kamy time

kam has really been basking in all of the attention she's gotten lately . . . she just loves being the only kid . . . and getting all of the attention. it's like she knows that it's "her" time when we drop the girls off at school.

we play on the floor and she brings me book after book to read. she hands me the book, turns around, and plops herself right in my lap . . . without having to worry about any competition.

she holds her baby and wants me to wrap it in a blanket over and over again.

she laughs like crazy and points to a million and one things so i can tell her what they are.

i guess with all of the noise when we're all together, i wasn't realizing how much she was trying to say . . . or how much she knew. she just kind of blended in. now i am getting the chance to see what an amazing little baby she is . . . repeating everything, making animal sounds, her contagious little laugh, and best of all getting to watch her crinkle her nose and give her toothy grin . . . all for an audience of one!

mck's big day at "3 year old pre-school"

well, today was mck's big day at "3 year old pre-school" (the term she continues to use!) she had a great start to her day. she hopped out of bed and was ready to put on her new duds! :) she was so darn excited!

"the backpack fairy" paid another visit to our house and left some hello kitty goodies in her backpack . . . mck was so excited that she and ken could write notes and do stickers together this afternoon! :)

she had her favorite breakfast . . . toaster strudel and cereal (lucky charms! yes, another healthy breakfast at the bailey house!) and then headed outside for a few pictures . . . she wanted ken to put on her backpack and take some with her! :) too cute!

she was so anxious to check out her classroom when we arrived and find her name on the floor and on the hooks. she couldn't wait to go outside and see some of the friends she remembered! ms. b was so excited to have her there and took her by the hand to show her around!

i headed to the office to sign her in and then peeked over the fence a few times to see how she was doing . . . she had already found some kids to play with and looked totally happy!

i left with my ONE baby . . . i felt naked! :) kamy and i had a fun morning and a little playtime at the park . . . just the two of us! :) i even got some cleaning done! :) what a great day! :)

tears and heartache today

i was strong yesterday . . . despite weeks of dreading ken going to kinder i made it through WITHOUT crying . . . seriously, i tried to be tough and not be one of "those parents". tears welled up several times, but i pushed them away and tried to have a fun day with mck and kam. . . today, i couldn't help it.
here's a snip it of our conversation as we left this morning . . .

me - "okay, we'll walk you to the gym today and then tomorrow if you're ready you can try it on your own!"
ken- "no mom! i want to do it on my own today!"
me- "ken, let us walk you one more time. i want to be able to make sure you make it okay."
ken - "mom, i can do it myself! just let me walk in today!"
me - "no, ken, i will walk you in today!"
then we got in the car and got buckled . . . as we turned onto the street i said, "okay, ken, if it's crowded like it was yesterday, i'll let you walk in by yourself. if there's parking, i'll walk you in."

we got closer to the school and ken , looking out at the virtually EMPTY school parking lot and quickly moving drop-off lane, says, "mom, look it's sooooo crowded! there's no parking! i don't know where you'll park! there's no more room! look at ALL the cars today!"

i just pulled up to the curb, opened the door, handed her her backpack, gave her a kiss, and wished her a happy day. the tears flowed and my heart started hurting.

k heads to kinder!

well, today was the big day . . . my first baby headed off to kindergarten . . . and she didn't even shed a tear.

she was so excited. bailey and i went to wake her up and the words that roused her were "ken, do you want to put on your new outfit?" eyes popped open, she sat straight up, and smiled! (if you know how emotional ken is in the mornings (okay, not just the mornings, but ALL DAY) the smile first thing is BIG!)

she got dressed and fixed her hair with NO complaints! :) it was the perfect morning . . . except that she was doing all this knowing she would be leaving us for the entire day! :(

after a breakfast of cinnamon rolls and froot loops (okay, not exactly the healthiest choice, but we were going for "happy" this morning, not "healthy"!) we all headed outside for our "first day pictures"! she looked so grown up standing in her plaid jumper with her big girl backpack . . . how did this time go by so quickly?

we all drove her to school and walked her to the gym and then followed her class to the room . . . her teacher had play-doh waiting at each spot. we listened to the announcements, said a quick goodbye and gave a last kiss and then left the building.

ken turned to look at us and gave us a huge smile . . . she is sooooo ready for this, i'm just not!

the magic of the circus

you know it's a good day when your 5 year old turns to you and says "mom, this is the BEST day ever!" ken, mck, and kam had so much fun at the circus . . . ken was amazed with the stunts, mck thought the animals were so cool, and kam was just overwhelmed by the whole scene!

in true "ghetto" form, i bought hats and ties at the dollar store . . . so the kids were decked out before we even got there! :) they looked so darn cute . . . although it took some convincing to get ken to keep any part of the "costume" on . . . i guess she's too cool to look like a dork! :)

the best part of the circus for bailey and i? watching their faces while they were watching the circus acts . . . pure delight . . . the magic of the circus created a truly priceless day! :)

"1 penny lemonade and food"

ken and mck were playing outside today and came in a million times asking for things . . . boxes, paper, markers, tape . . . they set up their own lemonade stand! :) well, actually ken did most of the setting up, mck, in true form, kind of hung out and waited for big sister to do the work. they even set up tables for their customers . . . laundry baskets . . . which they even cleaned off before using!

mck kept wanting to eat the cookies . . . ken kept telling her "they're for the customers!" well, they waited awhile for customers . . . after their first two (mommy and daddy) they decided they should go ahead and indulge in the goodies . . . after all, they'd made "two whole quarters!" when they were only charging a penny!

dancin' in the rain

it's been so dry this summer and the girls have seen SO little rain, that in yesterday's evening shower the girls just had to get out in the mini-rainstorm and DANCE! :)

it doesn't get much better than that!

lots of smiles, minimal mess!

the girls have had HOURS of fun with these mini-sandboxes from grammy. seriously, they sit for a good 30-45 minutes at a time playing in their own personal little beach!

ken's is complete with a mermaid, treasure chest, and lots of shells . . . mck's is a fairytale adventure - complete with prince charming and lots of "farkles"!

the best part . . . lots of smiles and minimal mess! :)

a little more estrogen!

the bailey girls are excited to announce a new addition to our family . . . "princess" mia, a 7 week old black pug and cooper's new best friend (okay, so he's not totally on-board with the whole "let's be friends" thing, but she is! especially because his favorite chew toys range from his tail to his belly - poor cooper!) . . .

sweet mia was the only black pug in the litter . . . and the only girl. which is kind of funny, because we were planning on a fawn boy . . . but she won us over (bailey included) with her sweet face and cute little wrinkles.

she is making herself right at home and loves to play. she is making it really clear that she does NOT like when we leave her and has a tough time making it through the night . . . oh my goodness, it's like having a new baby in the house! i am exhausted!

ken ADORES mia and wants to hold her ALL THE TIME. mck could take her or leave her . . . she laughs when mia licks her toes, but isn't big on the "cuddling with her" thing! and kam . . . poor kam, she is wondering what something smaller than her is doing in our house!

so, the bailey house just got a little crazier, a little more crowded,

a little more love . . . and a little more estrogen! :)

bailey's "dream" boat . . .

okay, so bailey has had an obsession (this may be an understatement) with boats ever since a friend took us all out on their very nice, very beautiful, very expensive fishing boat a few weeks ago. he has been a "craig's list stalker" . . . checking postings morning, noon, and night! well, after a couple of duds (one of which literally had trees growing in the bottom!), he found his "dream" boat!
a 1980 "brown beauty" from a not-so-handy serbian couple! okay, so it's a total white trash boat, but we're hoping to spend a couple hundred to get it moving FORWARD (it currently only goes BACKWARDS!)! it'll give us a chance to see if we really like it and then, hopefully we can graduate to something manufactured in the last decade! :)
bailey has spent the ENTIRE day tinkering with it. it's got to be a guy thing. i keep hearing the engine roar . . . is there a reason to start a boat in the driveway???? you can tell he's happy! he has even suggested making a trip to the library . . . yes, bailey actually used the words "i thought we could go to the library!" to check out some books on fixing up the boat . . .
i have told the girls that we'll get to compensate for the boat's lovely shade of brown by purchasing some cute life jackets in more girly hues! :) kennedy was stuck on a blue boat (or really any color other than brown!), but after seeing the way the boat glitters in the sun, she too was in love with it! she loves the "glitter" and is convinced that her daddy does too!
the girls have been outside with bailey for hours . . . playing in the boat! they are laying on the seats, playing with toys, and trying on the old life jackets . . . if nothing else, we bought ourselves a really expensive playhouse! :)

mommy's little ballerina

mck has been waiting a very long time to put on ballet shoes and dance in a real ballet class (something more than playing dress-up with ken). one of the highlights for her of turning three was being able to take dance!

she took a summer session of 6 ballet and tap classes. she came home the first day telling everyone, "i am mommy's little ballerina!" the happiness and sheer joy on her face was priceless! she was one happy little girl! she absolutely LOVED it. she finished up with a short (10 minute) performance at the end of her last class where the kids danced to "kung fu fighting" and "a sunshine song". now she can't wait for september to start "real ballet"! :)

fishin' and boatin'

ken and mck were thrilled when ms. b., ken's former teacher and our wonderful friend, invited us on their boat for the day. i figured the girls would last an hour or so and that would be it . . . was i wrong. the girl's had so much fun . . . kam included! they swam and caught fish for hours! mr. d. found a great little cove where the girls were able to catch one fish after the next . . . bailey couldn't bait the hooks fast enough! :) the smiles on their faces just made the day! what a great one! :)

family road trip 2008 (texas to north carolina!)

well, we survived! more than 40 hours in the car . . . more than 3000 miles . . . all 5 of us in our beloved mini-van! who knew a road trip could be so much fun! :) bailey drove the ENTIRE trip while i had "kid duty"!

we started off with a short drive to houston to see grammy and grampy! we hung out in the pool and got some relaxation in. we all headed to the red sox game . . . it was the girls' first major league game! we tattooed ourselves, wore red sox "garb" and enjoyed lot of junk food! :) it was great! we left at 4 a.m. for our next destination!

we drove to pensacola, fl for 2 nights to break up the drive and have a fun beach day! we arrived just as the skies turned black and prepared for a storm. we literally unpacked the car, changed the kids, grabbed the beach stuff and headed to the beach just to make sure we didn't miss out on beach time! the girls loved it! okay, all of them were a little hesitant about the sand/salt/not so clean feeling, but they got over it! what a fun couple of days!


we left florida and drove the long trek to north carolina for the vogt family reunion! it was wonderful to catch up with aunts, uncles, and cousins i hadn't seen in awhile. most had not met any of the girls! the girls met the other great-grandchildren - 3 boys from my cousin jonathan! they're all close in age, so that was fun! :) it was really cool to see the girls with grandpa george. he kept remarking how big kennedy had grown! kennedy and kenzie loved holding his hands to walk down the hill!

the cabin was AMAZING! what a wonderful place to be! we took a zillion walks, enjoyed the outdoors, played games, went swimming, and ate . . . a lot! :)

we enjoyed the 4th of july fireworks right from our balcony! what a treat! and not just one show, but 2! it was the best 4th ever! :)

we took kennedy white water rafting . . . it was a really slow, easy river, but she was soooooo quiet the whole time. we had to make her talk! she was pretty nervous. she did not want to swim in the river . . . everyone thought it was because she was scared . . . this is kennedy we're talking about! she didn't want to swim because she didn't have dry clothes to put on for the 30 minute ride home! :) when it was all over we couldn't get her to be quiet! she's telling everyone she had an awesome time!

bailey worked for a few days while the girls and i checked out local kids museums and had fun hanging out in the hotel pool! :) the girls were sooooo well behaved. who knew they could survive so well with no toys! :) all they needed were their imaginations! it's amazing how many games they came up with just using hotel pillows! :)

the return trip was long . . . a stop at a lovely la quinta inn for a few hours of sleep was certainly NOT among the highlights of the trip! the pool was cleaner than the hotel room . . . so we got there, ordered a pizza, swam and ate, then went to bed (going to bed was such a relief after stressing about the girls all rolling on the floor and wanting to play in the bathroom . . . correction: i was stessing, bailey was laughing! :)). we got up and headed out at 7 the next morning.

the last stretch was long. we used every possible excuse to stop. i think we stopped 3 times by 10 in the morning. no one wanted to be in the car! :) the kids were troopers! we cheered SOOOOO loudly when we reached texas . . . and treated the kids to ice cream for dinner so we could last through the last two hour stretch to the house.

it was like christmas when we pulled in the driveway! the kids were so happy to see all of the toys and dolls they missed. we were all happy to see cooper. and most of all we were happy to sleep in our own beds! :)