5 months

Kensi,

I have a new name for you this month: wiggle worm. As Sienna would say, you like to "move it, move it." If you are laying on your back you'll be spinning circles. If you are on your tummy, you'll scoot yourself forward. You aren't quite rolling over yet, but are very close. Even at night you like to sleep on your side. You are starting to sit up on your own, usually for just a few seconds. I think you are starting the beginning process of teething. I don't see any bumps yet, but something is starting to set. You've been a little fussier than usual and NEED something to chomp on. Plus you are drooling even more than before which I didn't think was possible. You also had your 2nd ear infection this month. Poor little girl. 2 ear infections under 5 months is no fun! You are still so full of smiles - for mom at least. You are back to being a major Mama's girl. Your hair is starting to come in more and it's very blonde (makes me excited and hopeful for a towhead!) So far, your eyes are staying bright blue too.

Rolling and smiling for Mama.

Showing how you can sit up.

Still loving those toes!

We hit a very fun milestone this month - first foods!! So far we have only done rice cereal. The first time you ate, most of it ended up on your face. After every bite, you'd stick your fingers in your mouth, chomp on them for a bit, and then smear it all over your face. In fact, you still like to eat that way. Sometimes you'll also suck on a toe between bites if I don't put the tray up. 

You are so going to catch up to your big sisters' height soon. I didn't do measurements this month but I can tell you've grown a bit. We'll get official ones next month to see where you are at. I'm sure it's off the charts. My big munchkin!!

Father's Day

Justin chose to spend Father's Day by taking the kids to Minnehaha Falls and having a picnic. Sienna has been asking for a couple weeks if she can go to a waterfall. In reality, she meant a water park, but we took her literally and went for the water fall. That morning before we headed up, we showed her a picture of a waterfall and explained where we were going. After a thoughtful pause, Sienna asked, "Can we go to the other waterfall? With Mallory and Kayla?" Justin and I had to laugh and we told her we'd do that one another time. 

Top view of the falls.

Kensi's view.

Picnicking.

Daddy and his girls.

Mommy and the girls.

Sienna's classic silly face to make Kensi giggle or stop crying.

Sienna by the falls. Her and I walked down while Justin and Kensi stayed up relaxing on the blanket.

Cooking Club XV

We were back to Lindners for this Cooking Club. No official theme this time. Jenny said she based the menu off of the main entree (Flank Steak). It was a really good meal!! Definitely making some of the recipes again.

Cocktail
Orange Blossom Lemonade
We started the evening off with a new drink recipe. It got very mixed reviews. Some people couldn't drink it cause it was so syrupy, others went back for seconds. It was decided that adding a shot and a half of vodka per glass was needed.

Enjoying our cocktails.

Trying to some artsy photos.

Kensi joined us again. She was much better behaved this time. She slept for a first few hours and spent the rest of the night either chowing bottles or playing on the blanket. 

Hors D’oeuvres
Crab Salad in Endive
This dish was nice and light, plus very tasty. I would definitely make again. We changed the original recipe from lobster to crab.

Caramelized Bacon
The star of the night. I will be making this again soon. It wasn't too hard to make and it was so so good. Sugar and bacon - does it get any better?!? It'd be great to serve or bring to a party. It said you can make it ahead of time and keep at room temperature. I would cut the bacon into smaller pieces and serve that way.

Main Course
Flank Steak Mosaic
Cabbage Rice Purses in Vegetable Broth
Cucumber and Watermelon Salad with Hoisin-Lime Dressing

This steak was very impressive looking and it also tasted great. I wish I had a recipe link. It has a layer of omelet, carrots, green beans, green olives, and pimentos wrapped instead of the marinaded steak. The steak is wrapped in bacon and cooked. Mmmmm so good. The rice purses were a pain to make and didn't have a ton of flavor. The cucumber and watermelon salad was alright.

Dessert
Mixed Berry Gazpacho with Basil
Dessert turned more into ice cream served with berries vs a gazpacho topped with ice cream. For some reason our berries didn't cook down into a lot of juices. We forgoed topping it with olive oil and pepper. Either way it was great ending to the night.

Highlights

A few highlights from the past couple weeks.

Papa came to visit and stayed with us for almost 2 weeks. Justin's family also came up but both of my camera batteries were dead, so I didn't get any pictures!

We celebrated Mom & Ron's birthdays. The girls took turns making their own pizza to share.

Sienna and I planted our gardens. Now if only we could get some sun to make my plants and seeds grow!

Lots of grilling and hanging out at home.

Memorial Day - 10th Annual

10 years of Memorial Days with the Eids. Many others have joined in the celebrations from year to year. This year was our turn to host. The weather stayed true to this year and was cold and rainy. Luckily I have a house big enough to hold everyone and the millions of kids that come now. Hard to believe we started with no kids or pets! Sienna had a blast having all her friends to her house. Still to this day she keeps saying she wants it to be "Morial Day" so all her friends will come over and play. 

We had our first boy join us this year - Ben!

Playing with her favorite friends - feet!

All the kids - Ben, Abbie, Ellie, Mallory, Kensi in the monitor, Mikayla, Molly, Ariana, Sienna plus we had 3 still brewing (not pictured)

Google Reader

My PSA for the day. If you use Google Reader and love it (like I do) you probably know it's going away July 1st. Here's a great article on 2 good options to use going forward. I haven't tried either yet, but am leaning to trying Feedly first.

Anyone know of a substitution for iGoogle? I love that too and they are taking it away in November. Change = bad. :P

4 Months

Kensi,
I can't believe how fast the time is flying. You keep growing and hitting milestones before I can blink. It's like having a new baby every week. You are such a joy to be around. Everyone eats up your big smiles. Your head has gotten very strong and you are trying to sit-up on your own. When I put you in a sitting position, you fall forward, but when you are on your back you try to do a crunch to sit up. You love to watch everything and everyone around you. You are chatting even more than before and even started saying "Dada Dada" in your babbling. You blow bubbles all the time and are making some raspberry type sounds. You giggle, but not very often and you haven't rolled over after those few first times. You are very wiggly and can get yourself sideways from where you started. You are also VERY drooly. We are going through multiple bibs daily. No signs of teeth yet, so I think you are just a drooly kid. You've gotten very good at putting everything in your mouth, especially your hands. Your new favorite thing in life is your feet. On your back, you love grabbing them and doing the "happy baby" yoga pose. It's so cute - I just love it. I think you are going to be a flexible kid.

You had your first ear infection this month. Not very fun for any of us. It didn't seem to bother you until it got really bad. You had one evening of non-stop screaming. Before and after it you were fine. Since you got it so young, I hope it's not a sign of many more to come.

We got the official measurements from the Dr this time. - Your weight must've been off last time (I had it at 15 lbs). You are so tall. Off the charts. Clearly you did not get this from your mom!
Weight: 14 lbs 15 oz - 79%
Height: 27 inches - 99%
Head: 17 inches - 94%