Author: Dania

>Love at it’s best.  I think this picture needs very little text.  It explains their bond so completely.  And if it’s at all possible, I love Bean just a teeny bit more every time I see it.

>We’ve been trying for months to decide what color we think Boo’s eyes will be.  I kept going with hazel. Certainly, she wasn’t blessed with the baby blues Bean has, but I was hoping for something better than poopy brown like mine.  Based on this picture, I think the poor kid is following her momma’s blueprint (how cool would that have been if I could have pulled that pun out?).

>Just a quick one of the Bean.  Nothing super special about it except it makes me smile beacause I just can’t believe what a beautiful young lady she’s turning into. 

>I can’t believe that a) Boo is 7 months old…and b) I haven’t yet taken her 7 month picture.  Shame on me.  So until I have a few moments to do that, here are a few fun ones from the past week.  We finally dropped the pack-n-play (much to my shagrin because I had been keeping all her clothes in it for easy access) for her to have her own space to play without fear of being knocked over by the Bean or rolling into the kitchen floor.  You can see for yourself that I think it was a good call…even though it took me 2 days of moaning and groaning to finally admit that.

>We’ve been soooooo horrible with our video camera.  I mean, like HORRIBLE.  So I’m at least trying to capture some of the funnier moments on the blog so we have them somewhere.

Anyhoo–we were in the car on the way home from Mimi & Pops on Sunday.  Bean pulls out her sunglasses and proceeds to put them on despite it being dark out.  John says from the front seat “What are you, a rockstar?”  and Bean replies {without the blink of an eye} “No, a superstar.”

God love that kid.

>The love they have for one another is incredible.  It blows my mind to think I was ever nervous about how they’d get along.  I am not niave enough to believe it will always be this sweet, but I’ll take it for as long as it’ll last.

>Today was a good day. 

There was nothing inherintely special about what we necessarily did.  Typical Monday Bounce House, but there was something special about the love I think we felt for each other this morning.  Like the world somehow slowed down just a bit for us and we were able to more easily focus on the simple things and how lucky we are to have each other…and make the most of it. 

I lost count on how many times Bean hugged McKenna and told her she loved her.  I lost count on how many times I kissed and hugged both my girls today.  I had extra patience with Kennedy’s toddler-isms and McKenna’s grumpies.  I wish we had more days like this, but am thankful for this one and vow to try and recognize them more often.

Today was a good day.

>Last night was the first official joint bath.  McKenna’s still a little wobbly when she gets excited and Bean is a bit rough so it wasn’t without some help, but they had so much fun together.  I see many, many fun times in the tub coming our way soon (among many things)!

>Wow.  I can’t believe I forgot New Years Eve.  Yikes!  Ok, so let’s get caught up…for realzies this time.  We had a fantastic party  night out with the ‘Piros.  The props were a huge hit with the girls…as was the DJ and dancing.  Bean danced in circles until she practically fell down.  It was a great way to ring in the new year (even if it was only pretend when the balloons fell at 9pm for the kiddos).

>It’s been a while, hey?  Well, let’s catch up a bit…

That’s all for now folks.  Catch up with you soon!

Ok, one more.  As I was posting this, Bean decided she needed to brush her teeth after nap and wanted to (wait for it)…..do it all by herself.  And I went in to check on her and found her like this:

Guess I forgot her stool isn’t tall enough to get her up there “all by herself” so she improvised.  That girl has got some gumption.

>Happy six months McKenna Lily (of Missy Lou as you are more commonly referred to as these days).

What a big girl you’ve become.  No longer content to just sit in my lap or on the floor and stare around…you now need to be interacting at all times and you ADORE watching your sister run around like a maniac.  And boy is that girl good to you…bringing you toys when you look bored and always concerned about whether or not you’re hungry.  You are a lucky girl to have such an adoring big sister.  It’s been a great six months.  Thanks for it all…

>I teared up putting the Bean to bed tonight. Over the last several months, she’s done many things that demonstrate she’s no longer a baby, but tonight it hit home. We’ve had the same bedtime routine since she was a baby and I’ve grown so accustomed to it. We turn on her stars, we read three books and then we rock and talk about our day and what’s to come tomorrow. Then we sing the shadow song from Bear (“where oh where oh where is shadow (x3)…where can shadow be?”), I pick her up and we head over to the closet door with her arm slung around my neck to hug and kiss our shadows and wish them good night.  Well tonight, she insisted on not only reading me most of the books she picked out {“all by myself!”}, but hoping off our chair singing the shadow song, running over to the closet door…feet on the ground.  I foolishly followed singing along and kissing my lone shadow.  She then fished her stool from next to her door and carried it over to her bed insisting {“I can get in bed all by myself!”} and as I went to pull the blankets up, was reminded again {“I’ll pull the blankets on all by myself!”}.  I hugged her, gave her a kiss and told her I loved her and she replied “I love you too mommy…sweet dreams.”

Where oh where oh where is my baby girl?

>Our dinner connversation tonight went a little something like this:

Me: “Kennedy….is mommy a girl or boy?”
Kennedy: “girl!”
Me: “McKenna…girl or boy?”
Kennedy: “girl!”
Me: “daddy…boy or girl?”
Kennedy: “a little bit a girl.”

God love that kid.

>I am so behind on my personal pictures it’s not even funny. I finally got a few minutes to finish editing a few more from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to post. It was so great to see Kennedy actually somewhat understand the meaning of Christmas this year. Running around the house yelling “happy birthday baby Jesus!” was just priceless. And listening to her read us the Story of Christmas each night was heart warming. I love that she’s learning the true meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate…not just that it’s all about presents. My favorite lines are without a doubt when we ask her why we give gifts are Christmas and she responds: “Because it’s baby Jesus’ birthday {duuuude}” and “to show our love”. She’s just too sweet for words.

Enjoy the pics….and Merry Christmas!

>So, 4 days later and all I’ve managed to do is download the pictures, narrow them down to 250 (from 700+), and edit 3 of them to share.  I’ll have a much larger post coming, but I wanted to get at least something up!  So here are a few favorites of the two girls together at least…

Oh yeah, and Kennedy had a BLAST this year.  Finally starting to get the concept and was just beyond excited…running through the house yelling “happy birthday baby jesus!”.  I have a feeling each year is just going to keep getting better and better…

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I so don’t recall the “baby head syndrome” (as I call it) with Kennedy…and I’m not sure I’ve blogged about this before as I think it’s a little odd even myself, but nonetheless…

Have you ever smelled a baby’s head?  I have.  And I would smell is all day long if I could.  I can’t begin to describe the smell (John thinks it’s dirt), but to me, it’s just the most amazing smell in the world.  I am actually a bit sad when I wash her hair and it goes away for a day…and as she gets older, it’s not near as strong as it once was, which last night, almost reduced me to tears.  I wish I could bottle it up.  Now, I wouldn’t wear it as perfume, but I might just stick it in my purse for a much needed stress relief.  Yeah, I know it sounds nutso, but I kid you not, here is just something about this kids head.  She knows it too.  As you can see from below, she’s either a) scratching her head in wonder as to why her mom is such a nutbag, b) trying to find her hair or c) is just plain itchy.

Ps.  Sorry John, if I knew how to turn off sound, I would…but then again, your playful sounds are pretty awesome.  Youtube, your audioswap feature just saved my man from some serious embarassment.  He thanks you. 

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I just adore the expression in her eyes on this one.

>Does it get much better than this?! She clapped for him when he came in…cheered as he toured the room and then cried when he got up close. I think she thought his beard was going to swollow her. She refused to sit on his lap despite watching McKenna, but after much begging, has agreed to try again tomorrow. Stay tuned for an update. But nonetheless, we had a great time on Saturday and she just adored her monkey “handbag” and “Marty Madagascar!”.

First taste of a shirley temple. I think the kid is hooked (good taste like her momma).

Despite being scared, she was still able to manage a very polite “thank you” without even having to be told to do so. When we later asked if she could hug santa to say thank you she replied “I just said thank you!”

While Kennedy was busy being scared his beard would eat her, McKenna was busy wondering if she could eat the beard…

>Have I mentioned how very much I love our tree this year?

>I’m not usually a big fan of snow or the cold, but one look at this face and how can I not?

>There is nothing better than a Saturday night spent with the best of friends…and of course, good merlot and even better trifle never hurts.

>Many times during the day I’m trying to get “work” or computer stuff done and my little Boo plays right along side…She looked so darn cute I couldn’t help but capture the moment.  After 5 months of having a camera shoved in your face, I am not quite sure why the surprised look.

>Do you ever have moments you look at your children and just think “god, she’s gorgeous”.  I do.  Often.  I decided to just snap a picture of her a few seconds after this thought passed through my head.  Nothing particularly special about the picture other than the fact that I hope everytime I look at it, I remember how much love I felt for her when I saw her beautiful face that particular morning…

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>We’ve been trying to explain the meaning of Christmas to Bean beyond just Santa, gifts, trees and lights so we got a short book that tells the story of Jesus’ birth. It’s a simple book, but I think she’s getting it. Our book reading started a little something like this last night:

Me: “Kennedy, do you know why we give gifts at Christmas?”
Bean: “Because it’s baby Jesus’ birthday….DUUUUDE!”

My catholic girl who despite it all, refuses to lose the attitude. Love it.

She was so pleased with the hysterical reaction she got last night that she was intent on having it caught on video this morning…

>And that’s what did. From dawn till dusk (and are still polishing off some of the goodies). We had a wonderful day with John’s family. His dad did all the cooking and we simply provided the space and took care of clean-up. Perfect compromise for Mrs. Non-Suzie Homemaker over here.

>I think we officially have a thumb sucker on our hands.  Daddy’s not pleased…Momma thinks it’s actually pretty darn adorable.

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>She sang this all day long and it’s what I was joyfully woken up to. Could she be cuter?

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>As her vocabulary expands with every moment and she soaks in more and more from her daily surroundings, she comes out with the best material.  No matter how bad a day might be (and there have been many lately–thank you terrible two’s), without a doubt, she has us cracking up at least a few times throughout the day with her awesome personality.  The most recent ones include:

Kennedy:  “mom, take a picture of this!” 
(usually when she’s eating something, “hugging” her sister, or doing something else she deems adorable)

Kennedy:  “yadda, yadda, yadda…”

Kennedy “dad–are you done talking yet?” 
Dad: “yes, what do you need Kennedy”
Dad:  “Kennedy?”
Dad:  “Kennedy!  Do you need something or just taking a survey?”
Kennedy: “just taking a survey.”

Kennedy:  “NING!”
Mom:  “What does that mean?”
Kennedy: (in all seriousness)  “means need help”
(um, ok!)

Kennedy:  “Please may I share my blanket?” 
(like she needs permission to share.  Pure cuteness)

Kennedy:  “Dad, relax!”

Kennedy (and her way up the stairs each and every time):  “mom, I’m sitting down to take a break.”

She’s also become a total procrationator when it comes to going to bed.  She needs to read at least 3 books, sing at least 3 songs (though she insists on 5), we have to play shadows on the wall, (hug AND kiss both her shadow and mine), we finally make it to the bed where we talk about which blankets and how many we want…and finally, find, stack and name all 8 of her “friends” she insists on sleeping with (including ELMO, Wally, Lily, Baby, Other ELMO etc…).  If any one of these things don’t happen, all hell breaks loose and no one wants to witness “all hell” with my frisky two year old–trust.

Morning routines have changed around here too.  She’s no longer content to play in her room for a bit (boo hiss) so she runs into our room and hops into bed with me.  Which sounds sweet and all, but usually consists of poking and jumping all over me and talking REALLY loudly at 6:10 in the morning.  First comes the potty run, then comes the begging for TV and by 6:30, she’s screaming “I want to take a shower with Mommy!”.  I’m trying to train her (do you train a child?!) that if it’s dark out, we still sleep.  So far, no go on the sleep…

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at which point I drop the camera and come to poor little McKenna’s rescue.  It’s all in good sisterly love, but the Bean is a tad bit rough around the edges when it comes to her itty bitty sister.  {sigh} 

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>We started 2009 Halloween by carving our pumpkin, which Bean was quite pleased with. I still don’t have the heart to tell her that thanks to an empty house on Saturday, her sweet pumpkin became pie for the asphalt. Boo hiss.
Trick or Treating around school. She was the cutest monkey in town.

Boy do they adore one another…Rain, rain go away. It makes for a pretty miserable trick or treating experience (for the parents anyway. No wagon filled with “coffee” this year. Oh yeah, and lousy pictures to boot. Though, it doesn’t appear the girls minded much. There were plenty of smiles to go around…And candy to be had…

No, I’m not holding her up by her arm, that’s my thinking cap you see below, I put her costume right over the bjorn. I know–genius.

Despite the rain, pulling Kennedy out of everyone’s homes which she so boldly invited herself into, and greedy little boys with scary masks, we had one of the best Halloweens since Kennedy was born. Many thanks to the ‘Piro’s for inviting us over to not only celebrate Halloween, but Rachel’s birthday as well. And just for the record, anyone who wants quality homemade pizza needs to make a pit stop at the ‘Piro’s on a Friday night. YUMMO.

>Just a quick update as to what she’s been up to these days. 4 months seems like a magic number. All the sudden, she’s a different baby. In many senses, much less a baby every day and more like a person. We’re lovin‘ it.

We were encouraged by Dr. Mike to start rice cereal. I was skeptical given that 4 months seemed so early, but I think her expressions tell a different story…

And we are now officially rolling. I caught this picture as I was practically dropping the camera because she began to scream half way through her roll. It’s a lot of work for such a little body!

Could my life be more fun?

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Dear McKenna,

You were 4 months old on Friday. 4 whole months. It seems like yesterday we were bringing you home and introducing you to your big sister…and now it seem as if you’ve never lived a day apart. You adore the heck out of her and your smile is like no other when you’re watching her. And she is so protective over you. Insists on everyone she meets immediately knowing you are “My McKenna” and often won’t allow anyone she doesn’t know to touch you. You’re one lucky little girl to have such a great big sister. You’re so much like her. You’re way beyond your age in trying to do things you shouldn’t be doing (which we all know will lead to big, big trouble in later years). You’re no longer content just laying on your back. You insist on sitting up like the rest of us. You’ve discovered your feet and laugh hysterically when they tickle your nose. You are so quick to smile. It often doesn’t take more than a glance in your direction to pull one of your amazingly contagious grins out. And your belly laughs are to die for. You are still so very much a blanket girl and hold on to them for dear life most of your days, which I think is so stinkin‘ cute. You’re beyond tough. When you bonk your head (or rather, I bonk it for you), and I expect a full on scream, you barely flinch. You hear loud noises and appear to think nothing of them. This is a good thing because your sister is no wuss and you will be happy to have this side in you when times get tough.

We love you to pieces and find it hard to remember a day that you weren’t in our lives. Thanks for some serious happy times Missy Lou.

>First school field trip to Indian Ladder Farms. Just another day that reminded me how incredibly big my little girl is getting. Field trips…really? Already? Just insane.

important to finish off a long morning with a kick ass snack.

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Tell me she doesn’t totally resemble one of the cutest dolls you’ve ever laid eyes on here…

>A photographer. Yep, I said it. I’m a photographer. I officially (there I go again with that word) announced my intentions of becoming a family/child photographer on Facebook (pathetic place for an announcement? maybe…) this week. The support I received from my friends was beyond sweet and truly helped reinforce that this will indeed be a great move for me. I don’t plan to be up and running in the very near future, but am positioning myself to get there by the time both girls are in school. So for now, I am building my portfolio with anyone who will trust me with their children. Thanks to Melissa for being one of the first (aside from the ‘piro’s, who always allow me to chase around little ol‘ Molly for a few good snapshots). A few shared favorites from Monday up at Sunnyside Farms in Saratoga. Comments (good and bad) are more than welcome. I can take it.

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And without. Much like her sister, she clearly detests tummy time. {sigh}
Anxiously awaiting her first “official” massage…she giggled through the whole thing.
By far, one of the best and most useful baby classes I ever took.

A fun play with photoshop on an already pretty awesome pic of the Beansicle.

A little fall fun…

>It’s been three and a half months since the Boo was born. I’ve made enormous strides in those few shorts months. I’ve officially lost all the baby weight and are back into all my clothes (even the skinny ones!) comfortably. Much of this is thanks to training for a half marathon, which many people told me I was nuts to consider. However, this past Sunday, I ran the same half marathon I did last year at 4 weeks pregnant. Despite coming down with a miserable chest cold the day before, I managed to get through all 13.1 miles (only 2.5 of which were absolute misery) in 2:00:38, which is just a minute longer than last years run. And in full disclosure, I attempted to photoshop my lips to no avail and will just embarrassingly admit that yes, that is dried blood from biting them incessantly during the last two miles…bringing the whole “blood, sweat and tears” cliche to a whole new level. How gross am I?

And as my reward, my generous hubby has contributed to a new look for me, which I am more than pleased with. Bub-bye frumpy soccer mom hair. At least I’ll have fancy hair, even if I am dressed in comfy, semi-scruffy clothes that allow for a free boob at a moments noice…

>One. Two. Three. How many fingers do I see? Five. One for each year of blissful marriage as of last Thursday. And one sportin‘ a pretty fancy new Tiffany Celebration Ring that couldn’t more perfectly match my engagement ring. For any of you who don’t know the story of the engagement ring, it’s a pretty big deal. I’ve worn my Grandma Lil’s engagement ring on my right pinky since I was 15. So imagine my surprise, when in a dimly lit back canal in Venice, I was offered a proposal for marriage and a small box containing a replica of this exact ring. 40 odd some years later and David Adams was able to peek at a mere picture of my Grandma’s ring and immediately recognize the designer. An enormous kudos to John for being so incredibly thoughtful.

I was about to post a picture of the incredibly thoughtful framed “note” that John gave me, but decided I wanted to keep that to myself. Though I’ll tell you that it started out: “I love…”. I both teared and up burst into laughter reading through the 32 bullet points that followed.

I was pretty psyched about having this honeymoon picture turned into huge gallery wrap to go in our living room. One of our most treasured hotel stays, the Loconada Dell’Amorosa in Tuscany. In certain weather, I am immediately brought back to the misty mornings spent on our balcony, watching the fog unblanket the amazing countryside, sipping on our cappuccinos and enjoying each others quiet company. We miss you Loconda…

Thanks for an amazing anniversary babe. 5 years down, a lifetime to go…

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>I love watching their little ritual of the “taking of the jewelry” that occurs everytime we visit with Bubble. For all her her rough and tumble exterior, there is a little bit of princess lurking just beyond the surface of that Bean…

>Just a few fun shots from the weekend. I often get some cute shots of the girls and never post them because they don’t fit any specific theme. So I am making a new theme called the “Bagyi Outtakes” and will often just post some of the goofy and fun pictures we take just playing around the house. I’m awfully creative aren’t I?

>What a wonderful day for a baptism. We shared it with the best of friends and family and want to thank all of them for celebrating with us. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people in our life.

On a lighter note, McKenna officially (I think I use this word too much, but alas…) slept through the night for the first time last night. John and I both have to wonder if maybe after finally having her original sin removed, she feels she can sleep peacefully. You decide…coincidence or not?

A few snapshots of the day. I apologize in advance for the grainy as all heck quality. I clearly haven’t figured out how to use my SLR in church and even more so, am certainly not qualified to be a SLR instructor anytime soon. Special thanks to Chick for doing her very best with crappy instructions and a setting clearly not well suited for the venue. Boo hiss on me.

And a super duper special thanks to the Smileys for being gracious enough to take on the responsibility of being McKenna’s Godparents. We love you guys!

I think my camera had a sweet tooth when it decided to can catch every scrumptious flake of sugar on this amazing cake.

Gotta give a sweet shout out to Coccadotts for a happy and full belly this day.

>I swore before McKenna was born that I would never compare the girls as I expected they would each be unique in their own way and comparisons were just plain unfair. Yet, I can’t help but notice so many differences and similarities between the two as I watch McKennas personality begin to take form. From the way they look, to their weight, to the things they smile over and their sleeping habits. I think it may be fun to look back on this post years down the line and see how things remained the same and how they change.

At 3 months, McKenna is almost 2 pounds heavier than Kennedy was at this point. She’s already in Kennedy’s 3 month clothes whereas Kennedy was just now fitting comfortably into her newborn stuff, yet their eating schedules are virtually identical and McKenna was actually 6 ounces smaller at birth.

John thinks McKenna is more “needy” than Kennedy. I’m not sure yet. I wonder if it’s so much that she truly is more needy, or whether our perspective is thrown off. I believe with Kennedy, we had all the time in the world to hold her when she was fussy and thus, never really took her as needy…and now with McKenna, well, not so much. That being said, if McKenna is upset, it only takes sticking your face in hers 99% of the time to turn those tears into a warming smile. When Kennedy was pissed, she was simply pissed, and a friendly face wasn’t enough to ease her funk.

McKenna is a blanket girl. Kennedy was not (is not). Kennedy is not attached to anything (some days, I think that includes us). Just about anything could disappear from her life today and she’d likely forget about it by the time the sun sets. McKenna on the other hand already clings to her blanket for dear life most of the day…but maybe that’s also because I shove it in her lap. But the girl loves it, so who am I to deny? Mistake maybe? Lets revisit in about a year…

Their sleeping habits are practically identical at this stage. Down in the swing around 7:30-8:00, wake to feed around 10 and down in the crib soundly till 3:30-4:00. Then back down till 7:30-8 or so. Not a schedule I will complain about anytime soon. Both of them were able to self-sooth at quite a young age and never really slept in bed with us after a few weeks of age…something I’m incredibly thankful for.

Personality itself is still up in the air. I think McKenna will be more quiet, though I have little to base that on. John agrees. Kennedy’s personality is so over the top sometimes, I think McKenna will either have a great challenge to meet it, or shy down from it.

No doubt, McKenna finds me much more funny than Kennedy ever did. Whether her sense of humor is still a little underdeveloped, or I’ve become much more hilarious in the past 2 years has yet to be determined, but my bet would be on the later.

It’s funny, John once said he believes there are people out there who live their life simply to have something to “blog” about. I respectfully disagree. Having started this record of the girls lives has truly made me a better person. Rather than simply living our life without giving the days a second though or taking the time to look deeper into them, blogging about them has made me a much more introspective person who, with eyes wide open, has learned to appreciate each day to it’s absolute fullest.

>I love days when we have no plans and just pop into something fun like this family fun day at a local church. We often forget it’s the little things that often end up being the most fun for the girls…

McKenna didn’t take too kindly to being locked into her seat and unable to truly participate in the fun. All in good time my dear…

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Not used to crazy light like this.

We were a bit worried when we arrived late at 5pm (when they were suppose to launch) that not a single balloon had yet been blown up. An hour ride with two antsy girls had better be worth the aggrevation. We stuck it out though and thankfully, whatever caused the hold up subsided because they finally started to go up and Kennedy got her fills of waving like a maniac screaming “Bye! Have a good trip!”. It’s been a 3 year long tradition so we were happy to not have to miss out. Can’t wait to see you again next year!

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Cute enough that Kennedy refused to get out of his bed until he came and played with her.

And came he did. He made one little girl very happy this Friday morning.
Thank you Grandma and Jazz for a great Friday morning!

>Happy three months McKenna! They have been some of the happiest of our life. I worried so much while pregnant that having a second child would somehow disrupt the wonderful life we had grown accustomed to in the Bagyi Household. I worried that Kennedy would somehow resent me for bringing another person into our world. I should have known better. There are many days I think Kennedy would be happy to have just “me and you McKenna!” and leave the rest of the world out of it. They already have this amazing bond and Kennedys protectiveness (or possessiveness as is often the case) is just too charming for words.

And just for a little flashback, here is the Bean at her little three month celebration.

My how times have changed…

>Perfect Saturday morning for our new oh so favorite (and oh so secret) playground. Of course we had to stop halfway for a snack break and Bean just happened to be so lucky that snack this day was a strawberry frosted donut…which mom enjoyed just as much.

Though little McKenna couldn’t do very much, she still enjoyed one of the few last days of summer we had from her cozy little home…