My Blog...

I feel like my blog is so far behind I dont know where to start! AHHH... My days are so full that I have at least one thing to blog about everyday...guess I should get started! Hmm gonna do my 'scrap blog' first I think....wait for it!

Today Was a Busy Day!

While still in her ice cream pjs Kayla went out and played on Matthew's tractor. She has sat on it lots of times out in the yard but this was the first time the battery had been charged so it was a whole new experience for her.

After playing outside she got dressed-in her cute new purple Gap outfit (more recent shopping yay!) :)

Kayla wanted peanut butter for a snack after nap, I was surprised that she asked for that. I wasnt sure how she planned to eat it but I put it on a spoon (small amount) and gave it too her. She loved it...

Later on she even had time to color before it was time to go home...exactly how do we pack so much into one day?

Oh...and look how I managed to do her hair. It took 3 tries to get both sides done but smart Nina turned Barney on for her to watch while I worked on it. Im sure it didnt stay too long after I dropped her off at home but it was cute anyway.

I love french braided hair, I even where mine like that sometimes, even though it takes forever to do it.

"Thank You Ice Ceem Jammies" (Nina's Day 23)

This morning when I woke up Kayla was still sleeping. I laid there next to her and just enjoyed her being with me while it was quiet. She must have been having happy dreams because she kept smiling really big in her sleep and once even let out a little laugh.

When she woke up she was so happy (as always). I told told her that I liked her new ice cream jammies and she reached out and put her arm around my neck and said 'thank you ice ceem jammies'. How sweet is that?





From way before Kayla could talk her mom would tell her to 'tell Nina thank you' and always tell me she would learn to say it. For a while now she has said thank you when prompted but now Maria can relax with a job well done, she knows how to do it on her own which is so sweet. I almost cried. Here are the ice cream jammies.

While I have been sitting here blogging Matthew and Kayla have been playing Ring Around the Rosies or as Kayla calls it "pocket posies" Here is Kayla singing.

Here is Matthew singing.

I saw Alayna's bubbles blog and I thought Kayla would love it so I decided to pick up a bubble blower for the kids too play with. Too bad it wasnt exactly what I thought it was-but they still liked it.

On CafeMom I have pretty rediculously addicted to the "Beach Hunt" game all to Kim. she asked me what it was and to show her I added to to my page and I have been playing it ever since. I have been playing it so much that Matthew took a turn! Here is him playing...

While Matthew and I played on the computer Kayla played cards with Corrina

Kayla sat on Matthew's back to watch him play Leapster

Mary playing with Matthew and Kayla

Swimming Lessons

Today all we did was swimming lessons....Mondays are exhausting!

Here is her cute 'after nap' clothes for the day

Nina's Day 20...Swimming Lessons

I am working very hard to distinguish the difference between 'swimming' and 'swimming lessons' for Kayla. So that she can understand that we play while we are 'swimming' and we have to listen while we are at 'swimming lessons'. I think she is working on getting them straight. She love both anyway.

Today instead of sleeping in until 930 to make her lessons go smoothly she was awake at 8am anyway. So I got less sleep :(. Because of that swimming lessons didnt go quite as smoothly. She didnt really want to participate in anything but we were able to do it. We also learned if we cant get her to kick her feet that if we 'get' Corrina or race her we can make her kick and have fun. So we did that a few times.

We also make her 'swim' by laying her flat on her belly and pushing her through the water one to the other (are hands are off less than a second). We make her put her face down just for a second too, she handles it all amazingly well. Im so proud of her!

Failure!

Today I took my History CLEP test. I totally didnt think it was going to be hard at all. I studied a little bit and went in to take it. Too bad it was HORRIBLY hard!! Yep I didnt pass it...thank goodness I wasnt really upset. Now I just gotta take an online History class sometime before May 2009. Not hard, just frustrating cause seriously what does history have to do with Nursing? Plus I already took all the history I needed for the school in CA...I feel like its such a waste of time.

Life goes on right?

Today Kayla & Nina We Did....

...abosolutely NOTHING!!

This is what Kayla's day consisted of



I picked her up from Maria's work at 930 and she was asleep. She slept all the way to Brandons house and through me putting her on the couch. She stayed there until noon sleeping away. First thing out of her mouth was "hungry" lol.

After I fed her I took her to Kohls and bought her a few new outfits cause I couldnt deal with the clothes she had played outside in, lol Im such a freak! I even found a cute pair of shoes for her, too bad they didnt have them in half sizes :(.

and that was our whole day...

Nina's Day 18 (Swimming Lessons)

Today was our second day of swimming lessons. Maria and I agreed that the best way for Kayla to survive lessons that are right at her nap time is for me to pick her up at 5am so she can sleep in until 930 rather than the 8am she has to get up when I pick her up then. So far its worked pretty well.

Today's lesson was a repeat of the 1st, repetition is important obviously.


(doing the kick board)

(itsy bitsy spider)

After we got home from lessons I fed Kayla, bathed her and sent her off for a nap. She slept more than 2 hours today which is a good nap. About the time she wakes up we have time for a snack and then we are off to go see "Mommy DeeDee". Busy busy days! What am I going to do when she is old enough to be involved in sports and artsy stuff??

Nina's Day 17

We spent the day at Brandon's today so that means we basically did nothing. On days I pick her up from Maria at work I take her to Denny's for breakfast and then we usually run one errand and by the time we get back to his house its time for nap. Directly after nap its time to go to see her dad and that's it. Im a glorified chauffeur, lol.

Today our errand was going to the library. She didnt seem to know much about a library yet (duh, she's little). But she enjoyed looking at their fish tank and all the animals on the children's wall. There is some beautiful artwork in that room. I let her wander around for awhile and then we read a book or two before we went to Brandon's for a nap.

A short day for both of us.

Just Chillin' (Nina's Day 16 cont.)

I thought Kayla looked adorable in her new outfit (when doesnt she?) so I couldnt help but snap a photo. She looks so good in every color!

Before we left for swimming lessons we were playing with Matthew in his bedroom (very unusual) and we all tried on the Spiderman mask...she thought it was so funny!

Swimming Lessons (Nina Day 16)

A few weeks ago my mom convinced me to sign Kayla up for some private swimming lessons. I thought that sounded fine, just Matthew, Corrina, and Kayla (with me) in my moms pool. Well a few days before the lessons start I found out they arent in my moms pool they are in a someone's pool down the street. Apparently you have to sign up to be a host even if its just your family. So needless to say I wasnt too thrilled about that but I felt that it was important enough for her to go that I sucked it up and we went.

My main goals for Kayla were #1 Not to be afraid of the water the way I am and #2 to learn something that would help her when she learns to swim. I didnt think at all that she was going to learn to swim in the 8 lessons she would be getting.

Our first day started off kinda rough, the instructor was a few minutes late and then we had to sign paper work (oops they think Im Kayla's guardian-Nina guardian same thing right?). So we ended up only getting about 2o minutes of water time. That actually worked out okay, she had the other kids doing kick boards and swimming back and forth since they all knew 'kinda' how to swim.

Kayla learned how to hold on to my shoulders and kick across the pool with me helping her. She also learned how to 'get the side'. This involves us sitting her on the edge and then kinda pulling her into the pull and telling her that 'when we fall in the pool we get the side'. After she holds on to the side we sing 'itsy bitsy spider' and walk her hands until she can stand on the step.

In my opinion the day was a success because there were no tears, she happily played in the water and let us do as we wanted with her. One of the times we 'got the side' we even dunked her so that she would learn to close her mouth when she goes under, and other than coming up rubbing her eyes to get the water off her face she had no reaction. Better than me! LOL I come up sputtering every time.

The Weekend

I dropped Kayla off around 11am after we got ourselves up and had breakfast. When we got there they had some company. Its such a small world, one of the guys that was there has a baby with Brandon's ex-gf that I never liked. One of the guys reminded me of someone from my past that I could go forever and never see again and be happy so that was kinda awkward for me, but it went okay.

Oh, before we left the house Kayla let me know she wanted strawberries and we didnt have any at the house so I got some money from my mom (I never have cash!) and we picked up some from the corner stand. When I showed them to Kayla her grin was so big...the kid is crazy for strawberries! Maria handed her one with the stem on it and I saw her eat all around it and I said "oh wow I didnt know she knew how to eat them like that". Well I spoke to soon, she popped the rest in her mouth and before I could stick my finger in there she swallowed it, lol. After that Maria cut them up :).

I spent the evening with Brandon and Kim, we went to see Lavell Crawford (runner up on last seasons Last Comic Standing), and as usual the opener (Jay something or other) was funnier than he was. I stayed the night with Brandon and because it was Father's Day we met my parents at Market Broiler for lunch. Thats generally not my favorite place but I manage to find a meal I liked pretty well.

After lunch we headed to Brandon's shop and got some stuff done which is what my dad wanted everyone to do for his Fathers Day. We finished that relatively easy and went home and spent a few hours in the pool/spa. Very nice day all around.

Living the Good Life! (Nina's Day 14)

Today Kayla was living the good life. First we spent some time swimming in the pool then Corrina and I took her out for for some shopping. She was fascinated by all the babies in the stores for some reason. I did buy her a dolly because earlier in the day I found her rocking a little Spiderman figure and I just couldnt stand her needing a baby to hold and not having one. While were out shopping Corrina got to learn her first lesson about why its important to make sure diapers are fastened correctly (she dressed her after her bath). We ended up having to change all of her clothes because they ended up stinky. Corrina felt bad but I told her no harm done, lesson learned. I told Maria I would never tease her about having so many outfits in the diaper bag again because we went through each and everyone today!

I asked Maria if I could keep her over night and just bring her home after breakfast and she said yes so when we got back home Kayla saw my parents and Matthew in the spa and I couldnt keep her out of it. I finally just stripped her pants off and let her get in with my mom in her onsie. It was fun watching her love the water.



Before bedtime Kayla and Matthew headed to the pantry, Kayla knows exactly where the 'cookies (animal crackers) are kept and feels free to let us know when she wants them. She looked so cute in her new Princess jammies with the Booger Man that I just couldnt help snapping a picture.

Nina's Day 13

Today we played a lot with Legos and Matthew and Corrina. The last 2 days we havent been at Mary's and Kayla has continually asked for them.

Time with Matthew: Playing Legos & "Squeezing" each other


Time spent with Corrina: Swinging and bouncing


Kayla had a blast running around playing with the kids all day. We had the alarm guys there ALL day and Kayla even managed to sleep for about an hour and a half on the couch with the guys yelling back and forth from room to room. Poor kid had to sleep on the couch cause there wasnt a place that she could be since the guys were everywhere! She was a good sport though it didnt bother her any.

Before nap it was so cute I was going to Subway to grab lunch for everyone and I was planning on leaving her with Mary. No go, she saw me about to leave so I told her I would be right back and she said "I go too" well of course that was it, Im a complete push over, she got too go lol. She was so tired though she didnt make it out of the parking lot before she was asleep. No complaints from me though, I love to snuggle her when shes asleep, shes so warm and snuggly!

At the end of the day we took time out to be silly! Here is the results of silly face time!

Lessons for Nina (Nina Day 12)

Today I learned that Kayla cant eat mozzarella sticks! When we went to Denny's for breakfast I got her a sampler, thinking that the cheese would be good for her and since she loves chicken nuggies she would like it. Well I was right...she likes them but she cant seem to figure out how to chew the cheese. Lucky me I got to stick my finger in her mouth and pull it out cause she was gagging. It wasnt a scary gagging but it was the second time she gagged on the on a bite so I decided that was enough of that. She finished off her breakfast eating grapes (cut in half!).

The morning went quickly, by the time we were done eating breakfast it was time to put her down for a nap. On the way home we stopped at the post office and she had fun putting the stamps on my envelops.

For nap today we watched Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and she was out like a light.
After her nap she played with her toothbrush (brushed her teeth) and wore my shoes. Then I took her to see her dad. She's always in such a good mood after her nap, he definitely got the benefit of that.

On the way to see Daddy Kayla kept saying "Nina lookie me", when I turned to look at her this was the face she was making-while she was making it she was doing this big deep silly laugh!



After she made her silly face she just sat there so cute...I cant believe how big she looks!

This was Kayla in March of 2008-shes growing so fast!

Blog Frustration...

Im one of those people who wants to figure out how to use something new and I wanna know NOW!!

I see on other peoples blogs how their comments show up directly below the blog entry and I cant figure out how to do it, I dont know what Im doing wrong! Ive played with all the different settings that I think it could possibly be, but obviously not the right one yet.

If you know how to do it let me know!

First Trip to the Dentist (Nina's Day 11)

Today I took Kayla with me to the dentist. It was her first trip to see how they clean teeth. The hygienist was very surprised how she just sat quietly and watched on my lap the whole time. I think she expected her to get restless and want to get down, but of course she didnt. She was an angel as always.

I missed getting a picture of her in the chair but I will take one with her brushing her teeth. they gave us a toothbrush for her (Cinderella, yay) and all she can talk about is her 'toothbrush'. About 9 months until shes ready to have her first appointment of her own. I want her to go with me again for my next one then take her the next time I come out, hopefully around her birthday (3rd).

After the dentist we went to Brandon's to have lunch and take a nap. Looking at her sleeping shows how big she is!

I let Kayla eat her apple slices on the way to her moms work and while I was driving she choked (just a little) but it was still scary for me. When I dropped her off, I told her mom she loves apples but she still chokes. When I told her to take a 'little bit' she took a huge bit instead... she needs to work on the difference between 'big' and 'little'.

Tomorrow is Wednesday...half way through another week of playing with the angel!

Our First Crabby Day (Nina's Day 10)

Monday was Kayla's first almost crabby day. The morning started with Kayla fussing when I picked her up. I decided to go to the library with Kayla. She wasnt too interested in the books but she loved how the walls were painted with wildlife scenes so we enjoyed those for a while. On our way back from the library Kayla feel asleep in the car. Once we got to the house Kayla wouldnt go to sleep. I let her play with Matthew for a while, she loves his barn game.

After she finally cried herself to sleep she slept for 2 hours. Its so hard when she cries herself to sleep but she was so tired I didnt really have a choice. After her nap she played outside for a while before I took her home. As I let her go outside I told her she could play for awhile and then she was going home. She stopped and looked at me and said "10 Minutes?" so cute!

Although Kayla wasnt as happy as usual it was still a great day with her as always.

CORR Truck Races

Brandon, Kim and I went to the truck races with their friends Cameron, Danielle and their little boy Jacob. I had never been to one before so I didnt know exactly what to expect. The races were okay, the big trucks 2wheel drive & 4wheel drive were the most fun.

During the 2wheel drive truck races one of the guys was driving around with a tire that was shredding (not allowed, they are supposed to head to the pits). A piece of the tire, about a foot square, came flying over the fence and hit Danielle in the middle of her back. She just happened to be bending over the babies stroller or it would have hit him.

She was okay, just a red mark but they had the paramedics check her out still. They sent someone over who took a statement from her, while they were doing that I swear half the stands we gathered around staring at her. She was a good sport about it and the 3 of them left the stands for a little while so that we could finish watching the last race, though we all offered more than once that we could go home then.

Talk about an exhausting day though. It wasnt too hot but the sun is still draining. Not to mention the fact that there was so much dust I was so dirty ewww! I also now have another set of suntan lines, even thought I used sunscreen...I look goofy!

Swimming (Nina's Day 9)

Our day began with some Tinker Toy time with the kiddos. Kayla thought it was a lot of fun to climb in the box Matthew had made from them. She is really into tunnels right now so she liked to crawl through it. Hmm I think there might be a tunnel tube around here somewhere I can put up another day.

We invited Uncle Dede, Auntie Lex, and Wee to come swimming. When they finally came it ended up being Auntie Lex, Aunt Chris and Wee. The girls had a blast playing in the pool. I couldnt believe how confident Kayla was in the water since she could see Wee having so much fun.

The girls were so excited to see each other Wee kept squealing and doing a little dance. Kayla just wanted to drag her around by the hand. All Wee had to do was see the pool and we had a hard time getting her to eat because she wanted to play.

After swimming the girls played inside for a while and had a snack before it was time for everyone to go home.

The girls had a lot of fun being together, Im glad they enjoyed the day

Never Ending School

Right now Im taking two classes online, 2 different nursing classes. I also planned to wrap up the extra history they decided I need (stupid). Today was my day to register but of course when I registered (2 minutes after it opened) the class was full from those who got to register before me.

I talked to my counselor and she told me that I could find it at another school or I could take the CLEP to test out of it. WHHATT? Why didnt I have that option before? Of course I would rather test than take the whole class. I only need a 50% so if I cant pass it then Im dumb! lol So now Im signed up to take the test on June 19th, now I just gotta go find a library so I can get a book on Western Civilization from 1600s to present.

Wish me luck!

Guilty Nina (Nina's Day 8)

Today I feel like a bad Godmother. I had Kayla today as usual. She was happily playing with Matthew so I sat down at the computer for 'just a minute'. Next thing I know I look up and its 1145 and she is telling me shes sleepy! Poor baby! What kinda person am I that I make her ask for a nap?? Geez! Its not like she was unhappy or outta my sight, I just normally spend sometime before nap playing with her and I totally slacked.

Our big project for the day was coloring.