it's almost someone's birthday

In less than two weeks we will have a 3 year old.  She is very excited.  She can tell you that she is 2 and will be 3 (free).  She can also tell you that her birthday is July 10th.  She is super sweet and we can't wait to celebrate!

mani/pedi and StruckPalooza

We drove home for the first time in four weeks on Saturday.  Since I have been working late, we decided to hang out at home on Friday night and leave on Saturday.  We dropped the doodle off at my dad's and hung out there for a bit.  Then we went to Nana & Pop's house.  Kaylea told Nana she wanted her nails painted, so Nana decided to take her to Pretty Nails.  I was pretty sure she wouldn't sit still long enough for the nail to dry, but she shocked me.  Not only did she sit still while they were painted, she wanted flowers on them, so she sat through that, too!

Saturday afternoon there was a Struck family reunion.  We didn't find out about it until we had already made plans for Saturday evening, but we were able to go for a couple of hours.  Kaylea had an awesome time playing on the water slides and bouncy houses and eating bread! 

with my favorite sister-in-law

ready to go see nana & pop & mimi

Kaylea helped me pack her bags and did a great job counting out just what she needed to bring.

great neighbors

We have the sweetest neighbor, Lindsey.  She is only 12 years old, but you wouldn't know it.  Kaylea loves her.  She comes over to take Kaylea to the park or to play with her. We sometimes use her to babysit, too.  Kaylea looks out the window at times to see if Lindsey is outside.  It's great to know we are going to have awesome neighbors on both sides of our house!

fun with daddy

Jordy & Kaylea had a fun day on Thursday.  They woke up and went to the Breakfast Nook for biscuits & gravy.  They spent some time at the library.  Then they went to the mall where Kaylea requested a Cinnabon and eventually pizza.  Kaylea got to bounce on the trampoline (a favorite).  They did a little shopping before playing in the play area. 

They came home and went to the pool.  I joined them at the pool for about an hour before going back to work.  No sooner than I returned to work my boss told me I didn't have to stay late that night :) 

I'm so thankful that Kaylea has such an awesome daddy.  She had a great day with him and I think he had just as much fun!

all about kaylea

Today was all about Kaylea.  When we got home late last night, she just happened to be awake wanting a drink.  I couldn't resist giving her a hug and a kiss.  We promised her when we got back, we would have a fun day, so I took off today.  We started the morning snuggling in bed watching Barney.

We spent lunch time at Chuck E Cheese.  I think that was our longest visit ever.  Kaylea had a great time and even enjoyed some pizza.

After a little more snuggle time (she still isn't 100%), we decided to try the Columbian Park Zoo.  It was awesome.  It is free and there are ton of things to see.  There are birds - kookaburra, bald eagles, owls, and others; there were wallabies, which we were able to walk right up to; prairie dogs; a farm animal petting zoo; a butterfly display; and monkeys.  There were also 2 small rides and a train she was able to ride.  Kaylea walked around like she was a photographer and she actually did a decent job taking the pictures. 

We found a Hawaiian Shaved Ice place on the way out and I asked for a frequent buyer card.  Kaylea's choice - half grape, half orange.  We finished up the evening with Moe's Monday (could we do it any other way?).  What a great way to spend a Monday!

prairie dog

mile high - cabo update!

How cool is technology? I'm updating the blog from 50,000 feet in the sky, as we fly back from a vacation in Cabo San Lucas.  We had a wonderful time, but I am so ready to get back home to see K Monster!

We left on Wednesday, bright and early.  I felt bad leaving.  My mom came up to stay with Kaylea, and would you believe that she came down with a cold and some gunk in her throat?  I ended up in her bed for half of the night and the 3rd time she woke up, she went to sleep with Mimi.  We drove to Indy for the flight.

We spent 4 nights in Mexico.  After 2 nights, I called Delta to see if we could get a flight home early.  It was a no go.  Not only was it expensive, but because we booked it with Sky Miles, I didn't have enough additional miles to cover it.

We had a blast.  Of all the all-inclusive resorts we have been to. this one probably had the best food.  The drinks were average...I swear they put tequila in my cosmos!  Not everyone likes tequila :-)  We spent a lot of time on the beach.  I actually got burnt (this isn't supposed to happen with as much time as I have spent in the tanning bed). 

Jordy and I both had a reflexology massage and I had a pedicure.  We had a photo shoot on the beach.  Jordy has gotten this picture thing down (since I torture him with it all the time).  It was short and sweet and the pictures were cute.  I was very excited to venture outside of the resort.  We went to a few local shops.  The G20 Summit was taking place in Cabo, so the security was crazy.  I was nervous walking past all of these men in uniforms with guns.  It was great having alone time together, but I think 3 nights is our limit in the future.  Ready to be home...

view from our room

proof we left the resort - school playground

infinity pool

pulling my hair out

Work has been crazy...and I mean crazy.  My office is not a very good office, and while I worked hard to improve it, it isn't happening fast enough.
My sweet boss has mandated that Postmasters must stay in the building until the last carrier returns.  For me this means 6:00, 6:30, 7:00..we are so short staffed and with the performance issues, I cannot get the carriers back early enough.  I was very upset when the message first came out.  However, I'm trying to use the anger to fuel my fire to improve the place.  After all, I didn't take this job to stay in Lafayette the rest of my life.

I have been working on my boss, suggesting that maybe we stay a few nights each week, or that we stay when we have people out past 6:00 the night before.  Guess we'll see if I am persuasive.  Either way, I have decided that I am not missing breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my family everyday.

Jordy and I are going on vacation soon and when we get back we will work out some kind of schedule.  I will either go in later some days or take a long lunch some days, but I have to see the favorite people in my life.

After an exhausting week at work, I was excited to get home today.  I had already planned to work this Saturday because of our upcoming vacation (and I used to like to work one Saturday each month).  Kaylea was still in her pajamas, but she said she didn't want to look like ragamuffin, so she let me fix her hair.

We had a laid back afternoon.  Jordy and I each worked out, took short naps, and got plenty of time with Kaylea.  We went out for dinner at Logan's and got our Target fix.  I came home and jumped on the trampoline with Kaylea and played outside. 

It was a great night.  Last night, around 2am, Kaylea came into our room.  She said, "momma, I'm looking for your blanket."  I was so tired, I told her to get in bed with us.  She climbed right up and I enjoyed snuggle time and about 6 inches of the bed for the rest of the night!

weekend update

We had a pretty tame weekend  - all in all, it was relaxing and exhausting at the same time.  We spent Friday night in.  I made chicken spaghetti (we NEVER eat home on the weekend) and Jordy and I took turns working out.  We usually workout together in the mornings, but Jordy didn't feel good at the beginning of the week and work was rough at the end, so we took advantage of some evening workouts.

Jordy had to work on Saturday (it is usually me).  Connections Academy had its first graduation and he helped with it in Indy.  Kaylea and I planned to spend the entire day together.  We started by cuddling in bed with cartoons - plenty of Barney OnDemand.  We went to McDonald's for breakfast.  Kaylea had a melt down because I cut her pancake in half.  I ended up getting a bag and taking our food home :(  After a quick conversation, Kaylea assured me she was done crying for the day...so, we took our first trip to the public library.

I wish we would have made this trip sooner.  We ended up spending 2 hours at the library!!!  I ran into a friend I had met at an event earlier in the summer.  Kaylea sat through story time, we read books together, and she played on the computer.

When I finally talked her into leaving, we did a little shopping (Target fix) and found some homegrown strawberries.  We relaxed and waited to go over to a friend's house.

Jen, Matt, & Owen invited us over for dinner.  Kaylea & Owen play so well together.  It doesn't really matter to me that they play together, but these two do.  We ate dinner and Jordy eventually came over to join us.  We let Kaylea stay up a little too late and she needed to go to bed when we got home, but she definitely had a great time and so did we.  We feel so lucky to have met the Zuercher Family.  We always have a great time with them and Owen is probably Kaylea's best friend.