18 months

18 months!!!

 Dear Kenya,

It is the last day of Christmas break and you and Daddy are sleeping like babies as the snow falls down outside - there is a TON of it!  I am itching like crazy to get in my classroom and get some work done but know you both need your sleep (and so do I but I'm way too anxious to sleep with all that needs to get done).  We just got home at 10:30 last night after two weeks out of town - in both the east side of the state visiting family and for 10 days in California seeing your Auntie Pam!!  We are all beyond exhausted now and my fingers are double crossed for a snow day tomorrow.  We can all sleep with our pyjamas on inside out tonight (we always did that in Owosso to bring snow day luck).  Since it's been a while since I've written you last (Halloween I think?) - here's a little recap of the last couple of months...

For Thanksgiving we went out and stayed at your Nana's house in Waterford to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Sadly you were sick as a dog and didn't eat much at all but still had a good attitude.  We ended up canceling all of our plans for the weekend and just doing lots of snuggling on the couch all weekend long which is one of my very favorite things to do with you anyways.  Before becoming a parent I never really understood how hard it is to see your child sick - it is the worst thing in the world!  Here are a few shots of you having fun with family on Thanksgiving weekend....

Playing legos with cousin Landon

Here on some shots your Auntie Lisa took of us for our Christmas card - she did a great job!  Your dad thinks that keeping you outside without a coat for the pictures may be what got you sick... but they did turn out cute! (even though you were kinda a grouch that day)

the winning photo that made it on the card

Kenya with the mistletoe

Rocking on the piano

Pulling Mama's hair

Sticking out your tongue :)

Then onto December, the craziest month of the year!!  Even though we were planning to go on vacation, Daddy still got us a beautiful Christmas tree and hung stockings up for us.  I don't ever want to take it all down!  He loves doing the 12 days of Christmas and filled our stockings everyday with fun little treats.  Sometimes he just found random things from around the house for you but you were excited nonetheless.  I wasn't as good as Dad about filling his stocking but thankfully he still loves me anyways.

As soon as school was out, the Christmas parties began!  First party with the DeYoung's at Uncle James and Auntie Lisa's with the fam then over to the east side with your mommy's fam.  You had fun jamming out to a Christian sing-along DVD with Landon at the Bradshaw/Hartman Christmas and running laps around the house with a big bunch of balloons with Gavin yelling "Hi!" through the fireplace at our Dorr Christmas celebration.

Hanging out with Sawyer and Auntie Tracey before we left town

Jamming to the music with Landon

Running laps around the house with all your balloons!!

On Christmas eve, we flew out to San Diego!  I kept you quiet by letting you nurse for the majority of the plane trip.  You refuse to stay under any kind of apron or blanket now so I think the poor teenage boy sitting next to us got quite a show.  ;) When we hit the ground Auntie Pam had a quite an itinerary planned for us.  Unfortunately you got sick again so we spent a good part of the trip nursing you back to health (literally you nursed probably 2348790 times all day and all night long), going to the doctor, health food stores, and anything to avoid anti-biotics (which we ended up having to put you on anyways :( .  It was a bit rough, but we did have a lot of fun too.  I think my favorite part of it all though was just being able to spend so much quality time with you and some of the most special moments were the simplest ones... sitting on the kitchen floor early in the morning feeding each other blueberries, playing make believe with your new dolls and feeding the ducks at the park (your absolute favorite part of all).  It was amazing to see how much you have grown up lately.  I kept saying you learned so many new things over the break but I realize that with teaching 60+ hours per week I really just miss so much!  You are saying 2-3 word phrases now and just soak up everything like a sponge.  My favorite phrase of course is "I love you" and you are super affectionate, always coming up and surprising me with your pronounced kisses (with a loud "MWAH") out of nowhere.  You are amazing.  Spending all this quality time together makes me look forward to summer even more... I already have a long list going of all the things we will do together.  One of them is turning this blog into a long overdue book for you!  I can't wait to make the most of every single moment with you!

But back to San Diego... some of the other highlights were the beach, watching the sunset, Lego Land (with like a trillion legos in it, seriously), the San Diego Zoo, the Safari Park, and much more.  We spent Christmas day with a really nice Venezuelan family who spoiled you with gifts and we rung in the New Year at Panda Express (PF Chang's was full) and started our own dance party at YogurtLand.  You also jumped off the couch about 100 times yelling your own version of "Happy New Year's!" (if only I could attach the videos!)  Here are some photos from the trip...

Your pretty Christmas dress didn't last long - you kept screaming "OFF!" 

You were much happier with this Christmas outfit - Daddy says you're a t-shirt and jeans kinda girl

Opening your new Dora doll - you can come teach in Spanish all day with your mama soon!

Kenya in Lego Land

With a Lego mama and her Lego baby

Safari park

Feeding the ducks - your favorite thing to do everywhere we went

Meeting the sea lions up close and personal on the beach

Hanging out at the San Diego zoo

The beaches were our favorite places (besides the duck ponds of course!)

Family shot at Balboa Park

Watching the Cheetah Run

Okay well I think that's it for today.  I started writing this yesterday and now it's Monday and I'm home with a snow day and you're napping again.  It is a total blizzard outside and Daddy made a big pot of Sancocho for us for lunch to warm up!  I'm thankful for electricity on this wild winter day and for one more day with you!!  Wishing you the BEST 2014 ever full of many more special memories together.  Love you chica - to the moon and back!!!

Love always,
Your mama

16 months

Dear Kenya,

I have been missing writing you letters on this blog - it's been too long!  You are taking a Sunday afternoon nap (a very rare moment) so I thought I'd sneak on here and see how much I can write you!  Maybe you're sleeping cause your dad and I forgot about daylight savings time and got up early and showed up to church an hour early - oops!! (not the first time for us either - last time we went an hour late though) 

Life has been a crazy whirlwind since I wrote you last!  Teaching has turned my life upside down since August.  The kids are awesome, I love all of them a ton - they are so sweet and compassionate and always a blessing to me and so many others (they love to donate to help the kiddos in the Dominican Republic which I love).   And while I do love teaching (though it's taken me a while to get used to speaking in Spanish all the time again), I sure do miss you and our time together more than you could ever know.  It's been a tough transition for both of us and I think sometimes it's hard for you to understand why I'm not around all the time like I used to be.  It's hard for me too, but I definitely treasure all my moments with you now more than I ever did since I don't get nearly as many of them as I used to.  Some of the special ones lately have been celebrating Halloween together (you were a duck since you are OBSESSED with them lately), going on a hay rides (which your dad did not appreciate as much as I did), eating Daddy's Saturday morning pancakes (topped with tons of yummy fruit) and just any other random adventure we can squeeze in on our nights and weekends.  I love the hugs when I get home from work, and playing and reading stories before bed.  Really I just love any time I get to spend with you! 

Some new things about you.... You LOVE ducks, they are your favorite thing ever (besides Santa).  I get jealous that Daddy gets to take you to feed them all the time while I'm at work.  He even built you a toy duck out of wood - he is so talented.  You are also still obsessed with the train and want to go running to see it every time we hear the whistle (you get bummed out more now when it's too cold and we have to watch it from the porch).  You are saying lots of new words - your favorite words lately seem to be "hot", "ice", "duck" (big surprise), "dog", "cheese", "more", "no" (more like "mooo" which you point and say to Santa), "eyes", "nose", and a lot more.  You have become a much more picky eater which is making your daddy and I crazy and you are always throwing food on the wall... I decided to bring butcher paper home from school to stick on the wall so you can decorate that with food instead!  But you do love cheese, chicken, watermelon, apples, corn, and a few other things.  You still hate sleeping.  I think I've read about every book, article, and internet forum there is to read with no luck, and spent a lot of money on every product that claims to help.  It has been 16 months now (or more) since I've really had a full night of sleep, but you are worth the exhaustion.  My students always make me laugh when I screw up my Spanish first thing in the morning and they ask me "How many times did Kenya get up last night Sra. DeYoung?" or tell me to drink my "cafe" before I continue teaching. ;)  Well I think I better post these photos of you before you wake up, but just wanted to take a quick moment to write you this note....

Dinner date to Olga's

chasing ducks

out at Art prize

in Mommy's costume

in your costume

out at Calvin "Light in the Night" - it was a very rainy night

Well I think that's all I have time for today but just wanted to write to remind you how much I love you and how much you mean to me.  I am thankful for the miracle that you are and for the the joy you continue to bring to my life everyday.  Oh and one more funny thing I wanted to tell you... we went out to a Mexican dinner with your grandpa last night and there was a mariachi guy serenading you and you were eating it up!!  You kept running back across the restaurant to see him.  You crack us up!!  Love you baby girl, to the moon and back!! xoxoxoxoxo

Love, Your mama 

12 months and beyond...

Hey Kenya Kay,

It's been quite a summer, and quite a year!  Since this is technically my 12 month post, I can talk all about you being one and about the past year, but you have been one for a while. ;) I could blame this late post on you cause check out your 12 month photo... no matter how many times I tried your photo you just tried to pick your sticker off your onesie like crazy as soon as I put it on there.  But I'll take the blame on just being behind as always...

Since so much has happened, it is going to be hard to sum up the summer (since my last blog in June) and really this past year in one blog.  So here are some of my favorite summer memories with you...

Your first birthday.... your pretty dress, lots of friends and family, your first cupcake, lots of DIY decor (Mommy pinned about 1342789304879 things for your first bday ;), a photo booth with costumes, gifts galore, and tons of pink!

Your first times at the beach... playing in the sand, hating the water at first then jumping in like a daredevil and get tossed in waves, making friends, walking the pier, stealing balls and frisbees from anyone not looking, and (your absolute favorite) chasing seagulls!

Our first family vacation... to Chicago! (the place where mommy met daddy ;)  Seeing your great Uncle Jim and Aunt Jan, going to Taste of Chicago, riding the train, looking in the Bean, losing your shoes, and playing in the Crown Fountain. (the battery died on our phone so we didn't get any photos til the rest stop on the ride home)

Weddings... cousin Andrew and Kailyn's... Auntie Johanna and Tyson's.. and Grandpa and Grandma's - everyone thought you were a doll in all of them.  And you were very good at screaming to nurse and pulling down the front of my dress during the most convenient times (ceremony, best man speeches, etc.)

driving the golf cart at Auntie Johanna's wedding in Chicago

And lots of other randoms.... Parks, picnics, and splashpads.  Seeing the animals at the zoo.  4th of July parade and fireworks.  Lots of babysitting days with your grandmas and cousin Beth.  Meeting lots of new friends and reuniting with old ones.  Breaking all the rules at the library (it's quite a scene).  Decorating your bedroom (which you still hate to sleep in)  Night time family walks around the neighborhood.  Playing with friends at the Leche League meetings.  Family dates out and family night at the Children's Museum every Thursday.  Play dates with the neighbor kids (Sevyn is your bestie) and sitting on the front porch at 5:00 p.m. checking cars for dad.  Singing, singing, singing (mostly Patty Cake and Puff the Magic Dragon).  Backyard barbecues.  "Helping" in mommy's new classroom.  Teasing Santa (it never gets old).  Curious Buddies and doing the Shake a Rama (that one never gets old either).  Helping Grandpa in his vegetable garden.  Our new church "Nueva Esperanza" where we get to practice espanol and everyone says "que bebe mas bella!"  Going shopping with mom (where you basically do everything I always swore my child would never do and get "the look" a lot)  Using your very own potty that sings to you when you pee (you're becoming a pro!)  And SO MUCH MORE....

And looking back at this year.... you know I could write a 20 page blog about that ;)  So I'll just say this... it has been a rollercoaster year of ups and downs and joys and pains, but I wouldn't have wanted anyone by my side but you and your dad (and Santa... most of the time ;) and I still am in awe of the miracle you are and that God allowed me the honor of being your mom. We have been so blessed by you, and by all the people who have poured out love and support on our family this past year.  I am blown away just thinking about it.  Your testimony is one I tell over and over and over.  You bring your dad and I so much joy every day and we love being surprised by you and watching you change and grow.  Okay, time for bed.  I think from now on, I'm going to cut back on the monthly blog updates (cause I obviously can't keep up) and just post here and there.  Oh and you start daycare THIS MONDAY.  AH I am feeling nervous about that - they are talking about curriculum and centers and Spanish lessons - I'm not ready to let you grow up!  My whole Bible study prayed for you the other night and that all would go well there.  I will definitely miss you like crazy, but being the social butterfly that you are, I know you'll do great and love making lots of new friends.  Okay that's it for real now.  Love you baby girl, to the moon and back.

Love, Your mama :)

P.S.  With work and daycare starting up, it would be great if you would start sleeping through the night, pretty pretty please?