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!

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....

Happenings

I've been really bad about posting to the blog lately, and I have a LOT to recap.

So here goes with the quick and dirty version of the happenings this year so far.

First of all lets start with the good parts.
My newest nephew was born friday March 23rd!!

Everett Nephi Smithson

Isn't he just precious? I love him already :)

That makes boy #3 for Carrie Smithson, and boy cousin #4 for Kenley.

I recently discovered Instagram, and have been photographing K in all sorts of mundane activities just to jazz the pic up.

Kenley turned 2 on saturday! Can you believe my baby is TWO YEARS OLD???

She got tons of fun stuff; a trike, scooter, dolls, chalk, bubbles and on and on.....

Since yesterday, because of all these new fun toys, she's been demanding to be outside every waking minute

.

Since she was turning2, we decided back in january that we should fit in one more flight before she hit that magic number (meaning we'd have to buy her a seperate plane ticket) And i'm glad we did. I love visiting the in-laws, I really lucked out on this bunch.

While we were there we tried to get a shot of all the grandkids, which didn't turn out so well....

As you can see, Kenley was NOT happy about being told to sit still, and the boys got bored pretty fast.

(Can you see the excitement in everyone's face, also the basket was so we could photoshop baby Everett in after he was born)

Lastlly I just want to mention the C word.

Cancer

It's mean scary word, but in this case I have full faith this bully is also kind of a wimp.

My mom was diagnosed with Folicular Carcinoma, or thyroid cancer.

About a year before they moved to west virginia, my mom noticed a growth under the skin on her neck, and finally got it checked out a couple months ago. After a few inconclusive tests they decided the best course of action was to remove the tumor. At the time of the surgery, they still couldn't tell if it was cancerous or not and sent her on her merry way with a clean bill of health.

Then a week later she got a call with the news that they discovered it, in fact, was cancer.

Rarely fatal. If spread will most likely be in the lungs and bones.

She will go in tomorrow to have the whole thyroid removed and have radioactive iodine run through her body for 3 days to kill off the cancer cells. Then she'll be beat for a long time...

Its such a pain in the butt, she already deals with debilitating arthritis and fatigue. I think her body is kind of a jerk sometimes.

We've had a lot of people reaching out with support and prayers, i'm so thankful for these great people.

Cross your fingers with me while she heals!

Zzoooo!!

Earlier this week it snowed... snowed!! And I panicked that I wasn't going to be able to go to the zoo this year.

So we packed up the car with coats and blankets, put on our warm hats and went to see the chilly animals.

Uncle Evan had his own stroller to push.

And yes. We played chicken.

Kenley ran all over that place and was amazed with the giraffes.

(See above right face for said amazement)

There was an exhibit of paintings done by the monkeys at the zoo.

Kenley ran her little self into exhaustion! She slept sweetly through all the noise, and transitions from stroller-to-car and carseat-to-crib.

On a side note......

I had thought that having my own baby would lessen some of my baby crazies.

But it has, in fact, gotten much worse.

Having my own sweet baby (especially such a healthy, lovey, giggling, cuteness smuggler) has turned me into mush.

I swoon over squishy babies.

I squeal in a high pitched baby voice over amazing stunts, like.... rolling over.

It's actually very annoying. My friend Shmeg even makes fun of me... which, if you know her, means i'm pretty ridiculous.

Also, Kenley is in the "Baby loving" phase. She sweetly says "Baby!" and wants to touch every baby she sees, everywhere we go.

Which of course I love, (because how cute can she get?!) and makes my baby-craze soooo much worse.......

Please forgive me when i tell you for the tenth time how adorable/sweet/smart your baby is..... I think it's a sickness, really.

Plus, your baby is really cute.

Daredevil

My dad's company had one of their annual shin-digs, and this time we got to tag along! It was up snowbird where we got to ride the alpine slide, zip line, chair lifts, bounce house, and chase those weird fat chipmunks around. Kenley LOVED it!

She couldn't quite stay upright in the bounce house, but kept giggling the entire time.

I kept her in her monkey backpack but didn't need it most of the time since she loves her uncle Evan and Grandpa so much. She actually demanded that they both hold her hands constantly.

Kenley got to go down the alpine slide twice. While waiting for our sled to go down the first time we stood watching as people took off down the hill, and she would cheer and clap her hands in delight. When I took her down first she kept yelling "Wooooaa!" and giving me big grins.

The second time she went with BJ and she had the most serene grin on her face the whole time, almost like it was even a little boring!

She's going to be quite the daredevil :)

The 16 Month Itch

I've heard of this phenomenon before, but never thought i'd be so stereotypicaly mormon and want another baby so fast. But i've got the 16 month itch!

Every month that passes, I think of how old Kenley will be if I got pregnant right away. And then slightly panic for 3 reasons:

1. I want my children to have siblings close in years

2. I want to be done making babies by the time i'm 30

3. I remember how hard and painful pregnancy was and panic at the thought of doing it again!

My sister and I are 5 years apart and we're really close. But it's been difficult to always be in such different stages in life. And I want Kenley to have a sister!

I can't wait to be able to invite another baby into our family, but sometimes that horrible nagging part of my mind pops up and makes me wonder if I would be able to give as much love and attention to another baby as I have been able to with Kenley.

Family is so important to me and becoming a mom has helped me to look at life differently. My older brother and I have never been close, or even agreed on fundamental things. But Kenley is my first baby, she's the one that made me a mother, and she will always hold a special place for giving me that gift. And now, with that knowledge i've gained, I see my older brother through the eyes of my mom. It's helped me to gain understanding and make peace with my dysfunctional family relationships.

And if "what goes around, comes around" is the case with my daughters then bring it on! Because I still maintain that I was a treasure of a daughter, Mom ;)

K-ranslator

Now that Kenley is understanding more of whats being said to her, she is talking a whole lot more (on, and on, and on, and on...) But she hasn't quite mastered many words just yet.

I love her tiny voice and the way she pronounces these words. But for those of you who don't speak Kenley, I have developed this K-ranslator key for your convenience

Bup - Book

Nins - Nose

Moe - Mouth

Baaaohh - Ball

(For ball, her mouth remains open for several seconds after. Yes. She is special)

Mahma - Grandma

Buhpa - Grandpa

Ap - Paci

Toot - Cute

No no no no- I don't like it!

Nana - Banana

Dit - Drake

Tis - Toes

Dis - This

Pees - Please

Shuss - Shoes

Hiiiii! - Everyone look at me! I'm really cute! When you say Hi back, i'll prove how cute I am by giggling and waving!

When she leans in for a hug or a kiss it's usually accompanied by an "Mmmmmm"

And my personal favorite ----- Aaaah vooo - Love you :)

Um.... yay?

My sister doesn't read my blog, but even if she did I don't think she'd mind this post.... very much.

Last week Kari was married to Jonathan Proulx and I would love nothing more than to be excited for them. But i'm not. I'm worried.

It was an exhausting week: Jamming in getting brides maids dresses, cooking for the reception, the bridal shower, making corsages and the bouquet, and many many more things.

Kari and Jonathan met just 2 short months ago. Two months!!!

You really think you can get to know someone well enough in two months (they were actually engaged after one month) to say you will be with them forever?? Well I guess you know where I stand with all this. It has been stressing me out.

It's not that I don't like Jonathan, It's just that I don't know him and neither does Kari. I have learned to rely on my instincts and my gut was telling me to worry.

Oh well.

They got married anyways, and i'm hoping for the best. My sister is kind of awesome and I have a hard time imagining anyone living up to my expectations for her. Maybe that's my problem?

Kari and I are really close and have always had a great relationship. Everyone knows how close we are so instead of voicing their concerns to her they were coming to me, pulling me aside or calling me to talk to me about how they feel this wedding is a mistake. THEN they would tell me that it doesn't matter how we feel, that it's her choice and we need to be SUPPORTIVE!!

Contradiction??? I think so!!

Anywho... I think it's pretty obvious that I've had a really hard time hiding my disapproval. But I really did want it to be a good experience for Kari. So at her shower I did my best to put on a happy face, mingle with all her friends from school, and take pictures.

At one point, when the party was winding down, I leaned in and whispered "When do I get my Oscar?" to Melody (my step-mom). My aunt Anne overheard and gave me a little grin.

Later at my house this little guy showed up!

It had my name on it with the caption "Best Actress". It made me laugh for real for the first time that week.

Thanks Anne!

I'll post more about Kari's wedding later, when I have all the pictures.

Alabama trip part 2

On tuesday Kim, Ethan, Kai, and the 3 of us made our way to Chatanooga. Or "Chaganua" as the boys would call it. We went to a HUGE aquarium. It was so much fun!

The boys were so excited that we were going to see sharks. Did you know that sharks growl? Ethan entertained us by snarling like a shark for most of the trek.

A few of our favorites were the baby alligators, sea horses, feeding sting rays and visiting the butterfly house.

The kids had a blast, and getting to cool off in the lazy river was the perfect end to our visit.