Kyah - In Review

January - You still look like my baby (See picture at bottom of post)

You love your brother.  93.5% of the time you are best friends.  I love that! 

You love to help Mom bake in the kitchen and always want to be my helper.

You got potty trained this year - Good job!!! (Girls are so much easier than boys.)

You love animals - all of them and were thrilled when we had a temporary dog.

You have an expression for every occasion and are so photogenic. 

You love your "puppies" more than just about anything and you still don't leave the house without it. (Warning: This is going to have to come to an end - sorry!)

You make friend easy and love to play with others.

You love your Aunties!

You made your first trip to California this summer.  You loved playing in the sand

and running from the waves.

Dollies/Babies are one of your favorite toys - always trying to be a little mother.

I LOVE those curls - except when I have to brush them and you scream at the top of your lungs.  I consider cutting your hair, but I'm secretly afraid your curls will go away, so I don't.

You had the biggest and best Princess Birthday Party EVER!!  Turning 3 has never looked so good.

This will always melt my heart and I pray everyday that this never changes.

November 

See the face above... she used to be the face below.  My baby is getting big and I'm not sure I can handle it.  Maybe one of these days that little body of yours will grow into the attitude you came with.



Thank you for being my baby.  And for all the fun we have had this year.  You are fearless and exciting.  Thank you for making my life

Fireman in Training

 We went with some friends to the Firestation open house.  Jaxon refused to dress up, but Kyah was all for trying all the fireman gear.

Are you ready?

Do you know the "Fifty Nifty United States" song? 

Are you compelled to take a huge breath in before singing it?

That is exactly how I feel about this post... ready... be inhale.

Memorial Day Weekend in a Nutshell.

Remember my friend Melissa?  She came and spent the weekend with us,

except this time she also brought her husband, Roger and 3 year old daughter, Reese.

On Saturday we went to...

the Aquarium. 

The kids had a great time checking everything out.

This is attempt - 52 at trying to get the kids to look at me for a picture.  I gave up!

Whatever!  The sharks will look at me and hold still for a photo.

Then on Sunday we went to...

visit the "Great's". 

My Great Uncle James happens to be buried right next to my Great Grandparents,

so we ran into family and had a nice mini reunion.  This is family on my Mom's, Dad's side and unfortunately we don't see them as often as we should so it was great.

I also took the kids around the cemetery to see some of the graves of passed on soldiers.

May they rest in peace - Everyday I am grateful for the sacrafices that so many people have made for me.

On Monday we took the kids to the Hill Airforce Base Museum

I think Kyah is SUPER cute in her little flight suit - I tried to hard to get Jaxon to put one on for a picture, but it just wasn't happening.

All the kids: Jaxon, Josie, Reese and Kyah

What a fun filled and exhausting weekend!  Thanks friends for coming to play - come back soon.

Bubble Blowers

My friend Melissa watches the kids two days a week.  Yesterday she took them outside for some bubble blowing and bless her heart she took these GREAT pictures for me. 

I miss seeing their cute faces and all the fun things they do while I'm stuck at work. 

Jaxon's concentration in the next series of pictures is priceless. Aren't bubbles great!

This look - this kills me.

I'm not sure what I want to do more - make monkey sounds or chew on her cheeks.

Thank you Melissa!

We are Ready!

We are ready to wear these...

Every chance Kyah gets she runs into her room and puts these on.

In case you are wondering if you are seeing it correctly, yes, Kyah wears her flip flops in between her second and third toes.  Silly girl - everytime I try and fix it she tells me I'm doing it wrong.

Oh how I love her independence and strong will - I pray it will be an asset in her future.

Bring on the Spring!

I'm a big girl now

Kyah has graduated from her "infant" car seat to a "big girl" car seat.

A car seat that she insisted be PINK.

I tried to get a more neutral color - wasn't happening.

When I put the PINK car seat in the cart at the store - Kyah did fist pumps and danced around in a circle saying "Yes! Yes!" (The other people in the aisle thought she was a hoot.)

What a girl!

I made a chocolate cake...

For a friend.  She asked for a chocolate heart shaped cake.  I chose to hand shape/cut the heart as opposed to using a heart shaped cake pan.  I threw the pieces of cake in one of the pans and continued on with my project.  A little later I came into the kitchen to continue on with the cake and this is what I found....

Lucky enough for her and for me, she had just bellied up to the scraps and not the whole cake.

Ratted Out

The other night Kyah came and crawled in my bed while I was reading.  After sitting there for a minute I realized her sippy cup of water was leaking all over the bed.  I said, "Crap! Crap!" and jumped up to grab a towel and clean it up.

Today she was sitting on Harley's lap and he said "Crap!"  Then Kyah said, "Crap! Crap!"  Harley looked at her and asked if that's what she had said, she said "Yup, Crap!  Mommy says, Crap! Crap!"

Ratted out by my two year old.

Kyah the Baker

This last weekend we initiated Kyah into the world of baking.  Jaxon had already fallen asleep for the night and Kyah had just received a new mini baking set, so of course we had to use it. 

She is so independent, she had to do everything all by herself.  "No, I do!"

At first, the control freak/OCD side of me was having a fit.  What about the MESS?!?!?!

But, I decided to set all that aside and let her go at it and boy did she.  She was so content and happy just to work alongside me with her own piece of dough.  I really should let them "help me" more often.

She rolled out, cut, placed and baked (with help from Mom) her own pan of cookies.  After they cooled she frosted, sprinkled and ATE them herself.

What a joy!

"YAY!  I did it!"

5 Seconds

The other night Kyah was sitting at the kitchen counter and snapped a door off one of her toys.  She asked me to help and I fixed it for her.  She thanked me by giving me a hug and saying "Best Mom Ever!" (Which she has never said before - to ANYONE.)  My heart was overfilling at the thought that even if only for that 5 seconds, my two year old thought I was great.  It's amazing what 5 seconds can mean.  In the constant worry and guilt that is associated with having had to work their entire lives, that 5 seconds is a life raft.  The thoughts that crowd my mind and haunt my dreams that I have missed their childhood, the cute things they say, the influence I should be, the MOM they are missing... all of those thoughts go away, if only for 5 seconds.  They are lucky to have a Dad that loves them endlessly and who has had more opportunity to be with them, but, Oh how I MISS THEM!

I will always cherish those 5 seconds whenever I can get them and I will learn to be better about playing with them more and worrying about the mess/bills/groceries less.

Since her first time saying, she has said it 7 more time (exactly), but who's counting?