So this is my girl...

So I have received several inquiries as to what types of things Kinley is doing. Well, I keep telling everybody that she is kind of "crazy", not in the literal sense of "crazy" but that she just has a mind of her own and is very busy. So I thought I would post some pictures from 2 Sundays ago and give you the story of the day, which is just kind of a typical day for us I suppose.

We have decided to have some what of a "lazy Sunday" routine around our house in which we all get to wear comfy clothes, Kinley included of course. So after returning from church and getting her uncomfortable dress off she typically wears a white onesie and some comfy pants. For church, I had managed to get her to hold still long enough to put a little pony tail in the top of her hair (insert oohs and aahs for the cute factor). Of course, while flopping and flailing all around during church, the pony tail gets looser and looser, and eventually gets removed leaving a nice little mohawk type look. Then it's on to dinner...spilled all down the front of her of course. Her favorite thing at meal time is to trick you into thinking she is eating, then when you turn your head she takes the mouthful out and throws it in any direction she can, quite often down the front of her. So by this point, as the pictures below will show, she looks like she has had a rough day. I promise we bath her and wash her clothes. However, Kinley is really into shoes lately. She will throw objects at you until you figure out what it is she would like you to do with them, including her shoes. So, I guess at least she had her shoes on for this picture to help her look some what put together.

So after she morphes into her "garbage pale kid" look, we head out to the backyard for one of her very favorite activites. I call it, "see how many times I can climb on the camp chair". I should tell you she is very good at this game and can maneuver into all sorts of positions without tipping the camp chair. The camp chair is of course dusty from being outside, so she is now covered in food, dust, and her hair is a total wreck. But we all laugh at her and have a great time. She is just overflowing with personality and I am doing my best to channel it into a positive direction...not that barking at me all day isn't a good direction, I just think we can do better. Staying home with Kinley is so much fun and I am very grateful for the chance to be a full time mom. Now I just need to format a mommy energy drink to keep up with her and we should be good. And now it's late and this mommy definitely needs some shut eye.

The Swearing In

Thursday was a very big day for our family. We packed up the family and drove to Boise so that Rich could be sworn in and become an official attorney. Rich's parents joined us for the trip. Kinley was a pretty good trooper, handled the drive pretty well, some how forgot to take a nap, but was pretty pleasant anyway. She didn't particularly care for the actual court session and swearing in, but she managed to see her dad raise his hand with everybody else and see him get his certificates from different justices and judges. Then, like a good little girl, she threw her fit just in time to get us out of the boring speakers. Poor Grandma and Grandpa Friess and Rich had to sit and listen to them while Kinley and I ran around in the hall and made some new little friends. After the swearing in we went to eat at PF Chang's, very yummy. Then Rich's parents brought me and Kinley back to Pocatello and Rich stayed for a continuing ed class. It was a great day and we are so very proud of Rich and his great accomplishment. So to quote the famous Michael Scott from The Office "Guess what, I have flaws. What are they, oh I don't know, I sing in the shower, sometimes I spend too much time volunteering, occasionally I'll hit somebody with my car... so sue me." Though I would prefer not to be sued, I do know a good attorney now :)

Eczema clarification

So my editor, Rich, read my previous eczema post and said it needed some work. Apparently I didn't make myself very clear, so here is try number 2. To start the "clarification" process, I was bathing Kinley about every 3rd night because I thought bathing her more often would dry her out more. And secondly, the key to overcoming eczema is moisture. So, you want to trap as much lotion in their skin as possible. So where my editor says I really failed was conveying that you should lotion them while they are still wet or in the process of air drying. That way you can trap in the moisture, so be sure to be some what generous with the lotion. I found it easier to just lotion her while she was in the tub. I have also heard that a humidifier can be helpful as well.

And to the RamFam, Rich doesn't have a regimen for his skin, so not sure why you are thinking it looks so good. Must have been the switch to the electric razor. However after switching to this routine, I find our hands to be quite a bit softer too. Well for any of you having the same skin struggle, good luck to you, and maybe this will work for you too.

Eczema help

Well we are the proud parents of a beautiful bundle of joy who was unfortunate to have been cursed with eczema. I find it to be one of the most frustrating things. She wakes up, has huge red patches all over and just scratches them all day. Then I proceed with my "concoction" of every kind of lotion I can think of (frangrance free of course) and add in some cortizone cream from time to time. Well, no more! I have received some wonderful advice from a friend who is a nurse practitioner and decided to share for the benefit of any of you that have the same problem.

So, here is the new regimen. I had been trying to bathe less often thinking it would dry her out more. I was told to give her a bath every night, let her air dry, and have her lotioned within 3 minutes of being taken out of the tub. She suggested the Aveeno with the green on the bottle, I however had already purchased an Aveeno for babies with dry skin and am using it. I just drain the bath tub water and begin lotioning when it's gone. Kinley loves it because it turns the tub into a great slippery slide. Of course, watch baby carefully because they are very slimy and slippery. This new piece of advice has restored some of my sanity. Kinley's skin is looking fantastic. She does still have a little trouble behind her knees, so an occasional use of cortizone is still necessary, but all in all, we've got some smooth skin at our house.

A little homesick

I spent the morning doing my usual Saturday cleaning while watching College Game Day in Lincoln, Nebraska from good old Memorial Stadium (highlight for me was the sign "Not even Moses could part this Red Sea). And now...I'm homesick for Lincoln!!! I have of course been missing all of our good friends from Lincoln, but more than that, I just plain miss Lincoln. It was such a good home to us. And of course, I miss the Huskers. Is there anything more exciting than enjoying a game at Memorial Stadium with a massive "Sea of Red" surrounding you and non-stop noise??? The only unfortunate thing being the terrible stench of all of the Runza's around you, but even so, what a great way to spend your Saturday.

So for today, we are rooting on our Huskers from Idaho. I dare say we may be about the only ones too. We are headed out to the Parade of Homes in our Husker red. And then back home for the big game! We'll be a little puddle of red and pretending we're enjoying it with all of our great friends from Nebraska. So to all of our friends, we miss you, and to the Huskers...GO BIG RED!!!

A real attorney!

After 7 years of school and a herendous summer of studying, it is official. Rich has passed the Idaho Bar and on September 27th he will be sworn in and become an actual attorney. What a huge relief! I can hardly express the feeling in my stomach as I pulled up the page to check the list of those that passed and my sheer joy to see his name. Rich was very nervous to check and I got to be the first to tell him the great news. We celebrated by going to Rich's favorite restaurant, Sizzler, and had a very lovely meal. It was a bit ruined by a yucky older man who was a bit heavy and when he turned around there was a half moon, not very appetizing, but we had a good time even with the "moon" being so close. Kinley and I are very proud of Rich and all his hard work! It is great to have it all over!

Friends, chuch callings, bumps, bruises and more...

Well this has the potential to be a long post, so brace yourself and consider grabbing a snack before you proceed. We had a great week and lots of fun of the Labor Day weekend. We started the week by having Mexican BBQ (our personal favorite) with some friends from Nebraska, Ashley Cleverly and Erin Lee and their kids. Ashley's parents live near Idaho Falls and Erin is in Wyoming just a few hours from here. It was so great to have some friends in the area and get to catch up. We haven't exactly made new friends in the area and had almost forgotten what it was like to "hang out", so it was very exciting to have them here. And on Friday, my dear sweet husband was kind enough to stay home with Kinley and I had a shopping night with Ashley and her mom...very, very fun, and great to enjoy some adult conversation.

Then for the weekend, it was of course the kick off to college football, hurray! I guess it actually started with an inury plagued premier by Rich's Utes (tear tear). We spent Saturday cleaning and watching quite a bit of football. Even Kinley got into the action. She wore some red pants to root on the Huskers, and she even went all out clapping with the crowd. However, most of the teams received applause from Kinley, she just claps when she hear clapping.

On to Sunday. The day started out with Rich and I receiving church callings (even though nobody had our phone number). We were called to be Primary Workers and will be teaching the 5 year olds. You can't see my face, but it looks a bit like a deer caught in the headlights. This should be a fun challenge for us, neither of us have ever been in Primary before, but we're excited to teach the kids at church and some how juggle Kinley in there too. Then towards the end of church, Kinley was with her daddy and she fell (like she does all the time) and unfortunately she bumped her head and got her first bruise and goose-egg on her forehead. You can't tell from the picture, but it was a pretty big bump.



And finally, Monday. We decided to take a trip to the Pocatello zoo. Consider us extremely disappointed. The zoo was fairly small, though compared to the Omaha zoo, it didn't really stand much of a chance. The cages looked lovely, they just all happened to be missing their animals. We did see some grizzly bears and some big horn sheep, 2 elk, 2 buffaloes, and some birds. The grizzly bears looked more depresesd than any animal I have ever seen. They did manage to scare Kinley to death though...I guess suicidal grizzly bears have that effect on a kid. We managed to walk the entire zoo in about 45 minutes, but it was a pretty good work out, very hilly. Now this weekend, we are off to visit the grandparents in Utah and are sure to have another enjoyable weekend. Go Huskers and Cougars (and a small go Utes for Rich)!!!