All Things Easter

This past weekend went great! We enjoyed spending time with our families and Kiley had a blast learning what Easter was all about. 

Saturday we had our Easter in the backyard before we went to Mommo Siegmund's house.  Jason was working Easter Sunday so, we wanted to make sure that Jason would be a part of Kiley's "easter hunt." I figured that she really wouldn't understand what was going on this year and so, did the easter bunny.  Luckily for us, the easter bunny knew that Jason wasn't going to be home the next morning so he scattered eggs around a small part of the backyard and Kiley crawled to each one to see what was in them.  She got cheerios, dissolve puffs, goldfish, and money! She really liked all the noise that the money made - the bunny must have known she would like that and gave quarters instead of dollar bills.  He's a smart one!

That afternoon we went to Mommo's.  Kiley loved it! There were so many small children there - Jason's 2nd cousins, Kiley's 3rd cousins.  She loved watching them and crawling after them and she especially loved to give Conrad kisses! It was hilarious to watch her and I think that if it was up to her we wouldn't have left at 8:30, but by the time we got home she was ready to go to bed and went to sleep right away.  I don't blame her though, holidays can be tiring!

On Easter, Kiley decided to be the devil at church.  I think it was because Dada wasn't there so, she figured she could act up.  Wrong! Mama put her foot down, well the little that I can because she is still a baby.  I took her outside first, then stood up with her in the back of the church the rest of the time...I was pretty relieved when it was time to go, only because I was a little embarrassed by how she was acting.  Let's pray that it can only go up from here!

Afterwards we went to my Nana and Papa's in Schulenburg with my Mom and Dad and played and played and played some more.  We took Easter pictures outside and then had a wonderful lunch, as always.  Kiley played on the floor with her toys and then we had a snack (yummy in my tummy banana pudding), and then we played some more on the floor and then we had supper.  The little stinker decided that she didn't want to miss out on a thing...so we never took a nap! Surprisingly, she wasn't fussy and entertained herself for most of the day.  The minute we headed home though, she was out!

Playing Peek-a-Boo with Pops.

Kiley, Nana, and Papa - Kiley's Great Grandparents.

I found it!

Nanna and Pops with Miss Kiley.

This Saturday is Kiley's party.  In case you don't know it has been moved to our house.  If you are able to come please bring lawn chairs! We are praying for some nice weather and calmer winds hopefully! Looking forward to visiting with everyone again! So, until then Gig Em' & God Bless!

One of Kiley's Biggest Fans

I have always been and always will be one of Kiley's biggest fans.  The other biggest fan is Jason, of course.  I didn't even know that I could love and admire someone so much, until we had Kiley (no offense babe).  I was her fan before I even met her - it was meant to be.  I say this, because I have probably well over a 1000 photos of our daughter and the pictures and albums are steadily growing in numbers! - and very quickly at that!

Each week I come on here and write about the new things Kiley has done.  And now I'm stunned by the thought that I am going to very soon be writing about our little Kiley's first birthday.  Knowing this, I have also felt the need to get as many pictures as possible this last few weeks.  Now don't get me wrong, just because Kiley is turning 1 doesn't mean that the pictures will slow, but my little baby is starting to look like a little girl now and well I'm just trying to capture the baby essense that she still has left. 

First of all let's start with this past weekend! We had family time at the lake, despite Dada having to work at night, we were able to spend the days together and really enjoy ourselves.  Friday, we left for the lake and while Nanna and Pops took Kiley with them to the grocery store, Jason taught me how to drive a jet ski! WOW! It was a little overwhelming because it was pretty choppy out there and we got water splashed on us (thanks Jason) which was VERY cold, but other than that we had a lot of fun! Once we got back to the house my parents and Kiley were back which made for a very nice evening eating at the house and just relaxing.  Saturday took us to Austin where we got to watch Trey (my cousin) who is a pitcher for Texas Tech pitch against Texas and win! It was great because I always like to see the Longhorns loose..; ) Kiley enjoyed herself because she was outside of course and all in all it was a great day!

Our weekend ended quietly, although very windy and we headed home that afternoon!

On Monday I got Kiley ready for pictures in Austin.  I wanted to have more professional pictures done of Kiley before her first birthday and had always planned on The Picture People doing the photos like they did for her 8 month birthday.  But, my plan went sour when I found out that they had closed their store in Austin.  I remembered seeing a photographer at the Arboretum that had caught my eye and decided to give him a call.  He said that he had young children himself and enjoys taking very natural, organic shots of individuals outside in the Arboretum park.  I thought, what the heck lets give it a shot! Nanna, Kiley and I loaded up with many outfits in hand (I couldn't decide) and drove up to Austin to see what this guy could do.  Kiley slept on the way up there, we grabbed a bite to eat, and she couldn't have been in a better mood! John didn't like to make Kiley do anything she didn't want to do.  If she was scared or about to cry he would just have us do something else.  He made it fun and got some really great photos.  It really helped that Kiley was outside and a lot of younger children were playing out there.  She loved that and kept pointing and shrieking with excitement at them and the squirrels.  The grass was soft so she didn't mind being put on the ground and of course everytime she saw a leaf she had to pick it up and show it to Nanna and Mama. That's my girl, very aware of everything you put her by!

I was so proud of her, she did so good and to her mommy and daddy, she is the most gorgeous baby we have ever seen!

So, on Tuesday we went to go see the Easter Bunny.  I was not to sure how this was going to go.  Kiley was not too happy to see Santa so, we were hoping that the Bunny might be different.  Boy was I wrong! When she first saw the Easter Bunny she began shrieking with excitement, "Aha!" "Aha!" and pointing at the bunny.  So, I'm thinking, "okay, so this is going to be a good picture."  Again, wrong! Once Daddy decides to take her closer to the bunny and then let her sit on the bunny...well, let's just say it went down hill from there! We tried to advert her attention, but she was just plain bawling and soooo upset.  They took the picture anyways, but I wasn't very happy with the result.  That's when I asked the lady if we could be in the picture too.  She agreed that was a good idea and Jason and I then sat by the bunny with Daddy protecting his baby by making sure she was no where near the bunny and we got a good shot! Although, it was not what I was planning to do this year, it did turn out to be a great photo. BUT I won't be putting it on the mantle anytime soon!

It's amazing what you will do once you have children...

This weekend is Easter, but also Kiley's last "first holiday." - I hope that makes sense.  The last celebration is her first birthday, but I know there will be many more first for her and many more wonderful holiday's to come! Until this weekend, Gig em' & God Bless!

Less than 1 Month Away..

Friday, we celebrated Kiley's 11 month birthday.  It blows my mind that we are less than one month away from her birthday.  My emotions about this specail occassion are mixed.  I am excited for her, but sad that our little one is growing so quickly.  I am blessed that I get to spend every day with Kiley and watch her grow and see all her firsts, but the days go by so fast it just seems like she is slipping right through our fingers.  Kiley has truly been a blessing to Jason and I.  Who could of thought that such a little baby could make our hearts be filled with so much love for her and one another!

Friday seemed to go by crazy fast again and I was running out of time to take pictures of Kiley.  We all have been battling this wind! and I was trying to think of a place where I could take pictures where we weren't having to deal with what seems like 30 mph gusts.  Well, since I couldn't come up with any ideas and time was clicking away I just took them in front of the house by our newly planted flowers! They actually turned out pretty cute and I was pretty pleased with them! Kiley always takes the best pictures outside because that's where she likes to spend most of her days.  She has also been very interested in picking out rocks from the plant beds and then putting them back where they go.  This entertains her for what seems like hours! I like calling her the "Rock Patrol" when she does this.  It seems like she has a plan for which ones need to be moved and the best place to put them back at! You'll see in these next few pictures she is picking rocks hard at work patroling...

We also went for our first kiddie pool swim this week! At first we were unsure about what we were doing with our clothes on in the water, but we quickly got a hang of it and had a ton of fun! I just love this swimsuit on her.  She looks like Pebbles from the Flintstones! She likes to hang on to a wash cloth whenever she is in the water, you will see it in the pictures.

After our swim we drove over to Nanna's for a girls pizza night.  Afterwards, we played on the floor and Nanna and Sonni (puppy) went outside to water some plants.  I asked Kiley where Nanna was? and she quickly crawled over to the door leading outside.  This is the shot I got of her looking for Nanna and Sonni.

Kiley pointing at Sonni and saying "A Dah!"

On a side note we are also trying to teach Kiley some sign language.  We started with how to sign "more." Now when Kiley is eating and is ready for more food she can sign to us that she is still hungry! It's amazing what these little ones can learn so quickly!

The party is less than 3 weeks away and we are looking forward to it! Just so you know if you have little ones, we will not be providing anything for entertainment so it would be great if they have some toys to play with! Hope everyone can make it out! But until then Gig em' & God Bless!



PARTY!

This week I sent out invitations for the upcoming party! We are looking forward to everyone coming and hope you all can make it to celebrate Kiley's first birthday on April 30! Please don't forget to RSVP!

Some fun facts - Kiley's first birthday is May 8 which is Mother's Day this year! and the picture I used for Kiley's invitation was taken by Bethany Behrens of KB Photography!

Even if you aren't an Aggie, you are still welcome to the party :) but please no UT clothes! j/k Be sure to come hungry...cake, cupcakes, candy, and hot dogs!

More details to come next week! Love to you all & Gig em'!!

Picture taken by Bethany Behrens.

Our Lil' Sunshine

I know it's been a while since I've written a blog.  I got LASIK a little over a week ago and the computer has been my enemy lately.  Don't worry I can see just fine, but the brightness of the screen blurs my vision still.  I was told that after 3 months everything would become crisp for me, but in the meantime my eyes are healing.  But, enough about me and more about Kiley!

Lately, the weather has been wonderful and when the weather is great our little Kiley is the happiest.  I've been trying to keep us outside most of the time, riding bikes, taking afternoon walks, swinging, and even eating supper outside.  The other evening my Mom and I got back late from Austin.  I decided that Jason, Kiley and I were going to have pizza for supper and I wanted to do it outside because she had been at daycare all day.  We went and picked up Kiley and the pizza and then we finally got home to eat supper with Dada.  We put toys outside for Kiley and took the pizza and drinks outside and just relaxed in the backyard on the grass.  It felt great outside and instead of the "grouchy" and Mama clingy Kiley I get after a full day of daycare we had a smiling little ray of sunshine sitting with us.  We were laughing so hard at her.  She didn't know what to do with her legs on that grass! She kept one leg up off of the ground the whole time while she sat on the grass.  Even if you pushed it down she would raise it back up.  What a character!

So, as the weeks pass I've been noticing that Kiley is a lot more talkative and has been expanding her baby vocabulary! Words we can say; Dada, Baba, Rara, and A Dah. Words we can't say; MAMA.

I've come to the conclusion that she doesn't know that my name is mama.  To make myself feel better I've been thinking that she believes that I'm dada and that's why she says it all the time.  Even if it isn't true, it does make me feel better! So the last word that she can say, A Dah, to Kiley this means dog.  Every morning when Zoe (my puppy) and I come into Kiley's room she points at Zoe and says, "A Dah."  When we go to Nanna's house and Sonni is there she says the same thing.  So, A Dah has got to mean dog to Miss Kiley.  Another thing we are doing new is pointing.  It is so cute and definitely helps me understand what she is talking about.  For instance, Kiley has a life size stuffed tiger in her room named Tony the Tiger.  Every morning I ask her, "Kiley, where is Tony?"  My little smarty pants points at the tiger and shrieks with excitement! She is starting to know everyone's names such as who Zoe and Sonni are, Nanna, Pops, and Dada, but when it comes to someone asking Kiley where Mama is? Yeah, no response! Oh well, hopefully it will come, but this only justifies my reasoning that she knows me as Dada too!

Friday, Kiley and I goofed off in Austin in the morning.  We did a little shopping and went to one of the parks and then ate lunch.  I really enjoyed our Mommy, daughter time together!  She is really laid back and loves to go places as much as Mommy does.  She makes it so easy to have fun and just enjoy the time I have with her while she is a baby.  Every day holds something special and another wonderful memory I have of my little girl.  At lunch that day she was so ticklish.  I couldn't help myself, I had to keep tickling her! I love hearing her laugh and that day she was laughing so hard she couldn't catch her breath! Just thinking about it makes me smile - she is such a love bug!

Last Sunday we spent time at the lake.  The first picture is the one I took right out of the dock.  The next picture was about 5 minutes later.  Lets just say the boat does wonders for naps!

I've been working on Kiley's upcoming party for a while now and it is fast approaching...hoping to get some more done this week but, until I write again, Gig em' & God Bless!