Indoor Camping!

I bought this cute little pop-tent 2 summers ago, when Kenden was about 7 months old, with the anticipation of using it at the beach. NOT. We went to the beach a grand total of one time that summer (before the tent), and last year, we went 2 times. Wooo-hoo. Sooooo, needless to say, this was a waste of money and has been sitting in the garage for almost 2 years. I decided to bring it in the house to see if Kenden would like to use it like a fort. He jumped in and rolled around in it long enough for me to snap two pics, then he was done...the tent is still a waste of money, but it made for a couple of cute pics!

Quack, Quack DADA!!

Tonight was a gym night for Jeff and I, so as usual Kenden was there with us, entertaining the normal gym crew with his 2 year old antics. Jeff watches Kenden while I lift, then we trade off and I take Kenden home with me. Kenden and I usually stick around while Dada changes into his gym clothes from his work clothes, then we walk out to the car together. Tonight, Jeff came out and said to Kenden, "Did you put this in my shoe?" and holds up a small rubber ducky that he'd gotten from Anya's birthday party the other day! Kenden started laughing and said, "yes dada". Jeff looked at me and said he'd been trying to get the shoe on and couldn't figure out what was going on, then he reached in and there was the rubber ducky!! Kenden must have been pretty pleased with his work, because he said to me on the way home, "Dada had that duck in his shoe. Dat was funny!"

Anya's First Birthday Party

Today, we went and celebrated our god daughter Anya's First Birthday at her kiddie gym called Little Gym! Her real birthday is this upcoming Tuesday. Anya is the daughter of our very good friend Ivan (Uncle Ivan to Kenden) and his girlfriend Kari! So hard to believe she is already one. We had such a nice time there and Kenden had a ball playing with all the kids there, like his buddy, Baby Blake and some of the older boys, such as Anya's brother Ashton and his friends. Kenden thinks he's already 5 and a half like Ashton, so he tried his best to keep up with them!

The Birthday Girl, ANYA!! Happy 1st Birthday Anya!


Rough-Housing with Uncle Ivan and Daddy during the Party!



Running down the bouncy track with Mommy! Whoa! So much FUN!!


Baby Blake Takes a Turn!


Watch Out Birthday Girl Anya!


The Whole Birthday Party Crew....


You are getting VERY sleepy.....Kenden+No Nap=Very Tired

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope you all are having a great day...exchanging cards, eating candy....all that fun stuff. I decided for the first time today to roll out and bake sugar cookies with Kenden, then once they cooled, decorate them with confectioner's sugar icing. He and I had a great time! Good thing we are the only ones eating these cookies because Kenden was licking the icing on the knives we used to ice the cookies and putting it back into the bowl to use more icing! GERMS! Oh well! Next time, I will go through the trouble to make my own dough though...that ready to bake stuff is not great. Oh well. I don't need to be eating that stuff anyway!

Mom, this is so much fun!


Using Cookie Cutters for the First Time...



Putting the Icing on the Cookie (Instead of the Cake)...


TA-DA! The finished products! YUM-O!!

Virginia Aquarium

Hey, Fishy, Fishy, Fishy.....


Checking out the Bull Sharks and Nerf Sharks



Last Thursday, Kenden and I went to the Virginia Aquarium (formerly the Virginia Marine Science Museum) for a couple hours after his My Gym class. It had been awhile since I'd taken Kenden since he didn't seem to interested the last time (well, he was only 16 months old...walking was top priority at the time). This time was a totally different story! We had a blast looking at all the cool stuff: stingrays, sharks, horseshoe crabs, sea turtles, and a slew of other totally cool fish. Unfortunately, they are doing a lot of construction right now, so some of the exhibits were closed, but we still had a super time. Kenden is still talking about the stingrays at the aquarium, especially since we were able to pet them! We even got a stuffed stingray at the gift shop, who is currently taking up residence in bed with Kenden each night!

Playing in the mock submarine hull...."Sea Captain Kenden, Do you read? Come in Sea Captain Kenden!"

Mom, Did You Forget Me!?

Kenden went to "Big Boy" school (Goddard) today and I usually drop him off around 8:45 and pick him up around 12:30 to 12:40, right after they finish lunch. Today, I was at home and got a call from my best friend Hilary. We talked for a bit and I didn't get off the phone until about 12:35. Since it takes me about 10 minutes to get to Goddard, I was running a little later than I normally do. Well, my son must have thought I had forgotten him and that he was going to have to stay, because when I showed up around 12:45 and all the kids in the class were settled on their nap mats, with the lights off, ready for their naps, MY son was sitting at the round table (where he usually waits for me while reading a book or doing a puzzle) crying his eyes out. Boy, was he relieved to see me! I looked at Ms. Centura and we both had to laugh, because every other day, Kenden is dying to stay and gives me a fit about not leaving...not today...once he realized that staying wouldn't be all it cracked up to be, he was ready to leave! He kept saying, "I want to leave mommy! Da lights went out and scared me!" He did not like the idea that he might have to stay there!

It didn't help that I realized upon our arrival home that he was running a 99.3 temperature, and it was 102.5 after naptime and that was WITH motrin...guess what I will be doing tomorrow? Can you say, "Dr. Feldman"? Either way, I think the low temp when I picked him up had him out of sorts, too....poor guy....

Delsym Cough Medicine=Crack for Kids!

Kenden has had a nasty cough the past few days...nose not too runny, but the cough sounded painful. He has been to the doctor so much since September that I was trying to wait it out to take him again to see if he can get through this one himself, especially since he seems so normal in every other way. He hasn't even had a fever. In the past when he's had a cough, I have given him the cough syrup called Delsym. It works for 12 hours and tastes good (great for kids with a sensitive gag reflex like Kenden), however when he was younger, I noticed that the more I gave it to him back to back (meaning every 12 hours for a couple days), the more "wigged out" he would get. This time around though, since he's older and heavier now, I felt like I could try it again safely and hopefully he wouldn't be acting too crazy. WRONG. For the past 2 days, I have been trying to figure out why he isn't falling asleep easily....tonight, Jeff and I were talking and I said, "Well, guess I am going to have to stop giving him that Delsym again!" As I said this, we were watching him on our closed circuit camera system in his room, literally throwing stuff out of the crib and running in circles, jumping up and down, laying down and vigorously kicking the crib....CRAZY. Delsym=kid's crack! My kid is "buggin' out"!!!! NO MORE OF THAT! I guess there is a reason why the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has issued warnings about kids' cold meds...sheesh.....

Congratulations Uncle Tim and Aunt Carrie!

We got some exciting news tonight when we went to dinner with my parents, brother and his wife, Carrie....they are expecting their first baby in September! Carrie hasn't been to the doctor yet and won't go for about another week, so that is when we'll have an exact due date. My parents knew for about a week, but had to keep it a secret from Jeff and I so Tim and Carrie could tell us at dinner. I don't know how my mom managed to pull that one off....poor thing....we were sitting at the table eating and Kenden was doing some crazy, funny antics and my brother pipes up and says, "Kenden, you are going to have to teach your little cousin some of that stuff"....needless to say, I caught it right away, but didn't realize mom and dad already knew! I literally said, "I CAUGHT that!!" Then sat there with my mouth gaping open in shock. What a fun year we are going to have! Kenden is going to be a big cousin! Congrats to Tim and Carrie! Welcome to the club!