Life Is Good

Birthday Girl

2009-02-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

Yikes - my baby turned three! Everyone says it happens fast, and I'm a believer. I look at baby pictures and don't remember what it was like. I don't miss the up all night, feeding every three hours age, but after that - I miss every stage. The best advice someone gave me when I had Kaylee was to appreciate every stage and don't wish they were old enough to do certain things, because as soon as they are, you will wish they were younger. I've tried to do that. (Even though right now I'm wishing Kaylee was old enough to come to school with me during the day!) I do love the stage she's at now, though. She is so funny and keeps me laughing every day. :)

Anyway, here's some birthday pics. Yes, it happened a couple of weeks ago, but c'mon. Did you expect me to post right away? It's me! Sorry! She is into the princess thing already, so that's what it was all about. We invited a few girls from nursery, and my cousin's daughters. We really missed Mazie and Evie, as well as Emma here! (My brother's girls, and Kirk's sister's daughter who are all living in Utah.)

Kaylee will jump on anything! She loved the bouncy house! (with Makenna)

The girls colored stars that we made into wands, (with Elliot)

painted fingernails, (Cali is painting Makenna's)

ate cake, (with Parley and Annie)

opened presents,

still acted like we were two and threw a fit,

and of course, had the traditional "whatever event it is" pose with Mommy!

By the end of the day, she was spoiled! :)

Happy Birthday Kaylee! I love you so much!

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's off to work I go . .

2009-01-11T22:27:00.000-08:00

This past week was the dreaded "return to work" week. After being off for two weeks, it seemed like the longest week! It was funny because on Monday the kids kept saying that it seemed like forever since they had been to school, and yet I was thinking how it seemed like we were only gone for a day. What a difference in perspective from students vs. teachers.

I said I would try not to go for more than a week without posting, but Kirk has had the camera for the past couple of weeks and I hate to post without any pictures. So, thank goodness my mom lets me use her camera. Thanks, mom. (Did you know I borrowed it??? oops!)

My dad has been saying he wanted to take Kaylee to ZooLights at the Phoenix Zoo. (He wanted to take all three of his granddaughters, but two of them moved to UT last month. We miss them SO much!) Anyway, we tried to plan it a couple of times during December, but things just keep coming up. We're also in the "unsure" stage stage of potty training, so I worry about taking her out to a place like that yet. She's been doing pretty good, but still there are accidents. (I'm just thankful that she hasn't had any at church, or a restaurant yet!) Anyway, we finally made it to ZooLights last night. She had so much fun!

Not a great shot, but this the entrance.

They did a great job with their light displays. Our favorites were the elephant taking a bath and monkeys hanging in the trees.

What an animal . . . sitting on a hippo, and hanging like a monkey!

Kaylee always says her best buddy is "Papa."

Our version of "Where's Waldo" . . . Where's Kaylee?

She always LOVES the merry-go-round. From the second she sees it she is constantly asking if she can go. Sometimes we're able to use it as a bribe for being good. This time we kept saying we were walking around the zoo to get to the back of the line! It worked for most of the night.

My dad thought it would be fun to have Kaylee ride on a camel. When it got to be her turn there was NO WAY she was riding by herself. So I volunteered to go with her. It was actually pretty neat. I did it when I was little, but for some reason back then the camel seemed so much bigger and the ride seemed so much longer!

At the end of the night Kaylee wanted a souvenir. At her sitter's house she was playing with a light sword last week and told me she was going to ask Santa for that. I think she thinks Christmas is a monthly event now. It's going to be a long year . . . Anyway, she saw a lighted sword that she liked, so we got it. But, by far, the funniest moment of the night was when she wanted to take a picture with the sword. I thought why not? As I was getting the camera ready, this is what she did with it.

My dad and I laughed hysterically when looked at the picture on the camera. She didn't quite understand what was so funny. I made her pose a little differently before we left.

I thought this was the only sword picture that I would put on the blog, but I couldn't resist. Sorry if the other picture offended anyone.

Well, there's my update. We'll see what this week is like. I have parent-teacher conferences all week, so it should be fun and exciting, right??? ha ha ha I hope you all have a great week!

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-01T20:58:00.001-08:00

Happy 2009! Hmmm . . Do I have any goals I could set for myself? Do I have anything I need to improve on???

You should have known that when I said in my last post that I would post next weekend that I meant next year! Well, after being harassed by many friends to get off my duff and update this thing I've made it my new year's resolution to try to update at least once a week, but I'm not going to make any promises! I will honestly try to do better this year, though. I might go two weeks sometimes, but I will get better! Stop laughing! I will! I will! I guess we'll see . . .

Let's see . . . where do I begin? The past six months have been very busy, and very difficult. Kirk and I have decided to get divorced. Kaylee and I are living with my parents for a bit. Kaylee gets to see Kirk a lot and she is doing pretty well with the situation. She's had some adjustments to make, but it helps when she is getting spoiled by C.C. and Papa (my parents) all the time!

I missed posting for the holidays, so here's to catch up:

Halloween: Isn't this the cutest cheerleader you've ever seen?

It was even cuter when my dad taught her a cheer:

"Rah, Rah, Ree; Kick 'em in the knee!
Rah, Rah, Grass; Kick 'em in . . the other knee!" Sweet, huh?

This picture was taken at Thanksgiving. She's with her second cousins, MaKenna (Cali & Hardy's daughter) and Alexis (Tyler & Liz's daughter).

It's not much of a holiday picture, but I like to show our friends and family in Utah that we were able to eat and play outdoors for Thanksgiving! These girls were dipping their feet in the pool during the day.

This Christmas was really fun for Kaylee. She was so excited for the whole thing. She loved seeing all the lights everywhere. I took her to see the Temple lights when 259 sang there one night early in December.

Then it was time to visit Santa. My mom works at a hospital in Gilbert where they have Santa and Mrs. Claus come on a Saturday morning to see the kids. Kaylee talked it up the whole way there in the car. She was ready to tell Santa that she wanted a Dora doll, and a Little Einsteins Rocket. We got in line and she was a little nervous . . .

She saw the same Santa and Mrs. Claus that she had seen for the past two years. The same ones she has sat with and taken her picture with. She's never had a problem. That is, until this year . .

She wasn't having any of it . . . What a grouch! Oh well. We'll try again next year.

Later on, she perked up when she got to wear her Christmas dress for church.

On Christmas Day she slept in until 8:00 (thank goodness!), then we got up and opened presents. I asked her if I could take her picture before she opened anything, and she acted like an angel for the picture. What a fake! Don't worry, we're on to her!!

I think it's so much more fun to watch your kids opening presents! I enjoyed watching Kaylee as she got so excited to see what Santa had brought her.

Later that day we went over to my aunt Carlene's house. This is Kaylee with Makenzie (Kristy & William's daughter). I think it looks so much like Kristy and me when we were babies, even though Kristy and I were only a month apart and these girls are 13 months apart!

I had such a great holiday with Kaylee, and I hope all of you enjoyed your time with your family. I'm truly blessed to have so much in my life. I'm thankful for all of you and all of your love and friendship. Thanks for all of your kind words and support. It means a lot.

We're wishing all of you a wonderful new year! :)

I'M BAAAAAACK!

2008-12-04T21:18:00.001-08:00

So sorry to any of you who actually care to read this blog. It has been a long six months since June and my last post. As of two minutes ago, I am finally able to connect to the internet from my laptop for the first time since August! (Long story.) Anyway, I just wanted to say that yes, I'm still alive, and I will post an update this weekend of what's been going on with me and will add some pics of this little lady of mine who will be 3 next month . . . where does the time go? She is growing way too fast! Thanks for being patient with me. :)

Dear Daddy . . .

2008-06-12T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hi Daddy! We sure miss you this week. I'm glad you're in Utah and you get to see your family. I wish I could say hi to grandma and grandpa. Please give them a kiss and a hug from me.
I've had a lot of fun this week. Mommy said something about getting some new gray hairs this week, but I'm not sure what she's talking about.
Monday I was rocking on that fun chair you got me for Christmas. Mommy said not to get too close to the plant, but I thought she was kidding. I rocked really hard and hit the base of the plant and it scratched my lip. See my owie?

Anyway, I got to go to school with Mommy on Tuesday. The kids were really funny. I kept running around the classroom, grabbing markers and writing all over stuff. I even got to paint with them. See what I did?

On Tuesday afternoon I got to spend time with Papa. He took me here:

It was really fun. I got to see a deer and I told Papa that it had "pokies" on it. He was laughing, but I don't know why.

Then on Wednesday, I was really craving something sweet. I got into the candy stash and look what I found! I was so lucky! Mom didn't think this was so funny, though.

This morning mom seemed to be in a hurry. I think she woke up late and I had to suffer because of it. She told me hurry and get my clothes and I did. She put my shirt on, but I didn't want shorts on. I was the one who got my shoes on all by myself! I told her I was ready to go. I really threw a fit and didn't want to finish getting ready. I WAS ready! Don't I look great?

Well, tomorrow is Friday and I'm not sure what tricks I can pull on Mommy. Don't worry - I've got all night to think of something. I can't wait to play with you when you get back. Oh yeah, Mommy said something about how you should let her sleep in on Sunday and be nice to her or something like that. I have no idea what she is talking about. She's had it so easy all week! She's gotten to be with me - what could be better?

I love you Daddy and I have a big hug and kiss waiting for you when you get back. :)

Love,

Kaylee

Blog? What blog?

2008-05-28T23:27:00.000-07:00

Oops! Was I supposed to update this regularly or something? Well, the gig is up. I'm not a good blogger, and now you all know one of my many weaknesses. I thought I'd always remember to take my camera wherever I go so that I could blog what is happening in my life. I guess either nothing is happening, or I forgot the camera. I'll let you guess. Neither one makes me look good. Oh well, I'll try harder. :)

Kaylee is growing up so fast these days. I feel like I can't miss a minute of spending time with her because I know one day she will be too old (or too "cool") to want to hang out with mom. One of the things I have fun doing is breaking the rules once in awhile. Isn't that what moms are for? My mom would disagree. She thinks it's grandma's job to do that! One of our rules in the house is that there is NO eating or drinking on the carpet. The other day I stopped by Village Inn and picked up a French Silk Pie. (It's to die for!) Luckily Kaylee shares my love for chocolate, so I put some towels down, let her stay up past her bedtime, and eat pie right out of the tin! No slicing pieces - that's for wimps. We grab a fork and have fun!

We also had a blast for Memorial Day weekend. The whole family went for a picnic and quad riding trip in the desert. Kaylee loved to ride and I had fun taking her along on some slow rides. It was nice to have the whole family together. I only have 2 siblings, but it just seems so rare to get them, their spouses, and their kids in the same spot. I love spending time with them and I hope we get to go on that camping trip we've been planning for so long!

We got a little sun while we were there. I put sunblock on Kaylee, but I thought I was too smart for that. Well, I guess I was wrong. (More of my weaknesses . . ) I thought this was funny how the sun even burned my wrist and made such a cute design. :)

I guess that's it for now. Hopefully I'll get to update again soon!

It Had To Happen Sometime . . .

2008-05-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

Well, after a two month leave of absence, I finally returned to teaching. It went by so fast and I dreaded going back. At least the week went by fast, though, and my kids were pretty good. I just missed staying home with Kaylee. We sure had fun while it lasted! Only three more weeks until summer break. I think I can, I think I can . . .

Random Happenings

2008-04-24T01:31:00.001-07:00

Well, here we are less than a month after I started this blog, and I can't think of something to write about! So, today is random things that have happened during the last couple of weeks.

First of all, Kaylee is doing so much better. Thank you so much for all of your nice comments and well wishes. We really appreciate it. She's doing fine now, but the day after she came home from the ER she learned pretty quickly how to take advantage of the situation . . .

Yes, in my bed. I'm a sucker.

This week Kirk is out of town. He went to Chicago for a work training. So, that leaves just the two of us. Kaylee is so much fun! I wish I could stay home with her all the time.

Tuesday I took Kaylee with me to Blockbuster to look for a movie. As I was searching, she found an Ugly Betty movie:

She said: "Mom - LOOK! She has a necklace on her teeth and glasses on her eyes!" I thought, well, how else can you explain braces to a two-year-old? Now I know. :)

Tuesday night I was getting her bath ready and I told her to get undressed for the bath. She was being sarcastic to see what I would say and she said "I'm getting in with my clothes on." I just looked at her and said "ok. Go ahead." She had the most shocked look on her face and then she quickly put one foot in, looking at me for approval: I nodded. She kept going, ever so slowly, constantly looking, just waiting for me to say stop and the joke is over. Well, she got all the way in and then thought it was hilarious. :)

A couple of weeks ago Kirk and I went to the Diamondbacks game. It's fun to see them win and we had great seats, too! Thanks Mom and Dad for giving up your tickets! (My parents are die-hard Dbacks fans and they get tickets to many games at the beginning of the season. Sometimes they can't make it to a game and they graciously give them to their kids.) It was a great date night. :)

And there's our random happenings for the past two weeks. We have two birthday parties this weekend, so hopefully I'll have more to post after that. Both of the girls are turning three. Kaylee is so excited to go to a "big girl party!" It's all she is talking about until we go. I'm just not sure if she will understand why she has to sing and give presents to someone else. We'll see!

Life is unpredictable . . .

2008-04-10T00:03:00.001-07:00

I love reading funny posts on blogs, especially when it involves kids. They can be so unpredictable and goofy! (My child is no exception.) So a few days ago I started thinking of something funny that I could post about Kaylee. I thought I would title it "so thankful" and do something like this:

I am so thankful for a daughter who knows what's important:

She loves to say her prayers and reminds us if we forget. She can't go to sleep without thanking Heavenly Father for the same million things each night. It is cute to listen to, though. :)

She also knows what's really important:

She doesn't quite know what to call these yet, and I'm avoiding telling her. Right now it's referred to as her chest. My mom thinks parents shouldn't sugar-coat the real name of body parts, but I'm not ready for her to embarrass me in public or at church when she will chose to use one of those words!

And that was going to be the end of my post. Then, we had one of those unpredictable moments last night and I knew what I was really thankful for:

This is my daughter, my-two-year old, in an ambulance. It is the last place a mother should ever be with her child. Kaylee is ok, but in a nutshell, here's what happened. She has been sick since Sunday. She woke up with a scratchy throat, a little coughing, and a small fever. She was breathing ok, but seemed she had to work to do it. We thought she was ok and we were sure it was something that would just need to run it's course. I slept by her for a couple of nights and Kirk gave her a blessing Monday night and she seemed better on Tuesday. Late Tuesday afternoon she was complaining of her throat hurting, so I decided to call her pediatrician. Once they heard her breathing over the phone they sent me to Urgent Care right away. We went there and they rushed her back and put her on a monitor. They took x-rays and thought it might be pneumonia. They gave her some breathing treatments and sent her by ambulance to the hospital. They told us she would probably have to stay overnight, but thank goodness she seemed to do well after another round of breathing treatments in the ER. We were finally able to go home around 11:00 pm. They diagnosed her with croup. She's had it before, but it wasn't near this bad.

Even though it wasn't an emergency, and the ambulance wasn't racing down the street flashing lights, it still scared me. I don't ever want to see my daughter like that again. On the bright side,
she is doing well today and getting back to her usual self. Now I can truly say that I know what I am thankful for!

Singing Fool

2008-04-01T23:13:00.000-07:00

Kaylee absolutely loves to sing and learn new songs. Every time she goes to CiCi's house (my mom's) she comes back knowing a new song. Last week it was "Do as I'm doing." It's cute to listen to her because the words don't always sound right, and she leaves out words here and there. She was singing "Do as doing, flalow, flalow me . . " At least she tries her best! Lately, one of her favorites is "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes." She enjoys when I sing it fast to see if she can keep up.

This afternoon we had Kaylee's cousins, Mazie and Evie (my brother Steve's girls) come over to play for awhile. I decided to be adventurous and put them in the bath together. They had so much fun! I'll pretend and say I had fun cleaning up . . . :) The bubbles were supposed to cover up more - sorry, it's a little "Girls Gone Wild . . . Toddler style!"

Kaylee always loves being around these girls. Thanks, uncle Steve and aunt Teralyn for letting them come over and play. We had fun!

Finally!

2008-03-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok, I think I'm the last one of my friends to start a blog! It may not be the most exciting thing you read, but I figure it will be nice for family who live out of state to keep up to date on Kaylee. She has a lot of family in Utah who she loves and is constantly asking to see again. So I hope this will help when we don't get to make it up to see you guys for such a long time! I'll try to keep it up to date as much as I can. :) Thanks so much to Hilary for your help getting this started!!!