Gobble Gobble Turkey, you look so good

It is SO fun to be in the house with a 2 year old who is starting to "get" holidays! For the past few weeks, Keifer has been singing Turkey/Thanksgiving songs that she has learned at Elaine's house and brining home a multitude of art projects revolving around turkeys and pilgrims! It's been SO fun, and now we are beginning to teach her about Baby Jesus and his birthday (Christmas) as well as Santa.....quite the mix, but she's starting to take a real interest in it all.
We had prepped her that for Thanksgiving, we were traveling up to Nana and Papa's house for the weekend. She was beyond thrilled to be leaving, so on Thursday AM, she woke up bright and early, and was ready to put her shoes on to leave by 7AM. It took CJ and I quite the extended amount of time to pack the car, as we now have 2 kids, 2 dogs, and plenty of gear to take with us. And that's with my parents having a lot of the things we need already at their house!
We got there in time for Thanksgiving dinner. We were joined by my Aunt Barb, my cousin Becky, her daughter, Aubrie, my brother Darren, his girlfriend, and her son, Wyatt. Wyatt is exactly one year older than Keifer (to the DAY! Same birthday), and Keifer was also dancing for joy to be able to finally meet Wyatt,after hearing about him for weeks. She had been calling Wyatt (for pretend) on her cell phones to tell him they were going to play together.
Whew. It went off without a hitch, and Keifer was in great jacked-up spirits as she ran around, screeching after Wyatt and her older cousin, Aubrie. Kyla was as sweet and cuddley as ever, taking in the sights and sounds and refusing to nap for us - I think she was also too jacked up!

Our latest blessing modeling her turkey bib!

Big hugs to greet Papa Dale

Pilgrim Keifer- she made pilgrim hats for her and her cousins/Wyatt, as well as the napkin rings at Elaine's house! She was so excited to share her art work!

The pilgrims waiting to share their Thanksgiving meal together!

Isn't this true of all families? A baby arrives, and suddenly, all the kids swarm around that child, each wanting to tug and pull on said baby, and get the most attention from it? Poor Kyla- but she handled this well-giving plenty of gummy smiles to all ! Keifer had to step in and remind everyone whose sister Kyla was! *hurmpf*

Auntie feeding Kyla- so Wyatt and Aubrie had to help. How many hands does it take to feed one baby a bottle? Hmmm....

My late Grandpa (Papa)'s best friend Ted is an adopted member of our family, as his wife passed away 2 years ago, and my Papa was his family. He joins Auntie and the kids on the couch. Here, Keifer is deciding to join in on pictures, hence the back of her melon head.
Wyatt was taking his turn on the piano, while Keifer danced circles around him (literally)! These two had quite the time *sharing* the piano!

Cousins! Or, as Aubrie calls them, 'sisters' Aubrie & Keifer pretending to go to sleep in Keifer's newly converted big girl bed. They thought they were so funny!

Smiley Snowman

A few years ago, Keifer Lynn enjoyed the pop-up book The Very Smiley Snowman.

Oh, cool!

Now, her baby sister Kyla is learning to enjoy it as well! She loves to touch it, just like big sissy did!
See, it's so fun to look at, Nana!

Happy Anniversary!

Once again, that time of year is upon us. It's the Fall, the week before Thanksgiving, and it's Chris and I's 6th Wedding Anniversary! Happy 6 years, honey! I love you! Sorry for the recap of posts, but it's easy to do when there are pictures in another post! So here you go! CLICK! It was a Monday, at 4PM, on a beautiful beach on Captiva Island...a beautiful beach of sea shells, surrounded by close family and friends. What a beautiful memory.

Here's to many more years ahead of us! It's been interesting, to say the least! Two dogs, two kids, and family and friend adventures......thanks for being there for me, my love bug!

Tonight, we will show Keifer our wedding DVD to see what she thinks of it. My cousin Becky's 4 year old Aubrie has loved watching the "wedding movie" for years now. She thinks I was a Princess in it! I like to think so....

A much younger CJ and I....a few months before our marriage! *sigh*

The half-way point: 6 months!

Hey, it's that time again! Six months already?

My mom is so silly when she takes these pictures - I'm trying to reach out and grab her!

*looking around scratching head in bewilderment* Where did the past 6 months GO? Didn't we just rush to the hospital because my sac had ruptured, to have this lovely little angel girl? Wow. Six months have gone by in a blink of an eye, and it only goes faster and faster the more she grows!

Oh Miss Lovely Kyla, how we love thee.
How you love to socialize and try to say "hi" to us, and try to imitate us moving our mouths in words. When I say the "Thank You Prayer" to you, you move your lips along with me. You talk to your favorite cows and pigs on the wall, and you light up when we turn on music for you. You are oh-so-curious when you hear voices and sounds,and sometimes you get really mad at us when we wn't let you watch TV! You would prefer to drink a bottle while watching The Incredibles or The Movers with your sissy (I know the colors are bright!) but mama would prefer that you enjoy colors in books, rather than on TV! You're also starting to really zero in on the food and drinks that we have/are eating, and are using your newly fine-tuned fine motor skills to reach out and grab things! So far, Keifer thinks that silly, but we all know that in a few months, she won't be digging that anymore!

You have learned to grab your toes and seem fascinated by them, as you try so hard to get them to your open, waiting mouth. Your feet are stinky after wearing footed pajamas (just like your sissy!) and you giggle and screech with laughter when I pretend to eat your toes up - Yum yum!

You reach for your bottle the minute you see it, and are trying so hard to hold it on your own! My favorite feeling right now is when I'm feeding you a bottle, you grab onto my thumb and any other finger, one in each little fist, and hold on tight. It's the same way when you go to sleep; you like to hold onto a finger.

When you get tired, you have this little "yell" (I like to call it) that you start up. You open your mouth wide, and using all your breath, you literally YELL at whoever is in your visual radius. I know you're telling us "I'm tired, I want to lie down, I need to go to sleep", so luckily mama knows what that means! Today, at the doctor, you started yelling at me when it was time to go: you were clearly exhausted and letting me know it!

You've had your first Urgent Care visit as of this past weekend. Six months and whammo, there you are at the doctor on the weekend. You had mama and daddy all in a tizzy Friday night, because whenever we would lay you down in your crib, you started choking and coughing, and breathing really funny. We were up all night with you. You were also burning up with a fever and that was worrisome. The doctors and nurses at Urgent Care were so charmed by your flirty nature, and despite the fact you weren't feeling well at all. you managed to flash that one dimple many times, to gain many new fans.

The doctors said all sounded clear in your lungs, and your oxygen levels were good. Just a virus of some sort. Today, (2 days later), you had your 6 month check up with Dr. J. and she delayed your shots until next week, so you can get better. You haven't had a fever since yesterday, but you're still sounding congested and coughing a lot. Dr. J. also peeked in your ears, and noticed that one eardrum wasn't as healthy as it should be, despite you not letting me know it might be sore. Hmmm. You are on a medication for the ear, and hopefully it won't develop into anything more!

Your exam turned out well, and your stats continue to creep up for a regular 6 month old (despite you being born a month early!).

Height: 26 inches - 50%ile

Weight: 15 lbs, 12 ounces -- 50%ile

Head: 17 cm (or mm?) -- 75%ile (of course, the big head!)

You're sleeping through the night, only getting us up for one bottle and you wake up in the morning happy as a clam. People (and mama and daddy) say they've never seen a happier baby: well, I do recall there was one in this household that the same thing was said about! I guess we must be doing something right in raising you to be such a sweetheart! We love you, our angel girl #2!

Sleeping peacefully: when we put you down in your crib, you immediately roll over onto your left side to sleep and start sucking your fingers. Just recently, you've decided to start rolling ALMOST completely onto your stomach, but not quite, so sometimes you get stuck, but usually you are showing us you like your tummy to sleep on. Rocking you to sleep is a dream; you love to be held tightly in a ball position and you fall right asleep to the sounds of mama shhh shh shhhing you. *sigh*.

Check out my hairline! It's starting to come in really light and soft, and fuzzy!

Yes, I love to chew on my fingers! And yes, I'm damn cute!

Exercise!

We (well, Mama) is always talking about exercising, so this must be K1's interpretation of one way to do so...
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Meeting the Piano

Last weekend, after a friend's birthday party, Keifer and I stopped by cousin Leslie (and Leland's) house for a visit (we were very close by). Keifer met a piano for the first time and was in awe! She loved it! Here she is tickling the ivories- she may have a natural ability? *wink wink* Who knows-she certainly enjoyed it and singing along, unprompted! :)

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PSA: If you are looking for a rescue doggie to love.......

A friend of mine emailed me this Information: I thought I would pass it on, since I am a huge advocate for rescuing puppers! As you know, our 2 puppers are rescues and they are the sweetest things to us on earth!





Dairyland Greyhound Racetrack in Kenosha , Wisconsin will be closing on December 31, 2009. 900 Greyhounds will need to be adopted otherwise they will be euthanized, now is a great time to consider adopting a Greyhound. They are very loving and laid back. They don't need the space people think they need. They are great for an active family because they have been crated almost all their lives and they sleep about 18 out of the 24 hours a day. They are just looking for someone to love them and supply them with a warm bed!!!! They test the dogs to see if they are cat friendly and or small dog friendly. They also know if a dog should be a single dog or if they would be great in a 2, 3, or 4 dog house!!! Please help me get the word out; we only have 6 weeks to get this task done.





Joanne KehoeOperations Director


Phone: 312-559-0887 --- or --- Dairyland Race Track Adoption Center direct at (262) 612-8256

Wordless Wednesday: All dressed up and nowhere to go?

Keifer, our Keifer. You so enjoyed putting on Nana Margie's fancy shoes last month when we visited them. I think the click-clack of heels is the most appealing sound to any little girl I know. :)

Snoozing

This was on Sunday morning, around 9:45 AM. Our girl was watching a video on her Ipod and passed out cold, complete with snores. And for the icing on the cake, you'll be able to hear Kyla burping off camera. Hee hee. Daylights savings can do that to a girl!
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Park Day

Last weekend, we were blessed in MN (in NOVEMBER!) to have temperatures in the high 50's, and actually break into the low '60's! Wow! Because we typically are housebound by the cold by this point, we took advantage of the extra time in the outdoors, and took Keifer girl to the park near our house 2 days in a row! Oh my, how this girl loves the park. She talks about going to the park all.the.time, and we hear squeals of delight when we see the park within our visual radar.
Saturday, Daddy took K1 to the park (alone): they walked and K1 ran to her heart's content in the wonderful Fall weather.
On Sunday, Mama and Kyla accompanied Daddy and K1 to the park, and after that, we hit the (very) nearby grosh (aka grocery store) and then we had dinner at our beloved Teresa's. Keifer thought it was the best day, ever, in her little life, as she told me that night before bed, "Mama, we have fun today!". *(bless her heart)*.

Here she is, just a swinging. The girl loves to swing. She could swing for an hour straight!

Kyla girl hung out in Mama's Hot sling: she was content to just sit in there, taking in all the sights and sounds, and chewing on her tiny fingers. Of course, the minute the camera was pushed in her face, she lit up with smiles. Pose much, Kyla Whitney?

*man, she is cute*

Keifer going down the super duper steep slide! Ahhhh!
Daddy's turn!

She just finished climbing the ladder all by herselfI like this point of view of my angel girl #1

Chasing Daddy! He's the coolest daddy around! If there was sound with this, it would be Keifer shrieking with laughter!

My new fave picture of my guy and my K1

Intensely working on climbing the "web" (we call this climbing thing a spider's web!)

Ta-da! She made it to the top (with a little help from Daddy)

A VERY Belated 5 month post: here's Miss Lovely

Hey, mama! I love the camera!

I'm turning out to be just as big of a ham as my Keifer sissy was!

Hmmm....I like to look at the animals on my walls...they are so fun to chat to!

And, look what socks Keifer is wearing in HER 5 month picture: the same ones I had on Kyla for hers! Sissies! Socks! Cuties!

You can also see the tiny resemblence my moon-faced girls have to each other: you can really see it sometimes, and other days, Kyla just looks like, well: KYLA!

So I realize that I'm a slacker lately. Like, the hugest slacker ever- poor Kyla. We do all her "monthly" pictures way later than we should. Granted, she's still 5 months old, but next week she'll be on her way to 6 months, and what kind of mama double spots monthly pictures? Hmm. I feel bad.

Well, this girl is the sunshine of our lives right now. All of us in the Soupy household are charmed by this happy baby, who smiles every time she makes eye contact with you. She is beginning to show signs of adoration for her big sissy- as she cranes her neck in hopes of putting Keifer onto her visual radar every time she hears big sissy's voice. Keifer loves to kiss and hug her and dance to music in front of her. Kyla enjoys joining us for dinner on the table in her Bumbo chair, where she eyes us up when we eat. The puppies are a source of amusement for her, too, and Sage is continuing to thank us for these delicious babies to lick up after.

Kyla has been spitty the past couple weeks. Not sure why: just spitty. The drool factory has begun and she is starting to also CHOMP on the nipple of the bottle, as well as her fingers all the time, so we think that teething might be sooner than later.

We haven't started feeding her oatmeal/rice cereal yet, as she had to work on her sucking skills in order to fully drink her bottles. We are hoping that there won't be any oral motor issues with feeding her, but we're also expecting that there might be some (the whole suck, swallow, reflex thing). If there are, the sweet OT that we worked with told me to call her, and we'll just bring miss Kyla back in for more therapy if need be!

Kyla doesn't have as much hair as big sissy did at this age; however, the peachy fuzz is so soft and mama loves to rub her chin on it. It's lighter in color than K1's was at this age, and I think that the girl is destined to be as fair skinned as her mama (yay!). Keifer is fair, but she tans up really brown like her daddy once her skin is in the sunlight. I think Kyla and mommy will be the sunburn girls (hopefully not, with all the sunscreen we load up on, but still....).

This girl has that one dimple that transforms the twinkle in her eye into one of devilish delight. We once thought she might be a tich quieter than K1 was at this age: now we know this isn't true. Kyla loves to coo and babble to anyone she can, and she appears to enjoy talking to men more so. She loves Papa Joel (Elaine's hubby) and he likes to call her "Gabby". Hee hee. She has the most ticklish neck,and whenever we change her, she still giggles and belly laughs, which makes changing times so sweet. She also really likes to take baths, and I can't wait until she can fully sit up on her own and we can break out the ducky tub for her to kick and splash in to her delight.

Books continue to be a big source of enjoyment for both Keifer and now Kyla. I am so relieved and excited that she appears to enjoy books as much as Mama and Keifer. It means lots of fun activities and learning in the future!

Kyla is a pretty consistent sleeper, usually going down for the night between 6 and 7 PM and maybe getting up once a night for a bottle. On the better nights, she sleeps til about 5:30, which we are so happy for. She now shares a room with sissy,and although Keifer is one of the loudest 2 year olds in our town, (ha), it doesn't appear to faze Kyla. She sleeps through Keifer's bedtime routine, which we are so thankful for. And, we might have a thumb sucker on our hands. The girl loves to suck her fingers, and we know she's tired once she puts her fingers to her mouth and we hear that tell-tale sucking sound. She also is beginning to curl up in her sleep on her left side. It's really so sweet to watch her sleep. Aren't babies so beautiful? We sure think ours is!