Hand-me-downs: Red Nebraska Dress

Back in the day, Grandma C (AKA my mother-in-law) and Miss Karen A happened through the state of Nebraska at a particular university, if I remember correctly, and practically bought out the store of Nebraska-wear. This was one of those purchases, and it was a favorite of mine on Braska. Now it's been passed on, but I just this week remembered it and found it in a bag of things I had thought would be for later in the summer. Nope...not for this chickadee. She's in it now and it's almost too small already! I can't get used to this *growing* thing!

Here's KiKi on 5/26/09, 3 1/2 months old.
(More of this photo shoot to come soon in it's own post...lots of cute happened there.)


And this is Braska, 5/10/07, 5 1/2 months old.


Another shot from 5/26/09 of Kinlee.



This is one of Braska's first professional shoot pics, from 5/24/07, 6 months, 3 days old. (We cheered at how far she held her head up that day!)

This is another one of Braska, from 9/1/07, at almost 9 1/2 months.

Sisters in chairs

Braska sits in her chair to watch her shows and occasionally just because she likes it. We decided to get out the Bumbo for Kinlee, and Braska moved her chair right up by her to sit next to KiKi.

But can someone tell me when Kinlee got to be a little girl and left newborn-ness behind?!?


For the then-and-now element...In the pic above, Kinlee's just shy of 4 months, and she's about 13+ lbs.  Here's Braska's first time in a Bumbo.  6/12/07.  She was just shy of 7 months and was 11 lbs 10 oz. She definitely had more hair though!!

Summer fashions, part 1

The long sleeves and sleepers are on their way out, for weather reasons, and because this girl is ridiculously long! She needs 6-month clothes if length has to be figured in, but then they are big enough around for 3 of her inside!  This is one of the last such outfits...but I thought it was still cute enough to show off.

This is one from our buddy Lillie. (I think...is that right, Jessie?? ) As are most of her summer clothes right now...



Since she doesn't really have much hair, we're doing the headband thing... not sure quite how I feel about it somedays, but it's kinda fun.

This is part of our process...trying out headbands and bows, switching it up, seeing what looks good.


This is a new fave of mine.  When did she get so big??

Little fibbing baby!

Hand-Me-Downs:Best blanket ever!

When Braska was born, she received more than 10 hand-made blankets and afghans.  Our good friend Karen K made her a blanket that I thought was great.  It was so unbelievably soft and pretty, and it was a perfect weight--like not too heavy, but yet still warm enough.  It quickly became my favorite blanket for Braska in bed because it would move with her and stay on her during all her wiggling in her sleep.

Braska's never really had a favorite anything.  She has no real preference for a toy or blanket or doll.  But I always kept this blanket consistent whether we were at home or Grandma's or at the hospital.  It seemed to work for her, to calm her.  This blanket became invaluable, and we never left home without it if an overnight stay was involved.

This is Braska back in early April 07 after she had been flown to Children's for severe dehydration and Rotavirus.  As the helicopter was taking her from C-U to StL, I was rushing home to grab things and I made sure to grab the blanket.
 

This was one of our favorite pictures during that hospital stay.  Braska's little toes peeking out through the blanket weave while she slept.  Too cute.
 

Right before Kinlee was born, I talked to Karen and asked her what she'd used to make the blanket, thinking I'd try knitting one myself.  Braska was needing one just a bit bigger by this time, and I figured I could do it.  But after about 2 seconds of thinking I'd have time to take on such a project, I decided to take Karen up on her offer to make another one, as she'd planned to for Kinlee.  It was determined that she'd make another blanket for Braska and I'd pass on the original blanket to Kinlee since it was just so perfect for the tiny ones.

That's what happened.  The new blanket is gorgeous!  And it's just what Braska needs now. Kinlee's had her inherited blanket from day one and really seems to like it.  She shows preference for things like her little blanket bunny (thanks Lainie!) and this soft blanket.  When she was sitting in the chair last month,  I took a few pics, and I was pleased to find this one when I took them off the camera.


She often wakes up with her hands through the weave, just holding on to her special blanket.  If I ever get a chance to go back to knitting, (not that I ever did alot of it!) I'll attempt to replicate this wonder so that I can be sure that the girls always have one, and I can share them as gifts in the hopes that they can be as cherished as ours is. 

Thanks again, Karen!!  We miss you guys!

Pastel baby shoot

"Ok, KiKi," Braska says, "let's fix your hair before Mommy starts taking pictures."


"Oooh, that's a good one. Good thing we made your hair pretty!"
 

"Ok, now here's how it goes..."


"You look at the camera and smile like this!"


"One more touch-up, then you're ready to go."


"Cheeeeeese!"

Hand-Me-Downs: Fancy burgundy dress

For Mother's Day, Kinlee wore a dress that Braska wore a few times, though much later. Mr. David got it for Braska when she was born, and we used it in her 6-month pictures.

Here's Kinlee on 5/10/09 at 3 months, 1 day. The dress fit, as in actually fit properly.


Here's Braska from her 6-month session on 5/24/07, at 6 months, 3 days. The dress was quite big.

Here's an upright comparison of them on the same days as above. Braska was being propped up by my hand which was inside her dress in the back. We were so excited at her being able to look up like this with her head still for all of 2 seconds. Kinlee sat on PaPaw's lap comfortably. It's just plain amazing to me. I think they are both pretty adorable in these pics, though.

Resemblance?

Hmmmmmm...this is a bit disturbing if you ask me. Genetics at work...

What do you think? Can you see it??

Wedding fashion

There are TONS of wedding pics from this weekend, but for now, we'll just start with what the coolest 3-month-olds were wearing.

For the rehearsal, Kinlee paid tribute to the bride, her Auntie Rachel, in an outfit Rachel got for her before she was even born. Polo is king with Rach, so the girls have alot of it. It's like "Where's Waldo?" with them alot...check out the girls' pics this summer and see how often you see the little pony with his tiny rider.


For the wedding, we managed to find a dress that had the right colors. The green was the main wedding color, with fuschia accents in the flowers. So Kinlee fit right in. I have to say, she was pretty darn adorable..

She thought it was a great workout outfit and did alot of "baby crunches," as we call them. I think she was trying to check out the pattern.


She finally decided to just grab it and bring the dress to her. Either that or she was just showing off her little bloomers underneath.

Almost wordless

I've got SO many pictures that I want to post, but no time to get them up. So we'll start with a few random shots for fun. Maybe I'll get my organizations skills back someday....

How did we get such a long kid???

3 months

Wow, is time flying or what!?! Kinlee's three months old. Already. Doesn't seem possible. I'll probably say that every month and year, won't I....

Today started out very early with both these silly girls, so we got our birthday pictures done early.




Then we practiced a bit of tummy time.




Then we went to my brother's (my little brother...ha!) open house for his new veterinary clinic. It's beautiful, and it was a great day for such a thing. Braska experienced her first petting zoo and pony ride. You'll find that on her blog in the next few days... Kinlee just hung out with the various family members that were there. In a fitting manner, she seemed most comfortable with Uncle Jody. It's only fair, since it was really all about him anyway. This is uncle and niece with Auntie Skye. If you're in St. Charles County and have a pet, this is the vet for you!!


We also went to a friend's place for an early birthday party for M tonight, but that will have to be documented later. I'm exhausted!

Highlights this month for KiKi: She's crazy generous with the smiles and little mini-giggles. She's enjoying standing on my lap when I try to burp her. What's with this muscle strength?!? And thank Heaven, she's sleeping through the night. As of Wednesday this week, she was 11 lb 15 oz and 24 inches long.

Hand-me-downs:Red velvet

This was another gift from my cousin Lindsay for Braska, if I remember correctly. It's a really cute jumper dress from Old Navy with a henley t-shirt underneath and matching print bloomers. (That's what we called them, anyway...diaper cover, etc.)

Here's big sister at 3 months 4 days, 3 days before her open-heart surgery. 2/25/07

And little sister at 2 months 10 days, 4/19/09. Their weights are about the same in these pics, but Kinlee is about 2 inches longer.

Hand-me-downs: Stripey sleeper

This was another of our fave sleepers. It was cute enough to wear "out" but still worked for the basic sleep and play situation. Practical AND cute is my favorite!

This is Braska and our friend Kevin, who coincidentally visited us just a week or so ago. This pic was from 3/22/07, she was just a day over 4 months.


And here's Kinlee on 4/18/09 at 9 days over 2 months. It's the only time she'll get to wear this one, too. How did we make such a long little girl??? Love that smile though!