into the air and she started mumbling, “Waz that? Waz that?”
To ring in the 2010 we stopped by Aunt Katie’s house first to help cheer on the Gopher football team (to their eventual loss). Afterwards we went over to Uncle Casey and Aunt Brooke’s house for the countdown to 2010. I thought for certain Kensley would be able to make it until midnight but she passed out around 10:00. However she just did not want to lose any time celebrating 2010 so she was back up again at 3:30 am. From around 3:30 until 5:00 Kensley celebrated the New Year the best way she knew how, by crying and demanding Mom hold her while standing. By the time she finally fell asleep again I had decided that Kensley can not do this again in 2010.
Finally, we celebrated Xmas with the Dingels the following day. Like before gift opening was a lot of fun as well as hanging out with the family.
As we look into 2010 we hope the new year will bring us as much joy, laughter, and blessings as we saw in 2009!

Cute dress for Xmas! She looked like a little bell with the flare out at the bottom. It was cute watching her parade around in her dress.

Showing no emotion after all her gift opening, or maybe this is the look of exhaustion? Regardless it is pretty funny seeing how happy Frank is in comparison to Kensley. Loves the sled. Too bad it has been too cold out to actually test it out on the snow. She did enjoy being pulled through the house, "vroom, vroom." She finally has something that she takes with her when she goes to sleep. No nuk or blankie, but the mouse is doing the trick now.
Who is this Santa dude? Initial reaction: tears. However, she did warm up to him some. Looks like she was willing to accept his gift. Over the holidays Kensley either ate too many sweets or she matured very quickly. I came into the kitchen to find that Santa should have dropped off a training bra for our little one. She is already discovering the wonders of her body.
Sweetie!

December 09

2009-12-20T22:55:00.003-06:00

Kensley had her ear infection and pink eye episode over the past week. We went to Urgent Care last Sunday night and the doctors sent us home with some dreadful eye drops and yummy pink medicine. Even though Kensley had green gunk oozing out of her eyes she still managed to be in pretty good spirits. Since Kensley couldn't go back to daycare last week both Frank and I had an extra day off of work, and Grandma Dingels got to spend an unexpected day with her as well.

Helping Mommy bake sugar cookies. It was a fun process and topped off with a delicious ending.

Meet cousin Damian. What a cutie!!

Today it was finally warm enough to try out the boots, snowpants, and gloves. Kensley loved being out in the snow. It was amusing watching her explore what the white stuff was. She reminded me of a dog as she was digging around in the snow and then sticking her tongue out to lick off her face.

Do you see Class of 2026 senior pose prehaps?

Lovin' Life at 1

2009-12-06T00:11:00.002-06:00

Kensly had her 12 month appointment recently. As usual, everything checked out great! She now weighs 24 lbs. 8 oz. (90-95%), height: 29 in. (50%), and head: 18 7/8 (>97%). The doctor said that she continues to grow at a steady rate.

Kensley continued to enjoy her birthday over the course of the week. We celebrated with the McQuillan’s on Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving and the Dingels’ on Thanksgiving. Kensley once again soaked up the attention as well as gobbled down the cupcakes. It was entertaining watching her stare at us while she was eating her cupcake. You could just see her wondering, “Why is everyone watching me?” It really didn’t seem to distract her long as she shoved fistful after fistful of cupcake down.

Yummy!!

We got ready for the bath a little early one night so Kensley had a few extra minutes to herself diaper free. Below she is in the middle of doing one of her new found favorite activities. She loves to fish out her favorite books and bring them to you to read. After you read through the book once or twice she gets down and pulls out another book to read. Her persistance on this activity usually outlasts Frank or mine's interest in reading. Regardless, what a cutie!!Proof that she is starting to snuggle and cuddle. She loves playing with her animals in her crib when she should be starting her nap.

Happy Birthday!!

2009-11-23T21:03:00.003-06:00

Our sweet little pumpkin turned 1 today. I can't believe how fast the year has gone by and how much joy and excitement Kensley has brought to our lives, and tonight was no different. Kensley loved celebrating the her birthday! At daycare today Miss. Jane said that every time the little girls said, "Happy Birthday" to Kensley she would raise up her hands like a big girl and gloat. She loved the cake they had to celebrate her special day as well. At home we celebrated tonight with just our family. In the next few days we will be celebrating some more with the McQuillans and Dingels. What a lucky little one year old we have!

Kensley was enjoying us singing "Happy Birthday." I believe this was the triumphant hand wave she did frequently at daycare today.

Mmm... brownies sound good to me!

Yep! I am going to like desserts!!

Our neighbor across the street loves watching Kensley show off her the princess wave. So Miss. Leslie got Kensley a full princess dress up kit for her birthday. Below Kensley is sporting the beautiful terra and enjoying the end of her birthday dinner.

Kensley loves her tricycle gift! As soon as she gets near it she starts making her "vroom, vroom, vroom" noises and tries to climb on. It is very entertaining watching her try to mount the bike by herself. She knows she needs to swing her one leg over to the other side of the seat but the decision on which leg needs to go over is difficult. Much of the night was her saying "vroom, vroom" and kicking the seat with her foot because she wasn't quiet able to swing the correct leg around.
Still one of my favorite expressions, and one we saw quite a bit tonight! When she walked into our family room and saw her balloons and her tric her only comments were, "Oohh... ohh... ohh!" So cute!

Fall Fun

2009-11-08T15:50:00.005-06:00

As the leaves changed color and dropped from the trees and the cold MN fall weather set in Kensley kept busy inside. She took her first steps in the middle of October when she was walking to Dad. I didn’t believe it at first but then Frank showed me the video of Kensley walking by our kitchen doorway. It was pretty cute, but the excitement of her first steps are over as she is now able to get into everything! Frank’s favorite story to share is when Kensley was caught fishing through the toilet, Frank wanted to disinfect her completely.

It has also been a lot of fun to watch her language and vocabulary develop. She has DaDa and Joe down pretty well. Every now and then she will say Mama. Other words that we have heard her say from time to time are Hi and dat (that). Last night we swore we heard her ask, "What is that?" when she was pointing to a stuff animal. She is starting to understand the meaning of No as well. She likes to open up our tv stand but she knows she shouldn't be playing in there. Everytime she gets close to it she looks back at us with a cute little grin like she is looking for our reaction. We say No and she listens about 40% of the time. It's a start at least. It has also been entertaining watching her recognize people who are in the room when she sees them in a photo. It is funny how she is starting to learn the concepts of pictures.

I can't believe she will be 1 in a couple of weeks! What an amazing year it has been!!!

Helping Mom rake up the leaves in the front yard. Kensley is waving at the dog walking by.

Kensley and her friend Owen. Although these two aren't showing too much emotion we were all laughing because they just sat there staring at us and wondering, "What is going on with all these flashes?" Cute couple though!

No longer a two tooth wonder. Four top teeth popped through in the last 4 days. It has been bad diaper rash for a while now so hopefully this will help. She has already seized a few opportunities to start grinding her teeth.

Halloween was a blast! We had fun trick or treating at family’s houses. Her little ladybug costume was so cute!! For the first time in a while I actually looked forward to Halloween. She got her favorite treats as well, graham crackers!

Daddy passed the BAR!!! YEAH!!!!!

Kensley went to the Apple Orchard with Aunt Leah and Uncle Cory one weekend in October. She seemed to really enjoy driving the tractor around. Check out the video below.

From little tractors to big tractors, Kensley is helping Uncle Casey drive the tractor out of the field.

End of Summer

2009-09-27T12:04:00.003-05:00

The crispness in the air and me back at work are just a few reminders that the summer has come to an end. It was a fabulous summer for us. Just a week before I went back to school at the end of August Kensley figured out how to crawl. Although she is loving the ability to move around from room to room, she is mostly enjoying the fact that she can easily crawl to a destination upon which she will pull herself up into a standing position and walk along the furniture, cupboards, or wall. She is being to become more confident in walking while holding onto just one of our hands while she uses her other hand to wave. She has also figured out how to blow bubbles with her spit and will often stop moving somewhere to enjoy the bubble making opportunity.
She checked out fine at her 9 month appointment (kind of on the short and chunky side).
Weight: 21 lbs., 9 oz~ 90-95%
Height: 26 ¾ in~ 25 %
Head: 18 ½ in~ >97%
I was a little concerned because she was going to the doctor with a black eye that she had gotten a few days before when she fell. The doctor said that it happens. She was knocked up on the other side of her face when she fell out of her high chair a week later; lots of drama for no damage except a bump on her head. She did experience her first time getting a fever during this time as well. Although it was unfortunate that she wasn’t feeling well we did get a lot of cuddle time. All in all, it has been a great transition into Fall. Let’s just hope her teeth come in soon so we all can rest a little easier.

Two bottom teeth and one bump on the head.
Big smile and big ambition. Watching her climb where she shouldn't be.

Uh oh. I better stop taking pictures and help her out. :)

So big!!!!

The last of the Dingels’ gets hitched.

2009-09-27T11:54:00.002-05:00

Labor Day weekend was a blast as we experienced the last Dingels’ wedding. Casey and Brooke had a beautiful weekend, from the Groom’s dinner to the ceremony to the dinner and dance. It was a spectacular weekend, and fun was had by all. Kensley was no exception to this. She was enjoying herself so much that she had forgotten to take her long naps. Frank and I both thought we can’t wait until she is a little older and can really bust a move out on the dance floor.

Who is this guy? What a funny look Kensley is giving Uncle Roger.

Smiling so pretty with Godmother Ashley and Godfather Tim.

Two beautiful girls on one beautiful day.

Kensley's first pedicure.

Dancing the night away with Dad.

Vactions!!!

2009-08-17T20:53:00.007-05:00

Frank finally finished with his studying at the end of July and we were all rewarded with vacations for the next two weeks. First, we went up north near Remer, MN to spend the extended weekend with the McQuillans at Frank’s uncle’s cabin. It was a beautiful home and had great views of the lake. The weekend was filled with fun; we played lots of games and hung out on the dock. It would have been ideal had we had warm weather to play in the water but that didn’t hold Kensley back. She experienced and loved her first boat ride and first time dipping her toes in a MN lake. The sand felt squishy and cold. It was her biggest bathtub she had ever been in until the following week.
After getting home from the cabin we packed our bags with warm weather gear and headed to sunny Florida to visit our friend Pam. She hosted us in an enormous house that had its own swimming pool in the back and was just a few minutes to the beach. We loved every minute of the vacation! Kensley enjoyed the plane rides again, walking on the beach and playing in the sand and the ocean, and swimming in the pool. We visited Kennedy Space Center and learned lots of interesting facts about the Space Program. We hung out and made dinners in the evening and enjoyed Vero Beach during the day. It was hard to come back to reality in MN after two amazing breaks.

Uncle Steve's Cabin

Wild hair on the boat ride. Lots of fun!!!

Cheering for dad in lawn golf.

Kensley tackling Uncle Joe

Aunt Katie and Kensley.

After playing in the lake.

Lovin' the lake.

Fun boat rides.

Getting ready to go on the boat.

Florida

The beautiful house. You can't even see the part of the house that we actually stayed in.

Kensley and Dad getting ready to go swimming.

All by herself. I see an Olympian in the future. :)

Our great host Pam.

Having fun at the Space Center. Yeah!!!

Family picture.

Great expression Kensley!

Playing at the beach.

Waiting for the waves to come in.

Got up early to watch the sunrise at the beach. Very pretty but the bugs were bitting.

Beautiful sunrise!!!!

Ahh... we want to go back soon!!!!

Busy Summer!

2009-08-10T23:31:00.005-05:00

Simply put, it has been a great summer! I love staying home with Kensley two days a week and balancing it with work at the bank the other three days. We have been busy visiting with friends and family and helping Frank with his studies although we tended to be more of a distraction rather than helpful at times.
As I think back to what she was up to at the beginning of June I can’t believe how much she has grown. She loves to walk around with the help of someone holding her hands as she charges down her pursuits. Still no crawling (a blessing in disguise), but rather her frantically kicking her legs out and groaning in hopes of moving forward. She is starting to manage to push herself backwards although I don’t think she realizes she is traveling further away. Although she isn’t moving on all fours she is eagerly trying to pull herself up whenever possible. Her crib has become a sort of cage she likes to climb up to show off her muscle strength.
Kensley has learned to mimic certain sounds when they catch her attention. Her favorite of these are short laughs where she will join in the laughter with everyone around her although she has no idea what’s going on which tends to draw more laughter from both parties. She likes to play back and forth with the different sounds and clapping. She has learned to clap her hands and is slowing becoming a cheerleader. She continues her love of any food she has tried and is slowly making her way to using a sippy cup. Her two bottom teeth have come in. She hasn’t quite mastered the whole chewing the food thing yet but she is trying. No wonder she (or is it me?) is exhausted by the end of the day!

Standing proud and tall with Dad. Love the gloshes!!

Imagine lots of leg kicking and grunting and you basically got her version of crawling.

Sharing toys with second cousin Brooke.

Big smile after accomplishing the climb up the crib. She is probably at a 10% success rate of actually reaching the top of the crib so this smile was pretty well deserved.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Loves the swing. We spent a couple nights hanging out in the park and meeting lots of friendly neighbors, kids, and dogs.

Summer fun and Dad's day

2009-06-24T22:26:00.003-05:00

It has been warming up outside and Kensley is trying to stay cool. Don't worry I remember to put the sun screen on most times. Below Kensley is ready for her pool party.

Loves playing in her pool.

Mmmm... watermelon

Daddy's little girl. Happy Father's Day!!

Our cutie..

2009-06-14T20:26:00.005-05:00

Kensley had her 6 month check up a couple of weeks ago. She is healthy and growing stronger. She has doubled her weight since birth so she is right now track although she has slowed down some since her first couple of months. She weighed in at 18 lbs, 3 oz (90%), height was 25 ½ inches (25-50%), and her head was 18 in (>97%). She still has Frank’s big head!!! Doctor said everything was great and we will see each other again in August for her 9 month appointment.
Below are a few pictures to see what she has been up to over the past couple of weeks and more are on our shutterfly account.

Kensley moved on from cereal to carrots, yum! Well, yummy at first. She ate carrots and cereal in one sitting once and didn't respond very well. It was our first time experiencing her throwing up. She handled it quite well, first her head tipped way back, then she threw up, and then finished it off with a smile. After this she doesn't care for carrots and cereal much anymore. She shutters and shakes her head when I put them up to her lips. Oh well, there are a lot of other foods to try.

First tries of watermelon.

Yum!!!

Kensley loves to be outside! It can calm her down pretty quickly when she is fussy inside. Ms. Jane (daycare provider) even noted that she loves it when they go outside. Kensley is getting ready to pick some of Grandma's flowers.

Kensley's mode of travel right now is rolling. She seems almost frustrated with herself when she can't crawl to something that she wants. However she is quite mobile with her rolls. I can leave her in the middle of our living room floor and within a couple of minutes she is not even remotely close to where I had left her. Above she had rolled over to my computer and appears to have started doing some research on google. Maybe this is another way that she takes after Frank.

I am blaming this one on Aunt Ashley. I was in the middle of changing Kensley and had to run and get something from the bathroom. I asked Ash to watch her and make sure she doesn't poop or pee all over (because she was enjoying some naked no diaper time). While I was in the bathroom I heard Ashley say, "It looks like she is pushing. I think she is pooping or something." Ash just sat there and didn't move to help catch the wetness. Sure enough Kensley had an accident and rolled over into it. Aunt Leah's favorite blanket at Grandma's house has a new mark. Kensley went straight to the bathtub sink to get cleaned off. She didn't seem to mind this at all.

Finally big enough. Kensley spent her first time on a tractor and seemed ready to drive it away. Grandpa said she has to wait until her feet can touch the pedals.

When I was little Mom and Dad took a picture of my by the lilacs. It was quite sunny out today when I tried to capture this moment with Kensley but I thought it was cute. Now all we need to do is superimpose a little Cory into the picture.

My first flight!

2009-06-14T18:11:00.004-05:00

The weekend of May 28 - 31 Kensley, Frank, and myself flew out to Baltimore to visit our friends JP and Brenda. It was great to see them again and show off Kensley. The last time we all had met up Kensley was still growing inside me.
At first we were little nervous about traveling with Kensley and anxious about how the flights would go; but we had nothing to worry about. Kensley loved to fly and traveled very easily with us. She didn’t cry at all on any of the flights except for when we landed in Minneapolis. She had fallen asleep and awoke a little startled and scared and then started to cry. Most of the people in plane were standing up at this point and were staring back at us. In my mind I was thinking we had made it this far, if Kensley could just hold on a bit longer. Once we figured out that the air vents above blow air Kensley became a happy camper. It was a great experience and we are super excited to go to Florida in August.

Hanging out in the stroller at the airpport.

Mom and Kensley on the first flight. All smiles, no tears.

Brenda and Kensley.

We spent the weekend doing all of our favorite things... eating at pizza at Maria D's, walking around Fells Point and the Inner Harbor (picture above), reading at Barnes and Noble in the Inner Harbor, shooting pool at Ropewalk, and capping off the night with some Mikey's. It was a fabulous time!!!

Kensley and Dad in Fells Point.

Dad Graduated!!!

2009-05-24T22:50:00.002-05:00

On Saturday, May 23, 2009 Frank graduated from Law School. After 3 years of diligent work and countless hours of studying Frank walked across the stage to receive his diploma. It was exciting to have lots of family members around for their support. Following the ceremony everyone headed over to Katie's place for yummy food and several gut busting laughs. It was a memorable night!

Kensley with the graduate.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-12T21:50:00.004-05:00

Our first Mother's Day was awesome! We woke up in Gibbon and spent time with Grandma Dingels, going to church and playing a game at home. We took off and met Grandma McQuillan for brunch in Eden Prairie. From there we went to Great Grandma Weiers and hung out with the Weiers extended family. Dad stayed home to study for a while we were at Great Grandma's but instead cleaned the house, cut the lawn, and did the laundry. What a wonderful Mother's Day gift!!! It was a great day!!!

Mom and Kensley on Mother's Day

Cuddling with Mom (usually Kensley doesn't like to cuddle much so this was great!)

We have been practicing sitting up for a couple of weeks now. Usually, we practice on the bed every morning, but we thought we would try it the other night out in the living room. Kensley was really working out her muscles. She sits up like such a big girl. She has found her center of balance for longer than just 10 seconds now. I think she is enjoying the view from her sitting position.

We tried to feed her rice cereal the other day. I can't really tell if she liked it or not because most of it ended up on her face, in her bib, or on her chair. The cereal was definitely too runny, so we will have to try a thicker mixture next time. I didn't think any of it made it to her tummy because her tongue spit most of it back out. However, the next day she had some smelly poops that were definitely contributed to the food she had ate the night before.

I think she liked chewing on the spoon most.

Sleeping in with Dad.

We finally updated our shutterfly account so there are more pictures on there. :)

More "Firsts"

2009-04-29T22:42:00.005-05:00

Kensley amazes us with new tricks every week it seems. She has mastered the roll over from tummy to back and almost has the reverse. She is in to sucking in her bottom lip and then spitting it back out. Generally bits of spit fly out with it. Kensley also seems to be sharing her laugh more often, and getting these big belly laughs. We first noticed these laughs while we over at our friend's place. When their dog would bark Kensley would bust out laughing from the gut. Dog barks, Kensleys laughs. Dog barks again, Kensley laughs some more. It was pretty humerous. She seems like a pretty happy baby who is already 5 months old. Where did the time go?

Kensley was testing out her rocking chair and reading a book to us.

She is working out her stomach muscle everyday when she practices sitting up. Usually we do on our bed so she can nose dive it into the mattress. It is pretty funny to watch her fall and her not try to catch herself. It doesn't seem to bother her as far as I can tell because she usually looks back up at us with a big grin on her face. She usually can sit up longer when she looks at herself in the mirror across from our bed. She finds herself pretty amusing (kind of like how her Dad finds himself amusing).
Soaking up some vitamin D.

Sitting like a big girl in her high chair. Kensley likes to eat with us at the table. Too bad she is still on a liquid diet.

Go Twins!