What I Love About Kyla Today

I always do posts about all that McKenna does and with good reason. She's 2 and her personality is clear as a bell. Loud and proud she is. And my little Ky, while completely loveable, her personality is still developing and most of what she does is sleep and poop. But lately she's been doing these cute little things that are "totally Kyla" that I just love. I know I'll probably do a scrap page listing some of these but since I can't get on it now, I'm gonna journal about it and refer back later.

I love that when I take off Kyla's diaper, she immediately curls her legs up and rolls to the side to expose her bare tushie. She looks like a little butterball turkey like that.

I love that seemingly overnight, she developed some major pudge and is now sporting the same Michelen-Man arms her sister had.

I love that whenever one of us walks by her bouncy seat, she looks up and gives her patented Kyla grin that is so huge and so joyous that no one can keep right on walking. We all have to stop to touch her cheek or give her a kiss. She sucks us right in.

I love that when I get close to her face, she will sometimes grab my hair and pull me down for a big open-mouth kiss. And then she loosens up for me to back up and then she quickly pulls me back down for another kiss.

I love that when I'm giving her kisses all over her cheeks, she just sits there with a big smile and doesn't move an inch. Like she's just taking in every moment of the attention.

I love that when I make loud kissing noises into her chubby little neck, she giggles like crazy.

I love that she has a deep, throaty gurgle of a giggle.

I love that Kenna is her most favorite person ever and it's obvious. To Kyla, McKenna can do no wrong. She puts up with so much rough play from her sister but she's just happy to have McKenna in her line of sight, much less getting attention from her.

I love how much she loves to eat. She has enjoyed every new food we've handed her and gets SO excited when she sees that bowl and spoon coming her way. She kicks her little feet and inhales in an excited squeal. And God forbid you should take too long to actually put the spoon in her mouth. She will kick with manic speed and wave her arms as if to tell you "Hurry, hurry! I can't wait for the next bite!"

I love that she could care less what is on tv UNLESS it's Baby Bach. That was Kenna's favorite and it's Ky's too! And they even have the same favorite part. When the little girl in the show tells the joke "Why did Mozart get rid of all his chickens? Because they kept going 'bach bach bach bach'" and then you hear background laughter, Kyla smiles or laughs along. McKenna did the same thing at the same age.

I love that whenever I feel guilty about making Kyla wear another hand-me-down of McKenna's, she gives me her big smile. And then I remember how much she adores her big sister and I think she will probably always be stealing her sister's clothes so maybe it's not such a bad thing.

I love how much Kyla loves baby toys. She loves rattles and crinkly wings on her stuffed butterfly and rings that she can chew on. She is easily entertained and very happy-go-lucky, no matter where we go.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I have been bit by the spring-cleaning bug again. First, Gina MADE me clean my scrap folder. I think I disgusted her when I described what a mess it was. LOL! So for the past two days I've been sorting through at least 200 download folders. Deleting what I don't like, filing away things I'll use again, burning to disk things I may not use but I'm not willing to get rid of entirely, dividing what I'm keeping into neat little categories. Two nights in a row I was up until 1am working on this project. But that's only because I hadn't organized it even ONCE since I started scrapping in August. So that's quite a bit of downloads I'd accumulated. It won't ever get that bad again.

Then I've been working on cleaning the apartment. I worked non-stop yesterday. Well, mostly. I stopped long enough to go to Target for some new shelf-paper ($118 later...sheesh! But I would venture to say that at least $100 of that was necessary). I did buy a new coffee mug in aqua because the color matched my tart burner. That was frivolous but it was only $2.99 so I don't feel badly about that. Silly little things like soothing color, new mugs, my pretty tart burner - those things make me happy. So sue me if I'm lame and boring. = P

Speaking of tarts, I did stock up the other day and the only scent I got that was new to me, was Summer Fresh. It had some overly zealous description about it smelling like you were sitting in a meadow, sipping lemonade. I think one of the guys from Queer Eye For the Straight Guy wrote it. I'm not sure. But I'll be damned if that tart doesn't actually smell exactly like that!!! So, I highly recommend because it's a nice, lightly sweet, lightly floral springy scent. Perfect for opening up all the windows and doing a little spring cleaning.

I always feel good if I'm staying on top of the cleaning and cooking. Erick works 3 nights a week and I work one. So we really only have 3 times a week when we can sit down to a real family dinner. Since Erick's "lifestyle change" I've been trying to make sure we eat at home instead of going out and that we're eating well. Trying to up the protein and veggies and cut out the fatty/starchy foods. I did make the menu I'd mentioned in my last post (grilled salmon, greek salad, baked potato) but he said a baked potato once in awhile is good for him. He just made sure he didn't put a bunch of fattening things on it. Last night I made top sirloin steaks, sauteed shrimp and sauteed zucchini. Tonight we're having stuffed salmon, sauteed asparagus and that's it. The salmon is really filling so no need for a third dish. It's funny but it's actually EASIER to cook this way. Grilling or baking takes no time at all. Stir-fry or sautee takes about 5 minutes. I usually buy pre-cut ingredients for our salads so that takes 2 minutes. It's those things that have cream sauces and starchy foods that took the most time to cook! So it's suddenly gotten to be a piece of cake to cook only 3 times a week. I've always loved to cook so I've never minded. I enjoy it. But it wasn't always practical for me to spend an hour in the kitchen when we have little ones to care for.

So anyway, that's what I've been busy with lately - spring cleaning and family meals. I've had less computer time though. There's just those times when you have to shut the computer down and really focus all your energy on organizing! Ahhh, feels good!

So I only have one LO for you. But look how bright and pretty the colors are in Gina's My Heart's Wish kit off of her "Weathered and Worn" paper and elements cds. This was one of those designs that no matter which papers or elements you chose, you couldn't mess up the LO. Everything went together perfectly.

Credits: Everything is using Gina Miller's "My Heart's Wish" from her "Weathered and Worn" CD collection (available at SBB). Fonts are 2peas Brainless, 4990810, Monotype Corsiva.
Journaling: Erick and I looked forward to the Orange County Fair every year. We always dreamed of the day we would be able to bring our children to the petting zoo, win them prizes, watch them go on rides and see their faces light up over all of the sights. It was our dream. Maybe a silly one but we’re silly people. In 2003, we went to the fair even though I was less than 2 weeks from my due date. I was huge, it was hot - but we went and took joy in the fact that we would be returning the following year with our little girl. And July 2004 really did mark the day that we saw one of our silly dreams come true when we brought McKenna to our beloved fair for the very first time.