Kacy is ONE!!!

What a difference a year makes! I remember the night of June 30, last year like it was yesterday. I remember walking the halls of the hospital in labor, just waiting to meet this new baby! I remember being surprised to find out that the baby was a girl, I think a part of me really thought she was a boy. Kacy Michelle has been a blessing and such a great addition to our little family. She has made me so happy to be her mother this year! To be honest, I was a little surprised that it is was harder than I thought to go from one kid to two. I think with Cory being gone much of the year, it made things a little harder than normal. We made it through, but I definitely had some crazy times! I remember many nights trying to put Adilyn to bed while Kacy was tired and hungry. I would have poor Kacy in the Exersaucer, screaming her head off while I was trying to read a nursery rhyme book. Adilyn would said, "Mama, it's too loud!" Those nights made me abosolutely crazy! I finally got a good night time routine down, once Kacy could go to bed before it was time for Adilyn to go to sleep. I felt so guilty some days when I had Adilyn following me around, wanting me to hold her instead of Kacy. But, all that considered, when I think back to our first year as a family of four, the times I remember the most are the times like one night me and both girls were giggling uncontrollably as we bounced on the bed, or the time that Kacy was crying and Adilyn says, "I know Kace, I know." as she patted her back. One night, when I cooking dinner, Kacy was playing on the little mat, and I came out and Adilyn was holding her hand. As Kacy gets older, it is so amazing to see them interact and love each other more and more. Of course, Adilyn is still a little violent now and then, but Kacy is starting to fight back a little. I'm sure that we will have many more ups and downs in the girl's relationship together, but those sweet moments give me hope.

My little Kacy started out in this world so happy and laid back. She is still happy, but laid back - not so much! The girl is a screamer, and when she doesn't get what she wants, she lets everyone know! She has a little attitude, and she is so determined. Even though Adilyn is mean to her sometimes, she finds little ways to get her back. For example, she will set her eyes on a sippy cup that Adilyn set down, and she will crawl over to it to steal it from her before she notices! Little sister fights back!

Stuff about Kacy:
Favorite Song = Adilyn's version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"
Favorite Activity = Walking while holding onto anyone's fingers (she will actually grab your fingers while you are sitting and try to pull you up)
Second favorite activity = putting various items into boxes and pails (funniest was putting a tennis ball in a frozen mug in the freezer door)
Third favorite activity = being outside
Favorite Food = anything!
Favorite Person = Cory - she gives him the biggest smiles!
Cutest thing she does = when she gets excited, she kicks her feet like crazy!
Funniest face = scrunches up her nose and mouth
How many teeth = 5 - 3 top, 2 bottom (working on another bottom one)
Skills = clapping, pointing at stuff, crawling, cruising around furniture, crawling off furniture "feet first", having conversations with us in "Kacy talk", brushing her hair, talking on fake phones, petting the dogs, trying to copy things that Adilyn and I do, waving at people (sometimes)

I have loved this first year with Kacy! She is my little cuddlebug, and she gives the best little hugs. I can not imagine my life without my "Kacy-Kace". She brings so much joy to me everyday, and I cannot wait to spend the rest of our lives making wonderful memories together!

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! I love you!

Adilyn and I were trying to make Kacy laugh. Riding on Adilyn's shoulders always works!

Adilyn is so proud to be a big sister!

She's 1!

Mini Vacation #1

We decided to have a few little mini vacations this summer, instead of one big one. The first vacation was our "girls' trip" to Bastrop State Park. My mom drove down, and we loaded up and started off to Bastrop. It was supposed to be a pretty easy drive, but we took a small detour which added some time to our drive. Regardless, we made it there and found our cabin. It was an old fashioned log cabin built in the 1930s. It had two bedrooms, which worked out great for us! We noticed right away that there were mouse traps set out...uh oh! Anyway, we went for a short little hike after dinner that night, then got everyone in bed. The next day we went exploring, there was a pretty cool park, and nice little lake area and and great pool! After we found those things, we pretty much made our rounds between those three for the rest of our trip.

Favorites

Adilyn's favorite parts - throwing rocks in the lakes. She kept wanting to find the "big honkers" because those made the biggest splash. The pool was also a favorite, of course. There was a baby pool that was right about her shoulder level, and she loved "swimming" in it. She would put her head under that water, and then jump right back out.

Kacy's favorite parts - the pool, trying to eat the rocks at the lake, and walking around with Nammie's fingers as support.

My favorite parts - spending time with my favorite girls, swimming, spending time with Mom organizing pictures.

Some other silly memories

*We went to get ice cream from the little ice cream store at the pool. I asked Adilyn what type of ice cream she wanted. She said, "Anything pink."

*After seeing those mouse traps the very first night, we didn't actually see a real mouse until the very last night we were there. It ran out of the kitchen, into the living room, and in a hole in the wall!

*These people followed us to our cabin the very first day we were there, and they asked us if they could take a look at the inside of the cabin. When they left, Adilyn said, "Why them people staying in our cabin?"

*Adilyn thought she was really cool because she could open the refrigerator herself. She kept opening it and getting sliced cheese, over and over.

What fun times with some of my most favorite people!

Kacy and her Cake

My little 1 year old deserved her own post for her cake disaster. First of all, I should have NEVER gotten a little cake that had any black icing! I never thought that would have been such a mess. As she got into the pink a little more, her mess turned from black to purple! The mess was complete when my tired sweet girl rubbed her eyes.

Birthday Party

We decided to celebrate our little June babies' birthdays together this year, and we had a great time! The party was at our house, and we rented a huge inflatable waterslide. I was nervous that Adilyn would be scared to go down it, but we got her on it early before everyone came and she loved it! We also had a baby pool for the little ones, water guns, water balloons, and some other arts and crafts. Cory cooked up some great chicken for lunch, and everybody played around. Kacy got really messy with her cake, and she wanted everyone that got close to her to get messy, too! The girls got some great gifts, and we made some outstanding memories. It was an amazing day! My mom, stepdad, dad, stepmom, and brother all made the trip down from Ft. Worth. We also had many of our friends and family from Houston join us for the day! We are so lucky to so many wonderful people in our life!

Water balloon fight!

Watching the sliders.

Crazy Jacey!

Wyatt loved the slide!

The girls, enjoying their lunch!

Sliding!

Silly Quotes by Adilyn

Lately Adilyn has been giving us some attitude, but she still makes me laugh on a daily basis, so it's really hard to stay mad at her for too long!
Here are some funny things that she has said lately.
*"At school we some tomato chips, I really like tomato chips." - It took me a while to figure out that tomato = potato.
*We saw a car wreck, and she asked what happened. I told her that two cars hit each other. Her response, "Why them two cars fighting?"
*"Mama, them cows have horns. That's silly. Cows don't wear horns, that won't work."
*"Mama, why does Mickey have black ears? Our ears aren't black."
*"Kacy, I'm gonna pank your bootie!"
*"I can't swim; I'm not tall enough."
*"I like to eat at Taco Bananas because it's pink." Taco Banana = Taco Cabana
*I asked her where she wanted to go for her birthday dinner; she replied, "Anywhere that will give me a grilled cheese."
*She thinks pig tails are "pink" tails.
*At night we have to "talk about our days" as she says, in which we go through all the exciting events that happened to us.
*We saw this really big, tough looking guy in a purple shirt the other day. She said, "Why that boy wearing a purple shirt? Purple is a girl color."
*I wrapped her up in a Texans towel the other day, of course it was red and blue. She cried, "I don't want the boy one, I want the girl towel." So, we had to trade it in for a towel with flowers on it...
*Every morning when I get her from her room she asks, "Where we goin' today?" She always asks like she is expecting some really fantastic plans.

Kacy, at 11 1/2 months

Kacy is growing up so fast! When I think back to Adilyn's first year, I was so amazed by every new thing she did. Then, I compare that to Kacy's first year, and it's not even close. I know that is typical for the second child, but I really thought that I would still be so amazed and excited by everything. I have just been so busy this year, her beautiful milestones have gone under the radar a bit.

At 11 1/2 months, Kacy is crawling everywhere, quick! She pulls up on anything she can grab. She loves to "kiss", which is just her putting her wide open mouth on my face. She is a great sleeper, but when she is tired, she is tired! She loves food! I have yet to find anything she won't eat. She made faces at peaches, but she still shoveled them in. Avocadoes were a little slippery for her, but she focused and got them. She loves my "fake meat", but she also loves the real deal, too!

Some things I love about Kacy...

*She loves to get right up in your face. She has no "personal bubble."

*She "talks" a lot, and every now and then she will just sing and coo and talk like she is having a conversation with you.

*She is obsessed with phones and remote controls.

*She is so determined. When she sees something that she wants, she will crawl and fight to get it.

*She is smiles at everyone who looks at her, but she saves her biggest smiles for Cory.

*She loves when Cory turns on his hot rod or anything else loud.

*She has started grabbing on to me when we get close to the car. It's like if she holds on tight enough, I won't put her in the car seat.

*When she gets excited she bounces up and down or kicks her feet like crazy!

*She is starting to fight back when Adilyn is mean to her. I hate to stop it because sometimes Adilyn deserves it! :)

*She is always so happy and so adventurous. She will start crawling around, and she doesn't care where we are. We were playing in a sandbox the other day, and before we knew it she had crawled to the other side and was playing with a toy that she had spotted.

*When I try to take something away from her, she puts a death grip on it and screams!

*She tries to stand up on everything. She tries to crawl on and off of everything, and it doesn't seem like anything scares her.

She is going to be my little daredevil; I love her sweet spirit and her determination!

My 3 Year Old

Miss Sassy Pants trying on my bathing suit!

My baby girl turned 3 today. 3 years ago at this time, I was sitting in a hospital bed with this little baby in my arms not knowing what in the world I was going to do with her. That whole day was such a whirlwind, but I will never forget that night. I wanted to hold her all night long, so I got all set up in my bed with my pillows all around her. Cory got his couch bed all set up, and he fell right to sleep. It started to rain, and the moon was shining in the room. I was completely overwhelmed by emotion as I listened to Cory's familiar snoring, Adilyn's sweet breathing, and the rain gently falling on the window. I just couldn't believe that I had been so lucky to experience all of this! Brings tears to my eyes now, as I remember it like it was yesterday!


In the last 3 years, Adilyn has certainly taught me many things. Like how easy it is to love your child with unconditional love even when they kick you square in the jaw, or when they are on the ground throwing a fit over wanting juice when you gave them milk. I have never had anyone that I loved so much make me so ridiculously angry!

She has also taught me how to master the art of distraction. My strong-willed girl has gone through phases of not wanting to wear certain shoes, not wanting her diaper changed, or not wanting to get in her car seat. I quickly learned that if I asked her silly questions, she would lay still while I completed the task at hand. Questions like: What color is Goofy's hat? Where does Mickey live? Who does Mommy love? Where is Daddy? Where is Kacy? Where is Willow? and on, and on, and on....

Another thing that I have learned from Adilyn is that when a kid is potty training, and they say they need to go to the bathroom. Stop what you are doing, no matter how important, and let them go!

One more thing that my firstborn has taught me is that even though kids may seem sweet and innocent, they can be very manipulative! Adilyn has recently started asking Cory for things after I have just told her that she couldn't have it. When I respond, "Adilyn, I just told you that you couldn't have that." She says, "I'm asking Daddy!" Also, she learned at a very young age that it was hard for me to leave her room at bedtime if she kept asking for hugs and kisses. I mean, how can you refuse that?!? Being the intelligent one that I am, I instituted the "blowing kisses and blowing hugs at the door" routine.

I have also learned that it is very hard to "stick to your guns" on certain topics. It's hard to not give her the cookie when she is on the ground kicking and screaming after I told her she couldn't have one, but I know that every interaction we have, no matter how small establishes boundaries that will last a lifetime. I want Adilyn to love and respect me, but I also want her to know that I am the boss! :)

Beyond all those silly things, Adilyn has taught me how to love beyond any love that I have ever known or ever imagined. I have been shown a lot of love in my life, and I feel that I have given a lot of love in return. But nothing can ever compare to the love that you have for a child. No matter how mad they make you, none of that ever changes the unconditional love that you have for them.


Addy at age 3! She is...

*Silly! The girl likes to be silly. She likes to laugh and joke around. Once she starts laughing, you can really get her going!

*Naked! As shown in the pictures below, Adilyn likes being naked. She likes showing me her bootie, and she likes to walk out of the bathroom with her shorts pulled down. When I tell her to pull them up, she fakes like she's trying and says, "I can't do it!"

*Stubborn! She will get something in her mind, and she will not let it go! She once wanted a jelly bean. After I told her she couldn't have one, she proceeded to pull her stool to the pantry. She reached as high as she could (I had put them on a shelf that I thought was completely out of reach), and she knocked over a jar of pasta sauce and it hit her in the head...all in the pursuit of a jelly bean.

*Moody! She will be laughing one minute, then yelling. Before you know it she is crying, then laughing again...I can only imagine what the teenage years will bring!

*Creative! She loves to paint and make things. She went through a serious "cutting shapes" phase a while ago. Now she is just back to markers and painting.

*Nervous! She doesn't like parks with "too many peoples". She walks cautiously when we go to new places, and usually wants me to hold her. You know she's nervous when those fingers go in her mouth! I am glad that she is a little tenative because then she is not in people's space all the time, but I wish she would be a little more comfortable playing with new kids. Believe me, I'd take a nervous kid any day over one that went up and talked to strangers all the time.

*Helpful! She is my diaper getter, my paper towel getter, my toy picker upper, and my Kacy watcher. (I have told her that if it ever looks like Kacy is touching something dangerous while I'm distracted or busy to yell, "Danger! Danger!") Her teacher also told me that she always helps kids at school if they fall down or need something. So sweet!

*A crazy snacker! She loves her Cheetos and pretzels! The girl could live on snacks if I let her!



I love you, Adilyn! You make me a better, more patient person everyday! I am proud to be your mother, and I look forward to spending our life making more memories and having fun together!



Shirtless Adilyn pretending to fly like a butterfly!

Adilyn in a box!