"This is Too Tasty" and other quotes by Kinsley

Everyday is a new word, phrase, or expression for this loquacious 22 month old. Not only is it impossible for this blog to capture her cuteness, but our minds are not photographic enough (or at all) to remember all of the things that she has said or done, but we're going to try.

This little girl loves strawberries (actually both of these girls love them), and yesterday when Andrea offered some to Kinsley she said: "No, no, no...they are too tasty." We tried to figure out what she meant by that, but she just continued to respond to all of our inquiries that they were too tasty and refused to eat them. Apparently things that are "too tasty" should not be eaten.

Kinsley enjoys finishing our sentences when she thinks she knows what we are talking about. We knelt down for family prayer the other night in her room. We started the prayer and she tried to finish it for us. She did very well and blessed Mommy, Daddy and then she peaked over at her stuffed toys and said, "and bless Dopey".

If you ask Kinsley how old she is she will respond: "almost two," as she tries to figure out how to get just two of her fingers up. To your question of where she lives, Kinsley will let you know that it is "Mukilteo". We're pretty impressed by that one, as many adults around here can't even say Mukilteo. If you are lucky and ask her when her birthday is, she will let you know that it is "May tenth".

Kinsley loves babies and will be a great 'big sister' to her brother when he comes. She is quick to point out any other babies that she sees at church, the store or as we drive by. The other day we were driving around when we passed a house with a garden gnome, Kinsley, confused by the beard pointed to him and said "Baby Jesus". She thinks almost anyone with a beard is Jesus and since this gnome was tiny and had a beard it made perfect sense that he would be "baby Jesus".

We are so blessed to have her and we love all of the cute things that she does each day. We took these pics this morning before church and thought they were just to cute to not share. We miss you all and hope you enjoy this blog. Just an FYI, you can find all our family photo albums at http://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam

Game Nights

We have an avid game player in our ward and we have been fortunate enough to have become great friends with his family. The Davis's are always hosting themed game nights. We've been over for spy night, egyptian night, medieval night, beach night, and more. So call us dorks, we don't care! Game nights are super fun for our family!
To view more game night photos check out this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam/GameNights

Christmas 2006

Christmas 2006

Here are some great pics from our latest trip to Utah over Christmas. We had such an awesome time with our family and friends. I left Washington on December 11th while Shawn stayed behind to finish work and finals. I kicked off the trip in Las Vegas where I stayed with the Jensen family. The Jensen’s used to live in our ward here in Mukilteo but have since moved to Las Vegas. While they lived here we were great friends with their family of seven kids. I was two of their daughters YW leader for two years. We sure miss them! One day later I left Las Vegas and headed off to St. George where I spent a few days with the Greens (my pseudo family originally from Kearns). I had a wonderful time seeing their new place and shopping with Suzanne. After a few days I rented a car and drove Kinsley and myself up to Lehi, where we spent the remainder of our vacation. Shawn arrived the next day and it was so nice to finally have him all to myself! No work or school for the next two weeks, and it was glorious! We spent the rest of our time visiting with his family, my family, the Pextons, and the rest of our buddies in Utah.

On the 23rd of December I attended my girlfriends annual Christmas party. Andree Mecham has hosted the party at her home and has since 2000. I only see most of them once a year at this party, but within a few minutes it’s as if we haven’t spent any time apart at all. I am so fortunate to have such a great group of girlfriends that have been there for me so many years.
I celebrated my 24th birthday while in Utah. In the afternoon I headed up to Salt Lake with Jullian where we later met up with my mom, grandma and younger sister Madison and had lunch at my favorite ice cream parlor, Leatherby’s. Shawn later surprised me with a fun shopping trip for maternity clothes, followed by a romantic dinner at Otavios. It was a fabulous Italian restaurant right in Lehi and the food was amazing! That evening we had “pig-picking cake” and ice cream with Shawn’s family and the Pextons. It was one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had! After my big day we spent the rest of the time relaxing and enjoying the little time we had left. We were sad to head back to Washington but really enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate the holidays with the people we love.
To see all the pics from this trip visit this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam/TripToUtahChristmas06?pli=1

Heather and Jeremy's trip to WA Jan 07'

Heather and Jeremy (Shawn's sister and brother-in-law) came to visit over Martin Luther King Day in January. It was their first trip out to see us and we had a great time! Generally the weather here is around 40 degrees and rainy most of the winter season, but when they came it was much cooler and had snowed several inches. Regardless of the weather we still wanted to take them to see the sights. It turned out in our favor as most people decided to stay indoors. I have never seen Pikes Place so dead--and it was great! We walked around to all the different vendors within Pikes and then headed down to the pier where we got some much needed hot food. We made our last stop at Ye Old Curiosity Shop and looked at all their curious treasures. We spent the majorty of the rest of the trip playing board games and simply enjoying each others company. We love it when family comes to visit!

To see more pictures of their trip check out this link http://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam/HeatherAndJeremySTripToWAJan07

Shupe family visit to Mukilteo

Last weekend my sister and her family came for a short visit. It was the first time the girls had been together in a long time. Tailinn and Kinsley are only ten days apart. Ashley and I are both expecting and are due within one week of each other yet again.
Tailinn looks so much like Ashley it's crazy! She is such a beautiful girl. We tried to get the two of them to pose for at least one picture together but they just wouldn't have it. These were the best shots we could get! We thought about taking a picture of Ashley and I to show off our oh so cute prego tummies (yeah right!), but never got there as the camera battery died before the big moment. Ashley and I both agreed we were saved by the bell!
We had a great time playing games and just watching the kids play. We also made brownies as per mine and Ashley's request. Not only do we both love chocolate anyway, but we really love it when we're pregnant! We were sad that it was such a short visit but excited to have had the time together.
To view all the photos from Tom and Ashley's visit visit this linkhttp://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam/ShupeFamilyVisitToMukilteo

Trip to Seattle Pacific Science Center

We were invited to go to the Seattle Pacific Science Center with one of Shawn's friends from law school and his family. Kinsley really enjoyed the Grossology exhibit that showed the "gross" functions of the human body in a kid friendly way.



Here' a pic of Shawn and Kinsley in front of another strange looking character. He had interactive buttons that would describe functions like gulping, breathing, heat burn, etc.
This was a cute display that talked about colds, snot, etc.

Her favorite attraction was the strange looking female character who she deemed as the "scary lady". Not really scared at all, Kinsley requested to go and see her at least ten times while we were there.

They also had a beautiful butterfly exhibit with butterflies from all around the world. Since our trip Kinsley has been fascinated with them.
Wish we could have snapped more pictures but Kinsley just wouldn't hold still--too much to see and do. It was a super fun family outing!

6 weeks left and counting!

We took this picture earlier this morning. I feel huge, but Shawn says I look great--good husband, good husband! This time around we are expecting a little boy. He is scheduled to arrive on April 15th, I suppose it's Uncle Sams gift to us . It has been a wonderful pregnancy with only a few minor set backs. I took a pretty nasty fall down the cement steps outside of our condo back in November. I fell face first down all eight steps and would have tried catching myself had Kinsley not been in my arms. No harm to Kinsley or the baby, but poor mommy was banged up pretty bad. My knees were all cut up and I suffered a minor sprain to my knee and ankle. It was a self diagnosed sprain as it took a full month to even bend my knee again. Lets just say it was not fun! Fortunately that's been the only real drama during this pregnancy.

Kinsley is always pointing to my belly and saying baby brother. I thought "wow this kid is really sharp" until she started calling her tummy baby brother as well. Oh well, she knows somethings about to change.

As for Shawn and I we're doing all that we can to prepare for his arrival. With Shawn in law school and working full-time it will be interesting to see how we manage it all. Are we crazy or what? You don't have to answer that!

Kinsley Kristine

Ahh... Kinsley the cutest thing I've ever seen! Hey, I'm totally allowed to be biased, this is our blog!

At 21 months Kinsley is already wowing us!

Her favorites
Song: The ABC's (which she's been singing clearly since 18 months)

Things to do: Sing, she's always singing a song, everything from Twinkle - Twinkle, to Jingle Bells, Elmo's song, Follow the Prophet, Give Said the Little Stream, etc. Kinsley also loves to dance. Her first request every morning is for me to turn on the music--she shouts, "Listen to music!" and will then request what CD she would like to hear by naming one of the songs titles. For the most part she knows how to articulate the things she wants, which can be a good or bad thing for us! Like every other toddler she also loves to play! We always go to the children’s indoor play area in the mall (it's always raining gotta be indoors). I call her "Shawn's daughter" when I watch her play, "Shawn's daughter" can easily be translated to the more commonly known phrase: "Dare Devil." This kid has no fear! I'm constantly running to catch her when she decides to jump from the play equipment. Mostly I don't make it on time, but no worries Kinsley is also extremely tough. Today she landed right on her head when she jumped off the giant sized vegetable slide, looked up at me, laughed and got right back up--crazy kid!

Words: Of course it's No! Seriously, she mostly says everything. Kinsley's communication and language skills are amazing for a 21 month old. She can pretty much say anything you ask her to. She has moved from 3 word sentences to 4 words during this last week. Just the other day Kinsley and I were hanging out on the couch. Actually I was laying down totally sick and she was sitting up near my head. I was trying to keep her busy and get in a five-minute rest by singing "If you're happy and you know it." This usually works, as she loves songs that involve actions, but apparently not that day. After several minutes of listening to me (hey maybe it was the beautiful nasal vocals that my cold had helped me easily produce that did the trick) Kinsley said "Mom, this is lame" and than jumped off the couch. I didn't even know she had ever heard the word lame before, let alone knew what it meant. Like I said she's amazes us everyday.

Recent embarrassing moment: When I say embarrassing I'm obviously referring to embarrassing for Shawn and me. We were at church just two Sundays ago and sat in a different spot then the norm. There was an older couple sitting behind us who Kinsley kept on staring at. She loves to stand in the pew facing the back of the chapel and entertain the congregation with her face-making, and cute smiles. Anywho, about half way through the meeting Kinsley started saying "sleeping" over and over again while pointing to the older couple behind us. We couldn't get her to stop saying it until they both opened their eyes. I wonder how long it will be before they allow themselves to fall asleep during church again?

Needless to say she's understanding the power of words at a young age!

Foods: Cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, yogurt, milk, umm... are we seeing a pattern here? She obviously loves dairy.

Games: "On your marks, get set, and and go" as she calls it. As soon as Shawn walks through the door from work she requests a hug and then a race. They run together from the front door to the fireplace and then back again as many times as Shawn can stand it. It's super cute! I love watching the two of them play together.

Anyway I could go on and on about Kinsley forever. I took the picture of her shown above just a couple days ago--isn't her hair adorable! I won't even tell you how long it took me to get those pig-tails in. She thinks she's too busy to have her hair done. Enjoy!

To see more photos of Kinsley check out this linkhttp://picasaweb.google.com/thesorensenfam/KinsleyDec06March07

Our Family Picture

I've decided it's finally time to start a blog and keep in-touch. The goal to use this site to help me keep a record what's going on with our lives as we are away from all of you here in sunny, ha, ha, ha... Washington.

Hope you all enjoy!