Meadow Mile + 2 years

I ran the Meadow Mile 5k this morning.  I got to the first mile in like 11 minutes!  I was impressed by that...I'm a pretty slow runner.  The first mile was the easiest & I was kinda wishing I had just done the mile!  Oh, well :)  There was a slight hill we had to go up & down (ugh, I hate running up hills!) and the wind was NOT fun!  Overall it was fun though.  Brad & Kiley were there to cheer me on & Kiley would say "Go, Mommy, go!"  My little motivator!  She almost crossed the finish line with me because she ran up to me.  Brad said next time they'll wait across the finish line!  My time ended up being 37:06...my best so far!  I also won a doorprize!  woohoo!  It was a gift certificate to a BBQ place in Brownfield.  yummy!  I love free food :)

In other news, Kiley is 2 now!  (Technically 25 months now)  She had her 2 year well-check & it went, well...well :)  She got her 2nd Hep A shot so no more shots till age 4!!!  (Well, except the flu shot).  She weighed about 27 1/2 lbs & is about 32 inches or so (They measured 35 inches, but I know that's not accurate!)  I don't remember her head measurement, but I'm sure it's still big :)  We did confirm that she probably does have allergies/asthma/eczema.  Poor girl, she was born in the wrong city!  We finally got rid of her cough by using breathing treatments & adding another allergy medicine (now takes Singulair at night & zyrtec in the mornings).  Good ol' Lubbock.
Kiley is starting to talk in sentences a lot.  It's really fun (& really weird too...what happened to my little baby!?)  It's fun seeing her personality.  She's so full of life & very compassionate too...she doesn't like when other people are sad or sick.  So far so good with the "terrible twos".  Hopefully Love & Logic will help them not be so bad :)  Oh, she's in a toddler bed now.  So far so good there too.  She doesn't always want to go to sleep at night, but that's just because we are so much fun to be around :)

Almost naptime, better go.  Just thought I'd update since it's been over 6 months since my last post.

18 Months

Kiley turns 18 months old on Monday...18 months!  How is that possible??  Time is really flying by!  She has her 18 month check-up on Tuesday.  Luckily there won't be any shots!  The 2nd does of Hep A has to be at least 6 months after the first one, which she got 5 months ago.  I'm curious to see how tall she is & how much she weighs.  It seems like she's been growing, growing lately.  Her hair is getting longer too.  It's almost long enough to push behind her ears, which is what I'm going for.  We're not fully potty training yet, but we have started a little bit.  No hurry, she's still little! 
Kiley is such a big talker!  She loves repeating words & stuff.  She can say about 100 words.  She also loves being around people.  She can be in a grumpy mood & then we go to church or something & she will just brighten up.  We predicted that we would have an extroverted, talkative child since we are both introverted & pretty quiet.  It's looking like we were right :)

Cute words Kiley says: 

• Library (sounds like i-baby)
• No (I know I won't always think it's cute, but right now it's just cute how she says it)
• Ooh-ooh (monkey sound; not really a word, but it's cute!)
• Bog Baby (it's a book we read from the i-baby; she'll randomly say bog baby sometimes!) 
• Belly.  When she says it, it sounds like baby...so if she pats my belly...no, I'm not pregnant!
• Light (she pronounces it "yight")
• Rain; When it rains she'll say "Waiwing, waiwing"
• Baby, because it's always cute when a baby says "baby".  Oh, and "baby" is anyone under the age of 5 :)

Have a great weekend!

What we've been up to...

We've been keeping ourselves busy lately.  Kiley hasn't been too fond of going to bed at night.  I think we've figured it out though...she has to get all her playtime in first.  So as long as we have lots of tickles & laughs & running around, then she's fine going to bed.
This summer, Kiley & I have been going to a baby signing & music class.  She's really enjoyed it.  She knows a lot of signs.  It's very helpful with communicating with her.  Brad knows a lot of sign language too, so he's been teaching her a bunch.  Kiley really likes music too.  She likes to play on the keyboard.  In the class, the teacher would say/sing a phrase, like "bah, bah, bah" & then the students would repeat it in the same rhythm.  Kiley really likes that part.  Hey, if you're in Lubbock & have a baby or toddler you should join our class!!!
Brad & I have been reading the Love & Logic books.  I highly recommend them to anyone who has kids or teaches kids or knows kids!  Basically, you are teaching kids how to think for themselves & become responsible adults.  You allow them to make mistakes while they're little & the stakes are not as high.  The natural consequences do the teaching.  (They say Love & Logic kids sometimes wish they could just get spanked cuz then it's over & they don't have to think as much!lol P.S. I'm not anti-parents-who-spank!)   Also, you respond with empathy and sadness, not anger (love that part!).  There's a book that's geared toward parents of younger kids.  I'm reading that one now.  I won't try to tell too much about the books because I'm sure I'd leave out a lot & not do it justice, but I really think the books have a lot of good points!!  We like to read a lot of different books & then pick what we like out of each of them.  That's what we did with the infant sleep books.
I guess that's about it for now.  We'll be headed to Plains next weekend for the annual Watermelon Round-up.  I think Kiley will really enjoy it.  She looooves watermelon.  And people.  She'll have fun playing with "Nah nuh" (that how she says her cousin Diana's name).  I'll be running in the 5k.  Which probably means I should get to running more again!

Lovely Weekend

So, we didn't win the Covenant contest.  I'm actually really glad for the lady who won.  Hers was a picture of her little boy smashing a pill container because he had just finished 4 years of chemo.  Yeah...I can't be too sad about losing to that! :)  And it's really cool that I got so many votes.  Thanks friends!
We went to some garage sales this morning.  I think we'll have to teach Kiley a little more that you don't buy something at everyone :)  We did get some really good deals though.  Kiley got a couple of toys for really cheap & I found some clothes for her for 50 cents each!  Then we found a toy kitchen for her.  It was really cheap so I didn't want to pass it up.  Brad didn't think we'd have room for it, but I though we would (I will make room!).  I told him if it didn't fit then we could sell it at our garage sale :)  I think she'll really enjoy it, especially as she gets older.  And right now she loves opening & closing doors so i think she'll have fun with it now too.  She's napping right now so I haven't actually gotten to see if it fits where I wanted to put it in her room.  *fingers crossed!*
Not much else going on around here.  Just enjoying a nice weekend!

She thinks she's sooo big!

AAAAHH!

That is how I feel right now.  I entered Covenant's "Share Your Moment" contest.  Everybody who enters gets a free reusable shopping bag or something.  The grand prize is an ipad.  Now, I would never buy an ipad for myself (or at least not in the near future).  But I would gladly accept one as a prize :)  So, my video of Kiley has been ahead the whole 3 or 4 weeks of the contest.  Well, the contest ends tomorrow & now I'm not ahead anymore!  My competitive nature is coming out!  I am only competitive if I feel like I have a shot at winning something.  Or if I am competing against Brad :)  Anyway, if ya wanna vote, here's the link:

http://apps.facebook.com/promosapp/280491/entry/295011

I realize I will probably not win at this point, but I must keep trying!  :)

And a picture, just for fun :)

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July!!  We've had a great day celebrating our freedom & hope you have too.  Me, my mom, & Kiley went to the 4th on Broadway parade.  It was Kiley's first parade.  She seemed to really like it.  She would wave her little flag & sometimes wave at the people on the floats.  She would dance when there was music.  Her favorite floats were the Spanish radio stations (I guess because they had brightly colored cars), the Lubbock Right to Life float, and some big vehicle that I think was with the police or fire station.  She has a wide range of tastes.  We grilled out for lunch & had some friends over.  We played games after lunch & it was a lot of fun!  Kiley took a big nap.  Then we had church tonight.  That was good (although somewhat frustrating since there was no baby class; we managed, though).  We're not doing fireworks or anything...Kiley doesn't stay up that late.  It's been nice having two days off...I don't wanna go back tomorrow!  Oh well, only two more days then I'm off again; I guess I can't complain!  We have a family reunion this weekend...should be fun!
Have a happy & safe 4th of July (what's left of it!)

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there!  I am blessed to have a wonderful, Christian, hard-working Dad who tells some of the corniest jokes I know :)  Thanks to him & God I knew what kind of man to look for, and now Kiley gets to have an awesome Daddy too!  (even if he does throw her in the air & have her do flips & all kinds of acrobatics, which she loves...)  We are very blessed :)

We gave Brad his present last month (I'm no good at keeping secrets!)  We had gone to the Mud Room (paint your own pottery place).  We decorated a tile for him.  Kiley fingerpainted on it (she loved it!) and then I put her footprint on it in gray & made it look like a saw by adding the teeth & a handle.  Then I wrote "Best Daddy I Ever Saw".  In hindsight, I should've let her fingerpaint in a lighter color instead of green, because after they fired it you couldn't see the footprint very well.  Oh well, it's a Kiley original :)

I know this day is not a happy one for many people, whether it is because of the loss of a dad, not having a dad, or not getting the chance to be a dad.  Just wanted you to know that I'm thinking of you today also.  Stay strong & keep the faith!