'Tis the Season to be Thankful... Fa la la la la lala la la

Well, after reading two of my good friend's blogs, I am inspired to share with ya'll all of my blessings that I am thankful for. Even though I am going through a rough time right now (moving out of my home state to the north) I still thank God everyday for my life and the people He has put in my path.


I am thankful for my daughter. Being able to feel what a mother's love feels like. It is indescribable. I would take a bullet for that girl. Our lives revolve around her and I love that.

Again, I am thankful for my daughter- because while Kent is at work and I am at home, in a place that is very new to me, with not many friends- she is all I have. We have a blast together. She keeps me smiling.

My husband. He is my rock. God knew what he was doing when he put us together. We compliment eachother well. :-) He keeps me going. He keeps me in line :) I love him so much.

my husband's job. Although it has moved us VERY far from our family (whom we are super close with and miss terribly) it has brought us closer together. I love that we only have eachother up there to turn to. I love that on the weekends, I get him all to myself. It is bringing us closer.

Staying at home with our daughter- it has been such a blessing. Something that I started taking for granted but God reminded me what a blessing it is.

Being pregnant...with our second daughter. Pregnancy is such a miracle. I can't wait to be holding my baby girl.

Friends. We are still so new to the north, I don't have any friends up there yet. I wish I could move my DFW girlfriends (Whitney, Holly, Kimberly.... Ann, Angela, Megan, Lindsey) up to where we are... I guess our situation last year was just too good to last a long time! Luckily I still talk to Whitney on a daily basis (which makes it feel like she's still just down the road from me) and then I have facebook to keep up with everyone else. And Holly, I am not only thankful for your friendship- I am also thankful for your willingness to give your opinion of anything medical. I can ALWAYS count on you and it puts me at ease when I get nervous about something that is going on with Kensley. Thank you for that :)

Facebook.... for all my nosey moments ;-) and then for being able to easily keep in touch with my dear friends.

Playdates. For the adult interaction as well as the interaction Kensley gets with other kids.

Fall weather. We arrived up north right before fall hit. That was a good thing. It was beautiful and the weather was JUST how I liked it- sunny and cool. Ahhhh......

Fall colors- the trees up north are absolutely BEAUTIFUL during the fall.

The Winn family- they are the only other Texans we know where we live now. I am so thankful for them. Kensley has the girls to play with and we are able to help eachother out all the time.

My mom. My Ging. Everything about them. They are my best friends.

My relationship with God. We have yet to find a church up there, but I try my hardest to keep my relationship with God fresh everyday. In fact, he reminded me yesterday how GREAT He is. He answered prayers ALL DAY! Such an amazing God!

I could go on and on about what I am thankful for..... maybe I'll do a sequal to this when I get some more time. :) I need to get my precious baby girl up from her nap so we can get ready to go to Ging's for some Wright's bar-b-q!!!!! Mmmmmm......

Hello sunshine!

Well, after a dreary week last week and then a nasty weekend (half of the weekend) it's FINALLY sunny! It's easy for your body to just shut down and go into "the blues" when it's freezing cold and raining outside. Anyways, today Kensley and I are going to a nice mall to shop. I've been wanting to go- it's suppose to have lots of stores!.... although Texas has some amazing malls- so we'll see how "blown away" I am with this one. I need to get some Christmas shopping done and perhaps some wrapping once the stuff I ordered comes in. I guess that'll be just something else for Miss Kensley to try to get into :)

Our holidays are about to get into gear and I am SOOOOO excited! I can't wait to fly back home and see family. We are getting to go early for Thanksgiving and I couldn't be happier! Before you know it, it'll be Christmas time.... I just love time with the family... man I miss them all so much. Looking at it in a positive view- these long stretches that we don't get to see them make our visits even more special.

We took some family pictures yesterday- trying to get one for Christmas cards.... here's a couple... I think they turned out pretty good.

I am starting to show now- this little one certainly isn't waiting to show like Kensley did.... :) She kicks all the time- I love it! I can't wait to meet her..... and pick a name out :)

Pregnancy Update

Well, I am less than halfway there..... almost 22 weeks. Things are still going great. The only thing different so far from my pregnancy with Kensley and with this one is the fact that this little girl moves ALL THE TIME! I guess she's getting ready to keep up with her big sister when she gets here. I told Kent that Kensley always slept at night.... I'll wake up sometimes in the middle of the night and she'll be moving like a wild woman. Hopefully she'll get her mornings and nights figured out before she enters the world! :) Right now we're trying to find a name. I have one in particular that I LOVE and it is really growing more and more on me. Kent won't say "ok"... he did the same thing with Kensley though. I guess it's just a guy thing. I need to get a name for her so I can start getting stuff monogrammed! haha

I found a blog that I am following- this woman does GREAT work and has GREAT prices! I've ordered a couple things for Christmas from her and a couple baby shower gifts. Her blog is:
http://justsewsweetdesigns.blogspot.com/

Go check her out!

Christmas time is approaching!

Well, I NEVER put my tree up before Thanksgiving... but this year, our situation is a little different. I went ahead and put it up because we'll be doing a lot of traveling during the holidays - and I can't imagine my house without a tree up! It is a little "much" for miss Kensley. She is in "awe" of all the ornaments and can't seem to keep her hands off them. My "no no" and hand swats are KIND OF working.... hopefully she'll get use to it soon. Here are a few pictures of us putting the tree up. She was such a "helper"

Sick baby girl

Well, it's been an interesting couple days.... first off- I have been so torn about all this flu shot and swine flu shot mess. I have never had a flu shot in my life- and I have never had the flu. I kept going back and forth on my choice to get Kensley and I the flu shot and then on top of that- the H1N1 shot as well.... I talked to friends- I hear the news (ugh!)- I read articles.... I have PRAYED! I have now made my decision.... we will not be getting the flu or the H1N1 shots. This is a spiritual matter for me. I am trusting God with this. We will take precautions and wash our hands often...la de da de da.... all the normal things you hear about everyday. I just feel so much better now that I have made up my mind.... and that was about 24 hours ago. WELL.... this morning I wake up to a little girl who is whining in her crib (this never happens!) I got her milk but she wouldn't really drink it. It took her a while to start chugging away. I noticed snot had dried all over her face.... her nose was runny... but it was clear. The rest of the morning she acted a little different. She didn't eat as much breakfast as normal.... she just kind of layed around. At 10, she was ready for her morning nap..... I put her in her bed (noticing that she felt a little warm) and let her get her sleep. I thought maybe her belly was hurting (she had been crying earlier this morning because she was trying to poop and it was hurting her). She woke up at noon and was beat red. I knew she was running fever. I took a rectal reading.... 102.4. I gave her tylenol, put some cool clothes on her and gave her cold juice (thanks to Holly for being such a great friend! I am so blessed to have her to call in times like these!) I took her to the dr. and found out that her flu test came back negative and that her ears were clear and her chest sounded ok. We just have to keep a close eye on her and make sure she doesn't get any worse. Please keep our baby girl in your prayers. I'm hoping she'll be able to sleep tonight- so far, she's been out since 8. She never has really got sick much- so I hate to see her cry and be fussy! I wish I could take the pain (or whatever she's feeling) away! We'll be staying in this weekend- maybe getting some Christmas decorations out.... and I'm going to try to get some online shopping done.... I LOVE the Christmas season!!!! It's coming early to the Vest household this year- we'll be traveling so much around the holidays, we won't be home to enjoy the decorations!

Sorry no pictures to share.... I've sold my old camera and my new one arrives tomorrow--woohoo!!!

What a great weekend!

We had a fast, fun-filled weekend! Kent's brother Keith, the Knowles family and Kyle came up to visit.... we had lots of fun. The boys played golf yesterday while Karissa & I took the kids to the Zoo. We didn't stay long because of the nasty weather (and the fact that it wasn't where we were suppose to be in the first place... long story) . We came home in time to make dinner and bake a little and get the kiddos ready to go trick-or-treating. I wasn't too excited about it this year because I didn't figure Kensley could really do anything. I figured I'd have to hold her or she'd be in the stroller.... well she proved me wrong! She had a blast! She walked around like a big girl and made one of the cutest chickens around :)

Hanging out at the zoo with my baby girl......

Here is the group...

The Chicken, The Turtle & Rainbow Bright!

Terrific Tuesday :)

Well, today is pretty gloomy out..... but we have a great weekend ahead of us and that makes me excited! We'll have a house full and I like that. Saturday our neighborhood has the trick or treat night. I've got chilli to cook, along with queso and cookies and other sweets. My job this week is to get the house cleaned. Everyone should be arriving Friday night, late. Kensley is going to be a ladybug for Halloween... I think... I got the costume at a consignment sale and it's a little big- so we'll see if it fits. If not, then I'll put her a cute little outfit on with her tutu.

I have also been obsessed with my camera lately....I don't know why I get like this! I am trying to figure out a way to get this camera that I have my eye on.... Until then, I am going to have to sell some bows and Mary Kay and start saving! I've taken some pictures of Kensley in her Christmas dress and have been editing them. I'm hoping to run (eventually, maybe within the next year or so) my own little photography business. I'm trying out different editing programs and checking books out from the library to read up on. Hopefully I can make something of this passion of mine! Here are a few pictures of Kensley from yesterday. Not sure why they are showing up so grainy.

I had to do some serious editing with the last one- my friend was holding her hand and I had to edit out her arm. I just loved this picture of Kensley though- so we'll have to try to get it again when we go back out for family photos.

Lastly, I am getting VERY anxious to visit Texas for Thanksgiving. I can't wait for my parents & grandparents to see Kensley! And I can't wait to see my grandmother. I miss her like crazy! It'll be a short trip, but we'll be going back for the Christmas holidays for an extended visit.

What a fun (yet cold & wet) weekend

Kent's parents came up Thursday to visit for the first time. They were so excited to see Kensley. Needless to say, when they left, Kensley was worn out! She played her little heart out. It rained the entire time they were here so we didn't get to do any sight seeing in D.C. Hopefully next trip we will. Liz & I went shopping all day on Friday while Kensley got to spend time with her Grumpy at the house. They had a blast. She got a lot of new winter clothes- time to start trying to get some Christmas pictures! :) Speaking of winter clothes- it's not even Halloween yet and it's FREEZING up here! This weekend's rain and no sun didn't really help out though. The sun is out today and it's beautiful.... I can handle this weather a little more. Even being pregnant isn't helping me stay warm. Here are a few pictures of while Nana & Grumpy were here.

Before my in-laws came into town, a friend and I attempted a pumpkin patch. Kensley wasn't cooperating much....

kids & pets

As I fixed dinner tonight and watched Kensley eat her dinner in her high chair, I was thinking about how some things with pets & kids go hand in hand. Did that make sense? I just find it funny because when we got McCoy, we were so proud when we taught him a new trick. When people would come over, we would show him what he had just learned.... it got to the point where you didn't even have to say anything to him- he just knew what you wanted him to do (and in what order) because once he learned one new thing, we just added it to the end of the other things he already knew.... and we'd always have him do the things in the same order...every time. The same thing happens with Kensley! haha She knows what a puppy dog says "woof woof" and then she knows where her tongue is and then her ear and her nose... and today I taught her "How big is Kensley?.... SOOOO big" and she throws her hands in the air. Silly me- I'm excited for daddy to come home so he can see the new "trick" I taught her today :)....see why I am relating this whole story with our dog? Just a funny thought.....

On a side note- it is FREEEEZING here. I'm not sure about this weather. In Texas last year, I didn't even have to pull out the sweaters I owned. I have ALREADY started pulling them out for this winter and it's not even November yet! The bad thing is, none of the sweaters fit anymore! This little miracle I'm carrying around in my belly has decided to take up more room, making NONE of my clothes fit! I thought I would be able to "get by" for a little while longer, but I'm afraid that was just wishful thinking. We'll be hitting the mall up soon to see if we can find any sells on long sleeve shirts and some scarves.

Tomorrow Nana & Gramps (we still haven't all agreed on a name for him.... Nana wants Grumpy but I am having a really hard time calling him Grumpy! Any suggestions????? Maybe I can throw some out there to them) are coming to visit!! It'll be their first trip up here. We're excited to see them and I know they're excited to see Kensley. It's been a couple months since they've seen her. I'm sure she'll have a blast with them here. Unfortunately, it's suppose to rain all weekend :-( However, that's not going to stop us! Hopefully we can find some good inside things to do. Or just have some good ol' family time together in front of the fire. Sounds nice, huh?

My card reader broke for my camera so I'm out of luck uploading pictures until I get a new one... ugh.... so be ready for a picture overload soon!

Busy busy October

Well, Kent & I took Kensley on a weekend get a away with another family this weekend. We drove up to Pennsylvania and got to see Penn State campus & stadium. Kent & Tim watched the football game while us girls walked around campus and visited one of the big attractions on campus- the creamery! It has been there at least 100 years, so the workers told us. It was pretty good ice cream (although, it was not Blue Bell!) :) The tradition there is to go after the football games. We got there when the game first started, so we didn't have to wait in line too long. However, when we left, the line was CRAZY long! Here is a picture... you can kind of see the line going out the door...and down the street. I wish I would have snapped one of the ice cream we got. You just ordered by the bowl or cone.... and they piled abotu 5 scoops on there! Cheap & lots of good ice cream... good thing I didn't go to Penn State :)

After our visit to Penn State, we headed to a ski lodge for the rest of the evening. We stayed in a condo there and got to go swimming and eat some good pizza. The views were beautiful! The trees are changing more up there than they are here in VA. I guess because it's cooler up there. We enjoyed the weekend but were glad to be home yesterday. Kensley doesn't do well when we sleep in hotels or other places. She loves her crib! She had to sleep in between Kent and I... so that made for a LOOOOONG night! (& early morning)

The lodge was hosting a fall festival so we decided to go check it out.

We're looking forward to this weekend; Kensley's Nana & Grumpy will be coming to visit for the first time. We're also looking forward to Halloween! We'll have a house full of people and we're excited.