The Kinley Family

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The Real Supermom!!

Mothers Day 2011---what a celebration! And so many kuddos to the real supermom...my mother. I never fully realized how blessed I was to have such an incredible mom until I became one myself. I used to point out her flaws, never truly appreciating the amazing qualities she personified. The list of amazing attributes is endless. I mean seriously, what mom would pick up the phone after I had already called 10 times just to relay another funny comment Kennedy had, or a stupid question about how long to boil an egg, or to listen to me cry for the third time in one day? She is always there for me, always the first to be on my side. Over the past year I have been an emotional wreck. My mom always was the person I called first. There is no one quite like her. She is funny, full of energy, giving, independent, thoughtful, and the best nanni out there!! I wouldn't be here today if not for my mom. I have put her through the wringer over the years--Lord knows--and she still loves me unconditionally...flaws and all. I have realized that what I used to think were flaws are now the reasons why I love my mom so much. I only hope that I can be as good of a mother as she has been to me. I have a lot of work cut out for me in the years ahead!! Love you MOM!!!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Really? Only a 17 month long hiatus!

May 2011...only over a year since my last post. My excuse? I have many. Let me see...

#1--my life has been so jam packed with story time, ABC time, heavy duty cleaning, organizing and organizing, meal planning, trying to save the world, martial art training, scholar and intellectual growth, family bonding...you name it.

As if you didn't know already...I am super mom. Although, super mom takes on a whole new meaning in the Kinley house. The other day I asked a friend if I was a "planner"? In my mind, I thought "of course! I always plan to wake up earlier, plan to workout--tomorrow, plan to finally break Kenny's use of the pacifier at night, plan to finally post another eventful and productive day on my blog..." but to my surprise an immediate and shocking "NO!!!" quickly spurted out of my friends mouth.

Okay. So I know this is shocking to you all to hear this about me. I was shocked too! I mean really? I thought I was the mom who had everything planned! Well, I soon realized (3 seconds later) she was right. Is this a good or bad thing? I have always admired people that showed up early for things, kept a schedule, used a label maker (for heaven sakes!), had bins for everything, and whose house always smelled of lysol upon entering. Unfortunately, God did not bless me with this attribute. So, unfortunately, this thorn in my side filtered into my blogging ability and I am on a mission to PROVE that there is no thorn on this rose stem when it comes to being a planner. I have turned over a new leaf----or cut off all the thorns (you pick). First step to this transformation? DA DA DAAAAA.....No cable.

What was I thinking? No more Real Housewives? What about American Idol? I can stream it through the computer! Fantastic! Now, how am I going to watch my episodes through the internet after I have made all my other fantastic plans for the day? Solution! Get a laptop!!! Kaaaaacchhhiiiinnng! I can sneak into the closet and secretly get my fix for the day when Dusty isn't looking! He is not an enabler and is trying to be a good support in my quest to becoming the next Martha Stewart/Betty Crocker/June Cleaver.

So I thought I would pay homage to the loss of cable in my first post this past year. It is a tragic loss and one that needs recognition. I thought that I could possibly make the day I lost cable as a national holiday, but that takes a LOT of planning and persistence when trying to establish a new recognized holiday....and planning is just not my cup of tea...not yet anyways.

#2 reason for the lack of blogging contact with the rest of the world: I have 2 rugrats. I call them Miss Noodle and Mr. Meatball.

Miss Noodle is a rambunctous (spelling? another thorn...oh wait, there is spell check) rambunctious little 3 year old that cracks me up...most of the time. In between the whining and temper tantrums...no she is an angel. Never in trouble, always polite and well mannered, eats her veggies and never asks to go to McDonalds...NEVER! My kid? She does tell me I am beautiful everyday so I have trained her well thus far! She's a lover of the mcnuggets, park escapades and bedtime stories...especially in mom and dad's bed. And she has perfected the stealth move into the parent's bedroom at 3 am quite well. She is also a lover of her Hello Kitty big girl panties! Not the 15 other polka dot and kitty cat ones that look identical to her Hello Kitty ones...sheesh. Emphasizing big girl panties...yes, a 3 year old POTTY TRAINED girl! No more pink princess pullups (except at night, when I don't forget). Yes, I learned I must never forget a pullup at night...the hard way. I have to say that I never get tired of hearing "I luv you more than chocolate Mommy!!" That must be a lot! I find it funny to see Kennedy aka Miss Noodle, bossing Mr. Meatball around all day long. He just rolls with the flow...like a meatball would. They are never separated...like good spaghetti. I am getting hungry. Yes, motherhood has made my thoughts even more random, so hopefully you can follow this scattered brain of mine---or what is left of it anyways.

So onto Mr. Meatball....what a silly guy he is! So different from Miss Noodle! Unlike Kennedy who is very strongwilled and bossy, affectionate and determined...Meatball is a character! I can't wait to hear what is really going on in that head of his! He is constantly bumping into things, taunting his sister, acts like he doesn't hear you or is oblivious at times. He is laid back, but at the same time stubborn when it comes to being told to sit still for longer than 5 seconds. He is always on the go (constantly) and unlike his sister, who can sleep through a freight train collision, he wakes up at the sound of a whisper! I have to throw out a huge warning to all the fathers out there though about this Mr. Meatball. This is important, so pass on this information to anyone that has a daughter. He is a serial Kissing Bandit. Yes, it is scary, but I assure you, he is harmless. Today I told him to give his daycare lady a kiss goodbye. So off he trots/runs over to Miss Erika and after standing and waiting (patiently) for all of 5 seconds, he turns to the bear statue next to him and starts landing a wet kiss on his rubber nose. I did alert you all to the danger of this Mr. Meatball/Kissing bandit that is residing in tacoma washington. Don't say I didn't warn you!

As for me...I know you are dying to hear what else is going on in this head of mine. I have come to the conclusion that I must have ADD, and not just a mild case, but full blown. I mentioned to Dusty that I think I could possibly, just maybe, have 1 or 2 signs of ADD, perhaps. Awaiting complete shock and disbelief in my diagnosis he says, "I could have told you that a LONG time ago!" Oh really Mr. Know-It-All? If you were so smart, how come I had to tell you this? He then proceeded to inform me that when I clean, I always start in one corner or room and never seem to get it finished! Ha! YOU do the cleaning then!

So, the next day, I decided to prove him wrong. I cleaned the WHOLE house! Top to bottom...can't you just smell the Lysol aroma??? Yes, he was impressed. Especially when he found the crumpled up paper in the trash with a list of all the things I need to clean. Clean kitchen floor, wipe counters,bathroom break, unload dishes, make dinner, fold laundry, load dishes, wash hands, clean up dinner, feed kids (yes, feed the children), bathroom break, bathtime, brush teeth, floss (plan to floss tomorrow), bedtime story, kids---out...with check marks beside them all. I didn't want to forget anything right? It is only a MILD, yet SLIGHT form of ADD. The list was only to keep me on track. I had to figure out whether or not my diagnosis was correct. List making, just the important things that people need to be reminded of (not the everyday things that people just do because it is second nature) is essential to a good planner, and I have that down for sure so maybe this isn't ADD. Either way, maybe I should just invest in some post-its.

So, back to me...life couldn't be better. I plan to post more. PLAN is the key word here, but next time I will include some pics. A year's worth of them!

Friday, March 12, 2010

Great Wolf Lodge or BUST!







Kenny was obsessed with the water spouts! It was too funny!





Uncle Adam and cousin Ruger

Kennedy and her life jacket

Poppy and Grammy with the kiddos


Our little family of 4

Tyce and his dadda
For christmas this year, the Kinley grandparents decided to spend their money on a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge! It was so fun and amazing. I can't believe all the fun activities they have for kids. I am really excited for when the kids get a little older and can do more stuff. They had a cute bedtime story with animated characters and even a little spa for girls to get their pedis and manis. I can't wait to take Kennedy back for that. Overall, the trip was funfilled, but I wish the water would have been a little warmer. Kennedy was freezing!













Christmas Time

Yes she does!

Grandpa and his girl


Tyce at 6 months old








Snuggle bear




Siblings...so blessed they love each other



Gotta luv his little grin




Gosh, I can't believe it has been almost 3 months since I last posted something to our blog. Shows how crazy life has been. I am now working about 32 hours a week and it is exhausting! So hard when kids are sick and you have to leave work or not go in or find another sitter. I hate that part. So, I am trying to get some old posts done and figured I should back track to december!



Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Photoshoot!




















I know it has been a long long time since I updated our blog! I tried for quite awhile to upload these pics and it wasn't working, but I finally got them posted. We did this photoshoot for our christmas card this year and the photographer did an amazing job! There were so many photos to choose from! Tyce is now 6 months old and kennedy is 22 1/2 months. This year has flown by! Dusty is still doing great in his job and I decided to go back to being a banker at Wells Fargo in November. I am only part time and that gives us full benefits, so that is a plus. Medical is sooo expensive. I love having that break during the week and it makes me cherish the time I do spend with the kiddos so much more. We also took a MUCH needed vacation to Cabo a couple weeks ago and I will be posting those soon. I hope all of your holiday seasons were fun filled and not too stressful! Can't wait for 2010!













Monday, November 2, 2009

It's Halloween Time!

Kenny loves putting on new hats all by herself!

Our boy is a drooler, spitter, pooper, farter...multi-talented!

We thought we might make him a girl for halloween, but DAd nixed that idea. Is this what he would have looked like if he had been a girl? He isn't liking the idea either...


This is the best picture I got of our lil pumpkin. She now likes to show people how old she is. Hopefully she can figure out the number 2 in a couple months!



Chirp chirp chirp...

So Halloween wasn't as funfilled and action packed as others. Dusty was away at the Duck vs. USC game and we stayed home. Too much work lugging down two little ones and trying to go to a crazy game on Halloween night! Plus, the kids got sick, mainly Kenny with a cold and I just didn't want to make it any worse. So I stayed in, afraid to answer the door for trick or treaters, since I was home alone and felt like I was the Scrooge of Halloween. Oh well...we can make it up next year when the kids will really appreciate it!


Couples Date away from the kiddos!

My lil man

Tyce and Tay...he just makes me want to squeeze him!

Kennedy thought she found a clever hiding spot


This is as close as we are going to get to a family picture



DAd and Tyce...i think he resembles Dad, but we still aren't sure..
Sorry it has been so long since I last posted. Dusty, myself, Dusty's sis Taylor and bro in law Adam all went to a day matinee of Couples Retreat. It was pretty good. Just good to get out without the kids while the grandparents watched them ALL! What angels! Having kids is a tough job and that is putting it lightly. It is the funnest and most cherishable time of my life, being able to stay home with the kiddos, but it has definitely taken a toll on me. I hate the fact that I love my babies more than anything and yet feel like I am not being the best mom I could be because my days are from 6-8:30 without Dusty, and then its soon bedtime. My only break comes when I take them to workout. So, for my sanity and because I want to find more happiness in my job as a mother, I decided to go back to work part time. I start next week, back at the bank where I absolutely loved my job. The benefits are a key factor in me returning as well. Not only will it give me some time for myself, but we will get outstanding benefits, save on medical bills, and have a little extra money to pay off the medical bills we have already acquired. I just pray that this is the best decision for our family and myself. I don't know how its going to feel being away from them 20 hours a week, but I think it will be a good thing and I feel at peace with it. I will keep you all posted though of course!