Mommy Needs a Timeout

Jingle's Final 3 Nights

2012-01-02T19:04:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Well, I dropped the ball with the flurry of activity before Christmas and didn't get Jingle's final 3 nights onto the blog yet. In the interest of complete documentation (very important to us CPA auditor-types), my 2012 will begin with the end of 2011. Huh? OK, you get it...onward...

Night 8 - Perhaps the pinnacle of his 10 nights in the Kim household, at least in terms of work required by mommy. Jingle camped out in the candy dish after making cookies for his children. K and T for the little ones, J for....well, take a guess.

Night 9 - Going for a ride on Katelynn's beloved "Dino". She liked this one.

Night 10 - Jingle hid in our (fake) ficus tree. Nothing too exciting and apparently I was so tired that I even forgot to get a picture of that one.

So there ya' have it. I had a lot of fun with this project. I'm not sure how many years I have with this kid...she asked me again today whether Santa is real. (I have taken to vague responses rather than outright lies... I asked her today "What do you think?") Hopefully she will still love it even once she realizes Jingle is just pretend-fun.

A Thankful 2011

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000-08:00

I am so thankful for many things this holiday season. A beautiful and smart little 5 year old girl who loves to learn and loves to sing songs about God. Getting to enjoy her first choir performance at church. Baking gingerbread cookies with her in our beautiful aprons handmade by Nanna. Watching Christmas be truly magical for her. Her ability to control the frequency and intensity of tantrums improves every day. She lavishes so much love on her mommy and daddy and wants to spend every minute with us.

A skinny cutie pie 1 year old boy who speaks so enthusiastically in his own baby language. The adorable way he rolls his r's! His sweet hugs and snuggles reserved primarily just for mommy. His enjoyment of dancing, climbing, log-rolling on the floor, running, trying to jump, and anything else physical.

A husband who works hard to take care of his family and who lavishes lots of love on us. Who takes good care of himself and makes me proud every day with his discipline. Who knows me inside and out - the good, bad and ugly - yet still wants to hug me every night!

This blog post could go on forever...about parents, brother, sister-in-law, miracle niece, friends, ability to travel and do lots of fun things, good jobs.... I am blessed beyond belief. Thank you God for an amazing 2011.

Jingle Incurs the Wrath of Katelynn

2011-12-20T21:52:00.000-08:00

On night 5, Jingle rifled through Katelynn's advent boxes. He went through every one of them until he found one that had candy in it. Very elf like, don't you think?!

I thought this was hilarious but should have known better. KK is pretty attached to her beloved advent boxes. After all, that tradition started years before Jingle showed up! Our morning started with crying and a declaration that "he hurt my little feelings." I had to put EXTRA candy in the box, close it back up, and let her open it. You would think the darn elf actually ate her candy.

So, elf fail #1.

On night 6, Jingle decided to make it up to her:

This was a success. She stated several times: "I can't believe he knows my name, mommy!"

Now on night 7- Jingle is still all about the sweets. I saw this one on someone's blog and thought it was cute. He went after the maple syrup in the pantry. Gene pointed out this might attract bugs but I'm taking my chances...

Jingle's Adventures - Nights 3 and 4

2011-12-17T19:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday little girl went off to Weatherford for a night with her Nanna and PopPop. Jingle traveled with her, inside her little Tinkerbell suitcase, and adapted well to the new location. Saturday morning he was located riding in a vintage toy car.

(The truck is an amazing antique toy that belonged to my grandfather as a boy. Jingle already knew that, of course. This Elf has good taste.)

On Saturday evening he returned home and decided to go fishing. He broke into KK's candy stash to get the fishing rod so she may not be too happy about that. We shall see! I know she will be up bright and early to search for him...

I thought that some of you might enjoy a good laugh by this blogger that isn't too happy with us Elf loving mamas - check this post. (Warning - reads like a crude standup routine - but hilarious nonetheless.)

Very Pinteresty

2011-12-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

When it comes to teacher gifts, I think substance is important...in other words - GIFT CARDS. Let's keep it real here - they deserve a little more than a candle at Christmas for all they put up with during the year! However, I'm all about packaging it up in some sort of cute way and Pinterest is perfect for that. This year, each teacher got a package of Extra gum (plus a Target gift card) inside a clear gift baggie along with a note like this one tied onto the bag (created in Photoshop Elements):

Cute, huh? The downside of Pinterest: I may never have another original idea in my life.

Elvish Fun - Nights 1 and 2

2011-12-15T21:13:00.000-08:00

After Jingle arrived this week, Katelynn quickly became obsessed with feeding him. She really wanted to set out a meal for him. I pointed out that our story book said nothing about this - so therefore Santa must feed him, or he could take care of himself. You know, he could stop by the local McDonalds' on his flight home from the North Pole. (Side note: It's so funny that kids want their fairy tales to be logical to some extent. Yes, she can believe that there is a small felt elf that moves about our house at night, but surely he needs to eat!)

So, I thought it would be appropriate for Jingle to set up his own tea party on night 1. Here he is with a couple of KK's beanie babies.

When KK woke up this morning, she immediately went and checked Jingle's previous resting spot on the fireplace mantel. She ran to our bedroom, where I was getting ready, and announced excitedly: "He's gone mommy! He moved!" She had a bit of trepidation about searching for him alone, so she waited till I was ready and we journeyed into the living room/kitchen area together. As soon as I flipped the lights on she saw Jingle and his tea party. She was just bursting at the seams with glee and excitement; I love seeing my normally somber (or irritable or grouchy) girl like this! She really started giggling when she discovered there was actually water in the cups. Then she flooded me with a barrage of questions: How did the other animals get down the stairs? How did Jingle find all the plates? And on and on.... oooh I'm buried deep in lies now! (The tangled webs we weave...)

Tonight I decided to borrow one of those Pinterest ideas. Jingle couldn't find any snow here in Texas so he played in the rice instead. Good thing we have a humongous bag for him:

Looking forward to another morning with a mesmerized little girl...

The Answer is Yes

2011-12-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

About once a month, LBJ Highway is a complete disaster and Gene takes back roads all the way home from work. When this happens, I often get a phone call that goes something like this:
Gene: "I'm taking back roads home...want me to stop there?"
Katie: "Yes."

Gene: "I wish the calories weren't so high."
Katie: "I don't care. My weight never changes. Stop and get them."
Gene: "I wish it wasn't so expensive to buy a small amount."
Katie: "It's a rip off. Get a dozen."

By now you may have figured out we are talking about cookies (as if the picture didn't give it away). Very, very decadent cookies. From Paradise Bakery. These things are amazing. Gene's favorites are chocolate chip sprinkled with toasted coconut. My favorite is a toss-up - chocolate chip walnut or oatmeal raisin. And since we have a strange 5-year old that does not like cookies, we have 6 apiece to ourselves....or maybe that is a curse. We made the mistake of looking up the calories one time. About 300 big ones for one chocolate chip cookie.

Nope - so worth it. I'll just run 5 extra miles this week.

It Only Took An Elf....

2011-12-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

Jingle awaits his first night of mischief in the Kim home...

....to break my 2+ month blogging hiatus??

I guess we will see. Lately I just haven't been feeling the blog thing. It seems like one more "to do" on a big, long stressful list... writing is normally enjoyable for me but it can also feel like work when I'm trying to make it read somewhat decently for my vast audience (ok, so all 3 of you). So I just decided not to do it for awhile. But today our "Elf on the Shelf" arrived in the mail and the whole experience has screamed "Blog me!"

I had no idea what an Elf on the Shelf was till this year. I will chalk this new (to me) discovery up to our friend the Internet, and Pinterest. It seemed like suddenly I was seeing pictures of this happy little elf doing all sorts of silly things in peoples' homes. The basic jist: your elf is keeping an eye on your kids and flies to the North Pole every night to report in to Santa. He doesn't move except when the little ones are fast asleep. When the kids wake up in the morning, the first thing they do is see what their elf has been up to.

So for $30 on Amazon Marketplace we got our little elf and the nice book that comes with him. Seemed a little steep to me, but - let me tell you- I have one smitten 5 year old. I think it is going to be way more than $30 worth of fun for both of us! This is right up this mommy's alley. KK has already named him Jingle and is taking all the "rules" laid out by the book very seriously. (She can't touch him... he can't talk but is observing her...etc.) She has talked about nothing else all evening! She even said at one point: "Mommy, he's eyeing me!" Hmmm...it does kinda' feel like his eyes follow you around the room...a little spooky actually. And thanks to the Internet, I don't have to come up with too many ideas on my own, just enjoy the fun of making them happen. I can already pick from a vast list.... should Jingle be fishing for goldfish crackers? Decorating cookies? Making snow angels in rice? Hmmmm....what to do first? I can't wait for her to fall asleep!

More blogs later with some of Jingle's antics...

Oh Happy [Reading] Day!

2011-10-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

Today Katelynn read the following words all on her own, using phonics: am, an, ad, at, rat, pat, sat, cat, fat, mat, bat, hat, man, fan, ban, ran, can, van, tan

What an amazing parenting moment to see that lightbulb over her head go "click!" I was a little hesitant about this post because I don't want to come across as a show off and I certainly try not to be one of "those parents" who talks incessantly about her kids. But I am posting away, because it was truly a joyful moment that I couldn't help but document! She was beyond excited; it's rare to see my often serious girl with such a big smile plastered on her face. And mommy was excited too. We called Daddy and Nanna right away.

For anyone interested or curious, we have been working through The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington. My friend Erin recommended it. The format is easy to follow for both parent and child, and has been fun for both of us.

A Post for Nanna

2011-10-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I know that Nanna will not be happy about the Pinterest post unless it is followed with appropriate posting and pictures of one of her grandchildren. Tyler has been up to a lot of cute things lately that I felt deserved a mention anyway.

13 months is such a fun age. It is also really interesting to watch your second grow and see how different kids are from one another. Things I somehow expected to be the "same" as his big sis are so different. For example, Tyler walked a little earlier than KK - but that's not what surprised me. I knew there might be differences like that. But he did surprise me with the insane speed in which he has ramped up to coordinated FAST walking. The little guy could tear across the living room at warp speed with a couple of weeks of his first steps. KK's ramp up to fast walking was much more slow and cautious and took a couple of months.

Tyler is super expressive and chatty - this is the same as his sis. However while she spoke her first clear word at 7 months, he still mainly babbles. However, it is clear he is trying to communicate. His favorite word besides "mama" is "Oh!" - said in all sorts of cute and different ways and with different kinds of emphasis, often as a means to point out things he wants to touch or "discuss" with mommy. I really need to capture it on video because it is melt-your-heart adorable.

He loves to take things in and out of bags and can occupy himself for quite awhile with this task. He likes to get into the plastic cups in the pantry and take them in and out of the various school lunch bags that reside there. He then proudly carries his filled bag around the living room. He has become super observant of the world around him. He likes to get his own wad of toilet tissue and hurl it into the potty after mommy, sister or daddy are done. He also likes to take a wet wash cloth and "clean" the floor the way he sees mommy do so frequently.

Who knew these tiny little people would capture my heart so... Yes, Nanna, you knew - didn't you?!

Pinterest Projects

2011-10-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

So, I can thank/blame my lovely SIL Jen and this blog post for introducing me to Pinterest. Not only am I copying Pinterest, but I am also copying her with my latest projects. I will also attempt to use this as my latest sorry excuse for not blogging too much these days...a girl can only focus on so many things at once!

Project 1
I finally tackled the "art wall" that I had wanted to create for the little girl, to display all her creative drawings and crafts. Here's the inspiration from Pinterest, which Jen found for me... she is also doing a smaller version for her daughter's play room:

And here's my almost identical take on it:

I got the vinyl letters from DIY Lettering, and the service/ quality was great.

Project 2
I love candy displays and have seen some cute ones on Pinterest, but they seemed pretty loud and large. Then I saw my SIL's take on the Pinterest project and pretty much exactly copied her version. This will be my new tribute to seasonal decorating, since I basically do NONE other than Christmas. At least now I will have some appropriate candy for each holiday/season. Here's the original idea from Pinterest:

And here's my version which is similar to Jen's...I might add a cute ribbon to it to liven it up a bit:

Also thanks to Pinterest/Jen I have become re-enthused about home decorating. I feel I am below average at it, but I am trying to improve by copying all these great ideas. I am also finding that browsing lots of pictures helps to train my eye as to what looks good in a room. It still does not come naturally for me at all. But I have spruced up a few things in my living room and bedroom without spending too much $$. Maybe a separate post later about that!

iPad

2011-09-13T19:27:00.000-07:00

The other night our creative little 4 year old brought us a picture she had created and asked if we knew what it was. The answer? It was her personal iPad that she thinks she should receive for Christmas - ha! I have nothing else to say here...

KK's picture

This is what she was drawing - not bad!

The Incident

2011-08-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

So, last weekend we were at our favorite Mexican place, Mi Chulas. Lately we find ourselves there a lot after Gene's long Saturday morning run. He is starving hungry and wants lot of carbs. It is a nice family outing and combination fajitas for two feeds our entire clan - even TyTy now chows down on the beans and rice and indulges in a bit of fajita meat too. The managers know us as regulars.
I had taken KK to the pool that morning. As is typical, she did not eat much breakfast before we went. Then I took her for a slurpee after our pool trip. Gene was at home recovering from his run and taking care of Tyler. Then we all got ready and headed out to lunch - by the time we got there it was nearly 1 pm and all Kims were starving, not just the runner. The restaurant was packed because of tax free shopping weekend.

We were all inhaling the chips and salsa. Then Katelynn said "Mommy, I feel like I need to cough - but I can't." Suddenly, vomit was pouring out of her. I mean POURING out. To quote my brother's longtime friend Kevin: "It was quite the launch." At this particular restaurant, they use cloth napkins and keep them stacked in a square bin on the table. Gene rapidly began unwrapping the napkins and tossing them under Katelynn's faucet mouth. Every time he would get another napkin down, more would pour out and he would frantically unwrap another. We went through about 6 nice cloth napkins before it all seemed to be over. I tried to make a big mountain out of the napkins to hide the situation from our closest table mates.

At this point the manager had taken note and was trying to help. We were desperately trying to shield all the mess with the napkins so as not to completely offend the entire restaurant. Luckily it was loud and that seemed to help - if anyone did notice they didn't give it away with a look of disgust - as I surely would have at the sight of another child barfing in a restaurant. KK's shirt and shorts were covered in it - mostly red/purple from the Slurpee.

I headed to the one-stall bathroom to clean her up. (Note to self: Will carry emergency clothes in the car at ALL times from now on.) She was grossed out by her barfy shirt and shorts, but all I could do was rinse them out a little and make her put them back on - damp clothing heavily stained with purple puke....lovely. After a few minutes a woman waiting to pee begain to get impatient and knock rudely on the bathroom door. Whatdoyouwantmetodolady?!

Finally, I return to the table with a little girl streaked in Slurpee vomit. Tyler has been screaming his head off at the table the entire time I am gone- HUGE mama's boy. In his fury he knocks over a large glass of tea that had been moved too close to him during the great vomit clean-up. Gene and I are both so frazzled by this point! I am just trying to get my wits about me, and KK begins begging for steak fajitas. Try explaining to a starving 4 year old that you really don't want them to eat...

Needless to say I did not enjoy my meal. I shoved a couple of fajitas down, all the while arguing with Katelynn that she should only eat one tortilla for lunch and wait to see if she was ok. Turns out she was - but mommy and daddy are scarred for life. If you ever want to see Gene or me recoil in horror, just mention "The Incident" to us. No additional description needed.

First Steps, First Birthday

2011-08-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Tyler John is one now - how did this happen?! He is at a very FUN age and it will be a little sad to see the "baby" slowly disappear over the next several months. Sniff sniff. But I know with that disappearance will come lots of fun new developments as well.

TyTy took his first steps on August 13th, a little over a week before his big birthday. As of today he is still very tentatively making little "bursts" of walking from one piece of furniture to another. I have tried to capture all this on video with no luck so far. It's like he knows what I am trying to do and immediately sits down when the iPhone comes out. He is pretty cute though. His preferred method to attempt walking is to slowly stand up from a sitting position - with no assistance from any furniture or objects! Then he looks for me, smiles and claps, then takes off for several steps. Then he sits down before he even has a chance to get wobbly.

Last weekend we had a very fun family party to celebrate one year of our little guy. I chose a monkey theme and had a lot of fun with that. We served a yummy lunch and then had all the usual festivities - smash cake for Tyler, opening presents, etc. We also adorned him in his formal Korean wear purchased by his Grandma Joy and he didn't seem to mind. We had four kiddos in attendance - KK, cousin Izzy, and our best friends Bobby and Lindsay. Since it was just a small number of kids I splurged on the goody bags and everyone got an adorable Ty stuffed monkey, plus some monkey tattoos and candy. Pink for the girls, brown for Bobby.

KK was a wonderful big sister and helped to open presents, dress TyTy in his outfit, etcetera. She got enough attention that she didn't seem to mind the fact that it wasn't her party. I know that my dad was giving her lots of positive reinforcement which helped a ton in this regard - THANKS PopPop! All in all, it was a wonderful time with family. We are so very blessed!

What I'm Learning Lately

2011-08-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm, I keep thinking I am going to catch up on my family blog posts - some funny incidents, a great first birthday party, some first steps.... and yet God has been putting other blog-items on my heart. Lately I have tried to ask daily - "God, what are you trying to teach me today?" And wow, have I been learning a lot!

So where to start with this one? A little history perhaps. College... Aggieland... what a fun time in my life. I have so many amazing memories and it was such a great time of being independent but with no real responsibilities yet. I knew it too - I remember telling myself repeatedly to savor those moments. During college I also met about 5,000 "friends" and was quite the social butterfly.

Yet one interesting thing about college - a lot of the friendships were so fleeting. You shared a class with some. You shared a dorm floor with others. You attended football games, Bible studies, sat in the dining hall together... It was a revolving door of fun and people! This became more apparent to me with the advent of Facebook. I would get friend requests from Aggie friends and I had to rack my brain to even remember who some of them were. However, Facebook has also given me the opportunity to get to know some of those casual friends better over the past several years.

There is one such friend - we will call him John here on the blog to protect his privacy. I have gotten to know more about him through "social networking" via Facebook than I ever did in Aggieland. So when his dad suddenly got sick a few weeks ago, I felt an unexpected tug at my heart for him - one that had me checking his Facebook page for updates, praying for his family, and even giving regular reports to my husband.

Last night John lost his dad. He left a very sweetly worded post on Facebook - about God sometimes choosing to heal our loved ones in heaven instead of here on Earth. Next thing you know I am crying in my car. Now, I do not consider myself a naturally compassionate person. It seems to be an area where God is trying to mold me; to make me better. I never know when compassion with "strike" - but strike it did today, as I think about my college friend and his family, and their terrible loss.

Life's Lessons

2011-08-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was determined to tackle a big ugly pile of papers in our office. It needs to be organized, sorted, filed, scanned, etcetera - all my specialities! Then I came across a folder of my memorabilia that my mom saved and passed along to me. Instead of tackling the task at hand, I found myself reading the poems and stories I wrote in my school days - all the way from elementary to high school. What happened to that creative girl?! That creative girl became a bean counter, a mommy who worries too much, an overly analytical woman who has a hard time going with the flow of life - always seeking control in a world where I don't really have it. Now don't get me wrong, I had plenty of self-induced stress in my younger days too. But there was a creative part of me that seems to become buried more deeply with each passing year of adult life.

Feeling guilty that I wasn't conquering that to-do list, I decided to read one more "free verse" that I wrote and then close up the file of creativity. What a choice that final reading was...it begged to be blogged:

The days pass in a blur
And how easily we watch them fly
The work, the stress.
The pain.

And one more sunset gone!
But which will be the last sunset?
The last sunrise?

Which will be the last embrace,
The last smile,
The last time we love?

The miracle of life arrives
And departs freely
Many fools watch the miracle escape
Yet it always lingers
Waiting to be caught.

Drama Camp

2011-08-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

Last week Katelynn attended "drama camp" at the Texas Creative Arts Academy here in Coppell. The theme was "Tangled" from this Winter's big Disney hit about Rapunzel and everyone in class was 4 to 6 years old. It was an appropriate theme since this movie was also her first to see on the big screen with her PopPop earlier this year. On Friday they put on a mini-performance that was very cute. KK's primary role was to sing, as part of the ensemble, the song they learned during the week. There were about 8 different Rapunzels throughout the little performance, all with 1 speaking line apiece. From conversations with KK, I got the idea that she got to practice speaking lines during the week but froze up every time she was supposed to perform on cue.

I also knew that she didn't have the entire song memorized and it seemed to bother her a lot. During the performance her eyes were glued on the instructor with a bit of a worried look. Once her "part" was done she seemed to thoroughly enjoy watching the other kids perform.

Something must have "clicked" over the weekend. Suddenly she knew the entire song complete with motions and she has been regaling us regularly. Here are the words - definitely a mouthful to memorize for any kid!

Seven a.m. the usual morning line up
Start on the chores and sweep till the floor's all clean
Polish and wax do laundry and mop and shine up
Sweep again and by then it's like seven 15

And so i'll read a book
Or maybe 2 or 3
I'll add a few new paintings to my gallery
I'll play gutair and knit
And cook and basically
Just wonder when will my life begin

Dealer

2011-07-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, apparently I am a dealer now. A tea dealer, that is.

Most anyone who has been to our home has been offered our favorite Ibis Moon mango tea. We always keep a large batch on hand - an embarrassingly large batch in fact:

This is the same tea served at Tin Star, La Madeleine, Paradise Bakery and Mi Chulas - so you may have tried it. Yes, we keep track of the fine restaurants that carry this product. We used to frequent Tin Star primarily for our tea fix, and finally Gene thought to look at the name of it and write it down. Our friend google directed us to Royal Cup Coffee. The catch? You must purchase 24 large bags full of loose leaves at about $50 total for the order. This didn't stop us - enter Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker and a coffee filter to hold the loose leaves...plus a ding to our monthly grocery budget a couple of times a year.

Over time, various friends have asked about the tea and want to get "in" on our bulk purchase. I have sold half of my last two purchases to my friends Mary and Sally. I've been a good dealer and sold at cost.... at least until they are addicted like us.... Bwahahahahahaha.....

Summer Art

2011-07-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

Summer has meant more downtime for Katelynn, and hence more time at her beloved art stand. I love seeing what she creates these days. Here are some of my favorites, with titles as explained by Miss KK herself:

"Dinosaurs"

"Mommy, Baby and Cherry Tree"

"Fish Tank"

"Dragonfly"

"Rocketship"

"Sunflower"

??????

"Rainbow Tree"

"Harry the Hopeful Horse"

Ravaged

2011-07-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

We spent several days in San Antonio over Independence Day. Katelynn seemed to be struggling with a nasty cold, but playing in the cool swimming pools seemed to keep her in good spirits so we weren't too worried about it. The day we made the five hour drive home, Gene and I made plans for our two upcoming "date days" we had scheduled. We felt very smart that we had planned ahead of time for a vacation-from-the-vacation! We had many things planned - movies, some good meals sans kiddos, exercise, and errands.

As the day progressed Katelynn seemed more and more listless. We pulled into the garage around 5:30 and unloaded our obscene amount of bags. I dug out the thermometer and was shocked when it read - 104 degrees! I called my pediatrician and was lucky to get a 6:30 appointment due to a cancellation. KK and I turned around and left the house again.

What followed was an extremely scary "mommy moment" when I was told my little girl had viral pneumonia, and that we would have been calling the ambulance in the night if we had not come in. I hid my tears from my little one and the mommy guilt set in - how didn't I know she was so sick?! We headed home with a mess of drugs and a nebulizer.

To make a looong story short(er), Gene and I woke up with similar crud the next day. We tried to evacuate the baby to Nanna's house and he got it the next day. Among the four of us, there have been six doctor trips so far with at least one more to go! Dates were cancelled, the house became a disaster, the to-do list grew.

In the middle of all this I found myself, foggy-headed, organizing one of my drawers. I then asked myself: "Self, what in the heck are you doing?! This is madness" Then it dawned on me - I was grasping for control... control over anything! I thought I had my little world under my control and this was a big reality check! Through this experience, God has taught me to appreciate every day of good health with which we are blessed.

Left from Right

2011-07-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our little girl struggles with "trying" sometimes - she doesn't like to do things unless she can do them perfectly the first time. As a mommy I do worry about her in this regard; I would like her to be a bit more of a free spirit sometimes that samples and dabbles in life. Maybe this is because I am not much of a free spirit and sometimes think I would be able to relax and enjoy life a little more if I were!

One of the many things she complains about doing, because of this personality trait, is putting on her shoes. It distresses her that she gets the feet mixed up. When it is time to leave the house she spends a lot of time whining about wanting mommy and daddy to put the shoes on for her.

Recently I realized this has not been occurring - she has been doing shoes by herself - and getting the shoes on the correct feet! Something must have just "clicked" in her brain. It's funny how milestones work that way most of the time. We can encourage and teach them, but eventually things just have to come together on their own for our kiddos.

Next up...tying shoes!

13 Years

2011-07-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

On June 5th, Gene and I celebrated our 13th anniversary. Yes, so this post is over a month behind...that is life these days! I cannot believe it has been 13 years - time has flown. What blows me away even more is that in 13 more years, which will presumably fly even faster with two little ones, Katelynn will be nearly 18 and entering her senior year of high school. Tyler will be almost 14 and entering his last year of middle school. Noooooooo! A sobering thought...

We have spent many an anniversary evening at Lockheart Gables. Some wonderful friends, David and Marilyn Lewis, own this fabulous B&B that is tailored to provide romantic getaways for married couples. It is near the cultural district in Fort Worth so there are plenty of great things to do and wonderful places to eat. Since Nanna and PopPop don't live too far from Ft Worth it is also very ideal to go drop the kiddos with them (thankyouthankyouthankyou), then head off for our overnight getaway. We once again stayed in the "Love Nest". Apparently it used to be a big "sleeping porch" back in the day when it was built in the late 1800's - very cool! Upon check-in, the Lewis's provide personalized gingerbread cookies and tea or lemonade. Gourmet breakfast is served in your room. I had an incredible omelet and Gene had apple pecan pancakes. We both had fresh fruit, juice, and a heart shaped homemade cinnamon bun. Yummmm. It was a much needed break from the little ones with time to focus on each other.

I love you Gene! Here's to 13 more, and 13 after that, and 13 after that and....

Developments

2011-06-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I certainly have fallen off the blogging mark when it comes to recording Tyler's milestones, especially in comparison to his sister. Lately by the time we get them to bed I usually just want to vegetate in front of the TV and take a break from parenthood for a few minutes. So, first teeth, sitting up, pulling up, crawling... all have gone undocumented. Today I put the big iron gate up to keep him away from the stairs and wondered where the heck the last ten months have gone!

TyTy has some very sweet personality traits that I did want to remember to document though. Lately, all I have to do is put a blanket on my shoulder at nap time or night time, and that is his cue to snuggle in while I sing to him - as long as he is tired enough. It is the best thing ever. I could sit there for an hour like that if he would let me. It really helps to fill the empty mommy tank. He also has started to develop his own little sense of humor. Tonight it took him over 30 minutes to get through a bottle because he decided he wanted to "share" with mommy. Every time I pretended to slurp some milk he erupted in giggles. Then he would take a couple of sips and do it again. Repeat x50!

KK's developments lately primarily revolve around artistic endeavors and vocabulary. Her coloring abilities are quite amazing for her age - lots of patience and attention to detail - and she draws some beautiful and creative pictures too. Last week she painted four separate pictures: a tornado, a cave, planets, and hands... all from her own imagination with no suggestions from mom. It would be great if I had one to post right now... I have a big pile to scan but again there is - as mentioned at the beginning of this blog post - that pesky time/energy issue in life lately. She also loves to use and mis-use large words and I really need to try to make a list. It would make for a really entertaining and memorable post. Recently she told me her bangs were preventative and I therefore couldn't cut them. She also likes to talk a lot about responsibilities and how being a mommy, big sister, etc is a "big responsibility." She talks pretty much non-stop most days so my brain does get a little fried and I am sure I miss some great nuggets sometimes. Many sentences start with one of the following: "Mommy, I need to tell you something...." "Mommy are you listening?" "Mommy...mommy.....mommy......mommy......mommy"

And now mommy must go to bed.

Norman Mackenzie

2011-06-01T20:29:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Katelynn was thrilled to get her first pet - a bright blue Betta fish that she named Norman Mackenzie. Norman from one of her favorite books; Mackenzie because "it's such a beautiful name." Her friends Bobby and Lindsay had both acquired similar fish a couple weeks prior. Once mommy and daddy saw that they only required a $20 "Betta kit" and no fancy filtration systems, we were pretty easy to cajole into the purchase.

Norman Mackenzie died this morning, just 4 days after KK so proudly brought him home.

Last night I noticed that he wasn't looking so hot. He was in a strange position within his plastic plant and did not swim to the top to get his food. I convinced myself that fish sleep... Then this morning I became more concerned as he was sitting all the way at the bottom of the tank. Two hours later he was upside down.

Now the question became what to do? My little girl has a pretty sensitive heart. As a mommy, I really wanted to just avoid this whole reality-of-death situation and forever protect her innocence. I decided to leave Norman in his tank; she hadn't been paying too much attention to him and perhaps I could execute a switcheroo tomorrow when my babysitter is here. However, tonight KK decided to check in on Norman. A sweet little voice asked: "Mommy, is he sick?" Mommy's heart sank. I told her the truth.

She seemed to be in shock, absorbing the whole situation and making sad little statements like "He was such a kind fish" and "He just swam around happily and was nice to me." Eventually one big tear rolled down her cheek and lots of assurances followed that we would get a new fish just like him tomorrow. After books/prayers/songs with both mommy and daddy, she was left with her own thoughts in her room. Later she appeared in the kitchen, acting strangely. When I pressed her a bit about what was wrong, she burst into tears and said "It's just that my fish died, mommy!"

Poor sweet girl. Poor Norman. RIP Norman. And may God protect my little girl's tender heart.... and please, please keep Norman Mackenzie II alive a little longer.

Tyler's Babyality

2011-05-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

Years ago on this blog I had a post about Katelynn's "Babyality", i.e. her baby personality. Little Tyler's babyality has really started to shine over the past couple of months. He can be cranky like his big sister was as a baby, but he doesn't get inconsolable the way she did. He likes to study people and makes adorable little furrowed-eyebrow expressions when doing so. "TyTy" is constantly moving - flapping his arms, bouncing up and down. He loves his big sis and squeals loudly at her various forms of entertainment. He also loves his crib which has been wonderful for mommy. Since learning to sleep through the night, he has not awakened in the middle of the night requesting attention ONCE. No, not ONCE. (Knock on wood.) He also has never awakened too early... he is up around 7:00AM like clockwork and he will play in his crib for at least 30 minutes. He pushes up on his little tummy and gives me a big grin from his crib as I walk out the door of his room. He likes his pacifier for sleeping but rarely needs it during awake time.

He is a fabulous eater thus far, but extremely picky about liquids. Only breastmilk for this little man. Bottles are ok with him but only if warmed to 99.8 degrees. He finds formula extremely offensive. This has made it challenging to put weight onto him! All those fruits, veggies and grains are not very high in calories.

I sure do love and treasure this sweet boy. The first year is absolutely flying by, even more quickly than it did with KK.

9 Month Pics

2011-05-28T20:47:00.001-07:00

Tyler wasn't feeling the greatest at his 9-month pictures - a post photo-shoot massive blowout was proof of that! However, Emily still managed to get some great shots. She is the manager at the JCPenney in Lewisville and I highly recommend her! I always request her for all the kids' photos now, and with the online coupons available you can't beat the prices there too.

I'm posting a few of my favorites here.

Tyler's Noggin

2011-05-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

Tyler just had his 9-month checkup. His “stats” are pretty funny – 5% for weight at 16.8 pounds, 50% for length, and 80% for his head! Our pediatrician is not overly concerned about his weight since he eats like a little piggy (30 ounces of food per day-off the charts for his age) and is probably just built how his daddy was as a baby. Gene was a pretty scrappy little kid and didn’t really fill out till college. We are still trying some things to get a little more weight on the kiddo, but I don't see how I could possibly feed him more!

Dr. Nanna (she is so smart about medical topics – among other things) said that his brains are just using up all that food. Then she sent me the little medical article below which confirms this. I decided to attach the article because I thought it was really interesting. The study cited notes that Einstein’s brain used and needed more energy than the average brain. So...this concerned mama is going with the theory that we have a budding little Einstein in our home.

Article----------------------------
The brain makes up 2% of a person's weight. Despite this, even at rest, the brain consumes 20% of the body's energy. The brain consumes energy at 10 times the rate of the rest of the body per gram of tissue. The average power consumption of a typical adult is 100 Watts and the brain consumes 20% of this making the power of the brain 20 W.
Based on a 2400 calorie diet (Adapted from Yang)
2400 "food calorie" = 2400 kcal
2400 kcal / 24 hr = 100 kcal/hr = 27.8 cal/sec = 116.38 J/s = 116 W
20% x 116 W = 23.3 W
Glucose is the main energy source for the brain. As the size and complexity of the brain increases, energy requirements increase.
The human brain is one of the most energy hungry organs in the body thereby increasing its vulnerability. If the energy supply is cut off for 10 minutes, there is permanent brain damage. There is no other organ nearly as sensitive to changes in its energy supply.
In 1955, Albert Einstein's brain was preserved for research. Three scientific papers have been published examining the features of Einstein's brain. Albert Einstein's brain differed to normal men's brain in that his brain had more glial cells per neuron that might indicate that neurons in Einstein's brain had an increased "metabolic need"-- they needed and used more energy. Einstein's brain weighed only 1,230 grams, which is less than the average adult male brain (about 1,400 grams). The thickness of Einstein's cerebral cortex was thinner. However, the density of neurons in Einstein's brain was greater. In other words, Einstein was able to pack more neurons in a given area of cortex.
The most recent study concerning Einstein's brain was published in the British medical journal The Lancet, on June 19, 1999. They found that a portion of the brain that governs mathematical abilities and spatial reasoning -- 2 key ingredients to the sort of thinking Einstein did best -- was 15% wider than average allowing better connection between its cells, which could have allowed them to work together more efficiently.
Jacqueline Ling -- 2001

French Braids

2011-04-14T14:37:00.000-07:00

Recently Katelynn informed me that she is growing her hair out. No more cute bobs for this mommy...one of the first of many areas of control where I have to let go! She has also been requesting braids, braids, braids. I knew the concept of french braiding but have virtually zero experience. KK and I watched a YouTube video together; she informed me without hesitation that I could do it now that I had watched a video. Gotta' love the confidence of a 4 year old! So I gave it a try. I was pretty pleased with the results. It took about 30 minutes; hopefully with practice I will get a bit speedier. If she must have long hair, I do love the look of french braids.

Jokes & Sarcasm

2011-04-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

Katelynn loves cheesy kid jokes now, even though she doesn't seem to completely "get" a lot of them yet. Today she heard a joke on TV and a lightbulb did seem to go off for her. She came to me giggling: "Mommy, who does a bee marry? [Pause] HIS HONEY!" [Hysterical laughing] I find it fascinating how sophisticated humor truly is, now that I see my four-year old trying to understand all the innuendos, plays on words, etc. I have heard a saying that you truly understand a culture once you "get" their jokes/sense of humor, and I really do think that is true.

She has also started to figure out that I don't always mean exactly what I say, but she still doesn't quite understand the nuances of sarcasm. Today Tyler spit up on me (yet again- daily occurrence, multiple times per day) and I said "Thank-you so much Tyler." Katelynn was confused, so I told her: "I said 'thank you' but didn't really mean it. That is called sarcasm. You can tell I didn't mean it by the tone of my voice." Katelynn: "That's silly to say thank you for spit up, mommy!"

Well, she does have a point...

Daddy

2011-04-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

KK is getting more and more attached to her daddy these days. I was warned this would eventually happen! He is the "fun center"; he is the one who plays hide-and-seek and silly games like "airplane", "elevator", and "washing machine." Here are some excerpts of recent time spent with daddy:

Backyard camping. KK slept like a rock in her sleeping back on the ground. Gene's body felt like a rock after all night on the ground! He was a trooper and she loved it.

Games and cartoons on the iPad. Enough said. Even Tyler liked it!

Running. Well, so this isn't exactly time spent with daddy but it is time she wishes she could spend with daddy. A few days ago KK informed me she wanted to make a list of all the things she needed to go running with daddy. She came up with the items on her own and I just told her how to spell them. So cute!

KK is also learning how to work her daddy over pretty well. Gene had things to get done the other night and Katelynn said in a very sweet and coy voice: "Daddy, I want to spend time together, just you and me!" He definitely fell for that.

Growing Up

2011-04-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Katelynn has been asking for her very own library card for awhile now. I found out today that kids are allowed to get their own card starting at age 3. How cute is that?! So I let her get one. The librarian was very sweet and encouraging about it and treated KK like a miniature grown up, even giving her a Sharpie to "sign" her name on the card.

She was over the moon when she got her own zoo membership card with Nanna almost a year ago. Now she has another card to add to her collection, proof that she is in fact growing up... who said she could do that?! Sniff.

That Time of Year

2011-04-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

We don't get to celebrate Spring for long in North Texas, it seems. There are a few glorious weeks, sandwiched on one end by miserable winter weather on one side and wretchedly hot weather on the other.

Thank goodness that during those few precious weeks, we do get to enjoy some gorgeous Texas wildflowers all across our highways! We are lucky enough to have a big patch of bluebonnets right at the end of our cul-de-sac. The other day, Katelynn asked to go take pictures in them. She was quite the little model and I got lots of cute shots of her. Tyler wasn't as thrilled but I did get a few that turned out cute.

The Bottomless Pit

2011-04-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

The subject: One adorable 7 month old, almost 16 pound baby boy billed as "underweight" at the pediatrician's office (much to his mommy's dismay) The daily intake: Approximately 6 jars of baby food, usually with rice cereal/ oatmeal added, for a total of 36 total ounces of food per day. Plus nursing 4x per day for around 20 total ounces of milk. The cost: This baby food is organic and actually tastes good, so it comes in around 60 to 75 cents per jar. This kid is currently costing us about $125 per month in baby food alone! Of course he is worth it, but... wow! Concluding thoughts: So, picture a cup the size of a Big Gulp filled with baby food, all going into one tiny little creature over the course of a day. Then picture a big coke bottle filled with milk going into same baby. It's unbelievable to me! He has been eating this way for nearly a month... how is it possible he is still only the 5th percentile for weight?!

Caught Being Good

2011-03-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

It is "Bug Week" at preschool. The theme does seem to be taking second place to dinosaur week for KK; nonetheless she still seems pretty excited about it. One of the neat things they are doing is giving the kids little certificates if they are "caught being good". They have a hershey kiss attached and describe what good thing the kiddo was caught doing.

KK has earned two of these little certificates and she is over the moon about it. I know she loves the chocolate aspect of course, but I think it is really the recognition and the little certificate that excite her the most. She asks me to read them over and over to her. She has been rewarded for being a good friend and also for helping Ms. Eileen clean up the craft supplies.

Projects, Projects, Projects

2011-03-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

The title pretty much defines Katelynn these days. She lives for a good project. Reminds me of a certain someone back in the day.... I remember researching kangaroos in the 3rd grade in my Encyclopedia Brittanica and putting together all sorts of crafts related to my findings to take back to school the next day. And this was not assigned work! (And yes I was/am a major nerd...) So, given my history I do try to have a great attitude about her many requests and accomodate her when possible.

The other day she found a recipe for cupcakes in her coloring book. Yes, in the coloring book. And of course we could not make any other recipe. These days I usually don't make anything without a recipe website and a corresponding list of reviews so I can ensure near-perfection. So this was going out on a limb for me. And it has shortening in the ingredients... I was shocked I even had any in the pantry. Not a very common ingredient "these days".

Nonetheless I did accommodate KK; the cupcakes were not the best in the world but definitely edible and she had a great time. We made hearts, eggs, and regular cupcakes. Her favorite part was adorning them with sprinkles.

Labor of Love

2011-03-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

We are lucky to have a very talented Nanna. She quilts, sews, knits and can teach herself just about any new skill within those genres. Her baby items are works of art (she is a perfectionist); both Katelynn and Tyler have their own Nanna-made taggies, baby balls, blankets, quilts, curtains, bedding and burp rags. Cousin Izzy received and wore beautiful itsy-bitsy preemie outfits made by Nanna. One of Nanna's latest projects is pillowcases. She makes them by the stacks for the local children's hospital; they give one to each child when they check in to the hospital for a stay. She also makes them for her grandkids and Katelynn loves her many pillowcase choices. Lately she has been allowed to go with Nanna to pick her own fabrics (the two on top) and also received a special dinosaur pillowcase to go along with her favorite preschool study to date.

What a Nanna! She is building quite a special legacy with her beautiful creations.

Spring Break

2011-03-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

Now that Katelynn is in preschool three days per week, Spring Break seems to matter a little more. I found myself wanting to plan some fun things together. Also, Tyler is a stellar napper but only in his crib. So we aren't getting out these days nearly as much as we used to. We might squeeze in a 45 minute trip to the park, but gone are the days when KK and I would wander around town doing whatever I/she wanted for hours on end. So, since we didn't have the constraints of school, here is what we did:

Friday Before- Spring Break Kickoff! - We went to our wonderful local park, Kid Country. I sent an email a few days prior to a bunch of local friends and we had about 6 moms and their kiddos show up. What fun! We took a picnic and the weather was glorious. I kept Tyler out a little longer than usual so we had plenty of time to play. KK still did not want to leave even after over 2 hours.

Monday - Mommy and Katelynn movie day. Our wonderful babysitter AJ came over and watched Tyler so that we could have some mommy/ daughter time. This was only Katelynn's second movie outing and it was the same flick, Tangled. She saw it the first time with PopPop and now with me. She is going to think it is the only movie that exists. This child did not make a peep the entire movie, but she did turn around multiple times to give the kids behind us indignant stares for their obnoxious laughing. Heehee.

Wednesday - I worked but KK spent the day with Nanna and PopPop. They went to "Robot Park" (where yours truly grew up going!) and KK went to Nanna's eye doctor appointment with her.

Thursday - Another KK and Mommy day. We met friends at "Dino World" in Glenrose, followed by a picnic at Dinosaur Valley State Park. Tyler stayed with Nanna all day. We had a wonderful day and I got my first sunburn of the year. Katelynn's prized possession of the day was the 3 fossils she got to dig up at Dino World. That and the little tiny plastic bag she got to put them in. It's the little things! My mom packed our entire picnic lunch and that was quite a luxury for this mommy.

Friday - Grill Night with our best buds the Clarks. It was such a great night for grilling and relaxing and they have a fabulous back yard. It had been way too long since we did this...and a wonderful end to Spring Break. (Note - picture from Hawaii... that would be even better!)

His Power is Made Perfect

2011-03-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm only about a month late... but here goes a post on my first half-marathon, the Fort Worth Cowtown.

I figured out that I might like running about a year ago, and then I found out I was pregnant with little boy. When he was six weeks old I was ready to try it again! By the time he was 8 or 10 weeks old I was running 3 times a week and on the path to training for something. I settled on Cowtown on 2/27/11 since I do not perform well in the heat, and this would be a race run in the bitter cold for sure, right?! Not to mention all my long run training would be in the cold as well.

I trained my little rear off and was very diligent to my schedule. I could run 10 minute miles with ease and this seemed to be my long run "pace." I had a bad experience running a 15K due to a tormenting side stitch, but I brushed it off as my long runs went back to normal after this blip.

Fast forward to 2/27/11 and we have 65-75 degree weather, 80% humidity, 25 mph winds. Ugh. This was not my plan! Sure enough, the heat was a tail kicker for me. By mile 2 or 3 I was already way too hot and fighting a mild side stitch again. My running buddy Amy was feeling fine and we lost each other at a water station which was probably for the best; I was holding her back.

13.1 miles of pure misery... that is pretty much how I would have to describe my first half marathon. Internal mental battles, external physical battles. Around mile 4 I began run/walking quite a bit which I found discouraging since I had wanted to run the whole way through. I dumped two cups of cold water on my head at every water station. I turned off my fancy borrowed Garmin running watch at mile 9. It was no longer about hitting a certain pace... it was just about finishing. I felt so weak... hot...defeated during the entire race. Check out my miserable pictures!

Twice I saw a girl with a sign: "His power is made perfect in my weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9" I can't tell you how much seeing this sign lifted me up and kept me going. It really felt like my race theme. I did cross the finish at 2:23 and was actually shocked by the overall time - with all the walking I had done I did not think there was any way I would beat 2:30.

So what to do after all that misery? Next half-marathon: 5/1/11.

6 Months?!

2011-03-08T07:50:00.000-08:00

I truly cannot believe my little guy has passed the 6 month mark already. While caring for two kids has made my life truly crazy, he and his sister certainly bring joy to my heart every day.

TyTy is a champion napper... sing a quick song, put him down awake, and leave! He takes 3 naps a day which makes it hard to get out and about so sometimes I feel like Katelynn is really getting the shaft these days on outings and fun events with mommy. Sometimes I can get away with doing one of the naps in the car, but he will only fall asleep if it is a long car trip - so it doesn't work for errands around town. I just end up with a crabby baby that way.

It is amazing how much can change with a baby in two weeks. A little over two weeks ago he was still being swaddled and seemed to need it to settle at night. I had tried to stop previously - maybe around 5 months - and the result was 4 brutal nights with no signs of improvement each night. So we went back to the swaddle, then suddenly he decided he was over it and rolled himself onto his face one night. A little scary - poor little guy laying on his face like a little bound-up sausage crying - but a clear sign that the swaddling was done which was somewhat of a relief. Then he adjusted quickly to his new freedom and it wasn't nearly the trauma it was the first time I tried to stop. Within a week he was rolling all around his crib, playing with toys when he woke up, etc. And he started putting himself on his tummy to sleep - a big surprise since he has always cried his way through tummy time! He is doing a lot better at nights now too - generally making it to at least 6:30 am without night crying.

Same thing with solids. He rejected the first three foods I tried - lots of crying and spitting out of food. Then I finally found something he would tolerate but it took 4 days to get through one jar of food. Then suddenly things clicked and within a few days he was eating 2 to 3 jars of food per day - a major relief since he unfortunately got billed as UNDERWEIGHT at his 6 month well check.

Tyler is generally just a happy little guy. He does like to be held and carried but he doesn't get nearly as upset about things as another baby I raised - who shall remain nameless - once did. He loves to be entertained by his sister. He studies new people and gets a bit of a concerned look, especially if said new person is holding him. (So we will see how the first trip to the church nursery goes next week!) He loves to be tickled and then I get to revel in the sound of that wonderful baby laugh.

I am one blessed mommy to have my wonderful little girl, and now a sweet little guy to raise too. I try to take some time each day to just take it all in because I know this time will be gone in the blink of an eye. I have been married nearly 13 years and it has gone so fast... now it's going faster and in another 13 years I will have two teenagers who are well on their way out of the house. Sniff, sniff!

First Purchase

2011-02-21T18:59:00.000-08:00

Katelynn experienced a fun milestone today.

It all started with a Valentine's card from Nanna and PopPop that contained a one dollar bill:

Katelynn has been begging me every day since receiving that card to go to the store to spend her dollar. Today we finally made it to Target. She knows that mommy can be convinced to purchase items for her from the dollar section - I often do as a reward for simply coming to Target and behaving well. However she was much more excited about getting a toy with her own money. She agonized over the selections and tried to talk me into two items. I held firm for once, figuring this was a good time for a lesson about the finite qualities of money. She selected this cute purse - quite the girly girl selection:

When we got to the checkout, she proudly marched up to the Target employee. She excitedly handed over her money and had to be reminded give the purse first for scanning. Mommy chipped in ten cents toward sales tax. KK was excited to get her receipt and her two pennies back.

She came home and "played" with her purse all evening. She asked me to get the easter eggs down. She filled them with buttons and small paper hearts and wrote her friends' names on the outside. Then she put them in her new purse to take to preschool for delivery. She sure can be a cutie pie sometimes.

Letter Writing Explosion

2011-02-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

Suddenly Katelynn cannot get enough of writing letters. 6 months ago I could barely get her to trace one letter without an eruption of frustration and a refusal to continue. Now she goes through packages of notebook paper at warp speed and one of her favorite things to do is to come to me with a page full of letters and ask, "What does this spell?" I am not the best parent when it comes to spending lots of time with her for "pretend play" or just sitting down to play toys with her, but I will drop everything to help her with letters -so I think she also likes the mommy feedback aspect of it all.

Recently I was amazed at her patience to create a birthday card for her cousin Izzy who is about to turn 2. KK was adamant that it be written completely by her. The results are pictured and I must say that I am pretty proud of her, and excited about this new chapter of learning for my little girl. I know it's going to be even more exciting when she starts reading!

PS. Don't tell Izzy, Aunt Jen! ;-)

Vocabulary Queen

2011-02-14T11:13:00.000-08:00

Katelynn has quite the vocabulary for her age, thanks in no small part to her love of "Fancy Nancy" books. These books are so great, especially for little girls, and very well written. They introduce all kinds of wonderful words in a fun-filled way. Thanks to her fellow vocab-maven Nanna for introducing us to this series.

Lately this little 4-year old has become pretty entertaining with her proper use and her misuse of these new words. One of her favorites, which she uses correctly is delectable. "Mommy, this cupcake frosting is just delectable!" Another favorite that she hasn't completely grasped yet is impossible. "Mommy, We have to go to Mi Chula's for dinner tonight. It's impossible!" Huh?!

Yesterday I was putting on my makeup and, as she does frequently, Katelynn was standing next to me begging for lip gloss, blush, etc for her. She asked me to put mascara on her eyes. After barely brushing a bit on, she batted her eyelashes at the mirror and asked, "Mommy, do I look mysterious?!"

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2011-02-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

Kudos to you parents of 3, 4 or more children. I am honestly not sure how you do it! Lately nights have been wearing this momma out and can be classified into one of three categories:

1. The Good (extremely rare occurrence): Tyler goes to bed at 7:00. KK goes to bed at 8:00. Tyler wakes up to nurse around 10:00 or 11:00 pm. He doesn’t wake up again till 7:00 and neither does Katelynn. I think this scenario has happened maybe twice in the past three months.

2. The Bad (the norm): Tyler goes to bed at 7:00. KK goes to bed at 8:00. Tyler wakes up to nurse around 10:00 or 11:00 pm. He wakes up again at 2:00 am or so needing a diaper change and pacifier re-insertion. He wakes up again around 4:00 or 5:00 am; at this point I might get away with pacifier re-insertion but more likely I will just pick him up and put him in bed with us till 7:00.

3. The Ugly (not as rare as I would like): Tyler goes to bed at 7:30. KK goes to bed at 8:30 or 9:00. Tyler wakes up to nurse around 10:00 or 11:00 pm. He wakes up again at 2:00 am, 3:00 am, 4:00 am, etc. Sometimes a diaper change/ pacifier re-insertion does the trick. Sometimes he apparently doesn’t know what he needs and keeps me up with crying for over 2 hours till I break down and bring him into bed. Katelynn makes an appearance somewhere in between (never a the same time – always another sleep interruption!) and lays on our floor in a sleeping bag. These “ugly” nights feel like a constant interruption of REM sleep – awakenings from intense dreams and a very groggy feeling. And I start my day in a state of extreme sleep deprivation.

I know this is a phase and things should be much better as Tyler develops a little more. He does not do nights as well as his sister did! I often find myself praying, asking God to lead me in the right direction as to how to “sleep train” him – I feel like I am just in survival mode and there doesn’t always seem to be a clear “right choice”! His sweet smile in the mornings, along with the knowledge that he will only be a sweet innocent baby for such a short time, helps to keep me going.

Snow Days

2011-02-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

So, it has been a loooong week here in the DFW area as we have been "iced in" for three days straight so far, with one more to go till we get above freezing. Little KK has remained in good spirits despite being cooped up in the house. She cried mournfully the first day I told her there was no preschool, but seemed to accept it on days two and three. She has begged to go outside a couple of times, but it is literally 18 degrees with 20 mph winds, and the only thing on the ground is miserable ice - we barely even got any snow! Can't bring myself to do it... So what have we done to pass all that time??

1. Writing practice. Lately Katelynn's writing skills have exploded and she shows a lot of interest in being able to write letters and words. She likes to write random letters on paper and ask us what they spell. Usually nothing, but she was very excited when she accidentally spelled "LIP" a couple of days ago. I was also impressed that she had the patience to write "Bob the Builder" (using my writing as a guide). Not sure why she chose that one - who knows the inner workings of a 4 year old mind?

Puzzles and sorting. KK received wooden puzzle "flash cards" from Nanna and PopPop that have letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. First we practiced all the letters and put them in order of the alphabet, all lined up down the hallway. Then we put the colors next to the matching letters (i.e. Pink goes with P). Then we counted the objects on the number cards.

Smores. We roasted marshmallows over the gas logs then made smores.

Gift making. The girl is obsessed with crafts and creating gifts for friends and family. She made flowers, pictures, pages with letters, and many unknown objects. She then likes to put them in bags/boxes and order mommy to put ribbons on them.

Cleaning. She likes to help mommy. She was most enthusiastic about helping me spray down all the silk plants. She also picked up her own toys on more than one occasion in order to get stickers on her chore chart - ahhh proof that she can do it.

Toys, toys, toys. She normally ignores her toys but sheer desperation meant they all got taken out... the beauty kit, the strawberry shortcake doll, the lincoln logs, the foam blocks, the LittlePeople.

Extended baths. And painting with bath paints. And spelling things out on the tub wall with the bath letters.

Little brother. Singing to baby Tyler. Dancing for baby Tyler. Bringing toys to baby Tyler. Holding baby Tyler. "Helping" with baths and diaper changes by putting her stool exactly in the spot where mommy needs to be. Breakdancing in baby Tyler's bedroom while mommy tries to put him down for a nap.

Popcorn and diet pepsi on the couch. I emphasized this was a special occasion. We will see if she understood that in a few days.

The babysitter. Oh yeah, there were a few hours of TV watching in there too. Hey, I am not a saint (as evidenced by #9 as well).

I must get some zzzz's now as I prepare for day #4 inside and try to come up with something new to add to the list!

To Infinity and Beyond

2011-02-03T05:00:00.000-08:00

Katelynn certainly does loooove her preschool this year. No more hanging onto my leg or tears, which still popped up sometimes last year. She practically runs in the building now, and starting in January we even moved from 2 to 3 days per week since KK seemed unbelievably bored at home with mommy and Tyler on Wednesdays.

It is fun to watch your child learn! (No one ever told me this... but maybe it would have seemed silly if someone had before I was a parent. Being a parent can be so unexpectedly fabulous sometimes.) I so enjoy seeing her enthusiasm for learning more about this great big world in which she is growing up. This year there has been a learning explosion. Not long ago, KK suddenly began writing random letters on paper and running to me to show them to me. She can write her name with help and her coloring skills seemed to improve dramatically almost over night. She understands that learning all the letters is the key to being able to read her beloved books on her own one day and this seems to serve as a huge motivator for her.

Last week was "Space Week" and I have never seen the girl so excited. She talked all week long about space, space, space. She complained that she didn't own any books about planets. She told me to make a list of things to bring to preschool: lunch, backpack, space suit, space helmet. (Heehee.) On Thursday she got to take a "trip" to the moon with her class and she was about to split her pants she was so excited. I showed her videos on youtube of Space Shuttle launches and I must admit I felt a tingle of excitement myself. She even hung with a video about black holes for longer than I could, complete with scientists lecturing about electrons and forces and other such heady topics.

I was definitely a nerd growing up and a lover of formal schooling, so it warms this mama's heart to see my daugher following in my footsteps.

Katelynn

2011-02-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

Lately, I feel like KK has suddenly turned into a little girl. The memories of the tantrum-throwing toddler are starting to fade a bit, and I sadly have little memory at all of life with her as a baby. (Perhaps I have just blocked some of it out, seeing that there were many extremely difficult days with her!) So, to follow up Tyler's post, here is my "all about KK" bullet list.

She loves preschool so much now, so much that I increased her time there from 2 to 3 days per week. Last week they learned about space and she was "over the moon" (har har) about it. I showed her youtube videos of the space shuttle launch and she was enraptured with the whole thing.
Very recently there has also been an explosion with learning letters, and suddenly starting to write them on her own. This has made mama very excited to see this happen all at once. I explained to her awhile back that she needed to learn all her letters before she would be able to read - and she does love her books so this stuck with her. She has repeatedly talked about learning her letters so that she can learn to read.
She is very talented with working mazes. It is quite impressive.
She loves her crafts - whether at school or at home. The art stand that she received over a year ago from Nanna and PopPop has hit its prime. Our living room floor is usually covered in paper scraps, crayons, tape, glue sticks, scissors, scrapbook supplies donated by mommy, and more. There are new creations every day. This has been a godsend since she will actually entertain herself to a certain extent with the creating.
KK also loves to give gifts to her friends. So craft time is frequently gift-making time - a treasure box for Anna, a picture for Bobby, a letter for Lindsay... she does love her friends!
She continues to be a mama's girl. But she thinks her dad is pretty great now too and knows that he is the better choice for hide-and-seek, rough-housing, and snuggle time.
She is still a sensitive girl too. While tantrums have really died down, she still has trouble controlling the crying sometimes. She can be quite dramatic. She physically cannot control her legs from twitching when she is extremely upset and complains about "itchy skin".
She is an absoutely wonderful big sister - so sweet with her baby brother and a big help to me with entertaining him, fetching pacifiers and toys, helping to wash him during bathtime, talking to him in the car, giving him her own precious blankie for comfort, and much more.

My sweet, sensitive girl.... As Katelynn would say, "She is my girl forever and ever."

Tyler

2011-02-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my little guy is 5 months old already. He has really captured my heart - such a little sweetheart. Daily life with him is a pleasure and I need to capture it here....so here is a random list "all about TyTy":

It is so easy to make him smile and giggle. He loves when mommy makes him fake "punch" plus zerberts on the tummy during changing time. His eyes twinkle when he is happy.
He is so expressive - hilarious ranges of faces from this little man (as evidenced by picture!)
He naps well and is generally a pretty easy-going little guy. He still needs to be swaddled to settle down. I keep trying to get him past this stage but he is not ready to give it up yet.
He finally loves the Baby Bjorn. This is great for limited periods each day. I can get the house picked up and move quickly from room to room while he rides with mommy.
When he is grumpy, his sister sure does make him feel better. He really lights up when she sings to him, gives him her blankie, or otherwise entertains him with toys, dancing, and chatter.
He still does not enjoy being on his tummy at all. He recently learned to roll onto his back which means that he is never on his tummy for long!
He still enjoys his traditional baby toys way more than big sister ever did. Every day he uses the bouncy seat and jungle gym mat (both borrowed) for at least short periods of time.
TyTy has definitely learned to scream as though being tortured to get attention. When he first started doing this I thought the boy was seriously ill or hurt. No - he just found his voice and realized it got a reaction!
I wish he would do better at nights. I usually have to get up 2-3 times - once to feed him around 10 or 11 pm, and another time or two to replace pacifiers, change diapers, etc. Usually by 4 am he ends up in bed with Gene and me and will sleep well there till about 7 am. While the interruptions to my sleep are brief they are still taking a toll on this thirty-something body!

Oh how I love this sweet baby boy....

Christmas 2010

2011-01-31T05:00:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that Christmas 2010 was Katelynn's FIFTH Christmas, and Tyler's first. Gene and I were abysmal failures when it came to taking pictures this year. Thank goodness my dad and brother-in-law got some good ones. We spent a couple of nights in Weatherford practicing our laziness skills, followed by an enormous Korean dinner out with Gene's mom on the 26th.

Despite trying to beat it into KK's head that Christmas is about Jesus, the fact that she did in fact receive approximately 500 gifts from friends and family countered this message err... just slightly. She told me very enthusiastically on more than one occasion that Christmas was her FAVORITE HOLIDAY EVER because "I GET SO MANY PRESENTS!" The magic of Santa really hit home for her this year. We have said little about Santa but she has picked up on him and his gift giving nonetheless.

This created an interesting situation. Normally I would not have been too worried about a stocking for 3-month old Tyler but I realized that big sister would probably be looking to see what Santa brought for him! So TyTy got a stocking full of baby food, plus a rattle or two for good measure!

Katelynn's main present was a Disney princess bike. She did not seem as excited about it as I would have liked, but she has seemed to enjoy riding it when we have taken it out since Christmas. One of her favorite gifts was the "play foam" from my Aunt Doris. She has become quite the lover of crafts these days, and the play foam is great because it doesn't dry out. So she can make all sorts of creations and leave them on permanent display throughout our home. She also loved the huge, turquoise tutu that Nanna and PopPop got for her.

All in all it was a relaxing Christmas, and very fun with a four-year-old in the house.

My New Years' Resolution

2011-01-30T19:17:00.000-08:00

Life is moving way too fast. It seems that despite an effort to minimize our commitments, Gene and I turn around and another week is gone. Next thing you know, my kids are going to be in college. In the meantime, I have let over a month pass without a single blog post. I mean, seriously, who is that young lady in that picture? Oh - yeah - that's my daughter Katelynn. When did she get to be 4 years old, going on 14?

This blog is important to me because it is where I capture at least a small fraction of the special little memories of life, especially memories of my kiddos while they are so little.... and sweet... and funny. Yet caring for them at the not-so-young age of 36 is just darn exhausting, so here I am with 45 days + and no blog posts.

But I have frittered away more time than I should on Facebook, watching The Bachelor on Monday nights, etcetera. So there are wasted moments of time when I could have been capturing some precious memories. So I decided that here on January 30, 2011 I must set a belated New Years' Resolution. I will keep up with this blog - at least a few posts a month! And when I am 55 and an empty-nester, I know I will sit and read these posts with a tear-stained, happy face....

Teacher Gifts

2010-12-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

This year I wanted unique Christmast gifts not only for KK's two preschool teachers, but also for the school directors. The clincher - how to do this without breaking the bank?! My sister-in-law Jen has made super cute frames in the past, so I had her give me detailed instructions and I set off to the craft store for supplies.

Here's the result.... I am pleased and wondering why in the world I didn't make one for myself?!

Yep, It's Happening....

2010-12-02T11:44:00.000-08:00

I am turning into my mother.

Growing up it never failed. Every year, my mom would bust out with a random gift for us kids in the middle of the summer, that she meant to give us at Christmas but then "forgot where she put it." Then she would stumble across said gift in the middle of a big closet clean-out.

Not that I minded a mid-year random gift, but organized, anal me wondered in confusion - "How could this possibly occur?" To me it seemed as easy as picking one spot for gifts and putting everything there.

OK, now I'm a mom too and my kid is 4 and fully understands the concept of gift receiving and believes wholeheartedly in Santa Claus. I am rushing to hide gifts when the 4-year old won't notice. I am trying to find spots in my cramped closets and drawers where her little eagle eyes won't notice. (The girl is good at spotting things.) I am diverted from tasks every 35 seconds by little people. And suddenly, things are hidden in 6 spots and I only remember 3 of them. A few evenings ago I thought I was going crazy, trying to find some missing gifts. I had myself convinced that I had thrown them in the trash on accident. Then I remembered in the middle of the night, and of course I had to get up then to verify immediately whether they were there. Yep, they were. (Like I really need to be doing this with an unpredictable newborn sleeping upstairs...) Sigh of relief and kick-in-the-pants all at once!

I get it now, Nanna!

Humbling Parenting Moments

2010-12-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I debated whether I wanted to blog about this. Really, it makes me shiver to even mentally recall the event. But if blogging is about capturing the "big memories", then this is definitely top-10 material so here goes nothing...

About a month ago my niece Izzy was dedicated at church. My brother Griff and sister-in-law Jen attend a different church than us. So I knew right away this was going to present some challenges with little Katelynn. She has a lot of anxiety in new situations; she is getting better with age but it is still no picnic. So, what are parents to do - force her to go to their childcare where she may completely melt down, or let her come into service with us and deal with the inevitable chatter and moving-about that comes along with being less than 4 years old?

After discussing it, Gene and I decided it would be best to fully explain the two options to KK and let her decide. It became clear pretty quickly that she was conflicted. Both options had negatives. She finally opted to come into the service with us. Two minutes before it started, she turned to me with a look of panic and said she changed her mind and wanted to go to the kids' area. So we headed down to the kids area and went through the looong check-in process. KK waited very calmly and patiently through the whole thing. Then we walked to the door to drop her off and she went into freak-out mode. I could tell - walking away wasn't going to work like it does at our own church. And none of the teachers knew anything about her so I was hesitant to leave her, only to be paged back to get her 5 minutes later. So I told KK that it was fine to come back to the service with me and reminded her that this option required her to sit quietly in the service.

We made it back into the service in the nick of time and barely caught the dedication. We were on the far side of the sanctuary, but pretty near to the front, and it was a large room packed full with hundreds of people. All the doors had been closed off except for two main doors at the very back of the room. The sermon commenced immediately following the dedication. Wouldn't you know it, KK would *not* be quiet and I was really starting to cringe, not wanting to be "that parent" that lets their child talk incessantly during a church service. Then Tyler began to stir and I knew I would have to leave to feed him soon too. So I looked at KK and told her we were going to leave the service.

She interpreted this at the ultimate punishment and within seconds we were dealing with a category-10 tantrum. She was just about impossible to control physically and it was a very looong walk out of that sanctuary. The entire walk out, she screamed at the top of her lungs: "I'LL BE QUIET NOW! I'LL BE QUIET NOW!" Everyone turned to stare at us, and the pastor even had to stop his sermon until we got out of there- oh please let me die! I am sure it took about 10 seconds to make it out of there but it felt like 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, my dad and Gene followed us out to the foyer. I was sweating by this time from the emotional embarrassment and helpless feeling! I sent Katelynn outside with them since I had to feed Tyler in the nursing room. She only wanted mommy, and it took her nearly an hour to calm down.

So, looking back on it, we should *not* have given KK the choice in this situation. I think we would have been better off choosing for her and setting stronger expectations for her behavior. Then again, maybe that would have backfired too. I just felt so helpless and inept as a parent, and this was truly one of the most humbling experiences of my life!

My only solace: KK will have hear this story for the rest of her life!

Half Crazy

2010-11-30T05:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I can't believe it is true, but I have committed myself to attempting the Fort Worth Cowtown half marathon on 2/27/11. I guess that silly husband of mine inspired me. Plus I needed a goal to work toward, or I knew I would never find the time to exercise with this crazy new life as mom-to-two.

I have to say that it feels very good to hit it hard, and I am enjoying this new sport. I have been running 3x per week, around 3 miles each time, to lay a good base before the training schedule officially begins in December. My leg muscle tone is looking pretty awesome, and hopefully the weeks of training to come will help to blast off the little bit of baby belly that is still lingering. I can already feel my heart and body getting stronger, and it's showing through improved times. Starting out, a 12 minute mile wore me out. Now an 11 minute mile is downright comfortable most of the time. Fingers crossed that my thirty-something body will hold up! Since my brother, sister-in-law and hubby have all completed one or more half-marathons, I figure I had better bring up the rear in accomplishing this goal.

To further coerce myself into doing this, I have also organized a group of friends and we have named our team "Half Crazy." Mainly, we are just encouraging each other through email and some of us are pairing off for long runs. It will be fun to have some girls to huddle up with on the big day.

Running is also a great way to maintain my sense of self... hitting the pavement with some great power music booming seems to be the only way I can forget about all the duties of mommyhood for 30 minutes.

Traditional Baby

2010-11-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

Well, Tyler is more than 3-months old which I find completely unbelievable. Where has the time gone?! The day he turned 3 months he rolled from his back to his side, and it also seemed like all at once he was staying awake for much longer stretches of time. Plus he is using his hands to grab small toys and mommy's hair, and he is enamored with his Nanna-made taggie. He completely melts my heart on a daily basis with his smiles and he is starting to giggle now too.

I have borrowed some baby gear from family and friends that I never bothered to purchase with Katelynn, like a jungle gym mat and a bouncy seat with a toy bar. KK would have scoffed at these items...or rather she would have screamed ferociously until I took her out of them. I honestly could have purchased only the Baby Bjorn for her and nothing else; she lived in that contraption! Tyler, on the other hand, has been enjoying these entertainment items immensely and I use them nearly every day with him.

I commented to my mom that it is so strange to see my baby using traditional gear after getting used to Katelynn and her preferences. She commented that my view of "normal" was a bit...errr...skewed... and that he is my "traditional baby". Much in the same way that I call KK my spirited child, I have been calling TyTy my traditional baby ever since Nanna coined the term.

First Sibling Pics

2010-11-28T05:00:00.000-08:00

Last week I took the kiddos for pictures together at JCPenney and killed three birds with one stone: (1) Tyler's 3 month pictures; (2) KK's 4 year pictures; and (3) First professional sibling pictures. Our photographer Emily was so wonderful. She is the manager and doesn't always take photos so I got really lucky. I will be requesting her from now on...there were so many good shots that it was very difficult to choose favorites. She was able to get a genuine smile out of KK, who has entered the stage of the fake-picture-smile. Sigh of relief...all that work to get them dressed and there was worth it!

Izzy's Auction

2010-11-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

My miracle niece Izzy was born on 2/26/09 at only 23 weeks, 6 days gestation. It was a long, long road for our entire family as she struggled to survive in the NICU. I am happy to report that she is thriving today (as you can tell from the adorable pumpkin patch picture). Since Izzy was born, my brother Griff and sister-in-law Jen have been major champions for the March of Dimes. They had the top fundraising team in all of Fort Worth this past Spring... so proud of them!

Recently the March of Dimes Tarrant County chapter designated them the "Ambassador Family" for this year's major fundraiser, the Signature Chefs auction. It was held at the fancy Omni hotel in downtown Fort Worth and is normally $250 a plate. Griff and Jen, however, were given two tables to fill with friends and family! So it was with much glee that we attended our first benefit dinner.

It was a lot of fun. There were about 20 area chefs in attendance and each featured one dish. We wandered the ballroom sampling all sorts of fun delicacies. Then there was a big auction that was waaay out of our price range but fun to watch. The best part for me, though, was seeing my family's video featured at the end! Check it out here. And grab a kleenex.

TyTy the Bowhead

2010-11-26T05:00:00.000-08:00

Having two kiddos has been lots of fun. KK is such a sweet big sister - she is gentle with her brother and likes to show him toys, sing to him, read books to him, dance for him, and generally entertain him. I really couldn't ask for more. Sibling interactions have also provided fun entertainment for mommy, such as when she stuck this bow on his head one morning.

As my friend Sarah said, the look on Tyler's face is already that of the ever-suffering little brother. Such a priceless picture!

Happy Birthday KK

2010-11-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my little girl is four years old today, on Turkey Day. I have been informed by my friend Kelly, whom has certain rainman-esque like qualities, that this will not occur again until she is 33 years old.... or something like that.

It is appropriate that her birthday sometimes fall on Thanksgiving, since I am certainly thankful for my children more than just about anything else in the world! (Gene, of course you too, sweetie... heehee...) It is amazing to watch little Katelynn grow and develop, even on the hard days. She has captured my heart and I can't even begin to imagine my life without her.

Earlier this month she had a birthday party at McDonald's. (Side note: McDonald's parties are an amazing value... I highly recommend for the thrifty parent!) She never set foot in the play area which I thought was quite funny. She was very eager to collect and organize her gifts and to put out the place settings at the table. Despite her inability to loosen up and just play (perhaps a bit like her mom...), she seemed to thoroughly enjoy "her day."

My Little Ladybug and Pumpkin

2010-11-24T05:00:00.000-08:00

This seems to be the first year that Katelynn really "gets" the fun of the holidays and has a great amount of anticipation associated with them, particularly with Halloween and Christmas. She has been obsessed with both and the questions are never-ending. We have entered those fleeting golden years where she has so much understanding and excitement about these fun days and she buys into the fantasy of it all - i.e. she still thinks witches and ghosts and Santa Claus might be real...

This was the first year she picked out her own costume. We walked into Target and she made a beeline for the ladybug costume. (Uh...no pun intended!) I was very pleased with her choice. She absolutely couldn't wait to wear her costume.

In the meantime, I figured Tyler would be dressing up as a baby this Halloween. Then I stumbled across $3 costumes at Babies-R-Us! So I promptly purchased an adorable pumpkin outfit, plus a giraffe outfit for next year. Seriously - a $30 costume for $3!! (Now I am lamenting the fact that I didn't clear them out and fully stock a dress-up closet...)

KK had a wonderful time going door to door with her buddy Anna and looked adorable in her girly costume. She was beaming the whole time she had it on. Tyler wasn't too keen on the pumpkin hood but he's pretty laid back and got over it. Mommy and daddy enjoyed our cutie pies, but I must say Halloween is a little frightening for even adults when you have a kid with a peanut allergy. Luckily KK takes it pretty seriously too and she was good about not touching her candy till we got home...

Drinking the Kool-Aid

2010-11-23T12:30:00.000-08:00

This year Gene and I did not think we would make our annual trip to Aggieland because of having a newborn. We didn't realize just how much last year's trip had an impact on little Katelynn. Then one day she excitedly began asking us when we would return to the Promised Land - I mean College Station - and listing off all the fun things she got to do there.... getting her face painted, wearing her cheerleader uniform, getting ice cream at the stadium, etc. That is when we realized: at less than 3 years old she was already drinking the kool-aid! We would be terrible parents not to take her again this year! (After all, we are Aggies - once you do something once it is a tradition.)

So we decided to make a family trip and then we were up against a very big wall called there-are-no-hotels-and-we-don't-have-ANY-hotel-status-anymore. But God must really want KK to be an Aggie because he cleared the way there, and some friends opened up their home to us. (Thanks Cameron and Sonia!)

The final hurdle was how to deal with a nursing newborn in Kyle field. It is not the most sanitary place in the world, nor is it very friendly for tiny babies. As it turns out, the Alumni Center has a great set up where anyone can go watch the game free on a huge TV, in the A/C, in a comfortable chair at a table. Plus there were conference rooms galore and I had completely private quarters for feedings. So I hung out at the alumni center. KK attended half the game with daddy, then they came back and finished the game with me. She got to do everything on her "checklist" and she very enthusiastically yelled "Gig 'Em Aggies" to just about every person we passed. Makes a momma and papa sooooo proud....

And, we beat Texas Tech which hasn't happened a lot in the past several years. Whoop! So all in all, it was a great little family weekend...

10.10.10 - Gene's Perspective

2010-10-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

A post-race email from Gene to his running buddies. His overall finish time was 4:26.

Preparing for a marathon doesn’t end with the training and the weekend was too busy for Katie, Tyler and I. We flew in Friday morning, checked in, got to downtown, ate, and went to the expo. Seems easy enough, but it zapped the energy out of us. We then met up with an old high school friend on Friday night and dinner took a long time so we got to bed late. Saturday, I went on the morning jog with the Leukemia team that I’ve been raising money for and toured the starting/finishing area. We then went to an early lunch that took a long time again with some good friends that live in Michigan. After we walked to a park and hung around for a little bit. I think I should have had better communication with my wife and friends to keep things simple and not too much walking. I knew I needed to be sitting down in A/C and not walking around a park the day before 26.2. It’s kind of hard to balance combining the marathon with seeing good old friends.

I meant to send out an email to my running buds, but with having a 7 week old and everything else, time really flew during the weekend. I spent a lot of time Sat night figuring out how to get a shower, etc since we would need to check out of the hotel before I got back. I apologize about it – I know some of you got an email and were able to track me.

Before the weekend, I was fretting over how fast I should run because it was going to be colder weather in Chicago. Ha! The day starting in the high 60s and went to the 80s pretty quickly. I wasn’t too concerned about the weather since I knew I was prepared to run in the heat – it’s just I couldn’t run as fast as I could in the cold. Runkeeper was having issues tracking me since we went through a couple tunnels and with the high skyscrapers it didn’t have the best approximation of time/distance. I haven’t looked at my garmin data yet, but based on the garmin during the race and the Chicago website, I ran a consistent 10 min mile through the whole race. I had enough energy at the end that I sprinted for the last half mile (including the sole/larger hill in the race).

For me the marathon was longer than 2 halfs. It was mentally challenging to pace yourself and know you still have a lot of miles in front of you. I prefer to run straight through and was glad that with the exception to refill my camelback a couple times I ran straight through. I’m not sure if I hit the wall or if I was too focused on finishing because my splits didn’t drastically change. They were maybe 30 seconds per min slower in some of the later miles, but like I said before, I still had energy to sprint during the last half mile. I ate 6 GUs, drank Gatorade here and there and maybe that help me avoid the wall.

The course was much more crowded than San Antonio, white rock, cowtown halfs. I spent a decent amount of time dodging people and going around them. I should have been closer to the front of the open corral, but I wasn’t and believe I paid the price by moving around people. There were many people in the last 6-8 miles that were walking. Pretty much at every water stop it seemed like 66% of the people were walking!

Chicago did an awesome job with coordinating the logistics. I would say it was by far the smoothest race I ran logistically. They really had their act together and had small things covered. I think the only thing lacking vs other races was the post race food wasn’t anything special. I think they had bananas and some chips! Whoopie. Cowtown had ice cream and chicken noodle soup – yum!

The crowd support was fantastic. My headphones died a couple miles into the race – I HATE apple headphones! Therefore, I had no choice but to listen to everything else and it was amazing how well supported the race was. For most of the course there were always fan support. In some areas they were going crazy and I loved it. I also appreciated the people praying for me. I knew there were many praying for me during the race and the sense of peace knowing those prayers were being answered in that I was still running after 4 hours straight! Having my wife there was awesome too. Even though we never saw each other, having your wife there in support of something as large as a first time marathon is huge!

I’m very pleased that I finished. I know that I can put together a better marathon time, but, really, this race wasn’t as much about my time as it was everything else. Raising money for blood cancers, running it in honor of my friends with blood cancers, completing a goal that I didn’t think I would ever try/do 1.3 years ago, and working though the struggles just to get to the starting line (injuries, time, financial, etc.). Worth every second of it!

My 2 cents…

-gene
P.S. – I did beat Oprah’s time!

10.10.10 - A Spectator/Wife's Perspective

2010-10-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Gene ran his first marathon in Chicago on 10/10/10. He also raised $3,500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I am so proud of him! We, amazingly and sadly enough, have three friends with blood cancer, so the race was run in honor of them.

Originally, when Gene told me he wanted to run this particular marathon I reminded him that we would have a newborn and that he would be running solo. He had read a lot about the excitement and crowd support in Chicago and really wanted his first marathon to be special, so he was willing to go solo. However, after baby boy was born I realized that I might be able to handle the trip. So I decided to just take the plunge and go for it. I really thought I would regret missing it if I didn't go.

Although the trip was in fact very tiring, I am so very happy that I went. KK went to her grandparents, but Tyler is nursing too frequently to leave behind so he came along. He turned out to be extremely portable. Feedings while being out and about were the main challenge. Other than that he was very happy to be transported around the City in his stroller.

As a spectator, the marathon was amazing. I have never been so excited to watch a sporting event. I was able to hook up with friends-of-friends, Suzy and Glen, who were watching their son race and they were so terrific to me. They had a full route planned out, and they helped me get the stroller on and off the trains. I was even able to feed the baby in their car at our second stop! I got to see the marathon at the start, middle, and in Chinatown at the 21 mile point. This never would have happened without Suzy and Glen's help. It was so exciting to see 36,000 people all running 26.2 miles! The elite runners were like gazelles - how can anyone on earth run that long at less-than-5 minute miles?! Blows the mind... At the start, it was just crazy to see wall to wall runners for over 45 minutes. There were cheering crowds lining the entire race, bands, Elvis, huge Chinese dragon heads... you name it.

It turned out to be a very hot day which makes me even more proud of my hubby. He performed so well considering it was his first marathon and it was sweltering. His own email to some runner buddies speaks best for his perspective so I will post that in my next blog.

"Goody Bags"

2010-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

Katelynn is a huge fan of small toys and treasures, and also loves to gather her beloved items in boxes, purses, etc. The other day she created several "goody bags" and distributed them as "gifts" to mommy and daddy. She did this using only items already in her room and I didn't help her at all. I thought it was pretty darn creative of her and had to get a snapshot for posterity...

Smiley Boy

2010-10-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

My little guy is two months old already - so hard to believe. He is turning into quite the love bug. He melts my heart on a daily basis. He is full of smiles, mainly reserved for me, the mama! I have found it interesting that he does not like the Baby Bjorn as big sister did, but would rather be in his pappasan chair or his car seat. It clicked the other day that his sister wanted to see the world... he just wants to see his mommy!

I highly recommend parenting a second! I am enjoying Tyler soooo much more than I did as first-time nervous mom and I am already lamenting the short time he will be a tiny, innocent little baby.

The Lie

2010-10-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

Katelynn got in trouble today for her first big lie.

Lately I have caught her in a couple of tiny fibs. I have tried to use those opportunities to talk about the importance of telling the truth, explained ad nauseum that it is wrong to lie, etc. She escaped punishment because I figured we needed to lay some groundwork first.

Today she was allowed to choose a pack of gum at Wal Mart for good behavior during our shopping trip. I let her hold the package in the car but emphasized the importance of only putting one piece in her mouth. (I am a paranoid mom when it comesto choking.) I asked her halfway home if she had eaten more than one and she looked me right in the eye and said no.

We pulled into the garage and I was gathering up our things to take them inside. I asked her to put the pack of gum in a bag I was holding and she balked, covering it up in her hands. That's when I knew.... not only did she take two pieces of gum, but she knew it was wrong and was trying to hide the evidence from me.

A long session of timeout later (and after revoking all gum privileges), I had a big discussion with my almost-4-year-old about the truth versus lies. Here's hoping it sunk in... parenting is hard! (And I know, I know, it only keeps getting harder!)

The Sonic Run

2010-09-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Mommy, Katelynn and baby Tyler have a new addiction. Well, maybe the addiction is mainly mommy's... and perhaps Katelynn's too. Sonic is walking distance from our house. In fact it is a perfect little tricycle ride for a pre-schooler. I have never really frequented Sonic, but recently I discovered their diet cherry limeades... which are also half price during happy hour from 2-4 pm.

Combine that with pretty weather, looong afternoons, a crying baby, and a bored little 3 year old girl... and we have been going nearly every day lately. Katelynn gets an ice cream dish for $1, and I get a half price large diet cherry limeade for $1 as well. We also all get some fresh air.

A Sonic Tale of Mommy-of-two-absentmindedness: The other day, we loaded up and headed out for our Sonic run. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get there with KK riding her glider or tricycle. We don't exactly fly there. I realized when we arrived that I had remembered nearly everything.... my iphone, sunglasses, diaper bag, wet wipes... but no money. No credit card. Aaagh! What was a mommy to do? I considered walking back home to get the money... then I just sucked it up and begged from the table next to us, a sweet little family much like ours with a preschooler girl and a baby boy. They were very charitable and gave us two dollars. I'm sure they could identify with my plight. KK was quite impressed by this.

Summary: Even when I do actually remember my own wallet, the Sonic Run is two dollars well spent!

My Preschool "Star"

2010-09-29T19:42:00.000-07:00

Katelynn has homework now at preschool. I found that pretty funny the first night she brought it home. Really though it is a good idea. It is usually just a ten minute tracing and coloring exercise and it gets them used to the concept of work they have to take home. As a mom with a newborn and a preschooler I often forget about it till the morning of preschool. So this week when I opened it up at 8:15 am, 30 minutes before we had to leave, I wad a little panicked to learn that Katelynn was also the 'star of the week' which required additional time and effort I had not "budgeted" for that morning.

I went into Tasmanian devil mode and quickly fetched the required photos from a box of extras... thank goodness I had those around! Then I went through a 'questionnaire' with KK and learned some interesting things about my girl. I should ask he questions like this more often!

Members of her family: Mommy, Daddy, Katelynn. (We added baby Tyler when prompted by mommy!)

What she wants to be when she grows up: Doctor. (OK, I knew this one.)

Favorite sport: Soccer. (Ummmm so much for the ballet! Maybe we will try soccer next. Goodness knows there are many soccer opportunities here in Dallas.)

Hobbies: crafts, mopping, taking out the trash. (Laughing out loud. I have trained her well!)

Sibling Moments

2010-09-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

I continue to be soooo thankful for Katelynn's overall wonderful adjustment to siblinghood. There have, however, been a couple of noteworthy, funny moments worth documenting...

Moment #1

Katelynn picked out a very girly, dainty ladybug costume for Halloween. It is actually more like a "ladybug fairy" because it is a frilly little dress - red satin with black polka dots - and antennae and velcro-on wings. She has been obsessed with wearing it around the house. She had it on the other day and I was getting after her about keeping it nice, not getting it ripped before Halloween, not eating in it, etcetera. I was being the nagging mom.

In the meantime, I changed baby boy's diaper and was walking back into the living room with him. KK was sitting on the ottoman and I brought Tyler over to her, intending to make him "talk" and "dance" for her and give her kisses. Next thing you know, Katelynn was covered in Tyler spit-up, including her ladybug dress. The boy had barely urped a teaspoon up until this point and now big sister was doused in the slimy mess.

Poor thing just sat there frozen for a second, then said in astonishment "Baby Tyler threw up on me!" I told her sit still and made a mad dash for a wet rag. She was so good - she just sat there looking a little wide-eyed until I got her cleaned up, and she never even acted resentful about the whole thing. Not even one tear! Wet rag + Febreze saved my rear and I thankfully don't have to buy a second costume!

Moment #2

Tyler has had some fussy days, as most newborns do. I think their poor little digestive systems are just so immature. One day last week he had been crying a lot. Mommy was frazzled and I think it was even getting on Katelynn's nerves. I was complaining to KK a lot about her fussy brother.

Toward the end of the day she asked me if he could go back into my tummy. I told her that was not possible. She then informed me: "Jesus is in my heart and he will have Tyler go back into your tummy if I ask him to."

Ahhh the faith of little children!

Nicknames

2010-09-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

All babies must have their nicknames. Here are Tyler's so far:

Little man

LP2 (LittlePeanut2)

Poopy pants

Little bit

Sweet thing

I'm sure there will be many more to come.

Doula Plug

2010-09-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

My friend Maria is a doula and she served as my doula during Tyler's birth. Now, a lot of people have never even heard the term doula so here's a basic definition I found on the web that sums it up pretty concisely: a woman who is trained to provide support to women and their families during pregnancy, childbirth, and the period of time following the birth

This post is simply a shameless plug for Maria's services (Great Expectations Doula Services), especially if you are interested in going natural during childbirth. I ended up going natural with the birth of my first even though I tried to get an epidural. I have mild scoliosis that creates a small "s curve" at the base of my spine- which I had no idea would have any impact on my ability to receive an epidural... well Dr. Anaesthesiologist poked my back for over an hour during heavy contractions only to inform me at the end that "it didn't work." Later my hubby (who somehow watched the entire thing without ending up on the floor) informed me that I had been stuck in the back at least a dozen times in an attempt to get it in. I have since done a lot of reading on the internet to find many other women with scoliosis who had the same experience.

So I survived natural childbirth - imagine that! - and I wasn't too keen on having my back experimented on again. So for baby #2 I fully planned for natural childbirth, and having Maria's support was fabulous. I joked with her and my hubby that she does all the things you wish your husband knew to do during labor. However your poor husband has never in his life witnessed someone he loves in so much pain and truly doesn't know what to do. Maria is trained, experienced, calm, and extremely helpful... and she has a God-given talent and passion for her job. She was a great support and coach, and was able to provide lower back massage during contractions as well as suggest laboring positions, interact with the nurse, and provide lots of reassurance throughout that everything was proceeding normally.

Thanks Maria!

Big Sister

2010-09-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

I must say, Katelynn's positive reaction to having a little brother has exceeded my wildest expectations. She has been such a sweet girl for the most part, at least when it comes to "baby Tyler" - her official name for her little bro. Now there have been a few ugly moments directed toward mommy, usually in the form of talking back and "having an attitude", but I am just happy that her brother has been spared. And come to think of it, we had those moments before Tyler was on the scene anyway...

The smile plastered on her face in this picture pretty much says it all. That is not her "fake" smile....she didn't wipe that cute expression off her face from the moment she walked into the hospital room and saw that - it was really true - mommy did really have a baby in her tummy all that time!

Since coming home I have attempted to use the never-ending feeding sessions to give her extra attention. Usually I read books to her or we work on her pre-school workbooks. Sometimes she gets to play games on my iPhone or watch a TV show. I think that has helped. It has also helped that Tyler is still sleeping a lot and that he is a much easier baby than she was. If he was as demanding as she was, we would have some serious issues in the Kim household right now trying to tend to both.

A big sister "funny moment" occurred a few nights ago. Tyler was not due to wake up for at least 45 more minutes and I was, for unknown reasons, lying in bed awake. So I decided I might as well get my shower. I was only a few minutes into shower time when I heard Tyler crying very loudly from the other room. (He sleeps in the living room right now.) Then KK came running into the room and informed me that "baby Tyler is crying, mommy." After some investigative questions I figured out that she had gone to "check on him" before coming to our room and had tried to shove a pacifier into his sleeping mouth. Well, if you have followed this blog at all you know that a pacifier is very near and dear to KK's heart. So we had a little talk about how that was very sweet, but please don't do that again if he is sleeping because it woke him up too early!

The only real problem we have had, which seems to be abating, is KK waking in the night. This is extremely frustrating especially since she used to be out like a rock the entire night and I have become very spoiled. Of course, the waking up typically falls exactly half way between Tyler's feedings. And of course, she really really really wants mommy and not daddy. However the other night she managed to have two night wakings and I thought I might completely lose my mind. So Gene and KK are both on notice that she gets daddy from now on if she decides to be up in the night. I think this must be how she is sub-consciously expressing her anxiety about not being the "only" anymore and I am sure it will be a passing phase, as just about all things seem to be with raising kids!

Tyler John

2010-09-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

Our Tyler John finally made his entrance a couple of weeks ago! Since then, I have been enjoying life as "mom of 2" but it has been crazy - very little time for blogging! The highlights of little Tyler's entrance to the world and his life thus far:

Labor was about the same length as Katelynn’s but I would have to rate it worse on the pain scale. Overall though – can’t complain about a 5 hour labor and a healthy baby at the end of it!
He weighed in at 7 pounds 11 ounces, a bit less than his sis who weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces. Since I gained about 5 pounds more with this pregnancy I guess that means I just get to KEEP all that extra weight for a bit!
First night home from the hospital resulted in a trip to the Children's ER since Tyler thought it would be ok to skip peeing for 12 hours! Scary and exhausting night. 2 ounces of formula and we had a big wet diaper within 15 minutes. Hmmm did we really need an ER doc to think of that?!
He is generally a calm little guy, at least compared to how his big sister was as a baby. THANK YOU GOD!
We can't decide whether he resembles his big sis much or not yet. He seems to have his own look. Time will tell. In other news, big sister is doing great - which needs its own blog post another time.
Overall I forgot how much I do love this "newborn phase." I truly don't mind the constant feeding, though I would like a little more sleep. I spend a lot of time admiring my sweet little guy. I am once again amazed how much I could love someone just minutes after meeting him!

And now, on with a few pictures...

Early labor - getting kisses from sweet KK, so excited to become a big sister. (You know it's early because I am still smiling and my hair is not soaking wet!)

Immediately after birth - with my fabulous OB, Dr. Jacoby.

With my sweet hubby.

Introducing our adorable little man...

Look ma! I can open my eyes! Just please don't give me a bath ever again!

Funny Girl

2010-08-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

Well, LittlePeanut2 is still hiding out in the womb and in the meantime I spent the day hanging out at the house with the three-year-old, avoiding the misery that is Texas heat right now. Since we were together, just the two of us, the whooooole day (can you tell it was long?!), KK gave me some good blog fodder that could not be ignored.

Funny #1

KK spent a good amount of time helping me with chores this morning which was nice. I commended her repeatedly for being mommy's helper and gave her stickers for her chore chart. Then, this afternoon, I was upstairs shredding some documents while she watched a TV show. She made her way upstairs to see what I was doing; she is certainly a mama's girl who likes to be glued to my side.

Me: "KK, will you be mommy's helper again and go downstairs and get mommy a trashbag for all the shredded paper?"

KK (in a very sweet voice): "No thank-you Mommy. I deserve to watch TV all day. I appreciate your offer."

Funny #2

Gene and I decided to go out for dinner and were debating the various options among our normal rotation. Katelynn is becoming familiar with our "regular" restaurants and her absolute favorite is Mi Chula's, a Mexican place that she associates with Sprite, beans and rice, tortillas, and fajita steak meat.

KK: "Mommy, now sit down on the couch. I want to tell you your choices."

Me: (Sitting obediently.) "OK."

KK: "Now, Jesus is in our hearts and he wants to eat beans and rice. We need to go to Mi Chula's." (I glance over to the loveseat where Gene is trying not to completely lose it...)

Nesting

2010-08-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

The anticipation of waiting for Tyler, a.k.a. LittlePeanut2/ LP2, to arrive has been intense this time around, even for my even-keel husband. I have been shocked how many times Gene has made comments wondering when LP2 will make his debut and wishing that we could know when it will be. I'm not sure why; we don't remember thinking too much about it when I was pregnant the first time.

The past few days I have been a nesting fool, despite extreme fatigue and back pain. I have felt compelled to keep up with the laundry almost daily. The house has been relatively spotless, especially the floors which I often ignore when I'm not 9 months pregnant. And yesterday I felt strongly that having the somewhat pricey "Interior Super Clean" package at the car wash was an absolute life-or-death necessity. Oh, and I also labeled all my shoes, which are in matching clear bins, with my label maker ....and organized Katelynn's drawers.... and re-organized the laundry room. You get the idea!

Well, last night some of those late "impending labor" signs started making their appearance. (Go read a pregnancy book if you are curious enough to wonder what those are.... I'm not sharing details here on the blog!) So, that explains the nesting. Hopefully my next post will be one welcoming our little boy into our hearts and home! Today is my official "due date". Katelynn arrived on hers, so maybe we will make it 2-for-2 ???

Giant Tortilla

2010-08-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

KK loves her carbs, and she especially loves warm tortillas, just like her daddy. The other night we picked up delicious made-in-house tortillas from Rosa's Tortilla Factory since Gene wanted to "carb load" in anticipation of his weekly torture long run.

Katelynn was thoroughly enjoying her late night snack in the back of the car, making all sorts of contented noises as she chowed down. She announced that "warm tortillas are soooooo good." She then finished that cute comment up with an even better one: "Mommy and daddy, I sure do wish I had a GIANT WARM tortilla I could use as a blanket!"

We both cracked up laughing. I'm not sure if she was picturing something like this:

Or if she is just having dormant memories emerge of the days we wrapped her up like a burrito:

Either way, you gotta' love the imagination of a three-year-old.

Day With Nanna

2010-08-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

Katelynn's Nanna (my mom) takes her to do lots of fun things. There have been many trips to the zoo, but recently those have been abandoned due to the ridiculously hot weather. (We don't need a Nanna or Katelynn passed out on the concrete from the heat.) So, KK's trips to Nanna and PopPop's usually involve a friends' swimming pool, trips to Costco to get ice cream, etc. Recently, my mom made a special trip with her to the Children's Science Museum in Fort Worth. It has been overhauled with tons of interactive exhibits.

Nanna and KK spent hours there. Among many other activities, she dug for fossils in a big sand pit, rode a fake horse and corralled sheep, saw an Elmo planetarium show, had a picnic lunch on the museum grounds, and created shadow "sculptures" out of everyday objects.

That evening I went to pick KK up and ate dinner with my parents. As we were all sitting around the dinner table, Nanna asked KK what her favorite thing about the day at the museum was. Katelynn did not miss a beat. Without hesitation she immediately answered, in a sweet little three-year-old voice, "Just spending the day with you Nanna."

The popular Mastercard commercials talk about things that are "priceless." This was one of those priceless moments - it just doesn't get much better than that...

My Ballerina

2010-08-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

For months, Katelynn has asked to take ballet. She has always favored walking on her toes everywhere and has calves of steel thanks to this habit. Recently, she has begged for tutu's and frequently chooses flouncy skirts for her attire, calling them her ballet clothes. Her favorite little Einsteins character is June - the ballet dancer of course. And one of her favorite "Max & Ruby" episodes involves her favorite bunny attempting to learn to pirouette.

KK finally got her wish. Nanna and PopPop helped to get her started, buying her shoes and paying for her first-ever round of classes. We are taking a 4 week summer class at a nearby community center to get her feet wet. As you can see from the picture, she was very excited about her first day. The girl is obsessed with leotards and tights, so it isn't hard to get her dressed to leave the house on dance morning.

In typical fashion, any time I peek into the dance room, Katelynn is the most serious little girl in the room. She is all business. Last week they were dancing in a big circle around the room and she had her little tongue stuck out to the side of her mouth in concentration. Before we left the house this week to go to class she informed me that some of the moves were "very hard."

This week, she caught me peeking at her through the door and her serious face broke into a huge grin. She gave me a little wave then got right back to the business of practicing second position.

My New Housekeeper

2010-08-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

My new housekeeper is about 40 inches tall, weighs 37 pounds, and requires a certain amount of supervision. Yes, that's right, my 3.5 year old Katelynn has been cleaning up a storm with me lately!

I loved to clean as a child. My mom gave me a dime to clean the tub, and she had to place limits on how often I was allowed to perform this task! Yes, I am a nerd. However, KK has a very different personality from me and I did not expect her to take to the cleaning; it has been a fun little surprise and very welcome in late pregnancy, when getting up after bending to the ground feels about like being an Olympic dead-lifter.

It started a couple of weeks ago with mopping the floors. I usually let KK have her own mop, but in the past she has abandoned it quickly after getting frustrated with her inability to control it well. However, I guess she has developed enough now that she can now handle it much better and I was in shock when she was still helping me - very enthusiastically I might add - after 30 minutes! Yesterday we gave toilet scrubbing a try and that is her new obsession. She thought she was pretty hot stuff.

Today made for a bit of long afternoon since it is too darn hot (i.e. 105 degrees) to go out and do much these days. KK was clearly bored and I asked her what we should do. Her response: "Let's CLEAN mommy!" Ahhhh, now that's a girl after her mommy's heart!

It's August?!

2010-08-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

Where has the summer gone?! My mom recently commented to me that this pregnancy has seemed long to her. On the contrary, it has gone quite quickly for me. I had envisioned a long, lazy summer to spend with my "only" before rocking her world. I can't believe the time to welcome our little son will be here any day....

While the time has gone quickly, I do feel I have done a good job of enjoying my little girl. Spirited KK certainly gives me a run for the money many days, but she also grows more sweet every day and is pretty good at melting my heart only minutes after enraging my head! Just today, she was sent to her room for some alone time after hours of whining and pestering mommy. Mommy just needed a break, but Katelynn made sure to cry loudly and miserably during the entire "break." I finally took pity on her. She came downstairs puffy faced and sniffling and sat on my lap. Me: "I have an idea. Let's get a nice bath and get shiny and clean. Then we will put on your new earrings." KK (in pitiful voice, with face to match): "I don't want to get sparkly, mommy. I just want to be poor, plain 'ol Katelynn." At this point it was difficult not to crack up laughing at my sweet little drama queen.

We have spent so much time together and it has been a summer of fun firsts for her - swim lessons, ballet lessons, attending Vacation Bible School, and going to her first "day camp" at church. And now we wait for the biggest first of all - first time as a big sister!

The Camerons

2010-08-02T21:01:00.000-07:00

Gene and I have joked that every time we get that "comfortable closeness" with another couple, they leave us. We hit that great point where hanging out is effortless, last minute invitations to grab dinner are welcomed, and it's just a lot of fun to be around each other. Then they move away. We had two sets of friends do this where we should have seen it coming since they were here in town temporarily to attend Dallas Theological Seminary. But we didn't see it coming with our pals Mark & Layne Cameron.

These sweet and fun friends grew up in Amarillo but had truly grown to love Dallas. They had really put roots down here and even said they weren't the types to feel the need to return to their "small town." Then they had baby Clay nearly a year ago. Well, all us parents know how having babies changes us! Sure enough, they began to feel the urge to be close to family... and all their family is still in Amarillo.

The next thing you know, their house sold in one day and we only had a month left with the Camerons. Luckily since they were homeless we got to have them in our home for a week before they left us; it was so fun! Oh how I miss those last minute fun times already, Mark and Layne!

So I leave this post with these Michael W. Smith lyrics to the song "Pray for Me." A little cheesy? Maybe. Full of truth - for the Camerons and other couples from our past that we miss so much? Absolutely.

Here is where the road divides
Here is where we realize
The sculpting of the Father's great design
Thru' time you've been a friend to me
But time is now the enemy
I wish we didn't have to say goodbye
But I know the road He chose for me
Is not the road he chose for you
So as we chase the dreams we're after

Pray for me and I'll pray for you
Pray that we will keep the common ground
Won't you pray for me and I'll pray for you
And one day love will bring us back around again

Painted on our tapestry
We see the way it has to be
Weaving thru' the laughter and the tears
But love will be the tie that binds us
To the time we leave behind us
Memories will be our souvenirs
And I know that thru' it all
The hardest part of love is letting go
But there's a greater love that holds us

Pray for me and I'll pray for you
Pray that we will keep the common ground
Won't you pray for me and I'll pray for you
And one day love will bring us back around again

Bunnies be Gone???

2010-07-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

Two summers ago, our front yard was ravaged by bunnies. And I mean ravaged. The following spring we had to get about $300 worth of re-sodding done - yikes! So this year, when I started to see that tell-tale rabbit poop and the beginning of some bare patches, I declared war. No more standing by while they eat our entire yard.

I had heard that fox urine was a deterrant so I headed to our "local hunting store", which is actually the a store the size of several football fields all dedicated to fishing, hunting and boating. They actually have an entire row of animal urine - whouldathunkit?! And, let me tell you, this row *stinks*, particularly to the sensitive nose of a pregnant lady. Hunters use these products to mask their own human scent, apparently despite warnings on the bottle that they may be attacked by things such as mountain lions. Obviously the hope with putting it on one's yard is to make the bunnies think there is a fox that wants to eat them.

There were two choices - a predator "bomb" that you set off one time that emits an aerosol spray, or concentrated pee that comes in a tiny spray bottle. The bomb seemed the obvious choice to me, but the sales guy convinced me otherwise. I guess I had pictured in my head trying to coat my entire lawn in fox pee, which would require roughly 592 bottles of this stuff. But all that is required, apparently, is to mark your trees and a few of the areas where the bunnies have been. Repeat once a week, and eventually they will think a fox lives in your yard.... at least supposedly. I have done one application. Hopefully fox urine is safe for pregnant people! So far I have not seen more bare patches so fingers crossed.

The disturbing part of all this was the result of my internet investigation after my mom asked how they collect the urine. She (and I) were picturing foxes peeing in cups on demand. Alas, this is not the case. I found one site that tells the "steps" to collect it, and the first step is "kill a fox." So, generally speaking, fox urine is a by-product of fur farming. Other internet sites talk about the animals being caged and the urine collected and the environment didn't really sound too great. Now I'm not some huge animal rights activist or anything, but I know that fur farming can be a pretty dirty business and most of the animals are not being raised for food- just for vanity products like furs, and apparently for hunting products. It seems that perhaps I should just man-up and trap/humanely kill the bunnies, rather than use the product of another animal that was killed, possibly in a very unpleasant way, for me to chase off the bunnies.

So the fox urine has been purchased and I might as well use it up... but I may have to re-think some other strategies if the bunnies continue to show up. I wasn't expecting this to become a personal ethical dilemma!

Puppet Show

2010-07-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

On Monday I took KK to her first "live event" - a puppet show at the arts center in our town. It was really her first time to sit through any sort of event that requires a certain amount of quietness since we have not yet attempted a movie with her. (She has only sat through one movie at home, so I'm not ready to chance it yet....)

The puppet show was put on by the Dallas Puppet Theater, which for this event consisted of two middle-aged men that I assume are full time actors and/or puppeteers. They were quite talented, but talk about a somewhat thankless job - putting on a show in a tiny community theater for about 20 pre-schoolers on a Monday morning! Then again, kids are a pretty accepting and non-critical audience. They threw in some decent humor for all the mommies there too.

I personally found the puppets a bit creepy. They were those traditional large puppets that are manipulated by strings. KK however seemed to thorougly enjoy it. The show was Cinderella. KK did great. She sat silently nearly the whole time; the only time she spoke was to ask "where the puppets went" in between scenes. At the end the kids could go "meet" the wicked stepmother puppet; KK wanted to go but brought mommy with her. She lurked close by but wasn't interested in touching her.

All in all I rank it as a success!

Sibling Class

2010-07-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I took Katelynn to "Sibling Class" at the hospital, which we have been calling "Big Sister Class" in our family. There were about 8 or 10 kiddos there, all having little brothers!

I thought the hospital did a really great job with this class. When we arrived they worked on a craft - this door sign:

Then we went to another room to watch a 15 minute video that was silly and geared toward pre-schoolers. It talked about many aspects of becoming a big brother/sister, including right and wrong ways to hold the baby and the many ways they could help their mommy and daddy.

They gave us a tour of the labor and delivery room and we peeked in the baby nursery. They talked to the kids about how they might spend the night with a friend or relative when it was time for the baby to come. Then all the kids got to practice swaddling a fake baby. As you can see, KK took this very seriously:

They also had a bucket of baby items, and each kid got to pick one. Then the instructor went around the circle and discussed each item. They included things like nose bulb syringes, hospital bracelets, and other things that might be foreign to them. They also had a special plastic tube about the size of a toilet paper roll. The kids practiced putting little bitty toys in the tube - if the toy fits in the tube, it is too small for baby brother...

Then the kids got to take home a coloring book, one of the plastic tubes, and a couple of toys. Katelynn seemed to really soak it all in. We have been reading books and talking about baby Tyler for a long time. Hopefully this class, along with some unexpected but excellent breastfeeding "lessons" from some girlfriends with infants :-) , will really help cement things for her.

Tyler's Room

2010-07-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

Baby Tyler's room is finally complete enough for posting! I may still add some frames with family pictures, but we are close enough. I'm sooooo happy with how this came out. I am generally inept when it comes to decorating but I have been really happy with how my baby rooms have turned out, and the fact that the designs grow organically from my own brain, rather than from copying a magazine picture.

The room concept started with the desire to carry over some of the same colors and fabrics, not to mention the black crib, from KK's room and grew from there. My parents' creativity and wonderful handiwork in the workshop and the sewing room added beautiful touches with the cornice board, crib skirt, and fishing quilt. The fishing quilt was a labor of love by my mom a few years ago, intended for the first grandson. We didn't even know it would match so well, but it blends quite nicely. My sister-in-law Jen made the picture frame and diaper cake for my shower and also helped me arrange the dots on the wall...she has a much better eye for that kind of thing. Well enough blabbing....on with the pictures!

My Marathon Man

2010-07-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

A little over a year ago, my husband Gene announced "I think I am going to start running." And boy, did he ever. Gene is never one to embrace anything half-heartedly. He got all the gadgets, read all the materials, and entered into a little love affair with his new sport. He has run 3 half-marathons in the past year, improving his time significantly with each race. He is relentless in his discipline with training. So I knew the quest for the full marathon was probably coming soon....

So Gene decided to run his first marathon this October, in Chicago. I probably won't get to be with him to support him but will have a good excuse of a newborn at home! In order to make this run more meaningful than just a personal goal, Gene has also joined the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society "Team in Training" and has committed to raise $3,000 for research to fight blood cancer. Astonishingly enough, we know 4 people who have fought or are fighting blood cancer. Gene is honoring 3 of these friends in his race. If you would like to follow Gene's own running blog or help support his fundraising, you can visit this link: http://tinyurl.com/genells . I am proud of my Eugene!

PS. Visit www.bethematch.org to become registered as a possible marrow donor - it's free, easy, and you could save a life!

Papas and Public Potties

2010-07-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

It is a rare occasion that Gene takes KK to the potty when we are out. And I will admit, it usually makes sense for mommy to do it. I certainly don't want her in the men's restroom at the mall, or for that matter, any men's room with multiple stalls and strange men in it. Sometimes though, we are at a nice clean restaurant with a one-hole potty and it really doesn't make a difference who does it. And mommy wants a break.
Friday night was one such instance, especially since I was crammed into a corner seat and the big baby belly made it very challenging to get in and out. When KK announced she needed to potty I looked at Gene and made my own announcement that he could take her. As he got up to do it, he was visibly uncomfortable and noted that "it stresses him out". He was referring to the fact that it is difficult to keep her from touching things that are not sanitary. Hello...it stresses out your neat freak wife the other 291 times she has done it! Plus, dirty germy changing tables were no picnic either and there were at least 437 fun experiences with those!

Posting this little incident on Facebook resulted in a firestorm of funny comments from other mommies including reminders that he is about to get a baby boy and get to share the joy more often. My favorite response came from my friend Sarah though: "Here is a puzzle for Gene. Four people have to go to the potty. Me. My two year old son. My six year old daughter. An unrelated nine year old boy who is with us. I am the adult in charge. We are at the movie theater. Discuss -- suggestions welcome -- but that defines 'stressed out' :) "

While searching for a funny picture to support this post, I came across this funny 4 minute video from the dad's perspective on this topic.

Pregnancy and the Charley Horse

2010-07-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

I knew that reporting an easy pregnancy was going to jinx me somehow! This week, the middle-of-the-night charley horse made its first appearance. Ugh. I am hoping this does not become a frequent event. This also got me to thinking about the cruel irony of the charley horse during pregnancy:

1. It is a muscle cramp - your leg muscle seizing up - and so it's an accurate pre-cursor to the contraction pain of labor and delivery. Charley horses can be soooo painful and yet it's almost a little tease - "You think this is bad? Just wait!"

2. The easiest way to relieve a charley horse is to grab the ends of your toes and get a deep stretch. Oh, except you are 30-something weeks pregnant with a huge belly and 20 pounds of extra weight in one spot. This is rather awkward, people. So, one finds oneself writhing aroud in bed in pain, trying desperately to reach one's toes over the big belly.

3. Sleep is so precious these days and it's getting harder to stay comfortable. Another source of waking is the last thing a pregnant lady needs!

Oh charley horse, I know you are "normal" during pregnancy. But I don't want normal again.

First Day Camp

2010-07-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

This week, Katelynn went to a 3-day "Trash to Treasure" day camp offered by our church and designed especially for pre-schoolers. She really seemed to love it... just a slight bit of anxiety being left the first day, then days two and three were a piece of cake. It is rare to leave my girl smiling... the best I can usually hope for is lack of crying. Not this week! She just about ran in the door on Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

The flyer pictured in this post sums up all the neat things they got to do. I am thankful for my church, the pastors and staff that serve the children, and wonderful ministries like these.

Preggo Family Pics

2010-07-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

My brother Griff is a budding amateur photographer. It's quite impressive actually... no need to book a professional session with him around! Recently he met up with our family at the Fort Worth Water Gardens. This provided lots of beautiful backdrops for some creative pictures...despite the fact that it was still 95 degrees and 1000% humidity at 7 pm! I'm posting a few of my favorites. Just for fun, I'm also posting some of the professional pictures that we found online and used as the base idea. He's pretty good at this, huh?!

Raising Our Spirited Child

2010-06-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

My mom's friend recently told her about a book that helped her significantly in raising her own son (who is now in college). It's called "Raising Your Spirited Child" by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. Just the sub-title had me sold: "A Guide for Parents Whose Child is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic".

Yep, that is Katelynn - in a nutshell. We have always called her "difficult" but now I know she is spirited! That's such a more positive way to frame-up her big personality. My mom is currently reading the book and reporting lots of helpful tips, then I will get the book next. Based on her reports and reading reviews, I know it is going to at least help me better parent my sweet but challenging girl...and perhaps to not blame myself for every off-the-charts temper tantrum or disobedient action...

Here is one part of the editorial review I found particularly interesting:
"The spirited child—often called "difficult" or "strong-willed"—possesses traits we value in adults yet find challenging in children. Research shows that spirited kids are wired to be "more"—by temperament, they are more intense, sensitive, perceptive, persistent, and uncomfortable with change than the average child. In this revised edition of the award-winning classic, voted one of the top twenty books for parents, Kurcinka provides vivid examples and a refreshingly positive viewpoint. "

Yes, I am looking forward to my turn with this book!

Princess Tent

2010-06-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

To deal with KK's regression issues of pretending to be a baby - primarily the problem of this very tall 3 1/2 year old sleeping in a pack-n-play - my good long-time friend Sarah, who kids are several stages ahead of Katelynn, had a brilliant idea. Her daughter had outgrown any desire for her princess castle bed tent and it was sitting in the closet. Sarah suggested passing it along to me for Katelynn to use. Of course, KK would only get to sleep in this big-girl princess tent if the pack-n-play was put away.

This worked like a charm. The pack-n-play was gone in minutes and Katelynn has been sleeping in her castle tent every night since! She loves to show it to all her little friends that come over and they play in it for hours too.

Thank goodness for long-time (and brilliant) friends!

Proverbs 22:6 And... Aggieland?!

2010-06-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

So, Gene and I are just trying to be good God-fearing parents and follow Proverbs 22:6:

"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."

To what do I refer? Training her to become an Aggie of course! Katelynn has been properly taught to exclaim "Gig 'Em Aggies" and do the thumbs-up sign to go with it. She also knows the entire "Aggie Spirit Song" by heart and even sings it often for her Sunday School teacher!

But there are some bad influences out there trying to derail our teachings... some crazy family members that think she ought to have choices in life or something ridiculous like that...

She somehow mysteriously learned to "hook 'em horns" like a t-sip, put her Red Raider "guns up", and even made a TCU horned frogs symbol for me the other day. What is a mommy to do? I can't really punish her for these offenses (though some might argue I should)... I try to brush them off and say things like "those are the bad guys Katelynn" even though my poor little Aggie heart is crushed. Somewhere along the way she got the idea that it was ok to do hook 'em horns if mommy wasn't around and even reported this to Nanna. What is this horrible propaganda being shared with my firstborn!?!?!?!?!

All this sad momma can do is continue to "train up" my child and hope the Aggies prevail someday...

Camp NNPP Continued...

2010-06-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

As reported previously , I am a very lucky mommy to have Camp NNPP available to me. Katelynn recently spent a few nights there while I worked, plus Gene and I got more than one precious date night together!

I love my mom's emails while KK is there. They can often be blog posts all by themselves! Here are snippets from this particular stay-over.

"Your daughter is measuring things and writing down the measurements. She tells me it is "an opportunity". She is making experiments to get ready for Bunny Scout Leader.
Earlier she told me that she likes "hook 'em horns" and it's ok to do it as long as mommy doesn't see it. (OK - *throat clearing* - there must be a separate blog post about this particular issue...coming soon)

"KK played for a long time in a giant cardboard box. We made a window and doors in it, and she pretended to sell us food through the window. She only had sandwiches and broccoli for sale. Then I let her punch it full of golf tees. She spent a good half hour doing that. "

Nail Biter

2010-06-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Somewhere in the past few months, my kiddo turned into a nail biter (of both the finger and toe variety) unbeknownst to me. I discovered it one day recently when she asked me to paint her nails, which she does periodically. The first step to our toddler manicure/pedicure is to trim all her nails with the clippers. Suddenly there was not a single nail to trim! Not even her baby toe nail...how does she get that in her mouth?!

She may have picked up these habits from observing her daddy, unfortunately...well at least the nail biting part. I find it funny that such a little girl can already have a habit like this. It seems pointless to make a big deal about it at this stage of life, although I certainly don't praise her for it. I have told her "no more pretty nail polish" until I can see that her nails have grown. But 3 year olds don't have too much long term focus, so I'm sure I'll be living with two nail biters for awhile now.

Camp Nanna & PopPop ("NNPP")

2010-06-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Earlier in May, Gene and I escaped for a fabulous babymoon and KK stayed at Camp NNPP for a whopping 11 nights. It was hard to leave her for that long, but I am so lucky to have parents I can trust so completely with my kiddo... and while they create many special memories with her they really don't spoil her rotten. Of course she does get a lot more adult attention than she does on a day-to-day basis here at home, but she also has to follow rules and a schedule, behave properly, and eat her broccoli. In fact she eats much more than broccoli since my parents eat a remarkably healthy diet. Her palette expands with every trip to Camp NNPP.

Nanna created the pictured chart for her, which really helped give her a visual picture of when mommy and daddy were coming home and to allay any fears she might develop during the trip. It must have worked because she didn't have any meltdowns over missing mommy and daddy. Every night at bedtime they put a sticker on it at bedtime. This also seemed to have the added positive side effect of causing her to think she couldn't get out of bed at night which was helpful for her Nanna!

So I must publicly thank my parents for allowing our little bundle of energy to interrupt their lives for a week and a half. Our babymoon wouldn't have been possible without you!

First Swim Lesson

2010-06-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

Today was Katelynn's first official swim lesson.

Yesterday Gene and I took her to the community pool to help her re-acclimate to the swimming pool before embarking upon lessons today. We were very glad that we did. She was quite apprehensive at first, but within an hour was splashing around like a maniac and having a grand old time.

I found, through a friend, a lady that teaches lessons at peoples' pools. People actually allow strangers to come to their home and take group lessons from this lady. This surprised me, what with our litigious society, but I was just glad to find a good solution. There are only 3 other children in the class which is much better than the community programs in our area which may have as many as 8 kiddos.

So I made the drive to an adjoining suburb and all in all it took nearly 30 minutes to get there due to lights, lack of highways, etc. I was questioning my decision to enroll in 8 lessons and thinking that perhaps I should cancel next week's lessons.

Then we got there and little KK blossomed. She couldn't wait for the lesson to start and she marched over to the teacher and asked if it was time to get into the pool yet. She did every single thing that Mrs. Davis asked her to do. She was the youngest in the class and the only kid that didn't cry at some point. She asked me when she gets to go back for another lesson and was thrilled to learn it is tomorrow. It made my heart swell to watch her so interested in something. She was very serious about it all, but very proud of herself and eager to learn more.

It's funny... I find that my "difficult child" struggles with many of the basics like getting dropped at preschool, choosing a TV show, getting hurt feelings, throwing fits about things that should be no big deal, etc. Yet I take her to a strange house, send her into a pool with 3 other kids and a teacher she has never met, and she thrives.

So I guess I can handle that 30 minute drive for a couple of weeks....

The Things in My House

2010-05-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

As I think about how life has changed over the past few years since becoming a mommy, much of the change is evident by the possessions in my house. Before I was a mommy, the following were nowhere to be found in my home...
1. Bins full of crafts - play dough, construction paper, glitter glue, beads, bubbles and more!
2. Huge stains on the carpet from poop, spit up, throw up, pee, etcetera.
3. Miniature backpack filled with wet wipes, a change of clothes, and an epi-pen in case of life threatening peanut ingestion.
4. "Habitat" with fake hamsters that live inside of it
5. A turtle sandbox in the backyard.
6. Sand in the grass - everywhere - that has been dumped out of #5
7. Popcorn, goldfish, and pretzel crumbs all over the wood living room floor
8. Faint marker stains on my kitchen table that never came completely out
9. A running stroller, toy car, and tricyle all parked in what is supposed to be my formal living room.
10. A fridge covered in reward charts, preschool projects, and Bible verses organized by letter of the alphabet.

But most importantly there was not a sweet little girl dreaming in her bed upstairs. I could never have imagined one little person capturing my heart so much!

Butterfly Garden

2010-05-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

At Christmas I purchased a butterfly garden for KK with much glee. I thought it was one of the neatest gifts ever for kids.

I am now here to report that for this mommy, it turned out to be very creepy.

We received our caterpillars a few weeks ago, which I found to be a little bit gross. As one of my friends said: "It sounds like a little bit too much nature for me!" Then they entombed themselves into chrysalis form, which was just very bizarre and...well - creepy! My glee over this gift was turning into dismay that, as a loving and devoted mommy, I had to now follow through with this experiment for the sake of my child. Shudder. Luckily, there are things that are meant for daddies to do, and Gene willingly transferred the cocoons into the butterfly net at the proper time.

I must inform you that the cocoons do not all remain perfectly still either. Sometimes some of them would shake violently, further adding to the creepy factor. One of them did this during transfer which really freaked me out.

Finally they began to burst open, and things just got gross again at that point. The empty cocoons looked like that stuff that snakes leave behind when they shed their skin. Then, the new butterflies dumped meconium all over their habitat, which looks a lot like bright red blood.

Once they all hatched (after a few days) I informed KK that it was time to free them to the wild. Luckily she did this with joy and didn't question my timing. (No reason for her to know they could have lived in their habitat for weeks....) She did seem to enjoy the whole butterfly process and for that I am glad. But I won't be doing it again for a loooong time.

More Transitions

2010-05-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

Little KK continues to deal with the impending knowledge that a baby brother will be showing up soon.

I think she will be a very sweet big sister and a good helper to mom. She gives my tummy lots of kisses and hugs. Lately, she sings lullabies while cradling my belly. She also announces "It's your big sister Katelynn!" directly through my belly button. She frequently tells me that she can't wait to be a big sister. Tonight she even asked me if she could share her blankie with her little brother.

On the other hand I can tell the little girl is struggling a bit with the transition of no longer being the only child who gets all of mommy and daddy's attention. When she was at her Nanna and PopPop's house for a couple of nights, we moved the big La-Z boy recliner from her room to the baby's room. I set up a special play area in the big space left in her room. When she got home, she noticed immediately and informed me that I needed to "move Katelynn's chair BACK to HER ROOM." She became a little frantic and teary-eyed when I explained that it was mommy and daddy's chair and that mommy needed it to feed the new baby, but that she could still sit in it anytime. We read books in the chair that night which seemed to appease her some.

As reported in this post , she has also insisted that the pack-n-play be set up in her room next to her big girl bed. She slept in it for weeks, but now seems to be showing a preference for the bed again - hallelujah! She has grown so tall that she really looks ridiculous in it. When she does occasionally fall asleep in it, she allows us to move her back to bed after a couple of hours. However she really does not want it put away or moved to her baby brother's room. My friend Sarah had an ingenious idea - she is going to pass along a princess "bed tent" to me soon. KK will not be allowed to use the bed tent unless the pack-n-play is put away. I'll have to report back on how that works out!

I'm sure there will be many more transitions ahead, both positive and negative, especially once baby brother is actually here on the scene.

Pregnancy #2 - So much easier!

2010-05-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

Now that I am nearing the third trimester with LittlePeanut2 ("LP2"), I thought I would update my previous note about pregnancy the second time. It certainly has been different than the first time around!

1. No charlie horses (YET). I remember having them all the time with my first pregnancy so maybe I am out of the woods. To me, they are like labor pains in your leg. Such awful pain. So glad they have stayed away.

2. My appetite is so much better. I had a long list of aversions with my first pregnancy and happily this time my palette does not seem to have changed much.

3. Perhaps as a result of #2 - I have gained more weight - 17 pounds so far. I am just now entering the 3rd trimester and I am only about 5 pounds below my maximum weight with pregnancy #1. It really still seems to be all in my tummy though - I'm glad that part is the same! So maybe this is just going to be one really big baby boy.

4. No heart palpitations. No spells of nearly passing out in the grocery store.

5. My sleep has remained much more normal. By this time with pregnancy #1 I was spending a lot of time on the couch in that one position that felt comfortable. So far, I have been able to remain in my bed for the most part. I wake up a few times to flip sides, then I'm snoozing again.

6. I am definitely not as exhausted (at least since getting past that first trimester).

7. This little boy kicks me a lot harder than I ever remember KK kicking me! He is also more active.