Thankful.

We have had such a nice Thanksgiving weekend with our families. Bryan and I definitely have a lot to be thankful for.

Of course, this little turkey is who we are most thankful for.

We got to spend time with the Greenslitt family on Thanksgiving afternoon...

Kenley and her cousins, Harlow, Vivyan and Hudson.

Kenley and her cousin, Vivyan.

Our annual family photo (everyone complains about doing these, but I think they all secretly like them, haha!)

And Thanksgiving evening with the Schutz family...

Kenley and her cousin, Emry.

The paparazzi. 

I was so excited to babysit Emry for a couple hours while Todd and Megan were out and about in Spokane. We took some more pictures (of course.)

Not going to lie, I was unsure of how I would do watching two young babies alone at the same time. It turned out great! Megan's got Emry on a great Babywise routine, so it was a pretty predictable day for both girls!

Our babywise girls.

Happy girls are the prettiest!

It is Schutz family tradition to venture out the day after Thanksgiving to cut down our beloved Christmas tree, and this year was no different! Kenley got to pick out her very first Christmas tree.

Mommy and K with our tree.

She was a trooper. It was chilly out there, but she seems to like the fresh air in her face. We had a great time.

Camden Ranch in Elk, WA.

The Schutz Family. Love.

These boys love their girls!

As if the weekend weren't already busy enough with feasting, shopping and tree hunting, we decided that we needed MORE family photos :). I do love myself a good family portrait. And Mica Sansaver does amazing work. We hit Riverfront Park on Saturday and got some great pictures.

A snapshot of Gramma and Grampa Schutz with the wee Schutzes. 

And last but not least, we celebrated Bryan's Aunt Jonna's 55th birthday with some pizza, bunko and cake on Saturday evening at our house. It was our first time really getting to USE our newly finished basement. So nice to have more space! 

Blowing out her candles.

Kenley was having fun at the party hanging out on the floor.

We are certainly blessed. 

Christmas is in full swing at our house now... Here's a few pictures to wet your holiday whistle...

That is all! I hope your holidays are off to as happy of a start as ours are. Cheers!

Emily

The Christmas Stash.

So I know it's early to be talking about Christmas (if Bryan knew I was doing this he'd be shunning me), but there IS Christmas music on the radio now, so I feel like I can at least talk about how excited I am for Kenley's first one!

I'm all about starting our little family's traditions this year. Of course, Pintrest has helped me along in this department...but never the less, we will make them ours.

Last night, I finished my first tradition project. I made our family Christmas pajamas! My mom gave me a bit of instruction, and they're not perfectly made, but they'll be perfect for K's first Christmas. 

Poor Bryan...some things I'm not so sure he's thrilled about, but he's humoring me.

Another tradition we're starting is "25 books of Christmas." I'm on a mission to find 25 Christmas books, wrap them and then each night we open one and read it. Kind of like an advent calendar... 

I've gotten a couple brand new ones, but we already had several from when we were kids, and I've found a few used ones and definitely used coupons for the others. I have a few more on their way in the mail, but this is the collection so far:

We decided to get new Christmas stockings this year too. It was so cool to order ones that say "Mom" and "Dad" on them. 

I can't wait for Santa to stuff K's stocking full of surprises. 

Although Kenley won't "get it" this year, Christmas just seems so extra special now. It's our favorite holiday and we're looking forward to introducing her to all the joys of the season.

And with that...Happy Thanksgiving. I don't want to leave any holidays out ;-).

•Emily•

Kenley is FIVE months today!

This big girl is five months old today!

She's changed so much in just one month. I feel like it's gone by in one blink of an eye too. Probably the biggest milestone she's reached is sitting up by herself now! She's so proud and loves to hear she's a "big girl." Kenley also got two teeth! Her bottom two came in at about 4 1/2 months and are sharp as razors now. 

We've also started feeding a little bit of solid food too. She eats a little cereal mixed with breastmilk in the morning after she nurses and for dinner has tried sweet potato and green beans. 

As you can see...she's not a fan of green beans yet. We're mostly sticking with nursing still, but we think it's fun to try some new food!

Kenley loves to be read to. I joined her into the Barns and Noble Kids Club. I have the feeling we'll be visiting there often as she grows. Daddy loves to read to her before bed. It's one of their special times each day together. 

She's just the happiest girl (when she doesn't miss her nap or has to eat green beans!) and we love her more each day. A few more pictures before I go...

Happiest five months of my life!

-Em

I post too much on Facebook...I need a blog instead.

This is my first blog...I have never felt like I needed one, because frankly, my life wasn't so exciting that I needed to tell everyone about it.  It IS to me now though!  I'm now seeing the world through my baby girl, Kenley's eyes.  Everything is new to her and I'm learning to slow down and appreciate the small things.

I've gotten to be home from work to take care of her for the past five months.  She is my best little friend in the whole world.  We do everything together; we play, eat, shop, go on walks, take pictures and "craft" together.  I go back to work in January and Kenley will get to play with her friend Jillian a couple days per week.  Right now we're cherishing every moment together.

Because Kenley is a pretty good napper, I've gotten the chance to really learn to cook (via Pintrest recipes!) and attempt to sew and craft.  Maybe once I figure out this whole blog thing, I can post a few of my favorite projects.

So now I will post more Kenley pictures and stories here and occasionally post to Facebook (I hope I can keep myself at bay...she's just my favorite subject).  I am almost annoying myself with all my baby picture posts :). 

All for now!
Em & K