First Day of Preschool

This little cutie started preschool on September 9th, 2013! I have no idea where time has gone. People really aren't kidding when they say don't blink, it goes so fast. It really really does. I'm sad that she is growing so fast. But it is also so amazing to see who she is becoming as well!

She was so excited for her first day and said that her favorite part was the kids. Such a little social butterfly!

Little miss K-Bug, I love you so much! You are such a spirited little girl and I am so excited to see you grow. But.... let's take it slow. Please stay my little BFF for a little while longer!

1 Month Old

As you can see, Miss Kenni Bear is thrilled to be getting her picture taken! We were graced with this face for the first 8 or so weeks of her life. That is, unless she was being carried around in the Moby Wrap. Seriously a sweet sweet blessing that piece of fabric is!

A little bit about this little peanut:

• Your big sister is your biggest fan!
• You are beginning to smile (socially).
• You are also starting to coo.
• Taking 1-2 oz of formula every 2-3 hours.
• Taking several naps during the day and waking 2-3 times during the night.
• Cries for several hours every night. Usually from about 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM.
• Complete binky baby!
• The Moby Wrap along with a binky is frequently the only way to calm you.
• You absolutely despise your car seat.
• You aren't to fond of bath time either, but you are starting to warm up to it.
• You have a blocked tear duct in your left eye.
• You are a much more cuddly than your sister was. I love it!

The Early Weeks With Some Pretty Special People

The first few weeks home were... hard and exhausting and surreal. And so SO amazing. I wish I would have been better about documenting over the past few months. But to be honest, I have been in survival mode trying to find some sort of normalcy with a new routine, two kids and a husband who works evenings. It seemed impossible.

We had so many of our friends and family come to visit! That really helped get me through the early weeks. I am the type who has a really hard time adjusting to a new baby. Honestly, this time around I figured I had been through it once, with Khloe, and knew what I was up against. So wrong! I was not nearly as prepared as I thought I was for the whirlwind of emotions that those early weeks of adjustment come with. All of the visitors we had really kept me going. I adopted the mentality of “All we need to do is get through the next – X-Number – of days and we will have so many people here to help!" I realize how crazy that sounds when written down, but that is how I got through the long weeks. We really have the best support system and I am so grateful for each and every one of them!

First up! We had Great Grandma Vaught fly in to help take care of Khloe while I was in the hospital. With the unexpected change of plans, it was so sweet of her to make arrangements to come here for the several days she did. We can't thank her enough!

My dad also drove down for the week! I am a daddy's girl through and through and seeing him with my babies is amazing!

Then my best cousin, Lindsey, came for an entire week! She saved me. I hope she knows that. I bawled when she left us :)

We had Rob and John come out. Really, they were here to go to a pre-season Broncos vs Rams game with Dewey :) But they still got to visit and hold Kenedi! A very short, but sweet, visit!

 

Another visit we couldn't wait for was Grandma CoCo, Papa Casey, Aunt Aly and Uncle Steve! They were not here nearly long enough!



 

 I also have the best sister-in-law EVER. I couldn't ask for better! She was here the week that Colorado was in a state of emergency with the flooding in Boulder. But for one day the skies cleared and we were able to get out of the house and went to lunch and Lowry Beer Gardens. So much fun!



 

Great Grandma Vaught came back! And she brought Great Grandpa Vaught with her! These are some of the sweetest pictures that we will treasure forever!

 

 

If it isn't obvious, we have some pretty great people in our life! We love you ALL so much! And we can not begin to thank you for always supporting us.

Welcome Kenedi Grace!

On August 7th, 2013 at 3:07PM we welcomed our sweet Kenedi Grace to the world! 

The day started out way to early! We decided to have an elective induction to ensure we had somebody here at our home for Khloe. We arrived at the hospital at 5:00AM to get things started. I was hooked up to a low dose of Pitocin to get contractions started and I then settled in and tried to get some rest. As I was laying there I noticed some mild aching in my lower right back. I hadn't been on the Pitocin for too long so I chalked it up to normal pregnancy aches and pains. When the nurse came in and asked how I was feeling I told her of the back pain and she told me that it was in fact contractions and she had been monitoring them out at the nurse’s station! She asked if I was ready for an epidural and at that point I was uncomfortable, but it was tolerable. She mentioned that the anesthesiologist was getting ready to head into surgery and it would be a few hours before she would be available again. She suggested I go ahead and get it as I was in labor and regardless I would be having our baby that day. I didn't argue :). Once the epidural was placed I settled back in to try and get some rest. 

My doctor came in to check on me at 9:00AM and I was only at 2 cm. She said she wasn’t too surprised and that usually things would be slow going and then BAM I would dilate a ton. About 1:20PM I felt a lot of pressure and so my nurse checked and I was only at 5 cm. I couldn't believe that's all the progress I had made in four and a half hours! Forty minutes later I was still so uncomfortable and the pressure was getting intense so the nurse checked me again and I had gone up to 9 cm! She was shocked! She had me do a couple small pushes and that had helped me become completely thinned so we stopped until the doctor came in. As soon as the doctor came we were ready to get the show on the road! 

Pushing started out fine. However, after a few contractions baby’s heart rate would dip extremely low and would only come back up once the contractions stopped and I was put on oxygen. When she would recover we would push again, and again her heart rate would dip low. My doctor began getting nervous and ended up calling the NICU doctors in and started talking about the possibility of forceps being used if the baby continued to drop the way she was. I won’t lie, this frightened me. However, as luck would have it, after a few more pushes she was moved down a bit lower and was no longer having the low heart rate episodes. The doctors think that the umbilical cord would become stuck between baby and me when the contractions started, and until they were over and baby wasn’t being pushed down any longer would the umbilical cord open back up allowing oxygen to the baby.  

The rest of the labor went smoothly and after 40 minutes of pushing we welcomed our perfect baby girl to the world! As they laid her on my chest all I could do was cry and tell her how beautiful she was.

 

 

My sweet Kenedi Grace, we love you so much and couldn’t imagine our lives without you!  

39 Week Baby Bump

 

 

 

Today I am 39 weeks and 1 day pregnant. We are on the final countdown for the baby being here, and I cannot believe it! We scheduled an elective induction that is scheduled to take place Wednesday morning.

 

We are so grateful that we have so many wonderful people who love and care fore us. Grandma Vaught will be flying in tomorrow afternoon and will be here to help take care of Khloe while I am in the hospital with the baby. And an added bonus is my dad called and he is also going to drive down!

 

We are so excited to meet this little girl and can't wait to share her with our family and friends!

I Choose Me

"Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are time when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it."

- Ann Landers

 

 

My mother and I do not have a good relationship. Well, as of right now we don't have one at all. I chose me. I chose my daughters. And I chose my husband.

 

This is one of those things that has been years in the making. It wasn't pretty and it is not easy. Although there are more than a few people who applaud me for finally making this decision, it came at an unexpected time. And I feel guilty. Not guilty for my loss of that relationship. I feel that was lost several years ago. The guilt I feel is more for my daughters. I wish they would get to know their biological maternal grandma. Unfortunately at this time I do not feel that is in their best interest.

 

Now for the ugly. A bit of background as to why it has come to this.

 

Several years ago my mother met, and ultimately decided to marry my stepfather. I truly cared for him. Unfortunately for him, he had a very bad habit of making up stories. My mother would confide in me, and of course, although I loved and cared for this man, I would get upset that my mother stayed with him. They would make up and then I would in turn be the bad guy. This happened over and over and over. This is where our relationship started to turn and ultimately I decided to move in with my dad and step mom.

 

Skip forward to my bachelorette party in Las Vegas. Things did not start out well. My mother was there, along with several of my close friends. After dinner a few of us had tickets to go see a show, including my mother. We had gotten to the doors of the casino when I turned around and did not see my mother. We all stopped and turned around to go back to where the restaurant was. We stopped and started looking around. I found my mother walking through the slot machines and told her we needed to go. She got upset with me and asked what my problem was. As we are all standing there she starts saying some pretty unnecessary things to my cousin and my best friend. Finally I told her she shouldn't be there with us and that she needed to go home. She started walking away, turned around, and called me a c**t. I said she was a b***h and told her to leave. Very mature, I know. Over the next several days she and my stepfather began harassing me by sending extremely hurtful text messages to my cell phone.

 

I've said time and time again. If things stopped after the casino incident I don't think we would be where we are at today.

 

Regardless, the things that they had said to me cannot be taken back. And they are not things that can be forgiven and forgotten. They truly broke me. To this day those things have affected who I am. They have affected my relationships. Every single time I have tried to talk to my mother about these  things in the past she would tell me those texts were not meant the way I took them (There is no misunderstanding the tone of these texts, nor the meanness meant behind them), that Las Vegas did not happen the way I said it did (Again, 8 of us were standing right there, not including my mom) or she would tell me she didn't want to go back there because she is moving on.

 

Well, here is my problem. I cannot move on. I haven't had a chance to tell her why I am so bitter. Why I have such a hard time talking to her. Until this past weekend, that is. I finally said stop. I finally told her she isn't the only one who has been hurt. She isn't the only person who gets to be bitter. I went off for well over an hour. She FINALLY seemed to acknowledge my feelings. She FINALLY apologized! When we got off the phone we were okay. We were talking.

 

I told my husband I felt really good. I finally stood up for myself. And most importantly she apologized! I felt like I could finally start healing. I felt like we could finally start repairing our beyond damaged relationship. I was so happy!

 

Unfortunately that feeling did not last long.

 

My mother proceeded to call me several days later. I knew it was going to bad when I answered the phone. You can always tell what kind of conversation it will be depending on how her voice sounds. Well she started getting upset with me. She started out by saying how I hurt her feelings. How she couldn't believe I would bring this up 8 years after it happened. Um, well it has barely been 4 years. And I have tried! Several times! She has shot me down every single time I have tried. Next she starts going off on the close relationship I have with my dad and my step mom. I had to stop her. I am sick and tired of her trying to make me feel bad for those relationships. I am a 28 year old woman. She does not get a say in my relationships. And it is inappropriate for her to talk badly about them to me. I finally had to get very real and tell her she needed to stop talking to me about them. My relationships with them will not change. And ultimately, they are NONE of her business. NONE! She wouldn't stop.

 

And that is where I broke. That is where I finally said I was done. I cannot do this anymore. I told her to stop calling me. I've blocked every way she has to get a hold of me. I know that if I hadn't gone to these extreme measures I would be pulled back in.

 

I have come to the realization that I cannot move past my feelings and work on myself with her in my life. My anger, my hurt, my broken spirit is due to our past. All I can hope for is that she will get the help she needs as well. That she will stop relying on everybody else, that she will become an independent person, that she will get healthy (mentally and physically) and that she will learn to love again. Maybe then we can attempt to repair this shattered relationship.

 

Until then, I choose me.

 



A Special Visit - Cristie

A few short days after Rob and Kristen left to go home I had another very special visit! My forever bestie, Cristie, came into town to stay for a few days. She came in late Thursday evening so after I picked her up from the airport we came straight back to my house and chatted for a bit and went to bed.

Friday we woke up and got ready, and Cristie took me to lunch. It was totally unexpected and she didn't need to do that! After, we then decided to head downtown to see if we could get to Sports Authority arena. The GPS kept taking us to random places downtown. We ended up giving up on that and came home to get Khloe down for a nap and to get dinner going.

 

Love this girl! She was so awesome with my lack of energy and was totally fine with just hanging around on the couch if that is what I needed.

Saturday Cristie surprised me with another girl day! Apparently she had talked to Dewey without me knowing and had planned for him to take Khloe so that we could go get lunch and pedi's. AGAIN on her! She is seriously to good for me. After our Pedi's we came home and Dewey took us to Sport's Authority. He didn't have troubles finding it like we did :)



Seriously?! Isn't she the best?! Some people go their entire lives not finding their Cristie!







Khloe loves her Aunt Cristie! She'll pick her over me EVERYTIME!



Sadly, Sunday came way to quickly. We had to get up and out of the house early cause I wanted to take Cris to lunch before she had to get on her plane. The absolute least we could do considering her spoiling me ALL weekend!

 

I was so sad to see her go. But I know nothing can change our friendship. We will always be able to pick up right where we left off, no matter the time between visits. Much love my bestie!

Macaroni Me

Another Khloe-ism :)

This past weekend we went to the store to pick up a few things. While there we FINALLY bought Despicable Me.

On the way home Khloe announces that she wants to watch Macaroni Me as soon as we get home. Despicable Me will forever be known as Macaroni Me in our house. How can it not be with how cute that is?!

A Growing Belly

I feel bad. This pregnancy I have been horrible about the belly shot. I know I am going to regret it later, too. Good news is I do have a few shots and hope to get a few more before this baby decides to make her debut.

Here is what we got thus far :)

16 Weeks

31 Weeks



33 Weeks

Can't wait to meet this little girl!!!

Another Special Visit - Rob and Kristen

A few weeks back we got another special visit! Rob, Kristen and their little boy Jaxen were officially our first out of town visitors that came to stay with us. And it was perfect timing cause it was over the 4th of July! It was so awesome to have time with familiar faces that we miss oh so much.

The 4th of July was a busy busy day! We started the day out at the park where the kids ran around on the playground, the boys played baseball and the pregnant momma's sat in the shade and watched. Kristen and I have due dates that are exactly 3 months apart.

 

 

After the park we headed back to the house so the kids could cool off in the pool, jump on the tramp and we could have a BBQ. We also had Steve, Courtney and their kids coming over to say hi for a bit!

That evening I really wanted to go see fireworks, but by about 7:30PM we were all exhausted from being out in the heat all day and ended up just staying in and relaxing.

Friday both Dewey and I had to work, which was a HUGE bummer. Rob and Kristen had plans to take Jaxen to see a few dinosaur exhibits while we were working and they were awesome enough to take Khloe with! She apparently loved it, as she continues to take about the dinosaurs. Thank you Rob and Kristen!

Saturday the husbands went with Steve to buy a new truck and Kristen and I took the kids to lunch and then to the Denver Aquarium. Jaxen loved every second and kept running from one exhibit to the next. Khloe was a bit slower and loved taking her time to look at the fish. At one point Kristen told the kids about the seahorses and how the boys carry the babies instead of the girls. Khloe has held on to that one and makes sure to tell me several times a day! There were a few things that Khloe was not to sure about. The first was this animatronic orangutan that is holding a baby. Every so often it moves and starts making monkey sounds. Khloe stood there with a look of horror on her face and started to back up and ran right into Kristen. It was pretty hilarious! The next thing she wasn't to keen of was the sharks. She seemed ok up until the point there was this one that would swim in front of the glass very slowly and you could see all of it's jagged teeth. At that point she was done with them.

That evening we went over to Courtney's mom's house for a BBQ. The kids had a blast. I don't think they stopped running the entire evening!

I am so bummed about the lack of pictures I have of these few days! I chalk it up to two things. 1) Pregnancy Brain. 2) I was having so much fun that I just didn't have time to grab the camera. *Kristen* If you have any pictures you think I must have I will not be upset if you sent them to me. Just sayin :)

Sunday marked the end of our dear friends trip. It was a sad sad day and we miss them already! We can't wait until the next time we get to see them! Love you guys, so so much! Thank you for coming to give us a taste of home :)

Carnival Fun

The outside shopping center down the street from our house held a small carnival over at few weekends. We decided to go spend a few afternoons having some fun and getting out of the house!

Watching Daddy and Jillyan on a ride and wanting to join them oh so badly!

 

Monster Trucks!!!

The group going down the big slides.

Daddy and his girl :)

The Ferris Wheel. Probably one of Khloe's favorite rides, besides the bumblebees.

Riding the motorcycles!

A Very Special Visit - Grandma and Grandpa Taylor

I don't think it's a secret, since moving to Colorado there have been many mixed emotions. Excitement, Happiness, Loneliness, Seclusion... etc. The constant thoughts of "Was this move a mistake?" "Was it selfish of us to move our child (soon to be children) away from friends and family?" Honestly, that is a complicated answer. One that I will probably get to in the future once we have a better plan that is set in stone.

However, in the meantime, I will say being away from friends and family has been hard. Much more difficult than we would have thought. Perhaps we were in denial? Therefore, when my Grandma and Grandpa Taylor stopped in for a quick visit on their way from Missouri to Utah, I was ecstatic! It could not have come at a better time as I was having a seriously rough time with missing my family!

<3 <3 <3



Picture Perfect! This one deserves to be framed it is just THAT great!
 

Thank you for stopping by Grandma and Grandpa! The visit was short, but oh so sweet. I will treasure these few hours forever!

Father's Day 2013

Father's Day was crazy. A day that should have been spent focused around Dewey and what an awesome daddy he is was spent going from one store to another to another as we were on a mission to find a trampoline. After hours of looking we finally found one and Dewey spent the rest of his day putting it together for one very excited 3 year old! If that doesn't show what kind of guy, and most importantly what kind of Dad he is, I'm not sure what does  :)

He loves this little girl more than life, and is constantly doing anything and everything to make her smile day after day. He is such a great husband and an even more amazing Dad! We are so lucky to have him!



Daddy working away for this precious girl.
 

I think we have a Daddy's girl on our hands!

One thing Dewey got that was completely for him is a 6 month membership to the Beer of the Month Club. At the end of each month he receives a shipment of micro brews from around the nation. He actually receives 4 different kinds (3 of each) and a newsletter that gives a background of each of the micro brews. It really is pretty neat. This is something I have always wanted to do for him and finally had the opportunity to do it! I was so excited I could hardly contain it!

 



First shipment from the Beer of the Month Club

Dewey, I know your day was not spent relaxing as I am sure you would have liked. However, you are one special man to put that aside to do everything you can to make sure your baby girl is happy (and maybe slightly spoiled). You are an amazing Dad! I cannot say it enough! We love you!

Happy Father's Day!



Cause I Peed On The Grass

This actually happened last week, but it's definitely something that needs to be remembered.

Setting: Home. Khloe is outside playing, I am in the kitchen, which opens to the backyard, cooking. Sliding glass door is opened.

K: Mommy, Mommy!
Me: What honey?
K: Mommy here. (Hands me  her undies).
Me: Um, Khloe... did you take your shorts off outside?
K: Yep.
Me: Okay... Um.. Why??
K: Cause I don't need my undies anymore.
Me: Do you need to come in and go potty?
K: Nope.
Me: Okay. Well, why don't you need your undies?
K: Cause I peed on the grass.
Me: What? Really? No you didn't... Did you really?
K: Yep. (Proceeded to show me where she apparently pulled her shorts and undies off and peed on the grass).
Me: Okay. Well we don't pull our shorts down outside. (Walk away, shaking my head, not knowing how to answer).

Apparently we need some more little girls for Khloe to play tea party and babies with. The boys (and men) whom shall remained unnamed, are to blame for this!

Sunday Fun

This is how Sunday's should be. Pure bliss.

 

 

 

Potty Training Update

We are excited to announce, Khloe is officially potty trained! Yep , it's true! She is in big girl undies from morning through nap time and we just started on nights, last night, as well. She has woken up each morning completely dry for about 2 weeks now.

Good job baby girl! Er..... should I say big girl??? Nope, she'll always be my baby.

Khloe's 3rd Birthday

Khloe is THREE!!!!

 

I can't believe how fast the time has gone. She is growing up into such an independent little girl. She has so much sass and she is one of the most stubborn little girls I have ever known. I wouldn't change a minute of it. She is also so silly, spunky and kind.

 

I love this little girl more than I could ever express with words. 

 

One of the first things I said to Dewey when we moved to Colorado was that I wanted to be sure we made a trip back to Utah to celebrate Khloe's 3rd birthday. We moved out here only 1 month before she turned three and she is to an age where she is starting to understand her birthday. I wanted to make sure she had a good and memorable day! Here we are at the airport getting ready for her FIRST time in an airplane!

 

Little love <3

 

Utah Birthday Cake! Khloe didn't eat one piece at her party. She was more interested in getting back out to the park to play due to the strong winds that were quite upsetting to her.

 

 

We have a ton of pictures from the Utah party, mostly of presents. We had to rush through them though as Khloe was on the verge of a breakdown. She decided that she is terrified of the wind so we had to work with what we had. Once she was back out on the playground she calmed down and had fun.

 

Some facts about Khloe at three:

• She weighs in at 26lbs. 8th percentile! The highest she has ever been!
• Her language skills are on the level of a 4 year old.
• She knows many of her shapes and can copy you when you draw them. Level of a 4-5 year old.
• She knows her colors and loves to point them out wherever she is.
• Her favorite movie is Coraline by Tim Burton.
• She loves her My Little Ponies and her Barbie's.
• She has decided she is terrified of wind, rain and thunder. If there is even a slight breeze she will say she needs to go inside.
• She is potty trained! Finally! And it was simple. She hasn't had an accident since Day 1. And she is sleeping in her big girl undies during naps and at night.
• She loves to hug and kiss my belly since baby sister is in there.
• She loves to dance and sing.
• She has become the master of stalling at bedtime.

Some of the funny things she has said as of late:

• I am the mother and you are the child.
• You're not listening to me.
• Lifting up her shirt she said "These are my pretty boobies"... Oh boy!
• I'm pooping! Get out, it stinks!
• This is super good! Oh this is so super good! - Usually around dinnertime.
• Oh this is super fun!
• Oh thaaaaank you mommy! - whenever she is happy or excited.

I am sure I am missing so much! And my new goal is to start writing this stuff down, because I'll tell ya, this kid has gotten hilarious as of late!