Look Out World, She's Mobile

It's that time again, to go over the entire apartment looking for possible chocking and strangulation hazards. Our Mylie is finally moving. This task was a lot easier with one child because now Hunter and Kora contribute to the floor clutter. The funny thing is Hunter and Kora each started sitting at 5 months. Mylie has just started sitting and is still a little wobbly. Because she was a little slower at sitting than her siblings I thought for sure she wouldn't start crawling until later. Hunter started crawling at 6 and a half months and Kora started crawling at 6 months. It looks like Mylie is back on track. Although, I was hoping she wouldn't crawl until a lot later. Life is so much easier when they just sit there but it is fun to watch them develop, learn and explore.


The picture on the right is of Mylie sitting. She HATES sitting. She can do it, as you can see but if you sit her down she'll scream and then scream some more until you either pick her up or lay her on the ground. She's a funny baby but she sure knows what she does and doesn't like. I'm sure that when she realizes how much more she can see and do from this new position she will love it.

Kora's "2" at Last

Our sweet little Kora is finally 2 years old. The last few weeks we had been trying to hype up her birthday in hopes of getting her excited for the big day. We would tell her that she's going to be 2 and we are going to have a party but I think she's still too young to realize what that means. I let her pick out the party decorations, she chose Mickey Mouse, yet it still never dawned on her that we were having a party just for her. I think Hunter was more excited anticipating Kora's special day than she was. Nevertheless, the day has finally come. We had a nice small little family party, missing the family out of state and on vacation, but we had an enjoyable time with those that were able to share the day with us.

Among the presents Kora received she got a Little Mermaid push cart rider and happily drove it around the family room and kitchen. The seat lifts up and she stores her sunglasses in it. She would pull them out of the seat, put them on, sit on her cart and then do a cute little wave. I was trying to get a picture of her waving but for some reason kids refuse to be cooperative when it's forced. I guess that's why you need to have the camera ready at all times. I'm sure Kelly's favorite part of this new toy was when she picked it up and threw it on his foot while she was trying to turn it around.

By the way, yes, Kora's glasses are upside down. I guess she prefers them that way. As Kora opened her presents she started handing out the clothes saying, "this one's for Great-Grandpa, this one's for Kristin, this one's for Grandma..." It was nice of her to choose the teal shirt for Great-Grandpa because I don't think the purple skirt would have went very well with his shirt.
I can't believe she's 2 years old. I still remember the day she was born and how a dog named Joy put me into labor. Since I was so determined to have her on the 26th I waited the entire day to go to the hospital, certain they would send me home. Well, I still say they would have if the nurse hadn't purposefully broke my water. I guess she was ready to come and we were happy to have her. Happy 2nd Birthday Kora, We Love You!

What Happened to Cooing?

Mylie has finally started talking. She likes to say "Ba, Ba, Ba, Ba" and "Da, Da, Da" but I don't recall Hunter or Kora ever screeching. At first I thought she was crying...then when I looked at the big smile on her face I knew she was actually just talking. It is so loud that I miss the days of the cute babbling and coos. I sure hope this stage goes by fast. I guess all I can say to this is, at least she's not crying!

Also wanted to share that while I am writing this, Hunter is taking a nap on the kitchen chairs. He was eating his dinner and the last time we checked on him he was sleeping. I guess he's done eating.

...and Kora is doing puzzles. Hunter and Kora's latest favorite thing to do is puzzles. We have about 4 of them and they just love putting them together then dumping it out to do it again.

Spousal Tag - Kelly's Answers

1. Her full name? Nicole Puanani Kerr
2. How long have you been together? Married 6 years.
3. How long did you date? 1 year.
4. How old is she? 29.
5. Who eats more? Me, by far.
6. Who said "I Love You" first? Nicole, very quickly after we started dating.
7. Who is taller? Me.
8. Who sings better? Nicole. Her voice is much nicer to listen to.
9. Who is smarter? Nicole is as smart, if not smarter, as me in most areas, except sports. I still tell her after all these years that in baseball, we count the score in runs, not points.
10. Who does the laundry? Nicole. I did my share of laundry on my mission.
11. Who pays the bills? Me. I figure I should put my education to use at home, too.
12. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me. This is because she was scared to sleep closer to our stairs in our first apartment. Strangers, robbers, ghosts... whatever could get her. She figured if they got me first, it would give her time to escape.
13. Who mows the lawn? The gardeners in our complex. Hunter and Kora do a pretty good job of keeping the grass short when they play outside, though.
14. Who cooks dinner? Nicole. I did my share of cooking on my mission.
15. Who drives? We both do. She can't stand it when I drive, and I can't stand it when she drives. In the end, we both lose.
16. Who kissed whom first? Me. I was told by an unnamed source that she was ready for me to take her hand and kiss her; but try to do that when your future spouse constantly has her arms folded and doesn't seem to be interested.
17. Who's more stubborn? Me, absolutely.
18. Who asked whom out first? Me, to a baseball game. When she said yes, I figured that was a good thing because of my affinity for baseball and other sports.
19. Who proposed? Me. I was scared she would say no, so I drove around for a while thinking about what would happen if she said no. I figured that Yang Chow's would taste better if she said yes...and I was hungry, so I asked her.
20. Who has more friends? Nicole. I have only one true friend, whom I miss.
21. Who is more sensitive? Nicole.
22. Who has more siblings? Me: 1 brother, 2 sisters.
23. Who wears the pants? Me, but only by defferal. We try to make decisions together.

6 Happy Years and More to Come

I am not very good at doing tags but I thought that because today is our 6th anniversary I thought it would be fun to do the Spouse tag. Our dating years were a little wacky and took awhile to get started but as a married couple we fit each other perfectly. I love everything about him. He makes my life complete. He's a wonderful Daddy and a great Husband. Sometimes he'll tell me that he's lucky to have me as his wife but he doesn't realize that I'm the lucky one to be married to him. Not very many men are willing to support their wives 100%. No matter what the situation and what we have to do to make that work. This statement applies to all situations but it especially applies to work. He is willing to work so that I don't have to. Because of this, I am able to stay home with our children. He always puts his family first and I know with all my heart that he loves me and our children. After a hard day at work he'll come home and play with the kids and then gets on the computer to spend a few hours doing homework. We are lucky that he tries as hard as he does, for us. Everything that he does is for his family. He is a wonderful husband, provider and friend. I'm so glad that we found each other. He is more than I ever wanted. I look forward to the many more years (decades)we will spend together. If they will be anything like the first 6 years then I will surely die a happy woman. Happy 6th Anniversary Kelly, I love you!

1. His full name? Kelly John Kerr

2. How long have you been married? 6 years

3. How long did you date? 1 year, 2 weeks

4. How old is he? 28

5. Who eats more? humm...Kelly, but I could probably hold my own

6. Who said "I Love You" first? I think I did and he said "Thank You". Not the response I was looking for. Later he told me he meant thank you for telling him but still not really the answer I was looking for.

7. Who is taller? Kelly

8. Who sings better? Kelly, but he'll never admit it. I love it when he sings.

9. Who is smarter? Kelly is absolutely brilliant. I was born a brunette but deep down I'm a blonde at heart.

10. Who does the laundry? I do, but Kelly could if he needed to.

11. Who pays the bills? Kelly, after all, he is an accountant

12. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does when we are laying down

13. Who mows the lawn? Wish we had one. I love to mow so I hope I get the honors when we do have one. Great exercise you burn 300 calories an hour.

14. Who cooks dinner? I do, but Kelly can cook a mean meal when given the chance.

15. Who drives? He does and I close my eyes the whole time. When I drive he does the same.

16. Who kissed whom first? Kelly, about a month and a half after our first date in the driveway of my parents house. We both liked each other but were too shy to take the first step.

17. Who's more stubborn? Kelly is "more stubborn" but I'm a close second.

18. Who asked whom out first? Kelly asked me out after a single adult fireside.

19. Who proposed? Kelly. He asked on a hill top in Chino Hills at night over looking the city. Earlier that day he called me and asked if I wanted to go to the park and walk around. We had never done that before so I thought it would be fun. When he picked me up he looked agitated and said it was too dark to go walking in a park. We proceeded to drive around aimlessly for about 30 minutes and then pulled into a housing area that had a great view. He got out of the car and walked over to my door opened it, let me out then got on his knee and asked. Afterwards we went to Yang Chows for dinner then later saw the movie Mothman Prophecies.

20. Who has more friends? Not sure

21. Who is more sensitive? Me, there is absolutely no question about it.

22. Who has more siblings? Kelly, 1 brother and 2 sisters

23. Who wears the pants? Kelly and he looks so cute in them too!

Where You'll Find Us

We have added a new ritual to our daily routine. Once Kelly gets home from work we eat dinner then head to the pool. Last summer I would take the kids swimming during the day and the kids loved it. When you have 2 kids and 2 arms it works quite nice. Now that we have 3 kids and 2 arms it just doesn't seem to work as well. Especially with Miss Daredevil Kora who doesn't care if she can't swim or care if someone is in the pool to watch her or not. She has perfect faith that when she goes in and sinks that someone is going to save her. Thank goodness this has been true so far. Because of this we wait until Daddy gets home, 4 arms and 4 eyes work better with 3 kids. At first we tried the arm floaties with Kora, unfortunately the parent watching her didn't enjoy much because she kept going under. The constant fear of her drowning made it hard to relax. She refuses to stay close to the steps and actually tells us to "GO!" if we get close to her in order to save her. I finally remembered the life jacket I purchased a few years ago for the Kerr family houseboat trip and life is good. Kora can be Miss Independent and Miss Daredevil and Kelly and I can enjoy our swim. We also went the extra mile and put arm floaties on her so she can stay upright. Last night when we put her arm floaties on she was so anxious to go swimming she didn't wait for Kelly to finish putting both floaties on. After Kelly put one on she dove in. The life vest flipped her onto her back and with only one floatie on she couldn't pull herself up. She was screaming and kicking and flailing her arms which made her spin in a circle. We knew she was safe so we started laughing. Eventually she stopped kicking and let Kelly finish putting the other floatie on. I think anyone walking by might see her and call us over cautious but seriously, first, they don't know her and second my kids lives are more important than how silly they may look! Honestly, with a smile like that she'll never look silly and I think she looks darn cute in her head to toe fluorescent orange swim gear.

As for Hunter, he has kept his promise. When that kid tells you he's going to swim and jump in the pool when he turns 4, then he is going to swim and jump in the pool when he turns 4. You would have never thought it possible a month ago. He would scream in terror when Kelly and I took him to the middle of the pool. His idea of swimming was walking on the steps. The arm floaties have given him confidence and allowed him to keep his promise to swim when he turned 4. I had been searching for those arm floaties for weeks. I found some at Target but because they had the Speedo name on them they were almost $8. After nearly giving up I went to the seasonal section at our grocery store (Winco) and found them for 88 cents. I'm so glad we found them because I would guess that Hunter would still be swimming on the steps if we hadn't.

So, next time you try to call and we don't answer we're probably at the pool and thanks to the life vest you may even find us at the pool during the day too!

4 on the 4th

Hunter turned the big 4 on the 4th. He has been talking about his "Transformers" Birthday for months and it has finally come with as much anticipation as a 3 year old could possess. He has been telling everyone that when he turns 4 he can shower, jump into the pool and swim all by himself. Well, he's 4 now and he hasn't accomplished any of his goals as of yet but we're working on them.

In case you can't tell or just don't know his cake was Optimus Prime the good guy Transformer leader. The cake wasn't perfect but it was sweet when Hunter woke up and Kelly took him down stairs to see the cake and he came upstairs and thanked me for his cake. It made the 5 hours it took to make well worth it. I wish it would have looked better but when the birthday boy is happy and thrilled with it, I'm happy.

Hunter's birthday was small and simple. Just how us K Kerr's like it. Hunter is pretty fortunate because his birthday falls on a holiday it is easier for out of town family to come and visit...although also bad because California Family go out of town and may not be here. We had the pleasure to have Lisa, Bryce and Lisa's Mom, Karen visit as well as Jodie, Taylor and Mason and a special last minute surprise visit from Stevie and Seema. I only wish I had taken my camera out sooner to take pictures of everyone. It was a nice day spent with family and NO FIREWORKS. For all of you who know our little 4th of July baby he is scared to death of fireworks so after the party was done we went home and played Hunter's newest video game, Mario Kart.

Quick Funny story: Kelly and Gene tried all day to get the water slide set up and working. They found numerous holes and patched them up. After they patched up a hole they would let it set and then turn the slide back on only to have it not fully inflate. Hours later and after several people already left Gene thought he would put the hose on the slide to see if he could see any bubbles. Next thing we know the slide is filling up with air. I guess the water plugged up the holes. Who would have guessed? The kids got to use the slide and had a blast going from warm spa to slide and back...again, and again and again. Fun Day!

Hunter with his Cousins Bryson and Taylor

Great-Grandpa and Kora Swimming in the Spa

Mason riding the whale. This kid is such a hoot.

Mylie and Nani

Kora (her eye looks so much better)

Grandma & Grandpa with Mylie

Hunter braving the water slide

As a final statement aside from Hunter's Birthday I would like to add how grateful I am to live in this country and for all the freedoms we have because of our servicemen. I am so thankful for the sacrifices they have given so that we are able to celebrate our freedom and live the way that we do. Thank You to all the servicemen and their families because I know that the families sacrifice almost just as much.

Happy Belated 4th of July!