Welcome Home, Sweetheart!!!

Daniel's Story:

When he first got there he was soon singled out as the only person without any medical background. After they all arrived he was the last to introduce himself to the group and lead doctor. When he told them he was going to major in English the doctor asked several times (through her translator) "Why are you here?" He was so embarrassed and immediately wanted to come home. He emailed me and told me how miserable he was and that he's shouldn't be there. After I told him that he paid money to volunteer he decided that it didn't matter what the doctor thought. He was there to serve people and not to worry about one person's opinion. He was constantly mistreated by their lead doctor but he stayed positive and made it a group joke with his peers. He was able to make some good friends because of it. He was able to call home and email constantly. While there in Costa Rica the group was able to go down a zip line that was (if I remember correctly) 2-3 miles down the rain forest. People reportedly saw sleeping bats, birds, monkeys, and even large wildcats.

The next week he told me that they were traveling to an indigenous village in the middle of the rain forest and then moving on to Panama. Phone conversations were very limited. The village was hard to get to, hard to live through, and hard to come back from. His group had to hike 2 hours in the heat and humidity to get there. While there they helped a lot of people who had parasites that, if not treated early, ensured death. Most everyone had it, including children. The symptoms left open sores all over their body. And even those who had the parasites taken care of would always have the scars to remind them. It was difficult for Danny to see little children living with something so terrible. It made him think of and appreciate Kailyn.

After they left the village they went to Panama. I think they only did a clinic once. Then they had another play day. Danny got to go see Dolphins (his favorite). He loves how intelligent and unified they are. Me? I'm a shark person. So, he brought me home the perfect souvenir: A necklace with a shark tooth! I know that they've been popular before but mine is the best because it's not a fashion statement. It has real sentimental value. He hates sharks but loves me enough to get me something I will always love. For Kailyn, he bought a key chain of a cute yarn doll that reminded him of her. What a sweetheart!

The next day they all traveled back to Costa Rica and the next morning they flew out for an all day trip back home. When I saw him come around the corner at the airport he smiled his perfect smile and I melted. He was home. And he looked AMAZING! He was wearing one of the local shirts he purchased. My man looked like he's been living in Costa Rica his whole life. So tan and healthy looking. Anyways, Kailyn spent the night at her grandparents to that we could clean him up and inspect his body for any open wounds. We wanted to make sure that he didn't pass anything to Kailyn. And that was it. We spent the night without worrying that Kailyn would disrupt our night together. It was a really good experience for him. It was a really good experience for me. And it has made our relationship that much better.

I'll be sure to post pictures of his trip and all the goodies he brought back.

The 6 C's

Costa Rica-

Daniel is leaving for Costa Rica on Saturday. He and his brother, Joe, will be gone for 2 weeks assisting medical doctors as part of an internship. His brother is a Pre Med Student and had been filling out applications fro different medical schools and is looking for something to put on his transcripts. Daniel will, at some point, need to do the same to get into a good law school so they both decided it was better to go together now than separately.

Joe's wife, Shae, lives just up the street from me so this will be a good opportunity for us to get together and do girl stuff. I'm really excited and know it will be a good experience for him and his brother.



Cleaning-

For the past 2 weeks I have had ants off and on in my house and have come to realize it's because I haven't (really) cleaned my house for a long time. The weirdest part about the ants is that they are mostly in the bathroom which I deep cleaned about a week before they showed up. I've been spraying them every time I see them and they've finally made their way to the kitchen. So, it's just time to do EVERYTHING. So after I get Danny packed and out the door I will be cleaning my entire house. I will probably take before and after pictures so keep an eye out for that in a week or so.



Cutting teeth-

Kailyn is currently cutting her 5th tooth. This one has been the worst. She really handled all four of her teeth very well. A little bit of discomfort and a lot of chewing, but #5 had been a real pain in the mouth for Kailyn and the butt for mommy. She had a fever for about 4 days a couple of weeks ago when she starting cutting and ever since then she's been more whiny, fussy, restless, and sometimes just plain annoying. I think she's learned that if she whines long enough she gets what she wants. Grrrrr! But things have mostly gone back to normal. She sleeps through the night, she takes her naps on time, she's active again...but one thing has changed dramatically and that is the next "C"...



Constipated-

Kailyn has been having some serious issues with her BM's. She's been eating Baby Food for a while now and we've been giving her solids for the last month or so (not a lot, just bits and pieces of what we're eating) and for some reason she just can't seem to go on her own. Every time I hear her grunt or see her face turn red from pushing I have to grab her, lay her down, open her diaper, bend her in half, and help coax it out. She does this heartbreaking, high pitched gasping sound every time. I gave her some Prunes/Baby Food and it didn't make a difference. I kept trying to figure out what had changed and came to the conclusion that it had to be the formula I had switched to when she turned 9 months. I've always used Enfamil and then at 9 months I moved to the next stage, same brand. And then when that run out I went to the store to buy her more and saw that Parent's Choice was 5 dollars cheaper than the one I bought before and gave it a shot. I went through about 1 1/2 25oz cans before there was a real change. So now that I'm almost out of her formula I'm going back to Enfamil. If anyone has any suggestions to help her through her transition please let me know. Thanks!



Crawling-

Kailyn is still just crawling. She's pro at it, that's for sure, but I would love to see some walking. Danny and I worked with her on it last night but she was a little too wound up to focus. We bought her a walker to help her but it's a little short so in order to walk she has to lean forward which doesn't really teach her how to keep her balance, which is her biggest issue. She has the motion down, just not the balance. She would be running if she could just figure out how to keep herself up. But I'm going to work on her the next 2 weeks and see if I can get her walking before daddy comes home...and work on saying dad. She's got mom down.



Conception-

Ok, so not really. I just wanted to see what my sisters would say if they saw "CONCEPTION" on here. But, since we're on the subject, Daniel and I are currently uninsured and most insurances have an 18 month probationary period before you have maternity coverage. So the plan is to sell the store in about 2 months (hopefully less), get insured with the profits from the store, and then get pregnant 18 months after that. However, IF we do get pregnant before then I guess we will have to apply for Medicaid...again. We are really trying to avoid getting pregnant for that reason. So, there you have it. Not planning on getting pregnant in the near future.

playlist.com

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up. Last time I used playlist.com I received a computer virus. It was, according to the computer techs, one of the worst. Daniel and I were fortunate not to loose any of our files and got an extremely good deal.



It popped up as an advertisement for virus protection (jerks). When I tried to close out of it it continued to pop up each time I used the computer. I'm sure you all know better than I did but do not click on ANYTHING. Run your own virus protection or turn off computer and wait for someone who knows more about it. I just don't want anyone to have any serious problems. Anyhow, I just thought I would put out a caution to all users.

Kailyn Thrown Together

Ok, so Karena gave me a hard time for not having any pictures up of Kailyn. And as busy as I've been I really don't have any excuse for posting tons of pictures of kids I will probably never see again and hardly any of my own daughter. So, here is my way of compensating for the last few months:

Kailyn isn't crawling yet, but she sure can use those legs

for kicking. She's always moving them without budging

an inch. This is one of our favorite quirks about Kailyn.

She can't stop moving.

When Lexie had her fundraiser in Logandale I was able to take

Kailyn with me. She was an angel! She was the most behaved

I had ever seen her. She hardly fussed at all. Anyways, I put

her down for some tummy time and then Marce and Pheonix

(Lexie's sons) found her more entertaining than all the goodies

sitting out on the table. Way to woo the masses, Kailyn!

One of Kailyn's favorite times of the day is when she has

a diaper full of nastiness because that means mom has

to pull out the wipes. Kailyn loves that crinkly sound just

as much as she loves to put everything in her mouth. So,

sometimes, I put the wipes next to her in place of toys. I

just had to capture at least one of these incidents.

Part of Kailyn's nap time routine is having a blanket . If

she isn't wrapped like a burrito and rocked to sleep OR

laid down on the verge of sleep and covered with a

blanket she refuses to sleep. So, this particular day, I

set her down on our bed and covered her with her

blanket. She immediately latches onto the blanket with

all four limbs, brings it in close to her body, turns on

her side (usually her left side), and falls asleep instantly.

These were taken about 20 minutes afterwards.

When I worked at Kidz Kidz Kidz I would visit Kailyn

in the Infant Room on my breaks and usually feed her.

This string of pictures (except for the first one) is her

making this sort of "Rrrrr" sound. It's the funniest thing

to listen to. It's like she's tell a story with just the letter

R. The first picture is her holding her own bottle for

the first time.

Kailyn's Boppy was a big hit in our house for a long

time. Now she's a little too old for it. She's gotten

to the point where she knows how to roll out of it

so it's no longer functional. We've upgraded to

the Bumbo (thanks for the idea, Camie). But after

a long day of doing nothing Kailyn used to unwind

with a little TV in her very own Boppy.

Mr. Elephant was purchased to keep Kailyn entertained

while in the car. For the first little while she couldn't

reach him. Then she figured out that she could reach

the tag and put the tip of it in her mouth. Now she's at the

point where she could put Mr. Elephant's whole nose in

her mouth if she wanted to but she prefers the tag.

And that goes for every stuffed animal she has.

About a month ago Daniel and I were at home before we

had to go to the store. He had Kailyn lying next to him on

the couch while I was making breakfast. I called him over

so he could prepare the rest of his breakfast. He said," Ok.

I guess I'll leave Kailyn to her doom." Then I said, " Then

stick her back further on the couch so she wont fall over."

He didn't move her, I didn't finish his breakfast, and Kailyn

decided to defy gravity...and failed. We heard a loud THUD!

We knew it was her, but it took a second to sink in. It took

her 3 seconds to catch her breath enough to cry. We found

her face down on the tile floor. Her nose was bruised, her lip

was fat, and her heart broken. She cried for 10 minutes.

Afer Daniel and I inspected her and got past the blame game

we were just grateful nothing was broken. Anyways, if you

look closely, she has a fat lip and a bruise on the side of

her nose.

(TIP: Her fat lip went way down after sucking

on a frozen carrot. It's a great solution for teething!)

One of our regular customers was going through her

garage, prepared to donate all her baby stuff to Good

Will. She offered to give us her Exersaucer. I was so

happy! Kailyn loved to play in the one at Kidz Kidz

Kidz and I was sad to take her away from it. Here

she is, giving it a test run, and it's a big success!

Again, this is while I was in Logandale for Lexie's fund

raiser. I knew Kylene had been taking care of Kailyn

but I didn't know where they were. I asked her friend,

Coco if she knew where Kylene was. She told me she was

taking a nap with`the baby on the couch. First thought:

UH OH!

Kylene, despite the fact that she is a young woman,

wouldn't have the maternal instinct in the dead of

sleep to keep my baby from rolling off the couch (I

obviously don't do a great job when I'm awake!). So I

went quickly to the couch and found this. I shouldn't

have been so worried.

Anyways, I hope that will do for now. I will try to be better about it. It just takes so long to transfer pictures from my iphone to the computer to the blog. But I will work on it.

Leaving my Kidz Kidz Kidz

For those of you who don't know (which is practically everyone) I left my job as a co-teacher at Kidz Kidz Kidz. After we moved the distance was just too much. I lost too much of my paycheck just from gas. And after adding in Kailyn's fees for staying there and what the government took out of my paycheck I only ended up seeing about 1/5 of my paycheck. It just ended up not being worth it. On top of all that, my "co-teacher" had issues showing up to work and staying at work so I ended up covering her shifts. So I would leave at 7:30, take a 2 hour break, and then close at 6, which meant I got home at about 6:30 if I didn't have any errands to run. So, in the long run, NOTHING was getting done around the house, I was spending more money than I was making, and I could not rely on my co-teacher. Anyways, I guess this is sort of a tribute to my time there and the kids I hope I had a good influence on. There are about 30 kids in our class, but these are the only kids I was able to get pictures of.

Titus: The Classroom Good Guy

Everyone in our class likes Titus. He is a genuinely good boy who is smart, affectionate, and always shares. He is always the victim because he never fights back. He is a BIG hugger. I always get random hugs and "I love you"s. He comes from a great family and it shows!

Sydney: Animation Domination

This girl is CRAZY affectionate and animated. She tells stories using her hands and facial expressions to make sure she has all of your attention. She hugs every parent that comes into the room and tells them every detail about her day. She may look like an orphan, but back off! This one's taken.



Kristen: What is wrong with everyone?

She is the ideal student. Very quiet, always listening, extremely smart, and CONSTANTLY confused by her classmates. She's almost like a mini adult (duh) in the way that she looks at the kids who are goofing off or being rude. It's as if she's saying, " Why can't you just be normal like me?" Can't help but love a kid who is confused by her peers childishness.



Kennedy: Little Miss As a matter of fact.

Too cute to put down in a couple of words. But EVERYTHING that comes out of her mouth is spoken with a factual tone. Everything is an important detail about her life. "My auntie goes to school and I'm going to go to visit her," with a hint of, "and now you know all about me."

Gabriela: The Schemer

Her mom is a teacher in the baby room with Kailyn so I got to know Gabriela and her mom very well. She is quite the leader..or dictator. She has a way of doing things and if you don't do it you are about to get your feelings hurt. And she always plays the dumb card when she's in trouble. She has a confused, dumbfounded look when you tell her to be good or say sorry. Almost like an, " I can't hear you. What?" face. But in the long run, she's a great girl, very smart, and ready for the big leagues...Pre School.

Eva: The Diva

Everyone in the classroom, even the kids, call her Eva Diva. And she is. She comes to class and when she has a purse or a new dress she just glows and walks with pride in herself. She's a little bit behind the class...almost slow. Her mother was messed up while she was pregnant with her. She is adopted by her grandmother and that's all I know. She is a really handful. She knows how to behave, but sometimes she does thing an 18 month old would. Not because she doesn't know better, but because sometimes she cannot control herself. But she's come a long way and is more lovable with all her issues.

Bryce: Let me be your punching bag.

He is the sweetest little boy. He's the roughest little boy. He listens and obeys meekly while smiling. He says no with pouting lips and a scowl. He has a naughty side, but for the most part is too loving and sweet. He allows himself to be walked all over by some of his more pushy classmates, but he's not afraid to wrestle it out. But he's always playful about. He has never done anything out of true anger. And I think he has a hard time believing that his friends are really mad at him when they hit him. Thank goodness for kids who are loving, even in their anger.

Ava: The Brain

She is the smartest kid in our class. Hands down. She is not only the smartest but the most confident. She gives answers knowing she's right. She leads the class. There are days and times when she goes backwards and disrupts our Circle Time, but that's just her loosening up and being a regular kid. She has some anger issues, doesn't like to apologize, and HATES being in trouble. But this kid is going to grow up, be well like, well educated, and raise her own kids just fine. She will be missed.

Aiden: My hero is my Dad!

This kid is absolutely his dad's biggest fan. Everything he does reflects his feelings toward his dad. I once told him he needed to send his blanket home so his mom could wash it. He looked at me very seriously and said, "I want my dad to do it. He will get it clean." He has complete faith in his dad (who is in the military). Aiden is on the younger side of the the classroom and is a tad bit spoiled, but he is eager to learn and LOVES his class.

Abigail: Ready for 13

She talks just like a teenager sometimes. Her expressions, body language, everything just screams of, "I am sooOOoo over this." She is always happy and usually plays well with everyone. But I have noticed when she plays house, barbies, or any activity with dramatic play she is the adult. She is ready to grow up and will do a great job.

Well, there's a small look and the family I'm leaving. Sorry it's taken so long for me to update this. I technically don't have time for this, but I miss doing it so much. Oh well, I'll finish laundry tomorrow :)

MOVING IN!

Daniel and I are finally closing on our 3 bedroom condo! We put an offer on our condo around Thanksgiving time (if I remember right) and we should be getting our keys tomorrow or Wednesday. We are really excited about the move! We are actually moving back into the same neighborhood where we met about 7 years ago and dated for the first time. It's a nice area and has great memories. We should hopefully be moved in this weekend.

We had actually put an offer on the house we are living in currently but were outbid which forced us took look at alternate options. Both of us were disappointed but also ready for change. When we finally decided on the condo, put in an offer and had it accepted we were too happy to be disappointed about losing the house. Then this last week we found out that the buyer who outbid us withdrew his offer because the bank was drawing it out. When Daniel and I talked about it we both knew we weren't meant to buy the house. We were ready to buy the house but were outbid and they didn't withdraw until after we had wired half of the money over. Even if the house is an overall better investment we both know we will be happier in our condo.

Well, I have to get packing!

A little look at Kailyn

PART 1

Tuesday was my first day back at work. I work at a Preschool/Daycare center called Kidz Kidz Kidz. I worked it out to where Kailyn can go to work with me. She would stay in the infant room while I worked in the 3 year old room. When I dropped her off she had just woken up from a 5 minute nap. I told Vianney that she would probably go back to sleep for a while but she would probably be miserable the rest of the day. She's never been babysat, she never really taken a bottle, and she really doesn't like people to hold her unless she familiar with them. I was so worried about her all day. When I got there on my lunch break about 3 hours later she was asleep. I woke her up a half hour later so I could breastfeed her. When I went back to the room she seemed pretty much awake. She was smiling and playing with me and it made me nervous about leaving her all over again. I knew I had to. I didn't want to be one of those mom's that everyone else complained about. So I bucked up and left. When I was done for the day, about 4 hours later, I went to pick up Kailyn and she was SLEEPING! I asked how she had been. Vianney said she had been sleeping all day. What a blessing it was to know that I didn't stress out my coworker with another screaming baby.

And here's the best part about her sleeping all day. When we got home I put her down when she was still in the car seat so I could take care of myself (got the flu) and she was talking and kicking around. When I finally sat down to take her out I found her like this:

She was kicking her legs violently around and rubbing her feet together and had gotten her socks down past her heels. And the whole time she was doing this she was looking at her feet almost like she was trying to figure out how to get those things off her feet. She eventually got one sock off. Here's a better look at the outcome:

PART 2

All this past week I've been sick at home with the flu. I went to work for the first time on Tuesday. I left home with a mild sore throat and came home with a fever. Daniel told me I needed to relax and sweat it out. So my week was spent with me on the couch watching TV and Kailyn on the floor close by. Fortunately she was amazing most of the week. Very happy without much attention. On this particular day she was so cute. I had a movie on and she was talking, kicking and smiling while she watched with me. I know she's bit young to watching TV, but at least I was able to get better faster. Thanks, Television!