Kinley's latest interests

Over the last few weeks Kinley has come up with some new things she loves, some are to be expected, others definitely were not. First off, Kinley is really loving her cousin Kolter right now. Kolter will be 3 in January and the 2 of them are finally learning how to play well together. Kolter is even sweet enough to let Kinley sit on his lap so that they can share one of Uncle Dan's great chairs.


Next, Kinley has developed a very strange habit of putting things around her neck. Her top items are necklaces (an obvious choice) and her pajamas and onesies. And she can really pile the clothing on.


And the latest, her love of the computer. I guess this would be an obvious thing for her to love since she sees both of her parents on the computer quite often. However, tonight she decided to combine the love of the computer with her love of clothing around her neck. She discovered one of mommy's very old swimming suits and wore it around her neck for most of the night, and did her best impression of mommy on the computer. Mommy, however, does not wear her swimming suit while using the computer...or ever for that matter.


But my absolute favorite, she loves to smash her face against the glass of the entertainment center. And really, what child can resist this??? I just love watching Kinley grow and seeing her interests change, and I really just love her.

What a month

We had a very busy November, hence the lack of posts from us this month. We made 3 trips to Utah this month and that is a lot of traveling for this little family. Kinley and I stayed at my parents for a week to work on a big surprise for my grandparents 70th wedding anniversary and we had so much fun. We made it to 2 nephew's baptisms and the wedding of a good friend of mine. It is so nice to be close to family and friends and be able to be there for such special occasions. In the last week I was able to do a ladies luncheon with Lisa Burns, Emily Evershed, and Lindsey Hinkins...and of course all the little kiddies. And then to our great joy, the Warners and Wiedrichs were in Sanpete county while we were and we enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Roy's Pizza (formerly Fat Jacks for those that are interested) with them and watched yet another embarrassing Husker loss.

So with Thanksgiving having passed us by, and I reflect on all of the many things I am thankful for, I would like to add 2 new things to my usual list. Of course I am beyond grateful for my family and friends, food, clothing, etc. However, this year, I find myself very much overjoyed for 2 items that continue to improve the quality of my life. First, the DVR. Oh where to even begin expressing my gratitude for the device that has so drastically improved the quality of my television watching, as well as decreased the amount of time it takes for me to watch my selected programs. And secondly, and maybe more importantly, a giant thank you to Julie Aigner Clark for your inspired creation of the Baby Einstein movies. Thank you so very much for allowing me 20 to 30 minutes each day to prepare dinner. There are days where I am certain you are saving my sanity, so thank you.

We wish you all a belated Happy Thanksgiving and wish you luck on your holiday shopping!

Kinley got tagged

So I know that this is my second post today, but it is for a good cause. I am here to express my outrage at a crime spree in my neighborhood. Okay, so it wasn't so much a spree as an isolated incident. And the individual targeted was my sweet little girl. Kinley's toy car was tagged today (that is hood/ghetto speak for graffiti on one's possessions). The disgusting display consisted of 3 swear words, written in little kid handwriting, and in chalk. Needless to say I was livid. And we actually live in a very nice neighborhood and I don't even think we have that many little kids around. Kinley and I tried to do some detective work and went searching for the little heathen (or heathens), but alas, we found no further evidence of their destructive behavior. Luckily the chalk washed off pretty well, it needs a little magic eraser to get rid of the remaining marks, but Kinley was devasted. And this led to a very awkward conversation with Kinley about swear words and these specific swear words, I did not think we would need to have that discussion for a few years. I would include a picture but did not want to subject any one else the bad language. And I might add that the little creeps didn't even get the words spelled right, not to put the words in your mind, but one word was missing a "t" and one had a very pathetic attempt at a "k".

I wanted to put a letter on my patio to the little dirt bags. Something to the effect of, "Hey scum bag that attempted to destroy my child's toy. First of all, you need to go back to school and learn how to spell and work on your penmanship. Secondly, you have now vandalized the property of an attorney's child, and this particular attorney works very closely with the prosecutor's office and a judge. So if I were you, I would find somebody else to pick on. And lastly, you better pray I never find out who you are, you have picked the wrong little girl to mess with! P.S. Please write and tell me how prison is when you get there."

However, some time passed, I realized I am 27 years old, not very tough, and after a frantic call to report the crime to the previously mentioned attorney he was reminded of and merely reminisced about the good old days of living in the old neighborhood. So, no note, however, I am on constant vigil for clues and watching for the culprit.

Trip to the petting zoo

During one of those days where I just realize, "I have got to get out of this house", and take off in the car with no real destination, I stumbled onto this really fun petting zoo. It is actually a pet store that has puppies, kitties, birds, etc., and then in the back it has a great little petting zoo. And of course, my little animal lover child had a great time. They had goats, pigs, chickens, miniature horses, ducks, geese, an emu, ostrich, and even a yak. I'm sure I missed some animals, but you get the idea. They also have a little replica old western town set up, it's very small, but pretty cute, and has the potential for some great pictures. Now all I need is a model that can hold still for more than 2 seconds.

So for our Friday Family Night Out we decided to go to the petting zoo as a family. We love the little puppies and now have our hearts set on getting a cockapoo when we get a house. They were so cute. So we spent some time inside looking at all of the animals, including the gigantic turtles, and then headed outside. Kinley had a lot of fun, and was completely mesmerized by the Canada Goose and the way it honked at her. The pygmy goats made her nervous though, they had some crazy looking eyes. So, if you are ever in our neck of the woods, we will take you to our little petting zoo refuge.

The hunger strike of 2007

Oh what a day we had today. I'll just give a quick run down. We started the day off just fine, our usual routine, Kinley gets up and we play for a bit before breakfast. Well today, when it was time for breakfast, Kinley declared a hunger strike. But why a hunger strike you ask, well I just have no idea. She would only drink a little bit of apple juice and that was it. I persisted all morning with gold fish, fruit snacks, and things I knew she liked. She would trick me by putting it in her mouth, taking it out, then trying to cram it down my throat. She did drink some milk and then took a lovely 3 hour nap.

Once my 3 hours of solitude were over, Kinley awoke with a diaper that had severely failed in its purpose to hold the urine in. So Kinley didn't get her usual "snuggle mommy time" after her nap and that just fueled the hunger strike apparently, and made her very clingy. She was never more than a foot away for most of the afternoon. If I was in the kitchen, she would just lay on the floor with her blankie and wait for me to finish my task some what patiently and then follow me to the next room.



After as much shadowing as I could take, we decided to hop in the car and go visit daddy at work. The ladies at the court house certainly love Kinley. It's amazing how many people offer you candy when you have a cute little kid with you. So, Kinley finally said enough is enough and called off the hunger strike...for some smarties of course. But boy did those smarties perk her up. She was super happy at the grocery store waving and saying hi to everybody. And thanks to my fresh values card, we bought a delicious rotisserie chicken for dinner, which to my delight Kinley scarfed down. The smarties, chicken, and a few bits of orange turned her into a whole new kid. She spent the rest of the night reorganizing my kitchen furniture (one of her favorites) and then decided to search her toys for the perfect hat, which she found. Oh the mood swings of girls!