Big girls get French braids!

Poor Kella takes after her momma in the quantity of hair department! Oh how she wants long hair. Pretty sure my bob didn't grow in until I went to Kindergarten!

 Most people comment on her hair and think it's short because I have short hair.....uh, nope! We've been able to pull it back in pony tails and now.... French braids!!!!! I've had some people say, Oh, you're letting her hair grow out! Again....uh, nope!

This little virtue has worked well on taking vitamins, eating healthy and avoiding candy, sugar and all the other nonsense that keeps her locks from growing! ;) All we have to say is "If you want your hair to grow you have to eat your vegetables!" OR when she says, "Mom, I can feel my hair on my shoulders!" I can say, "Yep! that's because you eat so healthy!" My favorite is when she shakes her head & says, "Look mom! My hair wiggles!"

 Only, well probably not only, downfall about not having much hair until now is we haven't done much styling, so this child is beyond tender-headed. Not sure we get out of the bathroom without one of us screaming :)

Our big ballerina heading to dance class!

1st day of Pre-school!

Kella's started her first week of school on Wednesday! She's been counting down the days...she has 2 other friends from last years class in her room this year, so we are super excited!!! She'll be going 4 days a week this time, we LOVE her teacher and are so excited to hear all the things she learns and experiences in the months to come!

 This is K's new thing...winking and giving a thumbs-up!

 Ryan had to get in some of the pics...we gotta work on her keeping her eyes open in pics!

 Kella trying to teach Ryan the thumb-up move...

 When Kella got up, Kipp had gotten her this beautiful, rainbow bouquet of flowers and an Ariel card that said how she was the most special thing under the sun! We're so proud of her and the little lady she is!

Labor Day....works for me!!!

Spent our first 80 degree weather at the Ft. Worth Zoo! Ahhhh....

Happy, Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Aug. 29th was Kipp's birthday, Kella helped make a beautiful birthday cake for her Daddy's big day!

 Here's his surprise when he got home from work. We had secretly put birthday cards in his truck when he left that morning, but cards are his favorite, so the girls picked out some extra ones so he would be sure & feel super-special on his special day!

 Getting some help from Kella...

 Now it's Ryan's turn to help...

Crazy Love!

Oh, if I could only add a soundtrack to this post...while listening to Van Morrison's "Crazy Love", I was looking back on this day...how I have such a crazy love for these girls!
I feel like most of my posts are about Kella. Being the oldest she's always experiencing things first, which is always a first for us, as parents. Ryan deserves a platform all her own! This little bit is too, too funny...what a vocabulary! She's approaching 2, by my timer looks like a month and a few days, & is every bit as big as her big sis. I've also noticed that I haven't posted about her being in a big-girl-bed. Ooops! We made the move on Father's Day weekend, so we're goin on 3 months now!!! Whoo-Hoo!!! This is a much earlier age than we did it with Kella. No reason really. I don't think there's a right or wrong time to do it. With Kella, we waited until she was 2 1/2, just because we needed her to be adjusted before little Ryan came along & stole her crib. I talked to some other mommy's of 2+ kiddos who made the move at an earlier age & had HUGE success! So, why not! She was officially 20 months and has had no problem....we use a gate when first making the adjustment, so there's no worries about her wandering through the night AND best thing is if she doesn't feel like napping during the day she makes no fuss about hanging out in her room, playing with toys or looking at books! So really, I still get my break-time as if she was napping! Win-Win!
She is much more of a cuddler than Kella ever was. She can brush her own teeth, drink from a cup ( I feel like this took Kella forever to do!), climbs a ladder like nobody's business, sings along in the car even if she doesn't know the song, airplane obsessed, loves our puppies with ALL her heart, always says, "Bless You" when you sneeze, favorite saying, "Ah, Man!", tells us when she's pottied, but has no interest of sitting on the big potty...yet! At night, she has to have her paci and soft pillow, lays down and asks "Bye Baby" (which is Rock-A-Bye-Baby), smiles and waits then says "Heart" (which is Doo-Doo-Doo-Doo-Doo..Good Night Sweetheart, Well It's Time To Goooo - Kipp's version is much better than mine). Some nights she doesn't want to go strait to bed & she'll stand at the gate & yell "Daaaaaaad-deeee", then she'll tell him she poo-pood, which hasn't happened. He can say, "Silly girl, you didn't poo-poo!"  And she replies, "Yeah! Night Night daddy!" So precious!

How 'bout them Cowboys!!!

Parties galore!

Through Kella's activities ("school", soccer & t-ball) we've made some really sweet friendships. This day ended up being quite the whirlwind!

Starters: I modeled at market a few weeks ago. Yes, you read that right...modeled! They were desperate at the showroom I've always worked in and needed some fill-ins, so I was happy to accommodate. A spray tan later & a few missed meals I was ready to roll! :)

 Mom came down to stay with the girls and by the end of the weekend Kella just hadn't had her Gibbie fill yet, so she went home with her, again! One week later it was time for her to come home, which leads to our whirlwind of a day. We got up super early to meet mom & pick up Kella at our typical halfway spot. Drive back home then it was off to our first party of the day. This super fun party was for our friend from soccer/t-ball, Madison ("Madi") at Groovy Girls salon. New hair-do's, make-up, manicures and fun dress-up clothes were in store for these little ones.

 Waiting patiently to get her hair did!

 Kella had no problem working the runway!!! That's my girl! She kept saying, "Mom, I'm modeling like you!" (Kipp, mom & the girls stopped by the showroom when I was working & Kella saw me model some really awesome evening gowns).

 We had to cut the party short to make it to our next one at The Little Gym, this one was for Will, her friend from "school". It was so fun to see everyone again!!! I was too busy catching up with the other mom's to take pictures, but here's a few I did get...

But wait... that's not all! Our whirlwind continues...Kipp scored Cowboys tickets with sideline passes again, so after our 2 parties we raced home, threw on our Cowboy gear and headed to Arlington! That post to follow...

Under the big top!

 By now Kella's LOVE for mermaids is no secret. She's moved past Ariel, whom she still loves, but is so intrigued with any mermaid, merman, person with any resemblance of a tail what.so.ever! She about came out of her seat when this pretty little thing came rolling out at the circus! The whole way home she kept asking to see the camera so she could look at the pictures of this underwater beauty!