Kenzies Birthday!

Kenzie turned one on the 24th but we had her party on the 20! She is our little bug so it was only fair to have a butterfly birthday party for her. I went a little crazy on making her party really cool even though she would not remember any of it. I kept telling Jake after the third day in a row of carrying in three party city bags from the car that even if she did not remember her party, I would so I HAD to make it a big deal. We ordered 7 large pizzas with chips and dip and then of course we had her cake! We got a big cake for everybody but she had her own "smash" cake. I have NEVER seen a kid go at cake the way she did....she ate it all! Literally there was nothing on the floor and only crumbs left on her highchair tray. Everybody kept telling me to take it away from her but the cool thing about being the mom is NOBODY can tell you what to do when it comes to your kid. Jake and I knew she was having a good time and seriously when else in her life is she going to be able to eat that much cake. (Plus she is only a few ounces away from being able to sit in the big car seat so we figured the more cake the more weight!) After her cake I gave her a bath while all the other kids hit the butterfly pinata. After that we opened presents. Kenzie wanted nothing to do with ripping the paper off her presents so I had all the other kids that were there help her out. She got some awesome stuff....lots of babies(she LOVES baby dolls) a music table...and some other really fun things that even I enjoy playing with. We had so much fun at her party! Thanks to everyone that was a part of it!

someone once told me....

So I think it was junior year of high school I had my first real "love" or so I thought at that time. I look back now and realize just because you like to kiss somebody doesn't mean your in love but that is beside the point of this blog. Anyways I was so in love with marc when we broke up I literally thought it was the end of the world. For days I didn't eat, shower, sleep, or talk. The only thing I could do was cry. I remember talking to one of my good friends boyfriends I can't remember his exact words but he said something like this. When you feel like you have hit rock bottom Kendra the only place you can go is up and when you do start to feel better you will be twice as happy as before. Sometimes when the baby takes her nap during the day and I have nothing to do I will look back at my life and think about well what if I had done this different or what if I had never even met that person. Through all the heartache and pain I have felt in the 21 years of my life it was all worth it. I would not change a thing because I don't think Jake and I would have met if I changed one little thing.

Last night I had dinner ready for him when he got home after a 10 1/2 hour day at work. We sat down and laughed the entire time. After he got up to do dishes. He is amazing...what guy will do dishes after a really hard day at work when all their wife did that day was go shopping for their daughters birthday party. I told him to go in Kenzies room and play with her but he said he wanted to help me. After that was all cleaned up I realized I had not swept or vaccumed my floors in about two weeks so I told him to take a shower while I cleaned. He again said no babe you sweep and I will vaccum. I told him to put Kenzie in her bouncy thing and put in a movie for her and he said he wanted to hold her while he vaccumed the floors. After everything was cleaned and Kenzie was in bed we just layed in bed and talked. I was looking at him tell me a story at one point and it just really clicked....everything in my life happened the way it did to prepare me for where I am at now. I have had two real loves in my life....the first one didn't work obviously and all the time I wish it just never happened because of the pain it still will cause me today but if I didn't have that relationship I would have no idea how to make this one work. I also would not be as grateful for the little things Jake does. Jake is so amazing and I'm so in love with him. Even when we fight with each other when we get in bed to go to sleep he will always cuddle up to me and tell me he loves me. I can't wait to marry him in my dream wedding in 22 days. He is everything I have been waiting for since I was a little girl dreaming up my wedding. I'm so excited and grateful he is who he is and I'm so glad he is the father of my child. I would not change anything about our lives or how things happened.

Mothers Day and Sissy Dog!

I LOVED my very first mothers day. Last year at this time I hated my life because I was a beached whale and while everybody was saying I was included in the Happy Mothers Day wishes I didn't feel like I truly deserved it because I had yet to meet my child! Well this year I totally deserved all the Happy Mothers Days wishes because I and a real live MOMMY!!! So I had seen in one of my celebrity mags these necklaces called Key To My Heart. I didn't just fall in love with it because Britney Spears had one but it really was the sweetest necklace in the world. For those who don't know me...I am a jewlery whore! I love any and all so this was the perfect gift for me. I told Jake about it like forever ago and he said that he wanted me to make a list and from that list he would pick. So I did just what he asked...I made a list of a lot of things we could not afford like a brand new red Mercedes SUV a pair of Chanel heels and a 62inch flat screen TV. My whole thought process was that he would HAVE to get me the necklace because he couldnt get me the other things. Well I got my way and I got my Key to my heart necklace

Mine of course says Jake and McKenzie and then their birthstones. It came in this super cute pink heart box that had a ribbon on it. I was so excited, I have worn it ever since. For mothers day we went to Jakes stepmoms house and gave her two presents and she made us homemade biscuits and gravy. After that we went to church with Mom and Dad and my Grandparents. I found this super cute dress on sale for $10.00 for Kenzie and she looked so cute. After church we went to my parents and had homemade chicken pot pie and Swedish Apple Pie. It is my all time favorite meal in this world. After dinner my mom gave me a present which was surprise because I'm not her mother. She had seen me looking at this really cute purse and after we left the store she went back and got it for me. I was so excited. Mothers Day was perfect and I'm so glad I was given the gift of being a mother. There is nothing in the world more wonderful than being a Mom.

Jake had to have a "manly" dog in the house because he lived with a bunch of girls. There is me who loves hair and makeup our daughter who loves anything pink and fluffy and our cat who eats out of a pink dish who wears a pink collar with a pink name tag and potties in a purple litter box. After a few "discussions" about whether a dog would be the right thing for our family at this time I lost the battle and we got ourselves a "manly" dog. Kane is not named after cane and able, he is named after Ryan Sheckler little brother. I have a crush on Ryan Sheckler because of how sweet he is with him little brother and because that Kane is the kind of little son I want when we decide to add on to our family. Anyways our "manly" dog had an awesome "manly" name with a red manly collar and leash and lots of manly toys. I am here to say our dog is not manly at all. He is the biggest wussy in the world!!! The dog has barked twice since he was 8 weeks old and growled once and that wass in his sleep. I'm not saying I want my dog to bark or growl I do want him to be a good watch dog for our house. Kane is the opposite of watch dog he is a sleep dog. He sleeps all day long on my bed with his head on my pillow and HAS to be covered up. He is scared of the vacuum so scared of it in fact he froze in place on the couch and proceeded to pee all over it. Our tiny cat who is no more than 6 pounds shows him she is the princess EVERY DAY by slapping him in the face and all he does is roll over in submission. I think its so funny Jake had to have a manly dog and our cat is braver than him. I love my dog very much don't get me wrong. He loves to be held on his back like a baby. He only had two potty training accidents and he loves Kenzie the most out of the three of us. He is so sweet to her even when she is pulling on him or crawling over him. Anyways that was my rant about our amazingly not so "manly" dog. I would not trade him for the world though. Our family is complete for right now.

Surgery...Ring...Birthdays!

As you all know my daughter has chronic ear infections (I know chronic is used when a dog has one ear infection after another not so sure if chronic is used with humans but there really is no other way to describe it) we have been battling this battle since December and nothing has really helped. Our doctor finally said it was time for the "T" word and I was all for it. Seriously you can only watch your child be in pain for so long before you start to loose your mind. We were sent to an ENT so the specialist could take a look at her ears. After about 50 hearing tests and looking inside her ear 500 times the doctor agreed that it would be in Kenzies best interest to go ahead with the surgery. She explained that it is a simple procedure that only takes MAYBE 5 minutes. I could not believe that its only5 minutes! It is insane how far medical advances have come. May 4th is the big day. I'm so excited for her to finally start feeling better, im also excited to finally start sleeping through the night again on a more regular basis.



My Engagment Ring!! In September when we were toying around with the idea of getting married Jake and I went to look for a ring. I was very very specific about what I wanted. When we went to the jewler I explained in detail of what it needed to look like and he pulled out this setting that was everything I could want and more. It was my dream ring. Jake got all the information and put it away in his wallet for another day. As you all know we decided in Jan that it was time to make everything legal so we went back to the jewlery store and my setting was GONE! I was ok because I knew they could just order another one but when we handed over the information we got confused looks it was like the setting never even existed. So we had to start from scratch. They first told us that they just needed to design it which wouldn't be too hard because there was a drawing on the paper of what the ring looked like. We were told it would take about three months to "create" this ring. So I left sad but ok knowing I would get my ring sooner or later. Well this is when the crap hit the fan. They found the ring so they would not have to design it but it was on major backorder so it would take 4-5 months to get. This made me very upset because one I just wanted my ring and two if it was that backordered then EVERYBODY and there sister would have my setting. At this point Jake was pushing me to pick something else out but this was my dream ring and I had to have it. I said I would wait it out. So finally after the story of where my ring was and how I was going to get it changed about 500 times I got it. For the last little while they gave me my center stone on a plain band so I could wear something but it wasn't the same. So now I can happily say my ring finger is very very happy with my dream ring sitting on it. It was worth every second of the wait BUT I will NEVER EVER shop at Lance's Jewlery again!1



Panda Bananza Brodeur-Corley turned 1 on the 27. If you are new to reading this blog, Panda is my cat and is like a child to me. Crazy story of how I got her but I have already written about it. It is so crazy to me that she is alrady one because that means in two months Kenzie will be one and I just can't wrap my head around the thought of that. I remeber just yesterday being my baby shower and I remember walking the mall tons of times to try to go into labor. I remember the doctor saying it was time to induce me and I remeber just yesterday bringing her home for the first time. How can she be ONE already? Its funny how much your life can change in just 2 1/2 years. My life today is not in any way shap or form how I thought it was going to be but I am so much happier now then I ever have been. Its just so crazy

Bachelorette Party

This past weekend I went to my best friends Bachelorette party. It was the second time that I left Kenzie for more than a day and let me tell you it NEVER gets easier. I did have a really good time plus I loved hanging out with Carrie without the worry of interupting feedings and nap times.

Carrie, Aunt Laura and I got our nails done and then went to eat at this amazing pizza place. It was so good and super cheap too then Carrie and I went to this "sex shop" to get her Bachelorette sash and our pins for all of us girls to wear. There were some really interesting things in there...I'm such a kid though I was giggling like a ten year old the whole time.

That night we got all dressed up and went to Kabutos for dinner which was so good. I loved the rice and chicken HATED the veggies and shrimp! HAHAH Then after dinner we went to downtown Greensboro to all the bars. I have been 21 for almost a year but because of being a mom and Kenzies early bed time (really I mean my early bed time...Jake and I are old old people) I had yet to go to a bar. I was so excited just to get carded! The first one we went to was a little on the lame side but then we went to this place called "Much" it was a bar on the first floor and on the roof was like a dance floor club type thing. We had so much fun there. It is so nice just to be able to hang out with the girls every once in a while. After that we went to some Irish Pub where this super drunk old red neck guy started to clog dance to the bands song. It was so funny. Our last stop was to this bar called the Burro and when we got there tons of people I went to high school with were there so it was so cool to see them all. Its so crazy how differently peoples lifes change in 4 years. At this point it is 2:30 am and I am dead so I was so glad it was time to go home. After we got back to Carries I hung out with everybody for an hour or so and then went and locked myself into my room and went to sleep.

Sometimes I really miss being able to go out and have fun like the rest of my friends do but this weekend made me realize that I have just as much fun at home with Kenzie and Jake as I do staying out and night. Plus I am much better at going to bed at 9:00 then 3:30. All in all I had a blast and I'm so excited to be Carries Maid of Honor at her wedding this May. Its so crazy we have been through so much together since the sixth grade but in the end we are just as close now as we were back in middle school. I LOVE YOU CARRIE LYNN!

Amy and I

Carrie and I

Brittany and I

Spring Break

I was super excited about spring break this year because my little sister Stacey came down to Georgia to spend it with me. She is not really my sister but I have known her since she was like 5 and EVERYBODY agrees we are the same person...so that makes her my sister! Anyways when she got here all my bridesmaids that live in Georgia plus Stacey and one of my flower girls all went to try on their bridemaid dresses. They are so beautiful...my wedding is going to be amazing. Bonnie and Kenzie are going to be the flower girls and at the dress shop Bonnie kept twirling around in her dress saying I'm going to a wedding I'm going to a wedding! It was so cute and she looked beautiful. She has these to die for tight ringlet curls and bleach blond hair and is miss sassy pants....total GIRL! Everything I want Kenzie to be so I'm so glad they will grow up together. I grew up with my cousin Adam and to this day we are really really close. After the dress shop we went to the Aquarium and they has this Titanic Exhibit that was amazing. Anybody who knows me knows that I am a huge history buff so I was in heaven looking at all the stuff. Jake Stac and I went it was so fun. After we went to Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Atlanta for dinner. The food was not that good but it was just so cool to be downtown.

Stac and I in the Elevator right before going into the Aquarium....can you tell how excited I am?

Have I told anybody recently how in love I am and how lucky I am?

While Stacey was here we also went to Six Flags. It normally takes 45-1 hour to get there but it took us 3 1/2 hours to get there. I guess it was the grand opening of the season and tickets were only 25 dollars so everybody and their brother decided to go. Needless to say we only got to ride one ride and we waited in that line for 3 hours. Jake and I are going back later this summer. We watched a ton of movies and just hung out. I miss my second family so it was so fun to be around her.

On Saturday Stac went home and Jake Kenzie and I took our engagment pictures. It was cold overcast and very windy but it was a lot of fun. I can't wait to see them. Easter was a blast...I still am not used to going to so many places in one day. I feel bad for Kenzie cause its just way too much for her but she is my super child and puts up a strong fight and smiles all through the day. All in all spring break was fun but now its time to get back to normal life and I'm super excited all this running around has sucked all the energy out of me.

The Count Down

I am getting married in..........4 MONTHS!!!

We have the place, the photographer, the florist, the DJ, the videographer, the caterer, the favors, the save the dates, my dress, the bridesmaid/flower girl dresses, and the list all ready! You would think I should be stress free right now but thats a huge NEGATIVE!!! There are so many little things I keep forgetting to do, my brain is overloaded!

On a less stressful note....Kenzie has TWO teeth and is standing up. It is so cute....a little sad because she is getting so big but she is still the most amazing child in the world. I am so blessed to have her in my life.

For the first few weeks we had Kane I was very scared we made a wrong decision about getting a puppy. Now I feel very different, Kenzie LOVES animals just like me. When she sees Panda and Kane she starts laughing and talking to them...its so cute. Kane finally got settled in with us and started to act less puppyish! It helped that I bring my Nolan over to the apartment a few days a week to play with him. We also started going to puppy classes with him. Its so fun on Saturdays to all go as a family to play/teach Kane new stuff. He is super smart and is catching on very quickly. He can now sit...lay down...and come!

I thinks thats really all that has been going on here in our house. Its finally spring in Georgia and I can't wait for it to warm up a little bit more so we can start swimming. Its so pretty outside and spring came right on time...we were so tired of the cold. I hope everyone is doing well and I hope its getting warm where you are all at too~!