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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Weekend Part I: Ben & Marsa







Holy cow!!! We had the best weekend ever! Ben and Marsa visited us from Durham, North Carolina and it was such a treat. Ben and Michael went to high school together and we hadn't hung out since their wedding four years ago. We were able to pick right up where we left off, which is what a good friendship is all about! Thursday night we hung out in the back yard with some tasty lentil tacos with good corn tortillas. Friday we ate lunch with Michael's new 3rd grade class and made an appearance at the Liberty High School football game. 


(Ben & Marsa, Tegegne asked if you can come over again. He loves his new magnetic doll, Joey! We love you guys!)





Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Hensley Ruth: 6 Months!




Hi Happy Hens! It's true. If you are not tired, hungry, or needing a diaper change you are a happy baby. This age is so much fun! 


So far you've eaten avocado, bananas, sweet potatoes, carrots, homemade hummus, and spinach mixed with sweet potatoes. Ha!  You are about to crawl. You laugh, especially at your brother. When new friends want to hold you, you are going through the "I'd rather be held by mom or dad" stage. I hope you get over this soon, because other people get much joy from holding you! 


Your favorite things are playing outside on our picnic blanket, talking one-on-one with us, eating food, and swimming. 


Happy 6 Months Little Lady!







Monday, August 29, 2011

Tegegne: Conversations (with GaGa)

cartoon. 




(Note: R's pronounced as w's.)


I'm gonna put Ababayeh's armpit thing on because I look stinky. Now I'll put your armpit thing onnnnn.....I'm a giwly, giwl!


Mommy, do you know what GaGa did? It was expensive. He went out in the storm and boom, crassshhhh. He fell. Now he is with the policeman. 


Mommy! GaGa is in Ethiopia! Isn't that silly?


(I'm ease dropping on his play time w/ GaGa...)
It's Missouri. Get in Missouri. Get out of Missouri. Ohhhhh, it's okay. I'm sorry.

T: Mommyeh, guess what I'm making for GaGa?
M: What are you making?!
T: His "first food."



Sunday, August 28, 2011

Check Us Out: On Stella and Henry!



Megan with Stella and Henry featured us and our favorite kid items on Stella and Henry! Thanks for doing this Megan! It's so fun to see all of our favorite things! (Plus the fancy potty chair and Beaba Babycooker which we would love to own!)

Check it out here!





Thursday, August 25, 2011

Cousins: Hensley & Orien







Hensley, you and your cousin Orien are going to be good pals, just like your mamas are! (Isn't that video hilarious and cute!) We had a lovely night at Aunt Donnas playing in the back yard with your grandma's, cousins, and auntie. Andrea, Bob, and Orien moved outside of the city to live a more "self-sustaining" lifestyle.  They are building a house, have a large garden, and other cool stuff like rain barrels and purifying systems. Can't wait to visit and camp on their land!  


Gotta go because I am making lentil tacos for our dear weekend guests that will be here tonight! Tegegne keeps saying, "I can't wait for Ben and Marsa to come!"

Monday, August 22, 2011

Taryn: Bachelorette Weekend

What a sweet weekend with dear Taryn and all ten of her bridesmaids! We laughed 'til we cried sharing fun stories and memories. Her bridesmaids are three friends from childhood, three friends from college, three cousins, and one travel buddy! It was so fun to connect all of Taryn's life into a night of storytelling. 

On Saturday we visited Van Till Farm and Winery in Rayville (just 45 minutes outside of the city!) It was a blast! We toured their gardens and picked fresh vegetables and herbs to put on our custom brick fired pizzas. While our pizzas were baking we had a wine tasting. Whoot, whoot! I was so surprised that all of those amazing wines were from Missouri!  I highly recommend Van Till Winery to you if you are in the Kansas City area. We will definitely be back! 

 Cousin Angie and Taryn


Taryn's Mama, Tammy, and Aunt Debbie








Thanks for the great weekend, Taryn! The wedding countdown is on and we cannot wait!


Love,


Kristyn

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Hensley: Baby's First Food!



So green, so good. It's baby Hensley's first food. Avocado! Hooray! Video is 7 minutes, but glad we captured this moment with her! Tegegne fed Hensley her first bite! It's day three (now) on avocado and she is enjoying it. No more gagging, like she did in the video!


We have frozen ice-cubed portions of carrots, spinach, and sweet potatoes. Then bananas, apples


Here is a clip from a great article by Hensley's pediatrician, Dr. Natasha Burgert...



So, what are my general guidelines when it comes to starting infants on solid foods?

  • I encourage the families of healthy, normally-developing children* to start solids near or after 6 months of age.
  • I want parents to give babies a great variety of real food, in a safe way.
  • I think of pureed foods as practice and play to develop the skill of eating; nutrition is still from breast milk or formula.
  • I try to challenge my families to think outside of the Gerber-defined box and give babies interesting tastes, but no raw honey until after the first birthday.
That’s it. Go. Eat.


Wait a minute…. There has to be more. What about the rule about veggies first? Babies can’t have dairy, right? What about spicy stuff? They aren’t supposed to have strawberries or oranges, either!? My mom wanted to give her yogurt, and I told her “no.” Please don’t tell me she is right!?! And you have said nothing about rice cereal.
OK, so maybe there is a little bit more. But, likely not what you expect. When continuing the food conversation with families, some common myths creep to the surface.

Thanks Dr. Natasha for all of your good information!




Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Hensley Ruth: Baptism





Hensley Ruth,
Your baptism today is a symbol 
that God pursues you and reaches out to you. 
It's a symbol of you entering into this community who loves you.
We remember Jesus's baptism.
We believe that God will carry you into new life!


Baptism Prayer


Dear Heavenly Father,
Together, we pray that these minds
will know Your wisdom.
Their eyes will see Your glory.
Their ears will hear Your words.
Their mouths will speak Your truth.
Their hearts will host Your Spirit.
Their hands will do Your work.
That their knees would bow
only before You, the Lord Our God.
And that their feet would follow You
in the way of Jesus all the days of their lives. Amen.


On Sunday August 14, 2011 you were baptized at the Jacob's Well Pilgrimage. It was a holy and special occasion. We love you sweet Hensley, but God loves you more than we can imagine.










Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Won't You Be: My Neighbor


Our good friends own this house in Historic Pendleton Heights...our neighborhood! It's available for rent but will go fast! We walked to their house once a week at least. Won't you, dear friend, be interested in renting the second and third floor so we can visit you. We hate to break tradition! Go here to see more photos and listing details! It's quite lovely with refinished hardwoods, a big kitchen, laundry off master, and is ideal for a family with the fun bungalow upstairs!

Kristyn

Tegegne: Conversations






Our conversations could be summed up like this: "Why Mommy? Why Ababayeh? Why? Why?"


T: Mommy, I'm so excited to see Lochlan and dance. Are you excited to dance? I'm so excited. 


(Gaga and MooMoo are your imaginary friends. You talk to them quite a bit lately.)
A: How old is Gaga? 
T: Three weeks and six...They are kinda black. Kinda red too. And the baby with them... named Zack. 
A: Do they speak French or English?
T: They speak squab.


T: Mommy, do you know where GaGa and MooMoo is? They are lost somewhere. They are outta town. Sorry mommy. Do you have a phone to call GaGa?...Mommy, GaGa is back. Jesus gave him back to us. See him at the school, he's dead. How sad. MooMoo has a broken leg. He can't walk that much. 


(Just woke up from your nap and looking scared...)
T: Mommy, the dogs were chasing me. They were so mean. Three of them. They were so big....I ran and ran.


T: That was so nice of Taryn to drive us to the airport so we could fly.........I saw a geese fly like we were drivin'. Geese, minks...I made a rhyme, mommy! Meet, skeet, sweet, street...meet...ha, ha, ha, ha, I said sweet, street, meet! 


(Laughing while I was breast feeding Hensley you said...)
T: Mommy, your belly button looks sooo funny!
M: Don't laugh! That's not nice. It's because Hensley was in there and stretched it out.
T: Hensley. I think you should go to the doctor...my belly button's broke...fix it please!


Ababayeh heard you mumble some French to GaGa and MooMoo yesterday. You also sent them to time out.  


M: Hand me my phone please. My battery is almost dead. I have to charge it.
T: Your battery is going to die?

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Babies: Toys, Noise, Distractions


Rothco

I found this article very insightful regarding small children. I clipped out the best part below, but the whole article is a quick read and thoughtful. 
 ...We keep piling on more things for our children to look at, to do and to touch. We teach them early on to distract themselves from the beauty that is around them. It’s our fault; we’re not reading their signals. I’m just as guilty. I put my son in the car; I give him a toy. But we’re missing the point. When children are young, they’re satisfied with what the world has to offer; looking out the window, checking out the other patrons at restaurants, and climbing up the obstacle courses at playgroups. The world itself is enough. Everything is new; everything is awe-inspiring. But we are so quick to give them a toy, a video game, something else that we’ve determined is more interesting. Are we conditioning them to be constantly looking for more? Soon, our kids grow to young adults who need to be doing five things at once. The little things, the things that once held the power of wonder and amusement, are now just a fuzzy background for the next great distraction. 
So the next time we're at our playgroup, I think I'll just let my son direct his own discovery. He doesn't need a shaker to "get him through" the obstacle course. The obstacles are going to have to be challenge enough. And I have to say, I think they will be.
Sarahlynne, MEd, is an experienced teacher and a Parenting Guru for Yahoo! Shine.
I have found this so true with little Hensley. I'll lay her on a blanket on the floor in her room with no toys and she talks to her self, rolls over, plays with her hands, and totally enjoys herself. Same if she is downstairs with us. I lay out a quilt on the floor and she plays (sometimes with toys, brother or us).  What I love is that we don't have a lot of baby stuff around the house to trip over, like the Exersaucer, baby swing, Bumbo, etc.  As a recommendation from her pediatrician, we keep it simple with floor time. For a while I used the play mat, but I put it away and realized that she is just as content without it. That works for now. She'll be crawling soon and who knows what will work then!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Austin Part 5: This Is It!

Or Part 500. This is that last part of Austin. Jonathan and Tanya, we love you!


Ate at a lovely restaurant then the kids played in a big fountain in their underwear until way past bedtime. It was a great night. 



Funny face, Hens!  Gave you your first straw-full of water in this park b/c it was H-O-T.



Tegegne excuses himself without asking permission. Luckily the only others in the park were doing a modeling photo shoot. 


And I forgot all of the lovely places we toured. Our trip was fabulous. Besides seeing all of the great things Austin has to offer, we just liked catching up with good friends. We laughed a ton, talked about marriage and how exhausting parenting can be...laughed some more and enjoyed each other in a this new phase of life. Guelich's we love you. Thanks for hosting us so well. 


Thursday, August 11, 2011

Austin Part 4: Succulent Dinos + Pizza

Still on South Congress...


We LOVED Plaid Pigeon's succulent animals! 

Dad of the year, right here folks!
Home Slice, homies! So good! 


Home Slice interior. Loved this painted wall! 

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