these boots were made for walking...

snapping pictures of kai are harder than ever... she's always on the move. and even though you all think she's a perfect angel, the truth is, she's got a little rebel in her and will pose and smile for other people taking pictures, but not mommy. can't imagine where she gets that from.

so we've had a pretty busy couple of months. in september, we drove out to oklahoma and texas for a visit. i'm so bad about pictures when we visit, and this time, i was more focused on taking pictures of all the family members for kai to see so she could learn everyone's names even while we're 1000 miles away. but i managed to get some pretty cute ones.

our first stop was at cousin jerry's out in the country of OK... it is so different than what i'm used to, but the 20 degree temperature drop was very nice! kai had a great time with cousin jenny and all of the animals (they have dogs - pups while we were there, donkeys and a goat)

here's kai enjoying the sunset from the front porch with jenny:


the next day we drove into Oklahoma City to pick up cousin Michael from the airport and make our way to the Spears' family reunion in Okmulgee, OK.... it sounds about as exciting as it is! we had dinner in a little cafe on the square, complete with live music and a diner full of retirees. :-) after dinner, we spent some time hanging out.

kai and jenna sharing a moment


i love this photo because it looks like kai is on a mission!


after the reunion, we drove down to d-town and had a labor day bbq with my family - like i said, i have lots of individual pictures of everyone, but not too many action shots. after lunch we went on a walk with pop-pop (my dad) and jersey (the dysfunctional basset of my grandparents)... elle decided to join us and help with kai:


we also went to dinner with kari and rob, who are expecting baby boy in feb! and melissa, expecting baby in may! we went to target afterwards and kai got some new clothes from aunt kari and aunt mel. here she is checking out the purchases!


on the way back to phoenix, we decided to take the less-traveled, non-interstate route through the mountains... it was a little more interesting than the drive through tucson, but lots of stops and 25 mph zones along the way. here's a pic at the crossroads... she's probably in the middle of saying "shoo-ee" about her feet... ok, not really, because she just learned that a few weeks ago... she takes off her shoes and smells her feet and says "shoo-ee!" it's adorable.


since we've been back, we've met DJ Lance from Yo Gabba Gabba


been silly at dinner


learned to floss! (ok, not really, just copying mommy)


and spent many minutes riding "horsey" who sings and neighs and wags his tail!

october has brought cooler weather (finally!), but not any change in sunlight or foliage... it's kind of odd not to see leaves changing colors. this last weekend we were invited to a birthday party at a local farm... about 5 minutes down the road (we're kind of on the edge of civilization out here in east mesa... not to worry though, necessities like sonic are still right around the corner)... it was so fun to take kai because she actually knows the names of all the animals and we have the awesome pink cowgirl boots on loan from a new friend.


the first stop at the farm was the fake cow, whose udders were dripping water... shawn was more interested than kai, apparently


we then made our way to the animals... pigs, goats, sheep, ducks, chickens, a donkey, and a cow.


we paused briefly to take a mommy and kai photo


then headed to the cow-train...a handful of white and black barrels pulled by a tractor... which kairi really loved!


kai decided to do a little reading while the birthday boy was opening presents


and then the battery died... we also did a corn maze - for about 5 minutes - because by now the sun had come out in full force and it was like 20 degrees warmer than it was when got there - and because kai wanted to be carried instead of riding in the wagon, and i told shawn we needed to go back... it was like a 3 mile maze or something crazy. we also looked at a few pumpkins... but she wasn't really that into it.

i know halloween is coming up and we will get more pics then, but in case you don't have facebook, or you haven't seen what shawn and I were this year... here's your opportunity.

shawn was invited to a halloween party by a co-worker who told us the theme was sequins... so my wonderfully creative husband decided to go as richard simmons, which meant i had to be a sidekick... his biggest fan, and success story #4,326. :-)

that's all for now folks! hope you are all well, and I'll update again post-thanksgiving!

i'll leave you with this funny, dirty, precious toddler face!

75 words or more

Not the number of words in this post... although you probably will only read that many, I know you all just want to see the adorable pictures! That's the number of words Kai can say (that we or at least I) can understand! So smart, I know.

So she's officially on her way to becoming a two-year old... 18 months old and counting. Where has the time gone? Here are her stats from her check-up:

Height: 30 3/4" - 23rd percentile

Weight: 23 lbs 4 oz - 34th percentile

Head: 46cm - 34th percentile

Doctor said she was perfect! I couldn't agree more... :-) I'll spare you the complete list of words, but here are some of her favorites (and what they actually sound like):

poo-poo.... sounds exactly like it's supposed to

teeth... tee... always accompained by moving her potty stool to the sink in an effort to brush her teeth (or at least eat the toddle toothpaste of the brush)

helicopter.... sounds like hell-caw-ter.... shawn taught her this one!

peek-a-boo.... sounds like pee-boo... also a synonym for yo gabba gabba... which sounds like o-bah-bah

cheese... still one of her favorite foods

water... sounds like agua... how do you like our little splanglish speaking baby?

elmo.... she can ennunciate this one perfectly, much to my shagrin

oh, i could go on, but why bore you with the erudite language of a toddler, when i can show you pictures?

The fourth of July finally rolled around and Kai got to finally wear this adorable outfit from aunt jenn... unfortunately the festivities were cut short because Kai got sick that night... ended up with croup... it was awful! She sounded like a bulldog when she was sleeping.


Here's our little fashionista sporting her shades


And shopping for some more...

We decided to get her a more sophisticated potty than the one we had bought at Ikea... this one supposedly plays a little tune after you do your business... not that we would know anything about that... she goes poop on the big potty if we can get her there in time... otherwise, she'll sometimes sit on it for a bit to catch up on the latest book.


We've had to get creative with things to do on the weekends... usually it's too hot, but that didn't stop us from checking out the railroad park in scottsdale a couple of weeks ago. We were the only ones on this little train (probably because everyone else was smart and stayed indoors)...


Kai also rode the carousel... i tried to get a good pic, but it was going really fast! She was so cute, she would smile and laugh everytime it came back around to where i was.


Since Shawn doesn't have a house to work on, he has to be a little more creative to stay busy. He built Kai this car a few days ago.


And last but not least, we ventured out to a nearby ghost town (about 20 minutes east of us)... the train there was advertised to take 20 minutes, so we thought it would be worth it... what they didn't say was that it only went about 2 mph and you had to listen to a bearded mountain man talk about the legends behind the superstition mountains.


All I could think about was how creepy this place was... can you blame me?


That's all folks! Shawn's birthday is Monday and we're heading to Texas by way of Okmulgee, OK in a couple of weeks! We should get lots of good photos. Until then...

Vegas, Baby, Vegas!

A little while ago, Shawn's hours got cut to four days a week. He arranged it with a friend to have a 4-day weekend every other weekend... so when my parents said they were going on a wild west RV tour, I mentioned that we could meet in Vegas... mostly so Shawn and I could go on a date! Turns out, he got his hours back, thank goodness! But we still went up to Vegas at the last minute. We should have probably just stayed home... things didn't work out to well for us... but we got some fun pics!

Westward ho! This wagon was in the parking lot of the McDonald's in Wickenburg, AZ.


Stopping at the Hoover Dam for some photo ops... notice the construction in the background... the dam is apparently not doing so well... they don't allow big trucks or buses to go over it anymore and they limit the speed and traffic of all the cars. They're building a huge bridge to by-pass it, but it's behind schedule apparently - the signs said it was to be completed in like the Fall of 07 or something...


They were just missing one piece of the arch while we were there... thanks to my super public school education, I know that the center piece of the arch is what makes it all work. :-)


This picture is from underneath the bridge... look how tall it is! And we of course were already pretty high up on top of the dam.


We had some time to kill while we waited for my parents to make it from Cali to Vegas, so we took the opportunity to pose in front of the vegas sign (I had never done it before!) and yes... Lucy is part of the family, even if Shawn thinks otherwise.


Kai got to hang out with Pop-pop (that's what she's calling him these days) and Gamma while Shawn and I had our date night. Apparently she didn't have too much fun here:


Can you blame her, I mean, there's a creepy clown in the car with her! And the last photo is a self-portrait of my man and I... strip style.


It was nice to get away from house-hunting for a while! Too bad we didn't win any money to help buy one! :-)

First Visit Back to Texas!

So Kai and I made the journey to Texas without Shawn back at the end of June. The flights went well, we had a whole row to ourselves on the way there and Kai slept the whole way back. That being said, I'm not sure I'll ever take a toddler on a 3 hour plane trip alone by myself again! You should have seen me at security... stroller, diaper bag, toddler, taking mine and Kai's shoes off! It was insane. Here are some photos of our journey!

Daddy and Kai waiting at the airport before our flight.

And here's our big girl all buckled up! Actually, she rode in my lap, but I took this before we took off. Look how excited she is! :-)

When we got to Texas, Kai stayed a couple of days with her grandparents and I went on a little road trip down to Port A with the girls.

Here we are walking down the super long boardwalk to the beach...

I'm not sure what they were looking for... I mean, it is the Gulf of Mexico.

After a fun-filled few days, we headed back to the big D for a couple of nights before returning to Phoenix. It was the longest I had been away from Kai and maybe even Shawn... and I'm happy to report that I missed them both, even Shawn. :-)

We were fortunate enough to meet up with my old teaching buddies at Northpark. Here is Kai enjoying a Tiggemantastic puppet show

Couldn't leave without a group shot. See how we've multiplied!

Our last night back home took us to the *NEW* Irving El Fenix (AKA old Don Pablo's) for some Tex-Mex.

Kai was excited to see uncle Matt and aunt Rita!

It was a great trip and we look forward to our next trip home in just a few weeks! Shawn's coming this time... and probably Lucy too. :-)

phoenix fun

so you guys are probably wondering how we're adjusting to living in the desert, right? well it's been pretty great so far... june has been unseasonably cool (low 90's) so it's been very nice as far as weather goes. it still gets hot, but it's not unbearable. luckily, there are tons of splash pads here... the first time kai encountered one, she wasn't quite sure what to think


but as you can see from this photo, it didn't take long for her to figure out what you were supposed to do... get wet!


mom came out for a visit a couple of weeks ago and took kai swimming (she's a total water baby by the way... watch out michael phelps!)


and we spent an evening up in scottsdale... the fancy pants mall has a fancy pants play area for the kiddoes - seriously, the coolest playhouses i've ever seen!


and mom came with me to a MOPS playdate at another splash pad/park


kai's favorite word for a while was hot... which she kept saying as i pushed her in the swing


we've also been blessed to have an old friend from FBC Irving close by... Karen has watched Kai a few times (and even now as i'm updating the blog - much easier without a 16 month old climbing in and out of my lap!) her son Nicholas loves Kai and is so good with her!


she snapped this great pic of kai in the swing one evening when we had just moved here


we're so thankful for karen and brad and nick for their kindness... and it's nice to have someone to talk "texas" with!

last weekend we didn't have much to do, so we decided to go for a little road trip. Payson is a town about 75 miles north of our apartment... it's up in the mountains, so it's about 20 degrees cooler and one of shawn's coworkers actually commutes from there so we wanted to see what it was all about. it was a nice drive, but i can't imagine doing it twice a day!

here is red mountain... seriously about 5 minutes from shawn's office


about 15 minutes into the drive


and about 30 minutes


most of the drive is through Tonto Nat'l Forest and along the way is Saguaro Lake... we're planning on getting an annual pass so that we can go offroading and camping and boating and stuff of that nature...

when we arrived in payson, we were a little disappointed... wasn't much to it. we ate lunch at a little cafe


and turned around to head back to mesa, i did my best to get some good snap-shots of the mountains through the window in our moving vehicle...


can you believe this is like 45 minutes from my front door?


and this is even closer, although it does look a little more like it belongs in the desert


it was a nice alternative to house hunting and car shopping which has taken up much of our free time since we've been here.

well, that's all for now folks. consider this blog up to date! kai and i are heading to dallas tonight... and i'm going to the beach with the girls... so photos of that to come.

maybe if i'm bored (yeah right!) i'll post one about what a 16 month old is like through her mother's eyes. :-)