Just to say hi

Please ignore the fact that I need a shave and a haircut.

Just look at the cute kid.

(Blogger video sucks. YouTube loaded. Just for you Chunk.)

Daddy Lells

Mike's at work on Sunday evening and Kaylee and I are in the car on our way to the grocery store:

"Mommy, Daddy lells* at me a lot."

"He yells at you?"

"Yes, a lot."

"I think he just wants you to be a good listener."

"But it's not nice to lell at people."

* Kaylee's current definition of "yell" is being told what to do. It doesn't involve raised voices, no, just "Please eat all your tortellini." Daddy lells at her and so does Mommy – tough life kiddo.

Kaylee's letter (by dictation)

Dear Grandma Cindy,

Please come to my house today at noon to get it.

We had a good time at your house.

Thank you.

Seriously,

Kaylee

Kaylee <3 fruit

If only you could see how nasty her teeth are.
Cherries + blueberries = LOTS of teeth brushing.

The princess and the frog

.. and the other princess too.

Eight tenths of a mile

That's how far Kaylee is willing to walk on her own. (As long as we're not at the mall. Then it's only about 15 feet.)

We took Kaylee out to Saguaro National Park and hit the trails. She was a trooper – up and down hills, around cactus, through the wash and all the time out front. (She was the leader after all.)

She was careful not to get cactus stickers in her butt – and was on the constant lookout for snakes. She managed to avoid both – but I got cholla-ed.

The poor thing finally tired out when the car was just over the next ridge. But that just gave her an excuse to finish up the trek on my shoulders.

And I didn't mind.

Picinic pic

Say cheese.

Dad, I'm eating.

Say cheese!

I'M EATING!

Merry (late) Christmas

My Christmas present to Rae this year was a family portrait. We're still waiting on the final shots (I'm told the DVD of images is waiting for me on my desk at work) but here's one of the out takes the photographer sent me.

I kinda like it.

CHRISTMAS!

The holiday decorations have been stripped from the house. The tree is shedding it's needles in a recycling pile. Toys are strewn about the house. Sounds like it's the perfect time to look back at the Christmas that was 2009.

Santa brought Kaylee a princess castle. Santa originally didn't think too much of this gift, but Mrs. Claus insisted. As you can tell by the fact that Kaylee was content to stare at the box forever, Mrs. Claus knows what little girls want.

Writing funny captions is hard. Especially when you were up way too late playing Xbox. (Don't judge me. It was broken for a month and I have a lot of catching up to do in Modern Warfare 2. This M16 isn't going to level-up itself.)

But apparently, this thing is pretty damn cool.

Strawberry Shortcake was also a hit. The fact that she had even heard of the toy baffles me, yet that is the only thing she asked Santa for this year.

A blanket from Grammy! With monkeys!

I can't tell if she likes it or not.

Ahhhh ... but Eddie does.

Fun with Skype

Uncle Ry should be happy that I didn't post his pictures.

(The actual photos are BIG. Click on them to see what K is doing at the same moment to fully appreciate them.)

Mike's idea of "watching the kid"

Need a babysitter?
I'm available.