We're baaack!

How is it that a workweek d...r...a...g...s by, but a vacation is in warp speed! It feels like my time at the beach flew by. We had so much fun soaking up the sun, eating, laughing and resting. I'm headed back down on Friday and I can't wait.

I am proud to say that I only got a little bit sunburned on my back - which is a change from my usual burn it til it browns motto. I had SPF 30 on almost the entire time. Gotta stay as young looking as my hubby, you know!

Kendall absolutely loved the beach. The days of relaxing with a good book are over - that girl kept us running the whole time! She loved running down to the water and saying "Wee!!" everytime the water chased her. She didn't even turn blue although the water was arctic. She only ate a little bit of sand and one sea shell, so we're doing good!

Summer is here

So this week, we're packing up and heading out of town to ring in the start of summer. I have been fortunate to have grandparents and parents who have kept a place at the coast since I was a baby, so the beach feels like home to me. It's so funny to think back on the weekends I begged to stay in Durham instead of going with my parents to the beach...now I'm begging them to let me come with them!

I can't wait to see Kendall playing in the sand. I'm sure she'll eat her fair share since sand is her favorite outdoor snack. Surprisingly enough, things like this don't bother me. Shocking, I know. I figure it's better than that ladybug carcass she munched on back in the winter.

Even though I don't worry about my child eating sand, I am absolutely flipping my lid worrying about sun exposure this year. You know me - I pick something to obsess about quite frequently and right now it's making sure Kendall never gets a sunburn. I wonder if it'll be too hot to make her wear jeans and a turtleneck on the beach?

15-month check up

Yesterday we had Kendall's 15th month check up (even though she's already 16 months). Here are her stats:

• Weight 21.1 pounds (20th percentile) - I'm just happy the kid finally broke 20...geez.
• Height 31 inches (55th percentile)
• Noggin 47.4 (85th percentile) - No head jokes from the doctor, so that's always progress

She was NOT HAPPY with being checked out, I can tell you that. It's amazing to me how strong such a little girl can be. She flipped out on poor Dr. Rand. And we don't even want to talk about how she reacted to her shots - MMR and Chickenpox...I seriously think she would have kicked that nurse in the throat if mommy didn't have a death grip on her entire body.

She's developing well, the doctor is pleased with everything, which is fabulous news. However, the best news was when Dr. Rand told me not to worry about Kendall having her paci at nap and bedtime...I about kissed her when she said that!!! I'm sure we'll start working on it before too much longer, but right now, she's safe to suck that paci until her heart is content (in her crib, of course).

Always learning

It's been so cool lately to see Kendall experiencing new things and learning new things. It seems like everyday is an opportunity to show her something she's never seen before, or to have her try a new food or try to get her to say a new word. So far this week she has learned: how to throw things off our back deck, the word "baby", that tater tots should be a required food group, what a snail looks like, how to help us do her hair, that throwing an absolute fit at Southpoint Mall will not result in mommy and daddy letting her run wild like she wants to (that one was a fun learning experience for everyone involved)...I could go on and on. She is just a joy to hang out with. I never thought in those first few sleep deprived week that I'd actually be the mommy of a cool little kid, but I am!

The back yard looks a little better. All of the brush is gone and the stumps should be ground today. We ended up cutting down like 25 trees in all. We've got a plan drawn up by James' good friend, Ryan, who owns a landscaping company and pretty soon I'll have a Better Homes and Gardens yard! I can't wait!

I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. My next 6 weeks will be slammed every weekend, so I'm going to enjoy doing nothing. It's supposed to be extremely pretty here, so I'm thinking Kendall and I will head to the park for a picnic and let the sun shine on our (sun screened) faces.

Who says you can't arrange marriages anymore?

Nicole and I sure are gonna try:

Have I ever mentioned...

...that I am INCREDIBLY impatient? It's a serious character flaw and I would love to say that it's something I'm working on...but I try not to lie, so I won't. My impatience has reared it's ugly head again this week as we took on our first major home project.

When we bought our home three years ago, one of the things that we really liked was the "natural" area in the back (aka a ton of trees). Ironically, we are now spending our hard earned money to have those trees removed because #1 I want my sweet baby Kendall to have a real backyard to run around in and #2 a gigantore tree fell the other night during a storm and although it (thankfully) didn't hit anything, it freaked me out. So, yesterday Honest Tree Service (yes, that was really their name) came and removed not one, not two, but seventeen trees from our yard. Mostly in the back, but a few in the front, too.

So I guess I thought that the landscape fairy was going to land in our backyard overnight and I would wake up to beautiful grass and a swing set and a little water fall with those rocks that are really radios playing Kenny G to sooth my nerves. Instead I woke up to a truly overwhelming pile of mulch from the tree chipper, ugly bare spots where I wonder if grass will ever grow and a headache from the chain saws that were running for 11 hours yesterday.

Of course my husband is always the epitome of composure and knows just how to deal with me. As I stood on top of the pile of mulch and screeched that I wanted it gone RIGHT THIS MINUTE, he calmly told me to "quit freaking out, babe." So I will. Just don't drive by my house right now because you would laugh.

In other news, my darling baby is sick. She's been running fever, has snot for days (she definitely got her gross snot issues from her daddy), and is just laying around the house. Poor baby. Of course, it's viral. I took her to the doctor yesterday and they ruled out everything else.

So Kendall and I are planning on spending the remainder of our Saturday vegging out on the couch watching Pinky Dinky Doo and dreaming of less congestion and newly laid sod...

She looks like her daddy...

...but she acts like her mama. Seriously, our sweet, precious, fun-loving daughter has an attitude problem. And it doesn't make it easier that she's cute while she's showing that attitude.
I thought I "prepared" by reading up on discipline, talking to lots of moms about what works/doesn't work...I even took a class at church on the subject. But, see - I still thought I had a good year left before she started acting ugly. Nope. Apparently she's an early bloomer.

Now, run of the mill periods of being ill or tired and whiney I can get down with. Those are understandable. But that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about kicking, arching her back, scratching mama's face, hitting, pulling her lip (something you have to see to believe). Most people don't believe me when I tell them. My girl is a charmer, so she's got people hosed. Still others laugh when I tell them, which is understandable because I've been known to have a witty line or two in my day.

But, deep down inside, this TERRIFIES me. I never thought I would so clearly see the sin nature in my child at such an early age. It pains me to think of the battle that she, like all of us, face with our flesh every single day. I may not throw temper tantrums anymore (not often, at least), but I'm struggling with my flesh just the same. I pray that the Lord will give us wisdom to raise Kendall to fear Him and to accept His gift of grace. You can pray with me, if you'd like. For all of our children...