Kaki's FIRST Birthday DAY!

Kaki is ONE... officially...TODAY, June 27th! WOAH! To say that this year has been the FATEST of my life would be quite the understatement. I am really not so sure where it all went, but I know that I cannot imagine this little girl being with any other family but ours. She is a blessing beyond all blessings to our family. We love her so very much and don't quite know what we'd do without her goofy grins, sweet smiles, deep throaty grunts and her love of adventure. She certainly spices up an average day and makes any dark spot seem not quite so! She is one of kind... she's our Kaki Lou!

Today, started off a bit earlier than I had anticipated... life with kids, right?! Especially those who are sharing a room... so the adorable Minnie Mouse pancakes I had dreamed up in my head to make turned into an early morning run to Shipley's for some donut holes... who could resist that?!

Kaki! That's who! She was not a fan! :) She licked the icing off of one and nibbled on it, but by the time we got home (had to drive through Starbucks for a Mommy treat too) she wanted nothing to do with them... so I fixed her favorite apple cinnamon waffles (and yes they are of the frozen variety...). So it turned out to be just a normal day for Kaki-pants... despite my best efforts! Okay, so my best efforts would have been to suck it up and make the pancakes... so we'll say despite my efforts, fair enough?

For some reason I had made TWO appointments for myself today... on her birthday! And needed some help from Nana! It didn't dawn on me until a few weeks ago that it was going to be on Kaki's birthday... aren't I awesome?! BUT, it was actually pretty special for Kaki to have some extra lovin' and a surprise balloon or two! And let's not forget the cupcakes! Thanks Nana for coming to spend some time with us today! I know the other grands were jealous that you got to see Kaki on her big day! :)

Oh how could I forget... Caden and I gave Kaki her very own cell phone this morning. She got the rest of her gifts at her party on Sunday, but she had to have something for today! She has been making calls ALL day long... I hope VTech Wireless has a payment plan! :)

After her afternoon nap and before our big night out on the town celebrating I attempted to do one last picky sticky photo shoot with Kaki! Of course I didn't want to dress her up in the onesie so I thought we'd try having her hold her sticker and show me her BIG number 12!! It didn't quite work out like I thought it might... but we still got some cute pics of our sweet girl in one of her new birthday outfits... isn't it CUTE????!!!!

Of course when you give a girl a sticker you can hardly expect her to look at the camera! 

And then she'll just get mad that she can't get it off of the paper! 

So you say, fine... let's put it on... which of course means she'll try to pull it off! Kind of like the bow and clip we tried to keep in her hair for the pictures... impossible today for some reason! :)

Alright... how about the wall? That will be cute... unless of course she's covering it with her hand in her attempts to peal it off...

Her bottom??? Maybe...

Let's just stick it back on the paper and forget about it... Happy 12 Months Kaki! 

Picky sticky or not...

We had the HARDEST time deciding where to go to dinner tonight. Kaki isn't too opinionated in the restaurant department and probably would prefer my mac n cheese or black beans to just about anything else in her dinner option menu... but we finally decided on our stand-by... Mighty Fine! This time we'd thought we'd spice it up though and let Kaki have her first milkshake... strawberry flavored of course! :)

Kaki does love a good french fry... 

And she can say that "she's one!" while eating said french fry! :)

Or maybe she was pointing for Mom to keep shoveling that milkshake in her mouth... either way it works! (Man I sure was focused in this pic... don't spill the milkshake... ha!) My mouth may have also been a bit numb from my filling today too! Hehe!

I had to get a pic with my girl... milkshake face and all!

Once it melted good Kaki decided to go "big girl" on it and slurped it on up! I think it is safe to say that she'll like milk... at least that's my prayer since we have NO MORE FORMULA in the house right now... but a freshly bought carton of MILK!! :)

Once we got home we had Strawberry Cupcakes and sang to our precious little! Candle and all!!

She got all bashful when we started singing... loving every second of it...

And she was excited about the fire...

And couldn't wait to get her hands on it...

Come on Daddy... bring it on in...

Wait for it... BLOW!!!

YAY Daddy... hope you made a wish!

Time to chow down!!

Um... you expect me to eat that?!

Hmmmmm

I'll try it... BLAH!

Not your best work Mom...

I'll take a cracker instead... two if you can spare them! 

And so that's what she got... birthday crackers... a girl after my own heart... I'd take a salty carb over a sweet carb any day of the week! Sweet girl!!

And last but certainly never least... the girl and her boy... who also begs to be celebrated today. He has been a brother and a great one at that for one whole year!! Congrats Cade-man! And he has clean hands! :)

What may have seemed much like an ordinary day was EXTRAORDINARY... celebrating a year in the life of our sweet Lou Lou! Happy Birthday Kaki! We love you to the moon and back... and back again! We thank God for you EACH and EVERY day!! Our hearts are full! (and our quiver too!) :)

KAKI STROLLIN'!!!

Sweet Kaki Lou took off behind her stroller yesterday! She just got it on Sunday at her birthday party from Nana and Bop and she has made quick work of it! I was so excited to see her do it... and SHOCKED... I ran and grabbed my phone... please excuse the attire, the house and my ANNOYING voice and giggle! We were SO SO SO excited! Big afternoon for Caden and I!! HUGE, in fact! ENJOY...
 

Over the Hills and Down I-10...

To KK's house we go... our car knows the way to carry our stuff through the hot and steamy roadways!!

Over the Hills and Down I-10, is that HWY 59 I spy?

Well, sure enough it is oh my, it's time to have a REAL good time!

Okay, so that maybe wasn't the best rendition of Over the River and Through the Woods... but I started it and had to finish at least the first verse... my apologies for those of you who actually tried to sing along! It was rough at best!

So I guess the secret is out... we went to KK and Albi's house for the weekend! The LONG weekend! We had lots of celebrating to do in Houston this weekend. First up was a baby shower for Aunt Ree Ree on Saturday and a perfectly pinwheel-ed first birthday celebration for Kaki on Sunday... BIG WEEKEND! But like any true party-goer knows... you've got to a little warm up before the big show! So we did just that!

The kids and I left our humble abode in the Rock and headed over the hills and down I-10 to Houston on Thursday morning to make the MOST of our weekend away. Lucky for us my grandmother and Aunt Martha drove ALL THE WAY from Abilene to be with us for the weekend too! We were SO excited to see them and get to spend some time together before all of the festivities began!

Once we got to the house we just relaxed most of the day... and by relax I mean pull EVERY toy out of the toy chests, pile up all of our junk in the entry way and spill food on the floor... you know... the normal grandkid type stuff! :) BUT who doesn't love a good grandkid?! :)

On Thursday night after a yummy dinner prepared by Chef KK we all headed out in the backyard which would later be known as the chigger swamp to play baseball. Caden was LOVING all of the attention and could not get enough eyes on him! My Aunt Martha can whistle with the best of them... like two fingers in the mouth and give it your all kind of whistle! It's awesome! So naturally every time Caden got a hit she whistled! And we all cheered and clapped and roared! The crowd went wild! And so did he! Kaki would even give him a clap every now and again! :) And of course before each pitch he'd look over at his fan club and ask, "Are you watching me?" Let's hope that if the big leagues are in his future he'll lose that particular habit! :)

Martha and I were sad to have taken on the role of pitcher that night as the next two days we were counting the number of chigger bites that were popping up all over our bodies! Apparently, Martha and I are made of the same stuff because boy did we get 'em! And Caden and KK are made of the same stuff because the mosquitos like them! Strange isn't it?! 

But bug bites be darned we had a GREAT time takin' Caden out to the ball game! :)

The next day was a busier day... we had pool things to tend to. So after Kaki got her a morning nap we loaded up and headed to the pool to play and eat lunch and then play some more! It was summertime at its very finest! We had such a great time running through the splash pad, floating down the lazy river and shootin' hoops in the pool! With five pools, a splash pad and a lazy river to choose from it was a kid's dream... and by kid I mean ME! It was awesome! :) And the perfect way to beat the heat/wear out two kids!

Sweet Kaki just won't get on the walkin train and the ground was pretty rough on the knees so we strolled her through the splash pad and she LOVED it! The stroller definitely needed a good soakin! 

Later that afternoon Aunt Emily arrived and the fun got even bigger! We had a yummy fajita dinner and enjoyed time sitting around drinking wine and chatting about life... that is when both Kaki and Caden weren't attempting to entertain us all! Which you know is not hard to do! :) They were so excited to have so many adoring fans in their presence... and ones that are not named Mommy and Daddy!

Next to arrive was Albi... straight off of the tarmac... and fresh out of a taxi... he arrived ready to eat and play some baseball with "that boy!" And the girls were happy to turn him loose... both of them! :) We needed a little testosterone...

And speaking of that... Daddy arrived not too long after we put the kids down for the night and so we had yet another man to add to the bunch! We were almost complete... just waiting on Uncle Josh who was tied up with work to join us the next morning...

And join us he did...

See there is proof...

Uncle Josh and Caden on the golf course!

While Aunt Emily and I were at the baby shower and KK, Martha and Gram were hanging out with Kaki-love, Caden went with the big boys for a round of golf. It was HOT but he made it his usual nine holes before he came home to see how the girls were doing. By the time I got home his cheeks were more pink than purple and he was resting on the couch, treating the rest of the women to a nice round of Oso and Doc McStuffins! Fun for them... :)

Caden had the BEST time playing golf and told us ALL DAY... "I played a really good game of golf! I am really good at golf." Similar to the way he talks about his baseball skills! It is clear that the child is loving the hand-eye coordination sports these days... and I'm just fine with that! :) He loves him some sports... it's crazy!! He would play baseball ALL DAY! And I know he is missing his backyard right now, so it was a huge blessing for us to have a place to go and let him loose with his bat and his ball! :) 

After golf, shower activities and naps we all went to the pool for a later afternoon/early evening refresh... it was marvelous! Cocktails, appetizers... cooling off... lovely! Again... it is what summer dreams are made of!

We all had so much fun watching how brave Caden was getting... with each pass through the splash park he'd stand further and further under the BIG BUCKET OF WATER DOOM! :) He even talked Uncle Josh into standing under it! :) It was classic! Caden was a wild man... and a tired man by the time it was all said and done!

After the pool it was pretty much... FEED 'EM, BATHE 'EM, PUT 'EM DOWN before they melt down! Those two kids had had a FUN FUN day and were ready for a nice night of sleep... or at least that's what I told them would be best for them. I am pretty sure they may have kept going if we had let them! :)

Albi treated us to a delicious steak dinner on the grill and KK and Aunt Emily cooked up a yummy salad and we were set... we had a great dinner around the table. We giggled and laughed until we cried! Times likes those around the dinner table are some of my VERY FAVORITE memories! There is nothing better than kicking back, long after you've finished your plate and enjoying a hilarious conversation with the people who know you best and love you anyways! :) 

Of course, I will put up an entire post about Kaki's birthday party all in itself, but I couldn't let this weekend go un-noted, because it was a really great weekend! My heart was so full all weekend getting to spend time with family and share my kids with people who don't get to see them near as much as I and they would like. It was such a treasure! I want to tuck it away in my heart for good!

I wish I had more pictures of the fun, but in this case I am positive that the memories will far outlive any picture! We had a blast!! I'm ready to do it all over again! 

Hopefully, soon!

Next up... the grand finale... Kaki's Pinwheel Party!! Stay tuned!

A Show for Baby A!

I don't want to steal the thunder of my fabulous sister-in-law and her sweet baby to be, but I did want to post a few pics from her baby shower this weekend in Houston! I was fortunate enough to get to help host one last shindig before the big arrival! I was thrilled to be a part of it and excited to celebrate my niece or nephew!! (This whole not knowing business is getting old!!) Just kidding... kind of! :)

One of Cori's sweet friends hosted the shower in her lovely home. Here are just a few quick pics... hop on over to All About the Agnews on my blog roll to read more later in the day/week!

My cookie-tastic and SUPER talented friend Gina made the duck cookies for the shower... some boy ducks and some girl ducks... are they not the cutest things you've ever seen?! She is one artistic lady!

The Cox women...Doesn't Cori look great?! 29 weeks and lookin' good!!

My beautiful sister-in-laws... do you know why I opted to take the pic now?! They are definitely TOO TOO cute!!

And the hostesses... I just have to add this in there because I feel like it is important... for women... for fashion... for the hope of having a dress like the girl on the far left is wearing... don't you want one? Here is her secret... it is a vintage bridesmaids dress she had shortened... brilliant?! I think so! It was seriously the prettiest dress I've ever seen. If I was a size zero I would have cut that thing right off of her... :)

Happy Shower Cori!! 11 Weeks to go!! CANNOT WAIT TO MEET HE/SHE HIM/HER NIECE/NEPHEW!!! 

Love you Cori!!

One More Month (ahem, week) to Go!! Kaki at 11 Months...

Well, there I went again... slighting the second child! Oh the plight of these younger siblings. To this all I can say is... I'm so sorry Josh! 

So I may always be LATE on her birthday posts and I am ashamed that I have WAY more phone pictures than I do "real" pictures of her... BUT I love this girl more than any other GIRL in the world! She has a place in my heart all her own and I love her for it. She is my girl...always and forever! 

I just had to get around to writing her 11 month birthday post since we are celebrating her 1st birthday in just 6 short days! This weekend we'll be in Houston celebrating our sweet niece or nephew and so we decided since both sides of the family would be in town we'd tag along Kaki's first birthday party too! So Sunday is going to be her big day... and we could not be more excited to have a day dedicated to our little Lou Lou... :) 

I think it has been hitting us more and more lately... our little baby is not so baby like anymore. She is wearing clips in her hair... still not a fan of the bow but the clip she'll leave alone. She is jabbering and laughing and squealing. She's screaming and making her opinion and discomfort known when she needs to. She is eating EVERYTHING in sight. She has three teeth... and is working on about 7 more... okay so maybe just three, but it seems like 7. She is bright-eyed and curious, she is IN everything... she is an adventurer and wanderer at times but then a PLAYER... she sits and plays and plays and plays... moving from one thing to the next. She loves to swim and can't not abide it when we take her out of the bath each night. She would stay in there all night if we let her. She is a joy to be around and as flexible as they come. She goes where ever we take her and acts happy about it even when I am certain there are times that she's not. She is a fireball and has the goofiest little personality that keeps us entertained. She loves her brother and her Daddy but I think she still has a soft spot for me too and for that I am grateful. She cannot handle it when Caden gets in trouble or is in time out... she just sits at the door and fusses at us! That will change I am sure! She enjoys being social and has so much fun in the church nursery. She stayed away for the first night at her Nana and Bop's this weekend and did great... I don't think she noticed we weren't there and if she did, she didn't seem to care. As for me... well it goes without saying that I missed her a ton but was proud to say that I cried WAY LESS than the first time I left Caden. I don't think it will ever be easy for me, but I suppose I'm grateful for that too. 

The specifics of Kaki go something like this...

Favorite toy: her dolls, her brother's baseball men, the jump rope, baseball bats and balls. She loves to pull all of our other toys out of buckets and then put them back in. She seems to enjoy sorting! 

Favorite TV show: Barney and always Mickey Mouse, especially when it's time for the hot dog dance.

Favorite foods: mac n cheese, yogurt melts, cheerios, and still LOVES her some baby food... 

Drinks: will not drink juice but is starting to like water... still takes THREE bottles a day... eek! I am a bit unsure of how our bottle to cup transition will go. Hoping for the best.

Naps: most days I try to get her down for two naps, but there are some days where all we can manage is one and she does well on those days too

Bedtime: 7:30 and usually sleeps until 7:00-7:30

Books: She is not my reader... but I am hopeful she will be. She really likes Polly's Pink Pajamas and all of her simple word/picture board books. She loves looking through books on her own but has a hard time sitting still when we read them to her! :)

Words: No words just yet but lots of noise comes out of her mouth! Ha!

Tricks: Loves to "raise her hands" "wave" "clap""pat/bang" "kiss" "hug" etc. She also likes to dance and "shake it" when she's standing. Hehe! Oh, and she can blow raspberries with the best of 'em. I am pretty sure she could set a record for longest ever raspberry ever recorded! Hilarious!

Kaki has just in the past two weeks starting to pull up on her own and just this morning she starting cruising around one of our ottomans... she's getting there! And of course she crawls at the speed of light so the incentive to learn to walk/stumble/fall is not quite there! :)

Random favorites: Kaki loves jewelry... LOVES it. No jewelry is safe around Kaki... NONE! She has broken a necklace of KK's and come close to several others! She LOVES shoes... (are we sounding a little stereotypical girl or what?) she loves to untie laces and give all of them a little taste! I am constantly combing the floor for shoes to get them out of her reach. We have to leave the doors to the bathrooms closed or else she makes a BEELINE for them. She loves to try to get into the bath and loves to pull up on the stools we have to help C wash his hands. Today, I heard her blabbing when I was putting up laundry in the other room. I was laughing hearing how loud and exaggerated she was being... when I walked back in she had her toy phone up to her ear and was telling some lucky person one heck of a story... once she realized that I was watching her she got all embarrassed and stopped... it was HILARIOUS! Silly Kaki-girl!

There is always so much to say and so much that I never want to forget! The first few years of life bring so many changes with them... it's impossible to capture them all but I hope that I have treasured them the best I can! 

Next stop... the ONE YEAR mark!! I cannot believe it!! 

You're almost there Kaki-pants!! 11 down...one to go... 

We love you sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet GIRL!!!!! To the moon and back!

Now for a little photo fun...

The apt doesn't allow for a ton of great picturesque spots with all of our clutter... BUT we did find a little corner on Caden's bed to set up shop... of course these days photo shoots are FAST AND FURIOUS! :)

Oops... forgot to take her paci out. We did it right after morning naptime! :)

Clearly she was happy about that... and a bit snotty about it too! :) Mug shot, much?

Okay, now she's ready... work it... own it... rarrrrr!

Praying her way through it...

Sup mom?!

Silly Kaki!!

Still a bit of snot sneaking out... but a good shot of her bottom toofers! :)

Don't show 'em my snot, Mom?! Makes me embarrassed!! 

I think you're beautiful snot or not!! :)

When I asked her how she felt about Caden she did this...

And all I said was, "Ditto!"

Happy 11 Months sweet girl!