K. K.

Have you ever seen that episode of Big Bang Theory, "The Friendship Contraction" which aired earlier this month?  In it, one of the main characters, Howard, is getting ready to go into space with NASA and wants a cool nickname like the other NASA guys.  But, he wants a super cool nickname.  So, he decides to encourage the astronauts toward a cool nickname he really wants.  He tries setting up opportunities to plant the idea in their head.

Well, earlier this week, I was picking Kaitlyn up from school.  Like normal, she ran off with some of her friends until we hit the gate to leave the school.  One of the girls yelled "Bye K. K."

I was taken a little aback and asked her what that stood for?  And teased a little, asking if it was short for Kaitlyn and Kevin (one of her BFFs)?  She got offended and said "NO!"  I asked then what K. K. was?  She told me it was her nickname.

I asked her how she got that nickname.  She said she really wanted a nickname, so she just told some of the girls that's what we call her at home and if they wanted, they could call her it to.  Well, I guess that's one way to get a nickname.  I wonder if I should tell her friends that when she whines, we call her the only nick name we know "Itty, Bitty, Baby Katy" to remind her that she's a big girl now.

I've now noticed a lot of her Valentine's Day Cards are addressed to K. K...

My bossy daughter

Today, Samantha and I picked up Kaitlyn from school like we normally do. We we waited outside her classroom until her class was dismissed.

From there, we walked to the side gate towards the crosswalk to the street we park on. Typically, Kaitlyn ditches us until we hit the side gate in favor of walking with her friends.

Today, we as we got to the street there was a little boy standing between two crosswalks, right next to the street, teetering on the street, next to several teachers and staff throwing his back pack high up in the air then trying to catch it. Several times he had step into the street to catch it.

Kaitlyn looked at him with the look that everyone who knows her has seen before. A look most girls don't master until way into their teens. The look where her eyes narrow, her brows slightly point inwards and one side of her lip curls up.

She said "_________ that is a really stupid thing to do." I immediately told her that was not nice as he busted up laughing, asked how she really got her picture on her valentine's day card and stopped doing it.

She explained he was in her class and had already lost them table points by not listening to her. Which of corse prompted a discussion about better ways to talk to people and better ways to get people to listen to you. And of course, how to not be Bossy McBossy Pants.

She was right though, it wads stupid thing to do. If only I could figure out where on earth she got this bossy streak from...

The lost form of etiquette

More and more often, I'm noticing how common it is for people to completely and totally omit manners and etiquette from their daily lives.

I wonder how much of it is from just not knowing manners and how much is from just pure laziness.

Some of my biggest pet peeves are: being late, not RSVPing, not acknowledging gifts, not saying please and thank you, having a sense of entitlement about just about anything and asking or demanding particular gifts. 

I push being on time with Kaitlyn really hard. I hate being late.  I think it is one of the most disrespectful things you can do to someone.  I think if it is something that happens on a regular basis it is essentially telling someone "my time is more valuable than yours" and is just in such poor taste.  Now, I get that things happen and come up, and I do think that one or two slip ups are one thing, it's the repetitiveness that I think is just so incredibly rude.

As someone who loves to throw parties, I can tell you, the inability for people these days to properly RSVP is enough to make me want to rip my hair out.  It seriously takes less than 5 minutes and the reason behind it should just be common sense.  RSVPing to an event allows the host to prepare the right food, enough favors (for kids parties and the like) and to plan the event accordingly.  Please do not be one of these offenders.

Thank yous!  This is a huge deal in our family.  Our rule with Kaitlyn (and with Samantha when she's old enough) is that you cannot touch, hold, try, spend or play with a gift until you have written that thank you card and it's in an addressed envelope ready for mommy to drop in the mail.  If someone is going to take the time, energy and thought to give you a gift, the very least you can do is to thank them for it.  My rule in the future is going to be, I do not want to burden someone with the responsibility of acknowledging a gift by giving one.  I love giving gifts.  Seriously.  I enjoy it.  And not for any hoopla or to look good or anything like that.  I just don't understand how we've strayed so far from saying thank you?

As long as I'm talking about how much I love giving gifts, I hate being restricted on what I can or should buy.  I think registries and wish lists are great sources of inspiration and ideas, but I hate when people make it clear that they only want X, Y or Z.  And in those cases, I will gladly give A, B or C without a gift receipt and if you would like to donate it to charity, by all means, please do.

Lately, these seem to be my biggest pet peeves.  They cover the most important lessons in etiquette and manners I try to teach my kids.  What are yours?

The Must Haves for Toddlerhood and Baby's Second Year

This is our second time into toddlerhood, we learned a lot the first time around, and obviously in 6 years, things have changed and progressed and we've learned more since then.  I'm sure if there were a third journey we'd learn even more.  But, for now, I wanted to share our must haves.

Obviously, every family is going to be different.  This is what has worked for our family.  And a lot of it has to do with easing communication which therefore decreases tantrums, crying and frustration for the little one.  I really wanted to sign with Kaitlyn.  Really wanted to.  But, since she was born with her tongue tied and that ultimately led to years of speech therapy, we made the decision with her speech therapist and doctor to not sign.  We all agreed it would cut down on her frustration, however, her frustration fueled her to work harder on her speech which greatly benefited her in the long run.  Samantha was also born tongue tied and while I do not think she'll need speech therapy because she was "clipped" earlier and has such an extensive vocabulary, I don't want to risk it.

Without further digression, here is our list:

* Sippy Cups.  And a lot of them.  It is so important to wean baby from the bottle.  We usually start at about 10 months because this is the age they seem to be more willing to try something new and typically aren't as attached.  However, it's hard to know what kind they will like: hard spout, soft spout, big handles, little handles, no handles, clunky, tiny and so on.  We buy a variety and when she shows her favorites we stock up on those.  They are always kept in a cupboard she can easily get to because it cuts down on frustrations.  If she wants something to drink, she just walks over to her cupboard and gets a cup and brings it to me and it's clear that she's fussy because she's thirsty.  No guess work involved.

* Hip Hammock (or sling that works with little ones over 25 lbs).  I personally love the hip hammock.  It holds them on your hip until 35 lbs and evenly distributes the weight across your back and shoulders.  This makes it so easy for when we're out shopping and I have to run into the grocery store and look in the backseat to discover she's sound asleep.  I then have to make a decision based on 3 choices: 1. Wake her up and deal with the consequences; 2. Put her in the stroller and maneuver the stroller and groceries; 3. Put her in the hip hammock, push a basket and let her sleep.  I personally like #3.  I know there is a huge variety of slings and carriers on the market, this just so happens to be my personal favorite at this age, but find what works for you and your baby.

* Musical CD of classical lullabies.  This has saved our sleep.  It's the same CD we used for Kaitlyn.  It only gets turned on twice and then plays on repeat.  The first time of the day is during nap time.  Samantha knows that if we're going into her room and I turn the CD on and hand her a blanket, it's nap time.  And she will now go down without fussing.  Same thing at night.  It also creates enough background noise where Dusty can drill into the walls, I can vacuum and Kaitlyn can sing at the top of her lungs and she will sleep through it.

* Good Tennis Shoes.  I am a big fan of comfort over looks any day of the week.  Samantha wears her sketchers or her Stride Rites every day.  They don't leave any marks on her feet, she has figured out how to walk really well in shoes and her feet are protected from the elements.

* A favorite blankie.  Samantha FINALLY has a favorite.  She had one that she really liked, and she would cuddle it when she slept, but it never was something she had to take with her.  Then, I made her one that was minkie on one side and silky on the other.  She will drag it all over the place (which reminds me, I need to go pick up more yardage of it so they can be in rotation!), and insist on it to sleep with.  And it's super lightweight, so I more comfortable when she insists on putting it over her head or walking around with it draped over her.

* Easily accessible toys.  I am a firm believer in teaching kids how to entertain themselves at an early age.  It helps foster an active imagination, it gives you some time to enjoy that cup of coffee and it just is so sweet to peak into their room or their space and see them playing while imaging what could be going on in their heads.  Samantha has toddler toys in her room that she can get to easily, both in and out of bins.  Since kids love the activity of pulling things out of boxes and shoving them back in, she has soft cloth cubes that she can easily carry that are filled with toys.

* Easy to put on clothes.  Once they can take off, it's all they want to do.  They do not have time for you to bother them with being dressed, brushing their hair or any of that.  At least, that's what Samantha tries to communicate with me by thrashing all over the place and yelling "Up! Up!" as I'm trying to get her dressed.  They are going to get dirty, they are going to need something they can move easily in and they are going to try and take their clothes off.  Samantha does not like to be in just a diaper ever.  If she is, she'll bring us whatever clothing she is missing (top or bottom) and insist we put it on her as she walks.  This also makes it so much easier for when they start insisting on doing it themselves.

* Patience, a sense of humor, a camera.  This time goes by so incredibly fast.  In my opinion, the first year is nothing compared to the ones that come after it.  Each day they are learning and figuring out so much and from month to month they loose that baby-ness to them.  They become such individuals and it's just overall scary how quickly they leave their babyself in the dust.  Enjoy it.  Take a ton of pictures, there is no such thing as too much.  Videotape their tiny voices and the silly noises they make, watch their brains work, learn to laugh when everything goes wrong and remember how hard their brains and bodies are working.

For us, everything else is fun, but these are the necessities.  These are the things that makes our days go by easier.

Valentine's Day

Around here, I usually handle all of the holidays.  I do Christmas Shopping and ask Dusty for his thoughts about gifts along the way, looking for ideas or inspiration on what to get the ones we love.  He helps set some of it up the night before and helps videotape that morning.  For Easter, I fill those baskets and make the notes from the Easter Bunny.  For birthdays, I tell him what I'm going to get and have him sign the card.

Valentine's Day is the exception. 

For the most part, Valentine's Day is another day around here.  We spend a lot of time with the I Love You's amongst us and little surprises through the year.  Valentine's Day is another holiday, but a much smaller one.  We're really big on Valentine's Day being a day of love and time together and not really a gift giving holiday.  I mean, seriously, our girls (and us) have way too much stuff as it is.  I'm always looking for ways to downgrade it, not increase it.

Every year since Kaitlyn was an itty bitty baby, Dusty has taken it upon himself to handle it all.  He gets all his "girls" roses and little presents and candy.  He buys it without asking about any gift ideas.  He sets it all up, every year, after I go to bed in places we're sure to find it in easily when we wake up in the morning.

This year was no exception.

Dusty surprised Kaitlyn with her favorite things.  A new Monster High car, lime green roses (her favorite color right now), a Big Time Rush card with a poem in it, and some of her favorite candy.  She was elated. 

When Samantha decides to wake up, she is going to be excited to see the Blowing Kisses Elmo.  Her and Kaitlyn fought over this toy when they saw it in the store to the point where I nearly bought it.  And of course, her pink rose and balloon, hiding what might be her favorite discovery Daddy found her: Chocolate Teddy Grahams.

And I woke up to beautiful roses, delicious bags of my favorite candies, a sewing apparatus I've had my eyes on and a perfect card complete with googly eyes.

Kaitlyn has her cards (that she helped design) are attached to candy, ready to pass out.  Her teacher's gift ready to be given and she's getting dressed now in her custom made Valentine's Day Outfit.

Samantha has mailed out her cards (with Kaitlyn's and which she absolutely loves and carries around with her) to friends and family.  She's asleep, but then she'll get to also wear her custom made Valentine's Day outfit and, depending on her tummy,  enjoy a yummy piece of chocolate or two.

Life is good. 

We are truly a blessed family.  While life may not be perfect and we may endure the daily pain of being a family person short, our house is filled with love, laughter, warmth and beautiful memories that will last us a lifetime.

I hope that your Valentine's Day is a lot of fun.  Even more, I hope that your everyday is filled with love.  I hope that you feel warmth in your home and you have the privilege of being surrounded by those that make you happy.

Samantha's 15 month Appointment

What a crazy day today has been.  And it's not even 1 yet!

We started this rainy day by taking Samantha to the doctors for her 15 month check up.  Since Kaitlyn had a dentist appointment at 11, and Samantha's appointments are usually over in less than 20 minutes, it made sense to take her with me. 

Never again.

I LOVE our pediatrician and I love his office.  I recommend him to anyone in the area.  But, today, the nurse was work on training a new nurse to prepare for her upcoming maternity leave and my favorite nurse was not in today.  BOO.  So, once in the office, things ran slow on their end.  And it was hard keeping Samantha not crying (she cut a molar this morning, had another "poop" incident with constipation in the waiting room and was in the most awful of moods), Kaitlyn sitting still and our stuff all contained.

First, the measurements.  She's down to 21 lbs and 15 ounces.  Which is a weight loss of about 3 ounces from almost 3 weeks ago.  She's dropped to the 40% mark.  But, her doctor is not concerned.  She's active, she's energetic, she's eating and we'll just see how she does at her 18 month appointment.  Her height is at 31.5" (which is up an inch from 3 months ago) and is in the 80% mark.  Her gigantic head is at 47.5 cm which is in the 90%.  So, she's growing.  Which is great!

She's advanced for her age as far as her gross and fine motor skills go, as well as her language development.  She's really, really behind though in pooping. 

During our wait in the waiting room, she had a tough stool.  I mean, she cried, a hemroid formed and she was not a happy camper.  Since dropping to the half dose of laxative on Saturday, she's been having troubles going.

This resulted in our doctor ordering an X-Ray of her tummy to see what the deal was.  We waited in our room for nearly an hour to get her 3 little shots (which she of course screamed thorugh since we were holding her down and still) and then headed down to radiology.

She did AMAZING during her X-Ray.  She layed perfectly still without any help or support and we got it in one shot. 

Her X-Ray showed even though she had 2 large, heavy bowel movements within the couple hours prior, she was still filled with stool.  It needs to get out.  So, we are back to the full dose of laxative, another enema and magnesium citrate.  Wish us luck.

From there, we raced to Kaitlyn's dentist office.  The delay at the doctor's office pushed us 30 minutes late, :( , but, as always they were amazing.  She got her cavitiy filled, started feeling less woozy from the gas and was ready to go.

So, we had one day back in cloth and it looks like that was it for now.  Joy.  Not.

The Diet

Around New Years, Dusty decided he wanted to start losing weight.  This led to me deciding that our whole family could start eating healthier.  We could give up fast food, we could trade in the unhealthy treats for healthier ones and we could practice better living habits.

My concern was that he would want to do something that resulted in rapid weight loss and would be disappointed if he didn't see significant results rather quickly, get discouraged and give up.  My other concern was my own weight.  I have the HARDEST time keeping weight on and gaining.  HARDEST.  I'm finally at 123 and I have to fight to stay there and easily consume 3,000+ calories a day.  I am blessed with an awesome metabolism that one day, I'm sure, will catch up with me.  But, until then, I don't like the idea of dropping even a single pound.

To help Dusty with his weight loss, we decided to utilize some aspects of sparkpeople.com.  We entered in his current weight, his goal weight and it told us how many calories he should consume a day (as well as fat, protein, carbs and so on), meal ideas, recipes, and all that good stuff.  His goal was to drop to 1500-1800 calories a day and to lose 2 pounds a week.  His total weight loss goal was 37 pounds.  This goal should be reached in about 4 months according to Spark People.



We began logging each and everything he ate.  Trading unhealthy meals for healthier ones.  Saving calories where we could.  For example, instead of eating left overs for breakfast, he started eating a yogurt with a sprinkle of granola.  Lunches were taken to work instead of fast food, and dinner stayed nearly the same.  Whenever possible substitutions were made to ensure that it was super low in calories, healthy and flavorful.  And lots and lots of veggies.  We've always been big veggie eaters, so that part was easy.

Thursday marked 1 month since starting the lifestyle change.  Dusty is down 19 pounds!  How awesome is that?  We've become a lot more aware of what we're eating and the nutritional value of every bite.  Dusty still gets to have just about anything he wants and we've eaten out only once in a month.  Super proud of him!