Mama likes:

I loved movies this summer. Kyla accompanied me to Harry and The Proposal, but Daddy and I got a date night with they hysterical The Hangover. Loved it. I also was able to enjoy Julie & Julia with my childhood friend, Jess, in Duluth (delightful!), and last weekend, The Time Traveler's Wife with Courtney and her friends. I knew The Time Traveler's Wife was iffy- as I loved this book. Usually, I read books and love them, and the movie always feels so distant and shallow, due to the lack of emotions that you feel while reading a book. This was the case for this movie- I felt like I was observing it abut not really enjoying it, if that makes any sense. In any case, if you hadn't read the book, I felt it was a pretty good movie, but again, the book was 100% better in my "book".
I think the best part about coming home from 2 of these movies listed above was Keifer meeting me at the door upon my arrival home, taking my face in her hands, and asking me, "mama, you have fun? You have fun with your friends?". Ahh, yes, baby, I did have fun! Yep, our girl is very into "did you have fun" or "I had fun today, mama!" when we've had a play date that day. My heart sings with joy when she does this! She is too cute.

I'm excited for All About Steve, and hope that is as good as it looks (aka funny), as I now have a huge crush on Bradley Cooper (blush).

I fell in love with cheesy Lifetime movies this summer; many a day, Kyla and I sat together and watched, and this was also true with Live with Regis and Kelly. Huge blushing going on here.

I am almost complete with my 50 book challenge thanks to wonderful, engrossing mysteries by Tess Gerritsen, Karin Slaughter, and other great recommendations from magazines aplenty. I just finished The Help and highly recommend that book to anyone. I find time to read when CJ is driving us somewhere, when I'm in the bathroom (even brushing my teeth!), and before bed, once the girls are settled down.

I was able to finally shop a Trader Joe's here in St Paul- it's on our route home from Baby Ballroom (which K1 and I still attend on Monday nights). Keifer and I fell in love with their mild fresh salsa - the best store bought salsa ever, in my opinion. I also love their honey wheat pretzel sticks and Keifer loves their mango apricot yogurt! Yum.

I've been trying very hard to get back on the workout bandwagon this summer, after finally healing from my Csection. I'm getting back into some good work out routines, and the weight is finally budging, thank goodness. I'm still in that battle of hating the scale, but trying to remember I just had a baby and my body/hips have changed (for the better! I had a baby! Two , in fact!). I met with a personal trainer again last week - a friend of my coworker's - whom I met with last summer and last Fall for a regimen. I love Heather. She evaluated me and came up with some finding that were very interesting about my lower body, and set up a workout routine that builds strength into my body and helps budge that weight.

Apparently, my knees (which have always been awful thanks to Dance line in high school- those knee drops were killers!), are not "tracking' when I do squats like they are supposed to. Not surprisingly, I often have knee pain. Heather also discovered my right side glute is "weak"- it doesn't give my body any support, so when I try to do things with just my right leg, I get all tippy/wobbly and fall over.

Heather came up with an intense strength building workout that also tones muscles, and works on my core and arms. I love her. With this workout alone, I am burning tons of calories and feel like I'm actually doing something to my body for the better. If you are able to meet even one time with a personal trainer (especially on with a degree in it) I recommend it. The best $50 I have ever spent on myself this summer! So, I'm hoping to get back into the size 10 jeans I was wearing pre-PG with Kyla last Fall!

And sadly, I return to the work force tomorrow. I had thought I was OK with it, knowing that Kyla will be in wonderful hands with Elaine, and having big sissy there to watch over her and report about her day. However, I'm once again feeling so sick to my stomach. I had the same feelings when Keifer started daycare. All my love goes into these girls and not being to be with them every day all day is going to be so hard. I just hope I don't throw up in my mouth like I did the day I dropped Keifer off for the first time. Uggg. Work is a good thing- I enjoy my job and helping children and families improve on their skills, etc., but really, the real work is at home, right? *sigh*. Already I'm excited for NEXT summer, when we can really have a great time and do more fun things as a family!

Keifer-isms

I apologize about the seemingly run-on paragraphs. I had this all spaced out, but apparently am not able to "publish" this without it all clumping together. SO SORRY


It's been awhile since I've updated on our Keifer girl- other than the millions of pictures and mini-stories I've posted about our summer get togethers.

Our girl is a highly intelligent (in our opinion- smile) girl who is able to carry on simple conversations with us, and is constantly amazing us with her thoughts and reflections on her day to day life.

She also is in the prime time of her "terrible 2's" period, in which everything is turned into a dramatic situation, and she will change her mind 2-3 times in a period of 2 minutes. It's crazy, it really is. I feel like this little child is like my best friend most of the time- in what we talk about and all the hugs and kisses we share, and in a flash, I can be fighting with her tooth-and-nail about the most mundane thing in the world. She is very dramatic- as I've mentioned many times before, and tears can be produced at the drop of a pin.

Keifer girl loves her baby sister to pieces still, but is still unsure about how to be gentle around her or with her. She likes to play wheels on the bus with Kyla's legs, but will forget how gentle to be and ends up dragging Kyla's body and attempting to lift her little head off the ground. When tickling Kyla the other day to make her laugh, I realized after the fact that our girl thinks that PUSHING on her baby sister's tummy is the appropriate thing to do to make her laugh. So no, we don't leave her alone with Kyla, not for an instant.

When discussing going to visit Great Grandma Hanson in Duluth, Keifer remembered from 2 months previous that Grandma had a cat. "The cat bite me" she told me, when in reality, the cat and her never got anywhere near each other. "I 'cared of the cat" she repeated to me, over and over, until it was the theme of the evening ("I scared of the cat"). The next day, as we visited Grandma and saw the actual cat, things went just fine. She still (one month later) will mention the cat at Great Grandma's house out of the blue.

"Mama, this rock music? Dance, mama!" our girl rocks her head back and forth in the back seat, and loves to dance with her whole body to any type of music.

One day, Styx was on the radio Come Sail Away. Keifer had never heard that song before, yet she told me, from the back seat, "mama, that's my favorite!'

She is infatuated with the Imagination Movers, and especially their song Shakable You. She even sings it to Kyla- "Shakable Kyla" is what she says, and attempts to shake Kyla's arms.

For a phase, our girl was into shaking her own powder onto her bum. She literally shook it with all her might, and for weeks, we had powder remnants all over the bed and her body.

When in Duluth, she spilled some milk on the floor of Nana's kitchen, and proceeded to attempt to JUMP in the milk. No, honey, it's not a puddle.

When going to bed at night, we tell her to close her eyes and mouth and to rest her body for the next day. We typically get Keifer telling us "I can't - it's too heavy!" I'm not sure if she means her eyes are too heavy, or it's too difficult, but either way, it's pretty funny.

She is also going through a "I'm scared" phase at night. The other night, she told me she had to close her bedroom door: "I don't want monsters to come get me!" Monsters? Where did she get that? She also mentions to me that she doesn't want "whales to come eat me up" after we read the book I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean that day, and doesn't want Dinosaurs to come get her when we listen to the Laurie Berkner's We Are The Dinosaurs.

I wonder if she has night terrors or nightmares, as her imagination is becoming so vivid and we read so many books. She wakes up about one time per night, and half the time, she is either crying hard or occasionally, she is screaming for us. It worries me.

On potty training: we aren't as far as I had hoped we would be. Keifer goes in spurts of going on the potty *pee pee* really well for Elaine or myself, or her Nana Dian, but is inconsistent and isn't interested in poo'ing on the potty, in fact, she seems scared of it. I attribute that to her constipation issues and fear of it hurting.

When she does go potty, she gets an M&M, and of course, she gets to pick the colors. She is my little shadow throughout the day, and especially when I have to go potty. She is very interested in what I've done, "mama, you poop? Mama, you pee pee?", and we have to look at it when we're done, because the few times she's pooped, we look at it. We then say goodbye to the excrement, and I get told, "good job, mama, I SO proud of you! You get M!" I'm so thrilled that I have a little supporter when I go potty- now if SHE would be the one going!

Hair is always an issue. Some days, I'm able to comb and make her hair "pretty" and she'll pick out the rubber bands and bow barrettes - some days 4 bows at once! This day, she wanted 3 ponies, I convinced her 2 were OK, and when I did this style, she looked in the mirror and said "Mama, I look like a bunny rabbit!"

We are always hearing about how Keifer "doesn't like it' or "doesn't want it", especially when eating. The girl could eat an entire plate of food (and she can eat whole cans of soup or whole cans or mini-ravioli's), and suddenly "I don't like it!". We try to remind her that she does like it, she is just "done" eating and is full. Apparently she has difficulty when realizing being done isn't the same as not liking something.

She also doesn't like "yellow' when we have sandwiches. Ahh, yes, MUSTARD! "I don't like yellow, mama, no yellow".

Keifer is very in tune with what mama or daddy drinks or eats,and every time she goes to Target with CJ (not me, but CJ) and if they buy me my Tazo Chai tea, she tells me, "Mama, I got your tea"! I go to Target and get your tea!" One night, as I rocked her, she reminded me out of the blue that she had bought my tea (days ago), and that daddy drank coffee, and so did Papa Dale and Nana Dian. If fact, "Papa got Nana her coffee!". I asked Nana Dian about it, and this was true- Papa had gotten Nana her coffee that day, as it was her birthday. Keifer also accompanied Papa and Nana to Nana' favorite, "The Cracker Barrel" (where Keifer loves to dip green beans in ketchup), and she told the waitress herself it was her Nana's birthday (it was) and they had "strawberry cake!" (strawberry shortcake). Keifer loves the Cracker Barrel, as that is the "checkers" place: on their porch, they have checkers set up and K1 loves to play them with Papa.

Keifer loves our neighborhood Mexican restaurant Teresa's and waves hello to it whenever we pass by driving. She is able to order her own meal there, her usual: cheese quesadilla and rice! She also knows that she gets a balloon when we leave Teresa's, and she knows where the children's menus and crayons are located. On more than one occasion, she'll walk into the place, and walk right to the cupboard and pick out her own crayons and menu. Ahh, a little precocious?

Mispronunciations:

elevator= alligator

meatballs=feetballs

And the best: McDonald's is "Old McDonalds", in which she also breaks into the song by the same name. Papa Jim took her and cousin Abby to McDonald's play land months ago, and she still talks about this when we drive by (we live near a McDonald's). She talks about Papa and Abby going there, and how Old McDonald's is now "shut"- and then she slaps her hands together like doors shutting closed, because Papa told her McDonald's play land was "shut" the next day, instead of visiting there again. Hee hee.

Grammar is coming along: the other day, she told me "I eat those french fries all!" (aka "I ate all my french fries!"

K1 loves her baths (usually) and loves to float on her back and get her hair all wet. She freaks me out when she does this, for some reason, but we're always there watching, so nothing will happen. This time, she was telling me "No, Mama, no pictures!" as you can tell by her stern look. But then she livened up for me! And as you can see, the girl loves her tats! (tattoos)

Feeding therapy

At our last doctor visit- for Kyla's weight check- our Pediatrician suggested we look into some feeding therapy for our angel girl. At 3 months, Kyla has proved to be a very fussy eater and has been very inconsistent with the amount of formula she drinks at a time. Consequently, her sleep and mood has been affected and as for a schedule, well, we don't have one for her.

I took her this past week to visit a Pediatric Occupational Therapist. She was a younger girl, who said she used to work at the Children's hospital, and was the only one in our Health Care system that had any experience with feeding issues in infants. I was so happy to have had her evaluate Kyla! She felt around inside Kyla's mouth - her cheeks, her tongue, her palate. She attempted to have our girl suck on her finger, to try and get a sense of how her sucking was. She was able to see that Kyla gags at times when things are in her mouth. The OT mentioned that Kyla appeared to have a high palate, but that that typically wouldn't be cause for concern. However, because our girl had issues getting a good suck on the nipple of the bottle, that might have been a contributing factor to her eating issues. She also mentioned Kyla's upper lip appeared tighter than usual. She approved of our bottle choice- we use Medala bottles- and we discussed nipples and sizes (flow). We have been using a size 2 nipple- as the size 1 nipple (least amount of flow- was too much work for Kyla to get anything out of. The size 2 appeared to agree with her; initially, she was choking on the flow, but has gotten used to this. She only chokes if she gets too excited and tries to eat too much at once.

The OT then showed me how to first give Kyla some input by doing a simple stretching-type exercise with her upper lip. We're to do this previous to feedings each time. Then, we have a new way of feeding our girl. We hold the bottle in the same hand that we are supporting Kyla on our arm (so left arm holding her, left arm comes around to hold bottle). Then, with our right hand, we squeeze her cheeks along the jaw line and put our middle finger under her chin for support. All this manipulation makes our girl look like a chubby faced chipmunk, but immediately, Kyla had a better latch on the bottle and was able to suck down 5 ounces in no time at all! It was amazing!

I stopped at Daycare/Elaine's to show Elaine how to do this at feeding times - looking like an octopus in my opinion- and to go over the lip stretching exercises as well.

Since then, Kyla has dramatically improved her eating- she is taking in much more quantity at a time, and is sleeping for longer periods of time. On Friday night, she slept from 9PM to 5AM! Unbelievable! This didn't happen last night, but she is sleeping better - napping wise. She is also suddenly MORE alert and is cooing and attempting to interact with us so much more. I'm not sure if that is because of more food in her system, but it sure does coincide with the better eating. She even had her first belly laughs the other day, and is such a happy girl all the time!

We'll be going back to visit the doctor in a month to have her re-evaluate Kyla's progress and mouth and see what happens after that.

Bumbo girl

I stuck Kyla in the Bumbo chair today- not knowing for sure if she could do it. She's a little tippy still-that neck control is still in development, but boy did she enjoy it! She immediately lit up with her huge, lopsided 1-dimple grin and cooed and giggled at mama. I can't wait until she is more steady and we can play with her while she sits up! She was just a little peanut not that long ago and already, it's almost Bumbo time! *sigh*

Just for fun- here is a flashback to our Keifer girl- she was 2 months old when we started her in the Bumbo- which is around where Kyla is developmentally, so I guess that makes them pretty even! What is so cute - Keifer had a crooked smile as well- only the opposite direction! I think you'll be able to tell they are siblings! Whaddya think? It is pretty clear to see, though, that Keifer was a monster girl at her age already- Kyla is so tiny looking! HA! We'll see how long that lasts!

She laughs!

Kyla's first time belly laughing- and of course, it had to be at her silly older sissy- who was also hamming it up for the camera! There is NO better sound in the world.......


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Happy Belated 3 Months to my Baby Girl: K2

Kyla Whitney turned 3 months old last Wednesday, August 19. Yes, I admit to being a huge slacker on getting her 3 month photo shoot up here and yes, I admit to slacking after not posting her stats after her weight check last Friday. Oye. Life with two little ones is still a big adjustment and it is very tricky for me; me, who used to be so neat and clean and anal about my house being tidy and chores DONE- to have clothes piled up to be folded and put away; to have dishes stacked in the sink to be cleaned or put in the dishwasher, and to have stains on the carpet and marker on the dining table and spit up or formula on the couch. I love my life and wouldn't change a thing- but maybe I'd add more time to the day to get things DONE so that I can not feel guilty when people come over and the toys make my house look like a slop pile. Oh well, I'm learning to let those things go because my girls are number 1 and I love our time together - regardless of how the house looks.

Anyhoo.......enough about the slacking. Kyla turned 3 months and she is as lovely as her name implies (reminder: Kyla means "lovely" in Hebrew). She is smiling more frequently and really seems to hone in on my whenever I am in her eyesight or within hearing radius. She smiles and coos and is just beginning to do that "gurgle" coo thing in the back of her throat. She especially loves to gurgle at her star on the play mat that she has- the same play mat that Keifer also enjoyed so much. I named the star on the mat "Mr. Star" and again, Mr. Star has shown his talents in entertaining my girls. Kyla loves to talk to Mr. Star and admires his smiley face and fun musical melody. She is beginning to occasionally smile so big and laugh silently when we make our funny faces at her, and she opens her mouth wide open when she does this- similar to Keifer at that age.


We (Keifer and I) took Kyla into the Doctor last Friday for a weight check. She is tipping the scales at 11 lbs, 12 ounces, and is on the girl's growth chart - the regular chart, not the preemie chart. The doctor was pleased with her weight gain, but we talked about Kyla's eating skills, and we decided to pursue some Feeding Therapy with a Professional (most likely Occupational Therapist) trained in eating issues like Kyla has. Because she was a preemie and didn't want to suck (or could suck) for 17 days of her early life, she has some habits that are difficult for her to break. She is very inconsistent about eating /drinking her bottles, and it can be very frustrating not knowing how much she will eat in a given feeding session. Most babies at her age are starting to eat more and of course, consistently: Kyla will fuss and maybe eat an ounce and fall asleep on us, only to wake up an hour later and want more food, but then fuss around and play with the nipple in her mouth and sometimes gag on the nipple. It can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 minutes for her to finish one bottle- definitely not normal. Like I said, it can be frustrating. She starts Daycare at Elaine's on Monday, and when Elaine asked me what her eating schedule is, I couldn't even tell her because I don't even know!

So we're hoping our girl gets her suck, swallow, breathe reflex down a little better and improves on this, because it will also help her sleep for longer stints throughout the night. At this point, she is going down to bed around 9-10PM and waking up around 2 or 3 AM, when she will chug a bottle and then sleep until 6 or 7AM. It's not a bad schedule, but it would be good for HER to have longer stints of sleep in the long run.

Keifer practicing her photographer skills on a willing subject: Get ready for your close-up, Kyla! Wondering what all the bright, flashing lights are all about- and kicking it in mommy's favorite 0-3 month puppy shoes! The 3 month photo session begins: Ohhh, something to look at! Yeah, that smile just makes my heart melt like butter in a hot pan! This one looks like she's dancing Oh, so pretty! "Who, me? Not eat? Never!" And just because, I took out this outfit that Keifer had worn at 1 1/2 months of age, and Kyla is fitting into it! She looks so chubby in the face in this picture- I love it! Get chubby, girl!

And the following 2 pictures are of KEIFER in the same outfit: notice how the two girls resemble each other JUST A LITTLE BIT? LOL

Wordless Wednesday Part 2: When Sweet & Sour sauce attacks

Wordless Wednesday: Hey, who turned out the lights?

Admiring Kyla

This summer, many people loved on our baby girl. I thought I'd share some of the faces of the friends and family who doted on our sweet angel girl this summer- as you can tell, in most of them, Kyla was beyond thrilled! LOL Hopefully that is changing, as she is becoming more interested in people and their faces these days!

Tonia (mama to be again) in Duluth, meeting Kyla for the first time

Taryn loving on our girl- Taryn, as in my friend the card maker :)Julie being reunited with our girl

My cousin's wife, Erin, who is newly PG herself! YAY! Due on Valentine's Day!

Papa and his littlest girlAuntie Annie cooing to Kyla

Another big fan: Auntie Jeanne

Cousin Aubrie was over-the-moon excited to FINALLY meet this little peanut- she laughed because she is called "peanut" by her mom, so another peanut in the family was intriguing to her!

Cousin Abby is always ready to give some loves!
Good friend Missy, also a mama-to-be again, takes a turn with our girl

MN mommies GTG!

A few weeks back, I was able to enjoy a day trip out to my good friend Faye's family cabin. Faye moved to Iowa a few years back, so it's been hard to reconnect other than through the computer these days, with all of our families expanding. I left Keifer in daycare, and packed up my littlest angel girl, and followed my friend Missy with her two girls out West. We arrived and spent 4 1/2 glorious hours with Faye and her boys and her family. With these friends, it's always as if time stands still (other than our kids growing and changing). I can talk to them about anything and I love them so much!

Faye holding Ryan, Jack, me holding Kyla, Missy with her girls Macy and Madysen

Kyla's first boat ride! I don't even think Keifer has been on a boat yet! She chose to snooze through it!

Cruising...on a Thursday afternoon....Macy, Mady, me, Kyla and Missy
Then, previous to that, I spent a long weekend in Duluth with my family and friends. I was able to also get together with my message board Mommy friends, and again, these friends are great- we're able to all get together and talk about anything- in between chasing kids and (for ME), stopping 2 year olds from grabbing toys and hitting/swatting! (*sigh*) LOL

Tonia with her girls, me and Keifer, Taryn and Camryn, Julie holding Kyla and her Holland at her feet
Holland loves our baby girl

Miss Evelyn loved doting on Kyla- here she was going to kiss her (not swing at her! LOL)

Keifer and Evelyn are both 2 and enjoyed each other when they were able to do their own thing! I love this- are they discussing life as they know it?

The kids line up - minus.....Keifer! HA!
There she was-not wanting to do anything she didn't HAVE to do!

The "littles' eat lunch in the kitchen!

Girls, girls, girl.......friends

I'm trying to keep you posted on what we've been doing with the girls and our friends this summer, but time gets away from me, and already it's the end of August, and I have so many pictures to share, and stories to tell, but I'll try to keep it somewhat abbreviated.

August 1, CJ and I packed the girls up and drove North to my friend Jen's daughter Sloan's 3rd birthday party. Keifer had a ball, as the theme was "Carnival" and Jen went all out with toys, games and pools for the mass of kids to enjoy.

Here are the reunited mommies, which doesn't happen very often.

Beth, Jen (due in September with girl #2), me w/my Kyla in the sling, and Lori.

Keifer after she had her face painted- she picked out the heart all by herself, but didn't sit still long enough for the rainbow.

Cooling off in the pool- and mommy told her to keep her dress dry! The jumper was a sure hit with all the kids- we had to monitor Keifer, as she likes to swat at kids who get too close to her. Ahh, the joys of my particular 2 year old! Here she is with Lori's Isla.

Beth's daughter's Nina and Reya on the teeter totter with Keifer!

The line up! Keifer with Kyla, Nina, Reya, Isla & Sloan
Notice Keifer shoving Nina aside? "Don't touch my sister!"

Previously, in July, me and my girls packed up and drove up to my friend Michelle's (of my ECSE freinds crew) to meet up at Michelle's new home, and have lunch with their kids. We have 10 kids between us all - 9 of which are girls! Whew. Another girlie crew. We try to get together whenever we can, since we are all living within 2 hours of each other either way. Keifer had a blast exploring the new house and just watching the older girls do their "girl" things. She still wasn't interacting as in "playing" together with any of the kids, but that is her age, and she had fun while she was there. Kyla hung out and enjoyed being held and googled at.

The girls eating lunch, and Miss Keifer without a shirt- Mama knows better some days then to keep her clothes on! HA!

Louise loving on Kyla.

The girls having a dance party in the basement.

Keifer trying on Natalie's tap shoes.

Allison is the eldest and most apt to hold Kyla at this point!

Avery & Keifer were best pals (when they weren't being 2 year olds and fighting over toys,etc. LOL) Here they were last summer, and now they are getting SO BIG!!
So sad to me that they grow so fast! The attempt at a kid line - up -which, of course, my daughter Keifer refused to be a part of. As did Jerry, the lone boy!