Mother's Day Weekend.

So our Mother's Day weekend started out kind of rocky -- we were packing to go to my parent's house in Alabama and guess we weren't paying close enough attention to KK while we were running around like chickens with our head cut off. At one point, I came out of her room and noticed that she was running towards me yelling with her hands up in the air....and no pants on. Which lead me to the realization that no pants equaled no diaper either. I looked around the living room and found both up on the steps, next to what appeared to be a puddle of liquid. Yup you guessed it. Pee. I looked around more and found another small puddle behind her chair. Guess pants are no longer kryptonite for her. UGH

The trip down was quite long and I got the joy of listening to my child scream and yell most of the way down there. God forbid she took a nap like normal! The weekend was great though -- very relaxing for a change considering that we drove 12 hours in 2.5 days. I enjoyed being able to spend my mom's birthday and mother's day with her for the second year in a row though -- KK hasn't missed one yet :) We even got to take my parents out for a really nice sushi dinner -- and yes, I splurged on my whole foods commitment...haha

Nice to be home. I'm exhausted. And KK is being a monster.

xo

Daddy + Daughter Date

So last night was a much needed GNO with one of my girlfriends -- food, drinks + a movie.

And last night also happened to be a perfect time for a Daddy Daughter Date Night! I was so proud of Jason for mustering up the courage to take Kadence out to dinner at Logan's Steakhouse and then off to Bass Pro Shop afterwards to do a little shopping.

Jason told me that KK was quite the little ham all night at dinner and had everyone in the restaurant turned to mush by the time they left. When they got there and he was asked how many, the hostess apparently thought it was an 'awwww' moment when he said "2 please"...haha Apparently KK went a little nuts for the, well, peanuts and after hearing her scream at the top of her lungs because he obviously wasn't shelling them fast enough for her, he handed her one thinking she'd try to figure it out on her own. Well, he was wrong. And down the hatch went the nut, shell and all :) After 3 rolls down (and that's just what she ate) the food came and KK decided she only wanted french fries and more nuts -- and Jason made the rookie mistake of ordering ribs and thinking he'd actually be able to eat and enjoy them. After dinner, Jason put Kadence on the ground and grabbed her backpack and her hand -- much to his surprised she threw a fit and insisted on carrying her own backpack (which is as big as her), but once they got to the door, she looked up at him and shot her little hand in the air for him to hold :)

Bass Pro Shop was pretty uneventful -- they closed the place down as like always. KK loves the fish!

Almost 2 Months!

Omgosh guys. I'm so sorry. I'm almost embarrassed about my lack of postings for the last two months -- and I was starting to get so good at it too! Here's just so fast fun facts to catch everyone up over the long hiatus!

2: Months since I've posted :(
2: Number of teeth Kadence has come in since then! (other 2 are getting ready to pop out)

2: How many words KK is currently saying -- "mama" and "dada"! We're so proud of her! She doesn't just come out and say them though, it takes a little prompting on our parts, but she says them clear as day :)
3: Number of festivals we've been to so far this year -- "Buttercup Festival" in Nolensville, "Main Street Festival" in Downtown Franklin and this weekend, the "Renaissance Festival" in Arrington.

4: Times we've been to the zoo! We finally got a membership!
10+: Number of words that she understands and follows. "Diaper" sends her running into her bedroom and to her changing table. "Sit Down" "Bedtime" "Bottle" "Bath" "Arm" "Foot" "Kiss" "Hug" "Lovie" "Fafa" and a few more that I can't think of right now.
12+: Number of kisses a day she gets :)

Ok, enough with the number play -- let's see what other fun things I can think of. We went to Florida back in March and KK got to play with ALL her cousins for the first time and even rocked at the Easter Egg Hunt! We got to go to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Lowry Park Zoo, the beach, and the Georgia Marine Aquarium on the way home. It truly was a really fun trip, but we were gone almost 2 weeks. It was quite exhausting!

Kadence has made a new little friend -- she's only 6 months old, but we've hung out with them a couple times. Can't wait until she's up and about so KK can truly enjoy her company other then just getting pushed around in the strollers :) OH and speaking of little friends -- Kadence buddy Collette is going to have a little sister towards the end of the year. Gwen (Col's mommy) just found out she was pregnant again and we're all very excited to add another one to the play dates..haha

KK just recently got bumped up in her church nursery group -- we dropped her off one night in what we thought was the appropriate aged room and when we went back to get her, were told very politely that she's been "upgraded" to a more advanced room. They do crafts in this one :) So we're always coming home with little creations each week!

The Funzone has finally been disbanded and packed up. We now have gates up blocking the living room off from the rest of the house and she has more room to destroy...I mean, move around :) We've gotten her some little bins so she can keep her toys organized and I think she's finally starting to get the hang of it after a  whole week of just throwing everything EVERYWHERE!

She's developed such a strong willed little personality that just seems to get more and more overwhelming on a day to day basis. She knows what she wants, when she wants it and has no qualms about letting anyone and everyone know what those wants are. But in my opinion, it's better than having a "zombie" baby that doesn't seem to know what's going on around them really!

Lots more to tell, but I have to get back to the grind stone this morning -- gotta love Mondays!
xo

Hair Cut!

So Kadence and I went to get our hair done before our vacation starts next week. I was a little worried about how she'd be, thinking I was going to have to stick her in the stroller for a couple hours. I let her walk in holding my hand and figured I'd give her every opportunity to be good before resorting to the stroller. Surprisingly, she did amazing! She must've sat on my lap for a good 35 minutes just eating O's and watching Kim put foils in my hair. Then she decided that she wanted to crawl off my lap but stand at my feet (still eating her O's) for another 10 - 15 minutes. When I had to go under the dryer, she stood right by me as I tempted her with some popcorn chicken that she was trying to hoard in her grubby little hands. Then came the shampoo time and she was too afraid to walk down the hall right away, so she slowly inched her way down and by that time, I was done. Then MeeMaw showed up, so the rest was golden -- KK even got a little hair cut herself for her bangs. I want to grow them out, but she's still not doing barrettes and clips, so we're postponing this step! Pics coming soon :)

On a side note: Kadence decided to empty out my hole punch this morning, which meant little white circles everywhere! At first, she was just picking them up and throwing them in the air. But then I noticed she was starting to hoard them in her little hand and before I could stop her, she shoved a huge amount into her mouth and started chewing as fast as she could. Needless to say, there's was no hope of recovering them -- a little extra fiber never hurt anyone!

Spontaneity!

So Kadence and I decided to be spontaneous yesterday and go to the zoo again. Well, it was more like -- "I had cabin fever and she wouldn't stop making noise, so I knew if I took her to a public place, she'd have fun being outside and I'd be able to return some important phone calls and close some deals out of the office." So, off to the zoo we went :) And apparently everyone else within a 50 mile radius of Nashville had the same idea. Granted, it was the first truly warm, beautiful day in almost weeks that we've had, so I don't blame anyone! We decided to sign up for a zoo membership too while we were there, so we're going to take advantage of the 50% admission at other zoos/aquariums while we're in Florida! (whoot!)

But back to the Nashville Zoo -- she absolutely LOVES the meerkats! Most definitely her favorite little furry animal and for some reason, they seem to really love her too. The whole area was super crowded, so we were walking around the enclosure and I promise you (yes, promise) they were following us from one side to the other...and it's a huge spot. It was fun and we both were pooped when we got home.

Just a fun side note -- KK has developed this new little 'quirk' if you care to call it that. Instead of just picking up her fafa and putting it in her mouth, she's decided that she's going to start leaning over (and sometimes laying down) and just straight picking it up with her mouth..no hands style :) What a goofball!

xo

Weekend Adventures!

So I started getting sick myself at the beginning of last week and by Thursday had taken a turn for the worse. The night before I was feverish and I developed what I thought were little white patches on the back of my throat by late Thursday afternoon. I went to a walk-in clinic and they ran a strep test which came back negative. Everyone thinks my 'symptoms' are allergies and though I've never had them in the past, apparently a couple years up here and you'll get them. But wanting to err on the side of caution, Jason and I drove Kadence down to Franklin Friday afternoon to drop KK off with MeeMaw so they could spend part of the weekend together so I could have some "get better soon" down time.

MeeMaw said Kadence tried all kinds of new foods this weekend -- apparently she didn't want any of the dinner that she made for them Friday night, so Valerie tricked her into trying some Pina Colada yogurt and she ended up eating almost the entire container. For breakfast, she attempted bananas and blueberries, but those are definitely not a favorite of the nugget, but she did like the toast with grape jelly. Lunch was at a Mexician place on the way to the park -- they ordered her chicken and fries, which she ate...on top of PeePaw's refried beans, half his rice and some chips. This girl's appetite is definitely back in full swing again :) (Oh and yes MeeMaw, that poop diaper after those beans was ripe! Thanks alot!)

After lunch, they headed off to the Henry Horton Park to do some playing on the playground! Swings, slides, tunnels, steps! You name it, they did it all! And KK has become quite the little brave one..take a look!

KK came home and had worn herself out. Nap time followed soon after. Then it was dinner, bath and church time. Unfortunately we were late to church, so I didn't get to see the nugget till after service and boy did I miss her <3

Spring is Here!

So Kadence is finally feeling better and her spirits (and appetite) are soaring once again! Spring is also definitely in the air around here too -- we've been spending lots of time at the park and even got to go to the zoo spontaneously the other day. We've taken her officially out of school for now -- decided that we might try again in the fall if all goes well over the summer. I just can't deal with her being sick as our vacation is quickly approaching at the end of this month and it's not fair to her or her little body :(

We've been playing with Dylan a ton lately and it's so great to see the besties back together again. I don't know what KK would do without her! Here's a couple snap shots of them in action haha

Here's some random pictures from the park and zoo the other day. She's starting to get so photogenic again..just wish I had a camera that took pictures faster since it's not like she really holds still for me anymore!

I'm trying to get better about updates..I feel like so much happens and so much gets missed when I don't post every couple of days. This summer should give me some more time to write though :) Enjoy guys!

xo

Hoarding.

So just a quick little note -- I wanted to keep it separate from my 2 week update that I'll be posting after this :)

So I've started noticing that Kadence is becoming quite the little hoarder. She literally hoards everything. Clothes. Food. Books. Little things she's not suppose to have. haha I think I'm going to have to do a little weekly update just on this alone! We're constantly opening drawers and cabinets and finding animal crackers stashed for "hard times" bahaha

About a week ago, she was making her self quite busy by moving all the diapers from her bedroom out into the living room and stacking them in her baby stroller. Once they were overflowing and everywhere, she decided they'd be best back in her room all over the floor.

Since then, I've caught her also hoarding clothes on top of her in her little camo recliner that my dad got her for Christmas. She literally started emptying her drawers and staking stuff on top of her chair and then climbed up and pulled it into her lap :)

Diagnosis.

*sigh* So the last 24 hours have been interesting to say the least. Kadence wasn't too much of a handful last night. Temperature was still around 101 when I put her down for bed, but she went down easy. Got up several times thru out the night and was pouring sweat, but the fever went down to 99 and stayed there the whole night. Woke her up this morning and bathed her and all was well, ate a decent breakfast and even started hoarding her pancakes in the bedroom :)

Went ahead and checked her temp right before we left and she was back up to 101 again (ugh) so we loaded up the car and started the hour long trek to the pediatrician. Half way down and running late, Kadence started hacking a lung and basically puked EVERYWHERE. Lovie, outfit, carseat. You name it. Luckily Jason had stashed some rags in the bag of the car without me knowing -- thank God since I'd recently cleaned out my truck. So got her cleaned up on the side of the highway and made it to our appointment on time.

Turns out she has a the flu (don't think it's the stomach kind though..think the hacking tripped her gag reflex and made her puke) and she has a double earache. They put her on Tylenol and Motrin (the generic equivalents) alternating every 3 hours and a heavy dosage of the pink stuff for the ears for the next 10 days. I also had the doctor check out my own ear even though she couldn't treat me for it and she was amazed that it was so bad and that I hadn't had 'symptoms' for very long. Needless to say, she told me to get to a doctor, but I refuse to pay $115 for a walk in clinic just to get some free pink stuff at Publix. So I grabbed some ear drops and I'm hoping it'll do the trick. Crossing fingers.

xo

Ugh. STILL Sick!

So today was again "Fever Thursday" and again, we weren't allowed to let her go see Dylan for their usual playdate. This is going on a couple weeks now where they either haven't seen each other or it's been short lived with KK having to go home early. It's such a bummer too -- we were suppose to go to the zoo with D and her mommy tomorrow and that's probably not going to happen now.

I was getting her changed this morning and dressing her for our park play date and she felt really warm. I ran her temp and we were at 100.1 -- I decided to give her some Children's Advil and bundle her up (beautiful 75 degree day outside) and take her out to have lunch with daddy. When we got home, her temp was at 101.2 so I laid her down for a nap and hoped that it would lower itself. Well after nap (several hours later) we were at 102.4. So I gave her another dose of Children's Advil and called the pediatrician who booked me an appointment for tomorrow at 10am. So apparently they're not too concerned about it. She did say that if it didn't go down or got any higher to take her to the emergency room tonight. UGH

So after dealing with this for the last 4 weeks and having my kiddo miss out on playing with her bestie I made a solid decision and sent an email to the school's director where she currently attends and told her we'd finish out what we've paid for and that we'd be pulling her out after that. I just can't continue to pay for something that has her sick all the time and what she truly enjoys (playing with D) is being compromised with her being sick. It's not fair to her, us or little D. So we're done. I'll figure something else out.

We did go and play in the park on Tuesday so that she could get some fresh air after being cooped up in the house all weekend. She had a blast and I literally took over 150+ pictures of her just running around :) Can't wait till I have a remote so I can be in some of them. Just me being lazy and not ordering one. HAHA what's new. Here's a few snap shots of the cutie to tide everyone over. xo

Still Sick.

So I sent KK to school yesterday again even though she had a little runny nose -- I hadn't noticed a fever since Thursday, but she has been super cranky via the new teeth coming in, so it gave me a couple carefree hours to breathe for the day. I wish I would've taken a picture of her outfit, I made sure she was all springy since the weather was beautiful outside. Won't be the last time she wears it :)

School went off without a hitch. Still no napping though, but at least she 'looked' tired and seemed like she'd go down a couple different times (haha 2 hour nap once she got home) The craft for the day was to tear paper for a future project, and normally that's right up KK's alley. But she shyed away helping and just crumpled paper instead. When I got there to pick her up, I sat outside the classroom for a couple minutes to watch her play before she saw me. They had her in a pack and play by herself while the other kiddos were running around. I assumed this meant they'd gotten he to sleep, but when I walked in, the teacher just smiled at me and shook my head. She apologized for her being in the pack and play. Apparently they have to put her in there while they clean up the room at the end of each day so she doesn't destroy it right behind them. Guess we need to start learning the clean up game :)

Later on in the night, she seemed ultra fussy. She had a pretty good dinner and snack before bed so I thought we'd be good to go. She woke up every hour on the hour for most of the night and then we had a little break so I could sleep. Around 3ish, she started getting up every 20 minutes or so. I thought she might be cold, so I covered her with blankets and turned the heater on. Then I thought it might be her teeth, so I gave her some Orajel and tablets. Then I figured it might just be her being a PITB, so I rocked her for a little bit. Finally, she started getting pretty frantic after several rounds of this, so I checked her forehead and low and behold, she had a fever. Was at 100.1 -- so I gave her some Children's Advil and put her back down and sang to her. An hour or so later, I checked it again and it was down to 99. That stuff works miracles. All in all, fever is gone this morning, but the teething is still making her cranky. Should be a fun day.

OH -- I almost forgot! Kadence can officially open doors now. We have the pull down kind of door handles and she is all about them now. Luckily I always keep our front door locked, so she's still house bound :)

xo

Quick Wrap-up.

So just to catch everyone up on what happened last week -- KK had a great week at school again. Wednesday was a little trying for me though when I went to pick her up. The teacher I could tell was a having a bad day, so I'm sure she didn't mean to come off the way she sounded -- let's just say, she acted as though I was lying about Kadence ever taking naps in the afternoon and I had to assure her that yes, at home she did in fact take naps, but it would take some time before she was comfortable taking one in a room with 8 other little kids. Needless to say, she got to play in the chapel a lot this week so that the other children could take them. She came home that day with the sniffles and I didn't think anything of it.

Well, Thursday was her usual play date with Dylan for the day. (See Dylan's Day letter at the bottom) I checked her temperature and she'd slept good through out the night, so we went along as planned. Around lunch time though, I got a call from Peggy saying that her temperature was at 100.7! KK's first little fever! I went and picked her up and after some Children's Advil and a nap, we were back down to 99.1 and then back to completely normal before bed. Glad we caught it in the butt when we did!

We left Friday morning to go to my folks house for the weekend -- Jason had to work, so it was a girl's only adventure. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep and believe me, when she did, it was peddle to the metal. We managed to make it in under 5 hours and she was definitely starting to get fussy towards the end. The weekend was great. Grampa got her an awesome little reclining chair! (I'll post picture soon) It's camouflage and has a little cup holder and everything! She LOVES the thing! I mean obsessed with it! She climbed right up in it and started flailing herself around in it and trying to climb over it. After a couple heart attacks on my part, we had to hide it for the rest of the weekend. Most definitely a supervised toy :) My mom got her the VTech Alphabet Train and she loves it too. She's played with one that her little friend has, but not for very long. She already had the hang of it though before we could even finish hooking it all up. All in all, it was a great 'second' Christmas for her! Driving home was a little wearing on me though -- she woke up way to early from her nap and preceded to scream the rest of the 2 hours home. I had to stop several times to make sure she didn't actually "need" something -- water, food, diaper, Orajel (yes, we're teething again..ugh), lovie, etc. Nothing. Not a darn thing. Luckily we both made it home in one piece and she was more than happy to be home and out of the car. Makes two of us.

She woke up this morning and still has a little bit of a runny nose, but no other cold symptoms. School was great..she's still learning baby sign language and I've started trying to use it more at home and make it part of her routine. She only had two other kiddos in class today. They had cupcakes and made little Valentines for the parents. Was totally cute! You guessed it though, she still didn't take a nap. Guess some things never change :)

Last Week's Dylan's Day!

Here's the PDF I promised. Sorry guys, Peggy was having trouble with the website wanting to convert it over for her. Was going to add this to yesterday's update, but decided to keep it separate so it could be enjoyed on it's own :)

{Remember, click to make them larger, I know it's still hard to read. Sorry}

First Week of School!

OMGosh..I'm such a bad mom. Well, maybe not a bad mom, just a very busy one. I thought I'd already posted a little blurb last week at some point about how her little "school" was going, but after double checking...I realized I haven't posted anything in almost two weeks! UGH Here's the scoop..

Saturday (the 28th) We went to church as usual. Kadence had a great time in her little class. Right as we were walking into the hallway to pick her up after service, we noticed one of the workers filling out an 'incident report' for KK. Apparently right before we got there, she'd fallen into the cubbies and busted her head on the side of them. They didn't even know it happened since she never cried, they just looked over and saw a HUGE red mark on her forehead. That's my girl :) We went to a little country buffet for dinner afterwards and she was not eating anything we gave to her..until MeeMaw grabbed a couple cookies for dessert. Then it was game on! She's not spoiled or anything. (sarcasm)

So Monday (the 30th) was her first day at El Jardin de Los Ninos (The Children's Garden) -- her teacher was out with a sick kid herself, so we got to meet the director's daughter who was covering for her. Jason was able to come with me to drop her off. I've never seen Kadence so clingy before! She just would NOT let go of either one of us. Eventually some other kids started to show up and we were able to sneak off very quickly without any fuss. It was nice having the day to myself, but I'm not lying when I say I couldn't wait to pick her up!! I missed her so much :) She didn't take a nap -- in fact none of the little girls that day, they boycotted it -- so they let the boys sleep and walked them down to the chapel so they could run around and be crazy. Picked her up and she was asleep in the car seat before I could even drive the 1 mile trip home! Oh! I almost forgot, while I was getting her ready for school, she started to clap for the first time. I was such a proud mommy!

Her second day of school on Wednesday (the 1st) went just as well. She didn't nap again even though they tried for over an hour. They just rocked and rocked and sang and sang. And nothing. I find it quite comical myself, but luckily she wasn't the only one again. So she got to go down to the chapel again and run around with the other kiddos. Before we got home, passed out again :)

Thursday (the 2nd) was Dylan's Day again and I was able to drop her off a little earlier this week so they could play a bit more before nap time. Peggy sent me another "newsletter" for the day but for some reason we can't convert this one. So bare with me and I'll try to get it up soon. She said Kadence did great with the bath this time and was even able to wash her hair! HA such a huge improvement! It was so cute -- as soon as we got there -- I told Kadence to give D a hug and she reached for her little hand and pulled her to her. Dylan being so much taller made it look more like a headlock, but the love was there! Here's some quick pics..

Love her little expression in this one. She does this face all the time!

So Friday night (the 3rd) we went over to Dylan's house again because her mommy was having some friends over for a 'happy hour' -- what a perfect excuse to get the kiddos together again to play for the week. They were running around and playing pretty hard...making such a ruckus. At one point, Kadence was running and screaming by herself towards the kitchen and she tripped and busted her mouth wide open. I still don't know where all the blood was coming from, but I think it was the roof of her mouth behind her teeth. I ran over to her right away and she wasn't bleeding yet...I just sat and rocked her on the floor till she pulled away and I noticed that her and myself were covered in blood. (ewww) So it took almost 10 minutes to get it to stop, but as soon as she was done, it was like it never even happened. I don't know how she does it. Luckily for her, the blood was all over her bib and me, so she was good to go. HA

We had a pretty uneventful weekend -- and today KK had school again. Same routine: Ate a ton, didn't sleep, terrorized the books in the classroom. I got a video of her pulling out every single one before she realized that I was peeking thru the window watching her :) She's a hot mess.

xo

All Day Dylan's Day.

So Kadence had a fun little day yesterday and I had a much needed break to myself :) I dropped her off at Dylan's house around 10:30a and came back around 3:30p. From what Peggy told me, they had a blast playing! KK ate all her lunch (which amazed Peggy at how much she could pack away) and then took a long nap. Dylan, not so much :) Peggy even got her to sit in the bath tub which I have not been able to accomplish for about a month now..don't worry though moms, I still give her a bath, it's just not a fun one for either of us. HAHA

We went home for a little bit so Kadence could see Daddy for a few minutes and waited for Jenn to get off work. Then her and D came by and picked us up and we drove out to Jenn's parents house in Franklin. The drive was pretty terrifying -- the rain was so awful that you couldn't even see the car in front of you. The girls didn't seem to mind as they just giggled and babbled to each other in the backseat. Got to her mom's house and proceeded to do some 'clothes shopping' -- ie digging thru bins and bins of clothes that Jenn had from when Dylan was KK's size -- and the girls helped, if you can even imagine that! HAHA Every time I got thru a box and stacked them all nice and neat, the girls would run thru and throw them everywhere. Got back kinda late for KK's bed time, but all in all, it was a great Dylan's Day :)

(Below is a copy of the "Dylan's Day" newsletter that Peggy gives to D's parents everyday. KK was showcased for the day..click on it to make it a little bigger. ENJOY!)