New Boat

Kiley bought a new fishing/hunting boat and trailer. He got a really good deal on it so we took it out today. Kaisley loved it even though she wasn't so sure how she felt about her life jacket. We went from Centenial under the Perinne Bridge to Pillar Falls. We even watched a base jumper jump off of the bridge from the boat. The canyon is so beautiful. I hope we can make more trips out more often.

A jumper

close up

Gooding Fair

We went to the Gooding Fair on a Friday. We had Kaisley in a tank top and shorts but she had a huge blowout in her carseat so we had to put her in the warmer clothes that we had packed for that night. Luckily Hannah had an extra cool pack to put around her neck to keep her from getting so hot. Kiley and I had to have Smokin Cowboy BBQ. Kais was pretty content in her stroller looking at all of the animals.

trying to get her sippy cup

Kais and Jasper. Jasper is only 6 and a half months old but only 2lbs lighter than Kais. He is a big boy!

Kiley's Great Aunt Reynola made this quilt

Aunt Jenny made this quilt for Kaisley

Paige petting the goat

Kaisley at 14 Months

Kaisley is a busy girl. Her favorite foods are: bananas, peaches, applesauce, steamed baby carrots, and graham crackers. She has been going through a weird phase lately that she doesn't like certain textures like noodles and pastas. She will only eat them if you mash them up. She loves Kohl and climbs on her, pets her, and reads to her a lot. She is a momma's girl. She knows my work clothes and gets upset that I am about to leave. We cuddle on the couch every morning when I get her up. She seems to ask me questions and then answer them herself with a yes or a no. She is a dancing fool now. She twists side to side, shakes her head, bounces, and sways her hips with an occasional sprint-stop sprint-stop. She still loves to read but also loves her baby doll that Kiley bought for her and her blankets. She is super silly and we love to have tickle fights.

Being First Time Parents

Life with Kaisley has been very rewarding and also a HUGE life-learning lesson for us. She is our world and we are constantly striving to do the best that we can for her. But we can never be PERFECT. No matter how many books I read about parenting or how much advice I get from friends and family (including  unwanted "advice" that seems more like "you MUST do this" and "I know your baby better than you do"), you will never fully be prepared to be a parent or have all of the answers on the best way to be a parent.
Our inexperience takes the form of over protectiveness.
CASE IN POINT #1:
Two Saturday's ago Kaisley's molars decided to make their debut. All FOUR! And at the precise moment one punched through, despite the baby orajel and ibuprophin, Kaisley freaked out and was in the most intense pain we had ever seen her in. We couldn't calm her down and it got so bad she almost seemed like she was seizing. Kiley rushed out the door with her and we headed to the E.R. Thankfully she calmed down on the way and we could see that it was in fact her teeth, not some invisible illness that we thought it was. We stopped for frozen yogurt to soothe her swollen gums. (I can just imaging the Dr. chuckling at us after he diagnoses it as just teething!)
CASE IN POINT #2:
Yesterday we almost had another rush to the E.R.. Kaisley has had a runny nose for the past 10 days (we thought due to those nasty molars) but she woke up at 4 a.m. crying and coughing like crazy. The thought crossed my mind that it was probably the drainage from the runny nose but the cough sounded so bad we thought she must have gotten strep from the Gym's Daycare. Kiley convinced me that we should wait until the clinic was open the next morning to take her in. When we got there Kaisley was just SMILING at all of the workers and flirting away. She was so good for the Dr. and he said that everything checked out great. He also made a point to give me a list of situations that would call for a trip to the Dr.: i.e. a runny nose that lasts more than 3 weeks, a cough that lasts more than 2 weeks, etc. I felt again like an overreacting parent but also SO THANKFUL to know that Kaisley is okay.
Maybe situations like these happen so that we can learn to keep calm in case of an actual emergency.
~ BEING A PARENT IS THE BEST! ~
Kaisley can make you smile when you are having the worst of days. Again, she LOVES books. She has read them on her own for awhile now, turning pages and pointing to all of the pictures. She has a lot of animal books and now she will bring them to you and read them to you. Which sounds like: "babble, babble, babble, MOO. (turns page) babble, babble, babble, MOO (turns page)"!! She does this until the end of the book. So funny that all of the animals say MOO! She has also had a new attachment: her blankets. She hasn't ever done it before but since she cut her molars she always wants her blankets from her crib. She totes them around and sucks her thumb. The day I took her to the Dr. and she was feeling ill she was FRANTIC for her blanket and was so concerned we weren't going to take it. In the waiting room I put it on the chair and took her down to the toys to play and she ran back, grabbed it, and ran back to me to sit in my lap. She is so darn adorable.

won't leave her flowers in her hair

First Weekend in August

Friday we went to our Friend's house in Gooding to visit. I forgot to take my camera but we had such a fun time catching up and watching our kiddos play together. Sunday we went up to Twin Lakes to visit Grandma and Grandpa Gillette and to do a little fishing with our neighbors at Lake Cleaveland. We didn't catch any fish but had tons of fun riding around on Grandpa's Commander. Kais only napped for about a half an hour that day but was suprisingly happy all day.

watching the Olympics

Ky and Grandpa moving a tree

Us today

Us almost exactly one year ago in the same place. Boy how things have changed!

All tuckered out!