won't you be my neighbor

A few weeks ago, I met a woman at the park.  Kaylea wanted to see her dog, so we walked over.  The woman asked me where I lived and when I told her, she said that our neighbors (Clayton & Ashley) bought a new house and were moving.  She mentioned that they were going to rent the house, but thought the renters would be in by March.  I really didn't think anything of it.  A few weeks passed and while driving home last time, I asked Jordy if he thought I should try to get in touch with the Richards to see if they were interested in renting their house to my mom.  So, I did what anyone nowadays would do - I searched them out on Facebook and sent a message.  He got back with me the next day and gave me his dad's number.  I figured they would want more than my mom was willing to spend, but thought it was worth calling about.  When I called, I confirmed that they wanted more than my mom wanted to pay.  I was disappointed to call back the next day to say she would have to pass.  However, when I called back, they generously lowered the price $300, right into my mom's price range.  It really was only a little bit more than she would have paid for a 2 bedroom apartment and she is not only going to have more room in this house, but she will also have a garage and us as her neighbors:)  They have been nothing but accommodating.  They are not going to make my mom move in until July (which is when her lease is up in Sellersburg).  They told me they were just happy to have someone they knew instead of random people renting.  So, it is set…mymom is going to be our neighbor in July.  I hope this all works out as well as I am expecting.  Hopefully, she and Jordy don't kill each other before her year lease is over!

owen's 3rd birthday (and the rest of the weekend)

My grandmother passed away last week.  I wasn't very close with her, but several years ago, I used to get her ready in the mornings and take her to "day care."  My mom was her primary caregiver before she moved into a nursing home a few years ago, so I was worried about how she would handle things.  We headed home this weekend to see my mom.  It was nice taking a trip back and getting to spend time with our families.  We usually go home on the weekends to see friends.  My mom and I got to spend most of the day together on Saturday (we never get to do this anymore).

We were excited that Owen was celebrating his 3rd birthday on Sunday instead of Saturday.  We drove back to Lafayette on Saturday night, so we could be here. After a McDonald's breakfast, we got ready for the party.  Kaylea has been very much looking forward to this.

His party was at the Fire House Museum in Lafayette.  It was a pretty cool place to have a party.  Kaylea could not wait to give Owen his present and was going to carry it around with her until I let her, so she passed it along to him early.

Jen & Matt did a great job hosting and I think everyone had a great time.

kaylea with the birthday boy

painting



on the truck with mom (guess who drove?)

fire hats (with pagie & preston)



adorable cake

moments - stink it up

A few nights ago, Kaylea said she had to potty.  I took her in the bathroom (she insists on using daddy's).  When she gets in there, she looks at me and say, "I'm going to stink it up mommy.  Get out of here so I can stink it up."  I started laughing and walked out to ask Jordy what he taught our daughter.  I can only imagine what she tells her day care teachers.  She was so proud when she "stunk it up." 

happy annivesary - chicago style

Jordy and I celebrated our 13 year anniversary this weekend with a trip to Chicago.  In keeping with our tradition, we had our pictures taken.  This year we did it on location at the Navy Pier.  I cannot wait to see the pictures. 

My mom and Trina came to spend the weekend with Kaylea.  Kaylea was very excited to see them.  We left around 5:00 on Friday and drove to Chicago.  We explored the city and enjoyed a nice, relaxing dinner. 

Saturday we slept in, ate some Chicago style pizza, and shopped most of the morning.  I bought make-up...don't freak out!  I rarely wear it, but I wanted some for our pictures this weekend and I've always wanted to try the bare minerals.  There was shop on Michigan Avenue and a dude put my make-up on.  It was going well until he said, "when I need a go-to redness reducer, I use, blah blah blah."  It became hard to keep a straight face.

We spent the afternoon at the Navy Pier.  I purchased a Groupon for the rides so we rode the Ferris Wheel, played putt-putt, and rode the swing (by far a fan favorite).  We decided to have dinner at the Melting Pot.  Even though we can go to the Melting Pot at other times, it's very rare that we actually would spend the money or use our baby sitter to do it.  As always, the food was amazing and the company was even better.

It hasn't always been an easy road, but anyone who has been married any length of time knows it isn't easy.  I feel incredibly lucky to have Jordy in my life and I'm glad we were lucky enough to have people who love Kaylea enough to give us a weekend away.

surprise visit

Jordy's dad had a random Saturday off of work, so his parents called us Saturday morning and said they wanted to ride up for the day.  They got there just in time for us to put them to work.  We started working on the landscape on Friday and still needed to fill it in with rock.  Kaylea was very excited to spend some time with nana and pop.

before & after

easter egg hunt

The Ivy Tech Dental Assisting program sponsored an Easter Egg Hunt/Carnival on Saturday.  We decided to check it out and it turned out to be pretty great.  They had carnival style games for a quarter and you could also buy food and drinks.  Kaylea played a few games.  I got kind of excited about this because I am thinking we can play some games at her birthday party.

Kaylea was excited about the egg hunt, but she didn't want me to help her.  In the very beginning, I picked up an egg and put it in her basket.  She got so mad that she took all three eggs (two of which she had put in the basket) and threw them out.  As long as I left her alone, she was fine hunting the eggs.

One of the prizes Kaylea got was 2 stampers.  She wanted to play with them in the back seat.  She says, "mommy, I'm very messy."  I turn around and this is what I see...and as you can see, she was very happy to pose for a picture!

paci denial

The Easter Bunny came to our house a night early - why?  Because Kaylea left her pacis for the bunny.  We weren't sure how it was going to go, but wanted a little more time to adjust before she went back to school. It wasn't great...she cried as she put 2 of her pacis in the basket for the bunny.  We have been talking about doing this for about a month, so she knew it was coming.  This didn't make it any easier.  She cried and said she did not want the Easter Bunny to visit. 

We started putting her to bed at 8:30 and she finally went to sleep at 10:30.  She didn't cry for 2 hours.  She cried on and off.  She got distracted with something else.  She woke up at 6am and I had to go lay with her.  She woke up again at 6:30 and Jordy laid down with her until 8:00.

Today was much better - she only asked about it a few times and barely cried about it when she went to bed.  I really believe it is time to get rid of this thing.  She was so attached to it in Disney World.  When given a choice between her blankie, ridercycle (the dog), or her paci, she always took the paci with us.  We didn't let her take it on rides, but she wanted it way too often.

Kaylea speaks well, but in just one day I have noticed how much more she is talking.  Guess my big girl is growing up!

pacis - she put 2 in herself with tears in her eyes...we found 10 total!

the bunny came

not too sure what to think - she would rather have the pacis

moments

Kaylea has quite the imagination lately.  She makes up all kinds of stuff.  For example, if you ask her what her name is, she will usually tell you, "Meagan."  On the airplane, there was a couple sitting in front of us with their 2 year old.  Kaylea asked her name and it was Addison.  When they asked her name, she told them it was "Kakers."  I had to laugh out loud. 

Also, just before we went to Disney World, she got a new stuffed puppy and she told us his name was "ridercycle."  Where does this child come up with this stuff?

coloring easter eggs

I ended up taking off the entire week - I have never done this before.  However, I didn't realize I had relocation leave to use, so I used it and we finished unpacking and moving landscape.  We decided to color Easter eggs with Kaylea on Friday night.  Jordy doesn't get into this tradition because he never do it as a kid growing up.  Kaylea had a blast.  She was more patient than last year and loved putting the stickers on the eggs.  It is amazing how much these little ones change in a year.  Just as we were finishing up, Trina called us on Skype and Kaylea wanted to eat one of the eggs.  Oddly enough, she liked the white part, but not the yolk.  Maybe she will be healthy after all.

easter pictures

As if we weren't busy enough before leaving for Disney World,  I saw that a photographer in Lafayette was offering pictures with bunnies and chicks, so I signed Kaylea up.  We had the first appointment on Friday at 3:00.  To say she was excited would be an understatement.  She picked up the chicks and bunnies and giggled the whole way through.  She smiled for the camera and just had a great time.  We may have to do this again next year.  I spend way too much money on pictures, but she is so adorable, it makes it hard to resist.

day 4 - last night

We had reservations for the Rain Forest Cafe in Downtown Disney on Tuesday evening.  We got there a little early and decided to check the place out.  Kaylea rode the carousel and picked up some cotton candy.  She actually loved the restaurant.  She liked the animals and the dinosaur nuggets.  She had the most fun afterward.

As we were walking out (way past her bed time), she spotted some water fountains shooting out of the ground.  I looked at Jordy and said, what do you think.  He said, don't encourage her, but if she asks, we can let her.  Almost immediately she says, can I get wet?  And that explains how we spent the next 45 minutes of the night.  After we got back to the hotel, Kaylea wanted to take a bath with Mimi and have a tea party.  When her head hit the pillow at midnight (8:30 is normal), she fell asleep so fast.

I didn't take pictures of our final day in Disney, but we didn't have to leave until 1:30, so we spent the day at Magic Kingdom riding all of Kaylea's favorite rides.

day 4 - animal kingdom

We slept in before heading to animal kingdom.  Kaylea had a great time checking out all of the animals.  She loves animals, so I think she enjoyed the jungle safari.  We rode the dinosaur ride and the Bug's Life Ride.  We tried to watch the Nemo musical, but Kaylea only lasted for part of it and she was ready to go.  After a nap, Kaylea had a tea party with Mimi on the back deck.

drinking strawberry milk in a fancy glass

petting park

tea party with mimi

day 3 - hollywood stuidos & chillaxin

We decided Kaylea may be a little overwhelmed with all of the fun stuff to do and decided to take it easy on Day 3.  We were able to get reservations for a 50s style restaurant Monday, so we went to Hollywood Studios for lunch.  The food was great and our server was hilarious.  We used a fast pass to ride the Toy Story ride.  This was probably my favorite ride.  Kaylea seemed to like it, too, but she didn't completely understand what she was doing.  We went back to the hotel so swim in the pool and enjoy the park.  Kaylea loves swimming.  There was a water slide that if she wanted to ride, she would have to go down by herself...would you be surprised if I told you she went?  She went multiple times.

thanks for the great trip, mama

at the restaurant

with our appetizer

kaylea & daddy in the water

enjoying the bathtub and the fact that mama let her use as much soap as she wanted

day 2 - magic kingdom

After having breakfast with Mickey and the game, we headed to Magic Kingdom. I couldn't believe how fast we got through all of the lines. Kaylea was tired and needed a nap, so we only stayed until 12:30 or so, but she rode almost everything there for someone her age (she didn't care for the "movie" rides, so we didn't do many of them).  She loved the roller coaster.  She wanted to ride with Mimi.  I was pretty nervous, but hearing her laugh the entire way was great.

We made it out of the park without buying much of anything.  I guess Kaylea isn't too into Disney and didn't make any requests.  I'm sure this will change as she gets older, but I decided to save the funds until she thinks of what she really wants.

first trip to magic kingdom

 (i'm getting one from photopass that is much better)

running away from the castle

tea cups with daddy

dumbo

ready for the roller coaster

waiting for the parade - this is her favorite tree