Kayla's Sissy

Megan turns 13 this week! For some demented reason she chose to celebrate by going to "the largest sling shot in the world" and be shot into the air with three of her friends. Kayla and I tagged along. Even with all of her friends around Megan was so attentive and loving to Kayla. While Kayla was watching Megan's SECOND trip into the air, Kayla yelled, "Megan!" and said, "Megan's my sister." Its so sweet to see the two of them together, it makes me wish I had a sister for Kayla. I know that as much as Megan loves Kayla, she will get older and not be as interested in hanging around with a little girl. Even Jacob is so sweet with Kayla and Kayla is always asking about him. I hope Kayla remembers this special time with Megand and Jacob.

Being an only child I always wished for siblings. It was was my hope to have two children (and a husband) so my child would have more family. my path to Motherhood didn't really go as planned and I am truly blessed to have my sweet Kayla. I would like things to be different but how could I even think about a second child? There is the money, my age, the wait but most importantly - what are the odds that I could ever get another child as wonderful as Kayla? Not only is she healthy, she is smart and has the sweetest disposition (usually). As nice as it would be to have a sibling for Kayla, I just think it would almost be a slap in God's face that he blessed me with such a wonderful child and then and I go ask for another?

I do worry about Kayla being alone after I'm gone. With no siblings or other family to speak of and no husbands side of the family, she just has me and my folks. Luckily I have always been blessed with a wonderful family of friends and hopefully Kayla will one day get married and have her own family. Hopefully she wont feel lonely with as many people who love her.

Too Much to Catch Up On

It is NOT possible I haven't posted since Easter! I know it seemed like I was having computer problems forever but now it REALLY seems like forever. How can I ever catch up??? Some things that come to the top of my head...

- We had our first trip to Sea World with Aunt Dana, Kenneth and Andrea. It was hot but we had a great time. Kayla was scared for about one minute of Shamu but when she saw that everyone was clapping she started too. She is so brave!
- Kayla went to Islands of Adventure with Aunt Crysie and Carley and WITHOUT me! I was glad she had such a nice time but I wish I was there for it too.
- We went to our first children's children's party. It was for Charlie and he turned 3. Guess where it was...MONKEY JOE'S!!! What could be more fun for Kayla and anything with cake is a joy for me. This is the first time we went without Megan and while we missed her it was nice to get to do all of the stuff with Kayla myself.
- Every time Kayla gets into the pool she is closer and closer to being able to swim. Now she basically points herself and pushes towards me and calls it swimming. I'm looking into a few swimming lessons. I really do think that will be enough. She will just jump into the pool, do belly flops anything at all and not be afraid. I'm going to be in trouble she is such a dare devil.
- We went on our first real vacation. So it wasn't a huge adventure - we rented a condo at Marco Island. Suzanne and her family stayed with Mama. I had a nice time but I cant say it was as relaxing as I hoped. Mama let Kayla sleep over at her house each night so I could sleep late. I would put Kayla to bed, go to the condo and then go over in the morning. We went with A
Aunt Lele and I beat her TWICE in trivial pursuit. I AM THE CHAMPION!!!
- Kayla saw her first fireworks. We had prepped her that they go, "boom, boom, boom". It really didn't seem to phase her. It bothered her more staying up late so there was a little melt down when I wouldn't let her throw sand. She rarely does that so no biggie. We were on Marco beach with Nene and Grand Dad.
- Kayla's eczema has been really bad this summer. That or heat rash. Sometimes she is so itchy I don't know what to do. I think I need to take her to a dermatologists.

Kayla is so smart! Right now she can say the days of the week (although she lately says Sunday two times), count to at least 30, can sing the alphabet (except M and N) and knows most of the letters and her colors. Miss. Krissie is starting to work on the calendar and the clock now and I am working on word flashcards. She loves it all which is great. I really do like the one and one attention she gets at day care. I was worried for awhile that there were not enough kids her age. When I looked into schools they all had 24 or more kids. She may only have Dalton that is her age but that gives her more of an opportunity to work on things with Miss. Krissie - at least I hope so.

Some cute things she is doing and saying now:
- when I suggest we do something she will say, "yeah, that sounds fun" or "that's a good idea Mommy"
- this week she has been calling Bear her baby and putting him her baby crib and telling me, "not to wake the baby".
- when i told her that she was my baby and I was NeNe's baby (after she said Bear was her baby) she told me that, "Grand dad was her baby too"
- she makes up words and song. The Cat In The Hat song goes, "cat in the hat, cat in the hat, cat in the hat...." you get the idea. The Mommy song is strikingly similar.

Tomorrow I have a babysitter coming from 4 PM - 8 PM and no real plans! I am going to do something with Shannon but having a hard time with what that something is. Its hard when I am trying to get back in time to put Kayla to bed. I know some people don't go out until their kids are asleep but that's too late for me. I'm sooo boring!!!

More another time....

Best Easter EVER!

What a difference a year makes. Last Easter I was actually down because it was Kayla and my first Easter and we were all alone and didn't do anything special. I wanted family around and family traditions. I wanted to make sure this year was different.

OK, the week may have gotten off to a rocky start. I took Kayla to visit the Easter Bunny (EB) to have her picture taken. Being the wise, psychologically trained person I am I prepped her for a couple of days in advance by showing her Laurens picture with the EB and would say, "do you want to sit on the EB's lap like Lauren?" and telling her we too were going to go an visit the EB. She would say "yes" to my question so I thought it was a slam dunk. Until I got to the mall. As soon as she saw the EB it was, "up, up Mommy!". She hid her face in my shoulder and wanted nothing to do with "him" (do we KNOW the EB is a boy???). I got her to walk by him a few times and wave and even got her to sit on my lap next to the EB in the food court. Finally I gave up but got some great spring pictures.

On Saturday I told Kayla that we were going to see the EB and go to an Easter egg hunt. Out of the blue SHE said, "I want to sit on the EB lap". I sort of thought, "you say that now..." but she was good to her word. We went to the egg hunt at the YMCA and The Fountains and she sat on the EB lap BOTH times. Both events were fun but also a little frustrating. Parents let their kids fill their baskets BEFORE the egg hunt. I know its no big deal but it did aggravate me (parents not kids). It did make me wonder if I would be one of those nutty parents you hear about at sports events.

At The Fountains Mr. Conrad joined us. That was more fun. They had more activities AND eggs. Conrad and Kayla rode a train together and saw the EB. A clown painted a frog on Kayla's hand that lasted about 15 minutes and they got balloons. A lot of fun.

On Sunday we went to church with Lele, Megan and Jacob. Then we went to a very nice breakfast at the Hilton and guess who was there?!?! The Easter Bunny! Once again Kayla was very good with him. They even had an Easter egg hunt and I think there was Easter egg karma. Johan's kids gave ALL of their eggs to Kayla. It actually made me tear up.

That night I cooked Easter dinner at Lele's It was SUPPOSE to be WE cooked it but she cleaned which is even better.Megan and Jacob took Kayla swimming and we did ANOTHER Easter egg hunt! There was a nice woman there with a beautiful little girl and she invited us to hunt eggs with them. Once again, Easter karma! Did make me feel guilty about getting aggravated at the other hunts.

Of course we also did the whole, "look, the Easter bunny" came thing AFTER I had to recharge my video camera. This year I didn't go nutty. Basket had sunglasses (Kayla's favorite accessory), Hello Kitty shoes, a couple of toys and of course candy. Kayla actually got very little candy though. No, I didn't eat it! It is actually in a baggie in the kitchen so THERE!

So in total we had 5 Easter egg hunts and three visits with the Easter bunny. Exhausting but fun and memorable. Like I said, best Easter ever! Maybe next year I will work up the nerve to actually COLOR eggs.

Good News X 2!!!

OK, the first good news is I think that Kayla is officially pottie trained (I hope I didn't just jinx it!). She wears panties now and when I put her in a pull up (like on the trip to Nenes and Grand Dads) she keeps it dry. Even overnight and I cant even go all night! She tells me when she needs to go, doesn't have any problems with public toilets or automatic flushers like I have heard other kids sometimes do. She hasn't had an accident in over a week. Now we are working on "privacy" as in DON'T OPEN THE DOOR WHEN MOMMY IS IN A PUBLIC BATHROOM.

My second piece of good news is on a totally different category- my job. Long story short for those who didn't know...my company was sold. Pair that with a not so booming economy and you get massive reorganization and the inevitable lay offs. We have literally been in limbo "transformation" for a year and a half. The transformation continues but they are done with Human Resources (for now) and I am officially safe (for now). No one knows what the future holds but I am very grateful to still be employed in a job I love and that my gamble to not take a hotel job paid off. Now to help with my job security and the economy TAKE A VACATION! Everyone seems to be staying close to home which doesn't help those of us in hospitality. I am certainly not an type of economist but keep thinking that until everyone take a leap of faith and starts spending money, weather it be on travel, a new car or home improvements - more businesses will go under and the economy will never improve. But like I said, what do I know?

Kayla's pottie trained, Kayla's pottie trained......hopefully!!!

Memories....

What a nice evening I had with Kayla! I'm writing it down so I don't forget it. I actually prayed that I would be able to remember the moment when she was all grown up but then I started crying. OK, its probably one of those "had to be there" moments. Aunt LeLe fixed her shopping cart (I helped) so we took her baby and cart to "go see water". Half way there she parked her cart in the grass and took my hand and started walking with me. When we got to the lake I sat down and she came and sat on my lap. We took turns pointing at birds and cars. Then she got off my lap and sat next to me and then laid back in the grass and closed her eyes. I just watched her. Finally we got up and went home.

At bedtime I read her her stories. Then she said, "sing Mommy" and we sang some songs. When i say "we" I mean I sang and she sang every 3 - 5th word which was very cute. When I put her down she asked, which she has done before, "Mommy sleep Kayla's room?". It breaks my heart!!! Part of me wants to say yes but then I'm afraid it will happen EVERY night. That and I don't go to bed at 8 PM - yet. Yesterday we went to Blizzard Beach (and had a great time). When we came home for a nap she said, "sleep with Mommy?". Well I tried. She tried. It didn't work. she is a wiggle worm and I am too light of a sleeper and I need my weekend nap! I just worry that a time will come when we are traveling or something and we HAVE to sleep together and I am going to be totally screwed!

Two Quick Thoughts....

1) I am about the throw in the towel with the whole potty training thing. Kayla is such an easy going kid (YEAH!!!) she could not care less if she has a poopy diaper. In fact, she now thinks its funny to poop in her diaper. If she needs to go when you put her on the toilet, she goes. If she has to go and she is NOT on the toilet, she goes.



Yesterday I thought I was a child care guiness and told her we were going to play a game. We were going to see if she could go the W H O L E day without going potty in her pull up. She got all excited and when I would ask what game we were playing she told me and was still excited. I began thinking of the title of the new best selling potty training manual I was going to wrote. Well two wet diapers and one stinky diaper later I gave up on the game idea.



Ms.Krissie thinks she is just lazy and wants to try putting her in panties all week and seeing if that does it (along with a lot of laundry).



2) Who knew a 2 year old could be such help? Now don't go calling the child labor police on me. If I ask her to get something or throw something away, she actually does (most of the time). Yesterday she held the dust pan for me. Today she even cleaned up a spill she made. She is such a good Mommy's helper!



Last night we went to Brock's and Kayla played with Jaimie and Kenny the whole time. We both had a great time. She LOVES playing hide and seek. Luckily I can find her pretty easy....for now.

Checking In

Hello! After massive technical difficulties and a mild addiction to Face Book I am back! Lets see whats new....well Kayla's new phrase is, "Oh man!". The kid is a parrot. I really have to watch what I say. Sunday I said, "Oh my God" for some reason and heard that for the next 2 hours. What she says all the time that I like is "Mommy's baby" when she is talking about herself. Now what I don't like is anytime she has something new like a book or socks she asks, "Nene buy?" NOOOOOO - Mommy buy!

I think I lost credibility last weekend. On Friday I told her, "after school Nene will be here." Well Mama got sick and didn't come up. Then on Saturday I said, "today we are going to see alligator" because I had free passes to Gatorland. When we got there with aunt LeLe the line was so long and there was not one parking space. I pointed at an alligator mural and the open mouth of the Gator and said, "we saw alligators, wasn't that fun? Lets go to BJ's". I wonder if Dr.Phil will still be around when Kayla's ready to rat me out.

I haven't been traveling except to a conference in NC. Now I have a trip to Miami (just for
the day) on Thursday, a two night trip to Clearwater the week of 3/23 and then a 2 night trip to Miami 3/30. At least the last one Mama and Mark will get to keep "Monkey Pants". Kayla actually likes staying over at Miss. Krissies and will ask if she can sleep over. On Sunday she asked if Miss. Krissie could sleep over here. I explained Miss. Krissie has Clark, Brooke, Mathew and 2 doggies so NO she could not sleep over. She took the news well.

Potty training is still going. She pees if you put her on the spot but doesn't really tell you when she has to go. Really, what was wrong with diapers???