Swimming Lessons

Swimming has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. I was swimming at a very young age and was an active swimmer and water polo player in high school and college. We spent hours and hours at the pool every summer. Even now, I feel so comfortable in the water. It is my go-to activity for exercise. I am so happy that our new house is only a couple of blocks away from a pool!

We signed up Kalaya for the 'Toddler and Me' class that the pool offered and she has LOVED it! It's a nice way for us to be together as a family. I can't wait until she is swimming on her own. I'm sure many many hours will be spent at this pool! Nelson didn't take swimming lessons as a child, and is still pretty unsure in the water. He can swim to survive, but that's about it. He is thrilled that our kids are going to love the water from early on and know how to swim.

We have learned some important things about Kalaya as a student: (1) She enjoys, no thrives, no INSISTS on routine and consistency in a class. This girl was telling the teacher what to do next by the third class. (2) She is totally going to be that kid who tells substitute teachers 'that's not how Mr. or Mrs. _____ does it!' I can't imagine where she would get these traits with a mom that's a teacher.....

The class is just to get kids used to the water, not actually teach them to swim yet. Each activity really shows how it will eventually lead to a skill though. Enjoy the pictures! We usually do the class with her together, but I opted out that night, so I could get these shots. Just picture a really hot pregnant Mama next to them. Right.

Every class starts with gradually getting used to the water by washing different body parts, while singing a song of course. : ) (each activity has a song with it!)

Then another song to make getting into the pool fun....

We practice blowing out our breath to make the ball move

And reaching (streamline!) for the ball away from Daddy (or Mommy)

Lots of the songs involve up and down, which I am happy to let Daddy take care of, as Jakiah is making my back hurt if I lift too much...

We practice floating on our back, with help from toys. (she insists on doing this with me when I participate. This is the only activity she's a little apprehensive about. I swear she knows that Mommy is more confident in the water than Daddy for this one)

Fun with the pool noodles

Blowing bubbles in the water

Splashing!

Practicing with a kickboard

In only a few short years, we'll be watching swim meets and water polo games; can't wait!!

Small Style Halloween

Halloween is still pretty low key at our house. We haven't started going trick or treating yet. Kalaya is so timid with strangers and unknown environments that we think it may be more traumatizing than fun, so we're waiting one more year. We still try to make it a fun day though and she gets a big kick handing out candy to the trick or treaters. Unfortunately, we only had 4 total at our new house!! We bought waaaay too much candy, I'm sending some to work with Nelson. That actually works out well for us, because we both want to be able to take the kids trick or treating in the future, not take turns with one staying home.
We still had a fun day. Since my mom is a Kindergarten teacher, we went to her class party and Kalaya walked in the costume parade with the kids. She loved wearing her pumpkin costume and has been asking to wear it all of October. However, from the first time she tried it on, she made it very clear that the 'hat' (hood) part of the costume was not going to be worn. (in her defense, it's kind of tight and covered part of her face, making it hard to see) We even let her wear it to church on Sunday. : ) I picked it out, I figured this is the last year I get to pick her costume, I'm sure she'll have a say in the future! Toddlers in chubby pumpkin costumes are my favorite and this one is perfect!!

Costume: Once Upon a Child (thrifted for $6.50!!)
Headband: Target (Dollar bins!)

I am linking with Mama Loves Papa.

Small Style 10/27

I love themed clothing and my kids will wear it as long as they'll let me put it on them!! I tend to get a lot of inexpensive or thrifted items for holidays, since they don't get worn for very long! This could easily be her costume, but it's not. That's for next week's post!

Headband, socks: Target (dollar bins!)
Shirt: Kohl's
TuTu: Gift
Leggings: Fred Meyer

I am linking with Mama Loves Papa

Small Style 10/20

This little sweater is about to be too small, but I think it's super cute. No idea where it's from, it was a hand-me down.

Sweater: hand me down
Jeans: Target

We had a french drain put in our yard last week and she looooves playing in the leftover gravel that we used. Those boots are getting a lot of use!

Sweater, jeans: thrifted
Boots: Fred Meyer
Bow: Babies R Us

Playing dress up with her BFF!

On Kalaya (right):
Dress: Carter's Outlet
Tu Tu: Costco
Hat: thrifted
Sunglasses: Target

I am linking with Mama Loves Papa.

Small Style 10/13

Haven't done a Small Style post in a LONG time! Here's what we wore on our trip to the Pumpkin Patch last Sunday (which happens to be Roloff Farms, for any of you Little People, Big World fans!) It actually wasn't raining, but was a little muddy. (Hence, the rain boots, which we got last min and only because they were on sale AND I had a coupon!)

Shirt: Kohl's
Leggings, Boots: Fred Meyer
Tu Tu: Gift

I am linking with Mama Loves Papa

Silence is not always golden...

So, you know those times, when you have a toddler in your house, and it just gets.....









....a little......









....too quiet?









Yeah......















It's mascara.






And, actually, I'm pretty impressed about how well she did around her eye.





And it was an easy cleanup; luckily it wasn't waterproof.





But, it was a brand new tube!!





Which, luckily, was completely free with couponing. : )




Did I mention it was in a 'childproofed' cupboard??????




And, I feel like a hypocrite taking a picture of it, as if I approve or something....




But, still.




I'm heading for two of these????




This is a new part of parenting for us; not wanting to eliminate the desire for exploration, but she needs to know not to do these things again.

The same thing happened 2 nights ago with crayons on the floor. And the wall.

Oh, and having her clean it up with us or herself does no good, she thinks that's a reward! She looooves to help Mommy and Daddy clean. So, we talk about it, time out if applicable, pray it doesn't happen again. I certainly understand the temptation to say 'bad girl', etc, but we just focus on 'not a good choice', etc.

Did I mention the dog ate doughnuts off the counter last night??

IS IT A FULL MOON OR SOMETHING?

What I Wore Wednesday 10/12

FINALLY we got everything figured out with the camera/computer (we think). So, here are a few outfit shots I've managed to take over the last few weeks. (confession: I was avoiding it partly because I've been in sweats a lot, but mainly because I didn't want my messy, unorganized house in the background!!) We have mirrors on all the bedroom closet doors; perfect for WIWW! : )

Wore this out to dinner with some friends, probably the last 80 degree (or over 70...) for the rest of the year. The weather took a drastic turn after that....(Kalaya's room is partly done in the background)

Shirt, Shorts: Motherhood (hand me down)
Shoes: Some store in Chico, CA, can't remember the name...


I loooove saltwater sandals. I have been wearing them pretty much my entire life. Currently, I own 3 pairs. This pink pair were actually my wedding shoes. : )

Wore this to a baby shower that I helped to throw for one of my best friends. Fall clothes are definitely coming in!! (that is our bedroom in the background, don't you love the towels for curtains?? And, it was sheet washing day!)

Dress: Ross
Leggings: Kohl's
Boots: Payless Shoe Source
Necklace: Forever 21

You know this shirt is stylin'! For those who don't know, I was an elementary teacher (technically still am I guess, since I'm still certified) before Kalaya was born, so themed clothing sneaks its way into my wardrobe now and then....

Shirt: Big Lots
Mat Jeans: Target

I am linking with That Kind of Mom, check out her Wreck the Dress post, I could never be that brave!!

3 Years Pumpkin Patch Trips Already....

2009

2010

2011

Where has the time gone??
(ps, it's a different size shirt, yes she has grown!)

Lately....

Grrr! I'm so frustrated, my camera won't let me upload pictures! Or the computer won't. I'm not sure which. The USB port, I think, because our webcam isn't working either, which means no Skype. LAME! I have actually been remembering to take a few What I Wore Wednesday and Small Style pics and can't use them! We also have other fun trips and such that are stuck in my camera!! Hopefully that gets resolved soon.....

Wow, midway through October already! Once Halloween hits in our family, the time goes into warp speed, birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and before you know it, Baby Jakiah will be here!! That is crazy! I'm feeling really good these days, but bigger and bigger. I swear, I'm going to outgrow maternity clothes that fit me all the way up last pregnancy....maybe because he's a boy, maybe because it's the 2nd pregnancy, who knows why? I know part of it is that I am carrying him a little different than Kalaya too. Other than getting bigger and feeling lots and lots of movement from this little guy, I feel totally normal. Appetite is fine, sleeping pretty well, etc. I know that sleep may be affected soon, he's getting bigger and as a tummy sleeper (sigh...), I know my days are limited....I've been padding with more and more pillows, which is helping for now.

Kalaya is busy busy these days! We just started swim lessons last night and she LOVES them. She is probably the oldest in the class (it's the baby and me style), but it's perfect for her. She follows the teachers' directions exactly and gets so into it. I hope to post pics soon! It's a fun time for the three of us.

We went to the pumpkin patch on Sunday, again, hopefully will post pics soon! I can't believe this is already our THIRD YEAR of the pumpkin patch/Halloween and that next year we will be visiting as a family of four. Crazy! We went with two of her little friends and they had a blast. I scored her Halloween costume at a consignment store last week and it is sooooooo cute! I can't wait to show pics. And, it is really nice and warm and was really inexpensive! I'll do a special WIWW for Halloween. Stay tuned!

It's funny. I just posted last week about co-sleeping and literally the next day, she requested to sleep in 'Kalaya's bed'. I think a big part of it is that I finally got her room in order, and bought some new things to decorate it. (again, ANOTHER pic I want to post....as well as more 'after' pictures of the house!) I have been trying to avoid licensed characters as long as I can, but decided to cave and decorate her room with Sesame Street stuff, because I knew she'd want to spend more time on it. Again, pics will (hopefully!) be posted soon! But, she has started sleeping in her own bed, every night, with no problems. She did roll off the end her very first night, but it barely phased her and she was fine. Don't know if it will last, but it seems to be okay. We are SO glad we let her decide on her own when to do this. There's more room in our bed now, which is nice, but she will always be welcome back if she changes her mind.

We have been working on potty training much more than we have in the past. Since we're finally settled in (and most of our house is laminate, not carpeted....), I've been trying the 'diaper free' method. Everyone I know who tried this raved about it and said it was quickly a success. Well....not the case yet at our house. The point of no diaper is, of course, to let them learn to feel what it feels like when they have to go. That is not a problem for Kalaya, she gets that. She literally holds it all day, until the pull up goes on at nap or bed time and then goes almost immediately, reports to me and wants to be changed. She seems to just be being stubborn, we're not sure why. She will sit on the potty no problem, for extended periods of time, but not go in it. She loves watching 'Elmo's Potty Time' and totally gets all of the concepts, but...nothing yet. It is tiring, but I know we'll get there.

The house FINALLY is starting to feel like home. The inside is pretty much in order. Everything is put up, put away, organized, etc. There are a few more pieces of furniture we'd like to add over time, but for the most part, we're about there. We still need to order and install blinds and curtains, but everything else is about done. Because of the plumbing issue I posted about, we can no longer afford to upgrade our half bath to a full at this point. I'm disappointed, but I'm choosing to focus on the fact that we had the money to pay for the problem we had, rather than having to go in debt for it. Maybe if tax return time is good to us, we'll upgrade then. Though, I think we're going to try to find a way to purchase a second car (mini van baby!!) because we are going to need it!! We'll see. At this point, here are all of the things we have done or had done to the house: professional cleaners, painted all walls, doors, trim and ceilings, repaired large hole in living room wall, replaced family room carpet, paid a LOT to have a working washer and dryer, replaced all indoor thresholds, replaced flooring in laundry area, removed dead tree from back yard, had very large tree in front yard professionally pruned, attacked 4 foot tall weeds in front yard, fixed garage door opener, changed water dispenser/ice maker filter in fridge, had all ducts professionally cleaned, replaced light switches, had multiple electrical stuff done, furnace cleaned and serviced, had exterminators out to get rid of yellow jackets in crawl space (3 times...), had roof repaired, and replaced all gutters. We are still: having the gas powered wood stove (you read that correctly) serviced before we use it (today), having drywall put up over the large hole from the washing machine repair (tomorrow), having a french drain and trench put in the backyard to keep runoff from going under the house (Saturday), and ordering and installing mini blinds on all the windows. WHEW!!! Thank you very, very much to my parents for letting us live with them to save up, as well as my aunt and grandparents for some gifts along the way. Otherwise we would be up to our eyeballs in dept! Even with ALL this stuff, we still got an incredible deal on this house, I swear!!

Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful Boy (Guest blogger Daddy)

So, this is Nelson.

I don’t post on this very often (or, you know, ever), but it occurs to me that I should probably mention something about the new kid on the way. He’ll be here in January (if he’s on time), which is alarmingly only three months away.

That doesn’t seem like it’s very far away, right? Pretty soon I’ll be able to start keeping track of how much money he’ll owe Kelly and I when he turns 18. Kalaya’s tab is already at $8,544.16 and she’s only two – man, we’re going to be rolling in the dough by the time they’re both eligible to vote! Kids are the best.

We picked out a name for him already, but we haven’t found a middle name that we’re both over the moon over. Kelly is holding out for Gabriel, and I am trying to slip Brontosaurus in, but so far there’s no deal in place (mostly because I am only 90% kidding about Brontosaurus).

Kalaya is pretty excited about having a baby in the house. So far. Over the past month or so, she’s started referring to any picture of her at 18 months or younger as ‘Baby Kalaya,’ so evidently the fact that humans grow/age is at least partially in her schema. Now she talks about ‘Baby Jakiah’ all the time, and especially how his name starts ‘wiff JAAAAAAAAAAY!’

I also have to say that I am weirdly excited for all four of us to attempt to fit into one bed, which will probably only last for a few days, but should be a fun experiment. The last time I was looking forward to me and another dude being in bed with two ladies this much was in college, and those feelings and these current feelings could not be further unrelated.

At any rate, when Kelly was pregnant with Ca$h Cow #1, I remember listening to a Darius Rucker song called ‘It Won’t Be Like This For Long,’ conveniently for the first time as I was putting the crib (that she used exactly three times) together. Needless to say, I was a puddle of emotions by the end, and the crib was no closer to being finished than when the song began.

There are a lot of songs now that remind me of Kalaya - ‘Then’ (Brad Paisley), ‘Gracie’ (Ben Folds), ‘Two of Us’ (the Aimee Mann/Michael Penn version), and basically anything by Bruno Mars (especially ‘Just the Way You Are,’ since she knows and sings all of the words) or from ‘Glee’ – but that Darius Rucker song was the first one I remember REALLY affecting me as a dad.

It is in this vein that I’ll post the lyrics from the song ‘Anything Like Me,’ which is another Brad Paisley song about being a father to a son. (Aside: if you had told me ten years ago that the two songs that I would instantly identify with my children would be from the country genre, I would have punched myself in the face.) It’s not entirely accurate, but I’ll insert amendments to fix some of things that don’t really work for me, or him, or us:

Anything Like Me

I remember saying I don't care either way
Just as long as he or she is healthy I'm ok
(This was true for both kids, although secretly I wanted twins both times because 1) it would be fun, and 2) I am a masochist.)
Then the doctor pointed to the corner of the screen
And said "You see that thing right there well you know what that means"
(I saw the penis before the nurse said it was a penis, and even though I was pretty certain it couldn’t be anything else, I waited until there was confirmation before lighting up my 1950’s cigar. Also, I wanted to make sure the exclamation from the nurse was ‘It’s a boy!’ and not ‘Wow, she has a gigantic vulva!’)

And I started wondering who he was going to be
And I thought heaven help us if he's anything like me
(Actually, this applies more to what my brother will probably think if he ever has a son. But still.)

He'll probably climb a tree too tall and ride his bike too fast
End up every summer wearing something in a cast
He's gonna throw a ball and break some glass, in a window down the street
(One time I broke a window in our house with a ball. Close enough.)

He's gonna get in trouble, he's gonna get in fights
I'm gonna lose my temper and some sleep
It's safe to say that I'm gonna get my payback if he's anything like me(If true, my payback will consist of him sleeping too much and him playing a lot of Playstation.)

I can see him right now knees all skinned up
With a magnifying glass trying to melt a Tonka truck
(I had a Tonka truck, but I was more concerned with whether it had airbags than its meltability.)

Won't he be a sight with his football helmet on
That'll be his first love til his first love comes along
(True story: I played competitive football one year, when I was 12. I was a Tight End and Cornerback. The only two plays I remember are forgetting to block a linebacker and giving up a sack, which ended with me getting benched, and getting burned by a wide receiver with a legitimate limp because his legs weren’t the same size, which ended with me getting benched. I wish my first love had come along before that.)

He'll get his heart broke by the time he's in his teens
And heaven help him if he's anything like me
(Also, heaven help his mother and I for the awful poetry he’ll write about it.)
He'll probably stay out too late and drive his car too fast
Get a speeding ticket he'll pay for mowing grass
He's gonna get caught skipping class, and be grounded for a week
(I used to skip class in high school…to go bowling. Possibly related – I didn’t have a girlfriend at the time.)

He's gonna get in trouble we're gonna get in fights
I'm gonna lose my temper and some sleep
It's safe to say that I'm gonna get my payback if he's anything like me
(I hope we don’t actually fight, like in American Beauty when Chris Cooper punches Wes Bentley. Although if Jakiah says things like ‘I’m not ordinary’ and spends an inexplicable amount of time filming plastic bags in the wind…)

He's gonna love me and hate me along the way
Years are gonna fly by I already dread the day(Uh-oh, here come the waterworks.)

He's gonna hug his momma, he's gonna shake my hand
He's gonna act like he can’t wait to leave
But as he drives out he'll cry his eyes out
If he's anything like me(Suddenly it’s really dusty in here…let’s wrap it up, Brad.)

There's worse folks to be like
Oh he'll be alright
If he's anything like me

Jakiah, my beautiful boy, I hope you have all of the best of me, and none of the worst of me. But mostly I hope that you have the best and worst of you, because I love you Just The Way You Are.

(Right, Kalaya?)