A Triple Date at Ernestos!

Brayden and Alisa came over this afternoon and we ended up making an evening out of it - we all had a great time out to dinner at Ernestos. Brayden is sooo cute! He's standing and crawling around super fast, and Kailyn loved sharing her food and toys with him. In a few weeks, she'll also be sharing pre-school stories with her big cousin, Tyler, who had his first day of school today.

Flip flops & convertibles!

She's 1/4 Florida girl! Never even tried to take off her first pair of flips! She has a few sandals, but these actually go between the toes like big-girl flip flops, so how was I to resist? Impossible, I tell you!

As usual, when I splurge I buy something like $3.99 flip flops. And Brian's splurge... a new car! Jeez Louise! He calls me an impulse shopper! It is so cool - it has a little trunk with tools in it, and the engine has spark plugs and can all be taken apart. They already had it jacked up working on it tonight, dad & Kailyn. She sure loves spending time with him!

So, today was a big day! She also took a bath in the tub today. She LOVED it! I figured she was ready a while ago, just have been too busy with other things to clean her tub out. She soaked the entire room, splashing and kicking. It was great! I'm not sure if you can see the water in this action shot, but at least you can see her wave pool.

Bears!

We all agree, Kailyn says "dad" now. I guess it'll be going in the book... I was really hoping for a "mom," but I think I'm just chopped liver. She even got a "briiiiiii" out for the babysitter, Britni. Isn't that swell?

The pictures are of the bears, a mama and a cub, that have been hanging out in the field next to our house. It's kind of cool, but I am a little scared of them to be honest. I cussed Willie when he had to go out tonight in the dark!

Where's the light?

Kailyn has begun pointing at things, which is so fun! "Where's Willie, Kailyn? Where's Daddy?" But, does she know where Mommy is? The one that feeds her, bathes her, changes her ever so stinky diapers??? Nah - just the important people. I'm just the hired help, as my dad says. Oh well, someday. "Please, Kailyn, say Mommy," I tell her all the time. Ornery girl, never listens. I am pretty sure that she has been saying Willie for a while now, and I swear she said "Dada" to Brian last night. But when do you count it as their first word? I don't think it's until she says "Mommy," is it??

Luckily, she is crazy for my cooking, and it does not matter what I give her. Occasionally she'll inspect a food parcel, but mostly she gobbles them down, sticking a few crumbs and pieces on her shirt and in her pants for a quick snack at a later time. She eats onions, chili, eggs... I even gave her a lemon on the way back from Anchorage, and she ate that with no complaints! She also enjoys feeding Willie, but hasn't caught on that he's not always with us; I feel so bad for the waiters and waitresses that have to clean up after us. I try to at least get the big stuff, but I can never get it all! Something that I find interesting is that we seem to have the same taste thus far. She didn't like the potato salad I pawned off on her, and I figured she would love a french fry from my stash, but neither of us liked them. It is so neat to watch her little personality develop!

And she's off!

I finally dug deep in my soul and found the strength to encourage the Little Miss to try walking - Oh Jeez!!! She took right off! We have a push-behind walker that Kailyn usually tips over, so I've kept it in the floor position thus far. Of course, we've done the whole finger walk deal and Kailyn loves it, but she usually decides it's easier to go where she wants if she just crawls (Mom never takes her to the electric socket). But she's really been standing on her own alot, and with Sophia over a couple of days last week, she has been more and more brave. So, I made a make-shift gate for our wider-than-normal stairs (4 gates later, we still don't have one that fits correctly), and set her free. She loves it! I got an "eh, eh, eeeeehhhhh," when she hit the couch and couldn't back it up, but a quick turn and off she was. Now, I have discovered, or rather, Kailyn has discovered, that we have many "walkers." Every empty cardboard box is now a mobile balancer, and Willie has even learned to beware when Kailyn start putting a little weight on him. She tries to push EVERYTHING.

No More Monkeys...

...Jumpin' on the Bed!

Extreme Shopping

Kaliyn was attacked by a dog today. Okay, not really attacked, but it really really felt like it to me. I am still a little shaken up by it. We were in the thrift store (it's half off day) and I set her on the floor to go through a bin. This lab puppy (who happens to be super cute) that I didn't even realize was out came running up to play with her and scratched her right on the face. I was so scared - of course Kailyn cried, making me all the more upset. You can see the little red mark by her eye, but I think that she will live... I am a dog person and totally understand all of this. I still think that it's great that the dog is at work with the owner, but can't help but be a little mad at the situation. Of course, I shouldn't have set my daughter (right next to me) on the floor, but I didn't expect a puppy to come pouncing on her, either. I know that I'm partly in the wrong, and am torn about calling the manager. I don't want the dog to have to stay home in a kennel all day. But the clerk/ dog owner didn't even say a word about it, though we were right at the register when it happened. A quick, "I'm so sorry, can I get you a wet paper towel to wipe off her face," would have made me feel so different about the situation. What to do?

On to a lighter note, she's officially out of 3-6 months clothes! It was so sad, but I had to put away some of my favorite little pants. Although our skinny minny has become a chunky monkey, she's still been wearing some 3-6 month tops that really showcase her buddha belly... hmmm... maybe I will put those away, too. The shirt she has on is even a 12 month! It's a little big, but looks really cute with her new tenny shoes.

Giving it a try...

I am hoping that I stick to this better than I did to the myspace blog. The thing with that account is that I always get sidetracked emailing and looking up old friends, then realize that half of my break time is over. Here I have no distractions... maybe that will help...

We've had a super busy summer - starting with a trip down to Florida to visit Papa and Mema. I bought tons of sundresses that are so beautiful on Kailyn, but have proved useless here in rainy Valdez. Bah! Back to jeans and t-shirts! We took Kailyn to the zoo for the first time and met up with Jina, her mom, and the kids. For me, the most interesting thing was seeing my Alaska baby with beads of sweat on her nose and face for the first time! Up here, we don't get to test those glands too much, so it was weird seeing them working on her.


Kailyn also got to see the beach for her first time, and sadly, was quite wary of it all! She was scared of the waves at first, and didn't like the feel of the sand until she realized she could play with it. Maybe next trip when she's walking it will be different. I hope as she grows up she can come visit her FL grandparents each year and come to love the beach as I do. I hope my dad will take her to the beach like my Papa did. I loved when we would sit and just listen to the waves crashing and look for the men on the moon. Other than shopping and day trips, it was nice to see everyone, and I think that Kailyn helped cheer my dad up, if only a bit. She was her normal, cheery self, and after his hospital stay, I think that he needed some cheerfulness. He's doing better than I thought, but the chemo is really kicking his butt. Now that the cancer in his esophagus is gone, at least he can eat again, so he is just working on building up his strength for round 2 - going for the lung cancer. Go figure - never smoked in his life. Brian's been working on their cabin, trying to get it as close to being shelled in before winter as possible. It's looking great - the sub floor is down and the walls should start going up next hitch off.

Since getting home, it's been go, go, go. We moved in to the new house on the 16th. I'll post pictures once we are a little more settled, but so far there are boxes everywhere. The most wonderful thing about this house is that nothing needs to be changed. I am so tired of remodels!! Peggy helped me to paint Kailyn's room to match all of her ocean critters, but other than that, if this house stays unchanged for 10 years, I will be OK! Well, maybe 5 years... you know me! The dining room is a little more formal than Brian and I's taste, so we will probably change that and do a few other minor things, but we are excited that they are just projects that are there when we feel like it - nothing needs to be done right away.

Other than that, I started my bookkeeping job and so far, I really like it. I'm even considering taking on another client or two. I'm working almost exclusively from home on Kailyn's nap times, so other than needing to find a new time to do dishes, it has been really nice to be home with her. I've also been babysitting a past coworker's daughter, Sophia, who is 16 months old (just 5 months older than Kailyn). We've had so much fun together - it's really cool to watch my daughter interact with another little girl. They are constantly imitating each other, from Kailyn trying to walk like her new friend, to Sophia going back to crawling, and then they have contests back and forth with all kinds of goofy noises, making each other laugh. I hope that Kailyn has as many wonderful relationships as I am blessed with... maybe this will be the start of one. We went to the park on Wednesday and the girls had a blast swinging together and even got some of the big girls to take them down the slide. Kailyn wasn't too crazy about it - but Sophia apparently liked it; she kept going back down over and over again.


I am heading off to bed. Kailyn is back to her normal 7am wake-up time (no matter when she goes to bed at night), and I like to get up a little earlier than she does for a little quiet-time before the craziness that is our lives begins. I doubt Ash would believe that I do this without an alarm clock!

Please let me know what you think of this - post comments!!