Merry Christmas!

We have completed our trek across the Midwest (Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado). Kellen had a great time playing with ribbon, wrapping paper, and loads of family members. He is now stocked with toys and clothes. Thank you everyone!!


Kellen learned two new tricks on our vacation; blowing kisses (from Mema Great) and dancing to music (from cousin Miah). My mom even got him to pull up on the furniture, but then he would turn around to clap for himself and fall down. :)


Somehow I managed to get through 6 Christmas celebrations and only take one picture. How did that happen?

Here's Kellen and his dad reading the Christmas Story.

I may post more Christmas pictures as I get them from family.

What Happened?

One pair of baggy pants

plus

the nontraditional army crawl

equals

Friends

We had play group at Amy's house last week. For the first time we attempted to get all the kids lined up for a picture. They did amazingly well. They even stayed still for a few minutes after the photo shoot was over.






Six (soon to be seven) boys and one girl . . . someone needs to work on evening out the ratio. :-)

11 Months Old

Notice his bottom teeth.

Kellen = Warrior

I called the pediatrician last week to make an appointment for Kellen. The receptionist looked him up by his first name because she figured he was the only Kellen. Come to find out there are four boys by that name at their office. I guess his name's not as unique and original as we had hoped.

On the move...sort of

Kellen has been rocking back and forth on all fours for about 5 weeks now. He has also been scooting backwards and around in circles. However, he never could figure out how to move forward. On Sunday he finally decided it was time to move forward.

Here is his, not very graceful, attempt at moving forward. :)

Long Time, No Blog

My parents came to visit a few weeks ago. Poor Kellen had a cold AND was getting his two front teeth while they were here. We still had a good time-despite the fussiness. Here are a few pictures of the visit.

Kellen with Grandma and Grandpa. (Notice the new boots. . .thanks Grandma!)

This is Kellen "talking" to Tugger, my parent's dog. It took them a while to warm up to each other, but by the end of the weekend Kellen wanted to be Tugger's best friend. Tugger wasn't quite as thrilled with his new playmate.

Kellen's first taste of catfish, although I'm not sure it counts. He was so crabby because his teeth hurt that I don't think he realized he was eating something new.

After Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, Kellen has started waving at their picture on his bulletin board. So cute!!

Samuel

I've agreed to watch my friend Leslie's 3 month old a few afternoons a week. Kellen loves the company. He will sit and "talk" to Samuel for 10-15 minutes at a time. He even tries to share his toys with the baby.

These guys will probably be in the same grade in school, yet right now they seem worlds apart developmentally. It's amazing how much babies learn in their first year of life!! Synapses are connecting constantly. :)

Out Late

We went to a friend's house for dinner last night and stayed an hour past Kellen's bedtime.

This is how we found him after the ride home. :)

10 Months Old

One Year

Two of my aunts called this past weekend to wish me a happy anniversary. One year ago Monday, Tandon and I were in the hospital dealing with preterm labor. My family dropped everything and rushed to be with us (thanks guys!). I then spent the next 9 weeks in bed or on the couch. By the end of my pregnancy, I was convinced that I never wanted to see, let alone lay on, our couch again. It's amazing how much can change in one year! I now have a healthy baby boy and would give anything for just a few hours of down time. I would even consider laying on the couch again. :)

Happy Halloween!

Play Group

Here's a picture of Kellen with some of the babies from our playgroup. (I stole this picture from Leslie's blog.)



There are three mobile kids that didn't make it into the picture. Imagine what it will be like when all seven are on the move!

Almost

Kellen has started rocking on all fours. He's ready for take off!

New Hat

Kellen and I were supposed to go to a corn maze and pumpkin patch today. In anticipation of chilly weather I bought him this hat.

However, he woke up in the middle of the night with a stuffy nose. I didn't want him out in the wind all day, so we went to the scrapbook store instead. That's just as fun, right?

Political Junkie

Check out this interview!

"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have."

Thomas Jefferson or Gerald Ford (apparently it's up for debate. . . but regardless, it's a good quote)

Craftiness

Another bag



and an apron.



It is pleated with a pocket and a towel loop.



I took my picture in the mirror, since no one was home. :)

Look what I finally got!

Too bad he's not old enough to vote!

Photo Shoot

My friend's sister-in-law is starting a photography business and agreed to take Kellen's 9 month pictures. She did an AWESOME job! Check them out at Gretchen Newton Photography. Thanks Gretchen!!

7 Things

I have been tagged and am supposed to share 7 random/silly/strange facts about myself. . . thanks Amity.


1. I slept with a stuffed monkey, named Mervyn, until 13 months ago, when he ripped. :-( It was a SAD day. (I'm not sure Tandon would agree though.)


2. I drink 8 oz of lemonade every day at 3pm in an attempt to prevent another kidney stone. I'll let you know how that works out!


3. I hate to drive! I avoid it at all cost.


4. I have only filled up my car with gas about 3 times since Tandon and I got married in 2005. Every time it gets low, he takes care of it. Thanks babe!!


5. I secretly wish that some morning my alarm radio would come on and say, "We have a 'snow day' for Shawn. Please go back to bed and sleep in. Then curl up with a good book for the rest of the day." Too bad kids don't come with 5 built-in snow days!!


6. My love of animals is out of control. I often cry more in movies about animals then I do in movies about people. I attempt to rescue any and all stray animals I see on the side of the road. HOWEVER, when I get a gun in my hands I seem to forget about that love. I shot one prairie dog and two rabbits in my inlaw's pasture. I even helped Tandon shoot some sick kittens. My secret's out!!!! I guess that disqualifies me for president of PETA.


7. Speaking of animals, when I was little I thought animals were really adult humans. When people would ask "what do you want to be when you grow up?" I seriously thought that I could pick any animal and become it. Sadly, I soon discovered that question meant something far different. I would have made a great Golden Retriever!


I now tag Shanna, Caitlin (now you have to update your blog:)), and Janet.

For All the JBUers

Dan and Mel came to visit last weekend. I hadn't seen them in over 2 years. We had a good time hanging out. Wish they lived closer!!


Here are a few pictures of them with their two precious children.

Sweet Baby

Stats from 9 month check up

Height: 29 inches (75th percentile)
Weight: 19 pounds 12 ounces (40th percentile)

Nine Months Old!!!!!

Feety Pajamas

They're the best!

Organization--Take 2

The cooking group with my church friends is flourishing. This week 5 girls participated. Everyone made one meal and quintupled it (is that a word?). Then we exchanged meals--resulting in a freezer with 5 meals, but we only had to cook once. Wonderful!!!

I have found a new housekeeping plan. I like it much better than my previous "list" plan. I stole the idea from a friend-of-a-friends blog. You should check it out. It's called the flipper by Sandra Felton. I also added verses to each of my 3x5 cards to meditate on daily. So far it is working brilliantly!

Lastly, I thought I would share two of my new favorite blogs. Super Healthy Kids has wonderful recipes and tricks for getting your family to eat better. I'm an Organizing Junkie has tips for staying organized. But my favorite part of her blog is Menu Plan Monday-over 100 bloggers share their menu for the week with links to recipes. I love to cook, I just hate trying to figure out WHAT to cook. This blog solves the "what's for dinner" question.

Fall

One of the many reasons we moved back to Arkansas was the climate.

In Texas it is hot, hotter and hottest! But there are four beautiful and distinct seasons in NWA.

As a result of the changing weather (40's during our morning walk), Kellen got to wear a coat for the first time this week. I love cool weather!

(Thank you Grandma for the coat!)

Funny Face

Tooth

Kellen cut his first tooth a few weeks ago. I have been trying to get a picture of it for a long time but can't. He always sticks his tongue out. Who can blame him?


Oh well! Here are my efforts.

8 Months Old

Below is my attempt to get a good 8 month photo of Kellen this morning. He wasn't very cooperative.

The poor kid has been photographed so much that when the little green focus light on my camera flashes, he squints his eyes in anticipation of the real flash.



I finally got a smile out of him!

Baptism

We had Kellen baptized this weekend. That's our pastor on the left and my dad standing next to us. My dad is a Teaching Elder in the PCA church, so we asked him to baptize Kellen. What a wonderful picture of God keeping His covenant promise--a grandfather baptizing his grandson!

I know that some of your are thinking. . . "WHAT?!? Protestants baptizing infants?!? I thought only Catholics did that!" If that's you, please click on this link and scroll down to the video entitled Why Do We Baptize Our Children. It will give an explanation for why we chose to baptize Kellen at such a young age.

Just in Case

He napped this morning with one "plug" in his mouth and another that he found in the crib. Just in case!!

Exhausted

I just went in to check on Kellen and this is how I found him.

Look What I Made!

I got an Amy Butler sewing book from Tandon for my birthday. Being a novice sewer (thanks Sara for your help on step #1), I picked out the easiest looking pattern in the book and Voila!

Everyone should check out Amy Butler's fabric and scrapbook paper. They are both wonderful!