ma'am and sir

kennedy is very busy learning when to say ma'am and sir. for right now, she uses both. for example:

K: momma, i need juice please ma'am.

Me: o.k., kennedy... here is your juice.

K: thank you ma'am sir.


or

Me: Kennedy, are you hungry?

K: Yes please ma'am sir.


it is hilarious watching and listening to her try and figure out which one to use. as i write this she is sticking her head into the bowl of dog food taking in mouthfuls. i know some say that this is appropriate behavior and just laugh... i could not disagree more! it is disgusting and should not be tolerated! (no matter how much you pay for dog food).

k is also now able to sing her ABC's in english and spanish, count to 13 in english and 8 in spanish. ;-)

catching up on christmas...

my ONLY excuse for not blogging is that statistics is taking up too much of my time. there is a RIDICULOUS amount of work that has to be done, but whatever it takes, right? we had a good christmas here in good 'ole south florida. kennedy was a blast to watch open and enjoy everything from santa.

this is the inside of a HUGE dora house that connects to another tent through a tunnel. this now accommodates the ENTIRE back porch, but k loves it. ;-)

this is kennedy's first potty. she calls it her froggy potty and is really getting the hang of this whole potty business.

might as well try it out! ;-)

opening the nativity from nana and papa. (no, she didn't pee in the froggy potty that is still in the living room!)

sitting at her new table playing on the computer. now she can work right along side me!

trying to decide which present to open next

all worn out and cuddled up with bruce and elizabeth ready for a nap

ready for round two!

i'm confused...

we are under a:

wind chill warning
freeze watch
hard freeze warning
wind chill advisory
fire weather warning.

i am confused at what mother nature is thinking. does she think we floridians are equipped to handle such utter nonsense? i mean all you can buy in the stores right now is bathing suits and flip flops b/c as far as we are concerned, summer is just around the corner. we broke down and went to the storage sheds in order to retrieve some hats and jackets and sweats in order to better facilitate the new england-like january we are experiencing.

dear god,

please bring back mr sun.

your friend,

amber

the fashion police...

kennedy has turned into my little fashion statement! not only is her style cracking me up on a regular basis, but now she has decided that her pull-ups are better for her head than her bottom.

the funny thing about this is that i used to be in a church group and we called ourselves the "diaperheads"

reading with grammie and sporting an elegant winter hat. (you will notice it is custom made for humid florida nights)  ;-)

watching the train go around and around and around. i hate to admit it, but i was REAL happy when the presents starting going under the tree because then the train "broke". ;-)  kennedy kept telling me "i get batteries, i get batteries" - thank god she finally gave up!

k was walking teddy, which is grammie and grampie's dog. he is really little but still managed to pull kennedy down. never fear, though, daddy was right there to brush her off and start all over again. ;-)

after all that running, k let the kids pull her around in the wagon.

bekah, kalei and kennedy chillin' in the wagon.

chase knocked his head and we wrapped it in thomas' knee sling. it was too funny not to take a picture!

and here is the queen, all by herself. ;-)

catching up...

two weeks before christmas, thomas' parents came down visit. we ate and shopped and ate and went a parade and ate and watched football and ate. did i mention we ate? ;-) linda brought some homemade lasagna and let me tell you it was GOOD! we had a good visit to say the least.

here is kennedy feeding teddy from the table. needless to say, they were immediate bff's.

this is most of us lined up in our seats waiting on the parade to start. mom said we needed to be there really early, but i think next year we will wait it out a bit.

kennedy had one of the best seats in the house on top of uncle robbie's shoulders

patiently waiting for the parade to start. you will notice she is clutching her mickey mouse puzzle that she got from santa... or should i say stole from santa because she refused to have anything to do with him. ;-)

                              

the dishwasher remains one of her favorite places to sit in the kitchen ;-)

family traditions...

last year when we were in ohio we talked about doing a gingerbread house every year with kennedy. of course last year she was too young, but this year was a whole new story. ;-)

nana and the girls trying to put the chimney back on.

the finished product!

here is to many more years of house making!

Turkey day!

we had our annual photo shoot on thanksgiving. this year we all wore white shirts with denim. i have decided this is a great tradition, seeing as though any other time of year, family pictures don't seem too important.

buck and robbie

marci, rebekah and robbie

thomas, me and kennedy

this picture was one of the best ones of just us. kennedy was not exactly cooperative so we had to settle.

thomas' mom came and stayed with us for thanksgiving. this was her first time meeting my family and i think it all went down without a hitch.

robbie and bekah

mom and dad with lily bean and sport

buck and earlene with mitchell, gavin, kalei, kenzie and chase

me with robbie and buck. i had already changed out of the HOT white shirt I was in. ;-(

and alas, the family photo. ;-)

a little bit of this and a little bit of that

in what started as an attempt at getting 2 year pictures, i have come to conclusion that i need to accept the fact that i am never going to "always get a good shot". Uncooperative is not even the word when it comes to trying to get kennedy to stand still for five seconds, let alone smile. as a result, i am going with the excuse that even though she may not be smiling (mother) it is still a good picture. ;-)

things around the house are about the same. next week is my last week of classes for this quarter so to say i am looking forward to the break would be an understatement. i added a specialization to my master's degree; forensic counseling. it was really a no-brainer... two extra classes and i add a specialization... needless to say, i signed the forms pretty quickly! ;-)

and alas, a smile-- even if she was not looking at the camera.  ;-)

trying to get a good picture for christmas...

Happy Birthday Kennedy!

we celebrated and partied it up on kennedy's birthday. we had a slew of family and friends come to town to help us get down. somehow, i managed to not get a very good shot of K on her big day. i am blaming the stress of leaving for minnesota! ;-)

this is ethan rockin' away and a great shot of ada and megan

this is megan and kennedy dancing and playing with the bubbles. i think of all the miscellaneous

stuff i bought, the bubble machine was by-far the best!

kennedy and megan sharing some yummy bacon early in the morning. these two were like peas and carrots!

aunt marci and uncle robbie giving k lots of sugar...

this shot turned out really good. megan is turning two on the 15th of this month and i am going

 to blow this up and give it to ada.