Monday, December 14, 2009

Kiley's First Dance Recital



Dance Recital:
What a priceless adventure! Yesterday, JC and I had the privilege to attend Kiley’s First Dance Recital. The first recital for my husband also, since he comes from a family of just boys. Now I on the other hand, had participated in many dance recitals! Looking back, I can admit that I had no idea what I put my mom through during my years of dance. (Thanks Mom!) However, I do know why she did it year after year. Although it may be an emotional roller coaster, the outcome is unimaginably priceless.

It started early with preparing to go…the cameras, hairspray, extra outfits, etc. After arriving, Kiley and I headed straight for the dressing room. The dance company provided the costumes. Kiley’s performance was on Hanukkah (Christmas around the world). She had red tights, a cream dress, red sash, gloves and hair bow. Of course, Kiley’s tights were huge, but luckily we were able to trade with someone else. Her eyes lit up when she saw her friend, Kyra, from daycare. From then on, those two were attached at the hip!
Kiley and Kyra

Next, make-up and hair. It really is hard to keep lip gloss on a 2 year old! In fact, it is impossible! She had licked it off in no time! They added a hair piece to her hair so she was able to have a nice bun on her head, just like all the other students. Thank goodness they had someone else there to perfect her up-do. She barely lets me brush it. As I have found out, your own children do better with everyone else, but you. (most of the time)
Photo opportunity. I was amazed at how Kiley walked right up to have her picture taken. She kept asking, “Am I next?” She did an amazing job! Surprisingly, since she hated getting her picture taken in the past. Hopefully, we are over that hump.

Rehearsal: This was tough. I wanted to watch the dress rehearsal, but when I tried to drop Kiley off, her friend, Kyra, started freaking out, crying and wanting her mommy. So I stayed with Kiley. What a little mama she is…she tried and tried to cheer Kyra up. She tried tickling her, talking to her and telling her, “It will be okay!”. However, nothing helped Kyra. In fact when they stood on stage, Kyra wasn’t able to pull it together. Kiley saw her teacher, Ms. Lois, and WATCHED her class perform the routine. When they finished, a big, fat tear fell down Kiley’s cheek. She looked at me and said, “ Mommy, I didn’t dance.” Her tears just fell and she was extremely upset. I was miserable, hot and hormonal! I just couldn’t keep my tears in either. We finally pulled it together. We found dad, and I handed her off. She just need to be with her class. I knew she would do better without us.

Recital: We took our seats, prepared for her to do nothing on stage, if she even made it out onto the stage in the first place. Boy, we were surprised! She came out, waving and saying, “Hi, Mommy!” She was walking all the way up to the front of the stage, we were so worried she was going to fall off. JC was so flustered, that he forgot to record this part of the recital. It was so incredibility cute. Everyone was laughing. She actually did do the dance! What an amazing feeling. We were so proud. She stayed backstage and came out again for the finale.


We left exhausted, starving and proud knowing that this just the beginning of our adventure of watching our daughter grow and all the fun, excitement, fear and love that grows with her every day.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Flutter, Flutter, Kick

We have baby movement! Little baby Fanning has been kicking like crazy lately. I first felt it on Saturday. Maybe I missed all the little fluttering, because this is definitely a kick! Kiley and JC have not had a chance to fell it yet. The little one seems to wait until I am all alone to let me know it's there.

Kiley has been awesome preparing for the baby. She sings to my belly and kisses it nightly. She usually says, "Hi, it's Kiley Fanning, your sister". I got tickled last night when she added,"I'm ready for you to come out! See you soon." I know the baby really will be here sooner than we think. It's exciting seeing Kiley so happy about becoming a big sister.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Loving the Fall Weather

Luckily, the Georgia weather has been fantastic for some fall fun. We took a trip to Helen, Ga one beautiful fall day. We had a picnic by the river and I enjoyed watching JC and Kiley fish for trout. But I think JC might want to teach Kiley to fish for something besides trout, since they are so hard to catch!!


We also joined our neighbors, Greg and Stephanie, in Athens to tailgate before the UGA and Auburn game. It was quite an experience and the people watching was priceless! Kiley was quite the trooper. I was worried about the long bathroom lines, but she opted to tinkle in the grass. Yeah for us! Those porta-potty's are not only disgusting, the lines were ridiculous!


With each day, my belly continues to grow! We are right at 17 weeks. I am trying to wait patiently for my 20 week appointment, but the time is dragging! I don't know how we didn't find out the sex with Kiley. The pregnancy seems to be moving right along, but these last 2 weeks have been so slow! I would love to know your thoughts on it being a boy or girl!?

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Enjoying October Festivities

I can't believe that October has already gone. We have have been keeping busy with all the fall parties and activities. Here is a recap of some of our events.


The Lance's Pumpkin Party
We are so thankful for Misty and Joey for providing such a great afternoon for kids. It is nice that Kiley gets to wear her costume more than once, and if forces us to carve out a pumpkins by a certain date. This is the 2nd year in a row that our pumpkin has won Best Eyes, all thanks to my hubby! Kiley especially loved bobbing for apples and hitting the pinata. I need not be worried about her intake of sweets, she fed me the candy and she munched on apples all afternoon.


Corn Dawgs
We enjoyed a day at Corn Dawgs, pumpkin patch and corn maze. We went on a hay ride, saw goats, jumped on hay, ran through tunnels, played in a corn sand box and walked through the corn maze. Kiley enjoyed the corn the most. She would put her head all the way down in the corn. What a great day!



Halloween
Kiley decided to pick out her own costume for Halloween this year. We tried to help her, but she decided on this pink blob or butterfly or love bug??? She was extremely excited about trick or treating this year. We were very impressed that she actually went up to the door, rang the door bell, waited and said, "Trick or Treat?" It was awesome.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Baby Fanning #2

On September 1st, we found out we were expecting our 2nd child! We are so excited to be parents again. Kiley has been "eyeing" the babies for quiet sometime, and she is so excited to be a Big Sister.

However, this pregnancy is very different from the first. This time I had "symptoms" like an aversion to coffee, tiredness and your typical "soreness". I had none of these symptoms with Kiley. We had our first doctor's appointment in September 16 to confirm the pregnancy and find out the due date. The doctor explained due to my cycle my due date was around May 22nd, but after she examine me, she believed I was a little further along. My due date changed to May 15. To be sure, I was scheduled to come back for an ultrasound to determine my "real" due date. This again, is much different, because I only received one ultrasound with Kiley at 20 weeks.

On October 1st, (the next appointment) we were shocked to hear that I was 10 weeks pregnant. We heard the baby's heartbeat, saw it's little body, along with it's hands and feet. The due date is now April 28th!!!


I am now feeling much better and not nearly as tired as in those first months. I am back to drinking my coffee (decaf, of course and now with lots of flavored creamer!) I am already struggling with the temptation of sweets and fried food. Although at this time, I am still wearing my regular clothing the jeans are getting pretty tight! I haven't put on any pounds yet, but I am getting bigger! I pulled out the maternity clothes, but I'm just not quite ready for those yet.

Here is my 11 week photo. Looking much bigger here than I thought. I am hoping it is the shirt! We will be returning to the doctor in early November.


Imaginations At Play

Today, we took Kiley to Imaginations At Play in Buford. We had a great time watching her pick out groceries, cook on the grill, paint art pictures, build sand castles and much more.


Sunday, October 4, 2009

Deciding on what to be for Halloween

Yes, you heard correctly!! Kiley will be a big sister in late April!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Life at the Fanning House

I can't believe how much time has passed since my last post. There is only one person to blame for this besides myself...and that is my wonderful daughter. She is challenging me every day, while sucking every last ounce of bottled up energy I can find in my body. I LOVE it! Her laugh, enthusiasm and attitude are contagious and trying. Some of the reasons for not blogging...

Mornings: Kiley wakes up and climbs in our bed to watch "t.b." while Dad and I try and rush to get ready. One of us must get her "covered up" just right with the correct blanket and a sippy cup of juice in her hand. Next, she wants to play as we try to get her ready. By playing, she is jumping and running around on the bed. After that, she wants to get herself ready. This is really time consuming because she always puts items on wrong or she becomes frustrated and cries. Drama! She has become an expert with putting on her socks and shoes only if I was not lazy and turned the socks the right way prior to placing them in her drawer, life might be a little easier. This 10 minute job has now become 30...and I am finding myself just barely getting to work on time.

After work: Yeah! My pumpkin is 99.9% potty trained! This is exciting and wonderful except that I now spend way to much time in the bathroom! She consumes way to much liquid! The only time she wears a diaper is bed time. WE are so proud of her!!

Dinner time: I am actually able to get a good meal on the table! Kiley enjoys reading books to herself and she has become quite a fan of Yo, Gabba, Gabba. Thanks to those new habits, I can get dinner prepared uninterrupted!

Friday, July 31, 2009

Back to work I go

On Wednesday, I will begin a new position at my school, Math coach. I am super excited to kick off another school year. However, I am going to miss sleeping in with my daughter, seeing her smiling face all day long, hearing her sweet voice...and so much more! Even though there have been times this summer that I just want to escape from her demands and energy, I am really sad to go back to work. Much more sad this year than others. Perhaps it is her little personality or just the fact that she is growing like a weed, but what I do know is time is going by way too fast!


Last week, we managed a trip to the zoo with Courtney and Caleb. A house warming party for Jimmy and Kristen, complete with a blow up water slide that Kiley just loved. As you can see in the pictures, she dove right back in after we changed out of her bathing suit. And had a cookout with new friends that live in the neighborhood with us, The Broadnax Family. We have one last trip to Tybee Island before we (Kiley and I) return to the real world. It's been fun, but in Kiley's
words we need "to make the money"!

When I told Kiley to use the brush (on the goats), she tried to "brush" her teeth.

Caleb Gilbert and Kiley Fanning riding the train. Kiley was so scared in the train tunnel. She kept saying, "It's over! We're done!" When we tried to get off, she wanted back on!

Kiley soaked and loving it!

Daddy and Kiley had a blast!

Haley Broadnax knew the perfect way to share the 4 wheeler! Kiley loved pushing her!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Weekend with the Wagners


Kiley and Aiden

We enjoyed having the Wagners come and visit us last weekend. The little ones were a joy to watch. Aiden (3) loved riding the tricycle and bike down the hill in our backyard. He raised is feet up and came flying down. Kiley fascinated by Aiden's trick decided she would attempt this stunt too. This is when the girly-girl came out in her. She needed/wanted help pushing the toys up the hill. Aiden, being quite the gentleman, helped her push up the toys and also reposition the handle bars. It was so much fun to see Kiley's face as she took on a new adventure in her life. I was a bit worried about her being the overprotective mom. Although she fell a few times, she came out unscathed. It was fun to see some adventure come out in her. I think by the end of the weekend, Aiden was pretty tired of her. She was just like a puppy following him around. First thing this morning, "Where is Aiden?"

Riding bikes in the backyard


Yellow River Game Ranch

Mitch and JC swinging the kiddos

Monday, July 13, 2009

Swim Lessons-Day 1

We had a great first day at swim lessons at SwimAtlanta. Kiley did great for the first 20 minutes...the last 10 were a little rough. She decided that about 20 minutes of listening was about all she could do. We are lucky, because there is only one other kid besides her. They began by singing "Wheels on the Bus" (which she loves) to get started. Going "around" the pool and "up and down" in the water. Next, they sang "Row, Row, Row your Boat" to get the little ones to move their arms. She also blew bubbles in the water. It was great. Can't wait to see what she learns next. We will continue with lessons for 2 weeks, M-Th.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Happy 2nd birthday, Kiley!

(just days old)

(1st birthday)

(2nd birthday)


This week my little pumpkin turned two. What joy and love she has brought us! We have been truly blessed to be with family and friends at this special time. Happy Birthday Kiley! WE love you so much! (details to come later...) How quickly the years go by!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Sing a little Tune

I was actually able to video Kiley singing one of our favorites, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". She is also playing her instrument. We really wish Uncle Billy lived closer to give her some guitar lessons. We just might have a little music star on our hands, you never know!

Father's Day recap




We had a great day visiting the Yellow River Game Ranch on Father's Day! Kiley absolutely loves animals. It was so funny to watch her. The animals would get right up next to her, then she would tease with the food she used to bribe them. (Scared, a little) She chased a goat around saying, "Come here, puppy!"




JC bought Kiley an Elmo kite to fly in the back yard for the special day...but she didn't quite grasp the concept and was very upset that she could not touch the kite at all times. Leave it to my daughter to not like kites!





Overall, a very fun day! Happy Father's day to all those wonderful DAD's out there!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Kiley

I thought this was summer! I have less time to myself than I do during the school year. I can't even keep up with email or blogging. It's the little one! I have to be on my toes all day long. Entertaining an almost 2 year old is exhausting, but I am loving it! Here's are two quick incidents this week that I thought I would share.

She wants to do everything, herself, of course. " I do it!" are her favorite words, I think. She even likes sitting on the potty alone with the door shut at times. While daddy went to check on her last night, she was sitting with a magazine all spread out pretending to read. It was priceless.

Kiley also gave us a moment of shock on father's day. She has been opening up the back door for a while now, she can get in, but not back out. Not a big deal. However, we learned that she can also turn the dead bolt lock. For about 30 seconds, JC and I were in shock when we realized that Kiley had locked us out of our house, with herself inside! Thank God, she likes to play with that lock and unlocked in a matter of seconds.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Savannah Vacation

My good friend, Amy along with her two children, Caroline (5) and Drew (2 1/2) invited Kiley and I to go on vacation with them to Savannah. What an adventure we had and what wonderful memories we made together! It was about a 4 hour drive...not too bad with 3 kids! It is a good thing that our first night out for dinner was not a taste of what the vacation would be like, because the kids gave us a run for our money! Kiley was a little monster at dinner!




After dinner, the first night!


Day 2 : Tybee Island Beach
The kids had great fun at the beach. I will admit that I was a little apprehensive taking Kiley to the beach due to her previous encounter with the beach in March. (She wouldn't even touch the sand!) As you can see from the photos, she had a blast! She even asked to go to the beach the next day. The ice cream was a hit too!


Ready for the Beach!










Beach Fun!








We were also able to meet up with some of Amy's friends from high school. I guess we looked a little funny....we were getting comments like: it must be a baby convention, stroller brigade, stroller parade, etc.



Stroller Parade




Day 3: visiting with Amy's family




I was fortunate enough to meet Amy's family. They were all very welcoming and kind. While visiting family, Kiley enjoyed bottle- feeding goats, riding the four wheeler and tractor along with picking green peppers out of the garden and eating them.


Although traveling with little ones is difficult, it was so worth it! We had so much fun and can't wait to go back again! Thank you to the Tecks for the memories and adventures!

Friday, May 22, 2009

The other night, we took Kiley to get some ice cream at Bruster's. As we were eating our cones, Kiley speaks up and decides to "cheers" our ice cream cones. It was hilarious. She ate every last bite of her ice cream cone--and asked for MORE. Go figure!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The Twilight Party!




I know it seems weird following a teenage love story, but I think the entire female world has been captured by this saga. On Saturday, my good friend, Amy, hosted a Twilight party. She decorated the house to fit the theme. On the coffee table, we found magazines with our favorite characters along with many other pictures of the Twilight cast. A basket full of apples, candy heart conversation hearts (twilight themed, of course), chips and salsa, red fondue with strawberries, and red velvet cake balls (recipe below) were placed on the bar. We drank red wine and Bloody Mary's. We all enjoyed the movie, which leaves out much of the story line...but we still LOVED it! To finish off the night, we all danced to our favorite Twilight songs! What a blast! Thanks Amy for a fun night!




(Dancing??)

Red Velvet Cake Balls Recipe
(We have been trying to come up with a better name--Twilight related--let me know your ideas!)
Prepare any RV Cake (box type is fine) and crumble in bowl.
Mix with one carton of Cream Cheese Icing
Form balls and set in refrigerator for 3 hours
Dip balls in chocolate bark

YUMMY!