Kayleigh Anne

The end of an era

2009-09-13T18:13:00.003-05:00

It's officially time to end our blog here. We do hope that you have enjoyed reading about our family and keeping up with what we're up to. Of course, I can't imagine not blogging after doing it for 2 1/2 years or so!! I would miss showing off how much Kayleigh has grown and allowing those of you far away the ability to read and see what we're doing. So, since we are adding to our family, the URL no longer fits. We have officially moved to a new site. This one will remain on the internet--that way if you forget our new blog URL, or are too lazy to re-bookmark it, please click on the link to be re-directed to the updated Eikeland blog. http://eikelands.blogspot.com
The new blog is still in progress. I'll get it really up and running soon!

For Abuelo and Aunt Anne

2009-09-10T09:26:00.003-05:00

Last night we had our friend, Erick, over for dinner while Amy is out of town. We got this picture and video of Kayleigh. The guys were laughing because Abuelo taught Kayleigh to show off her muscles. They (Erik and Erick) had to up the ante a little bit and told her to say, "Welcome to the gun show Abuelo". She had us cracking up!! She will probably be in therapy for years because of this video, but we have to post it.

Kayleigh showed off Mumble and friend to Erick, and wanted me to take a picture of her with them, so that's the special Aunt Anne photo for the day. Of course, they are huge compared to her when she's sitting down, but it's still a cute picture, don't you think?

And the name is.....

2009-09-08T09:36:00.003-05:00

You'll have to watch Kayleigh on the video to hear baby brother's name.

This second video is just a cute one, I think. Kayleigh is enjoying having me shoot videos of her this morning and then watching them. She's talking about what we're doing today, and after answering the question about it being Grandma's birthday, she says something that I don't understand. If you think you understand her, let me know what she said! :)

Getting wet

2009-09-04T20:25:00.003-05:00

While Kayleigh and I were at the mall with our friends, she wanted to play in the fountains that were there. I didn't think it was a good idea, so I told her that if she waited, we would play in the water at home. We were able to play outside for a long time after dinner tonight and Kayleigh LOVED it! She had more fun with me spraying her with the hose than running through the water in the sprinkler. I think she liked the hose because I would let her have it to run after me. Erik mowed the lawn while we played, and as soon as he was done he joined in on the fun. He helped dry her off while I got out of my wet clothes. He had her wrapped up in her towel and his, and it was so cute that I had to get a picture!

Completely random side note: We FINALLY got our digital camera back from Canon today!!! It works like it's brand new again!!! Woohoo!!

Post-carpet

2009-08-31T14:29:00.002-05:00

I am giddy with excitement over the new carpet in our house! Of course, I could also go for a nap, so maybe that's part of it. Our slumber party with Kayleigh in the living room left us all wanting more sleep this morning. Kayleigh thought it was too cool to get to sleep out there with us and couldn't go to sleep. Luckily, tonight we'll be back to our regular routine. I'll post more pictures when the furniture is back in everyone's room, but that task might not be fully accomplished until this weekend. Obviously, I'm not help to Erik when it comes to the big stuff.
I do think Kayleigh's room is the prettiest out of all of the rooms because of her walls. I think the green goes really well with the carpeting.

Pre-carpet pictures

2009-08-30T16:27:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is the big day for us to FINALLY get our new carpet! We're all so excited about it, including Kayleigh. We've been talking about it for awhile, and I've wanted new carpet since we moved in over 5 years ago.
Thankfully, Jim and Shirley were willing to let us borrow their digital camera to take pictures. I called Canon at the end of last week, and they had to order a part for our broken camera. It's frustrating, but hopefully we'll have it by the end of this week or beginning of next. As long as it gets here before September 30th!
Hopefully these pictures will give you an idea of what the house looks like before we get our carpet. Erik and I have worked almost every day for a couple of weeks to get Kayleigh's butterflies and flowers painted on her walls. Tonight I hope to finish cleaning them up, and then we'll be all done with them. I hope this is the last time I have to paint something like that!
You will also see a picture of the carpet with a paint stain on it. After Erik and I moved in, Valerie came up to visit and help me paint what is now Kayleigh's big girl room. While I was gone that day, Valerie accidentally spilled part of the paint and left the ring that's on the carpet. I just admitted to Erik today what that stain was from. He never asked about it, so I always kept my mouth shut! :) You're welcome, Valerie! The stain has always been covered by either a dresser or a bed, so she spilled in the perfect spot! I do remember her telling me about the stain on my way home from my errand, and I had been so worried that it was in the middle of the room and would look awful! I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was something that could so easily be covered.
Erik has recently talked about buying a new bedroom set. If it had been a couple of years ago, I would have jumped at the chance. Now, I'm content with what we have, and don't feel like buying one, especially since we still have to buy furniture for the baby. I told him today that he has the chance to have new bedroom furniture for the night since our "bedroom" is the living room. He LOVES the big screen tv that is in his room!
Okay, enough with the stories. Enjoy the pictures, and I'll get some more up tomorrow of the carpet. I'm not sure when the house will be completely back to order, but I'll continue to take pictures along the way.

Trip to Jacksonville

2009-08-25T16:03:00.002-05:00

Last weekend, Kayleigh and I went to Jacksonville to visit my sister and brother-in-law. My camera is still being fixed, so I didn't get to take any pictures. Luckily, Valerie's camera works, so she took a bunch for me! I didn't get the pictures from her camera, but click HERE to read more about our weekend and see what we did. I figure if you're going to her blog anyway, I'm not going to write the same thing she did. I'll use my time to do something else! :)
Did we have a good time? Yes. Did Kayleigh have a better time than I did? Yes. She LOVES her aunt Val, and I am pretty much ignored the entire time Valerie is around. Every time I would try to do something with Kayleigh, she would say, "No, aunt Val do it!" Thanks kid.

I love my daughter!!!

2009-08-20T20:15:00.002-05:00

Kayleigh is the sweetest thing ever, and she just melted my heart twice today with the nice things she said. Here are excerpts from our conversations this afternoon and tonight.

Setting the scene: I was working on painting in Kayleigh's big girl room, and she was bringing toys in from the other room. She found an Easter egg that I had taped up last year (2008) with paper clips in it to make noise. She was into it last year, and the toy has stuck around.
Conversation #1:
Me: I made that egg for you last year. You liked playing with it.
Kayleigh: You made this for me?
Me: Yes
Kayleigh: Oh, thank you Mommy! I love it!
Isn't that amazing???

Setting the scene: As many of you know, we are changing the bathroom around upstairs to make it more unisex for Kayleigh to share with baby brother. I have kept the old bathroom stuff in the hopes of selling it one day. It's in good condition, but definitely too girly for a boy to use! I was trying to clean up a little bit and got the shower hooks down and was going to put them and the shower curtain in the matching garbage can to keep it all together. Kayleigh was looking at the shower curtain hooks.
Conversation #2:
Kayleigh: Are these my hooks?
Me: Yes, but they are your old ones. You got new bathroom stuff, remember?
Kayleigh: A new shower curtain from Grandma and Barbara. (or something to that effect)
Me: Well, Grandma and Barbara put your new shower curtain up, but it's actually from aunt Val
Kayleigh: That was nice! I like it!

Don't you just want to squish her for being so cute?!?!?!?! I love my kid!
Erik says that it sounds like I'm bragging, but I don't care. It was too sweet to not document and put out there for the whole world to see!

Ultrasound

2009-08-19T11:28:00.005-05:00

Today I had another ultrasound to see how big this baby might be. I say might, because as you may know, the ultrasound can be off by a pound or two. I thought they would measure the baby's femur to tell the length, but they were just looking for weight. So, if you believe what I learned today, this baby already weighs about 5 lbs 11 oz. Whew! I am also measuring 35+ weeks, even though I'll just be 33 weeks tomorrow. His weight puts him in the 95th percentile. If he keeps growing like this, I think he'll run out of room in my stomach!
We also learned that we are still having a boy! That was the first shot we got today. According to the technician, his stuff "hasn't fallen off"! I said it was a good thing, because we'd have a lot of rearranging to do! Baby's heart rate was 138 bpm, meaning that he is nice and relaxed. Oh, and he has a head full of hair! You can see it in one of the ultrasound pictures that I've posted.
The doctor says that everything looks great. I've only gained 13 pounds, and my blood pressure is good, too. So, except for having an unnatural delivery, this pregnancy is text book perfect!

Profile

"Here's looking at you!"

Back of his head and pointing to his hair

Here we go again...

2009-08-17T07:11:00.002-05:00

So, this weekend, Erik and I were talking about the bedrooms upstairs. I was still being wishy washy with whether or not I wanted to change Kayleigh's room, so Erik said, "I've made the decision. She's moving." Whew! Thanks for taking the pressure off of me! So, in Kayleigh's big girl room, we have re-drawn the flowers and butterflies and are working on getting them repainted. We started painting last night, but we had to wait until Kayleigh was asleep to do any work. The butterflies take me 30 minutes each just to outline them in the paint, and then Erik would go back and fill in the rest of the paint. Her room is going to look really cute once it's all done!
We are also looking for new sheets for Kayleigh's big girl bed. We decided to not go with a theme, just plain ol' sheets. I don't even think we'll buy her a comforter yet. Kayleigh doesn't use a blanket much anymore, and she definitely doesn't use a comforter. She'd get lost in it!
I won't be able to get pictures up for awhile. The camera was shipped off on Friday because it was giving us a "lens error". We're mad at Canon because that's the second camera to do this to us, and this one is only a few months old. Hopefully they can get it fixed and shipped back to us soon.

Swimming lessons

2009-08-13T13:12:00.003-05:00

For the last two weeks, I have been taking Kayleigh to swimming lessons. She definitely had fun for the most part, but would NOT put her head under water. It's frustrating because she was doing it consistently this summer, but decided to not do it at her swimming lessons. I think part of it was that she would see the other mother constantly dunking her kid under water, even though he would be coughing up water and not seem ready to go back under before she did it again. I even thought that she didn't realize how often his face would go under water when his back was to her and he would end up swallowing a lot without her knowing. But, I will say that he ended up not minding as much by the end of the lessons. Too bad I'm not one of those mothers who doesn't mind torturing her daughter! Even though Kayleigh won't tell you this, I think she can almost float on her back by herself. I would crouch down as low as I could in the water and she could pretty much stay afloat by herself. In all, I would say that the lessons were a good experience. I think with more practice and pool time, Kayleigh will be swimming on her own before we know it!
This video is a little long, but it's one of the songs that we would sing in the class. If you see Kayleigh reaching for her neck, that's her signal to only put her in that deep. We had many a conversation these last two weeks about how I wouldn't put her all the way under water unless she said it was okay. I want her to trust me when she's in the water. Watch the other little boy, too, and you'll see what I mean about his face going under when his mother doesn't realize it.

"I'm the big sister!"

2009-08-12T12:04:00.004-05:00

Kayleigh has already gotten a t-shirt that says, "I'm GOING to be a big sister", but now my mom and dad have sent a shirt for her to wear when the baby is born that says, "I AM the big sister". I had to get pictures of her in her cute shirt, and then some of her holding her baby doll, getting a glimpse of what it's going to be like in just SEVEN WEEKS!!! I know the doll is much smaller than baby brother, but I thought it was a cute picture, and I think I'll have to have her practice holding a baby that way. Then she'll really be ready to hold her brother.

Fun at the beach

2009-08-10T12:01:00.002-05:00

On Saturday, Erik and Kayleigh went to the beach for a wedding. It was for the couple that got married in Poland. They had to get married here in the States for the government to recognize their marriage. They had a small wedding on the beach with just family and a few friends. Since I had already been to one wedding and had made plans to go to Jenna's baby shower, I let the two of them have a day to themselves. It was fun for them, and really nice for me, since I got a lot of stuff done, including a two hour nap! Here are a couple of pictures of Kayleigh that were taken at the beach.

Get ready to meet our baby...

2009-08-07T12:16:00.002-05:00

...on September 30th! It's official! I got it all cleared at the doctor's office yesterday. I'm scheduled for a c-section at 7:30 AM September 30th. I think it's cute because Kayleigh's birthday is May 30th, and this little one's birthday will also be on the 30th of the month. No names, but Kelli, remember we had to wait for Norah to be born to learn her name, too! Erik would like to have this little one named before he's born, but we have to decide that we've chosen one that we both like and think he will, too. We won't keep it a secret if we nail it down to one name, I promise!

Doctor's appointment

2009-08-04T17:59:00.002-05:00

I had a doctor's appointment today, and I'm happy to report that everything is still going well. I have had some serious Braxton Hicks contractions these last couple of weeks. The doctor isn't concerned with them and says that it's normal for the second pregnancy. We tried to schedule the c-section, but the scheduling lady wasn't very helpful. I know the September calendar is up for the hospital, but she didn't really look at it. I'm not sure what happened, but if you are there to schedule surgery, and she's the person that does the scheduling, shouldn't she be able to do it right there??? She's supposed to call me back in the next day or so, so I'll keep you posted.
Yesterday, Kayleigh and I started her swimming lessons. She is enjoying the time in the pool, although wishes it lasted longer. The lessons will go until next Thursday. It's fun because it gives us something to do, and hopefully both of us will get more comfortable with her in the water. Erik will try to come out one day next week. If he does, I'll make sure he gets some pictures so that I can post them.

Baby shower

2009-08-02T11:38:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, my friend Jenna threw an awesome baby shower for me! It was extra special since I wasn't expecting one. There was a good group of girls from church and other ladies who are always up for a celebration. As usual, Valerie took a ton of pictures, but I will only post a few. The baby and Kayleigh will have a fun new bathroom to share, and I think we got everything we need to complete the decor. For those of you who weren't able to make it, we missed you! For those of you who made it, thanks for coming and helping us celebrate the newest addition to our family!
Erik and I went to Lowes this morning and officially started the process of getting new carpet. We'll have someone come out and measure the bedrooms (the only rooms that have carpet), and then we'll order some from there. Once the carpet is installed, we'll get the nursery done. I think Erik and I may have decided to move Kayleigh out of her room and into the other bedroom. We'll keep her furniture with her, and buy new stuff for the baby. I might still change my mind on that one, so don't quote me on it!

Tuesday morning

2009-07-28T13:27:00.002-05:00

Kayleigh and I ended up having a busy morning this morning. Originally, I wanted to take her to the park to play on the playground, but plans changed a bit. After breakfast, I was getting my shoes on to leave the house. The dogs started freaking out, thinking that they were going to get to go somewhere. Kayleigh feeds off of their excitement, so I asked her if she would like to go to the park, or take the dogs on a walk. She wanted to walk...
And by walk, she means that she wants to sit in the stroller while I push her and am semi-dragged by the dogs when we first leave. We were doing laps around the neighborhood when we came upon a house with a cement truck out front. Hopefully the guys that were working on installing a new driveway didn't mind working with an audience, because we probably sat there for 15 minutes watching them pour and smooth out concrete. We walked a little more after that before Kayleigh started to say, "I'm very hot." Oh yeah, and I'm cool as a cucumber! Back to the house we went.
We came inside and all of us drank some water before Kayleigh started to talk about going to the playground. I asked, "Why don't we play on your playground (AKA swingset)?" It sounded good to her, so she went on the swings, down the slide, and blew some bubbles before I convinced her to come inside for a little bit.
On the way inside, she said she wanted to eat some watermelon. I bought some at the store yesterday, so I cut it up and back outside we went to eat it. After she was done eating, I brought her inside and put her in the tub to rinse her off. What a mess watermelon can be!
Kayleigh is napping now, and it's raining outside, so we had a great morning and hopefully a quiet afternoon.

Dinner with friends

2009-07-26T17:58:00.002-05:00

Last night, we went out to eat with our friends, Jenna, Craig and Jack. Kayleigh and Jack are best buds, and have been hanging out since about the time they were born. A two year friendship is a long one when you're their age!
Anyway, after dinner Jenna and I slipped outside with the kids while the boys paid the bills. At first, they enjoyed sitting on the chairs looking at the water (and the ugly road), but then we started posing them so that we could see their faces better. I don't know if you know this, but Kayleigh LOVES the camera, so looks at it and hams it up. Jack is a little more reserved and liked to look away as soon as the camera was about to click. Oh well. We got the biggest kick out of the "prom pose" because we did NOT pose them this way! We were telling Jack to put his arm around Kayleigh again, like the previous picture, and when he walked back over to her, he stood behind her like they were at the prom. I think they're growing up a little too quickly for me! :)

I love you

2009-07-23T15:57:00.003-05:00

A while ago, Kayleigh and I were practicing sign language. She knows some signs from before, and she would use them before she could speak. She still does some of them now, and we were reviewing those, along with a couple of new ones. No, I am not trying to make her fluent in sign language, because I can't say that I am. But, it's fun to teach her some things, and it's good for her to know other languages, right? :) Anyway, one of the signs that we were practicing was "I love you". I would put her fingers in the correct position and they would stay for a couple of seconds. Today, I was sweeping in the dining room when she called me to come see her. I did, and was so excited to see her doing the "I love you" sign! Of course, I had to take her picture! I tried to get one of her without the cheesy face. I'm not sure how to get her to stop doing that! I think we're going to have a lot of crazy pictures until I can figure out how to get her to stop doing it. Any suggestions?

"Shake your booty!"

2009-07-21T16:51:00.004-05:00

Erik has taught Kayleigh to shake her booty. I finally caught it on camera!

Since starting this post, I heard the following conversation between Erik and Kayleigh:
Kayleigh (looking at me): I want Daddy to wash my hands!
Me: Kayleigh, you need to ask Daddy, not me.
Kayleigh: Daddy, wash my hands.
Erik: Why do you always ask Mommy questions, not me? Is she my boss?
Kayleigh: Yeah
Gotta love it!

Home again

2009-07-21T12:38:00.002-05:00

Aaaahh! After a relaxing weekend in Orlando it was time to come home to our "normal" lives. Kayleigh had a blast in the pool, swimming at least once a day. She also enjoyed becoming re-acquainted with her cousins from North Carolina, along with playing with cousin Thor.
Except for some time at Ikea and lunch out, we spent the entire weekend at the resort. There was a lot to keep us occupied. When Kayleigh was awake, we'd get her down to the pool. During nap time, Erik and I explored the grounds and played putt-putt golf. You would think he would let his pregnant wife win, especially after she and a resort employee told him to! Nope. He beat me by one stroke! After winning and his head growing a bit, he challenged me to a hole-in-one competition. We played most of the 18 holes, and were tied at 1 hole-in-one apiece. I was ready to enjoy the tie, but Erik wanted to win, win, win! I taught him a lesson! I had called it quits, and he said, "Let's play one more hole, and if no one wins, we can be done." I'm sure you can imagine where this story is going...I GOT A HOLE IN ONE!!! That, in turn, made him want to play some more, but I started to run to the office to turn in my club while I was ahead.
As I mentioned earlier, we went to Ikea before leaving Orlando. I felt completely overwhelmed when we first walked in. Once we figured out the path, we enjoyed walking through the enormous warehouse. We bought a little baby bed for Kayleigh's dolls, hoping that they will now sleep in it, rather than take up her bed. The other day, she had 2 baby dolls, two bears and a Popple "asleep" with her in bed! We also bought her some little pots and pans for her kitchen set. I got myself a drop-down table that I'll put up in my new scrapbooking area since my old room will soon be a nursery. I'll post a picture whenever we get it done.
Whew! On to today! Kayleigh finished eating lunch and was playing for a few minutes while I finished up. Then, I heard her say, "Mommy, take my picture!" I couldn't imagine why she wanted me to, but I'm glad I did. Here's what I got:

Orlando here we come!

2009-07-18T10:11:00.003-05:00

Today starts this year's Eikeland family vacation. Our core family can only go through Monday since Erik used most of his vacation time when we went to Europe. We do want to see the North Carolina Eikelands since those visits are few and far between. In all, there should be almost 2 dozen Eikelands in Orlando! Whew! I'm sure the city doesn't know what's about to hit them!
Since check-in time isn't until 4PM, we have some relaxed time before we leave. Erik was going to mow the lawn this morning, but of course it's raining. Oops! We're going to be the bad neighbors with knee high grass when we come home. Kayleigh was playing with her baby and bear this morning. We have a broken camera that she's allowed to "take pictures" with. She had bear and baby on the couch and chaise lounge taking their picture (and showing them the finished product, of course!). She called me over to take a picture of her with her toys, so I hurried up to get the working camera and got this picture:
Too cute!

Then and Now

2009-07-14T19:20:00.007-05:00

Okay, here is a picture of me pregnant with Kayleigh at 27 weeks:

And here is a picture of me at 27 weeks with #2:

I think I look bigger this time, but it could also be the shirt. In my mind, I can only imagine the end of the pregnancy with Kayleigh when I was HUGE, so it's funny to me to see the first picture when my belly isn't so big. I must have really popped at the end!

Library and doctor visits

2009-07-14T15:33:00.003-05:00

I finally was able to get Kayleigh over to the public library today for their story time. It was really fun and something that I hope we can do again. The man that ran it this morning would sing maybe 3 songs, read a story, then 3 more songs, another story, more songs and be done. In all, it was about 30 minutes, and you could tell that the kids were getting restless at the end. I think that's the perfect amount of time for the kids. I think we'll go again next week, and then they're closed for the 2 weeks after that as they "get ready for the school year". I'm not sure what that means, but I'll take their word for it!
This afternoon, I had another doctor's appointment. I was VERY excited to learn that I've only gained 8 pounds in almost 28 weeks! I was unhappy to learn that I failed the glucose test by 1 point. Luckily, the doctor gives some leeway, and since I've been healthy so far in this pregnancy and was healthy when I was pregnant with Kayleigh, she's letting me get out of taking the 3 hour test. Whew! She measured my stomach today, and even though I'm not quite 28 weeks, I'm measuring between 29 & 30 weeks. That's to be expected--I measured ahead the whole time I was pregnant before. And, did I mention I've only gained EIGHT pounds??? :) I just looked at the post from when I was 27 weeks with Kayleigh, and I had gained 14 pounds at this time with her. I think I'll have Erik take a picture of me tonight and post it later, since I know that you can compare between last time and this time.

On the phone

2009-07-14T08:32:00.003-05:00

This morning, Kayleigh talked to both Daddy and Grandma on the phone. She was sitting in the cutest positions while talking, so I had to get pictures of her. It's funny because Kayleigh will try to describe what she's doing to the person on the phone, but if you don't know what she's doing exactly, it doesn't make sense. For example, while on the phone with Grandma she said, "Couch. Like baby." After seeing the picture, it makes perfect sense, but try to figure that out while you're a couple hundred miles away!

A slow week...

2009-07-10T20:08:00.004-05:00

After such a busy weekend last weekend, it was nice to just hang out this week. Erik had a full work week, so we didn't have any family fun days planned. Other than a couple (yes, a couple) of trips to Target and the grocery store, we stayed at home. Oh, now that I'm thinking about it, we went to visit Kayleigh's friends at her old day care on Tuesday. She has so much fun seeing those kids, and thankfully the teachers and staff don't mind our visits. It gets both of us out for a little while and allows her to see some kids her own age. I did sign her up for swimming lessons in a few weeks. It'll be Monday-Thursday for 2 weeks. I'll feel better about Kayleigh being around the water so much after swimming lessons. Part of the lesson is helping parents learn how to teach their kids swimming techniques, so I'll be more prepared to have her in the water, too. Thanks, Dad (Abuelo), for the lessons!
Kayleigh got her first fat lip this week. She was lying on the couch next to her doll and just rolled off. The ironic part was that we had just been talking earlier in the day about her rolling off and that being the reason that she had to go upstairs to take her nap rather than on the couch. I couldn't get a very good picture of her lip, but I tried! (In case you can't tell, it's the left upper lip.)

Finally, as I'm looking at the pictures I just downloaded onto the computer, there is a cute, short video of Erik and Kayleigh watching the Roddick/Federer tennis match on Sunday. Erik was cheering for Andy Roddick, and Kayleigh got into the chants with him. Enjoy!

4th of July weekend

2009-07-04T17:17:00.003-05:00

We decided to take Kayleigh to a museum yesterday to see a lot of the Florida wildlife. She enjoyed looking at all of the animals, but it was H-O-T!! We made it through the museum in an hour and a half and were happy to leave when we were done. When Erik and Kayleigh posed behind the bat stand, I had Kayleigh looking at the camera and she must have moved as soon as I clicked the button. Ugh! So annoying! When you look at picture #3, she is saying "whoo!" to the owl that she saw. At the end of the slide show, she is pushing her stroller with Erik's sunglasses on. It was bright and she wanted to wear them. I thought she looked so grown up with them on. In the close up picture, that's the face she makes when she puts on sunglasses. I don't know if she thinks that it'll help hold the glasses on her face or what!

Erik ran a triathlon this morning. He beat his time from last year, but I'm not sure that he's super pleased with the results. After the race, we went to John and Chaille's house for lunch and a little swimming. Kayleigh adores her cousin, Zac, and he has a shadow most of the time that they're together. She wanted to do what he was doing, like jumping into the pool and getting out when he did. She also enjoyed dipping her chips into the salsa and wearing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mask. It's been a busy day, but it's always fun to hang out with family. Here are just a couple of pictures from our day today.

Kayleigh and Taylor caught on video

2009-06-30T09:28:00.002-05:00

I didn't tell Nick and Robyn about this video because I didn't want to get the girls in trouble. Since it's been a couple of days and we're far away, this is what I caught the girls doing before we left on Sunday.

Weekend with cousin Taylor

2009-06-29T11:40:00.003-05:00

This weekend, aunt Val came over and we went to visit Nick, Robyn and Taylor. The girls had fun playing together. We got there on Friday in time for dinner. On Saturday morning, we went to an outdoor mall that also has some fountains that the kids can play in. Kayleigh and Taylor had a blast in the water, and it was a great way to keep cool in the hot sun. Unfortunately, there were also big kids running around in the area, and neither big kids nor small kids are good at looking out for each other, and Kayleigh collided with a boy. She was knocked down but bounced back like a trooper. Taylor was smart and stayed closer to us adults. On Sunday morning we went to church and after having pizza for lunch, Kayleigh, Valerie and I headed back home. Valerie spent the night and let me go to the doctor's office to get my gestational diabetes test done. It was so nice to be able to do it by myself since it takes an hour and would be a little torturous to do with Kayleigh.

Doctor's appointment

2009-06-23T19:14:00.003-05:00

I had an appointment and ultrasound today. I was very nervous about my appointment because I had to take Kayleigh with me. If I have her for the appointment it's not a big deal since it doesn't take too long, but I had the ultrasound, too, and I didn't know if she could handle sitting in a chair the whole time. She was a PERFECT child! I was so proud of her and her behavior!! She sat in the chair playing with her magna-doodle, and got up once when it fell on the floor. When I asked her to climb back into the chair she did it without hesitation. The next time she got up was when the nurse turned the volume up so we could hear the heartbeat. Kayleigh was amazed by it and then for the next 5 minutes repeated over and over, "I hear baby brother!" It was very cute! When we got home, she called Erik at work to tell him. His voicemail picked up, but she doesn't know the difference and kept repeating the same phrase. He got a kick out of it.
Oh, and we double checked--we're definitely still having a boy!! :)

"Mommy, Ginger's on the floor!"

2009-06-23T15:29:00.003-05:00

While I was making dinner in the kitchen last night, Kayleigh made that comment to me. That really wasn't a big surprise, because there are only a couple of other places Ginger could be. She then said something about wanting to be on the floor, too. If I had posted this last night I could have come up with the exact wording. Imagine the look on my face when I turned around to see Kayleigh lying on the floor next to Ginger! I begged her not to move so that I could get this picture. Thankfully, she cooperated.

Morning conversation

2009-06-20T12:18:00.002-05:00

While I was upstairs with Kayleigh hanging out in her room before she was ready to get dressed in come downstairs, we had the following conversation:
Kayleigh: "Kayleigh's pretty!"
Me: "Yes you are!"
Kayleigh: "Mia's pretty!" (That's her cousin)
Me: "Yes, Mia is pretty, too! Is Mommy pretty?" (Why oh why did I ask this question?!?!)
Kayleigh: "Ummm...no"

I kept asking her until she finally said yes...And, in case you're wondering, Chat you're pretty and Grandma (mom), Kayleigh said you're pretty too. Kayleigh came up with Chat's name on her own, and then I kept going through girls that I hoped she would say were pretty until I figured she had said yes enough times that she would say yes for me, too!

Pictures of Kayleigh

2009-06-19T15:09:00.009-05:00

Because I'm afraid that people are going to get mad if I don't put up some pictures of Kayleigh soon, here are a couple from our day at home yesterday. We were just playing around. The first picture is of her ponytail. Isn't it getting long???

This next one is of her taking a bite of her muffin:

Finally, look at how much she got in her mouth!

Vacation pictures

2009-06-18T06:25:00.003-05:00

Here are a few of the pictures we took on our trip. I broke them up by city so if you don't want to look at them all at once, it'll be easier for you to come back to them.

Washington DC:

Amsterdam:

Munich day 1:

Munich day 2:

Prague:

Krakow and Auschwitz:

Warsaw and wedding:

Poland

2009-06-17T06:20:00.002-05:00

We went to two different cities in Poland, Krakow and Warsaw. Krakow was a day trip, literally less than 12 hours. The main goal of going there was to see Auschwitz and it's sister camp, Berkinau. I really don't know how to describe our time in Auschwitz, other than amazing and awesome. I don't mean awesome in the "cool" way, either. It was just amazing that people lived through (and died in) such a terrible camp, and all because of their religious background. It was a gloomy day, which just gave it a more surreal feeling. I am SO glad that we went, and would recommend it to anyone traveling in that area of the world.

On to Warsaw and happier times! We got to Warsaw around 9 PM Friday and just relaxed on Saturday before the wedding. I think we would have done more on Saturday, but it was cold and rainy, and I just couldn't make myself go out and enjoy myself. I HATE cold weather, and I think our time that day once again made Erik realize that I will never be able to move up north with him! Of course, I'm sure it would have been better if I had more proper clothing, but don't remind Erik of that fact! :)

A Polish wedding is an all night affair. Let's start with the church where our friends, Matt and Karina, got married. It's a church that was built sometime during the 1300s, and on the weekends, it does nothing but weddings. Every 30 minutes, a new wedding party comes and goes. The entire ceremony was in Polish, except when Matt answered with a "yes". We kept teasing him later that he committed to something other than our American vows, but he doesn't care since they'll have to get married again here in the USA, and he'll understand the proceedings. (America doesn't recognize Polish marriages...Well, I'm sure they do, but not in this case. Trust me on that one if I've lost you.) Moving on...The ceremony was nice, and afterward, we walked a couple of blocks to an old fort for the reception. Polish weddings are "supposed to" last for 12 hours, so you know all of the Americans that showed up--if you tell them they have to stay and drink that long, they'll do it just to show that they can! Since this post is long enough already, I won't tell any embarrassing stories. I will say that it was uncomfortable sharing a unisex bathroom! There were 5 stalls, and sometimes open stalls were actually being used by a man who didn't think it necessary to close the door. We left the party around 3:30 and slept in until 11.

On Sunday, Karina's parents had a dinner in her hometown at a restaurant near their house. There were probably 30-40 people there, half who spoke Polish and the other half speaking English. The food was good, although another girl and I just split a pizza. Polish food didn't seem to sit very well with me. After dinner, we went to Karina's parents' house for a quick dessert and then our trip back to Warsaw. We got home around 11 and had to finish packing up for our trip home!!!

We were so thankful to have gotten to Tampa on time, especially after our flight being delayed in Warsaw and having to run to our connection in Denmark. We made the flight with minutes to spare. Unfortunately, our luggage didn't. On the plus side, it's being delivered to our house today! The bag only had dirty clothes and our toiletries, so it wasn't a huge deal. We had a couple of clean things at my parents' house, so we were safe. Kayleigh was excited to see us, much to our relief. I was afraid that she would be shy, but she came right up to us and said, "I miss you!" I still don't think that she fully understands that phrase, but we'll take what we can get!

Tuesday morning we drove home and were very excitedly greeted by our dogs. Ginger even tried to give Kayleigh a hug, which surprised her as much as it did us! Our lovely floors were covered with a layer of dog hair, so I swept up some so that I could take my shoes off and walk around comfortably. We were happy that Kayleigh took to her usual bedtime routine quickly. I knew she must have been tired when she started to tell me she wanted to go night-night. I think we're going to have to really work on the potty training again. She was doing really good for my parents, but after we got back, she didn't want to go on the potty. I know she can do it, and I'm not letting her off the hook that easily! Let's hope she gets back into the swing of things as easily as she adjusted to life with my parents.

Prague

2009-06-11T11:50:00.002-05:00

Prague day 1 continued--After trying to decide what to do, Erik and I did not take a tour of Prague yesterday. We bought a book on Prague and did our own thing. I think it was a better idea because we could go at a slower pace and stop when I needed to. We saw one of the castles, walked across Charles Bridge, and ended the day with the fountain show that I wanted to see. I'm sure the show would have at least been more colorful had we done it later in the evening, but I was already tired, and it wasn't close to our hotel. The sun doesn't go down until later, and we went to the 8:00 show of the dancing fountain. I thought that it would be a big deal, but there were about 15 of us in the stadium. When we got back to our room, we decided to get room service for dinner. It was after 9, and I didn't want to have to walk anywhere else! I told Erik a couple of times that I wanted to cut my feet off and throw them away. I'm not used to all of this walking! Luckily my legs are fresh by morning and I'm ready to start over again.

Prague day 2--We walked to the Old Town Square this morning and watched one of the old clocks chime at the top of the hour. A rooster will crow and dancing saints come around the top of the clock. At 1:30 we caught a tour going to Kutna Hora. This is where they have a small chapel that is decorated with thousands of human bones. It's really weird and the guide told us that she doesn't like to be in there for long. You can tell that the people who lived however many years ago were much smaller than we are today because their skulls look like children's skulls. From there we went to the church of Saint Barbora. She is the saint of the coal miners and something else, I think. It was a really pretty church, and very ornately decorated. We also saw the Royal Mint that is still being used as the town hall, I believe. We saw a coin that was made in the 1200s! I can't believe someone kept a coin for that long! We are now back at the hotel using the internet, even though we have already checked out. Shhh!!!

In a couple of hours we will leave for Krakow. We'll take an overnight train there and walk around the city of Krakow, plus take a tour of Auschwitz. It will be a long day since we arrive at 6:30 AM and will take an afternoon train into Warsaw. Warsaw is our final destination. We'll go to Matt and Karina's wedding and get to relax some before heading back to the States on Monday.

We both say how much we miss Kayleigh, but we would not have been able to do as much as we have with her. We know she's in good hands and check on her every couple of days. Hopefully she'll be as excited to see us on Monday as well be to see her!

Munich and Prague

2009-06-10T03:23:00.002-05:00

Munich Day 1--We took a day trip out to the Nueschwanstein Castle about 2 hours away from town. We thought that we could just walk right up to the place and book our tour, but it happened to be just the day that 2 schools had also booked tours. The guy at the office was very nice and offered to get us (and 6 other people) to the castle by train and still get us a guide. It saved us around $40 to book it that way, so we happily agreed to go by train. The hike up to the castle was supposed to be "steep for a little bit". By that, the guide meant to say that it was like trying to climb up the side of a mountain for 30+ minutes. I'm definitely not in the right shape for that, pregnant or not, but I would say trying to do it while somebody is taking up extra oxygen and much needed blood cells from my body didn't help my cause! We did make it to the castle and it was beautiful! We hiked along a bridge and saw a pretty waterfall where some people were swimming down below. The tour ended with an hour long bike ride. Instead of torturing myself any more, I let Erik go with the group and stayed at the cafe drinking a coke and reading a book. The hour went by quickly. We were exhausted when we got back to the hotel and crashed for the rest of the night.

Munich day 2--We spent today walking around the city. We ate lunch at Hofbrauhaus. I'm sure it's more exciting at night when all of the drinking happens. It was too much food for lunch, though. There is a little place where you can read about the history of the restaurant. I think if I had to do it again, I would walk through the place and eat lunch somewhere else. Oh well. It was an experience. We ended the afternoon in the English Garden. It's like Central park with lots of things to see. There is a place where people can surf in the river, but we never found them.

Train to Prague--We had to take a train to Prague this night. We were quite proud of ourselves for figuring out how to get here. We were nervous because it seemed like the train didn't go all the way to Prague. We were right, and about an hour or so into the trip, one of the train attendants finally told us that we would have to switch trains into Prague. When we got here, we didn't have a clue as to how to get tot he hotel. We asked a police officer who pointed us into the OPPOSITE direction of where we needed to go! After wandering around for at least 30 minutes, I found a nice looking group of Czech people who walked us all the way to our hotel. It did make us feel a little better that it wasn't easy for them to find either!

Prague day 1--We are going to go on a city tour today starting at 2. I'm too tired to try an all day tour, so this one should do me just fine. We hope that if we can find some places that we would like to check out some more, we can do that tomorrow. The other option is to go to Kutna Hora tomorrow for a day trip before our train will take us to Krakow, leaving at 9 PM.

Sunday in the Netherlands

2009-06-07T10:18:00.002-05:00

Whew! What a weekend! I forget what day it is, but I'm told it's Sunday. We spent yesterday in Amsterdam. We had a busy, although late, day in Amsterdam. We got to the city later than we had hoped because of an accident on the highway. We started with a canal boat tour. It was neat to see the architecture and houses from the water. They were mostly built in the 1600s, and people still live in them now. We walked around after that and ended up in the Red Light District. I didn't even realize where we were until Patricia told me to look at the lights. It's very odd to see the women in almost nothing standing in the windows trying to find customers. I definitely don't agree with prostitution in any form, and it was hard for me to think about what these women are doing to their bodies. The actual place with the prostitutes is only 2 blocks, so it's not a huge part of the city. We did smell some marijuana once and saw a plant growing in a store window. You can buy seeds to make your own garden. I won't tell you if we did or not until after we make it through customs! :) We had lunch in the Red Light District. I had a traditional hamburger and french fries. I guess that's more American than Dutch...We took a trolley to Anne Frank's house. I wish I had re-read her biography before we came. It was really interesting to see how and where she lived.
Today we went with Martin to Zaan something. It's another city that is totally different than Amsterdam. The place we went has been made into a museum. You can see how they make wooden shoes and cheese, along with a few windmills and what was made inside of them. The houses were completely different than what we saw yesterday. It's crazy to think of how different things can be, even though the two cities are only about twenty minutes away from each other.
We will have some food before Martin takes us to the train station. We'll leave tonight for 2 days in Munich. Maybe Erik will let me update Tuesday night before we leave again, but I don't think I'll be around a computer too much too soon.
I'm still tired, but am more on this time. Erik is doing great with the time change. I didn't sleep real well last night, mostly because I kept thinking about everything we had done that day. My body was tired, but my mind was wide awake! We will have little couchettes tonight on the train. I think we might have a 4 or 6 person "room". Maybe not everyone will show up, and if they do, hopefully no one will snore!

Amsterdam--day 1

2009-06-05T15:28:00.003-05:00

I doubt I'll be able to get on the computer too much during the trip, but we are staying with friends for the weekend, so I have a little time now before Erik and I go to bed. We arrived here at 7:05 AM (6 hours ahead of Eastern time), tired but ready to face the day. Our friend, Patricia, picked us up at the airport and brought us back to the town where she and her husband Martin live. We chatted for awhile, and then Erik and I decided that we needed to get a little nap in if we were going to make it through the rest of the day. It was around 10:30 AM, and I could hardly keep my eyes open. I felt like I couldn't focus on anything very well. We decided to sleep until 12:45 and then be up for the rest of the day.
After our nap we had sandwiches here at the house. Then we went for a walk downtown where we watched a demonstration on how they blow glass into vases. We felt so bad for one guy who had worked on his piece for at least 30 minutes, only to break it at the end. How frustrating! We would love to buy a little piece, but I'm afraid of lugging it around Europe.
Tomorrow we will tour Amsterdam. Yes, we will go to the Red Light District, but Patricia and Martin say that it's more played up in the States. We will be there during the day, so I'm sure it's much tamer than at night. We will also go to Anne Frank's house, as well as another old house that has been turned into a museum. We have plenty set up for tomorrow, but will start with a little bit of an easy morning. I think we'll just relax and make our way over to Amsterdam whenever we're ready. It's about an hour drive from here, give or take a few minutes.
On Sunday we'll go to where the windmills are and tour that area before Erik and I take our night train to Munich. I'll try to remember my camera tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to post any pictures until we get home. I forgot my camera this afternoon and was sad that I couldn't take pictures of what we saw.
If you have decided to check the blog, keep checking every couple of days. I will update when I can and will ask Erik to spring for me to buy computer time if necessary. Luckily I am a fast typer so it never takes long to post, especially if I don't put up pictures.
It's 10:30 PM here and the sun is just going down. Our room is dark, so hopefully we'll be able to go right to sleep. The sun comes up tomorrow at 5:21, so it could be an early morning!

Kayleigh and Mumble

2009-06-01T16:05:00.002-05:00

Here is the picture everyone is asking about. I took a few of them together, but this is the best one, I think.

Kayleigh's birthday dinner

2009-05-31T07:04:00.002-05:00

We had Erik's family over for a pizza dinner last night. We bought pizza from Costco. It's really good if you have a membership and have never eaten their pizza! (Don't I get a refund if I plug their products??) We always have fun together, and there is never a dull moment with all of us around. I'm pretty sure the girls are trying to figure out why all of the men's voices become so much louder when they're together. We ladies still didn't have to talk that loudly to be heard over their yells. I guess it's a man thing...
Kayleigh was a little shy at first, but food brought her out of her shell. She ate a whole piece of pizza and then was ready to get down and play with her cousins Thor and Zac. It was funny because Kayleigh would keep a constant eye on Zac and then want to do whatever he was doing. You'll get to see that in the picture of Erik spinning Kayleigh around. Erik did it with Zac, so he had to spin Kayleigh around, too.
One thing we noticed this year from last was the change in how Kayleigh and Thor ate their cupcakes. Last year, Kayleigh was very delicate with hers at first. I guess in the last 365 days, she's realized how good icing and cake is. This year she went at it, and Thor was the less messy one.
Thanks everyone for your cards, emails and calls. I think it was a great day.

Happy birthday Kayleigh!!!

2009-05-30T06:59:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that Kayleigh is two!! I'm pretty sure I said that last year when she turned one. This year has been an amazing year with so many changes. Her hair has grown so much this year. She has learned to walk, gotten a full mouth of teeth, she can speak in almost complete sentences, and just this week she started to get both feet off of the ground when she jumps. How can I forget going pee pee in the potty??? She has only had 1 accident today, and has been in big girl pants except for nap time. I know there are tons of other things that she has started to do this year, but those seem like the big things. We are so proud of our big girl and how much she has grown!

Yesterday she had a party at school, and I got this video of her before the kids had cupcakes and watermelon. It was funny because 3 of the little boys wouldn't come over for the song because they had seen the cupcakes. They were sitting in their seats waiting for snack time. It's a two minute video, so it's not short, but I think it's worth it.

Tonight we're having Erik's family over for dinner. We're going to have pizza and more cupcakes. Kayleigh does better with cupcakes than she does with regular cake. That means that we're not going to have an official "theme" for her party, but the girl is TWO. What does she know??? She just knows that she's going to get some sweets and gifts. What a day!`1

I'M DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-29T11:32:00.001-05:00

Enough said. :)

We're having a.....

2009-05-27T08:52:00.005-05:00

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!! So, I decided I couldn't wait another 18 weeks to know if we are having another boy or a girl, so at my ultrasound this afternoon, I had the technician write down the gender on this card, and then I had to wait until Erik got home from work to find out what we're having. I really thought that I would be able to make it until the end and be surprised in the hospital, but that isn't the case. Ever since the last ultrasound, I have been dying to know what we're having! I dream about it and think about it all the time. When I would think about it, I would think of having another girl, because that's what I know. When I would dream about it, I am always pregnant with a boy. I was given no clue as to the gender.
The pictures are of the card that I made for Erik this week. I wanted something that was pretty and that could be kept in the new scrapbook.

"No, Kayleigh do it!"

2009-05-19T08:31:00.003-05:00

Ahhh...the wonderful age of 2! And we're not even there yet! I think changing Kayleigh's bed to a big girl bed has totally changed this girl's attitude! It took me twice as long as usual to get Kayleigh up and out the door for school this morning. She has now decided that she wants to take her jammies off, put her clothes on, and not let Mommy touch her toothbrush. Silly me decided to put her shoes and socks on at home this morning since it's cold outside (!) but that backfired as she still took them off on the way to school.
I am glad that Kayleigh wants to do so much by herself, and I know it's going to be helpful in the near future, but it is a little annoying right now as I am on a bit of a schedule for the next week and a half with school. This week we have a little leeway, but she's in trouble next week when I have to be at school by 8:45.
Kayleigh tried to go pee-pee yesterday at school, but didn't actually do it until I got there to pick her up. It's okay because I'm fine with her just getting used to sitting on the potty and wanting to go. We can be more hardcore this summer when we can spend a few days at home officially learning the potty ropes. It was funny because she said she wanted to go this morning when we got to school, but I figured she wouldn't do anything when her diaper was wet. (She didn't.) Then, another little boy wanted to go who is NOT potty training, and he did it! After he went and got the praise, Kayleigh wanted to sit on the potty again. I knew it was too soon for her to have to go again, but what the heck? Let her do it and not frustrate her by telling her no. The kids are in a new classroom with a little potty in it, and I think they're excited about their new "toy".

Our big girl!

2009-05-17T15:49:00.002-05:00

Erik and I decided to finally change Kayleigh's crib to a toddler bed after talking about it for a couple of weeks. She has disliked being in her crib for awhile, so we figured we might as well bite the bullet. She has a long night Friday night. She never got out of the bed, but kept waking up and wanting one of us to come up with her. She took a good nap on Saturday afternoon and slept all night last night. Woohoo!! Today when I took her up for her nap she tried to follow me out the door, but I closed it and we have one of those handles on it to make it harder to open. She must have put herself back to bed, because that's where she was when she woke up! This girl is so easy!

This was our week to help out with the kids downstairs at church. Kayleigh has moved up to a new room recently to be with more kids her age. That room has a little potty in it. While Erik and I were down there with her, she came up to me and said that she wanted to go potty. I have allowed her to sit on the toilet and have encouraged her to try it, but I'm not in any way trying to push the issue...I'm saving that for this summer! But, when she said she wanted to go, I figured why not? Sure enough, she sat on the potty and PEED!!! I was soooo excited that I almost started calling everyone from the bathroom! After her nap today, I asked her if she wanted to try again and she did. And she went again!! This girl is soooo easy! I'm going to talk to her teachers at day care about letting her try during the day, but again, I don't want to say that we are officially potty training because I don't know what it'll be like for her at day care. I think it'll be a lot easier when we're at home for the summer and can spend the day inside practicing. Of course, she can always learn at Grandma and Abuelo's house while she stays with them! :)

Europe update

2009-05-16T17:30:00.002-05:00

So...Erik and I are leaving in less than 3 weeks for our big European vacation. We have officially bought our train tickets and have reserved rooms at hotels. I think that means we're ready to go! At least I know we can get there and have places to stay. I'm sure the rest of the trip will fall into place. We know what we want to do in each city, but we haven't booked any tours or anything.

"More happy to you??"

2009-05-11T15:44:00.002-05:00

First, let me say that I don't know how Kayleigh learned the Happy Birthday song. She has sung it before, but none of her classmates have had a birthday recently, and I don't think we have sung it around her very much. Today I was in the day care office with Kayleigh, and I saw a sign for free cupcakes. Since I was starving, I decided to get one. Kayleigh first asked for some "happy to you", which I figured out was the cupcake. I gave her a little bite of the cake, but not the icing. After her first bite she kept asking, "More happy to you??" It was so cute that I couldn't resist!

Muffins with Mommy

2009-05-08T08:18:00.003-05:00

Kayleigh's day care had "Muffins with Mommy" today for Mother's day. It was fun to get to go this year. I think Kayleigh was sick last year and we missed it. She didn't really sit down to eat with me because there were other kids in there running around and she wanted to join them. She had about a bite and a half of her muffin. I had a good time talking to some of the other moms, mostly a couple of girls from church. I saved the muffin that Kayleigh grabbed off of the table for her to eat at snack time in her classroom. She was NOT happy when I had to leave, and that always makes it hard. She had been distracted for a little while, but then started talking about wanting more strawberries. I think when she realized I was going to leave she was suddenly starving...or just starving for attention. You decide.
Happy Friday! Hopefully my students will be good today and I can have a good day before the weekend.

A picture of me...

2009-05-07T19:56:00.004-05:00

I thought I would put up an updated picture of me and my new baby belly. I think I'm extra obsessed with how I look and if I'm carrying differently than I did with Kayleigh since we're not finding out what we're having. It probably makes it worse that the nurse said how obvious it was to her. At first I thought I was carrying lower than I did with Kayleigh, but then after looking at old preg-o pictures, I decided that it's about the same. I seem to push out farther up top, if that makes sense, and it'll be awhile before the bottom half catches up with the top half. Hopefully this obsession will go away after a few days and I can resume life as usual. I have a feeling this is going to start all over again on the 27th when I get another ultrasound. I'll try not to dwell on it, but what do you think of my two pictures?

Me at 18 weeks with #2

Me at 20 weeks with Kayleigh

New baby pictures

2009-05-06T15:41:00.003-05:00

In case you haven't heard, we had our big ultrasound this morning. I think I surprised everyone by not finding out the sex of the baby. So far I'm glad I didn't cave. I can't wait to meet this little one, too! The heartbeat was good and strong, all of the organs are developing like they should, and this baby was showing his/her "stuff" for the whole world to see, and Erik and I didn't peek!
I did realize, though, that Erik is going to get to tell everyone the name/sex of the baby at the hospital after I deliver, so I won't get to be a part of that, but I think he's going to have to go out there with the video camera rolling to get everyone's reactions. So parents, get your surprised and excited faces ready for the big day!! You only have 21 weeks to practice!

2009-05-01T15:53:00.002-05:00

I tried to get pictures and video of how Kayleigh acts in the mornings, but she likes the camera too much, and whenever she would see it, she would say, "cheese!" I'm glad she'll show off for the camera, but it doesn't give a good glimpse into our morning. She was cracking me up this morning diving under her pillow. I would then start asking where Kayleigh went, to which she would reply, "Kayleigh hiding". Too funny.
Yes, Kayleigh has a full sized pillow. It's because she loves Erik's and my pillow so much that I decided to get one of her own.

Kayleigh helped!

2009-04-29T16:03:00.001-05:00

Kayleigh helped me unload the dishwasher by putting away the silverware.

Country Music Marathon

2009-04-26T18:59:00.002-05:00

We just got home about an hour ago from Nashville and Erik's first marathon. He didn't do as well as he wanted to, but the conditions were not on his side. It was the hottest day Nashville has seen in years, with temperatures in the 80s.
While there, we got to see our friends Ali and Jarrod, along with their daughter, Sydney. Kayleigh and Sydney are just a few months apart and had so much fun together! We haven't see Ali and Jarrod since their wedding in December of 2003, but we have kept in touch and had fun actually getting to hang out in person! They also have a golden-doodle (golden retriever and poodle mix) that Kayleigh loved. He was huge but so gentle with the little girls. Ali is also pregnant with her second child, which she has found out is a girl.
Erik and Amy drove up and back with us. They were smart and brought movies to watch. Kayleigh's favorite was "Happy Feet", which she has never seen. She knows all about Mumble, though, and loved watching him and the other penguins sing and dance.
I'm sure I'm leaving out some details from this weekend, but it's been a long day and my brain is tired. Enjoy the pictures.

Saturday morning

2009-04-18T17:50:00.002-05:00

There have been quite a few nights recently when Kayleigh has woken up and wanted out of her crib. Last night (early this morning!!) she did it again, and Erik got her out to the day bed that we have upstairs. She doesn't mind sleeping on that, and does pretty well on it. I hope that means that she will be ready for a toddler bed this summer. I say that because I know I won't be able to put her in or take her out of her crib after my next c-section, so I want to make sure she is ready for a toddler bed before then. Anyway, Erik went to wake Kayleigh up this morning so we could do some shopping, and this is what he found:

Swing set

2009-04-17T18:36:00.004-05:00

I have been on craigslist.com a lot recently trying to find outdoor toys for Kayleigh to play with this summer. This week I saw an ad for a swing set, and was so excited about it. Kayleigh loves to be outside, but she doesn't have much to play with out there, so it might be fun for her, but not for me! Oh, the best parts of the swing set deal were that the lady delivered it for free from across town, and she gave us a toddler swing to go with it for no extra charge! Erik and I had planned to buy one for Kayleigh this weekend and were excited to save the $20.

Kayleigh has already figured out how to climb up the stairs and sit on the slide by herself. She gets mad if we try to help her out, but Erik and I have decided that we at least need to be behind her in case she missteps.

Jack S., we can't wait for you to come and play, too!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T19:06:00.003-05:00

It was hard to get Kayleigh to sit still for a picture, so here's the best I could do.

Here's a nice Easter story for you: I put Kayleigh down for a nap in only her diaper, because I had taken her out of her dress. About 20 minutes later, Erik heard her calling for Mommy. She didn't sound very upset, so he thought he would let her be and maybe she would go back to sleep. Ten to fifteen minutes later, she's calling for Mommy again. This time Erik went upstairs (I was napping). He saw a diaper on the floor and wondered why I didn't throw it away. Then he got closer to Kayleigh and realized that she was naked! Luckily she didn't pee in the bed, but it was quite the surprise! Happy Easter!

Mobile

2009-04-03T16:02:00.003-05:00

Mom emailed me some pictures from our Mobile trip earlier this week. A little background on the pictures: We took Kayleigh and Taylor to the park the day after it rained. The ground was still muddy and we got dirty, but still had fun. Taylor figured out how to climb into her wicker toy baskets while we were there and the two spent some time hanging out in them. Kayleigh wanted to play in Taylor's crib. Taylor knows how to hang on and jump, and Kayleigh figured it out, too. Those girls could get some air!

Kayleigh + pens = :(

2009-04-01T14:47:00.003-05:00

Last night Kayleigh got a pen off of my beside table and started to play with it. Playing began with drawing on a sheet of paper. It ended with drawing on her legs. I did think it was funny until she drew on my sheets! That's when play time ended. When you're looking through the pictures, you'll see one where Kayleigh is giving Erik a dirty look. I was trying to get her to say, "cheese", and Erik said it instead. Kayleigh was mad that he said it before her.
Kayleigh had a great time in Mobile last weekend getting to play with her cousin, aunt and uncle. Mom and I ended up cutting our trip short because of bad weather, but we had a great time while there. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I'll have to wait to get pictures from Mom or Nick and Robyn.

Home sick

2009-03-24T13:17:00.004-05:00

Kayleigh and I have been at home sick these last two days. I would have gone to school, but Kayleigh was miserable yesterday and I just wasn't sure she was ready to go back to school today. She's acting more like herself, but I don't think she would have enjoyed a whole day at day care. So, while we're at home, I thought we could still do some work. We are going to visit my brother and his family this weekend, so we are working on their names. I went to their blog and enlarged a picture of the three of them so Kayleigh could see who I was talking about. Here she is practicing their names.

First sentence!

2009-03-16T17:14:00.002-05:00

Last night while Kayleigh was sitting on the bathroom counter brushing her teeth, she picked up a book to look at. After a good once over, she put it down. When she finished brushing her teeth and I was getting her off the counter she said, "Hand me the book." I kid you not!!! It may have been a fluke, but I understood what she said. Amazing!
On a different note, we are still looking at digital cameras. Hopefully one day I'll be able to take pictures of my kid again!

I hate hills

2009-03-07T10:47:00.002-05:00

Today was the final race for awhile. I was excited about it because it was "just" a 5K. Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to the course, and it seemed to be more uphill than down. I finished, though, and it's good to be done. I'm going to get my hair cut in a little while and then we'll go to a surprise birthday party this evening.

Ever wish you could shape the future?

2009-03-06T15:06:00.001-05:00

This is something that my mom heard on a radio station. It's good!

You don't need a trip in a time machine to shape the future... your link to tomorrow is closer than you think... in fact, it's right in your own home... your children. How you raise them today will affect your family's quality of life in the years and generations to come. If you nurture, love and discipline your kids now, your tomorrows will be stable and secure. Neglect your kids and you'll find a future of heartache and dysfunction. A wise person once said, "It's easier to raise children than repair adults."

So start shaping tomorrow today... and your mark on the future will be a positive one.

Remember your family first,

Mark Merrill

Gasparilla pictures

2009-03-04T17:07:00.001-05:00

Check out the following links to see Erik and me in action!

http://www.marathonfoto.com/index.cfm?RaceOID=13972009W1&LastName=EIKELAND&BibNumber=2728& Mailing=22545

http://www.marathonfoto.com/index.cfm?RaceOID=13972009W1&LastName=EIKELAND&BibNumber=2729& Mailing=22545

Gasparilla Distance Classic

2009-03-01T19:51:00.003-05:00

We went to St Pete this weekend to run a 15K in Tampa. We both finished about 3 minutes under our goal. Erik finished in 1 hour and 12 minutes. I finished in 2 hours and 11 minutes. I was DYING by mile 7. I think it was worse because I had two miles to go. Had I been almost finished, I would have been able to finish stronger. The temperature was in the 70s for most of the race, and I don't have good mind over matter. Once I got in my head that I was tired, there was no pushing any harder. I think I only did one mile over 15 minutes, but my first few were around 13-13 1/2 minute miles. Luckily I was able to start strong, and didn't disappoint myself even more at the end. I'm happy to say that this race was the end of my long distance career. I think I'll stick to 5Ks and maybe 10Ks from now on!

Erik and I stayed at my parents' house. Jonathan and his family are staying there for a little while, and Kayleigh LOVED playing with her cousin, Mia. The two of them started to play first thing Friday morning and didn't stop until we left on Sunday. They would crack each other up, too. It was so neat to get to watch the two of them together! I think there were only a few times when they would get upset that one was playing with the other's toy. We were able to finally meet Nathan, and he is such a good baby! He was happy all the time, unless it was feeding time and you didn't instantly and constantly have food in his mouth. What a guy! :)

These are just a few pictures from my mom's camera. Ours is still broken. Jonathan has a ton of more pictures on his camera, but we had to leave early this morning and I didn't get them downloaded. I'm sure these give a pretty good peek into our weekend.

Flash 12K

2009-02-21T18:14:00.004-05:00

Erik and I ran a 12K this morning. It was a crisp 26 degrees--not the weather I like to be in! Thankfully, Jim and Shirley said they would watch Kayleigh. That allowed her to sleep in and stay warm. Plus, she loves her grandparents! Erik came in 2nd in his age group, and I came in 4th in mine. We both got sweatshirts, and I got a trophy since it was my first 12K. I'll take the trophy to school to show it off. More people will see it there than at my house! :) I would take a picture of it and post it but our digital camera broke!! I will need to get a new one soon!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T08:15:00.001-05:00

Kayleigh is giving Ginger some Valentine's Day love on the couch. Ginger looks so happy to be there, doesn't she??? Kayleigh loves Ginger, and Ginger is good to put up with her.
P.S. Keep scrolling for more posts. It's a marathon post day!

Lily needs a diaper change

2009-02-14T08:09:00.002-05:00

After dinner last night, Erik watched as Kayleigh got out her mat, wipes and a diaper to change Lily the frog. She put Lily on the mat, let me open the wipes and then...wiped her nose instead of her bottom! I thought that was funny. Kayleigh got distracted from the original chore, I guess, because that's all she wanted to do. After wiping Lily's nose, she wiped her own.

Bozo the clown

2009-02-14T08:07:00.001-05:00

The other night, Kayleigh had some spaghetti to eat for dinner. After getting it all over her face, I thought she looked a lot like Bozo the Clown. Do you agree?

Dancing fool

2009-02-12T17:34:00.002-05:00

Kayleigh was in a dancing mood today. Her teachers always play music in the classroom, and as soon as Kayleigh walked in this morning, she ran over by the cd player and started to dance. Her note home today said that it's all that she wanted to do. I brought Kayleigh back to school this afternoon to watch the JV softball game. She heard the music on the loud speakers and would dance while it was on. She would point at it when it turned off, wanting to hear more. One of the teachers saw her dancing and then pointed to a nearby pole. The teachers are NOT a good influence on Kayleigh, trying to teach her how to dance in a not so nice way! Luckily, she's too shy to listen to a stranger. :)

Pictures

2009-02-09T15:50:00.002-05:00

Kayleigh and I are home early from school today because she has diarrhea again!! I think it's teething, but we'll see if the school will buy it. I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything...we've been pretty boring around here. Kayleigh ate some yogurt today and I got some pictures of her. Enjoy!

Friday Fun Day!

2009-01-30T17:33:00.003-05:00

I decided that since Kayleigh likes her ponytail so much that I would put her hair in pigtails for school today. Boy did she look cute!! The pigtails aren't exactly symmetrical, but I thought I did pretty good for my first attempt. :) Kayleigh kept saying "cheese" and made funny faces at me. These were the best two that I got.

New hair do

2009-01-28T15:40:00.002-05:00

Kayleigh has been letting me put her hair in a ponytail lately, and I LOVE getting to do it! It started last week when her teacher put her hair in a ponytail. This was a huge step for her, because she normally wouldn't let me near her with a brush and hair thing. One of the teachers at her school even commented on how ponytails have made Kayleigh a new woman. Kayleigh used to be very shy and wouldn't talk to any of the other teachers at school. Now that she has her ponytail, she is more outgoing.
I put her hair up every day now, because 1. I can, and 2. She's so dang cute!!! Enjoy the pics!
PS. Kayleigh's 3rd i-tooth broke through today!!!

WE'RE GOING TO EUROPE!!!

2009-01-24T15:41:00.002-05:00

It's official! Erik and I booked our tickets today. Kayleigh will stay with my parents while we're gone. No offense, Kayleigh, but you might hinder our fun. Oh, we've decided to go to Europe because our friends, Matthew and Karina are getting married in Poland. Karina is from there and wanted to have her wedding there. Jill has given us some good ideas about what to do. Jill--Maybe we can talk more during our 15K??? :)

Pictures

2009-01-20T17:53:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of pictures of Kayleigh in her new dress and hanging out with Daddy. They might be a little fuzzy. I think Kayleigh got her dirty hands on the camera!

Putting words together

2009-01-20T13:10:00.002-05:00

Kayleigh has been very good at saying one word at a time, and will babble a lot of words, but they're not very comprehensible. She's definitely a talker; you just don't know what she's saying. This weekend and today, she started to put two words together that I could actually understand! So, on Saturday Kayleigh and I were playing when Erik came over. I guess she didn't want him there, so she said, "Bye bye Daddy!" This morning on the way to school, she had eaten half of a bagel and I kept the other half to make sure she didn't waste it. Luckily we were stopped when she said, "Bagel more". What was funny was that it was a plain bagel. When I originally tried to offer it to her, she looked at it, realized that it wasn't a blueberry one (that she likes), and screamed that she didn't want it--using her "own" words, not "real" ones.
I'll post pictures soon. I have a couple of cute ones of her in a new dress. The camera batteries died when I tried to download them, so I'll have to do it later.

First basketball game

2009-01-18T20:50:00.003-05:00

Kayleigh enjoyed her first college game tonight. We went because my high school's cheerleaders were cheering, and I wanted to support them. Kayleigh liked everything except for the drummers who came out before they announced the players. By the end of the game, she was standing on her seat bouncing around. Her buddy, Erick, got us in, and she had to hang out with him for awhile. He's the equipment manager, and at the end of the game put Kayleigh in the towel cart. He didn't think that she would like it, but she didn't want to get out!! We're late for bedtime tonight, but we don't have to go to school tomorrow, so it's okay.

Spoon-fed

2009-01-12T18:53:00.002-05:00

Kayleigh is getting pretty good at eating with utensils, unless you give her applesauce or anything else that's runny. Then it has a tendency to land on her chest, rather than in her mouth! Here is a picture of Kayleigh showing off her crazy spoon skillz!

Tigers, oh my!

2009-01-10T09:32:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Erik and I took Kayleigh to the Civic Center to see the animals from the circus. Our friend (and Kayleigh's buddy), Erick, works for the University basketball team and works at the Civic Center. He told us last year how cool it was to see the animals up close and invited us to bring Kayleigh to see the the elephants and tigers that are travelling with the circus this year. Unfortunately, the elephants were in their trailer, so we were unable to see them. Kayleigh kept watching the tigers and eventually would whisper, "roar" at them to let them know she speaks their language.

Go Gators!!

2009-01-08T16:55:00.005-05:00

We are getting ready to cheer on our Florida Gators tonight. Erik, Kayleigh and I all wore Gator stuff to school and work today. Kayleigh wore a cheerleading outfit (not pictured) that she got from Erik's parents to school today. She supposedly had a blow out, so they had to change her outfit! This afternoon, I changed her into an outfit from my parents so that we could take pictures and you could hear her tell you what a gator "says"--chomp chomp with hand motions. Kayleigh was in the middle of eating a cracker when I took her picture and video, so I'm sorry about the crumb on her chin!

"Come Ginger!"

2008-12-31T17:57:00.004-05:00

Kayleigh has figured out how we call the dogs to us and now uses it herself. It makes me laugh, because I guess it is how I always call the dogs and never realized it until Kayleigh started doing it herself. It doesn't really work for her, though, because the dogs don't understand her when she calls. Kayleigh is making the kissing sound on the video, and the first word she says is Ginger, but I think you have to listen for that if you don't understand her.

This method of telling someone to come can work on humans, too. Mama Shirley will come running when Kayleigh calls, and this afternoon, I heard her call her friend, Jack to come over to where she was. Erik and I try not to give in to her when she calls us like that. We'll at least tell her to say please so that it doesn't seem as bad.

Big church

2008-12-28T12:33:00.003-05:00

We had a combined church service today, which means instead of having a traditional and then contemporary worship service, everyone was invited to one service at 10:30. The church does this every year around the holidays because of the lowered attendance. I liked starting so much earlier (the contemporary service starts at 11:15) and getting out earlier. Our Sunday School class is getting ready to combine with a couple of other classes. Before the combined service, we had a big pot luck breakfast. Yum! All of the kids were invited to breakfast as well, so Kayleigh stayed upstairs with us. She was so content to be with us that we decided not to take her to the nursery when we went to church. She cracked us up and embarrassed us during church, so I don't think this was the start of a new tradition. I can't imagine having to keep her with us every week, because it is so distracting. Here is what she did this morning:

--At the end of several songs, she clapped and cheered, "Yay!!!"
--During one of the prayers, and yelled, "Amen", more clearly than we've ever heard her yell.
--She tried to rearrange the hymnals and Bibles.
--She tried to help the worship leader conduct the songs. It was funny watching her move her arms around like she was mimicking the conductor.
--She saw someone leave the sanctuary and realized that it was a door we were sitting next to in case we needed a quick escape. She started miming knocking on a door and said, "knock, knock!"

It was funny for one Sunday, but I think that was enough for us.

Videos

2008-12-27T18:21:00.004-05:00

Here are two of the videos that I tried to take of Kayleigh chasing Grandma. They're both short and cute, so I figured you could handle watching them. We've decided that next time, as soon as we see Kayleigh doing something cute, we're going to run for the camera and try to capture the moment. Until then, here you go!

More Merry Christmas

2008-12-26T15:08:00.002-05:00

We three traveled to see my parents and other family members for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we had a Cuban dinner. Lots of family came over for the visit, and we had a great time seeing everyone. On Christmas morning, we took our time getting up and ready to go. We even ate breakfast before we started opening gifts! Kayleigh got a neat little armchair with an ottoman. She also got a basketball hoop from Aunt Valerie and Tio Matteo. She is good with a basketball, let me tell you! We're excited about it because it's something that she can do outside besides try to chase the random cats that roam the neighborhood! One of the funniest moments was after she got a little talking phone from my parents. My aunt called the house, and while Mom talked to her on the real phone, Kayleigh talked on her toy phone. Too cute!

Today we went to visit Granny and Aunt Ola. Aunt Ola is recovering from a heart attack in the hospital. We took Granny over to the hospital so that we could all visit together. Granny fed us some delicious white chili and fresh cuban bread. Yum! I think we're going to a Thai restaurant with my parents tonight. We got a lot when we're down here, but it's a treat for Erik and me because we don't eat Thai food back home. Tomorrow we'll travel again so that we can go to church on Sunday. We're having a big breakfast with 3 different Sunday School classes that are going to combine in January. We'll have some new teachers, and more study topics to choose from each week. I think it'll be a little weird at first and that each of the Sunday School groups will stick to themselves, but it won't be too long before we branch out to our new classmates.

I'll end this with a video. You have to know that Kayleigh LOVES her grandma! Earlier this morning, Kayleigh was chasing Grandma back and forth down the hall while Grandma was trying to get some things done. Of course, by the time I wanted to get it on video, Kayleigh had pretty much given up the chase. It's still pretty funny, so I have to share....Okay, the video didn't work tonight and I'm tired. I'll try again tomorrow when we're back home.

Family Christmas

2008-12-24T07:13:00.003-05:00

On Saturday, we celebrated Christmas with Erik's family. We made out like bandits and Kayleigh got some good stuff! We have some pictures of Kayleigh with her cousin, Thor. They liked the gifts that they each got, and were upset when one wanted to play with the other's toys!

On Tuesday night, we went out to dinner with Erik's parents, and then went back to their house to open a few more gifts. I had forgotten our camera at their house on Saturday, and when got it out to take more pictures, the batteries had died. Go figure! Kayleigh is getting good at opening presents, but she doesn't have the attention span to stay with it the entire time. One of her favorite gifts was a "Tickle Me Cookie Monster". That thing is VERY ticklish, and would roll on the floor laughing if you tickled him. I think Kayleigh got a kick out of it until it rolled towards her one time. Then she was a little freaked out, but wasn't ready for Daddy to put it away. Thanks again, Jim and Shirley, for all of our great gifts!

Next, it's off to see my family and have one more Christmas celebration. It's a busy season, but it's always good to spend time with family.

Christmas parties

2008-12-19T06:55:00.004-05:00

Last weekend we went to two Christmas parties with Erik's work. On Friday night, his company hosted an adult party at a country club in town. There was a photographer there that took our picture. I had teased Erik while we were in line about doing a prom pose for our picture, and almost started to laugh outloud when she actually made us do it! The party was fun. We hung out with people that I already know, and I got to meet a lot more coworkers of Erik, including the father of one of my students!

On Saturday night, we went to a kids' party, again hosted by Erik's company. They had it at a place in town with a bunch of blowup slides and play areas. Since Kayleigh is so small, we got to go on the slides with her. We had so much fun, but I was sorry that I wore a long sleeved shirt and pants! It was cold outside, but I was hot from all of the playing I was doing. At that party, all of the kids got to have their picture taken with Santa, a gift, and a $10 gift certificate to Walmart. Do you like the look Kayleigh is giving Santa??? Priceless.

18 month check up

2008-12-17T16:43:00.004-05:00

I know it's a little late, but Kayleigh just had her 18 month check up today. She was able to get in and out without shots, which is awesome. She knows which nurse gives her the shots and is never happy to see her. For her percentiles, Kayleigh is 27.6 pounds, so that's the 87th percentile, and is 30 1/2 inches, or the 15th percentile. I think her weight percentile has gone up, but so has her height! She's consistently short and chunky.

Today is the first day that Kayleigh has worn her hair in a pony tail to school. She does NOT like for me to try to get her hair in a pony tail, but she's starting to sit still for me, so I thought I would attempt it today. I need to work on making it neater. I'll get better with practice.

We had a couple of Christmas parties last weekend for Erik's work. One was a kids party with a chance to take pictures with Santa. Can you guess who was not thrilled to sit on Santa's lap?!?! Other than that, Kayleigh had a good time at the party. Erik's work gave each kid a $10 gift certificate to Walmart! Isn't that nice?? We used it to get Kayleigh a pair of church shoes. Wow. We're such good parents to splurge on our daughter! :)

We have a couple of more Christmas parties this weekend. Luckily, I'm done with work after Friday, so I can handle all of the excitement. I also want to go around and see some Christmas lights. I know of a neighborhood in town that goes all out every year. We went last year, and it's a tradition I want to start with Kayleigh.

I'm sure I'll take a bunch of pictures this weekend because we're having our Christmas celebration with Erik's family.

A look into the future

2008-12-02T16:04:00.002-05:00

I thought I would have a few more years before Kayleigh wanted to drive, but I guess she is ready to take that step now. Yesterday when we got home from school, Kayleigh climbed over the center console into the front seat. She knows that the handle for the brights will turn the lights on, and the blinkers work if the car is on. Kayleigh did NOT want out of the driver's seat, so I ran inside to get the camera and start taking pictures. Enjoy!

Where is Kayleigh???

2008-11-29T18:20:00.004-05:00

Do you feel like you're playing this game a lot lately? Kayleigh has a new hiding place. I couldn't get a picture of her coming out from behind the curtain, but she was having fun, trust me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T15:37:00.002-05:00

I know, I know, it's a day late. But, I really wanted to wait until the pictures from the Turkey Trot came online so you could see us running. Erik and I did a 10K (6.2 miles) yesterday, and it was torture! Not really, but I haven't been training much lately, and it almost killed me. I was fine for the first half, but then started to get tired for the second half. For the last couple of miles, we had our eyes set on some women who weren't too far ahead of us. We finally caught them around the 6 mile mark, and never let them catch back up. We accomplished my goal of not finishing last. :)
I definitely learned my lesson about re-hydrating after a long race. I got so sick yesterday, and Erik really thinks that I didn't drink enough water after the race. I felt terrible and ended up having to miss Thanksgiving dinner. I felt bad because I wasn't there to celebrate, but I needed to be home sleeping and trying to recover. I feel much better today, though.

Proof that we ran. :) Did I mention that Erik pushed Kayleigh in the stroller? He needed something to slow him down so that he could stay at my pace.

Where's Erik??

So cute!

2008-11-23T09:04:00.003-05:00

I got brave this morning and put Kayleigh into tights and this cute dress from her cousin, Mia. She thought she was hot stuff and strutted around our bedroom twirling and putting her hands on her "hips". (it was more like her armpits! She'll figure it out.) This dress has a matching jacket, and it'll be perfect for this chilly day and church. The only downfall to her outfit is that she doesn't have cute shoes to go with it. She'll be running around in her tennis shoes today.

Sonny's revenge!

2008-11-13T17:56:00.003-05:00

Okay, so the activities haven't been so exciting in our house lately. You are probably wondering why I have the title that I do. I'm calling for a ban on Sonny's BBQ. Let me paint a picture for you: Kayleigh and I had the day off on Tuesday for Veteran's Day. Valerie gave me the bright idea to meet up with Erik for lunch. We decided to go to Sonny's for lunch. Lunch was delicious. I think Erik and I knew there was a problem that night when he had the chills and a fever so high he could have been the heating pad for my sore stomach. I felt terribly sick to my stomach and hung out in the bathroom for awhile, trying to decide what would make me feel better. When the room started fading in and out, I had to go to the floor so I wouldn't fall off of the toilet. Poor Erik was asleep and I knew he didn't feel good, but I had to have someone in the bathroom. He came in and was such a trooper. He gave me a wet rag for my neck and turned a fan on me. I thought I was a little better the next morning and tried to make it to work. Kayleigh had different ideas. She had a major blowout right after Erik left for work. I got her cleaned up and called for a sub. I feel better now, but Erik is still not up to 100%. Kayleigh is mostly okay, but I don't think she is 100%, either.

Onto other family news! Dad's birthday is tomorrow. Happy birthday! Valerie's and my birthday is Saturday, so don't forget to wish us a happy birthday! I am officially training for my first 15K. I'm doing a run/walk program, because actually running those 9 miles just might kill me. I'm running a 10K on Thanksgiving morning. Erik is going to run it with me, pushing Kayleigh in the stroller. I think that is the only way that he could go that slowly! I'm supposed to run 5 miles this weekend, but I think those miles are going to have to wait. I'm sure it would be good for me to run that far before a birthday dinner and dessert, but since I haven't eaten much since Tuesday, I might let my body rest.

I hope you enjoy the following videos. The first one is of Kayleigh dancing to "If you're happy and you know it". She has been able to do the "stomp your feet" part for awhile, but I mostly sing it to her in the car when she gets bored. She is rocking out to the song tonight. Sorry about my poor singing--there's your advanced warning!

You need to know that I was talking to my dad on the phone when I took this second video. Kayleigh likes to pretend to talk on the phone, but she doesn't like to talk on it if someone is on the other end. I think she's been watching me when I talk on the phone. I usually don't like to sit still while I'm on the phone; I usually pace around and check out what's going on in the house.

For Abuelo and Mia

2008-11-02T20:34:00.004-05:00

This video is of Kayleigh saying "abuelo" tonight. While she was in the tub, I asked her to say it, and was very surprised for her to repeat me! She said it a few times after that, so I know she said it for real.

These pictures are for Mia. Kayleigh thanks you for the warm pjs. We had a cold snap this past week, and those pjs were much appreciated! Kayleigh was running around with her milk, so she has a little milk goatee. My favorite part of the pjs is how her belly is emphasized. It's so cute!

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-31T15:45:00.003-05:00

We have some fun pictures for you today. Erik carved a pumpkin a couple of weekends ago with our friend, Erick. While we were in St Pete last weekend, the pumpkin shrank like the Wicked Witch of the West! When we got home from St Pete, there was a weird smell in the garage, but the first thing I noticed was the trail of ooze.
We don't have anything for Kayleigh to dress up for this year. Last year she wore her Halloween outfit to her day care, and to the church for Trunk or Treat. Neither place had any activities this year, so I just dressed Kayleigh up for the pictures. It's probably a good thing that we didn't have to take her anywhere, because I think the wings on the outfit bothered her.

Kayleigh pictures

2008-10-27T17:27:00.003-05:00

Okay, Okay. I know you want to see pictures of Kayleigh, not me, so here you go! Sheesh! The first picture is of Kayleigh carrying her bag outside. She and Erik were on their way to see Granny and aunt Ola. The pictures of Kayleigh on the couch are of her watching a squirrel eat peanuts outside. If you look closely in the picture where she's climbing on the couch, you can see the squirrel on the wall outside.

More reunion pictures

2008-10-27T16:53:00.002-05:00

Okay, I know that this isn't interesting to those of you who weren't there, but these are my friends, so look at the pictures, anyway! I seem to be missing one picture, so I'll have to get it from you Valerie.

High School Reunion

2008-10-25T15:10:00.002-05:00

I won't say how long it's been since I graduated, but this weekend is our reunion weekend. Earlier this afternoon we had a picnic time at the gym. It was bring your own food, but also an extra chance to hang out with people we haven't see in a long time. For those of you who know our high school friends, there were Meghan, Molly, George (the only guy that came!), Polly, Jana, Kelli, Ashley, Alison, Valerie and me. We had a good time talking and catching up with everyone. Miss Jones, our 7th and 8th grade history teacher even came for a little while. She left NCS, and just came back this year. We have a dinner tonight, so I'll be posting more pictures later. Out of the 68 people that graduated with us, only 20 are coming. A couple of the girls are pregnant or have just had babies, so that's a pretty good excuse. Others are out of town and couldn't make it in for different reasons.

Kayleigh's first "date"

2008-10-19T18:19:00.003-05:00

We invited our friends Erick and Amy over for dinner last night. Amy had a prior commitment, but Erick said that he still wanted to come over. We told him that it was couples only, so he asked if Kayleigh could be his date. We figured he would be a good date, so okayed the offer. Erick is definitely one of Kayleigh's favorite people, too. When Erick came over, he brought Kayleigh a rose. It is super pretty, and Kayleigh loves to smell it. I put it in a cup and brought it up to Kayleigh's room last night. When she woke up from her nap this afternoon, it was the first thing she wanted to do was smell her flower. She was literally sitting in her crib, reaching out to the flower. We have decided that all of Kayleigh's dates need to be like the one she had last night--at our house and over by 8:00! :)

More pumpkin patch pictures

2008-10-18T11:59:00.001-05:00

Here are the rest of the pictures from the pumpkin patch this morning. She had fun, can you tell? If you didn't see the other picture, scroll down to the next post.

Pumpkin

2008-10-18T11:11:00.000-05:00

We went to a Pumpkin Patch this morning to get some pictures of Kayleigh with the pumpkins. We did it last year with Nick, Robyn and Taylor, and I thought it a neat tradition to start with my family. I'll post more pictures later, but I stole the idea for this one from my friend, Jenna. I think it is really cool, and I'm glad that I was able to get a picture of Kayleigh that the effect would work with.