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!

Potty Training Boot Camp

Instead of listing all the many, many, many things we got for christmas, or posting about how I lasted until the late party hour of 9 on new years- I think i'll post about the thing that has taken up soooo much more of my time lately.

For the past couple of weeks Kenley has been showing tons of signs that she is ready for potty training; Telling me when she pees or poops, tries to sit on the little potty chair, tries to pull her pants down to pee in potty, watching me very interested when I pee (a little creepy, but i hear it helps?) Etc, Etc...
And somebody at every turn lending me advice (well meaning, albeit unsolicited) about how she's ready and "You know what you should do...." and "The sooner the better..."
So naturally I started feeling like a terrible mom for not potty training her sooner! How could I miss the signs!!
So I read up on the best techniques and asked friends, and decided to set the potty date!
I had the week after christmas off work so the timing was perfect!
I started by introducing the potty, having her sit on it clothed and get excited about it, reading books about the potty and watching movies about the potty.
A few days of this and we were all set with the regimen.

Day one-
We hunkered down in the kitchen so I could leave her bare bottomed to learn to notice when she pees.
This day sucked.
A lot.
I didn't even have time to shower.
But I had high hopes of progress!

Day two-
Still bare bottomed, we ventured hand in hand out of the kitchen to the bathroom.
She seemed to be understanding that Pee-pee doesn't go on the floor, although she couldn't quite hold it, but would just say "Uh ooooh" right before the warm yellow stream made its appearance.
I was able to trick her several times into going pee with the potty chair on the counter in the bathroom, the water running, while she played with the water.
We would scream, dance, clap, brush our teeth (she loves it) every time she pottied.
She's gonna get it!
The trip in the afternoon to see if she would keep her pants dry was a bust, but I still felt pretty good about it.

Day three-
About the same as day 2.
Only she would say "Pee pee!" So we'd rush to the potty she would plop down for 30 seconds, sing a song, then jump up clapping and shouting "Yaaayy!" as the dribble she just began pours all over the floor.
So in my mind, she's getting it right? (even though i'm slowly losing my mind, and have you noticed the word "Potty" has lost all meaning?)

Day four-
Better!
She even tells me when she needs to poop.
I have by this time learned the subtle body language telling me she's ready to potty.

Day five-
Same as day four, but i've realized there's no helping the little dribble preceding each pee.
Our trips come back with dry pants, HOORAY!
Uses the potty happily and tells me about 70% of the time when she needs to.
But I cave and buy pull-ups since she'll be going back to daycare and I don't want poor Tiffany to deal with pee all over her floors.

Day six-
Potty training... what potty training???
She refuses to use the potty or even sit on it clothed!!
She went back to daycare and (I guess) decided the big girl potty is not cool.
I don't blame Tiffany at all, there are just too many fun things to play with.

Since its counterproductive, we're not fighting Kenley on this. It frustrates me so much to have gotten so good, only to lose all momentum!
But we'll give it a bit, not push it, and try again when she starts asking to again.

Sigh... so close
By the way, I will be shampooing all the carpeted areas in our home.

Tis the season

I haven't been very good at updating the blog lately, so let me try to catch up a little bit.
We went to see Santa at the festival of trees. I was a little worried that Kenley wouldn't want anything to do with him so I warmed her up to the idea by showing her Santa on the computer and we practiced telling him that she wanted a Dolly.
She LOVED him!! She was all smiles and even giggled when she saw him.
When Santa asked her what she wanted she said "Dawee puhweez!" and when she was given a candy cane -"Dank-oo".
I was so proud!!
Then she proceeded to destroy said candy cane, as well as her white top. (Thank goodness for Shout)




She's growing up so fast! It's so much fun!
She's reaching her "Terrible twos" and is becoming more independent.
Sassy pants tells me "No!" and "Top!" (Stop) regularly.
She's a really good eater, i'm amazed at the amount of food this dainty girl can put away.
She rambles on and on with stories that must be amazing, i just cant understand her. (I think she's speaking Chinese, yep that must be it)
She's learned to open and start the dishwasher.
She'll throw her toys out of their basket only to sing the clean-up song and put them back. She bobs around singing "Mean-up, mean-up, mean-up".
Elmo is her most favorite thing. She will dance around excitedly when he's on TV and yell "EHMOO! EHMOO!"
I'm amazed when she recognizes that little monster character everywhere. Even in the most abstract displays of him!
She's in a "baby-loving" stage, she wants to hug and kiss all the babies she sees :) Which naturally prompts many a cheek smooch from me, she puts up with it.

I will be posting again soon about all the toys she will be spoiled with this christmas! We actually have to move around some furniture to make room for all of it!
Lucky girl :)

Giving Thanks

I feel like a blog post isn't complete without a picture, so here's Kenley playing in the snow for the first time this year:

She calls it "Nooowuh" in a reverent sort of way.

Isn't she beautiful?!

It's that time of year again when I really need to acknowledge all of my many blessings.

And there are a LOT to mention:

Discovering the cause of my migraines, and fixing it!

Boots

The fact that our cars have lasted as long as they have

Elmo

Discount supplements

Having so much family living so close

Heated seats

Part time work!

Awesome day care

Big hugs and kisses from Kenley

Time for my projects

Learning new and convenient technology

Temples all around

My sweet baby to share everything with

My man-child to make things more fun

Now i'm going to go eat my weight in mashed potatoes and then pass out in a turkey coma.

Happy Thanksgiving!!