Busy Girl...;)

My last post was all about Kaleb, so I thought I would post about what Kallie girl has been up to. She, naturally, does not do much! But, she has started staying awake a little longer, so we are able to see some of her personality. She LOVES her big brother and cannot take her eyes off of him when he's around. (although, when his volume reaches a certain level, some of these looks may be glares!)

Being a girlie girl, I of course take every opportunity to dress her up! This outfit was sent to us by the Lankfords! Kallie wore it to Mrs. D's Hair shop!


Here she is chillin' with her brother!



She has gotten sooo strong! She loves to watch Kaleb from her boppy pillow!

She ended up falling asleep like this for about an hour! In the middle of the living room floor!

Unfortunately, that's all I have of her right now. I am sure there will be many more pics to come! --I better go get some sleep before she wakes back up!!

Busy Boy

I know that maternity leave is an important time to bond with the new baby, but let's be honest, she sleeps a lot!! So, I have gotten to spend some much needed time with Kaleb! He is growing so fast! I cannot believe how smart he is! I am not one of those crazy moms that is forcing education on him, (I have not bought My Baby Can Read...) but we do work in learning while playing. He already knows red, blue, green, and yellow, circle, square, star, triangle, and the letter K- without fail all of the time! He is also beginning to mimic everything we do. The best is when grown ups are talking and laughing and he overly exaggerates the laugh!

I could go on and on, but there is not enough time! So, I have added some pictures to let you know what else he has been up to!

Here he is trying on some of Kallie's clothes ;) He is working on putting on his own pants, so one day, while I was changing Kallie, I heard him say, "I did it" and turned to see this-


Kaleb LOVES his baby sister. Here he is pretending to nap with her!

...teaching her about the trains on Chuggington...

...and talking to her! "Hi Kayi (Kallie)"

One morning, after much laughter from over the monitor, Kaleb came into the living room like this--he wore this "hat" all morning!

Kevin caught the next two pics one morning at breakfast. He had his back to Kaleb and heard him say, "drink". When he turned around this is what he saw!

He is such a big boy! He didn't dump it everywhere--some ran down the chin--but that's the fun of drinking your cereal milk!

This year we went to the Christmas tree farm and cut down our own tree! Here is Kaleb helping daddy cut down our tree! (I HIGHLY recommend this experience to everyone! We got a 7 foot tree for $25.)

and finally, Kaleb was in the Madisonville Christmas Parade! Unfortunately, we didn't get any good pictures of him on the float, but here he is with Grandma Kay and Aunt Nay before!

As I said, he has been one busy boy! (and I have been one tired Mommy!) I am so thankful for this time at such a wonderful age!

Big Brother Kaleb

Throughout my entire pregnancy with Kallie I wondered about a lot of things. One of the least stressful thoughts was the one about what kind of a big brother Kaleb was going to be. He is such a sweet boy, but he has never really had to share... Would he be able to handle someone else getting our attention? Because he was still so young throughout the pregnancy, we couldn't really teach him, or prepare, him for what was about to happen. We tried! And sometimes we would get him to point to my tummy when we asked him where Kallie was, but it did not seem likely that he would understand until the baby arrived.

Well, now one month later we have the BEST big brother around! He talks to Kallie and asks to hold her all of the time! There is nothing more precious than hearing him say, "hay baybay--hold hold".

I caught a great video of him talking to Kallie this morning. Notice how he keeps repeating the word "truck". Just before this video was shot he was trying to convince Kevin to take him out in the truck. I think he is trying to teach Kallie the word so they can gang up on us!

I also got some cute pics!

I think this one looks like she's talking back!

Kaleb, you are my sweet boy and I love you so much! Thank you for being such a kind, loving big brother!

Kallie's First Real Bath!

Thanksgiving day brought us a little more to be thankful for...Kallie lost her umbilical stump! So, we were finally going to be able to get a real bath!! Unfortunately, it came off early in the morning while we were getting ready to go to Granny's for Thanksgiving, so bath time was going to have to wait! So, finally Saturday morning we were able to have bath time!

I think the picture above speaks for itself! Kallie LOVES bath time!!

Kallie Joann Strong

(ok. I know I am behind but remember, I now have a newborn and a toddler)

On November 2nd, at 9:19 am, we welcomed our second precious baby into the world. Kallie Joann is perfect--weighing in at 7lbs 11 oz and 19 in long.



Big brother Kaleb couldn't be happier! (Here he's saying, "baby" and blowing her kisses!)

This is probably the best picture ever! I only wish Kaleb had been there!

I will get some more posts put together with more pictures. In the short two weeks since birth Kallie has already changed so much! I just wanted to get something on here documenting her arrival!

Here's what I am workin with!

So, 38 weeks...with Kaleb this was the appointment that my water broke. I went to the Dr. this morning with a part of me hoping that history would repeat itself. I know that I want Kallie to cook all of the way, but I keep thinking about Kaleb and how perfect he was...and about how much my back hurts, my legs hurt, my bladder hurts...But, everything was normal and we are still looking for Kallie's arrival to be next Tuesday, November 2nd!

But, as you can probably tell from the picture above, I am about to pop! To make everything a little more unbearable, I am the only one left. Nine months ago I found out that I was pregnant. Not too long after, I found out that 5 other girls I am friends with were also expecting. We were all due within two or three weeks of eachother. Well, one delivered last week (3 weeks early and thankfully, doing very well), two delivered today and the other two are scheduled to be induced tomorrow. And I am still pregnant. No inducement scheduled. No dialation. No water breakage. Just pregnant. I know that God has his own plans and I shouldn't question them, but I need to whine just a little!

Ok--whining over! Less than a week to go!

What has Kaleb been up to??

I have gotten some really cute pics of Kaleb lately, so I wanted to share! So, here's a little bit of what Kaleb has been up to lately!

He still LOVES to eat! Macaronni and Beef in tomato sauce is probably one of his favorites! He knows where it is in the pantry and will go get it out when he wants some!! Notice that he is also doing a great job feeding himself!


He is learning how to turn flips...

...how to box...

...and of course, how to wrestle!

All of which lead to bruises and bumps on the head! (this particular evening, I think he had 4 hard hits in the head and ended up with one goose egg, two bruises and a slightly blackened eye) He has the unfortunate combination of his Daddy's toughness and his Mommy's clumsiness!

He has also learned to "talk" to Daddy through the baby monitor!

And, he is working really hard on figuring out coloring!

At 18 months, I guess he is doing everything you would expect! Being a typical, crazy boy! We will see how he handles the added role of being a big brother!

Kallie's Room

So, minus a few minor details, Kallie's room is finished! I knew with Kaleb that I was missing out on getting to spend the last part of the pregnancy putting a nursery together. But, with us living in the duplex and knowing that we would be moving within a few months of Kaleb's birth, there just was no point in putting a nursey together. It wasn't until I finished Kallie's room that I realized how much I missed having this for Kaleb. I mean, we did put together a nursey in this house for him, and it was adorable, but I never quite finished it and it never looked like I really wanted it to. Well, this time I did! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way it turned out!




I was really excited about how well my maternity pictures fit in!


We still have to adjust the curtain rods, but the general idea is there at least! I also love the way that my rocking chair turned out! Mom and Granny recovered the blue one that was bought to match Kaleb's nursery! Kevin picked out the fabric!! I was extremely suprised that it matched so well!!


I still need some little things for the shadow boxes and shelf...

Of course, we may still need some clothes! The top row is newborn to 3 months only! The second row is 3-6 months and the baskets in the middle have all of her pajamas...

I am truly blessed to have had so much help from Kevin and Gammie in completing this room! Now, if we could just have Kallie here to complete it!!

Wow...

So, it's been a while! I don't want to get anyone's hopes up that this post is going to lead to more consistant posting, but I do want you to know that I think about posting a lot! I logged in just to change my background so Mom would quit complaining, and started reading the posts from just before I had Kaleb. Wow...it's funny how much you forget! The best thing was reading a post from the Monday before I gave birth on Friday. It was good to look back and remember that I was experiencing the same things then as I am now. However, I have been experiencing all of them for much longer now!

Kallie will be here is 25 days. Wow. That seems like a good amount of time, but it really isn't! Another post I read from the month prior to Kaleb, was about how prepared I was for him to arrive. More than a month in advance, I already had everything organized, decorated and ready. Less than a month to go with Kallie and well, let's just say this weekend needs to be VERY productive!

My list of ailments is still very similar!
-indigestion
-not sleeping consistantly through the night
-sharp, shooting pains through my hips
-sharp, shooting pains through my "down there area"
-shortness of breath
-swollen ankles
-lower back achiness
Basically, I am not sure that there is a part of me that does not hurt!

But, it is all going to be worth it! I know I said that a lot (as everyone does) while I was pregnant with Kaleb, but I am not sure that I was convinced back then! Luckily, this time I know that it is true! I cannot wait to hold sweet baby Kallie!

Yay for Summer!!

Summer is officially here! For Kaleb's birthday Uncle Darren and Aunt Kaitlyn got him a super cool swimming pool. We have been anxiously awaiting the heat that means swimming! Well, it is definitely here! Kaleb has had the best time playing in his pool with Daddy!!

It's gonna be a great summer!!

Outside Boy!

I have been on spring break this week and have been so happy to have beautiful weather! Kaleb is finally big enough to play outside, and boy have we taken advantage of this! Mom has been working on both of our yards and flower beds, so we have taken this opportunity to be outside!

And, becuase he is a true little boy, dirt has been absolutely fascinating to Kaleb. He just couldn't get enough of this cool, gritty, dirty stuff!

So, we poured dirt on our head...

...into our lap...

...and had to spit out what made it into our mouth!


We then were perfectly content with sitting in a bucket playing with a bowl full of dirt!

By day two he was completely comfortable in the flower bed...

and even decided that he knew better and could give Gammie some pointers on her weeding.

I am so glad that Kaleb loves to be outside!!

Even if it does mean mandatory baths before bedtime!