Fall Fun!

We decided to Carve pumpkins. A first in our marriage and with Kendal. Apartments and pumpkins never went together well for us. It was too cold outside, so we decided to put some plastic on the floor and carve our pumpkins inside. Kendal thought it was neat and wanted to help. Once Casey and i got to carving Kendal was being silly by trying to put the pumpkin goo back inside the pumpkins. She loved to squish the goo and playing with it. (I made masks for all of the pumpkins to have before we carved them. I decided to put mine back on post carving.)



Since we're in a house now we have leaves to rake. I asked Casey to rake up some leaves the other day while i was at work. So after Kendal woke up from her nap Casey and Kendal played outside. Kendal had a blast raking, jumping, and running around.




Kendal has a love for anything Mickey Mouse related. So it was an easy choice having her be Minnie Mouse for Halloween. I found a pink dress, cute polka dot shoes, and i made her ears and bag. We practiced saying Trick or Treat before every stop, but Kendal would never say it when we got to the door. She was in a hiper mood with all of the sugar coming her way. Campbell was a very cute Peter Pan for Halloween. I love how well Kendal and Campbell or "Cangol" as Kendal calls him, get along. Kendal had a great night visiting family and being Minnie Mouse!



Happy Fall to you all!

An Eternal Blessing

Casey and i were able to fly under the radar in our new ward for a little over a month. However they found us and had us talk today. We were told to speak on Patriarchal Blessings. They never told us how long we needed to speak. I prepared around a ten minute talk (nerves got the best of me, i spoke faster and it was about an eight minute talk). Luckily Casey was well prepared and generously filled the rest of the twenty five minutes with his wonderful talk. Casey and i both took different perspectives about the patriarchal blessing; mine was more content, blessings, guidance, and direction you can receive from it. Casey talked about lineage and the position and calling of a Stake Patriarch. He did very well. I learned more from him, then i did researching about the blessing. As i was preparing my talk i came across the idea that not only is a patriarchal blessing meant for life here on earth, but it's blessings, and promises reach into the next life. What may not be fulfilled here can be accomplished in our life to come. That was so neat to discover. I have an eternal blessing, it's a wonderful thing! I cherish my patriarchal blessing; i know Casey and i will both be reading our blessings more often, and seeking their direction, guidance, and light.




p.s. potty training going well. Kendal is loving her new found Independence.

Milestones!

Kendal turns 23 months old tomorrow. She is just a month away from turning two years old. For me this is a big milestone, she will no longer be my baby girl, but my big girl.
Kendal has been showing a lot of interest in being potty trained lately. So Casey and i decided to bring on another milestone by potty training Kendal. We are on day four of potty training. Kendal has picked up on things really well. However we still have a couple accidents a day. Kendal enjoys being a big girl, and saying "bye bye diaper". We've still got some road ahead of us on this potty training ride; but i'm hopeful things will continue to do well, and my little one will be all set come her second birthday.
Some things Kendal has been up to lately -
Kendal loves to paint and play with play dough. If she spies her play dough or paints she begs Casey and i until we pull it out. (I would pull it out more willingly if my entire house wasn't carpet; i don't love cleaning smashed play dough out of the carpet)
Kendal is still obsessed with books. She has her handful of favorites that she pulls out almost daily for Casey or i to read to her. Her top picks right now are How i became a Pirate, Pirates don't change Diapers, Mickey Mouse nursery rhymes, and the potty books we currently have on loan from the library.
Kendal is improving and expanding her language every day. She has started to pick up on songs. When we sing to her she'll talk randomly through parts and then say words that are emphasized or at the end of a sentence.
With all of the new babies in the Darrington family. Kendal has become quite baby happy. She loves her baby dolls, finding babies in books, and on TV, and anywhere we go. She likes to give her dolls and her stuffed animal friends hugs all the time and talk to them. Sometimes if she's not super tired when i put her down for a nap or if we don't get her right away in the morning we can hear her in her room chatting away to her animals and dolls.
Kendal is our little Sweet Pea. She brightens our day and makes life so enjoyable. I can't wait for her birthday and the upcoming holidays! Kendal has blossomed into an energetic, loving, sweet, and funny cutie. It'll be sad to be done with her baby years, but i'm definitely looking forward to more milestones in her future.

Painting,Play dough nails, and rainbow rice fun:



More recent pictures:



No Diaper mom!