Dear Byron,

Today you started your Clinical Fellowship Year as a Speech Pathologist at UNC Hospital working with Head and Neck Cancer Patients.

For the past month and a half we've been really selfish and had you all to ourselves, but we decided we'd play nice and share youv with some other people now.

I'm not saying we're happy about it, but we're sharing none-the-less.

We're very, very proud of you and know you'll be fantastic.

I for one, am feeling the physical and emotional tuggings of missing my helper and friend. Who am I supposed to talk to all day now, and eat lunch with, and hold hands while walking around the mall with, and fix Connor lunch and put him down for a nap while I take care of Kylene, and take the kids outside so I can make dinner, and...oh well, I guess we need to let you go so we can do things like, you know, eat.

It sure was fun while it lasted and we can't wait for you to come home tonight.

Miss you!

love,

Kristi, Connor, and Kylene

7 months

last week our little Kylene hit her 7 month mile marker. we spent that day at the beach in S. Carolina and she discovered sand for the first time. she liked it lots.at 7 mths Kylene is motoring around everywhere crawling and her new experiment is pulling herself up to her knees. we're not quite sure what to do with this girl. she's doing things so much faster than we expected! i love getting her up from naps because she'd pulled up to her knees on the side of her crib and waiting for someone to come save her. she greats me with a huge grin and i just can't grab her up fast enough.
if it's possible for Kylene to be getting more beautiful, then she's achieved it. we think she's stunning.

Kylene has started picking up cheerios and LOVES eating these snacks.

she continues to be as sweet as pie, but has also started to show more of a demanding side squealing loudly to get our attention!

she makes us laugh out loud daily.

Kylene is snuggly and loves her soft blankie. she sucks it for comfort and to fall asleep.
we discovered in S. Carolina that, like her brother, Kylene is fascinated by animals and gave kitty at run for her money!

Kylene loves other babies and especially seems to like little girls. she squeals to get there attention, especially at church. ; )

we love Kylene's dimples, thunder thighs, belly rolls, and elbow dimples. i look at her and wish i could keep her like this forever and with the next breath i'm thrilled to see her grow and discover what she'll do next.

mini hoots

{we've been away in South Carolina visiting family and having a glorious time. i'll be posting about our trip along with our little Kylene's 7 mth marker--she's pulling up to her knees...} these darlings are a custom order i made for a woman who's having her third child and first boy--yay! she did the nursery's curtains in Alexander Henry's Spotted Owl fabric (it's beautiful) and wanted some mini (6 in) Hoot Owls to make a mobile out of.

this is what i came up with.

i love them and hope she does too.

i have 4 more custom orders i'm working on. i love these chances to be creative and design.
i'll be posting these on my Esty Shop in a while for anyone else who might be interested in some "mini hoots".

a little Lemon and Lime

meet Lemon Drop and Key Lime. they're BFF's and are darling.

they'd make great gifts for twins, sisters and best friends.

you can check them out Here.

turtle and me

Byron is the best at spotting animals in nature and Connor loves this about him. Byron spotted this turtle out the window one day while Connor and I were out and put him on our porch for Connor to see when we got home.They hit it off immediately.

BFF's.


"Do we have to put him back Dad?"

After the photo shoot and some more bonding time, Byron and Connor released him back to the wild, or Apartment Complex Pond at it may be.

As for me, all I could think of was a picture a friend had sent me from his mission in Brazil of the insides of a turtle before they "feasted". Gross. Turtle and I didn't get as close.

off to the races

Ms. Kylene is mobile. And she's getting fast. She'd been rocking on her knees for a few weeks and then little by little worked on moving a hand with a knee forward. Right now she employs several different strategies to get to her target: the push up on her toes in a "v" form and then fall forward; tradition "crawl" manuver; and the ever popular "roll".Love those legs.

Couldn't ever catch the "v" picture (I'll keep working on it)

funky dunky monster mania doll

love this guy. love, love, love. kylene loves him too. i finished him last night and put him on her bookshelf in her room when i keep all the items for my shop. she noticed it immediately and wouldn't nurse because she wanted to see it and get to it. i finally had to hid it so she would eat--sheesh! :)
you can check him out here.