Wrapping It Up

As I sit here with my hubby reflecting on our year, I feel so blessed and happy. We have had an exciting year full of love and happiness.

I feel so extremely motivated and rejuvenated to start the year off fresh. My mind is cluttered with a million resolutions and hopes for myself, some extremely life changing and some so miniscule they will never be verbalized, but these have been pushed to the back of my mind because I am constantly thinking about my sweet Lexi girl. Going in to 2012, I am so worried and devastated about her health. She has a second cancerous tumor growing rapidly on her belly. I just can't imagine a year without her bushy tail wagging and her broken ear hanging so sweetly.

Before I start thinking about the year to come, tonight is all about reflecting. I love thinking about the year that has passed. Have I changed or grown? Was I a better person in some way? I love thinking about the accomplishments, milestones, and traditions of my family. I am not sure if I have changed, but I know I am learning as I go. Everyday I strive to be a better mom, wife, and teacher. I am learning (as hard as it is) to be okay with not being perfect and just doing the best I can. I think that makes me a better person.

This year left me with so many smiles especially celebrating a first birthday and watching a little girl start walking. It was a year of firsts for Kailyn and a year of watching a baby grow into a toddler. It was amazing as I piloted my way through motherhood, and I loved every second of it.

Christmas has passed, and we celebrated in style. I considered Christmas a huge success since we only had one ornament casualty from some dangerous little hands. Too bad, I can't say the say for Mom Mom's tree on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun. Kay got in and out of her little wagon holding her stuffed animal that looks just like Lexi for most of the morning. 

Over the week, we caught up with family and friends. We spent time at home and running around. It was the perfect mix. The only thing that stayed the same over this break was spending time with her...

and worrying about her ...

Happy New Year to all! This is going to be the best year yet!

The Countdown is On!

I can't wait for the big man in red to arrive! We are getting in the Christmas spirit. I love this time of year. Our Christmas cards have gone out, and I love getting home from work and checking the mail.

I bet you would be smiling if you saw this in your mail...

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Hope everyone has a busy, magical week! 

Story Book Land

Saturday morning, we woke up feeling pretty tired. We aren't used to going out! We struggled to get going, but we decided we wanted to have family time. It has been hard to find family time the past few weeks because things have been hectic! I love this time of year so much, but I feel like I haven't been able to enjoy it this year because things are crazy over here.

Anyway, we decided to take a trip down to Story Book Land to see Santa! It was a chilly night so we bundled up and headed off for a short evening of fun. When we arrived, the sun was just starting to set and we were excited for Kay to see Santa.

We waited outside of Santa's house because Santa comes from the chimney to wave his wand to light up the entire park with millions of lights. When Santa emerged Kay was interested! She stared at Santa and she seemed to like him!

After we saw Santa, we continued on for some amusement park fun. Kay had her very first Merry-Go-Round experience. She wasn't scared, but she wasn't too thrilled with it either.

It was a perfect birthday weekend. I highly suggest Story Book Land for a winter evening. It is such a clean, well kept special place for kids of all ages. I love my family and I love making memories with them. Now, I am gearing up for the big day. I really hope Santa stops at our house. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Birthday Date Night

After an insanely busy week, Daddy and I were able to relax with a special birthday date night. My hubby surprised me with tickets to see Jersey Boys in Philly. I have been wanting to see the show for a while, and I had mentioned it to him a while back. He hemmed and hawed, but it was all a trick. I was so happy mid-week when he told me we were going!

Our vet called to say that the test came back on Lexi's tumor, and she has stage 2 cancer. I will tell you more about that later. This week was draining. With report cards, observations, and late conferences, I was so happy when Friday rolled around.

We started off the night with a Mexican dinner at Distrito in the city. It was so good. It just made my obsession for Mexican food stronger. I know my hubby wasn't too thrilled, but he did it for me. Then, we stopped for a dessert at Philly cupcake! One special birthday cupcake for the birthday girl!

I know it is hard to see. I ate my gingerbread cupcake waiting for the show to start. It was heavenly.

This was my first time at Forrest Theater. I love the old feeling of it, but I hated the tiny seats and cramped leg room. My knees were slamming the seat in front of me all night. Once the show started, I didn't care though. I LOVED it!!! Jersey Boys was so good!

If you haven't seen the show, you must! The cast was amazing. The singing was even better! I loved spending the night with my hubby. It was the perfect beginning to my birthday weekend.

Etsy Shop Review

Looking for the perfect gift for a little girl? A few months ago, I was looking for a birthday gift for a special one year old. I found the perfect gift on etsy. Three Doodle Bugs is the perfect shop for personalized gifts. I was able to get a hand painted bow holder for the little girl made to match her bedroom and bedding. I loved the bow holders so much that I ordered one for Kay.

I love the way these bow holders came out. They would make the perfect addition to any room. Beth, the shop owner, was amazing! Of course, I was a little late ordering and she really rushed to get my order done in time! She was so easy to work with. She even looked up the bedding for Addie's design! She will do a custom order for you that you will love!

Check out her etsy shop! She has cute hand painted Christmas designs...perfect for a gift for a teacher, friend, or special little girl!

Elfster - Let the Holiday Season Begin

Have you been on Elfster.com? I love this website. Some friends and I are planning a day of baking followed by a pollyanna. This website rocks. You can set up a pollyanna online and draw names. The names get emailed to you! You can create wishlists, anonymously follow a friend's wishlist, follow birthdays and so much more. Thanks to my friend Angela for setting up our pollyanna!

It seems like the holidays are in full swing. It is stressful because I feel like I am behind the eight ball. With taking care of our Lexi, I have barely thought about Christmas. This might be the first year that I haven't had my decorations up and tree up Thanksgiving weekend. Why is everyone rushing me? The stores are making me feel like everything is flying off the shelves and nothing will be left. My neighbors are making my house feel dark and bare with their twinkling lights. I don't like the feeling of this. Christmas is my favorite time of year. I wish everyone would slow down and enjoy it. A girl can dream right?!?

Have you started shopping yet?

Thanksgiving and Lexi Doodle

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. Originally, I had planned on a fun filled, activity packed weekend with Daddy, mommy, and baby, but our plans changed as we learned our sweet Lexi girl needed sugery. She had a tumor on her hind leg that was protruding from her skin. It was an open wound, and we could tell it was bothering her. We put her on a course of antibiotics, but when nothing changed, we were told she would need surgery to remove it.

Oh, my poor Lexi. This story is dreadful. I have a few pictures too so if you have a queasy stomach, don't look at the pics. We took her in on Wednesday because we knew we would be home over the holiday to take care of her. She went in to have her tumor removed, and it went great. She was there all day, and she was groggy and out of it when we picked her up. 

About 30 minutes after we got home, we noticed that her sutures had already bust open! You can tell by this picture that some of the stitches had already popped open. We were worried about her incision being open so daddy packed her up (after all she had been through!) and took her the 24 hour emergent care vet to get her sutures fixed up.

She actually had to get her wound stapled close. So after her surgery, she had to spend another hour getting stapled. I was devastated to say the least, and I felt so bad for Lexi. All I wanted was to get her home and make her comfortable. When she got home, I made her a little bed on a blanket right next to me.

All night, she whimpered and cried and it broke my heart. I didn't get very much sleep and with a Thanksgiving dinner to prepare for our family, I was exhausted! We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving full of happiness and great food. I made a few firsts like homemade cranberry sauce, and everyone enjoyed the feast. 

The next day, more of Lexi's sutures were falling out. This poor dog couldn't catch a break. The emergent care only stapled around the sutures so her wound was not looking good. We decided to take her back to the vet to get her checked out, and they admitted her. I was not a happy camper. They decided to open it all up, clean it out, and re-close the incision with stents. So, she had two surgeries in three days. This poor girl! She came out of the second surgery and as her anesthesia wore off, she was hurting. 

She is a trooper, but she has had a rough go of it for the past four days. I hope she makes a speedy recovery because I am so sad for my Lexi girl. She hasn't moved much and I know she is in pain. I am  looking for my squirrel chasing, frisbee catching, best friend back. I can't wait to see her again!

A First Taste

Being the diligent mommy that I am, I try to offer my girl only healthy, low sugar, organic options whenever possible. I am finding this to be increasingly more difficult as Kailyn realizes that she is not interested in certain foods (aka vegetables). She still doesn't have many teeth which limits us, and I continue to find feeding time problematic. At times, she is an adventurous eater. I offer her most of the same food that Daddy and I are eating for dinner. Sometimes, she will eat it. Other times, she wants nothing to do with me or the food I am trying to give her.

Since going back to work after the summer, I am becoming more flexible and more realistic when it comes to the feeding department. Also, I am beginning to offer my sweet girl some sweet treats.

The other day, Grammy and I went to lunch with our girl. After we ate, we gave Kay her first taste of ice cream. Man, did she love it!

She was so happy. She was bouncing up and down in her high chair. Her first taste of ice cream, and I think she is going to be a fan for life!

Falling ...

Falling...this term could have meant many things this long weekend... falling behind in chores (even when I had the motivation and desire to get the carpet shampooer out and go to town), falling asleep (or lack thereof), falling leaves (enough said).

With four days off, I managed to leave my long to-do list untouched.  Oh well, I guess those things are just not that important. I did enjoy being home. Does that count for something?

Last night, we had an insomniac on our hands. Kay woke up at 12:30 and didn't go back to sleep until 3:30 am! I have no idea what was going on. It was painful for all of us. I know she is cutting her 8th tooth (she will have 4 up top and 4 on the bottom)! I gave her tylenol and everything, but she just would not settle. It was worse than the newborn days.

Today, it was a nice fall day so we headed out to clean up the yard. As we raked, the breeze kept blowing more leaves onto the grass. I didn't mind because my sweet cheeks joined us, and she loved it!

Currently, I am sleep deprived combined with a side of extreme soreness, and I am sure my husband would tell you that I am "pleasant" to be around.  Give me some mojo to make it through another week.

November?!?

Time sure flies when you are having fun! I haven't been spending a lot of time online lately because I have been chasing a little lady around and taking care of my family, but Oh how I missed my little blog. In the past few weeks, work has been super busy and hectic with observations, Halloween has come and gone, Daddy has been away for work leaving us in single mom territory, Lexi has an infected growth on her tush requiring her to bang around the house in a cone, and just everyday craziness and to-do lists have taken over.

I can't believe Halloween is over. My sweet baby girl was able to join me for our first Halloween parade and party at work. Daddy brought her to school and stayed with us so I could spend Halloween with my baby calf. I am so thankful that Daddy has the flexibility with his job to do things like this for me. She looked too cute and I loved showing her off at work. Momma dressed up like a farmer, and carried the cutest cow with her.

After work, I bolted out of there to meet up with Baby Addie and spend Halloween trick-or-treating. We pulled the girls in a wagon, and they were so thrilled. They loved being in the wagon, and they loved reaching in their goody bags. These girls had a blast.

This picture says it all! Can't you hear the squeal of excitement coming from this little cow?

We stayed in this wagon until after dark. It was cold, but we didn't tire because these girls did not stop smiling, squealing, and enjoying their first time celebrating Halloween. We were definitely in the Halloween spirit...

 Even the BIG BOYS...

 However, we did find some Halloween scrooges...

Seriously?!?! Come on people.

Even Poppy walked to a few houses with us to enjoy Kailyn's first night of trick-or-treating. 

I loved spending time with family and friends. We were even invited to an Italian dinner and homemade donuts with Sabrina and her family. It was perfect! 

Anyway, I loved every second of our Halloween this year. I felt so important like I had such an important job taking my girl around and beginning a new tradition. I will always remember this day because it was our first of many trick or treating nights! 

What a Year It Has Been

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months 

10 Months

11 Months

12 Months

 What an incredible year! I am so lucky and so blessed. The only thing I was sure of this past year, I have a happy, healthy baby that I love more than I could have ever imagined. Here's to the next 12 months! I can't wait to see how you grow and change baby girl!