Joy in Life's Imperfections

I had scheduled an outdoor  holiday family photo shoot early in December, but due to the absolutely frrrreeezing weather we had to cancel. I had intentions of using the images for our holiday cards. We have a pretty nice camera so I thought, "Hey, I will just do it myself." Well, Shelby was having no part in it. At the time, I was really frustrated and nixed holiday cards all together. By the time I finally uploaded all the images, I could truly see how funny they are. So without further adieu - Merry Christmas from the Schenk family :)

She even tried to call the whole thing off and go inside:

And a few without tears and terror....

Santa Run!

Several weeks ago, Shelby and I were accompanied by our neighbors, some friends and several thousand fellow Santas in the annual Great Santa Run benefiting local charity, Opportunity Village. Jack was going to participate too, but he ended up having to work. There are litterally thousands of people dressed as Santa, taking part in either a 5k or 1 mile run/walk. So much fun and so much chaos....and you better not lose the people you came with because it's like a real life game of Where's Waldo. Despite it being about 25 degrees (not kidding), we had a great time!

A New Day

Shelby started a new school this week. So far, so good.  The choice to move her was a tough one for us, but in our heart of hearts, we knew it had to happen. As much as Jack, Shelby and I loved all her dear friends, we were unsatisfied with a few other aspects of the previous school. Her new school is literally around the corner, so there is not much change in the drive time. This place includes meals though, so that is a HUGE time and money saver for me. If I choose to send something special with her, that is acceptable, but for now, I think it's a good exercise in expanding what she eats.

This is Shelby all set to run out the door on day one for school:

 We found this on the door of her classroom on the first day:

And they sent this home with her on her second day:

So far, the reports they send home each day have been much more comprehensive and consistant. My favorite part is the "What I enjoyed today" section. To date, these have been her highlights...

• Day 1: Dancing with Baby
• Day 2: Balanced Bean Bag on my Head
• Day 3: Texture Art, Transportation exploration
• Day 4: Brown paper/Brown crayon coloring, sorting my color

Also, she is doing GREAT with the potty. I am now only buying pull ups. She goes #1 now, almost without fail but still #2's the majority of the time in her britches. It's funny though, because when she started using the potty, she would only go for #2. Anyway, TMI - I know :)

Here's to new beginnings and new adventures!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving has become one of my most anticipated holidays. Because both our families are away, we agreed it's too much (stress, money, vacation days, etc.) to travel for both Christmas and Thanksgiving, so we've opted to make Thanksgiving our own. Best decision ever. We look forward to it each year, aim to top the previous year's affair and have made many memories along the way. This year we did a first-ever fried turkey and hosted Jack's parents for the first time. My neighbor also coordinated a turkey trot on Thanksgiving morning too, so that was lots of fun! Below is a mix of photos from the weekend. Turkey trottin', feasting, Bellagio, Ethel M - we were busy!

TRUCKS!

The City of Henderson hosted the first ever "Stroll & Stride" a few weeks ago.  Essentially the city closed down a major road that connects three large parks, so people could walk, bike, stroll, etc as they pleased. To augment the atmosphere they had bands, bounce houses, fire trucks and more!

Shelby was enamored with the big trucks, so we stopped by so Shelby could take a look and flirt with the firefighters. Hey, I don't think I have ever even been inside a fire truck before!!

Zip Trip to Connecticut

A few weeks ago I had a last minute trip to Connecticut. When I mean last minute, I mean LAST minute. I got a call to go on Tuesday at about 11 am, by 1pm the trip was booked and by the next night  - I was on the plane and on my way! Thank goodness for Jack being such a supportive husband and my friend Jennifer being so willing to help out!  IGT partnered with a huge tribal property in the area, so I came out to support with product launch with PR efforts.

I had never been to CT before, but it was just as I expected....cold, quiet, quaint, colorful and heavily wooded. I literally had about 3 hours of free time for the whole trip, but I wanted to do something fun and make the most of the opportunity. Since my mom and brother love American literature, I decided to carve out an hour and visit Mark Twain's house. It was dubbed the top attraction in Hartford on TripAdvisor.com and it was relatively on the way. The tour was interesting and the grounds were stunning. They even had a Mark Twain made of Legos in the gift shop!

The hotel/casino that I was at was called Mohegan Sun. Because it is on an Indian Reservation, it is pretty remote, but HUGE and very very nice. It is right along a river - this was a view from my room.

Next stop, London England!

18 Month Well Check

As usual, I was a few weeks late, but last week we took Shelby in for her 18 month "well check" appointment. Here are the stats....

• Height: 34.75" inches, 95%
• Weight: 26 lbs, 70%
• Head: 45.5 cm, 20%
• 4 teeth coming in (finally)
• 2 shots - polio and flu - she was due for FIVE, but with a lowered immune system from teethng and Thanksgiving the following week, I went conservative with just two.
  
  
  
  
  The doctor did not comment on her knock knees, so either her cute little boots have been working, or she is simply growing out of it - which is likely. The doctor did comment on how much she talks, mentioning it seems like she says three to four times as many words as most kids her age. I would believe it....she is my little parrot these days. As usual, we were in the waiting room FOREVER so I had to give her a little snack :)
  
  
  The doctor was shocked when I told her that she uses the potty, but I SWEAR she has taught herself! She went at least four or five times a day over the holiday! She doesn't get it right every time, but she is well on her way!
  
  
  Loves: Babies, Elmo, Outside, Walks, Swings, Puppies
  Dislikes: Bugs, Loud Noises, Dark
  Favorite Foods: Watermelon, beans, rice, blueberries, crackers and "snacks!" which is that little squeezy in the picture
  
  
  Hard to believe she is on her way to being two! Even harder to believe that I need to start planning her 2nd birthday extravaganza!!

Slow Down!!

I had to leave town for a couple days for a quick work trip and I swear, when I came back, Shelby had a whole new big-girl vocabulary! In reality, I am sure these are things she has said before, but in the 48 hours I have been back, I have heard quite a few, new, 2-syllable words come out of her sweet little mouth. Honestly, I feel like she can communicate almost anything that she wants or needs - it blows my mind.

• Zipper
• Earring
• Dirty
• Sleepy
• Maggie (our neighbor's dog)
• Remote (previously - 'mote')

I know I am missing a few, but you get the point. She amazes me everyday and warning - the Schenk house is a swear free zone - my little parrot is in full effect!

Her new favorite phrase: "want it" or "I want." That is all fine and dandy, but I am trying to work in an Excuse Me and a Thank You in there too :)

Good Morning Las Vegas!

I would say that I am a morning person and always have been, but when it comes to morning spunk, this little fireball has me beat. This is a very familiar scene at our house almost every morning while I am getting ready for work :)

BuGGgGgG

If you visit the Schenk house right now, it's likely you will hear Shelby talk about "Bugs!" It started overnight....I put a poster up in her room with four small frogs but to a toddler, they look like bugs! The moment the poster went up she started blurting out "bug," "scary," owwwie." Hilarious, cute and sad all at once. Ever since that moment, everything is a bug and deserves careful examination and often an approval from Daddy - lent, leaves, flies, insects - they're all BUGS!

Case in point....

All Packed Up

Today I closed another baby chapter. I packed up the Pack 'n Play. The little play-yard has been in our bedroom since before Shelby was born. There for a while, we would put it downstairs on the weekends, but for the most part it has stayed in our room.  For the last several month it has mostly served as a toy box though, housing a half dozen or so random toy and on rare-occasions has served (sadly) as a clothing rack :) I think I kept it up because I liked the notion of having an area where I could corral Shelby if needed, but let's be honest - she has no interest in hanging out in there.

I am confident that she'll still sleep in there while we travel for a bit longer....sure hope so anyway!

A trip down pack 'n play memory lane:

My Miss Piggy

Between Jack and I, we must have looked at a couple hundred Halloween costumes. We realize the window of time when we can choose a sweet costume for Shelby is narrowing. I would imagine by next year, and certainly the following year, she will have quite an opinion about what she wears.

Our next door neighbor is a photographer and specializes in families and small children. I shot her a text and she did a "mini session" with us for a reasonable price in our neighborhood. Shelby was tired, so there are not too many smiles, but I just love these just the same - especially the first one:

Sometimes....

You just feel like eating yogurt for breakfast. Especially on the morning you turn 18 months. I love every photo of the bunch - all similar yet so different. Happy 1.5 years baby girl.

A Pod Tradition

For the fourth consecutive year, we got together with our neighbors for our Pod Halloween, Pumpkin Carving Party.  We actually had a "babysitter" come over to the house for Shelby, so Jack and I could enjoy together for a few hours. I use quotes there becuase Shelby just snoozes upstrairs while she watched TV:)

I think the photos speak for themselves. Jack made a visually stunning and totally yummy drink for everyone. It was so much fun!