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Best Friends

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

When we first brought Mikayla home Shiloh sniffed her a few times then wondered the opposite direction. She never gave Mikayla much attention, but would run away if we tried to get them close to each other. They lived in the same house, but were hardly friends (or really even acquaintances).

Shiloh sniffing her down for the first time. Not overly impressed!

Don’t be fooled, Shiloh is waiting for the sandwich in Ben’s lap, not the baby!

Then, Mikayla started moving and crawling. Let’s just say that Shiloh was none too happy to have to move about constantly when Mikayla came her direction. Which she did often! She loves the dog (any dog really). They still lived in the same house, but a friendship seemed impossible. Shiloh wouldn’t let her near her for more than a few seconds. Long enough to lick her face and then run away.

Then, Mikayla started eating finger foods. Shiloh loves people food. She will sit and stare at you while you are eating, waiting for just a crumb. Mikayla figured this out quickly and when you turn your back she will sneak Shiloh bites of her food. Shiloh now not only tolerates Mikayla but seeks her out, especially if food is involved. She will even allow Mikayla to pet her and give her Eskimo kisses. It is so sweet. They now live in the same house, tolerate each other, and one might even say are best friends!

Sharing some bacon from Mommy’s breakfast in bed!

Tags: Mikayla, Shiloh
Posted in Life, Parenting |

Mikayla is One!

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

In case you didn’t her the news, our sweet Mikayla is now a one year old. It is hard to believe that a year has past since she entered this world, but it sure has been a fun one!

We had a blow out party last weekend with close friends and family, but more on that soon! Here are some of Mikayla’s one year stats from the doctor’s office.

Weight: 19lbs 2oz (up from 17lbs 5oz at 9 months)

Head Circumference: 45cm (up from 43.5cm at 9 months)

Length: 28 1/2 inches (up from 27 inches at 9 months)

She is still right at the 25 percentile in all areas, but Dr. F says she is healthy, so we will take it! Other important milestones she has reached at one year:

Walking – when she reached the one year mark she decided that walking would be her primary mode of transportation!
Table foods – while we had already been giving her table foods for awhile, we got the official go ahead from Dr. F at her one year appointment. She even likes a little dirt if she is working in the garden! Her favorite foods at this point are blueberries and bananas and (like her mom) most carbs!
Car seat – In my car we have graduated to a Convertible Car Seat. She is still rear facing in the car, but once she reaches the 20lb mark she can be turned around to front facing.
Pacifier – We have started the process of weaning her from the pacifier. She now only gets the pacifier if she is sleeping, in the car or at the sitters (although the sitter told me on Friday that she wasn’t that interested in it)! Soon we are going to start the process of weaning her completely!
Milk – We haven’t moved on to whole milk just yet, but that is mostly because we have some breast milk in the freezer that needs to be used. Once that is all gone I will only nurse her in the morning and evening and she will get whole milk the remainder of the time. Once school is out we will start the official weaning process. I am most excited about not having to pump all the time anymore!
Explorer – Mikayla loves to explore everything and is so inquisitive with new objects. She likes to sort things, put objects in baskets (and then back out of the baskets), throw things, and watch. She is just like her mommy in the sense that she loves to people watch, except that she likes to get their attention too! She loves to laugh, smile and giggle.

I am sure there are more milestones, but that is what I have at this point. She is a fun loving kid who loves to be around people. Perfect, if I do say so myself.

**Pictures were taken by Melissa Devries Photography.

Tags: Growing up, Mikayla
Posted in Life, Parenting |

A Year Ago…

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

I had just finished my last paper for my master’s class and decided to relax for the rest of the evening. My maternity leave had just started, but Mikayla was still in my big belly.

Thirty-nine weeks pregnant and still growing!

A year ago, Ben and I decided to head into town for some snacks. Much to my dismay Taco Bell was out of refried beans. How does a “Mexican” restaurant run out of refried beans? Never mind, that is a different rant.

A year ago, we were a family of two plus Shiloh that was about to become a family of three.

Christmas picture 2008

A year ago, I was a breast pump virgin. Now, after many days of making bottles for my daughter I am no longer a breast pump virgin. For the last 10 months (I didn’t pump much the first two months), I have use my handy breast pump to supply milk for my daughter at least once a day. It has been an up and down battle, but we made it!

A year ago, these were Tim’s thoughts on what was happening in our lives.

A year ago, this is how I looked laying in a hospital bed anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baby Kickert.

Catching some Zzz’s after the amazing epidural

A year ago, I first held Mikayla in my arms and experienced a bond like no other. I nursed my daughter for the first time and cried as my husband sang her lullabies beside me.

The first time I held Mikayla

A year ago, my life changed forever.

A year ago, I added another birthday to my calendar, the birthday of my daughter: Mikayla Lillian Kickert.

First Family Photo

Mikayla’s first growth shot with the giraffe

Happy Birthday Little Munchkin! I hope your first birthday is extra special!

Tags: birthday, Mikayla
Posted in Life, Parenting |

Spring Break Visitation

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

I love being a teacher for many reasons, but one of my favorites is all the fun breaks we get, like spring break. Our spring break was a week ago, but I am just now finding the time to blog about it. We spent our week visiting some friends and places we rarely get to see.

First Visit: My mom, sister and nephews came to town to visit. We had planned on visiting Hopscotch’s Playplace but it was closed. They have the most random hours and this is the second time they have come to town intending to play here and it been closed. We ended up at Imagination Station, which I think Tyson enjoyed more. There wasn’t much for MLK to do, but I think she still had a good time watching her cousins play.

Second Visit: We visited our dear friends Mark and Nicole and their new little boy, Jack. These are friends from college who moved from BG several years ago. We spent time playing games, introducing kiddos, taking a nice stroll around a park and eating ice cream! Here are some shots from the visit.

Third Visit: Throughout the week I visited with some neighborhood kids. When the weather is warm the kids in our neighborhood flock to our cul-de-sac to play. Spring Break was no different. One afternoon Mikayla and I went out front and sat on a blanket to play. Within ten minutes our blanket was filled with neighborhood kids wanting to play with Mikayla and her toys. I passed out leftover hard boiled eggs and we sat around eating and playing. It was a lot of fun. I didn’t manage to snap pictures of the kids, but here are a few of Mikayla during our impromptu play date hanging with the big kids. As you can tell, she thought she was pretty cool!

Fourth Visit: MLK and I headed to Smiths Grove to visit with my team teacher. Not only are we team teachers, but we are friends. We want desperately for our daughters to be friends too. We got together, played, chatted and had a little photo shoot in a neighbors yard. It was a relaxing way to spend one of the last days of my spring break. She has some great pictures from the day on her blog. You can read about it here.

Fifth Visit: On Sunday we packed up our gear and headed to Mammoth Cave. You can read about our trip on Ben’s blog here. It was a great day to be outside and the perfect end to my Spring Break. I think MLK enjoyed being on the trail and I know Shiloh enjoyed herself! Here are some fun memories from the day.

2010-04-10 Mammoth Cave 024

2010-04-10 Mammoth Cave 037

2010-04-10 Mammoth Cave 056

I had a great Spring Break visiting all these fun people and places, but most of all I enjoyed spending time with my family. I can’t wait for Summer break and all the fun we are going to have!

Tags: Ben, friends, Mikayla, playing, visits
Posted in Life |

Easter 2010

Monday, April 5th, 2010

The day began with a beautiful sunny morning and the birds chirping. We woke up, got ready for church, ran a little late (as usual these days), loaded up the car and were on our way for a fun filled day. After church we returned home to prepare for our Easter dinner with some close friends (and finish cleaning). I cooked a spiral ham (well really just heated it up) and while we waited for our friends to get here we snapped some pictures in our front yard:

All smiles on the beautiful day. Check out my diva sandals and fantastic dress made by Dacia!

Just hanging around with daddy!

Family photo

My baby girl and me

After a quick photo shoot we gave Mikayla her Easter basket. I think she was more impressed with the noises the objects made than she was the actual objects. Her basket was filled with Puffs, a book, bubbles, rabbit ears (for pictures later this week) and large plastic eggs stuffed with smaller plastic eggs. Side note – she had actually been playing with the eggs all week. We are not ashamed to regift!

Are you surprised she ended up with a giraffe Easter basket??

Next on our list of things to do was Easter dinner with some close friends. After we ate we let the kiddos dye eggs (even MLK "dyed" one) and had an Easter egg hunt in our backyard.

She wasn’t sure what to think about the eggs, actually she was a little upset I wouldn’t let her eat it!

Ready, Set, Hunt!

Our Egg Hunt Boot Camp really paid off, she knew exactly what to do and found a whopping four eggs!

The kiddos showing off their "loot"!

After the hunt the men went and played disc golf while the women and kids went and hung out outside and chatted. We topped the evening off with grilled brats and a fire in our backyard…PERFECT! I wish everyday could be this relaxing and fun filled!

Tags: Easter, friends, Mikayla
Posted in Life |

Sewing Envy

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

In high school I took a sewing class to fill an easy senior year credit. At the time I didn’t truly appreciate the skill and craft of sewing, but now my lack of knowledge has created some sewing envy.

For all you out there that love the look of BabyLegs legwarmers like me, but are not a fan of the high ticket price check this out. How simple! If only I knew how to sew…

Then there are these adorable outfits my friend Dacia made for Mikayla. She made a dress and shirt out of some very fun fabrics. I am currently working on matching clips, but I am sure they will not even compare to these fun outfits. Again, if I only knew how to sew…

April 1 2010 - Cicis and dress 026

Tags: Baby Legs, friends, Mikayla, sew
Posted in Life |

Guess That Picture

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

Let’s play a little game of "Guess That Picture". I will show you a picture and you see if you can figure out what it is. Got it? Ok, here we go:

Have you figured it out yet? No, well try this picture:

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, our very first asparagus stalks have started to peek through the ground. That must mean two of my favorite things are near: Fresh garden produce from our backyard and the Farmer’s Market! Can I get a "Hip, Hip, Hooray"? Not excited? Well, Mikayla seems to be…

…or maybe she is just enjoying her time playing out in the fresh air. Either way, we are both excited!

This kid was also pretty excited about her unfilled Easter eggs and picking the grass.

Tags: Garden, Mikayla
Posted in Life |

Family Bike Ride

Friday, March 26th, 2010

We have had several beautiful spring days here lately. The warm weather and bright sun seem to draw us outside, even if nothing more than to sit on the front porch and let Mikayla crawl around on the ground. We recently got a bike trailer stroller from some good friends and decided to break it in. Please ignore the fact that none of us are wearing helmets, it was a quick ride around the block. It was a great way to spend the sunny afternoon with my family.

2010-03-25 Bike, food, walker 036 Mikayla all strapped in and ready to go. She was so excited!

Cruising in style!

Ben pulling Mikayla

Me pulling Mikayla

Tags: bike ride, Family
Posted in Life |

Spring Fever

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

**I meant to post this yesterday and never did…unfortunately the sun has gone away and now we have some rain.**

I don’t know about you, but here in the Kickert household we have Spring Fever! The sun is shining, birds are chirping and the air is slowly warming up.

We tilled the garden for the first time.

We broke out our Chacos and disc golf discs.

We took Mikayla swinging, she was a fan.

Bring on summer vacation for more outside fun!

Tags: disc golf, Garden, Mikayla, outside, spring fever, swing
Posted in Life, Parenting |

The best toys…

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

The best toys are not ones that you buy at the store and make a lot of noise. The best toys are not ones that cost a lot of money. The best toys are not the ones you (as the parent) choose as your favorite.

No, the best toys are what you would least likely expect them to be. They are items that you already have on hand or items that cost little. Some of Mikayla’s favorite toys have been things like pots and spoons or magazines or containers of Puff’s. This weekend we spent time with some dear friends in Tallahassee (see this post for more information) and Mikayla found a new toy…a laundry basket. Who knew laundry baskets could be so much fun! She liked to put things in it and then promptly take them out. She enjoyed being dragged around their apartment while sitting in the laundry basket.

Then she got the bright idea to stand up behind the laundry basket and try her hand at walking up and down the hallway pushing it. She was really moving. Check her out:

How cute is she? Let’s take a poll…will she be walking by her first birthday (April 28)?

Tags: Growing up, Mikayla, toys, vacation, walking
Posted in Life, Parenting |