Bienvenido a casa

I have no idea if that is the correct translation, but google said it was so I'm going with it. Either way--

WELCOME HOME ELDER ALBRECHT!!

Don't worry- you didn't miss much while you were away in Chile. 

Just the birth of 4 nieces/nephews.

A couple of graduations.

A combined total of 38 birthdays.

A couple dozen holidays. 

The purchase of classy new minivan for the fam.  

The passing of the family dog. 

A few partial-family vacations.

And one big family reunion in Hawaii.

(just kidding--it wasn't in Hawaii)

And I know it won't take you too long to adjust from living with 1 person to 5 times that. 

The siblings at home are still the same- though slightly taller, louder, and sometimes messier versions of what you left.

But don't worry. I believe they saved your bedroom. 

Pictures of Jay from 3 years ago.

See you at Christmas!

or Skype us so Kendyl can meet her Uncle

34 days

 Well people, its just about that time. I broke out the box of 0-3 months. It took me about an hour to get out all the old puke stains that I never could before. 

P.S. Just in case you forgot or couldn't tell by the photo--we are having a girl. 

Related?

I think so!

5 Facts About Kendyl--because this blog isn't enough about her

1. She loves playing with her "friend" (aka an old statue Nate brought back from Africa). 

She frequently carts him around the house and showers him with hugs and kisses. 

Here she brought him outside, is patting his head, and babbling as she shows him the great outdoors. 

2. My kid has an awesome sense of style as seen below. She especially adores her footed PJs and makes me put them on her even after she is fully clothed for the day.

3. She's sneaky. She always hides behind this couch when she knows she is doing something "bad". You wouldn't believe the things we've caught her with there.

4. She loves mom's lipgloss, toothpaste, underwear and dad's deodorant, razors, and contact lens cases.

And may possibly have a meltdown if taken from her.

5. She loves cooking in her kitchen. Thank you Craigslist for hours of quiet bliss for Mom . 

I never realized that I cook while talking on the phone. But apparently Kendyl did as she is constantly jabbering away on a cell phone while "cooking".

Don't worry she doesn't try to text while driving her cars around the house...yet.

And somehow she found the lipgloss. 

Fine, but no mascara at least until after Kindergarten!

Dirt Devil

We finally went on our first camp-out of the year.

Camping was lots of fun, with lots of food, lots of friends, and loads of dirt. 

While Nathan and I tolerated the dirt, Kendyl dove right it.

 Can you tell this girl doesn't have a backyard?

The kids were playing with the water spout and Kendyl got a little wet. She's actually crying because we made her leave the water. 

All the kids that camped. Lots of fun until bed time. 

The happy campers.

20 baby wipes later she was clean and ready for bed.

The best part of the whole trip was that the campsite was literally 7 minutes from home. That made it really easy for Nate when I made him drive home at midnight for more blankets. 

Rise and shine Kendyl!

Duck Hunting...

...that is as far as I'll ever get to duck hunting, was on our walk in our "backyard" before bed. Kendyl loved sporting her new autumn attire over her PJs. 

P.S. I will be posting lots of pics of Kendyl to make up for the lack of all summer...and because she's just that cute. 

Labor Day Morning

Today Kendyl and I went to the mall to sneak a peek at Nathan laboring in his lovely kiosk at the mall.

Oh the thrills of minimum wage jobs to pay some of the bills in grad school. 

He wasn't too happy with me taking pics of him.

Kendyl and I spent the morning window shopping (me at Old Navy and her at the pet store), hanging out in the mall's play place, and riding in the toys that cost a dollar to make them bounce up and down (luckily she doesn't care that her mom doesn't have a dollar and is perfectly content to sit in a stationary ice cream truck).

I think it was love at first sight.

She's totally never driving alone with a boy. 

Come on Kendyl. Hands at 10 and 2.

My 2 month break

...started today. Kendyl went to nursery! So no more pacing the halls at church, packing a bag stuffed with toys and fruit snacks, and missing 5/6 of Relief Society....well at least for 2 months.

I didn't stay very long with Kendyl in nursery, so she wouldn't get used to having me there. And usually there are no problems when I do have to leave her at a friend's house. And she was totally fine when she got there. Didn't care if I stayed or left. And I would like to say that she looked like this when I left:

but of course it was more like this:

(pic above is not of Kendyl. first google image for "toddlers shoving")

We are still "working" on the concept of sharing and no hitting. But it is a little hard when there are no other kids at home to learn to share with. 

In the 5 minutes total I was there, she probably got at least 15 good shoves in. 

So here's to hoping that she'll pick it up real fast and in the meantime the other kids won't end up with black eyes. 

But either way she sure looked cute. 

(sorry for the fuzzy pic. we really do need to buy a real camera....someday)