The Wonder Years

My mom is really good at a lot of things but having photographs in any sort of organization is not one of those things. So, I decided that this year I would take many of the old photos which have been stored in shoe boxes and put them in nice albums. This was supposed to be a Christmas present but the project turned out to be much bigger than I imagined so it will most likely be a birthday present. Since her birthday isn't until July, I have plenty of time to get the job done. Seeing as how I was snowed into my house for a few days last week (and if the forecast is to be believed, I will be snowed in again for a few days this week) I've got all sorts of time on my hands to work on this little project.

While going through all of the photos, I've found some pretty funny ones of me as a child and I thought it would be fun to share them. So now, without further ado, I present KC: The Early Years...

I was born with black hair that stood up straight all over my head. A few months later it had turned a medium brown and could be restrained by a barrette. Suri Cruise had nothing on me in the hair department.

This is one of my favorite pictures of me and my dad. I enjoy the fact that we're color coordinated with the green and white...and mops of brown hair.

My mom refers to me as "the little Indian baby" in this picture. I see no papoose anywhere.

Clearly, the tray on this highchair was rarely bare. Can you believe the size of those cheeks?

I saw myself as the "It Girl" of the neighborhood...

I still feel this way about cake...particularly a cupcake.

L to R: Kenny, me, Dawn. I never met a camera I didn't like...the same cannot be said for my cousins on Christmas morning.

Grandma, Aunt Sharon, and me as the only girl in North Denver with a Yamaha and pig tails.

A lesser woman could not have pulled off this dress. I blame Little House on the Prairie for this outfit.

These days, you probably couldn't give a child a plastic bunny rabbit at Easter for fear they'd choke on it. But as a child of the 80's, I lived life on the edge.

Here I am at my family's cabin in Westcliffe. If you look closely, you'll note not only the ill-fitting jeans but also the fact that my t-shirt reads, "The Burger King".

This is my oldest friend in the world, Andre. His mom and my mom were friends in high school and his mom used to babysit me when we were little. People used to think we were twins because we looked so much alike. He likes to give me shit because I'm clinging to him in this picture and his pants are unbuttoned. I must have found his "Mork & Mindy" suspenders totally irresistible.

This was before I had mastered sitting like a lady...

I do believe this is where my love affair with boots began. Thankfully, I no longer rock the moon boots.

My 4th birthday at Burger King. I vaguely remember insisting that I was the only one who could wear a crown because it was my birthday. Sidebar: I still know all four boys in this picture. How crazy is that?

Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got, I'm still Kennie from the block.

Some things never change...my hair still looks exactly like this when I take a bubble bath today.

If you grew up anywhere near Denver and you're anywhere near my age, you had a birthday at Casa Bonita with the cliff divers and sopapillas. Here I am with my mom and Aunt Denise.

And last but certainly not least, we have my first appearance in a wedding - Uncle Brad and Aunt Carol's ceremony, circa 1983. (I'm quite certain all three of the dresses in this picture can be found in the prom scene from Footloose.)


I think that's enough sharing for one day...