Let it snow!

Ok So I do realize it has been like 2 months since I posted something I really don't need the constant reminders. But we have been busy. So first off Thanksgiving was wonderful and December so far has been Great! I personally love the snow! I know I should bite my tongue since it is my husband who has to avoid crashing every day driving to work at 4 am. But I secretely love every inch I'm also very happy that the forcast has yet again changed and the idea of snow on Christmas has got me shivering with excitment. Although we have not spent much time out in the beautiful stuff I think tomorrow I might take Keiani out again and try to get her to enjoy the white "icky" stuff. Thats what she calls it "icky" Someone must have taught her that one cause well it wasn't me. Trust me I spent the whole day trying to tell her that snow was beautiful and wonderful and all the other magical words to describe it.
So to hold you over till Christmas here are pictures for you all.

Trick or Treat!!!

Keiani had a wonderful Halloween. We all dressed up like hippies :) We headed down south to my moms house in Sedro Woolley to go trick or treating and go to the childrens parade in downtown. Keiani was so cute and so amazed by all the other kids dressed up. She made alot of new friends that day.

After a long afternoon of fighting through the crowds, and parents chasing there sugar powered kids we decided to head home but not before keeping our tradition alive with Terry and Chasity (and now baby Sophie). We headed out to dinner dressed up and silly. At least this year we werent the only ones looking rediculous. We had a great dinner and all passed out once we got home.

Next stop Thanksgiving!

Watch out Turkey here we come...

Soggy Fall

So... Fall is here...

What bit of summer we had is over and what does this mean for the Guest family? Thanksgiving of course oh and Christmas, family, sweaters and cold toes. Our morning walks are turning into soggy strolls. I have to admit I love the fall I like the crisp clean air the beautiful colors what I dont love is the constant rain, rain and more rain that we will experience for the next ten months.

So now that it is officially October we are planning our next few month. It will be busy. Andrews work schedual picks up and so does all the family parties. Andrews has Brandons Birthday paintball trip tomorrow. On the 11th we will be celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving or as I like to call it Harvest Day. Then Along comes Our regular Thanksgiving and Uncle Dereks B-day and Gramdpa Vics B-day (big 5-0 this year!).

Then little drummer boy drum roll please....... Christmas! I know Im a softy but I love the hustle and busle of the season and pray every year for a truley white christmas. I've even started my Christmas shopping and am proud to say am about 1/3 done! Hold your applause please.

Well I'm off to go relax with my Husband. In case it takes me a while to get back to you. Happy thanksgiving x2 Merry Christmas and every thing inbetween.

*For those of you who have forgotten lets remember Marty Today and everyday. It was the 5 year annaversary yersterday. He had his faults but so do all of us so lets remember him for the great man he was.

Well Howdy there

I know I know its been a long time... but life happens and we get caught up in the excitement of it all. So lets see what has been happening in the Guest house:

+Keiani is growing like a weed! she is constantly outgrowing her clothes which at this point is ok because winter time is fast approaching its time for wardroabe change any ways.

+Keiani has got to meet and spend alot of time with new babies. Including Sophie and Taeya.

+We went to the Greek Festival where Keiani stole the show with her killer dance moves.

+ Keiani has also learned many new words including water, fish, cracker, baby, and many more she only says one partial sentence "whats that?"

Thats about all I can think of but I will try and be better about posting more regularly again!

Kenny

KENNETH WARNER EXELBY 1987 - 2008

Ken, our handsome warrior, left us in a hurry. He had an appointment with God to get his wings and he didn't want to be late. He hated to be late.

Ken's memory will continue to live on in those who knew him. He is survived by his loving mother, Jennifer Exelby-Ballas and stepfather Gus: his loving little brother David: his loving father, Rob Exelby and stepmother Karmella; his baby sister, Meagan (who he adored) and his step-sister, Kayla. He also leaves behind his loving grandparents Shirley and Luther Mullins, Warner and Ginny Exelby, Sue Hurtel, David and Regina Lathom and Jane Currie. Ken had numerous aunts on his fathers side, Vicki, Sue and Joan and their families. His Uncle Dan Lathom, Aunt Sarah Hurtel and cousin Morgan Hurtel; cousins Kendra Rhoades and family, Derek and Shawna not to mention many, many friends and acquaintances.

Ken is a graduate of Sedro-Woolley High School, class of 2005. He received high marks for his senior presentation of how to run a Papa Murphy's franchise where he was employed all through high school He was very active in sports while at Sedro: He wrestled, played soccer as well as football.Ken moved to Seattle to be close to his mom. While he was living in Seattle he was pursuing a career in HVAC. He was employed by Evergreen Refrigeration and quickly moved up the ladder. Ken had recently decided to move back to Skagit County to spend time with his brother and dad. He was living with his Uncle Dan and working with him.

For everyone who knew Ken he was a very intelligent young man. He had many talents and was skilled at many different things. He loved to ride four wheelers and baked the best chocolate chip cookies ever.Ken was on his journey to find himself. We all loved him very much and wished him peace.

Kenneth Warner Exelby means "Handsome Warrior over by the Mountain" He is a handsome warrior who won the battle now go and rest in peace over by the mountain.We will miss you forever but your memory will never die.

Service to be held Saturday August 23rd at Citipoint Church, 830 N. 16th, Mount Vernon at 2:00pm. Reception immediately following at the church.

Any memorial funds or donations may be made to your local volunteer fire department.

Bye Kenny

Unfortunately Kenny died last night. He was in a car accident and didnt make it. He went to soon and was way to young and we will miss him so much.

My favorite memory is when Derek and Kenny decided they were going to teach me to ride a bike one day. I had just started and wasnt really good yet. Kenny let me ride his bike. They each took a side and help get em started down the hill. Of course it didnt end well. I ended up crashing at the end of the hill with tons of scrapes and bruises. But it has always been a funny story to look back on.

I'll miss Kenny very much he was so kind and thoughtfull and funny.

Home Sweet Home

We are home finally. It was a great trip filled with Teething (4 new mollars), rain and mommy puking on the side of the freeway from motion sickness. But it was also filled with grandma, grandpa, smores by the fire, wild flowers, and time away from work.

Keiani hated the plane ride there and was just tired and cranky almost the entire time. Once we arrived I was so sick and the 2 hour drive back to New Glassco sucked! But the next two days were nice and sunny we went into town and Keiani got to play at the park and meet new kids. I got sick a few more times. The rest of the trip was spent mostly at Papas house because I think they got tire of me being car sick and it rained quit a bit. We got about 4in in 3 days. Its wasnt really cold though really very muggy. we had lots of fires out side and roasted marshmallows.

Keiani liked flying home about as much as she liked flying there. She did do a little better and I took dramamine. It was a very long day but we made it home and all in all it was an excellent trip. we will see how she likes it next year :)

I posted tons of pic on myspace if you would like to see them all and when Brenda fowards me all the pics she took there will be even more.

A day in the life...

7:30am Snuggle with mom and nurse till my hearts content

8:25am Have breakfast

8:32am make sure I get as much of my food on the floor as possible ( maybe the cat will leave me alone if she is well fed
9:30am time for our walk with Grandma and the gang

11:30am nap time

1:30pm wow that was a good nap I'm hungry

2:30pm watch mom pick up cherios off the floor and talk to daddy on the phone

3:00pm Daddys home!

eat...eat...eat...eat

7:30pm mommy milk time!

Bed time stories, kisses and snuggles

8:30pm bed time

Good night...

So Busy

So We have had a very busy summer so far. We had Keiani's Birthday, Cousins birthdays and Grandma Karens Birthday. Then a Big birthday party at Aunt Allisons for all of them. Plus 4th of July festivities. We headed down to Zuanich Park to watch the fireworks Keiani loved it. Even though she was exhausted. In addition Andrew and I have been really busy with work and trying to find time as a family let alone time with each other. There is always so much to do. I'm actually looking foward to fall. Not for the cold weather but thats when we will get our weekends back and we wont be so booked for stuff to do. Maybe in October we can have another date :)

Birthday Madness

Well Keiani is 1! Can you beleive it?! I can't this last year has flown by so fast. Keiani had a great time at her party and we all loved seeing every one again. For those of you who missed the cake you definately left to early. Keiani tore into it like a pro. She went face first and it didnt stop there. For the next 30 minutes she tore that cake apart frosting from head to toe. It was so funny.

The joys of turning one dont stop there. I think someone forgot to tell her that turning one isnt all fun and games and forward facing car seats you also get shots. She got 4 shots on Friday poor girl. She was a trooper though and hardly cried at all. That was one of the hardest times I've had with them though. She gave me such a look of betrayl. It broke my heart.

We did get new messurements though and Keiani is weighing in at 24lbs and is 31in tall. She in the 85% for weight, 98% for height and 85% for head size. Our beautiful girl is growing up. Makes me so sad that "babyhood" is over but I'm looking forward to all the fun we will have in ToddlerTown.

And so it begins

Our little girl is growing up! She decided that she was to old for naps and is now taking 1 nap in the afternoon instead of 2. But she is going to sleep about an hour earlier and is sleeping from 9pm to 7:30-8:00am YEAH! It's been a real treat to sleep all night.And... Keiani has a potty now as you can see from the picture she has yet to use it properly (she peed next to it yesterday) but eventually we will get there :)

Busy, Busy, Busy

So Alot has happened in the week and a half since the last post:

• Keiani is currently working on 5 new teeth all top teeth. So its been one crazy, fussy 2 weeks but she finally slept through the night last night after a week of waking by midnight.


• My cousin Katrina and her little girl Paycience are no longer staying with us. After alot of work and love she decided that returning to her abusive, drug dealling boyfriend was a much better idea. Please pray for them.


• Keiani has a new cousin, Andrew's sister Michelle had a beautiful little girl Taeya Bennett.


• As for Andrew and I we celebrated our aniversary this last weekend, and yes we still love each other :)


• We are planning our trips to Nova Scotia and Edmonton. Yeah Vacation!!


• I have been really busy with work. there have been alot of move outs which means Apt. that need cleaning.

I hope eveyone else has a stress free, care free and happy weekend! Monday will sneak up on you fast!

Peek-a-boo

Keiani has a peek-a-boo tooth. We saw this illusive tooth yesterday. It poked it little white tip out yesterday then swelled over. Oh it makes for fun conversation with her though. Heres a tastey sampling. Me: "How are you today Keiani?" Keiani's reply: "Whaaaaaaaaaaaa!" It's really fun. Maybe tomorrow they will all come out and stay then teething will be over. I'll tell you sometimes I think labor was much more fun :)

Baby Blues

Poor Keiani. As I mentioned before Keiani has a house guest. Her slightly older cousin Paycience is staying with us for a while and they have come to the conclusion that they dont like each other. Or they like each other to much its hard to say.

The difference is Keiani is used to playng with either children her own age or children older then her that are much sweeter and understand sharing. Paycience has really only been exposed to children older with whom she has to fight to keep possesion of her toys. We have all learned that this is not a good combination. Its a constant battle to keep Paycience away from Keiani since every time Keiani picks up a toy or food or a cup Paycience steals it and Keiani cries. Our hopes are up that they might reach an understanding of each other. Paycience will learn to share and not be so jealous and Keiani will not be so sensitive. My poor girl. I feel so bad for her.

Oh on a lighter note Keiani is sooooo smart she did her cat sign today! We have been doing kitty with her for months and today she looked right at Dharma and did cat like 4 times it was so cute! So now she is doing cat, more, all done, milk, water and daddy. Yeah Keaini!!! She is also eating like a pig. Just this week she has almost doubled the amount of solids that she is eating and has really cut down on how much she wants to nurse. I kinda miss it I think because its a true sign that she is growing up. Oh and she has mastered drinking from a cup, not a sippy cup but a real cup she just has to learn not to give the cat so many drinks. :)

Bye bye for now I'l l update you on the David and Galliath story soon...

Here comes the sun...

I love it, I love it, I love it!!! Keiani and I have been spending so much time out side we practically live out side now. I think we actually only went inside for naps the past 2 days. It's been Fabulous!

We currently have an extra baby in the house. My cousin is staying with us for a few days untill she gets on her feet again (long story). Untill then Keiani has a new friend who just happens to be only 3 months older than her. She is loving it so far at least she is when they aren't trying to play with the same toy. I think we may take her to the park when I get done working today. You know show her the sites.

So here's to sunny skies and happy babies! :)

Obama for my Mamma

So I've been watching the news lately and as all of you have probably noticed it all seems to center around the impending election. Lets just get this out there, I am a democrat and I beleive that we need some one new in office, someone that can and will change things for the better. Change our health care our social security and really change the situation in Iraq. I beleive that Senater Obama will do this. I think the polls have shown that a vast majority of people beleive the same thing.
My issue is that there has been alot of Democrats that have come out and said that if it comes down to Obama and McCain they will vote for McCain regardless of what political party they belong to or wether or not they share his views on pollicy. Their reason... Because he is black. Really people are we still in that place?
There has also been an overwhelming amount fraud mail being sent out claiming that Obama is Muslim. Not only is that not true but 1. since when did we incorporate religion and state? 2. There is nothing wrong with being muslim there are extremist in every religion.
I still can't believe that people beleive everything they hear. The emails are not true. Stop buying into what closed minded people tell you!
I hope that when election day comes people will forget what race or sex our candidates are and simply vote for the best person for the job.

Sorry Its been so long

Sorry It's been so long since I've posted we have been busy,busy. I promised to post this evening though so for those of you out there eager to hear our business here you go. We are stillllll working on getting the house in order. It gets messy and unorganized and cluttered so easily then seems to take forever to get back order. So far we are about 50% there. We Also got some new stuff. We got our new snuggle chair on Friday and our new washer and dryer on Monday. Since we are listing new stuff I also got some awsome mothers day gifts. I got a set of covered baking dishes from my mom and a new Kitchen Aid stand mixer from Andrew.

As for Mothers day we had a big extravaganza on Saturday at my Moms. It was a Birthday/Mothers day combo party for her. We all had a great time. Mothers day itself was fairly uneventful, which is always nice. We went out for breakfast (nothings better than someone else doing the dishes). Then we relaxed visited Andrews mom and Terry and Chasity. The rest of the day was laid back we rearranged the living room and watched movies.

Monday night (tonight) we headed north to Canada to visit with Andrews very pregnant sister Michelle. It was a nice dinner and Keiani had a blast playing with her cousins.

Well this is enough for now. Have an excellent week every one we'll see you when we see you :)

In the picture is Rachel ( my bros girlfriend) her daughter Keely, my mom, Keiani, and my self

The Sweetest things

Sorry I haven't posted in a while it's been rather uneventful this past week, so not to much to report on. Except for last night, are you ready? Drum roll please......... Keiani slept all night long! Even though it took a very long, very stressful full hour to get her to go to bed last night she slept from 10:30pm untill 7am then nursed and fell back asleep untill 8:30!!! This has happened once before and it was a one time deal so I dont plan on getting my hopes up to much. I have to get used to sleeping through the night as well because I was up like 3 times last night for no reason. grrr... It would have been nice for everyone to get a full nights sleep. Lets all hope this is the begining of something beautiful.

In regards to the pictures posted above this is Keiani climbing the outside of my mothers stairs! Don't worry she didn't get to far after Grandma snapped the photos :)

Grandparents weekend

Keiani had a busy weekend filled with Grandparents and Great-grandparents.

Saturday Andrew and I had a much needed "morning" date. We saw a movie and had lunch it was so nice being out of the house baby free and enjoying ourselves for a few hours. No nap times or diapers to worry about. Although we did do a little shopping for decorations for Keiani's 1st Birthday comming up. Keiani had a great time at Grandma Sue's and Grandpa Gary's. She took a dip in the hot tub and help Grandpa out on the computer.

On Sunday Keiani and I spent the day at Grandpa and Grandma Palmers while Andrew worked. It was a nice laid back day we got to visit and spend some time with Keiani's Great Grandpa Les. We ran around outside and got a little dirty. But dirty is always fun! Although Keiani left looking like she had been in the ultimate fighting championship we had a great time. She did happen to give her self a black eye, a bruised chin, and she cut her elbow. This "walking" thing is sooo much fun!

Well heres to a week filled with new adventures...

Up river and through the woods to Grandmothers house we go...

We spent the day at Grandma's house yesterday much to her delight. Keiani got to play with her new blocks and wooden puzzle that Grandma got her. They we so much fun. We also took a walk down to the park were Keiani got to swing for the first time in a big kid swing. She loved it so much. We ran around the playground for a while and climbed on the dinosaurs. We even had the rare photo were I think Keiani actually looks like me strange huh? not like her dad but me :)

I guess Keiani got confused with all the playing and big girl swings that she forgot she needs to nap. We only managed to squeeze in 1 nap all day! Amazingly she wasnt even that grumpy but I don't think we will make a habit of it.

We are looking foward to this weekend and I'm sure Grandma is as well. Andrew and I get to go have a morning date while Keiani hangs with Grandma. Then on Sunday we get to go to Anacortes with Andrew. While he works we may stop in and see Grandma and Grandpa Palmer and visit with Uncle Derek too. Busy, busy, busy. Hopefully the weather man is right and it will be a dry trip. Well I'm off to pump, the pit falls of date night :)

Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of Rum!

I finally understand what all those grandmas and great-grandmas mean when they say they used rum to ease their teething tots. Thats right I get it, the more you drink the less you care that they scream. Right! Right???

Today has been a fun one in mommy land. I know its a day we have all been warned about. A day our mothers have been waiting for. Are you ready for it? Well lets start with Keiani teething..ahhhh.. I'm glad I still have hair left she has cried for a good 30-40% of the day which is very unusuall for our usual bundle of sunshine. Not only that but she has been extremely touchy and very needy I think that she has gotten the latest version of seperation software installed. This new and improved software acurately measures the distance from her to mommy, if I happen to exceed the 1 foot rule a screeching alarm sounds.

In addition to all of this maddness my own OCD tendencies have gotten the better of me and the fact that Keiani screams when ever I turn the vacuum on (another fun trick) or the fact that I can't mop the floor because we disposed of the old dirty mop head and the store no longer carries it any more so I need to get a whole new mop all together and its been like 3 days since I mopped!!! My head just might explode! I will have to get on my hands and knees to clean the floor again tonight. As for the vacumming Keiani and Daddy may have to go for a walk :) You know what that means.... break for mommy :)

Sorry It's been so long thanks for the vent.

Zuanich Park

Hurray for sunshine! We had an awsome day at the park today. Daddy insisted it was warm enough to go swimming in the lake but we settled for the park instead. I think it was a great choice. Keiani got to explore so much, we checked out the play ground and tested the slide for durability, we toured the grounds and ended our day with a sampling of the local vegitation. Fyi daffodils not that tasty. Special thanks ot Aunt Chass for joining us and bringing along baby Sophie :)

Hope you all enjoyed the beautiful day as much as we did.

Growing Like Weeds

Keiani had her 9 month Apt. yesterday and she soo big! She weighs 22pounds and is 30 in. long. This puts her at 95% weight, 98% height, and 83% for head size. She is still pretty chubby but the leg rolls are starting to thin out a bit :)

She is becoming such a beautiful little girl. We are so proud of her.

Walk this way baby

Read my fingers

Keiani did "Milk" today! She did it once for Andrew when I was gone working then as soon as I walked in the door she did it again and again untill she got some :) Yeah!!! It's amazing how fast they pick up on stuff. Sooo smart!

Keep on Truckin

It's been a fairly uneventful week. Keiani is walking more than ever but still doesn't seem to make it very far. It's such an adventure with her every day. Her new big achievment is sticking her tongue out. She thinks its funny and its very hard to keep a straight face when you are trying to put her to bed and she sticks it all the way out and laughs.

The whole family seems to be having a better week. I am finally starting to feel like myself again. Grandma Karens home and I can finally start working out again yeah I definately need it! I haven't exactly been following my diet...

So heres to an awsome week I'll try to post again soon :) if you want more pics check out my myspace page @ myspace.com/shanaguest

Tooth Monster

Forget about the tooth fairy we have encountered the tooth monster. This evil monster creeps into infants cribs at night and pull down their precious teeth one at a time. So mean! This evil monster needs to be stopped! Thank God for childrens motrin and teething tablets they seem to be his only weekness.

Thankfully we found something that will hold him off at least for one night so we could finally get some much needed sleep. I can't wait untill Keiani has a mouth full of teeth and we can put this teething business behind us!

Birthday Extravaganza

We had so much fun yesterday on my Birthday, we:

* Had an awsome breakfast with Terry and Chasity

* Played with Jennette and her kids at Jungle playland (my new favorite place!)

* Dropped of the babe for some adult time...

-We had a great dinner at the Skagit Brewery

- Then of course since we were baby free we decided that a round of putt putt golf was in order

- We grabbed a cup of joe and headed back to pick up the babe

It was an awsome day and Happy Birthday to me!

Someone forgot it was Spring...

It snowed again today! Although I love the snow I can't wait for that nice warm weather to move in so we can spend more time outdoors. Keiani seems to like the snow though we took a short trip outside today and she thought it was funny.
It's been a long week overall. I am finally feeling like myself again after hurting my back. Thank you by the way to everyone that helped out. We are hoping that tomorrow is the start of a happier healthier week.

Goodbye

It's a sad day today in the Guest household. Keiani's Great Grandma Janet Palmer passed away last night. For all of you who did not know her she was an amazing woman, so kind and caring, the world was a better place because she was here. We will miss her everyday.

Happy Easter!

We had such a great day! Keiani started the day out by taking her first steps unassisted! Yeah Keiani! We had a great Easter, her Aunt Chass and Uncle Terry came over for brunch then we went to Grandma and Grandpa Palmers for dinner. We had so much fun chassing the dog around!

Hope you all had fantastic Easters as well!