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Today I took Kayden to her first Gymboree class. While we were away on vacation in Virginia, Maica signed Eli up for Gymboree and raved about the class. So today Maica and I packed up the kids and headed up to San Clemente for Kayden’s first class! The instructor, unfortunately, was a man and instantly set off Kayden’s stranger danger. We really thought she was getting over it, but I guess not! He was really great at keeping his distance and always including Kayden in on the activities, even though she was a little fussy. There were 6 other kiddos in the class and each child was at a different place developmentally. There was a walker, a few toddlers, and some crawlers. Kayden, I am proud to say, was the only scooter!! One of the other moms told me that her daughter started Gymboree class at 13 months and also was not yet a crawler. Now her daugher, Eva, is all over the place! The mommies and babies in the class were so great, I can’t wait to go back!! We had such a great day at class singing, scooting, blowing bubbles, and playing with the parachute!! Thanks Maica for the recommendation, and you’re welcome for the $25 waiver on your next month’s fee!

I forgot my camera at home and my phone in the car. Luckily Maica had her phone to take pictures. Here is just a glimpse at all the fun we had!

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You know, it really is too bad that Kayden doesn’t have many toys to play with in her own home!

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My little princess has finally found it in her to get moving! No, she’s not walking. No, she’s not crawling. Yes, she’s scooting!! Kayden has perfected the art of scootching across the floor on her butt. She started this in Virginia and hasn’t stopped moving since. It’s funny to see what her motivating objects are. In Virginia she seemed to like going after leaves and flowers on the patio. At home she really gets going to for the dog water and the rocks in the tree. She also loves when the doors are open. She’ll scoot to the doors and hang her legs over the edge. I just know that we are on our way to crawling and hopefully walking too! I know everyone says I am crazy to be excited over a moving child, but at 13 months I think it’s time to get going!!

Here is Kayden scooting around to find some tys!

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And here she is playing with rocks.

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Scotty, Kayden, and I have been in Virginia for about a week and a half now and boy have we been busy! Kelly and her boys have been here with us for most of the trip and it has been so great because they keep their Uncle Scotty very busy! Here are our highlights:

We have really spent some quality time in the lake this visit. Nam and Papa have a huge trampoline that is fun to lay out on or play King of the Mountain on (I watch safely from the boat!). The water has been around 80 degrees so even I got in the water a few times!  Ian and Scotty are such water bugs, and they just love floating on the noodles. Jake is usually busy giving Nam a stress attack by doing flips off the side of the boat. If Kelly isn’t playing KIng Queen of the Mountain, she’s soaking up the sun on a raft. Kayden enjoys swimming with her daddy on her turtle float. And Papa has really impressed me with all the water activities he not only participates in, but comes up with! We have enjoyed many hours just hanging out in the water!

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After a swim in the lake, Kayden cleans up in her pool.

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“Slow Boat Surfing” has been a big hit this trip as well. Nam and Papa have a pontoon boat that is battery operated, so the speed (or lack there of) is a nice little put-put. The boys (and Kelly) all got up on the ‘waves’ and had a great time!

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Yesterday Papa, Jake, Ian, Scotty, and Kelly went white water rafting. They went on the course rated 1-3, so it was pretty mild, but Scotty still managed to fall out of the boat!

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And one of our favorite things to do is take a night cruise. We usually head down to the boat after dinner and enjoy that last minute sun. One night, however, Scotty suggested we all go out on a mid-night cruise. No one is tough enough to wait up until mid-night, so they headed out when the sun dipped below the horizon, around nine o’clock. I decided to skip the cruise and enjoy a bowl of ice cream and watch my one (and ONLY) reality TV show (yes, I am having withdrawals thanks for you concern!). From the stories I heard when they returned, it sounded like it was a good time!

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So far we are having a great time! On Tuesday we are headed to Baltimore for the business trip Scotty has that extended our stay. 🙂

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Taking a baby on an airplane should be illegal. Scotty and I are presently in Virginia visiting his family. We opted for a direct flight in order to make the trip as short as possible. We figured Kayden would take her afternoon nap and honestly only dreaded take off and landing because of the anticipated popping ears. Well, what we really should have been dreading was the ENTIRE flight! We decided to bring her car seat on to the plane because she had her own seat. Our hope was that she would sleep in her car seat for at least some of the flight… WRONG! She was awake the whole flight and the car seat ended up taking up a seat and a half! Not only was she awake the whole flight, but she never went into her intrusive car seat! She was happy for most of the flight, but she definitely had her moments. She would scream randomly when we didn’t get her treats fast enough or if she couldn’t figure out the iPad- apparently it’s her iPad now! For the entire flight Scotty and I both worked tirelessly to keep our child entertained. Luckily we were surrounded by grandparents that just thought Kayden was the cutest thing. I have been dreading our return flight since we picked up our bags at the baggage claim!!

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This picture was taken right before take off. As we were taxiing, the flight attendant told us that we could not be seated in the row behind the exit row. So we had to switch seats (which included a HUGE car seat and all of our unpacked treats, toys, books, shoes, blankets, bottles, etc.) and literally a minute after we buckled into our new seats, we took off!

We have been having a great time in Virginia. I will post more pics soon!

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Pool time is a definite treat!!

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On Saturday we had Kayden’s first birthday party. Mimi (and Grampy), generously offered to have the party at their house. My mom has an amazing gift for hosting parties. I can remember her always hosting birthday parties for all the kids in our extended family. She just loves to have family and friends over to celebrate! Mimi, you did such a fantastic job on Kayden’s party! Your attention to detail is something to be admired. Grampy, thank you for barbequing and making homemade fries! Kayden sure did enjoy her first hotdog!! Uncle Jer and Auntie Katrina, thank you so much for buying the extra special cupcakes specially designed to match the theme of the party! Kayden is so blessed to have a family that loves her and is willing to go the extra mile to make every holiday special. I don’t think I can say thank you enough for everything you all did to make my daughter’s first birthday truly amazing! THANK YOU!

Here is the amazing set up:

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It’s time to get dressed for the party!

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Finally, the guests arrive!

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There really were a lot more people there… I clearly was not in charge of the camera… SCOTTY!!

Now, it’s time for Kayden’s first (cup)cake!!

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Yeah, I think she enjoyed the cupcake!!

We tried to get all the kids together for a nice little photo shoot. Yeah right!! Eli wanted to climb off the side of the couch. Reese just wanted to kiss her sister. Addison, surprisingly just sat there and took it all in! And Kayden… well she was fine posing until she heard a loud noise!

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It’s her party and she’ll cry if she wants to!!

All in all, the day went so great! Kayden did well with all of the ‘strangers’ and the late nap. The guests seemed like they all had a great time. And Scotty and I got to show off our little princess! Congratulations Kayden on turning 1!! We love you!

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