Hippity Hoppity...

All the way back to the real world. Today is the last day that I have on leave (sad face with tear trickling down my face). Mazha and Fazha left this morning to head back to the Red state. We love them and forgive them... for they not know what they do.

Fazha has SPOILED his granddaughter beyond belief. All she had to do was give him a look and she was in his arm... walking around the house... and spitting up on him, which never phased him.

We have TONS of stories and TONS of photos over the last two weeks that I will be posting in my free time (Ummm... I've had no free time during the past three months, so I don't know when/if I will be obtaining some, but if it's out there, I'd love to find it).

Being that my dance-card was open today, Chris and I headed to upstate NY to get another set of finger prints taken. We've had Federal, we've had NJ, we've had PA... why not go for another set to add to our collection. We feel, it's better to be safe and have this set just in case (as we're finalizing in NY) so we don't run into issues like we did when Kensington first came into our lives.

After getting the run-around about where to go (the State Police station told us to contact the local office, the local office told us to contact the State Barracks, which told us to be there by 10:30. We arrived on time and the building was empty. When we press the button at the door, we were transferred to the first station we called - which was 30 minutes away - and they told us just to go there to get processes). Once there, we had to wait about 30 minutes for someone to show up that could run our prints. But we were able to get it done, and that's all that matters. :)


So, after hanging out at the Police Station we decided to run to the mall to get Kensington's picture taken with Peter Cottontail, who was hoppin' down the bunny trail... getting ready to help our little Egg-cellent daughter celebrate her first Easter. We LOVE how the picture turned out. In addition to this picture above, I did two digital scrapbooking quick pages for Kensi's Everyday Display. These free pages were from Kimberly Stewart's "Ted E. Rabbits" kit,which can be found here.

The Laramie Project, 10 Years Later

Our friends, and now award winning host, Derek and Romaine have put a very special item up for a limited download: The Laramie Project, 10 Years Later - The Lasting Legacy of Matthew Shepard. Now you can download a copy of the radio documentary the GLAAD Media Awards have honored with a special recognition award here at their site - http://www.siriusoutq.com.

The two-hour documentary aired originally on October 10th, 2008 to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death. Conceived and produced by Romaine Patterson, the documentary examines the impact the award-winning play-turned-film The Laramie Project has had on attitudes towards hate crimes with interviews from playwright Moises Kaufman and members of Tectonic Theater Company.

The story of Matthew Shepard changed the way we talk about and deal with hate in the United States. For the past ten years, the legacy of this remarkable young man's life has challenged and inspired millions of individuals to erase hate in all forms. Although his life was short, it continues to have a great impact on both young and old alike.

Chris and I have had the opportunity to meet Judy Shepard on two separate occasions, as well and his young brother, Logan. These two courageous individuals, with their friends and family, have been able to keep Matthews memory alive and helped pass civil and LGBT issues such as the Hate Crimes Legislation: The Matthew Shepard Act. Learn more, and donate at http://www.matthewshepard.org

Fatherhood Friday Foto Fiasco III winner announced...

We're loving this series in the Dad-Blogs Fatherhood Friday's.

There were so many great comments, but this week winner has to go to WeaselMomma for the following:

After years of a dwindling audience, The WWF is pushing the limit of wrestling. This week it Chompers the Champ vs. Prissy the Pooch.

Cage match, throw down.

Go check out her blog, World Of Weasels, here.

Fatherhood Friday Foto Fiasco III

Thank you for joining in the third installment of our Fatherhood Friday Foto Fiasco.

We've missed the past two weeks because we've had family and friends visiting... but WE'RE BACK!

For our part in Dad-Blogs Fatherhood Friday's, we're posting pictures of other peoples children and we're looking for your best comments/captions. Why? Because you can be crowned the week's winner for best caption. What do you get? Praise. Laughs. Golf Claps. A virtual pat on your back. Oh... and a web badge that you can proudly display on your blog :)

You don't have to be a member of Dad-Blogs to participate...
Here we go:

From sea to "Holy See"

Before we forget... Chris and I have noticed that over the past couple of days, we've had two hits from The Holy See. Although the Holy See is closely associated with the Vatican City, the independent territory over which the Holy See is sovereign, the two entities are separate and distinct.

Just a little something that makes you go hmmmm....

ItsDaddies.Plural. is on Hiatus

Hey All -
Just wanted to drop a quick post to say that all is well here. We've been traveling the states with Kensington's Grand Mazha and Fazha, visiting great-grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and adoring fans :) Besides some small bouts with teething, the overall experience has been amazing. Over the past week, we've taken over 1200 photo's, received probably 25 new outfits, and has had a very spoiled Kensi that has been held for 22 hours a day (that last part isn't a brag... it's been a little bit of a hindrance at 3 am when everyone wants to sleep, and someone wants to play).

We have plenty of stories to share and fun pictures to post... our blogging routine will return to normal in the next couple of days. Let's hope our sleep patterns follow the same.

"It's Just Not Right!"

It seems like Kensi's Great-Auntie Carole, and the Oklahoma contingent, were checking the site for a St. Patrick's Day picture... hopefully after your celebrations tonight (and don't even try to think about telling us there were not celebrations!) you'll come back by.

She's still a little under the weather, poor thing. Hopefully her spirits will rise when her grandmazha and grandfazha arrive from Texas tomorrow. If you think she's spoiled now, just you all wait. They're probably hauling a trailer with a pony behind them... we know there's a trailer being pulled with all of the luggage and Aqua Net that's needed for a two week stay. Hey... don't laugh. We're a little bit country, and at times, a little bit rock-n-roll.

As far as the "Tax Deduction" comment on the shirt... it was either this one from Rebel Ink, or one that said, "Kiss me, I'm Irish."

Well, two things:

• She's not Irish.
• If you're a boy, don't be trying to kiss our baby.

Like Beyonce said, "If you like it then you should put a ring on it". When she's 32 we'll let her look at all of the rings. If she picks yours, we call you. Let the Courtship of Kensington Grace continue... :)

Oh no...

Guess
who's
teething?

Yesterday, Chris and I noticed all of the signs of a teething baby... but at 10 weeks!?!? We did a little research and, though it occurs in most babies around the age of 4-7 months, it CAN occur in as early as 10 week.

BINGO.
We have a winner!

The symptoms most likely to trouble a teether include:

Drooling... which can lead to a facial rash. (Check)
Irritability or fussiness (Double-check)
Biting behavior - putting fist in mouth (Check)
Refusing food (umm... not so much)
Sleep problems (CHECK!!!!)
Gum swelling and sensitivity (Yep... we see broken skin along the gum line) :(

Daddies Daylight Savings Time...

I don't know about you guys, but this "daddies daylight savings time" change is kicking our butts. It's disrupted Kensington's scheduled naps, feedings, and bedtime... and when those are disturbed, our sleep schedules get out-of-whack.

Chris had to go into the office this morning (he works from home 4 days a week). When this happens, I make sure to cover the night shifts so he can get a good nights sleep because he's up at 5am and out the door by 5:45-6.

So yesterday I tried giving her her naps a half hour early, which would make them really a half hour later (I think... I'm still sleep deprived so I may not be making any sense here). Kensington didn't like that at all... and I paid the price. At 9 pm I gave her a feeding and put her to bed. Then I stayed up until 11:30 (big mistake). She was up at 2. So after another feeding, and about 45 minutes of rocking her back and forth, I thought I got her to sleep. Once I got into bed, she talked to herself for about 30 minutes which kept me up (darn monitor).

At 4:30, there was a thud on the bed. It was Miss Gossip... the cat. She always make a noise when she jumps up.... it could be the effort and force it takes to get her 80lbs body on the bed. Okay... i exaggerate a bit. She's only 60lbs. :)

She waddles up to me and kisses my face and meows. Now... if I would have gotten enough sleep, I would have known it was Gossip. When my mind lead me to was nowhere near reality. I thought it was Kensington. These words honestly came out of my mouth, "Kensi, how did you get out of your crib? You're going to hurt yourself by jumping out of it." All I got was a meow. (Seriously, if you were Gossip, what would you have said?) "I just fed you". Another meow. "Okay baby girl... let's get you another bottle." I lifted her over my shoulder and walked down stairs into the kitchen and proceeded to make a bottle. Mind you... I left my glasses on my night stand. Not that I'm using that as an excuse not to be able to tell the difference between my daughter and my cat, but it should count for SOMETHING.

For those of you that know Gossip, you know she'd normally never stay on my shoulder for long, but with formula just inches away from her, she'd pretend to be the Gerber Baby if it would help her case.

After the bottle is made, I head back upstairs into the Nursery and put Kensi/Gossip on the changing pad. Kensi jumps off to the floor and out the door. That's the moment when I realized something was wrong. Yes folks... it took me that long.

I ended up giving Kensington half the bottle and went back to bed. Kensi stayed sleeping until 8... and so did I.

Wow... what a rough night. Let's hope Duncan doesn't jump on the bed tonight and I try to put a diaper on him.

Next Calvin Klein Model

Take a picture...

it will last longer.
With the weather being 34 degrees today, we can't believe we had one enjoyable day this past week with weather being 70... yes, that's right. It hit 70 on Saturday. So, Chris and I did what any other couple would do when they've been couped up in the house for a couple days - - road trip. We headed to the outlets (smile). While the pictures don't show it, there literally had to be THOUSANDS of individuals at the outlets. Some stores had so many people in it, we decided not to even attempt it with Kensington and a stroller.

When we first arrived, Chris and I instantly noticed that we were turning heads. Two guys... a baby. Even though it's 2009, I guess it's still not a sight people see everywhere they go. Every store we went into, people stared and bumped into clothing racks because they we were not watching where they were walking. Hillarious.

Oh... and the saying is ABSOLUTELY true... baby's are a chick magnet. Too bad I'm not in college anymore (Sorry mom... I had to say that!) :)

Banana was great... but so packed Chris had to sit on the sidelines with Kensington while I did the shopping, and at Kenneth Cole, they showed us a corner that the stroller would fit in so we could go shopping (I'm kidding... one of us would shop while the other would stay with her). Ton's of stiff at 'Osh Gosh, Children's Palace and Ralph Lauren Kid's.

Kensington, of course, spit up on me while she was in her baby bjorn... but what better place to have it happen than French Connection UK. New shirt for me. I'm kinda getting the hang of this :)

Everyday is an adventure...

with Kensington Grace.

Whether it's lounging and laughing on the couch, coo'ing in her swing, having story time in her rocker or tummy time in her explorer gym, there is never really a dull moment in this house. Kensington is now smiling... A LOT - which is the most precious thing ever. I took these photo's the other day and have tons more of her grinning ear to ear.

I got bored last night (again, too much caffeine to allow me to get any real sleep) and decided to create a new digital page. I used pieces from It's Child's Play created by cre@bisontine.

Easter... 2010

While in New York, Chris and I came upon the most precious Easter Dress from Rare Editions. The only thing is, Kensington's Mazha and Fazha bought her a dress for this year already... so we bought it for Easter 2010. Come on... just look at it. We had to buy it. If it was up to me, we would have bought one for Easter 2011, 2012, and 2013.

Calling all brides...

if you're in need of a flower girl, we gotcha covered.

Vaccination time...

This past week, Kensington received her first round of vaccination shots. While I won't go into the details of the visit, I will say that it pained me to see her cry - and bleed a little - after getting two shots (one in each leg). At the visit, they also weighed and measured our little chickpea, and sh'es growing up so fast. She's now weighing in at 10lbs, 12oz and is 22 inches long.

She sleep for almost 2 days straight after getting her shots. While we would NEVER complain about her sleeping, we don't want her sleeping because of chemicals in her body :(

The doctor told us to watch her left leg, the one that got the TDap shot (the one that made me whine like a baby for three days when I got it in December), for any swelling or pain, and if needed to give her some Tylenol. The good thing was, while it bruised a little, she was showing no signs of swelling or discomfort. Not looking forward to going through this again next month.

Fatherhood Friday Foto Fiasco II winner announced...

Chris and I have been having an absolute blast reading all of the comments for this weeks Fatherhood Friday Foto Fiasco entry. Between the blog, facebook, text massages and emails, we've received 47 comments. Wow! It was tough this week to determine a winner as Chris and I had different opinions (what's new). What it all came down to was the voters choice. Yes, that's right. You all decided with your comments. So this week I'd like to give an Honorable Mention to Andrew's Daddies who came up with "Daddy?..I think I Ducked Up!". When I saw my blackberry light going off at 11:40pm, I checked it (because, even though I needed and wanted sleep, it just wasn't happening - too much caffeine in me) I started laughing out loud, which caused Chris to wake up and ask me what was so funny. When I shared it with him, his response was, "Wow... that's my favorite", and then rolled back over and continued snoring (that's the story of my life).

But... do to the overwhelming response from people who loved a certain caption... which spun (no pun intended) off numerous other themed comments, This Weeks Winner is - once again - Bella Daddy with "Spidey Duck, Spidey Duck, does whatever a Spidey Duck does..." So go check out Mr. Ghetto Fabulous in his Ed Hardy jeans and give him some mad props for this weeks contribution. Way to go...

Delayed Valentines Day Pics...

Now that Kensington is starting to get out of the house more, we haven't been as diligent to post pictures of her and her adventures as much as we use to. My bad. When transferring over our pictures fro the camera to the external drive, I noticed the pictures from Valentines weekend didn't get uploaded onto the site. Well, here they are. Hope you enjoy :)

These are from our dinner outing at Rudy & Jorge's. Here are there gorgeous kids - Christina, Frankie and Bennie.

Kensington is loving laying on Jorge. Come on guys... go for a fourth :)

Unfortunately, we had to call it an early night and we left the diaper bag next to the garage door and didn't notice until we were getting out of the truck. I now have the 'prop list' taped to the door to ensure that everything is packed before our next outing.

These are from the next morning when MaryCay, Mollie and Meggy came over. For those new to the site, visit here to get a recap of the fabulous M2 adventures.

Fatherhood Friday Foto Fiasco II

Thank you for joining in the second installment of our Fatherhood Friday Foto Fiasco.

So, for our part in Dad-Blogs Fatherhood Friday's, we're posting pictures of other peoples children (only because Saturday through Thursday we post of our own - ha ha ha) , and we're looking for your comments/captions. Why? Because you can be crowned the week's winner for best caption. What do you get? Praise. Laughs. Golf Claps. A virtual pat on your back. Oh... and a web badge that you can proudly display on your blog :)

You don't have to be a member of Dad-Blogs to participate...

Here we go:

Yum-Yum... Say Chee-eee-se!

[okay... I'm a couple days behind on blog posting - and sleeping - so hopefully I can catch up a little tonight while Chris gives Kensinton a bath]

Today, Kensi went to get her first set of pictures taken. I wish we had them to share with you... but we don't. I didn't get a proof/contact sheet of the prints we ordered, only the ones we didn't (didn't make sense. I guess it's in case I change my mind once I got home they wanted me to know what we were missing!?!?!?)

So, being that it was a Wednesday, and the place is cutting back hours/staff, they only had one employee working... no biggie. I was early so I got Kensington ready (stripped her out of her diaper so the imprints around the waist and legs would go away...), and begged her not to pee on me. I lightly placed a diaper around her and swaddled her up, and that little stinker pee'd thirty second later. So I changed her again and begged her not to pee on me, or any of the props they'd soon lay her on.

The photographer came out and asked what we wanted to do and my hurried comment was, "Let's take the bare photos now and then we can talk. With her track record, she's gonna explode on us any second now... "

These were the bare ones we didn't get:

Then the phone rang and the photographer apologized and explained that she needed to get the call. "No problem". Well, apparently Kensington had an issue with this because she spit up formula all over the black velvet backdrop. I was MORTIFIED! I'm rummaging through the diaper bag looking for wipes and trying to get everything cleaned up before the photographer came back in. Then I'm trying to re-arrange the velvet... it wasn't a pretty sight. But thankfully, I got everything taken care of before she came back in.

Then it was time for her "yum-yum" oriental dress.

All went well with this set... and then on to her purple and white knit outfit.

After all of the shots were taken, it was time to get Kensi settle in the stroller and she fell asleep before I could even change her. The photographer deleted all of the "bad" pictures and left me with about 20 to choose from. She then spent the next 15-20 minutes adding borders, text, playing with the color and tones of the prints. Each of these options would have been an additional $10-$35 per print. She then put together a 10x10 colliage with her name in it - $80, and then a tri-fold picture - $120. All of this was a waste of time... these things I could do from home. I just want the prints and the CD and I'll be on my way, thank you. Then I saw the price of the CD with High-res picture. Um... I'll scan them in :)

The pictures will be ready in two weeks... and we can't wait!

The one dissapointment of the day was that the apparently the photographer didn't like any of the bare bear pictures (I brought the bear that our cousin Brayden gave her before she was born) and deleted them. I tried taking some of my own a couple weeks ago and they didn't turn out good at all. Looks like we're going to have to go back for more pics :)