Kenton Boy is O-N-E

One year ago Kenton Curtis Rickie Brown entered our lives. It was a Monday morning at 2am when I started having contractions. We went to the hospital at 6am and he was born at 9:26am 2 weeks early. He weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long (can you imagine how big he would have been 2 weeks later???...sheesh...obviously he had no more room). I was blessed with an easy and fast delivery. It was love at first sight and I still can't get enough of him:)

LOVE HIM!
Here he is a little more cleaned up. He had very skinny long legs and huge hands.

So handsome

This was the best moment when Sophia came to see him. I still remember the moment she walked in the room. She said, "Where is he?" right away. She was definitely excited and ready to be a big sister. She is amazing with him.

He is ready to go home with us! Let the adventure begin:

And here he is! This is an official 1 year picture on his day!!!! Sophia seemed to keep her same look, but Kenton has changed quite a bit. Super dark, straight hair to light curly hair and his eyes are a brighter blue!

I love it when he does this. This is his "I'm so funny" face. His face scrunches up and he gives a fake laugh.

We had his birthday party on Saturday (post to come), so we just went to Red Robin to use his free birthday coupon. He was not too sure about them singing and clapping. Every time someone started singing to him today, including me, he would get all bashful.

Yummy cool whip...

Here are some of my favorite things:

1. He says mom, dadda, uh-oh, hi, and ball

2. Loves to climb the stairs and yells for help when he wants to come down

3. Starting to walk (10 steps at the most so far) and can balance for a long time

4. Loves balls

5. Does not mess around with food. He has not put 1 thing in his mouth that he doesn't like. He eats more than Sophia some nights.

6. Hears music and starts to dance

7. Starting to bug his sister (gets into the things she is playing with. She often says, "Mom can you distract Kenton, ha!)

8. Likes to tackle (whenever we are on the floor he will crawl quickly over with a "I'm gonna get you scream" and dog piles)

9. Tilts his head to say hello to you with a huge smile

10. Picks up the phone, puts it to his ear and says, "hi" but it sounds like "eye". If I'm talking on the phone and he doesn't have one he will put his hand over his ear and say, "eye".

11. Loves his blanket

12. Starting to get mad and throw mini tantrums..the testing is beginning

13. Smiles a lot (his dimples work me over)!

There is much much more, but I think that list is long enough. He is a good boy and is quite busy, but I love every minute. Today has been a very reflective day for me. When Sophia turned 1 I was excited. I think because she was my first, I was more eager for the "next stage", but with Kenton I just want the time and him growing up to slow down. I am amazed that he is 1 already. Him and I have always had a close bond that I treasure. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENTON BOY:)!

SNOW DAYS

I love snow, probably because we don't get it very often, so when we do get it, I love it! This has been an amazing week of family time and stay at home time, which we all desperately needed. This has been our week so far:

Monday: Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday- No school

Tuesday: Wake-up, get ready to go to work, get a call from the school district-no school (we have NO snow at our house).

Tuesday night: Do the snow dance to get snow. Jealous of everyone else playing in it.

Wednesday: No school- WE have snow:)

Thursday: No school- Lots of snow/freezing rain

Friday: ????

I know we're going to have to make up those days later in the year, but right now these snow days have been total bliss:) This is Kenton's first snow!

When we went out on Wednesday, it was pretty windy so the snow kept slamming us in the face.
They are ready for a ride. Daddy forgot to tell Sophia to hold on to Kenton. He gave a push and out rolled Kenton face first in the snow (not the best first impression for him, haha). When TJ picked him up his binky was covered in snow and his eyebrows and face were covered in it too. So sad, but quite funny at the same time.

So as you can imagine, that was it for Kenton for that day. His face was cold already, but now it was frozen and bright red. Way to go TJ, haha!

Since Daddy did it, he went in with Kenton and I stayed outside to play with Sophia. We did some more sledding, threw snowballs, well kind of balls, and built a little snowman. Our snowman is totally edible!

We went out again the next day to play some more and give Kenton a more positive experience!

Kenton is ready!

We forgot to make a snow angel the day before, so we made sure to do it today!

He didn't mind sitting in it, but had so many clothes on that he couldn't really move.

Look how I tell Sophia to hold on to Kenton, hehe:) Who says you can't use boogie boards in Washington? They make great sleds!

I think Kenton was having flashbacks because he looked very worried and was not too sure. When he went down with me, he wanted to hold on tight around me:)

Thank you snow for the fun times and good memories:)!

Hello Kitty Partay!

To be perfectly honest, Sophia's birthday snuck up on us this year, so we kept it simple and invited just her cousins and had it at home. But one thing Sophia knew was she wanted a HELLO KITTY theme! We had her birthday party Friday night after school, so we decorated the night before. I don't want to brag, but I loved how these Hello Kitty puffs turned out.

I made her cake. Looks cute and was one of the easiest ones I have made:)

If you don't know, I am not a fan of characters on clothes. I guess Hello Kitty is not as bad, but my mom found this lovely dress. She knew I would never buy it, so she did to torture me and she knew I wouldn't say no because it goes with her birthday theme. Isn't it tacky??!! haha. Sophia loves it and has actually worn in multiple times since.

Sophia wanted corn dogs, polish dogs for the adults, vegetables, and chips for dinner. PERFECT menu for kids!

Can't leave the big boys out at the little table (funny how that worked).

After dinner, the kids did a craft. The girls decorated a bow to be like Hello Kitty and the boys decorated door hangers.

Next was "pin the bow on Hello Kitty." Sophia had to watch her cousins do it first and then she finally warmed up to the game. Miles won and got his bow the closest!

Present time! She got decked out on Hello Kitty stuff and lots more! She was definitely spoiled.Most kids love pinatas right? Well Sophia does not usually like to participate when there is a pinata. She mentioned she wanted one and I said no at first. She reassured me that she would do it because it would be at her house. So we got one. Not thinking it totally threw because it was dark and cold outside and we didn't want it in the house. To the garage we went (don't mind the mess..haven't organized that yet). TJ stood on a ladder and had the kids swing. Sophia actually did it! That was the good part. The bad part is that the pinata ended up in tears by the birthday girl. When it was popped open all the kids clobbered the candy. There was not much space, so Sophia just started crying. We will just say that there probably won't be a pinata at her party again, ha!

Her bad attitude continued as we sung her Happy Birthday (she has never been a huge fan of that though). This is such a classic picture. Plugged ears and a pout face. She wouldn't blow out her candles either...what a party pooper;) That actually reminds me of myself as a kid. I hated that attention.

She got happier when it was time to play "kitty". Look at all those cute kitties listening to the directions of the game.

They had an eating contest, but had to eat like a kitty. They ate goldfish and were very entertaining doing it. Tyler was the fastest eater and Jackson was the most determined to finish!

Kenton played too, but made up his own rules:)

Overall, it was a fun party. The kids enjoyed themselves and were all tired when they left. Thank you to all her cousins and family for coming! It made her party great:)

Sophia is 4!

Why does 4 sound so much older than 3? I know it's cliche to say that it feels like yesterday Sophia was born, but it really does. She weighed 8lbs, 8 oz and was alert since the second she was born. She is still very alert and aware of everything around her, which makes for some great conversations. She is sassy, but loving, is a great big sister, and fun to be around. She was so excited for her birthday. Every day she would say, "Is it my birthday?" We made a chain count down to help her keep track. We surprised her with a decorated door the morning of her birthday.

And balloons in her room (they are always a hit)!
She helped me make confetti sugar cookies on a stick for her preschool friends

For dinner we went to Red Robin to use her birthday coupon and some family joined us:)

Nama, Aunt Nancy, and Grandma/pa Brown bought some presents.

When Sophia was at Walmart with my mom one day, they walked by the fabric and Sophia immediately spotted Hello Kitty fleece and asked her to make her a new blanket. She did and even got a pillow too.

I interviewed Sophia for her birthday on the video camera and this is how it went (picture her dancing while answering the questions):

1. How old are you?----4

2. When is your birthday?----January 12

3.What's your favorite color ---- red, yellow, orange, green

4. What's your favorite thing to play outside? -----basketball

5. What's your favorite food?----broccoli (I said, "what") then she said----spaghetti

6. What's the theme of your party----Hello Kitty

7. What do you like to play the most at preschool?----Playing kitchen

8. What's your favorite song----Just Dance

9. What's your favorite thing to play----Just Dance on the Wii

10. Who loves you?----Mommy and Daddy and Kenton

11. Who's your best friend----Jackson Bergdahl

What can we say...WE LOVE HER AND ARE BLESSED TO HAVE HER AS A PART OF OUR FAMILY:)

Christmas at home

I know Christmas is over and done with, but I didn't get a chance to post about it before we left for Hawaii, so bare with me. Sophia had her annual Christmas preschool program. Just to think 3 years ago, she was scared and didn't want to leave my side so I had to hide so she couldn't see me and this year, she was standing up there proud and singing loud. My girl is growing up (it hurts my heart a little)! Her best friend is Jackson on the end (Santa)
Santa came early to our house (1 week early). I almost forgot about cookies for Santa. At about 7pm Sophia said, "Mom what about cookies for Santa?" Thank goodness for the sugar cookie mix. And she picked out the Santa mug for the milk.

Right when she woke up she asked if Santa came. At our house Santa doesn't wrap the presents, he leaves them out on the coach for the kids to see right away. Here they are checking out what they got...Aren't their PJ's cute (thanks Nama)

(oh shoot, it didn't rotate) This was her big want. She got it! A Hello Kitty clock (Hello kitty is big at our house right now).

They also got a new kitchen that fits better in our new house...Kenton had a phone call.

And Kenton got one of his favorite things....A BALL!

Then we went to my parent's house to celebrate Christmas with them. Boy did we get spoiled once again!!! Sophia was so excited. If you notice she got a high back booster seat that she can wear a seat belt with and a big girl pretty doll.

And TJ was a happy boy too...NEW CLIPPERS! He used these that night.

Kenton also got a fun car track and clothes, which he was in need of!

Sorry, none of the pictures got rotated for some reason. They showed me that they were until they got uploaded...weird! Anyway, we had another wonderful Christmas, early and all!