Sip and See

My mom and sister hosted a Sip and See for my friends to come meet Kennedy and have a much anticipated (after 9 months) cocktail!
We decided on a "Boozy Brunch" theme as I know how sacred the weekends are to everyone and during football season the nights are spent cheering on our Buckeyes!
It was a beautiful sunny 80 degree November day and they perfectly planned every detail!

The guest of honor

There was a ton of delicious food...fresh fruit, a biscuit bar, pastries, ham, quiche, bloody marys, and a mimosa bar! yum!

So sweet and thoughtful!

I was so busy enjoying the conversation that I didn't take any pictures of my friends (fail) but we had a house full and everyone stole at least a few minutes with Kennedy. Baby hogs will not be mentioned in this post but you know who you are (wink)!

Kennedy, Carli, Nick and I are so blessed to have so many loving people in our lives and I loved that I was able to spend an afternoon with just a few celebrating our sweet girl!

Fun in October!

We are adjusted to being four and managed to slip in some fun in October. Since the weather was extraordinarily warm this fall we have spent lots of time outside.

Our first outing as a family of 4 was to the pumpkin patch. Carli had a ball picking pumpkins from the vine and going on her first hayride. Kennedy slept the entire time in a strappy, baby holster thing. I don't know what the official name for these contraptions is but it is a must have as a mama of two. I feel like I should be zip-lining or skydiving when I wear it but having my hands free and baby safe is a clutch! Kennedy loves snuggling up to me and sleeps soundly every time I put her in it.

The pumpkin patch also had horse rides and Carli was very excited to ride a "big horse, not just a pony". At first she asked the handler to go slow but after a few minutes, she asked to speed things up!

We also made it to the zoo while Mamaw watched Kennedy. Carli enjoyed some Mommy/Daddy time and we quickly realized how easy only one kid can be! She got loads of candy but her favorite was the scary vampire teeth!

Halloween and Trick or Treat was a huge hit this year! Our little princess Elsa had a blast at her school Halloween party and begging for candy in our neighborhood with her friends. It was a nice night so we strapped Kennedy to me and hit the streets! Baby carrying for the win!!



Our awesome neighborhood moms threw together a festive spooky night for the kids on our street...complete with a haunted house!! The kids enjoyed games like donuts on a string and flashlight tag. My super brave 4 year old walked through the haunted house at least a dozen times..... once she figured out the daddy's were the guys jumping out!

We were so lucky to have my mom stay with us for a few weeks while I was recovering from surgery. She helped cook, shop, and cart Carli back and forth to school...not to mention the countless diaper changes and hours playing with Carli. Thanks mom!!

Carli and Mamaw making pumpkin muffins for her pre-school class!

We had a beautiful October!



Big Sister

Carli is adjusting to her new role at big sister pretty well. She loves to help feed and dress Kennedy. She isn't a fan of changing diapers but she will help get diapers, wipes, and blankets. First thing she asks to do every morning is love on her and snuggle in the big bed with me. I don't know what I am going to do when I don't have that extra 30 minutes every morning to love on my girls.

We have started to see a few smiles from Kennedy. She lights up and always reacts when she sees or hears her big sis. Carli always has the biggest reaction and gets so excited to see her grow and change.  It is so fun watching them together.

Kennedy DID NOT like her first bath. She screamed the entire time!! Luckily she has learned to love the warm water and enjoys bath time.

Life with two kids is not for the faint of heart! ha! I know I am not the first person to have two kids but boy, it's tough! It seems that someone always (sometimes me) wants to eat, play, or some other immediate "mommy I need you right now" task. I know that when you are in the weeds it is often hard to step back and relish these precious daily moments but I am loving the chaos. The days and weeks are flying by. It is so evident when I look back at pictures and videos. I know we will miss this time so we are soaking the "crazy" in. 

New Normal

I may have been a little ambitious thinking I would have more time to post updates. Kennedy is 6 weeks old today and we are just beginning to find our new normal and get into a groove. I am feeling great, rested (for having a newborn and big kid) and almost fully healed from surgery.


So what has been happening lately??? Well, Kennedy and I came home from the hospital on Monday October 3. I was moving around really well for a few days post surgery and I was ready to get home to my big girl. Kennedy pretty much hated being strapped into a car seat and cried the whole way home. Carli was in the driveway and was ready to greet us!

First car ride

We knew that we gave Kennedy a special name but the funniest thing happened on my way out of the hospital. Once we packed everything up and loaded on the giant wheelchair, cart thing...they called for someone to escort us out to meet Nick and load up the car. A young friendly guy came and we started chatting on the way down. He asked what we named our new baby and when I replied Kennedy, he said that was his younger sister's name. We commented that it isn't very common but so pretty. I decided to ask him what her middle name was....just out of pure nosiness...I never in a million years expected him to answer "Elise". I swear, he probably thought I was re-naming my child on the spot. I yelled, "no way, that is her name!". We both laughed and he said he couldn't wait to call his mom and sister (who is 12) about the coincidence. I think it was a God Wink that we truly did pick the perfect name for her!



Once everyone was settled at home we cuddled up on the couch and both girls fell asleep. Two hours in and we have this parenting thing down!! (yeah, right!)