smart girls love - BASKETBALL!

Kaylea has shown an interest in college basketball this season - she likes when it is on and doesn't like you to turn it off. She also loves running around naked or just in her diaper after bath time at night. She turns into a wild animal and we love it! Here is a video of her watching a game last week.

cheap toys

Kaylea can be entertained by the simplest things - for example, an empty wrapping paper roll! Kaylea likes to take it and chase daddy around the house. She also likes to torment the Doodle with it. This morning, daddy taught her how to magnify her voice with it. I wonder how long we can use this cheap entertainment???

play time with kylie

Jordy volunteered to tutor a friend in Chemistry and I volunteered to watch her daughter (I know, crazy for me, huh?). Anyway, Kylie & Kaylea played very well together for almost 2 hours. The actually did most of the entertaining. We had a great time.

I walked out of the room for a few minutes and

Kaylea had climbed into her toy box!

Kylie Wanted to Join Her

Kaylea LOVES Having a Teeter Partner

kaylea goes to...

HIGH SCHOOL

I was off work Monday for Presidents Day. Jordy had a make-up snow day. He usually brings Kaylea to see me at work so I can take her around and show her to everyone. I rarely have the opportunity to return the favor, but since it snowed so much, Jordy had a make-up snow day on Monday.

Kaylea & I took him breakfast (for lunch). Kaylea was in a great mood and seemed to enjoy the atmosphere. While we were waiting for Jordy to meet us at the office, she was telling everyone hi. She kept saying, "Hi, Big Kids." She repeats about anything I tell her.

All in all, it was a great visit, but I'm glad we have a few years before she will actually be in high school.

update on baby k

We took Kaylea to the doctor last night for a 7:30 appointment (late, huh). She had a temperature of 102.7. We gave her some Advil right away. It was good that they ruled out several illnesses, including the flu, RSV (or they said if it was it couldn't be treated because she wasn't wheezing), or an ear infection. It was bad because they really couldn't tell us much. They couldn't give us anything for her cough because she is so young. The doctor suggested Claritin to help with her cough (it did seem to help a little). She was so tired when we left (she usually goes to be around 7:30), but she was a little trooper. I feel so bad for my baby girl when she is sick.

Once again, I got lucky on baby sitters. Danielle (you've heard about her before) was able to watch Kaylea today. I really wanted to take off today, but I was having breakfast catered into work for my employees and felt like I needed to be there. Danielle is pretty young (she graduated from high school last year), but she is amazing and does a great job with Kaylea. She works in a day care and knows a lot about kiddos. When I got home today, I could tell Kaylea had a good time with her.

I'm thankful to have so many loving people in our lives.

sick day with trina

I got a call from day care on Wednesday that Kaylea wasn't feeling well. I left work early to go pick her up. She had a fever, but was in a pretty great mood. It's always difficult being a "working" mother (I put that in quotes because anyone who spends time home with children recognizes that stay at home mama's work, too). I think you face the guilt of not staying home with your child and/or the guilt of not going to work when others are depending on you. There are a small handful of people who I can count on and trust to watch Kaylea when she isn't feeling great. Luckily, Trina was off on Thursday and was willing to hang out with our little monster. I went in work early so I could come home early, but Trina cared for her most of the day. My dad actually watched her a couple hours in the morning. She obviously enjoyed her time with Trina because she keeps saying her name.

Giving Trina Attitude - She Didn't Want Anymore to Eat

Giving Trina a Concert

Cakes for Breakfast

and there she is, the wonderful Miss Trina

dancing in the kitchen sink

Kaylea may have been sick today, but that doesn't stop her from having fun with water. She kept saying, "hands, hands" and looking at the sink. I know this means she wants to wash her hands. She didn't want to stop. I looked down and realized how deep the sink is, so I let her stand in it. Eventually, just before she completely drenched herself, I took her clothes off and let her go wild. She started dancing and talking up a storm. This girl loves water.

hokey pokey

This girl likes to dance - it doesn't matter what the song, but she really does love the Hokey Pokey and Ring Around The Rosey.

paci-free

I am happy to report that Kaylea has been pacifier free for 4 nights now. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed because it hasn't been super easy, but I think we are over the toughest part. She hasn't been asking for it too often. I cut the tip off of it and gave it to her. She looked at me kinda crazy and I told her I thought it was broken. I was wrapping a present and had the tape out. She asked for a piece and tried taping the paci back to fix it. It was cute, but made me kind of sad. I asked if she wanted to throw it in the garbage and she told me no. About 15 minutes later she was putting it in the garbage. She asked for it several times, but I just hand her the broken one. She does not want the broken one and just throws it. She was extra attached to mommy the first few days and cried a little more frequently, but she's almost back to her normal happy self.

awesome weather

We took time to enjoy the awesome sunshiny weather this afternoon. Kaylea wanted to play outside, so she and I took the Doodle for a walk, while she got a ride in her wagon. We decided to take a trip to the park. Kaylea loves the swing. She did not want to get off of the swing. She got a little upset when it was time to leave.

Swinging!

Look At That Smile

I Don't Know What This Is

But She Loves It

Ready to Slide

valentine's day with the struck's

We got Kaylea way off of her schedule today to celebrate Valentine's Day with Jordy's family. We went to Cheddar's. Kaylea did pretty good considering she should have been napping. Kaylea loves all of Jordy's family, but she really loves Brenden. She had a great time socializing.

Eating Her Fries

Getting Ready to Toss Apple Sauce on Brenden

Pop & Aunt Shannan

we all scream for ice cream!

I know this is going to shock most of you - Kaylea LOVES ice cream. Friday night we went out to celebrate a friend's birthday and stopped to pick up a pint of Graeter's on the way home. I gave Kaylea some before she went to bed. She just kept saying, "yum, ice cream." I am pretty sure she wanted more. For the record, it was chocolate chip cookie dough. There is no denying this child has my DNA. I don't think daddy ended up with any of it.

Check Out The Size Of That Bite

go cards!

Despite Kaylea being able to cheer the Cards on, they were unable to pull out the win against Notre Dame tonight. Maybe next time guys - in the meantime, Kaylea is super cute saying Go Cards! She often says it out of the blue when she sees a cardinal bird. When she finally says it, I was asking her what was on my shirt - the Bird!

intense play with blocks

Kaylea has been enjoying playing independently lately. I walk back and check on her from time to time, especially when I can't hear anything. Today I walked back and found her stacking her blocks. She concentrates so hard and tries to build the stacks high. It's super cute, because when she finally builds it tall she knocks them down and yells, "TIMBER!!!"

superbowl

Honestly, I don't care about football. I've learned a few rules over the years (my favorite - the ground can't cause a fumble), but I just can't get into it. Basketball is more my thing. However, a co-worker bought Kaylea this adorable cheerleader outfit to help her root for his team. I wasn't sure if she would ever wear it (since daddy is a Colts fan), but hey it appears to be perfect for this year.

It's funny because Kaylea and I were at the grocery last week and she was super excited to see football balloons. I asked her which one she wanted - she selected the Packers balloon. There you have it - Go Packers!