So I do realize...

...that the purpose of this blog it to write about my sweet Kendall (or Kendy as she's been dubbed by her future husband) and I haven't done that well with that as of late. I shall remedy the situation right this minute.

Life has been busy and Kendall is growing like a weed. Boy, I hate that phrase. I'm gonna change it. Kendall is growing like a yellow tulip in spring. There, that's more fitting because like a tulip, my girl is blossoming every day. Her beauty amazes me, her personality engages me and her attitude (when it rears it's ugly head) makes me want to re-read Shepherding a Child's Heart right now.

New developments:

She eats solids now. We're doing twice a day, usually fruit in the morning and veggie mixed with rice cereal in the evening. She likes everything that I've given her so far. Tonight she had butternut squash and she wasn't exactly thrilled, but she ate. I've been trying to make a lot of her food (making up for the mommy guilt I feel over not breastfeeding) and it's a lot of fun. Here's a look at my stash at the moment:

There you see carrots, sweet potatoes, apples and squash. Hungry?

She also has two little teeth. Bottom fronts. Very cute. Very sharp. She chews on and slobbers on everything in sight, so I'm thinking more are to come. I'm going to mess her gummy smile, but the teeth are cute too.

She doesn't crawl, but rolls wherever she needs to go. If she seems something across the room that she wants, she'll get it...she'll just roll 529 times until she gets there.

She loves her exersaucer (bought from Amazon...she also has one at Nana's that her friends Kirby and Bennett gave her before they moved) and her hobby horse that she borrowed from her friend Wyatt. (Don't think that I am unaware that she has mostly guy friends...this could be problematic). Here's pics of her enjoying both of those.

She says da da da da da da da da, but not really anything else. I've heard her say mama once, but of course no one was around and no one believes me. As if I would lie. Haters, the whole lot of them.

She usually sleeps pretty well, although it's not unheard of her for her to wake in the middle of the night for a bottle. The doctor said I should probably try to break her of that, but I figure she's got her mama's appetite and I'm not gonna NOT feed the child if she's hungry (or if she's screaming).

And yes, she's still swaddled at night. She won't go to sleep otherwise. Drives me batty.

James and I are doing well. We just celebrated our 4 year anniversary. Can't believe it's been 4 whole years. Wowzers. We're very involved at Cross Culture and are part of the best LifeGroup known to mankind. This has led to very close friendships with some awesome, awesome ladies. They will call me out if need be, they pray for me, they love my daughter like none other and they make me laugh...good grannies, do they ever make me laugh. Our LifeGroup is such an answer to my heart's cry and it is so cool to me how God cares enough about me that he wants to give me my hearts desires...down to girlfriends to act crazy with.

Anyhoo - I've talked your head off. I'll try to do better about posting...

A. Attached or Single? Extremely attached.

B. Best Friend? Oh man...I have the best friends in the whole wide world...some old, some new - all fantabulous.

C. Cake or pie? Carrot cake or Key Lime pie (you can't make me choose).

D. Day of choice? I love Sundays...church, James is off, usually have LifeGroup - doesn't get much better than that.

E. Essential item? Lately with my hair the wreck that it is - a hair tie.

F. Favorite color? I really don't have one.

G. Gummy bears or worms? Great Value (Walmart) gummy bears.

H. Home town? Durham, NC.

I. Favorite indulgence? Pedicures.

J. January or July? I like them both...January because my sweet baby was born on Jan. 1 and July because I married my honey on the 31st.

K. Kids? My sweet Kendall.

L. Life isn’t complete without? Since Rachel took the good answer, I'll say laughter.

M. Marriage date? July 31, 2004.

N. Number of brothers and sisters? 4 sisters and a brother.

O. Oranges or Apples? Apples, definitely.

P. Phobias? Lake water.

Q. Quotes? Nothing comes to mind at the moment.

R. Reasons to smile? I'm seeing my KK in 10 minutes.

S. Season of choice? Fall or Spring

T. Tag 5 people: Sarah, Megan and that's about the only people that haven't already been tagged :-(

U. Unknown fact about me? Pistachios are my very favorite nut.

V. Vegetable? Okra.

W. Worst habit? Emotional eating.

X. X-ray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound.

Y. Your favorite food? Cinnamon Bun ice cream.

Z. Zodiac sign? Gemini

(Another) Z. Which zoo animal is your favorite? Giraffe

100 things...actually 102

So - I haven't blogged in a while and I saw that other people had done the "100 Things"...never one to miss out on all the fun, I had to do it, too:


1. I am a Christ follower. Although I don’t get it right a lot of the time, my goal every day is to live a life that please Jesus.
2. I married “up”…seriously – my husband is the kindest, most sincere, hardest working, devastatingly handsome, funny man I’ve ever known. And He loves Jesus…what more could a woman want?
3. I love being a mommy.
4. But I didn’t at first…those first two weeks were C.R.A.Z.Y.
5. I feel guilty for even writing that, but it’s true.
6. I work with the K-5th graders at church and absolutely adore it. I really feel like it’s my “thing” to be in there with those kids. They make me smile.
7. I put garlic in everything I cook. Well, almost everything…I’ve never made garlic carrot cake or banana nut garlic muffins. But I’d try both of those.
8. I’m adventurous when it comes to food. I’ll try anything once. Some of my favorite foods are things that a lot of people won’t even try…like sushi…and potted meat.
9. I’m not adventurous about anything else.
10. I HATE roller coasters. You will never, ever in a million years get me on one. The last time I was on one was when I was like 20 and I literally cried. Real tears of fear. I hate them.
11. My favorite drink is Diet Mountain Dew. I could drink it all day, everyday.
12. I’d never had a real pet until I had Colby (the cat). My parents bought me a full-grown lab when I asked for a puppy as a child and he terrified me. So yeah, my first attempt at being a pet owner was ole’ Colby. He doesn’t live with us anymore.
13. I’m not a good pet owner.
14. I’m terrified of ticks. The thought of one of those sucking my life blood FREAKS me out.
15. I like to play “my people, your people” with James…as in making fun of racial stereotypes with him. Mostly his are funnier about white people…for example I say “his people” will drive a piece of junk as long as it has nice rims. He says “my people” do stupid stuff like wrestle alligators and bungee jump.
16. In all reality, James and I both hate racism, but understand that it’s a part of life and even find ourselves thinking racially uncool things from time to time.
17. Contrary to what most people think, I don’t generally worry about how Kendall will fare in the world as a biracial child. I had someone ask me how I would “deal” with people talking about her because of her mixed race. I refuse to live in fear of this. She will be brought up knowing that the Lord blessed our lives with her and that mommy and daddy are madly in love and that Jesus loves her more than she can imagine. Race just isn’t going to enter in to it. Sorry, I went off on a tangent there.
18. I tend to go off on tangents from time to time.
19. I have the best group of girlfriends imaginable. They make my heart happy.
20. My mom is my best friend. Some people throw that out there and don’t really mean it. I really mean it. She’s fantastic.
21. I pray that I’m as good a mom as she is.
22. My family is somewhat confusing. My mom and Donnie dad had me, then split up. Mom married my Ronnie dad and they had Megan. Ronnie also had Little Ronnie from a previous life. My Donnie dad married Putt (yes that really is my stepmom’s name) and had Lexie, Lindsay, and Allie. So I have 4 sisters and a brother. However, when I say “my parents” in general conversation, I’m talking about mom and Ronnie. And when I say “my sister” in general conversation, I’m talking about Megan. Nothing against my other family…I just grew up in the house from age 4 on with mama, Ronnie and Megan (when she came along).
23. People have known me for years and still don’t understand all that…don’t worry – there won’t be a quiz.
24. I only went to college for a year. At ECU. I was wild and came home and got a j.o.b. I regret not finishing school. But I wouldn’t have met James had I finished school because we met at the aforementioned j.o.b.
25. I love the smell of fresh cut grass.
26. I almost lost my mind when Kendall had cradle cap. I like to pick at things and I nearly drove that poor child bonkers picking at her scalp.
27. Until a couple of weeks ago, I was too scared to cut Kendall’s nails with the clippers, so I bit them off. You may think it’s nasty, but such is life.
28. Such is life is my new favorite phrase. I say it way too much.
29. I have 2 tattoos that I got when I was completely wild and I strongly dislike both of them and have looked into laser removal. It’s expensive.
30. I’m not against tattoos. I just don’t like mine.
31. I cannot keep a plant alive to save my life. Or its life, for that matter.
32. I still haven’t decided if I want Kendall to go to private school or public school. I see pros and cons for both.
33. I listen to AM radio most of the time. I like hearing political talk shows, the weekend mechanic, the weekend gardener and the dude that talks about old movies. I’m a dork.
34. I used to lay in the tanning bed all the time. James x-nayed that as soon as we got married.
35. I think tanned fat looks better than white fat.
36. I love my Christmas ornaments. I’ll never have one of those trees where all the ornaments have a color scheme because I’ve got ornaments all the way back from the year I was born and I will never get rid of them.
37. I was gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with Kendall. Which meant that Thanksgiving and Christmas weren’t too fun food-wise this year.
38. I tried to make a sugar free pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving and sugar free peanut butter and jelly cookies for Christmas…both were disgusting.
39. I’m very grateful for our armed forces, but am always too chicken to tell a uniformed officer that when I see them out and about.
40. I prefer to fly when we have to go a long distance, but am nervous the entire flight.
41. The longest car ride I ever took was last April to Orlando with my family. Going there was alright. Coming back was so miserable I still have flashbacks.
42. Taco Bell is my favorite fast food restaurant. I heart nachos.
43. I love spicy food. I feel like I can hold my own against most run-of-the-mill spicy food eaters. Not those psychos that go to conventions or anything, but average people.
44. I have more lotion than I know what to do with and never, ever wear it.
45. I’ve been to Puerto Rico twice on mission trips and loved both trips.
46. I can’t wait to go somewhere else on mission, but wonder why I don’t get as excited about sharing Christ when I’m at the mall or pumping gas.
47. I love pictures of those that are close to my heart. My house is literally full of pictures – on the fridge, on the walls, on the mantel. It’s my decorating theme, apparently.
48. I took swimming lessons at the YMCA when I was little. I was in the guppy group.
49. I don’t know how to swim.
50. If you throw me in, I’ll be alright. I can doggy paddle like a champ.
51. I like the ocean and swimming pools, but lakes gross me out. Stagnant water without filters = gross.
52. I love Kendall’s feet…I kiss them all the time.
54. I am almost ready to get pregnant again…then I remind myself that my uterus needs a break.
55. I’m obsessed with keeping track of Britney Spears’ life. I don’t know why. I never liked her music or anything.
56. I read People magazine every week. It’s a guilty pleasure type of thing. I don’t want to hear it…
57. I have a Life is Good coffee mug that I drink out of here at work and I like it sitting on my desk.
58. I like having a desk.
59. I also like having a badge.
60. My badge picture is one of the worst I’ve ever taken.
61. I like being in pictures. I’m a ham from way back.
62. When I was little, Ronnie took a picture of me in a circle of crayons. It was cool.
63. Hummingbirds are amazing to me.
64. I really feel like God shows His love to us through the four seasons. He knows right when we’re tired of a certain season and BAM! He changes it to another one.
65. I like the fair, but I’m scared of the rides. And the cost.
66. I once lost my cousin at the fair. My aunt told me to hold her hand and the next thing I knew she was gone. We looked for her for hours and finally found her at the Red Cross Building.
67. I’ve never minded having blood drawn or getting shots…that is until I had my IV during labor. That thing HURT. Now I’m scared of needles.
68. I worry every time Kendall gets vaccinated that I’m doing the wrong thing.
69. I worry about most things. Seriously. I’ve gotten a lot better over the years. But I really do worry too much.
70. I love Vacation Bible School and am a little bummed out that our new church won’t have one. Any chance to act goofy with a bunch of kids and I’m down.
71. I’ve never met a cheese I didn’t like.
72. Blue cheese is one of my faves and I really missed it when I was preggers.
73. I hate it when people say preggers.
74. I didn’t mind people rubbing my belly. But I was only comfortable with a select few actually talking to it. Not that my being uncomfortable stopped anyone from doing it.
75. My jewelry box is a disorganized mess and it drives me crazy.
76. My birth stone is emerald. I don’t really like it that much.
77. My favorite flowers are daisies and tulips.
78. I’m on a kick where I buy a boquet of cheap, fresh cut flowers every week at the grocery store for a vase that’s in my entry way. It makes me feel good every time I see it.
79. I love to cook for people.
80. I love to try new recipes.
81. My in-laws are truly amazing. Not as amazing as my parents, but amazing just the same.
82. I used to make up songs about beach pollution when I was little and bored.
83. I also used to type things when I was little and bored. I would just get a magazine or book and type it until I got tired. That’s how come I can type so fast now. It’s also how come I have loser tendencies.
84. I have no problem making fun of myself and it doesn’t come from a lack of self esteem. I really just find humor in my personality traits.
85. I love to read. I’ll read most anything in good taste.
86. When James snores at night, I pretend to “roll over” and “accidentally” hit him.
87. My favorite pair of capri pants came from Goodwill.
88. I just discovered Ulta and like it better than Sephora.
89. I like chewy candy, like chewy Runts or chewy Sweet Tarts.
90. I don’t like butterscotch or toffee.
91. When James is working late, I’m afraid to fall asleep without the TV on.
92. Flying insects wig me out.
93. I want to go to Africa and go on a safari. Even though I’ll probably be terrified.
94. One of my good friends is from South Africa, so this could actually happen one day.
95. I had acne in 9th grade. It was horrible.
96. James and I went to the same orthodontist.
97. I just finished a Beth Moore Bible study. It was so good, I’m going to go back through it.
98. I grew up going to the beach almost every weekend. At the time, I didn’t like it. Now I can only wish.
99. I love to take naps. It’s like my favorite thing to do. Kendall and I took a 2 hour nap last weekend and it was lovely.
100. I had chicken pox on my 13th birthday.
101. I wore a polka dotted outfit on my first day back to school after the chicken pox and this boy named David made fun of me.
102. I remember odd things.

Oh wow...see how much I liked doing that? I even gave you a little bonus!

Memorial weekend

Okay, so the two aren't really from Memorial weekend, but that's okay.

First we have a picture of Kendall and I on Mother's Day before the baby dedication at church. Notice how tired she looks...she actually fell asleep on the stage in my arms during the ceremony. Hey - at least she didn't scream!

Here's the Mason side of the family (I know it was hard to tell that) at our picture party. Mom & Dad had just returned from D.C. and sister & bro-in-law had just returned from CA, so we got together to look at pictures. This picture reminds me of the part on Sesame Street where you pick which thing doesn't belong...one of these things is not like the other...
Okay - finally a beach shot...family sunset picture on the sound.
Kendall before her beach trip. Her bathing suit didn't fit, so this outfit sufficed. Cute bow, huh?
So we were eating dinner and KK decided to throw a fit, so I jokingly put the corn up to her and she grabbed it and started slobbering all over it. Pretty funny stuff.
Laying on the beach...just like her mommy! Except I couldn't pay for a tan this pretty.
Surprisingly enough, she didn't scream when I stuck her toes in the frigid water.
Mommy feet and baby feet. And yes, she does have a way cute anklet on.
I was supposed to be in this shot, but at least I don't have anything in my teeth.
Knocked out after her day at the beach!

Beach bound birthday girl

So today's my birthday...the big 2-8. Man, I'm getting old.

We're heading to the beach today until Monday which I'm SUPER excited about...this is the first holiday weekend I can ever remember James being able to get off, so I'm pure thrilled. I've got Kendall's bathing suit, cover-up and hat all ready to go even though I'm paranoid about using sunscreen, so she'll probably never actually make it outside. I'll at least have pictures for you guys!

My hubby surprised me with a certificate to the Umstead Spa in Cary...I'm gonna get a pedicure. Which means I should be go to go toe-wise for the summer with this pedicure and the one he got me for Mother's Day (is he trying to tell me something?)

I'll post pics as soon as we get back (translation: two weeks after we get back).

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Happy Mother's Day

I hope you all had wonderful Mother's Day because you are all wonderful mommy's! (That is unless you're: #1 a man reading this and I totally can't understand why you'd be interested in this blog if you are or #2 not a mommy yet.)

Our day was very relaxing and fun. Kendall was dedicated at church and the poor thing fell asleep on stage in the middle of the ceremony. I told Pastor Clay that he was going to have to amp up his messages since he is already putting her to sleep (just a little humor, of course). James had to head to work (can't rich people EVER eat at home during important days???), but I headed to mom's for lunch - steak and shrimp...SO GOOD! My grandma (Ronnie's mom) joined us and that was nice. Then we all took naps (praise God for Nana who doesn't mind sleeping with Kendall laying on her arm) and rented Enchanted. Such a cute movie!

James brought dinner home for the two of us (okay, I guess there are perks to the job) and then we hit the sack. Oh, and he did very well in remembering me...a certificate for a pedicure, 2 hanging plants for the porch and a sweet/funny card. He set the mark pretty high for future Mom's Days.

We didn't take any pictures (duh!), but we did take video, which I'll post if ever I figure out how.

4-month checkup

My sweet baby girl is 4 months old! We went for her checkup this morning and she's doing great. She weighs 12 pounds, 3 ounces (25%) and is 24 3/4 inches long (75%). I can't remember her head circumfrence, but it is 75% as well.

The doctor (Dr. Fisher for those of you Regional Peds peeps out there) said that she has a great personality and is developing well!

She got her 4 shots and 1 oral vaccine...I'm telling you - that's a cry like none other. Poor baby!