Catching Up

Things have been busy since Shayla's first birthday! Shayla started walking really good about a week after her birthday. She also started crawling up on everything, including out of her crib. Needless to say it really took us by surprise. We had the crib on the second to lowest level and dropped it to the lowest level the next morning. Thank goodness she wasn't hurt.

Thankgiving weekend Shayla and I had the stomach flu. Shayla was sick on Thanksgiving and bounced back quick, while I got sick on Friday night and didn't feel good for a week. On Friday we were able to play outside in the snow. It was Shayla's first time in the snow and she enjoyed eating it!

The first weekend in December we took Shayla to meet Santa for the first time. I was hoping to get a picture for our Christmas cards, but Shayla didn't want anything to do with that strange man!

Can't even tell she was about to puke all over her outfit! Poor thing.

Enjoying the snow with kitty!

Decorating the Christmas tree with daddy

Not sure what to think about Rudolph

An attempt at a picture with Santa - haha!

Happy 1st Birthday

Shayla turned the BIG 1 on Monday, November 8th. It is hard to believe our little girl is one. The first year sure does go by fast. We had a nice birthday party with all of the grandparents. Brian's parents arrived on Saturday from Boston and we were thrilled they could be part of Shayla's special day.

Shayla at the beginning of present opening. She did great and enjoyed each present. We were surprised and thought she would be more interested in the boxes!!

It was an Elmo birthday. She just loves him and now I think we have every Elmo, incuding books, phones, etc!

She absolutely loves babies too and enjoys feeding them! It is too cute.

Mom, Dad and Shayla with mom's Elmo creation. I thought I did a great job!

Yummm... birthday cake. She was a little unsure at first but dove right in as you can see!

What a great first birthday!!

Hall-O-ween

This year was Shayla's first Halloween and we decided to dress her as a bumblebee since she is our Little Busy Bee! Needless to say she wasn't as excited about Halloween as we were! Particularly the whole costume thing and going to different houses.

Our not-so-happy bumblebee

Reading in her skeleton jammies

Cute pick of Shayla giving her lovebug a big hug

Busy, busy, busy.....

My goodness - the last few weeks have been busy. We went down to Casper last weekend and I got a new 2011 Subaru Outback. I love it! I think once you drive a subie, it is hard to drive anything else.

Work has been very busy. We have a huge project that will keep me and everyone else busy until February. I can't complain because I do love my job and am happy to have a job, but it just means Shayla is spending a lot more time at daycare and a lot less time with mommy. She is turning into such a little girl now, not so much a baby anymore. Boo Hoo! On Friday Brian got home from work and we walked out side to greet him and she called out "Da Da... Da". It was the first time that she has said it in that context - it brought a little tear to my eye and of course Brian was so excited he ran over to hug and kiss her! She is getting close to walking and we are hoping it happens before her birthday so she can show Grammy and Grampy Kelly, who are flying in to celebrate with us.

We got professional family pictures the other weekend. The turned out EXCELLENT!! Check them out at http://www.jasonrogersphoto.com/#/kelly/

Her new thing is to layout on the couch and relax (haha)!

Watching Sesame Street with Daddy while Mommy went to work

Mama needs a new car!

So, I have been driving for 16 years now and have never received a ticket for speeding and think that I am a good driver. Well all that went out the window...

Shayla goes to an in-home daycare and the house is located at the end of south Main in Sheridan. The driveway is steep and made of dirt with a 3 to 6 foot embankments around it. My biggest fear everytime I pick up Shayla is that my car is going to roll backwards out of the driveway.... WELL, guess what! Two Thursday's ago I was picking up Shayla for her first full day of daycare (8 to 5) and was rushing. I pulled up the driveway, set my emergency break (didn't want the car to roll) and got out. Now what did I forget to do... oh yeah put the car in park!! Brian often times tells me that I am the smartest girl but sometimes I can do the stupidest things. This certainly tops the list. As I ran up the stairs to get Shayla I turned to see my car rolling down the driveway, up the embankment and then roll over onto South Main Street - oh yeah all the way over so the tires were in the air!!

So needless to say we are in the process of shopping for a new car and I will never park in that driveway again. Level street parking is good for me!!

Okay you can laugh now ;-)

Farewell Cosmo

Five weeks ago Monday our Cosmo disappeared!! There were a few sightings of him the first few days he was gone and we haven't heard anything since. We got Cosmo almost six years ago when we lived in Nashua, Hew Hampshire. We were living in an apartment at the time that didn't allow animals of any kind, so we secretly kept him for a few months until our neighbors turned us in. To avoid getting evicted or giving up Cosmo he went to live with our friends Kelly and Mark in Beverly, Mass for two months. In April Cosmo and I made the long journey from New Hampshire to Wyoming. It was an exciting trip for sure. Cosmo would meow loudly for the first 2 hours of each day (every meow imaginable too)! Since that time we have had many memories and several more additions to the Kelly family - kitty Hope, dog Bear and then Shayla!



We certainly miss our dear Cosmo and hope that he is in a better place!! It would have been nice to have closure, but we still hold out hope that someday he will reapper on our porch. Until then.... Cosmo we miss you and love you!

Zinnia Delight

Today I took Shayla over to my parents beautiful yard to take pictures in front of their zinnia flower bed. I had also come across a cute summer dress in her closet that she had yet to wear. Oops - I am sure this will happen more than once as fast as she outgrows clothes! Anyway I wanted to share some of the pictures. We are getting professional photos done in a few weeks so these are just my amateur shots - I think I did pretty darn good!!

So Observant...

Tonight before dinner I was in the kitchen doing some dishes, when I decided it would be fun to turn on some music so mommy, daddy and shayla could 'bust a move'! So I went over to the radio with my saucepan and dish rag and turned on the music. Shayla was seated on the floor next to the radio and grabbed the dish rag and started to dry the saucepan. Brian and I were both in awe at our darling 10 month old. We just couldn't believe that she knew to use the dishrag to dry the saucepan - it just amazing how fast a little baby grasps concepts like doing the dishes. Maybe this means she will be a chef when she grows up... a mommy and daddy can always dream!

Labor Day Weekend

The Kelly family had a great Labor Day weekend. We started the weekend on Friday night when we went out to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Hanewald. It was yummy! Saturday was our busiest day. We woke up and started our day off in Dayton for breakfast. We then ventured up the mountian (mommy and Shayla's first trip on the mountain this summer - sad!) to do some hiking. We decided on Sibley lake and hiked about 3 miles. Shayla does so great in her Kelty carrier. I think she likes the birds eye view! On the way down the mountain we got to see a bunch of hang gliders taking off. We decided it looks fun but not something we would want to do - I see no joy in jumping off the side of a mountain. Saturday night we had our good friends, Jen and Ryan, over for dinner. Jen is due with their baby any day now - we can't wait! Since Shayla decided that she didn't want to take an afternoon nap she was a little bit of a bear and fell asleep in her high chair while eating dinner.

Sunday we decided to lay low and get some stuff done around the house. In the afternoon we walked to the park for an ice cream cone and some fun at the playground. Shayla loves ice cream! Monday was a cold day and we hung out at home. It was great having three full days at home to wrap up the summer! The weather is already changing and it feels like fall will be here soon - boo hoo!

Our family hike!

Asleep at dinner!

Ice cream at the park!

Summer 2010

I don't know where summer went, but it sure did fly by in a hurry. It is hard to believe that kids will be going back to school tomorrow. Shayla's best little buddy at daycare, Lilly, will be starting kindergarten tomorrow. I know that Shayla will miss her dearly. It is so cute to see Lilly greet Shayla every morning when she is dropped off and Shayla gives her the best hugs when I pick her up at 1. It is too cute!

Anyway, here are a few pictures to wrap up our summer.

At the circus, Grandpa was a clown at the gate!




Playing in the sand, while daddy fished.


Swimming (or splashing) on a hot summer day!


In all, it was a great summer and Shayla made it even more special!! We certainly can't imagine our lives without her!

Life of a Working Mama

The life of a mama is busy, let alone trying to work 40 hours and be a mama. I commend all moms, but my heart goes out to all working moms like myself. It certainly isn't an easy job trying to keep a house, spend quality time with your family, and work a full time job. I have to admit that I have it easier than alot of working moms out there. I am very fortunate to work for a great company, that allows me to organize my schedule so that Shayla doesn't have to be in daycare 40+ hrs a week. It is hard enough having her in there for 15-25 hrs a week, although I have to admit that I truely believe Shayla enjoys her time in daycare and interacting with other kids. It is the greeedy mama in me that wants to spend more time with her and still make my salary!

We all do what we can and appreciate the time we have with family. I know I certainly appreciate and love all of the precious time I get to spend with my darling girl and wonderful husband. They are certainly the greatest joys of my life!

Bath Bubbles

Every night as part of our bed time routine Shayla takes a bath. I seriously think it is one of her favorite times of the day. She crawls from the living room to the bathroom and stands at the tub while I fill it up, anxiously waiting. The other week we were at the swimming pool and an instructor told me that it is good to teach kids to blow bubbles in the water. So I blew bubbles and Shayla stared curiosly at me, without trying it. Later that week while in the tub Shayla decided that she wanted to try and blow bubbles and got a mouth and face full of bubbles. Her 'bubble beard' made me laugh so hard and she was just loving it! It is the little things...

Getting Started

So for a few weeks or probably months now, I have talked about starting a little blog for our family. I enjoy reading my friends and thought that others may be interested in keeping up to date with our little family.

It is hard to believe it is already August. I feel like summer is just really beginning. We have been busy with my nieces visiting and our trip to Boston. Both of which were a great time! Overall this summer has been a lot different since we are now parents. Brian and I have both had to do some adjusting and forgo all of the camping, fishing and going whenever we want. We both agree that we certainly wouldn't change our life for one minute and that Shayla is well worth taking it easy and enjoying!