Sorry it's been so long!

Just about everyday I think I need to get on here and make an update. Then something happens and I get busy and forgetful. So here it is, March already!

The big news for those of you who don't know - we're expecting another baby in August! My due date is August 6th - three days before Kaylee's birthday! Its so different this time around. Now that I'm into the second trimester and not so sleepy all the time, I tend to forget I'm even pregnant. Then I'll feel a little kick and it always brings a smile to my face. At first I was a little worried about the challenges that having two would bring. But now I'm all - bring it on! I'm so excited to meet this new little one.

So I haven't updated since early December, huh? Well lets see. We had a nice quiet Christmas at home. Kaylee seemed a lot more interested in her actual presents this year than the wrapping paper! :) I can't believe it, but I didn't take any pictures around Christmas at all! Jeff had made a dvd of all our video and so I guess I was in the mindset of taking video instead of pictures.

One very memorable thing that happened recently was on Feb. 1st. That evening Kaylee had gotten a hold of the phone and was punching numbers on it. I never worried about it because I figured the worst thing that could happen was that she'd dial 911 - but the chances were so incredible that it just wouldn't happen! Well...Kaylee seems to be able to beat any odds. Yep, she called 911. I noticed she had dialed something - but usually it ends up being an "unable to connect as dialed" - so I just hit the "off" button. A few seconds later 911 called saying they had a hang up call from our number. Fortunately the police didn't get dispatched and nothing came of it. But we calculated the odds to be 1/234,256. If I were to let Kaylee dial the phone 100 times a day, the odds are she wouldn't dial 911 again for another 6.4 years!

I met a celebrity at Target the next week on a day I could've won the frumpiest mom award! I was so excited to see David Hewlett who plays Rodney McKay on Star Gate Atlantis (I'm a big sci-fi fan). I said hello and asked for his autograph. He was so kind to oblige and not run away from scary mom with unwashed hair and no makeup wearing laundry day clothes! He had his 4 month old son with him so we started talking babies. Kaylee was even kind enough to offer him a cracker, to which he politely refused. Well from that day on, I haven't been frumpy since. I got my hair cut, got some nice clothes, and never leave the house without a shower and some makeup on.

Kaylee has been SO much fun these days. She is starting to talk now. It's fun to hear her try new words and have those little phrases that only I can understand. For a while she decided to start waking up around 4:30-5 a.m. I could never get her back to sleep so I thought I'd check out this thing called mall-walking. It's been nice to have a warm, dry place to walk in the early mornings when there's nothing else to do and nowhere else to go. We're the youngest people there by far, however. Most everyone else looks to be retirement age. As you can imagine, Kaylee is quite a big hit! Since the time change, she's been sleeping in longer. We can still go to the mall to walk in the afternoon, but the weather has also been getting nicer, so we tend to stick around the neighborhood.

Kaylee loves to play in the van. I don't quite get it...but it works out okay for me. I let her play in there while I wash it or sit in the back and read a book. Hey, whatever works! Her favorite toy right now is a ball. She loves balls of all sizes. It's often the first thing she asks for when she gets up in the morning. Its either that or "Wii" - it's so cute when she says Wii.

Yeah, I need to blog more often. There are so many times I would say, "oh, I have to get that in the blog!" but now I can't remember. I'll post some recent pictures and write back when I start remembering stuff.

***well I tried twice now to upload photos, but I keep getting an error and "try back in 30 seconds" message. I'll just post this now and put some pictures on here later.

Recent Pictures

I have a few new pictures to add to this blog. I forgot to upload a picture of Kaylee in her Halloween outfit. She was a bee this year. We hadn't planned on doing anything for halloween - other than NOT being home to hand out candy. Jeff had to work late and I took Kaylee downtown to the coffee shop where we hung out with my friend Rochelle and Kaylee's pal Johnathon. Anyway, I saw this outfit one day and just had to get it.

My brother and family came out for a visit. We all drove up to Mt Baker in the hopes of finding some snow for my nephew who has grown up in Thailand and has never experienced it. There was a little bit of snow up there, but I just heard that MN got blasted with a good snowstorm today and Jon was able to really make the most of it. Anyway, the picture I'm putting in here is of Kaylee up at Picture Lake near the Mt Baker ski area with Mt Shuksan in the background. I love this picture because it captures Kaylee saying "water" - or at least the way she says "water" in sign language.

Finally I'll put in some pictures of our recent vacation to Seaside, OR. Jeff's folks let us use their timeshare down there for a few nights. It was pretty cold, but also very beautiful. I'm sure I wouldn't have liked it as much if we were there in the summer during peak season. We went to some historical Lewis & Clark sites (L&C are a big interest for me). We walked down the promenade from our condo to the historical site that a company of L&C's men went to harvest salt for the return trip. We also visited Fort Clapstop where they wintered over before heading back.

We got some snow here today in Bellingham as well. First for the season in fact. I wrestled Kaylee into her outdoor clothes all the while promising her that it would be worth it. I planned to take her out to experience the snow we saw falling all day and maybe give her a ride in the sled down the mailbox and back. As soon as I set her down on the sidewalk, she just stood there, seemingly unable to move. I thought maybe she was too bundled up to move her arms and legs but it turned out she just didn't know what to do about the snow on the ground. As soon as I came and held her hand she was alright. We got out the sled and she got a ride down to the mailbox, but she didn't seem to excited about the experience. When we got back, she just wanted me to hold her and she pointed back at the house like she wanted to get back inside. Oh well...I tried. I think the most rewarding experience for her was getting back out of the snow gear and having freedom of movement back.

Oh, funny thing happened this morning that I should write down before I forget. I let Kaylee play with my cell phone today as I was in the checkout at the grocery store. I soon realized she somehow made a phone call and discovered that she called my parents in MN! I think it must've been the last number dialed. After talking with my parents for a bit I gave Kaylee the phone back, not thinking she'd be able to do that again. At our next stop I looked and saw that she had Grandma on the line again. My mom told me Kaylee had called and hung up 4 times since we last talked! I haven't figured out how to lock my phone, so I just shut it off to see if that would stop her. Not 10 seconds later, Kaylee had turned the phone back on again! So no more playing with Mom's cell phone! I thought it was all pretty funny though. Grandma and Grandpa were of course thrilled to be called so much by Kaylee!

Kaylee signing "water" - so cute!

The famous turnabout in Seaside, OR.

Lewis & Clark looking kinda lost...

Things to Remember

Sorry I don't have any new pictures today, but it's been a while since I've updated and I got some things I need to get out of my brain and onto this blog. We're leaving for vacation today to Seaside, OR and hopefully will have a bunch of new pictures to post when we get back.

I don't want Kaylee to grow into a girly girl, but I can't help but love the new thing she does lately. I sit her on the counter in the bathroom as I'm getting ready in the morning. I give her a little makeup brush that I don't use and an empty lid. She pretends to put on makeup just like her mom. It's so cute. Sometimes I let her try to put makeup on me (with the pretend stuff of course!). She'll also take that little bit of mousse that remains on the container and rub it in her hands, then rub her hands in her hair. It's so cute.

Most often though she uses other styling products that she finds during meal time. Yesterday was oatmeal and carrots. The day before, banana.

Yesterday she started pinching her nose and talking with that nasally voice. It's so funny. I don't know what gave her the idea to do that!

I was also really excited yesterday when I was singing to Kaylee, but unable to sign the words, that Kaylee started to sign them for me. She knows some of the words to "Jesus loves me". She'll say "This I know" and "Little ones to Him belong".

It seems her favorite thing to do... the thing she first asks for when she gets up in the morning, is to play the Nintendo game. Now don't get me wrong. She doesn't actually play herself. She just holds a remote and thinks she plays as Jeff or I are playing. But now I think it's getting time to not play when she is up. She's way too young to be addicted to video games!

Right now I'm stalling because there was something else i wanted to write about, but can't remember. So until then, I'll also record how Kaylee loves to sit on things. Whatever we're doing, she wants to sit on it. Anyone know what that's about? Reading a book - she'll get it on the floor and turn around and sit on it. Computer keyboard (her play one) she wants to sit on it. A cooler, shoes, a box, notebook, whatever. I think she'd sit on her food tray with all her food on it if we let her.

Okay, I remember now. Kaylee is so very proud of her belly button. She'll never pass on an opportunity to show it off to someone. The first thing she does when I take her clothes off is point it out to me - then she slaps her legs and butt a bunch of times as she runs around. She loves being naked - like most kids do, I'm sure. The other day I was with Kaylee at a gathering, and Kaylee proceeded to lift her shirt and show the lady next to us her bellybutton. The lady was very impressed and amused! I just think it's the cutest thing. I believe sometimes she is checking to make sure it's there - almost like she's worried that it might not be.

Well time to get ready. We got to pack up the van and get ready for a long drive ahead of us. We'll be stopping at Krispy Kreme for a good hearty breakfast! After that I promise to myself that I'll be good (for a few hours anyway) :)

Slip Slidin Away

I see an icon for movies on this page builder, so I'm going to test it out and see if it works. Today we were blessed with some nice weather - it was almost 70! I took Kaylee out to the park and remembered my camera this time. Kaylee does really well climbing up the jungle gym to the big slides. I follow her up and then let her go down by herself while I wait at the bottom. I'm going to attach three adorable swing pictures and then see if I can attach the movie clip of her going down the curly slide.

Well, I can't seem to get the video uploaded. I think it will take a while. I'll try again later.

Found some Pictures

I took the camera with me yesterday and found on it some pictures I had taken but forgot were there. So here are some more recent pictures of Kaylee:

I got "Mom Brain"

I keep forgetting to take the camera with me when we go to neat places. Last Sunday was a gorgeous day and we went to the Lynden City Park after church. They have a new "Million Smiles" play area there that we wanted to check out. I was just kicking myself for missing out on taking pictures - so I'll have to try to paint a picture with my words. Imagine a big play area with tall spires and slides, swings, bridges, tiny little store fronts, tractors... just an unbelievably cool place to play! Then imagine tall oaks and maples littering the ground with leaves of red, orange, yellow, brown and green. There's the babbling sound of the creek winding it's way around the play area. Bright sun, cool air, kids laughing and playing. Kaylee was really into the slide. We couldn't get her off of it. We played on the swings, we ran around and climbed everywhere, but we kept coming back to the slide! Kaylee was up early that morning and we had lunch at church for Pastor appreciation... it was way past time for Kaylee's nap. It was so hard to leave when she was having so much fun!

Yesterday we had a spot of good weather, so I took Kaylee to Cornwall park. This park is closest to us and has all we could ever want: a playground, trails, and a splash park. Again, I forgot the camera. What a perfect autumn day! How I wished I could capture the memory on film! The sun was bright and angled low in the sky, casting long shadows even in midday. It warmed our faces as the cool air nipped us from behind. The ground was littered with huge maple leaves. They come from a tree called the "large leaf maple" - where they get that name, I don't know. :) These leaves are so big - bigger than a dinner plate! And you know how big those dinner plates can be! Some would say they're out of control. ;)

Kaylee was fascinated with the leaves and had to carry one with her wherever she went. I can't even describe how cute that was! She climbed on the play set and went down some slides, but her favorite was the swing. "More", she kept saying. Here's the picture - remember that warm sun and the cool air? Now see Kaylee in her swing, the soft golden curls of her hair flying in breeze, and her giggling laugh as she swings high. It just felt like the perfect moment that I wanted to live in forever. She must've felt the same way. After a while I could tell she was getting sleepy by the glazed stare that eventually came over her face as she watched other kids playing. But whenever I would ask if she wanted "up", she would say "more" instead.

I also strapped her into the backpack and we went on a little hike. The trails remind me a lot of my park back home in MN. The dirt trails, the leaves of all colors falling all around. We came to a fence and saw a few horses. Saw a lot of dogs and their people on the trail as well. Kaylee is still very fascinated by dogs - and really any kind of animal. I suppose that isn't unusual.

Her signing has come along quite well. She's able to sign: more, please, baby, water, eat, up, down, help, book, ball, dog, monkey, butterfly, daddy, bath, and airplane. We're working on: out, moon, pain, mommy, wait, where, what, look, potty, happy, sad, angry, frustrated, banana, apple, cat, sleep... and others I can't think of right now. She knows most of these, just hasn't signed them back yet.

She does a couple funny things that I have to write down. When she's playing with her toy that has buttons and pop up animals, and uses the one trigger that slides back and forth (and a cat pops up), she goes back and forth really fast and shakes her head back and forth as well. I know she got the sliding back and forth from her dad, but where the head shake came in, I have no idea. It's so funny though. The other thing she started doing is trying to wash her hair. In the bath the other day, I put soap on her hands and she started to rub it in her hair. Later on, I was showing her how I put lotion on my hands then decided to put a bit of lotion on her hands. Well, both the lotion and the soap come from a pump bottle, so she was a little confused and decided to rub the lotion on her hair. :)

Kaylee has become quite the Daddy's girl lately. I think it's adorable and only rarely do I get jealous. As soon as Kaylee sees her dad, it's goodbye momma and hello daddy! She gets really clingy and starts to cry when he has to go to work... so sad! During meals she hardly ever looks at me. All her attention is on her dad. She watches everything he does and by the look on her face, she is in awe of him. When he gets home from work she becomes his shadow until it's bedtime. It's nice for me in that I can leave her with him and get things done without worrying about her having a fit that I'm gone.

She's been down to one nap a day for about a month now. It's nice that we can have longer outings, but it's hard to get stuff done when she's up so I've gotten behind on just about everything. She goes to bed at 8:00 and wakes up anywhere between 5 and 6 a.m.! She eats pretty much anything and everything and will tell me when she's hungry by walking over to her high chair and hitting it. The only thing she won't do yet is drink regular milk. Everytime I serve it to her she takes one sip, makes a "yucky" face, and never touches it again. I even tried vanilla and chocolate flavored Pediasure, but she does the same thing. If anyone has any good ideas on how to get her to drink milk, please let me know. The doctor said when I'm ready to wean, to just not worry about it and that she won't let herself get dehydrated. I hope that's true.

Well that's all for now. Hopefully we'll get more perfect autumn days and I can remember to bring a camera so you all can see what Kaylee looks like now.

Signs

I don't have any new pictures, but thought I should update you all on our lives this past month.

Kaylee has learned to do a few signs. I was so proud the first time she said "more"! But then it turned out she said "more" all the time and in the wrong context. So I said, "You keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means!". The next word she signed was "dog". Again, I was so proud... until she signed "dog" for deer and horse, and generally any four legged creature. So my confidence in teaching is pretty much shattered. But lately, I think she's starting to get some things figured out. I've been consitent with the signs we use and she now can say "please", "baby" and "eat". She also seems to be using "dog" and "more" in the right context more consistently.

Kaylee can be a real pill sometimes. Yes, grandma, it's true! When she throws a tantrum she stomps her little feet really fast and gets the biggest pout (and cries loudly of course) with those big crocodile tears. It's so adorable - it's so hard not to laugh when she does this! Sometimes I can redirect her pretty quickly but other times she stays upset for quite a long time.

She been more of a challenge with eating as well. I can't hold the spoon for her...no. It might be okay if I help put food on the spoon, but then I had better set it down or hand it to her so that she can turn it upside down before putting it in her mouth.

Jeff got Kaylee to dance the other day. She's not been much of a dancer so far. But she was twisting and clapping her hands to the music. It was very cute!

Kaylee's been getting pretty good at playing with blocks as well. She has some jumbo size lego's that she can stack as well as some wooden blocks.

She's got a book that has M-words. The first word is "Milk", so I say milk and do the sign for milk... but the next picture is monkey, and Kaylee really likes that word! So now every time I say "milk", she puts her hands up by her armpits and says "oooh ooh oooh". Funny, funny funny!

That's all the new stuff I can think of for now.

Take care everyone!