Embracing Life

My sister invited Keira and I to head into Chicago to see the Marshall Field Macy's Christmas displays and visit the American Girl Doll Store. The thing is... Keira didn't have her AG doll yet.  Santa wasn't bringing Saige until December 25.  So Mommy called in a favor, and St. Nick dropped her off on December 6! The boys' gift and Keira's doll Yesterday, my sister, niece, Keira, and I drove into the city.  I hate driving in Chicago. But we had a blast! It started snowing right about the time we got there, and the snowy roads made for a loooonnnngggg drive home, but we girls had a fantastic time! Lexi, Julie, Keira and Saige Stopped for a quick snack After lunch at Macy's on State Street The great tree in the Walnut Room Walking back to the car Keira picked up a couple of goodies at the AG store, and Mommy bought herself a new purse as an early birthday present at Macy's.... All in all, it was a wonderful day!!!

Keira made me this crown.  She asked me this morning to take it to work and wear it for my work friends. That felt a little awkward to me... so I thought I'd take a picture and share it with my non-work friends. ;)

After two failed attempts at having an elf come stay at our house during the Christmas season... The Evil Elf on the Shelf describes the first year..., Santa thought it was best to send something other than an elf. So here is Peppermint the Polar Bear, who has traveled all the way from the North Pole to keep an eye on things and report back to Santa on if the kids have been naughty or nice. He doesn't do much, but does move from time to time, but never when you are looking. It's been promised that he will never go upstairs into the kids' bedrooms... although Colin has requested that Peppermint sleep in his bed.  Keira is adjusting well. So far.

These are straight off my FB page, but I want to make sure that someday they get into her baby book. Keira: I want to get a horn dog with Uncle Tommy (at the M Fest) CORN dog, Keira!!! It's called a corn dog ************************************************   Me: Keira, how did you get that? I told you yesterday you couldn't have that. Keira: Well Daddy was on the computer. ************************************************  Me: Keira, you need to pick up. Keira: No, I'm Cinderella. She doesn't pick up. Obviously she hasn't seen the movie. *************************************************  Keira: How do you spell 'daddy'? Me: D-A... Keira: That's not how! It's starts with K like mine!!! (Keith) ************************************************* "Upon walking in the door from work, Keira tells me: 'Mommy you have to stay away from vampires.' Obviously she has no idea who I am." ***************************************...

This is my little girl. She is full of spunk.  And has an outstanding fashion sense. The way I look at it, I had 3 years to put my twinkles in coordinating outfits.  That time has since past. Colin sticks with his favorite 2-3 t-shirts or Mr. Hugh Hefner wears pajamas all day long. Keira Princess Rose (the name she gave herself),  has more eclectic tastes when choosing her outfit for the day. That outfit, minus the sweater and velvet hat, was what she choose  to wear to my uncle's cookout on Mother's Day. Who am I to argue with fashion? Or maybe I'm just smart enough to pick my own battles. If she wants to wear the same shirt and skirt for 3 days in a row (I do wash things at night if she will take them off long enough to put on pjs for bed), then so be it. And when she twirls around in her favorite skirt and asks me: Do I look pretty, Mommy? I respond with love each time: You look beautiful baby girl.

We just got back from Disney World! A full recap is to come, but I wanted to show how Keira reacted to the characters: For the first day and a half: Donald's Breakfast Safari at the Animal Kingdom Then she warmed up: It's ok only if Mommy holds me... I love Daisy!!! 

This morning on the way to Nana's, I saw a large bird flying above the river. When I realized I was lucky enough to see it was an eagle, I exclaimed: Keira, look! It's an eagle flying above the river! Keira responded with, I see it! Hey let's get our swim things and go swim down there . (We were crossing the bridge.) I mentioned that you really don't swim in that river since it's dirty. She said matter-of-factly, That's right. And there are alligators. And sharks. We can't swim with them. But we can go with the seals because they are so nice and warm.

I'm having the hardest time disciplining Keira. No matter how naughty she is being, or how much trouble she is getting into (like say, for spilling the entire liquid contents of her brother's nebulizer all over my couch...), it's really hard to yell at her. Not that I yell, because that's a parenting thing we are NEVER supposed to do. Yeah, sure. But lately, every time she gets in trouble, as I am in the middle of sending to her to time-out (of which she refuses to go into) or removing her from the situation, she interrupts me with this: Mommy, you are my best friend. And suddenly, I forget what I am yelling saying, and have to stop and hug her. Are 3 year old supposed to be this manipulative?

Standing at the bedroom doorway (which is blocked by a gate because they are supposed to be in bed): Mommy! Colin is being so naughty! He won't stay in his bed even though it's bedtime! Mommy, you have a ring on. Yes, it's my wedding ring. Daddy gave it to me when we got married. I love it. I want a wedding ring. When I a big girl. I get to wear red heels and a shiny bracelet. (We went to a wedding a couple weeks ago and she loved seeing me dressed up.  Apparently she thinks it was my wedding.) Seeing my red heels: I love these! Thank you for getting them for me! Mommy, when you at home, I don't wear your sandals. But when you are not here, I wear them ok? Even though you tell me not too. While helping my mom do the dishes (my mom said it was like she was talking to them): Nana does the dishes. Daddy does the dishes. Mommy just doesn't know how to do dishes. Hmpf.

These are Keira's new best friends.  She refuses to take them off, except for when she goes in the pool.  Yes that means she wears them to bed.  (I take them off once she is asleep.  She immediately asks for them when she gets up.) When I packed her regular shoes for Nana's, in case they go to the park, she responded with - "I wear my blip blops ok. I just not run at the park.  I will walk slowly." But Keira, you can't wear them to school, they will get dirty on the playground. "I wear my blip blops ok. I just sit at the playground and not get them dirty." Alrighty then. 

The thing about Keira is that you can't argue with her.  (Well you can, but it involves a lot of tears, crying, and screaming. So it's just easier to go with it.)  As you can see here, if Keira wants to take a nap when it's 85 degrees out in a sweater, with two headbands, in an outfit she picked out herself, that's what she does: I get hot just looking at her.  Later that day, she tried to wear the sweater to the park.   I told her it was too hot.  She said: I need my sweater because I am soooo hot. Here she is wearing a pair of red glittery Mary Janes, two sizes too big. She told me she was wearing them to bed, and that she would wear them to school. I told her, you can't wear them to school because they will get dirty when you go out to play. She responded: I will just sit inside while they go to play. I decided her teacher can fight that battle alone. ********************************** Keira needs tubes again.  So on Monday, we set off f...

She is only 2 1/2 half years old. She changes her outfits at least 4 times a day, and is most creative in what she wears. She loves to wear her princess underwear, and then tell me she has to go potty 5 times in an hour, only to sit on the toilet and sing.  She says, Damn it Colin.  In the right context. She has an obsession with bags, and stuffed animals, and her Princess playing cards. She loves Minnie, and Daisy, and Dor-Dor (Dora), and Princess Aurora. She likes to yell out, Justin Bee-ber, where are you? She has the most beautiful blue eyes. She is super smart for her age.  And she has no problem telling everyone everything. She is very concerned about hiding her toys so No boys get my stuff. She is quick to tell me how much she loves me. And her brothers.  And her daddy. I've noticed she has already wrapped her daddy around her little finger. If Colin is hurt, she will come over and rub his back while he cries. Unless she is the one who caus...

Keira's ear has been bothering her, but the doctor yesterday said it was not an ear infection.  We sent motrin to my mom's this morning just in case. She insisted on carrying the ziploc bag I had put the bottle in.  Minutes later, she had thrown the bag to the floor and was holding the bottle tightly.  I keep this safe from Colin. I remind her that Colin is strapped into his car seat, so the medicine is pretty safe in a ziploc bag on her lap.  Then I add, Plus we don't want it to spill and get on her seat.  How would we clean that up? We could use paper towels to clean up the mess.  That a good 'dea Mommy? Sometimes I think she is way too smart for her age. Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

10 seconds after walking in the house after work, I was greeted with a loud crash (or five). Keira happily exclaimed: Look what I made Mommy!" Awesome. I said the only thing I could:  Good job, baby doll!

Keira is 2 1/2.  And she talks.  A lot. Some phrases from this past weekend: "Colin, don't drink my water. That's nasty!" "Dora is in trouble for not staying in her bed."  "I used to be in mommy's tummy with Colin." "I love purple.  I love pink.  I love hearts. They're my favorite." "Where my stick-lip (chapstick)?  Put it up high so the boys don't get it." Keira crying..."daddy just yelled at me!" Me: "Why?" Keira: "I bit Colin." Me: "Why did you bite Colin?" Keira: "Because I bit him." Keira: "I show Grammy my pretty dress (new princess nightgown). I so pretty, right Mommy?" Me: "Keira you are actually quite beautiful, did you know that?" Keira: "Yes."

A few years ago (before all the Hallmark hoopla), I read a blog about some mom who had an elf come visit her children every year around Christmas.  I loved the idea, so I borrowed an elf from my mom's collection of old Christmas stuff and waited until Connor was older.  This year, our elf came to visit on the first of December.  His first hiding spot was in the downstairs bathroom, as a hint to the kids to be good while getting ready for bed. (In the evenings, there is a lot of arguing - and screaming and crying - about who gets to brush their teeth first. Why, I have no idea.)  Anyway, the kids loved to see him.  A few days later, he had made his way upstairs.  Connor noticed him first and mentioned how the elf was now upstairs.  I told him that sometimes elves can be sneaky and they never want us to see them move.  So they wait until we aren't looking, then they jump to a different spot.  All is well and good. Until, two days ago. ...

Yesterday, Keira had her follow-up with her orthopaedist (we go every 6 months). He is only at the local hospital on certain days, and her appointment was at 10 a.m. so I took the day off to take her.  The boys went to school.  First of all, we started the day off great because the boys left at 6:10 a.m. and Keira slept in until 7:30.  So I got to go back to bed! ;)  We got to spend some quality mother-daughter bonding time, something we really haven't done before, unless she was actually sick. And then it's not so fun. We went to the doctor's and got a good report.  The doc is great in his field, just kind of dorky and long-winded.  Then we headed to Kohls for socks.  Just socks.  We walked out with Dora underwear for my non-potty trained daughter, Minnie pajamas which she technically does need, and Minnie toss-and-go cups.  Of course I had to buy Mickey ones for the boys.  And Halloween socks for myself.  ;) And yes, I did get K...

I had plans for a great post today, but I woke up with a horrible headache, and it's still here, at 11:24 a.m.  Despite tylenol, allergy meds, caffeine, water and excedrin, it's still here.  Working and staring at the computer do not seem to be making it better either. Being that I had this exact headache last week, just on the other side of my head, I assume it's somehow weather/allergy related. Anyway, I will leave you with this: I hope the sounds works.  You have to turn up the volume a lot because it was recorded on a cell phone.

is going to be a smart one like her Mommy. I can see it in her eyes, in her attitude, and in her cute little voice. She knows all the words to Twinkle, twinkle; Are you sleeping; the ABC song; to name a few.  She speaks in two, and sometimes three word sentences now.  She likes to point out who are boys and who are girls.  When you try to dress her, or change her diaper, she tells you: I do .  She is on her way to being potty-trained.  She loves to help you do things, and carry a purse, and play with her babies.  She loves loves loves Dora. And "Bell" which refers to both Tinkerbell and Belle from Beauty and the Beast . She collects her favorite things, and tells her brothers: Mine . If they try to take something, she screams and goes to bite them or hit them to protect her precious goods.  BUT if you say to her: Keira, can you please share that? She stops and says: Share . I share . Then politely hands the toy over, usually with a "thank you" i...

August 19, the twins will be headed into a big hospital in the city for a meeting with a pediatric neurologist.  What led us to our   my (because Keith leaves all decisions to me) decision for this: 1 - Keira has low muscle tone and has been seeing a pediatric orthopaedist as well as a physical therapist.  It was suggested by the ortho that all LMT patients have an MRI to rule out any sort of issue in the brain that could be causing it.  (The bizarre example he gave me was that one of his thousands of patients had part of his brain missing, which caused the LMT.  Chances are this is not the case and Keira's LMT is just a result of the wiring in her brain being a little off when it comes to muscle tone.) 2 - Colin was admitted to the NICU after birth because of low temp/low blood sugar.  Away from his momma, he decided not to eat (after nursing wonderfully after birth) so they kept him there for 14 days while he learned to suck, swallow, and eat l...