Oh no.....

Okay......I know.......I am bad about posting again. I still need to do a post just on KayLynn. She is getting so big!!! I promise, I will get this thing updated!!!

KayLynn Grace

I can't believe how big KayLynn is getting!!! She is already 8 months old!!! She started by rolling and scooting backwards (to her dismay)!!! One of her favorite spots to roll was under the couch. Now she is crawling like crazy. KayLynn has learned how to follow us around the house. We have to make sure the gate is closed at the top of the stairs! She is also cutting teeth. We have one little one on the bottom that has been there for good (we have had this tooth playing peek-a-boo). She is also figuring out how to get into things (to our astoundment)!!! She is getting into the wii stuff and the DVD player. We are looking into moving things around so she can't get into them! I will have to post pictures later.

Alta Joy

Well, our oldest is certainly getting big!!! She has done quite a bit this summer. We went to Kenwood Cove (the waterpark in Salina) and loved it!!! Everyday she asks to go back. When we ate out for supper with Mom and Kylie on Saturday, Ky asked her what she did that day. Alta excitedly said, "Go waterpark!" When Kylie asked if she was sure she went.....AJ said that yes she did!! She also likes when the monkey spits on her on the lazy river.

Alta also joined gymnastics this summer. We signed up through the parks & rec department in Salina. She loves that too!!! Everytime we would leave, she would ask to go back. The whole week leading upto the next gymnastics "practice" we would be bombarded with questions about going back. I really like their program for little ones. There is one parent on the floor with them. First they stretch as a group. Then they go around and get to esentially play on gymnastics things like the double bars, mini vault, balance beam, etc. They also get ribbons and get to run around with them.

She has also loved going to all the fairs that we have been to. We went to the Ottawa County Fair. She had a lot of fun during the carnival/bouncy rides. She took part in the baby show. She didn't win :( There were a lot of girls in her age group (I think 10). We also went to the Cloud County Fair with our friends Wade, Linsay, Lewy, and Marlee (we went to supper at El Puerto before the fair and it was GOOD!!! Everyone should try it!). Alta was too short to ride on some of the rides. She was really upset when the big kids could go on the rides and she couldn't. She was allowed to go on the HUGE slide with someone and she LOVED it!! She kept saying, "Again" everytime she would get to the bottom of the slide. We went to the parade with my mom for the Tri-Rivers fair. This is the first year that I didn't go to the fair part at all. It was just really hot that week.

Watching the parade with Daddy......wanting some candy.....

Getting some candy during the parade with Daddy!!!

Ma came to Minneapolis for the parade and rodeo......she took me on the swing before the rodeo!

Standing and putting my hand over my heart during the National Anthem and watching the bring the flag in!

Not doing so hot......

It has been a LONG while since I've updated. I do not have any good excuses!!! I have had a wonderful summer being lazy with my girls! I said at the beginning of the summer that my house was going to be organized, we were going to have a garage sale, and everything would be perfect! Well, only one of the three happened......everything was PERFECT!!! I got to spend a lot of time with my girls. I would not trade anything for the time I got to spend with them!!! Now it is time for school and training to start. I started cheer practice last week. I have found out that I am SO out of shape!! I started training last night in Salina. I have training on Wednesday and Friday of this week too. I am sad about the training on Wednesday.....it is Trav's birthday and he works a day shift now.......that means as soon as he comes home from work, I have to leave. I have no idea what we are going to do this weekend. Travis has a four-day weekend and we thought about going out of town for our birthdays......but I don't think that is going to happen now.....oh well, I guess.

I am going to post seperate updates for the girls!

Rest of the Weekend

So here is what happened the rest of the weekend!

We got up Saturday morning and headed for Kansas City. It started out a good morning. Alta said that Curt was going to ride with her, so KayLynn rode with Sharon and Wilbur. Alta loves going on long trips (espeically with Curt) because she gets to watch a movie. It is so fun to watch/listen to her giggle at the movies. I started my book in the car when we left. At some point (I was really into my book) it started raining. While we were on the turnpike it was raining pretty hard. I was hoping it would let up because we were going to go to zoo. When we got to Courtney & Kelly's house, it was still raining a bit, so we had the picnic that we packed in their kitchen (well, everyone but me.....I was ALMOST done with my book and I HAD to know what happened!). The rain had let up for the most part, so we decided to go ahead and try the zoo. We got there and I was thinking, "We are going to get soaked!" When we got there, I overheard the lady at the front desk telling someone that Africa was flooded and the train was stuck there. I didn't have too high of expectations then. Well, if you know where the front gate is and were their rainforest place is, that's how long we were in the rain! We were in the rainforest place for about 15 minutes or so, and when we came out it wasn't raining anymore. It stayed overcast for most of the afternoon. The sun came out for the last hour. It turned out to be a beautiful time for visiting the zoo!! We were a little dissappointed that we didn't get to see the elephants and giraffes....they had been moved inside because of the storm. If you were to ask Alta about the zoo, she will tell you that she saw puddles and a bird that bit Uncle Curt! I think she jumped in EVERY puddle in the Africa part (okay.....so we encouraged it because it was hilarious when she would jump in it.....). After that, we checked into the hotel and headed back over to Courtney & Kelly's for supper. Courtney grilled hotdogs, brats, and other stuff. It was a good time! We headed back to the hotel for bed. Alta had a bed to herself, but she wouldn't lay down unless I was laying right beside her. I ended up falling asleep in her bed, but I didn't stay there too long! In a queen sized bed (with only 2 people) I was still getting kicked!!! KayLynn wouldn't go to sleep unless Travis was holding her on his chest. When she finally fell asleep, we were able to put her down. Travis had the air on. He didn't think it was cold enough.....I thought it was way too cold! It was a long night!

On Sunday, we got up and went to the Santa Fe Depot for breakfast. It was good food! We then headed over to Courtney & Kelly's for the bbq lunch. Uncle Curt got KayLynn to laugh like crazy when he was playing with her. If I can figure it out, I will post a video of it! After lunch, we celebrated Cael's 1st birthday!!! I can't believe it has been a year already!! He is just growing up too fast. He is one very loved little boy!! He is also really lucky to have his parents.....they are pretty great people too! As we headed for home, we stopped to eat at Cracker Barrel :D That is one of my favorite places to eat! While we were there, my mom called and asked where we were. There was a storm heading for home. We didn't see anything too bad on the weather when we headed out, but we hit the storm when we got onto 18 highway. It was a good thing that Travis was driving because I wouldn't have been able to. It looked like the rain was coming down sideways, the lightning was almost blinding, and the wind was crazy! We did make it home safely and we slept in until 9 on Monday morning.

We are ready to hit the zoo!!!

Walking with Uncle Curt! She sure loves him!

Watching the flamingos.



Jumping in the puddles!!!

Peek-A-Boo!

Uncle Curt making KayLynn smile!


Umm....maybe Cael will share with me!

Watching Cael eat his cake.....

....now we get to eat cake!


I don't know who liked the light up card better: the birthday boy or the big boys?!?!?!

It is tiring watching Cael open presents!


I am going to snuggle with Uncle Travis......

.....nope....I will take a picture instead!

What A Great Time!

We had such a great time this weekend!! It started out on Thursday. Jennifer came back for the River Festival. We went out to eat with her (at Carlos.....of course!).....I hadn't eaten all day and so I devoured my enchaladas and fries. That was a bad move!!! As soon as I hit the heat with all that grease on an empty stomach, I didn't feel good at all. At least I got to Mom's house and was able to cool off before the Festival Jam. We took Alta to the Festival Jam (Sharon kept KayLynn because we thought it may be too hot for her at the Festival this year). I don't know what I am going to do next year when both Alta and KayLynn are going to be going with us and moving on their own!!! Alta was so cute! We got some little toys at the dollar store so that if they got lost, it wasn't that bad. We got some glow necklaces and bracelets. She was loving those all night long! She also loved when Aunt Tuff took her to play. She didn't like it when Tuff went to hang out with her friends. Alta didn't understand why she couldn't go either. We met up with some great friends at the Jam.....Kevin and Becca. They were sitting in front of us and Travis called Kevin. They came over and we were able to chat for a bit with them. Becca and I loved the people watching!!! We couldn't believe some of the things that we saw!! When we were in junior high, if we were pushing a stroller, it was a younger sibling or we were babysitting. There were so many teenagers there with babies.....we couldn't decide if they were the moms or the babysitters!!

We then stayed the night with Mom. Let's just say none of us (Travis, Alta, or I) got any sleep that night. We decided that we were going to keep her in our room because my mom and Ky were going to get up early and get a good spot at the festival. We let her sleep in bed with us. In a queen size bed, she had over half of it!!! She would hang off the edge sideways, then she would be kicking me (the lucky one in the middle), then her feet would be on the pillows, then she would be laying on me......it just didn't work!!! Next time she is going to sleep on the floor!! We had a good time at the Festival on Friday. It was overcast, so it wasn't too hot that day. We got really smart this year.....we took our own lunch. So all day Friday, we only spent a little bit on food (usually we spend a lot on food!!)! Mom's wraps were better than my pbj, but I am still glad that we took our lunch. We got to listen to Taylor Kline sing (he won Salina's Got Talent). When the MC announce him, he said that Taylor was from the McPherson area and Taylor said, "No, I am from Delphos." The MC then said, "Well, that's near McPherson right?" We just giggled :P I was excited because Alta was big enough to do some of the crafts this year!!! My mom took her to make a button and a crown. She kept calling her crown the "frog hat." I don't know where that came from, but it was kind of cute! We made a bag and a turtle art. She loved playing the pirate duck game. She was pretty good at it too! Everytime she played, she got a Kool-Aid Kooler. She didn't want to take a nap, but we finally got her to sleep!!! After her nap, we went back to Mom's for a bit so we could shower and change for Nicki's wedding. Alta said she felt better after her shower. Wilbur came to pick her up and she stayed the night at their house so we could go to the wedding and the concert at the Festival.

Well, I will update more on the rest of the weekend later. I am going to post this now so you have an idea of how our weekend started!

Fishing Trip

So Nicole has been telling me to pull my weight with this whole blog thing....so here goes.

Alta, KayLynn, and I went to visit Uncle Curt today. We then went up to Glasco to go fishing. Alta loved the fishing trip. I'm not sure which she loved more, fishing with Uncle Curt, bouncing through the pasture in the Dodge, or just running around at the pond throwing whatever she could find at the water. After I got the girls ready, packed a diaper bag and loaded the Durango I forgot to get Alta's fishing pole...boy that was a mistake.....the whole time she kept telling Curtis how I left her fishing pole at home. She did get to help each of us catch a fish or two though. She loved to help real in the fish, or just real even if there was no fish. Curtis caught the first bass. Alta called it the baby fish. She was then worried about the mommy fish and kept telling Curtis to find the mommy fish. She really loves her Uncle Curtis. I think that she's ready to go again next time. KayLynn wasn't too impressed with fishing. She slept pretty much the whole time. She did wake up for a while, but just want to eat and then went back to sleep. I'm gonna try and post a few of the pictures that we took on the phone so no promises.

I know....I know

Oh boy.....I can already hear it: "I thought she was going to keep this thing updated!"
It has been a crazy time since I went back to work. I tend to veg out in the evenings.....thus, not updating as often as I should. Where to start......the girls......
Alta is still her onery self! She loves to just have fun! She is starting to be a big girl!! Travis tried this week starting on potty training. There were a couple of days that she went around with out any diapers. I think she only had three accidents. One of the funniest things that happened though is when I was working on putting pictures in picture frames. Travis was downstairs getting ready to work and KayLynn was sleeping in her room. I told Alta to go play, but leave Sissy alone. All of a sudden, I heard, "MMMMOOOMMMMMMMYYYY.....poop!" I had no idea where she was or where the poop was. I go running towards her room and don't see her. She was sitting like a big girl on the potty chair. Sure enough she had realized that she needed to poop and went in there all by herself! I am so excited that she is getting so big!! She is still the awesome big sister! The other day she asked if she could read to KayLynn. It was adorable. Alta was standing in front of KayLynn (who was in the exersaucer) and was reading like she was teaching. She also worries about KayLynn. I get an update on Sissy about every 30 minutes......"Sissy sleeping; Baby crying; Happy Baby" She still lets us know what KayLynn is saying, who she wants, and what she wants.
KayLynn is also getting really big! I can't believe in just about a week, she is going to be 4 months old!!! She is definitely beating her older sister for teething!! There are two little tooth buds right under the gums. The only problem is she doesn't seem to handle it too well :( She has been having projectile poop, spitting up, and fussy. She doesn't like to be put down, whether she is teething or not. She has outgrown so many clothes! I think I am already pulling out the 3-6 month clothing. Yes, I know that the 4 months fall into this category, but you have to realize that Alta was in the newborn size until she was 3 or 4 months old. I don't know how much stuff we are going to have because I think Alta wasn't in 3 to 6 month clothing until fall/winter time. I am just so glad that she is healthy!!
I have been having a good time at work. I finally hit the summer break wall. We have three more days left.....I know they are going to be the slowest days for the whole year! I am so proud of all my students.....they have all grown like crazy. I have struggled this year with a lot of different emotions....but I am going to give it another year. Next year I won't have the crazy hormones, early labor, and not trying to figure out things just for the first time. I can't wait!
Travis has still been working like crazy! He still likes his job on most days. I know that when it is raining or if he has paperwork, those aren't his best days. I am just glad that he enjoys his job!
Hopefully since summer break is going to be getting here soon, I should be able to keep up with this. I am hoping to put up a lot of pictures of the fun I am going to have with the girls!

YaYa Night

Last night was a blast!!! Linsay and I went to On the Pot's YaYa Night. It was a great evening to get away for a little bit. I made two ice cream bowls....one for me and one for Travis. I am going to make the girls' ice cream bowls next month. They are going to be cordinating.....not matching! Travis was giving me a hard time because I miss spoke when telling him about it. My bowl is green inside with silver polkadots. The outside is blue and says, "mommy's icecream." Trav's bowl is blue inside with silver polkadots and the outside is green and says, "daddy's icecream." (Pictures to come!) I think I am going to do the girls' bowls with speckled orange and lime green colors with the silver polkadots. What do you think?

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

I can't believe another month has come and gone!!!! I have been so busy! I started back to work on the 5th (well.....okay the 6th because of the Easter weekend). I have loved going back to work. My students have all given me hugs and told me that they were glad that I was back. That makes going back to work easier for me. I definitely come home and cuddle both my girls a long time though!! One day I spent an hour after school just holding KayLynn and giggling with her!!! Most of you are saying, "So what?" Well, I was having a cheer parent meeting at my house that night and I was not picking up!!! My wonderful husband did pick up for me though!!
Alta is now officially 2 years old!!! I can't believe that I am a mother of a 2 year old and a 2 month old! She had a great time at her birthday party! It was mostly family, but a few friends did come too. Her friends Brynn and Lewy came. They all seemed to have fun playing with bubbles, chalk, and balls. Aunt Julie made cupcakes for the day. I had talked to a friend at work about making just a small 6" cake with a Tinker Bell on it....to match the invites. Well, it turned out that she made a HUGE cake!!! We have had cake everyday for a week now.....of course Alta doesn't mind!!! She asked for cake for breakfast one day......I said no.
KayLynn has been having wonderful times with her Great Grandma Hoard this month. We are trying to save on daycare and not have to take her until next fall when school starts. That means she gets to spend a lot of time with her grandparents......and I think they are having a blast with it too!

Too Fast

Where had the time gone?!? All I know is that my maternity leave has gone by way too fast! I have enjoyed all my time home with my girls. KayLynn is two months old today! I will go back to work on Tuesday (they have a four day weekend for Easter break)! I am so torn. When I went to the school this week for a couple of things, I had students stopping me at each doorway giving me hugs and asking if I was back for good now. That made me feel so warm! I am sad though to be leaving my daughter at home. We have it worked out right now that she will be watched by grandmas and Daddy until I am done with school. That helps out with daycare costs. We won't have to pay for over the summer. I intend to stay at home with her all summer. I will have 7 or so more weeks of school when I go back. I am so ready to get back into the swing of things though. I am a little worried about how I am going to do it when Travis is working a day shift. KayLynn eats anywhere from 5:45 to 7 in the morning. I hope that I can get a schedule down and get her to work with it!
Speaking of time flying....Alta is going to be 2 this month!!! Can it really be two years ago that I was having braxton-hicks?!? I can't believe it has been that long! She is really growing up. She is talking more and more each day. I don't always know what she is saying, but it is cute! She lets us know what KayLynn wants too. For some reason KayLynn only tells Alta what she wants.....to lay down, to be picked up, who should hold her, etc. Today while I was at the school for a meeting, Alta was teaching KayLynn how to dance. Travis said that it was cute. Of course when he got out to video it, she really didn't do anything.
The rest of this week is going to be busy with Easter! We have a lot of family things planned. I know there are some Easter egg hunts. Hopefully I will be able to take a lot of pictures and get them posted!

Update

It has been a long time. I actually haven't been online much this week. We have been busy!

Let's start with almost two weeks ago. It was a beautiful Saturday. We thought that we would go to the zoo in Salina. We called Curtis, Sharon, Wilbur, my mom, and Kylie to see if they wanted to go. It was a great day! It was warm....and just a little windy out. Wilbur wanted to hook the trailer to the Durango so they could pick up the swing set that they wanted. We started our afternoon eating lunch a Wendy's. We then went out to Rolling Hills. As we walked into the zoo, Alta started yelling, "POW!" When we looked around we saw what she had seen...the deer and antalope cage. Then she heard the geese that were flying overhead. She started powing them. (She is definitely her daddy's girl!) Then she saw the geese that were on the pond. Everyone was staring.....all we could do was laugh!

After the zoo, we picked up the swing set and headed home. On the way there, the car started making a funny noise. We pulled over and realized that there was something wrong. We went from two vehicles to none in a month. We are lucky that my sister isn't 16 yet, so she won't miss her car that much.......for a few weeks only hopefully......love you Ky! We finally got the engine today.....hopefully it won't take long to get it fixed (and hopefully we can save a lot fast to get the new car....the jeep is done for!).

Saturday we had a wonderful time with family in the KC area. We actually went up to Leavenworth on Friday and spent the night with Courtney and Kelly. We got there in time to eat tacos (which were so yummy!!) and see the end of the KU (I think....it could have been K-State I guess) game. Alta decided that she needed to hitch a ride with Cael on his jeep (walker). He was able to pull her while she was on the back. I would think that would be hard for such a littl guy......I guess he is growing up too fast! I am posting a couple pics at the end of this post....I took them from Kelly's blog.....thanks Kelly! While we were talking, Kelly came out of Cael's room with a T-shirt. She was so excited because it was for his birthday and it said Return of the Jedi (Jedi is Cael's nickname). Travis just got a funny look on his face and I just started laughing. It was the exact same shirt that we had picked out for his birthday present! When we decided it was time to get the kiddos ready for bed, Alta thought that she had to help Aunt Kelly with Cael's bath. It was interesting. When it was time for her bath....we realized we had forgotten ear plugs. Thank goodness they only live a couple blocks from Dillons. We put her down for bed after looking threw all of Cael's pj's.....yes....I forgot to pack pj's too! As Kelly and I decided to join the guys down stairs for a bit I checked on Alta. She had taken off her pj pants and diaper. Travis got duck tape.....and yes.....we duck taped her diaper on. All I could hear was "You know you are a redneck when......" Saturday morning was good too! Breakfast was a little weenie in a cresent roll. The rest of the morning will have to remain a secret for now.....I will update after Easter.

After we left Courtney and Kelly's house we went to my Uncle Kip's house. He hadn't met his great youngest great neice yet. Morgan didn't get to see her though....she had to work :( Madison loved playing with both Alta and KayLynn. Alta found a new best friend. She would carry her anywhere she wanted to go and she had a playroom full of toys.....and Madi let her play with any of them! My grandpa and grandma were there too. They were going to be house sitting for a couple of days. We had a great supper of grilled hamburgers and tots. We got home at 9:30. It was a good trip.....but we are definitely going to make it be a longer trip next time....there was just too much to do in just 24 hours!

We have spent a lot of time out at Sharon and Wilbur's house this week. Travis and Wilbur set up the swing set that they got. They have worked on it a little bit each day. Alta got to play on it today (Thursday) and loved it! On Tuesday, Travis and I went bowling in Concordia. It was a fun time.....at least the second game was. Travis had 5 or 6 strikes in the first game. The score was no where close (I don't even break 100 when I bowl). The second game was close until the 7th frame....he got a strike and I started getting gutter balls! After bowling we got the movie The Time Traveler's Wife. I LOVED IT......even though it is a little sad. Wednesday was a good day too! I went shopping with Sharon and Claudia. We ate lunch a Carlos (thanks Claudia!). It was yummy!!! Today we went grocery shopping. KayLynn and Alta stayed at my mom's house while we were shopping. They love hanging out and playing there. Grandma and Aunt Tuff love it too!

Well....I think I have caught up with everything that has happened the last couple of weeks.

Where did the time go?!?

This has been a crazy week for me! I have realized that my baby baby is already 1 month old!! I can't believe that the time went by so fast! It seems like I just had her! I have 5 more weeks home with her. I think that time is going to be gone before I know it. I need to take her one month pictures.....but now I can understand why there aren't as many baby pictures of my sister. When you have the next baby, you are so busy keeping the older one busy and making the younger one happy, you forget about taking pictures. I am trying to get better about that though. I guess I should take some pictures while I am thinking about it after I blog today.
Alta is growing up too fast also! She is talking (where you can understand it) so much more. Yesterday she was saying that Brody (the baby at daycare) was her sissy too. She wanted to bring him home. I told her that he had to stay at Katrena's and then he would go home with his mommy. She didn't like that. She was just so sure that he was going to come to our house. Last night we went to wrestling in Beliot. The girls went with Travis and Wilbur to see Grandma Hay while I was watching the cheerleaders. Alta loved the birds in the dining hall! After that, they came to the wrestling duel. Alta just thought it was grand to run between her Papa and me on the bleachers. She also loves playing with the Kelly girls. She said she wanted to go home with them last night.....and of course Morgan and Kerrigan said it was okay! I said that she had to come home with us though....I think all the girls were a little sad.
I am excited for the rest of this week! Hopefully tonight we are going to spend some time with some great friends in Concordia. I am so excited for Wade, Linsay, and Lewy!! They are going to have a little girl this summer! I hope KayLynn and their little one will be great friends too! It is fun hanging out with them. Grammy is going to watch the girls on Friday night so Travis and I can have a date night. We haven't gone out for a date for a while. I can't decide what to do.....any suggestions?!? Saturday is going to be a lazy day (hopefully)! I don't think we have anything planned.....and Travis is off....yay!! Then on Sunday we get to eat tacos and play cards at my mom's house!! Last time we tried playing cards, it got too late and Alta was fussy. This time we will have ALL afternoon to beat my mom and sister at cards! Travis and my mom get competitive. I just sit back and relax......though it is AWESOME if I actually beat them :D !!! So, I am going to have a great rest of the week......you should too!!!

Just another day with the family

We have had a wonderful week together so far! Travis was off yesterday and today. He will be off tomorrow also! Yesterday we went to look for a vehicle. The jeep has had it last days we are afraid. There is a company in Salina that has offered us $2000 for it (and they will come get it)! We found a car that we like at their place, but we feel it is still too expensive. We have no idea what to do right now.
Today has definitely been one of those days with the girls! Last night went wonderful with KayLynn! She ate at 8:30 and then stayed awake until 10. She then slept from 10 until 5:30 in the morning!!! It was wonderful......although I did make Travis get up and check on her a couple of times to make sure she was still breathing. The morning was good. Alta went to daycare to play and learn. When she got home, we all laid down for a nap. The "fun" stuff happened then. Sometime during our nap, KayLynn spit up all of her lunch. We didn't hear her and she just went back to sleep. That means that I have no idea how long she was sleeping in her spit up....I felt like a horrible mother! Travis got up (we heard Alta playing) and found that our oldest daughter had pooped in her diaper. Instead of waking us up.....or just leaving her diaper on, she decided to take it off and got poop on her bed, on her floor, and on the doors in her room! So, in short we had to give both girls baths after their naps today! I just went with the flow.....but I think Travis was just a little more.....well......upset. I think he was ready to ship Alta off to boarding school this afternoon.....or at least to a Grandma's house for a LONG time!
We are so looking forward to this weekend! It is state wrestling time! We are not going to Hays this year. We are just going down the road to Salina to watch Courtney coach a few of his boys in the 4A state championship tourniment. KayLynn also gets to meet her Aunt Kelly, Uncle Courtney, and cousin Cael!! We can't wait until they get here......we may get to see Kelly and Cael Thursday night!

WOW

I am feeling much better now!!! I really need to get off the computer and start laundry and cleaning. I don't have much motivation except people are wanting to stop by to see KayLynn. This has been one crazy week!! KayLynn was started on antibiotics on the 6th for eye gunk. Then this last week Alta was sneezing all week. We thought it was just sinus stuff. Well, when she got up from her nap on Friday she looked miserable!!! We called and got a doctor's appointment right away. They said that it was pink eye that started as another infection (probably the runny nose) that got transfered to her eye. So now Alta is on antibiotics also. The good news is that since KayLynn is so young she still has some antibodies from me and being on the other medicine, she shouldn't catch what Alta has. Alta doesn't understand why she can't help with KayLynn right now. It is so sweet how much she loves her baby sister. I hope it always stays this way!!! I know I would do anything for my baby sister!

This is Travis' last week home. I am kind of sad. It has been WONDERFUL having him home. I wish we were independently wealthy so we could just stay at home and watch our girls grow up! I would like to do something special just the four of us.....if anyone has any ideas, let me know!! (We have to do it before Friday though.....)

Here is one of the hospital pictures of KayLynn......

A lot has happened.....

Well, the reason there hasn't been an update in a week is because our lives changed and we were really busy!!

Sunday night was full of contractions. They got to be three minutes apart and were that way for about 1 and 1/2 hours. We finally decided to call Sharon to come into town and stay with Alta. We went to the hospital. I got hooked up to the monitors and they were still about every 2 to 3 minutes apart. The nurse asked me what I was dialated to and I told her that Dr. Johnston said a 2 on Friday. The nurse said that I was only at a one. I didn't realize that I could go backwards...haha! Dr. Prendergast was on call last weekend. He said to go ahead and keep me there since we live out of town and he would come in and check on me later that morning (we got to the hospital at midnight). He said that if I didn't progress, they were going to send me home to wait it out some more. Doc came in about 9 on Monday and said that I was dialated to a 2. We were going to have a baby in 45 minutes. I didn't believe that it was happening that fast. I said only 45 minutes.....and the doctor replied that I could wait and be miserable all day and he could do the c-section that night.

Well, they got me going and got all the paperwork signed. KayLynn Grace made her appearence at 10:41 am February 1, 2010. She weighed 7 lbs, 1 oz and was 19 inches long. The c-section went TONS better this time!!! I was awake the whole time. I got to see my littlest girl right after and hold her on my chest.

The recovery has been a rough one. When they put in the spinal block for the c-section, they puncture the sack in your spine. In 99% of cases, that is no big deal. I happened to be in the 1% though. Spinal fluid can leak and cause a nasty headache. I don't like needles....especially in my back. They had given me two options: a blood patch or IV caffeene. I chose the caffeene. They said it works 50% of the time. Well, I wasn't in that 50% so I ended up having the blood patch done. It hurts.....I wouldn't wish that anyone would have to have one done! The blood patch is supposed to work 98% of the time. Well, it worked for about 24 hours. I had gone home and woke up on Friday with a headache that made me throw up everytime I sat up. I went to my doctor's appointment to get my staples out. Dr. Prendergast sent us to get another blood patch done. They say this one is supposed to work. I have been doing a little better. I can now sit up and not have a headache. I still can't walk around without my back hurting, but at least I don't have a horrible headache all the time!

Enough about me.....everyone else is doing wonderful!!! KayLynn is beautiful! She looks so much like her big sister did when she was born...pictures comming soon. She is a great baby, eating well and sleeping well. She has a dimple on her right side just like Alta.

Alta is a proud big sister. She is so excited to have a baby living with us. At the hospital Grammie(Sharon) let her use the digital camera to take a picture by her self. The picture only got the top of KayLynn's head and the bottom of my head. Grammie and Grandma(Cindy) went to get the pictures printed. They printed Alta some of her very own. She was so excited to be able to show off pictures of her baby sister, especially the picture that she took all by her self. The other night Alta was mad that we made her go to bed without letting her kiss KayLynn goodnight becasue KayLynn was already sleeping. Just after we got Alta tucked in KayLynn woke up crying because she was hungry. We could hear Alta crying in her room Travis went in to check on her and all she would say is "baby". We ended up having to bring her out and show her that KayLynn was alright that I was holding her before she would settle down. She is going to be a very protective big sister. Alta got a big sister present of a pictur album and she carries it all the time showing off pictures of "her baby".

Wow....where did the time go?

Another week has come and gone! I can't believe how fast it went. Well, here it is the last day of January and KayLynn still isn't here. I think that she has decided that because we wouldn't let her come when she wanted to (back in December), she is going to stick it out for a while! She would get that stubborness from her daddy.....I would never be that stubborn!

Here is an update from the doctor's appointment on Friday. She says that I am still at a 2, but now I am 60% effaced. During lunch on Friday, the teachers were telling me that if I left everything that afternoon (the blanket and coming home outfit were on the bench in the house and the carseat wasn't in yet), the doctor would say that it was time to go in and have her. Well, I got to thinking about what they were saying and I got nervous. I had Travis put the carseat in the car and we got the outfit and blanket in the bag (which was already in the car). Needless to say, doc said we weren't ready. Oh well! I will say that now I think she will be here on Wednesday. Part of Trav's Christmas present was to get to go hunting with one of the other troopers (Wade). Wade's dad has birds that he raises and lets people hunt. Well, we thought that they were going to go up there later in February. Things have changed so they are going this week on Wednesday.

Alta is doing great! She was a little stinker today.....literally! I was taking a nap when she was taking a nap. Travis came home from work to find that she had woken up. She had also taken off her poopy diaper. The good thing was she was confined. We have her playpen up in her room and she has been wanting to take naps in it. Travis was a trooper.......no pun intended:P.....and got it all cleaned up and got Alta cleaned up....and let me finish my nap! What a sweetheart! We built her a mii on the wii today. She loves getting on the wii fit and playing the skiing game and the marble game.

Well, maybe in a few days we will have a post that says KayLynn is here!

One Day Closer.....

I can't believe another week has gone by!! It seems (now) that it went by fast! We had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I am finally off my medicine. That means that she could come any day now! Even with being on the medicine this last week, I dialated to a 1+ if not a 2!! I hope that means that these contractions that I have been having are getting me closer....two and half hours last night of contractions.

I think Alta is getting ready. This morning I didn't say anything to her and she came up and gave my belly a kiss. She is a sweet big sister!! I can't wait to find out what KayLynn looks like. Is she going to look just like her sister or are they going to be opposites? I have always imagined that my kids will be ones that everyone could tell they were siblings. Kylie made the comment last night that she hoped that KayLynn looked like Travis, that way one of our children looked like him and then one looked like me. Then she decided she didn't know if that would be fair to KayLynn (haha.....I thought that was hilarous!) so she was trying to convince me that we needed to try again for a boy.....that way the girls could look like me and the boy(s) could look like him. I think she really likes being an aunt!!!

Hopefully the next post will be an announcement about KayLynn joining our family at last....if not, that is God's will......we just want her here healthy!

Update

So I am finally getting an update in here. It has been a busy week around our house!!!

Tuesday we went to Salina so Alta could get her bangs cut again. She is looking so much older!! I can't believe she isn't my little baby anymore!!! (Though she will always be my baby in my heart!) After that we went errand running.

Wednesday evening was nice. After practice, we had our friends from Concordia come down to eat supper and hang out for a while. Wade and Linsay's little boy is Lewy. He is four years old. He tried to play with Alta, but she didn't want to share her toys. The funniest thing though, was when they left she kept asking "Where's OOO-eeee? (Lewy)" We heard that for the rest of the evening while getting ready for bed. Then we heard it the next day too!

Thursday was a busy day too! We went to Salina for our doctor's appointment. She has decided that I should take my medicine for another week. If KayLynn decides to come earlier than that though, she (doc) said that she (KayLynn) won't have any premie problems. I am so excited!!! After our doctor's appointment Travis and I went shopping (Alta was at great grandma's house taking a nap) and we got some Big Girl panties for her. The only problem I ran into is the panties that have the plastic liner on it are like 3 times the size of her butt....and that was size 2T! (If anyone can find size 18 or 24 mo. panties....let me know!) This is going to be a HUGE step in our potty training process. I hope she does well with it!
That evening we went over to Mom's house for my brother's birthday supper. I can't believe he is already 18!!! It feels like it was just yesterday that I left for college and he was starting middle school! We got him this toxic candy stuff that is supposed to be really sour. It actually has a serious warning about not putting more than one in your mouth at a time because it can cause irritation! He was able to keep it in his mouth and eat it all in 1 min and 20 sec! He is crazy....I don't know where he gets it because the rest of us don't like that sour of things!

I felt like all I did today at school was go to meetings (which is what happens when you only work 1/2 days)! Today was Travis' first day back from his weekend. He is working the late night shift, so Alta and I went to wrestling. The Lions beat Ellsworth 53-0 in team points.....woohoo!!! Alta got a pompom that the cheerleaders were handing out filled with candy. Oh...she liked that! She ate all the candy. Now we are at home watching 8 below. She asked so nicely for a movie. I said which one....and she said dogs! She is just getting so big!

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day again. I don't know if I will post (I will try if I feel up to it). The jr. high basketball player have their last tourniment in Ellsworth. I will only go to one or two of the games (that is about the longest I can handle sitting on gym bleachers right now).

Short Post

Well, today is going to be a short post. I am home from school for the afternoon. I am going to rest before tonight's basketball game. I think that I am definitely ready to have this little girl! I can't believe that we have only 28 days at the most! Where has the time gone?
Travis and I were just noticing last night that Alta was getting so big. She just looked more mature and older for some reason. She is just wanting to do things on her own. We are finally getting her to talk more! I am so excited about that. I was worried there for a while. She asks for help, more, and juice. She also tells us that she has to go potty (which means that she has just gone in her pants.....)!
Well, I guess that it is time for me to rest for the afternoon!

Again

So here I am again blogging!!! My husband is going to be so proud of me! The thing is, he knows how to get on here and blog just as much as I do.....so, if for some reason it isn't updated as often...it isn't just my fault:P!

Today was not the best day. I had a meeting at school and almost passed out in the office. Thanks to caring co-workers, I was sent home for the day (instead of just the afternoon). I had a pain in my back that didn't allow me to get comfortable at all. I checked with my OB and she said that it would be alright for me to see my chiropractor. He was able to help a little bit. He told me some stretches to do to help reduce the pain and hopefully get my back in better alignment. He also said that massaging the area will help.....I told Travis that if he didn't believe it, go to the back and ask the doc!!!

Alta was so cute tonight. She was getting tired and wanted to play with my hair when sitting on my lap. The only problem was I had it in a ponytail. It didn't matter that I was playing cards, she wanted my head turned so she could run her fingers through my hair! I love it when she is cuddly!!!

Well, I am going to head off to bed to get some rest. Hopefully I will get enough to be able to get work done around the house tomorrow!!!

Snow Day

Today we had a snow day. It was great to spend the whole day with Alta! Travis had to work, but it sounds like nothing big happened. Alta and I slept in until 8 this morning. Then we played for a bit. Alta started acting all cuddly, so I asked her if she wanted to take a nap. She said yes. I let her nap in our bed today (that almost never happens). I thought she would sleep on Trav's side of the bed....oh I was wrong!!! She had to be on my pillow. Before she would lay down though, she kept crawling under the covers. I couldn't figure it out. I would tell her to get out and lay down. She would pop her head out of the covers and look at me funny. When I finally decided to just lay down myself, I figured it out. She was looking for my belly. She gave KayLynn a kiss and a hug, got her head out of the covers and laid down on the pillow. I thought it was ADORABLE!!! She is going to be a wonderful big sister!

Tonight we braved the cold for a few minutes and went to Sharon and Wilbur's house for supper and cards. We picked up Papa Mel on the way there. Whenever we go by Melvin's house, Alta will say Papa, then we go by the high school and she says Ball, and when we get to Sharon and Wilbur's she starts saying Papa! Tell me she isn't a smart girl!!! She knows exactly where we go and what we do there!

I have one week before my next doctor's appointment. Part of me is hoping that after that appointment, when they take me off the medicine, KayLynn is going to decide to come on her own a little bit early.

Well, I am hoping that the wind chill might be too cold and they will call of school again in the morning.....we will see!

Trying Again

So, I am going to try this whole blogging thing again. On the last blog, I only posted a hand-full of times. I realized that the last time I posted....it was July of 07!!! Wow!!! That was 2.5 years ago. Let's see if I can keep this one actually updated.

Starting from where I left off.......

Travis graduated from the Kansas Highway Patrol academy in November of 2007. He has been working for them ever since. He likes his job (most days) because it takes him to different places each day. He doesn't like to spend time in the office working on paperwork though (does that really surprise anyone?).

I student taught in the fall of 2007. Right before I started my semester of student teaching, I found out that I was pregnant. I completed my student teaching at Southeast of Saline. I had a great time with both the teachers I worked with!!! It was great fun! I then graduated in December of 2007. I walked across the stage in May of 2008. I had all my family there with me. I was the second of the family to graduate from college!

We welcomed our daughter, Alta Joy, into our lives on April 12, 2008. She is named after her great-great grandma. We got some 5 generation pictures for Alta. She has been growing like a weed ever since!!! She is now 21 months old and is just like her Daddy!!! When she sees a bird in the sky, she says "POW!!!" She is very opinionated and stubborn. Alta is also very independent! If she wants to do something on her own.....you better let her or she is not a happy camper. We have a power struggle on most days......but for some reason, I am not surprised at all by that!!!

We are getting ready to welcome our second baby. The doctor has told us a girl, but Grandma Hoard thinks a boy..... We have a girl name picked out. It is KayLynn Grace. His mom's middle name is Kay and my mom's middle name is Lynn, so she is going to be named after her grandmas!! We have our c-section scheduled for February 8th. If she decides to come earlier, that is okay with me....as long as she is healthy!!!

I think that pretty much brings us up to date! Hopefully I will get this thing up and running and keep it that way!