Playing in our car

Sam got this car for Christmas from Aunt Jodie and Uncle Bear and he LOVES it!!! He takes all sorts of trips around the house.

He takes it very seriously, carefully opening and closing the door each time he get in it.

Of course, yesterday I caught him trying to climb out the back window of the car onto the window seal in our play room to get a better look at Lady Bird playing in the backyard. Did you follow all that??? I think people 5 states away could hear me yelling "NOOOOOOO" as I raced across the room to stop him! :)

Home and Garden Show 2008

The Home and Garden Show was this past weekend. I don't usually talk about The Ground Crew, but I am super proud of this business that Scott had worked at...each year I see it growing.

The show is the kick off for our season. Scott's cousin and partner, Zach, comes over and they showcase their services for the public.

The booth this year was A.W.E.S.O.M.E! Definately the best one at the show. Here's some pictures in case you didn't get a chance to come out and see it.

We can touch the floor!

Oh happy day! Oh happy day!

We can touch to floor...on our trike!

We're on the move...

No stopping us now!

Making bread

The Kenley Family has been busy lately...so busy that we haven't had time to update our blog. So hang in there, dear readers, because it's going to be a fast ride of updates with lots of pictures (just for you Sister!).

We have been becoming more and more aware of being organic - you know...eating organic foods, removing the chemical cleaners in our home. That's right, you guessed it...The Kenley's are going green...ok, not green. We are more like aquamarine! :)

We attempted this week to make our own bread. It was a fun experience.

And I got to use my favorite kitchen gadget...my kitchen aid mixer. I LOVE this machine.

See how happy I am?

This was our dough pre-baking. It was beautiful. I have a tear just thinking about it.

And the final product. It was definately....edible. Not really good...but edible. We have some work to do on the final result, but it's a start! :)

Spaghetti de' Sam

Tonight was our first experience with spaghetti at dinner time. Sam LOVED it! The only hitch was that he didn't want to eat it with his baby spoon...he wanted Momma's spoon. I guess it worked better.

We didn't even try for a bib. We ate in our diaper only. And that may have been the best decision we made.

Waiting patiently for our food...


Diving in...we had already had to trade in our "baby" spoon!


"All done!"


Now straight to the bath!

We had to wash off dinner...we had a fun time playing in the water.

Sam's 1st Birthday Party

Today was Sam's 1st Birthday party and he had a blast. We'll celebrate later this month with our families, but today was with our College Station buddies. Sam ate his little cake and ended up with a pretty crazy sugar high and a very upset tummy! But, other than that the day was a great. Right now might be his favorite part. He's playing with his bouquet of balloons right now (don't worry...they are nowhere near his mouth and he's under close supervision). :)

Here's some pictures from our day.

Sam is at the door waiting on his friends to arrive. Or maybe he's just secretly hoping that Lady Bird made the guest list. Now that would have been an awesome birthday party guest for him!


Here's our table. We had some 1st birthday party decorations and balloons.


Our birthday cookie...


Opening presents with a little help from Daddy...

Now to the cake. It was at this moment that I saw Scott in Sam. As soon as the group started singing and Sam realized it was about him he started acting very shy. I don't see us doing surprise parties in the future!

Starting to dig in...

Now he's fiqured it out!

Sam had a very special birthday boy balloon.

He're's when Mom started thinking that maybe we should end our cake eating adventure! He was eating with both hands.

This is awesome!

Happy Birthday Papa Tom

Happy Birthday Papa Tom!

Our own special Valentine.

Special things to know about Papa Tom

1) He loves Sam.

2) He loves Sam, a lot!

3) He wishes Sam was old enough to have his own cell phone.

4) He needs Sam to have a cell phone because Sam's mom often forgets to answer her cell phone.

5) He is kind.

6) He forgives easily.

7) He has a great sense of humor.

8) If he is calling you, this almost certainly means that he's on his way to the post office.

9) He is not a vegetarian.

10) He's a great Papa!

We love you! Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Sam!

My baby boy is 1 year old tomorrow! I can't believe how quickly this year had passed. Sometimes it feels like he was just born yesterday, but at the same time it feels like Sam has just always been a part of our family. I'm amazed at how much he's grown and how he's changed. I remember with such clarity how Scott and I prayed for this child. I remember how heartbroken we were when we lost our first two pregnancies and how grateful we felt for the chance to have this baby. I still feel that way. There is a sweetness to this parenthood experience because of the struggle that carrying our babies was.

Sam is in a constant stage of movement right now. He's always getting into something and he explores everything. He loves to open and close doors, play with Lady Bird and eat cheerios. He can say "mama," "dada", "all done" and "Lady". He waves bye bye and can sign about three different words. He's literally running around the house. He's had one "big boy" haircut.

Sam is such a loved baby. The other night we had friends over and I sat back for a minute and watched them interact with Sam. There was always someone helping to watch him - Sam is so blessed to have these surrogate aunts and uncles. His family has also visited him all year. Aunt Jodie and Uncle Bear, Honey Wheat and Papa Tom, Nana and Pops...they've all been to visit and we talk to them almost daily. Oh and talking on the phone - Sam (just like his Daddy) loves cell phones.

We love this boy so much!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from this year...

Sam at 11 months:

Sam at 10 months:

Sam at 7 months:

Sam at 6 months (this was a Sunday morning and we'd just gotten kicked out of the church nursey for being so fussy....Scott had to run the cameras so Sam and I came home and had a photo shoot...He was an angel as soon as we left church! )

Sam at 5 months:

Sam at about 6 weeks:

Sam at about 3 weeeks:

"Sons are a heritage of the Lord, children a blessing from Him" Psalm 127:3

Filling daddy's boots

Sam isn't quite big enough to fill daddy's boots, yet.
But they way he follows him around, I know he's already trying.
He watches Scott, mimicks him.
It's a special love.
Fun to watch.


"If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm" Psalm 37:23

A tough night

My baby boy is growing up.
He's first birthday is this week.
We're throwing him a party.
He's present to us?
A new, toddler sized temper.
Tonight he did not want to go to bed.
He cried.
He screamed.
He doubled over.
He tried to push open the door.
He reached for my hand and then led me to the door.
He wanted me to open it.
It was a battle.
He lost.
He went to sleep.
And then...
I cried.
I screamed.
I doubled over.
Just kidding.
After he went to sleep I popped a diet coke and said a prayer.
Thank you God for strength to be a parent.
I have a feeling that there is going to be a lot of praying...
and a lot of drinking in this new stage of parenthood.
Diet Coke.
Drinking diet coke.


P.S. The camera is charged...picture posts returning this week.

A boy and his dog

I have no picture.
Our camera battery is dead.
This is horrible because I have a story to tell.
A story about a boy and his dog.
This evening we were working around the house...I was doing laundry (if you are ever in doubt of what I'm doing at any given time...there is a 90% chance I'm doing laundry!!!)
Scott was watching the primary coverage.
Sam was playing with his John Deere tractor...
Or so I thought.
All of the sudden, Lady Bird came into the house.
Sam was close behind her screaming as if he'd won the lottery.
I love to see Lady Bird...but she'd already gone into her kennel for the night.
That's when I realized what had happened.
Our son...our genius of a son...HE FIGURED OUT HOW TO OPEN THE KENNEL!!!
He.is.AMAZING!
Ok, he's my first born.
I need a moment to be bask in my pride.
Sam loves Lady Bird. I've already told you this.
Often he wants to play with her when his parents would rather not.
This new skill opens all sorts of doors for him.
He spent the better part of an hour chasing Lady Bird, offering her toys, and squealing with delight as she licked his face.
In short...he wore himself out!
Now, he's sleeping soundly. Lady Bird is sleeping. And I'm blogging.
What a great night!

Friends

Friends are a good thing to have.
We're blessed with our friendships.
Our family is far, far away.
But when we're longing for some closeness...when we need a friend...
God has provided some.
We play together, laugh together...
We carry each others burdens.
These friends are like brothers and sisters.
We love them.
I can't imagine our lives without them.
Now...we have babies.
And our babies are becoming friends.
Well, kinda.
I know Sam loves Madison...he looks at her when she crys.
As if to say..."I'll help you"..."Let's make it better."
And then he tries to sit on her head.
This is not friendly.
But he doesn't know that.
Brayden is the other little guy in this picture.
He's too cute for words.
It's fun having friends.
It's even more fun, I think, watching your children learn to be a friend.

Ecclesiates 4:9-10
"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. "

Playing with Lady Bird

This is Lady Bird Kenley. She joined our family in 2005. I fell in love with her at first sight. In fact, I found this picture of her when she was just a little pup and we'd gone to visit her at her breeder's house. She peed on me that day. I was in love.


Sam loves...I mean he LOVES Lady Bird. He can say Lady...and he'll often go to the window, look outside and call to her. He thinks she is the greatest.
Last night we were doing some chores around the house and I let Lady Bird come in to play. Sam was in HEAVEN! He loved it. They chased each other all around the house...mostly Sam was chasing her tail, but then Lady started chasing her own tail and things really got crazy!

An afternoon with Scout

Saturday was a very fun day. We got up early and spent the morning exploring houses in College Station. After lunch we went out to the barn where Aunt Robin keeps her horse, Scout. We had some apples that we wanted to feed the horses. Well, none of the horses were too crazy about our apples, but we had a great time watching Sam get up close and personal with these beasts for the first time. He wasn't scared at all!

This isn't Scout in the picture below. This is a baby...they have a special name...but I don't remember it. Ask Robin...she knows. I only know about cows. Anyway....Sam was pretty impressed.

Uncle John put Sam on the pony for a picture...

Then he started telling stories. He told Sam that he could ride that pony. Well, that seemed pretty unbelievable, so Sam asked Aunt Robin if it was true.

Aunt Robin said that she'd have to see that to believe it.

Robin told John that he probably wanted to stand on the tackle box to get on the pony.

John was certain that he didn't need to. So, we all watched while he showed off his skills.

First, he took a big breath...and....

Well, we thought for a second that it was going to work...but we were wrong.

As you can see...this is as far as Uncle John got. So far the pony was winning.

But then Uncle John went over to the tackle box and easily climbed on the pony. Things were looking up!

Until he got cocky....He really started showing off his skills.

But, the pony decided he'd had enough!

Sam and Daddy took it all in!