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!)

Kissed. Then Tackled.

So I'll get to the headline in a minute -- but let me tell you about a glorious dinner out that Jason and I were finally able to accomplish. Went to Santa Fe Cattle Co Friday night around "busy time" and was pleasantly surprised that they were dead and we could just walk right in. Our waitress came up to get our drink order and Jason and I tried our new "eating out tactic" -- order everything all at once, STAT! So literally we ordered our drinks, our meals, KK's meals and the check right off the bat. Food got to us shortly there after and we fixed up Kadence's plate and began shoveling ours as fast as we could. She didn't seem to want to eat though and I thought for sure we were doomed. She kept trying to grab Jason's knife/fork, so I gave her my fork and stabbed a piece of chicken with it and placed it back in her hand. She gladly put the little bite in her mouth and handed me back the fork! EUREKA! You'd think I won the lottery! She ate her entire meal this way and thankfully we were able to slow the pace on our own chewing to actually be able to taste the food for once :)

Now for the headline. The last two weeks we've had to sit in the 'calming room' at church since we didn't want to take Kadence to the nursery, but we didn't want to miss church either. Last week we were in there by ourselves until someone came to do a diaper change at the very end. Well this week was a much different story. Worship finished and the door to the room opened and in walked another couple with their 18 month old son (who apparently has an older brother) At first he was absolutely SMITTEN with Kadence and even planted a big wet kiss on her several times. She just couldn't seem to get away from him. He had her backed into a corner so there was no where for her to go HAHA Eventually he laid off and all was quiet. 15 minutes into the sermon, Kadence took something out of the little boy's hands and he straight slapped her across the face. The mom was so embarrassed and apologized a million times. Kadence took it like a champ but was a little stunned by the moment. Another 15 minutes or so goes by and now we're joined by another mom with a 15 month old boy that isn't walking/crawling yet, so it's just still Kadence and the 18 month old running around. Well out of nowhere, Kadence starts running from the little boy and he comes up behind her, bear hugs her and tackles her to the ground. The mom and I run over and break the two up -- as the little boy grabs a chunk of KK's hair to boot. Again she is apologizing and so embarrassed. Apparently he doesn't play with little girls very often and it's what him and his brother do. Kadence is still good to go and seems unfazed. I'm half expecting her to be the next to reciprocate some roughness on him. But nope -- less than 2 minutes later, the same scenario happens but much more hardcore...haha...the dad gets involved in this one and literally picks his son up by the back of the shirt and carts him out of the room. The mom couldn't apologize enough and came over and stroked KK's hair and told her how beautiful she was. She did kind of whimper a little after that one. The experience was priceless and no one was hurt, so we found some humor in it :) Now I guess she knows how Dylan feels when bullies her during play dates.

Sickness update: Seems to be doing better. Cough is down to a minimium minimum and the snotty nose is almost gone. Wishing that the earache would vanish just as quick.

xo

Diagnosis.

So Kadence and I have just returned from the pediatrician's -- unfortunately her doctor wasn't there, so we had to see someone else. Let's just say that I'm glad we have the pediatrician that we do because I most certainly wouldn't drive over an hour to see the lady that I did today. She definitely didn't strike me a kid kinda person. And Kadence definitely didn't like her :)

Anyways, they weighed her and she's finally started gaining some weight again. She's at 21.3 pounds -- my little chunky nugget! HAHA

The final verdict of her "cold" is that she has RSV -- Respiratory Syncytial Virus -- sounds kinda scary huh? (http://www.webmd.com/lung/tc/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv-infection-topic-overview) But it's not horrible. The doctor did say that she was a "best case scenario" for this since she isn't full blown yet and hopefully she doesn't get any worse. They did a little nose swab on her and were able to test it while we were there -- which made me feel better. I hate when it seems like they're guessing at what's wrong with her. At least I have an actual name for it. We're hoping that it doesn't spread to her lungs and cause wheezing -- cause that will equal pneumonia and a trip to the hospital. It has caused a small ear infection in her right ear though. Her first one. JOY. They gave her the pink bubble gum stuff though and told me to give it to her for the next 10 days. Not to mention she has another bottom molar coming in. 

Looks like we will be home bound for the next couple weeks. No playdates. No nursery at church. And definitely no day care until this all clears up. I'd hate to be responsible for getting other people's kids sick. I just wish that people cared that much about getting mine sick. It was unavoidable though. Nothing that I could've done to prevent it and the doctor said it's so high contagious/spread that she's probably had it in her system for weeks before showing any signs of it.

So we wait. And hope that I can make her happy and healthy again soon. xo

Sick.

So just wanted to update everyone on what we're currently going thru -- the cold from H-E-double hockey sticks. I hate it when KK gets sick because I don't know what to do :(

It started around Thursday afternoon/evening -- I noticed that she was getting a little cough. That night she coughed regularly thru-out the night and would whimper after each one. I used some BabyRub on her chest and fired up the humidifier in her room. Friday she seemed to be coughing more frequently and her appetite started to dwindle. We got her some of the Little Remedies Honey Elixir hoping that it would help her a little. Friday night was also miserable.

By Saturday, she started having the runny/itchy nose and eyes and more of a wet cough. My pediatrician's office closes early on Saturdays so I wasn't able to reach anyone. We checked out Rite Aid after church and asked for some Children's Benadryl, which they told us had been recalled almost 8 months ago. After looking at all the packages, there was absolutely NOTHING available for children under 2. UGH So Saturday night went much better.

Sunday rolled around and I'd had enough though -- so I managed to get a pharmacist to recommend something for her symptoms and just told me to use less than the recommended dosage for 2 year old. Seems to be making a little difference. She's slept the last two nights pretty well. I've woken her up once each night though to give her more of the honey elixir so she could sleep -- but she's able to breath now and I think being home has made a little difference with getting her back on routine. She took two really long naps yesterday which I think got her strength back up. She seems happy despite the misery that I know she's going thru.

I can't believe they don't make something for little ones her age. Especially since babies get sick all the time. I know they should be building up their immune system (and KK never gets sick, so she must have a strong one) but there are times when enough is enough and you have to treat the symptoms. I just wish she could talk and tell me how to make her feel better.

We've cancelled all our plans for this week as a result -- she won't be starting school or her Thursday play date this week. I can't run the risk that she'll get everyone else sick around her -- Jason's already starting to feel it coming on and I refuse to get sick :) I don't think we have much of a choice though since she's in my face all day. HA

Pray that our house gets well soon. xo

Fun Filled Weekend.

OMGosh. I don't even know where to start with this update. So much to add to it and it's going to have tons of pictures -- so bear with me guys :) Jason went out of town Friday/Saturday to do a little duck hunting so KK and I drove down to MeeMaw and PeePaw's house to spend some time with them. Here's a couple pictures from Saturday night..she debuted her furry hat (which she can't figure out how to get off) and got to ride in a Publix shopping cart (that she could "drive"). I think I might have to switch over to Publix full time because she loved it! She'd scream every time PeePaw would stop though, she liked her car to be moving :)

When we got back from church and grocery shopping -- we discovered that one of her favorite (and thankfully, cheap) toys had been destroyed by Nolan. He's one of their new dogs that they're "fostering" until he finds a forever home. We had to grab a flashlight and walk around the yard picking up all the plastic pieces and thank goodness he didn't eat any of it really. Guess I'll add this is my list of things to buy again. haha

Saturday night we'd bought Kadence a toothbrush for their house so we could practice with her. Sunday morning after breakfast we got to give it a go and surprisingly enough, she really liked it. MeeMaw showed her how to use it by getting her to mimic what she was doing with her own and then had to help her a little to get the hang of it, but all in all, I bet it felt good on her teeth. SOOO much better than one of those finger ones. Her teeth have started getting so sharp lately that it hurts when she bites me :) There's quite a few of these ones!

We got home yesterday around the same time that Jason did and he was still all decked out in his duck gear from coming off the lake. Kadence doesn't usually look you in the face when you're holding her because there's so much more to look at when she's up high, but she could not take her eyes off daddy. She just kept staring at him and had this funny little smirk on her face like "Dad, you look like a tree"...haha

(this is for MeeMaw) I went to BabiesRUS today and made sure I got her a toothbrush for at home. Can't wait till Jason gets in tonight so we can laugh at her together while we watch her. Hopefully we'll get a video of it so I can post it up. Kadence also rose one more level on the "spoiled" ladder today -- Jason insisted the other night that the next time I went to BRU that I bought her a wipe warmer. Apparently the wipes get cold in her room over the winter :) So yes, I caved and bought one -- on sale and with coupons, so it was almost free. LOL

Lastly and this is the most exciting part of the update really -- KK got accepted to DAY SCHOOL. We've been on a waiting list for a little over a month now. It's a bilingual school -- at this stage, they'll incorporate some Spanish into her routine, but still focus primarily on teaching her English. As she gets to the 2-3 year stage, they'll start teaching them English/Spanish with her colors, numbers, etc. It'll be two days a week -- Monday and Wednesday for about 5 hours each day. I can't be more excited about this process. At first I was leery of a "daycare" kind of idea, but I realize that it will be good for her to play with more children + it will be good for me to get some "mommy" time to do the things that I need to do each week. Crossing our fingers that this will all work out perfectly -- she starts next week on Monday.

XO Till next time.

Planking.

So for those of you that don't know what planking is -- you should Google it before reading any further. And for those of you that do know what it is, I'm going to give you the back story on our night, while the others look it up :)

We went and had a GNI with Jenn and Dylan last night and Kadence became pretty infatuated with a little car that D had gotten for Christmas. In fact she loved it SO much that I've decided to put it on the short list of "Things my daughter doesn't already have, but NEEDS pronto" -- it's a short list because I'm ALWAYS buying her things..haha So everyone's playing with this big pink/purple car and getting along -- now mind you it only has a swinging door on the left side of it. Well out of nowhere, Kadence decides to stand up on the seat and try to exit stage right -- quickly -- so quickly in fact, I couldn't get there till after she'd bailed and I had a hysterical baby on my hands. Observe.

Picture snagged from Peggy's facebook.
Yeah I stalked it a little to find this!

She finally calmed down after the whole experience and went back to her usual ways -- ie taking EVERY single thing from Dylan that she picks up to play with and grubbing on O's. Well, about an hour later, I notice that she's decided that the car is her friend again and climbs in and out about a dozen times with no issues. (welcome back those of you that had to Google "planking"..you're just in time) Out of nowhere, my daughter who either has watched too much YouTube or has decided that she's going to reinvent the wheel, decides that shes going to climb in on the other side and gets stuck half way over -- hence the planking effect. She was quite literally stuck in limbo -- not really in the car but far enough in that she couldn't get out. And she started freaking out. Now, being the good mom that I am, I rushed to her side as quickly as I could to alleviate her stress...but the bad mom in me definitely wanted to grab the camera and snap a shot or video the hilariousness of her predicament. But I didn't. *sigh* So here's another visual :)

Picture her little feet being completely off the ground
and struggling, half in and half out of the little car.

All in all, the night was a success as usual. Kadence truly loves playing with Dylan and I couldn't look more forward to having some "adult" time in my life every once in a while.

xo

Lunch Date.

So Kadence got to have a little lunch play date with her BFF Dylan. It's so great to be able to get the two girls together -- I really feel like KK can learn a lot from someone a little older than her. Kadence isn't at the sharing stage really yet and I know she's not suppose to be though. It's funny to watch her just "take" things from D -- if I was Dylan, I'd just push her little butt down and tell her 'no' but that's not the case. It's not that she truly wants what she has or is playing with but more just the idea that she doesn't want her to have it. The two of them chased each other around and ate O's together. Dylan even tried to teach her how to color with crayons on her new easel and they attempted some Legos (KK's first time).

When all is said and done, the main purpose of lunch was to see if KK and Dylan's nanny Peggy would mesh well and for me to get to know her a little bit. Everything went great and it looks like we're going to do a trial run of her spending one day a week over there with them (starting in two weeks). This couldn't come at a better time!! I'm currently running NBS and helping Jason manage the books for his other two ventures -- not to mention trying to run a household by keeping everything clean and everyone fed, errands and chasing around a 13 month old and meeting her demands. And trust me, I do mean DEMANDS. haha

New teeth count: I finally tipped the nugget upside down and tickled her today and she definitely has 3 maybe 4 new ones and a ton of white under her gums.

Kadence continues to crack me up with her new level of independence. I do feel like I've somehow wronged her though by not getting on the ball with basic sign language. I know how frustrated she is sometimes with not being able to communicate what she wants or needs -- and trust me, it's equally frustrating for me as well. I guess I'll just keep plugging away at my checklist each time she sounds off the alarm (her mouth). Good news is, she's finally decided that the 'no spill' sippy cups are for her -- so that's eliminated a lot of mess and chaos in our lives.

Until next time. xo

Klepto.

So Kadence has become a tad bit of a klepto if you will. For example, we were in Target yesterday and she decided that she wanted something in the $1 bins by the restrooms. I let her play with it while we were waiting for her little friend Dylan and her mommy to come out of the bathroom. Right before they came out, I took it back from her and put it on the shelf and then started digging thru my purse for my cell phone. We must've spent about 45 minutes in Target and upon exiting the store, I went to pick her up to put her in the car seat and out falls the before mentioned object from her lap. Yep, you heard me right -- my daughter stole her very first thing, at the ripe age of 13 months. HAHA Guess I'll be taking those back in with me next time we go :)

$1 Snoopy Post it Notes

Besides the post it notes, she's been taking random objects and stashing them around the house. Daddy's keys and wallet are forever being hidden. O's (her snacks) get stashed down her pants for later. Her cheese puffs end up in kitchen cabinets where I have my muffin tins. Lovie is forever being left inside drawers and under stuff. I don't know what to do with this child :)

On to other news, her teeth are still coming in full force. I know for a fact that she has at least one molar that's come thru on the bottom right side and one tooth on both the top right and left side. It's hard to get her to open her mouth and let me root around inside there. But there's still plenty of "white" just under her gums, so we haven't gotten thru the worst of it yet I'm afraid. Natural Orajel has been helping a ton though. Praise the Lord.

Just for fun the other day, I gave her an entire container of O's so she could learn to open and close the container and take what she wanted to snack on. She loved being able to walk around with it, open it, take 1 O out, close it and walk around some more. So I've been trying to do it at least once a day for part of her snack so she could get some motor skills in there. Today I took some pictures of her being silly. ENJOY.

I <3 how she looks in the container to see if there's
any more of them in there!