Family Pictures

Some of you may remember our friend Natasha Reed. She was one of the photographers at my wedding, and has since become a good friend. She has photographed many wedding in our church since, and I recommend her to everyone I know. Not only is she talented, she is fun to work with, and I guarantee that you will love her after just a few minutes. After my wedding Natasha put together a book of photos of brides in weird places called Fearless Brides. I enjoyed being part of the project. She came to my baby shower for KayLynn and to KayLynn's baptism to take pictures. A few weeks ago we went out and took some family photos, and will probably be doing so again at the end of the summer. If you need a photographer for anything, call Natasha. I mean, who wouldn't love to have this on their wall? PS Thanks for the advice - we have a plan of action to be set into motion on Friday.

How do we handle this?

My Mother-in-Law brings up a good point on her blog. How do I handle it when my child's love for her grandmother is causing her to sin?

I am so thankful that KayLynn loves her grandparents and that they love her. But it is NOT ok for her to throw a fit just because she must leave one of them. Let me be clear - it does not hurt my feelings; I am not wanting her to love me more. I want her to sin less. Throwing a fit because you cannot have something you want is a sin - regardless of what it is.

Any advice??

Thanks and Tibits...

Thank you so much for your prayers for my Grandpa. He is doing well, although experiencing a lot of nausea. They were wanting to let him out of the hospital yesterday, but will not until they get the nausea under control. They are still hoping for today or tomorrow (I think).

As for my imediate family, some tidbits of our last week...

• One night, last week, instead of me singing a bedtime song, KayLynn did the honors. She probably sang for 2 minutes. And, although I did not know the song, I recognised several words (daddy, buddy, singing...) and even some tunes (elmos world). She was very sincere and I wished that I could video it. She loves to sing now, and if you ask her for a song, she will most likely oblige - just don't interupt with laughter because then she gets shy and stops!!
  
• Two nights ago, after I sang the Winnie-the-Pooh song for her, she tried to sing it as well. It came out "Pooh, pooh, pooh..." She is pretty darn cute.
  
• Each night at bedtime, we pray. KayLynn and I do her prayer and then I say one for both of us. I have been teaching KayLynn a simple prayer that she repeats after me. I say one word and then she repeats it. This is how it goes every night, "Dear Dear Jesus Jesus Thank you Thank you Four Five (me trying not to laugh) -no KayLynn, for- for this this day day. Amen. Amen"
  
• Their little brains are amazing. For several weeks KayLynn has been saying creasy - I think. Yesterday when I picked K up from Granny Tam's house, Tam told me that K is saying Tracy. I thought, surely she is not, she has only seen Tracy a few times. Tam said that she asked K if she meant Tracy, and KayLynn responded, "Yes, and Toni. Tracy and Toni." My two aunts that she has seen only a handfull of times, with lots of people and only a few minutes!!

Also, last week (or so) Shari's and her best friend Susie made a studio and took pictures of the munchkin. They turned out amazingly. She looks like a romanesque cherub. I love them and can't wait to get some on my wall.

And my favorite...

Hope your week went well and that you family is safe, happy and healthy. God bless.

Thank you for your many prayers. My grandpa is doing very well. He is sitting up for all of his meals and by today should be off all tubes and wires except for his IV. We are so thankful to the Lord for taking care of him through this. My grandma is doing well, and is encouraged when people visit. The worry now is infection, which we are praying that we don't have to deal with. Please continue to keep his recovery in your prayers. God bless.

Grandpa

Please pray for my Grandpa as he goes into surgery tomorrow morning. Also pray for my Grandma because she is lost without him. Someone will be with her at all times, but she is always more comfortable when Grandpa is around.

Please pray for their kids, James, Cynthia, Diana and John as they work through all these emotions and band together to take care of everything. Also pray for the rest of us and we try to help out.

The Great Outdoors

We have been enjoying the nice weather lately. New summer dress
She just found pixie clocks, and loves to blow on them Oooh, smells good - KayLynn likes to smell every flower Most flowers are 'for daddy'

Yes, this is my backyard - I try to think of it as a wild flower garden! Sometimes it works...

I have a video of her putting the flowers in a vase for daddy!

My baby is slipping away

and in her place is a beautiful little girl.

We all have those moments when it is clear that our children are growing. KayLynn says 'Michael' now. Not 'Minol' - 'Michael'. She says full sentences - not two-word phrases linked together.

Watching her grow is bitter-sweet. I love who she is becoming. I love that she is bright and cheerful. I enjoy watching her interact with people/animals/rocks...

But somehow watching her grow and seeing these milestones pass just reminds me how fast it is all happening. I know that the goal of parenting is to 'work yourself out of a job'. If we have done our job well, our children need/want us less and less.

So, I may hug her a little longer than she would like or stroke her hair even though she dramatically grabs her head and says, 'owee'. I will probably let the dishes go for the evening to play on the floor with her. I will definately sneak into her bedroom to watch her chest rise and fall while she breaths - just to hold on a little bit longer to my baby.

What do you think?

Time Off - what does that mean to you?

We all need time off - and as mothers that does not come easily. I often try to explain to Max that I am always on duty. Even when we are both home, I tend to be the one more compelled to fix problems and deal with whatever comes along. That is not to say he isn't helpful - he does more than his fare share. However, even if he says he has something handled, I still find myself trying to take care of it. I have to be away from the home to not 'worry' about it; but even then I am thinking about it, planning, and taking care of it in my head.

Before KayLynn, time off meant time for Max and I to hang out together. We had time to ourselves all the time! My amazing husband had to learn something after K was born. Sometimes, time off means OFF. Off from him, off from her and off from the house. Actually time off in the house to clean it without anyone hanging on me would be nice too!! So I struggled for a while on how to tell my loving adoring husband (who planned dates whenever I said I wanted time off) that I wanted him to leave me alone as well.

Thankfully I have an amazing husband and now he almost always sees the need before I do. He will tell me to leave and let him and KayLynn spend the evening together. Or, he will make sure I have bathsalts and take care of K while I take a nice hot bath (I LOVE baths. LOVE LOVE LOVE). And, actually, I have found that when I get to go workout - without K - it is soo relaxing in my brain.

What do you do for your TIME OFF??

Major Photo Dump - Be Prepared!!

Present from Grandma T. KayLynn can do the whole thing by herself now.
Hanging with Uncle Mikey
I peaked in on K during her nap, and this is what I found. She loves it when I put her pak-n-play on its side for her to play in OK maybe I can see why people think they are twins. Using her Lion as shopping cart
Trying to pin down the animals for hugs
"Walking" Cooper (pronounced 'pooper')
Dressing up for the first time...
Look at that hair - and those eyelashes
My little thug baby..hey, she picked it out!

Narrator

Have you seen the movie, Stranger than Fiction? That is my life - well except for the impending doom or pastries... KayLynn happily narrates my life these days. In fact, she talks non-stop (she must have gotten that from Max).

We get up, "morning! Go bye bye??"
I pick her up from the babysitters, "Park? Go swing? Weeee, weeee."
I let the dog out to do his business, "Beider go potty" he barks to come back in, "Beider, help!"
We are driving, "Where's Daddy?" to which I respond, "Where IS Daddy?" and she answers, "Daddy's at work. Beider's at home."
When driving she always has to tell me if it is raining outside.
We get home "We're home!!"
We get out of the car and the neighbor dog barks, "Puppy borking. Zsa Zsa borking?"
We start making dinner, "Help?" or "Food?" said in a desperate voice as if I never feed her.
I tell her its bed time, "read a book?" and "Mommy sing song".

I will stop here, because you get the point. So, if you maybe don't know what you are doing with your day - have KayLynn over, and she will tell you!!

What do you Think?

I read an article on toy addiction. How many toys do your kids have? The rule in our home is that if it cannot fit on KayLynn's shelf, in her dress-up box, or in her toybox (minus her one ride-on toy and her kitchen) then it must go. Either it goes to a grandparents (the anoying talking dog went to Tam's - he he he!!), gets put away for when she is older and can enjoy it, or it goes to the CPC or other donation places. The exceptions to this are books and puzzles. All crafts go with mine.

Are your children toy-addicted? What do you do about it? What do you do with doting grandparents/aunts/uncles??

**ADDENDUM**
The above questions were not meant to be a slight on any people in KayLynn's life. She is loved and cherished and that means everythign to me. I am sure that the rest of you would agree with me, that if someone loves your child, it makes up for almost anything. That said...Shari, if you buy her a drum set - it is staying at YOUR house!!! :)

I like what Shari said about lessons. That is also Tam's view. She would rather give children her time, attention and experiences, than stuff. They last longer anyway and are worth far more. So I agree with the grandmas - give her your love, time and invest in her future!

He is Risen

For Easter we drove to Pacific Beach (2.5 hour drive) to meet up with my family. Michael and Kristin (and their new dog Cooper) rode with us. We had fun eating food, playing games, listening to the sermon that Tam downloaded from Mars Hill, did 'children's church' for the kids, searched for eggs, did crafts, and talked with family

Playing with Grandpa
KayLynn got really good at putting the little pieces in, but not so good at taking turns or four in a row!

Playing Games

Possibly the cutest little girl in the world...

Playing with Auntie Kristin...

Searching for eggs...

Opening yet another Easter basket - thanks Aunt Mandy!

Look, I found one!

Really, she was smiling seconds before I snapped this shot!

KayLynn took it all in stride. She loved looking for the eggs and kept saying, "More eggs?". She even did a little dance when she realised some had chocolate inside of them. As careful as I tried to be, she still got too much candy (and probably excitement) and is paying for it today - and in the car ride on the way home!!

I love her so much it breaks my heart

Usually KayLynn loves the babysitter - whichever it may be on that particular day. Usually, after she has been forced to kiss her momma goodbye, she does a half wave as she peels off her coat to go play with the puppy (I just realised they all have puppies!). I am happy that she is well adjusted and feels safe and happy with her babysitters - really I am. But today it made my heart swell when she wanted to hug me and crawl into my lap. I did the 'good mom' thing, and calmy said goodbye and then left her. I am sure she forgot about me soon and had a wonderful day playing with the Krulishes. However, her kilngyness makes me so thankful that the car needed to go into the shop tomorrow (causing me to take the day off) and because of that I get all day tomorrow with her. Just us. Even if it rains all day, we will have a blast just playin!