Birthday pancakes

Just in time for Kendall’s actual birthday, we flew off to Texas to visit friends.  We left Virginia with snow on the ground and landed at DFW to 85 degree weather.  I never thought I would be so happy to be hot.  I knew VA would be a bit colder than TX, but didn’t have a clue that it is cold for so LONG!  In Dallas we would have a few days of cold and then bounce back to the 60s and 70s.  In DC, it feels like we haven’t been over 40 since November.

As the plane landed, there was a brief moment of silence before all the cellphones started going off.  Kendall loudly commented, “We made it!”  Needless to say, quite a few people chuckled. 

Anyway, we planned our trip back to Dallas to celebrate Kendall’s birthday with her birth-buddy Quinn.  Quinn and Kendall (otherwise known as Quindall) were born 12 hours apart, and have always been good buds.  In fact, Quinn is one of the few boys that Kendall isn’t terrified of  – we can’t go to the Chic-Fil-A playground if there is a single boy in there.  We got into town the night before their bday and Quinn’s Mommy, Betsy, and I went to have our traditional birthday-eve custard at Sheridans.  We found out months after the fact that Betsy and I had been at the same custard place the night before the kids were born, and repeated the tradition every year.

It was amazing how fast Quinn and Kendall picked up their friendship.  After not seeing each other for a year, they picked up right where they left off.  The conversation in the back of the car on the way home from the airport was hilarious.  It was so sweet.

For their birthday breakfast, Betsy and I took the kids for pancakes and then later that night we went to Up N Smoke in Keller and had cupcakes with the daddies.  It was a blast!

Loving those birthday cupcakes

That Saturday, David, Kendall, and I went to visit our friends the Winzens.  Dondi and I were friends from my horsie days (she still has hers – I’m jealous).  Kendall talked a big game about seeing all the horses, but when it came down to it, she was more thrilled about the baby chicks than the horses.  Oh, well, I still have a few years to brainwash her.  Surely she’ll outgrow the ballet fetish by the time she can tack her own horse, right?

Don’t be fooled – she’s happy because she’s tickling Newt with a feather, not because it’s a horse… Newt looks thrilled, doesn’t he?

Sunday we went to our home church in Keller, and it was great to see everyone.  It was bittersweet, because we have yet to find a church here that measures up.  I’m sure we will eventually.

Monday we said goodbye to Betsy for a while and went to visit a good friend from Kendall’s preschool.  Kendall even got to go see Camille’s older sister’s jazz class, and I swear she’s still copying the moves 3 weeks later.  That night, we sat outside with Susan and Fritz and enjoyed a windy Texas night outside.  It was wonderful.

Tuesday we headed to Prosper to visit one of my best friends from my days at Brinker.  Crystal has 3 kids, and Kendall was very excited to see them every day when they came home from school.  We had a blast watching American Idol, trying to predict the week’s catch phrase, and Crystal officially got me hooked on Facebook.

Friday night we stayed with a friend from my high school days – Barbara.  She’s actually my friend Stacey’s mom, but since we lived with her for 4 months back in 1998, she’s practically family to us.  Kendall was very good with all the trinkets, and I even got a day out to shop with the ladies.  Thanks, Dave!

Saturday we visited SMU and saw all the changes to the campus.  Kendall had fun dancing on the steps of the arts school, and Dave peeked into the new engineering building.  I, on the other hand, was perfectly fine staying out of the classrooms. 

Sunday we went to FUMC Keller one last time, and played with Betsy’s family some more.  Betsy was 3 weeks from her due date – congrats on the new baby girl!! – so we tried to help out as much as we could.  Kendall’s waking up every 30 minutes to scream about the trains didn’t help matters, I’m sure.  We were all sad to say goodbye Monday morning.  Hopefully we’ll get to see baby Julia soon!

Monday morning we went to the Ft. Worth Zoo with Tonda, Kelsie, and Tyler before we went to the airport.  Kendall was terrified of the monkeys, but fell in love with the birds.  She is so UNLIKE me!  Thanks to the Agolds for a wonderful day!

Didn't want you to think she forgot all about dancing...

Well, that’s about it for our trip!  I’m so sorry to all of those that we weren’t able to see.  As you can tell, it was a crazy week!  Thanks to everyone we stayed with and please come visit us soon!

So, finally it was party time.  Kendall requested a Nutcracker-themed birthday party, which I tweaked and turned into more of a ballerina party.  We had one male party guest, and he was provided a Drosselmeyer (the godfather) costume so he didn’t feel the need to wear a tutu. 

My nieces, A and S, did a “class” for the kids, as much as 3-y-o kids will pay attention to a class when surrounded by other toys.    Kendall was in heaven, though, and still talks about the party today, a month later.  Thank you to all of her friends who came and danced with us!

Clara and her Prince

Mr. Horsie modeling Matthew’s Drosselmeyer costume

Stretching

Blowing out the candles

All too soon, Kendall turned 3 in March.  My little girl is growing up.    For the first time, we were able to celebrate with MomMom and Mimi, as well as Grampa. 

Since MomMom (David’s mom) came down for Baltimore for David’s birthday (a few days before Kendall’s), we had a special girl day and took Kendall to high tea.  She has loved tea parties for quite a while, and loves getting dressed up.  We found a wonderful tea shop in Warrenton, VA (Madison’s Tea Room).  They had the best scones any of us had ever had, as well as some delicious chicken salad.  Kendall thoroughly loved the day, especially the special desserts and lemon drops.

Mimi, Kendall, and MomMom

Gotta love a bagel and cream cheese in the morning

Oh, and those leaves are from roses David got me for Valentine’s Day.  Can you believe it? 

This was my previous favorite for her yearbook.  Maybe we’ll just do both…

Warming up for the 1st ballet class of 2009

A normal week for us includes dance (ballet AND tap, now) mom’s group activities (we’ve gone to Uno’s to make pizzas, which was fun), church mom’s group, Awanas, and playgroup.  Just keeping up with that is a full time job.  Then there’s the requisite chores that I put off as long as possible.

Kendall is such a funny little girl…  she’s learning more every day, but is still completely obsessed with dance.  Thanks to The Letter Factory, she now knows all of her letters and sounds.  Who said television was all bad?    She wants to grow up so fast, particularly so she can get pointe shoes.  Tonight at dinner she said she wanted to eat all her vegetables so she’d grow up big like me.  I asked why not like Daddy, and she said, “He’s too tall.”  Lol…

Kendall still insists on calling David “Prince”, but occasionally calls him David.  Of course, she still insists on being called Clara (from the Nutcracker).  What a nut she is…

Here are a few pics from our snow day in January…

Casper wasn't such a fan...

Getting ready to head outside

Too bad we don't have a sled yet.

Kendall the snow angel

Snow angels in the driveway

Yes, some moms might have imagined that statement, but I never thought in my wildest dreams I’d have a little girl so obsessed with dance.  I can’t even do a decent two-step, let alone a pas-de-deux…

Fortunately, she is in fine dancing mode this morning despite throwing up from 12:30-2 last night, and staying up with me until 3 to make sure things had settled down.  I wish I could have just a smidge of this energy!  And lucky thing #2, Daddy came home last night, so he was able to help me get Kendall in her least dirty pair of pajamas while I changed sheets and whatnot (today was going to be laundry day anyway since I’d have a suitcase full to do).  Of course, he didn’t have his contacts in, so he managed to add insult to injury by zipping her leg instead of the fabric.  At least she was still happy to see her prince!

Well, off to make lunch and try to convince Kendall she really does need a nap.

Michelle

And if you try really hard (which I don’t recommend), you can just detect a hint of cat AND little girl pee.

Lovely.

So Saturday, I’m  changing Kendall’s diaper and notice the cat jump in her laundry basket.  This isn’t that uncommon, as he loves to hide in it, and try to scare me by jumping out.  Well, something about the look in his eye made me do a double-take, and I saw he was PEEING in her laundry basket.  AHHHHH.  So I yell at him without letting Kendall know what happened (she would never set foot in room again if she knew).  He ran off.

I was convinced he was acting out against Kendall because she’s been slightly terrorizing him lately, and we decided to keep him out of her room completely, based on the advice of the local cat adoption group. 

Well, we came home, and I saw him do it again!  I’d brought the basket downstairs to sanitize it, and he did it again!  I then started looking around the house and noticed several pee spots.  That convinced me he had a UTI, so I ran him to the doctor and got him medicated.  He’s now locked downstairs in the basement bathroom until the meds kick in.  Hopefully quickly – he’s not a happy cat!

Meanwhile, we’ve been reading all sorts of potty books and watching potty videos, and Kendall is very excited that she’ll get tap shoes if she goes potty.  Contrary to what you might think from my opening paragraph, Kendall has yet to actually go potty, despite the hours she’s sat on it.  Instead, her diaper leaked at lunch, and she soaked herself (3 layers of clothes, mind you – tights, turtleneck onesie, and skirt) and her booster seat.

Needless the say, the washing machine has gotten its workout today, and I’m tired of scrubbing.

Time for bed!

Michelle

This year Hanukkah started right before Christmas.  We got a couple of nights of lighting the menorah, playing with the dreidels (Kendall’s a natural at ante-ing up), and singing “Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel.”  Kendall thoroughly loved the whole thing, especially when we visited a preschool on their Hanukkah day.

Fast forward to Christmas Eve.  Kendall and I went to the family service at church with my parents that evening.  An acolyte proudly walked forward at the beginning of the service to light the candles.  In a loud enough voice for nearby pews to hear, Kendall proudly announced that the candles looked JUST like her menorah!

The only saving grace is that most people still can’t understand Kendall saying “menorah.”

Daddy and Kendall at the National Menorah

A few days later we were eating dinner, and I handed Kendall her milk.  She took a sip and said, “This tastes like crap!”  WHAT????? 

“I’m sorry, sweetie, what did you say?”

“This tastes like craps!”

Ok, so I may occasionally say “Crap” in a very bad moment, but never in conjunction with “this tastes like” or “this smells like”.  And usually I really try to whisper it if I’m going to say it.  Guess I need to work on that!  Fortunately, she hasn’t said it since!!

Her favorite pasttime - other than dancing, of course. Notice the ballet slippers...

Eating dirt and worms New Years Eve

Happy New Year!!

Michelle

Hi everyone.  Sorry we’re so far behind on pictures and everything.  We’re still recuperating from the holidays, and I’m knitting like a madwoman, so I just haven’t been as inspired to help Kendall with her blog.

However, I absolutely had to post her latest obsession…  We’ve mentioned how much she loves dancing, and of course there’s the Geico gecko craze (she still talks to the billboards).  But now she’s moved on to princes.

Yes, princes.

One day shortly after Christmas, I went in to get Kendall out of bed.  She gave me a huge smile, and said, “Mommy!  My prince is outside waiting in his truck.  Just for me!”

What?

If she didn’t have blinds AND blackout curtains on her windows, I’d be paranoid that we have a peeping prince.  Best I can guess, the latest princess fetish and the movie-watching that goes along with that, has caused her to wonder why she doesn’t have a prince of her own.  In fact, one overly-tired day, Kendall was practically in tears asking when her prince was going to come for her.  I knew my little girl would probably cry over boys someday, but I really didn’t think my not-quite-3-year-old would be obsessing over finding the man of her dreams!

Over the weeks, we’ve talked about her prince, and so far I’ve garnered the following details:

• He still rides in a carseat.
• He has no hair (her answer when I asked what color it is).
• He loves to dance.
• He used to be a nutcracker (ah – now I think I know where the obsession started).

Fortunately for us, she has transferred her prince dreams to Daddy.  He is no longer called, Daddy.  Instead he is “Prince”.  I’m sure there are all sorts of jokes I could use such as “The Daddy Currently Known As Prince” or make up some sort of symbol for him… 

A few minutes ago he went in to shush her since it’s almost 9:30 and she’s STILL awake, and he gave her a little more water in her cup.  She sweetly looked up at him and said, “Thank you, Prince.”

A friend of mine, B, just posted on her blog that her son, Q, who has the exact same bday as Kendall, is firmly in the “I love you” phase.  Well, since the 2 seem to do everything at the same time thousands of miles apart (except for potty training – don’t get me started on that), Kendall is too.  Except hers is more about declaring everyone her “Best Friend”.  She thinks it’s hilarious to tell me one minute that I’m her best friend ever, and then tell Mimi, Daddy/Prince, Grampa, Aunt M, the new girl we just met 5 minutes ago that he/she is now her best friend.  Silly goose.  At least she declares me “the best mommy EVER!” at least once a day.  I figure I need to get that on video tape now – the teenage years are fast approaching!!!

I’ll try and post some new pictures soon!  Just need to get them off my camera!

Hugs,

Michelle