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DST Site Update 3/18

2009-03-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience of DST's server issues. Our hosting company has not responded in the manner that we find acceptable and the service is quickly becoming unreliable. We are doing everything we can to get the site up and running for you now. Within the next few weeks we will be moving to a multi-server configuration to improve on the site's speed as well. We thank you for your continued patience.

DST Site Down 3/17

2009-03-17T09:05:00.001-07:00

We are aware that DST is down. We have contacted our web host to find out what the problem is. We will fix it as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

DST Down For A Couple of Hours

2008-05-19T12:26:00.001-07:00

Ok, the site was just running too slow so we're gonna optimize the databases now. It will take approx. 2 hours. Thank you for your patience!

DST Slowness

2008-05-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

Yuck. We noticed the site is draaaaaaaaagging today! We're going to be cleaning up the databases tonight to fix it. Please plan for the site to be down for an hour or two starting at 9pm PST. We apologize for the inconvenience.

PREPARING FOR NSD!

2008-05-02T22:18:00.001-07:00

The site will be down from approximately 1:30am - 3am EST as we optimize the databases in preparation for NSD. We want the site to run as smoothly as possible for you during the big celebration!

Be sure to check back in with us after the site re-opens. There's forum sections for NSD Party Chatter, Fun & Games, Sale Announcements, Free NSD Gifts, Contests & Challenges in Digi-Land, Chat Announcements and the Scrapper's Choice Awards Nominations! And don't forget to download your FREE copy of the DST Insider to find all those great coupons as well as downloadable documents to plan your NSD and a fabulous freebie courtesy of Heather Roselli of Sweet Shoppe Designs!

Eek!

2008-04-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

I just noticed the site was down! We're looking into it! We'll get it back up and running as soon as possible.

For those who have recently purchased a Diamond Membership - never fear, your accounts will be upgraded as promised!

Thank you for your patience and support!

Scheduled Site Down-Time

2008-02-25T17:03:00.001-08:00

We'll be closing DST tonight at 11pm EST to optimize data bases. It will be open again within a few hours. Thank you for your patience.

DST - down for maintenance

2008-01-25T20:48:00.000-08:00

We've closed the site for a few hours to gather data so that we can examine ways to speed up the gallery. The site will be up again soon. Thank you for your patience.

DST Temporarily Down

2008-01-05T16:48:00.000-08:00

We're doing a little behind-the-scenes housework at DST (see, the pregnancy nesting instinct knows no bounds). The site will be down for several hours and we anticipate all things to be up and running again by midnight PST. We apologize for the inconvenience!

Flush DNS - EDITED to include additional instructions.

2007-10-23T18:15:00.000-07:00

Honestly, 1 and 1 has been THE worst customer service experience of our entire lives. I can't even begin to describe the hell they've put us through - especially Erick who has been on the phone with them, getting the run around for two straight days. What some of you are experiencing now (not being able to get on the site) is a result of yet another one of their underhanded tactics. If you are having trouble accessing DST, here are some suggestions:

If you are unable to access the site, you may need to wait 24-48 hours for your cached DNS queries to update. You can try these things:

1) Clear your cache

2) In Microsoft Windows, open the command prompt (start->programs->accessories). type in the command ipconfig /flushdns to flush the DNS resolver cache.

3) Start>Run
At the prompt, type CMD
In the DOS window type ipconfig/flushdns
once it's done, type this into the same prompt: ipconfig/registerdns

IF YOU HAVE VISTA:

Click Start > Run > Right Click on "Run as Administrator"
At the prompt, type CMD
In the DOS window type ipconfig/flushdns
Once it's done, type this into the same prompt: ipconfig/registerdns

IF YOU HAVE MAC:
In Mac OSX, you can use the command lookupd -flushcache to flush the DNS resolver cache.

bash-2.05a$ lookupd -flushcache

The site itself is now under the care of a new hosting company. The domain name cannot be changed over for another 40-something days so that is still hosted with 1 and 1. We're hoping this is the last problem we get from this terrible company.

2007-10-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

The server change was a success. Most people will be able to access the site. If you find any bugs, please report them in this thread.

If you are unable to access the site, you may need to wait 24-48 hours for your cached DNS queries to update. You can try these things:

1) Clear your cache

2) In Microsoft Windows, open the command prompt (start->programs->accessories). type in the command ipconfig /flushdns to flush the DNS resolver cache.

3) Start>Run
At the prompt, type CMD
In the DOS window type ipconfig/flushdns
once it's done, type this into the same prompt: ipconfig/registerdns

The Site Upgrade Has Begun

2007-10-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

The site should be down for no more than a couple of hours as we complete the final stages of the transfer. If there are any changes, I will post an update here. Thank you for your patience!

We're Aware

2007-10-18T23:53:00.000-07:00

No need to contact us. We're aware that the site is down. Our hosting company has promised us 99.9% up time and this now makes 3 times that they've gone down in 3 weeks. If they don't provide a sufficient solution for us tomorrow then we will be switching to another company.

Thank you for your patience. We hope to have everything up and running by morning.

Edit: Make that 4 times in 3 weeks. We spoke with the company last night and this morning and they have only given us the runaround with no explanation for the down time. Erick has been talking to another hosting company today (one with ACTUAL customer service skills) and we're checking to see how quickly we can make the switch.

Not Loving This Hosting Company

2007-10-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, we're aware of the error message at DST. I'm not loving this hosting company right now. Twice this has happened and we've only been with them a month and a half.

Anyway, we're doing our best to reach them so we can get it fixed asap. At least this time it's a weekday so hopefully we won't have as much difficulty!

Still Waiting!

2007-09-30T21:29:00.000-07:00

So far, not much to update! Nick has some theories but we can't seem to get a real contact from our hosting company. We've been getting the run-around all day. It appears that all weekend calls are outsourced to the Philippines and the operators are only trained in the very basics. So we're hoping we'll get some real help first thing in the morning! Thanks for stickin' with us!

DST Temporarily Down

2007-09-30T09:34:00.001-07:00

We are aware that DST is having connection issues at this time. We are in contact with our hosting company. They are researching the problem and will get back to us asap. If there are any important updates, we will post them here. Thank you for your patience.

Server Change Complete!

2007-08-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

DST will temporarily be down tomorrow!

2007-08-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

As we switch DST to a dedicated server, we will need to close the site temporarily. We'll close tomorrow evening (August 27th) and we don't anticipate much down time at all. If there are any necessary updates, I will post them here.

DST back up!

2007-08-08T09:31:00.001-07:00

It looks like we're back up! I haven't heard anything else - just saw that we're online. Here's to hoping all is well!

DST is Down! - Late Night Update Added

2007-08-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone - This blog is technically "closed" but I wanted to let anyone from DST know what's going on.

There was a fire at the database center last night. Erick woke me this morning before he left and said DST should be back up in a few hours so I was just waiting it out. But we've received a more current update from Nick.

Nick said that based on reports, he doesn't anticipate any data loss. But everything did get wet. The power is out in the database center and they have to wait for things to dry out. He hopes to have things back up tonight but if there is extensive damage to the routers, he already has a back-up router ordered to be over-night shipped and he will activate it tomorrow.

Thank you for your patience as Casual Tuesday gets everything going again. These things are out of everyone's control and we're praying for them as both friends and business partners that the damage is as minimal as possible!

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Late Night Update:

Just got this from Nick:

The data center is back up and limping along.... to be up 100% we are going to need some of the equipment that will arrive tomorrow.

To the best of my knowledge, the server is dry, it just hasn't been powered up yet. So all signs are pointing to no long term damage, and no data loss....

I will know more in the morning after things get powered up and the new equipment is installed...

Please Note

2007-08-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

Please take note that the post below is my last public blog post. I started this blog as a way to keep my family and friends updated on the Bieger family and especially to share pics and stories of my children. However, since I own an internet business, I'm finding that a small group of people feel entitled to use my personal blog to pass judgment, create gossip, competiton, and general petty remarks against me. It's a group that finds conflict with almost anyone so I'm not generally concerned with their opinions.

However, since I'm 30, not 13, I just don't have time for that silliness. Besides, with the nature of Erick's work, it's probably safest if I don't have a public blog anyway. I had been considering doing this for some time and it's finally time to just get it taken care of.

I know that many of our family and friends have told me that they read my blog. I don't have a mailing list of everyone or anything like that. So if you would like to continue reading my blog, please email me at shannonbieger@yahoo.com. I honestly enjoy that my family and friends read this and I would be honored if you would like to continue. But if I don't know you in real life then I'm sorry, this blog will no longer be public.

My Four Year Old Girl

2007-07-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

Here she is....my beautiful four-year old girl. She is still such a petite little munchkin and no one can believe she's four years old. She may be tiny but her personality is ALL four! She's a drama queen, my little helper, my snuggle bug, she's cautious, she's introverted in new groups but extroverted with her friends or on stage. She's imaginative - especially lately. I'm always blown away when I overhear the games she's come up with and the songs she creates. She's so very bright, already starting to read. Yesterday we drove through old-town Brea and she said "B-R-E-A. Buh-ray-uh. Brea." She sounded it out all on her own! I know adults who still pronounce it "Bree-yuh"! LOL!! And she's funny too! She cracks me up with the things she says. Last night when she and I were driving, there was this man on the corner with long hair and a cane. She said "Mom, I thought that man was a dog but he's just a dude without a shirt." LOL...what?!?!?!

I cannot believe that four years ago tonight I was sitting in the labor and delivery room, holding my new daughter as our family arrived for their first visit. I was tired, I was starving, I was floating on cloud nine. You can read her birth story here if you've never read it before.

We celebrated her birthday on Thursday but this morning she did wake up to some presents from Mommy, Daddy, sissy, baby and Dokken. She had fun playing while I did a little housework and then we went to Target to pick up the thank you notes for her party. After that we stopped at Mrs. Fields to get her a princess cupcookie for her to enjoy after lunch. : )

This evening, my Dad and Erick installed our K9 grass (thank you sooooo so SO much for that Dad!) and the girls are LOVING their backyard again. Last year we planted grass and the soil just didn't allow healthy grass to grow in 70% of the yard. So we're pretty excited about this option so that the kids can still play in the back with Dokken. No watering, no mowing, no bugs, no mud, no wasps (the wasps were all over our grass last summer). It looks real and feels less scratchy then grass. And it drains so if it rains or the girls wanna use a little swimming pool, we don't have to worry about it getting wet. We're making a little dog run for Dokken so she'll have a designated potty place and it will have a little gate border so the kids know to stay out of it. Dokken arrives Saturday and we're all too excited for her to get here!! It'll be the perfect end to McKenna's birthday week. : )

McKenna's Fourth Birthday Party!

2007-07-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

I am soooooo glad we went with Hullabaloo's!! That place was worth every single penny! All of the walls were painted with trees and rainbows so it worked perfectly for the Wizard of Oz theme. You get an hour in the playroom and an hour and a half in the party room. But since we were the only party that night, we pretty much had the run of the place the whole night. They provided almost everything! I brought in things that I specifically wanted personalized (Dorothy plates, a birthday banner, the cake, some balloons) and a few items that they don't provide (ice and chips). But other than that...they did everything for us! They set up everything, cleaned up everything, wrote the gift list for us, carried the gifts to the car, served the pizza, served the cake. They had excellent service. I was really pleased with how easy they made it all.

And the place was so fun! It's one big clubhouse - a bounce-house obstacle course, a big treehouse with slides, a karaoke stage, air hockey and foosball, a puppet show box, a toddler area. The kids had a blast. We had the entire place to ourselves which was great because we had about 40 adults and kids. We were able to just let the kids run wild and the place was completely safe. Even the younger ones like Kyla and Gavin could run free and they were able to get up on all the toys. You didn't have to worry about them getting hurt on anything, falling off of anything, getting taken by strangers. All the parents were actually able to relax and socialize with each other. I think that's the first time I've thrown a birthday party and been able to talk to all of our guests! Erick and I were thrilled about that because we had invited so many people that we wanted to catch up with.

That was the other thing....it was really nice having so many people show up. We missed those of you who couldn't come of course. But I was really happy that so many were able to come. I was thinking how amazing it is to have so many wonderful families in our lives. Almost our entire immediate family was there, friends from church, friends from McKenna's school, friends I've known since high school, friends Erick has known since high school, playdate friends... I felt very blessed to have all of them there. And all of the kids, ALL of them did great. I didn't see a single fight, a single tantrum, nothing. It would be totally expected for that to happen what with all the kids running around and all the sugar pumping through their veins and the fact that the party went until 8pm. LOL! But no - everyone did great!!

And oh yes, McKenna did get quite spoiled by her friends and family. She sort of ripped through the presents at warp speed. She'd open it, say thank you and move on to the next one. But once we got home and she took the time to look through them again, she was MUCH more enthusiastic! I can't even remember all that she got. Lots of clothes, several games, a Barbie castle doll house, her new bedding set, an Easy Bake Oven, accessories for her Easy Bake Oven, an apron that Auntie had personalized for her (it says Princess McKenna on it), a few different dolls, a princess purse, a Tinkerbell bank, a princess dress up set for the BATH (LOL now she can dress like a princess no matter where she goes!) My Dad & Cheryl found a miniature version of my wedding ring (fake diamonds of course) and got her that because they know how she likes to wear "wedding rings". And I kid you not, the present she spent the most time staring at was a box of Kleenex. LOL! Cheryl had spotted a box of Kleenex with this shimmery scene from Peter Pan on the outside. So she bought it just because she knows how much McKenna loves the movie and then threw it into the gift bag with the rest of the presents. McKenna was enthralled with it! LOL! It was too funny!

I've got tons of pics for you. My Mom sent me all of hers so I combined ours together into one Shutterfly album. Erick and I tend to snap a cute shot if we know it's coming but my Mom's always really good about taking pictures of the details, the decorations, trying to get as many pictures of the guests as she can. I wish I'd thought to take a group picture of all the kids. McKenna would have loved that. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.

Thank you, thank you to all who came! It was so wonderful to see everyone and to get to actually spend time with you! McKenna is enjoying all of the generous gifts you guys gave her and she's looked at the pictures countless times, talking about how much fun she had and how much she loves her friends and family. It was really special for our whole family to have everyone there. Thank you!

PICTURES HERE (I started with some shots of the goodie bags for my digi friends to see.)

A Quick Update

2007-07-23T20:44:00.001-07:00

I've been completely busy with: Planning McKenna's party, planning DST's 1st birthday party, normal DST work, taking care of 2 kids, being pregnant, trying to keep the house clean, moving McKenna and Kyla into the same room.....you know....all that good stuff. So here's a brief update:

McKenna had a lot of fun at the "musical show" with Grandma Beth & Auntie. They took her to lunch at Souplantation (her favorite) and after the show they went for ice cream and a trip to Sweet Factory. Spoiled? Who? McKenna? ; ) Here are some pics.

The girls have been sharing a room for 3 nights now. Right off the bat we've learned that you can't put them down at the same time. Kyla yells for her sister. McKenna will do what we asked her to do and she'll ignore her sister. But this just infuriates Kyla to the point that she is screaming at McKenna. And she's pretty relentless. So we've found it's just better to skip Kyla's nap (or put her down for a very early one if we're home) and make her bedtime 6:30-7pm. Then put McKenna down at 8pm. They both wake up together around 8am which is really cute. We can hear them over the monitor. McKenna will ask Kyla if she had sweet dreams and they'll giggle and throw stuffed animals at each other.

Kyla is talking a LOT lately! She repeats a ton of words that we've taught her and she can even "sing" Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, ABCs, Old McDonald and We Can Fly. She's gone pee-pee on the potty several times. But so far she thinks that if her diaper is off then poo-poo happens on the carpet. So we're working on convincing her otherwise.

Erick has been playing his guitar for the girls. McKenna will sing lyrics while he plays. She's actually pretty dang good with the melody lines!! Of course her lyrics are complete gibberish. Something about chasing her sister and riding a rocketship? I'm still not sure. Sometimes the girls put their chairs in front of Erick and watch him "play a concert." He always gets a very enthusiastic round of applause at the end of each song. ; )

McKenna's party is just 3 days away. We've got just about everything bought. I still need to pick up the cake and balloons that I ordered. We're having this scanned on a cake:

I still need to put together a few of the goodie bag trinkets and then assemble the bags themselves. And pick up the last two presents. We got her:

* The clothes that I posted previously.

* A Dorothy/Glinda dress up set (she really wanted to dress like Dorothy for her party so we're gonna let her open it the day of the party).

* Princess beginner skates

* Hullabaloo game

Tomorrow I'll pick up the Cinderella pajamas she wanted and the two Tiara Club books. I think that's pretty good. We're trying to keep it reasonable.

I'm off to get started on yet another goodie bag trinket! Night everyone!

Appointment Rescheduled, Birthday Shopping Begun!

2007-07-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

Man, I've only had 3 appointments with this new OB and 2 of the 3 times that I've showed up they've said "I'm sorry but Dr. Garcia is in emergency surgery and it'll be an hour or more." Boo! Last time I waited because I was worried about the baby. But since I'd just heard the heartbeat last weekend, I wasn't feeling the need to wait over an hour. So it's been rescheduled.

But we did head straight to the mall. First stop was Yankee Candle where they DID have their fall line out! Woohoo!! So I got a pretty new tart burner (no pics on the website but it's clear glass with pretty fall leaves on it.) And a bunch of their new fall scents as well as some of my favorites:

Pomegranate Cider
Cider Donut (Kyla took a bite out of this before we left the store! LOL!)
Spiced Pumpkin
Farmhouse Apple
Creme Brulee
Sicilian Orange
Harvest
Autumn Woods
Fall Festival
Frosted Pumpkin

They smell sooooo nice and cozy!

I also picked up some cute stuff to give McKenna for her birthday:

I got her this hat and skirt:

And to go with those, I got her this shirt and these tights:

And this shirt and these tights:

I need to find her some brown boots or Mary Janes. Target has a BUNCH on their website so we'll have to stop by and see what we can settle on.

I haven't really decided what else to get her. She asked for this bedding, an Easy Bake Oven, What's Gnu, Disney Princess DVD game, a Tinkerbell bank, books 8 & 9 from The Tiara Club series and a particular pair of Cinderella PJs from the Disney Store. (Note to my family...if you're planning to get her any of these items, let me know so I can take them off my possible present list!) EDIT: Grandma Beth bought the bedding. Auntie Melly bought the Easy Bake Oven.

She is WAY easy to shop for this time. She went through the Target ad and circled all the things she wanted (and she put a "chep" mark aka check mark next to stuff she thought we should buy Lukey! LOL!) The only thing that threw me off was she circled sunscreen. LOL!!

Ok, before I go...just wanted to share this layout I just finished up for The Digi-Dare team. The challenge is "They Think I'm....". We're to finish the sentence with something that people might think about us that isn't true. I couldn't think of anything about myself but I totally had to use it on this layout of my girls and my nephews:

Journaling: Oh sure....they LOOK cute and innocent. They look downright angelic don’t they? Don’t you be fooled! When these four get together they are some of the most mischievous kids you’ll ever meet. This particular photo shoot was the photo shoot from HELL!! I can’t believe we even got this shot. These little stinkers were whining, wiggling, crying, running, climbing, screeching, giggling and goofing around the whole time. It really is a good thing they’re so cute...it sure gets them out of a lot of trouble!

What's wrong with me?

2007-07-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

Here we are, smack in the middle of July and I am so ready for Fall! I'm burning a Cinnamon tart right now! I just bought this table runner and these stuffed pumpkins from Lakeside (I figure they'll be an easy way to dress up the place for fall but if the kids grab at them and pull them down, nothing breaks!):

I'm already stalking Yankee Candle for their fall tart burners. And I can NOT wait for school to start again! Not because I love having my kids gone. I really don't. I miss them to pieces when they're gone. But because I love the new fall clothes (have you seen Naartjie's fall pieces?? Soooo cute!) and seeing the kids make friends and returning to dance class, getting ready for the Winter recital... *sigh* I just love it all! And now that I'll have my OWN car to get us around, I'm really looking forward to being that busy Mom chauffering her kids around to all their activities. Aww! My dream! Well, it won't be TOO crazy. I was reading that here in OC we have a tendency to wear our kids thin with too many activities and that we should try to limit it to one extra-curricular activity per kid. So McKenna will be returning to dance. Kyla is gonna take a short (4-week) music & rhythm class which ends before Fall begins. See, I'm staying reasonable! LOL! Even still, with preschool, MOPS, dance and church...we'll have something going on every day of the week!

Speaking of busy, we've got something fun every day this week! Yay! Thursday we have an OB appointment. I normally get worried a few days before each appointment. But since I'm feeling great and we just heard the baby's heartbeat a few days ago on my sister's doppler, I'm not worried. After the appointment we're stopping at the mall. I wanna pick up some more fall-scented tarts from Yankee Candle. And I wanna get McKenna some new outfits from The Children's Place for her birthday. I HAVE to get her this newsgirl hat. She'd love it so much!

Friday we're having lunch with my friend Julie and her boys (Nick & Matthew). I'm looking forward to that! I haven't seen them in so long! And after lunch we're gonna stop at The Sweet Factory to pick up some little mini whirly pops for the goodie bags (from "The Lollipop Guild" of course!) And quite possibly another stop at The Children's Place. ; )

Saturday my Mom got tickets to see Oliver! and she wants to take McKenna. My ...well I guess we'll call her my cousin though I think she's really my third cousin - is starring in a local production so my Mom thought McKenna would get a kick out of going to see it. I really think she'll love it! They're gonna have a little Grandma/Granddaughter day - lunch and a musical. So cute! While they're doing that, Erick and I will be hard at work changing the furniture around so that the girls are in one room. Well, Erick will be changing furniture. I'll just be keeping Kyla out from under his feet. ; )

Sunday we have church and afterwards we're going to a BBQ/Swim party for young families. This just sounds so fun to me! Trinity has so many young families in our age group right now and they foster such a close-knit, family environment. So I'm really looking forward to getting to meet people after church. Usually we just get 5-10 minutes before or after the service to chat and then everyone has to split. LOL! So this will be a fun get-together!

I'm off to read my book. I don't think I mentioned a week or so ago that I finished Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner. It was ok. Not a lot of meat to the story but kinda cute. Now I'm reading After This by Alice McDermott. I just love her writing style. She writes in a way that almost makes you slow down to savor the written word. I know that sounds cheesy but that's just how she writes. She's very eloquent. I love her!

Changing Rooms

2007-07-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

Gavin's birthday party was lots of fun! Pictures here if you'd like to see.

McKenna ended up spending the night because she had been begging to for a couple of weeks. She had a blast and didn't want to come home when we came to get her the next afternoon. She even helped Uncle Bri make french toast in the morning.

While she was gone, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to go through all the toys and start clearing out old stuff and re-organizing the stuff we were keeping. With a dog and a new baby on the way, not to mention two birthdays coming up (which always means more toys coming in) I really wanted to get organized! It feels a million times better having that all done! And I'm about 85% done going through their clothes so once that's done, I'll feel like a huge weight has been lifted!

Today we went to put a down payment on McKenna's bed. She decided she wanted the castle bed and I was happy with the choice because that thing comes with a nice sized storage area underneath! So I'm thinking we'll put two of the toy bins under there:

I'll wanna get them a nice, white dresser soon as well. And possibly this storage bench where we can put their dress up clothes:

And finally, we were at the Disney Store the other day and they have this new line of wall decor that would be perfect for their rooms! It's the cutest stuff! They have these art pieces and wall lamps that have charcoal drawings of the Disney characters. TOO cute! And there are a bunch of pink and purple ones so we're thinking those will make for a really adorable little girls' room!

And after that...we start on the baby's room! Of course, we won't start any decorating until we know if this is Killian or Katelyn! ; )

I'm off to settle in for the night! I think I'll just watch some tv and work on labeling the bubbles for the party goodie bags. I made little labels with blue sparkles and in pink it says "Glinda's Magic Bubbles". I'll tie a little irridescent ribbon around the neck and it'll be a cute addition!

Kid-Bits

2007-07-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

Time for a little update on what the kiddos are doing these days!

McKenna and I have been reading these Tiara Club books. We've just finished book 6. There are some things that make for good discussions and really applicable to her since she's ALL about being a princess and the books are about these 6 girls who attend the Princess Academy and the trials they go through as they learn how to be Perfect Princesses. So the "villain" in the book is the mean "Princess Perfecta" who is very nasty and competitive. McKenna and I had the following conversation:

McKenna: "Mommy, why is she so mean?"
Mommy: "Well, some people hold on to things that make them mad and it makes their hearts bitter. So they sometimes say or do mean things. But if we don't hold on to the things that make us angry, then we'll have a heart of Gold filled with love and happiness."
McKenna: "And Jesus. We'll have Jesus in our heart."
Mommy: "That's right! When we have Jesus in our heart, He fills our hearts with love and happiness and there's no reason to hold on to the mean things anymore."
So I continue reading aloud and the main character in the books says "I know what being a true princess is - it's being truthful...."
McKenna: "And having a twirly dress....."
Mommy: "And being kind....."
McKenna: "And sparkly shoes....."
Mommy: "And putting others before yourself....."
McKenna: "And kissing."

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McKenna is really into the Harry Potter movies which surprises me. I found them kind of boring but she loves the first two. Whenever she asks to see a movie like Harry Potter or....JAWS (uh yeah, she regularly asks to watch Jaws) we tell her "Well, it's got some scary parts in it." She always replies with "That's ok. I'm very brave." We said yes to Harry Potter. We are standing firm with a "no" for Jaws.

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We went to IHoP for breakfast the other morning and both girls wanted to bring a purse. So they each filled their purse with the necessities (you know...doll shoe, popsicle stick, broken crayon....the important stuff). McKenna says as she's walking out the door, "I have my scissors in case I see a monster, then I can cut off his feathers." Good to know we were well-protected!

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Sometimes when I'm getting ready to put the girls down to sleep, Kyla will hide and McKenna will block her so I can't get to her. Sometimes she'll even grab onto Kyla and protectively and say to me "No! She's my daughter!"

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If you're hanging out with Kyla, you can expect the following:

* She'll mimic you if you yawn. And she thinks she's hilarious when she does it.

* If you have a drink, she'll insist you "cheers" at least a dozen times.

* Any trouble she causes will automatically be followed with a "Ta-Da!" so that you'll think she's performed a great trick instead of broken your sunglasses.

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Both girls love to pile on the bed and push up next to my belly and yell "Hi baby!" Then they try to tickle the baby. And then they usually end up jabbing me in the belly button to see if they can see the baby through there.

They also like to see the weekly pictures in my pregnancy journal of how the baby looks and then I show them with my hand how many inches the baby is. This week I held my thumb and forefinger about 2 inches apart and said "The baby is this big and swimming in my tummy all day long singing la la la la la." Well they thought that was hilarious and have since walked around the house mimicking the baby by dancing in circles and singing "la la la la la!"

McKenna still insists the baby is a boy. We'll find out in another month or so.

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Kyla wakes up much later than McKenna - McKenna wakes around 7:30am-8am. Kyla wakes around 9:30am-10am. So Kyla usually eats a light breakfast well after McKenna is done with hers. Well McKenna ALWAYS asks "Mommy, can Kyla share her cereal with me?" And I respond with "It's up to Kyla. Ask her." Sometimes Kyla says "Sure", sometimes she nods, sometimes she says "NOOOOO!" But the other morning Kyla just ignored her sister. She didn't answer. So McKenna asked again "Kyla, can you share your cereal with me please?" When McKenna still didn't get an answer she looked at me and said "I think I heard Kyla say yes in her heart."

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I'm wondering how serious Kyla's allergies really are. Not that I intend to test them but she has had several exposures and no reactions.

She's allergic to soy yet the other day I gave her some ranch dip before I realized its primary ingredient is soy. No reaction.

She took a bite of a candy that had peanut butter in it. I swept her mouth and got the candy out and then wiped her tongue clean with a wet paper towel. No reaction. Considering her peanut allergy is classified as serious and life-threatening, I'd expect a reaction from having actual peanut butter in her mouth. But now I'm wondering if she actually has to ingest a peanut or peanut butter. Most kids with a serious peanut allergy can't even have products that are manufactured in a plant that has peanuts. And here's Kyla putting peanut butter right in her mouth with no reaction!

Anyway, like I said...it's not something I'm going to test but it does ease my mind a bit that maybe her allergy is not quite as scary as we'd read! We're fervently praying she'll be one of the few who can outgrow the allergy!

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LAST THING!! This JUST happened while I was composing this blog post! KYLA WENT PEE-PEE ON THE POTTY FOR THE FIRST TIME!! Yay!! I'm so proud of her! I had just changed her diaper and decided to let her go diaperless today. McKenna pulled out her potty-seat and Kyla sat right down and went within a few minutes. Didn't take her long to figure that one out! McKenna and I made a big deal about it, cheering and jumping all over which made her laugh and give us this big cheesy grin. We called Daddy at work and Kyla said "I went pee-pee!! I potty!" Her first reward was a lolli-pop. Looks like we'll need to make a trip back to Sweet Factory to pick up our Jelly-Bellies. It was the reward system we worked out for McKenna and it worked like a charm so we'll try it with Kyla too. 1 pink bean for trying, 2 red beans for going pee-pee, 5 blue beans for going poo-poo. I'm so proud of her! Just shy of 22 months, just like her big sis!

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We've got a busy weekend - first thing in the morning I need to take the girls back down to the pool to see if we can get McKenna in for swim lessons. Then my nephew's birthday party at noon. Sunday is church. Somewhere in there I gotta finish the rest of this laundry! That probably wouldn't seem like much but it is when your husband has to work a midnight shift and you need 2 naps a day! Oh, I'm already tired!

School Already?

2007-07-11T22:21:00.000-07:00

It's kinda crazy how we only get a few weeks into a season when we're already ready for the next one! Yesterday we were at Target and they had their lunch boxes and thermoses out. I know full well that when Target releases something like school supplies or Halloween costumes or 4th of July swim suits....you buy it when you see it. Because when the time comes for you to NEED those items, they'll be long gone. So we let each of the girls pick out a lunch box and thermos (McKenna picked Tink, Kyla picked Disney Princesses). *Sigh* Yes, even Kyla. She'll be starting preschool in the fall as well. I can hardly believe it. But I have to admit, I am just too excited about the idea of seeing her in her first Halloween parade and being able to watch BOTH my girls in the Christmas program!!

See....I'm so excited I'm already burning Fall-scented tarts already. It's a sickness.

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Ok, talk about tired. McKenna and I both fell asleep on Kyla's bedroom floor tonight. LOL! She has been going through a super naughty stage.....tantrums, sassiness, cutting her sister's hair. (Oh yes, I said cutting her sister's hair. I found a big ol' chunk of it hiding in her drawer. The sad thing is, this is the second time she's cut hair on her own ..... once her own hair and now her sister's and both times she did such a good job that we couldn't even tell.) So today I really engaged her in all my activities and she was just an amazing kid. Wonderful manners, cleaned up her own messes, helped clean up her sister's messes, helped me with four loads of laundry, listened to my instructions....I was really proud. We even played "restaurant" today. Kyla is horrible at restaurants so we're gonna start playing restaurant at lunch time and work on teaching Kyla the proper behavior for going out to eat. Today was our first day and Kyla did awesome! If they both do really well then they get an otter pop for dessert. So I'm hoping with regular practice, restaurant eating will become fun again. But anyway, it must've wiped both McKenna and I out today because around 6pm we both just conked out on Kyla's bedroom floor and I didn't wake up until 8:30! I carried her to bed, Erick put Kyla to bed and I had to run to the grocery store at 9pm at night. LOL that's what you get for taking an early evening nap I guess! You end up finishing your to-do list at 9pm!

Anyway, speaking of which...I need to finish up McKenna's birthday invites so I can get them in the mail tomorrow. It's gonna be such an easy party. It's a Wizard of Oz theme and it's gonna be at Hullabaloo's Clubhouse. She's inviting church friends, school friends, playdate friends, neighborhood friends, cousins...she's pretty excited! We're just gonna have some pizza and cake and let the kids run wild. And I've got the cutest ideas for the goodie bags!! I'll share once I have them made up. Here's the invite if you wanna see. I just created most of it digitally then printed, slapped on some glitter and Oz stickers and voila!

Fourth of July/Erick's Bday/Belly Pic

2007-07-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hello family and friends! Hope you all had a fun Fourth of July! We always do - it's become one of my favorite holidays. Every year there's a big BBQ at Erick's Grandma's house. She lives right next door to his parents. They each have a pool and no dividing fence so it's a big pool party. We always have such a blast. This year, their neighbors (Colleen & Ray) were having a block party. They have two little girls that are the same ages as McKenna and Kyla. They had tons of balloons and a princess castle bounce house! They invited us over and the girls were in heaven! Even sweeter was when Colleen said we could leave the girls for a bit if we wanted to go relax. SUH-WEET! She didn't have to convince us. I think we left a trail of dust behind us. LOL! I'm kidding. We weren't anxious to leave the kids but we had been wanting to get together with this family for awhile now because we knew our kids would love playing together. So we were glad to leave for a bit and let the girls all have fun together.

I didn't get any picks of the block party but here's a few pics from the BBQ:

Cupcakes!

Swimming!
We'd bought McKenna this little life vest to swim with but she wasn't quite ready to swim on her own. She did swim with Erick though. He taught her how to kick and paddle. But the favorite was of course, this purple floatie toy that we had bought for Kyla:

Singing Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Kyla and her cousin Jesseca

They decided to "nap" until fireworks started. Ha, yeah right:

Just liked this one of them with their little sparkler ponytails:

"I think I hear the fireworks!"

Watching Fireworks:

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Thursday was Erick's birthday. We spent the day together as a family and then my Mom came to babysit the girls for the evening (thanks Mom!) Erick and I went to The Melting Pot which is always fabulous. Although we always get the "Big Night Out" meal with the lobster and all that. But the main course is always the least of our favorite courses. So we've decided next time we're getting two cheese courses, a salad course and a dessert course. Much better we think!

After dinner we went to see this indy film called Once. I realize this film may not be for everyone so don't take this rave as a high recommendation for everyone. But I just have to say that it was such a beautiful film that I can't stop thinking about it! It was such a sincere love story and the end was so unexpected that it really touched my heart. When the credits started rolling I was just kind of swept away with this surprise and respect for the movie. And the music.... just wow. It was so perfect. I've listened to the soundtrack several times today. I'm just addicted to it. At the core of the plot is these two songwriters who are writing music and recording an album. Being married to a musician and having spent many of those looooooong studio nights with him and his band, it brought back some fun memories and remembering how important those songs were to Erick as he would pour himself into the writing. It was just an incredible film. The whole night was the perfect date night.

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Today was less eventful. I spent 3 hours at the hair salon getting color and a cut. Then a quick stop to Forever 21 for some transitional shirts. Came home, ate lunch with the fam. I made a call to Hullabaloo's to reserve McKenna's birthday party. She wants a Wizard of Oz theme. I could order W o/Oz invites but I think I can make cuter ones. So I gotta get to work on that! Anyway after that we went to see Erick's parents. He'd left his sunglasses there so we went to pick them up and ended up staying for dinner.

Here's a 10 1/2 week belly shot I took tonight:

And here's McKenna's 10 1/2 week belly shot:

LOL doesn't she look like someone's drunk uncle at a party??

Tomorrow we're taking the kids to see Ratatouille in the morning. Our first family movie! Then in the evening we're going to dinner at Amazon (Brazilian BBQ) with our friends who are coming in from out-of-town. That should be lots of fun! I gotta remember to bring the camera!

Here's the Haps

2007-07-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

Didn't want anyone to think we fell off the face of the earth. ;) So here's the latest with the Biegers:

The girls and I went to McKenna's playdate with Addison (almost 4) & Hudson (1 1/2) on Thursday and had a lovely time. The kids played together so well and Cory and I had a fun time chatting. We'll definitely be getting together again soon. When we left, Addison & McKenna hugged. Too cute.

Friday I had an OB appointment. Everything is going great! She did an ultrasound and the baby is measuring right on target and the heart is continuing to beat away, nice and healthy so far! Thank you to those who faithfully pray! Here's the u/s photo. Head is on the left:

McKenna and I spent all of Saturday morning in line to sign up for Swim Lessons only to get shut out! Boo! They sold out for the session we wanted! So we'll have to go back in 2 weeks and try to get into the next session. I hope we can get her in because she's REALLY excited!

Saturday afternoon we took the kids to Kids Room Furniture. We're on the hunt for the perfect "big girl bed" for McKenna. We are currently choosing between the castle bed with a slide:

or the 4-poster bed with canopy (upper-right, canopy not shown):

One is "just like Wendy's" (from Peter Pan....her favorite) but one has a slide. Clearly she has a dilemma. ; ) Luckily she has another month to think it through.

Saturday night my Dad, Cheryl & Brittny watched the girls (thank you again guys!) and Erick and I went out to dinner (Market Broiler) and to see Brad Paisley. Dinner was fabulous and the concert rocked. Kellie Pickler opened and she was awesome (LOVED that she covered Dolly's 9-to-5). Brad Paisley was phenomenal!! Concert highlight: When he sang "When I Get Where I'm Going" and he showed photos of famous deaths that had meant something to him. One of the photos was of the WTC towers and it was a really sweet, emotional moment. Concert low point: When the guy in the row behind us puked. Thank God he was down half a row so it didn't hit our feet. And thank God it was during the encore so we didn't have to smell it long. But *gag*. Please people.....know when to STOP drinking for the night! Ugh.

Today we managed to get back to church and I'm so thrilled that we did because the sermon was just....BRILLIANT! Every single point he made I was able to apply to some area of my life - mother, wife, business-owner, etc. The worship was especially good this week. I was invited to join MOPS this fall and I think I may sign up because I could really use the spiritual refreshment now that I've got 2 small children, one on the way, we'll have a new puppy and all that on top of running a business and trying to keep up with housework! I think it may be something that might be necessary for my sanity! LOL! Besides that, I would really love to get to know these amazing Trinity gals and build on those friendships that we've only been able to keep up with through Christmas cards until now!

Another special thing that happened at church today was when we went to pick the girls up from the Sunday School class, McKenna was playing with this little girl and while we waited for the kids, we were talking to Fuji. Fuji was Erick's mentor in high school and just one of the dearest Christian brothers someone can have. Well when McKenna and her little friend came out, we realized it was Fuji's daughter she was playing with. Maybe it's my pregnancy hormones but to me it was really special that Erick and Fuji had such a special friendship and now their daughters have become friends. It's one of those "full circle" things that can only be found in a place where you have roots. I don't have very deep roots with any one community. We moved too much. But it is a blessing to me and now to my children that we can come to this place and be a part of the roots that Erick has firmly planted with this community. Anyway, mushy moment for me but it blessed my heart and wanted to journal it.

We've got a busy week coming up! Erick is off from July 4-10th. On the 4th we'll be going to his parents for the annual 4th of July/Erick's Bday BBQ! On the 5th, Erick and I are going out for his birthday (Melting Pot! Yuuum!) . Hopefully on the 6th we'll be able to take the kids to see Ratatouille and then I'm praying I can squeeze in a hair appointment! On the 7th, we have friends coming in from out of town - YAY! It's been a year since we've seen these friends and they are dearly missed so I'm really looking forward to seeing them again!

A few pics before I go:

McKenna before church this morning (note her prop of choice):

Kyla before church this morning (note her prop of choice):

Note that NEITHER of them wanted to give up their props!

Pajama hugs!

Erick loved this one so much, it's now his desktop:

Pics & Videos of my Little Chicks

2007-06-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

SCARY DREAMS

McKenna had a nightmare a few nights ago. She woke up crying hysterically, so loudly that both Erick and I bolted out of bed to run to her. We held her and calmed her down and she asked if I would pray that the scary dreams would go away. So we prayed for God to keep His angels around her and to keep her safe and to keep the scary dreams away. As I was walking out of the room she said in a serious and quiet voice "Mommy, why aren't angels real?" I said "Baby girl, they are real. They have wings and they're strong and beautiful. They work for God and it's their job to stay close to you to keep you safe." She was quiet for a second and then she said "Mommy, I want to go to church again." We had missed the past few weeks with morning sickness and the trip to Vegas. But I just find it so interesting how spiritually intuitive some kids are at this age. She already finds comfort in being in God's house.

When she went to bed the next night, we said our prayers and she told me that if she had a scary dream, she wanted me to come back in to pray with her. I told her "Well I will. But you know, if you wake up at night from a scary dream, all you have to do is pray to Jesus and ask him to make your scary dreams go away. And they will! Just like that!" I still expected her to call for me in the night because, well, she's only 3 1/2 and nightmares are frightening and it's an excuse to get out of bed in the middle of the night. But no, I didn't hear a peep from her the whole night. When she woke up this morning I asked her "Did you have good dreams?" She said "Yes, I dreamed about Neverland and the baby in your tummy." I said "Did you have any scary dreams?" She said "Yes, but I just prayed to Jesus to make them go all away and they did." That's my girl....discovering the power of prayer already.

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EAR PIERCING

(Note: This story is kind of long but I wanted to journal the whole story. So if you don't wanna read it all, just skim down to find out how it turned out).

I got my ears pierced when I was 3. From what I'm told, it was something I begged and pleaded for until my Dad finally gave in. I was apparently pretty brave and didn't cry. So I fully expected McKenna to follow suit and beg to have her ears pierced as well once she turned 3. All year I'd casually mention it to her whenever we'd go to Claire's Boutique. "If you ever want to get your ears pierced, this is where we would get it done." And she'd always say "I don't want to get my ears pierced." I certainly wasn't gonna force her. Erick and I have always thought of ear-piercing as something a kid should choose, not something you do to your 6-month old baby (no offense to anyone who has pierced their baby's ears. We just think of piercings like we do tattoos.....a decorative option and not a necessity. Something a person should choose.)

So months go by, still no interest. Not even a smidge of an interest.

Until yesterday we were at the mall and we stopped at Claire's to pick out some treats for her.(Long story short, Cool Cuts 4 Kids had a deal that included a homemade lipgloss for her and the deal fell through so we were going to pick out a lipgloss for her. Note to all the Mommies of little girls....starting next week they have a deal for $22 that includes a wash, cut, princess hair style and their choice of a homemade liploss or lotion that they make themselves!) So we picked out a lipgloss and a little eyeshadow (calm down Gramps. It's all pale colors. I didn't let her get "hussy" makeup.), some bracelets and a necklace, etc. On our way out I saw a little girl was getting her ears pierced. I asked McKenna if she wanted to stay and watch and she said yes. I hoped and prayed this was a brave kid who wouldn't cry and make a big fuss. She was about 5 or 6 years old. Well, she did make a pretty big fuss but didn't cry. So we left and I was explaining to McKenna that it really only hurts for a second and if you're really brave, it doesn't hurt for even that long. No dice. She wasn't interested. No big deal. I wasn't gonna push it.

Then out of the blue she wanders into my room later that evening and says "Mom, I wanna be brave and get my ears pierced." I could not have been more thrilled. I think my voice went up 10 octaves as I squealed "REALLY??" So for the rest of the night we talked about what it would feel like, how she could pick out any earrings she wanted, and how if she was really brave she could also pick out some candy as a treat, just like I got when I was little and had my ears pierced.

The next morning, she was obviously less enthused but still said she wanted to go. I could sense her apprehension and tried to talk up the positive parts - picking out her own earrings, getting candy. The girl knows how to drive a bargain....she reasoned that she should get one BILLION candies for this. Erick agreed to her terms.

We got to the mall and she said "I don't want to." *sigh* Great. Now we're stuck at the mall for no reason. So I said "Well let's just go look at the earrings before we decide." She picked out a beautiful aquamarine pair (Mommy's birthstone) AND a ruby pair (her birthstone) for when she's allowed to change them. But when the girl came over, McKenna clutched Erick's leg and said she didn't want to. So I asked her "Do you want to go to lunch first and think about it some more?" She said yes.

Off to lunch we went. At this point, I'm thinking this is just like her dance recitals. The anticipation and nerves leading up to it are killing her but I can tell she really DOES want to do it. I'm struggling with myself wondering "Do I do what I did for the recital....give her a reasonable 'out' time and then once we get to a certain point, no turning back? Or do I let her keep up this 'I want to. No, I don't want to.' routine like a yo-yo?" I remembered that article about the sensitive child who needs time to adjust to new ideas and surroundings but also needs the occasional parental push to prevent them from missing out on wonderful life experiences. But is ear-piercing a wonderful life experience?

So we get through lunch and Erick asks her for her final decision what she wants to do. She decides to get her ears pierced. I told her "Ok, but once we get there you can't change your mind." She seems ok with it and says that she wants to sit in Daddy's lap while they do it. So back to Claire's we go.

Before the girl gets to us, McKenna said she changed her mind. I told her it was too late. She didn't argue or look sad or upset in the least. She just accepted that she'd missed her out and now was the time. She sat in Erick's lap and once the girls came over to her, she was little miss cool. She didn't seem a bit nervous, answered their questions, acted polite. They gave her the "Claire Bear" to hug and she liked that. They rubbed the antiseptic on and she liked that too. They did the piercing both ears at once so she'd only have to experience the pinch once. She flinched. She looked at me with a little bit of a surprised look on her face. I think she was looking at me for my reaction. So I quickly cheered and said "Oh my gosh, you're so brave! You didn't even cry or anything!" A big smile spread across her face. Erick asked her if it hurt and she said "NO!" She loooooved the way they looked and said she was so happy that she did it! Yay!

So I went to pay and Erick took the girls to Sweet Factory to pick out "one billion candies" (LOL don't worry....I think they just "estimated"). I bought her a little tiara with blue feathers (her favorite color) to celebrate. The second we got home she ran right to her Ariel mirror to see her new earrings:

A close-up of her earrings:

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READY TO DANCE

Kyla is ready to join a dance class. Well, skills-wise she probably isn't. But enthusiasm, she's all over that!! There is a local class for 2 year olds but I just can't see her following along through an entire class. Plus I really like Miss Valerie and I want to stick with her as long as we're living where we are. So I'm gonna wait until she's 3 (then she and Kenna can be in the same class! How cute that will be!) But until then, check out how excited this kid is to be a little dancer.

She came up to me holding McKenna's recital outfit and saying "Dat? Pwee?" ("That? Please?") I said "You wanna dress up like sissy in her dance recital?" She nodded and said "yeah!"

So we dressed her up:

And then turned on McKenna's rehearsal dvd and watched her go:

Kyla the "Mini Lion"

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PART OF YOUR WORLD

This video was taken about 6 months ago. McKenna sits with her little discman and listens to the Little Mermaid soundtrack and sings along. Oh man, it CRACKS US UP!! Her faces and how serious she is about the song - it's hysterical. Nowadays she can sing the entire song perfectly, word-for-word. This video is older so she's kinda making up her own words as she goes along but I had to share it since Erick downloaded and sized it for me:

McKenna Sings The Little Mermaid

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MCKENNA-ISMS

A few things this kid says lately that make me laugh:

* "Are you SERIOUS??"

* "That's hilarious!"

* "What the HECK?!?"

* "Mommy, Daddy married you because you like sour candies."

* (To Kyla) "Aw, you're such an angel."

* (To Kyla) "Hey! Hey! Come here kid!"

* (About Kyla) "Aw, she's so adorable!"

* (Looking at a picture of Luke) "Aw, Lukey. He's such a sweet boy."

* (When she wants me to pay attention to her) "Mommy, can you mind me?"

* (Her frequently asked question, even though we've given her a very good answer) "Mommy, do ducks get cold in the water?"

* The other day she saw a picture of a girl (just some random girl on a website) and said "Aw, she's cute. Is she your maniac friend?" LOL! I have no idea to whom she is referring but apparently she thinks one of my friends is a maniac.

Kid-Bits, Pics, SYTYCD

2007-06-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

FATHER'S DAY

Father's day was really nice! The night before we took my Dad and Cheryl out to dinner with my sister and her family. We went to Spaghetti Factory and afterward we went to the train station so the kids could watch the trains go by. They would all scream and cheer when it arrived and blow kisses to it when it left. : )

Sunday I was feeling too sick for church so I made Erick breakfast in bed and we gave him his gifts:

and for his trip to Chicago in Sept. (they're driving to a Notre Dame game):

We met Erick's parents for lunch at Oggi's and spent some time with them. And then just had a relaxing day together as a family.

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PUPPY

We did put down a deposit on the puppy! The trainer is top-notch and the background of both the mother and father dogs is wonderful so we put down a deposit on one of the English Black Labradors. They're all females and we'll be allowed to make the first pick of the two that are available. Right now we're leaning toward the one that will be "stockier". The stockier ones with the broad heads just look a little more friendly to me. We held her for awhile and she was so sweet and snuggly. McKenna is very excited but didn't want to pet the puppy (most likely because she didn't know the other people that were with us) and Kyla pet and kissed the puppy. They're both so excited for her to come home! Anyway, we'll get her in about 7 weeks. We can't wait!

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KID-BITS

* My sister took a poll on one of her messageboards asking for those who had older children, how many of their kids were accurate at guessing the gender of the new baby before it was born. All but one of the kids got it right (and the one that got it wrong guessed a cat! LOL!) McKenna has been saying "Boy" since the beginning and has even told us that when she prayed to God, He decided the baby was a boy. But for fun we asked her one more time "Do you think the baby is gonna be a boy or a girl?" And she said "Let's just let our hearts decide." Erick and I couldn't help but laugh at our little miniature "buddha" with her wise words.

* Today she was acting up and I told her "Hey, you're the big sister and you need to be a good example for your little sister!" She put her hands on her hips and gave me a stern look and said "I'm JUST a little girl and I don't know that many things!" LOL!

* For the past few days, Kyla has been sitting on the potty regularly! She was able to sit on the big potty but she was really nervous on it. So we finally bought her a potty chair of her own. She LOVES it! McKenna will remove her diaper and Kyla will sit on it, get up, check to see if she's gone potty then sit down again. I never expect the girls to do the same things at the same times - each kid develops at their own pace. But McKenna pottied for the first time at 21 months old and Kyla seems to be tracking at the same time! We'll see!

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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE

Is anyone watching So You Think You Can Dance this season? This is my favorite reality show!! I don't have a favorite dancer yet but it's just such a fun show! I love seeing all the dancers evolve into new styles and watching their chemistry on stage. The best dancers know they have to be actors as well and this couple was the best of the first week (IMO). Their chemistry was outstanding! Totally reminded me of Allison & Ivan last season. Love, love, LOVE this show! And how fun is it that McKenna likes to watch it with me? Too cute!

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PICS

McKenna's official recital photos came in:

The group photo (this isn't her entire class. It's not even the entire group that performed. Just the ones who showed up for the photo!)

Erick and McKenna being silly the other day:

And of course, Kyla had to come join in the fun too!

Puppy!

2007-06-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

What a fun day! Erick and I have been mulling the idea of a puppy around. Our dream was always to have 3-4 kids and 1 black lab puppy named Dokken. But all of McKenna's life, she has been terrified of animals. Well, now she seems to have totally opened up to them. I don't know what changed. Maybe the farm animal day at school. Maybe it's all the trips to the pet store to visit the puppies and now she finally feels bigger than them? In any case, she's been really open to the idea of having a puppy. So Erick started sifting through the recycler and found a breeder who has pure Labrador Retrievers. She has chocolate, blonde and black. The black tend to be more hyper but we're ok with that. An active dog will just keep us an active family. So tomorrow we're going to the farm to see the puppies. The black ones are only a week old right now so if we see one we love, we'll put down a deposit and then we can pick him/her up in about 7 weeks. We can't wait!!!!

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I got a call from one of the moms of the girls in McKenna's preschool class, Addison. Her class has been out for a month now but apparently Addison misses McKenna and talks about her all the time. Her Mom said Addison sings about McKenna and says she's gonna plan a birthday party for McKenna in her backyard. How cute is that? So her Mom called to see if we wanted to get together for a playdate. She lives right up the street from us so that's neat that McKenna has another friend close by! And I met her Mom at Alexis' birthday party so I already know I like her. It should be fun!

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Erick and McKenna had their Father-Daughter dance tonight. On his way home from work he picked up a tiny little corsage for her - white orchids with a baby blue ribbon. She was so excited! She just loved it!

Here is a pic of Daddy putting the corsage on her:

Don't they look cute in their matching outfits?

They had sandwiches, chips, apples, cookies, candies and soda. LOL they get the kids nice and hopped up on sugar and send 'em home I guess! Erick and McKenna danced to "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Elvis. Awww! McKenna was too shy to participate in the Hokey Pokey. But she's the kind of kid who has to observe her surroundings before she can participate so I bet the next dance she'll be the first one out there. ; ) Here is the pic that they took at the dance:

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That's it for tonight. I think I'll try to scrap these father-daughter pictures. Tomorrow is a busy, busy day for us. In the morning I have to run to the dance hall to pick up McKenna's recital pictures. Then off to Target and Best Buy for some Father's Day shopping. Then out to Lake Elsinore to see the puppy. Then back to Orange County to have a Father's Day dinner for my Dad at Spaghetti Factory. It's gonna be a go-go-go kind of day!

Tragedy, Near-Scare and Vegas

2007-06-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

Weird title right? Yeah, it's been a weird week.

I mentioned in my last post that something serious happened at Erick's work and if there were any public articles, I'd link you. So here and here. And that is all I'm allowed to say about that. Erick was in the room during the attempted resuscitation. Both articles give false or misleading information. There is no reason to be concerned about Erick whatsoever. If you're a family or friend, you can email me if you have questions.

Friday we had our first OB appointment and that was nerve-wracking. You can read about that in week 7 of the pregnancy journal.

Saturday we left for our Vegas trip. We had a great time (save for some scary bleeding I had on Saturday night which turned out to be nothing). But the rest of the trip was wonderful. I wanna journal all the details for our memories so feel free to skip right along if it bores you. There's a link to some pictures below.

Neither of the girls took a nap the entire weekend (not even on the four hour drive there!) and both nights we had very, very late bedtimes. I would've expected them to be holy terrors but they both did GREAT! (Accept at meal times. Kyla is a terror in restaurants right now). We all slept in one room. We stayed at The Excalibur which they were thrilled about because it's a "real castle". Erick and I shared one bed, McKenna got her own big bed and Kyla slept in the pack-n-play. I asked McKenna if she wanted me to sleep with her and she said no, she wanted a big giant bed all to herself. She is really disliking her toddler bed right now and begging for a big girl bed. She's so ready to move up in the sleeping world. LOL! So she loved sleeping in that queen sized bed all by herself! And both girls slept well both nights. The first night Kyla talked for about an hour before she fell asleep. But the second night she went right down. And none of us woke up until at least 8:30am both mornings so it was nice!

We got there Saturday, unpacked, took a shower and went to the buffet for dinner. Then we drove down the strip so the girls could see the Treasure Island pirate ship, Mirage volcano and Bellagio fountains. Then back to the hotel to sleep.

Sunday we woke up and went to the buffet for breakfast (Bad choice. Buffet breakfast is always cold and stale. Bleck.) Then we walked around our hotel. Let me just say that people in Vegas LOVE our children. I don't know what it is about Vegas but they had so many tourists and hotel employees ooohing and aaaahing over them, pinching their cheeks, giving them free stuff, telling them how cute they were. I mean dozens of people. I was like "What is going on here? They look like raggamuffins with their wind-blown desert hair. Why so much attention?" Maybe because they were so tiny in those big ol' casinos. I don't know. Anyway, we played the midway carnival games and won quite a few prizes. We stopped at the princess store where Daddy absolutely spoiled the girls. Ok, actually...he spoiled McKenna. Kyla chose a little pink princess purse with a kitty in it. McKenna chose this:

With matching golden shoes of course:

After that we went back to our room to shower and get ready for the dedication. Now, I have lots of pictures from that. My Mom compiled an album with the pictures from 3 different cameras. I transferred the pics over to my Shutterfly and eliminated about half of the 250 pictures so it wouldn't be too daunting to look through. Since the dedication was for 3 babies, I didn't know all the guests so I figured I could get away with taking those out, taking out some of the unflattering pics and some of the duplicates. These aren't in order, forgive me but I didn't have the energy to put them in order.

The babies being dedicated are:

Gavin (my nephew. My sister and brother-in-law Brian are his parents. Erick and I are his Godparents...as well as his big brother Luke's!)

Kyla (my daughter. My cousin Alyson and her husband Mike are her Godparents...as well as McKenna's!)

Carter (Alyson & Mike's son. Melanie and Brian are Carter's Godparents.)

So basically, we're each the parent AND Godparent to the babies up there. LOL! Confusing, I know. But the pastor got it right and we were most impressed.

Pictures found here.

After the dedication there was a luncheon party at my Aunt and Uncle's house (thank you again Aunt Dawn and Uncle Chip!) which was nice and relaxing...just what this pregnant chick was hoping for. ; )

On the way back to the hotel we took a quick detour to my sister's hotel. They were staying at the Silverton which has a huge aquarium in the lobby. But the best part is that a REAL LIVE MERMAID swims in it! Ok, she's not an actual mermaid but to the kids she may as well have been! She swims for a good 10 minutes in there, taking an occasional breath from the oxygen hoses that run along the bottom! I was so impressed with her. She was so attentive to all the kids, posing for pictures, playing games with them, blowing bubbles for them, petting the manta rays....so neat! There are better pictures of this but we don't have copies of them yet. Here are two my sister managed to get on her cell phone:

The mermaid:

The kids were just in awe of her:

After that we went to Circus Circus. The girls had a BLAST there (even though it is truly a carnival of freaks. A lot of, um, characters around there. LOL!) We went upstairs to the midway carnival where we won more stuffed animals. The girls got their faces painted:

Then they shared some Dippin Dots with Daddy while we waited for the show to start. They do little mini shows with different circus acts. We saw a balancing group called the Sandune Troupe. The girls were amazed and clapping and cheering. It was the cutest! McKenna thinks she might like to try that someday. ; )

Back to the hotel for another night. The next morning we went to breakfast at the cafe. The food was MUCH better. Then we checked out of the hotel and went to FAO Schwarz at Caesar's Palace. Three stories of toys and the girls were in heaven. McKenna chose an Emma baby doll. Kyla chose this push toy. And that was the conclusion of our weekend. We drove home that evening (neither of the girls napped on the way home either!) and we were all glad to be back in our own beds. Even McKenna, who said she missed her Ariel blanket but still wants a big girl bed. LOL!

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Thanks for sticking with me if you did! It's important for me to journal the vacations we take otherwise I forget it all!

Tomorrow is the much-anticipated Father-Daughter dance for Erick and McKenna. They're both SO excited!! I can't wait to see the photo they're gonna bring home. And Saturday I get to pick up McKenna's dance photos. Lots of pictures to scrap now!! I'd better get crackin'!

Nothing Cohesive

2007-06-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

Just a few Kid-Bits and stories. Nothing cohesive = D

My spa day was wonderful! I had really bad morning sickness that day but the spa scents calmed it thankfully. Very relaxing. Thanks again to my loving husband for treating me. : )

The pregnancy journal for baby #3 is up. It will be updated either Friday nights or Saturday. : )

Kyla can count to six! We heard her the other day saying over and over "One...oooh...eeeh." So my FIL taught her four (she pronounces it "fo-wuh". Very southern of her. LOL!) and she just naturally knew that after "fo-wuh" comes "fih" and "sic". But don't expect her to do it for you on cue. She must be in the MOOD to count. LOL Kyla has never been a trick pony. She doesn't ever perform when we ask her to show off her skills.

She's also learning her colors. She can say blue, green and yellow. She's still sorting out which is which though. ; ) She still thinks she can spell and is always spelling and asking us what it spells. "A-E-A-E. Whas Dat?" Um...that's nothing. But good try.

I cannot seem to punish Kyla when she's been mischievous. She is CONSTANTLY getting into the back bathroom and takes all of the baby shampoos and lotions and such and plays "basketball" and throws them into the tub. Every time I catch her, I walk in the room and say sharply "KYLA ELIZABETH!" And she immediately drops to the ground and ducks her head down, hoping I won't see her. I'll stand there for a good 2-3 minutes staring at her with my best "angry mom" face and she won't look up. When she FINALLY does, she just peeks her eyes up. When she sees I'm still standing there, she gives me her biggest grin and giggles at me. LOL it's so ridiculous because you cannot NOT laugh when she does this!

Her newest game is to give everyone "the stink eye". She narrows her eyes into a menacing little glare until we tickle her and say "Don't you give me the stink eye!" Even McKenna gets the stink eye from her.

McKenna saved her sister's life the other day! I had a bag of trail mix. Well I knew it had almonds in it. And while Kyla has not had a reaction to almonds, we still don't give them to her, just in case. But the trail mix also had SOY nuts in it. I didn't even realize. Anyway I had a baggie of it in my purse, zipped up, on the dining room table. Kyla found the bag. McKenna saw it and immediately grabbed the bag and ran to me with it because she saw it had nuts in it! I'm so proud of her for being on the look out!

We're going to Vegas this weekend. McKenna is pretty excited because Daddy booked us a room at The Excalibur. So she's gonna stay in a "real castle"! But she has been most concerned that there won't be any beds at the castle. We've had to assure her over and over that yes, there will be beds and we will all sleep in the same room. She's still weary. She'll be thrilled once we get there. There's a pool, a princess shop, a carnival midway. Plenty of stuff to do. We're leaving Saturday morning. Sunday we're having a triple baby dedication for Kyla, Gavin (my nephew) and Carter (my cousin's little guy). We'll be home on Monday. We're gonna try to squeeze in some fun things for the kids while we're there. Maybe take them to see the volcano at The Mirage or the pirate ship at Treasure Island or the Statue of Liberty at NYNY. Those little things in Vegas that kids love.

McKenna told me the other day "Mommy, I prayed to God for the baby and God decided that the baby is a boy." I think I'll be a little freaked out if she's right. Like the time she came bolting out of her room frantically saying "SOMEONE'S AT THE DOOR! SOMEONE'S AT THE DOOR!" And I said "McKenna....no one is at the door." And then the doorbell rang.

Here's a cute pic I snapped of the girls this week. Lately they like to snuggle in Daddy's recliner and watch their morning cartoons together:

I can finally post those two projects from Scrap Gypsies:

Teacher Gifts

I included a card that said: "You have planted the seed of knowledge and understanding. You have watered it with your love and patience. Because of your sunny warmth and tender care, our daughter is blooming into a beautiful flower." And I tucked a little Target gc in there.

Early Start:

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Please say a prayer for Erick. He had a truly awful situation to deal with at work today. I can't say anything about it but I can assure you that he is neither in danger nor under investigation but he did have to witness something terrible. If there are any public news articles then I'll provide a link but I can't share any details. But please do keep him, his co-workers and the minors in the institution in your prayers. They're all very shaken.

Carnival Weekend!

2007-06-04T00:12:00.000-07:00

Lots of fun was had by all.

Friday we went to Boomers. Kyla was allowed to go on almost all the King Arthur rides. McKenna even went on the tea cups by herself. Too cute!

Friday night my Mom watched the girls (thanks again Mom!) and Erick and I had dinner at Spaghetti Factory (Italian food + a side salad is a consistent craving so far). Knocked Up was really, really funny. A LOT of cursing and unrelated nudity which surprised me. But it was still hilarious. They played the cutest song at the end called Daughter by Loudon Wainwright. Might have to pick up the album now!

Saturday our community was having the annual Summerfest Carnival so we took the kids. We made sure to leave before the American Idol fruitfest so we took the girls to the park next door for a bit.

Erick worked a midnight-8am shift that night so after the girls were in bed I dropped by Borders and picked up some more of the Tiara Club series for McKenna. We're WAY into this series right now. ; ) Then I picked up some CPK to-go (you gotta try the Avocado Club Egg Rolls. Soooo good!) Curled up with my yummy food and The Queen. Relaxing night!

Sunday we went to the Chili Cook-Off with my sister and fam. It was suuuuper crowded!

Pictures of the whole weekend

I am totally exhausted. Lucky for me, Erick is treating me to a mani/pedi/eyebrow wax at the Glen Ivy Day Spa tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. I need some beauty touch-ups but I can't color my hair until second trimester. So this will be just the pick-me-up I need!

Have a good night!

Bring on the Weekend

2007-05-31T19:03:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot that Erick was gonna be off tomorrow and Saturday. Yippee! Completely slipped my mind until he called me on his way home and mentioned how he was glad it was his weekend. Sweet!

So we've got a few fun plans:

Tonight: No cooking for me! Erick picked up Yardhouse for us. Mmm, Mac-n-Cheese2 for dinner with a root beer. And for dessert, a big ol' brownie w/mint chip ice cream. Being pregnant rocks! (Ask me if I still feel that way when the morning sickness kicks in).

Friday day - take the kids to Boomers

Friday night - Date night! We said we were gonna see a movie and go to dinner. We were hoping that Blades of Glory would still be playing but no. Boo. So we were looking and the only thing I was really interested in was Pirates (but we still haven't seen #2 so that's out), Shrek (which we'd rather see with the kids) and Knocked Up (which I would never subject Erick to). But he said he actually wants to see Knocked Up! He thinks it looks funny! I was shocked! I mean, it does look funny but usually he's all about Spiderman and 300. So I think it's sweet that he's willing to see this with me and not in a grudging "you owe me" kind of way. LOL! So we're gonna see that and eat at.....who knows where. We'll see where my cravings take us.

Saturday - Probably visit the in-laws so we can finally tell them we're pregnant! We haven't had a chance to see them in person since we found out!

Sunday - Erick works in the early morning so we'll have to miss church again (which if either of us had remembered we would not have missed last week. : ( ) but we'll hit the Tustin Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off later that afternoon.

Monday - I have no idea. Maybe relax. We'll see.

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I have to say a little note of thanks to Monica who left this sweet blog comment on the post about McKenna's recital. Or rather, thank her little guy. Tell me this isn't the sweetest thing:

Monica said...

I came across your blog ... McKenna's recital was wonderful. My 3 y/o son sat in awe watching her dance ... when she got her metal, he says "Momma, the pwetty baby gurl got a metal and she did dance soooo gooood!"

That just made me smile. : )

Also, I forgot to blog this cute story on the night of her recital. We were in the lobby doing her makeup and I hear this mom over my shoulder saying "Watch where you're going! Watch where you're going!" and then a little boy bumps right into my shoulder. The Mom said "I'm sorry....he was so entranced with your daughter he couldn't even pay attention to where he was walking." And she led him away, his eyes still on McKenna the entire time. That is too cute!!

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Here are some pics from the Memorial Day BBQ at my sister's house. It was very relaxing and fun. Thanks again Mel & Brian!

McKenna before we left:

The kids swimming. Auntie lounging in the shade:

Kyla wasn't interested in the pool at all when we got there. She just wanted to ride like the rebel she is:

Gavin is a little bruiser. He loves to wrestle and dive. I was snapping this pic of Lukey and he just belly flopped right into the pool (and getting auntie all soaked in the process!)

Studly is too cool to smile:

Kyla finally decides to "take a dip":

FINALLY she gets in!

"Oh my gosh, don't get my hair wet guys!"

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Finally, here are my recent art projects:

Just a layout I did for fun:

Alyssa & McKenna

Edit: Oops, had to remove the Scrap Gypsies stuff. Apparently we're not going live with those projects until Monday. : )

And this week's Digi-Dare is mine! My challenge to everyone is to "Scrap Your Dorkiness"! LOL you have to check out the site to see the other Darer's layouts. They're hysterical. Here is mine:
What A Dork

Tonight was the "perfect storm" of projects. I had the Scrap Gypsies projects due, I had the Digi-Dare layout due AND it was my turn to update the Digi-Dare blog and I had the DST site update that needed to be done tonight. All huge projects. It's been a busy week!

Books and Food

2007-05-27T23:30:00.000-07:00

I finally finished The Glass Castle. I'm glad I read it. Wouldn't read it again. It's appalling and depressing, I don't care if the kids did overcome adversity. I don't care if they feel they're stronger because of their upbringing. Anyway you paint it, that was some BAD parenting, even for the 60's and 70's. And the book was depressing so much of the time. I probably would've enjoyed it had it been fiction but knowing it was true just horrified me. Despite how awful these parents were, I did find myself respecting them for some of their values. But through most of the book I just longed for the happy ending.

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This morning I was soooo tired that Erick let me sleep in until 10:30am. Which means we skipped church. I'm actually sad we did because I really enjoy going to church together as a family. But that's ok, church meets every week so it's not like we missed our one opportunity. ; )

After I got up, we took the girls to the park. It was a beautiful, sunny day. It's amazing to see Kyla running all over the playground by herself now. She's just growing up so much!

Then we went to lunch at Lucille's. I love this place. Good ol' fashioned Southern BBQ. I had BBQ Brisket, garlic mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese and biscuits w/honey butter. It was so good. I told Erick that when we have a house, I think every Memorial day we should have a big Southern BBQ at our house. He agrees. No takebacksies.

Then we stopped at Borders because there was a book I saw in Pregnancy Magazine that I thought looked good. It's a Jennifer Weiner book (she wrote In Her Shoes) and it's about 3 women going through pregnancy and how it affects their lives. I thought that looked kind of fun so I thought I'd bump it to the front of my reading que:

I also saw this David Sedaris book for only $4.99 so I had to grab it:

McKenna picked out this. She's really into "big girl" books right now. She likes going through the chapters with me but without fail, everytime I finish a chapter and tell her "Ok, we're gonna read more tomorrow." she whines and says "Awww, that's not fair!" LOL! They pick up on that phrase quick don't they? So we got this, read two chapters tonight and yes, we wear our tiaras whilst we read it ; )

Kyla picked out this book. She'd shown interest in this and one other book. Erick held both up and asked her "Which one do you choose?" She pointed to this and said "Dory." Aw, she knows her name! (Sort of):

There was one other book that McKenna and I both really loved and for the life of me I don't know why we didn't buy it on the spot. I think I was trying to be frugal but this book was REALLY special. It's written like a diary of someone who is on a quest for proof of fairies. It's the neatest book (Cheryl S. you'd LOVE this if you don't already have it!) There's a little sample of fairy gossamer, fairy dust, info on the trees they prefer, the food they eat, the clothes they wear. It's a must-have for any fairy lover. And it's so beautifully illustrated. I'm a sucker for books with exceptional illustrations.:

Came home after that and Erick put the girls down for naps but I headed right out to grocery shop. I bought a TON of fresh fruit - cantaloupe, strawberries, raspberries, watermelon (Kyla's favorite...her eyes light up when she sees it), bananas, peaches, apples....of course thanks to that California Frost we had last winter, that made my grocery bill astronomical. *Sigh* Oh well, better to spend money than get diabetes from junk food, right? Ok, that's extreme but let's go with it. LOL! Anyway, I am loving our menu plan for this week. Lots of yummy stuff:

Oh AND guess what? Erick bought us tickets to see......

BRAD PAISLEY!!! We're both big fans so we're both pretty stoked. It's June 30th and our seats are awesome, something like the 8th row I think? Woo!! I can't wait! I wonder if we'll be able to spot his wife from where we're sitting!

Anyway, off to sleep I go. Tomorrow we're going to my sister's for a Memorial Day BBQ. I'm bringing a yummy potato salad that I just spent hours making. It's got red potatoes, sour cream, dill, bacon, eggs, green onions....I wish I could have some NOW but it has to marinate overnight. And tomorrow I gotta get up early to make a Chocolate Cheesecake Pie. It should be fun. I got the kids some water balloons and Mel picked up a new pool for her backyard:

They're gonna have a blast! I'll try to remember to snap some pics! I hope you all have a nice Memorial Day!!

Big Sister Kyla

2007-05-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I forgot to post these pictures that we took last weekend. We went and bought both girls these "Big Sister" shirts and snapped a couple of pics.

McKenna decided to accessorize her's with this crazy lime green belt. Clearly Kyla is appalled:

When it was time to get them dressed I asked "Who is ready to put on their big sister shirts?" Kyla yelled "MEEEE!!!" and came running up to me! And she was the first to come over to pose. I think she's so proud to get to be a big sister!

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So yesterday I was having a totally hormonal day. I was exhausted and the girls did NOT want to cooperate. I put them down for naps at 1pm and tried to lay down myself. I kept drifting off but every 10 minutes from 1pm-3pm one or the other would wake me up. Kyla just wasn't sleeping at all so she kept talking over the baby monitor. McKenna gets up every 10 minutes claiming she has to go potty. Erick called at 3pm or so and said there was a fight in his unit (apparently pork chops were the weapon of choice this time) and he would probably be late. I was clearly upset at that point and he promised he'd be home on time.

So he came home and took care of me. I hadn't really been out of the house much this week except for a quick trip to Target to buy supplies for the teacher gifts so we went to the mall. We had dinner. I chose Sbarro and it wasn't too good. Kyla had a poo explosion ALL over the place. I had to take her to the bathroom to clean her up and walked out with her in only a diaper. How embarrassing! So I wrapped her in the Mei Tai so at least we just looked like hippies instead of like we were too poor to buy our kid clothes. LOL! We did stop at The Disney Store and buy her a cute little sundress though. And McKenna picked out a new nightgown (a silk coral-colored Ariel nightgown with matching bedroom slippers). BTW, coral is totally McKenna's color. It draws out the blonde highlights that are starting to appear in her little curls. Note-to-self....buy her more coral clothes! Oh, and the girls each picked out a mini stuffed animal - Daisy Duck for McKenna, Dumbo for Kyla, Eeyore for Sprout.

Erick treated me to a Yankee Candle stop. I bought just about every summery scent they had that wasn't too flowery. Most of them I've bought before but here are the scents that are new to me: Sun & Sand (you can actually smell a little sunscreen scent in there), Canary Island Banana (not sure if I'll like this one ... it's a little strong), Mango Blossom (just lit this one and it's so yummy!), Apricot (I'm a sucker for anything peach or apricot), Island Spa, Vera Cruz Vanilla, New Zealand Wild Berry. I also could not resist this adorable tart burner. Isn't this the cutest thing you ever saw?

While we were there, I discovered a cute new store (new to me at least) called Pumpkin Patch. They have adorable kids clothes but also some maternity wear! They're an Aussie-based company so their site has all the fall lines out but the California store has the cuuuuuutest summer clothes for kids!! I didn't spend though. I only discovered it because Erick took the girls down the escalator to the play area and I was walking to the elevator to get the stroller downstairs. So I didn't think I should take 40 minutes to shop if they were waiting for me. ; ) But it's definitely a place I wanna go back to!

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BOOKS!

I'm *this close* to finishing The Glass Castle. I'll talk more about that when I'm officially finished with it. I always like to journal a little review of the books I've read.

My sister also convinced me to pick up this book by Jenny McCarthy:

She writes in very, very abbreviated chapters but it's her take on what's really going on with your body during pregnancy. She's pretty crass but I'm about 4 chapters in and have had some laugh-out-loud moments. I don't recommend it to the easily-offended. But Elaine, if you decide to get pregnant again, this book is totally for you! LOL! You'd appreciate her candor and humor.

The best part is that because the chapters are so short (like a page and a half each) I keep the book in the bathroom. So when I'm taking one of my fifty pee breaks for the day, I can get a quick chapter in (and a break from the two little girls who keep fighting over who gets the yellow sippy cup.)

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A couple of cute KID-BITS:

McKenna loves to exercise. She has this dvd and she spreads out a blanket (her "yoga mat") and does all the exercises along with the video. It's really cute! Kyla follows along too. The only thing that creeps me out is at the end, they do relaxation pose and the kids say "peaaaaace" over and over again. It's really creepy. Sort of "Village of the Damned".

Yesterday she told me "Mom, come with me to my room. I have to tell you an ancient secret." LOL! Ancient?? So she took my hand and pulled me to her room and sat on her bed and then whispered in my ear "A carriage is going to come and take us to Disneyland and there will be lots of magic. Ok? Tell Dad. I have to go potty." Then she ran to the bathroom.

She also told me rather matter-of-factly "Mom, be sure to eat lots of potato salad. It's got a lot of vitamins and it's really good for you."

Kyla loves beans. Particularly, kidney beans. She can eat half a can in one sitting, easily.

When we were at the mall yesterday, she was being SO sweet to this little baby boy. He was probably about 9 or 10 months old and was crawling all around the play area. She would get on her hands and knees to talk to him. He's at the stage where he's grabbing for faces and clothes but Kyla was really patient with him when he'd try to grab her. She would also try to show him new toys and get him to follow her around. She's gonna be a really good big sister I bet!

There was also a bigger kid, a little boy maybe 5 years old? He kept trying to push Kyla out of one of the toy cars. He wasn't full-on shoving her but he was staring her down and kind of edging her out. Kyla didn't back down though. And she didn't hit him either. She put her hand up to his chest and told him firmly "No!" We were pretty proud of her for standing up for herself but not being violent!

Whenever she hears someone start their car outside our window she yells out "Buh-Bye!" and blows kisses toward the window.

Here's the yearbook that McKenna's teachers made for her this year. It's so cute. They even put our Mother's Day Tea photo in there. : )

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A layout I did for The Digi-Dares. We were to scrap past vacation photos. I had these pics from Mexico 2002 that Erick and I took so I thought I'd get those scrapped.

Las Rocas

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Alright...off to conquer this to-do list:

Make bed - done
Dump trash - done
Wash one load of laundry - done
Fold/put away laundry - done
Sweep/mop bare floors
Vacuum
Catch up on DST emails
Write From-the-Desk article for DST Insider - done
Make dinner (shrimp scampi over rice)

Edit: change of plans. My sister came over with some new outfits for the girls. So we had an impromptu playdate instead. ; )

Last Day of School, Recital, Everyday Stuff

2007-05-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

Today is McKenna's last day of school! I told her "Can you believe you've finished TWO whole years of school now?" Her eyes got big and she said "Woah." LOL!

I sent her to school with some gifts for her teachers. I was up until midnight making them and I'd love to show them off but I used products from our next Scrap Gypsies project so I can't reveal it until the first weekend in June. But they turned out cute and her teachers loved them. : )

They had the room decorated with beach balls with the kids' names on them so they can each take one home. And today they're having an UNbirthday party to celebrate all the summer birthdays in the class. They're gonna have balloons, pizza and carrot sticks and make cupcakes.

Here's a picture of her making a stamp project with Kailey and Addison. They always do some sort of little project while they wait for all the students to arrive. Notice the girls are all doing art and the boys are all playing darts? LOL!

And when I pick her up, she'll get another "yearbook" to add to our family yearbook collection. I love that they do that. : ) It's always fun to see the pictures they took of her, memories she's made without me. *sniff*

Now, onto her recital!!

For a kid who didn't want to do this dance at all, she did a really great job! She had a great attitude leading up to it. Didn't seem the least bit nervous. We went to dinner with my family before hand (thanks again for dinner Uncle Chip and Aunt Dawn!) and then hung out at my Mom's house for a little bit until it was time to leave. She was cool as a cucumber. I left her with the "mother hen" that watches her class backstage and I peeked in a couple of times...she was doing great. Her dance wasn't until the EIGHTH dance so I wasn't sure if she'd be ok that whole time. For the winter recital she was none-to-pleased that she was forced to wait backstage instead of getting to watch the show. I thought her class was going second so I had planned to get her after her performance and let her sit with us to watch. That didn't work out but we didn't get any problems from her (until we got home when she gave me a stern look and said "Mommy, I didn't get to watch the other dances." LOL! She didn't forget.)

She did an awesome job and I thought my heart would burst! I was SO proud of her!

Here is the video. It's her performance and then her final bow at the end when she receives her dance medal.

Here are the pics my Mom took. Thanks for moving closer to the stage to get such great pics Mom. : ) McKenna said "Remember when I saw Grandma Beth at my dance recital?"

Thank you for coming Grandma Beth, Gramps, Cheryl, Auntie, Uncle Bri, Aunt Dawn and Uncle Chip!! Even though by the end of the night McKenna had NO interest in being social, she did love having everyone there! She loved her flowers (she sniffs them everyday) and her necklace from Grandma Beth. Aunt Dawn and Uncle Chip, thank you so much for driving all the way from Vegas to see the recital! Such a far trip for such a short performance but it was so sweet and meant so much to all of us that you did that.

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A few Kyla cuties....

She is obsessed with ballons right now. Or as she calls them "Bah-bah-boons!"

Last night when I tucked her in, I heard her grab her "bubby" (her Curious George doll) and kiss him and say "nigh-nigh".

Every time we take a picture, she wants to look at the preview of it. And she always says "AWWWW" for each picture. Even if it's a picture of a shoe.

She will NOT stay in a cart when we go shopping. And if you think it's just a matter of us being consistent, you're wrong. She can climb out of any seatbelt and she can and will climb out of the cart. She's really strong too! So she'll either jump right out into my arms or she'll climb backwards into the big part of the cart. Or she plain ol' just tries to scale down the side. It's IMPOSSIBLE to keep her in there! If it were just a matter of buckling her in and letting her cry, I'd do it. I can listen to her cry until the cows come home, I don't care. But it's not that. It's that she is smarter and stronger than I am! I'm in serious trouble here people! My 20 month old is smarter and stronger than me! So my sister has this mei tai baby carrier that can hold up to 90 pounds. I tried it on with Kyla in it....the kid was sooooo calm. So my sister lent it to me to use for a little bit so I can actually shop with Kyla now! LOL! (Thanks again Mel!) I guess her friend makes them and sells them for half the price so I think I may pick one up for myself.

She's smack in the middle of her tantrum phase. If we've displeased her, she'll throw something and then look at me and say "I THROW!" I usually just look at her, shake my head and say "That's naughty." Then she'll calm down and pick whatever she threw back up like she's over it.

Here's a cute pic of the girls. Are they playing dress up? Not so much. This is the kind of thing they wear around the house all the time. LOL! I'm serious. McKenna always has to wear some sort of Disney dress and Kyla always has to put on a hat.

And here's the girls this morning making silly faces at themselves in the mirror:

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The pregnancy is going good so far. I am SHOCKED at how quickly the body remembers pregnancy symptoms. I have this particularly annoying symptom that showed up in the last trimester with McKenna, in the second trimester with Kyla and it's showing up NOW with Sprout. When I'm sleeping, I usually lay on my side....but my HIPS get really sore and numb. I understood it starting in the third and even second trimester because I was heavier then. But at 4 1/2 weeks??? What the heck?

I've only had a few bouts of nausea. Usually the full blown morning sickness kicks in at 6 weeks so I'm trying to brace myself and prepare for it. I saw this at BRU. I wonder if it works:

I don't have the full-on hunger that I had with my first two pregnancies but when I am hungry, I know exactly what I want. The other day I HAD to have a KFC chicken & biscuit bowl for lunch. Today I'm really craving some chicken & tortellini salad so I think I'll make a batch tonight so it'll be all ready for tomorrow! Yum!

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Anyway, got lots to do so I'd better sign off. A special hello to my niece Amanda!! We miss you sweetie! Love you!

Happiness times THREE!

2007-05-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

McKenna's recital went wonderfully! I'm actually going to blog about that tomorrow because I wanna share the video and Erick still has to edit out all the extra stuff (unless you want to watch 70 dancers take their final bows?) LOL! I'm guessing no! So we'll edit it so you can see McKenna's dance and her final bow when she receives her dancer's medal and I'll get that up tomorrow for you.

I do have an exciting Bieger Family announcement though!

Here's a hint!

A video I just ordered:

A test I just passed:

WE'RE EXPECTING BABY #3!!!!!!

We just found out on Friday!! We were actually planning to try next month. Usually we chart temperatures and all that because once we decide we want to try for a baby, we don't want to just chance it and miss our opportunity. So usually our pregnancies are VERY planned. I was all geared up for my period to come so I could start my chart but nope, not this time! = D

I really didn't think it was possible to be pregnant this month. I had a few symptoms throughout the week but you know, that can happen even when you're not pregnant so I didn't give it much thought. Then on Friday I was talking to my sister and telling her that it was possible but HIGHLY unlikely. We were doing the "pregnancy math" and I realized that it actually WAS possible...but still, not probable. As the day went on I started thinking "Hmm.....I just might be."

I waited anxiously for Erick to get home from work. As soon as he walked in the door, I grabbed the car keys and said I needed to run to the store for some items for dinner. I got the groceries and a pregnancy test, loaded the groceries in the car and ran across the street to a restaurant bathroom. I took the test in there, praying it would be positive. Within seconds, there were two lines!!!! I couldn't believe it! I was so thrilled and it took everything I had to not run back to the car with a goofy grin on my face!

I drove home and unloaded the groceries. Then I told Erick that I had brought us a special dessert. I held out a little tub of ice cream and a jar of pickles. He said "Oh...." (and later admitted that he was distracted by the fact that I'd picked out an ice cream flavor he didn't like). Then he realized it was ice cream and pickles and his face got quizzical. He looked at me and asked what it was. I said "Doesn't everybody like to eat this kind of dessert?" He said "No....are you....pregnant?" I said YEP! He was so happy and he gave me a big hug.

We decided to go ahead and tell the girls. McKenna said "EW!" and Kyla started babbling. Then McKenna came running up to me and hugged and kissed my belly and said "Hi baby!" Kyla came up and gave me a hug and a kiss too. I don't think she understands that a baby is coming exactly but she knew something special happened.

It's been funny the different things that McKenna says now.

* She said she wants a brother but she keeps calling the baby both "he" and "she". She said "Mommy, let's pray to God for the baby." When we prayed, she asked for God to make the baby a girl. She's recommended the names "Kyla" "Sweet Baby" and "Marma". LOL!

* Whenever I eat food, she always says "Oh no! Mommy, baby is eating all your food!"

* She is convinced that babies are born out of your butt. LOL! I've tried to explain otherwise but that is incomprehensible to her!

* She can't wait for the baby to come so that she can share my hospital food with me again. LOL!

* She is looking forward to playing freeze dance with the baby and to making silly faces with the baby.

We've told just about everyone except for Erick's parents (they weren't able to make it to the recital and that's when we told our families) and my Grandma (who is on a cruise). So if you're someone who talks to any of those people, please don't tell them yet! ; )

We're not exactly sure of the due date but my best guess is January 26, 2008. I'm gonna call tomorrow to make an appointment with the OB. Hopefully I can get in soon and they'll do an u/s to date the pregnancy.

No, we aren't trying for a boy. We are just as in love with the idea of having a family with all girls as we are with the idea of having a little boy. Children are children and God will give us just the right family dynamic. Whatever we find out at the 20-week ultrasound, I know I will be ecstatic.

We do have names picked out. Well, mostly. For a boy we like Killian Joshua. For a girl we like Katelyn. The girl middle name is still being decided. I like Johanna (nickname Katie Jo) and Erick likes Katelyn Abigail. Both are pretty so we'll probably pray and see if our hearts settle on one of those.

For those who have followed our past two pregnancy journals, YES I'm definitely gonna do a weekly pregnancy journal for this little sprout too. I'll be sure to link you up once I've got it started!

I'm just so excited!! I was just starting to get baby fever this month and I'm so glad that we got to be surprised for a change! I can't wait to know who this little one is and to have a newborn in the house again. I can't wait to see how Kyla will be as a big sister and to see how McKenna will be now that she'll be a little older. Right now she is always helping us change Kyla's diapers and helps look out for Kyla. When the baby is born, she'll be 4 1/2 so it'll be neat to see how she'll be then. Kyla will be almost 2 1/2...just a smidge older than Kenna was when she was born. So I feel good about the age difference between all 3 kids. I think they're going to be close and have so much fun together like the girls do now. : )

I'm feeling alright. I've had a pretty bad headache for 2 days now and I'm sooo tired. But I'm happy and trying to prepare myself for the morning sickness that I know is coming!

Your prayers are coveted and appreciated! : )

Here's a layout I did about finding out:

Amazing Suprises

Not so much a chocolate lover

2007-05-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

You know how woman always seem to be obsessed with chocolate? I've never been that way. I can take it or leave it. It's good. I don't crave it. I'm rarely in the mood for it. If I have it, it usually has to be WITH something like caramel or cream cheese or coffee. I would much rather have something with coconut, cinnamon or blueberries.

I came to this realization as I was baking blueberry muffins with cream cheese frosting today. And pouring my third cup of coffee with coconut creamer.

I don't know what it is but all things coconut, I'm loving. I have coconut scented sunscreen, coconut body wash, coconut lotion, coconut body butter, coconut coffee creamer....I'm even considering plunking down $22 for the Coconut Bay candle at Yankee Candle. I never buy the big candles (that's too much commitment to one scent) but they don't make it in tart form. It must be because summer is coming.

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McKenna had Circus Day at school and it was kind of a bust. The paper that they sent home said there would be a jump house, a clown that was gonna paint their faces and snow cones. So I told McKenna that. But when I picked her up at the end of the day the teacher told me she was really sensitive all day. I asked why and she said she didn't know. I noticed McKenna didn't have her face painted. I asked the teacher "Did you guys do face painting today?" She said "Oh, there wasn't enough time."

Hmm....alright.

So we're walking home and I asked McKenna why she was sad at school. She said "Because we didn't do face painting or have snow cones." So it was just kind of annoying that the teacher's didn't deliver on their promise and then seemed clueless as to why McKenna might be acting sensitive.

Mind you, this teacher is kind of clueless. Her usual teacher, Miss Carol retired mid-year because her daughter was having a baby. So they brought in Miss Dona and Miss Gina. Miss Dona is kind, very sweet but sort of ditzy (sort of disconcerting when the teacher has typos in their take-home letters, no?) Miss Gina is just....I don't know what her purpose is. I hear nothing about her from McKenna and everytime I come to pick her up I have to remind her that yes, I am McKenna's mother, not her aunt.

The most annoying time was when I came to sign McKenna out (we have to sign out at the window and then they let the kids come out to us) and when I got there, McKenna was standing in the middle of the room, crying. Miss Dona was reading to a kid. Miss Gina was standing there, cutting out an art project but not tending to anyone. So I glance at her, wondering why she's not seeing if McKenna is ok. I said "McKenna.....honey, what's wrong?" I sign her out....I look at Miss Gina. She keeps cutting. She looks at McKenna. Keeps cutting. Looks at me and says hello. Keeps cutting. I said "Come on McKenna, let's go home." McKenna stands at the door, crying. Waiting for the teacher to let her out. Miss Gina keeps cutting. Looks at McKenna. Keeps cutting. I said "Excuse me, can you let her OUT please?" Geez!! If you're not gonna take care of her then let her out so I can take care of her! Freaking clueless! The next time I dropped McKenna off at school, Miss Dona asks "Why was she crying the other day?" What? YOU are the teacher. YOU were there. Why don't YOU know the answer to that? So you DID see her crying? Why didn't you ask about it then? It just ticked me off.

I actually have been doing some research to find out if McKenna is classified as a "sensitive" child and you know, she really is. This article was really fascinating actually. McKenna isn't entirely like this. She isn't sensitive to pain (actually, lately she seems to be especially tough whenever she falls down), noise or large crowds. In fact, Erick and I both noticed a lot of ourselves from childhood in this article and it's most certain that McKenna has picked up our social traits. Read the article if you have time. Its really fascinating to understand why people need that time to warm up and how people who are often classified as shy or sensitive are actually just very aware of their surroundings, the moods of those around them, the possible dangers or things to be weary of, etc.

In a large group where she can blend in, she does great. In a very small group with people she knows well, she does great. But in a medium group where there is no blending in, where there is a need to find your niche and fit yourself in, she needs a warm up period. Once she warms up, she's really very pleasant and well-mannered. But if she is faced with direct attention from a new person, she is introverted. She gets anxiety when she knows something big is coming up (gymnastics, dance recital) but once she is in the experience, she shines.

She's also very sensitive to details. Her socks have to be just so, her shoes have to be just so, bows have to be tied just so. Most of the positive attributes are McKenna to a tee. She has a very detailed imaginiation, very observant of small things, she's very bright, asks thought-provoking questions, the things she's interested in she studies in great detail (example, she knows every detail of Peter Pan, has seen just about every version available on DVD and loves to watch the Behind-the-Scenes dvd feature over and over so she can study exactly how Wendy's hair, dress, shoes, mannerisms are.) and she is sensitive to other people. She is VERY sensitive about her sister and worries about her often (just like I did with my little sister!) One thing I've always appreciated about McKenna was mentioned in this article and that is that she tends to make wise decisions. She has never had to be taught to not run in the street. She's always been very aware that the street is dangerous. She isn't too welcoming of strangers....she has to be sure they are safe before she'll engage in conversation with them. She doesn't just try anything. She asks questions about it first, studies it, thinks about if she's really interested in it.

So anyway, I thought that was very interesting reading. It helped me understand more about what I was like as a child, why I would often withdraw from opportunities because the idea of it overwhelmed me. And now I see how very much like me McKenna is and I understand that a little better too. I'm actually quite proud to discover this because I think she's sort of a good balance from what this article describes but still has her very outgoing situations and leadership qualities that flourish in the right setting. I think it's interesting that she is sensitive about Erick or I watching her sing or dance at home yet she has no qualms with getting on stage to sing karaoke or dance in front of a large crowd. Erick and I both assumed she was probably shy with the kids at school, maybe even one who sticks to herself or sits on the outskirts. Yet when we went to Alexis' birthday party, she was absolutely the most gracious party guest there, making polite conversation, speaking up when she needed something, using manners, enjoying herself, engaging well with the other kids. When she sees her friends outside of school, they're always excited to see her and she is gracious and polite with them. But if an adult talks to her, she is quiet in her response or she simply leans into me and doesn't answer.

I'm glad to read this now. Because lately she's seemed so sensitive to things, I've wondered if I messed her up somehow. Did I push her with dance? Did I sign her up for school too early? She's never struck me as a shy kid but in certain situations she just withdraws and I couldn't understand why when she's usually so confident. Now I understand that she just needs her time to warm up and absorb the situation, she needs her own boundaries to feel comfortable, and occasionally she needs encouragement to overcome her fear so that she doesn't miss out on once in a lifetime opportunities.

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Anyway, just had to blog my recent findings. ; ) Here is a picture of my confident and sensitive little girl who I am so proud of:

Practicing her passe:

On Circus Day with her clown mask. LOL I didn't send her to school with such crazy hair. That happened in the jump house:

Two of Kyla, just for fun. Kyla, by the way, may be coming down with a virus. She threw up today. : ( She's acting fine and I didn't even realize she had thrown up at first. But my nephew Gavin is acting the same way and he's currently on day two of throwing up. I hope they're both better by tomorrow (recital day!)

Saying "EEESE!":

She likes to have all of McKenna's oversized dolls piled on top of her and then she likes for us to try to find her:

And finally, two layouts I've recently finished:

Dream Party

This was for Digi-Dare #36. We were to scrap something that annoys us:

No You Didn't

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Ok, time to put the girls down for naps and clean up the kitchen from the muffin baking today. Then I'm gonna do some DST work and make a new menu plan for the week. Tonight we're having Oven-Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes and sauteed asparagus. Mm, good. I'm planning to go grocery shopping after the kids are in bed. I wonder if that's gonna happen. LOL!

Dress Rehearsal

2007-05-15T23:25:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a couple of pics of McKenna during her dress rehearsal today. For weeks Erick and I have been wondering how she'd do because she would literally just stand there and pout during the routine practice in class. We videotaped Miss Valerie doing the routine so that McKenna could practice at home. And today McKenna did AWESOME! She really lit up on the stage! I'm convinced that she's just like her Mommy - she gets nerves leading up to it to the point that she'd rather not do it but once she's on stage, she is ALL ABOUT performing!

We had her professional photos taken but we snapped a couple of our own just so we'd have something to share right away. ; )

And she looks sad but she really isn't. She's actually distracted. LOL! But I thought it looked cute anyway:

Kyla decided she wanted to be the opening act. This is her hamming it up in front of the stage while we waited for the curtain to open:

The recital is Saturday night. We'll be sure to get video up for everyone to see as soon as we can!

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Here's the layout I scrapped Mother's Day evening!

Credits can be found here.

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Since I'm waiting for Friends to wrap up before I go to bed and read my book, I'll share three things that I'm loving lately:

TIN picnic plates! Aren't these pretty? But they're unbreakable and durable so they're safe to take on picnics!

Domino Magazine! It's all about decorating and style. It's so inspiring and pretty to look at!

Exotic Coconut Body Butter! It's sooo thick and rich and smells so yummy. I have the smoothest feet in the universe, guarantee it.

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Ok, time to get the morning coffee set up and get to bed...squeeze in a couple of chapters of The Glass Castle (this book freaks me out).

Weekend Update with Norm MacDonald.

2007-05-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, no Norm MacDonald but that'd be cool if he did a guest spot on my blog one day. I'm just sayin'. That'd be cool.

We did do Disneyland on Friday night! We were only there for 2 hours and it seemed really crowded so I'm surprised we hit as many rides as we did. We went on Peter Pan, Small World, Sleeping Beauty's Carousel and Dumbo AND we were able to see the parade. I did get a bunch of parade pics but I won't bore you with those. Unless you happen to be a 3-year old girl or have a 3-year old girl on your lap? Ok, I'll throw one in for atmosphere:

Here is what we believe to be Kyla's first ride on Dumbo. We could be wrong but we're pretty sure it's her first time:

I have to tell you this side story. When we were waiting in line for Dumbo, we were watching the people ahead of us get their turn. They'd just let the next group in and everyone was rushing for their elephant. These two teenage girls grabbed the pink elephant and this little girl (whom they did not know) that was about 6 or 7 years old went running up to them SCREECHING at the top of her lungs "NO! I'M RIDING THE PINK ONE! I'M RIDING THE PINK ONE!" It was beyond Veruca Salt demanding. It was down right threatening. Her lip was curled and her eyes were narrowed. Her voice was so shrill. I half expected her to kick these chicks in the shins! And where was this little girl's mother you ask? Standing meekly nearby, saying NOTHING. When the two teenage girls gave up the pink elephant (which I am sure they did out of sheer terror) the mother whispered "thank you". I couldn't believe my eyes.

Anyway, more pictures....

Family hugs (before we left):

Family hugs (after the parade):

McKenna and her friend Alyssa. Alyssa is very protective of McKenna. No joke, you don't wanna cross this girl and mess with her buddy McKenna:

I'd just like to point out the amazing Dill plant in the background. I grew that. I'm awesome.

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I knew Saturday was gonna be a weird day. The Cobles were burying Kyle, Emma and Katie that morning at 10am. It's strange to feel so much sadness and grief for a family you've never met. I knew I'd be sort of quiet and pensive that morning and I told myself to be extra loving to my kids. Kyla and Erick slept in but I took McKenna to dance class where she decided to behave in a way I've never seen her behave before. She flat out refused to do her tap dance. She was moody, tantrumy...it was very difficult. Then as I was paying for her recital tickets, I spilled my coffee all over Valerie's table. Drove home, feeling very upset. Parked, got out, dropped my keys between the seats and as I was frustrated and trying to dig them out I heard the local church bells ringing to signal the 10 o'clock hour. At that moment, the Cobles were beginning the service for their babies.

I couldn't take it anymore. I just started crying. It's all been too much to grasp. All the time I get these glimpes of the shock the Cobles must feel as they're maybe doing something routine like brushing their teeth and then thinking "They're gone." It's just impossible to process. McKenna asked me why I was crying and she seemed so genuinely concerned and compassionate.

I couldn't focus all day. Once the girls were down for naps, I told myself I could lie down and rest as well but once I woke up, that was it. It was time to push past the sadness because it's impossible to function when you're focusing on something this terrible.

I woke up from my nap and realized my bedroom door was closed. I got up and realized that McKenna had gotten up from her nap on her own and closed the door for me so I could keep resting. She had also made this for me and left it on the floor for me to find:

It was like she knew I needed cheering up. I opened the door and found her dressed in her Cindrella dress. She smiled and said "I just woke up and played dress up." : ) She was an angel for the rest of the day (which was a relief from the very difficult attitude she'd been giving me all morning!)

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When Erick asked what I wanted for Mother's Day this year, everything seemed trite in light of the Coble's loss. I really didn't want a gift and I don't believe I would have enjoyed a gift either. Instead, Erick and the girls spent Saturday afternoon making me cards which they gave me this morning. It was exactly what I wanted.

Kyla's card. She drew the picture and then they chose a carousel sticker because Kyla likes to ride the carousel with Mommy:

McKenna's card. She practiced her stars and picked out the pink flower all on her own:

Daddy's card. McKenna wrote two of the three "moms". Can you guess which one Erick did? Hint: McKenna's look better! LOL!

Inside of Daddy's card. He drew a picture of our family. I asked him why he put a hot dog sticker on the sun. He said (a la Billy Madison) "I put a hot dog on the sun because I'd never seen a hot dog on a sun." LOL (you'd have to see the movie to get that):

The only thing I asked for all day was to be allowed to get ready for church this morning in peace. I wanted Erick to be in charge of getting the girls their breakfast, getting them dressed, packing the diaper bag, etc. And I got my wish.

Here we are just before church:

Ignore my blindingly white legs. I've been wearing jeans since November.

The sermon was (as usual) wonderful! "How to Hang On in a Hard Place". I don't feel like I'm currently in a hard place but he said some things that really resonated with me nonetheless. I really, immensely love this pastor's teaching.

McKenna made this for me in Sunday School today (it's a flower):

After church we took Erick's Mom to lunch for Mother's Day. Then came home and while the girls napped, I baked. I really, really wanted to cook for my family today. Erick offered to take me out for dinner or to make dinner for me. But I really, truly wanted to cook for them. So we had: Barbecued Shrimp, Grilled Corn-on-the-Cob (I make a really yummy butter sauce with dill, garlic and worcestershire), Italian Butter Noodles, Greek Salad, Pink Lemonade and for dessert we had Black Bottom Cupcakes.

You MUST try these cupcakes. They are heavenly. They are the best cupcakes in the whole world. It's a chocolate cupcake mixed with a cream cheese/chocolate chip batter. And topped with cream cheese frosting and fresh strawberries. I recommend eating this cupcake with a fork and a tall glass of milk!

It was a perfect day. Just very relaxing and all about being together. The highlight of the day for me was when I was in the kitchen baking, I could hear Erick and the girls wrestling and laughing. My heart just felt full and grateful.

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I do still have some cute kid's stories. But once again, this is getting long so I'll add those soon. It's kind of late right now but I'm bound and determined to scrap tonight. I deserve it. I haven't scrapped in a week I think! Eek!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is Lovely

2007-05-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

It really is. McKenna woke up at 8am and then crawled into bed with me to watch Little Einsteins for a half hour before asking for breakfast. So I got to wake up nice and slowly. Kyla woke up at 9am. The girls have been well behaved all day so I've managed to get some work done. The weather is gorgeous - 78 degrees, clear skies, light breeze. I've got a Cherry Tart burning and I'm enjoying a bowl of fresh cherries in the backyard, blogging while my two daughters swim in their little kiddie pool. After their naps and Erick gets home from work, we're going to have a fun little family evening at Disneyland. The perfect day. It probably doesn't make for the most interesting blog reading but it is what it is. I love perfect days filled with endless pleasant details.

And more importantly, today is 10 years since Erick and I became a couple. <3 I love you Erick. Thank you for making ten years so much fun that it feels like it's only been one, but so wonderful that it feels like it's been forever. You know what I mean.

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Update on Gymnastics: "gymnacsics" was a bust. We didn't even make it there. McKenna actually fell asleep for a nap that day so I had to wake her so we could make it on time. She woke up and was in no mood to participate in any class. She said she wanted to go but kept saying she was tired. She couldn't get motivated to get dressed. Then when we had a disagreement about what she should wear and it was melt down city from there. So I said "Make your decision. Are we going to be in a better mood and go to gymnastics or stay home and rest some more?" She said "NUFFING!" (Nothing!) So I closed her door and told her to keep resting. Called the studio and canceled and told them I'd reschedule for another day. McKenna still wants to take the class so maybe in another week or so. I think I'll wait for us to get the recital over with first. Too many things going on right now anyway!

So instead we took a leisurely trip to The Block for dinner. We ate at Jodi Maroni's where we were treated to the delightful image of a drunken David Hasselhoff (could this video be any more pitiful? Watching him try to eat that hamburger was just sad. And by the way, if my teenage daughter was nagging at me like that non-stop, I'd probably drink too. She was relentless considering he was barely coherent.) After dinner we walked all over. The girls love it there because they can run wild and then we can duck into a ton of our favorite shops. They have a Ron Jon's, Borders, a pet store, a candy store and 5 billion cute clothing shops. We stopped at Hilo Hattie and picked out outfits for Erick and McKenna to wear to their father/daughter dance next week. Here's what we chose:

They even got matching island necklaces. It was so cute watching the two of them shop. We picked out McKenna's dress first and then went to the men's section to find the matching shirt for Erick. McKenna was pulling stuff off the shelves saying "Here Dad. Try this." and they were talking about what they were gonna wear and how much fun they were gonna have. She kept jumping up and down and smiling up at him. Then they went to the dressing room together and put on their outfits and came out and modeled them for Kyla and I. I thought my heart was gonna explode. They're both looking forward to their big dance night. June 15th! McKenna wants it to be NOW but I told her it's not until "after Las Vegas". If I say "It's not for a month, she'd have no concept of how long that would be." So now she just knows to be on the lookout for a Vegas trip and after that is the dance!

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Tuesday I opted out of Disneyland (way too hot) and Starbucks (too hot for coffee too!) but I did buckle down and get a lot of DST work done. Then while the girls napped I went out all by myself to Target and to grocery shop. It was soooo nice! Usually when I do those things I'm so distracted making sure my kids don't wander off, that they're not pulling stuff off the shelves, not trying to jump out of the cart, etc. So it was just really relaxing and productive! Target was having a sale on some cute kids summer clothes so I got these:

Blue one for McKenna, pink for Kyla:

McKenna's on the left, Kyla's on the right:

And grocery shopping was FUN! I could actually think about what I wanted to cook and make sure to pick up healthy snacks. I brought home lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and made a menu plan and everything! For me, grocery shopping, housework, cooking...that's a labor of love. I'm always "presenting" it to my family. "Look what I bought for you!" "Look! I cleaned your favorite dress!" So I was all proud to come home and show them all the food I'd picked out for them. Usually they're with me and just throwing stuff in the cart. LOL!

So that day was a happy day for me because I was running all the errands I've always wanted to do and I felt very comfortable with driving. I never thought I'd actually feel COMFORTABLE driving!!

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Yesterday was something extra special for me!

McKenna's preschool class had a Mother's Tea. My sister came to watch Kyla (thanks again Mel!) and I went over at 12:30pm. It was so cute because all of us moms were waiting outside and we could see the kids rushing around, getting everything ready. We had pink lemonade and cookies and we sang a song. I think we were all extra grateful to be there that day since one of the news reports about the Coble accident reported that just days before the accident, Lori had gone to a mother's day tea at Kyle and Emma's school. So it was a time to say a prayer of thanks for our children and the time that we get to be their mother's, however long that may be.

And we got the cutest little gifts too!

A plant that McKenna grew herself! She decorated the pot and the teacher stuck a little picture of McKenna in the plant with a popsicle stick. And the garden stone was painted by McKenna as well:

And this has got to be the neatest surprise! They had a photographer come in and take a picture of each of the kids in these old-fashioned clothes! They gave us four 4x6 photos!

Isn't that a cool gift?? McKenna is very excited about Mother's Day and she's asked if she can use some of my craft products to make me a card. : ) How could I deny such a request? So Saturday her and Erick (and Kyla I'm sure LOL!) are gonna work on something. She's been practicing writing "Mom" too! See!

After the tea party we came home and the kids had a blast in the pool. I also caught these funny pictures of all of them in the pnp. We only bring that out when Gavin is over so he can nap. But all the kids decided to climb in:
LOL don't ask me why Luke is in underwear only and McKenna is in pajamas. Frankly, I don't even know the answer:

They're all yelling "CHEEEEEESE!" but instead of looking at the camera they're laughing at each other:

This one just cracks me up. Look at McKenna all dramatic like she's about to be crushed by a giant anvil or something:

Yesterday was also a cool "mail day". Don't you love when you check the mail and you get a couple of fun items? I got my next hybrid project in the mail! Oh my goodness, this Scrap Gypsies gig rocks! The next designer that we're featuring sent us sooooo much stuff to play with! Gorgeous papers, cardstock, ribbons, chipboard, ric rac, lace, brads, ribbon slides and lots and lots of flowers! And she's so sweet because she hand-picked my kit to fit with my usual scrap subject - my girls! I'm excited to get started on this next project but I'm still ironing out the details of what it's gonna be. It'll be awhile before I'm allowed to show it off too. But I was excited to get the product in my hand and to be inspired right away!

I also got........DRUM ROLL.......MY DRIVER'S LICENSE! It came! My heart actually skipped a beat when I saw the envelope from the DMV. I was beaming all the way back to my apartment and I couldn't wait to show my sister and Erick. I kept looking at the words "Driver License" over and over. I still can't believe I conquered that fear. I can't believe I let it win for as long as I did. And I know if I didn't get my license now, it would've been never. So I really can't believe I came *this close* to just giving up altogether. And now I don't even feel nervous driving anymore. I never, ever thought I'd see the day.

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Alright, I had some kid-bits and pics to share but this entry is so long as it is. I'll save those for tomorrow and maybe I'll have some Disneyland pics to add as well.

How Can This Happen?

2007-05-09T22:19:00.000-07:00

Lori Coble and her mother were driving on an Orange County freeway last week, Lori's 3 children in the back of their mini van. They came to a stop due to traffic. A big rig truck came around the corner at 55 mph and didn't stop. He slammed into the back of Lori's van, killing all three of her children. Katie (2) died and minutes later her big sister Emma (4) joined her in heaven. Later that night, in his mother's arms, Kyle (5) was the last of the Coble children to enter the Kingdom of God.

How does this happen?

It's a mother and father's worst nightmare. The idea that they could lose even one child is horrific. How can it even be fathomable that one moment, you're the happy mother of three. The next moment, you're the mother of none.

How do you face another Christmas? Another birthday? Another day at all? Every morning for the past 5 years you'd get up, feed your children, play with them, bathe them, take them to school, tend to their needs, laugh at their antics. What do you do now? Now you have all the free time in the world and you don't want a second of it.

How do you cope? How do you return to your home? How do you face their bedrooms, their toys, their little shoes? You suddenly have no need for any of it but how can you possibly bring yourself to part with even one little bit of it?

How do you go on? You know you must. But how?

I'll never forget this family as long as I live. I'll never forget the faces of their beautiful children. Some people are angry at the truck driver. Some people are angry at God. I'm angry at Eve. If she had not first eaten the forbidden fruit, they would not have been cast from God's perfect world. We would still exist in a world without heartbreak like this. Whenever I hear of a child dying, all I can think is "Lord, come soon." It's too horrible. I love life. I love so much about this world. But a world where something like this can happen? I want nothing of it. Lord, come soon.

The Coble Family

Bedtime: 3:30am

2007-05-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

You know you're in for a long day the next day when you're not done with a project and it's already past 1am, right? I believe my exact thought as I sat surrounded by my half-finished project and I saw the KTLA Late Night Movie come on at 12:30am was "I'm screwed." Erick was the Supervising Officer on duty for the midnight shift last night (he gets about 1-2 of those shifts a month). Which means he was due home around 8:30am and then he was gonna need to sleep the day away. So for sure no sleeping in for me. McKenna had school this morning but Kyla isn't old enough to behave while Mommy naps on the couch so that wasn't gonna cut it. But I HAD to finish this project for the Scrap Gypsies site debut. So I didn't crawl into bed until 3:30am. Ick. I'm absolutely drained today.

But I really love how my projects turned out! Wanna see 'em?

Digital Layout:

Credits here.

Altered Project:

Credits here. Close up of the pages here.

I had a lot of fun doing that purse album. Definitely check out the page close-ups if you get a chance. My favorites are the Memory pages and the Treats pages.

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I'm beginning to wonder how McKenna is gonna do during this dance recital. She could not be more disinterested. It's so obvious why too. She doesn't like tap. She likes ballet. When they do freestyle dance, she always chooses ballet. She talks all the time about her "beautiful ballet dance" that she did during the last show. This one bores her. She gets really distracted easily and she's just not excited about it. Kyla on the other hand LOVES it. She is a jazz and funk girl all the way. It's so funny but I can picture them as teenagers. McKenna would be all Ballet and Gymnastics. Kyla would be Jazz and Hip Hop.

Speaking of Gymnastics, McKenna has been begging to take Gymnastics for months now. Since we're going to take a dance break after her recital, I told her we could look into a Gymnastics class. She has a trial class this afternoon and she's pretty excited. I'm so glad they do a trial class and let you sign up month-to-month. That'll make it much easier to commit!

Here's some pictures I took of McKenna before church yesterday. My sister bought her this dress and McKenna adored it. Every person who saw her complimented her on it:

They announced VBS for the summer (Vacation Bible School for those who are unfamiliar). Trinity apparently puts on a pretty awesome VBS program and I've looked forward to the day when my kids could go. So I was so excited when I saw that they allow them to attend as early as four years old! In fact, the camp STARTS on McKenna's fourth birthday! So we're definitely gonna sign her up. It's 5 days in the summer from 9am-12pm. Tons of activities - bible stories, songs, crafts, water day, family night, etc. I think she's really gonna love it and it'll be a great opportunity for her to start making friends at church.

Oh and they DID have a 3-year old Sunday School class this week. Phew. I didn't want her stuck in the nursery when all she wanted was to have a real Sunday School class! So when I dropped her off I asked the teacher "Will you be singing songs about Jesus today?" And she said YES! McKenna was so happy! They also did a really cute art project and a bible verse. : ) Her little dream come true.

Speaking of art projects, I wanted to show this one off. Pretty good huh?

Ok, last thing on the McKenna update....guess where her and Erick are going! To their FIRST Father/Daughter dance! Awww! It's a beach-themed party with dancing, dinner and contests and they'll get a little souvenir photo. How adorable is that? It's June 15th. I can not wait to scrap that!

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I think Kyla is about ready for her own class too. She's not quite old enough for a real dance class though she would love it if she could! She has a blast dancing to Kenna's recital music. And when I took her with me to McKenna's class this weekend, she stayed in the corner but danced along for at least half the class. She really does imitate them too! She can do a pretty good tendu and a shuffle step! I think I'll probably end up signing her up for a mommy & me activity class. Some songs and movement or something. She'd love that I bet!

She's SUCH a stinker because when I drive, she'll say "Wooooah!" and "Weee!" like she's on a roller coaster! LOL! I do NOT even drive fast but she makes me feel like I'm a crazy driver!

She has her manners mixed up. If SHE sneezes then SHE says "beshou" (bless you). But if someone else burps, then she says "Syuze me!" (Excuse me).

Here are some pictures I took of Kyla before church. She does NOT cooperate for photos! She refused to look. And then after you take the photo she says "I see?" Then she has to see the picture before she'll let me take another one (and she has no intention of looking in the direction of the camera that time either).

I'd bought her a cute headband but she wouldn't keep it in. I love how these little hair knobbies look though:

Don't you just wanna gobble her little neck? LOL!

She loves her Sunday School class. She has a bunch of kids to play with and really they just play. She's happy to be dropped off and all smiles when we pick her up again. It's nice because the service is a little bit long but it's nice to be able to relax and really focus on the sermon and not worry if the kids feel sad or abandoned.

I really love when she watches Diego. It reminds me how smart and grown up she's becoming. For instance, today Diego asked something like (and I'm totally making up the objects here because I can't remember) "Can this rake help us climb a tree?" And Kyla shook her head and said "Noooo." Diego said "Can this tire help us climb a tree?" And Kyla shook her head and said "Noooo." And then Diego said "Can this ladder help us climb a tree?" Kyla tilted her head thoughtfully and studied the ladder and then she nodded emphatically and said "Yeah!"

Can you believe she'll be in a toddler bed soon? : ( Come August we're gonna put both girls in one room. Kyla is moving to the toddler bed and McKenna is getting a twin. She said she wants one like Wendy has. I have no idea what that means. I'm gonna have to watch Peter Pan to figure it out but I'm guessing she means a four-poster bed? Anyway, I think they'll do ok at bedtime but I don't know what's gonna happen at naptime! Kyla still takes a pretty solid nap and McKenna doesn't. She has quiet time where she reads. But if McKenna is in the room, Kyla won't sleep. If McKenna is NOT in a room, McKenna won't rest. She'll be all over, asking me for a million things. So maybe I'll have her rest in my room?

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Well it's time to get ready for the Gymnastics class! Then I've got a ton of work tonight. Julie had to cancel our lunch date for tomorrow so I'm either going to 1) take McKenna for a mother/daughter day at Disneyland before it starts to get too hot and crowded with summer! Or 2) I'm gonna head to Starbucks with my laptop for some uninterrupted work time. That'll all depend on how much work I get done tonight and what the weather is supposed to be like tomorrow. It's been 90 here lately!!! Yikes! Time to bust out the water toys! One of the Mom's invited me to a playdate at the park this afternoon and I quickly said "No thanks". It's boiling out!

A Liberating Experience

2007-05-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

I did it. I took and passed my driver's test. I'm a driver. And more importantly, I'm COMFORTABLE being a driver!

If you'd asked me yesterday why it took me so long I would've told you that it was because when I was 18, I was a passenger in my boyfriend's car and he got us into a pretty scary wreck. And I'm certain that played a major role in my fears. But much like the episode of The Simpsons when Marge conquers her fear of flying, when after she conquers it she suddenly realizes all sorts of important factors to her fear, yesterday I thought "Hm....I don't think it was JUST that one accident." I think I've always had some apprehension about driving. I remember being 13 years old and going to a slumber party....some of the girls decided to take a car out joy-riding. I did not go. That idea scared the hell out of me. I also remember being 17 and having my permit AND knowing how to drive just fine. BUT when our friend called and said he was too drunk to drive his car home, myself and a few friends went to get him and somehow I was designated as the person who had to drive his car home. That scared the hell out of me too. When I was 18 I drove my OWN car (I had a car before I had a license) to visit my boyfriend at work and I was terrified to change lanes because I was sure I'd hit someone. And I know how to drive! In fact, I've known how to drive since I was at least 15. It was never about not knowing how. It was about feeling capable. I would have nightmares that I'd be driving a car that I couldn't control. And even when I was awake I would get horrible flashes in my mind of trying to drive a car that to me felt like it was as big as a yacht and crossing into a lane, misreading how much space I had and cutting off the car behind me.

I've had my permit at least 3 times, probably more. Most of the time I'd have it and let it expire. Once I practiced a few times for a couple of weeks and then scheduled a behind-the-wheel test. I was so nervous. The instructor was just a really mean, power-trip of a woman. I didn't know the neighborhood I was driving in. I felt pressured and I ....CUT OFF THE PERSON BEHIND ME. Yeah, no kidding. They had to drive into the oncoming lanes just to avoid hitting me. I didn't get behind the wheel again for 2 1/2 years.

There were two important turning points:

1) A conversation with my friend Shanah. She made me realize that this was a legitimate fear and a serious one. But it was also an irrational one. To ME I was the one who was rational and everyone else in the world were disillusioned. She also told me that my brain was trained to believe I wasn't capable of driving. I needed to retrain my brain. She recommended hypnotherapy. I decided that my will power was stronger than hypnosis and now that I had a better understanding of what was going on in my own mind, I was simply going to start changing my thought patterns.

2) I turned 30. I had 2 children, one of whom was starting to have a lot of activities that she needed to be at. Erick was getting promoted and his hours were going to be such that it would be more and more difficult to rely on him to drive us everywhere. More importantly, McKenna is almost 4 and that means she's starting to retain those memories that will stay with her her whole life. I don't want my girls to ever think that it's ok to let a fear control your life. Besides, my California ID expired on my birthday. So if I ever wanted to write a check or use my credit card, I would need to either re-apply for a new one or I'd need to get my license. I knew if I got another ID card, I wouldn't never get my license. So I refused to renew it and I just buckled down and practiced driving as much as possible. I mean, c'mon. I quit smoking. I labored 2 babies. I started my own successful business. I got over my fear of the dentist and endured 5 extractions, a root canal and BRACES at 26 years old! I could do THIS! Like my MIL has always told me, God does not want His people to be in bondage or captivated by fear. He helped me do all of these other things, why should He abandon me to this fear? He wouldn't.

So with lots of practice, one extremely supportive husband who has never once made fun of me but has patiently waited for me to be ready to do this on my own time, and a whole team of prayer warriors....

I took the test and I passed! I really had no idea if I'd passed or not when the exam was over. I just watched her intently and waited to see what she said. She counted the infractions (I had 8 out of the allowed 18.) "You passed". I felt dizzy when she said it. Like I became a new person right in that moment! When I got out of the car, Erick walked over to me and with tears in my eyes and a pitifully cracking voice I said "Honey, I passed."

Today I decided to run some errands by myself and it was totally liberating! I loved it! I wanted to drive around all day! I felt like I'd been a driver my whole life. It was like once the DMV confirmed I was good enough to be a licensed driver then I FELT like I was a good driver! I drove all over! My first stop was STARBUCKS! LOL! I really wanted to just enjoy the ability to drive myself, get out of the car without having to load/unload kids and treat myself to a tall white chocolate mocha with a shot of almond! ; )

Then I stopped at Michael's for some supplies for my Scrap Gypsies project that's due this week. And after that I stopped at Babies R Us to pick up some presents for my new NIECE!! That's right! Mel and Brian are having a DAUGHTER!!!!!! They're pretty sure they'll name her Maggie. So I'm calling her Maggie Mae. ; ) I also picked up lunch, took both girls to Target by myself and ran to 7-11 for some milk.

So consider this fear CONQUERED!

Off to watch Grey's and work on my project now! = D

Here's a layout I finished up today for Digi-Dare #34. The dare is to scrap about weather!

Stupid Peanuts

2007-04-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

Well it's official. Kyla has a peanut allergy. I wasn't surprised when they called to tell me that. Just disappointed. Kind of sad. On a scale of 1-6, she's a 4. That's a pretty serious allergy. She's also a 1-3 for soy. This means a peanut could cause an anaphylactic reaction but soy will most likely just cause hives/constipation/diarrhea. She can eat some soy products. She eats crackers that were made with soy so I think she can have commercially prepared products and just not true soy like wasabi, soy sauce, edamame, tofu, etc. Peanuts/nuts are something we need to watch. She doesn't seem to be so sensitive that she can't have anything that was manufactured in the same plant as peanuts. Some kids have allergies that are so severe they can't even be near an open jar of peanut butter. But Kyla recently grabbed a handful of a pasta covered in peanut sauce. I wiped her hand but she did continue to eat with that hand. No reaction. So we're hoping that she has to actually EAT peanuts in order to trigger a reaction.

It's scary for sure but we're just going to keep her covered in prayer. We've educated ourselves, educated our families, we have an emergency epi-pen, we've watched the video tutorial on how to use it, we've signed up for a couple of mailing lists for literature about peanut allergies and we're going to order Kyla a medic alert bracelet just in case. We'll be sure Kyla is educated and that anyone who is her caregiver or teacher will know about the allergy. McKenna is very aware of the allergy and has been super careful to help us look out for peanuts. It's not a difficult job. We don't really eat peanuts or peanut butter here. I occasionally eat almond butter but that's it. So I don't anticipate this will mean a dramatic lifestyle change for us. Kyla will NOT be living in a plastic bubble but we WILL educate and prepare so that we can prevent a worst-case scenario.

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I have to share this funny email my sister sent me about my nephew Luke. He's 3 and finishing up his first year of preschool so he's in that stage where his conversations are so funny. Mel was given a project where she has to ask Luke what he loves about each of his teachers and they're going to compile them into a book. Here is the conversation she emailed me:

Ms. Marybeth
Mel: Do you love Ms.Marybeth?
Luke: Yes, my love her.
Mel: How come?
Luke: Because I love her Valentimes.
Mel: Why else? LoL
Luke: She pways with me, my just love her.

Ms. Arlene
Luke: I love her cause of Valentimes. Him nice, and plays me playdough.

lol

Ms. B
Mel: And do you love Ms.B?
Luke: Yes, Valentimes.
Mel: Why ELSE do you love her? Lol
Luke: She talks to me “no biting”

LOL What am I supposed to do with this?!

ROFL That just cracked me up. "Yes, Valentimes." You can tell by the third teacher he was just giving a form answer. LOL! Funny kid!

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Speaking of preschool ending! McKenna's in her last month of her second year of preschool. *Sniff* These kids are growing too fast. Can you believe Kyla starts preschool in September?!?!?!?!

Anyway, McKenna's school is planning some fun activities for the last month. They just sent us the calendar. Check out these fun events:

5/9: Mom's Tea! All Mommies are invited to have a tea party with the students in their classroom.
5/10: Water day (they come in bathing suits and spend the day playing in toddler pools and with water toys.)
5/16: Circus day (a clown, face painting, a jump house and snow cones!)
5/23: Unbirthday party (since most of the students have summer birthdays, they're doing an unbirthday party for her class. They're gonna make cupcakes and have pizza.)
5/24: Last day picnic on the lawn!

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Last night my sister and I had a little GNO (girls night out) and went for dinner and some shopping. I decided I wanted to pick up a couple of dressier items for myself and the girls for church. The church isn't formal but it's not necessarily jeans. So I wanted to find some things that were just a step above casual. I picked out these for myself at NY & CO:

This top:

This top:

And these pants:

Then we stopped at Naartjie for some clothes for the girls.

I got these outfits for Kyla:

And these outfits for McKenna:

Then we decided to peek into Janie and Jack and we found the perfect dress for Kyla's dedication next month. For McKenna we dressed her in an all-white Hawaiian dress because that's just "us". We wanted the symbolism of the all white but the formal baptism dresses aren't really our style. So I wanted to do the same for Kyla and my sister spotted this adorable dress on the clearance rack of all places! It's PERFECT! Especially since the dedication will be in Nevada in June!

Now I just need to remember to book our hotel room!

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Today was Erick's swearing-in ceremony. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera but from where I was sitting, I wouldn't have been able to get a very good picture anyway. He got his new badge and all that. He was given a Blackberry this week so now they can get ahold of him 24-7. Bad news I tell ya! LOL! I was able to meet the Chief which was a highlight for me. I really liked her. I liked what she said during the ceremony - she seems to really have a genuine heart and vision for the department that I admired.

My Dad and Cheryl watched the girls so that Erick and I could go in peace. Afterward we went out for an early dinner at Chomp's to celebrate. We really hadn't had the opportunity to celebrate his promotion until now! So that was nice. Thanks again Dad & Cheryl!

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Now I'm off to give the girls a bath and put them down for the night. Then I need to just work, work, work to catch up on the "first of the month" emails that always flood my inbox. *sigh*

Today You'll Have Dessert

2007-04-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

It's just the busiest week for us! Friday was Erick's first day in his new unit and it was McKenna's princess party (see previous post for pictures). Saturday McKenna had dance class in the morning and her costume fitting in the evening. This morning we had our first service back at Trinity and then had lunch with my MIL (she attends Trinity too). Tomorrow McKenna has school and I need to work on my first project for Scrapgypsies AND I need to update DST. Tuesday is Erick's swearing-in ceremony and then he has a softball game that night. Wednesday McKenna has school and I have my driving test. And then from there I think life gets semi back to normal? Erick's schedule is still a little "off" because he has to be there at specific times for training. So it's taken some getting used to this new schedule!

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So McKenna's costume fit perfectly. No need for alterations! Since they're dancing to "Mean Ol' Lion" from The Wiz, I figured she'd be wearing yellow. It's just a strap on one side with the bow attached and a "bare strap" on the other. Then she wears that other big bow in her hair. LOL! Very cute and very typical "tap recital", right?

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Church today was soooo nice. The kids had a blast. I was surprised that they had McKenna in the nursery but they seemed to imply that that was an unusual thing this week so I'm hoping next week that they actually do a Sunday School for her age group. But she didn't want to leave when we came to pick her up so regardless, she had fun! She said she made five new friends. She couldn't remember any of their names. LOL! Neither of them had any problem with being dropped off but I didn't expect they would. They've been dropped off at EV Free's nursery as well as the nursery at my Mom's church so it's not new to them.

The service was wonderful. The worship music is very traditional which is ok. I can worship God with a steel drum and a kazoo. I don't care. I prefer post-modern worship music but I don't need it to sing to my God. The sermon was excellent. The pastor is very funny, very down-to-earth and very practical. Today's sermon was on depression and my first thought was "This won't apply to me." But then I remembered that I know so many people who have said they're clinically diagnosed with depression so I thought "Well, maybe I'll learn something to make me more sensitive to their plight." It was a very eye-opening sermon as he talked about how very real and even biblically accurate depression is. But it wasn't just for those who are clinically diagnosed as depressed, it was also very applicable to all of us who get into "funks". The need to rest and be nurtured or to nurture ourselves is so important. I really enjoyed the whole sermon and I look forward to hearing him speak again next week!

We saw a few "old friends" which was nice. Well, they're old friends to Erick but for me, they're old "acquaintances" that I've helped him stay in touch with via Christmas cards and birth announcements. I'm looking forward to making them my old friends too.

Erick's Mom arrived later than us so she didn't sit with us. But she did tell us the neatest story later that afternoon when we all went out for lunch.

First, a little background - Erick's Mom is a prayer warrior and has our family absolutely bathed in prayer. She and Erick attended Trinity together for 23 years, just the two of them and his ministry is very much a "blessed fruit from her womb".

So she was praying this morning before church and God told her "Today you will have dessert." And when she got to church, she saw my hair (she said some very heavenly-symbolic things about my hair but it would just sound conceited coming from me so let's just say she saw my "golden hair") from across the room and she instantly knew what God meant. For her, having raised Erick in this church and then to release him to ministry outside of the church and to keep him and his family so faithfully covered in prayer was a labor of love. And having him return to her home church, to be a part of her church family with her, to have her grandbabies in her church with her....this was dessert. She was telling me this during lunch and she said "And that's why I started my lunch with dessert today." And that's when I realized "Hey! She did!" LOL! She ate dessert before she ate lunch as a treat and a celebration for Erick's coming home again. Isn't that the sweetest story?

Anyway, I just had to share that because it touched my heart.

The rest of the day was very relaxing. I told Erick he could lay around and watch sports like most American men do on Sundays (he's usually working on Sundays) so he really enjoyed that! Here's a picture of him and Kenna lounging together:

And is it me or is this kid just growing up way too fast?

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Time for me to get ready for bed! Lots to do tomorrow! Oh and yes, my sister did find out what she's having! And I'm almost certain it's public knowledge but before I officially blog about it, I wanna wait to get her permission.

The Birthday Party of the Year

2007-04-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

Alexis' birthday party was a blast! I was so proud of how well-behaved McKenna was. Before the party I gave her a bath and she was telling me "Mom, I'm just gonna be a little shy so you tell Alexis' Mom that for me ok?" I told her that it was ok if she felt shy but she still needed to be sure she said "Happy Birthday" to Alexis and "Thank you for inviting me" to Alexis' Mom.

She was anything but shy.

The entire place is just covered top-to-bottom with anything that a little girl might consider magical. Victorian dolls and china tea sets and stuffed animals and flowers and anything and everything princessy. The ceiling was covered in silk roses and practically everything on the walls was some sort of animated or musical decoration. McKenna's favorite was a framed scene from Peter Pan. When you push the button, Tinkerbell flies across the sky and they read a part of the story. McKenna made me watch it 3 times.

Right when we arrived they escorted McKenna to the dressing room where she was able to choose a gown from at least a hundred choices. She chose blue (her current favorite color) and then she chose a pair of "glass" (clear plastic) slippers:

While we waited, we hung out with her little friends (6 other little girls from her class) and took a picture of each of them in the princess chair:

Each little girl got her hair done-up fancy and then they sprinkled it with glitter and let them choose a flower to be put in it. It was so cute listening to her have a little conversation with her hair stylist like a little grown up:

Then she went over to the makeup artist who painted her nails (she chose blue glitter) and put eyeshadow, blush and lipstick on her:

Doesn't she look beautiful?

Posing in front of the tea garden:

She looked at herself and said "Mom, I'm very beautiful."

Then they had a fashion show so that all the parents could see each little girl all dressed up. I wondered if McKenna would suddenly become shy but she was very confident, walked out and did a beautiful little turn and smiled for the camera:

Here's the picture they took of her. They put it in a little Olivia's Dollhouse frame so we could each take one home:

And then the group shot(from L-R: Rebecca, Madison, Cameron, Addison, Alexis, McKenna, Karina):

Then it was tea time! Each little girl got her own tea set filled with pink lemonade and a plate of little sandwiches, mini cheese pizza, hot dogs on toothpicks, grapes, carrots & celery. McKenna was so proper. She poured her own "tea" and she would say "Ah, this is delicious. Do you like the tea Alexis? Isn't it delicious?" Anytime one of the girls would need something, they would just ask "Queen Alexis" and then Queen Alexis would ring her bell and a waitress would come out and get them whatever they needed.

Then there was this deer head on the wall named "Princess Arianna". She talked to the kids and asked if they were having fun and if they were ready for cake. The girls were tentative about responding (I think because they couldn't understand her very well) but McKenna did think it was hilarious:

The funniest part was that during the tea McKenna called me over and said "Mom, tell that goat that I love Alexis." LOL! Goat!! And still she keeps telling Erick "Dad...there was a talking GOAT at the party!"

Then everyone sang Happy Birthday to Queen Alexis (I couldn't get a good picture of the queen from where I was sitting):

And then each girl was given a plate with all sorts of candy on it as well as a small slice of cake and the whole plate was topped with a piece of cotton candy. McKenna loooooves cotton candy and I knew she'd be excited about this part so I got my camera ready and sure enough:

All the Moms laughed because McKenna's reaction was so excited and they saw I caught it so they knew I knew it was coming.

Then it was present time! McKenna was so excited when they announced present time! All the Moms were expecting that the other kids would have a hard time watching someone else get presents but not them. So I had asked McKenna ahead of time "Do you know that the presents are for Alexis?" And she said "I know. I just want to give her her present from me." And she really did! She sat next to Alexis holding the presents we brought and when it was her turn, she stood up and carried them to her. When Alexis said thank you, McKenna said "You're welcome Alexis!" In fact, none of the kids had a problem watching her open presents. They were excited for her but they gave her space and didn't try to open her presents for her or anything. Alexis LOVED her presents from McKenna and I dare say that she seemed most excited about the vanity set we bought her. ; ) We gave her a dress up set, a vanity set and a pink bunny rabbit.

Then it was time to put away the dress up clothes and get ready to go home. But before they left, they each were allowed to choose one toy from the treasure chest:

McKenna chose a toy guitar. Daddy was proud.

Then we said our thank yous and goodbyes. McKenna giving Alexis a birthday hug:

And before we left, I wanted a picture of McKenna in front of the wishing well. But at this point, she was coming down from her party high and she told me "I'm just feeling grumpy."

I was very proud of how comfortable she seemed the whole day. Not at all shy and in fact a very gracious party guest. She was complimenting all of her friends and asking everyone if they liked their tea, making polite conversation during tea time. She was quite the little lady and used her very best manners.

All of the Moms were nice and easy to talk to (the other classes at McKenna's school always have these cliquish circles of gossipy moms standing around waiting for the kids to get out. Luckily, all of the Moms from McKenna's class are really friendly. I'm not a fan of that gossipy soccer mom thing.) All of the girls were well-behaved and sweet. I don't think I saw one grumpy kid, not one tantrum, not one sassy moment from any of them! The party was just 2 hours long so just short enough so that no one had a chance to get overwhelmed, tired or bored. It was such a great experience! Really, a little girl's dream and pretty great for Mommy too. ; )

Ok before I go, I had to blog this. Even though McKenna was so teeny tiny compared to the other girls today, I was really noticing how grown up she seemed. And her features are really becoming so lovely. Her hair is getting so long and has the most beautiful, soft curls. Usually she bathes at night so she wakes up and has slept on her hair and her curls get all tangled. But look how beautiful her hair is:

And her eyes, we weren't sure if they were brown or hazel. We've always told her hazel and her teacher told her they were brown so we looked it up online and it turns out her eyes are actually considered "amber". How cool is that? What a unique color!

(You can't see it very well in this picture but her eye color is like a swirl of amber and green).

It turns out all 4 of us have a recessive eye color. Erick = hazel. Me = blue-green. McKenna = amber. Kyla = blue-gray. That's kind of neat! I should scrap a page about that.

Ok, busy day today! McKenna just got back from dance class. Now we need to make a Target run and then she has her costume fitting this afternoon. I'm hoping I'll be able to get back in time for the Featured Designer chat at DST!!

Kyla the Incredible Hulk

2007-04-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, Kyla is freakishly strong. Like Incredible Hulk strong. No! Like Monica Gellar strong! McKenna sits in a kid's chair and Kyla pushes her around on it....on carpet nonetheless. And yesterday she got so mad at me for taking something away from her so she started yelling and crying and she ran over to my dresser and she TRIED TO TIP IT OVER!! She actually budged it too! She got all red in the face and was all fierce about it like the hulk! If she were older, it would've been down-right scary that she was so angry she was trying to FLIP furniture! LOL but since she's just a toddler, it was really amusing (not that I let her know that!) It cracks me up because she's tall and thin but her arms are pretty buff! Ha ha!

"Grrr. With these guns and this coffee, I'm unstoppable!"

(Note: I do not give my children coffee. That cup is empty. She likes to pretend that she's drinking coffee with me.)

"Are you judging me?"

Her toughness came in handy during her lab test. They had to draw a vial of blood directly from the vein. Erick had to hold her still so they wouldn't accidentally miss. Did she cry? No. Did she squirm? Once but then Erick told her to sit still and she did. In fact, she WATCHED them stick the needle in and take the blood. And she didn't cry! She is one tough little cookie! She came home with a little cotton ball taped to her inner arm and I was "awwwing" over her and I told her I was so proud of her. She just smiled at me with this look that totally said to me "Oh mom. You're making a big deal out of nothing." We should get her results in about a week they said!

Hmm, what else....

* Kyla said the F word. But I assure you she has never even HEARD the word before. We don't use it. No one uses it around us. We don't watch grown up movies unless the kids are in bed (mostly because they don't let us). I can't even recall overhearing a stranger say it in her presence. So I think it was one of those random coincidences where she just happened to be babbling and the WRONG word came out! LOL! That happened once when McKenna looked at my sister (probably about this same age!) and said with disgust in her voice "Bish!" LOL we still to this day prefer to call someone a "bish" instead of the actual word.

* Yesterday when I was talking to my sister on the phone, Kyla said "Hi-low?" I said "Sure, you can say hello to auntie". So she talked to her in babble for a bit and then McKenna wanted to talk so I handed the phone to her. Kyla pointed at her and said "Sissy hi-low?" ("Sissy's saying hello?")I just love hearing her talk and communicate so well now.

* Today is Erick's first day on the job as an acting Supervisor (his promotion went into effect right away but he didn't start in his own unit until today.) He called me from his own office with his own extension. ; ) Of course right in mid-conversation he goes "I GOTTA GO! I GOTTA GO!" and hangs up. Scary for the wife on the other end, let me tell you! What I did NOT know was that his unit is right next door to the "extreme security" unit. The most dangerous criminals. I guess two kids got in a fight and Supervisors have to be there to supervise the take-down of the minor. He won't have to go "hands on" as much as he used to though so I guess that's a good thing. Still....I'm not necessarily thrilled to hear he's next to the extreme security unit. I guess I should be glad he's not actually the one who is stationed there though. Hmm...I wonder if I'm allowed to share that story. Maybe not since we're talking minors in a criminal institution. LOL! Shh, don't tell!

Ok, so big big day today! Alexis' birthday party at Olivia's Dollhouse Tearoom! It starts at 4pm and McKenna simply cannot wait! I've got my camera all charged and ready to take lots and lots of pics! I'll share them tomorrow hopefully! We've got her dance class in the morning and then her costume fitting for her recital tomorrow afternoon so it'll be a busy day.

Also, tomorrow my sister has an ultrasound and should find out for sure what she's having!! Yippee!!

Oh and p.s. Alyson I just saw your blog comment about Midwives being a movie! Thank you SO much for telling me that! I was thinking when I read it that I'd love to see a movie based on the book. Then I thought "Nah, no one else would watch that. The only people who would consider making this a movie is the Lifetime Network." LOL! So I just checked and it's running on May 20th!! I'm totally tivo'ing that!! Thanks!

OMG AWESOME BOOK!

2007-04-25T22:07:00.000-07:00

I just finished Midwives by Chris Bohjalian! Wow! That was one captivating novel. I was absolutely hooked and found myself making more and more time to read because I couldn't get enough of this book. It was shocking but not in a soap opera/appeal-to-the-lowest-common-denominator kind of way. It was a very relational sort of shock....realistic and understandable. The courtroom scenes were brilliant. Normally if I hear that something has a lot of legal/courtroom scenes I expect it'll be slow and boring. But this was fascinating! The mind games that lawyers play, the small details that can sway a jury....really fascinating stuff. The whole story was just excellent. I highly recommend this book!

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McKenna had school today and there is a little boy that she keeps having problems with. His name is Symon and every day he either makes fun of what she brings for share time or makes fun of her for being short. I know that this won't be the last mean kid she has to deal with so rather than talking to her teacher about it, we've been trying to teach her the appropriate responses. We've told her that even if Symon is mean, she should still always do her best to be nice. We told her that she doesn't have to play with Symon but she can't be mean to him. When he tells her that she's too short, we told her to respond by saying "I'm just right and I can do anything you can do!" She has said that she's sad that she's short. Since I've always been short, I told her that I am just like her and that there is nothing wrong with being short. She'll even find that being short can be fun. I told her that sissy is gonna be tall and she will probably be short and that one is not better than the other. The world needs both. So then we were reading Thumbelina and I told her that she was tiny like Thumbelina. She thought that was neat and when she went to school today, she told Symon that she was tiny like Thumbelina. He told her that no, she was not. So I told her from now on when Symon says something mean to her, she should just tell him "Well that's YOUR opinion." And then she can ignore him. I told her that just because Symon says something doesn't make it so. *sigh* It is not easy teaching my daughter to stand up for herself in an appropriate way. I hate that part of sending my kid to school .... knowing she'll have to deal with things like mean kids. : (

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While McKenna was in school we took Kyla to the lab to be tested for the allergies. It was PACKED. We knew we wouldn't be seen for several hours and we had to pick up McKenna at 1pm so we decided to skip it today (Erick will take her in the morning). Instead we went shopping for Erick's new work wardrobe since his first day is Friday. He has to wear slacks, a button-down and a tie every day. He's gonna be so cute. ; ) But please someone explain to me....he says that no one at his work wears a white button down. They only wear color INCLUDING pink. HUH?? You're telling me that in a law enforcement job where an intimidating presence is necessary, the supervisors are not wearing white but they ARE wearing pink? I cannot wrap my mind around this. We did not buy pink today. Blues, greens, tans, greys....fine. But no pink for law enforcement. That's just crazy.

Kyla was quite the social butterfly while we were out. She says hello to everyone! And not just "hi" but "Hi-looooow!" And always with a mischievous grin so that whoever she's saying "hello" to knows she's trying to engage them in a game. She had fun shopping for Daddy's clothes and kept pulling items off the shelf and handing them to him. Apparently she thinks he needs 6 pairs of black slacks.

After we picked up McKenna, had lunch and the girls had "rest time" we went to Toys R Us to pick up a birthday gift for Alexis (just 2 more sleeps until her party!) We got her a fairy princess dress-up set, a Disney Princess vanity set and of course...a pink bunny! And I knew we wouldn't get out of there without something for McKenna and Kyla so we got them each a bubble gun and a princess puzzle for McKenna and an elmo book for Kyla. McKenna put together the puzzle almost entirely by herself:

And then she insisted on dressing up exactly like Cinderella for a picture:

So it was a productive day. Tomorrow during "rest time" I need to just devote a few solid hours to some DST work. The end of the month is quickly approaching and that's always a pretty busy time. I have a ton of email to catch up on. We've got so much going on in the next week so I've gotta really manage my time well!

Before I go, one cute picture I took of the girls the other night when I was getting them ready for bed. They both decided to "accessorize"!

And here's a little stunt they like to pull. When it's time to get Kyla ready for bed, she likes to run and hide between her crib and her wall. And as if that's not sneaky enough, her big sister blocks the space so that we can't get her out!!

Sneaky, sneaky little devils!!

No Results....It's Just the Beginning.

2007-04-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

We took Kyla to the pediatrician for follow-up on her ER visit as well as for her well-baby check up. She's 24 lbs. (40th percentile) and 32.5 inches (95th percentile). So that means tall and thin.

She had one shot and she was pretty ticked about it but quickly forgave when the nurse gave her a toy turtle to take home (and one for sissy too!) The funniest part was when they were measuring her, Kyla is going through that typical toddler stage (they said kids usually do this between 18-24 months and I seem to remember McKenna did the same around this age) when she hates to be weighed and measured. She's in her "suspicious" stage. So she cried and refused to go to them. They had to weigh her with me and then weigh me and subtract my weight to find out how much she weighed. I had to hold her down so they could measure her height, etc. She cried and was so mad. But once the nurse finished and was leaving the room Kyla called out a polite "Tay too!" (Thank you). LOL! She's a funny kid.

Dr. Cater said it does indeed sound like a severe peanut allergy. *sigh* But of course he wants to know exactly what we're dealing with so we're to take her to the lab and have her tested for about 10 different food allergies. I don't know if they're doing the scratch test or a blood draw. My Dad has a severe shellfish allergy and Erick's Mom has a severe allergy to the protein in cow's milk. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that at least one of our children will have a severe allergy as well. I won't even go into how depressed I feel from the internet research I've been doing on peanut allergies. I'll admit that I am both very sad and very much in denial. Maybe I wouldn't feel so sad if I didn't keep reading things like "I'm so sorry you're having to go through this" from other parents of kids with peanut allergies. It makes me feel like I'm about to embark on a very difficult journey! And the sad, frustrating stories of the extreme measures parents have to go through to protect their child from a peanut. A peanut for God's sakes! How can something so tiny put such a fear into a mother's heart!! I think that's why I'm in denial. It seems completely ridiculous that a stupid, tiny little peanut could ever have any sort of control over Kyla's life. The kid is strong! She's strong-willed, independent and I have seen her go through all sorts of painful ordeals and she's TOUGH. I just cannot imagine a peanut could actually harm her. I honestly feel like there is no way she can actually have a peanut allergy and I half expect them to tell me "She's fine. She was bit by a spider and that's what made her swell up.". Yet I saw how extreme her reaction was with the raspy breathing and the sneezing/coughing/swelling. Obviously all signs point to that damn peanut.

Anyway, I'm processing it in small doses because I refuse to completely process it until I know for sure what we're dealing with. Which is probably my own undoing. Maybe if I'd just accept it then I could go forward with the facts. I mean reality check here.....I know tons of people who have lived perfectly healthy lives with severe food allergies. Kyla is tough and doesn't let anything keep her down. We have an epi-pen in case of a life-threatening emergency. This is something we can control. There are much worse things that we could've had to deal with that would be beyond our control. So perspective is important here.

We're taking her in most likely tomorrow for the test and then it should be about 10 days before we get results. Please keep praying!

P.S. You'll be glad to know that big sister has made it her personal mission to be sure that Kyla does not eat anything that even remotely resembles a peanut and in fact will tell on her sister if she sees her eat something suspicious. Which came in handy today when Kyla tried to eat some of Grandma Jean's potpourri. LOL!!

I Have Dreams....Yes, I Do.

2007-04-23T15:00:00.000-07:00

These are my dreams right now....

* One day I hope to own a beautiful china tea set. In a perfect world, it would be from Ireland. And this tea set would be reserved only for times when my daughters and I would have long mother-daughter talks. And when they're grown women, they'll think "I need to talk to Mom" and they'll come over and I'll make us a pot of tea that we'll share out of our beautiful china tea set.

* One day I hope to commission Kim Hendricks to make a matching apron set for myself and my daughters. I wanted to wait until Kyla was a little older and now I want to wait and see if our third child (when we decide to have a third child) will be a girl too.

* One day I hope to learn to sew so that my daughters will have really amazing, creative, unique Halloween costumes. But time is running out on this one so I should learn to do this soon. You only have so many good trick-or-treating years before they outgrow it.

* Hopefully next year we can attend Family Camp together with our church. It's supposed to be a wonderful time of bonding together as a family with plenty of opportunities for activities and worship. We'd go this year but it falls the same weekend as McKenna's dance recital and we've already paid for the recital. But my dream is to go every year until our kids graduate from high school. And then if we're lucky, they'll want to continue the tradition by bringing along their husbands and children.

* One day soon I hope to find a solid volunteer opportunity. Some things I think I might like to do....helping with The Sheepfold ministry or Make-A-Wish Foundation.

* One day Erick and I would like to take all of our children back to Ireland, the place where we honeymooned.

* One day soon we'd like to take a family vacation back to Turtle Bay in Oahu.

* I'd like to take a romantic trip to NYC with Erick over Valentine's day.

So there are some of my dreams....for now.

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Here's a picture I took of Kyla today. She's very interested in the potty. I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty and she nodded and said "Sure!" But when I tried to sit her on it, she went stiff as a board and refused to bend to a sitting position and she said "No no no." So I didn't force it and instead I let her play with the potty seat (it's clean and unused) in hopes that she'll get comfortable with it. So of course I see her doing this......

And then she did this......

And that's when I discovered it didn't come off her head as easily as it went on! I swear I thought we were headed for the ER again because I couldn't get the dang thing off! I was *this close* to buttering her head when I took a breath and reminded myself that if she got it on and her head is not swollen then that means she found the one angle which would allow her head to pop through. So I just needed to find the angle. And I did. Phew!

We got her epi-pen today and instead of feeling better, I felt like crying. It scared me to think of ever having to use this thing on my baby. Her pediatrician appointment is tomorrow. I'm praying with all my heart that this kid doesn't have a serious allergy. : (

On a lighter note (because lighter notes are essential), here is a scrap page I finished the other night. I didn't have any specific journaling that needed to be said for this picture so I just had fun with the elements:

Credits found here.

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Off to cook dinner! We're having steak, mashed potatoes and salad. Nothing fancy but it sounds pretty good right now! For dessert I picked up two new kinds of Ben & Jerry's. ; ) For myself I got Cinnamon Bun. Mmmmm....

Erick is going to the movies with his buddy tonight so after the girls go to bed I think I'll put on a chick flick and scrap.

Oh BTW - The Great Gatsby = Just ok. A little campy considering it was a pretty sordid story. But it was cast well! Mira Sorvino was a great Daisy and Paul Rudd a pretty good Nick. I felt more sympathy towards Tom Buchanan watching the movie than I did reading the book. I liked the actor who played Jay Gatsby and I'd be interested to see him play Edward Rochester from one of my favorite novels - Jane Eyre! I'll have to see if they have that on Netflix!

Erick Got His Assignment!

2007-04-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

And it's a GOOD one! So we already knew he was going to Juvenile Hall. And while 2-3 times a month he'll be in charge of the ENTIRE Juvenile Hall, he will primarily be assigned to one unit. The units are broken up by male or female, hard-core criminals, those who are serving short sentences, those who are being held until they're transferred to the other institutions, etc. So it's kind of a big deal to see which unit you get.

We were surprised, proud and excited with the unit they gave him. It's called Unit Quebec (or Unit Q) and it's a girls unit. The noteworthy thing about this unit is it's also known as the "media frenzy" unit. A couple of months ago they implemented a program called "Mission Possible" and it's designed to teach these girls the basic skills that they have no concept of because of poor upbringing or lack of education or just because they're too involved in their own life of crime to have given these things the time of day. The program wants to empower these young girls to become strong, smart and bold. They teach the girls all sorts of skills (hygiene, cooking, the arts, etiquette, etc.) in addition to the on-site school they attend, which makes them realize that they are capable of being something other than a criminal. So many young woman adopt a lifestyle because it's all they know and all that they think they are worth. The Mission Possible program shows them that they ARE more than that and they can be anything they want to be. CBS recently did a story on it (click here for the article and news video) and according to his boss, the unit is still of high interest to the media because it's unique and unusual. Honestly, they picked the PERFECT person for the job when they chose Erick. Young girls do need a positive male influence in their lives. Erick read What a Difference a Daddy Makes and he has a very clear understanding of the vital role that a male influence plays in a young woman's life. Many of these girls are just looking for male approval. Erick understands the importance of empowering, encouraging and lifting up these young girls. He knows how to effectively counsel and discipline while still making his approval attainable. And because this is a high-profile unit, they chose someone who is very well-spoken and will be a fabulous representative of the county should the media ever interview him.

I am really excited that this is the unit he was assigned. I think it's gonna be so interesting to hear about the different aspects of the program. Because Erick has 2 daughters himself, I know that it will be a challenge for him as he sees these young girls who have been through hell and back. But I can't think of anyone more perfect for the job. He is excellent at counseling young men, as are many of the male staff. But it is a rare and gifted man who can be an exceptional, appropriate and intuitive counselor for young women. Erick is just that man!

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Well I have a good night planned and I'm gonna get started. Erick just picked up Yardhouse for dinner for us. I'm having the {mac & cheese}2 and the Macadamia Nut Cheesecake. OMG soooo delicious. And I just got The Great Gatsby from Netflix which I'm looking forward to. And depending how I feel I will either scrap with a new template from the Powers Sisters (coming to Scrapartist tomorrow!) or else I'll curl up with my excellent book Midwives (I'm so addicted to this book.) I've been feeling kind of bleck lately, getting headaches and just feeling generally bleck. So we'll see. Night!!

Our First Visit to the ER!

2007-04-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

I knew it would come one day I guess....our first trip to the emergency room. And I should've known it would be for Kyla....my mischievous one!

So Friday my sister came over with my nephews for a playdate. It's always pretty hectic with 4 kids under 4 and just the two mommies. Especially when it's a rainy day and they're all trapped inside. It's just utter chaos. So don't ask me why I decided to busy myself with the task of baking bread during all this.

My sister and mom were both keeping me company in the kitchen and the kids were all playing in McKenna's room. Mel went to check on them and Kyla had gotten a hold of a bag of peanuts. None of us give any of the kids peanuts until the AAP recommended age of 3 years so Mel took the bag from her. It appeared she probably did eat some but we couldn't be sure.

About a half hour later we put her in her high chair for dinner and she threw up all over. We actually figured she had gagged on some food and threw up since she didn't seem at all sick or anything. Of course now in hindsight I'm pretty sure this was a reaction to the peanut.

Shortly after that she walked by and I noticed the bottom of her left eye looked puffy...like she'd been hit. There were 4 kids around, it was entirely possible she got knocked with something. But it started to swell pretty quickly and my Mom wondered if she'd been bit by a bug maybe (at this point we hadn't even remembered the peanut incident).

So my Mom had to leave and my sister went to pick up dinner for her and I. Kyla's eyes were getting more and more swollen, and now it was both of them. I called her pediatrician's office to speak to the on-call nurse who said to give her 1/2 a tsp. of Children's Benadryl which I did. It didn't get better....it actually continued to get worse. And by the time my sister got back, it was noticeably worse AND her breathing sounded really raspy and congested and she was coughing and sneezing a lot. So we decided it was too risky and we should take her to the ER. We called my Mom and asked her to come watch the other kids. I called Erick at work and let him know the situation (he did not like being trapped at work while his little girl was going to the ER. But his work is very close to the hospital so I knew if it did become serious he could be there in no time.)

We got there, signed in and were called back within 5 minutes. I'd heard so many nightmares about being trapped in the ER for 6 hours so I'd come prepared. Kyla was in warm jammies, I brought a blanket, toys, books, her favorite comfort toy, snacks, drinks....the works! But we were in and out of there in 45 minutes! They brought us back, asked some questions, took her vitals. She was very good and just watched them work. Then they led us to the room and the doctor was standing there waiting to greet us. She was very nice. She didn't try to downplay the seriousness of the allergy which I was grateful for. I hate being treated like everything is no big deal when to ME it might be a big deal! But she also didn't over-dramatize it....which again, I appreciate. Basically, I was looking for validation that yes...it will be worth that ER bill we will surely receive because yes she DID need to be there. Mommies need that validation sometimes.

So they looked her over...no question about the fact that it was an allergic reaction. Mel had remembered the peanut incident just before we left so we brought the peanuts in. They asked if she had ever had a reaction to food before. There was a time that she broke out in really bad hives and had constipation followed by a few days of diarrhea. I had heard that there was a virus going around that ended in hives so I figured that was what she had. But she had also had some steak w/wasabi soy sauce the night before so we think it's possible that was a food reaction as well. So the doctor said we need to schedule an appointment with her pediatrician to be tested for allergies. The reason she didn't respond to the first dose of Benadryl was it was too small of an amount so they gave her a full dose. They also gave her a steroid of some kind and a shot of epiphedrine. I was so proud of her. She looked upset after the shot but I told her she was so brave and I was so proud of her and she just sucked it up and decided not to cry. Then they gave her two syringes full of the grossest medicine. The nurse said they were both disgusting tasting. : ( Kyla clearly didn't like it but she would take it, turn her head and swallow it and then turn back reluctantly and open her mouth for the rest. She was such a little trooper!

They said the Benadryl would make her sleepy but the epiphedrine would jump start her adrenaline. LOL well the epi kicked in first! She went nuts! She was bouncing all over the place! Here are some pictures of her that my sister took with her cell phone:

Looking pitiful with her "bubby" (that's what she calls her Curious George doll. It either means "baby" or "buddy". We can't be sure.)

"See....my eyes are puffy."

And then....the epi started to kick in. I think she's trying to pull off her cheeks here. LOL!

Here she is at her wildest! She kept trying to climb to the top of the bed and climb down. I guess she figured since she was already in the ER, what's a few extra stitches to go with it? ; )

It was actually a pretty funny trip all things considered. The doctor actually thought my sister and I were a couple which was hilarious! I let Mel answer the questions about the peanut and I answered all the background/insurance info. So when I asked if we should watch her through the night the doctor said "Does she sleep with you guys?" Mel said "WE'RE SISTERS! We don't sleep together!!!!" NOW we know why they were asking questions about "the father" as though he were just a donor. "Do you happen to know his birthdate?" LOL of course I do! He's my husband, not a sperm donor! Sheesh!

So anyway, Kyla's doing better. We brought her home and put her to bed. She talked in her room while the adrenaline wore off and then she was zonked once the Benadryl kicked in. I went in to check on her several times throughout the night. At one point she was laying on top of her blanket so I pulled it out from under her. She didn't even budge. She was knocked out. LOL!

This morning she still looked a little puffy. That worries me a bit because that tells me it was probably a pretty serious reaction. I'm looking forward to seeing her pediatrician (or an allergist if that's what they decide) to get some answers as to what exactly we need to avoid. While I took McKenna to her dance class this morning, Erick and Kyla ran to the grocery store and pharmacy. We're to give Kyla Benadryl every 6 hours for 2-3 days, Prednisolone once a day for 3 days and then we got a prescription for an epi-pen in case of an emergency. I'm so glad they prescribed that. Unfortunately, it won't be ready until Monday afternoon. Since a second reaction is usually worse than the first, I'm gonna be worrying like crazy all weekend! Suddenly I'm very aware of how much of our food has the words "manufactured in a factory that may have peanuts" on the package! Practically everything does!

Anyway, with all the running around and restless sleep and dreary weather, I'm so tired today. I think I'll go read my book and take a nap while the girls nap. Then when I wake up, I'm gonna scrap and just take the day to lay low.

Oh p.s. - Erick heard where he'll be stationed! He'll be at Juvenile Hall! This was his first choice so I'm happy for him. It's right next door to the facility where he works now so his commute is no different (just about 15 minutes from home). The facility itself houses the more dangerous minors but is a stricter lock-down facility. He's not sure which unit they're going to give him though. There are units that house temporary kids who are waiting to be transferred or are only in for a 30 day sentence. And then there are units for the hard-core criminals. Naturally, I'm hoping he does not end up in a hard-core unit. But on the other hand, units like those need someone who is discerning, firm, and level-headed which Erick is. So if it's where he can best serve then I support it. Wherever he goes, I just want him to love it and to be safe! His swearing in ceremony is May 1st!! I can't wait!

Please say prayers for Kyla. I'm really hoping by some miracle that she doesn't have a peanut allergy because they are so very dangerous. But in any case, please pray for health and safety for her. Thank you!!

A Short One

2007-04-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

I took two days off to plow through and catch up. Tuesday I worked on DST stuff from 8:45am straight through until 1:30am. I only stopped to bathe the girls and put them to bed and to take a shower myself. Otherwise, I worked non-stop. Then Wednesday while Erick was installing our new wireless router I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. So it feels good to be pretty much caught up on stuff. I have a few emails to get through and I'll probably always be juggling the project of advertising reservations but otherwise, doing good!

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Kyla is starting to have enough words and understanding to have the back and forth conversations with us now! We had this little exchange yesterday:

Mommy: "Kyla, are you ready for breakfast?"
Kyla: "Sure!"
Mommy: "Do you want a waffle?"
Kyla: "No."
Mommy: "Do you want cereal?"
Kyla: "Sure!"
Mommy: "Ok, and do you want juice or milk?"
Kyla: "Ulk!"
Mommy: "Ok, milk it is!"

I love that!

By the way, we've concluded that Kyla was an easier baby but she is a much more mischievous toddler. She really loves to antagonize her big sister and she has the most wickedly mischievous laugh when she's done something naughty.

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* McKenna has been carrying around a plastic container (the kind you would store rice or pasta in) filled with small toys and gummy bears. She tied a silk ribbon around it and says it's her present for Alexis. LOL think Alexis would like a kitchen container filled with old toys and stale gummy bears?

* Her tap shoes came and they FIT!! I'm so relieved! And I'm glad we got them a month before the recital so she can get used to them. I forgot how slippery tap shoes can be!

* She really wants to take gymnastics but I am having the hardest time finding a place. I know she especially wants to use the balance beam so that eliminates anything at the community center. But the gymnastics studios are really expensive and very competitive. I just want her to have fun, not feel pressured to get into the Olympics for goodness sakes. There's always Little Gym which is more focused on fun and developing motor skills but my sister said they were really expensive. I called and left a message to get some price quotes. I'd also like to enroll Kyla in a fun class. She's about at the age where she's ready for a fun parent & me activity class.

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Finally, here's a pic I took of Kyla last night. After her bath, Erick dressed her in her KISS shirt for bedtime. She was sitting on his lap while he brushed her hair and I had the Country Music channel on. I looked over at her and she was doing this:

I laughed and I said "What are you doing?" And Erick said "She doesn't like country. She likes metal." LOL!

And look at this cute piggy nose McKenna made at school. LOL it took forever to convince her to let me take a picture of her wearing it!

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That's all for today! Not much on the agenda except to stay caught up, workout, play with the kids and make some banana bread with these 3 mushy bananas. Don't you love that if you forgot to eat the bananas you can still find something useful to do with them? If only we could do that with all expired food. LOL!

One excited little princess here!

2007-04-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

When I picked McKenna up from school, she had a very special invitation sitting with her stuff. It was addressed to "Princess McKenna" and it was for her friend Alexis' 4th birthday party. The party is going to be held at the Olivia's Dollhouse Tea Room and oh my goodness, McKenna cannot wait. She is literally asking us every hour if it's time for Alexis' birthday party! This party is quite fancy and apparently there's a pretty impressive list of celebs who have had their children's parties hosted there - Michelle Pfeiffer, Heather Locklear, Reese Witherspoon....crazy! McKenna's very first girly bday party invitation and she's gonna get the whole nine yards. You gotta click on the link for the Party Information to read all that they do for the girls. It's the most heavenly experience for any little princess. She is soooo excited! And lucky for me, the "Queen" is allowed to stay to chaperone if we'd like. Of COURSE I'm gonna stay. Hello....scrap pictures!!

On the way home from school I asked her what she thought we should get Alexis for a birthday gift. She said:

"Alexis likes bunnies. She likes them a lot. She also likes pink and white. And she likes silver but we shouldn't get her too much. So I think we should get her a pink bunny." LOL! She had obviously given this a lot of thought already!

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You know what I'm so excited about?? Going back to Trinity. It has always been the plan to make Trinity our home church (Erick grew up there) but the timing has never been right with Erick's work schedule. They didn't have a very active evening service but Erick has always worked on Sunday mornings. So now that he gets to make his own schedule, going to Trinity's morning service is our number one priority.

I'm SO happy about this. Finally! McKenna really wanted to attend a REAL Sunday school, not just one that is run like a day care center. She wanted to hear stories about Jesus and to sing songs about Jesus (they do that at pre-school but she thinks of that as school, not church. She's been very clear that she wants to go to church.) Trinity has so many great children's programs. They encourage the kids (ages 4+) to sit in the worship service with Mom and Dad so that they can experience authentic worship together as a family. They give the kids little activity bags to keep them entertained during announcements, etc. Then they do the children's sermon and after that the kids go to their Sunday school classes. McKenna will be shy at first but I know after a week or two she's really gonna love it!

Also, the preschoolers do the annual Happy Birthday Jesus party. Once the girls turn 5 years old, there is an annual Father-Daughter Valentine's Day dance. They have a phenomenal VBS program. Every year they have Family Camp at Cedar Lake (cannot wait for that!) Summer camp once they reach the 3rd grade. The Jr. High and High School Ministries are excellent there and each year the youth put on a very professional musical. Erick was always in that every year so it will be fun to see if our kids get involved in that too. Just tons of fun stuff for them to be involved in. A few things I'm interested in for myself as well but those are weekly commitments and possibly something I'll want to hold off on until we live a little closer to the church. We'll see. I'm just looking forward to finally feeling settled with our church situation.

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Ok, before I go...a little enabling, two pics and a layout:

If you're near a BBW, peek your head in. They're having a Buy 3 get 1 free sale. Now is the time to stock up on something new! I picked out some Exotic Coconut items! I bought the lotion (full-size and a travel-size), shower gel, bubble bath and body butter. Got the bubble bath for free! Yay! It smells so yummy too!

A picture I took of Kyla because she seemed so grown up to me. Look at her walking to the car all by herself now. *sniff*

When my Beauty Habit products arrived on Saturday, McKenna was rifling through it all saying "Oh, I love beauty supplies. I need to wear this please. And this." After she was all lotioned, perfumed and glossed she wanted to wear my necklace and some rings. So we took a little picture of her all dressed up:

And a layout I did about Erick's promotion:

Credits and journaling can be found here.

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That's all with the Bieger family for the day. We're thinking tomorrow we might take the girls to the park for a little photo opp. That all depends on if we get some sunshine tomorrow! We'll see!

A Supervisor and a Mean Ol' Lion

2007-04-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

You like my mini blog makeover? I was too lazy to actually make a new banner or anything so I just recolored everything. Green apple is my current favorite color so there ya go.

Ok, first....the BIG news!!

Remember when I posted that picture of Erick all dressed up in his suit for work? That's because he was going to a very important interview. He's been going through a somewhat intense interview process for a promotion to Supervising Juvenile Correctional Officer (for those who don't know, his job is Deputy Probation Counselor for the Orange County Juvenile Probation Department). It is unheard of for someone to be promoted after just 4 years service to the department. But Erick has always been very invested in the job and has always been a natural leader. He takes his job very seriously and is very passionate about the rehabilitation of these minors. So while his lack of seniority gave him unfavorable odds, his work ethic made him a dark horse in the running. So 200 applicants took the test to qualify. He passed. About 50 were called in for an oral test and interview. This qualified him for the "A List". Then they just wait to see if they're called. There were 12 positions to fill. Somewhere between 21-27 people on the A-list. Erick had the least seniority on the list.

But this morning, the Chief called our home at 8:45am and offered him the position of Supervising Juvenile Correctional Officer!!!!!!! I am so incredibly proud of Erick!!!! This position comes with a pay raise, retroactive yesterday. But we don't know how much and we honestly don't even care. We're doing well enough right now and the money was never Erick's motivation for applying. He really just feels he can make a positive difference in the department and in these kids' lives if he's in a leadership position. I'm so proud of him that his heart is in it for the right reason, that he beat the odds, that his work ethic has been exemplary and worthy of recognition...I'm just THRILLED for him. I can't wait to get all dressed up and go to the ceremony when he's sworn in. I'll be the most proud wife there. I'll probably cry. I cried when he graduated as Valedictorian of his DPC class too. I'm a sissy, I know it. I don't care. I can't wait! It's gonna be so cute. He'll get his own office so he asked me to order some photos so he can decorate with pictures of his girls. : ) And if I'm not mistaken, I do believe we now need to do some serious shopping. No more jeans and baseball caps. He's a button-down shirt/tie guy now. AND he gets to make his own schedule!!!! That means he will rarely have to work holidays, he can be at more family events, we can start going to morning church together as a family!!! Up until now we've only managed to squeeze in evening services at the church across the street but we really have always wanted to attend morning service at Trinity (the church where Erick grew up) because they have so many outstanding programs for kids and teens. So many benefits to this job! I'm just so happy! Now the one thing we need to wait for is to find out WHERE he'll be stationed. We're pretty sure it will either be Juvenile Hall (where he started out), YGC (the camp that is close by. He was stationed there when he was promoted to day staff.) or YLA (the facility he's at now.) There are 2 other camps he could be stationed at but they're unlikely and that's good because they're a 45 minute commute from here. So we're hoping for one of the 3 local institutions. Erick said he'd be happy at any of them. That's really all that matters to me!

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McKenna had dance class today and Miss Valerie sent home the music for the Spring Recital performance. It's "Mean Ol' Lion" off of The Wiz soundtrack. It's really Motown and Jazzy, super high-energy. She was showing me what she remembered of the routine and it's adorable! So much spunk and attitude!! It's really funny in some parts too.

And I can't wait for costume day at the end of the month. I'm dying to see what they're gonna wear. And lucky for me, I happened to find the one place in the whole world who makes a tap shoe in her size. It's almost impossible to find a tap shoe smaller than a 6.5 and McKenna is a 5.5. When she first started dance, I searched all the stores and scoured the internet and turned up with nothing so we bought her a pair of regular dress shoes and just made do. But we HAD to find her some real ones (or else have some special made) for her performance. So I was soooo lucky to finally find a store that has them! Now I'm just praying they're in stock! I placed the order this afternoon and I should hear by Tuesday if it's shipped or not.

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So yesterday was just a GREAT day all around! Everyone slept until 8am (Kyla actually always sleeps until about 9am). Erick received a promotion and a raise. He brought me a big bouquet of flowers when he came home from taking McKenna to dance class. : ) I finally got to hear the music for McKenna's recital and more importantly, I finally found a real pair of tap shoes that fit her. Both my Netflix movies arrived. My Beauty Habit products arrived. I did a really intense strength-training workout that I feel good about. I finished up a scrap page I'd been working on. I even went to bed at a semi-decent hour. I went to bed by 11:30, read my book and was asleep before midnight. The girls slept until 8:45am this morning(shh...don't tell Erick. He'll resent me because he had to be up at 5am) so I got a really good night's sleep. Woohoo!

Ok, quick review for you....

Pursuit of Happyness - Really good movie. Really sweet. I probably would NOT watch it again. Like Erick said "That was like 2 hours of depression and 3 minutes of happiness." It's true. Even though it ended well, I felt sad for the rest of the evening. So definitely not a "feel good" movie. I actually had more thoughts that sprung from the movie but that's a blog post for another day.

Beauty Habit products - Here is what they sent me:

Comptoir Sud Pacifique - Caramel Sunset - Soooo yummy! LOVED it!

Comptoir Sud Pacifique - Vanille Coco - Also very yummy but there's no need for two and I liked the Caramel Sunset better.

Burn Liquid - Tiare Coconut Body Cream - Pretty nice. Not worth the money. I think I'll stick to the Exotic Coconut or ILe de Tahiti lines at BBW.

DuWop Realipstick - Sophia - No. Way too orangish. Didn't look a thing like the color sample on the site.

DuWop Realipstick - Marlene - Great color! Very subtle and neutral.

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Alright, I just finished my lunch and now it's time to accomplish something. A little housework, put the girls down for a nap, workout, shower, get dressed...then we have Great Grandma Bieger's 101st bday party tonight.

Well it's official - we're cursed.

2007-04-13T14:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, not really. But in this particular area of life, we are cursed. You know what....no. ERICK is cursed because this was all happening to him before we even met. Did you know every time he falls in love with a restaurant, it gets shut down? This happened with several restaurants before we met and since then, so many of our favorites places to eat have gone out of business. Our first "favorite sandwich" place - Dillingers. Closed. Best pastrami ever. Gone. And then there was the place that made that chicken pesto sandwich. Closed! We recently started loving this place nearby called Bagel Bistro. They have the yummiest salt bagel/cream cheese/lox/onion/capers sandwich. And now they're getting pushed out by the landlords who want to put a Starbucks in! Our city already has ELEVEN Starbucks! C'mon people! Give us a good sandwich place that isn't Subway. Sheesh!

On the plus side....that means I'm gonna have a Starbucks just 2 blocks away. Right now the closest Starbucks is an excruciating SEVEN blocks away. I mean...really.....how have I even survived???

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KID BITS

Kyla's new words: Puppy, Socks, Shoes, Peter (as in Pan).

If I ask Kyla "Are you gonna be nice?" She'll tell me in her sweet little voice "No." She doesn't say it meanly. Just matter-of-fact. Like "Thanks for asking but I think not today."

The girls were playing in the backyard this morning and Kyla wandered in, soaking wet from head to toe. Obviously she had some water poured on top of her head. I called McKenna in and asked how Kyla got wet. She was carrying a watering can so she already held the smoking gun. She said "Well, I was just making the heavens grow."

To help encourage McKenna when she cleans up her own messes and to discourage her from losing her temper with her sister, we've started the marble jar method. We bought her a cute little acrylic monkey cup from Target and bought 2 small jars of marbles. Pretty basic - exceptionally good behavior gets marbles put in, exceptionally naughty gets marbles taken out. When all the marbles are in the cup, she gets a prize. (Right now she is aiming for a toy saxophone). She is really into the idea. She was super proud of herself for getting marbles for cleaning her own room and for being calm when her sister took her drink from her. She was devastated when she lost marbles for breaking her new hair clip on purpose. I knew she'd take to this idea easily.

* Since our dill is doing so well and the girls both like to help me take care of it, I was thinking we'd get a couple of window boxes and I'd let them try growing some of their own things. I'm hoping I can find some plain flower boxes like that so we can paint them and make them all pretty ourselves. We picked up some daisy seeds and also some chives and basil seeds. McKenna gets so excited when she sees how much the dill has grown so I think she'll get a kick out of growing her own flowers. The herbs are really just me hoping I'll have some more fun stuff to cook with. ;)

I thought I had some cute pictures of the girls to share but they've been playing in the backyard every day so they've been too filthy to photograph. LOL! I've gotta get them cleaned up and respectable again so I can snap some new pics!

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This is a new section of my blog that I am going to call....um....let's call it "Mommy's Corner". This is where I get to not feel guilty for blogging about things that are un-kid related. I started the blog to talk about the funny/cute things my kids do but you know, some days the kids don't do anything particularly different that makes for a good story. I always love the time I spend with them but if I told y'all yesterday about Kyla saying "puppy" for the first time, do you want to hear that story again today just because it still amuses me? LOL! And you know, sometimes I like to talk about shopping, books, digi-scrapping, etc. So this is how I can compartmentalize it and not feel guilt. He he.

So here's what's new in Mommy's corner....

* Guess how long I slept yesterday....TWELVE HOURS!!! OMG I must've been tired. After I put the girls to bed, I took a bath and then I fell asleep before 9pm. And since it was my day to sleep in, I slept until 9am! Holy heck! I must've needed the rest I guess. I've been staying up way too late the past few weeks. Maybe I need to set a more strict bed time for myself. Yeah, like that's gonna happen.

* I finished The Great Gatsby. Wow. That book was ENTIRELY different then I remembered it from high school. It started out a little slow and it's no wonder that high school students get bored with their English Lit. classes. Those books always start out slow! But really, if you press past the setting and opening dialogue, it really does pick up. And it's much darker and more sordid then I remembered. Rather convicting in some parts (focusing more on the pursuit of the American Dream then on living the life you've already been given) and I found "Nick's" insight into the East Coast to be kind of interesting. I've never been there so I can't say I agree with it one way or the other. But his admission to being fascinated with New York yet feeling an emptiness there (because it wasn't his home or who he was) was just interesting to me.

* So next up on my reading list is The Midwives. It was on my wish list for awhile and my Dad and Cheryl got it for me for Christmas. Trying for another baby is in the near future for Erick and I (not telling you when because that is no one's business = P )and I don't think this is a book I want to read while pregnant. LOL! So let's tackle it now shall we? Anyway, it looks like it might be intense and I'm excited to start it!

* I've got two movies from Netflix on their way that I can...NOT....WAIT...for! Babel and The Pursuit of Happyness. Yeah, heavy much? Sheesh! But I've been really anxious to see Babel because I think it looks powerful. And every time I see the preview for Pursuit of Happyness, I cry. It just looks so sweet and heart-warming and inspiring. That scene where he's locked in that room (bathroom?) with his little boy so that his son can sleep. OMG it tears my heart right out. I'm gonna be a mess watching it, I just know it.

* I have to show you these cute little shoes I got at Target:

Aren't they adorable? They're just so cute and surprisingly comfortable. I thought those would look cute with some jeans and my white peasant blouse. Or my new white Hollister pants and maybe a yellow top.

* In digi-scrap news, I am now both a Scrap Gypsy and a Digi-Darer! Ok, the Digi-Darer news is a few weeks old but still, it's really cool. Let me explain the two teams:

- Scrap Gypsies are a "roving troupe of scrap-artisans". We aren't a creative team for any one designer. But designers from all over can be featured and the team will scrap with their products. It's a great way for designers to have their product shown off to a wide audience and scrapped by artists with a variety of styles. And it's great for us scrappers because we get to play with fun products from all sorts of artists!

- The Digi Darers are a team of scrappers who issue a different dare each week. It's to encourage and inspire scrappers to scrap more about themselves, difficult subjects, unique subjects, etc. Most of us scrappers do this to preserve our family memories for our kids. So this encourages us to step-outside the box and scrap things other than our kids once a week. The dares are always challenging but really fun. This last week we had to scrap about a part of our physical self that we LIKE. That is HARD to do without sounding conceited, let me tell you. LOL! So I decided to do my journaling in a way that it would send a positive message to my daughters. Here is the page I did:

Journaling and credits found here.

And last thing, there is this new scent I saw at Beauty Habit that I wanted to try before I bought it. So I emailed them and asked if they had samples. They said they have a sample package. For just $11 (shipping included) they will send you samples of 6 products of your choice. FUN! So basically I got to shop for frivolous stuff and barely spend any money. You have to pick 6 items and 6 alternative items in case they don't have your first choice. Here is what I chose:

Comptoir Sud Pacifique - Caramel Sunset
Burn Liquid - Tiare Coconut Body Cream
Perfumeria Gal - Colorete Gal Rouge - Rose
DuWop Realipstick - Sophia
Dianne Brill Lash Lingerie - Lash Lace Mascara - Black Lace
Perfumeria Gal - Vivace Lip Gloss - Coconut

And these are my alternatives:
Comptoir Sud Pacifique - Vanille Coco
Perfumeria Gal - Colorete Gal Rouge - Indiana
DuWop Realipstick - Marlene
ModelCo Tan Remover
Rodial Instant Glow Self-Tan Gel
Pangea Organics - Egyptian Fennel w/Rosemary & Mint Facial Cream

Isn't that fun? All of the products at that site are too expensive for me to buy on a whim. The only thing I've ever bought from there was something I had used before that was recommended by my Esthetician (Biologique Rechercher P50.V Lotion). The perfume sounded sooo nice but I had to smell it first before I'd pay $50 for it. So I love that they do this and I get to try some other fun stuff too! And the package is already shipped! Sweet! I love when I know a package is on it's way! Yippee!!

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Ok, that is all for today. I need to workout, do a little housework and then tonight I need to catch up on some DST emails.

A full, happy day!

2007-04-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

We had a great family day today! McKenna asked if we could go to Disneyland. Knowing full well that it was Spring Break we said "heck no". So she asked if we could go to the zoo. That we can do. So off to SAZoo we went. McKenna was such a total Daddy's girl the whole day. They spent the entire time together, McKenna asking questions about all the animals the whole day. She wanted Daddy to hold her hand and she wanted Daddy to get her in and out of the car and she wanted Daddy to be the one to answer her questions. In fact, I dared to answer one for her and she said "Well, I'm just asking my Daddy." LOL! So I took the hint and let them have their time. Kyla wanted to walk everywhere so I followed her all around. She was cracking me up because every time someone would stop to say hi to her she would lower her head hoping they wouldn't notice her. She'd slowly lift her eyes to see if they spotted her (which obviously they did because they were standing right over her saying hello). And she would not move a muscle until either I moved her or the person gave up and went around. Ha ha ha.

After that we went to Souplantation for lunch. Both girls love when we eat there and McKenna was THRILLED that Daddy chose that restaurant. Between the zoo and Souplantation it was practically her perfect day. Now if you have a Souplantation near you, I highly recommend their new Summer Lemon Tossed Salad w/Spiced Pecans. But the Lemon Cream w/Capers Hot Pasta was soooooo disgusting. Two bites....good. By the fourth bite, I wanted to throw up. It was way too lemony. Bleck.

Came home, the girls napped. I worked. Then they dropped me off at the mall where I picked up my beautiful ring. : ) I actually think I need to take it back in. The jeweler convinced me that I needed a size 4.5 but the thing is way too big on me. It keeps slipping to the side. So I'll have to take it in but anyway, it's BEAUTIFUL. This is the combination of my big gifts for Christmas/Valentine's Day/30th Bday. And I got in just in time to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of when I met Erick. Awww!

I used my bday money and gift certificate to do a little shopping while I was at the mall. Here's what I picked up:

A pair of rectangle aviators from NY & CO:

Some Styling Creme from VS:

Some Super-Hydrating Sunmist (w/sunblock) from Sephora:

I looooove this product. It has all sorts of sea ingredients to hydrate the skin, it has SPF 15 to protect the skin, and it smells like coconut, blood orange, lemon, lime, honeydew, rose, ginger and white musk. Very sexy stuff.

A Hot Tools large barrel curling iron:

Some Brow Shapers (I always hated how the Sally Hansen ones were cut like rectangles. How are you supposed to wax your brows like that??)

Then it was off to Hollister & CO where I picked up this outfit:
(The most flattering casual white pants ever)

Cami:

I figured I'd wear my white racerback tank with the pink cami over it and then this would be the final layer:

I'm not sure if I wanna keep that tube top or pick up something I saw on my way out. Don't you hate when that happens. You love what you chose but on your way out you see something that would've looked better. D'oh!

Erick had a softball game tonight so it was just me and the girls until bedtime. And Kyla called me "Mommy" for the first time tonight! It sounded soooo sweet in her tiny little voice! Melted my heart!

Now I'm all settled in with How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (am I on a Kate Hudson kick or something??) and I think I'm gonna work on my next Digi-Dare layout. Meredith Fenwick gave me the SWEETEST and most generous gift certificate for my bday and I just downloaded a ton of her fabulous stuff that I'm just dying to play with!!

Lots of kid stories and some bling!

2007-04-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

So today started out as kind of a boring day. I was feeling lazy and unproductive (probably just crashing from too much activity the past few days). Erick worked 6am-2pm. McKenna didn't have school so we played in the backyard a lot but I was just feeling kind of unmotivated to do any housework or even to work out. Then Erick came home and he didn't want to be bored hanging around the house so he took us to the mall. We ate at Key West Express which is sooo good. Much better than the normal crap they serve in the food court. Stuff like a Salmon Avocado Melt and Lobster Tacos. Yum! We also stopped at Naartjie (one of my favorite kid clothing stores! They're so bohemian stylish but very comfortable so they can wear them to the park and be able to play.) We got Kyla a couple of these woven tank tops to layer and a little Poplin hat. We got McKenna a pink & white layered dress to go over some jeans and this pink headscarf to go with it. Cute, cute stuff.

And then!!!!!! We made the final payment on my ring! They'll have it sized and ready for me tomorrow! I'm so excited! And I'm so glad we did lay-a-way and didn't take out a line of credit to pay for it. I may have had to wait a few months to get the ring BUT last night Erick checked our credit score and we are now officially in the good credit category!! Woohoo! Totally worth it! So tomorrow (since I still have a gift certificate from my Dad and Erick's parents gave me some birthday money) I'm gonna have a couple of hours of "Mommy time" at the mall to do a little shopping and then I'm gonna pick up my ring! I can't wait!

Ok, so I've been saving a bunch of kid stories that I wanted to record so I don't forget these silly things as the girls get older. So if you're bored by kid stories then this is your stop. If you're entertained by the anecdotes of a 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 year old then read on.

KID BITS!
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McKenna likes to play restaurant and will "take our order" with a little pad and paper. Our recent conversation:

McKenna: "Ok, what can I get you for dinner?"
Mommy: "Let's see.....we would like some sushi."
McKenna: "I don't have sushi. I just have ham."
Mommy: "Oh. Ok then we'll have ham."
McKenna: "Great. And how about some water for the baby?"
Mommy: "Sure. That sounds good."
McKenna: "And what else?"
Mommy: "Let's see. How about a salad."
McKenna: "Salad. Ok, what else?"
Mommy: "I'd also like some green beans."
McKenna: "Ok, and what kind of treat do you want for dessert?"
Mommy (trying to instill a little health consciousness): "I'd like some peaches please."
McKenna: "No. Peaches are not a candy. You'll have ice cream."

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I've been practicing my driving a lot lately and this has been a challenge when McKenna is in the car. Being the typical talkative 3-year old, she's always full of questions and since I'm usually the passenger, most of the questions get directed to me. So even when I'm driving, she's used to asking me what she wants to know. And she decides now is the time to pull out the BIG question....

"Mom, how did Jesus become not dead on the cross?"

Ok....no pressure right? I know I have an answer for this but I need to put it into terms that a 3-year old can understand and my mind cannot do this and concentrate on driving on the same time (not yet anyhow). So I said to her "You know what McKenna....Mommy is driving so I'll have to talk to you about this later."

And SHE says (with the most disappointed voice I have ever heard from her) "Oh. So that means you don't know." GASP! What a stinker! Thankfully we had a red light so I got a second to gather my thoughts so I could explain to her about the Holy Spirit.

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McKenna came home from school the other day with red marker in her hair.

"McKenna...why is your hair red?"
"Well, I'm just sorry."
"Why are you sorry?"
"Because I put red marker in my hair."
"And why did you do that?"
"Well, I just wanted to look like Ariel."

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She's very into playing baseball in the backyard. Here are things you can overhear her say as she plays:

"Aaaaaaw YEAH!"

"Let's go baby!"

"YES! I am SO funky fresh!"

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You can tell that I'VE been dealing with the DST forums too much lately. I told McKenna "Ok, it's time for you to get ready for bed." To which she yelled at me "NO! I HATE BED!" I said "Well, you're entitled to your opinion however I think you should work on the presentation of your opinion as you could have said that much nicer."

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You can also tell that McKenna listens to me mutter under my breath as I watch the gardeners with their weed killer. Because this afternoon I saw her looking out the window and saying in a menacing tone "Don't you spray my dill. You stay away from there!"

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Kyla calls EVERYONE Daddy. She KNOWS that I'm Mommy because she'll say it when she REALLY wants something good from me. But other than that, whenever she needs anything (whether Erick is home or not) she calls out "Daaaaadddeeeeeee!"

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She's learned stop and go! And she uses them at the right times! When she feels the car start to slow down she yells "STOP!" and when we start to accelerate again she yells "GO!"

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She likes to "work" with Mommy. She pushes her little chair up to my desk and stands on it right next to me. She writes on a little pad of paper with a pen and every couple of minutes she leans over to give me a sweet little kiss. : )

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She has three reactions to being caught doing something naughty:

* Either she keeps her head down and freezes in her tracks. I call this her "playing possom" tactic. She thinks if she doesn't move a muscle then maybe we won't see her.

* She will jump a mile when we say "Kyla Elizabeth!!" and then she instantly starts babbling away as quickly as she can. You just KNOW that in baby talk, she is giving us an excuse! I call this the "Nervous and Guilty" response. You know how when some people get caught they immediately try to weasel their way out with too much false information?

* She will get MAD that she's been caught and will walk away from her trouble zone and walk over to our printer and start opening and slamming the paper tray, all the while yelling in angry babble. I call this her "teenage girl" reaction and it won't be long before she's slamming her bedroom door and telling us "I hate you! You're so unfair!"

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The sit 'n spin that we got the girls for Easter has been a big hit. McKenna sits on it and sings along to the Dora the Explorer song and giggles and spins and spins. Kyla will sit on it with her back towards the steering wheel and she'll just sway back and forth and sing. I believe she thinks this thing is just a glorified place to sit and sing.

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EASTER PHOTOS

Since we had already done professional photos of the girls in their Easter dresses and since Easter morning was so cold and I knew they'd be playing outside all day, we decided to just dress them in casual, comfortable clothes. So the four of us just went casual for the day.

We had brunch at my sister's and it was very relaxing (for me at least, I didn't have to cook or clean so it was quite nice!) The kids were all really well-behaved (save for a few sneaky moments from Kyla who likes to steal things when we're not looking)and got tons of goodies and treats (when did Easter become a gift-giving holiday? When I was a kid we just got candy in a basket and that was that.)

Then we came home for naps and after that had dinner at my in-laws. I think it was one of my MIL's best meals ever! Baked salmon, honey-glazed ham, carrots baked with maple syrup, candied yams, stir-fry asparagus, green beans w/bacon, cheesy scalloped potatoes, warm rolls....it was sooooo delicious. Cooked carrots is a dish I never thought I'd like but drizzle it with a little maple syrup and WOW! Now you're talkin'!

Here are some pics that my Mom took from the brunch at my sister's. I hope everyone had a happy Easter! I'm gonna settle in with some new scrap supplies, a bowl of Jamocha Almond Fudge ice cream and You, Me and Dupree. A good night.

Happy Easter!

2007-04-07T23:29:00.000-07:00

I kept meaning to update the ol' blog but this week has been buuuuusy! We had a brand new site redesign unveiled at DST which I am just in LOVE with! Lauren Barden did it and she did a phenomenal job. The integration created less busy work for me but opened up my time to be able to concentrate on other projects (both work and personal). I'm giving myself practically no down time because I just want to accomplish so much in my day. I want to run a successful business but also maintain a clean home, cook for my family several times a week, spend quality time with my children and my husband throughout the day, have time to work out, have time to scrap, have time to read...It's crazy busy days but I'm feeling very lucky that I'm in a position to get to do all of these things.

I feel like today was non-stop! Erick let me sleep in until 9am because I was up until 1:30am working on DST stuff. I sure love that guy. He let me sleep in and then he ran out to get a few Easter things for us and he picked me up a nice tall Starbucks on the way home. <3333 Then we dyed our Easter eggs and had lunch. Erick went to work and the girls played in the backyard (where I discovered McKenna made Kyla a "dirt pie" which Kyla happily ate) while I folded laundry, did dishes, dumped the trash and made the bed. While the girls napped I worked out, scrubbed the shower and tub, took a shower myself, got dressed and gave myself a much-needed pedicure. The girls woke up and we played for a bit then I made them dinner, gave them both baths, put Kyla to bed, vacuumed, put Kenna to bed, threw 2 more loads of laundry in. Erick picked me up a Subway sandwich on his way home from work so I wouldn't have to cook anything for myself. Then I just spent several hours invoicing our May advertisers. Now I need to send the email to our May Featured Designer and put together Easter baskets and hide eggs. I anticipate another 1am bedtime.

I'm excited for the morning....the Easter Bunny (who McKenna left out a plate of lettuce for) is bringing the girls a Sit 'n Spin. They're gonna love it! We really didn't want to load up on more candy so we got them just a tiny bit of candy and then some small gifts (coloring books, gardening toys, little plastic bowling set, etc.) and the Sit 'n Spin. Plus McKenna insists that the Easter Bunny brings bananas and apples so we got them those too. It'll be cute to see if Kyla gets the whole hunting for eggs thing.

We've got our family egg hunt in the morning. After that we're having brunch at my sister's. Then home for naps and dinner will be at my in-laws. I hope to have some pictures for you though tomorrow is supposed to be chilly so I may not dress the girls in their dresses. We might just go for a cas Easter.

In the meantime, here they are at an impromptu visit to Mr. E. Bunny:

Both girls were SUPER excited to get to see him. Kyla was just plain ticked that the line didn't move faster and she would reach out and call "BUNNNYYYYYY!" McKenna gave us her best "Ariel smile" as she calls this. She told the Easter Bunny that she would like lots and lots of eggs and apples and bananas. The Easter Bunny nodded and quickly waveD us on as I'm quite sure he was about to suffer from a heat stroke. They had a fan blowing on him inbetween photos and they were ushering people in and out really quickly. Of course the mom before us was the mom from hell who made them take half a dozen pictures, fixed the baby's hair, half a dozen pictures, wiped the baby's drool, etc. So we decided to be the kind parents, snap the picture, wish the bunny a Happy Easter and we were on our way. McKenna was fine with it. Kyla was mad that she got short-changed a lengthy visit and proceeded to yell out "BUNNNNYYYYYY!" as we left. LOL! Poor baby.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

So much for scrapping!

2007-03-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

ARGH!!! Right in the middle of scrapping and CS2 just shuts down on me. So infuriating!

Anyway, today was super laid back. I got to sleep in until 10:15am (nice!) and Erick had coffee ready for me. McKenna had been insisting on making me a vanilla cake with pink frosting and sprinkles for my birthday so we baked that. The whole house smelled of cake, coffee and fresh strawberries (Kyla's morning snack) and it was heavenly. The windows were open, sun was shining, soft breeze blowing. Then all of a sudden - dark clouds, gusty winds and rain. WTH?? Where did that come from? Crazy.

So that was really the most interesting thing about the day. I worked out. I did a lot of DST work. The girls were well-behaved all day. Erick helped me with housework. I made us oven-fried chicken, dill mashed potatoes and sauteed zucchini for dinner. Washed 2 loads of laundry. An all-around nice day, productive.

I've got a few kid-bits:

Both girls are super affectionate lately. McKenna is just out-of-the blue telling us how much she loves us, singing songs about how much she loves us or saying "Mommy, you're just so pretty." Kyla will run right up to us and throw her arms around our legs for a hug. Or if we're sitting, she'll come up and kiss us. Sometimes she gets on a roll and gives me a kiss with a big "MWAH" then gives her sister a kiss with a big "MWAH" and then gives the table a kiss with a big "MWAH". She really likes to spread the love around. LOL!

She's been saying a lot more words! Just repeating everything we say like "Beshou" (Bless you), "Dive" (dive....something we tell her during a game we play), if she sees a duck she'll say "Kwah kwah" (quack, quack). "Mo pee" (more please) if I remind her to say it. She usually asks for more by saying "ah-ba" so I remind her to say "more please" and she will. Our favorite though...."Ove Ou" (love you). She tells all 3 of us and we all gush over her whenever she says it. There's been a bunch more but I can't remember them all. It's been cute though to hear her talk so much.

I've mentioned that she gets bored with the same food. Tonight she wolfed down the very unlikely combo of cake, mashed potatoes and zucchini. She'd already had dinner so the cake was given to her as a treat. But she saw Erick and I were eating something else and she wanted THAT! So she literally had all 3 items on her plate and was eating them together. LOL the kid likes variety!

She has a little morning ritual when she wakes up. As soon as we get her out of her crib she points to her stuffed animal net and says "Dat?" We pick out a stuffed animal and she gives it the biggest squeeze with a huge cheesy smile on her face. McKenna wasn't into stuffed animals too much but Kyla just loooooves them. Every night she has to cuddle her Curious George doll on one side and her Dopey doll on the other.

I think McKenna has gone and grown up all together on me. She's just been so helpful with chores (even when I don't ask) and clearing her own plate after a meal. When I tell her something, she will say "Ok Mom. I understand." (Any chance she'll still be saying this when she's a teenager??)

Twice when we've been out in public we've seen one of her little friends from school. She'll say "Hey, there's my friend Camryn!" It just seemed so grown up to me that she recognized kids from her school and was like "Oh, there's my friend" as though she were a teenager or something. Her friend will wave "Hi McKenna" and McKenna waves back "Hi Camryn". I love to hear about the things she does with her friends. She says her best school friends are Camryn, Alexis, Carina, Luke, Kailey and Addison but NOT Symon. She says he isn't nice. Don't worry, we've had the talk about always being nice to a person even if they aren't nice to you. ; ) I'm not gonna let my girls be snobs.

You know those inserts that come with DVDs? She ALWAYS takes those out and reads them. She calls them her "newspaper" and she'll even take them to read while she's on the potty. LOL! I swear I don't know where she got that idea from because neither Erick or I read the newspaper on the toilet!!

She really is getting the hang of this reading thing. There is a game on one of her Disney dvds. It shows an object (let's say a crown) and then next to the object it lists three words: Roses, Dance, Crown. The point of the game is to choose the word that matches the object. She knows to sound out the word and figure out which letters match the sounds. She got every single one right in that game! There were 9 different words and she got them ALL!!! I couldn't believe it!

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Ok, that's all I can remember for now!

Last thing...be sure to stop by Scrapbookgraphics today (Wednesday) for the Celebrity Scrapper Fashion Show. They are releasing the products for their 2 new interns (Michelle Godin and Berna Datema) and to kick-off the event they asked "Celebrity Scrappers" to "model" the designs in a layout. I was honored to be invited as a Celebrity Scrapper and had a blast working with Michelle Godin's designs! So be sure to stop by "The Catwalk" and check out all the layouts! Isn't that the cutest idea?

30: Blogging from the Other Side

2007-03-27T00:27:00.000-07:00

So being 30 isn't so bad. In fact, there was something monumental about it. Something sort of liberating. I can't explain it really but I just feel like this is such a good age for me. It's like after I had my babies, I no longer held myself to an unrealistic physical standard. My body had changed because it was supposed to change and since I couldn't control that, I felt free from the need to come down on myself for it. I actually had been feeling kind of sad because I thought I was looking really old lately. Then I saw a picture of myself when I first met Erick and while I do look older now, I'm much thinner, my hair and skin look healthier, my teeth are straight, I'm taking better care of myself. Aging is perfectly ok if it means you're wiser about how you take care of yourself, right?

I had a lovely weekend. On Friday my sister came over with the boys and we somehow decided we were brave enough to take all 4 of the kids to the mall for Easter photos. The real challenge was that Mel is in a foot cast and pregnant so she really wasn't in any condition to be lugging kids around the mall. And in no way would a photo shoot with 4 kids under 4 be a cake walk. And we were right about that! LOL! The only one who really cooperated was McKenna. Kyla was scared, Lukey had a tummy ache which made him grumpy and Gavin wanted to play with everything. It was almost impossible to get them all to stay on the canvas much less to look in the same direction and definitely not to all smile at once! I am just plain shocked that the girl managed to get these photos at all but she did pretty good:

In this picture you can really see how much they all look alike!

Didn't those turn out cute? I already scrapped that last one and I love how the layout turned out:

Saturday my parents, sister, BIL and nephews came over with Chili's for lunch (yum! Buffalo Wings with Wasabi Ranch!). Erick had to work that day so it was nice to have my family around to spend my bday with. They gave me some fun gift certificates for shopping (woohoo!) and my Dad bought me a nice bottle of merlot because he reads my blog and he knows what I like. Isn't that sweet? My Dad knows my favorite wine and complimented my new shoes a couple weeks ago because he reads my blog. How many Dads do that? Moms maybe but most Dads don't. So anyway, it was nice to have them all over.

Then Sunday Erick and I went out to The Melting Pot for dinner. Oooooh lord that was a good meal. It was in a very dark, enclosed booth so it was really romantic and the entire meal takes several hours. When we got there, Erick had them put champagne and strawberries, balloons, a card and a picture frame at the table. Later they took our picture, printed it and had it ready to be framed before we left. So sweet! The food was just unbelievable. We had the Wisconsin Trio Cheese Fondue, a Mushroom Salad, the Lobster Indulgence entree and finished off with the White Chocolate Amaretto Fondue for dessert. They also brought me 3 chocolate covered strawberries for my birthday.

But after a long, full meal like that in a dark booth (not to mention a glass of chardonnay and a glass of champagne) I was way too tired to sit through a movie! We weren't ready to go home just yet but if we'd sat in the theater, I would've fallen asleep for sure. So we stopped by Borders because I was wanting a longer Pilates video. Of course, we couldn't resist their sale either so I picked up:

This one because I need to do cardio 3 times a week but sometimes I want something different then the bike:

This one because I was ready for a more intensive total-body Pilates workout:

The latest issue of Women's Health because I heard it's a great motivator to work out regularly. But so far I've found it discouraging because it sets a very high standard which I think encourages people to obsess about what they eat instead of having a sensible attitude about food and nutrition. But nonetheless, this issue has been educational. I wouldn't subscribe but I might occasionally pick it up for some motivation:

This book because it's my favorite type of story - mature fiction with a unique premise about the human condition:

This book because he may very well be our first black president and the fact that we may be on the brink of seeing that historical bridge in the near future just thrills me. I don't even know if I agree with all of his politics but I highly respect him for his speech on reconciling faith and politics. Well, most of it. He needs a little lesson in reading the Bible in context. Or maybe I just feel he misrepresented some mainstream Christian views by presenting parts of the Bible out of context. But nonetheless, I felt like his idea of how to interweave faith with politics was something I'd been feeling for a few years now and it was refreshing to hear someone in power finally say it! So I'm very interested to read more about his history:

So we had a great night. It was very romantic and fun. : )

Last thing before I go...we had such an amazing dinner tonight. I got the main recipe from Everyday Italian and threw the rest together myself. You HAVE to try it!!

Lamb with Chianti Vinaigrette

4 to 6 lamb rib or loin chops
2 cups Chianti (or other red wine)
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning

Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Grill until caramel-colored grill marks appear, and an instant-read meat thermometer registers 125 degrees F. for medium-rare, about 5 to 7 minutes per side, depending on thickness.

Meanwhile, place the wine in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Boil gently until reduced to 1 cup, about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat. Whisk in the honey until dissolved. Add the extra-virgin olive oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Whisk to combine.

I served the lamb on a bed of Jasmine rice and drizzled it with the sauce. Then I made a salad with mixed baby greens, balsamic vinaigrette, fresh parmesan and chopped walnuts. The whole meal went together so well and it was DELICIOUS! If you make the Jasmine Rice in the microwave, grill the lamb on the George Foreman grill and use a pre-packaged bag of mixed baby greens, you can have the whole meal done in about 20 minutes. Try it. It's amazing!

The New Spandex

2007-03-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

I had fun shopping today! I'm excited about the goodies I bought!

I got this face tint from Victoria's Secret:

I tried a little on in the store and then decided I didn't need it. But as I shopped, I would catch glimpses of myself in the mirror and I REALLY liked the way it looked! I wasn't wearing hardly any makeup. Just a little undereye concealer and one coat of mascara. But once I put on a little of the bronzer, I looked all fresh faced and healthy! So I went back to buy it because it's perfect for the 80% of the time when I'm not gonna do full makeup just to dump the trash or take McKenna to school.

And I got some Lip Plumper:

Lip Plumper is kind of a masochistic thing. It's really just a gloss that burns your lips to get the blood flowing and plump them up. I wouldn't say that my lips necessarily looked "plumper" but it was a really pretty clear gloss and my lips FELT fuller. So with my bronzer and a coat of mascara it sort of completed the "bare makeup" look.

While I was at Victoria's Secret, I got a cute "under set" too but I don't think I'll link that. Not only because my family reads my blog but also, why give perverts a reason to hang around right? ; )

I got this flower halter tunic from Forever 21:

And this Milena jacket to go over it:

I'm really into mixing patterns right now and I thought these would go really well with the navy capri jeans and the silver Steve Maddens I bought a couple weeks ago.

Then I went to Express and picked up a pretty white blouse to wear when Erick and I go out for my birthday. I don't have pictures because the Express website is lame and they never have anything I buy listed on the site. But I got the blouse and a chunky blue beaded necklace to go with it (I'm actually returning the necklace. It doesn't lay on the neck right.) A brown cropped cardigan. And a pair of long shorts that I call "the new spandex". They're PERFECT for working out because they're flattering and comfortable, but they're made out of 95% cotton and 5% spandex so they're not tacky like the usual spandex is. I got a pair in bright olive green!! I love 'em and I wanna get a couple pairs. Maybe when I return my necklace I'll exchange it for another pair of the shorts since I work out enough to need more than one pair.

And YES, I am still consistently working out! At LEAST every other day if not every day. I would say I've been working out 4-5 times a week. This is probably the longest I've gone without giving up on a workout routine. And the funny thing is that this is the first time that I've been working out because it makes my muscles FEEL good to be used. Usually my workout motivation is wanting a flat stomach. Well, after 2 babies that is NOT gonna happen so no expectation there. Which means now I'm just working out to feel good, to feel strong, to have better posture. I love that almost every day I can feel which of my muscles got the most exercise the day before. AND I recently learned that exercise regenerates brain cells, particularly the cells that process memory. So it's especially important to begin exercising at age 30 when the memory cells begin to deteriorate. Good timing huh? I'm super excited because I just got Yoga Booty Ballet from Netflix today. A bunch of girls at DST recommended it as a great total-body workout. I love Yoga and since I was a dancer then I figure I'm really gonna love this! I can't wait to try it out tomorrow!

Hmm, I hope I have time tomorrow. We have to take McKenna to school, then I have a dentist appointment. Then we're having dinner at my in-laws for my FILs bday. Maybe while the girls take their naps....

Well I was gonna scrap tonight but I'm still waiting on some download links for a particular product so I think I'll put it off until tomorrow night. I think I'll go fold laundry and watch tv!

Here are my two daily kid-bits:

* McKenna loves to workout with me. While I'm on the exercise bike, she waits next to me, occasionally kissing my arm or coming up behind me and playing with my hair. When I'm done, she grabs one of my 3 pound weights and I grab the other and we do our exercises together. She prefers the 10-minute pilates video because that's like acrobatics to her. She does NOT like the 15-minute express dance video. She thinks it's weird. LOL!

* Kyla has a new thing where she says "Shoo-shoo?" I have no idea what it means and I don't think it means anything particular. She just knows it makes me laugh. My favorite part of the day was when McKenna was lying on the couch and Kyla went over to her, laid her head down on Kenna's belly and McKenna stroked her hair. Then Kyla sat back up and tried to tickle McKenna's belly. She wiggles her fingers over her belly and says "tick tick tick" (tickle tickle tickle). It doesn't REALLY tickle McKenna but she gives a good-natured giggle to make Kyla think it does.

Good Times, Good Times.

2007-03-20T01:07:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty happy (ok ECSTATIC) because the fabulous and talented Lauren Barden is redesigning the DST website for us and she has thought of EVERYTHING. Things I didn't even know were possible. A lot of it is behind the scenes administrative things that will completely make my job soooo much easier!! I'm really, really grateful for all that she and her husband Ben are doing and I am THRILLED beyond belief at the idea that I'll have less admin stuff on my plate for DST so that I can finally put more time into making family memories and then scrapping family memories! ; )

I do have some cool scrap news but I can't share yet. One thing I CAN share is this. I was so flattered that my layout was being talked about so nicely by people who I didn't even know! What a total compliment!

So today my nephews came over for a playdate. Utter chaos as our playdates always our but always fun too. Gavin is starting to talk so much and he and Kyla were really interacting a lot today! They were making each other laugh these huge belly laughs and when Kyla wasn't in Gavin's line of sight he'd call out for her "Kywa!" And Luke and McKenna always crack me up because they're 3 but they both think they're the grown ups. So to hear them having their conversations but still mispronouncing words is the cutest! McKenna and I had made an art project several months ago with marshmallows made into a snowman. Well the marshmallow hardened and has remained perfect, just stale. Somehow Luke got it down off the bookshelf and took a bite out of the snowman's head! LOL! So later the two of them were sitting at the table eating M&Ms and they had the following conversation:

Luke: McKenna, my just sorry I broke your pwoject.
McKenna: Dats ok Luke. I wuv you.
Luke: My just wuv you too.

Little sweeties. : )

Erick was gone at work from 6am-2pm then from 2pm - 5pm he hung out with his buddy from work and then at 5pm-midnight they were at House of Blues for dinner and a concert. Since I took care of the kids all day, Erick is treating me to a kid-free day of shopping ALL by MYSELF at the mall tomorrow! It's gonna be so relaxing!! And the best part about getting a break from home, I end up missing Erick and the kids like crazy (yes, even if it's just a few hours!) so I usually can't wait to get back to them!

Last thing....If you wanna help a great charity (the Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt) AND you wanna do a sweet thing for people I love, you can VOTE for CARTER as the most photogenic baby in Nashville! (If you don't know who the Gilles family is, Alyson is my cousin and she and Mike are Godparents to my girls. And Carter is their unbelievably cute first-born!!) So if you wanna help, it's just 50 cents a vote! More details on Alyson's blog!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

2007-03-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

A leprechaun snuck into our home last night!! Look at all the tricks he played on us!

He turned all the kids' furniture upside-down:

He turned our picture frames upside-down:

He made this silly thing out of Mommy's vase, Daddy's underwear and a flower headband:

He turned Mommy's special breakfast cake green:

He turned our milk green:

And he turned our toilet water green too!

We knew it was a leprechaun because he left trails of his footprints and special leprechaun dust all over the place:

But at least he was nice enough to leave us cookies, rainbow candy, gold and a sparkly shamrock for each of the girls:

McKenna's reaction was pretty funny. When we walked in the living room and she saw the furniture upside-down, she ran back in her room and laid on her bed. When we went in to check on her she said "I'm just gonna go back to sleep." LOL she was in total denial. When she finally warmed up to it (she thought it was hilarious when she saw the milk was green) she decided she had to go potty. Erick and I waited for her reaction to the green toilet water. She went in, stared at it, then came back out and pretended like she never saw it. She said "That's ok. I don't have to go. I went yesterday." LOL!! Once I showed her that flushing the toilet brought back the clear water, she felt much better about it. It was so funny though. She was really unsure about this nonsense. But of course now that some time has passed she's been telling Kyla all about the leprechaun who snuck in our house and played tricks, laughing hysterically at the photos. And she has had no problem eating the rainbow candy (after she made Mommy eat the first one of course. She wanted to make sure it wasn't poison I guess. LOL!)

Kyla's favorite part is definitely the skittles. She stands at the counter beneath the bowl of candy and holds out her little green snack bowl and says "ah-ba? ah-ba?" Ah-ba is her way of asking for something. LOL she's like a little puppy waiting there with her bowl like that.

So we had some of the Chocolate-Orange Guinness Cake which I think should really be called "Orange-Glazed Guinness Cake" (it tastes nothing like chocolate and the icing is really more of a glaze) and can be used as a breakfast cake or a dessert cake because it's not overly sugary. We chose to have it for breakfast since we know we're in for a heavy dinner tonight.

McKenna didn't have dance class today so we had a nice leisurely morning as a family. Erick works 12-8pm so we'll have a late dinner around 8:30. The girls will already be in bed so it should be nice and calm. In a few hours I'm gonna get the corned beef started. Can't wait for the whole house to smell like corned beef and Guinness! YUM! I'm also gonna make Maisie's recipe for Irish Soda Bread. I'll start that just about an hour and a half before I serve dinner so that it can come out of the oven, get slathered in butter and go right on the table while still warm. Can't wait! (Edit: Nevermind. Erick just called. A bunch of people called in sick today....on St. Patrick's day - how convenient. So he'll most likely be staying until 9. I'm still cookin' all of it but it looks like we'll be eating separately. Boo.)

Hope you're all having a great St. Patrick's Day or just regular ol' Saturday!

Special hugs to my parents who 30 years ago today were due with their first baby (me!)

Oh and also, check out this layout I did about something that happened to my poor sister this week:

Credits here.

I like Marie Claire

2007-03-15T22:05:00.000-07:00

This is an awesome magazine. One of my favorite things about InStyle magazine is that there's no tripe. It's fashion, beauty, culture. No lame articles about how to increase your orgasms. Well the last time I went to get my hair done I was reading through the Feb. issue of Marie Claire and it's the same although more international. Really intelligent. So I've been reading the March issue during my cardio (we have a lowered Schwinn so I can read while I workout) and they had the coolest article about the way women wear their hair in different tribes throughout the world, what it symbolizes, etc. So cool! And they had a ton of book recommendations that I wanna pick up now. So anyway, love Marie Claire - highly recommend it.

Ok, I am SO excited because apparently a lot of people do little leprechaun tricks on St. Patrick's day and pretend that a leprechaun snuck in their house and did it. I love this idea so I've got all sorts of fun plans. Tomorrow we're gonna go grocery shopping for our St. Patrick's Day meal AND some fun props for our tricks. I'll blog about that after SPD. But today, I decided to lay the ground work and I told McKenna that I had heard that sometimes on St. Patrick's Day leprechauns sneak into houses and play tricks. Her eyes got really wide and she started to giggle nervously. He he, this is gonna be funny!

Yesterday we took the girls to Disneyland. It was a gorgeous day, teensy bit crowded (spring break I guess) but we stayed for a few hours and went on Small World, Tea Cups and the Carousel. Here are a couple of pics:
Mommy & her girls:

Daddy & his girls:

Kyla on the carousel:

McKenna on the carousel:

The girls waiting in line for the Teacups. Look how close in height they are already:

Kyla's first time on the Teacups:

Kyla FINALLY got her first pair of Minnie ears. She's been to Disneyland I don't know how many times but we've always been too busy trying to get in as many rides as we could. This time we were determined to make sure she got them. McKenna wanted a new pair too (I did save her first pair though. I should scrap those pics soon.)

After that we came home so they could nap. Well they both woke up SO grumpy so we decided to go to the park to pass the rest of the day. Got a few cute pics but this is my favorite of each of them:

So anyway, that's about it. Kyla has said 2 new words - juice and hello.

And that's about it. Tomorrow should be busy. Grocery shopping, a quick trip to Target or Wal-Mart to pick up some St. Patrick's day goodies, some housework and hopefully some scrap time!