A Beautiful November Day

The forecast called for two days last week to be just wonderful out, and we took advantage of one. We packed up our picnic basket and were on our way to Rock Springs. We didn't get a chance to go out there when the leaves were just changing colors for fall, but a place like that is beautiful all year around. Knowing that the bike trails go for miles we grabbed Kyleah's stroller, we knew her little legs wouldn't hold up for that long of a hike. We got there and let her take off! I think it was the first time she noticed her shadow and she chased it for a good quarter of a mile, until she moved onto more interesting things. It was funny to see her running down hill, her legs couldn't keep up and she ended up crashing a few times. And I know she thought it was funny to see Corey and I struggle pushing her and her stroller up hill, she kept looking back at us with a big smile!

By the time we made it up hill, Corey and I were laughing about how out of shape we have become and how we were both sweating and gasping for air! The views were amazing though, and well worth the vigorous hike. Lol. Amongst one patch of trees, the park had built teepee's that seemed to be just Kyleah's size. They creaked as the trees swayed back and forth, but we still were able to go inside them. I remember visiting the park when I was little, we used to gather pine cones and have a blast in the museum. In the spring we plan on going back and taking Kyleah inside the museum, she'll be old enough to explore it better. When we first walked into the park, I saw a field of prairie grass and just knew Kyleah had to get her pictures taken in it. We stood her up in front of the grass and she almost seemed afraid of it at first, so we sat her down and let her get used to the surroundings and snapped away! There was one piece that kept flipping her in the face, so I grabbed ahold of it and yanked. Before I finish this part of the trip, let me just say; If you ever seem to find yourself in a fight with prairie grass, you will not win! So when I let go, thinking I would have it in my hand and toss it aside, it flew back slapping Kyleah in the face! I realized my hand was on fire and when I looked down there was blood. Great, I just got my butt kicked by a piece of prairie grass! Knowing I HAD to win this fight, I stomped away on it and took care of the situation. Lol. Wow, what moms will do to get a good picture! By the time we headed out of the park, it was late and starting to get chili, so we had our picnic in the car. I can't wait to go back there in the spring and hopefully take friends or family along for the fun!

Great Papa Charlie's Birthday

After getting the clear from the Dr. last Wednesday we were thankful to be able to spend the day with our Grandpa for his birthday. Corey had to work an early shift, so Kyleah and I headed over and Corey was to meet up with us a few hours later. Kyleah was privileged enough to spend the entire day with several grandparents including; Grandma Debbie, Great Grandma Bev, Great Grandma Bonnie, and Great Papa Charlie. Gma Bev had prepared veggie soup with ham and cheese sandwiches, plus we had birthday cake and peach cobbler as well! Hmm! We could smell the soup cooking all morning, so we were all hungry by 10 o'clock! lol Gma Bev turned on some music and Kyleah danced to Elvis (she must get the love for Elvis from Gma Debbie!). We all sat down and enjoyed our...brunch? and peach cobbler, we all were so full. Gma Bev and Gma Bonnie wanted to play a game and started playing Farkle. Of course, Kyleah saw a wooden box full of dice and marbles and joined in on the fun. I was shocked to find out Kyleah wasn't trying to eat the marbles, but instead kissing the dice for good luck! When she's old enough I'm taking her to Vegas...I think she may be on to something! Surprisingly, Kyleah sat on Gma Bev's lap for a couple of hours playing Farkle, without a fuss! During so, Jady arrived after she got off work, then a little bit later Corey got there. They ate lunch and we all got to have birthday cake and ice cream. Of course with all the family around, Kyleah had alot of icing from the cake! Usually after eating at Gma Bev's Corey and I take a nap in the recliner, but I stayed awake this time and Corey got his nap in. I couldn't believe how much Kyleah walked all over Gma's house! She's getting big so fast! I'm glad she's able to spend this time with her grandparents, she'll cherish these times later on in life, like I do!

Pumpkin Patch

We can finally say we made it to the pumpkin patch this year! We've been having such cold cloudy days, we didn't think we were going to go. At last a day came and the sun was out and the temp. reached 70! We figured we may as well take advantage of the weather and go get some pumpkins! Plus this year Kyleah could take off and get out some energy. We started out by visiting The Three Little Pigs, and by then I already knew every animal we would see was going to be Theo! Kyleah got to ride in a wagon, and immediately had a smile from ear to ear. She then saw more "Theo's" (goats this time) and wanted out, we walked up to the fence and she just stood and looked. I don't think she was quite sure of the "Theo's" and wouldn't pet any, but sure did give them an ear full of jibber jabber. We cruised along through all the other animals and had to stop at the straw maze. Kyleah took daddy through it and I think she knew her way better than he did. With it only being about a foot tall, she quickly met me at the end waiting. There was a pretty garden with a bridge and stream we walked through, and Kyleah tried to take me into the trees (the scenic route). We then headed through the sunflower maze and into the actual patch to pick out our own pumpkins. We found it hard to find a "perfect pumpkin" out there. We walked almost all the way down and all the pumpkins were either gross on one side or totally oozing their insides. Corey saw that there were trailers full of pumpkins back towards the front, so we headed that way. It was so cute to see Kyleah up next to the huge pumpkin that weighed hundreds and hundreds of pounds, she looked so little. I figured it would take Ky forever to find her pumpkin and she would probably have to touch a hundred before picking one up. Little did I know, it was actually Corey that couldn't find his pumpkin! For some reason we feel like we have to get pumpkins that resemble our family (the biggest one being Corey, medium one me, and a small one for Ky). I hope we aren't the only family that does that! So, I found myself first, Corey had to wait for himself to be unloaded off of a trailer, and Ky quickly found hers. She must have had her eye on which one she wanted, she walked right up to it and attempted to pick it up but kept dropping it. We got Ky settled into the wagon, along with our pumpkin family, and were on our way to pay. We only got to spend a few hours there, but with me being sick, I couldn't hang in there too long. All that matters is we got to spend time together as a family and we had a great time doing so!

Apple & Pork Fest Weekend

With Christmas just right around the corner, Corey and I thought it would be good to go to the Apple and Pork Fest. We headed up to Clinton Friday and spent about 6 hours of shopping through tons of vendors and antiques. We met up with Grandma Debbie and Papa Bobby that morning and we all kind of hung out all day. Kyleah did amazing btw! She was just enjoying all the people and telling everyone "Hi" and "Byyee" the whole time. And you can't go to a festival and not eat any of the great greasy food! We enjoyed a heaping pile of cheesy fries and a walleye sandwich! We found a few Christmas gifts and were satisfied. We started down the other part of town and ate some yummy fudge! We walked up and down the streets (people set up their own little shops in front of their homes) and found Kyleah and awesome present! About that time we had plans to meet up with friends, so we headed out and took Kyleah to Grandma Netters to stay the night. We met up with a couple friends at Filippo's and then headed out to Sliders to enjoy some drinks. We hadn't hung out with them for over a year and it was great to get back together and we forgot how much fun we had together. We had alot of catching up to do and ended up listening to a pretty good band that night too! After finally climbing into bed after a long long day, morning came pretty fast. The next morning, we met up with Corey's mom and Grandma in Clinton to get Little Monkey. All 5 of us headed back over to the Apple and Pork Fest to finish browsing and shopping. Again, we got some more yummy food and found more gifts! We only spent a few hours there, but we were tired from a busy weekend and we had finally covered the whole festival. It turned out to be a pretty nice day (and weekend) and had tons of fun with our families and friends!

May The Walking Begin?

Last Friday Kyleah and I headed to Aunt Jady's to visit her, cousin Brandon, and cousin Alyssa! It's not very often that Kyleah gets to spend time with more than one cousin at a time. Kyleah and Alyssa were having a blast together, and by "having a blast" I mean getting into everything! Oh and trampling Aunt Jady with a falling screen door. After scoping out the hundreds of trolls, again, Kyleah got up and decided to Walk down the hallway! We couldn't believe it! After attempting this two more times and crashing into the woodwork, Kyleah had enough! Alyssa loved it and for alot of the evening kept grabbing ahold of Kyleah's shirt and saying "Alk alk". This ended up getting us in trouble when Kyleah lost her footing and hit her head on the cabinet. Kyleah instantly had a goose-egg on her forehead! Poor cousin Brandon couldn't even watch a movie without Kyleah changing the channel. Definitely an eventful evening, but great to see them all together! One of the first things I said to Alyssa when I saw her was "Are you going to teach Kyleah how to walk?", since then Kyleah has started walking and I think she is kind of getting the hang of it!

If Mommy's Sick, Than I Am Too!

I've been battling a cold for the past couple of weeks now and just when I thought it was gone, it came back and really knocked me down. This past weekend I got everything from a runny nose to the raspy voice. I figured once I'd started coughing I'd have a little mini me right next to me coughing as well. Surprisingly, she hasn't mocked me at all...until today! I had went through one box of Kleenex and set the box beside the couch. Kyleah went and got her wet wipes and brought in a handful. She stuck her handful into the Kleenex box and reach in and pulled one out. She held it up to her face and started blowing her nose! At first I thought she was just making a weird noise with her mouth and faking it, but when she pulled the wet one away I found out she wasn't faking at all. She had actually really blown her nose! lol She had seen me go through a whole box of Kleenex and caught on how to do it herself.

Balloons Galore

Lincoln Balloon Fest was here this past weekend. We went Friday evening to see the balloon launch and glow, but because of the wind the balloons packed up early and there wasn't a glow. We went last year as well, but since Kyleah's a little older now she noticed the balloons for the first time. (And I think even said "balloon") We met up with Corey's mom and grandma and went to Lincoln to meet his sister and her husband and Bradyn. They had picked up dinner and we all had a picnic and watched some of the balloons float into the distance. We had a lot of fun, we hadn't got to visit with everyone together for awhile. Since the show was cut short, we met back at his moms and hung out for a little bit there. Saturday, we went back to get a closer view of the balloons and met up with my mom and dad. When we first got there, we watched wrestling and I can't believe how much Kyleah loved it! She was clapping her hands and yelling words that I still don't understand. Not very many balloons launched that time, it was so breezy! When launching, the balloons would lose shape and the baskets were swinging every which way, they were having a hard time getting them to fly. Finally the wind died down and they did the glow. Corey, Kyleah, and I all enjoyed a plate of ribbon potatoes and a hot dog and corn dog! hmm! It was cold out and we were all nestled under blankets, except Corey, who was off taking pictures and actually got to stand inside of one of the balloons! The parking lot was a disaster at the airport, it took some an hour just to get out, luckily it wasn't but 20 minutes for us!

A Flock of Geese

I am still amazed by all the geese we saw Monday at Lake Decatur! I couldn't even try to guess on how many there were. They were extremely brave and came so close, we could touch them. (Not that I would let Kyleah) The geese seemed to be just Kyleah's height and I didn't like the idea of their beaks at her eye level. Ducks and geese are so cute, and Kyleah definitely believes that, but to me they are very dirty and you can't trust them! Corey brought out the bread and we were automatically surrounded by all these geese. We would walk away to the other flock and they would all follow us. I don't care if it is just a bird, I don't want to be chased by it! lol We had so much fun and it was hilarious to see Kyleah sit in the middle of all these ducks and geese! But it was even more hilarious to see a goose bite Corey's finger! Here I have the camera all ready to snap a picture of how close Corey is to this goose and shockingly the goose jumps up (feet off the ground and wings spread) snatching the bread out of Corey's hand and bites his finger! Obviously I was scared, and accidentally snapped a picture when I jumped! Priceless! After all that commotion, we took Kyleah by where Corey proposed to me and got a few pictures. We thought it would be kind of neat to show her (even though she doesn't understand) and maybe even start a tradition to take a picture there every year!

A Good Day For a Picnic!

My good friend Roy was on vacation for a couple weeks, so we decided to meet up and catch up a little. I thought hopefully it will be a nice day and we could have a picnic! He had found a turtle a couple days ago and wanted Kyleah and I to see it, so we figured we would let it go there at the park. With it being my idea, he made the day pretty simple for me. My supply list: Kyleah, myself, picnic basket. We met up at his house and left with what we thought was everything. Kyleah seemed to love the topless Jeep ride over to the park! We pretty much got there and Roy realized that the turtle was still on his porch! Oops! Apparently it wasn't his lucky day! He packed an awesome picnic basket and Kyleah loved the fruit so much, she was eating it from Roy's plate! He was trying to tear the blackberries in half and Kyleah was just shoving the whole thing in her mouth...it was cute! By the end, they both were stained from the berries! We played on the slides for a little bit and got to swing as well. Kyleah was amazed with all the little rocks, so we sat in the rocks and found the pretty ones. I think she was having more fun piling the rocks on us, than anything. I took her to the slides one last time before we left and was sort of letting her climb up with the help of my hand. I gave her a push and she smacked her head right on the slide! I think she handled it pretty well, since she had a bump with a spot on her head! I don't think Roy will ever let me forget it! On the way home I covered Kyleah up and she fell asleep with the wind blowing through her hair! We had a really good time and even though it was my idea to go, he made the trip!

P.S. Roy, the bump was gone by the time we got home! :)

Our Little Tomato Thief...

I would love to say that our garden did awesome this summer, but I can't really say "awesome". Ok pretty much everything shriveled and died. We still have watermelon, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, and beets. Doesn't sound too bad, but we had a big garden with other veggies and fruits as well. So anyway, I'd been sitting the tomatoes in the window and we had gotten so many I washed them and moved them to the kitchen table. It was morning and I woke up, fixed Kyleah a couple scrambled eggs, and put her into her highchair. She had started eating and Theo needed to go outside. We went out the back for a few seconds and when I came in the back door I hear Kyleah saying "hmm hmm". I walked around to see her and she has her cheeks packed and a cherry tomato in each hand (with little nibbles taken out of each). I couldn't help but laugh as she's reaching out trying to give me a bite of one of the tomatoes! Needless to say, I'm not the only one grabbing a handful of tomatoes from the table as a snack!

Camping with Papa

We finally had a whole weekend where we could go do something and not worry about work! We hadn't gone camping yet this summer, so we called Papa and packed the car and took off! It's amazing how much stuff three people "need to have" just for two days! The car was completely stuffed with all kinds of luxuries (air mattress just to name one) and we still needed to fit in all three of us and the dog! We peeled ourselves out of the car when we arrived and set up camp. First things first, apply the bug spray! Kyleah and I are walking meals to mosquitoes! Uncle Dennis and Aunt Diane were camping across from us and Melissa visited. Theo had a buddy to play with all weekend too, him and Trixie chased each other around until they both were completely pooped! The next morning, Corey and I were woke up by all these kids riding bikes past our tent (great alarm clock btw!) and were ready for our day at the beach! We swam for awhile and played in the sand most of the time! We stayed there for a few hours and had to get back to camp, Great Grandma Blaum was visiting since we missed her birthday the day before. It was alot of fun to have everyone sitting around the fire and visiting! We all enjoyed some pies, smores, and a selected few enjoyed their drinks! The weekend flew by so fast and we weren't ready to go home yet! Corey actually got our things packed into the car better the second time...kudos to him!

Five Generations

Last summer we were fortunate enough to get the five generation pictures with Kyleah from Corey's side of the family. We had our doubts about getting them from my side, my great grandpa was sick and they canceled their trip. This year they finally made it here and we were able to spend a few days visiting. Their trip was cut a couple weeks short, because it seemed to be taking its toll on grandpa. It was the first time they'd ever met Kyleah, they've only seen her through pictures. Kyleah was nervous going to them and wondered who these new people were. She warmed up some and we got some nice pictures that I know eventually she will cherish forever. It was an emotional visit, not knowing if we would ever see either one of them again, since they live so far away. So we took this trip for granted and spent any day that we could with them. The only thing I regret is that Kyleah didn't get the chance to spend time with her great great grandma Bateman when she was well, and see the only great great grandparents she has left more often.

A Few Days without Kyleah...

We've had a pretty busy couple of weeks and it seems the summer has just flown by! We have so much more planned with only about a month really left! We finally went to Six Flags after planning for a month. Corey and I decided we would take his dad for Father's Day and I'm glad he was up for it! We thought going on a Tuesday wouldn't be so bad, but boy were we wrong! The lines were extremely long and it was 92 degrees, we were all hot! The park started a new rule , that you can't take any items up to the roller coasters, you have to buy a locker for each time! So here we are in this line for over an hour and I am dying without a drink! We finally get up to the Batman and I am sick...great I waited over an hour, in the heat, without a drink...I'm riding it, even if I am sick! After the ride, we grabbed a bite to eat and I felt better, plus a storm was blowing in and the temp had dropped a lot! We were back in the park for awhile and then the rain came. The rides were closed and we didn't know what else to do, so we ended up leaving. This all sounds like we had an awful day, but we had a pretty good time I just don't think it was meant for us to be there that day!

Later in the week, Corey and I wanted to go boating for the day and met up with his dad to go to Clinton Lake. We left Kyleah behind this time, because we felt she was too little to go. We missed her the entire day and kind of regretted not taking her with us. The water was really rough and Corey nearly threw us out of the boat a couple times! We really enjoyed the day, it was definitely relaxing, and we picked up a good tan!

A Day at the Beach!

This week we decided to take Kyleah to the beach for her first time! Since Shelbyville beaches were closed we went to Clinton instead. We sat up our area and put the umbrella into the ground, but the wind took the umbrella and mommy with it! We applied lots of sunscreen and we were ready for our day! Kyleah and daddy played in the sand and tried to make sand castles, but every time daddy turned his back Kyleah would crush them. Kyleah had her sand bucket, rake, and shovel and dug for rocks (even tried to eat one!). She flung sand all over our towels and even in mommy's mouth once! Eww! She was having a blast! We all went out for a swim and Kyleah kept trying to go under, but mommy wasn't sure about that yet. We'd been spending alot of time out in Kyleah's pool lately and Kyleah was starting to get brave in the water! We all sat up on the beach after a swim and all got a pretty nice tan! Seagulls started flying around near us and Kyleah immediately said "duck!", she kept her eyes on them until they flew away! The day was coming to an end and we were all tired! We packed up and left and Kyleah fell asleep on the way home!

"Eee"

This past week Kyleah has been just jabbering away! I can't believe she's saying so many words and it was as if it happened over night! Well it started as Chinese, where she learned that I don't know! She really emphasizes the letter "e" and will put it with any word! The past couple of days she has been saying her name! She hasn't got "Papa or Grandma" down yet but she's been saying "Debbie" and "Bobby"! She says "Teo(Theo)" and just started saying "no no no" and shaking her head! She also says "ABC" and will point to the refrigerator where all the magnetic letters are. We are still working on the walking and she will walk if you let her hold your fingers, but she will stand alone without any support! And if she gets a boo boo she will say "ouch" and rub it! lol

Cookie Dough! Yumm!

After craving chocolate chip cookies for two weeks now, we decided to bake cookies! Kyleah's baked before, but now that she's a little older, it was more hands on for her! She got to mix everything together and she helped Mommy put the dough onto the cookie sheets. Throughout this baking experience, we found that Kyleah was picking chocolate chips out of the dough and eating them! We all had a lot of fun, even though Daddy couldn't stand the hot kitchen, Kyleah and Mommy decided to stay and relax in the homemade kitchen sauna!

Ba Bye!

Yesterday afternoon Corey was headed back to work from his lunch break, and Kyleah was eating her lunch sitting in her highchair. Corey said his goodbyes and walked out the door. Kyleah watched Daddy walk to his car through the front windows, raised her right hand, waved and said "Ba Bye, Daddy!" I wasn't fortunate enough to have caught this on video, but last night and this morning she has said it a few times.

(No, a tornado didn't go through the house...it was Kyleah!)

It's really hard to get Kyleah to say this, and even tried to react him leaving! She didn't fall for it, you may have to listen to the first one a few times to catch it! She says it as soon as I started recording! This morning, I got her saying "Ba Bye Dadada". I'm still trying for that one really good one though!

Just Being a Kid or Clumsy?

I'm sure everyone knows by now that Kyleah fractured her elbow near the end of June. If you didn't, here's a short recap. Kyleah has magnetic letters that she got for her birthday. We had been learning ABC and 123 that week and she actually knows the letter B. She had a letter in each hand and was crawling in the kitchen on the wood flooring, when the letter in her left hand slipped out from under her causing her to land on her left arm pretty hard. Come to find out a day later, her elbow was fractured! She is now casted and will be getting it removed July 22! Oh my the stress of being a mommy!

About 1 1/2 weeks into this Kyleah, Grandma Debbie, and I had all gone to Great-Grandma Bev and Great-Grandpa Charlie's house to visit them before they left to Alaska. Grandma Bev had a big day planned for us with this dinner made and couldn't wait to visit with us! Grandma Bev was finishing up the dinner in the kitchen while Kyleah and Baby (the dog) were playing together on the floor. Grandma Bev noticed the dog didn't have much water and filled up the puppy's water there at the kitchen sink. When she turned around there was Kyleah and Baby right under her feet! She tried to step over them and tripped! The water spilt and Grandma Bev slipped in the water and fell. I was sitting at the snack bar and got pinned in between the table and chair and I couldn't do anything! When I finally got out Grandma Debbie ran in and grabbed Kyleah and handed her to me. Luckly Kyleah was alright, although she was laid out on the kitchen floor Grandma Bev seemed to only have her legs on Kyleah. Kyleah made it out with a small bump on the head and Grandma Bev with 5 staples in her arm!

The next day, Great-Grandma Bev called us and Kyleah and I went over to help her with the house before they left for vacation. Kyleah and I spent the whole day over there and everything was going pretty good. I decided to eat some watermelon and dropped the entire bowl, but caught it with my leg, giving me 3 bruises on my shin! Ok I dodged an accident! I was feeding Kyleah watermelon in the kitchen when she slipped on the floor and hit her nose on the chair!(might I add in the kitchen?) Yup, Kyleah had her first nose bleed!

Just yesterday, Corey and I got to spend a day together with Kyleah. We were in the livingroom listening to music and Kyleah was dancing, bobbing her head, and she fell onto her jack-in-the-box! (well sock monkey-in-a-box) Like 5 minutes later, Kyleah has a bruise on the corner of her eye! It looks better today, but I thought she was going to have a black eye!

Kyleah isn't allowed in kitchens now! 3 out of the 4 accidents that have happened recently have taken place in a kitchen!

4th of July 2009

We planned our July 4th this year to be spent in St. Louis, we had to see what the crazy was about! We decided we would make a whole day trip out of this and invited Papa and Grandma Debbie to come along. (For everyone that doesn't know, there is a festival down by the arch during this weekend.) So we packed up the vehicle and we were on our way! The day was kind of rainy, but what are you going to do after driving 2 hours, we made the best of it. Kyleah got to get her first taste of fair food (chicken on a stick, corn dog, smoothies and funnel cake)..yum! As much as we enjoyed all of the food vendors, we watched Train in concert, and got to see a dog show. Corey fought the crowd and got Kyleah a pink balloon and a glow stick necklace. When the fireworks started we were all nervous for what Kyleah was going to think! She loved them! She screamed and clapped her hands the whole time, we couldn't have asked for her to be any better! Even though the display was only 15 minutes, the day was so great, we couldn't complain!

The next day we went to Decatur's fireworks and cooked out before with Papa. Corey's sister, brother-in-law, and nephew met up with us at the house and we headed to the lake. We then met up with my sis, brother and sister-in-law, and all my neices and nephews! It was great to have all Kyleah's cousins together! The fireworks were great and lasted longer than St. Louis's! Instead of fighting traffic we decided to hang around a little bit afterwards and light sparklers. Another great night; we got alot of pictures, had a great display of fireworks, and avoided falling into the lake!

Monkey Turns 1! June 4th 2009

We couldn't believe the day had finally come! It seems just like yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital and wondered what she would be like, how her little personality would form. Well, at one year; she's sweet, but onry, definitely spoiled (but not rotten), goofy, and we recently found out she's accident prone! Back to the party! After planning for 4 months, Kyleah's birthday was over in a flash! We wanted something semi-small, but with such a large family, it ended up bigger than expected. The party went great! Lots of family and friends around and a beautiful day, with a little rain and clouds. Obviously the theme was "monkeys". Everything from hanging stuffed monkeys to banana candy! She made it out well with tons of great presents and lots of yummy cake left over! We were all exhausted that night and our last guests left about 8ish! It was such a long but great day and even though Kyleah won't remember it, Corey and I will never forget it!