Quatro

Four months. Kenley continues to astound us with her cuteness and fun personality. It sounds so cliche, but she's the center of our universe, and we're loving every minute.

She's starting to roll over now, and has a hard time sitting still when we're trying to change her britches. We think she's in the early stages of teething, too, because she's constantly drooling over everything and she puts everything, especially her hands, in her mouth. And the smiles? Ohhh, the smiles. They get us every time.

I returned to work full-time on Jan. 31 after a nice, long, blissful maternity leave, which was very, very, very, very (did I mention very?) hard. I'm still not completely adjusted, and I'm not sure I ever will be. BUT, during the week we take Kenley to a great woman named Betsy who runs a small at-home daycare. So even though I'm not with Kenley every minute of every day, I know that she's in good hands while I'm on the clock. And once we establish a routine, things will get easier and easier... Right?!?

Kenley caught her first cold last week, which led to her first ear infection. Talk about an inconsolable crying fit! She took a "sick day" and went to see Dr. McArthur, who prescribed her some Amoxicillin to help rid the infection. It's hard to see your baby in pain, not knowing what's wrong, and especially not being able to comfort her.

Kenley's Nannie and Pappy Dobson (Jess's parents) left Alaska on Jan. 21 to travel down the Alcan Highway to their "snowbird" destination, Grand Junction, CO. With a dog and a cat in tow (yes, a cat), they made it safely to the red rocks in record time -- only five days.

SO. Here's to four months, and continuing to enjoy watching Kenley grow into a lovely young lady. Cheers!

Grandma & Grandpa Hamlin come to Alaska

Kenley's Grandma and Grandpa Hamlin came to Alaska last weekend, Jan. 21-24, for a quick visit. We had a great time with them, and they got to spend some quality time with their new granddaughter. She definitely charmed them! Here are a few pictures from their visit.

Baby Mark

As promised, here are some photos of Mark as a baby. Baldy!

Like mother, like daughter?

We thought it'd be fun to share a few photos of Jess when she was a baby. A lot of people think Kenley looks like Mark, and we agree, but we can definitely see the resemblance between Baby Jess and Kenley. We are working on gathering some photos of Mark as a baby. Stay tuned for more comparisons.

3 Months (and other news)

It's time again for Kenley's monthly photo! It's strange to think that Miss K is a quarter of a year old already. Her personality is starting to shine through, and we're having so much fun getting to know her. She's a very sweet, determined little lady. Her most recent discovery is her hands. She's learning how to control them more and more each day, but they usually end up in her mouth. Her Dad is on a mission to stop the hand-in-mouth habit, but I consider it a losing battle! She's starting to reach out and grab toys, too. Of course, her smiles and coos continue to amuse us to no end. We hear that she'll be able to roll over here pretty soon, so watch out, world!

Mark and I couldn't agree on one photo this month, so here are our two favorites...

Over the last month, our family has enjoyed Kenley's first Christmas and New Year, and many little moments in between that have given us some good laughs. Take this crazy hairdo, for example. This photo makes us smile every time we see it. It's sure to be a classic. 

A couple days before Christmas, we got together with our good friends Stephanie and Katelin Walker to make pierogies, a traditional Polish dish. Pierogies are, "... boiled, baked or fried dumplings of unleavened dough traditionally stuffed with potato filling, sauerkraut, ground meat, or fruit. Of central and eastern European provenance, they are usually semicircular, but are rectangular or triangular in some cuisines." My Dad's family has Polish roots, so we thought it'd be nice to start an annual Christmastime tradition of making these tasty, potatoey morsels. We stuff ours with potatoes and sauerkraut, then fry 'em up in lots 'o butta! Healthy? Not so much. Delicious? YES.

Oh, and did you know that October 8 is National Pierogy Day? There's even a mascot!

We celebrated Christmas and the New Year in my hometown of Eagle River, Alaska with my parents, Nancy and Warren Dobson. Strangely enough, we had power outages on both Christmas Day and New Years Day! 

Helping Nannie and Pappy open gifts on Christmas morning

Telling Dad a story

Kenley and Mom on Christmas Day

Kenley also made her Internet debut on Christmas Day, showing off her best impersonation of Santa Claus...

On New Years Day, my Mom and I made her Grandma Ella Hibner's homemade noodles. They, like the pierogies, were also delicious. Pierogies for Christmas, homemade noodles for New Years? I'm liking these new traditions... It'll be fun to show Kenley how to make these dishes when she's older.

All in all, 2010 was a very good year for us. I spent the majority of it pregnant with the little tyke, and welcoming Kenley into the world has been the highlight of our lives. We are very blessed to have wonderful family and friends to share our lives with and we're excited to watch Kenley grow up and spread her wings!

2 Months

Two months already!?! Mark and I have enjoyed watching Kenley sprout over the past couple of months. She got off to a slow start in the weight-gain department. She's still a little tyke, but she's starting to pack on the pounds and has grown out of a lot of her newborn clothes.

At her two-month Well Baby appointment, she weighed in at 9 lbs. 15 oz. (30th percentile), she's 23.25" tall (85th percentile) and her head circumference is 37.5" (25th percentile). So basically, she's a long and lean machine! She got poked with her first round of vaccinations, which was not very pleasant, but we all survived. She was fussy and had a small fever for about a day, but it's worth it to have a healthy baby.

Kenley is starting to become more interactive. When her Daddy comes home from work in the evening, she tells him all about her day. She loves her jungle-themed bouncer seat and has started to "talk" to her jungle friends. She smiles in response to our smiles and conversations, and can hold her head up on her own, although she does kind of resemble a bobblehead. Pretty soon her head will be strong enough that we'll be able to put her in her Jumperoo and Bumbo seat.

It seems like all I've been talking about lately is Kenley, Kenley, Kenley, but she really is my life now. I'll try not to be that super obnoxious mother, though! Mark and I are so excited to watch Kenley grow, and we look forward to what's to come.

Hamlin's 2010 Christmas Photos, Take 3

The three of us gathered around our Christmas tree last night for our 2010 Christmas photo. Little did we know that it would take us three-and-a-half hours and about 200 shots to get a decent, card-worthy one. Kenley was in a very sour mood, but we finally captured "the one" after three takes and a short break to fill up her tank. Here are a few of the "bloopers" from last night's photo shoot. Happy holidays!

This is probably my favorite of the bunch. In fact, I was tempted to use it on our Christmas cards... ;)

Trying to calm her down for longer than five seconds so we could get a nice shot.

The shushing isn't working...

She really doesn't like cooperating with the camera.

Finally, quiet... But as you can see, she looks a bit comatose. 

Rage.

And at last, one that will work...