now i know my...

ABCs!  Kaylea definitely knows how to sing the ABC song.  She has been mumbling through it for sometime and I caught her mumbles on video.  However, tonight, she sang it for nana & pop and it was nearly perfect...she mumbled a little though l-m-n-o-p, but you could tell what the words were.  She even sang it twice in a row.  We love this smart little girl!

mimi update

Mimi is off the ventilator - thank you so much for all of the prayers. Not only is she off the ventilator, but she has been moved out of ICU and onto the regular floor and is doing GREAT! I expect her to go home by Sunday (only a week later than we expected). Since she lives alone, she may go to rehab for a few days, but she may go straight home.

I took Kaylea to see her again last night. Kaylea has done great every time we have been there (even gave her a kiss when she had the ventilator in) and she was a total ham. I know she helps cheer my mom up. My mom asked to see her every other day and so far, I have been able to let her. She is such a great Mimi and Kaylea is lucky to have her.

splash day @ daycare

We are lucky that Kaylea is at one of the best daycare...ok, I don't know if it is the best daycare, but I know it has a few of the best daycare workers. The 2 year old teachers planned a splash day for the toddlers (I think they must be crazy). I'm pretty sure Kaylea had a blast. Nikki, one of our favorite workers, took these pictures on her phone and shared them.

prayers for mimi

My mom went in for reconstructive surgery on her breast last Thursday morning. The surgery was routine, with a difficult recovery, but she was expected to be out of the hospital in 3 - 5 days. The surgery went well, but for some reason (probably because of they cut on her stomach, too) she was having trouble getting oxygen. They moved her to ICU when they couldn't figure out the problem. This morning they put her on a ventilator. The doctor told me that it is just a minor speed bump, and while totally unexpected with her health, they deal with this stuff frequently. It was very difficult for me seeing my mom this way. I wasn't as upset after speaking with the doctor, but I hated to see her in pain and crying. She is such a tough cookie, so that makes it hard to see her this way. She was writing me notes on a piece of paper since she couldn't talk. I love her - she is an awesome mother & friend and I certainly want to keep her around.

we're moving

I accepted a job as Postmaster of Lafayette, IN (covers Lafayette & West Lafayette). It all happened pretty quickly and we have more questions than answers at this point, but we are looking forward to this new adventure. The next few weeks are going to be extremely busy between doing my job in Louisville, taking care of my mom, and trying to find housing and childcare in Lafayette. Thanks to all of our friends and family for being so supportive.

ruby red slippers

I have a pair of glittery, pink flats and Kaylea loves putting them one. She tells me that they are hers. When I saw these sparkly, red slippers at Target, I couldn't resist getting them for Kaylea. When we got home tonight, Kaylea got them out of the bag for her and she loved them. She put them on and told me they were were sparkle shoes. She didn't want to take them off to go to bed. We never did convince her, but finally just took them off (she cried). I promised her she could wear them to school tomorrow.

dora dress

Kaylea loves her Dora nightgown. She thinks it is a dress. While shopping at Kohl's the other day, I came across a Dora nightgown that she didn't already have. I picked it up (of course). I told her after her bath, I had a surprise for her. She was soooo excited. She actually wore it last night and didn't want to take it off this morning, so she wore it to the hospital to see my mom. She calls it her Dora dress.

kentucky state fair

Friday night, we decided to go to the Kentucky State Fair. I'm glad it is only once a year ($$$). Kaylea seemed to enjoy the evening. She rode a few rides (she was too short for most things) and got to see some farm animals. She loved running from animal to animal and telling us what kind of sounds they made.

train ride with mommy
sliding with mommy

daddy & kaylea

lemon shake-up

checking out the chickens

moments

I don't want to forget what Kaylea does when we put her to bed at night. We can never rock her to sleep. Jordy & I each have a different routine with her. I always sing her songs for about 10 minutes and then lay her in the bed. Sometimes she sings along with me and sometimes she just listens. Either way, when we lay her in bed, she asks for a book. She says, "I need a book, please." We give her a book and she says, "thank you," like 5 times in a row. I don't think she reads the book, but it helps her go to sleep knowing she has it.

water slide

Saturday morning we went to Kohl's for a new pair of shoes for Kaylea. I suspected that her foot was growing and wanted to see what they had. She picked out a pair of Dora shoes that light up when you walk. We started looking at the clothes, so we could get a head start on her winter wardrobe and Jordy asks me if I've seen the water slide sitting in the middle of the clothing section. I had not. He asked how much it was. I told him, I didn't know, but that he should scan it. He came back and told me it was $500. I again told him that he should scan it because usually things are on sale at Kohl's. He scanned it, and as I thought, it was marked down to $200. With the minimum of 15% off, it would cost us $170. We bought it. In the meantime, I ended up finding a 30% off to borrow and my mom gave me her $20 Kohl's cash, so that is going to make it around $120. Awesome investment, especially since it is labeled for ages 4 and up. Kaylea LOVED it. She loved splashing in the pool and sliding down the slide. She didn't really like the sprayers to be on, but that was ok. This mommy had to take several trips down the slide. She kept calling Jordy the "daddy ladder" because instead of climbing up the side to get to the top, he would lift her up. Sliding really wore this little girl out, because we had to wake her up from her nap.

moments

Kaylea woke up around 2am this morning. She was crying so I went in to hold her. I'm holding her, half asleep, when she takes her paci out, looks up at me, smiles, holds up 2 fingers and says, "2 points!" I couldn't help but laugh. She looks at me and says, "2 points, Mommy, 2 points." It was super sweet, but that's when I decided it was time for her to go back to bed!

bath in the sink

Kaylea has been insisting on taking a bath in the sink lately (thanks, mimi). She's almost too big for the sink. I will say, it is a little easier, because I can hose her down with the sprayer. Kaylea played in the sink. We had 4 or 5 sippy cups drying next to the sink. She had to grab every one and fill it up with water. She also did a great job putting the lids on. The only problem is, she never wants to get out!

sprinkler fun

We recently got our back yard fixed and we have sprinklers set up to help grow grass (fail). Kaylea wanted to turn the sprinklers on and play last night. I can't deny the girl a good time. She makes me laugh, because she runs to the water and then runs away after it "gets" her.

birthday hat

Kaylea wanted to put this bucket on her head. She told us it was her birthday hat and she needed to stand on her toy box and sing Happy Birthday. She likes to order us around, so I did as she said and handed her the bucket. She can be so silly!

i hurt; need ice

Kaylea likes to tell us she is hurt and needs a piece of ice to make it feel better. It's obviously just a ploy to get a piece of ice, but it's pretty cute. She told me she hurt her foot and needed ice. Does she look hurt?

Holding Up Her Ice

the ice

play time with lucas

Last Sunday, Jordy went to play golf with some of his guy friends. He hadn't played in FOREVER. Erin invited us over to play, so Sunday morning Kaylea & Lucas tried to beat the heat by playing the pool and grilling out in Lucas' playhouse. Kaylea had a great time. She ate some goldfish and enjoyed feeding them to Lucas. Erin cut up some grapes and Kaylea went to town on them. She usually just bites into them, drinks some juice, and gives them back to me.