Happy Birthday, Cassidy!

Cassidy is my oldest brother's second girl and my second niece and she turns 5 today! When she was born Ben & I were engaged and in Arizona for my cousin's wedding. We were supposed to be back a few days before she was born but our car broke down 45 minutes into our drive home and we ended up being stuck there for 4-5 days while we tried to figure out what we were going to do (weird how 5 years later we are playing the same game with our current car! Turns out it never gets easier to deal with car trouble!). I remember getting the phone call that Cass had been born and all of the frustration and anger that I had been holding in that week came out with a vengeance! I was so upset at the thought of not seeing Cassidy until she was a few days old but it turns out babies don't even notice who's who and she still likes me anyway! This first picture is of Cassidy at 2 months old at our wedding. My SIL, Heather (her mom) made all of my bridesmaid skirts and used the leftover fabric to make cute little dresses for Cass & her older sister Whitney. They were so adorable!

Cassidy has the sweetest smile that can immediately melt your heart and she has learned how to use it to her advantage! She knows how to flash those puppy dog eyes at me and I will do whatever she wants! Cassidy is very smart and very helpful. She always wants to help Kiara with "big girl" stuff and even loves to carry her everywhere (although Kiara doesn't always love it)!

Cass-Cass also has a very goofy side which I love and she is always good for a laugh. She has the best one-liners and I love listening to her tell stories. They are always so off the wall and creative. I love Cassidy because she thinks her Kiki (that's me) is so silly and laughs at everything I say. I love to make her laugh though because it's so infectious and makes me laugh just listening to it.

I can't resist putting this video back up for Cassie's birthday and bragging about how cute she is!

I love you Cass and am so proud to be your aunt! Have a great birthday!

Love, Kiki

CornMae

No I did not leave out the "Z" in maze and no this post is not about our family finding our way through hundreds of stalks of corn. This post is about my sweet little Mae and her new 'do.

My little girl looks all grown up with her new cornrows! A friend of mine from Nigeria offered to help me the other day and this is the end result. I am missing her curls a ton; they are kind of her trademark, but this is a fun change and will keep her hair from getting as tangled. It only stays in a week so when I wash it again on Saturday I'll have to decide what I want to do from there. I've decided braiding is an art form and Suzanne is a master artist! I know there is no way I'll be able to duplicate what she did (especially since I was holding Kiara down the whole hour so I didn't get to watch her as much as I wanted to) but hopefully we'll come up with an acceptable alternative.

The one thing I love about this style is it totally shows off the beautiful features of Kiara's face. She has literally taken my breath away a few times over the last few days. This picture really doesn't do her justice but it's the best I could get since she always either looks away or closes her eyes really tight while "being obedient" and saying "cheese!"

Anyway, this is new and I'm still getting used to it but I'd love to hear some opinions. What do you think? Do we stick with the cornrows or go back to curls? Or maybe somehow do both?

Kiara-isms

#1-While standing on top of the toilet Kiara started saying, "Oh no, I'm afraid of heights!" In disbelief at what I had just heard come out of my 2 year old's mouth, I said "Did you just say you're afraid of heights?" To which she replied, "Yeah, I'm afraid of heights. Ahh it's scary!" All the while she was grinning from ear to ear! Sometimes I wonder if she really is an adult trapped in a toddler's body.

#2-This was the conversation while at the park today:

Kiara-"Hey Mom, what's going on?" (She asks that a lot and I laugh every time)

Me-"Nothing, just eating my lunch. What's going on with you?"

Kiara, after taking a bite of her food, "Num, num, num, delicioso!"

Happy Birthday, Stockton!

I'm stealing an idea I saw on my friend's blog to do a post for people in my family on their birthday. I especially love this since I'm not there to celebrate in person like I used to and since I love birthdays and making a big deal out of them. This will probably be boring for everyone but the birthday person, so feel free to close the page! Anyway, I figured it would be appropriate to start with the oldest grandchild in my family, Stockton, who turns 10 today!

I was so excited to be an aunt and hassled Critter & Kalli about it all the time (now that I'm older I realize that might have been a tad inappropriate--sorry guys)! The day Stock was born was so exciting! I remember my mom picking me up from school and taking me to the hospital. He wasn't born until about 6 hours after we got there and I was in the delivery room to see his birth. What a thing for a 15 year old to see! I think that was the day I decided I wanted to adopt my children :) Anyway, it was unbelievable and I loved that little boy instantly. I know I am going to regret doing this, especially if one of my brothers happens to read this post, but I have included my journal entry from the day Stockton was born. Please be gentle in reading this and remember that all teenage girls are like this!

Some of my fondest memories from my teenage years include Stock, especially when Critter, Kalli, Stockton & newborn McKay lived with us for a few months while their home was being built. I couldn't wait to get home from school every day and see this cute little face and watch The Jungle Book with my favorite little guy.

Fast forward several years and Ben & I were lucky enough to be Stock's cub scout leaders when we lived in their ward. I loved being able to see him in that environment and watch how sweet and kind he was to the other boys. Stockton is a very smart kid and has a hilarious imagination. He's also very creative and artistic and I love seeing the things he comes up with.

Probably my favorite quality about Stocky is his sensitive, caring nature. He is the best big brother to his 5 younger siblings and is such a good example to them. I love watching him with his only sister, Emma. It reminds me so much of how my oldest brother always protected me and made me feel safe. Just last week when we were there Ben took the boys for a little hike and afterwards commented on how patient Stock is with his brothers, especially the 2 year old, and how well he looks out for them.

Stockton I love you so much and am so proud to be your aunt! Have a great birthday, buddy! You are awesome!

My Boys

Words really can't express what my nieces and nephews mean to me. They have been such a huge part of my life since I was 15 and Stockton was born. My SIL, Kalli was always so great and patient with me, allowing me to have such a close relationship with him and every child (there have been quite a few of them!) who has come since. In fact when Ben & I started dating I told him if we had a future he had to be okay with seeing the kids constantly and spoiling them more than anyone else thought necessary. That was definitely a deal breaker but the boys now love Ben more than me (because, according to 8 year old McKay, "Ben plays all the sports. He's so cool!"). Anyway, I just adore these boys and loved watching them in action at their flag football games while we were in UT. I was especially proud of Brox who is only 6 and the other boys are all 8 and 9 and a lot taller and bigger. He is quite the competitor and I love the look on his face in this first picture. To to mention that it shows him going after a kid twice his size.

McKay with the interception and subsequent touchdown.

McKay, Stockton, Brox

By the way, nothing melts my heart faster than that sweet little smile of Brox's.

Utah trip part 2

We love going to Utah and spending all day every day with family. Kiara totally adores all of her cousins, as do I, and we can't get enough of them. Here is some proof:

While we were there we went to my favorite place in SLC, Gardner Village, and had tons of fun. Most of the kids did pony rides then we walked around and saw all of the cute Halloween/Fall decorations.

My niece, Macy is the most adorable little 21 month old around. I can't get enough of her and her little curls. This was the best picture I could get because she never holds still long enough to get a good one.

Oh how we love and miss you guys terribly. Thanks for all the fun times while we were there, we can't wait to see you in a few more weeks!

Utah Trip Part 1

We just got back from a fabulous visit to Utah to meet our new nephew and see the rest of our family.

While we were there, we...

...played dress up

...did some building

...rode a pony

...and took self-portraits.

We had such a blast and didn't want to leave (the people that is...the weather can stay far, far away from us! We all came home sick!)

More fun stories and pictures to come...

Game 2

Ben & I took a spontaneous trip to Anaheim a couple of weeks ago to see the Red Sox beat the Angels in Game 2 of the ALDS. We saw Game 3 there last year and had so much fun we decided to do it again. We left Kiara overnight for the first time (thank you Aunties Lori and Alicia--we could have NEVER left her had we not known she would be in such good, loving hands with people that adore her as much as you guys do!) and flew down Friday morning. We had a fun day going to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory then souvenir shopping at Downtown Disney.

That night it was on to the best, most intense game ever which left my sweet, mild-mannered husband tied in knots and completely without a voice!

We were super anxious to get home to Kiara the next morning and have no desire to leave her again any time soon, but had so much fun just the two of us. I love you, Ben!

Pretty in pink

Kiara had a little impromptu photo shoot today when I realized how perfectly her outfit matched our flowers. Ben's mom sent the cute rainboots when she was only a few months old and I was convinced they would NEVER fit her. Look at my girl now...