Tuesday

Kaylen is busy today playing doctor to her babies. It's been a favorite game for a while now and in fact, last week it actually caused an argument with one of her playmates who told her that only boys could be doctors. Boy oh boy did she put up a fuss for that one! :) It wouldn't really surprise me if one day down the road when she was grown if she started looking into healthcare training institutes. She does enjoy all things medical - and is always the first one to jump at the chance to get a band aid for someone who might need one.

It isn't unusual to go into the living room to find several "examination rooms" set up and several babies in the waiting room. Let's just say she has gotten a lot of use from the doctor kit that Kelton received for his second birthday. :)

Here is a photo I took of her a couple weeks ago. She wanted a nurses outfit made like one she saw in a book. Mommy isn't exactly artsy but I think I did well enough. :)

Oh For The Love of Tape!

Kaylen has discovered scotch tape and lately, just as it did when Kelton was 4, it is flying off the rolls as she wraps things to have "birthday parties" and uses it on art projects. Yesterday, though, I saw something that brought me right back to the height of Kelton's tape obsession. Take a look.

This was common for Kelton:


And now, apparently, for Kaylen as well:


Do you think it's genetic? :)

Another Sunny Day

The sun is shining so it MUST be summer, right? Well - if you are 4 years old this is exactly what it means. Who cares that it's 54 and windy?

Kaylen desperately wanted to go outside (in fact, she is still out there. I'm too cold to be out there any longer so I'm in uploading photos and blogging) so out we went. I love the way she entices me by saying in her oh so sweet little voice "You can take pictures of me!" How can I resist?

So here you go - pictures of my darling girl.

Look at those eyes! Look closely; one is blue and one is green.

Climbing a tree? Nah - more like hugging a tree. :)

This would be *after* running across the yard and slipping in the muddy grass.

Ever the gardener girl - she is already planning her garden.

*sigh* Isn't she adorable? :)

What a Cute Little Kitty

Last Wednesday I walked into the living room to find a cute little kitty had moved in with us.




Are you finished admiring her sweetness? Oh good - then let me just say that she used her brother's non-washable marker. Did you giggle a little? Yeah - me too. But then let's go one step further: the next day was the scheduled appointment to have the photo of both kids with me taken.

Now remember: non-washable. Red.

Ugh.

I, of course, had to get a photo first. And then out came the cloth for scrubbing. I managed to make them all but disappear on her face but the ones on her legs? I'm just glad you can't see her legs in the photo. :)

Meow.

Beautiful Sunshine

The other day I was swimming in things to do when a sweet little voice said "Mom? I know how you can have some fun right now. How 'bout taking picture of me outside."

Personally, I think this was just her way of getting me to go outside with her on a crisp, beautiful February day. Still - I was happy to take the camera out and snap some shots of my beautiful sunshine girl. Next time perhaps I will remember to check the lens for small finger prints. :)

Kaylen's Birthday Dinner

Sorry to leave you all hanging there but I have been a bit scattered and short on time. Blogging was something I could postpone without anything falling apart so it took the hit for me. I'm sure you all know how that goes sometimes. Anyway - I'm going to do a little back track to catch you up.

Kaylen's real birthday was Tuesday and since it was a study night for Dakota (meaning no classes but instead she spends those hours that she would be in class studying) she had planned to come home so we could take the birthday girl out for dinner. The weather had other plans though - we woke to snow falling! As you probably remember, Dakota works on the top of a very big hill so she opted to work from home. I had a big Book Fair meeting that I had to get to so instead of Kaylen going to a friends house for the morning, she stayed home with Dakota. I went ahead with plans for Kelton to go to his morning day care situation (a dear friend has a day care nearby and she had offered to watch him and get him off to school on the bus that comes by her house) because he had really been looking forward to being "a day care kid" for a day and he was so sad at the thought of not being able to.

Fast forward to the end of the day and it was time to The Birthday Girl out to dinner. She chose Red Robin (no surprise there) so off we went! We had a good time and since pictures speak louder than words....here are a few shots of the evening.

The next set is just to show you how much fun it is trying to get a decent picture of Kaylen these days. OY! She is definitely well ensconced in the Land of Being Four. Give me patience!

Seriously. Need I say more?

This is when the Red Robin staff was singing to her. She wanted to like it but she really wasn't all that sure. Not that I blame her - it is weird for me as an adult, I can only imagine how it feels when you are a mere 4 years old.

But the singing was worth it! :)
She kept shoving spoonfuls at me and I have to say it was good! Anyone know where I can get some cheap diet pills ? :)

All in all - I think it's safe to say that she had a good day - and she definitely had a good dinner. :)

Last of the Three's

Tonight, when I put Miss Kaylen to bed, I said "Guess what? You're going to bed as a three year old but guess what you're waking up as?" She screamed happily "A FOUR YEAR OLD!"

Yes it's true. Today was the last day I will ever have a child who is three years old. I survived, and loved, the three's twice...and I am here to tell the tale. :)

I still can't believe she is going to be four tomorrow. When the clock strikes 11:50AM my baby girl will have been on the earth for four whole years. I can tell you what happened that day from the moment I opened my eyes until the moment I closed them that night. When I woke I had a baby still safely inside me and when I closed my eyes at the end of the day, I had a baby in the NICU on oxygen, IV, heart monitors and antibiotics. How far we've come from that day that started out so happy moved through terrifying and then settled into scary.

My sweet baby girl,
Happy Birthday to you, Kaylen Lane - what an amazing little person you are. You have rocked my world since the day the stick turned pink. You are a much wanted dream come true and the world is lucky to have you and I am luckier still. You might have been resistant to being here in the first place but now that you are here you are making a place, and a name, for yourself. You are a beautiful little sole and I love you so very much.
Love,
Mommy

Your Birth Day

This is how I first saw you.

Day two

Finally holding you.

First Birthday

Second Birthday:

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

And oh my gosh - watch this. This was 5 days after she turned two and she is so freaking cute I could gobble her up !!!


Third Birthday

And Fourth Birthday

Little Coffee Thief

This afternoon I decided to take a few minutes away from the trillions of things I was working on to finish watching Hot Topics from yesterday's "The View". I heated up a cup of coffee (left over from this mornings pot) in the microwave, let the children know where I would be and then went back to my bedroom to settle in and listen to adult conversation.

It went fine for ...oh I don't know....3 minutes? Then a child came asking for something. I paused the show and went to retrieve the craft project (Shrinky Dinks...in case you are wondering. And if you are my sister or brother, a package or ten of the plastic sheets would make a great gift for Mr. Kelton's birthday. I'm just sayin'.). I settled him in to create and went back to my show for...about a minute. The girl showed up and wanted help with something. I helped her and returned to the show. Then Kelton needed something and then Kaylen again. Just when I was convinced they were settled in for a good 10 minutes, the the phone rang. My co-chair for the book fair calling me back about a question I had. We talked and while doing so Kaylen came into the room. I hushed her and turned my attention back to the phone conversation.

When I was done with my call I settled in to watch more TV and I reached for my cup of coffee that had been on the nightstand. It wasn't there.

That's weird. I shrugged it off thinking I had probably taken it back and forth with me while handling kid requests and most likely had finished it and left it in the kitchen.

I watched the rest of the show (all of 5 minutes) and then went out to help Kelton shrink his art projects. Eventually I ended up in the living room and it was there that I noticed my coffee cup sitting in front of the TV. Perplexed, I said "What is my coffee cup doing in front of the TV?" The response from the wee one made me laugh.

She said "I put it there when I was done drinking it."

"Done drinking it? When did you drink it?" I asked

"I took it from your room when you were talking on the phone. Remember when I came in there?"

Huh. I not only have a pint sized coffee drinker on my hands I also have a coffee thief! And I'm betting there was probably a good half cup full. Sheesh!

*sigh*

After we returned from our bike ride(her)/walk(me) around the neighborhood this afternoon, Kaylen asked me to play doll house with her. Now playing dollhouse is not my most favorite thing to do but I love my daughter and agreed to play. I thought things were going along fine when she suddenly got up and walked to the back of the dollhouse, removed the little girl doll house person I was playing with, shot me a dirty look and proceeded to walk the girl down the stairs and out the front door of the dollhouse. She turned to me and said "Don't you know *how* to play with dolls?"

*sigh*

The Things She Says

My three year old daughter just said "I'm flabbergasted."

Flabbergasted?

Really?

Where does she come up with this stuff because I can promise you I have never once said "I'm flabbergasted." Never. Not once.

Where does she get it from??

Santa's Little Helper

Yesterday I had big plans. I was going to take Kaylen in for her flu shot, which she had been unable to get previously, and then go to a make-up gymnastics class (her regular class is Thursday but being Thanksgiving, we had to reschedule). I was looking forward to having her flu shot done so I could take it off my To Do list.

The best laid plans and all.

Pediatric flu shots are still not available through Kaiser. Apparently they are back ordered from the manufacturer but to help kids get vaccinated, they have the nasal mist spray for the toddler set. Fine and dandy except the list is side effects is enough to scare off even a pro-vaccine mom like myself. And then there is the little fact that Kaylen is not eligible for the mist because she had croup last month and a child who has been that sick, or has had any wheezing in the year prior, is not able to have the mist.

Fine by me because...did I mention the list of side effects? No thanks.

So anyway - we went to the nurse treatment room, waited in a long line and was turned away. "Come back next week and we might have it it."

We were done there and it was too early for gymnastics but not enough time to go home. I have been wanting to go to TJ Maxx for a while as I hear people talking about it all the time. I've never been so figured today would be a good chance to check it out since it was close to the gym. I didn't find anything for me (which was my goal) but I did find a really great Christmas dress for Kaylen and BONUS! it came with a matching doll dress....and all for the low price of $12!

From there we went to gymnastics (which the girl is in love with! It is so much fun to watch her and she is so jazzed while she is there and still jazzed for hours after. Definitely the right move for her.) and then home. She was barely in the front door before she found her doll, grabbed the bag and ran off to her room. Once dressed, she came out and sat on the fire place hearth and said "Take our pictures please. Just like yesterday, ok?" (see Christmas card photo post below)

So I did. And here they are:

Later she came to me and asked that I cut her dolls hair. I did my best to talk her out of it but the girl was right. The dolls hair was too messy and it was always getting knots in it. So I decided to take the plunge and cut it. And you know what? The doll looks 100% better with shorter hair. I think it's so great that she likes her short hair so much that she even wants her dolls to have short hair. :)

Oh how I love this little girl of mine!