My View on Christmas Day

Being in Labadee, Haiti on Christmas Day was a little surreal - but gorgeous! What better way to celebrate Christ's birth than to enjoy His creation?!

Thanks, mom and dad, for a wonderful family cruise that will always be remembered fondly.

Little Beach Lover

Katelynn's first trip to the beach finally happened over Christmas week during our port excursions. Her first experiences of the ocean were in the turquoise waters of the Eastern Caribbean! It was so much fun to watch her play - she went absolutely crazy over the waves and the sand. She stayed near the water the entire day, gladly accepting any adult "on duty" to play with her. She didn't even mind when waves crashed over her entire little body.

I am definitely an ocean girl, and it looks like KK is too. Too bad we are land locked here at home!

It's OK

When Katelynn gets upset about irrational things, her Nanna tells her "It's OK, It's OK." This seems to have a calming effect and helps her cope with the many daily difficulties of being two.

We just returned from a family cruise on Saturday. The flight home was uneventful until we entered the very windy DFW area. There was so much wind shear when we landed that the plane began to tilt wildly. We landed with a very heavy thud, and I was happily surprised that one of the wings did not slam into the runway. It was one of the roughest landings I could remember.

I let out a big sigh of relief and remarked to Gene how nervous the landing had made me feel. I had my arms wrapped tightly around Katelynn, who was sitting on my lap. She turned around and looked directly into my eyes and said, very seriously: "It's OK, mommy."

Funny Bones

One of KK's favorite books right now actually happens to be a Halloween book. It is a silly little book about a skeleton who is looking for his funny bone. When he finds it, he laughs so hard that he loses his head. This always makes Katelynn giggle in delight.

The other day we saw a morose looking teenage boy wearing a black t-shirt with a skull and crossbones on the front. Katelynn shouted in glee: "FUNNY BONES!" Now that made me laugh so hard that I nearly lost my head as well!

Homemade Play Dough

I have to bring pink play dough for all the kids in KK's pre-school class. Buying that much of it at the store would cost a small fortune, so the school suggests that we make it at home. I thought that Katelynn and I should give it a dry run first, especially since she asks to "do baking" all the time lately anyway. I went to the internet and discovered there are approximately 38,000 recipes for play dough. I began to notice a trend too - they all require either powdered alum or cream of tartar. (Side note: In response to powdered alum I said "huh"? My mom informed me it can be found in the pharmacy/ medical area of the store... although Wal-Mart didn't have it there. I noticed it is for sale in Amazon's grocery store.)

I had neither on hand, so I improvised. The play dough turned out great... for a day. She had a great time. But the next day I took it out for her, and 10 minutes later she was completely covered in it because it was so darn sticky.

I have now purchased cream of tartar. That one is on the spice aisle. Once I perfect my play dough recipe I will post it.

Test Day!

This is a fun and interesting test that only takes a minute. Count the number of basketball passes the guys wearing white make to each other. Click here to play!

Second Birthday Pics

KK's second birthday party was a few weeks ago. She had a great time with her friends Hayden and Caedyn. (Only guests with rhyming names were invited...) Two friends was perfect!

Katelynn thoroughly enjoyed herself. She chose her favorite monkey pajamas for the evening's attire. She relished in all the attention and discovered a new love for Skittles (which mom used to hide...I mean decorate... her horribly frosted cupcakes). She also seemed to "get" the gift thing, and thought it was pretty great. She is a big fan of the "Happy Birthday" song now.

My little girl is two - where has the time gone?!

Gifts

I don't think I ever really believed my parents when they used to tell me that buying gifts for my brother and me was more fun than getting things for themselves. Now I am a parent... and I get it.

Her birthday gift was an Elmo that does everything. He tells stories, dances, sneezes, asks to be picked up when knocked over, and more. He still has not made an omelet for me though. Darn. Katelynn thinks her Elmo is pretty cool, but not all her friends are so sure. Her buddy Bobby stayed clear on the other side of the room from him and eventually screamed to have him put away.

For Christmas she got a sandbox. Yep, we gave it to her early. After all she is still only two... she doesn't really know or care about the exact date of Christmas. She is in love with her sand box, although she has already found herself in trouble for hurling its contents at the back door.

Potty Talk

I hope I don't jinx myself by actually posting this in writing, but Katelynn is showing a ton of progress with potty training. Whoo hoo! Friday she went the entire day with no accidents. This is not the first day that has happened, but in the past I have been marching her to the potty every hour or so whether she needed to go or not. This time, I did not march her to the potty once - she told me every time she needed to go!

Today there were numerous opportunities for her to have accidents and she did not, so I am feeling a twinge of excitement that things have finally really "clicked."

Funny how easily I can discuss bodily functions at length since I became a mom...

2 Year Stats

I was shocked to learn that KK has grown more than 4 inches since her 18-month well check. She is over 97th percentile for height at 37.25 inches long. Her noggin is around the 75th percentile, and her weight is also at 75th percentile, at 28.25 pounds. Her height-to-weight ratio, on the other hand, was around 25th percentile. Doc says she is fine, just "long and lanky."

At least these stats were fun to learn and helped offset the depression of the peanut allergy discovery!

UPSIDE DOWN!

Daddy is the only person that plays the "Upside Down" game with Katelynn. Mommy gets physically exhausted way too quickly and tells KK that "only daddy can do that game". When Daddy comes home from work, KK often demands "UPSIDE DOWN!" and she goes on an inverted "ride" around the house.

It makes mom nervous... and Nanna too when she is here. I think Dads are supposed to play these kinds of nerve-wracking games with their kiddos, though. It's hard-wired into male DNA or something. And KK certainly seems to love it.

A World Without Peanut Butter

My last blog post was about the Peanuts gang, which I just realized is ironic. This week, Katelynn had her two-year well check with her pediatrician. I was a chicken and did not want to give her peanut butter at home. So I brought a peanut butter cracker to the office and gave it to her at the end of the appointment.

Within five minutes she was broken out in hives, and crying and clawing at her throat and tongue. It wasn't severe; Benadryl did the trick. (I've seen some horrific pictures on the internet, and her reaction was nothing like those.) And thank goodness I had an experienced doctor there to help watch her. But I was pretty depressed that day, worried about what this means and feeling a little helpless about my lack of knowledge on the subject.

Now we have to decide whether to get full blown allergy skin testing done... not to mention years ahead of me of informing teachers and caretakers about this problem.... then leaving it in God's hands that they will all follow through! I'm not too thrilled to have something so scary that is not in my control. I like being in control! At least there is so much more awareness these days.

Worst of all, poor girl may never get to enjoy a PB&J sandwich in her lifetime. That's just not right!

True Meaning of Christmas?

This week Katelynn watched her first Christmas show on TV. Appropriately, it was "A Charlie Brown Christmas." (Gene loves Snoopy and the Peanuts gang and has quite a collection of ornaments and t-shirts.) She enjoyed it, and I was reminded how much I always loved watching the Christmas specials every year, like "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" and that weird claymation Rudolph cartoon that came on every year.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" is so timeless.... I always giggle every year when I hear some of my favorite lines like these...

Sally: "All I want is what I... I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share."

Charlie Brown: "Rats. Nobody sent me a Christmas card today. I almost wish there weren't a holiday season. I know nobody likes me. Why do we have to have a holiday season to emphasize it?"

But of course, the best part is actually the story told by Linus at the end:

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.' That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown. "

Katelynn's Monkey

Katelynn will be flying, and cruising, in December. It will be the first family trip since she was ten months old and only crawling. Now she could run across an entire airport terminal in about five minutes if she so desired. I noticed a cute little harness at Wal-Mart to keep your little one tethered in situations like these. It is a bit less offensive than a standard "kid leash" because it looks like a cute little monkey riding on the kiddo's back, and the monkey's tail is the leash.

I decided to buy it, and the good news is that KK loves him! She wore him for four hours straight today, and loved the "game" of me trying to restrain her when she ran away. She even named him "Stinker."

Clifford Wants a Cookie

KK's latest obsession is a little 10 page paperback book that I received as a hand-me-down, called "Clifford Wants a Cookie." She demands it before both nap time and bed time and insists on taking it into the crib with her all the time.

This little book will not be much longer for the world at this rate. It is already looking pretty ragged. I thought that the internet would come to my rescue, and looked for a hard back edition online. Nope! She has chosen a special edition book that was only printed in soft cover, and can only be found on "rare book" websites - seven bucks or more for a paperback the thickness of a dime!

I checked in at Kinko's and it would have cost 15 bucks to have it laminated and bound! So, I bought a role of contact paper at Wal-Mart and patched it up myself. It will last a lot longer now.

Thanks Pam for the book! Hand-me-down books have been such a blessing with this little reader.

Have Patience

When I was in the 3rd grade, I participated in a church musical and still remember this song, sung by Herbert the Snail:

Have patience, have patience

Don't be in such a hurry

When you get impatient

You only start to worry

Remember, remember

That God is patient too

And think of all the times when others

Have to wait for you.

I have been singing it to KK lately because she doesn't want to wait more than five seconds for anything. Fast forward to Tuesday night. KK announced "potty" and actually began to make her way to the bathroom. (This was new! Usually I have to take her practically against her will.) She didn't make it in time and a huge puddle resulted. I began to clean up the mess and Katelynn very appropriately began to sing with glee: "Have patience, have patience...."

Ahhh.... from the mouths of babes!

Faux Fur

Katelynn's Nanna recently bought her a big piece of fuzzy fabric, since she loves soft things so much. When she gave it to her, she explained to KK that it was "faux fur." Ever since then, KK has been yelling "fofur!" whenever she sees it, which always makes me grin.

Earlier today I was making a corn casserole and KK was "helping" by standing on a kitchen chair and trying to stick her hand in the batter. I told her it was time to add spices and she shouted "Vanilla!"

This kid gabs incessantly now, and every day brings at least a few funnies like those. It's the little things that keep me going!

Aggie Growth Chart

Gene has mentioned a couple of times that he wants a growth chart so that we can measure little Katelynn's height periodically. For some reason it never occurred to me, so I am glad that Daddy thought about it. Yesterday I found the perfect on one Amazon - it is wooden and themed around Texas A&M football, with yard lines representing inches. When Gene saw it he said "Yes, get that one."

We will put it up in our laundry room and begin our measuring quest. Katelynn's two-year well checkup is in a couple of weeks and I can't wait to get a height prediction from the doc!

Black Friday at CVS!

I have been in love with the CVS bargain shopping experience for some time, but the Thanksgiving deals there were unbelievable. Their crazy ad actually began on Thanksgiving, so I was there at 8 am when the store opened for my own "Black Thursday." (By the way, I did not set foot in a store on Black Friday.)

I spent $25 out of pocket, and left the store with $15 in store credits for the future. And, here is what I got for that:

-4 rapid release tylenols (24 ct each)

-Covergirl powder makeup

-Covergirl liquid foundation

-L'oreal liquid foundation

-L'oreal lipgloss x 2

-Aussie hair products x 2

-Bic Soleil razors x 2

-24 rolls of Viva paper towels

-2 deodorants

-1 Phillips ear buds for my iphone

-2 whitening toothpastes

-2 big boxes of Whitman's chocolates

-1 box of tampons

-1 package of Garnier facial cleansing cloths

-1 Sally Hansen nail polish

-Hershey bar, king size

-3 Gatorades

-1 newspaper

-1 L'oreal hair color

WOW! I just couldn't resist bragging about an awesome morning of bargain shopping. There were three other gals doing the exact same thing as me... we coupon-o-holics were bonding at the CVS on Thanksgiving morning!

Growing Up

My little girl turned two last week, which is so hard for me to believe. The other day I thought about how fast the last two years have gone, and realized that I am going to blink and have a four year old before I know it!

Each day with my little one brings such a mixture of joy and frustration. My character is growing and growing as the virtues of patience, kindness, and gentleness are tested over and over with each Katelynn tantrum, mis-behavior, or "MOMMY NO!" Likewise, my heart overflows with love and happiness when we have a tickle-fest, when I am pushing a content little girl in a swing, or when she gives me a big bear hug.

Mommyhood has changed me in ways I never could have imagined. Did I really know love before this? Of course I love my husband, family and friends. But the love that one experiences as a parent is downright scary!

Turkey SUCCESS!

This year the Thanksgiving family events were in my home. I delegated many dishes to my family members, but retained responsibility for the bird and a few other things. In the past, I have been a coward and avoided the big bird, sticking to breasts. This year I decided to take advantage of my free turkey from Kroger and give it a whirl.

First I endured the preparation process of removing that disgusting neck from the turkey cavity. Gene told me that I needed to reach all the way in to feel for the giblets and I just about lost my lunch. We then discovered that the giblets were hidden in the butt. These things should come with instructions on the package!

I found a highly reviewed recipe on All Recipes and covered my turkey in a yummy herb mixture, listed below. I covered it up, left it in the oven, and didn't mess with it again until 3 hours later. And - it was perfectly done! The bird was so tender that it was falling apart when I lifted it onto a cutting board. I felt pretty proud of myself! And this herb baste will be my "go-to" recipe anytime I prepare turkey in the future.

I did leave the gravy making to my mom. Maybe next year I will pay more attention to how she did it so I can learn to do that as well!

Easy Herb Roasted Turkey
1 (12 pound) whole turkey
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups water


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Clean turkey (discard giblets and organs), and place in a roasting pan with a lid. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, garlic powder, dried basil, ground sage, salt, and black pepper. Using a basting brush, apply the mixture to the outside of the uncooked turkey. Pour water into the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover. Bake for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh measures 180 degrees F. Remove bird from oven, and allow to stand for about 30 minutes before carving.

New Slow Cooker Staple

The hubby is generally not a fan of foods prepared in the slow cooker. I have been looking for recipes he might enjoy produced from this wonderful contraption that requires so little effort on my part! Recently I found a gem that will now be a "winter staple" in the Kim household - chicken tortilla soup! I got it from Allrecipes and made a few modifications to it. Here it is as I prepared it, in case you are interested!

1 pound raw chicken
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce (medium in spiciness)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 can of corn
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
tortilla chips, avocado, and cheese as desired for garnish

Mix all non-garnish items together in the slow cooker. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours. Shred chicken about halfway through cooking then return to slow cooker.

Something Better than the Park?!

The only thing Katelynn seems to love more than the park is... being at the park with her best buddies, Bobby & Lindsay!

Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice

Katelynn learned about hair rollers and bows when her friend Charissa came to visit her all the way from Michigan. They had a great time together. Thanks for driving all that way, Charissa! Next year maybe you can convince Katelynn that it is a good idea to wear dresses, too.

Listen And Obey

I definitely feel I'm getting my money's worth from KK's pre-school when she comes home shouting "OBEY!" I am pretty sure she has no idea what it really means yet... but it never hurts to start drilling the word into her head early!

Communication

Katelynn continues to amaze me each week with her leaps and bounds in vocabulary and ability to communicate. She suddenly knows how to speak in sentences - at least short ones. I overhear her singing nearly all the words to "Jesus Loves Me", "Jingle Bells", and the ABC song in the car or in her crib.

The other day, her sleeves were rolled up. She looked at me and said, very clearly: "Mommy, uncomfortable." Then last night she told me her pajamas were "cozy".

Having a little communicator is lots of fun!

Writer's Block

So, last week we had company the whole week. And since then I just seem to be out of material for some reason. So I figured I would post a few of the awesome pictures that my brother Griff took at the park a couple of weeks ago!

The Deal Seeking Mom

I took a break from couponing when I was very busy with work. Now that the busy-ness has died down, I am ready to start up again. Many of you know that I have long used a service called The Grocery Game , as evidenced in numerous posts including this first excited post. The Grocery Game is a pay service - very reasonably priced. But I have been curious about other sites that are out there, where coupon lovers just share information for free. (Thanks to friend Kristi for alerting me to this!)

As I have been perusing the many blogs and websites on saving money, I came across a gem that I have enjoyed very much called The Deal Seeking Mom. I like the clean and uncluttered posts that get straight to the point. Plus you can receive a daily email that provides you a quick-to-read summary of various great deals. They also give a very nice weekly summary of the best deals at CVS, and shopping at CVS is a must for the true deal seeker!

Diversions

The TV does nothing for Katelynn, and she is so over her toys. This girl wants to be constantly entertained with something new and exciting.

The other day she asked to get in the kitchen sink. The instinctive mommy response is "What? Get in the sink?! No way!" But then I thought about it... what could it really hurt? So into the kitchen sink KK went... with a trickle of running warm water and lots of measuring cups to fill.

She played happily on her own for an hour. I got so much done! I folded laundry, caught up on emails, emptied the dishwasher... all with a peacefully splashing, non-whining toddler within sight. Of course, I ended up with a big water mess to clean... but it was soooo worth it.

Baking with Mommy

Last week I wanted to make something fun for Halloween, but knew that Katelynn would follow me around the kitchen whining, holding onto my leg, and repeating "Up up, Hold you mommy" about 500 times in a row. Way too exhausting to be worth it.

But then I decided that maybe KK was old enough to "help" mommy. I pulled a chair over to the counter and she watched me measure and stir ingredients, all the while trying to excitedly stick her little fingers in the bowl. She was so fascinated that she even overcame her previous deep-seated fear of the beater. And, she was inducted to one of the best childhood rites of passage - the licking of the beater! (Note to Nanna: I know she should not have the raw egg. But how could I deny her this?!)

Pictures below show Katelynn enjoying her beater, and the resulting "Mummy Cupcakes." The decorating occurred during her nap!

Halloween and a Headstrong Toddler

I have the kid that wouldn't wear her Halloween costume! (No surprise - see previous post on iron will!) I had an adorable hand-me-down Elmo costume for her, but apparently her love affair with Elmo has ended. Every time she saw him, the beginning stages of a tantrum were evident.

So, KK went out trick-or-treating in her too-small velour pants and jacket - her latest clothing obsession. If I had enough foresight, I could have stuck a number on the front and back of her, given her a water bottle to carry, and she could have been a marathon runner! Oh well...

The lack of costume ultimately did not bother her at all. She got a huge kick out of going from door-to-door and having candy dumped into her pumpkin bag (which she called her "purse"). And next year I will let her pick her own costume at the store. No doubt it will be made of super soft fleece...

Iron Will

I knew my little one was headstrong. But she has become obsessed about controlling the clothing that goes on her body.

On Thursday, she had pictures at pre-school. I took three cute dresses out of the closet and told her to pick. She did not want any of them. These days, the girl will only wear something if it is made out of super-soft fleece. She only has a few items in her wardrobe that meet that criteria. Mom cannot afford to re-build her toddler wardrobe!

I picked the softest dress of the three and put it on her, thinking that she would get over it. We were running late. She was screaming and crying. I realized that the pre-school teachers were going to have to deal with 5 hours of screaming and crying. She did not want anything to do with this dress.

So I did what any strong mom would do... I gave up. I yanked a pink fleece outfit from the drawer and KK immediately turned to smiles. Gone are the days of dressing up my little girl...sniff...sniff.

New Hair-Do

For sometime, KK has had just enough hair to wear a little barrett or fashion a tiny ponytail. But she did not want anyone messing with her head. So she goes through life with her little crazy fly-away mop most of the time.

For some reason, she decided to let me try it recently. We immediately marched to the mirror and I had a long discussion about how beautiful she was. I think she got a lot of attention at pre-school too, because she has now started asking for the ponytail.

A small victory!

Make Me a Face

When my brother Griff and I were kids, we often asked my mom to make "face plates" for dinner. We would implore: "Mom, make me a face!" She would stick her tongue out and we would groan. Then she would make a creative dinner of some sort.

I don't think it ever occurred to my mom to take a picture of one of her creations. But in this crazy high tech world of blogging, it certainly occurred to me!


So (drum roll)....this is KK's first face plate. I should have done it on a white plate. The busy Noah's ark artwork is clouding up my artistic endeavors. But, you get the idea.