Kids Say the Darn-dest (and sweetest, most gut-wrenching) Things

Most of you know that in January of this year, Jeff's father passed away after having a total knee surgery. Well, ever since then, when I say prayers with Kenden at night before bedtime, the last thing we always say is "watch over Granddaddy up in Heaven". So last night, I had gotten Kenden's bath ready and he was in the office with Jeff. I walked in to get him and when I picked him up, he noticed that all these pictures were scrolling across the computer screen. Jeff has his screen set to show all the pics we've ever loaded onto the computer to flash up, one by one for about 5 seconds each, as the screen saver. Kenden and I were talking about each picture as it came up, like who was in the picture, and what everyone in the picture was doing. Up pops a picture of Jeff's dad, JC, holding Kenden when he was about 4 months old, and I said, "Look, it is Kenden with Grandddaddy" and as soon as those words left my mouth, Kenden pipes up with "Up in Heaven". Jeff and I just looked at each other, jaws dropped, both teary eyed. I am still floored as I type this....I guess it just goes to show that children know and understand more than they let on or communicate sometimes. Kenden has a special angel up in Heaven...his Granddaddy.....

Kenden and Blake have a Playdate!

Our friends Kelly, Sam and Blake Jennings came over for dinner and just to hang out last night! The boys had a great time together (Kenden and Blake) playing and eating dinner together! The other "boys" had a good time playing with Jeff's new car...haha! Anyway, it is so neat to see Kenden and Blake, who are only a year apart in age almost to the day, starting to really play together! And Kenden was so excited the "baby Blake" was coming to play that he kept asking, "Mommy, where is Baby Blake? He not here yet?!" I was so cute. They had a great time and Blake schooled Kenden on how to eat a variety of food!! Hope we can have more playdates soon! The first thing that Kenden talked about this morning was that "Kelwee, Sam, and Baby Blake" were here last night!

Jeff and Sam were watching college football in the den while the boys were eating dinner, and since Blake already knows the "touchdown" signal, he and Kenden started throwing their arms up everytime they heard the crowd cheer on TV, thinking that one of the teams scored a TOUCHDOWN!

Dada's Got a New Toy...

Jeff has been contemplating for a while (ever since he saw the new Ford Shelby GT500 Cobra) on whether to get rid of his Ford Mustang Saleen or not....well, he bit the bullet and did it...Grabber Orange with Ebony Racing Stripes. Out with the old, in with the new! Kenden is DELIGHTED with Daddy's new toy...

Drivin' Dada's Fast Car!



The Old....


.....VS. The NEW....

Thanksgiving Day at the Turners' House!

What a great day we had on Thursday! So much to be thankful for....we had a house full of people, from both sides of the family, as well as our friend, Ken Sellars, who'd had knee surgery the day before and was unable to make the trip to Northern VA to be with his family! He is like family to us, though, so the more the merrier! Mom and I decided to take the easy route this year and NOT make everything from scratch....all the food was WONDERFUL though! Thanks so much to everyone who brought something and helped make our job here easier, and the day tastier. The weather was beautiful, perfect for the "boys" to sit outside, deep frying our 2 turkeys! Kenden got to play outside quite a bit and as more people arrived, his excitement level continued to grow! Thank goodness he took his nap that day because even with the nap, by bedtime, he was in rare form!

Grammie, Papa, Tim, Carrie, Mommy, Daddy, and Kenden

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CHOW TIME BABY!!!



Hope that everyone had a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving, no matter how big or small your celebration! I think in light of the loss of Jeff's father early this year, we realize that although he is SO greatly missed, we should all be thankful for one another and the time we have together. Enjoy your friends and family and be THANKFUL for them!

Happy Thanksgiving Friends and Family

Just wanted to take a quick minute to wish all our friends and family a very Happy Thanksgiving. If you are travelling, please drive safely. Enjoy the company you are with. I am thankful for each and every one of you. Can't wait to hear how all your holiday festivities go tomorrow! Eat lots of turkey and have fun! Love to all! The Turners, Amber, Jeff and Kenden

Thanksgiving Celebration at Big Boy School (AKA Goddard)!!

Today was Goddard's big Thanksgiving Celebration! The kids all brought food in and sat down to have Thanksgiving dinner (lunch) together at 11:30! I made Mac and Cheese, even though my son won't touch the stuff...the other kids seemed to love it! ha! I took Kenden this morning and came back to help the teacher and take pics of the kids eating together. When I got there at 11:45, Ms. Dawn had them all seated at the table and they were adorable. The menu consisted of rolls, turkey and cheese twists, mac and cheese, green beans, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mixed fruit, apple pie, and chocolate chip cookies. What a sweet sight to see when I showed up and all 11 children were seated at the table, patiently waiting to be served! So adorable! What a great memory for me!

Kenden's First REAL Haicut!

Yesterday, I took Kenden to get his very first REAL haircut at a salon! I have trimmed around the edges...around his ears, nape of his neck....but never really had it cut. I decided that the back and top were looking pretty shaggy and beyond what I could control with scissors without really jacking his hair up! Kenden did so good! He waited his turn so patiently, then when it was his turn, he sat in the chair and let the stylist trim with the clippers and scissors! He got a lollipop at the end and a card with a lock of his hair in it, commemorating his first big boy cut! He was so proud of himself and is already ready to go again! I had to explain that he had to let his hair grow some first before we could go back! These are pics of him post-cut!

CARS

Kenden is OBSESSED with the movie CARS these days! If I let him, he'd watch it from the moment he gets up, to naptiime, then do it again once he gets up from nap until he goes to bed! He repeats lines from the movie now, like, "No TIRES, Just GAS!" and "Tractors is so DUMB!" Here he is sitting on the couch last Friday evening while Daddy was out of town, watching CARS with all his matchbox sized friends from the movie.

"Applesauce" and Pee-Pee!

Today has been a big day in terms of using the potty! After naptime, Kenden insisted that he needed to "go potty" and said, "Need to take my diapee off!". So we did...and he strained a bit....and made a very tiny, soupy poo (I know, too much information), but what makes it REALLY funny was, when he did it, he looked down, then looked up at me with MUCH surprised and said, "APPLESAUCE! Applesauce like in the cup!" I thought I was going to fall on the floor laughing. Then, we went to call Dada to tell him our big "potty news" and as soon as I put Kenden on the phone and told him to tell Dada what he did, he said "Did applesauce in the potty dada!" I could hear Jeff laughing on the phone! Kenden was right...It did look a lot like applesauce...

Moving on to bathtime and bedtime....I told Kenden it was time to take a bath and he took off like a shot down the hall, yelling "Need to potty, need to potty!" So, off we went, into the bedroom, take off the clothes, and onto the potty, where he proceeds to strain really hard, only to have nothing to come out....he was quite upset, saying, "Applesauce, applesauce!" in a desperate, whiny voice. So I told him, "Kenden, I don't think you are going to make anymore applesauce poopy tonight. But, can you make pee-pee come out of your po-po? See if you can make some pee-pee come out!" And as if on command, he started to pee!!!! And he kept on going...I was so proud of him!! I am going to have to start calling him Mr. Potty-Man now, because he is all about the potty!!

Oh, the things we rejoice about when we become parents....the little things mean a lot!

Poopy on the Potty...Poopy on the Potty! (to the tune of the Conga Line Song)...

The joy and pleasure only a Mother can understand...today, I was in the bathroom, doing my "business" and this has become somewhat of a big deal for Kenden, especially since he and I went to Babies R Us about a week and a half ago and bought his very own "Big Boy" potty...then he got a cute school bus potty from his Great Gran and Grandad...anyway, back to the story at hand. I was doing "my thing" and he was all over me, which is sort of annoying and distracting when you are trying to "go". So I asked him what he was doing and he said, "Looking for Mommy's po-po!" Well, of course I started laughing so hard that I about fell off the pot. I told him that only he and Daddy have po-pos and mommy doesn't have a po-po. In between all this madness, he kept running to his potty and sitting on it. He then announced, "Want to take my pants off". I told him that I couldn't help him yet, but I encouraged him to "hold it" and we'd take the potty to his bathroom and try to go potty since I needed to change him anyway. I finished, grabbed him and the potty and took off down the hall. I kept reminding him to hold it and that he was going to get to go pee pee on the potty like a big boy. Pants down, onesie undone, diaper off...check....place kid on potty, check...Lo and Behold, Kenden went for the gusto and did a very small poopy on the potty!!!! HALLELUJAH!!! No pee this time, but he was sooooooooo excited to look down and see the "fruits of his labor"! He was pointing and saying, "want to wipe!". I wiped him, then gave him a new wipe so he could try! He was so proud and once I dumped everything in the REAL potty, I let him flush and we waved bye to his poo!! How funny!!

Daddy Watchin' Football....

Jeff went to Columbia, SC, this weekend with Crazy Uncle Jim to see the Gamecocks play football and stay at our friends', the Harmons, house. So, I told Kenden yesterday that Daddy went on the Big Airplane to see Mr. Greg and go watch football. We talked about it a bit all day yesterday. This morning, I went into his room to get him up to start the day, and the first thing out of his mouth this morning was, "Hi Mommy! Daddy not here. Daddy watchin' football with Mr. Greg!" Not only was it funny to hear him say that, it is amazing that a child this young remembers that sort of thing.

He was very excited both last night and this morning to get to talk to Daddy on the phone. He said, "Hi Daddy! I watchin' CARS movie on TV with Mommy!". He also proceeded to tell Daddy that we went to Target and got some new CARS toys with his gift card. He loves to talk on the phone now! He does not get that from me, though...I hate talking on the phone and avoid it all costs in most cases....HOWEVER, his father has his cell phone surgically attached at all times, so Kenden comes by it honestly!

Kenden's 2 Year Well Check

Today was Kenden's 2 year well baby check up! He did soooooo good at the doctor. I was very proud of him. He got 2 shots today, the hep B and Flu shot, and didn't cry for either one. He had the finger prick for hemoglobin prior to the shots and was so preoccupied with not wanting the Band-Aid on his finger, he barely batted an eyelash during the shots! He weighed 28 pounds 3 ounces (50th percentile) and was 36 1/2 inches tall (95th percentile)! So needless to say, he is TALL, but honestly, I don't care about those numbers, I just like that he is healthy and growing! All of the infections he's had lately are clearing up now, thank goodness (sinus infection, ear infection, eye infection). He goes back in a month for the Flu Booster shot. And hopefully, he will stay well for a while so we don't have to go back. He's been to the doctor 4 times since Mid-September, so it is getting a little old!

Hello? Uh,Yeah, I Poopy!

Kenden has become very fond of pretending to talk on the phone lately! He sees us doing it all the time and even has an old cell phone he likes to carry here and there and a few that make noise and such. Today, I put him down for a nap and 40 minutes later, he still was not asleep, so since he's had some diarrhea with this infection he has, I decided I better go in and check on him. Sure enough, he had a poopy diaper and couldn't get comfortable to settle down and sleep. When I took him out of his crib, he said, "Bring my phone?" to which I said, "Sure!" It was something he could play with while I changed him, after all. I laid him down to change him, and as I was opening his diaper, he put the phone up to his ear and said, "Hello? (Pause as if he is listening on the other line) Uh, Yeah, I Poopy!" Oh my gosh!! I BURST out laughing and was laughing so hard, he started laughing! It was hysterical. It was like he was telling someone he had a poopy diaper! This kid is a hot mess!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Unfortunately, Kenden is sick yet again and was running a fever yesterday, so we didn't take him trick or treating. Instead, we dressed him up and let him hang out on the porch and help us hand out candy! He sure did make a cute little pirate, despite the fever and all! He wouldn't wear his real pirate hat, so we had to settle for the skull and crossbones skull cap since it was chilly out.




Hangin' on the front porch! Notice him holding his ears....that is what you get when you live in a fly-over zone near the Naval Base down here! ha!




A couple pics of Kenden with his buddy across the street, Luke the Lion! They were so excited to see each other and looked so cute together!



Hope everyone had a safe, and very Happy Halloween!