I'm a big ole softy

I swore I'd never, ever be one of those moms pushing around her little one in this hideous, jumbo cart at the grocery store. But then the day came, and KP's face lit up and I couldn't say no. My heart melted and I eagerly helped her climb in and giggled the whole way through the store at how happy she was. OK, honestly it helped a bit that Ryan was the one who drove this monster of a thing around most of the time. But I did get a stint behind the cart and let me tell you, these things are NOT easy to steer.

As we were leaving the store Ryan asked if I wanted to go mini van shopping. I laughed really hard and said, no way in h-e-double toothpick! I'll never, ever own a mini van. But then I stopped midlaugh and cringed...that's exactly what I'd said about the cart. Zikes!

A breath of fresh air

I noticed the other day that KP's 'ahhh baby smell' is definitely gone. You know the smell I'm talking about, where you smell her head and just sigh with contentment. Well, now she has toddler stink. And by stink I actually mean that in a good way. It's the:
*I explored everything and have been everywhere today smell
*I tried a new yogurt and banana hair conditioner smell (aka breakfast mushed into her hair)
*I climbed up the slide ten times today smell
*I made snow angels in the rocks at the playground smell
*I chased every dog I saw today and caught up to a couple of them smell
*I played with play doh and only licked it twice today smell (instead of full-blown eating it, progress I tell ya!)
*I colored my entire face, hands, and feet with marker smell (the fu manchu look isn't a good one)

And the list could go on and on. The thing is I LOVE those things (ok, maybe the last one wasn't so funny today when it was combined with coloring on the carpet as well) but I sure do miss the baby smell.

Well, Kaitlyn has had a bit of a cold this week so isn't sleeping too well. The other night I was snuggled up with her on the overstuffed chair. She finally falls asleep (poor congested boo!). She's a totally crazy sleeper. She's moving here and there, throwing arms, tossing and turning. Anyways, at one point I end up with her little tushy RIGHT in my face. And then I got it. A whiff of that baby smell I loved. Yep, she just had a clean diaper put on and it was a pampers one that smells like baby powder. Even though I was super tired it made me giggle that I got my wish to smell that baby smell again in the most unlikely of places. *sigh*

Happy Birthday, Grammy Jill!

Hi Grammy Jill,
Wishing you a very special birthday! I sure wish I could celebrate with you today. Guess that just means we need to schedule some time really soon so that we can have cupcakes together!

Luvs and hugs!

May I have a side of barf with that soft taco, please?

So Saturday was such a great day, until the incident. In the morning, KP had Little Gym which she is LOVING these days. Then some lunch and a lovely nap. It was pretty decent out so we decided to head down to Coulon Park. KP had a blast playing at the playground there and watching the ducks and hanging waterside (first picture below). After that we headed to Golf Galaxy where KP got in some putting practice (second set of pictures). We didn't realize it but it was 6:20 p.m. by that time so headed home. On the way we decided to hit a drive thru since it was getting late.

Fast forward: We've just sat down to enjoy a delicious meal from Taco Time. Kaitlyn is happily shoveling food in her mouth. All the sudden she starts crying. I thought maybe she had bitten her cheek or something. I ask her what's wrong, does something hurt? At that point it sounds like she's choking. I whip her out of the high chair and then it happens. I got a vomit shower! Poor boo! The mama instinct kicked in and I didn't care if it got all over me, I just wanted to help her. In all of this yuckiness, I did find some beauty and/or humor in the following :

*Snuggling with her after we got her all cleaned up and calmed down
*Ryan's graciousness in cleaning up the puke on the floor and his humor when he said, 'hey, there's even peaches in here from breakfast!'

So there you have it, KP's first puke story.

Finally, although the last picture wasn't from Saturday I thought I'd stick it in here. I took a PTO day on Thursday and Kaitlyn and I headed to the Children's Museum. After an hour she was 'all done'. She then proceeded to lead me into Petco and giggle and giggle at the ferrets.

Spring Break = No Bus Hunts :(

What's a girl to do with her afternoon when there are no school buses out and about? Spring break means very few school buses to be 'hunted'. Thus, in Kaitlyn's opinion spring break stinks! Nonetheless, we quickly saved the day by heading to the library instead. And what progress we've made there.

1. The loud squeals are mostly contained (KP gets VERY excited about the large stuffed animals in the kids section) and she's starting to understand 'inside voices'...well, at least when she's not super excited
2. The hurricane called KP has been downgraded from a category 5 to a category 2. Instead of me frantically chasing after her as she pulls each and every book off the shelf, it's now to only a handful of books being pulled from the shelves
3. She's got some favorite book series now (Curious George) and knows exactly where they are located. She heads directly there to find her new picks
4. She'll actually sit for a few minutes and read at the tables (proof in the picture below)
5. She's learned how to check out her own books and has a great new book bag to carry them all - thanks Auntie Jen! (see 2nd picture below)

Good times!

BTW, for those of you who love KP's new book bag and cape (previous post) as much as I do, check out the site below for this great stuff and lots, lots more! This is also where Kaitlyn got her two silky blankets that she LOVES and which have comforted her since she was a tiny, itty-bitty one.
http://mythreesonsdesigns.bigcartel.com/

Crazy Cousins

As a bonus to Easter, Emily and Jen stayed the night Sunday night. Emily is on Spring Break this week and with Jen still working full time, Emily hung out with Kaitlyn and Karen on Monday. It's so fun to see these girls together and to watch how excited they get playing together.

Based on the gleam in their eyes (first picture below) we're in serious trouble. They already look like they are scheming up things together. We're seriously screwed in the teenage years with these two. The best part is that whatever they get into, I can blame it on my sister since Emily is the older one and should have known better, right?! te-he-he. The truth of the matter is that it'll probably be KP coaxing Emily to the darkside.

Anyways, I had to post the last picture to show off KP's new cape that she got from the Mosers. So freakin' cute!

Easter Treasures

Easter celebration brought the Krauses and Mosers to our house for a fun and laughter-filled day of hanging out and eating. My absolute favorite part of the day: the Easter egg hunt for the girls. I will always treasure the memory of that. It was so stinkin' cute! KP trying to keep up with Emily; carrying her big ole Easter basket in the nook of her arm; sometimes just dragging the basket along so that she could go more quickly; the thrill of finding an egg. Priceless!

First set of pictures/collage is from Easter day. The last picture is from today. Appears that KP isn't ready to give up on the Easter egg hunts even though Easter is over. And she seems to be getting more serious about it as well. Notice the shovel she has in her hand. Apparently she thinks she can get more eggs that way. Totally hilarious!