A family affair

We had a GREAT thanksgiving at the Sartin house. All my family piled into MeMe and Pops's house for the weekend. It was crazy but fun! Kennedy enjoyed her cousins so much! We are all worn out but I am glad we got to spend time with family. I am going to work on a slide show but I wanted to include a few of my favorite pics of the weekend. I think I'll cherish this one forever. I never realized how much my mom loved me until Kennedy. You can just see how much my daughter loves my mom and how much my mom loves her. It is a moment I captured that I think I'll remember forever...

And my favorite bunch in the world....I am so thankful for them!

23 Months!!

Well, this is my last official monthly blog of my daughter. It is now time to let her fly alone I guess....ha!ha! I will of course do an official birthday blog at her big 2nd birthday but I am going to let go of counting months. She will just officially be 2! I have started saying she will be two after Christmas to those that ask her age. The upper twenties seems too many months to be counting! She is growing up so fast. Everyday I wonder where my baby girl went when I look at this little GIRL! She ran up to Greg the other night, grabbed his leg and said, "I love you DaDa." I looked at Greg and saw him melt. She is just so sweet. She is very into being "neckie" (naked in big people terms) as she calls it. She took her jeans off for nap time and announced she was going to be "neckie all day, mommy!" She would be neckie all day if I let her. We are also working on our two year old fits. She is getting pretty good at those. I am also seeing the strong willed part of her come out. She will tell me no and seriously mean it. When I correct her she doesn't care. We worked on that one a little tonight. She is going to test my patience in the future but I think I can handle it! I might eat those words this next year!

At 23 Months
*You are talking in complete sentences now! You do have a problem with pronouns. It is cute. Like today you said, "My have it!" You actually say that a lot...
*If I ask you what you ate for lunch at Miss Michelle's you reply, "macaroni and mashed potatoes" (you don't have that everyday) and if I ask you want you want for dinner you say, " I want macaroni and mashed potatoes." Tonight we had pizza and all you would say is "I want macaroni!" (I do not give you this everyday....it is your favorite food though)
*You take such good care of Whit. If he is crying you make sure I know. You tell him it will be ok, mommy's coming. What a good big sister!
*You are starting to potty a little more. You took your diaper off tonight and went to your potty and went in it! I might need to really potty train you. You are doing this yourself!

I can never put into words the depth of how I feel for you my Kennedy. I added a family picture this month because I think it shows the truth of our lives. Mommy is holding Whit. You don't seem to care. You are in the middle of us laughing and enjoying life. You are holding on to the two most important people in your life. That's just you. You want to be in the middle of us and everything and spend most of your time enjoying it. And your family is one of the greatest joys you have. May life always be that good my precious Kennedy. I love you!

My big boy....well sort of!

Whit had his four month check up today. He was given a bill of health by the doctor! Yay!! I am always so happy to find out my children are growing healthy and strong! He is such a long baby! We all guessed around 14 lbs for his weight and he was 14 lbs 13 ounces! He was 26 inches long. So I diagnose him as long and skinny, not much like his fat short sister at this age. :)

Have a great Thanksgiving!!

This mommy is thankful!

I know I am constantly blogging about my extreme happiness, so if that gets on your nerves just look at the pictures and stop reading.....

Thanksgiving is time to reflect on the things we are thankful for. Last year we discovered we were adding to our family and now I stand here a year later and I am truly so thankful. I am thankful for gifts I asked for and ones I didn't know I needed to complete my heart. When we looked at this house I remember looking out the window in what was then just an empty room thinking this could be the window I look out of as I rock my first baby. I looked at the yard imagining my children running through it. I would go in there and pray and cry when we went on our journey to get Kennedy. 4 years later this home is breaking at the seams with us in it and I could not be filled with more joy. Kennedy was running around the yard after lunch and just laughing as hard as she could. I was given the gift to be able to step back and observe. Maybe my camera is a part of it because I love to capture those moments that go so fast. Moments I want to stay with me forever. So life might not be all I thought it would at 30 and it turns out it was better than I ever expected. Family is so important to me. A home filled with little feet was something my heart longed for long ago. This thanksgiving I am so thankful for family, for all my family. (that includes all the in laws and out laws out there too!) I am blessed to the ends of my soul and I couldn't be more thankful.

A fun day!

Today was the first official day of Thanksgiving break for us! I know some of you are VERY jealous that we get the whole week off. Perks of the job I guess! :) I love the fact that I get to snuggle my babies as long as I want in the mornings for so many days. It makes me happy! Kennedy and I went to Aiden's big 2 year old birthday party today. She had a good time! I couldn't quite catch them together so this is what you get! We are headed south for Thanksgiving this year. Blake and Tonya and all the kids are coming to my mom and dad's and we are ALL staying there! I think it will be fun. One huge slumber party! Kennedy is getting excited about seeing her cousins. She is so cute when she says all their names. :) Last year this week we found out we were having Whit. I think back about how surprised we were and then it was like it was meant to be. No freaking out that we couldn't afford it, we just got excited. And now as I hold this precious baby everyday, I can see God's greater plan. And somehow we have fit him in and not had to sell him on the black market or anything. You might be getting a pretty framed photo of my kids for Christmas but the gift isn't what matters anyway right?

K and Aiden. 2 years ago he was so tiny with all that hair and she wasn't even here yet!! Wow they have changed!

And little Whit...he stayed home with his Daddy today. SuSu brought Kennedy a little snow globe yesterday. I put it on the floor tonight and he LOVED it! Kennedy then got mad and said, "my prize, no share it!" I had to talk about sharing and she did not want him to play with it at all! It was their first fight and he had no clue it went on at all! We did let him play with it in the end. She was not happy about it at all but we had to work on sharing, right?

My BABY is 4 months old!!!

Whit turns 4 months old tomorrow! I can hardly believe it. Greg says this is our last baby but how can he say that? They are just so sweet!!!!!!!! I am constantly staring at my son in utter amazement. He has grown so fast and is turning into such a sweet baby boy. He loves life and all of us. I cannot even fathom my life without him in it. I hope he always loves me this much.

At 4 months...

*You are starting to suck your thumb! Yay for you! (and me!) I might take back those words in 3 years but that is a long time from now right?
*You have discovered your tongue. This is why all the pictures taken of you lately have you sticking out your tongue. It is your absolute favorite pastime!
*You are sleeping through the night!! Well maybe...we are on day three so maybe you will keep that up. You slept through the night for the first time on Lorelei's birthday. You needed it to be a special day for you too I guess!

*You LOVE to sit at the dinner table with us at night. You sit in my lap and coo and ahhhh at your daddy and sister. You really hate to be far away while we are eating. You want to be in the middle of the fun!

*You still love to play under your play gym. You are getting good at hitting your toys.

*You still are enjoying "mommy's milk" as Kennedy refers to it. Last night you were crying in the car and Kennedy says, "What wrong Whit, need mommy's milk, Whit?" She knows what makes you feel better. What a sweet sister!

*You are starting to get interested in toys. So far you just play with your lovie. All too soon you will be reaching for those toys. You might want to rethink putting them in your mouth. Germs....they are a bad thing!

* You are happiest when someone is talking to you. And you always talk back. It is the sweetest little noise.

I think I could go on and on but I will have to make myself stop. I never knew my love could grow like this. Having two babies is a hard, crazy life but so rewarding. Kennedy will run into my arms saying " I love you mommy." And my sweet Whit only needs to smile at me once and I know how much he loves me. I wouldn't change this crazy life for a minute of quiet! I would miss the noise. I am a very loud person anyways! :)

Christmas shopping can begin now!

This is what I caught Kennedy doing on Saturday. I am serious that she got this out and sat down to read it. She was even on the page with the girly toys! Get your wallets out, Kennedy has started her list! :)