I love this picture. The sun's going down, shadows are getting longer, the day is winding down. Kenzie and I are sharing a moment on the curb in front of our apartment. I'm wearing a hat so she insisted on wearing a hat. You can see my truck and Tiff's old car to either side of us. And I don't look that fat. I love this picture.

These are some of my all-time favorite pictures of Kenzie. I love them because she looks so darn peaceful.

I also love these pictures because you can just imagine the sound of her snoring like her mother.

Random silliness.

This is Kermit, the Hermit Crab. He was Kenzie's first pet. He's dead now, but his memory lives on.

Kenzie loves to help us cook. She was always looking to help. Of course, I think all kids like to help their parents in the kitchen.

There was a time when I used to make my own bread and pizza dough. To keep Kenzie occupied (which is a euphamism for "out of the way"), I used to add some food coloring to some scraps of dough and let her have some fun.

You can see our ravioli cutter and an egg cooker for the microwave (made the eggs rubbery) with her in this picture. I don't know what she thought she was doing, but she was definitely enjoying herself.

Here are a couple of shots of Grandpa and Grandma Kovacs with Kenzie. This was her first and so-far only trip to the Turtle Back Zoo. I used to go there when I was little so it was kind of a special day when I got to take Kenzie there.

Here are some shots of me lost, deep in thought, planning my attack. The kid I'm playing against is Andrew, my nephew-in -law (is that right?) from Maine. I kicked his butt that weekend. Then again, I was also about 4 times his age...

There was a time when I was really good at chess. I once played against one of my fraternity brothers and my situation looked pretty dire: I had lost my queen, both bishops, a knight and a rook very early in the game. Meanwhile, I had only taken a rook and a couple pawns from him. After that he fell apart and I ended up winning that game.

It's been years since I've played chess; what you see here is the first time I'd played in about 4 years and I have not played since; my skills have most certainly degraded quite a bit. But Andrew here is a good player, especially considering his age. Still, I had to show him who was boss. No mercy!!!

Here is Kenzie's first taste of Chinese food. No Asian jokes, okay?

She still loves Chinese food.

For some reason we decided to get Kenzie her own little cake for her 1st Birthday. The first picture is of her eating it. The 2nd picture is the eventual crash after the sugar high. Just kidding. I don't remember when the 2nd picture was taken, but it makes for a funny progression.

Here's one of the birthday girl by herself. Doesn't she look adorable?!

Kenzie's First Christmas #1

Kenzie's First Christmas #2

Tiff will have to correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe that this was Kenzie's first solid meal. This was Thanksgiving dinner in Missouri.

I know this is kinda blurry, but this is Kenzie feeding our ex-dog, Suki, Oreos. I never really cared for the dog, but she was kind of cute. For an ugly Pug.

Here's one of Kenzie soon after her very first surgery. She had to have tubes put in her ears because she used to get horrible ear infections. That's one thing I feel badly about passing on to her. But she's over them now; the tubes worked their magic. It just surprised me because I figured she'd be miserable after surgery. But she was only a few months old - she didn't know she was supposed to be miserable. She was actually in really great spirits that day. I love the little hat. I wish we'd saved it. Or maybe we did.

Here's another picture of Kenzie after getting her tubes put in.

Kenzie's First Halloween. Since then she's been Lilo from Lilo & Stitch, Snow White and a fairy. This is my favorite so far.

Here's Kenzie's first gingerbread house.

And here's Kenzie eating a tube of frosting that was being used to make the gingerbread house.

Here's a picture of Kenzie's first pumpkin picking trip. It's been a tradition with her ever since. She loves roaming around the field picking up pumpkins and gourds.

Love Those Ears!

This picture was taken at the church I went to when I was a kid. You can probably guess that the picture was taken at Christmas. Doesn't she look pretty? She looks innocent, too, which I know is a lie. She's really thinking of ways to hurt me once I put down the camera.

High Art Part I

Here's a couple of Kenzie's artwork. These were both taken around the same time which was around Christmas. This first one is her interpretation of our evil little kitty, Bella:

High Art Part II

Kenzie decided to empty her piggy bank and make a face out of the coins. This is the result of that artistic endeavor:

Pumpkin Picking

Here's a pic of Kenzie showing off the spoils of the Great Pumpkin Hunt in October '06 (no, we weren't hunting the Great Pumpkin).