Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve at church

We were very blessed with lots of family and enjoyed a very busy, merry Christmas! Not quite as crazy as last year, since we didn't have to rush around because of a trip out of state on the airplane, but busy just the same.

We started out with our first of 2 trips down to Salem, to celebrate Christmas with Theo, Yvette and Amara. (my brother in law, his girlfriend and their 3 month old) We had a nice time opening some gifts, playing Wii and going out to dinner. Kalaya loves her baby cousin and got some good practice in for handing out presents and opening wrapping paper for Christmas.

Kisses for cousin

Playing Just Dance 2 for the Wii

Handing out presents

Getting in some opening practice

A princess piano!

We had family staying with us at my parents' house. My brother (Colin) and niece (Allie) arrived a week before Christmas to stay for a couple of weeks. This was a very special visit, because my brother is about to leave for his second deployment to Afghanistan. We were glad we got such a long visit with Colin and Allie. Kalaya loooved having Allie to play with every day and there was only a little bit of rivalry for toys. My aunt arrived on Christmas day to spend a few days with all of us, which was a nice edition to the holiday cheer. I was in charge of the turkey dinner on Christmas and managed to make enough food and more for all 8 of us. We went to church as a family on Christmas Eve and woke up to open presents on Christmas Day. It was really fun actually doing Santa this year, even though Kalaya still doesn't totally get it. Allie, who is 2 1/2 totally got it and Kalaya had fun following her around as we put out cookies for Santa and opened presents.

Putting out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer

"We'll wait for Santa right here!"

Kalaya got a LOT of toys. Holy smokes!! Our playroom is crammed. Her big present from Santa was a play kitchen, which was hilarious to watch Nelson put together on Christmas Eve. She and Allie enjoyed playing with it on Christmas, as well as the other toys. She got: the kitchen, a doctor kit, a tool kit, cars, a bubble blower, 2 baby dolls, a shopping cart, a stuffed Elmo, a big girl potty with Elmo big girl underwear, clothes, Mega Blocks, stuffed animals, puzzles, ornaments, play food, and a doll bed, to name a few. We have put some away to bring out over the next couple of months. She is loving it all!

Ridiculous kitchen: granite counters, stainless steel appliances, play food, dishes, pots and pans, a seat...and all for super cheap on Black Friday!

Lots of Elmo stuff

On the 26th, we went down to Salem to do Christmas with Nelson's family and have another turkey/ham/roast dinner. Kalaya got plenty of gifts and attention and had fun playing with her other cousins. She pigged out on another Christmas dinner.

Now it's New Year's Eve and things have calmed down. It's a relief to be getting back into our normal routine, but definitely sad to say good bye to family. Kalaya keeps asking, "Uncle? Allie? Auntie?" and trying to explain it to her is impossible. It's hard knowing that it will be a long time until we see my brother again, but we have a lot of people praying for him and all we can do is pray he will be safe during his deployment.

Our New Year's Eve is not going to be anything fancy at all. Just Nelson and I, if I can make it until midnight. (it's been a long day of goodbyes, I'm wiped) We have 2 new games for the Wii and we'll probably just be lazy and play those together. We are not 'going out' type of people and this is going to be perfect for the two of us. We're getting together with our friends tomorrow afternoon for a VERY laid back time of relaxing and catching up. Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!!

Santa 2010

I wish I could post last year's Santa picture, but it is in a box with the rest of our stuff in storage. Some how I never got around to scanning the one hard copy we had. Just picture a giant screaming mouth on a little girl in a Santa hat and Christmas dress....

This year went much better. She didn't go to people at all last year (and I mean ANYONE, not even grandparents), but this year she says hi to everyone and gives high fives and fist bumps. We've been practicing saying Santa. So, we started out walking up quietly to Santa and saying hi. We, of course, went downtown to Macy's because that is the REAL Santa, and it's where we used to go when Colin and I were little. They have a really cute set up with moving elves and reindeer, which she LOVED.

We went up to Santa and he was really sweet with her and gentle and didn't rush her. We said, "Hi Santa!" and she said, 'anta?' Then offered him her hand. Then she gave him a high five and a fist bump. So, I got brave and said, "Do you want to hug Santa?" Much to my surprise, she went right to him and just held onto him for about a minute and a half!! It was so sweet, I totally cried.

They took a picture and then she figured out what was happening and started to get skeptical when we started trying to get her to smile....

And it ended in tears, but only for a minute. Then she kept asking about him the rest of the time we were there, 'anta? 'anta? and looking around for him. Maybe next year she will have a smiling picture. : )

19 Months

Well, Kalaya is officially closer to two than one! (insert generic 'I can't believe how fast it's going!' comment, because it's still true!) She is a busy, active toddler, but is such a pleasure. I hear stories over and over again about how challenging this age can be and I feel just the opposite. (well, about 90% of the time I do) She is so easy going and does such a great job of entertaining herself. She is a curious kid, but not to the point where she is mischievous and devious. She listens so well when we ask her not to do something or to do something.

Her list of words grows every day, it just amazes me! Some recent new words are: house, home, Pippy, milk, Elena (her BFF), circle, baby, Elmo, orange, eyes, nose, apple, banana, mouth, auntie, pillow, down, coat, hat, lunch, breakfast, potty, thank you (sometimes), horse, fish, and more that I can't think of right now. She knows where many body parts are, including; eyes, ear, mouth, hair, nose, feet, tummy, hand, teeth and tongue. She knows different animal sounds, including; duck, bear, cow, cat, snake, horse and Elmo. (he says 'la la la', incase you didn't know. Look up 'Elmo's Song' on YouTube for proof) She will say almost anything back to you that you model for her, so we have to be VERY careful of the words we choose these days! : )

I think she's going through a growth spurt. She's eating and sleeping really well and her 18 month clothes are getting smaller and shorter. She has (finally) turned into a pretty good eater and is eating most of the things that we eat and put in front of her. She has started eating some fruit (it only took 18 months!!!), but still in small amounts. The nice thing is that if she doesn't want to eat something, 9 times out of 10 I can just blend it in the magic bullet and she'll down it, especially if it's spread on bread. She does a really good job of feeding herself these days, even with a fork and spoon. She's fairly neat about it, as far as toddlers go. : )

People keep telling me what a handful this age is, and I totally disagree. Yes, she's mobile and learning to be independent, but she is very easy going. Maybe it's because she was a high needs infant/newborn, but this seems really, really easy. (aaaand, I just jinxed myself : ) She listens so well, unless she is super hungry or tired, but even then, does better than most toddlers. We tend to only have to redirect her once or twice when we don't want her to do something and then the behavior changes. And, I just don't mean once or twice in that situation. I mean at all. For example, when she first became mobile, she was very interested in my parent's stairs. We had to tell her not to climb them a couple of times and had to do a few time outs, but it was only in the very beginning. Now, she knows not to go over there, even without baby gates, and without redirecting. (it's been several months now) Same with drawers and cupboards she's not supposed to get into and things she's not supposed to touch, such as breakables and the TV.

If redirecting doesn't work, a time out solves the problem. I'm convinced that toddler nursing is a contributing factor to her behavior. It calms, soothes and redirects her if she is frustrated, sad, mad, hurt, tired, hungry, etc. It's so convenient and such an easy way to solve any situation.

But, honestly, most of the time she just plays and explores calmly. She loves to sit and read her board books, try on dress ups, push her baby in the stroller, go for walks with the dogs, look through kitchen drawers, play with her trucks and hang out. We have very relaxed days together, sleeping in a bit, eating breakfast almost all on her own, usually a shower together (which she LOVES), play time, lunch, nap, playtime, walk the dogs, dinner, play time, bath (if she didn't join me in the morning), and bedtime. She really only throws fits if she's overly tired or hungry and those are fairly easy to prevent. Signing is still really helpful, since it helps distinguish between words that sound the same.

Her nighttime sleep habits are so pleasant now. She goes down for bed pretty easily and quickly, usually around 8 and sleeps all night until around 7 or 8. She often wakes up just to have a morning nurse and then will sleep another hour or so. Very nice for mom! She takes an afternoon nap of usually just over an hour or so, which she is starting to fall asleep for on her own, which wasn't planned, but has been a nice change, even if only temporary.

We are so blessed to be coming into our 2nd holiday season with our beautiful 19 month old girl!

30 Days of Thankfulness Day 30....a few days late.

For the last of the 30 days, I have to say the thing I am more thankful for than anything else. I am thankful for my beautiful, wonderful daughter who is the center and joy of my life.

I always knew I was going to be a mother. I have always said that if I could have, I would have majored in motherhood in college. I had always planned to be a stay at home mom. I love every single part of being Kalaya's mother. It is amazing to watch her grow and change into her own little person, even on the days when that means being stubborn, screaming and arching her back to attempt to get her way. (it doesn't work) I love watching her interact with others, learn new words, discover new joys and to cuddle and kiss her when life doesn't go her way. I am so proud to be Kalaya's mommy and I cannot wait to add more babies to our family some day. Each day of motherhood is more wonderful than I had ever imagined that it could be and I never knew how much I could love another human being.