Kyla is one!

This is Kyla's first birthday, based on RSVP's probably the most attended birthday party she will have for a long time. Below is the first of hundreds of gifts which she will tear into throughout the course of her life. This one came a bit early.


Mommy and Co. did a terrific job of decorating for the birthday bash. Everything is perfect....all we need is guests.


"Well shit, where the hell is everyone"?


"Wait a minute here, all of these people came to see ME? I get a cake all to myself? These gifts are mine too? We should do this birthday holiday more often".


Who needs hundreds of dollars worth of free gifts when there's trash?


OMG! Another baby makes an appearance on Kyla's....err...I mean, our blog? This is Erica and Gabe. They came all the way from Mobilehoma to attend the birthday celebration. Erica works for Starbucks as a regional big shot. The irony is that Erica is allergic to coffee of all things. That's like me working at a penicillin sampling lab....ha!


Erica and Gabe also gave Kyla this cute shirt to wear on her birthday!


"Yeah you booze hounds, just because you drunks are drinking from cute pink wine glasses doesn't mean I'll ever forgive you for getting drunk at my first birthday".


Welcome to the world of the bi-pedal! Our little princess is walking!

Kyla is 11 months old!

Honestly, I am really starting to run out of material with all of these baby pictures. One can only make humor out of cute baby pictures so much...

Yay! Another female trying to steer a 4 wheeled vehicle without hitting anything.



Let's play a little game with this picture. Can you find each of the following.

1) The $280 mural painted on Kyla's wall

2) The chair railing that Daddy slaved over and cursed while installing

3) A spoiled little princess

4) Waldo


Little does this little cowgirl know that she will be receiving THREE horses on her upcoming birthday. One on a spring, one on multiple springs, and one that rocks.



Peek-a-boo!


Look at the form of her pirouette! She's already preparing for those exciting 6 hour dance recitals. And yes, I did have to look up "pirouette" in an online dictionary.....you didn't know how to spell it either.

Kyla is 10 months old

"Now, I'm in a basket here. I thought this was the fireworks holiday...didn't the Easter bunny holiday happen a few months ago"?


"Eat your heart out John Lennon! I can play the piano without a crazy Japanese lady aimlessly walking around me".


Hello? Yeah <insert grandparent name here>, how are you coming along on that <insert name of toy or unnecessary apparatus to take up space in our home here> that you promised? <Mommy or Daddy> won't buy it for me....or at least Daddy won't.


Kyla gets a lot more out of her grandparents when she uses the real phone.


"Yeah Daddy, your electronics still suck. I don't know why we are posting a picture so similar to one from last month's blog entry....get with it! Go change my diaper genie! Run me a bath!"


"Watch the road! What are you doing? You will get us killed"!


Kyla has a collection of about 8 undersized pieces of furniture. So if any of you will be in the market for small furniture for a child or "little person" you know where we can be reached.


"I continue to exercise my dominance of this blog. I can sit in a swimming pool in the Hill Country and get ten times the attention and ten times the blog presence than Mommy and Daddy combined".


Kyla using sign language to get food....Daddy should take notes. I like how at the beginning of the scene you can see Kristie walking away from the camera that she set on the table. I dunno where Daddy was.

Kyla is 9 months old

NINE MONTHS OLD! Just as much time out as time in.

This is Kyla at our community pool. Daddy was called out by a 16 year old life guard for entering the pool with a beverage. Mommy and Kyla played by the rules.


"Daddy, now that I can get a closer look at your electronics I can see that they suck, I'm really disappointed in your Daddiness. What is this thing that says VHS anyways"?



Kyla with her Grandma on a recent visit to Kentucky. Once part of Virginia, Kentucky achieved its own statehood on June 1, 1792. Many think that the "Colonel" (e.g. Sanders) had sort of a military background. Not so! Becoming an honorary Kentucky Colonel is a title given to those whom "The Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels" deems as worthy. Other famous Colonels are Dave Thomas (the Wendy's guy), Tiger Woods and Bob Barker. You now know more than you did 20 seconds ago...congrats!

Sorry Linda, I couldn't think of anything clever or cute for this one. The picture says it all!


Hopefully these will be the only bars that you are ever behind Kyla.


"I am amused by the simplicity of your childproofing Mommy and Daddy, what will you do when I start climbing"?


This is is when we went to a restaurant with the family for Father's Day. Kyla was in this giggly, goofy mood the entire time. We had a debate about her reaction after giving her a slice of lemon to chew on. Some said it was a "shake", others a "wince", I said a "shimmy".


It was my request to take Kyla to the Astros game on Father's day.
(pregame)


(During the game)

The final score was:
Yankees : 13
Astros : 0
Beers : 1.5
Diaper Changes : 0 (oops!)
Innings watched: 2.1
Regrets : 0


One would be surprised at how much excitement a 12 dollar play mat and a garden hose can provide for a 9 month old. "....and pull that strap up"!

Kyla is 8 months old!

Another picture with a friend, another head comparison. It's only because she is so smart. This is her friend Jackson.

Another boring picture posted on our blog. Kyla relaxing on the floor with Daddy. How can we expect viewership of our blog to stay at adequate levels without exciting pictures?

Daddy DOES have this picture saved on his phone. He shows it to people when he wants to brag about his beautiful family to strangers. This was on Mommy's first Mother's Day......

Kyla lounging in her new front yard, recently cut grass and flower beds full of dead plants. We have worked on our home from the inside out.....landscaping comes soon!

The little princess being a little princess.


Kyla can now stand up in her crib. She likes to make a pose reminiscent of those masked Mexican wrestlers.


INFANT MAKES HISTORY FOR BATH-TIME HIJINKS

Katy, TX - (AP) Local legend Kyla Bruns' 8 month streak of never defecating in the bathtub finally ended. Daddy was so excited yet equally disappointed that she didn't accomplish the feat while in the tub with Mommy.

The crowd of 4 watched in awe as Kyla so effortlessly and modestly made her mess in a previously clean bathing facility. Spectator and grandmother Roxanne Bruns was one of the lucky ones on hand.

"What a great night", Roxanne exclaimed. "We thought we were enjoying another cute Kyla moment during bath time, then low and behold, we witnessed history".

Off camera, Kyla was recorded as saying, "Well, you know how these things go, you train all of your life for events like these and I'm glad that I finally have this monkey off my back. I would like to thank God, my parents for all of their unwaivering support and Gerber for helping to make this dream come true for me and my fans."

When asked which milestone she will begin training for next, Kyla paused for a moment and reluctantly said, "Ya know, I really just want to enjoy tonight's victory and start thinking about what's next during the off season. Naturally, removing a soiled diaper and presenting it to Mommy first thing in the morning would be a challenge worth conquering, but ya know, I really would like to set my sights on something a little more sophisticated and grand like trying to start Mommy or Daddy's car when it's in the garage or maybe filling one of my formula bottles with some of Daddy's best whiskey as a joke. We'll see. But please, let me enjoy this night and we can talk about the future later".

Kyla then retired to her recently decorated suite where she enjoyed a long night of rest.

We moved and Kyla is 7 months old!

It's time for us to pick up and go once again. We left Texas separately, but Kristie and I came back to Texas married with a beautiful child and all of our debt paid off (Thanks Arnold!). Aside from the obvious personal milestones within our family, other accomplishments reached in CA...

1) Kristie and I maintained Texas registration, insurance, and driver's licenses for our vehicles (including one vehicle bought IN California.
2) Many of you don't know this, but my extensive knowledge of the intricate SoCal freeway system paid off as I held a part time job as an OnStar telephone agent. (Ask Kristie)

3) Kyla gets to live her life bragging about sharing a birth city with reputable American icons such as Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg, and Daz Dillinger. Many other rappers can only dream of actually being from the "LBC".
4) ...and NO, we did not see any celebrities, we did not go on any game shows and we only felt a couple of earthquakes.

Anyhow, we are glad to be back...

Here is Kyla saying good bye to her good friend Claire

Kyla and her good friend Kiera had many laughs together (this is where you say, "Damn Kyla has a BIG head")

How ironic that I moved to California to work for a company based in Texas only to move back to Texas to work for a company based in California. Icing on the cake was that our movers were associated with Atlas Van Lines (far left)

Hanging out in Fredericksburg with Daddy and Opa, Kyla enjoyed swinging from a tree in front of Opa's peach orchard. I dont take, nor do I post these pictures, but this weekend trip to the Hill country had a lot more blogworthiness with scorpion encounters, chicken coops, etc.

Kyla felt the Lord as she was baptized in Fredericksburg. Despite the water, the congregation, and the denouncement of the devil, she maintained a very calm and collected demeanor during the ceremony.

Godparents Nate and Kate. I think Marlon Brando jokes are pretty played out by now when talking to godparents. (and no, Kate did not allow Nathan to attend the ceremony in sandals)

Kyla is 6 months old

Kyla is six months old and time sure does fly! She is rolling over now (both ways) although it does still take her awhile. She prefers to just whine and hope that someone will move her or bring her whatever she wants :) She is also sitting independently now.


She also has a new jumperoo that she loves. For those of you who don't know, it's like a cross between a mechanical bull and bungee jumping.


When Mommy brought the jumperoo home, Kyla exclaimed, "Yay!! Another brightly colored apparatus which doesn't effectively conserve space whatsoever! When are we going to install a ball pit in the living room"?


She hasn't quite figured out how to jump yet so it looks like she is galloping if you watch her feet! It is adorable!



Now this was an interesting episode. She learned that she can slightly pull herself up on the built in mobile that this chair has. The problem is that when she lifts herself, she administers a death grip on it as she is afraid to fall back down by letting go.




It's good to always have a toy to stimulate mental development and reduce fussiness within arms reach at all times.




"Um, yeah Daddy, don't bother asking if I would like the blanket....must be nice you jerk. I'll just sit in my new leather chair and ottoman combo and enjoy the basketball game in the cold".





Q: If you want to buy Kyla a toy for bathtime, she would most appreciate ___ ?
a) An overpriced plastic toy that floats and changes colors with temperature fluctuations.
b) Some sort of battery operated toy made in China that propels itself around the water.
c) A 24 cent washcloth that she can suck on.




The first and last time Kyla ever sat on a motorcyle (courtesy of Grandpa Jack)




"Daddy lays on the couch after eating. I usually just fall asleep with the bottle in my mouth".




"Oh, the humanity"!




This was at a mall in Las Vegas. We took Kyla there with her cousins to meet a man in a Easter Bunny suit. We were able to snap this photo of Kyla and Mr. Bunny as he was escorted out for a smoke break.




Authentic Easter Bunnies are easy to spot. They always keep cheaply manufactured fans handy to shove into their neck area to stay cool.



HAPPY EASTER EVERYBODY! I'M STILL CUTE!

Kyla's five months old! ...and she went to the zoo.

"I just got a round of vaccines, I'm crabby, and I'm giving you the finger because I'm not happy with life at the moment - and no, Daddy did not pose my finger like this."


We figured that when Kyla is older and wants to go to the San Diego zoo we can show her this picture and tell her that this was her only shot. (DisneyLand to follow before we move to Texas)


It was chilly in San Diego that day.


4 hours at the zoo and not a single poopy!


We posed with a polar bear.


Look! Kyla can drink from a straw!