Tulip Festival

On saturday, while BJ was working, Kenley and I piled into a car with my dad, step-mom, brotha Evan and step-grandma and drove down to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving point.

The weather was perfect and we are all sporting funny little tan lines today.

The waterfalls were gorgeous! They are the largest man-made waterfalls in the US.

 Kenley had to stop and smell the flowers several times after spotting another little girl doing it. She even kept making "Mmmm" noises. She had a great time "riding" with grandpa in his wheelchair.

 It was kind of a big deal, there were food tents, dancers, booths, fountains, ponds with fish and, of course, gorgeous plants and flowers everywhere.

 Blowing kisses at the fake turtle

It was a lot of fun, I highly recommend going!

Easter

I just realized I never posted anything about our Easter Eggstravaganza!! (Too cheesy?)

This was the first year we took Kenley out for an easter egg hunt. I think we had more fun than her, since she was recovering still from her ear infection. But we still managed to make a day of it.

We went to Wheeler Farm, where it's kind of a big deal.

We got to meet the Easter Bunny, go on a wagon ride, and got a bag of candy. It was joyous.

This is us in the "Toddler area" waiting to be herded to our egg huntin' spot.

This place is awesome, for more reasons than I can name :)

We had a limit as to how many eggs we could take, but K was on a roll and wanted to pick up every single egg and open all of them. (they were brilliantly empty, to keep people from going nuts)

Of course my camera wouldn't turn on when we got there, so these crappy camera pics are the only shots I got.

I'll have to post pics of her in her adorable easter dress soon.

Aaaaaahh SWING!!

Last night, when it finally stopped raining and the sun came out, we went to our first baseball game of the season.

I love going to games, the atmosphere is so much fun!

And now that Kenley is getting old enough to participate in things, its even more fun!

She had more fun than I expected. She watched the players throwing the ball with fascination and really got into it when everyone cheered.

Lately, when she asks for something its always "too", so when she asked for a hotdog it was "Hoggog too and juice too peeeess"

She's so funny!!

Please excuse the messy hair, I picked her up and brought her to the game straight from daycare where she always runs herself all disheveled :)

She loved meeting Bumble, kept giving him hugs and kisses, and forgot we were taking pictures.

After spilling her juice all down her front she took the whole bucket of popcorn and giggled the entire time she was eating it, all the while "cheering" and yelling for the team

We had so much fun!

Clueless

I'm just going to say it, and maybe someone else will admit it too.

I have NO IDEA how to be a mom.

No clue.

I don't know what to do from day to day.

But I do my best!

I read baby/child/parenting, forums/magazines/blogs etc...

I ask for advice on things from trusted friends and family. (and receive countless unwanted or unsolicited advice from strangers or just strange people)

And still, I have no idea what i'm doing!

I'm constantly afraid i'm ruining Kenley.

But apparently you cant admit something like that around these parts. Cause all I see here are over-achieving moms juggling 4 kids all under 5, telling me "Can you believe..[so and so].. microwaved her breast milk in plastic bottles??" -Cue gasp

What prompts this rant is really this:

I'm constantly hearing judging remarks about other parents. And i'll admit i've participated when I felt I "knew" something better to do.

But it has to stop!

This week was crazy! After Kenley was showing signs of cold/allergies/latest vaccination sickness. I finally took her to the doctor when she wasn't getting better.

It took me almost a week!

The doctor then told me she had a horrible ear infection and needed to get on antibiotics immediately.

My jaw hit the floor.

I could here those women's voices in my mind

"Did you hear Gina let her daughter be that sick for a week before taking her to the doctor?"

I mean, what kind of mother does that??!!?

I felt like such a terrible mom for not realizing my sweet baby was so sick!

But I had no idea! She seemed mildly uncomfortable, had allergy-like symptoms during the highest pollen count time of the year and only had a fever a week after her vaccination which i'm told is normal.

Yes, I will finally get to my point:

As outsiders we have no idea what the other parent believes is safe, good or right for their children.

If you feel its a safety or health issue, tell them!! I'm sure they'll be grateful, and if they're not- oh well, at least now they were told the proper care and will hopefully follow through.

But otherwise, keep it to yourself!

The other parents believe Harry Potter is evil? Or they give their baby sugary Popsicles on hot days?

That's their choice! You have no idea what happened to lead them to those decisions or whats going on inside the home.

Let it be and keep your mouth shut, otherwise you'll just make it harder to get along.

There, i'm done with my rant now, it's time for Kenley's antibiotic dose anyway....

Drab Snigger Jig

Since the beginning of time (on this blog), i've really struggled with what I should name it.

I tried just our names, which felt incomplete

I tried Driggers Family, which there already is with my sis-in-law Jess's blog.

I thought about using "Driggers... [something]" so you'd know who it was right away, but i wanted the freedom to blog about whatever else i wanted and not limit myself to posts solely about family.

And for a while I settled on our fams initials "BGK" knowing it wouldn't last.

Fast-forward a year and recently I got to work on finding anagrams of BJ, Gina and Driggers combined. I wanted something unique and fun, like I think we are (is that really vain to say??)

My exhaustion-fueled brain came up with something that I feel is brilliant.

Drab Snigger Jig

What does it mean? Good question!

Drab: dull, cheerless, lacking in spirit, brightness etc.

'Cause we all need a little polish

Snigger: a sly or disrespectful laugh, esp when partly stifled

Perfect :)

Jig: a rapid, lively, springy, irregular dance for one or more persons

More perfect!

In other words it means:

A dull, disrespectful giggle in a lively, irregular dance.

Brilliant or ridiculous?

Fact

I'm pretty sure these are all facts.

Facts that, lets be honest everybody, make life better.

(Oh, and here's a pic of the fountain at city creek. cause thats pretty cute right?)

I believe cutting up an apple makes it taste better.

I believe new sheets can help you sleep better.

I believe watching my 2 yr old yell "Weee!" while going down 12 inches on the slide is what everyone needs to see before they die.

I believe in reading the book first. Its just better than the movie.

I believe seeing a newborn's sweet face is the closest i get in this life to seeing through the veil.

I believe in smiling, a lot.

I believe in using a blanket, even if you have to crank up some A/C.

I believe a new outfit instantly makes me lose 5 pounds.

I believe a woman should own her age. It gives her power.

I believe a day in sweats with a good book can be better than any vacation.

I believe in never relying on my memory.

I believe my car runs better when its clean.

I believe in play-doh, bubbles and chalk.

AND in saying "I love you" every single day, in the morning, at the end of every phone call, and at the end of every day.