As promised, here are some of the pictures/video we have compiled over the last two weeks from our cameras and friends/family.

First are more pictures from Kendal's Ohio Birthday Party!

Kendal and Cousin Andrea

Kendal beating her Dora pinata

Mommy giving Kendal her first cake!

I don't like it mom...

Kendal and Grandpa Taz

Come to me!

You eat the cake!

My bottle!

Kendal and Aunt Mandy

Below are videos from Kendal's Ohio party:

Kendal beats her Dora piñata!

Now it’s Dylan’s turn… nice swing buddy.

Daddy breaks in Kendal’s new tricycle.

Kendal’s first cake… then Marnie makes her cry :< (56K Beware)

Now, videos from Kendal's Michigan party and over the last week:

Kendal wants nothing to do with cake again...

Kendal feeds Maddy!
(56K Beware)

Kendal and her popper toy!

Kendal attacking one of her stuffed animals!

Kendal and her bean bag!

Finally, pictures from Kendal's Michigan party and over the last week:

I like to warm my butt by the fire...

Look at my new bug!

I see you...

Let me out please!

I like corn.

Maddy too!

Let's go!

Do we really have to do this a third time!

Maddy's first beer.

I forgot to mention that Jaclynn did a great job updating Maddy's blog just after Kendal's party in Michigan. Thus, click the link here (or click the link on the sidebar) for a better update on the party than mine below. There are also a few good Kendal pictures at our Father's day lunch. Enjoy. Thanks Jaclynn!

Sorry about the two week gap between posts... we really have no excuse since everything is going great… I could have come up with some good excuses, but we want to teach Kendal that lying is bad. :>

Kendal's 2nd party in Michigan went great as expected. Clearly not as big of a turnout as her first party in Ohio... still just as much fun though! She did great again and actually ate some cake this time! A dip in her pool was all she needed to clean up. She got plenty more presents to add to the wonderful selection of toys she has. Thanks everyone! This kid is clearly spoiled. Thank god we built a room in the basement or we would have to start stacking her toys to the ceiling. Believe it or not, her favorite toy so far is... a bean bag, yup a simple little pillow of foam balls. Since she is walking now... she gets going as fast as she can (not too fast) and takes a dive head first into the bean bag laughing hysterically the whole time. It makes my day every time she does that. Her other favorites were one of the many balloons she received at the Michigan party. The last one is just about to die, but everyone sure got there monies worth out of them.

Other than the party, things have been normal around the house. We can never keep up with the cleaning, but we get by with the essentials. We finally got outside to tidy up the landscaping and add some flowers. I got my brick pavers project done so they finally go all the way around the house. No more edging!

Kendal is still amazing us every day with something new. This kid is unreal! She has got to be the happiest kid alive. We wake her up at 6am everyday (most days :>) where we are immediately met with a huge smile on her face. Most nights she dozes off in peace with that same smile. All day long she is content in whatever is going on. Her laugh resembles that of a clown, almost scary. I think she gets that from me as Marnie always says I have to stupidest most annoying laugh.

Since we got Marnie her bike for Mother’s day and the bike trailer for her birthday she has been doing a lot of riding with Kendal. It’s hard with the extreme heat we have had lately, but Kendal is getting better. I have been borrowing a bike to tag along when I could so Marnie got me a bike as well for Father’s day. Thanks hunny!

Since its lunchtime and I’m at work I don’t have our cameras to update the latest pictures/video so look for that this evening or later this week. Hope all is well with everyone. Thanks again to everyone that made it out to the parties; it’s nice to have so many great friends and family to share our lives with.

We had a blast this past weekend. Kendal enjoyed all of the family and friends that came over to the Schmidt's House for Kendal's First Birthday Party. She was very social smiling and going to anyone that wanted to hold her. She had fun playing with all her cousins. She is starting to blend in with the big kids now. She got TONS of loot. And if we added correctly, I think Kendal's first year of college will be paid for by the amount of money she received for her college fund :) There is a tie for Kendal's favorite toys so far. The new tricycle and this crazy ball popper toy. I will have Mike post videos later this week. Just like her mom, Kendal wanted no part of her birthday cake. She stuck her hands and kind of mashed it around and eventually started crying. She would smack my hands and turn her head away from me when I tried to put cake in her mouth. I guess we should be happy that she doesn't like sweets yet.

The ride to and from Cleveland stunk. Kendal cried most of the way there and finally fell asleep when we got off the highway and were about 10 minutes from Mike's parent’s house. Then she must have thought she had slept all night, so she decided to stay up till after midnight. I was hoping that would mean she would sleep in a bit, nope not my kid she was up at 6am on the dot and ready to party.

The ride home she was better as long as I kept passing her baby cheetos to eat, but we got stuck in a bad thunderstorm and could only drive about 25-45 mph for about one hour so it made the trip even longer.

We made it home safe and sound, unpacked the car, and then Kendal must have found a caffeine pill or something. The kid just wouldn't stop. She was crawling all over the place, playing with all her toys, screaming and laughing as she discovered something new. It was pretty cute but we were exhausted after the long weekend.

A few pictures below from the weekend. We kinda forgot to keep the camera with us, so if anyone has good pictures send them our way. Mike will have videos on later this week. Thanks again to everyone who helped make Kendal’s first birthday so special. It was great to see everyone too.

Kendal and Daddy at her new picnic table

The Party Girl

Kendal playing with Justin

Kendal on her new bike

Passed out after the party, or so we thought

Well, the big day is almost here! We are getting excited for Kendal's parties! We are in Cleveland this weekend and back here on the 9th. Kendal is feeling much better now; she only has a few days left of her antibiotic and then we are done. She doesn't seem to enjoy the humidity lately, but who does. She officially took her first steps a few weeks ago, but is now up to about 6 before she dives at you! We got plenty of it on video, see below. Take care; hope to see most of you this coming weekend or next!

Kendal's first step!

Three steps now...

More walking...

This evening crawling with her ducky...

Recent pictures are below... first take a peak over at Kendal's best friends blog (Miss Maddy) for some good Kendal pictures from this weekend! (click here or click the link on the sidebar)

I'm never giving up my bottle!

Hello!

Look at my toy...

Check out my pigtails... thanks Karen!

Yes, I know I have no pants on!

Snoopy!

Well, the weekend is over... and we are definately not ready for a 2nd child! It would not have been that bad if Kendal wasn't so sick and we didn't have to go to the pediatrician again on Saturday and the Urgent Care today. Kendal's fever got up to 103.6 degrees a couple times. Scary huh. Motrin would bring the fever down, but only for so long. They finally figured out what was wrong with her today and she is on antibiotics and should be good to go in 48 hours. She has a bladder infection. The doc said it was from to many bubble baths! Seems kind of odd, huh. He said two baths a week and not to put the soap in the water, just on her wash cloth. As well, no extended play time in the tub... boo!

On Saturday, Laura and Dave brought Max over for some play time with Kendal. What a happy kid he is, always smiling! I think Kendal has a crush. Sorry Ben. Thanks for the Octabong Dave! www.octabong.com

Today was a little chilly out, but Marnie still managed to take both babies for a walk while I helped Greg with his deck. It turned out nice... now we can have cookouts at the Abbott's this summer! We spent the rest of the day trying to relax after Jaclynn and Jason picked up Maddy. She did great this weekend; What a well behaved kid... take some pointers Kendal!

A few videos and some pictures from this weekend are below... go Cavs!

Big Ben on Saturday night!

A long one of Maddy and Kendal (56K no way!)

Cheeto in his bed

Kendal and her ducky... I'm sick mom!

Miss Maddy!

No, we did not give him the beer

Clunk!

Marnie and Max

Big Ben!

Max beating up Ben

Ben fighting back

Bad Kendal

Kendal and Maddy's first bath together

Well, I had thought this weekend would be better than the last... so far that is not the case. I had to leave work early to go pickup Kendal since she was running a fever at daycare. I took her to the pediatrician and they said it looks like the start of an ear or upper respiratory infection... great. She did OK today, so we will see tomorrow.

Since we haven't posted in awhile, I can give the update for last weekend... Saturday was a day I would like to forget. I was all excited since I was buying Marnie a surprise Mother's Day present (new bike). Well, since my car is not the biggest, I borrowed my buddy’s truck to go pick it up. To make a really long story, reasonably short, the truck broke down on the highway, and Kendal and I were stranded until we could get a ride home and leave the truck. She was not in the greatest of moods since I was out of food for her, except for animal crackers... and that just made her thirstier. Luckily, my friend from work (Isis) came to visit and was able to take me back to the truck later that evening to get our stuff and the bike. Too bad I had to take part of the bike apart to fit it in her car. You better like this bike Marnie! Thanks for your help Isis! I ended up getting the truck towed the next morning. Not fun.

Let's hope tomorrow is better, we will see as we are watching Maddy for the day and she is sick as well. Wish us luck! At least the basement is finished! Some recent pictures are below:

All smiles!

Innocent Kendal

Kendal practicing for swimming class

Static!

The Heisman pose!

Finished basement

Another

Kendal's new TV!

Kendal has found a new toy to play with, the toilet! She laughs as she splashes the water all over the bathroom. She has learned how to put the toilet seat up and down, and almost has had her first swirly. I think we can all agree that Kendal should not be doing this much more so we invested in some toilet seat locks... if we could only figure out how to work them?

Believe it or not Kendal has gotten even faster up the steps... we managed to get some of it on video. See below. Since this is not something we think she should be doing on her own we bought a couple gates for the steps this evening. Mike installed them without swearing once... good job hunny!

Last night was sweet, we had about 20 people over for Cinco de Mayo... 6 of them were kids under 4 years old... thus, it was eventful. Gladly nothing or no one got broken. After the kids went to sleep the old folks had a few pops and relaxed. Good night, were still feeling it tonight.

We took a trip down to T-Town today to drop off a baby shower present for Esser and Christina. They both were doing great, the house is coming along nicely and the nursery is almost complete. Good work Esser! Are you sure you’re ready to be a papa?

Other than that, things are going well. Mike is almost done with the basement. He put the plasma TV on the wall so he can't have too much left. We will post some pictures soon enough I'm sure. Mike's golf league started last week and he said he did well. Swim class tomorrow! Take care everyone!

Kendal climbing some steps

Kendal in the toilet

Some recent pictures are below:

All smiles before my swimming lessons

Check out my new wheels

The picture says it all!

Maddy with Cheeto's bone

Brenden about to take Maddy out... he really did!

Kendal stole Maddy's sippy cup

Marnie and Maddy

Sombreros for Cinco de Mayo!

I guess it is time for us to invest in a few safety gates. We discovered this weekend that Kendal has taught her self how to climb up the steps. Mike will have to get it on video. She laughs the whole time doing it, and she goes really fast. She has made it up the whole flight of stairs in about a minute.

We are still waiting for Kendal to take those first unassisted steps. She is cruising around with the walker and if you hold her hands. She will stand without any help or toys holding her up. So we fear that walking alone is just around the corner.

Kendal did great at swimming lessons this week. It appears that Ben might have gotten used to swimming, since he only cried for a minute or two. Maddy looked like a pro, floating on her back with the life jacket on.

We will post new pictures later this week when Mike is done painting the basement.