ruffles and flowers and wrapping, oh my!

We've received so many sweet and thoughtful gifts for little Kenley, but I just had to share a photo of this gift in particular. I love the handmade details on the shirt and the skirt. I can't wait until it fits her next summer and she can toddle around in it. But check out the wrapping! So creative, and it even matches the flower design on the outfit. You can find Pamela, the creative mind behind this gift, here. I'm always inspired by her decorating posts and I especially love her fun weekly pillow feature.

Our State Fair is a great State Fair

We're enjoying lazy summer days here, playing, swimming and lounging around. But in just a few days it will be time for one of my favorite things - the Iowa State Fair! Lachlan is old enough to really enjoy all the sights and sounds (and tastes) this year, and I'm looking forward to taking Kenley to her first Fair. I haven't ever missed a year, so it's now a family tradition. Thankfully Bill looks forward to it just as much as I do.
This weekend I made this state of Iowa onesie for Kenley to wear to the Fair to show her Iowa pride. We'll have to find a few good photo-ops for her - maybe by the butter cow or the biggest boar? Holding a corn dog?

June & July Project 365 photos

I've been keeping up with my daily photos over the past couple months (of course I've been taking LOTS of photos every day) but I just got them uploaded them to Flickr. Now to get them printed and into my Project 365 binder!

Kenley's wall hanging

Kenley is 6 weeks old already, can you believe it? She's doing great. When she's awake she's bright-eyed and really starting to connect with us. We've been getting smiles from her this week, which is so much fun.
I finished her wall hanging before she was born (it was a product of my wonderful surprise shower) but I finally got the tabs sewn on the back so that I could hang it up in the nursery.
It seemed a little small for the wall that I was hanging it on, so I also hung a frame with photos of Kenley underneath.
Cleo was investigating what I was up to - This photo was taken after she returned home after being mysteriously missing outside for a week! We were so worried, since she is 15 years old, declawed and only weighs about 6 lbs. Luckily she showed up again, safe and sound. We wish that she could tell the story of her adventure!

Summer Snapshots mini-album

I am full of ideas for projects I'd like to be making - sewing, scrapbooking, crocheting... but I don't have time to get to them all, so I made a list and I'm trying to focus on finishing one at a time (during precious naptime for the kids, or when they are both peacefully occupied). One thing I wanted to create was a mini-album for the photos I've been taking with my Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. I loved the July kit from The Story Matters, and the coordinated products made it easy to put together a quick mini. I especially love that sweet bee label and the star ribbon. I had this blank album in a bag of albums I purchase from Liz (thanks Liz! :).





A few more photos of the inside pages are on Flickr.

Kenley is one month old!

Yesterday Kenley turned one month old! It certainly feels like the month has flown by, but at the same time it seems like it was forever ago that we were meeting her in the hospital room. Our minutes, hours, and days are very full now!

Here's her one month photo. I took monthly photos of Lachlan in a chair with a special stuffed animal, so I thought it would be fun to do the same thing with her. Different chair, and a horse instead of a cow. :)

She's doing great - 9 lbs, 12 oz today, so she's obviously healthy and growing quickly (she was 8 lbs, 5 oz at birth). She sleeps very well at night, just waking 2 or 3 times to breastfeed. Big brother is doing great, too. He's talking more every day and we're amazed at his memory and how much he picks up from our daily conversations and activities. On the whole, he's been very sweet and gentle with "baby Ken" (as he calls her) with occasional moments of typical toddler jealousy.

We had a month of visits with family and friends who were excited to meet Kenley. Now I feel like I am starting to get into a "normal" life with two kids. Kenley is starting to come out of the newborn sleepiness and is more alert every day. Most days, I feel like if I get both kids taken care of, all the laundry and dishes done, and dinner made, then I have accomplished ALOT. I have missed creating things, sewing and scrapbooking, but I'm starting to make time to do some of that again. No matter how my day goes, I am so thankful that I get to spend my days with these two sweetie pies.

Kenley's photo shoot

So, obviously blogging has slid down the list of priorities in the past 3 weeks :) We're busy getting adjusted to our new family of four, and so far it is going very well. I've had lots of help from family and friends, which makes everything feel much more manageable.

If you're itching for more sweet baby photos, check out the sneak peeks on Shelley's photography blog from our photo shoot yesterday.