Happy 2nd Birthday Kenley!

Today is Kenley's birthday! I wanted to write a little bit about the things we love about her, and what she's like right now. Just skip right on if you don't want to read a bunch of bragging on Kenley, but I gave birth to her so I'm going to brag on her all I want today! Not that I hold back so much on any other day...

One of my top favorite things about Kenley is her good manners. My Grandpa Pierce was a fanatic about manners, and he passed away about two weeks before Kenley was born. I really truly believe he caught hold of her in heaven before she came down and gave her a good talking-to about having good manners, because hers are unbelieveable. She is always saying, "Yes pees," and "SANK you!" and "Cuse me" and it is just so dang cute. I don't know why I love it so much, but I do. I think I have a soft spot for manners because it was so drilled into me by my own parents and grandparents, so I just think it's so adorable.

She is funny. Every day she makes me laugh right out loud. Today she was playing with a dolly and took it into the car, and she was saying "Scawey! Scawey!" in a really high-pitched voice, and then in her own voice saying, "It's okay, baby!"

Kenley LOVES movies. She is a slave to commercialized characters. She loves Elmo, Disney Princesses (especially Cinderella), Thomas the Train, Nemo, Cars, Alice in Wonderland, Dora, Curious George, and the Berenstein Bears(?). She would watch movies all day long if I let her.

She is still so sweet to Parker. She runs to get him toys when he cries, and jabbers away to him. She can make him laugh harder than anyone else (by doing far LESS amusing things, actually).

She is totally potty trained, and did it pretty much all on her own! Thank you Kenley for that unexpected gift!

She has an incredible memory. Seriously. She can tell me where ANYTHING is ("Where are my shoes?" "In your room!" "Where is your Nemo book?" "In the car!"), and after she sees something once it is imprinted in her brain. Today she went and got a broom and tried to use the handle to sweep a toy out from under the couch. Okay, I know that doesn't SEEM brilliant, but to us it was. Maybe this is more impressive - when we came back to San Diego, we had just gotten into the San Diego airport and I told her we were going to get on the elevator, and she goes, "It's over HERE!" and points to this little tucked-away corner where the elevator really is, although you can't even see it from where we were standing. I just stared at her. Another time I was pulling out clothes for this winter, and she was absolutely insistent that her MeeMee (Joanie) got her a particular shirt. The scary part is that Joanie DID get that shirt for her, but it was a year ago and Kenley has NEVER worn it.

I love that Kenley is sweet and kind, yet strong and independent. I could never have imagined that I could love a child so much. People occasionally ask me if I wish I'd waited longer to have kids, and I always say no. I can't imagine what in this world would be better than this, more fulfulling than this, more beautiful than they are. We sneak in every night to watch these sweet babies with their little angel faces and every single night it almost makes me want to cry. Kenley has made me fall even more in love with James, to see how sweet of a daddy he is to her, how he does her hair and teaches her to love the Simpsons (grr).

I have a special bond with Kenley because she is my oldest, I had all the time in the world to just gaze at her perfect features and savor every single moment. I still try to savor the sticky kisses and snuggly lap-sitting, because I know it will be gone before I know it. But for now she is our little bug, the best thing I have ever done in this world. I love her sparkly smiling eyes, her blonde curls, her perfect rosebud lips, her very imperfect teeth, her cute little nose, her adorable toddler body, her mischievous expressions, and her sweet little voice. Happy Birthday Kenley! We love you!