Glorious Texas Autumns!

Living in a big metroplex has its advantages. There are always neat things to do. The fall is a great time here - everyone is so excited that it is not sweltering hot anymore and there are lots of outside festivals! Now that I have a child who constantly begs to go outdoors, I am always looking for fun outdoor activities.

Recently we went to Coppell "Oaktoberfest" and also to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. Both are free with tons of great activities for little ones. On Monday I also took KK to the Fort Worth Zoo with my friend Becky.

Really, the weather is perfect here in the Autumn. No heavy jackets yet, but at least one can finally wear jeans without breaking a sweat. And lots of glorious cotton candy Texas clouds!

Um

Katelynn has learned to say "Um" as a filler. I guess she picked it up from me, though I wasn't aware that I say it that often. It cracks me up to hear it coming from a 2 year-old though.

Me: Katelynn, what are you doing? (She is doing something she knows she should not, like digging through a drawer.)
KK: Ummm....

Me: Katelynn, do you want to go the park?

KK: Um, YES!

Me: KK what is the name of your doggie?

KK: (Pause) Um! (Laughs because she made a joke)

Life

Where do I even begin with this post? There is so much flying through my brain today...

It has been one of "those days" with Katelynn. This morning we met a pre-school friend for story time at the library. I guess KK woke up on the wrong side of the crib, because the entire experience seemed to put her out of sorts. She just sat there and cried, and we had to depart story time after 10 minutes. On the way home, she stuffed a wipe down her throat and threw up part of her breakfast, all over herself and her chair. It was reminiscent of these posts from the past. During lunch at home, she gave herself a hard push in her booster seat - which I tell her NOT to do all the time - and knocked herself over backward.

Now, a radical gear shift: the leader of my Sunday School class, Jeff, has asked us to pray for his very close friend, Kyle Ogle. Kyle has been battling cancer for 13 years! This morning at 1 am he lost his battle and is in heaven with Jesus. But his wife and two little children are left behind to move forward in life without him. (The post on 10/29, 9:24am by his wife is very beautiful.)

I have been reading Kyle's CaringBridge site off and on as I have been remembering to pray for him. Today I noticed that the first post on the site was on 11/25/06 - the day my little Katelynn was born. I think that is when the latest "round" of his cancer reared its ugly head. It just struck me deeply that someone was receiving such devastating news on the day that I was filled with the joy of a new daughter. And his passing, a day of such devastation for his family, comes on a day that I am dealing with the normal daily frustrations of life with a toddler.

I know intellectually - that is "how life is". At any given moment, there are millions of people suffering, millions experiencing joy, and millions just going about the daily "drudgery" of life. But sometimes that reality is really put in front of your face in a way that shakes you to the core...

Please pray for Kyle's family - Darla, Turner & Katherine.

An Un-Fairy Tale

Today's saga begins in a far far away land an hour from home, where a little girl named Katelynn thought it would be interesting to remove her diaper while in her Nanna's crib, then poop, then play in the poop. The little girl saw a new and angry side of her Nanna and was lectured at length. The little girl received a bath. Then the Nanna promptly brought her home to her mommy.

At home, the little girl grew tired of her diaper and stripped it off. She asked to go to the potty and nothing happened after two seconds, so she wanted to get off the potty. Then she asked to use another potty two minutes later and after two seconds nothing happened, so she wanted to get off the potty. By this time the mommy thought the little girl was full of it. Little did the mommy know, she was - literally.

The little girl asked to use the potty again and headed to the upstairs potty. The mommy figured she had time since the first two times were false alarms so she quickly gathered some laundry. On the way up the stairs, she found a large poop on the stairs. Then she discovered another poop on the bathroom floor. The little girl had not ever made it to the potty. But she did seem to know this time that she should not under any circumstances touch anything.

The mommy began the extensive clean up process. First she cleaned the little girl as best as possible. Then she cleaned the mess on the tile floor. Then she started to go to work on the stairs. She put one paper towel full of poop in the downstairs potty. While she finished cleaning the stain on the carpet, the downstairs toilet overflowed.

The mommy then found the overflow mess all over the hallway floor and began to clean it up. The little girl ran over naked shouting "Mommy silly! Mommy silly!" and walked in the watery mess.

Finally all the messes were cleaned and the little girl went into the bath. She got in trouble for creating another flood by jumping up and down. She was crying because she got in trouble, which caused her to beg for her pacifier. Since the mommy did not give it to her, she gagged herself on the changing table and threw up.

Katelynn was returned to the bath, where she received a cold dousing of water and a quick shampoo. The exhausted mommy was now drenched in sweat from all the events. She stuck the pacifier in the little girl's mouth and promptly put her to bed.

Scary Parent Moment

The other night, Katelynn disappeared from our sight for less than a minute. Then we could not find her anywhere. I checked all the potties and closets in the house. We were running around the house yelling her name.

The 20 seconds or so of searching seemed like an eternity. Then Gene found her - in the garage, in the front seat of my SUV. And she had opened the garage door. And she was naked. (The naked part happened before she headed out to the garage though... a whole other story.) She was grinning like a cheshire cat as she pretended to steer and waved happily to us.

It is really scary to think about how fast our stark naked toddler could have ended up in the street if she had decided to climb back out of that car. The door from our house to the garage stays locked now!

Baby Cones

My mom (a.k.a. Nanna) discovered some small cones for kids at Wal-Mart and bought them for KK's weekend stays. Katelynn loves them and calls them "baby cones." The great news is that they are only 5 calories and 1 gram of carbs each and they can be filled with healthy things like yogurt or raisins.



I am always looking for fun new snacks and foods that are healthy, so I thought it was worth a post for others out there like me!

Popsicle

Kids are good with simple pleasures. A sticker, an afternoon at the park, playing airplane with daddy... KK's latest simple pleasure is the pop-sicle.

Gene had picked out some of the cheap push-up popsicles because he had fond memories of them from his own childhood. Then, we noticed they were staining the table blue and red. If they could stain a wood table, what were they doing to our little one's insides?!

I discovered that there are actually very few popsicles that are not full of artificial flavorings. But I found some. So now KK can enjoy her simple pleasure and mom can too.

Outdoor Girl

Here is KK happy at the park as usual, and with absolutely no fear of the ducks. Much to her mommy's horror, she held out a not-too-large wad of bread and a big white duck snatched it out of her little hand! No matter how long we stay at the park, it is never enough for this girl. There is usually a big tantrum when it is time to leave.

Nap Mat

Katelynn is very enamored with her "nap mat", which she uses at pre-school twice a week for nap time. At home, she now loves to demand "Nap Mat! Nap Mat!" To her, this means laying on the mat, covered in her blankie, with a pacifier.

This is both a blessing and a curse. If she is winding down and getting tired at the end of a long day, it is a good way to keep her occupied for awhile until bedtime and avoid an otherwise very cranky little girl. Other times, it is just a ploy to get the pacifier and she tries to get off the mat after about five seconds.

On another note, I find it fascinating that the pre-school teachers can get six kids under the age of two to lie on mats and go to sleep at the same time every day. But somehow they do!

Daddy's Shoes

This one doesn't need much commentary. Just a cute and classic toddler picture!

Pet Monkey

KK is not big on dolls. But she is rather fond of her monkey, the one that wears a Texas A&M t-shirt. (No commentary on that one...I realize that a monkey wearing a TAMU t-shirt is ironic.) She likes to push him in the stroller, feed him popsicles, give him drinks of milk...

Most recently she decided it would be a good idea to diaper him. Here he is after a little help from mommy.

Nanna Observations Part 2

KK has a major tendency to throw a big fit when something doesn't go her way. For example, this occurs for significant life issues such as serving her yogurt when she (unbeknownst to you) wanted an orange. She stomps her little feet and turns on the waterworks. And she screams.

It is not pleasant, and it is not a very attractive trait. Nanna has been trying to teach her to calmly say "No thank-you" instead of throwing a fit.

When KK spent this past weekend with Nanna and PopPop, she asked for Mommy & Daddy on Saturday. Nanna explained that we would be back the next day, but that she would be with Nanna and PopPop for now. In a very indignant voice, Katelynn stated "NO, THANK YOU!"

Nanna Observations Part 1

It has been 10 days (or more?) since I have written a post. I have had blogger's block. Plus my kid has just been wearing me out more than anything else! I've just been tired mommy, out of fun material. But, KK spent the weekend with Nanna who has now provided new material for me.

Nanna made an interesting observation about KK's vocabulary. She has learned an extraordinary amount of words relating to her desire to "attain" an object of some sort (e.g. pacifier, snacks, breakable objects, etc.). The list of words includes the following:

"Want it"
"Reach it"
"Hold it"
"Touch it"
"Grab it"
"Get it"
"Keep it"

(Did I miss any Nanna?!)

But, when it is time to take an object away from her, there is usually only one word used:

"CAN'T!"

Step Stool

I am constantly at the sink holding Katelynn up to wash her hands. I figured it was time to get a little stool so she could do it herself. I purchased only one so that I could make sure it was tall enough for her, and put it in the upstairs bathroom.

KK was pretty enamored with it and loved being able to see the sink by herself. I showed her how to wash her hands and then we headed back downstairs. A little while later, she disappeared to the upstairs. (I let her do this now for very limited periods of time!) Shortly thereafter, I heard her laboring on her trip down the stairs - she was making the trip down with her stool in tow. First she brought it to my bathroom and was very thrilled to be able to see into the big drawer that she always tries to rummage through. Then, later she brought it to the kitchen and watched me cook. Always interested in the stages of child development, I found myself impressed that she was able to figure out multiple uses for it so quickly.

Who would have thought that a simple purchase like a step stool could make a little toddler so excited? I wish I knew what other "simple purchases" would brighten her day that much!

The Shack

I just finished reading The Shack at the recommendation of my mom. What a beautiful book - it really defies description or review, though many out there have tried.

Since you probably will want some sort of description, I'll give it a try. It is about a man named Mack who meets with God in a very special and creative way 4 years after the death of his little daughter. The author has an amazing concept of all this. It is a fictional story, but I did not find much of anything that would be objectionable in light of what the Bible tells me about redemption, grace, forgiveness, relationships with God, and the Trinity.

Too often I am a "head" Christ follower. I like to learn about theology, follow the rules of the Bible, and check off my little mental lists of what it means to be a good Christian. This book blew all that away - and truly touched my heart in the process!

Painting Woes

About a year ago, as documented at this post, I tried to touch up the paint on my red living room wall only to find the color did not match. I was so irritated by the whole experience that I composed a mini-essay about the appropriate paint formulas and saved such mini-essay on my computer.

Today I got out all my touch-up supplies and even referenced my mini-essay to be absolutely sure I was using the right color. I happily covered up several ugly marks that needed attention, feeling so good that I had finally tackled this annoying task!

Folks, it has been over an hour and it is evident that the colors, once again, do not match. My only conclusion is that this paint is very subject to fading. It is very very red, and the room does get a lot of light. Gene and I could re-roll the wall - AGAIN - but I will only have the same woes the next time a touch up is needed.

I'm thinking a nice tan color is in order... as well as hiring a handyman for the labor! Aaargh....