Wedding and Christmas

Hello everyone! We have had a busy couple months. After a wonderful Thanksgiving, we prepared to Christmas. It was so much fun shopping this year for everyone especially Kamdyn. My mom watched her one Saturday so Troy and I could get away to get some Christmas shopping done. It was great...we could eat meals in peace without entertaining, no diaper changes, and we could be on our own schedule. We had a fabulous day. Kamdyn is very interested in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse right now. She can say all their names and it is so cute as some of them are a little mumbling with some sounds. When we have been out and about we will hear random MINNIE!!!!!!!! MICKEY!!!!! when she sees one of them. She is talking more and more these days. Troy and I are finding ourselves having to really watch what we are saying. She is like a parrot.

The weekend before Christmas I had the honor of being in Wendy's, my roommate from college wedding. Her and I lived together for 3 yrs and never fought once. We got along so well and is like a sister I never had. It was a wonderful day and we had a lot of fun. Wendy was definitely a beautiful bride. Her wedding was in Urbandale and then the reception was at Hotel Pattee in Perry. That hotel is beautiful! Each room is themed and it reminded us of the movie Clue. After the wedding we went downstairs and all bowled because they had a bowling alley down there. I was able to see friends from Central College that I hadn't seen for years. It was like old times! It was a great getaway and we hope to go and stay again. I have included some pictures from the day. Congratulations Wendy and Andy!

Christmas was so much fun this year. Troy and I were reminded how blessed we are to have our little miracle baby and what wonderful families we have. Christmas began the Sunday before Christmas for us on my mom's side. We went to my aunt's house in Ankeny. We had a wonderful lunch and opened presents. You can see that Kamdyn faired very well here with some great gifts. She was more interested in the wrapping paper, ribbon, and helping Adalee and Colton open their gifts.

Christmas Eve we went to Troy's Aunt and Uncle's house, Peg and Barry. His mom's side gathers here or his mom and dad's house each Christmas Eve. We eat an abundance of food and then all go to the Christmas Eve service. His cousin Courtney comes back from D.C. each year and sings at the service. She has such a beautiful voice and I could listen to her all day long! Then we come back and open gifts. There are 4 girls within a yr of each other on this side and boy were they fun to watch. They ran back and forth and back and forth all night. I included some photos from this night where you can see Kamdyn's cute red dress. Also there is a picture of all the grandkids and some family photos we took.

Then we came home and my mom, brother and aunt were here and stayed with us for a couple days. We had the opportunity to stay home all day on Christmas this year which we thoroughly enjoyed. We could relax and enjoy family during this time. We opened presents and Kamdyn received some big gifts such as, a kitchen and basketball hoop. I'm not sure who is more excited about the basketball hoop...her or Troy:) We all were blessed with many great gifts. That evening we made a Christmas meal that included crab legs and steak. My ultimate favorite meal in the world is crab legs so I was in heaven!

On Monday we went to Troy's parents for his family Christmas. Again, we were very blessed with many great gifts and are very spoiled. Kamdyn received some food for her new kitchen and she got a Mickey Mouse Car so she was so excited. She also got many more presents. Her and Maddie (our niece) really enjoyed playing in the little house grandma and grandpa got for their house.

Now that Christmas is over, Kamdyn and I are enjoying break together. Nothing beats snuggling and watching Mickey Mouse each morning. I am going to really struggle going back to school on Monday. I love staying home with her! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a wonderful New Year from our family to yours.

Sooooooo behind!

Not a good sign when you can't remember your sign in name and password to your blog. Obviously it's been too long. Wow I havent' written since June! So many things have happened since then. We had such a wonderful summer and of course went way too fast. I really enjoyed being home with Kamdyn all summer. It was very hard to go back in August. It seems like our summers keep getting shorter and shorter. Some highlights of our summer were going camping many times, trip to St. Louis to see the Kemerlings, bachelorette parties, pool time and catching rays.

Then in September, we celebrated Kamdyn's 1st birthday. We did a zebra theme and she had a wonderful time. We are very thankful for our family and friends that made the day so special. This fall we made a trip to the pumpkin patch in Cambridge. That was so much more fun this year because she could do more and loved it! One Sunday, Kamdyn and I went farming with my brother Justin. It was so fun seeing Kamdyn's reactions while riding in the tractor. She had a ball! I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, me or her. That was the first time I'd been in a tractor since my father passed away. It was emotional for me. Dad had the best seat in the house watching down on us.

Kamdyn is changing more and more everyday. She is now walking/running all over the place. We have the living room closed off from time to time and furniture in front of the flat screen so she doesn't jab at that. One night she was jabbing at it and Troy told her, "no, no Kamdyn. She turned to him and put her finger out and said, "no, no, no!" It was hilarious! She is talking more and more. We love this age as she's showing her personality more everyday. The redhead is definitely coming out in her personality at times. I love it! Poor Troy :) We had to get a new computer because our last one crashed, so here are some pictures.

9 Months and Father's Day

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Looks Comfy Right?!

My Father

Summer if flying by! I am enjoyed my time home with Kamdyn everyday. We have been keeping busy. Troy turned the big 32 last Tuesday. We went out for supper at That Place with some of his family. Last Thursday-Sunday we went camping at Lake Red Rock for Troy's birthday and Father's Day. We recently bought a camper and are loving it! It will be fun as Kamdyn grows up. Troy's parents and Ashley, Rob, and Maddie also went with their campers. We had a great time. The weather was great and enjoyed being outside. We were at Howell Statation Campground. Kamdyn and I went on many walks by the river. She loved watching everyone. We also went up by the dam and watched people fish. They were catching so many. It was fun to watch. Troy had a great first father's day while camping. He thinks the world of his little girl. This was a special camping trip :)

Yesterday I had to go to the dr and I took Kamdyn along to see Dr. Onuigbo and all the nurses. They couldn't believe how big she has gotten and were fighting over while I met with the dr. Kamdyn was loving every minute of it and talked their ears off. They kept saying over and over, "thank you so much for bringing her in!" I thought that was special. I am so thankful a friend referred me to that clinic.

These are some pictures from the past couple weeks and also a photo of my dad. I miss him so much. Whoever said that it will get better obviously hasn't ever lost someone. It's especially hard when I have big events going on in my life. He would think the WORLD of Kamdyn. She would do no wrong to him. He was the best father and could count on him for anything. Dad taught me to never give up! He proved this in his own life when he went through treatement after treatment; he was always positive and would light up when he would see my mom, brother and I. He taught us that family is the most important thing in our lives. My father was such a great role model and I hope I can follow in his footsteps. Someday we will all see him again and he will get to meet our little angel :)

Summer Time

Swimming and loving it!

So it begins....Dad you're getting to close to me :)

Kamdyn ready to go swimming!

My Friends Luke and Logan..which one do I choose? :)

Anyone see something wrong with this picture? :)

Love that face!

My Friend Drew and I

Summer is FINALLY here! I am loving being home with Kamdyn everyday. We have been on summer vacation for 4 days and loving it! Already we have been super busy! We made a trip to Williamsburg and found some wonderful deals. I was super excited to find that Under Armour has an outlet store:) One day we went to visit Judy, she worked in my classroom and retired last yr and miss her like crazy. Darcy and her little boy Cael were also there. He is about 6 weeks younger than Kamdyn so it was fun to see them interact. Another day we went swimming at Guthrie's pool, some friends of ours. It was a perfect day being 95 degrees out. Kamdyn loved it! She is going to be a little fish I think:) There are some pictures above from this day with their boys Drew, Luke, and Logan. It was a great day!

Last weekend was Black Dirt Days in Conrad. This is the town celebration. Kamdyn had a lot of firsts. Her and I completed her 1st 5K. She was a trooper and loved watching everyone. She fell asleep by the end :) Then she went to her first parade! She loved it and didn't even mind the sirens. After that we had to go get some ice cream. She was a HUGE fan :) We had a great day!

Yesterday Kamdyn turned 9 months. Oh where has the time gone? It has definitely been the best 9 months of Troy and I's lives. We often say, "what did we do before we had her?" Each day she amazes us with something new. She now has 2 teeth on the bottom and is cutting her top 2. She's been drooling like crazy lately so I don't think it will be long. The other night she was sitting on the living room floor with her legs crossed and Troy and I walked in the room. She looked at us and waved her hand and said, "hi!" It was hilarious! Her sounds are starting to sound more like words sometimes. Kamdyn loves walking around the kitchen in her walker and opening and closing drawers. Troy had to put safety locks on them so she isn't a fan of that. She is also developing a little personality with some red head in her :)

I hope that everybody is having a wonderful summer! Until next time.......

8 Months and So Much to Catch Up On

Wow, I have been bad about updating the blog. It's amazing how your life changes when having a child. When you get home at night you want to spend every possible minute with her and then when she goes to bed, we go to bed because we are exhausted. This has been the best 8 months of our lives:) On Wednesday, Kamdyn will be 8 months already! She changes more and more every day. She is now sitting up on her own and leaning forward wanting to crawl so bad. It's only a matter of days. She has developed such a personality and we often see the red head in it :)
I love it! She has been sleeping through the nights for some time which is wonderful. Mommy and Daddy are appreciative of that. There's nothing better than going to get her out of bed in the AM when she sees us for the first time. It melts my heart each morning. She is also eating stage 2 food and loving it! She now thinks it's fun to motoboat spit when she's eating so she gets me all dirty. Feedings are quite entertaining :) Each day she seems to learn something new. She is becoming more and more vocal and such a happy baby. We are truely blessed! This was a wonderful 1st Mother's Day :)

This past weekend we went to stay with my brother in Pella for Tulip Time. It was such a beautiful weekend. Kamdyn was such a trooper and lasted the whole time. She loves being outside and watching people...kind of like her mama! She is also a great shopper which makes her mama VERY happy :)

We recently bought a camper and we can't wait to get it out! It will be so fun to do as a family as Kamdyn grows up. We have a few dates booked already. She loves to go out and play in it as we work inside. She has her own little bunk :)

Troy and I were very fortunate to have a getaway to Cancun with some great friends over Spring Break. We are thankful for our parents, brother and Judy for watching Kamdyn while we were gone. I don't think Kamdyn even knew we were gone :) We stayed at the Riu Caribbe and it was absolutely beautiful. Troy and I had previously stayed at the Riu in Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta. It is a great all inclusive resort! We had originally planned to go somewhere for my 30th which would have been September 17th...which ended being 6 days after Kamdyn was born. So we decided to go over spring break instead. It was a great vacation but we missed her like crazy!

We are so blessed to have Kamdyn in our lives. She is our miracle baby:) Each day gets better and better. She is such a joy in our lives. I hope you have a great week and will update this blog soon :)

4 Months

It's hard believe that Kamdyn will be 4 months on Tuesday. She is growing so fast! Lately, she has definitely grown a little personality:) She is so much fun! The past couple weeks she has discovered her voice and LOVES to talk. This past weekend we stayed at my aunt's house and she was telling my mom a story. Kamdyn thought it would be fun to talk louder during Jean's conversation. She was trying to keep up!

We had a great holiday season as we celebrated Kamdyn's First Christmas. The holidays are so much more fun with a little one:) She made bank on gifts this year and will be set for about 3 yrs;) We went to Troy's parent's house on Christmas Eve and celebrated with Sonya's side. It's a tradition to go to Christmas Eve service with the whole family. Then we were able to be home on Christmas day which was wonderful. We want that to be our family tradition every year so Santa can come and open gifts as a family. My mom, Justin, aunt Jean, and counsin Dan came for lunch and spent the day with us. It was nice to lounge and enjoy the day. On New Year's Eve we went to Ankeny and stayed at my aunt's house. My cousins, mom, aunt, Troy and I played games all night. It was a fun night!

I got about a week and a half off from school that was much needed. It was great spending so much time with Kamdyn and hard to take her back to daycare and return to school. During break, she had the opportunity to have her pictures take again. Steph messaged me that she got new props for babies and wanted to try them out on Kamdyn and of course I agreed:) She was such a trooper and I think deep down she loves getting her picture taken. AND I know she loves wearing headbands and hats.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and we wish you the best in 2011!