Labor Day Weekend

We're down in St Pete this weekend, and boy has it been busy! We got here around 10 Friday night. Kayleigh had fallen asleep in the car around 8, but then woke up when we got here. Valerie and Matt got here not long after us, and Kayleigh was still up to greet them. She ended up sleeping with us because she would NOT go to sleep in her crib.
On Saturday we had all of the Woodsons and Grandma over for lunch. Erik and I made homemade onion rings, Dad grilled hamburgers, Mom made potato salad and deviled eggs, and Barbara and Jack brought over some baked beans. Saturday night we went to the Thai place that Mom and Dad love. Valerie and Matthew had never been, and almost didn't get to go on Saturday because Mom and Dad had gone earlier in the week. They were nice enough to eat there twice in a week so that Valerie and Matthew could try it. Kayleigh ended up in bed with us AGAIN that night. She had fallen asleep with Erik, but as soon as she touched the mattress of her crib, she woke up. Sometimes it's just easier for us to let her sleep with us so that we can also get some sleep.
On Sunday, we visited Granny, Aunt Ola and Charlie. Kayleigh liked showing off her walking skills and found some fun stuff to get into at Aunt Ola's place. Sorry about the ceramic piece, though! Hopefully Charlie can fix it for you again! Of course we had a delicious lunch with them. This time it was bbq pork sandwiches, cole slaw, mac & cheese and more deviled eggs--yum! We love them! We had banana pudding for dessert, which I think was Kayleigh's favorite part of the meal. After we got back to my parents' house, Kayleigh and I took a 3 hour nap! We woke up just in time to rush to get ready to go to BERN'S tonight! The food was wonderful, but we did miss the company of Nick, Robyn and Taylor. They were supposed to come this weekend, but were unable to. I think it was probably a good thing because they are now preparing for the hurricane.
The dress Kayleigh is wearing tonight is from uncle John and aunt Chaille. Isn't it so pretty?? She has her initials monogrammed on the front as well. We thought Bern's was the perfect place to show it off!

P.S. NCSer's--We'll see you all when we come down next month! Yahoo for reunions!

Nutsy or gutsy??

I had to get 3 cavities filled yesterday, and I had already told the dentist how nervous I was about getting the Novocaine shot in my mouth. I remember getting shots in my mouth when I was younger, and it was NOT fun! The dentist told me that she could try to fill the cavities without Novocaine. She said that she would start drilling, and if I wanted to, I could have her stop and she would give me the shot. There were some moments during the fillings that weren't the most comfortable, but none of them hurt very much. I would say that the last filling was the worst, but by the time I thought I might say something, she was practically done. So, I had all three cavities filled without Novocaine. She was impressed and said I must have a high pain threshhold. The smart comeback I thought of later was, "I teach high school. Of course I have a high pain threshhold!" Does this mean I could have tried childbirth without an epidural?? I wonder if that would have changed the outcome? (Meaning no c-section.) Oh well. The contractions I felt were MUCH worse than the drilling in my mouth!
So, what do you think? Am I nutsy or gutsy?

More pictures

I tried all afternoon to get a picture of Kayleigh in her cute top. I don't know what it is about the top, but I thought it looked very cute on her. She, on the other hand, had other plans, which didn't include cooperating with Mommy! I'm sorry, but I really couldn't decide which were the cutest pictures, so you'll have to look through all 12 of them.
We are home from school today. I'm the last teacher in my family to get the day off. Mom had the day off on Tuesday, Valerie has had off since Wednesday, and I was VERY surprised to hear that I would have the day off today! It's 1:30, and Kayleigh knows how to spend a rainy day. She's been asleep for just over 2 hours.

Silly faces

I just had my digital camera hooked up to the computer to download some other pictures, and I found these pictures of Kayleigh. I can't remember what I was trying to get a picture of her doing--I think I was trying to get a picture of her climing into her little chair. She obviously isn't cooperating with me, and it making these very silly faces at the camera.

New teeth

Boy do I feel like a bad mom. Kayleigh has been a little drooly lately--nothing dripping, but she sometimes has a hard time keeping the spit in her mouth. I could tell that her next two bottom teeth are getting ready to come in, but last night Erik had her across his lap, and I saw something white towards the back of her mouth. Yep, she has two top molars coming in! It's either the first or second molar, but there is one on each side. And, you can see a lot of white, which means that they've been there for awhile.

Kayleigh made it through almost a full week of school before they called to say she had a fever and needed to be picked up. Luckily, Erik was off for the day, and he went and got her. Unfortunately for him, I was also on my way to get her (not knowing that he had been called). When she got home, she seemed okay, except for being a little warm. Here is a short video about what she thinks of taking Tylenol.

First day of school

It has been a long day! Kayleigh went back to school today for the first time since her birthday. Sure, she's been there to visit, but today she was there to stay. There are 7 kids in her new class, including her, with 2 teachers. All of the kids were in Kayleigh's old class, so that probably made the transition a little easier. One of the teachers was also her teacher last year--another plus! There is another kid in the baby room that will move up to her class eventually. This kid (I think it's a girl, but I always think it's a girl!) is 10 months old, but was 2 months premature, so the school decided to hold her back until she catches up some more with the older kids.
In Kayleigh's new class, most of the kids take a nap at the same time, instead of going down when tired. They also sleep on mats, instead of in cribs. The rest of the class has been practicing this all summer. Kayleigh had a hard time taking naps last year, so I was worried about it today. When I picked her up today, her teacher told me that it took a little time to get Kayleigh to sleep, but she ended up sleeping the longest. I was SO glad to hear that, because she's been taking some great naps over the summer, and I've been worried that she wasn't getting enough sleep while at school.
Kayleigh was asleep tonight by 7:30, so I know she had a big day.

Dancing queen

Oh my gosh! We were on our way home from dinner with Jim and Shirley, and Madonna came on the radio. I asked Kayleigh if she was dancing, and this is what she came up with. Of course she did it a little better earlier, but we had to wait until we got home to get the camera. She was so funny one time when she was shaking her hips and then waving her hands in the air! This girl never ceases to amaze me with her tricks!


P.S. No, Aunt Anne, I am NOT going out to buy her a pole!!!

We're in trouble now!

Aunt Anne, Kayleigh heard that you wanted to take her to Shaws, and she wanted to show you that she really does need some good walking shoes! She just started taking multiple steps without holding on to anything this week. It is so amazing how quickly she'll realize she can do something and then keep doing it. It was on our anniversary (June 19th) that she took her first steps, and it's just now that she's trying to go out on her own. She has been moving all over the place while holding on to something, but this is whole new territory. By the way, she could have taken more steps for the 3rd lap, but tripped over my foot. Don't ask me how, because I have small feet!
Watch out, Thor! Kayleigh will soon be chasing you around, too!
P.S. It's a couple of hours later, and Kayleigh climbed down off of the couch and walked into our bedroom to find Erik! WOW!!


This other video is of her climbing into her chair. She has ignored that thing for months now, and all of a sudden she saw it and decided to climb into it. She has another little chair upstairs that she was climbing into today, too.

New shoes!

Now that school is about to start again (ugh!) I had to buy a pair of tennis shoes for Kayleigh. She has worn some sandals before, but that's not allowed in school. The playground at school has mulch in it, so they don't want the kids to wear sandals and get their feet torn up by the mulch. Unfortunately, the selection was weak, and "Winnie the Pooh" tennis shoes were the best ones that I could find. I'm not a Pooh fan, so I don't really like buying their stuff, but the shoes have both pink and purple in them, so that means they'll match all of her clothes. She wore them to Publix today and did okay with them on. I got her to walk for a little bit in the house with them, but then she was ready to take them off. I figure I need to get her to wear them for at least a little while each day so that she can get used to the feel of them before she has to wear them all the time at school. They are off now, and she's having fun playing with the velcro!
I am also trying to put more bows in Kayleigh's hair so that she'll keep them in. She's a little more used to them now, but sometimes still likes to pull them out of her hair. Now that she has more hair, I like to put the bows in it. She definitely looks cute with them in, if I do say so myself!

Whew!

I started to think that it would never happen! Since we've been home from Hawaii, Kayleigh has had a rough time going to sleep and staying asleep. I'm sure part of it was her body re-adjusting to the time change, but I do think that another part of it was her being spoiled in Hawaii by sleeping in the same room (and sometimes the same bed!) as Erik and me. She has finally started sleeping through the night again, and has been able to put herself to sleep. I was getting worried because 1.) I don't like having to be up with her when I should be sleeping, and 2.) I go back to work next week and REALLY don't want to be up with her while I should be sleeping! Kayleigh will also start back at day care next week. It's going to be a big week for the two of us! For now, I'm just trying to enjoy my last few days off.