We're still here

This past week has been busy. I've been trying to manage working at the club, working at home, and working a little at the office while also trying to keep up with little miss diva girl. So far we've been able to make all of our regular activities (playgroup, music classes, watching KK's friends when their mommies need time, going to church, etc.) and I haven't had to hire a sitter to work from home. I'm also working out the details of my trip to the Navajo Nation later this summer...I think it will work out. As long as I don't think too much about being away from KK, I get very excited about the trip.

On Friday I received a nice surprise from Daddy! I worked at the club that morning and when I got to the car after my shift, this was sitting in the passenger seat: The note said, "Be ready for a nice dinner out at 5:30. The babysitter is taken care of." It was so sweet! The rest of the weekend was nice too. Except Grandpa is back in the hospital, so that is a bummer. We are going to see Grandma and Grandpa and lots of other people we love later this week, so we are looking forward to that.

KK is changing so much right now I can hardly keep up with her; she's a little sponge and is learning so much so fast that she seems like a new person every day. She is so fun to be around! (99.9% of the time, anyway.) Her latest adventures include "riding her bike" (read: I push her Roll'n'Ride while she just sits on it) to the park and swinging on the swings. We are also trying to learn how to go down the slide the 'correct' way. She has a hard time sitting up, so her slides usually turn out like this (when she gets to the bottom she usually flies right off and lands on her back):
She's also been into wearing necklaces lately. So pretty! Tomorrow is an office day...and since it's already 2:30am I guess I should try to get some sleep...

Play Day

KK was invited to her friend, J's, Monday-morning-get-together with a few of his friends. KK and J have been friends since before they were born, and they are only a week apart in age. They had lots of fun playing at the playground! I managed to capture a few pictures of them together - but they really spent most of the time running around and going down slides. Fun, fun stuff! Thanks for inviting us to come and play, J and his Mommy! After the playground date, we went to a scrapbooking store and I managed to find the sheet of paper that I needed to finish the first page of KK's scrapbook (I ruined the only one I had left by printing K's name on it without a space). Of course I went in to buy one 79 cent piece of paper and came out with $50 worth of stuff I didn't need. (Don't tell Daddy!!!) Add THAT store to the OFF-LIMITS list!!!!

We also had our regular playgroup this afternoon. KK and I were both very tired, but we always have a nice time with our playgroup friends. I've been working a lot during the evenings to get my current project done. It's a slow-goer with lots of information. Speaking of work, I better get back to it...

Why I love her so!

Today on the way to church, KK sneezed and immediately said, "Bless you, Mama!" Sometimes I could just eat her up!

More Diva-liciousness

I admit it, I can't get enough of the diva. Especially since half the time SHE'S doing the dressing up pretty much on her own. I just give her the sunglasses and she refuses to take them off. I leave her Easter hat out for her to play with and she puts it on declaring herself a "cowboy" and refuses to take it off most of the time, too. She puts any round object on her wrist like a bracelet and she thinks that is the greatest thing ever. She truly seems to like dressing up, so who am I to object? I just grab my camera!

 

Besides going to the park a lot, we've been busy. I completed my first project for work and it felt great. I'll get my next assignment hopefully tomorrow. Now, an opportunity has come up for me to be able to directly participate in one of the projects on the Navajo Reservation - a place I love. I soooo want to do it, but it would mean a whole week away from KK and Daddy. I know it would be good for all of us, but it still puts a knot in my stomach to think about being away for so long. And Daddy is unsure about it too. It's on my heart to go, so I have a lot of thinking to do.

Last weekend I had thought KK had another ear infection. I brought her to the ear-nose-throat doc for a routine check on the bump on her neck and he said her ears looked perfect. So what was the fever and sleeplessness all about? Welcome, two-year molars! The bottom two are completely in. I feel like a terrible mother for not even having considered she might be teething. I was giving her Tylen*l & M*trin, so it's not like I could have done anything else, but still. Maybe a popscicle or something would have helped her to feel better.

We have music class tomorrow, hopefully a trip in to work, and then Daddy has lots of landscaping and yard projects planned for the weekend. Oh, and here is one more diva photo...couldn't resist. : )

Playground Diva

More Precious Than Gold

That was the theme of the semi-formal Father & Daughter dance that Daddy and KK went to tonight. It was held at the church that we've been visiting. Daddy says they had a great time, even though KK only slept for approximately one or two hours total last night and only took a short nap today. I think she has an ear infection again, we'll find out tomorrow for sure. According to Daddy, the dance was very enjoyable despite KK's somewhat feisty mood. He said it was decorated like a princess castle and they had a chocolate fountain. As far as KK is concerned, I don't think there is anything that chocolate covered bananas couldn't make feel better. It sounds like she ate her fair share of them! They danced to Butterfly Kisses and a few more songs, attempted to eat dinner (she didn't cooperate except for the chocolate), had a formal picture taken, and KK came home with a pretty gold-bead necklace. It was great to see them spend a special evening together!

Over the weekend I've been plugging away at work. I forgot how time-consuming the project I'm working on can be. I work on it in chunks of time (I'm taking a break now), but I really am enjoying it. This first project is for a Native American Reservation that I worked closely with for several years, and I am enjoying the familiarity it brings. Okay, long enough break. Back to work I go...

P.S. If you want to see a REALLY STUPID movie that still makes you laugh out loud, go see Blades of Glory. Dumbest movie I've ever seen, but it's one of the few that has ever made me really laugh out loud. Stupid, stupid, stupid...but funny.

Happy Birthday Macaroni!

Today is my Godson's 9th birthday! And true to form, I haven't sent him my lame and boring standard gift of money. I was going to call him earlier today, but then realized he was in school...and then it got too late. I swear I didn't forget, I'm just double-lame. And I'm really bummed that I'm missing his birthday party at the bar!!!! Happy birthday Macaroni! I love you!

(Photo brazenly stolen from Auntie Sunshine)

I don't get it

Wouldn't it be wonderful if for just one day there was no illness, no pain, no fear, no war, no worry, and no despair? Of course one day wouldn't be enough. This has turned out to be a very humbling week. It's unnerving how life can change in the blink of an eye. I remember the feelings I had when not long ago I kept being asked to come back in for more and more mammograms and breast ultrasounds. It ended up to be nothing to worry about, but it was one of the most terrifying weeks of my life.

This week our Uncle Geoff lost a very close family friend to a form of meningitis. She was going to nanny for him and his wife when their baby arrives later this year. She was only 20. Fine on Friday. Gone on Tuesday. I can't even imagine.

And tonight I learned that Mama Panda is fighting a slow-moving non-agressive cancer. Statistics are on her side, she says, and I am so glad for that. I will still be praying for her and her family like crazy. If you'd like, drop her a comment of encouragement. She's been through more in the past year than anyone should ever have to bear.

Sometimes I just don't get it.

All is well again. Better than well, actually!

Everyone is entitled to a bad day, and we certainly had one on Tuesday, but it was nothing compared to what others are going through. Things have been better around here for sure. Wednesday was a little rough; I got called by KK's daycare to come and pick her up because she was so unhappy. I should have known that she wouldn't be in the mood for daycare when she woke up walking like a cowboy from the soreness of her shot adventure the day before. She took a nap and was fine the rest of the day. She's also had playdates with a little boy in her playgroup for two days in a row and she loves that! There's nothing better than waking up from your nap to find a cute boy waiting to build block towers with you!

Even after a visit to our house from Uncle Geoff and a technology guy, I'm still not hooking up to the server for work. We're going to solve the problem another way, but it will mean I have to make several more trips to the company than we had planned. No biggie. Hopefully I'll be able to get some work done over the weekend.

BuddyBuddy's tummy is better, too. Apparently we were handling his not feeling well all wrong. If we had let him sleep in a Lazy Boy like he gets to do at Uncle Ray and Auntie Joyce's (visual exhibit below), he would have been nice and puked on the hardwood floor rather than the carpet. Lesson learned. : ) I started KK's scrapbook!!!! Really! Sort of. I finally got ink for our printer, so I was able to print her name and stuff for the very first page - which has been holding me up all along. Except I only had ONE sheet of the kind of paper I wanted to use, and then printed it without a space between her middle and last names - oops. Oh well.

We also booked a trip to go see Grandma and Grandpa in a few weeks. We're lucky that we are able to go visit two or three times a year! Yep, life is good - and I am thankful for it. Have a happy Friday!

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Actually, it all started last night...

First, we brought Grandma and Grandpa to the airport and everyone cried - especially KK, which upset everyone even more.

When we got home I put KK to bed and anxiously dove into my first work-from-home project. I was so excited to be getting started...but then I couldn't get connected to the server no matter what I tried. Strike one against working from home: there is no tech support at night. I gave up after a couple of hours. Even after getting some help today, it still didn't work. The project I was supposed to have completed by tomorrow has not even been started. I only get paid for what I produce, so after a day and a half in the office and then wrestling with the computer at home I have produced nothing and get nothing. More importantly, my boss (who is also Uncle Geoff) worked hard to make this work-at-home project possible and I really want it to be successful. Tomorrow is an office day, so hopefully we'll figure out what the issue is.

This morning Daddy came in to the bedroom and said, "Buddy threw up all over the living room, and I don't have time to clean it up." Which sucked, but worse, that was the last thing Daddy said before he walked out the door...no 'I love you', no 'goodbye.' I know he was preoccupied with work this morning so I understood, but it didn't start the morning in a nice way. And I still had to pick up the FIVE piles of dog puke (for the second time - he created five even bigger piles at 3am the night before...next year he does NOT get the Easter ham bone.)

The clean-up project made me late for work at the club this morning and all of the kids were on sugar highs from their Easter candy. I couldn't wait to get out of there.

**Warning. This is the worst part.**
KK had her well-child check-up today. She weighs 24.2 lbs. and is 31 3/4" tall. Something isn't right because she was 31 1/2" at her 15 month check-up and I KNOW that she has grown more than 1/4" in 5 months. The kitchen table proves that without even measuring her. I love KK's doctor, but the nursing staff is less than impressive - further proven today with KK's shots. The nurse said she had a "better way" to administer shots to children. "Sit her in your lap facing me," she says. "It works better that way." So like an idiot, I sit KK on my lap facing her. She needed three shots. The first goes in and of course she screams and cries. I'm trying to somewhat cover her eyes and hold her still at the same time when the second goes in. KK fights me, the nurse is not very swift, and the needle bends and comes out scratching a bloody line in KK's leg before the nurse could inject it. The nurse says "You need to hold her still!!!" Oh. Okay. I'M SUPPOSED TO HOLD HER FLAILING LEGS, ARMS, AND HEAD STILL AFTER YOU HAVE ALREADY STABBED HER ONCE AND NOW ARE COMING AT HER WITH ANOTHER 2" NEEDLE AND YOU'VE REQUESTED ME TO POSITION HER SO SHE CAN WATCH THE ENTIRE PROCESS??? ARE YOU *$#@*# KIDDING ME??? So, KK got three shots, four stab wounds and one complimentary two-inch long needle scratch.

After the doc we went to the bagel store to get a snack (and so I could hit them up for the music school fundraiser). I got KK out of the car only to find that the store was closed (like, for forever). So we go back to the car, but NO WAY is she going back into her carseat. She arched her back and stiffened up and cried and I swear I didn't think I'd ever get her buckled in. "SNACK!!!! SNAAACK!!!!! SNAAAAACCCCCKKKKK!!!" She didn't believe me when I said, "We'll go someplace better! We'll go to McDonalds!" Probably because she never goes to McDonalds and didn't care. And then she started to say "Applesauce? Applesauce?" Yes! Yes, honey! McDonalds will have applesauce!

McDonald's doesn't have applesauce. They do have apple dippers, also known as a caramel delivery system. As a snack, my daughter ate a little packet of caramel that she happily sucked off of apple slices (she didn't take a single bite of the apples).

Whew. Sorry for the downer post. I guess I needed a distraction from my inability to work and the effort of balancing my checkbook. Which isn't balancing. And I need it to balance. It's an obsession I have. Even though I suck at math, I MUST balance my checkbook to the penny every month. I guess I should have waited to do it until tomorrow...

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I think the Amazing Auntie Sunshine outdid herself, which I thought was impossible. Her creativity and imagination is overwhelming. I try to do special things for her boys, but as Sunshine would say herself, I'm lame beyond the telling of it. I swear I don't have an original creative bone in my body. Sunshine always does such special, creative, amazing things for KK and I just send her boys money (and almost always late). Boring. Anyway, the dress! Auntie Sunshine had this dress made for KK using the dress she wore as the maid of honor in mine and Daddy's wedding. Oh. My. Goodness.

My inexperience with my camera wasn't able to do the dress justice, not to mention the fact that KK isn't all that into photo shoots these days. But she looked beautiful and we will cherish the dress forever! The ribbon in her hair and on her hat was actually part of the decorations from our wedding too. Thank you Auntie Sunshine. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!


















We had a wonderful Easter with lots of family and friends, and we hope you did too!

We're having fun!

It's been a busy and fun few days! Even though it is cold and snowy, we've taken several trips to the park and gone for lots of walks. We've also been reading stories, coloring, and playing with the new Tigger and Mickey dolls Grandma brought. (The collection of things required for taking a nap and going to bed is getting larger and larger!)

 

On Friday we also went on KK's first official Easter Egg Hunt. She didn't really get the part where you put the eggs in your basket; instead, she'd pick up an egg, shake it, and then throw it as far as she could. Usually everything inside sprawled across the floor, so she'd just look for a new egg to throw. She DID get excited about the Easter Bunny though! Grandpa handed KK over to him and she was thrilled! When the bunny put her down, she pushed herself right back to the front of the line and said "UP! UP! UP!" until he picked her up again. We finally had to pry her away from him while she cried "Bunneeeyyy! Bunneeeyyyy!" Poor Mr. Easter Bunny. (I was excited to bring her to Disneyworld someday, but after the bunny adventure I don't think we'd EVER get her out of of Mickey's arms!)

 

We've been so busy that KK is tired, which makes her a little moody - but she LOVES having Grandma and Grandpa here. I've never seen her snuggle so much or sit still for so long. I'm trying to get a photo of her in a VERY special outfit, but her moods have not been cooperating. I'm hoping later today she'll be a happy girl and will at least look at the camera once or twice. Wish me luck.

Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa arrived this afternoon! We were all too tired to do much of anything today, but I'm sure there will be lots of cute pictures to come...

KK is 20 months old!

We've hit the "20" months...it makes 2 seem SO close! And KK is certainly acting her age! While challenging, nothing could make me happier than being Mommy to this beautiful, spunky, happy, silly, funny, smart, moody, charming little girl. Her new nickname is Parrothead, not because she loves to say "Yay Jimmy!" when we get in the car, signaling her desire to listen to Jimmy Buffet, but because she repeats and remembers EVERYTHING. Including "Oh shit!" and "Jackass." Today when I picked her up from daycare, another child dropped his sippy cup and Kendall replied with a chant of "Oh shit! Oh shit!". Miss Janet was kind and said that she thought she must be saying "Outside! Outside!" but I think we both knew better. Apparently I have some work to do in the language department, especially while driving. Ooops.

Speaking of language, KK's language skills are exceptional (in my humble opinion) and I think that complete conversations are just around the corner. In some ways, I am sad that her pronounciation is getting so clear. I'll miss the little "KKisms" like "All day!" meaning All done!, "Melp" for Milk, "Hining!" for Hiding (which she loves to do in very inconspicuous places like 'behind' the railings on the staircase or under the barstools in the family room), "Mitteee" for Mickey, and "Daay daaay" or "Taay Taaay" for KK, her own nickname.

I don't know officially, but I think KK weighs about 23 pounds. And she is getting tall! Remember how much she loves to play under tables? I think those days are coming to an end. The other day she ran full-speed toward the kitchen table and knocked herself flat when the top of her head hit the side. I swear she was able to run clear under the table the day before - she must have grown two inches overnight! We'll find out her actual stats at her well-child checkup next week.

KK loves her some Wiggles! Though I've sung it to her many times, I think she really learned to sing Twinkle Twinkle from Greg Wiggle. She gets better with the words and melody every day. She has also started to sing the first line of "Three Blind Mice" randomly throughout the day. She can identify all of the Sesame Street characters and Mickey's friends...learned mostly from books, but also from watching them on TV occasionally. She also loves JoJo, Little Einsteins, and Go Baby. Especially Go Baby! She squeals and dances like crazy when she sees Baby and Sophie. Dancing...she LOVES to dance...if you can call it that. It's one of those things that is hard describe, I might have to try to get her moves on video.

I think we're doing pretty well with gross motor skills but fine motor skills are still a challenge for us. She is doing okay with feeding herself with a spoon, and in fact insists on feeding herself by saying "Do it! Do it!" and pushing us away. She just can't seem to get the food onto the spoon very well by herself. She is trying and is interested, though, so I'm not worried. She has no interest in drawing, coloring, or doing art of any kind. We try things now and then, but she's just not that into it. Nor has she shown any interest in dressing or undressing herself. I guess that could be a good thing.

Besides swear words, KK has a photographic memory for people's names. She knows the names of most of the kids on our street and even says their names as we pass each of their homes. It's almost scary how she can remember a name after meeting someone one time. Sometimes she gets confused though...today we were at the store and she got all excited shouting and pointing "Teenie! Teenie" when she thought she saw her babysitter, Krystine. It did look a lot like Teenie, but was just another 17 year old with a ponytail.

And speaking of ponytails...they finally stay in!!!
Happy 20 month birthday baby girl! xoxox

Mud

Do you ever wonder why you bother cleaning your house? I spent the day cleaning today. The entire day. Scrubbing bathrooms, cleaning and surfacing hardwood floors, doing laundry, etc. I'm not sure why I do these silly things. Especially the floors. As soon as BuddyBuddy even thinks he hears a package of string cheese being opened, the drool starts to flow. And if KK is eating anything, the drool really gets going. Of course she is all too happy to drop her food onto the floor so he can lap it up, leaving behind a layer of slime. *Sigh* Daddy was very helpful this morning and took KK and Buddy to the park while I cleaned. Just when the floors were clean and I thought all the laundry was done, this is what came walking back from the park.

(Her shadow looks like a Teletubby!)

I wish I could have seen her tumble into the mud puddle, but I also wish that my floors weren't muddy again already. Oh well!

Tomorrow I start the project at my old company, so at least I won't be cleaning. I think I'll spend the rest of the week baking and getting food ready for Easter and let the house be what it is: a very lived in and muddy home. : )