A Weekend Full of Firsts...

While Craig had a busy weekend at work, Kylie and I had our own busy weekend of adventures. It started Friday night when Craig went to work, Melissa went to work, my mom and dad were in Hawaii and I had to go to the Brandin Iron. So, we did what every parent does with their 13month old, we left her home alone to fend for herself, I was only gone for 1.5 hours. Ha, ya right! We called in the back-ups! My cousin Emily (Liam's mommy) was willing to come play with our little monkey while I was gone. Liam goes to bed at 7 every night, so she was able to come entertain Kylie and not miss out on any time with her little one. I was not sure how Kylie would do with someone different taking care of her so late in the evening, but everything went really well. They tried on my shoes, played hide and seek with an Easter Egg and played with lots of toys and books. When I got home she was eager to see me, but not upset. Actually we preceded to have a really easy rest of the evening, for the first time ever, she took a bottle with some whole milk from me, then nursed and fell right to sleep.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to Gymboree. Kylie's friend, Jackson, was attending Gymboree for the first time and he seemed to really like it! After Gymboree we stopped in to World Discoveries to get Raine a birthday gift. Kylie enjoyed her ability to walk all around the store and of course found the section with the baby dolls. She was also very interesting in all the little plastic animals, I guess we know what is going on her Christmas list this next year. Next stop Raine's Birthday Party. I was a little concerned to make the 1.5 hour drive just the two of us, but after a little snack and some playing in her car seat, Kylie fells asleep. She slept until we pulled up to their house, it was perfect. Kylie had a great time at the party, there were so many kids and so much to do. Highlights for Kylie were the little doggy, Lambeau, bubbles, balloons, fresh fruit, and her very first time in a bounce house! Kylie really enjoyed playing with the other kids and the other kids loved her. Raine was so happy to have Kylie at her party, she would come up to Kylie and give her a hug then pick her up and try to carry her like she was a baby. Raine has a new baby brother, Sky, who is just a couple months old, I think she thought Kylie was still little like Sky. Raine would try to hold Kylie or try to give Kylie to me, Kylie was not so sure about all of this, but it was great to have her spend the afternoon interacting with so many other kids. We stayed for a while and visited with Marisa before heading home. Kylie was yawning and rubbing her eyes when I put her in the car seat and once again she took a nice long nap during the drive, yay! As silly as this sounds, I think I have found a way to help her fall asleep in the car...both times she fell asleep it was while I was having a conversation on the phone. Our car allows you to use the speakers for a phone call, so I decided to make a few phone calls during our drive. Both times I started out playing music and singing for Kylie, then I would reach back and rub her head, she would yawn and yawn but not fall asleep, until I started talking. It was like she needed to hear my voice to know that I was still right there, and she was able to relax and fall asleep. We tested my theory again on a car drive we made tonight, sure enough she calmed down when either Craig or I were on the phone and fell asleep, silly girl!

On our way home from the birthday party, we stopped to get dinner at Pat and Oscars. While we were there we spent some time chasing the ducks around the pond and decided to stop in to Outback and say HI to a few of Craig's ex-coworkers. It was fun to see them all again, it has been about 10 months since we visited Outback, it made me realize how much I miss the food and friendly people.

On Sunday we got up and headed to church. Kylie has had a little bit of a stuffy nose and didn't sleep very well Saturday night, so Sunday she was a little fussy and tired. I stayed with her in the nursery while Craig helped with the older kids. After church we went out to lunch with Mimi and Papa (who got back from Hawaii late Saturday night). It was fun to spend time with them, Kylie had started walking the day before they left and now she is so much more coordinated, it was fun for them to see the difference. Kylie and I took a nice long (3 hour) nap when we got back from lunch then headed to a BBQ with my parents. The street I grew up on (Maria Ct.) has a BBQ every year. Last year Kylie was just one month old when we introduced her to the neighborhood and this time she was running around like crazy. This was another fun event with lots of kids, all eager to play with Kylie and show her how to do things. Kylie got to go in her first Power Wheels Jeep, sit on a play motercycle (the batteries were dead) ride a little scooter (she stood on it while I pulled her around) and bounce on a big trampoline. It was a very busy party for Kylie and she loved it!!

Now we are in a hotel room in Thousand Oaks area, we are visiting my friend Liz and her new baby Zachary. We decided four hours in the car in one day was to much for Kylie so we headed out here tonight, we will visit with Liz tomorrow then head back in the afternoon. Kylie did great and slept for most of the drive, but since we got here she has been running around and playing like it is the middle of the day. We hope to all go to sleep soon, fingers crossed. One more cute moment, Kylie found the full length mirrors in the hotel room and spent about 30 minutes looking at herself, talking, touching the mirrors, giving herself kisses, and getting frustrated when she couldn't get to that other cute baby. We need to get some low mirrors in our house, she had so much fun talking and making faces at herself, so cute!

Sorry this was so long,
-Natalie

chasing ducks

Gymboree with Jax