Just for fun...

When Kinlee was about 5 1/2 months old (about the same as what Brightyn is now) I took some pics of her in her little bikini. I thought it would be fun to take pics of Brightyn at the same age in the same little bikini. Here they are. I never thought Kinlee and Brightyn looked alike, but after taking these pics they look almost identical to me... Hmm... Too funny.
Taken long before I had my nice camera and knew a thing or two about photography :)

Glasses.... NO more...

Derk had his lasik surgery yesterday. He was a little sore when I picked him up, he said his eyes felt like they were burning. He came home and laid down for a few hours, and then said he felt much better. This was THE best investment we could have made for him. You cannot put a price on your vision, and as far as we are concerned, it was worth every penny. Today at his post checkup, they said his vision was 20/25 and within a few months will be 20/20. Amazing, considering his vision was like -750 before the surgery... Here are a few fun pics.

A few broken blood vessels later...

One last pic before we trashed these!

Poor glasses. We WON'T miss you : (

Kinlee turns 3!

WOW! My little baby is 3 years old now. We had 2 birthday parties for her this year. Friday night (her actual birthday) we had a little get together with some neighborhood friends. The kids had fun hitting the pinata (although I don't think they got the point until all the candy came pouring out). Saturday night was the big family party at Jumping Jacks. It was a little hard getting pics of all the kids because they were running around all over having a blast... Having Kinlee around has made for some fun times. She is my best buddy in the whole wide world. No joke. We go everywhere together and have since day 1. She is like my other half. She is my personal model/practice girly when I take pics... She can strike any pose at any given moment. She has been driving me nuts lately, and acts like a maniac sometimes (mostly when Brightyn is around), but I TRY and remind myself it is her age. I have a feeling the threes will be a challenging year. Among other things, Kinlee has started gymnastics, and we will see how that goes. I would like to put her in dance maybe come summer but we really can't afford both, so it will have to be one or the other, depending on which one she likes better. I got her on a list to start preschool this fall. It is so weird to think she will be doing that soon. She really is so smart, and says things everyday that just amaze me. She loves to watch Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo, her fav. movies right now are Bolt and any of the Ice Age movies. Kinlee was officially potty trained at 2 years and 7 months (right about the time Brightyn came) and has not had ONE accident since. I am so proud of her and how big she is. We have her 3 year checkup tomorrow and her first dentist appt. Tuesday. Here's to the next year :)
> The Gang

Gymnastics, San Diego and Lasic Surgery!

Kinlee started gymnastics this week at Academy West Gymnastics. My little sister coaches gymnastics and we used to go to her meets, and Kinlee absolutely loved it. We took Kinlee to the trial class at Hunts (where my sister coaches) BUT I did not like the teacher and I felt the place was a little outdated. Then I took her to the trial class at Academy West and loved it. They have a great facility and way more one on one interaction. She is going to start going once a week and we will see how she likes it. There are some cute girls her same age. I was worried that Kinlee would be naughty or not follow directions, but she listened so well , and did everything they told her to do. She is going to make some cute little girly friends. I thought about putting her in dance, but at this point, she already has the rythm (yes that is how you spell it!) and you can't teach that to someone... so I figured we would try the tumbling thing first and then dance later:)





We booked a family trip to San Diego for the end of May. We had a ton of Skymiles that we redeemed, and all 3 tickets (mine, Derks and Kinlee's) were all free. Brightyn was also free because 2 and under fly free... We got a 3 in 1 pass to go to Seaworld, the Zoo and Wild Animal Kingdom. Not to metion hitting up Mission Beach. We are staying in Old Town, our favorite. We love San Diego! Hopefully traveling with 2 kids will not be to hectic.

Last but not least, Derk gets to have lasic surgery on Jan. 27th. We were able to do flexible spending to pay for a good chunk of it, and the rest will come from savings... It is so worth every penny and Derk will be able to see now! His vision is like negative 800 something (that means he is legally blind without contacts!) so for him to be able to have htis and get his vision back is something that we are so excited about.

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.

This year for News Years Eve, we got a little CRAZY!!! We started out the night by going to eat at Carino's with Derks parents. Later that night we headed home and put Brightyn to sleep and played a game with Kinlee. To top it all off, we had some rootbeer floats! Yummy. Needless to say, we were all in bed before midnight (but we did hear the neighbors celebrating:) 2009 sure went by fast. A few memorable things from the past year: Brightyns birth, Derks new position at work (blah), first black president, and the death of Michael Jackson are a few that stand out the most. Now that it is 2010 I am hoping to work on a few things (lets not call them resolutions). Patience, Patience and more Patience. Hope everyone has a good fresh start on the New Year!