Mother knows best

Well I hate to admit it, but my Mother was right ... again.

(this is a follow-up to my last post, so if you are confused ... just scroll down)

Why fight a kids nature? Kailey has always been a bit of a grazer. Even when she was a new born, she never really sat for long nursing sessions every 4 hours like every other baby. She was more of a short drink every 2 or 3 hours. My dear Mom suggested not to fight that in her because it is probably a losing battle. So she suggested instead of trying to force her to sit down for 3 meals and 2 snacks, just stick to sitting at the table for 2 meals, and in between make up a plate full of yummy healthy snacks and leave it out for her. When she is hungry she will walk by and eat some and then keep going.

So since my last post, I have been trying that. I get her to sit for breakfast and supper, but in between I make up a plate of random things (ie. crackers, cheese, apple slices, grapes, sandwich squares etc etc) and leave it down for her. Gradually over the course of the afternoon it slowly disapears and she is much happier to be free of the prison which is her high chair, and I am much happier to not have to go through WW3 at every meal.

It is still very difficult for me though, yesterday she hardly ate anything all day, and she woke up EARLY this morning absolutley starving.... but I am sure she will eventually grasp that the food is there for her when she wants it. She is just far too busy and active to realize that she is hungry.

ANYWAY, moms always know best. Thanks for your encouragement on the last post!

My crazy monkey ... I kinda like her.

Apologies and Confessions

Well lets start with the apology. I suck at blogging, we all know this by now. I would be surprised if anyone still reads my pathetic excuse for a blog. I'm sorry guys, maybe someday I will catch up to you, but for now please love me for the crappy blogger that I am.

Next up, I was reading Kristis recent blog about the amount of TV that goes on (which i completley understand). The amount of feed-back and ideas that she got has inspired me to make a confession of my own in the hopes of getting some ideas from my fellow mommies out there.
I have a picky eater, and I have indulged her picky ways for far too long. The worst of it was to allow her to watch TV while I fed her so that she would be distracted enough that I could shove some food into her mouth before she realized what I was doing. I have decided in the last month that i will no longer allow tv and food to be together. So here is the situation, Kailey is not only a picky eater, she is far too busy to sit still long enough to eat anything. WHen she does get hungry enough to sit and eat she is VERY independant and will not let me feed her, she has to do it herself .... meaning, she feeds the floor.

So to the moms of picky eaters everywhere... any ideas?????

Stilettos

Today I fell down the stairs outside our apartment.
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Not nice soft carpeted stairs, but hard wooden dirty stairs.
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I am not sure how it happened, or why, but I fell, and it hurt.
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But I have been in worse pain so its ok.I was holding Kailey and I dont know how I didnt drop her when I fell, but she didnt fall, and that makes me happy. As I was stuck in a very painful and awkward position on the stair case, still holding Kailey in one arm and trying to hold on to the wall with the other, the first thought that came to my mind was not 'ouch that hurt' or even 'geesh i really need to stand up because my skirt is up to my waist and our neighbor can definetly see my under-wear' no .... no .... my first thought was .....
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" I hope I didnt break my shoe"
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They are tan colored peep-toed stiletos and I love them. I still wore them to church today, I think they matched my purple and red swollen leg very well. Thats why I love them so much, they go with everything.

BZZ Agent - take one

So, I don't know where I first heard about this company called Bzz Agent, but however it happened I joined this on-line group that recieves free products in the mail and we then are supposed to spread word of mouth advertising for them.

The first product that I got from them was from Beech Nut, which is a baby and toddler food company. They sent me a TON of toddler snacks; little yogurt covered bites, 7-grain nibblets, and bisquits. So far Kailey really likes them, especially the yougurt covered bites!

Kailey isnt really a picky eater, but she isnt at all interested in eating, so to have something that she will actually go and ask for is great because it keeps her occupied in the car, or at church, or at the store .... ... you guys know how it is... ;)

Anyway so the picture up there is the HUGE amount of stuff that they sent to me. Un-opened it is good for a year (great for food storage!!!) and there are no artificial preservatives, flavorings or colourings etc. They are low on sodium and sugars aswell so long story short if you are looking for a treat for your toddler I would recommend these to you.... especially the yogurt ones ( I may have eaten a few myself ... they are really good .... shhhhhh )

Easter Weekend

Well, all of these pictures and more are allready up on face book, so feel free to go there and see our whole Easter weekend festivities.

My cousin Julia helped me out big time again in making Kailey a special Easter dress! I am making good use of the fabricville membership these days, and I am thinking that I really need to get a sewing machine ... but then again I really like going out to Julias house to use all her fancy equipment, and I like having her there to answer my questions .... AND she is good company, so maybe I should'nt get a machine after all.

I couldnt help myself one day looking at kaileys cute little toes. I was doing my own nails and she was trying to grab at the bottle of nail polish, so I sat her down beside me and did her toes too. She was so shocked that she sat very still the whole time. It has been 2 weeks almost now and she still points and smiles at her pink toes. She is Mamas girl after all!!!

Also on our Easter weekend I made some treats that we used to make at home when we were little. I made up a big batch one day and we brought some to our neighbours on Good Friday. We really are trying to get to know our neighbours, they are really nice as far as we can tell and we are sad that we wont be here in the summer to get to know them better.



I guess I should have put this picture up by the other one of the dress, but I bought this little tag at fabricville, and sewed it into the back of the dress. I like making stuff for Kailey that is differant from everyone elses stuff. Who wants to be wearing the same thing as everyone else? how embarrassing, right??

Anyway Easter was great, Kailey was all excited about the chocolate trail that she discovered outside her door, and she followed it all the way to the pile of goodies in the living room. The bowl of chocolate was sitting on the table for a day or two and everytime she saw it all she would say was " OOOoooooOOOOooooo" and point at it, smiling so sweetly at me as if to say, " Mama do you love me enough to give me just one more candy?"

Other than the commercial side of Easter, the real side of Easter was definetly on my mind while I was remembering Elder Hollands talk from General Conferance. He did what He did for us purley out of love and compassion and mercy and He did it completley alone. I think back to the times in my life when I have felt alone, and they are some of the most horrible memories i can think of, and even then I wasnt really alone. He truly had to bear more than we can imagine and I love Him for it.

Anyway Davis is deep in Exam mode the last few weeks, I am spring cleaning and getting things ready to go out west yet again. Davis leaves a week from today and Kailey and I are leaving the day after Stake Conferance. We are looking forward to another great summer, but we will definetly miss our house, family and ocean again.

Is it too early to start a count down for when we come home???

Leslie made me do it ....

I was told by Leslie that I had to do another blog about Kaileys birthday and about Cuba ... Cuba will take a while, sorry Leslie. Here is the princess' birthday summary.

She is generally in a good mood most of the time anyway, but on her birthday she was especially excited, she knew something was differant about that day. She got her special "Birthday Girl" badge and wore it with pride to church. As Kathy Nelson can probably tell you, she was waving at everyone and laughing alot more than normal in sacrament meeting. She was quite proud of herself all day long.

Her Party was fun, we were going to do a big huge thing and invite over everyone we knew that had kids, but we decided that maybe she would get alittle overwhelmed and that would get alittle too crazy, so we just invited over the immediate family because they are the people that she loves the most anyway.

She was LOVING all the new books and toys, and her new kiddie lap-top from my parents, she barley knew what to do with herself, she is still excited about the pile of new stuff that is still sitting in the living room.

Am I allowed to still call her a baby or is she officially a toddler now ? She thinks she is 25 and totally proud of herself at all times. Funny Funny Funny kid, a total entertainer to the last drop. The only times when she really lets herself be a baby is when I cuddle with her before she goes to bed, I dont know when that will stop, but it will be a sad day for me I think.

Anyway her birthday was great, we all had a wonderful day

stay tuned for Cuba Leslie, its coming ..... someday .....

One year of being a Mama .....

- Mother-hood has sucked the selfishness right out of me, she always comes first and always will.

- Mother-hood has taught me what Christ-like love is, I will always love her and die for her no matter what she does or doesnt do.
- Mother-hood has taught me gratitude, I am gratful for every moment with her.
- Mother-hood has taught me patience, I am far more patient than I thought I was, but I have also learned that I have a limit.
- Mother-hood has taught me to prioritize, reading books comes before dishes. Playing games comes before laundry, singing songs comes before cleaning the bathroom. House work will ALWAYS be there to do, kailey will only have a childhood one time, I am determined to take advantage of every moment with her.
- Mother-hood has taught me that I can do a surprising amount of things while holding a baby in one arm, that list currently includes things like, brushing my teeth, doing my hair and make-up, making dinner, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, folding a doing laundry ... the list grows everyday
- Mother-hood has taught me to watch myself, Kailey watches and copies everything I do. It is for this reason that I want to always be calm and happy around her so that she will be aswell.
- Mother-hood has taught me how important the gospel really is. It takes a village to raise a child, I would rather she be raised in a village of love and support and faith, than in the world where greed, selfishness and hatred are free.
- I have learned more about myself this past year than I knew in the past 24 previous years, how can I love such a tiny thing so much? How can I be so interested in the little things she does? How can I totally forget anything of myself and be so focused on her every whim ... yet I am happier than i ever have been?

She has been my greatest teacher so far in life. there are so many other lessons that I have learned and many more that I am learning everyday. I am so glad that she chose to come and be in my family, and I pray everyday that I am worthy to be her Mommy.

xo xo xo I love you Birthday girl xo xo xo