Out of the mouth of a toddler

Brandon and I took the kids to the park the other day because it was fairly nice outside and we wanted to do something that didn't cost money! So, we went to the Dennis the Menace Park. Kayle loves it there, they don't have typical park things. There is a huge train to climb, a rolling slide, and a huge bridge to cross. The last thing Kayle wanted to do was cross the bridge. So, Brandon went out first and then Kayle started to go. Brandon all of a sudden starts running and jumping, basically freaking Kayle out! All of a sudden, Kayle yells, "STOP YOU IDIOT!!!" While that is not a bad word, it is not something we want her to be saying to people. She was clearly scared but we felt that was unnecessary.

That was not the first time she said a not so good word. She called something stupid once and it about nearly broke my heart. Now we try to work on saying silly instead of stupid. I need to remember that my 3 year old is listening to EVERYTHING I am saying. It may seem 'silly' to some that we are scared for our daughter to be saying these words which are harmless but maybe we want to still hold on to some innocence! Also, she should not be calling us idiot! We laugh about it now but then,not so funny.

New herbal medicine

I have never been one to try herbal remedies but after months of being sick I am trying something new. I started Makenna on WishGarden herbs cough and cold for children and she all of a sudden in doing better. It smells nasty and she doesn't really like it but I force it down because I think it is doing something for her. Today, I went back to the pharmacy to get something for myself because I have a sinus infection! I finished my last dose of antibiotics yesterday but still feel crummy. I looked into the WishGarden products and found a herbal medicine specifically for sinus infections and upper respiratory problems. The wellness practitioner that I was talking to also suggested probiotics to help. We will see if it helps!!! I am sick of being sick and I want to be back to normal, whatever that is.

The website is www.wishgardenherbs.com and it has a lot of different things to offer for general health, pregnancy, and even a tone of children's herbs that range from colic to teething help. I seriously recommend it to anyone looking for different ways to get healthy after a cold or cough or just general well being. (I was recommended this product by a pharmacist and the wellness practitioner!)

month of germs

Pardon my absence for the past month. Makenna, Kayle, and I were sick practically the whole month of November. Actually, I think we were sick towards the end of October, it is all beginning to blend together. We have all been to the Doctor several times it seems like. Definitely catching up on my quota for seeing the Doctor!

It started with Makenna, she had a cough that wouldn't go away, then Kayle started coughing, sneezing and had a yucky nose. Makenna went into the Doctor for her well baby visit and that was when I found out she had bronchiolitis. Basically it causes her to wheeze, the medicine they gave me did nothing. She went back into the Doctor and they said to try Benedryl, that too has done nothing.

The weeks went on and suddenly Kayle is not acting happy and barely eating a thing. I took her into the Doctor to find out she had an ear infection and bronchitis. That meant 10 days of antibiotics... UGHHHHHH... this is not easy, even the good bribes wouldn't work. Somehow, we made our quota each day and she finished the antibiotics! I think she is doing much better, still coughing but it sounds better.

Meanwhile, I was coughing and coughing and feeling horrible. I went into my Doctor and after chest xrays they determined I had pleurisy. That is an infection of the fluid that lines the lungs and rib area. Painful breathing problem and coughing problem. So, I got put on antibiotics too.

Somehow Brandon has not gotten sick through all of this (knock on wood), I hope he doesn't. That also leads me to believe that there are a few scenarios to why just the girls are sick.... A) something in the house is affecting us, possibly a hidden mold problem. B) We are not use to the moist conditions like Brandon is (he grew up in the bay area). C) It is allergies. I wish I knew so I could make everyone feel better.

I hope December brings us a healthy mind and body!

Makenna is starting a new herbal medicine that will hopefully help her cough!! We will see...

Swine flu scared world

I think that most people are really taking this swine flu thing too far. Forgive me for my naive opinion but I think with proper hand washing and common sense people could avoid it. I guess it is also kind of the mind set to me that it won't happen to me! Isn't that what everyone says anyway, I am sure they do. Where was I going with this post....

On Thursday I had to take Makenna to the hospital for some hip xrays. Her Dr. is concerned about how her hips are lining up and wants to make sure there is nothing wrong going on. So, we are at the hospital and I am not sure where to go so I headed to the emergency area first. An important point to this story is that I am holding Makenna in my arms the entire time. The nurse at the ER sent me upstairs to an information desk where I was then directed to the radiology department. They then sent me to registration because I had to be registered, (DUH). Makenna and I sat there waiting patiently to be called while doctors and staff walked by smiling at us. After Makenna was registered we then proceeded back to the radiology department where I was stopped! This nice old lady yelled at me, "STOP! She cannot be in here". Thinking she was joking I smiled. "She is under 18, she is not allowed in the hospital" said that not so nice lady now. So I responded with, "we are here for xrays, I just registered and I have been walking around the hospital and nobody has said anything to me!" The lady demanded that I have someone hold Makenna while I go get xrays, (funny lady, I am not going to leave my child with some random person while I tour the hospital anyway). As I tried to explain that Makenna is the patient, SHE is registered, SHE has doctor orders, the lady finally tried to get us to our destination quickly. She explained to me since the swine flu epidemic, no children are allowed into the hospital.

I do understand the theory behind that new rule BUT there is no children's hospital in the Montrery area, therfore children will need to be seen at the hospital. That is a silly rule and they need to figure out other precautions besides banning kids from the hospital. We did end up getting xrays and we were fine. I, being a smart parent, made sure that Makenna did not crawl around the flor, eat things that fell and washed her hands when we left. People, stop over reacting and just use common sense and don't yell at people. I will not take my kids to the hospital unless there is a reason... come on!!!!

Let the holiday season begin... I guess

It seems the day after Halloween, Christmas decorations have to come up. I went to Target yesterday and the store had decorations everywhere. We still have Thanksgiving people, remember. As much as I love Christmas time I feel that Thanksgiving is getting slided. BUT nothing I can do about it.

Halloween was great. Kayle went as Tinkerbell which was what she chose. We bought the costume about

a month ago so she has been really excited about wearing it. Well, on Halloween she decided to throw a fit and didn't want to wear the costume, (I made her), who knows why. I have learned that for next year, I will wait to get the costume closer to Halloween so the excitement is still there and we don't have any issues.

Makenna went as a strawberry. I found it online and thought it would be easy to make. We stuffed some socks into her shirt to make it round and then sewed on some felt leafs onto a adorable hat that my friend Zoe made. Makenna made an adorable strawberry!

Pacifier VS. thumb

I have touched on this topic before and it has been on my mind lately so I thought I would share my thoughts! For any of you mothers to be or curious readers out there I feel the need to express the difference between them, for me there is a huge difference.

Kayle sucked her thumb AND still does at 3 1/2 years old. She never took a pacifier or had any sort of interest in it. Makenna took to the pacifier right away and is not real dependent on it but does enjoy it for nap time and bed time. The easiest way for me is to list pros and cons of each, so here you go!

Pacifier

Pros:

-Easier to get rid of (So I hear)

Cons:

-Once they fall out of the mouth they drop down to the dirty floor

-They can get lost a lot easier

-at night time it is hard to keep track of them

Thumb

Pros:

-Attached to your hand so it cannot get lost

-Child does not loose it at night therefore easier to get the sucking sensation needed

Cons:

-Harder habit to break

-Teeth are starting to protrude

Ok, so I know that is not a lot of pros and cons, however that is all I can think of at the moment and those are very important points! What I am leading to is that Makenna has been sick a lot more than Kayle was as a baby and I do believe it is because of the pacifier. One other point and a very important one at that, is that Kayle slept great and had no problem self soothing herself back to sleep. She knew where her thumb was and when she wanted comfort she didn't have to cry and scream and wait for me to come in and find it for her. Lets be honest, that wouldn't have happened! Makenna sleeps horribly and I will blame it on that darn pacifier. I guess you can see what I lean towards.

*I have tried to add images of pacifiers that we use but I have no clue how to right click and save things with this mouse. Sorry for the lack of images :)

Pet peeves

Here is just a list of the things that irritate me (for those who care ):

-Parents who let their kids roam around freely (I know they have no clue where their kids are)

-Parents who let their kids damage other peoples stuff

-Kids who are rude... there is a lot of them out in the world!

-Slow drivers

-People who try to take advantage of you

-Salesmen who use your kids to try to get to you

new post on the new comp.

We broke down at forked out the cash and bought ourselves a fancy new imac. We both are loving it and agree with all the good things everyone says about these computers. I am so thankful that we were able to purchase one, Brandon was getting aggravated with our old laptop that was serving as his homework tool. I am hoping that this will better serve his needs :)

It is already October 1st! Makenna will be one year old in one month! I cannot believe how fast time has flown by. I thought for sure she would be walking by now but still nothing. Although she might as well be. She moves fast and gets into everything. When she crawls, she crawls with a mission, it is funny. Her little legs move so fast and her arms are right there helping. So cute! Anyways, time to get moving... she is actually napping right now and I need to take advantage of this time!

Kids really are worth it!

I try to write about different things other than about my kids but it is so hard when that is what I do everyday. It is my joy and my life! I would not trade it for anything!! Kayle is reaching a funny age. She is saying extremely funny things and showing her personality. She is also showing me that she is very independent, very much like her father! Last night she wanted to go to bed by herself! I was amazed when she asked to do it by herself. I sometimes still feel like she is a baby and I need to do things for her. She can go to the bathroom by herself just fine but I still feel the need to help her. I just need to relax and step back and let her grow :(

Makenna is dependent right now obviously but I wonder what she will be like at 3. I don't really want to think about that though... ahhhh. Speaking of Makenna, I am trying to get her to nap right now and she is just screaming. She keeps pulling herself up in her crib and stands there crying, scared, because she can't get down. This is the tough stage, when they start to explore more and there is no way to stop it for bed time and nap time. Then she drops her pacifier on the floor and cries over that... this is when thumbs are good! Pros and cons over pacifiers and thumbs, but that is another post sometime.

KIDS ARE WORTH EVERYTHING YOU GO THROUGH! I LOVE THEM!

Tiny steps

I just watched Makenna try to take her first step. I was sitting on the floor with her and she was standing at our ottoman and was trying to get to the couch, which is maybe a foot away. For her I am sure it is a mile away. She kept letting go of the ottoman and trying to reach for the couch. Again and again she would do this and jabbering away while she did it. It was cute to watch her try and figure out if she could do it. Then suddenly she went for it and down she went, face first into our rug.

I think she is almost to the point of walking! She has only been crawling for about a week but she is ready to run and play with Kayle. They are growing up way too fast!

P.S. We have a horrible connection with our wireless so photo uploads are on a brief hiatus until I put them on a cd, in case you were missing recent photos :)

Cheese stuffed meatloaf

If you love cheese and meatloaf then you will definitely love this recipe. I found it in a magazine and thought Brandon and I would enjoy it!

1/2 C milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 C crushed cornflakes
1/2 C finely chopped onion
3 Tbsp finely chopped celery
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp rubbed sage
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese


In a large mixing bowl mix the first 10 ingredients together. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. On a large piece of foil, roll out beef mixture into a square on the foil. Spread sour cream to within 1/2 inch of edges. Then sprinkle with the cheese. Roll up, jelly roll style, peeling away foil as you roll. Seal seams and ends and place seam side down in a greased baking dish.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 65-75 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

Now, with that all typed out, I did tweak the recipe a little bit. I didn't have cornflakes so I crushed some croutons that I had and I added my own spices since I didn't have any that the recipe called for. It still came out delicious!!! Brandon and I loved it! I served it with mashed potatoes, salad, and some rolls and we had a great dinner.

Enjoy!

teething pain

Makenna is teething again! She has four teeth on the bottom and is getting her two top teeth on the top, as I said before, I know. BUT that is on my mind right now. It is so aggravating to try everything and nothing helps. This morning she woke up at 5 am screaming :( I laid there for awhile listening to her and I could tell she was in pain. Typically we let her cry herself back to sleep, and we will not go in her room until at least 6am. I knew, if I didn't go in she was going to cry for about the whole hour. So, I went in and grabbed her and tried to nurse her back to sleep. That didn't work, so I gave some Tylenol and her pacifier. That still didn't work, we had a grumpy baby on our hands. Finally Brandon gets the gas relief thinking maybe that would do something. It did for about 2 minutes and then the screaming began again. UGHHH. By this time it is about 5:45 so I finally just put her on her tummy on our bed and rubbed her back and she was out. She slept til 7:30! Normally I do not put her on her tummy, a big no no, but that was what she needed. After the teeth break through then she is fine but getting past that point is so tough. Ahh, the joys of parenting.

Getting back into the swing of things

As I was just reminded about my lack of blogging I thought I should do it now before I put it off another three months. Since my last post a lot has changed. We moved, Kayle has started preschool, Makenna has four teeth, (and is getting two top teeth), and we have gone through a dog and now have a kitten. So with all of that where do I start... No clue. I guess maybe first I should start with the move and then go from there.

Our move went great, no problems. You take a chance when you have the Navy move you but thankfully we didn't have any issues. Our stuff arrived on time and all together with a few minor things broken that I didn't care about. Kayle and Makenna did great in the car. Brandon and I are very lucky to have kids that travel well since we will be doing it the rest of our life! During the last 30-40 minutes of our traveling Makenna would get fussy but the big sister Kayle would step in for us! She laughed (and you have to hear it, it is something I cannot describe) and Makenna would stop crying and focus on Kayle. It worked like a charm every time!!

Anyway, we are settled in now I guess, although Brandon and I still have not done anything to our bedroom which bugs me but that is another story. Every other room is done and put together. Maybe someday I will post pictures. We love it here and are so thankful everyday that the Navy is paying us to live here and allow Brandon to have a stress free two years before going back to the fleet. Come and visit us, we have a tiny room with a bed for guests.

With that, I promise to write more, it is a pinky promise!! :)

Do you really care?

I honestly have not posted anything in a while because my friends have much cooler blogs than I do but sometimes I just want to sit and type, and that is usually when something gets posted on here. You must know that I just type, I never re-read anything, although I do spell check when done :) With that said, enjoy my ramblings.

We have less than a month to go before we leave Virginia and I am super excited to leave. I like it here and have made GREAT friends but we are excited for the next chapter in our life. I am ready to have Brandon home for at least 18 months and for him to be duty free during that time. Wow, we might feel normal. Although being in the military does seem normal to me it will just be nice to have a little consistency! Cannot wait, we leave May 29th!!!

Kayle is doing very well using the potty. We still have accidents but she knows when she needs to stop playing and take a potty break. She usually does it without my reminders now! Going out in public is still another issue but she doesn't mind the public potty like I do so that is good. Kayle is growing up so fast, too fast! Her vocabulary has grown and speaks much clearer now. She wants to know about everything and asks what everything is. Brandon and I have began spelling alot so she doesn't know what we are talking about. She wants to do everything her self. She says, "I do it myself!" and when she thinks something is gross her response is, "I can't like that!". Definitely entertains me during the day. The best part of the day is when she tells me I am her best friend, I hear it at least once a day. I love it. I love being a mom because of things like this. She truly wants to please me and is always asking if I am happy and doing well. LOVE IT!!

Makenna is already 6 months old, time flies by way to fast. I am enjoying everything with her right now. I am slowly starting solids and not rushing it, I guess knowing that she is our last one, I want to savor every moment. Breastfeeding is going great and I know that when that stops, that is it. So, not rushing anything! Her two bottom front teeth have came through finally after months of constant drooling and extreme fussiness! We are no where near a schedule with her. I have not pushed anything since we will be moving and everything will be crazy anyways. She loves jumping and standing or playing in her exersaucer. She does enjoy her tummy time more than Kayle did but still prefers her back. She has only rolled over from back to tummy and then tummy to back once. I swear she did it to show me she could do it (I kept bugging her to do it), and then that was it. Oh well!

Anyways, thanks for reading. Oh yeah, Makenna is only 10 pounds less than Kayle right now. Does anyone else think that is weird??!!?

I tried something new today!

For those of you who really know me, I normally do not try new things. I like my normal routine and normal foods but something at the grocery store caught my attention. Star fruit. It caught my attention because it was on sale. I love anything on sale so I thought I would try it. Kayle loves fruit but she is also picky. Well, I cut it open, (I had to read directions on how to do that), and then got all the seeds out and tried a tiny bite. To me a tiny bite is ok just in case it is not so good. I was pleasantly surprised. It reminded me of an apple mixed with a pear I guess. Kayle didn't want to eat it but was really amused with the shape. I am shocked that I would give it a chance but glad I did.

My thoughts

I have not written in awhile, busy with other things I guess... Life :) We sold our house and close on the 30th. It is very exciting but also a little sad. This home is where our children were born, celebrated holidays, and began our Navy life. So many memories! I am excited for the next phase of our life though. Monterey, CA here we come. New adventures and new memories.

I have also started (again) to potty train Kayle. Except this time it is for good, I am sure of it. She has been doing great and really loves to please her mommy. I love to watch her get excited about doing her business. It is not a fun process though, very tedious and constant monitoring. Well worth it though to get her out of diapers hopefully.

I don't know what else is going on. Life is good though :)

Weather

There is one thing I do not understand about Virginia and that would be the crazy weather. This week it has been all over the place and I am truly sick of it. Monday was a gorgeous 60 ish degree day Tuesday was a little cooler and Then Wednesday and today (Thursday) are bitter cold. I have never handled cold weather well, (I am from AZ and love the heat!), but this is to cold. The high today is around 30!!! How can 1 week be so drastic, seriously!!!??!!!

Oh yeah, and no luck with the house yet. However we do have time so not worried yet. Also, we should be getting orders this week, NPS could very well be official, yippee!!!

House for sale

You know you want it... A nice 3 bedroom 2 bath condo for sell. Who wants it ???? Our home has been on the market for just about 2 weeks now and we have had one couple look at it and one more coming next week. It is frustrating just trying to get people to come and look at it. We have plenty of time so I am not worried about it, we are just hoping to get the asking price. We will see! So if anyone out there knows any one moving to Virginia Beach, this is the place for them :) Check out the link as our home is now on public display :)

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/302-Coniston-Muse_Virginia-Beach_VA_23452_1105983766

2 year olds are funny!

Kayle is a great observer of things. She has a new fun game she likes to play with me. Kayle is the mommy and I am the baby. I cry saying "mommy, mommy.... waaaaaaaaaaaaaa" and Kayle, hugs me and pats my back saying "it's ok baby". She then tries to feed me, burp me and tells me that I just spit up. When I 'spit up' she finds a wipe and wipes my mouth. She then goes on to give me more hugs and love. I am just amazed at her. How cute is that???!!!

In this picture we were making something, I don't remember what but that doesn't matter. Anyways, she stirred and helped measure things and we had a great time just me and her. I took advantage of the time we had together when it was just the two of us. They grow soooooo fast and I love every moment of my life. I cannot wait to see what she'll say or do tomorrow!