Picture Update

I worked on it most of the day today (to which Kylie did not approve,) but I got all our pictures sorted and edited! All from the camera and both phones, yay! All the pictures are on my G+ account, just call/message me for access. Here are some of my favorites:

3-3-14

4-21-14

5-13-14

5-18-14
Kylie gets her first Tablet! I borrow it a lot.

6-26-14

6-26-14

7-20-14

7-29-14
Helping put away diaper laundry

7-31-14
Breastfeeding in public, like usual

8-1-14
Playing "toybox" on the sofa next to me

8-9-14
Good shot of Kylie's eyes

8-15-14
Drinking some PB Chocolate Love with me

8-23-14
We ran out of regular soymilk for Kylie's night cereal, so we used
chocolate soymilk instead. She was happy with this.

8-30-14
One of the very rare times I caught her with the binky in her mouth.

9-2-14
Kylie's favorite house toy! It teaches opposites.

9-7-14
About to make cookies together

This is my sister Bianca...

... and this is the look-alike doll I crocheted for her. 9-19-14

9-21-14

9-21-14
I had FINALLY just finished knitting that rainbow blanket Kylie is wearing.
We both love it!

10-5-14
Sneaky face! This is Kylie's "about to get into trouble" face

10-6-14
Kylie LOVES pepperonis and cheese

10-11-14

10-26-14

10-26-14
Kylie was very proud of herself for getting on top of the box to see over the fence

10-26-14
My Halloween pumpkin!

10-30-14
Halloween Party!
I was sick 10-31 actually, so I am glad we went to a party the night before.
Kylie's friend Nikita's mom sewed the bodys and flippers and I crocheted the feet and hats.
Kylie is not wearing her hat because it was too warm, she stole my horns instead. =)

11-16-14
Kylie "brushing" her teeth while we get ready for bed.

11-10-14
First time in a stroller! We always wore her in the Baby bjorn before,
but now that she is close to 20 lbs it is getting hard.
She seems to really like the stroller now though, since she is already used to being a part of conversations.

11-21-14
We went to the midnight release of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire!

11-28-14
Being lazy on Daddy

As I said up top, there are many more pictures, all of which you can see on my G+ if you are in my circles. Just add me or message me and I will add you =)

Rachael

Holidays for Kylie!

I am pagan. This means I celebrate Yule (winter solstice, usually the night of Dec 21) rather than Christmas. To me, this has evolved to actually mean that Yule is a small family unit holiday, and Christmas is what we celebrate with extended family.

That being out of the way, the subject of this blog post- What presents does Kylie want for the holidays? No one should feel obligated to get Kylie anything. She has lots of toys already. But for those who want to get something, I made this.

Kylie likes:

• Blue. If she has a choice of colors, Kylie usually goes for the blue one.
• Lots of parts. Kylie particularly likes toys that have a bunch of things that can be put into/taken out of a container.
• Sound effects. Originally when Kylie was a tiny baby I said I didn't want her to have any toys that make sounds/music. We have a few toys like that anyways, and they are Kylie's favorites. 
• Flippable pages. She likes turning pages back and forth. In traditional board books and also in toys.
• French! Kylie has been learning french (via me talking and disney movies,) so any toys that speak french are great! We only have one- a Baby Einstein piano.
• 12-18 month toys. Kylie is quite advanced for her age, and so toys directed at her age group do not go over as well as toys directed to the one above her.

A few ideas:

• LeapFrog Letter Factory Phonics and Numbers
• Fisher-Price Peek-a-Blocks. She has a few hand-me-downs and LOVES them. They come in lots of varieties.
• Fisher Price Little People A to Z Learning Zoo Playset
• Duplos. We have a collection going already. She cannot actually play with them yet though.
• Big buttons! I am collecting big (2in+) plastic buttons of various shapes and colors to put into a bag to play with. It helps with finger dexterity.
• Gift cards! Always an easy option. Toys R Us is good, Carters (clothes) is good, Amazon is even better. =)

And some please don't gets:

• Play food/kitchen. We want food to always be real food, and if she wants to help cook she can help for real.
• Stuffed animals. I feel like we are drowning in them already.
• Walkers. She can almost walk on her own.

As always, if you are unsure about something, feel free to call me and ask! Particularly if you think she might have it already. 

Rachael

Life gets crazy

Kylie is 10 months old now and doing AMAZING! She is cruising everywhere and can even take a few steps on her own. She understands simple phrases and will sometimes repeat them to me. "All done." "Come over here." "Not in the mouth." etc. Her giggles are the best sound in the world. Her dancing to music is just about the cutest thing too.

As always, Kylie comes first our (George and my) life. Sometimes to the detriment of ourselves. Things have gotten a little crazy and life decided to flip upside down for us. George lost his job about a month ago. I feel like we have discussed every possible direction for us to go after that. Should we stay in Cali where our friends are? Go to Texas to be near my family? Virginia to be near his family? Massachusetts where we were before? Apply places and go wherever they take us? After lots of thought and introspection we decided to go back to Virginia for now.

Marya has graciously offered for us to stay in the big house until we can/want to afford to get our own place. George's old company is possibly looking for remote workers, so we are hoping to get in on that. A period of time with George working but not needing to pay ridiculous rent will be very nice. Our bank account is not so happy with how our life has been lately. I am very much looking forward to Kylie getting to know her family. And the house- I LOVE that house. It has a properly sized kitchen (you could ballroom dance in it!) and a huge pantry space. The giant room (living room/dining room) has huge windows all around to let in natural light and to see the beautiful trees. 

Because of all this life-crazyness, I have neglected things like uploading the TONS of pictures of Kylie from my camera and phone. I will do that eventually. I know everyone wants to see Kylie =)

Rachael