*This is posting two days late, but was started on your birthday! Oops!*
Dear Kaitlyn,
Happy fourth birthday baby girl! I cannot believe that four years ago today you came rushing into our lives 2 weeks early! I remember it like yesterday and couldn't believe how easy it was to have you. You are the most amazing child I have ever met and I love you more and more everyday. You are also the smartest child in the world and I love watching you grow and learn.
Per your request, you and Tyler had pancakes and strawberry slices for breakfast. You opened your present that mommy held on to from your Great Aunt Kaye and Great Uncle Dick. They got you the game sequence and you wanted to open it right then. You also opened your birthday card from Great Grandpa and Grandma Dafforn. They sent you a Sleeping Beauty card with $10! We'll just put that in your piggy bank so we can save up to go to Disney this summer. We went and bounced at Planet Jump until you were tired and your feet hurt. Then you wanted tacos for lunch and daddy got you some cinnamon twists as an extra treat. After nap, because with all that jumping you really needed one, we went to your favorite park! You played soccer and ran around that playground with wild abandon. Your daddy noticed that a man brought some pigs to the park and you wanted to go see them. We went over to see the pigs and you thought they were awesome. you couldn't pet the pigs because mommy did not have any hand sanitizer but you wanted to really bad.
All-in-all I would say you had a great day! I'm so blessed to be your mommy and am looking forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaarrrgggghhhhh!
Upon request from the princess of the castle, we did a pirate themed 2nd and 4th birthday party for the kids. I wasn't going to throw a party for the kids this year as I thought I would get to take a two year break from throwing parties until Kaitlyn had her 6th birthday party with her kindergarten friends. Jerry's mom asked me, back in November...yeah I said November, when I would be what weekend I would be doing their party so she could fly down. She caught me off guard by asking so early that I just threw out a date instead of just saying there wasn't going to be a party. Oh well. I actually had a great time planning it. It didn't hurt the old ego either that everyone loved that party decorations and set up, not to mention the food. I told everyone that I'm not going to do a party next year, but I will probably cave and do one anyway. I just always feel so guilty doing parties because both birthdays are so close to Christmas, but I don't want my kids to get gypped because of that.
Anyway here are the pictures from the party.
Anyway here are the pictures from the party.
Monday, January 23, 2012
First Stitches
Neither one of my children are graceful. Unfortunately, they get their clumsiness from me. Also inherited from me, the ability to be overly dramatic (Kaitlyn), and hyperactivity/attention deficit (Tyler). I seriously don't know how I survived my childhood from all the stories my mother and aunts love to tell me over and over again. I also remember being hurt A LOT when I was little.
Anyway, Kaitlyn has luckily survived her (almost) four years on this planet relatively unscathed. (I am sooooooooo knocking on wood right now.) Of course she has suffered from her fair share of falls, cuts, scrapes and bruises, but nothing a little cute band-aid or ice pack can't fix.
Tyler, on the other hand, received his first trip to the urgent care doctor and got three stitches on the left temporal side of his noggin. I am quite certain that this will not be the last time he will get stitches and I fear this will not be his worst injury either.
The back story....Kaitlyn and Tyler were playing with a leftover mylar balloon from their pirate party. I tied on to a toy watch and let the other float off. Of course they both wanted to play with the one they could actually get their hands on. Tyler, never wanting anything until his sister has it, went after that balloon like it was the buried treasured he had been waiting for all his life! Katilyn thought it was funny that Tyler kept missing the balloon every time he reached for it; of course she was yanking it away at the last second and kept on doing it. The last time she yanked, he must have lost his balance and took a header into the corner of the wall. Had he just hit the wall, we would have heard some wailing, but he had to go and hit the corner and split his head open. I jumped up from the couch, literally within arms reach while Kaitlyn was profusely apologizing and turned him around to give him some TLC. (I clearly did not know how badly or how hard he hit his head.) All I saw was blood dripping down his head when I turned him around. Kaitlyn instantly burst in to tears and I began to cry as well. I jumped up trying to grab a towel and immediately felt ill. Thank God Jerry is not bothered by the sight of blood and he quickly scoop Tyler up and took him to the kitchen. I was trying to help both Tyler and Kaitlyn, who of course was hysterical at this point, and was running around like a chicken with their head cut off. Jerry was yelling for the alcohol so he could clean Tyler up and assess how deep the cut was, I knew better and grabbed the peroxide. He had a pretty deep gash on his head so we decided to drop Kaitlyn off with my mom and take Tyler to the urgent care. Let me tell you that boy is a trooper. He occasionally complained about his "ouch" on his bonked head, but he never cried once after the initial pain of going head first in to the wall. He also never once flinched or pulled away when he got his anesthetic shot to numb the area or when he was getting his stitches. Both nurses were so impressed with him. I was super proud of him and am very thankful that his injury was much worse.
Anyway, Kaitlyn has luckily survived her (almost) four years on this planet relatively unscathed. (I am sooooooooo knocking on wood right now.) Of course she has suffered from her fair share of falls, cuts, scrapes and bruises, but nothing a little cute band-aid or ice pack can't fix.
Tyler, on the other hand, received his first trip to the urgent care doctor and got three stitches on the left temporal side of his noggin. I am quite certain that this will not be the last time he will get stitches and I fear this will not be his worst injury either.
The back story....Kaitlyn and Tyler were playing with a leftover mylar balloon from their pirate party. I tied on to a toy watch and let the other float off. Of course they both wanted to play with the one they could actually get their hands on. Tyler, never wanting anything until his sister has it, went after that balloon like it was the buried treasured he had been waiting for all his life! Katilyn thought it was funny that Tyler kept missing the balloon every time he reached for it; of course she was yanking it away at the last second and kept on doing it. The last time she yanked, he must have lost his balance and took a header into the corner of the wall. Had he just hit the wall, we would have heard some wailing, but he had to go and hit the corner and split his head open. I jumped up from the couch, literally within arms reach while Kaitlyn was profusely apologizing and turned him around to give him some TLC. (I clearly did not know how badly or how hard he hit his head.) All I saw was blood dripping down his head when I turned him around. Kaitlyn instantly burst in to tears and I began to cry as well. I jumped up trying to grab a towel and immediately felt ill. Thank God Jerry is not bothered by the sight of blood and he quickly scoop Tyler up and took him to the kitchen. I was trying to help both Tyler and Kaitlyn, who of course was hysterical at this point, and was running around like a chicken with their head cut off. Jerry was yelling for the alcohol so he could clean Tyler up and assess how deep the cut was, I knew better and grabbed the peroxide. He had a pretty deep gash on his head so we decided to drop Kaitlyn off with my mom and take Tyler to the urgent care. Let me tell you that boy is a trooper. He occasionally complained about his "ouch" on his bonked head, but he never cried once after the initial pain of going head first in to the wall. He also never once flinched or pulled away when he got his anesthetic shot to numb the area or when he was getting his stitches. Both nurses were so impressed with him. I was super proud of him and am very thankful that his injury was much worse.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
To Craft or Not to Craft
So I get bit by the crafting bug every now and again where I'll want to craft like mad. I got a sewing machine for my birthday, per my request, and once I learned how to load the bobbin and top thread, I wanted to sew everything in site. I have so many ruffled headbands you would not believe. So that lead me to "pin" projects on headband holders because OMG I have sooooooooo many. Then I see other projects that I want to do and I go buy the materials for them but I can't get all my supplies at once because I don't want to drop a Benjamin at Joann's and Michael's doesn't have everything I need and the closest Hobby Lobby is over an hour away! Thus I have about 20 unfinished projects laying around my house and then the craft bug that bit me in the first place goes in to hibernation.
My craft area looks like a category 5 hurricane ripped through it and the aftermath is a pile of empty canvases, fabric scraps, pins strewn about, scrap paper all over the floor, thread everywhere mess. I try to keep my area clean and organized but it doesn't help that A) my craft area is in the playroom and therefore Tyler has made it his sole mission to touch every.single.thing. on, in, or around my craft table and move it to where he sees fit and B) I have no proper storage for my craft area and am not willing to spend any money on more storage. Now, I have a different craft dilemma. I start "pinning" craft storage ideas which means I need more supplies, which means I have about 10 unfinished craft storage projects lying around my house. It's truly a vicious, viscous, cycle.
I really need to get my butt in gear and go through the unfinished craft piles I have and buy the rest of the materials to finish those before I try to start new projects. My only problem with that is Valentine's Day is fast approaching and I have already bought most of the supplies to craft both Tyler's and Kaitlyn's Valentines for their daycare classes. Yes I am that mom who has to show her undying love for her children through the creations that shestole off of Pinterest and is taking all the credit for created in her own beautiful, crafty mind. The good news is that I have plenty of time to pick everything up and finish them. The bad news is that I have to order the sticker paper online and wait for it to arrive, drive to iParty to pick up enough shovels for all the kids in Tyler's class, buy a small paper punch to make the stickers for Kaitlyn's treat bags, buy said treat bags from Joann's, grab a paper punch while I'm there and make some gift tags on my Cricut. Easy right?
Oh yeah, did I mention that Kaitlyn is doing ice cream sundaes for her party at daycare? Oy vey.
My craft area looks like a category 5 hurricane ripped through it and the aftermath is a pile of empty canvases, fabric scraps, pins strewn about, scrap paper all over the floor, thread everywhere mess. I try to keep my area clean and organized but it doesn't help that A) my craft area is in the playroom and therefore Tyler has made it his sole mission to touch every.single.thing. on, in, or around my craft table and move it to where he sees fit and B) I have no proper storage for my craft area and am not willing to spend any money on more storage. Now, I have a different craft dilemma. I start "pinning" craft storage ideas which means I need more supplies, which means I have about 10 unfinished craft storage projects lying around my house. It's truly a vicious, viscous, cycle.
I really need to get my butt in gear and go through the unfinished craft piles I have and buy the rest of the materials to finish those before I try to start new projects. My only problem with that is Valentine's Day is fast approaching and I have already bought most of the supplies to craft both Tyler's and Kaitlyn's Valentines for their daycare classes. Yes I am that mom who has to show her undying love for her children through the creations that she
Oh yeah, did I mention that Kaitlyn is doing ice cream sundaes for her party at daycare? Oy vey.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Third baby...Maybe
So it is no secret in my family that I want another child. Mostly because I love my children to death and would love to have a whole gaggle of them. (Not really, three is plenty. I'm not Michelle Duggard.) A little part of me would like to give Tyler a little brother. He's the only boy out of 7 little cousins and I feel bad that he doesn't have another little rough and tumble boy to play with at family gathering. Right now the girls don't care that he's a boy and they let him play, but soon they won't. I don't know when little boys and girls learn that they can't play with each other because girls play house and with dolls and boys play army and with trucks, but they do eventually learn that somewhere. I try really hard not to push gender stereotypes onto my children, but right now they are a little young to get all philosophical with so simple and easy usually wins in our house. For example when Kaitlyn says "Boys don't wear makeup" I just say "Well the boys in our family don't." Later when she's older and able to understand it's ok to be different, then we can get into more details. I also don't mind that Tyler is constantly walking around in my high heels or that he prefers to wear the skirts in the dress up clothes.
Anyway, I really want a third child and I think I just convinced my husband to have one. He's been hemming and hawing about the idea and trying to skip over the conversation or just burst my bubble completely. Of course all his arguments are rational, we can't afford to pay for three daycare tuitions and we can't afford for me not to work right now. (Unless of course we dramatically change our spending habits.) We already have two perfect children, one boy, one girl. We just bought a house and it only has three bedrooms; where would the new baby sleep? All rational arguments and I'll admit we probably should not have another baby right now, but it doesn't mean that we can't EVER have another baby.
And then there are my own arguments with myself that make me rethink my desire for another child. Silly little things like what if the new baby's birthday is not in January like Kaitlyn and Tyler? We are very close to start potty training Tyler, do I really want to go through the whole changing diapers stage? Both my kids are sleeping well, do I really have it in me to wake up 3-4 times a night? Do I want to go through the whole washing bottles/breast pump ordeal? It's so easy to stick sippy cups in the dishwasher or just throw them away and buy new ones if they get too icky. Can I handle another pregnancy while working full-time with two kids? Luckily both of my pregnancies were easy and problem free but it was very difficult being pregnant and working full-time. I'm exhausted right now and I'm not even pregnant.
And then I see them, my sweet, beautiful children and I forget about everything except that I would LOVE to have another. So, do we go for it or not? We will make that decision when Tyler turns 3, which by the way is next year. Kaitlyn will be out of day care that year and Tyler will get another reduction in his fees. Who knows, maybe by then this feeling of needing another child will diminish completely. Only time will tell.
Anyway, I really want a third child and I think I just convinced my husband to have one. He's been hemming and hawing about the idea and trying to skip over the conversation or just burst my bubble completely. Of course all his arguments are rational, we can't afford to pay for three daycare tuitions and we can't afford for me not to work right now. (Unless of course we dramatically change our spending habits.) We already have two perfect children, one boy, one girl. We just bought a house and it only has three bedrooms; where would the new baby sleep? All rational arguments and I'll admit we probably should not have another baby right now, but it doesn't mean that we can't EVER have another baby.
And then there are my own arguments with myself that make me rethink my desire for another child. Silly little things like what if the new baby's birthday is not in January like Kaitlyn and Tyler? We are very close to start potty training Tyler, do I really want to go through the whole changing diapers stage? Both my kids are sleeping well, do I really have it in me to wake up 3-4 times a night? Do I want to go through the whole washing bottles/breast pump ordeal? It's so easy to stick sippy cups in the dishwasher or just throw them away and buy new ones if they get too icky. Can I handle another pregnancy while working full-time with two kids? Luckily both of my pregnancies were easy and problem free but it was very difficult being pregnant and working full-time. I'm exhausted right now and I'm not even pregnant.
And then I see them, my sweet, beautiful children and I forget about everything except that I would LOVE to have another. So, do we go for it or not? We will make that decision when Tyler turns 3, which by the way is next year. Kaitlyn will be out of day care that year and Tyler will get another reduction in his fees. Who knows, maybe by then this feeling of needing another child will diminish completely. Only time will tell.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
2012
Wow, another year over. I can't believe that it's already 2012, and it's the third day of the new year already! 2011 was a good year with a little heartache mixed in. I watched my babies turn 1 and 3, welcomed a new family member, lost another, celebrated lots of little birthdays and holidays, kept my coaching position in a new school, traveled a little bit with my husband, and watched my sister graduate from college. All-in-all a pretty good year.
I'm excited to see what 2012 will bring for my family. Will we add some more new littles to our already big family? Will I have to go back into the classroom once this year is over? How are my babies 2 and 4 already????? How will my brother do as a starter this year for his college baseball team? What new things will my children amaze me with? So many questions just waiting to be answered.
One thing I am committed to continue working on is to better my health. Jerry and I are going to start the fat flush diet, beginning phase one the middle of this month and then continuing on with phase two until we hit our second goal. The diet is definitely not something I can do long term, but I am confident it will help propel us to eating better and for Jerry exercising more. (I already do the couch to 5K program and will run in this year's Turkey Trot.) I'm ready to detox my body and get my liver functioning right even if that means I have to torture myself for two weeks. Two weeks doesn't seem like a long time right now, but I'm sure when I'm having my caffeine withdrawal, it'll feel like an eternity. It will be worth it though if I reach my first goal.
So, first goal of the fat flush with the two week cleanse is to drop one pant size. (I'm already there, but I would like to be a little more comfortable in that size.)
*Reward: Nice pair of blue jeans, not just the cheapy ones I get from Target that never fit right.
The second goal of the fat flush on phase two will to be to drop 40 pounds. I'll have to stay in phase two until I meet that goal and that may take some time.
*Reward: I think I'll do a reward system with every 10 pounds I drop.
-10 lbs: deluxe pedicure
-20 lbs: new outfit
-30 lbs: spa treatment
-40 lbs: coach purse
I do have more than 40 pounds to lose, but I think that's a good amount to lose while doing this diet. The rest of the weight is going to have to come off with healthy eating habits, lots of water and exercise. Like I said, I can't do this diet forever, it's just too strict for me, but it's a step in the right direction. Hopefully I can be successful in this and not give up before I reach the end goal of this diet.
Cheers to another new year!
I'm excited to see what 2012 will bring for my family. Will we add some more new littles to our already big family? Will I have to go back into the classroom once this year is over? How are my babies 2 and 4 already????? How will my brother do as a starter this year for his college baseball team? What new things will my children amaze me with? So many questions just waiting to be answered.
One thing I am committed to continue working on is to better my health. Jerry and I are going to start the fat flush diet, beginning phase one the middle of this month and then continuing on with phase two until we hit our second goal. The diet is definitely not something I can do long term, but I am confident it will help propel us to eating better and for Jerry exercising more. (I already do the couch to 5K program and will run in this year's Turkey Trot.) I'm ready to detox my body and get my liver functioning right even if that means I have to torture myself for two weeks. Two weeks doesn't seem like a long time right now, but I'm sure when I'm having my caffeine withdrawal, it'll feel like an eternity. It will be worth it though if I reach my first goal.
So, first goal of the fat flush with the two week cleanse is to drop one pant size. (I'm already there, but I would like to be a little more comfortable in that size.)
*Reward: Nice pair of blue jeans, not just the cheapy ones I get from Target that never fit right.
The second goal of the fat flush on phase two will to be to drop 40 pounds. I'll have to stay in phase two until I meet that goal and that may take some time.
*Reward: I think I'll do a reward system with every 10 pounds I drop.
-10 lbs: deluxe pedicure
-20 lbs: new outfit
-30 lbs: spa treatment
-40 lbs: coach purse
I do have more than 40 pounds to lose, but I think that's a good amount to lose while doing this diet. The rest of the weight is going to have to come off with healthy eating habits, lots of water and exercise. Like I said, I can't do this diet forever, it's just too strict for me, but it's a step in the right direction. Hopefully I can be successful in this and not give up before I reach the end goal of this diet.
Cheers to another new year!
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