Our Little Picasso

Warning: The following should only be attempted by a professional. Do not try this at home....unless, of course, you don't mind a huge mess in order to have a TON of fun. This is (and probably will be for a while) one of my favorite activities/memories we've made! And Kenley LOVED it!

It started innocent enough...just a little paint on the belly until she figured out where the paper was.

She gets the idea...finger in the paint....

Then on the paper!

LOVING it! :)

A little belly paint.

Beautiful!

YAY!!

She couldn't leave her "pigs" out of the fun!

This is about when we decided it was maybe getting out of control.

...And we're DONE!!!! :)

Walkin' on Sunshine

FINALLY....She walks!!!!! Please disregard the horrible quality. Something's wrong with my flip camcorder. :( I had to use my phone.

4th of July Weekend

I hope everyone had a great 4th with family and friends! We traveled to Michigan for the weekend to try out something new. TJ gets points at Holiday Inn for all the times he travels out of town and stays there for business, so we had enough points for a free trip for 2 nights. Most of the places required us to use our points plus pay $60/night, but we found a Holiday Inn in Grand Rapids that was completely free!

Grand Rapids has a zoo and a children's museum, and it's only 30-45 minutes from Grand Haven and Holland (which are both on the lake). It was our first family vacation with just the 3 of us. The zoo was "okay", but we're pretty spoiled with our Indianapolis Zoo so it's not fair to compare. The GR Children's Museum was nice. Pretty small, and that meant only about 30 people were there at the same time as us, which was nice. I really liked Grand Haven's beach, but thought Holland's Tunnel Park was nothing but a nuisance. It only had steps to the beach (we had a wagon and stroller), plus it was on a hill/dune. We also came to the conclusion that they should rename Holland. It's new name...Mexico. It seems more fitting. We will probably stick with South Haven from now on, but it was "fun" to try new places.

The zoo's aquarium consisted of penguins and some lake fish....and horrible smells!

Petting zoo

Feeding the birds. This was Kenley's favorite part. She really loves animals, but can't understand why she can't get up close to them in the zoo. This experience was really fun for her!

Asleep on the beach in Grand Haven.

Awake and ready to play!

Swimming at the hotel pool with Mommy.

Playing in the clubhouse at the Children's Museum.

Her favorite part of the museum...balls!!

They had a Curious George exhibit (that looked vaguely familiar to the one the Indy CM had!), and Kenley loved all the monkey "stuff".

Mirror fun!

On the beach in Holland, showing off her patriotism and support of our armed forces. You'd be amazed how little of this we saw. C'mon people....it was 4th of July weekend. An AMERICAN holiday.

Red, White and Blue Princess!

The Johnson Family on the 3rd of July in Holland, MI (note: it was WAAAY past Kenley's bedtime...hence, the lack of cooperation on her part.)

Summer, Summer, Summertime...

I can not believe how FAST this summer is FLYING by!!! I was sure we'd have a walker by now, but Kenley is still taking her sweet time. I'm really beginning to wonder if it's because of her "off and on" ear infections since 9 months old. Her speech sure isn't affected!! This child never stops talking!! I guess I'm not too concerned with her not walking, since everyone tells me it's nonstop chasing once she does it constantly. My biggest concern lately is getting Kenley to eat! She will not eat veggies, as much as I try. She used to be so good, too, when she was eating baby food. Now, as soon as I put anything green (or orange!) on her plate, she turns her head and refuses to try it. I still offer veggies at most meals, hoping she'll eventually get over her stubbornness! (I've also started slipping a little V8 splash/water mixture in her sippy cup once a day!) She LOVES berries...any kind...strawberries, raspberries, blackberries. I think she'd just eat berries for every meal if I let her! Kenley still only weighs a little over 21 lbs. at 16 months. She only gained a pound from 12-15 months, so of course I freaked out, but the dr. seems to be ok with her only being in the 10th percentile. He says she'll more than likely just be a "skinny girl". Great....I always secretly hated all those girls in high school. (Sorry skinny friends) :)

This summer has been fun so far! Here's pictures to prove it....

I bought a membership to the Zoo this year. Kenley and cousins, Kendall (2) & Grayson (6.5), enjoy watching the sea lions.

Kenley & Madchen looking out the front door. We've gotten some pretty good storms here this summer, and Kenley enjoys watching the rain (as long as it's not a tornado warning!).

Kenley, Kendall, and Grayson on the neighbor's swingset.

Playing with her friend, Macy.

Stylin' in her shades on the way to Gaga's pool.

Feeding the horses in Oma & Opas neighborhood. (Daddy was worried the sweet horse would bite her hand off!)

Getting pushed in my swing by our neighbor, Lila. Lila will be a big sister in October! We can't wait for little Maybree (or however they will spell it) to get here!! :)

Playing in the pool in the backyard.

Excited about her new ball pit!

We had to buy Kenley a new playset/swing since the Indiana storms took out her tree swing!

Yummy! Kenley munching on some strawberries...poolside.

Let's try this again...

Well, it's been about a year and a half since I last blogged. (Head on over to http://leahandtj.wordpress.com to see my last attempt.) A lot has happened since that 12/29/08 entry. Kenley Rae, our little miracle arrived on March 20, 2009, not breathing and very blue. She took her first breath on her own 5 long minutes later. Mommy got to hold her about 5 long hours later. We took her home 2.5 days later.

First Family Photo - almost 1am

Fast forward 15 months....we have a VERY talkative little girl. She's up to around 45 or 50 words. She has just begun to start walking on her own. It took her a while to feel comfortable enough to stand on her own and take some steps, but I see her try more and more each day. We'll be chasing after her in no time. Kenley has been a wonderful baby, a great sleeper, a happy child, who has been a true blessing to our lives. We love her so much and are excited to see what she has in store for us. Here's a photo story line of the last 15 months...I promise to be better on this blog (I think.) :)

1 week: BOILER UP!

1 Month: Happy Easter (in Mommy's dress)

2 Months: Mother's Day (in another one of Mommy's dresses)

3 Months: Father's Day

4 Months: 1st Trip to the Beach - Destin, FL

(also, first 2 teeth!)

5 Months: 1st Day of School/Babysitter

6 Months: Photo shoot w/George

(also began "army crawling")

7 Months: Happy Halloween!!

8 Months: Mommy's Little Monkey

9 Months: Merry Christmas!

10 Months: Playing in the snow!

11 Months: Go COLTS!

12 Months: Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

13 Months: 2nd Trip to the Beach - Gulf Shores, AL

14 Months: Happy Mother's Day!

15 Months: Father's Day in Elkhart