4 months!

Our little baby is 4 months old now and this has been a big month for her. She is learning all the time and has been picking up a couple of new tricks along the way. Her schedule is now pretty consistent. She has been sleeping through the night (at least 8 hours) for a couple of weeks now which has been AMAZING! We decided to start feeding her carrots at dinner time which appears to be working for now. She smiles all the time and unless she is tired or hungry she is generally a pretty happy baby! Aside from Matt and I her favorite people are her grandparents and aunts and uncles. She especially LOVES Austin and Katie. She is also really starting to enjoy her toys and blankets. She has not yet narrowed down any favorites though. I think she just likes to have as many around her as possible? She is also sitting up now. On occasion she will need some assistance, but she pretty much has the hang of it now. I am not sure if we are just looking for it, but she really seems to like basketball. Whenever it is on the t.v. she just goes into a trance like state. As you can imagine, Matt just loves this about her.

Things I want to remember this month:
When she spits out the tip of her tongue (yes, just the tip. She is very lady like about her spitting :)
When she yells to get our attention...this may get old after a while but it's kind of cute for now.
When she would scream in between each bite of carrots indicating that she wanted more. I have already worked on stopping the screaming because she would get really loud, but it was a little funny.
How happy she gets in the mornings when Matt and I go in to get her out of her crib. She has a grin from ear to ear and kicks her feet frantically.
When I made her laugh for the first time. She still doesn't do it very often, but when she does my heart just melts!

Here are some pictures from this month in no particular order...there are A LOT!

She is actually 2 days shy of 5 months here but oh well...

She thought it would be more fun to play with the sign...

...then eat it!

So we lost the sign, added a bow, and a tongue!

This may be one of my favorite pictures :)

In her big girl pj's

Watching the basketball game

First time eating carrots. Such a mess but she loved it!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I think she looks like Matt in this picture.

There it is...the tongue :)~

It might not look like it in this picture, but Katie really likes Kendyl too!

She pretty much thinks Austin is the coolest thing that ever was.

Basketball is not enough. Matt wants her to like video games too...hmm

Happy girl :)

3 months!

I know it has been a while, but having a 3 month old and working full time can really rob any free time that you have. Going back to work is really hard. I miss her so much during the day, but it makes the time I have with her that much more special. We are incredibly lucky because we have family who is able to watch her. Depending on the day she is with Matt's dad (Grampy Mike), my mom (Granny) or Aunt Danielle. It helps put my mind at ease knowing she is with family.
During her 3rd month Kendyl began sleeping through the night (about 8-9 hours). It was WONDERFUL but short lived. She also began sleeping in her crib though when she got sick we caved and let her back in our bed again (for at least part of the night). Based on our scientific method of weighing ourselves and then weighing her we are guessing that she is somewhere around the 15 lb range. We didn't end up measuring her height though. The girl is growing like crazy. She is wearing 6 month clothes right now but at the rate she is growing she should be out of them within another month or 2. She is still only on breast milk, but it doesn't seem to be keeping her full through the night so we may have to start supplementing with some food or cereal.
Things I want to remember from this month:
-She LOVES bath time. She gets really excited and starts kicking. It makes a huge mess, but oh well.
-Rolling over for the first time (back to stomach only)
-Sitting (with assistance)
-First belly laugh...she has only done it the one time but oh my gosh was it the cutest thing EVER!
-She loves her little "playstation" that Meghan and Cindi got her. She is now starting to reach for toys and this one seems to be her favorite.

Here are some pictures (in no particular order):

This was towards the end of the month, but of well.

Sleeping in Mom and Dad's bed

Sitting in Austin's chair at his birthday party

She makes this face every time I wash her cheeks.
Loving bath time :)

Playing in her new favorite toy

Just being cute

After sleeping in her crib all night...such a big girl!

Are You Kidding Me?

While I was on leave I spent a lot of time feeding Kendyl in the middle of the night. In order to get a little bit of light without waking Matt up I would turn on the TV. In this time I have seen more stupid infomercials that I care to mention, but I am going to talk about them anyway because I find them comical. Here are my picks for the top 5 STUPIDEST infomercials (in no particular order):

1. The Shake Weight. I am not going to say what popped into my head the first time I saw this one because I know it popped into all of your heads as well, but what ever happened to old fashioned weights?


2. The 3-Minute Leg Machine. Ellen featured this on her show and I almost died laughing so I posted the video of her using it.





3. Bling Sting. Honestly, this is something that no adult should EVER purchase! I was telling Matt about it and apparently a couple of women have showed up to work wearing this. Again, are you kidding me?

4. Booty Pop underwear. I can't make this stuff up!



5. I saved this one for last because this may be the BIGGEST scam I have EVER seen!! It is called miracle water. I guess all you have to do it drink it and you will get whatever you pray for!!!


>

Revenge

Matt got an I-Pod way back when the original ones came out. It finally stopped working a couple of months ago. Being a mail carrier, Matt really enjoyed bringing his I-Pod to work so that he could listen to it while casing and delivering his route. Shortly after Christmas I decided that I wanted to buy him a new one and surprise him. After a little research I went online and ordered one for him. I had it all planned out. My hope was that it was going to be mailed on a Saturday (which it was) so I could run to the mailbox and get it while he was at work. Then I was going to charge it and download all of his songs onto it so it was all ready for him. The following Saturday I would leave it on the counter with a note telling him to have a good day. I have mentioned on my blog before that I have pretty much (UNINTENTIONALLY) ruined every surprise Matt has ever had for me. Well, he finally got me back.
About a week and a half before Matt and I ordered a scale online (yes, I do a lot of my shopping online) and it was delivered while I was at the doctors. Matt thought it was his mom's Christmas present that had been back ordered so he opened it. When it wasn't what he thought he went on our Amazon account to see if his mom's gift had shipped yet. So he logs on to the account what does he see at the top of the page? A shiny new I-Pod touch sitting nicely under the "Shipped" category. As I was leaving the doctor's I called Matt to tell him I was on my way home and he precedes to tell me that we got our scale and he went on our Amazon account to check on his mom's gift. I stay calm HOPING that he didn't see it. Without skipping a beat he asks me..."Did you order and I-Pod?" So there you have it. All of the surprises I have ruined he finally got me back :( Needless to say he was very excited, but it definitely did not work out as planned.

Kendyl's First Christmas!

While it was just another day for Kendyl, it was super exciting for Matt and I this year to have our sweet baby girl in tow. Ever since Matt and I started talking about having kids we both have said how we couldn't wait for Christmases with them. As always, it was definitely a hectic day, but fun nonetheless. We started our morning opening presents at home. Ever since Matt and I got married we have opened presents in bed on Christmas morning. I think it is just our way of staying in bed a little longer before beginning the "rat race." We figured it was ok to do it one more year since Kendyl had no idea anyway. This year we went pretty light on presents for Kendyl. Matt got her a toy for her crib and a Disney princess "I Spy" book. Being the more practical one I got her some pj's from Old Navy because she has been rapidly growing out of her 3 month ones. I also got Matt a bunch of Disney movies so he could watch them with Kendyl which brings our total (of Disney movies) to 12. Lastly, Matt got me a necklace that had an opal (Kendyl's birthstone) in the middle with sapphires (our birtstone) around it.

Opening Dad's present.

In keeping with AZ tradition we then headed to my dad's for a late breakfast . I made my mom's famous monkey bread and they were gobbled up almost instantly. We had 3 dogs there (my dad's, my brother's and our's) so things were a little chaotic. We exchanged gifts and hung out for a bit before heading to the next house.

After my dad's we stopped over at the Wofford's (Matt's mom's side of the family) for a little while. They had a nice lunch and then we just spent some time visiting. They started playing a game of Left Right Center, but Matt and I couldn't stay because we still had my mom's house to get to. Christmas at my mom and Scott's was definitely unique this year. On December 23rd my mom found out that there was a good chance that she had lung cancer (which is weird because she has never smoked). Naturally, this made for a slightly depressing day, but my siblings and I were determined to make the best of it. We all had been struggling with the idea of our mom having cancer so we just wanted to take our minds off of it and just thoroughly enjoy each others company. Since then, we have learned the masses that were showing up are not cancer, but we are still not 100% sure what they are. At this point the doctor is suggesting Valley Fever or left over pneumonia from 2 months ago. That aside, we had a really fun night that was much needed at the time.My nephew Austin LOVES music so naturally he loves my I-pod. When I found an MP3 player for $20 at Fry's marketplace (that looked just like an I-Pod) I knew I had to get it for him. I realize that he is only 5 years old and will probably break it, but that is why we only spent $20 on it. We downloaded his Phineaus and Ferb CD along with a bunch of Michael Jackson (his FAVORITE!) and Beatles songs on it.

Playing Hungry Hungry Hippos

Granny and Kendyl

The Crooke kids

Just being dorks. We are doing a "fist pound."

Since we have officially run out of time on Christmas day we decided this year to celebrate with Matt's parents on Sunday the 27th. Stupid me forgot to take pictures so instead I have decided to post the family pictures that Matt's cousin took at Thanksgiving.

I love how Katie is looking right at the camera in this one.

Grandma and Kendyl.

Matt and Jay

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. As always our parents spoiled us way too much, but the best gifts of all would definitely have to be the little miss and finding out that my mom does not have cancer :) I hope everyone else had a nice Christmas as well!

SPELF 2009!

Another year, another successful special ed department holiday lunch. This year the theme was elves...or should I say SPELFS! In fact, our very own SPELF was able to attend!

What a fox right?

He was even willing to take pictures with those willing to donate...
Peachy :)


The afternoon was filled with fun activities. We enjoyed a yummy lunch at Nando's (a department favorite) and actually got to meet Nando himself! In keeping with tradition, we followed lunch with the White Elephant game. Naturally, there were singing stuffed animals, a one of a kind Dr. Moix hand print picture (that has made a repeat appearance every year since I have worked there), men's hair dye, Kiss makeup and a George Bush figurine that played recordings of some of the best "Bushisms."

Here are the newbies (accompanied by some other lucky volunteers) singing our very own version of some holiday songs including, Winter Wonderland-AZ Style, Here Comes Special Ed, and Spelf the Little Momer Person

My personal favorite is still Winter Wonderland-AZ Style. I said last year that I would post the lyrics because it was a very clever version so here they are...

Palm trees wave, are you listenin'?
In the pool, water's glistenin'
A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight
Livin' in the Valley Wonderland

Gone away is the blizzard,
Here to stay is the lizard,
A warm sunny day, we like it that way,
Living in the Valley, Wonderland.

In the desert we will have a picnic,
Cactus, sand, rattlesnakes and sun.
Christmas dinner is an old tradition,
It's pinto beans and tacos by the ton.

Later on we'll perspire
Temperatures rise even higher
A warm sunny day, we like it that way,
Livin' in the Valley Wonderland.

Here is the SPED gang...minus Lori for some reason? Definitely a fun group.

I seriously work with the best people. Though we definitely have to put up with some headaches being in Special Ed we have a fun time doing it. I also have to thank all the people who kindly held my baby so that I was able to socialize and eat lunch.

Here is Kendyl with one of her favorites, Aunty Char :)