Love It

Nothing can top being a Mom to these two kids!!!  Love them with my whole heart!!!!

New Words

Kinley decided to say "Night Night" to Grandpa on Facetime the other night!  It was so cute!!!  She was in the tub when we were talking to him.  We had to hurry up and say goodbye to him since she started grunting and was threatening to poop in the tub.  But, we made it to the potty!  Good Job Kinley!!!

So Kinley now officially says: Dadda, Mamma, Brother, and Night Night.  She is growing up so fast!

First Party

We had such a wonderful day celebrating Kinley's First Birthday.  Some of our dear friends joined us to celebrate our little lady.  I made Kinley a ladybug cake.  It was so much fun!  And, I am pretty proud of how it turned out!!!  Tim rolled his eyes at me when I told him I wanted to make a cake for her, but he was happy to let me do it since he was on call the day I was going to be making it.  (Apparently I get a little uptight when constructing these cakes...)  I first made her smash cake.  And, I was super proud of how it turned out.  And then I tackled the big cake and it just got even better!  What a fun thing to do!!!  

We had a BBQ with hamburgers and lots of good food.  Tim set up games to play in the yard, and we had fun just hanging out.  Then it was cake time!

Kinley really enjoyed her cake.  I knew from her personality that she was going to get into it and do justice to that ladybug!  Oh boy did she have fun!!!

Thank you to all who helped celebrate our sweet girl!!  What a blessing she is to our family!!!

Canning Season

Whoop whoop! Canning season is here!! The kids and I picked sour cherries on Saturday and came home to can some pie filling. I also put a batch on the dehydrator. Oh yummy!! Today we went and picked blueberries, and I just canned them in juice so I can decide later what I want to make with them. Unfortunately I had my first canning causality. It was so to loose a whole quart of blueberries! :(. Next month peaches start, so we are just warming up the canner!!

Father's Day

Have I told you guys how amazingly awesome Tim is with our kids? He loves Carter and Kinley with all his heart, and it shows. I do not know any one who works as hard as Tim. I try not to complain about how hard he as to work. I try to stay positive about it all, because this is the life we are living right now, and complaining is not going to make it any better. However, you must know how freaking hard he works his butt off. If he works a 12 hour day, we are excited. Most days it is closer to a 15 hour day. And he does this 5-7 days a week. Neither of us have ever been morning people, yet his alarm goes off at 4:20am. Ugh, brutal!! When Tim gets home in the evening, he will play with the kids for a bit, help get them in bed, and then he goes to his desk to study till about 11. I have no idea how he functions on that amount of sleep, but he has learned to adjust. And, have I mentioned how hard his job is? It's not a job where you can stare into space and dream about the weekends. No, this guy is saving lives! I can tell you countless stories about him being able to intubate and drug a person within seconds so their life saving procedure can start. My husband rocks!!
Not only does Tim rock as an anesthesiologist, but he rocks at being a daddy. He loves to play with the kids, either rolling around on the ground rough housing with them, or taking them out on a walk. He loves to hear about their days, and about all the new things they are learning. Tim might not have a lot of time to spend with his babies right now, but he makes the most out of every moment he gets with them. Our kids are blessed to call him daddy, and I am blessed to have such an amazing husband.
We love you Timmy!! Happy Father's Day, and thanks for being so amazing!!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful daddy also!! I love you daddy. Thanks for being a constant support through this life!!

Birthday Girl

Dear Kinley,
Today you turn one year old! What? Where has the year gone? I can not begin to tell you how much joy you bring not only to me, but to our family. You are constantly smiling and giggling. And, you are constantly getting into some kind of mischief! You can now say Dada, Mama, and Brother. If you want something to eat or drink, you say Nana. Your best friend is Carter. He can make you laugh and smile like no one else. You are still taking 2 naps a day, and you have officially been sleeping through the night for the past week! You have 8 teeth, and a molar that is just starting to peak through.
I am so blessed to call you my baby girl. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine being a mother to two amazing children. I can not wait to see what your life has in store for you Kinley. I know you will do great things! Thank you for allowing me to be your mommy Kinley. I can not describe the love I have for you. You are an amazing little one!!! Happy Birthday baby girl!!! Love you to pieces!! Xoxoxo
Love, Mommy

The West Meets the East: Day 7

Our last day we woke up really early so we could try and make it home in one day.  We spent 14 hours in the car trying to get home, drove through the Bronx at rush our traffic, and finally made it home about 10:30 at night.  The kids both cried the last 30 minutes, but can you hardly blame them?  They were really good car riders.  After putting 1,700 miles on the car, we were ready to sleep in our own beds!