Christmas Time

Kendi is going through a "Let ME do it" stage, which has been fun for us. I love to watch her figure things out and see how she would do things her way.

She wanted to wrap this present all by herself.

This is what it looks like under the tree.

She also loves to help shovel the snow. She helps till the very end and then asks "what else is there to do?"

We don't have a nativity of our own so we made the one that was in the Friend this month. Kendi can almost tell you the whole story.

It was fun to have help decorating the tree this year. After we put all the decorations up she kept telling me to go get more.

Kendi was so excited about Santa this year until all the kids in line before her started screaming. Now she doesn't know what to think. The only thing she said was, "I want a candy cane."

Empathy Symptoms

This pregnancy has been even more interesting with a two year old around. There have been times where Kendi has thrown up for no reason other than she is trying to copy me. I don't know how she makes herself do it, but after she did it several times we had to sit her down and have a talk.

Also, yesterday, she was in our home office where we have a space heater. She knows it gets hot and doesn't usually touch it, but curiosity got the best of her yesterday. She turned to Jared and said, "I touched it and it gave me heartburn."

Some other funny things she's been saying is: "I have a neckle. You have a neckle too. Daddy has a big neckle." We think she's referring to her adam's apple.

We have been trying really hard to get her to not cry whenever she wants something. So now she says, "Can I have that, please, please, please, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!"

Christmas Sale

Linda said this worked really well for her and suggested I try it. If you want to see Dixon's art go to their blog.

If anyone has noticed, Jared's website is diminishing in items for sale. We are getting ready to launch a whole new website with all new products. I'm afraid that it isn't going to happen before Christmas though.

So I'm going to try to sell all the products that we have left on hand to make room for the new ones. No one will ever see these products or these prices again. There isn't much left, but it's enough to fill a closet in our home. Please take advantage of this sale.

Go to jaredbarnesart.blogspot.com to see whats left. Once it's gone, it's gone for good.

Thanksgiving Pictures

We spent thanksgiving with my side of the family this year. Everyone was able to come. It was so much fun.
Almost the whole family. Adrian volunteered to take all the pictures.

Cari, patiently waiting to eat. Occasionally we have to have a very serious game of monopoly.

Kendi and Abby prove that you don't have to speak the same language in order to be great friends.

Jana, getting ready to eat.

Jared and LeAnn watching the Wii. Tammy and Adrian, first Thanksgiving together.

Robbie and Stacia, Wii boxing.

Grandma Koami and Kendi, coloring.

More wii boxing.

Tammy, preparing food.

To Jeremy & Ti

These past two days have been great for my side of the family. It's the first time in a little while that we have all been home together at the same time. Today is my sister's birthday so we all went to Pizza Factory for dinner. When the waitress brought the bill she said, "Your tip has been taken care of and here is your bill." When we opened the bill this is what it said:

To the Family,
My buddy and I were passing through and happened to notice you. We just want to wish you a happy holiday season and a Merry Christmas.
Your table neighbors,
Jeremy & Ti
Merry Christmas

We think we know which table neighbors they were, but we really didn't know who they were. Our bill was large for just one person to pay and we are still overwhelmed by this person's generosity. We wished we could have said thank you personally, but they left before we even knew what was going on. We will each be looking for a way to pay it forward sometime during this holiday season. Thank you for sparking the spirit of giving in each of our hearts at this special time of year.

Ultrasound Results

It's another GIRL!!! Can you believe it? All the cousins on both sides of the family are girls. We are really excited. Kendi has known that it was a sister the whole time.

She had her hand in front of her face the whole time. I wanted to see if she looked at all like Kendi because you can really tell that it was Kendi from her ultrasound photo's. I honestly think the 2D's were easier to make out. It was hard because we had such an amazing ultrasound with Kendi we were expecting the same experience, but we'll take what we can get. It's amazing that they even have this kind of technology. I measured about 30% more amiotic fluid than what is average, which is a good thing except that it makes me look about 3 months further along than I really am. :O

I've wanted to say thank you to everyone who has helped us out with this pregnancy. We have the most amazing neighbors, friends and family. I wish I could repay everyone for everything that has been done. It might take me the rest of my lifetime. Jared keeps telling me that I'm a trooper, but I honestly think it is just as hard on him as it has been on me. He has handled it so well. He has been by my side the whole time. Without him I would've been in the hospital and Kendi would have had to live somewhere else which would have killed me. I think we are through the worst of it and we're looking forward to having this new little one join us.

Kendi's First Year

I'm really excited about the photobook I'm getting from Blurg.com of Kendi's First Year. I wish I could share the whole book with you, but I can't. Here are just a few of the pictures before I delete them from my computer.

She's so precious. Can't wait for the next one.

What Does Kendi Do When Jared Works At Home?

She is definately a Daddy's Girl.

Halloween Croup

Kendi wanted a Kitty carved into her pumpkin. We thought she would like to help clean out the pumpkin, but she didn't like it.
Kendi and her Kitty. It's fun to have an artist for a daddy.

Kendi came down with Croup the night before Halloween. I was probably more bummed about her being sick than she was. All I could get her to do was put her costume on long enough to take a picture.

We took her to a Trunk or Treat the night before so she didn't miss out completely.

Pumpkin Patch

We talked about going to the pumpkin patch for over a month and Kendi was so excited about it. She loves pumpkins. For some reason when we finally got there she whined and cried the whole time. It was the coldest day we've had in a while.

These pictures made me laugh out loud because they show how much Jared and Kendi are alike.

This is later the same day. The snow was coming down so fast. Kendi could not resist going out to play in it. Jared was the only person she could convince to go out with her.
We were not ready for winter. She got a bit cold.

Autumn

We've been dying to get out of our house so when my parents went to get firewood we wanted to go with them. It was the perfect autumn day. One of Kendi's favorite things to do is throw things in the water.
We let Kendi ride in the back of the truck as we drove 100 yards down the dirt road. She loved it, but when we stopped she said, "Its really bumpy back here."

News

We have been trying to explain to Kendi that she is going to be a sister and that there is a baby growing in mommy's tummy. Kendi never really responded to us when we would talk about it so I never really knew how she felt about it. Yesterday, Kendi and I were laying on the couch and my stomach growled. Kendi looked up at me with a smile on her face and said, "You have a baby in your tummy, huh?" I laughed and said yes.

An Award

Tulsi was kind enough to think of us for this award. I really don't know what to say. I guess I'm not used to receiving awards. haha. I'd love to pass this award along to others, but its going to take me a while to pick someone. There's so many great bloggers out there and I don't have a lot of time right now. Thank you Tulsi for being so considerate.

A Day in the Life of Kendi

Kendi is very good at entertaining herself. The things she comes up with entertain us as well. One of her favorite things to do is wrap up random things and give them to us. Almost everyday Kendi will come up to us and say, "Here's your birthday present." She wraps up things like movies and baby dolls in things like kitchen towels and bubble wrap. In this picture she had found grandma's gift bags and was having the time of her life.
Kendi has never been a climber......ever. Recently I have been teaching her to put things away and keep them organized. The other day I found her umbrella on the top shelf in her room. I asked Jared if he had put it there and he said, no. When I asked Kendi how it got there she told me she didn't know. The next day, I saw her playing with it again. I asked her how she got it and she said she didn't know. I decided to probe her a little more. I asked her where the umbrella was and how it got down. All she said was, "Kendi climbed." I still don't know how she reached the top shelf, but the other day she had closed the door to her bedroom and was being really quiet. I went to check on her and this picture is what I found.
Another thing Kendi likes to do everyday is help me cook. I love having her with me in the kitchen. It makes cooking so much more fun. In this picture she was helping me stir batter for zucchini bread.
Another thing Kendi likes to do is read her scriptures. Mostly she talks in jibberish, but occasionally you can hear her say, "And it came to pass," and "Nephi." She also loves to find little places that are just her size. Most of the time she'll find a place and tell me that it is her new bed. I'll watch her playing and all of a sudden she'll lay down in some tiny spot for a second like she's trying it out and then goes back to playing.
One other thing she does a lot lately is ask for treats. I've tried explaining to her that treats aren't good for her and if she eats too much they will make her feel sick. Her response to that is, "Nope, I'm tough!"