Billericay Park Visit

Last week the girls and I were invited to take the girls to a local park for a "play" date. Thanks Claire and Steph for inviting us!





















Miss Steph, Kayleigh, Kennedy, and Emmy share a moment.














Kodak moment.















Kennedy swings with her role model Emmy.















Ansley and I attempt to get into the action with a self portrait.

Swimming with the Girls

Tuesday was a great day, and not just because I got to play golf (my dad beat my by 1 stroke, but I'm fairly confident he cheated).

My youngest cousins, Isabella and Daniella, are visiting from California for the week. Kennedy and Ansley got to hang out (and swim with them all day), in addition to my cousin Anna, my grandma, aunt Julie, and my cousin Lindsay and her new baby Lillian (if you aren't confused, I am after writing that description.

It was a great day with family and we were able to leave my parents without too much of a meltdown. Success.




















Kennedy holds court with Isabella, Daniella, and Anna.














Kennedy splashes Isabella.



















Can you believe I put Ansley in a matching outfit?

Ansley "Gets" Kennedy

Kennedy and Ansley love to play... I know it sounds strange, but they love each other's company. Ansley loves watching her big sister Kennedy... and even likes to "get" Kennedy (see video).

Right now their ages seem so far apart, but in a few years they will seem much closer in age. There is so much growth and development for the first 2 years.... it's truly amazing for a novice like myself.

In the second picture, Kennedy apparantly must have lost something in her nasal cavity and she must be looking for it.

More silliness and shananigans.

Ansley "gets" Kennedy.

Kisses for Ansley.

Goodbye Katie Duck

Our duck (and babies) have not deserted the Applegate premises. For the past 30+ days, a duck has nested beneath a mega (yes, mega) bush outside of our front door. I have had visions of the duck babies frolicing and playing in my yard as their new home (trust me, this sounds fun). I digress.... in the time span of one day. the babies were born and the duck family left on the same night... and also left one egg (very sad).

We formed a strange attachment to Katie Duck (so named by Kennedy in admiration of Aunt Katie) that is unexplainable. We wish you well and hope you choose our suburbanite non-water-connected house to have your nest next year. Please feel free to hang around a little longer once your babies are born. We'll give you free food!

Enjoy the pictures below... I was able to take some pictures of one of the baby ducks.

Video Retraction and Congratulations

This might seem like a random post... however, 3 points:

1) I had the wrong video loaded on yesterday's post and I just corrected this issue.

2) Congratulations to our friends Jenny and Cody Shultz and their new baby boy Finn. What a coincidence that Lucy and Finn now share a birthday and are EXACTLY 2 years apart. We pray that family is healthy and doing well and we can't wait to meet Finn.

3) For some reason I hate to post something without a picture, so see below for an awesome "dusk" picture from our back porch the other night. Cheers...

Observations of a 2-year old being potty trained: A bunny's perspective

You probably know me by now from my earlier posts. I am bunny, Kennedy's best friend (also pictured below). These past two days, I have watched Kennedy's daddy try to teach her how to use the potty. The following commentary is an abbreviated time log from Day 1 of potty training; this will hopefully be a unique perspective.

6/16/08
7:15 - On dad's first day home with the kids, he makes a split decision that today will be the day for Kennedy to learn to use the potty (I was a little worried at this point).
7:28 - Dad and Kennedy start to create her sticker chart (see below).
7:33 - Kennedy throws mini-tantrum that she can't hold 5 markers at one time with the caps off.
7:36 - Kennedy throws mini-tantrum when dad shows her the stickers for the potty chart but does not give them to her.
7:39 - Kennedy throws mini-tantrum when dad explains that she will get 1 M&M for every time she successfully goes potty and multiple M&M's for each time she does the other thing.
7:42 - Dad reconsiders his decision but presses on.
8:00 - After dad puts the big girl panties on Kennedy, he sits down to feed Ansley her bottle. His mistake was letting Kennedy leave the room for a few minutes.
8:15 - Dad keeps calling to Kennedy: "Do you have to go the bathroom yet?" which Kennedy keeps responding to with a resounding "no."
8:23 - Dad goes to play room to find Kennedy with a wet diaper. As dad takes her upstairs and is taking her panties off, he doesn't notice the big glob of poo that plops onto the carpet. Dad doesn't seem very happy at this point.
8:26 - Dad seems more upset when the Green Machine is broken, Ansley is crying, and Kennedy is upset also. This day doesn't seem to be getting better.

After this point, Kennedy rebounds and goes 4 for 5 for the day. Although Day 1 finished on a positive note, Day 2 ended up going 2 for 6; I won't give you the messy details (literally, messy).

I'm a little sad that Kennedy will be a big girl soon. I hope she doesn't get too "cool" and grown up for me. However, I'm proud of her and I know she will do great. I think she'll be fine as long as her dad doesn't have a meltdown. This has been a long post so I won't ramble on anymore. If you read this far, you are probably wondering how a bunny can write this many words... I dictated this post to Kennedy's dad (he's a bit of a sucker...). Goodbye!




















Excitement.




















Focus.




















Kennedy shows off her potty chart.














Dad pauses to take a self portrait at 7:43 (see time log to fit this into the context of the morning).

Fun times.

Cookout with Lauren Landis (and her parents)

On Saturday, we had a busy (but really fun) day. In addition to getting up at our normal 6:00 on Saturday morning, our day was spent attending cookouts and graduation open houses. For lunch, we had a cookout at the Landis' household to celebrate Heather's 28-year birthday (that might be on the low side).

Anyway, it was a great day with great friends from college (and good food). The only down side was I didn't bring a bathing suit to swim with the kids in the kiddie pool. Lesson learned.















Kennedy loves swimmin'.... especially in a pool this shallow.














The girls (Lauren, Kennedy, and Megan) enjoy the pool.















My fratty homedogs: Jared, Dav(id), myself and Chris. Delta Upsilon represent.

An actual group shot of the kids AND adults (L-R; Traci, Jared, Dave, Molly, me, Chris, Heather, crying baby Ansley, Kennedy, and Lauren).

Pool craziness. Enough said.

Kennedy chases a ball.

Happy Father's Day (to me)

What better chance to talk about myself than on Father's Day? Today is more than just a Hallmark holiday or a day to get cool gifts for being a dad... as a dad it makes me reflect on the many blessings that I have (their names are Kennedy and Ansley). I cannot comprehend getting a better gift than that of being a parent. Throughout the day (at church, swimming at my parents, throwing rocks into the creek with Kennedy, driving home), I reflected on the many blessings we are given every day. These blessings are often small, and unnoticeable if we don't slow down and take time to enjoy the present. Being a dad involves lots of craziness and spending money on great deals (such as a pack of 4 princess cups... which actually seemed like a good deal). Bottom line, I love it... and it makes me a little sad that they have to grow up. Happy days.

I'm done... that's my serious moment of reflection.
















Kennedy swims for the first time with her swimmers. She wouldn't jump off the diving board yet... that's our next goal.




















I help Kennedy throw rocks into my parents creek. The game that never ends...














Ansley loves to swim.














Ansley and Kennedy snuggle on the bed before church. Have 2 sisters ever looked more different?

Ansley Talks

It's about time for an Ansley-only post again.

It's amazing to watch her little personality come out as she gets older and also fun with the many little kiddos that we know. They all start out as tiny little babies (without too much personality) and as they grow we get introduced to who they are and what their personalities are like.

























I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but Ansley loves her mom. She loves to lay next to her, be held by her, and most importantly, be fed by her. She's a little mommy's girl righ now.



Ansley works on her rolling techniques and shares some of her opinions with us.

More video

Hola to everybody.

Today was another great day in the Applegate household. For me, the highlight was that it is my last day working at FHS in 3 1/2 weeks and we also won both of our softball games (yay). On the negative side, I sprained my ankle and Kennedy went to bed almost 2 hours after the normal time (I'll pay for this tomorrow... trust me). All in all, it was a great day.

Attached are a video of Kennedy singing "Jesus Loves Me" and also a glimpse of our bathtime. For those of you who don't believe that Kennedy ever speaks, hopefully these videos will dispel those rumors.

Adios

Songs, songs, songs. Kennedy breaks out her version of "Jesus Loves Me."

Bath time is never boring.

Sunday Cookout

Today was a beautiful day, minus the 88+ degree temperature. Besides the heat, we had a nice picnic at the Murrays with many of our long-time friends from church. Good burgers, hot dogs, and fellowship. Thanks everyone!














Kennedy hangs out with her role model (and semi-professional ballet performer) Emily Johnson, and Emily's parents, Kevin and Claire.















The cookout is briefly interrupted by a fire run (another highlight from the cookout). Fire trucks are radical.




















Kennedy and Emily say their goodbyes. Another fun day.




















Kennedy ponders the meaning of life, or wonders where her bunny is... either way she is deep in thought.

Meal Time

As you can imagine, meal time is important in the Applegate household (at least for myself). In the back of my head, my mental "food clock" is always ticking with the fear that I will miss a meal at some point in the day (sad, but true). My wife and friends from work can attest to this and also tell embarrassing stories about me to back up this claim.

In giving this background info, the attached videos show a typical meal time for Kennedy. I'm sure you will also be amazed by the nutritious standards maintained by the Applegates. The first video shows Kennedy eating broccoli and dip; the 2nd video shows her eating a Kennedy staple, a chicken and cheese sandwich.

Yum.

Broccoli and dip are always tasty.

Chicken and cheese sandwich, topped off with milk from a princess cup. Does life get any better?

Ansley's first "swing"

It isn't as easy as it looks to work the grill, a camera, camcorder, and push 2 girls on swings (and replace a propane tank in the middle of the grilling process).

As you can see from these pictures, Ansley enjoys swinging on the playset. We put her in the swing for the first time and she really took to it. Another fun night at the Applegate household.














Ansley and Kennedy love swingin'.














Ansley takes swinging very seriously.














Sweetness.




















Three beautiful ladies (I'm not partial or anything).

Dinner with Small Group

We are blessed with a group of friends we call our "small group." For the last couple of years, we have met together on many Sunday nights to study the Bible, go through different studies, and have "socials." (It's amazing how often an important football game occurs during this time... :))

This past week we met with the Hitchocks and the Chandlers. A typical Sunday night with friends. Eating pizza. Kids play. Fun times. It's pretty basic, but it's the type of perfect night we enjoy... and even more rare for the night, I didn't injure myself/others or spill anything on myself. However, I supervised Kennedy eating her pizza and she doused herself in marinara sauce. Oh well... you can't win them all.













Kennedy and her good buddy Elias ('Lias) love hanging out.













Good friends.













Photogenic Heather smiles for the camera.




















Kennedy, Elias, and Todd play in her house. Which one of them looks to big for the house?

Ansley

Every several blogs or so, I like to dedicate a blog entry to little Ansley. As child #2, she is often over-shadowed by her silly older sister Kennedy. It's interesting that although she is only 3 1/2 months old, it is already clear to us that she like to be "in the action." If Molly and/or I are playing with Kennedy, she likes to be with us. It's fun to see her little personality start to develop and see her and Kennedy becoming friends.

These are some recent pictures we have taken over the last few days. The last picture was taken with a new lens that I'm still trying to figure out how to use.