Dear Keenan:

I know you like food boy. Anyone who has ever seen you eat knows you could take down an all you can eat buffet all by yourself. No amount is ever enough and you will scream for more and more and more, often squealing with delight each time food is set down. Before too long I we will be poverty stricken because you eat us right out of house and home. Sister does not like it when your excitement to see her first thing in the morning is due to the fact she will be eating breakfast. We know you are waiting for your "second breakfast" as you pull yourself up to her chair begging for scraps.

However there are some things that are just not food items and do not belong in your mouth. PLEASE stop going into the bathroom and getting wads of toilet paper, trailing them around the house like a dog, and eating chunks off. (note to self: lecture sister for the millionth time to close bathroom door after using it). When Mommy is carrying you please stop throwing yourself down on a slant to shove the nasty plastic bag handle in your mouth with your dog jaw grip. NOT FOOD ITEMS. Stop pulling your socks off and putting them in your mouth. Wet socks are gross and freak Mommy out. Lastly shoes of any sort are NOT delicacy's. They are not for licking, chewing, or chomping. Do you know where they have been? DISGUSTING.

I know you are a hungry, growing boy and I promise to feed you until you explode. If only you would just stop putting nasty crap in your mouth. Thanks.

Love, Mommy

Fingers crossed!!!

Keep your fingers crossed for me! I had the job interview of a lifetime today. I really really really want this job. I applied for two positions at a nonprofit organization. It's a place dedicated to improving the female adolescent community. It's a "safe haven" type place for girls age 9-18. They get help with everything from homework to having mentoring sessions about all kinds of issues facing teen girls today. There was an office administrator position which would be strictly office work and then an Assistant Director position which would be doing EVERYTHING from mentoring sessions to retreats, light office work etc. I am hoping to land the Assistant Director title over office but I'd be happy to get either. It's just an amazing organization! There were many applicants so it would be a huge compliment if I got the job but it will be hard. I had to prepare a mock lesson plan on an issues facing female teens (my choice of subject) and present today at the interview. I feel like it went great. The woman told me she was very impressed so that's a good sign.

The company is waiting on a grant so they can open a 4th location. The grant approval is set to go through on or before Sept 30th. As soon as they get word it was approved they will start contacting people. Send good luck vibes this way. I am really hopeful!

Welcome baby Colin!

Congrats to our friends Melanie, Bill, and big sister Brynn! Colin John was born yesterday morning. He weighed in at 5 lbs 15 oz's and was 19 inches long. We are so happy for their family and can't wait to see the tiny bundle of joy! Cayden is most excited about Brynn getting a brother over a sister. She wanted her best friend Brynn to have a baby brother just like she does! We can't wait to meet him. We're betting he's every bit as cute and sweet as Brynn is.

I'M NOT A GIRL!!!

That is what the sign I attach to Keenan's clothes will read. In the last week he has been called a girl 3 times! I just don't get it. He is absolutely adorable but when I look at him I see boy features, not girl! The first incident I just brushed off thinking they saw his hair. He has a ton and it does flip out a bit on the sides and curl up a tiny bit in the back. But it's not crazily long in the back or anything. He's not wearing hair ties or hair bows. Oh and let me say that all 3 times he was wearing total boy clothes! The first time he was referred to a "she", the second time it went as far as "you are such a pretty girl". The 3rd time a woman's son was watching Keenan eat snacks and the woman said "oh you are watching her eat her snack? She's a lucky little girl". NO NO NO NOT A GIRL!! He was wearing navy blue pants and a baby blue top with whales on the pockets. He looked like a boy to me! You may be thinking that I'm just biased because he's my son and that's possible but my friend Melanie and I have always talked about how boyish he looked since birth! We always say how there's no mistaking his face for a girl but I guess we were wrong!

Fun times at the park

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty nice day so we spent most of it outdoors. We headed to the park with the kids who both had a blast. Daddy was swinging Keenan pretty fast and he was squealing with delight. I guess I've been wimping it on the swing speed! It's times like these that I'm so glad my camera has a button for action shots. This is the first time you can really see his teeth so well. His 5th one just started to come through a few days ago so now he's got 3 bottom and 2 top. Cayden's swinging shots were all blurry probably due to the fact that she was swinging crazily.

How did we get here? ....and Halloween too!

Decisions, decisions. I'm struggling with Halloween here. Costumes are a rip off considering they are for one day. Last year Cayden wanted to be Tinkerbell and I was thrilled because I knew it'd be worth every penny. That costume has since joined her dress up collection and she uses it all the time. This year I wanted her to wear her dance costume since it cost a fortune and she wore it only for her recital. She's not interested in being a pirate and since Halloween is suppose to be fun for kids I feel bad taking the excitement out of it. Then we move on to Keenan. What I really want him to be is this adorable octopus:
How cute is this???? But I'm afraid we'll have one of those Octobers where Halloween is 80 degrees and he will just suffocate inside that costume. So then I was in the disney store and saw this Mickey Mouse costume for babies. I can't show you a picture of it because every site (even the Disney stores site!!) shows some other cheesy version. It was a bubble type costume and was perfect because if it's warm he'd have bare arms and legs and if it was cold I could put black pants and a long sleeve black onesie on him. I liked that flexibility. I'm not a big Mickey Mouse fan but what made me think the idea was a good one is I saw Minnie and thought how cute would it be if Cayden and Keenan were Mickey and Minnie? That would be adorable. I'm going to lose the power of persuasion with Cayden in a few years on the costume front so I should try to take advantage of it now!!! Ha ha. So now I'm stuck with the ever so adorable octopus or the not nearly as cute but oh so convenient Mickey. Of course another plus is that if Cayden is Minnie it will be something to add to her dress up collection instead of worn once. Decisions, decisions.

Then we move on to the "How did we get here" portion of this post. I was gathering pictures of Keenan for his birthday invite/video and I started looking at Cayden's baby pictures. I'm feeling ridiculously sentimental these days watching Keenan grow and knowing that he is the last baby we will have. It's hard watching the babyhood fade away. Just about 3 years ago we had a 10 month old - our baby Cayden; sweet, easygoing, happy go lucky, endearing little girl:


and now we have a 10 month old baby yet again and although we love him just the same he is the complete opposite. My Keenan boy; cranky and oh so demanding but with the ability to make your heart melt with one little smile or laugh:


Wow - time flies! So now that I'm finally finished this super long post - be warned. Lots of sentimental moments to come in the next few months as Keenan turns one, learns to walk and so much more.