Stout Central

Ok, so it's been like a month and a half since I've even posted anything here. I have skipped Christmas entirely...maybe I'll get some Christmas pics up on here next time. Kaelyn turned the big 1.0 on Wednesday. We had a fun filled day of present opening, playing, and for dinner we went to Chuck E Cheese. She was a little scared of some of the "rides" and loud games there, and she kept a watchful eye on the Chuck E Cheese band to make sure they didn't come to get her...but other than that I think she had fun. She liked the band from a distance, just not close up. I admit, they're a little scary. We went to Chicago for Christmas for 2 weeks & actually celebrated her birthday there, so it felt like she turned one a few weeks ago. Other than that, she has just been enjoying all her new toys & playing with her friends mostly. She's getting into lots of stuff & puts everything in her mouth, so I've been having to keep the house cleaner, which is a good thing.

Trying a birthday brownie. This was her first taste of chocolate. I'm not into the whole smash cake, big mess deal. I know I'm boring...maybe birthday #2.

She wasn't too sure she liked it at first.

Then she decided she really did like it and kept grabbing for more.

Riding in the Bob the Builder bulldozer. It was a little too scary for her...what a baby.

I had to practically get in there with her. I probably would've busted the thing

Kaelyn and Rehan watching the band from their highchairs.

The Chuck E Cheese band. It think they were taking a break. Slackers.

Eating her new outfit from Aunt Joanne. I think that means she likes it, not sure.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thanksgiving Weekend

Well, this weekend did not turn out to be the fun, family weekend I had hoped it would be. Kaelyn has woken up each night for the past 4 nights at around 2 am and been up until 5 am. This has made for lots of bad moods and overtiredness around here. Up until last week she was sleeping for 12 hours straight. What's the deal?! I think she's teething or something. Whatever it is, I hope it ends soon. But, she's still cute - so she's got that going for her. Here are some of the latest pictures. Also, we redid our downstairs bathroom a couple of weeks ago & it looks so much better now. We ripped up some hideous blue stick down vinyl tiles & put down 2" square tiles that we thought would look age appropriate to the house. We also painted.

Here is our bathroom once we pulled up the stick-down tiles. Pretty gross. There was real tile underneath the vinyl ones.

Here's what it looks like now. We painted the walls too. They were just white before.

She can practically fold in half!

Standing up all by herself. Mommy's little pole dancer.

In her Thanksgiving PJ's. I cheated and took this the day after turkey day because she was pouty all Thanksgiving day - not many photo ops.

Dishing up Kaelyn's first Thanksgiving dinner. She didn't like much of it, and this was one of the few smiles we got from her all day - she's teething and wasn't very happy that day.

Cooking for Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Crazy girl videos

Ok, let me first explain these videos before you think they we are all just a bunch of crazy people (well, we are a LITTLE crazy, I'll admit). We took the first video tonight...Kaelyn and Barry got into this like 20 minute scream fest where they just kept laughing and screaming at eachother, and the longer they did it, it just got funnier and funnier and more out of control. Plus, it's just fun to get her wound up - even though it was right before her bedtime (not usually a good idea), but it seemed to wear her out and she actually fell right asleep. My favorite part is the clenched fists every time she gets super excited. 2nd video is Barry spinning her around and trying to show her "crazy eyes" while she was spinning. He did this spinning thing with her a few times, and at the end she would always just put her head very gently on Barry's chest (probably because she was going to be sick), but it was very cute.

Friday, October 31, 2008

New Foods

For the most part, Kaelyn will eat just about anything. So, it has been awhile since she has eaten something and been truly disgusted by it. I gave her cottage cheese for the first time the other night and she actually gagged on it, that's how bad it was. However, it did make for a very funny video. Poor thing.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Halloween parties galore

Well, we've been going to lots of celebrations with Kaelyn. One of Kaelyn's little friends had a 1 year birthday party (we have another one this week too) & we've had several Halloween events already. It's so cute. Our neighborhood had a Halloween parade for all the kids. The fire dept came out and led the parade around the block. It was too cute. We all paraded around the block & waved to onlookers & then ended at a neighbors house and had cider and yummy snacks. It was really great. Then my moms group had a big Halloween party this weekend, as well as Barry's work had trick-or-treating that we went to. It's all been a lot of fun & I think Kaelyn has really enjoyed herself. She had her 9 month doctors appt this week - she is 29 3/4 inches high (98%) and weighs 18lbs. 10oz. which is actually less than I thought she weighed. Barry's mom & aunt are still here visiting & we went to Salem yesterday to check out the Halloween events, which is always fun.

Kaelyn among all her Halloween gear

At the irobot Halloween party

At our neighborhood parade - it was COLD!

Kaelyn & Oyon her little buddy

All the neighbors and their little ones - so cute!

Kaelyn & Austin

Kaelyn, Mia & Caleb

My mom's group party - can you find us in the lower right corner?

Here's Kaelyn with Liam at his 1 year birthday party.

Party animal

Chilling out in bed on our anniversary trip to RI

Don't they look soooo cozy? I unfortunately had to get up and start packing up the room. Must be nice to be a baby & daddy.

WaterFire in Providence. Those are flames on the water. Check out the state building in the background lit up in pink for breast cancer awareness month. It looked better close up, but you get the idea.

All she did was chew on this thing when I got her in it.

Hope this doesn't mean she's going to be a rug muncher.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

2nd tooth, anniversary weekend

Let's see...this weekend marked our 10 year wedding anniversary. We went to Providence RI just for the night. We wanted to get away, but not go far since we were bringing the baby. I wanted to go to Providence because I had heard good things about their WaterFire display and this weekend was their last display of the season. They light hundreds of huge torches along the river and there was a jazz fest going on, lots of vendors with crafts, food & drinks. There was also a Breast Cancer Awareness fundraiser & special torch lighting along with the event - all in all, it was really pretty, but way too crowded to be pushing a stroller around. There had to be at least 20-30,000 people around. It was out of control. If I had to do it again, I would pick a less busy WaterFire & stay a minimum of 2 nights - 1 was just not worth our while to lug all of Kaelyn's stuff! The hotel we stayed at was awesome though & the location was perfect - right across from the state house & a block from WaterFire. They lit up the state house in pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month. I put pics up soon, but not tonight...so check back. Then Kaelyn got her 2nd tooth Saturday as well. After this, I think it's going to be awhile til we see more teeth. Here are some videos we have taken in the past week.

Kaelyn clapping. She is also showing off a card she made for daddy that day - it's an outline of her hands making a big "hug" for daddy.

This is us trying to check out her tooth - unsuccessfully. Instead it just looks like we're torturing her. She kept sticking out her tongue every time Barry made her smile, but she of course didn't do it the same here on the video. But it's still cute, as long as you know we're NOT torturing her!

This is last weeks video turned right side up as per several requests from grandparents.

She loves to do daddy drop zone. Isn't her hat cute?!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Kaelyn gets a tooth!!

Yesterday Kaelyn got her very first tooth! It only took her 8 months and a week. I think the second one will pop up very shortly also. She's had these 2 giant bumps under her gums that you can tell were her teeth - for like 2 months now. But that first one finally showed up - she's growing up so fast, I can't stand it. I want her to grow up, but I also want her to stay this sweet, innocent baby forever. She does so many funny things. We just sit and laugh at her all day long. My parents just left yesterday. They had been here for the past week. We had a great time. It's always sad when they leave, but then I found a great price on airline tickets for Christmas, so we have that to look forward to which is very exciting. I really wanted Kaelyn's first Christmas to be with all the family.

We went to the Crane Estate this weekend with my parents. It was a great house & the grounds are beautiful. But it was rainy and foggy so we couldn't see much, but still fun.

Kaelyn rode for the first time in these little stroller cars. She caught on right away and was turning the steering wheel and really acted like she knew what she was doing. Scary.

Love that smile girl!

Kaelyn and mommy just hanging out.

We don't know why Kaelyn does this, but she keeps bopping her head in a pecking motion. This started last week. She's a wierd one - truly a Stout/McEvilly combo. I think it's cute though, and pretty funny.