November 2010

We had a great Thanksgiving. We went to my Mom & Mike's for lunch, then headed to Grandma Sandy's. Kellen was able to enjoy some turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, cornbread, and mashed potatoes. He couldn't get enough of it! On Black Friday, we went to Dad and Dan's house to celebrate with that side of the family. Good times, good food, and good memories!

Aunt Tessie & Kellen
Averi & Kellen

Thanksgiving dinner @ Grandma Sandy's

Mommy's smiley boy

The Allen-Schwandner Crew

Look Mom, I can stand in my crib! ::runs to find directions on how to lower the crib mattress::

Kellen's 6 Month Pictures

I grew up with a camera in front of my face. My parents love.love.love pictures. Josh, on the other hand, hardly has any pictures from his childhood. Because of my upbringing, I am obsessed with pictures and think they are well worth the money. I had my friend, Ashley, meet us at Ault Park for Kellen's 6 Month pictures. She is the photographer who took K's newborn pics and I love her style. She's a mommy herself and she's willing to do what she needs to do to get "the" shot. I couldn't be happier with the pictures from our shoot. I can't wait for the next round this April---Kellen's 1 Year pics! Ahhh!

October 2010

Kellen was a monkey for Halloween. We met up with Shannon and Sam at the Zoo for HallZOOween and couldn't believe it when I saw that Sam was a monkey as well!

We ran into Mike's grandsons, Kai and Quinten, at the zoo as well. They were so excited to see Baby Kellen...obviously, the feeling wasn't mutual!

Kellen's 6 month stats:
-26 1/2" long
-16lbs, 7oz.

September 2010

Kellen still loves bathtime!

Kellen and his buddy Sam met up at the park.

Kellen and Mommy @ Coney Island!

I celebrated the big 3-0 on September 6, which just happened to be Labor Day. We celebrated by going to Coney Island with my Dad, Dan, Tess and her family. It was a great day and I feel very blessed to be able to spend it with family.

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August 2010

We went with Josh on a business trip to Tampa/Clearwater Beach when Kellen was almost 4 months old. Kellen experienced his first ride in an airplane! Nana came with us and we had a great time. Kellen had fun on the beach and loved the ocean!

Kellen's 4 month stats:
-24" long
-14lbs, 13oz
-loves to chew on his fingers!

First Solids!

At our 4 month appt, our pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to give Kellen solids. We started with sweet potatoes and he gobbled them up!

July 2010

Meet Me in St. Louis

Josh had to go to St. Louis for work, so Kellen and I decided to tag along. That's one of the perks of having my summers off! We stayed right downtown, with views of the St. Louis Cardinals stadium. And, when I say views, I mean we could actually see inside the stadium. It was pretty cool, even though the Cardinals are our enemies!



While Josh was working during the day, Kellen and I went out and explored the city. Josh was off a few days, so we took advantage of that and went to the St. Louis Zoo, the Arch, and the Mississippi Riverbanks. We even took Kellen swimming for the first time in our hotel pool. We also met up with my cousin, Dayna and my friend and her husband, Katie and Dave. We had a great time!

Taking a bath in the hotel sink!

Daddy & Kellen on the banks of the Mississippi.


Cousins!

This was the view from our hotel room!

The St. Louis Arch, taken from my cell phone! Pretty cool picture, huh?

Daddy & Kellen in the hotel pool.

Beach Baby!

Kellen had his first trip to the Beach this week. Well, not the real beach...The Beach Waterpark! Our neighbor, Ellen, has a pass and she can get a guest in free on Mondays and Wednesdays. She has been wanting to take us, but it just hasn't worked out until this week. I got Kellen lathered up with sunblock and we hit the road. The Beach has a nice area called The Pearl, which is an oversized, heated spa pool. It was nice and warm, as well as shaded from the sun. We went early enough in the morning that the sun wasn't too hot yet anyways. Kellen really enjoyed the pool. We stayed in for about 20 minutes and he kicked the whole time! We might have a swimmer on our hands here, folks! Here are some pics from Kellen's first time swimming!

Err, ok...so the pictures aren't uploading for some reason. Stay tuned!

Wordless Wednesday

Kellen's First 4th of July

We had a great holiday weekend. We started the weekend off by meeting my Mom and Mike (her fiance) at Findley Market. This is a large market in downtown Cincy that has many outdoor and indoor vendors. They sell vegetables, fruit, meat, bread, sweets, flowers, etc. Josh and I had never been and were so glad to get down there. It was amazing! We're definitely going back in the very near future. I would much rather support independent, local businesses than big stores like Kroger.

That afternoon/evening, we headed to Josh's brother's house. They live in Waynesville and have a HUGE 4th of July party every year. When I say huge, I mean like over a hundred people. They have a pig roast and a live band that comes and plays the whole night. There is a poker tournament and a cornhole tournament too! One of our friends is a skydiving instructor and he arrived at the party by skydiving! (Jeremy and Becka have several acres of land, so he had lots of room to land) It was a very cool thing to witness---I never realized just how fast they approach the ground! I have a feeling I would end up seriously injuring or killing myself if I tried something like that! Later in the evening we enjoyed a fireworks show, which Kellen seemed to enjoy. The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays---I can't wait for next year!

Single Parenting

Is not for me. Period.

As many of you know, Josh is in the Air Force Reserves. This means he is gone one weekend a month and 2 weeks during the summer to fulfill his duties. This hasn't been that big of a deal...until Kellen came along. This summer, Josh's unit had to travel to Savannah, GA for their 2 week annual training. So, yours truly got to care for a 6 week old for 2 weeks. I was a single parent and it sucked! I was fine during the day, since Josh is normally at work anyways. The worst part was at 6pm when Josh usually gets home and I can hand Kellen off to him and get things done around the house. I just had to let those things go and focus on Kellen. Luckily, I am very fortunate that Kellen is a very easy baby (God help us with our next one!). He really only gets fussy when he is hungry or is very sleepy. If he had been a colicky baby, I don't think I could have done it!

While Josh was gone, I made sure to keep busy. Very busy. I don't know what I would have done without my sister. Kellen and I hung out with them many times over those 2 weeks---thanks sis! I also attended 2 birthday parties, wedding shower and 2 playgroups. Kellen and I also did a lot of shopping! I had to get out of the house each and every day or else I might have gone crazy.

The worst part about Josh being gone was that he missed his first Father's Day. Obviously, this means more to me and Josh right now than it does to Kellen, but still... We celebrated when Josh got home though. Kellen gave him a framed picture of 3 of his newborn pictures for Josh to take to work. I also had Josh's OSU "Foley" print (that I got him for Christmas 2 years ago!) framed. Now it can finally get hung up in the basement!

Here is a picture of Kellen and Daddy reunited again:

2 Months!

Wow, so I thought the first month flew by! The second month has gone even faster! Kellen turned 2 months old on June 24, 2010. He continues to amaze me each and every day. Here are the stats from his 2-month check-up at the doctor:

• Kellen weighed 11lbs, 13oz (50th percentile)
• He was 22 1/2 inches long (35th percentile)
• His head measured 15 1/2 inches (50th percentile)

Dr. Habel was very pleased with his steady growth rate, which means mama's milk is doing its job! This is a huge relief for me. I started back on birth control pills (the ones without estrogen since I'm breastfeeding) and I think they've been messing with my milk supply. To counteract this, I've been taking Fenugreek and making sure to drink TONS of water. I feel like I could float away at times! LOL!

Kellen's second month was full of fun and activities. I will start with my favorite:

• Kellen started sleeping through the night! He is consistently sleeping 7 hours each night. Woo hoo! Although, this doesn't mean that mommy and daddy are getting 7 hours. I use that time at night to get things ready for the next day, check email, clean up the house, and spend some quality time with my hubby.
• We spent lots of time with Aunt Tessa, Uncle Tony, Lexi, Ethan, and Averi. Averi is obsessed with Kellen and insists on holding him whenever she sees him.
• Kellen made another trip in to school with Mommy. The students were so excited to see him and couldn't believe how much he had grown since the last time they had seen him.
• We continue to go to a weekly playgroup with some of my teacher friends. It is great to get the kids together, even though Kellen is the youngest in the group. It is also nice for me to chat with adults that have "been there, done that" and can give me advice when it comes to motherhood.
• My cousin Lauren is getting married over Labor Day and I took Kellen with me to her bridal shower. He got to meet several aunts and cousins that just drooled all over him.

Here are some pictures from Kellen's second month of life:

Sam and Kellen didn't like to snuggle!
Sam and Kellen were just chillin'




Some friends at one of our weekly playdates! Kellen is on the boppy pillow.
Kellen has found his tongue!

We love bathtime!

Newborn Pics

My friend Ashley is a very talented photographer. I mean, VERY talented. She took my maternity pics and I knew I wanted to have her take Kellen's newborn pics when he arrived. Ashley and her friend Erin came to take Kellen's pics when he was just 8 days old. And, let me tell you, he was NOT having any of it! I fed him right before they arrived so he would be nice and sleepy, since those make for the cutest pics. This little guy would not fall asleep! He would drift off, then be wide awake, crying! After 4 hours of this, he finally gave in and Ash was able to work her magic. Take a look! I'm in love!