18 months .... a year and a half behind us, a lifetime ahead

Ms. Innocent 

Kherington,

Where oh where does time go these days?  They seem to be flying right past.  I feel like it was yesterday that I was holding you on my chest for the first time, not even knowing if you were Kherington or Greyson yet, but knowing that I loved you more than I could have ever possibly imagined.  And then it also feels like just yesterday writing you your letter for your first birthday with tears in my eyes and such joy in my heart.  You bring such joy to your Mama and Daddy.  You are such a smart, beautiful, inquisitive, funny little girl.

Still one of the most incredible moments of my life

Look how much you've changed in just six months!

I look back, with the greatest memories, to when you were that tiny 7 lb, 7 oz swaddled bundle of joy.  How is it that what feels like a blink of an eye, you are now our little toddler?  It is so hard to believe that you are that same little person.  It brings me more joy than I could have ever expected seeing you grow and change each and every day.

Your first breath took ours away!

Every day I am convinced that I could never love you more than I possibly do in that very moment.  But then the next day comes along and you prove Mama wrong.  My love for you grows more and more every day.  And I am so proud of who you are, all that you do, and who you are becoming.  I will always love you and be so very proud of you sweet girl.

Tall enough to open doors .... watch out!

Although you are not a baby anymore, but yet a beautiful and energetic toddler.  You are still wearing mostly 12-18 month sized clothes, but have started to move into some 18-24 month things for the cooler weather.  You are wearing size four shoes but have some cute size 5 ones for fall.  You are still in size 4 diapers for day and night.  You weigh 22 lbs, 5 oz and are 32 inches tall!

Just chillin'

You sure know how to throw a tantrum when something doesn't go your way.  You proceed to cry, big ol' crocodile tears, and throw yourself on the floor.  Often times you will push yourself with your feet clear across the room.  Most of the time you Daddy and I just ignore you, knowing that in about two minutes you will be fine and will get distracted by something else, forgetting completely about why you were just so upset.

Mama you left me!

I love all of the adorable pictures and videos we get throughout the day while you are at school.  A majority of the time you and little Ms. Mara Beck are hugging or playing.  I love that you have made such a great friend.  I hope you always remember to be kind and compassionate, treat yourself and others with respect and remember the golden rule.

Silly hugging from these two

Mara looks scared, but K loves her

BFF's

Not sure ... looks like Mara is supporting K
while trying to balance on one leg?

You have become a much better "student" with fewer and fewer incident reports for biting.  I am so thankful for this!

Loving instead of biting our friends

Hugs for Ms. Estela

Story time

Who knows?

Feeding the puppet

You and your cousin Madie are also best of friends.  You both play so well together.  It absolutely melts my heart to see you two having so much fun.  I am thankful everyday for the opportunity God gave us to move back to Indiana so you can grow up close to family.  Your daddy and I were very blessed growing up to have this opportunity and we feel blessed you will be able to as well.

Silly girls

Madie says, I'm outta here!

It amazes me that just a few short months ago you were still cruising around furniture, still cautious and holding on, and now you are running.  The sound of the pitter patter stomping of your little flat feet across the hardwood floors, are beautiful music notes to Mama's ears.

Love that cheesy smile!

You are a little dancing machine, just bopping around to anything that has a beat.  I have to say though, I think you unfortunately inherited your Mama's white girl moves though.  You'll have to brush up on some dancing lessons with your Daddy.

You are still a little love bug, often sharing hugs and kisses.  Not only do you share these with those in person,  but also over FaceTime as well.

Love for Pappaw

Can't forget Mammaw too

You absolutely love playing hide and go seek.  You think it is the funniest thing to have Mama or Daddy hide and then you come find us.  Although, often times you see exactly where we hide, you just cackle up a storm.  And boy do you love when we jump out and yell, "boo".

Playing peek-a-boo with your picnic cups

KayKay, you are such a little daredevil.  Often times this falls into your Daddy's arena, because it just makes me hold my breath.  You love to hang upside down, climb up the back of the chair, slide down the big slides by yourself, and practice your cheer-leading with Daddy.  You are not old enough to be doing any of these things, but you love them all so much.

Leaning back ....

And then flipping over

Higher daddy!

Fearless on the slide

Ms. Kherington you are going to be a talking machine once you get it all figured out.  You have learned so many words.  This past month I'd have to say your favorite has been "hot."  Everything under the sun is hot.  Hot is equivalent with anything that is a no touch item.  You have learned though what things really are hot, the ovens, the stove top, cars, pavement, etc.  You are such a smart little cookie.  You can say: dog, cat, hot, bad, yes, milk, more, buckle, button, ball, boom, up, down, go, stuck, duck, hat, cracker, truck, all done, Nana, Grandma, moo(cow), cluck (chicken) and baa(sheep).  Your vocabulary includes not only the verbal words, but also sign language, including please, thank you, more, eat, all done, and milk.

Speaking of our little Einstein, you love to practice your abilities with the few different shape sorting toys we have and puzzles at school.  You are learning so quickly where each little piece goes and how to turn the shapes so they fit.  You are persistent and it is a beautiful quality that will serve you well Princess.

Concentrating to figure it out

That's right!

Practicing our computer skills (just kidding)

You love to read and love any books.  Your favorite recently has been Goodnight Gorilla, which doesn't have too many words, but you always smile when Mrs. Joe's eyes are frightened to find Gorilla in her bed and all the animals in their room.  Reading will be valuable as well, as there are always things to learn.  I hope you continue your love of reading for the rest of your life.

Books are a must for our monthly pictures

Reading Dora with Mama

You are so smart to when it comes to knowing where your ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, arms, belly, feet, and toes are.  You love to tell Mama and Daddy where those are, and it serves as a great distraction for changing your diaper.  Maybe you are going to be a nurse or a doctor when you grow up?  Aunt Jessica or cousin Shelby can help you study for those anatomy exams if so!

Feeding her baby

Sweet girl, you love to pray before meals.  You remind us every night before meals to say our prayer.  We make the sign of the cross and then you hold our hands while you bounce your arms up and down.  What a wonderful thing this is.  Never forget to pray little girl.  He is always here for us and is always listening!

Sweet little munchkin

I believe you are not far from learning how to use a big girl potty, as you will tell us whether you have peed or pooped.  You also stay dry a lot of nights.  We certainly don't want to rush you.  This will be the saddest, yet most joyous day to date when you are potty trained.  You will be a big girl, which means you won't be a baby anymore.

"Flushing" your potty

This is how I do it right?

You are still sleeping in your crib.  You sleep with a little minky blanket under your head with Mr. Bear lovie underneath as well.  You usually cuddle with Mr. Giraffe lovie and your rainbow sock monkey.  You sleep almost always through the night.  Night time has become somewhat more challenging as you love to stay up until your little eyes can hardly stay open anymore.  We've been spoiled this summer with taking you and your puppy, LuLu on a walk, which you normally will fall asleep during.  Otherwise we read bedtime stories, but you just don't ever want to call it a night and always ask for "mo."

You absolutely love being outside and anytime we go towards the door and let Berlin out, you think you should go too.  You also love watching for birds and this serves as a wonderful distraction if you are really upset about something.  I don't know what it is about those little creatures, but you just love them.

Helping Daddy plant some daffodil bulbs

It's as big as she is

Loving the fall weather

Berlin and you have a wonderful relationship.  Since Berlin was my first "baby" I have been so incredibly proud of how well she has accepted you and at how forgiving she is with you.  You see us scratching Lu's ears and you think you can too.  Inevitably she gets not only her ears scratched, but maybe an eye or a nose.  Or you see us brushing her and you think you can do that too, only with a spatula.  She just stands there and lets you have your way.  We love seeing you two bond and have those moments together.  Never underestimate the power of the human-animal bond.  Love and treat all of God's creatures {except maybe spiders} with respect.

LuLu always has to know what's going on
Especially when it comes to repairing the trim that she tore up

You love your shoes and have taken an interest to bags/purses as well.  I have a feeling that your Daddy and I have a long and expensive road ahead of you.

Seriously, she needs a few more pairs of shoes

You love swimming but still have some problems with getting your hair washed while in the bath.  Up until the time Mama gets your hair wet, you love splashing and singing "Alligator on the wall," but once that first drop of water hits your hair, it is game over.  Cue the tantrum, crying, and trying to stand up and get away.

It's all good Mama, until you think about washing my hair

Just a documentation that Daddy does actually know how to give this girl a bath ;)

We thought a bath hat would help ... don't let the picture fool you

Can we just take a moment and talk about your cute little toe-head self?  Your hair continues to grow and still has those curls in the back, but becomes more manageable with each passing day.  Your Daddy and I forget often how blonde you really are, until we are out and about and someone reminds us.  You truly are that little blonde, blue eyed girl.  You are beautiful on the outside and on the inside as well.  Never forget everyone's {including yourself} internal beauty in addition to what you see on the outside as well.

"Helping" paint

Beautiful 

Beating up on Pappaw

You love coloring and love when you pick a color and someone draws something coordinating with that color.  You also love having your little hands and feet traced onto a piece of paper.  You are gentle with the crayons and really only try to color on the paper.  You never have really tried to eat the crayons, which somewhat surprises me.

Sharing our crayons with Mr. Hudson

You continue to be a great little eater and love your fruits and veggies above most other things.  You sure do love your milk.  I think you would just live off of it if you could.  Which makes Mama proud, being in the dairy industry, but you have to eat too!  Mama and Daddy are so proud of you and your eating.  We've worked really hard to ensure you are not going to be such a picky eater like us.  Food is a wonderful blessing.  A blessing that many people, including too many little girls and boys are not privileged to, because of circumstances outside of their control.  This is why Mama and Daddy get up every day to go to work.

Lunch time at school

Love transferring our snack from bowl to bowl

Loves her animal crackers

You now have 16 teeth, and I wouldn't be surprised if we start to see those two year old molars sooner rather than later, as you are back to your gnawing away at anything you can stick in your mouth.  And can the liquid snot stop running like a faucet sometime soon?  You still are not a fan of brushing those pearly whites, but unfortunately you have bad teeth genetics so you need all the help you can get.

I have been given lots of parenting advice over the last year and a half {and months prior during pregnancy}.  The one piece that sticks is to trust my instinct, and that is what I try to do.  I have made plenty of mistakes, and I hope that you will understand and forgive me when those times happen, but my love for your never wavers.  Being a parent is not easy, but yet you make it all worthwhile.  Even on the most difficult days, you never fail to bring a smile to my face.  I thank God every day for you and for loaning you to us!

OMG ... can she stop growing?

Such a little stinker!

Happy half-birthday my sweets.

Love,
Mama


P.S. We have a prayer request, please continue to keep our friend's little girl Cadley in your thoughts and prayers.  We participated in the Indy Heart Walk last weekend in support of her.  She was born in May, with a congenital heart defect and had surgery at just six days old.  She will undergo another surgery in a few months to try and more permanently fix her heart.

Such an awesome family