Kegan's new fashion accessory?!

Well, what new tricks can Kegan do now? She may be a gymnast since she is already practicing flipping off her changing table. I know there is a warning on the changing pad....Do Not Leave Child Unattended!, but really who listens to that.....Obviously not us. This morning Madison had Kegan ready for morning diaper change and realized he forgot her eardrops in the bathroom. She was lying there half asleep....or so he thought. He entered the room just as she face planted into the floor. Miraculously, her face and neck were ok. She was however, refusing to put weight on her right arm. You could squeeze it and move it all around with no pain. She even used it to play, but when she pushed up to stand, she'd holler a bit. I felt very uneasy about it so Madison brought her in the the ER at Cook's just to have it checked out....probably nothing, right......WRONG! It's a broken radius. A "buckle" fracture to be exact. It is a non-displaced fracture that only bends and hurts when pressure applied to the end of the bone causing it to flex at the fracutre point. That's why it didn't hurt to touch or bruise and swell. Madison's spirit is the only thing bruised. He's beating himself up pretty bad. I keep telling him that we will do many more stupid things as parents, we are just fortunate kids are pretty tough. After all, if crack-heads can raise children, we should be able to right? Kegan tried to make her Daddy feel better by showering him with kisses and hugs all day. She was extra kissy today. I love that!Hate I missed them all while I was at work. I did get to visit them in the ER for a bit while I was waiting for my first case to start. Conveniently the children's hospital connects to my hospital by a skybridge, so I just walked over.

Wonder if she'll become ambidextrous since she can't use her right hand as well?

I want some kisses!

Kegan on the other hand is fine. Now that her arm is stabilized, she doesn't even know anything is wrong. She just thinks she has a new toy. It is great fun to hit her cast on things and pretty funny to bonk yourself in the head with it. She even walks around pretty good with it. She just has a temporary cast now. She'll get the pretty one Monday. Apparently no one puts casts on over the holidays. So we will wait. Who needs a cast for the holiday anyway. I think the hardest part for Kegan will be no baths. She lives for bathtime. We'll have to get crafty and figure something out.

Kegan getting along just fine

Even getting into messes without any trouble at all

Christmas back home!!!

We had a super time visiting back home. Aaron decided to brave the long drive with us last minute. That was great except for the idea he and Madison dreamed up that it would be great to drive Friday night....all night so maybe Kegan would sleep....nevermind us needing sleep. Poor Aaron did the most driving and things got pretty sticky south of Lafayette with super thick fog. Made it to Raceland safe and sound about 5:30 am Saturday morning to suprise Nana Autin....and boy was she suprised....sleepy too. Kegan always has the best time visiting with her cousins. They play so good....except for Kegan sometimes fussing Ava for touching her stuff and her Nana. Evan had a birthday party at the bowling alley, so we all went to hang out.

Kegan shared her animal crackers with Ava.....so nice. Not so nice about sharing Nana.

Sunday night we opened our gifts early since we would all be going different directions over the next few days. Ava and Kegan had a super time playing with Kegan's new ride-on toy from Nana. It is Disney princesses. Very noisy and no off button....the best kind....thanks Nana (ha, ha, ha...payback I suppose).

Oooooh Kegan, check this out. Sweet car!

Ava pushed and Kegan rode

Is this a sweet face or what?

Aaron got a Playstation 3 for Christmas, so he and I headed out to Wal-Mart to buy Guitar Hero. We had such a fun time playing it, Nana suprised us with Rock Band the next day.....Thanks Nana. We had so much fun playing. Kegan and Ava even joined it. They both loved to sing in the microphone. Kegan even took to the drums. Once she found the sticks, she insisted on using them to play. Man, she is smart.

"That's Elmo's World"

Kegan's masterful percussion ensemble

Monday and Tuesday were so cold. The next day we woke up and I dressed Kegan so cute in a sweater and tights only to realize it was stinkin hot outside! We had to change before going out to play and Aunt Jen's.

Mommy underestimating crazy Louisiana weather

Kegan discovered Dad has a button and it even makes him make silly noises

That morning Kegan was still practicing her walking. She is beginning to take more and more steps. Walking on the uneven ground outside was quite a challenge, but she kept at it. She did fall once with her hands in the dirt and thought it was kind of yucky....must get that from her Dad.

Yuck!

Evan might be a little big for the slide....hummmmm ya think?

Now it's Kegan's turn....

Wheeeeeeee!

The world's biggest playpen!

That boy is just silly.

Swinging in the refreshing hot muggy breeze;)

This is one of the first pictures of Kegan officially walking. Christmas Eve Kegan just decided to give up crawling. She still fell a lot, but would just get back up and try again. Perhaps it had something to do with the frustration of trying to crawl in this dress.

Then it was Christmas morning. Santa brought us a walking baby. Kegan got to come downstairs just like her mommy used to do to check out what Santa brought her.

Oooooh, a new pony!

Check out all the cool stuff it does on the TV Dad!

And, Santa brought Kegan Paran Aaron's drums....isn't that right Aaron?

After checking out what Santa brought, we loaded up and moved the party to Mississippi. There we had a great time visiting all the other cousins. We had a big get-together and opened more presents. Kegan kept up her walking nicely. Ashton and Cody shared their toy trucks with Kegan.

Can I play with your truch Ashton?

Part of the Mississippi party crew

Princess Kelly showing off her glam!

2 days at home with Mommy

I missed out on some good family time Sunday and had to work. Everytime I called to talk to Madison, he and Kegan were having a blast. I was so jealous. But, to make up for it I have had Kegan to myself the last two days.

Our big news from the weekend is that Kegan started walking Saturday. We were at my friends house for a baby shower, and I guess Kegan figured she needed to to keep up with the older kids there. I almost choked on my food when I saw her. She was across the room and took 7 steps like it was old stuff. She is still wobbly and falls alot, but she is starting to see it as transportation and not just a trick. She is, however, camera shy. I am having the darndest time getting it on film. She gets distracted everytime I have it out and spends more time falling than walking.

Just me, mom and these cups. It's gonna be a party!

Just climbed into the swing to watch a little TV and play with my cups.

Steady.......steady.......getting turned around

Wait one minute! Did you just change the channel Mommy?!

Awwwww! I was watching that!

Fine! We'll watch the news, but I'm not gonna like it.

Even watching the news is pretty fun from my swing.

Time to go....on to the next thing.

A brief demonstration of Kegan walking. She really does do better than this. I think she gets excited when I get the camera. Not too good under pressure to perform. At least Aaron was here to vouch for Kegan that she really can walk.....a little.

Thanksgiving in Mississippi

Madison, Kegan and I flew into Jackson early Thanksgiving morning. Kegan did pretty well on the plane. Having two of us to handle Kegan makes a big difference. Don't think I'll try it by myself again. After a few fits, Kegan did sleep a good portion of the flight. Cousin Kiley (who is expecting...yeah!) and Brad picked us up and brought us to Monticello to see the rest of the family.

We had a super warm welcome as usual and all the little cousins were there to greet Kegan. We hardly saw Kegan after that. She was swept up by the band of children and we would only get a glimpse every now and then of her as she came by smiling and giggling away. Kegan never meets a stranger and loves her favorite game...."pass the baby". She loves to hold her arms out to one person and then, as soon as they take her, turn to the other person and do the same. If you are lucky, she'll plant a sweet hug and kiss on you when you get her, then off to the next person. I set out a job to the cousins to have Kegan walking by the time we left, but it still hasn't happenend. Kegan is just not interested yet.

We had a huge talbe stretched across the room set so nicely, and of course, we never took the camera out once. Sorry no pictures. The food was fantastic. Kegan discovered greens and loved them....don't think I can ever cook them like Nana, but Kegan enjoyed them while she had them. We all ate, and ate, and ate. It was fun. Kegan finished the evening with a bubble bath in Nana's huge tub with cousin Kelly.

The next day was Kegan's birthday!!! We went shopping in Brookhaven and McComb. We were taking Kegan to have her birthday pictures made and they came out so cute. Kegan got ot have her first McDonald's happy meal. She ate the whole cheeseburger. I bought it thinking we were going to share....not so much! Mommy had to eat some of Aunt Alex's fries becuase Kegan didn't leave anything for me. Nothing else exciting, since the party was going to be tomorrow.

Saturday Nana and Pop hosted a wonderful birthday celebration. We had the most adorable frog cake. Nanny Jen and family, Nana and Pawpa Autin, and Old Pawpa and Mawma all came from Raceland. We had a suprise visit from our friends Bryan and Christine too. Nanny Jen, made Kegan's little cake which was delicious. Kegan enjoyed it. She had a great time playing with all the cousins. Ava the cutie squeaked around in her shoes and everyone had a great time. The gifts were great. Kegan did so well missing her nap and all and played the whole time.

The cousins together

Ava and Kegan playing sweetly while the boys watched

Mawma and Grandma enjoying watching the little ones play

Kegan playing peek-a-boo with me

Kegan giving one of her sweet hugs to Evan

Kegan playing "pass the baby" with Mawma




The pretty birthday cakes. The frog on the cake came with a flower in her hand and a pearl ring. She was so cute. Nanny Jen's cake was absolutely delicious and we all ate more of it than the frog cake. Thank you Nanny Jen and Evan!


Birthday girl ready for some grub!

Yummy, birthday hotdog and french fries!

Kegan's first Texan Birthday Party

Sunday Grammy and Grampy along with Aunt Nikki and the kids made it to Texas. Thanks to Aunt Sherry, we celebrated Kegan's birthday early for her first Texas birthday. All the France cousins were there and Paran Aaron too. We had a great time. Surprisingly Kegan has great manners and was more interested in the cards than the gifts at first. Aunt Sherry made Kegan a great cake and Aunt Nikki decorated it extra special. It was so pretty. Kegan got to wear her special birthday suit made by her Aunt Alex.

Cute birthday girl!

Hey! Somebody gonna read this thing?

Ring-around-the-rosie-ing, with Grammy

Wow, look at that cake!

Wait a minute, where are you taking the chocolaty goodness?

We moved Kegan to the kitchen and covered her in a dish towel, which ended up looking more like a poncho....perfect for Texas. Everyone watched waiting to see what Kegan would do. Once she got a taste of the sweet, she was digging in. Aunt Sherry also made birthday cupcakes, so we switched to that since Kegan could handle it easier, and boy did she! A few times Aunt Sherry thought we would have to give Kegan the Heimlich she was inhaling the cupcake so fast. We managed to slow her down for a little while with milk, then time for round two. After she was done, she didn't want to think about eating her dinner....I know, I know....stupid giving her dessert before dinner, but if you can't do it on your birthday, than when else can you!?

Aha! we meet again.

Ummmm! delectable! Do I taste a hint of Belgian chocolate?

No, wait, maybe German?

I really can't be sure

Nick is wondering why everyone is watching "that baby" eat the cake and he isn't getting any.

Wow, a Kegan size cake. Now, this I can handle!

See how well it all fits in my mouth at one time!

What? I'm fine, really Aunt Sherry! The gagging was just a little joke!

According to Pawpa......Aaaaaahhhhhh!

After that we moved on to the gifts. The card from Aunt Nikki was the coolest. It sang Jojo's Circus. Kegan really enjoyed her gifts.

Oooohhh, what's in there?

Wow, new pj's!

Kegan raising the roof, to her musical vacuum

Birthday parties are so much fun!