More Treats Than Tricks - Whew!

Happy Halloween! We'd been working all week on Kaitlyn's 'trick or treat.' There was one unfortunate instance while we were practicing that I slipped and finished the sentence with, 'smell my feet, give me something good to eat!' KP instantly picked up on that and kept repeating it to me...and wanting me to smell her feet. So glad that it did not come out tonight while we made our way around the Moser's neighborhood. In fact, when the real test came and the pressure was on, she did great!

Although KP has had many, many ice cream taste tests, this week was her first entrance into candy and suckers. Um, yeah, she liked them! Who can blame her? The yummy goodness of a peanut butter cup or savoring a sweet dum-dum is a pretty nice thing. However, all in moderation. Thankfully Kaitlyn only had a couple whereas it's quite a different story for me. Let me just say, I'm ready to eat healthy again for a while.

Thanks to the Mosers for hosting yet another fantastic gathering.

Prefunking at the Mosers

Time to head out and see what this whole 'trick or treat' thing is about

Back at the Mosers, one kitty just hanging out with another

Waiting to answer the door for trick or treaters became the highlight of the night for the girls

Hmm...classic hand in the cookie jar dealo

Curious Kaitlyn

I'm missing the little peanut like crazy! So I think a post about her is in order.

Well, as many of you know she's a BIG fan of Curious George. Perhaps it's because she has that curious bond going on with him. The daily conversations we have include:

*'What that mama?' for everything!
*'Where Kaitlyn going?' when we are getting her shoes on or getting in the car
*'What that one all about?' when watching a movie or listening to a music CD (yep, she wants to know what the song is all about that she's about to hear)
*'What mama laughing at?' This one we have to be careful with these days. If she thinks we're laughing at her, she gets embarrassed and really upset.
*'What comes next?' when we're running errands.

It's so amusing to carry on conversation with this little person, who surprises me daily on what she knows! One of my favorites lately is when Ryan and I will do or say something that she doesn't like...she'll say, 'No do that!' Any of you who know Ryan know that simply motivates him to keep doing it. And then she'll get VERY insistent that he not do it! Funny...well, to a point. :)

The Highlights and Lowlights of My Travels

So if you read my previous post, you know I'm in Orlando. I took the red eye flight out Saturday night and discovered a few things about myself that aren't so pleasant.

1. Although being the parent of a little one makes me much more sympathetic to parents traveling with kids, evidently my patience runs thin after 15 minutes of my seat being kicked. There's zero left after 20 minutes. Did I mention this was a red eye flight? Here's how it played out, "Argh, that little girl (probably age 6) is kicking my seat...oh well, Kaitlyn has done that before...hmm, she's still kicking my seat. But I have a little one so I understand...Still kicking...Isn't her mom going to make her stop?...really, still? Isn't this little stinker (not quite the word I thought though) tired? Shouldn't she be sleeping....Really, how long is this going to go on, this is ridiculous!
I'm sure I'll be paying for those thoughts when we take our next airline trip with Kaitlyn in a few weeks.

2. The gentleman next to me didn't find a need to sleep on the flight either. He chose to read and play solitaire the whole way there. Leaving his light to shine right on me. I was really annoyed and yet it's this guy's right to do this, of course. I shouldn't expect the world to cater to me and my needs. However, he was a talker and that's where I draw the line! Argh, I had to pretend to sleep to avoid the chit-chat. Shouldn't there be a law against that on a red eye? He also took his shoes off and proceeded to walk around the plane without them, including the bathroom. That's just wrong! Maybe I'm not as accommodating to quirky people as I thought I was.

3. Upon arriving, I had the pleasure (read: torture) of taking the Magical Express to my hotel. Now arriving so early meant I was the only one on this HUGE motor coach. I was told 10,000 people would be coming in later that day but for me, I got a personal ride. I was quite amused because Disney is placing a HUGE focus on being 'green' these days, yet they transported me in a gas-guzzling, pollution-creating bus to the hotel...just little ole me! Back to the torture part, the driver being the typical Disney employee felt it was his duty to do the whole song and dance and hype me up for my Disney experience. I did actually feel bad when I told him I wouldn't be doing anything Disney-related other than staying at the Disney property for a work conference. Nonetheless, he didn't let that stop him. He forged right ahead thinking he could convince me that I needed to Disney it up! It was painful! And I got irritated with this poor guy who is obviously so in love with his job and Disney. I'm blaming it on lack of sleep from the first two items above. Had it not been for that, I would've forged right into the drivers dream of a wonderfully, magic vacation (ok, probably not!)

I Heart Technology

This week finds me in Orlando for a work conference. It's a great conference and I'm really lucky that my organization sees the value in sending me every year. I started attending five years ago and always walk away with fantastic ideas.

BUT now with Kaitlyn, it's a bit harder to get away, both logistically and emotionally. It definitely helps knowing she's in great hands while I'm away, but even better these days is our ability to Skype! Tonight I had dinner with Kaitlyn and Ryan - what a treat!! Video conference is the next best thing to being there, although I sure wish they could find a way for me to reach out and give her a squeeze! Amazing that it's free and so stinkin' easy.

While I'm away, I'll update with some pictures that I've been wanting to post. In September, we met up with Grammy Jill at the zoo and had the very pleasant surprise that Papa Dirt decided to come along, too. We had a great time - see the proof below.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Papa Dirt

Papa Dirt came through yet again, with two fantastic pumpkins for Kaitlyn.

Thank you so much Papa Dirt for growing these special pumpkins for me. They are perfect!
Love, Kaitlyn

Papa Dirt's pumpkin is the one on the right side of KP next to the sticks





The perfect, Kaitlyn-sized pumpkin!

Halloween Crafts

Kaitlyn has been having a blast over the last couple weeks doing all kinds of crafts. She's become quite the expert with the scissors and now loves cutting things up. Well the latest Halloween craft that she did with Karen had me laughing so hard I was crying. Kaitlyn picked out our Halloween costumes. What do you think?

More Weekend Fun

So what the heck does one do after a fun-filled morning and afternoon at the pumpkin patch? Well, taking into account that we were already overloaded on sugar from the yummy kettle corn and homemade lemonade we, of course, added more SUGAR to the mix! And there was no better way than by making and decorating sugar cookies!

Emily did a great job getting the most out of her dough, so much so that she was able to use every different type of cookie cutter and then she was very imaginative decorating her cookies. Kaitlyn loved using the cookie cutters as well (a little too much so). And oh boy, come decorating time Kaitlyn was in heaven. As you can see from the pictures below she enjoyed the 'taste test'. It was a 90-10 ratio...90 % of the time she licked the frosting off the knife/10% of the time it actually made it on the cookie. Which she would then promptly take a bite of the cookie. Oh well, we had fun and that's all that matters!

We Rocked the Pumpkin Patch

Year two at Maris Farms and we so rocked it! Last year Kaitlyn was still a bit too little to get a whole lot out of the pumpkin patch but this year was quite different. Yeehaw - it was a kick! The best part...we got to share in the experience with Jen, Emily, and Grammy Jill.

A beautiful sunny, fall day + family + carnival food + pumpkins + tons of kids activities = A LOT of laughter and full out fun...otherwise known as rocking it!



One little story that I must capture: Although it was all fun and smiles there was one moment where Kaitlyn wasn't so sure. We put her in the cow train (these really cute cow cars that are pulled by a tractor). There is a picture above. Anyways, she started the train ride in Elsie but ended up in Buttercup. Yep, the guy pulling the tractor had to stop part way through and move her up closer to him. Ryan asked him, 'Was she crying?' He said, 'Nope, she was just white knuckling it!' So sweet that he pulled her up closer to him.

A Not So Good First

Unfortunately, Kaitlyn has her first ear infection (and a sinus-type infection to go along). Total bummer! Although I must say it's pretty darn good that we made it 2 years, 3 months before the ear infection reared it's ugly head. I'm guessing she picked up this bug from preschool. Big frownie face!

She's been on antibiotics now for a few days and it's amazing how quickly she's bounced back. Talk about a drastic difference between a very sad and miserable feeling little one on Wednesday to endless energy today. She's definitely on the run (and in more ways than one since antibiotics can be pretty hard on the tummy!) Nonetheless, yipee for drugs!

She's feeling better just in time for a big weekend ahead with a visit to the pumpkin patch, a play date with Emily, and a get together for the Seahawks game with the Cours. Will post pictures soon!

Summer Flashback

Our weather has turned icky...rainy, grey, and depressing. I'm definitely not ready for 9 months of this. Unfortunately, I don't even have thoughts of summer to console me. Weatherwise we had a very disappointing summer and our fall hasn't been so stellar either. Nonetheless, no matter how much of a let down the weather was we do have some fun memories from summer. As my mind floats back to those, I remember that I've been meaning to make this post for quite a while. The whole Pederson clan was together in August. Check out these photos of the cousins. It is amazing how beautiful, both inside and out, all these kids are!

Auntie Jen Earned Some Serious Brownie Points

Our little boo is feeling under the weather this week. She ran a fever for two days, had icky congestion and just seemed all around miserable. Thankfully she's perking up a bit but during her downtime we did a lot of snuggling and just hanging out together. Most times she didn't want to do much but when she'd perk up a bit and chat with me it often centered around stories from last weekend.

Saturday afternoon she went to the Mosers so that Ryan and I could enjoy a little time together. Auntie Jen decided to take the girls to the East Pierce Fire and Rescue Open House. HUGE hit! For any of you who've spent time with Kaitlyn, she's constantly pointing out airplanes, helicopters, buses, fire engines, etc. And then she proceeds to say, 'One day I ride one'. We've experienced a couple (shuttle buses and planes) but school buses is a tough one as is a helicopter ride (which, by the way, is at the top of her 'want to do'). Well on Saturday she got to sit in a helicopter. They had a Medevac on site for the kids to explore. The coolest thing is that she got to watch it come in and land. And of course, they had tons of other stuff to explore. Fire trucks, 911 simulators, smoke simulators, free balloons, face painting, a bouncy house, and on and on. We'll definitely have to make this a must-do event next year for all of us.

Thanks to the Mosers for taking the peanut on such an exploration/adventure!

Amazing Daughter

So in the last post I posed a question about myself and whether I was amazing or awful. This post there is absolutely no doubt...Kaitlyn is simply amazing. I find myself having so much fun hanging out with her these days. I'm blown away every day by the things she says and observes. And of course, she keeps me laughing like crazy! I keep thinking, "I've got to write this stuff down" but then forget. A couple of recents though that I love:

*Kaitlyn and I were sitting on the back porch tonight watching the sunset. Kaitlyn looks at me and says, 'Love my mama' and then puts her arm around me and sighs contentedly. I melted into a puddle!

*Kaitlyn eating some banana bread that Auntie Jen made, 'This sooooo yummy' with big, happy smile

*Kaitlyn drinking from a juice box, 'This best juice yet!' and then, 'It's going to my tummy'

*Frequently when walking to the car in a parking lot she'll ask, 'Where Kaitlyn car?'...yep, just like that she evidently now owns the Acura. Too bad she isn't the one making the payments. Funny enough in 14 years we just may end up handing over the keys to the Acura to her. LOL!

Anyways, these few don't even do justice to the daily conversations we have and to top it off her memory is crazy good. Bottom line, I love my Kaitlyn. Just when I think I can't love her any more, I find myself doing just that.

Amazing Mom or Awful Mom?

You tell me, which is it? Before judging, please keep in mind that I recently just got back from a work trip to Arizona and spent all day Sunday doing a bizillion loads of laundry, cleaning the house, running errands, and just trying to get caught up. Okay, now that I've made my plea, here it is.

Kaitlyn's preschool assignment for tomorrow was to go on a nature walk and collect fall leaves and pine cones to bring into school. The teacher was encouraging parents to make this an 'event'. Well, due to all that we had going on we never got to take this walk. Now, I really did try. In fact, just this evening I asked Kaitlyn three times if she wanted to go for a nature walk and all three times she had very different ideas. Thus, at 9 pm tonight (after working for 2 hours following dinner) I headed out (in the dark!) searching out leaves and pine cones. Here I am scouring the neighborhood and the park with my iPhone flashlight app (which isn't very bright may I add) doing Kaitlyn's homework.

So....am I an amazing Mommy willing to look like an idiot out there finding the most beautiful leaves and interesting pine cones so Kaitlyn shines bright tomorrow when we take them to Mrs. Marx or am I awful that I didn't insist on the nature walk with Kaitlyn and turn it into an 'experience'? Did I mention it was late, dark, cold and I really, really wanted to just go to bed with a book? Oh, and that KP had zero interest in a nature walk today...oh, I already mentioned that huh? Alright, bring it on. I'm willing to take the heat.

I Dare You...

Go ahead, try and watch this without smiling!

http://cjemoser.blogspot.com/2010/10/kp-giggle-fest-2010.html