tree trimming festivities for all!

boo bear gorgeousness at our tree trimming festivities earlier today...
tristan: "so, i'm thinking of getting a band together...i hear you play chime blocks & like, i've been looking for a hot chime block player for awhile...any interest?"

ivy: "yeah, well, i'm kinda' booked through the holidays, but what kinda gigs are you talkin'?"

tristan: "well man, i just want to start out real small...keep the music real, you know? i don't want to be one of those 15-month-old sell-outs you see hangin' around gymboree...sooo commercial."

ivy: "totals - sad, you know, my bohemian brother? why don't you come over to my place next week and we'll just jam and see what happens? i really dig when the music just happens organically, you jive? i'll bring the sippy cups if you'll bring the cheerios...peace."

(ummm...mommy may have just gotten a liiiittle carried away....)
the ceremonial hanging of the first ornament...maaaagical! (by the way, the magic lasted all of about two seconds, after which time, ivy tore the ornament off the tree and began to chase it like a ball).
auntie megan & cousin tristan keeping it real with their own maagical moment (and yes, maaagical is my favorite word this post!) we love them so much!

is that aunt brookie...or mary friggin' poppins? we couldn't tell, as all the wee babes (here ivy and best bud cousin zolani) flocked to brooke and her magical storytelling ways!

cousin/brother/boyfriend tristan squealing in delight at the tactile tinsel experience! maaaagical!

read it again, aunt brookie...i simply can never get enough of "the wheels on the bus!"

ooh, now it's my turn to delve into the tinsel...shiny...stringy...fun to drape on everything around the house (but only after i have systematically removed each ornament from the tree that mommy, daddy, auntie megan, auntie kate or aunt brookie has just hung. i like to chase them around as the fall and roll, laughing and shouting "ball, ball!" eem cute. (by the way, mommy forgot to take an actual picture of the finished tree, so that'll have to come in a later post...hey, she's pregnant!)

it's electric!

On Sunday (11/30) we paid a visit to the Franklin Institute (now referred to as "The Franklin" in Prince-style fashion...as if there aren't ANY other "Franklin" places in Philadelphia!) Anyway, daddy needed to do some research for a class there, but needless to say, Boo Bear was thrilled to get her hands on (and through) many of the displays. We were surprised at how much most of the exhibits kept her interest, despite her wee age. At right, she is crawling through a healthy artery near the walk-through heart exhibit. It was a challenge to get her to stop crawling through here and move on...
Ooh! Wind pressure is so much fun! Do it again daddy!

so focused, our little scientist - here she is operating a display on magnetism

mwa-ah-ah! feel the force as i control the crazy magical pink light within! mwa-ah-ah...so happy am i to come from a long line of mad scientists! (grandpa bob AND daddy!) :)

lil' gobbler

mmm...is the other half of that turkey all for me? yipee!!!
lady, you better seriously let me up on your lap so's i can get my hands on that pumpkin cheesecake!
boo bear's first "people food" thanksgiving feast - fed (almost) entirely by boo bear, of course! turkey - thumbs up, mashed tatos - thumbs up, sweet tatos - a surprising thumbs down (we think it was the nutmeg, but daddy more than made up for her apathy), and stuffing - thumbs down...atmosphere - thumbs up, and company - thumbs way up!

hellos & close-up kisses!

i'm so glad to be back & in action!

after a long hiatus...we're back!

Yes, after a sad and long-awaited delay, she's back in action, folks! I apologize to the more vocal of the crew who have openly chided me for my lack of posting as of late, however I have just causes for my actions. It has been somewhat of a challenging autumn here at the Kidd Kitten household...Griffin has had a never-ending work schedule combined with nothing but difficult science classes on his plate this semester, and I have had the dual challenge of battling meningitis (umm, yeah, viral meningitis!) whilst being in my first trimester of pregnancy with baby blessing #2!!! (that's right, all who may not yet be in the know - I said baby blessing #2!!!) So, you can tell, it has been a mixed bag of emotions! Although I am feeling better now, there was a period where Griffin (as well as several amazing friends...Kate, Angel, Kellichka, Brooke - my angels) was/were basically taking care of Ivy and me whenever he was home, as the stiffness in my neck and resulting head & body aches made moving excruciating at times. Soooo, now that I'm only dealing with the exhaustion and nausea of being 13 weeks pregnant, things seem muuuuch more manageable! And now that we're officially 13 weeks, 3 days pregnant, we feel confident proclaiming it on our site! We are due at the end of May, but you'll have to stay tuned for another 7 weeks or so to find out if Ivy will be having a new brother or sister...please feel free to cast your vote on the poll to the right! Ivy is exceedingly sweet with mama's belly - if you ask her where the baby is, she points to my bellybutton and then gives it numerous sweet kisses...it's really too cute for words. At any rate, welcome back to the growing Kidd Kittens family blog...we're glad you're here and are excited to share all of our news with you! xoxo

the little tree that could

Last weekend, we were thrilled to welcome a young Japanese Lilac Tree to our family. For you non-urbanites, you may think, "What's the big deal?," however when you live in a green-starved section of Philly as we do, a tree is a big deal! Twice a year, you can apply to different local green organizations to try and approve your site & come bust through your concrete so some fantastic volunteers can come plant your newest little sapling! We were mucho excited (note banner on sad-looking front window box), and love our little bit o' green! Anyone have suggestions for names for our little tree that could?

Happy family with beautiful new lilac in foreground, which will hopefully be in stark contrast to the bleak concrete sprawl in the background, come spring! Can anyone spot the two newest additions to the Kidd family in the picture (note: Ivy is not one of them). Tee hee!

and she's climbing the stairway...

peek! if you can't find me, i'm probably trying to climb the stairs!
see?!! i'm a big girl! i don't even need any help!
seriously, it only takes me a few seconds to get to the top!

...and she's off!

this past saturday morning, boo bear up and woke up and pretty much just decided "today, i walk!" although she's been taking a few steps here and there, on saturday she officially made it her primary mode of transportation. by now (wednesday) she's sprinting just about everywhere!

are you sure it's been a whole year already?!!

hard (especially for mommy & daddy!) to believe, but on august 24th (at 12:20am), ivy turned one whole year old! wow!!!! the sweet boo bear had a wonderful party, and we were so grateful that so many travelled so far (from wisconsin, north carolina, and far-off wild lands such as new jersey and new york!) to help her celebrate her special day. we're not going to lie, we also felt it to be a celebration for us as well - the first year of new parenthood is not for the weak, as any parent can certainly attest to. although her birth was beautiful, incredible and easy, as many of you know the breastfeeding troubles at the beginning made for a cranky baby and stressed- and guilt-ridden mama! but with lots of support we made it to a YEAR of breastfeeding (breastmilk rocks!). ivy has accomplished so much in this first year, it's almost hard to comprehend, but suffice to say, her birthday was filled with many small buddies, loving family and friends and one fuzzy fella (lexie)! above is a shot of the famous grandma terrill one-year birthday cake, and as you'll see below, ivy did not disappoint her party guests with her destruction...i mean eating...of the cake...enjoy!
a voracious reader, ivy also loves mama & dadoo to make up stories to picture books that have faces she knows in them!
balloon time with delilah & jojo!
why yes mommy, i am a pretty party girl! tee hee! we are so fancy together!


the fam (grandpa squish & cousin/fuzzy fella lexie) in from wisconsin! (auntie teresa is also hiding somewhere!)

happy birthday to me??!! but what am i to make of this white and pink confection?

surrounded by sweetness & boo bear love!

umm, like this is really good - i think i'll have just a liiiittle bit more...

ha ha! i have destroyed you, sweet bunnies! oh how i love your gooey deliciousness, and i think it's quite fashoinable when worn all over like this, don't you think?

boo bear takes the cake

here is a snippet of footage of the exact moment boo bear decided to dive in head first!

"Diss" and that!

So, we decided to take the short trolley ride to the nearby Philadelphia Zoo for Ivy's first zoo outing! This pic is quite typical of most of the day - Ivy happily perched in her Ivy-pack (waaay better than a stroller - she could actually see everything!) with the now-telltale pointer finger. She has always been a curious little georgette - aware of everything and everyone and not wanting to miss a beat. Lately however, with her vocabulary seeming to explode (see list at right), she will point her little hand quite decisively and say "diss!" It sounds like "this" to us, and each time we are happy to follow her magic wand-like hand, giving her the words to help open new facets of her world every day! We are really amazed at how fast she picks up the words and sounds (I'd like to think it's from musical mama!??) and it is such a joy to hear her use them...you can literally almost see the wheels spinning in her brain as she listens to each new word over and over before trying to recite it herself.

Those elephants are great, dad, but I think I see a little guy over there I'd like to check out...Seriously, we think Ivy had almost as much fun watching the children as well as the animals at the zoo.

"I'm a peek-a-boo-bear rabbit!"

"Can I ride him? Can I? Can I?!! Oh, pleeeeease!!!!"

Their eyes freak daddy out, but I'll stay here all day petting, if mommy will only let me...

The children's/petting zoo was, by far, the highlight of Ivy's first adventure at the zoo. Although she loved to look at the rest of the animals from her perch, she would get soooo excited when allowed to pet the goats here - she'd bounce her legs up and down and smile and talk to them...I'm pretty sure they understood her, too, as sweetness seems to be a universal language!

Pucker up!...giraffe kissing!
Just chillin' with my dad while he drinks his coffee...