Common Phrases

Ron and I were talking the other day about common things heard around our house these days. Kaylee is chatting up a storm, but these tend to come from us.....

Get Down!
Sit Down!
That's Hot!
That's Mommy's!
That's Daddy's!
You can't climb on that!
Good girl! (when she stops climbing on things)
Watch out!
Be Careful!




and from Kaylee....
Sit Down!
That's Mine!
Burp!
'Cuse me! (When prompted if she burps)

Movie Monday

Movie Monday

Many of you will have seen this movie on Facebook, but I thought I had better share it here too. In case you miss it, she's listening to "Aldean". This girl is crazy about Jason Aldean. If any of his songs on the radio come on, she clapping along. If he comes on tv, she stops dead in her tracks and comes back to dance along with the video.

One week post-Halloween

Our little Minnie Mouse enjoyed Halloween this year....and so did mom and dad when they ate most of her candy :)

A trip to Reindeer Ranch

A couple of weeks ago, Kaylee's daycare took a trip to Hardy's Reindeer Ranch and Pumpkin Patch. I was pretty excited that my schedule allowed me to tag along with group. The kids had a great time, and I think we'll definitely be heading back sometime closer to Christmas to see more of Santa's reinderr!

I don't think that a "moo" mama?!?

As much as Kaylee loves animals, she will not feed them from her hands. Poor reindeer got his treat thrown at him.

We'll be back to see you later!

Messy

Someone really liked her spaghetti last night!

Movie Monday

Fishing Derby

 Fishing with Papa and Maddy

Pretty excited about her prize!

One and a half

Oh little girl...that's right, you're a little girl, not a baby anymore. Actually, you've not been a baby for quite some time.

Today we head out to visit Dr. P for your eighteen month check up. That's right, a year and half. Never mind that people think you're 3 years old. At your 15 month check up, you were the size of an average 2 1/2 year old. Yes, you're tall for your age, but its more than that.

That independent streak continues. You must feed yourself, brush your teeth (multiple times a day), and put your own shoes on. The other night, you were trying to put your own pajamas on.

You love to read, swing, and carry your babies around the house. You love to tell me who you played with at daycare - Ru-e (Ruby), Ari (Arika), Nanan (Nathan), Mar (Shamar), Aaaa (Abbey), Jake (Jacob)...and you love DiDi (Diana) and RaRa (Robin).

Your vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds lately. Animals and sounds they make are still a favorite. You're starting to associate words with things around the house. You like to read your jeezee (Jesus) book at bedtime. I finally figured out where your "K" that follows any request we make has come from. "Kaylee, lets go change your diaper." "K." "Kaylee, its time for a bath." "K." A couple of nights ago, I heard Daddy tell you that "we'll have supper in a little bit, 'k?"  Let's hope you don't pick up some of daddy's more colorful vocabulary. Okay?!?

What a little sponge you are!

When did you get so big?

Little MIss....

Determination

While Kaylee is starting to chatter away, her vocabulary is still quite small. However, we firmly believe if she could say anything, it would be "I'll do it myself!"

Holding hands? I don't think so.

Putting on my shoes? I'll give it my best shot.

You want to feed me? Think again.

I'll open my own door, thank you.

You want to hold my toothbrush? I've got 2 hands that work.

And probably the thing that upsets her the most...assistance climbing onto the couch. It doesn't matter if she's crying out in frustration because she just can't quite get that leg up. DO NOT try to lift her, give her a boost, or offer any type of support. It will be rejected immediately. And you did lift her up to the couch, she will climb down and start the whole process over.

Some may call it a stubborn streak. We like to think of it as determination.

Movie Monday

Caught the little lady bustin' a move to Jason Aldean last week.....

...Thankful

As I've gotten older,I guess you could say I've become more AWARE. In AWE of all the wonderful things I have in my life. Things I take for GRANTED. There are always certain events in our lives that make us REFLECT on days gone by and how we want to live our lives in the future. How we might CHANGE what we did, what we said, or how we act from now on.

Each day I'm try to BE THANKFUL for all I have been BLESSED with, and on this Thankful Thursday I'm thankful for these two...

LIttle Miss...

...Inquisitive

This little girl likes to know what's going on. If there's a noise, she's investigating it. If its moving, she's checking it out. And if the neighbors are around, she's watching them.

Whatcha doin', neighbor?

If there's a shut door, she's trying to open it. If there's a phone around, she's calling someone. If there's a button to be pushed, she's trying it.

Hmm, if I push this...

If she's doing something...she's always checking to see if you're watching.

Are you paying attention?

Petting Zoo

Someone REALLY liked our trip to Prairie Farm here in Champaign.

Wordless Wednesday - Daddy Love

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my guys and Kaylee's too!

H20

Water? Yep, we like that too.

A girl that likes to play in the sand

(Un)organizer

I guess with June and summer around the corner, Kaylee decided it was time to go through her clothes...

Long overdue

Just a week and a half ago, we celebrated Ron's graduation for his master degree. Despite the cold and rain, it was a wonderful day with family and friends.

I love my John Deere hat!


Connected by DROID on Verizon Wireless

Toes

It's amazing watching your kids as the learn new things. The rate at which they pick things up is incredible. Kaylee is always watching you, taking things in, and then trying them out.

Case in point, the other night after supper Ron and I carried our plates to the sink to rinse them off. We turned around and Kaylee had grabbed a plate off the table, and carried it over to the sink to us.

We were astounded.

and excited

and awfully proud.



However not everything she is learning is quite so monumental.

For instance, this is one of her new favorite things to do, especially now that it's sandal weather.

She loves her toes.

And thanks to daddy, she loves to pick at them.

Sometimes, she likes to check ours out too. All because daddy picked some sock lint out of her toes one night.


We were humored


and a little grossed out


and Daddy is awfully proud.

Mothers

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there! What a wonderful thing to be a mom - to have someone look so lovingly up at you, to ask you for help, to watch grow. I wouldn't change it for the world.

I had a wonderful day at home working on our backyard. Deck-done. Landscaping-done. Sandbox-filled. Next on the list - new fence and swingset. I guess you can say the next couple of weekends are full.


Ron and Kaylee did something special for me today. I've been saving for a nice SLR camera, so I had told Ron, to not worry about a gift. Instead he made a donation to Reece's Rainbow for me.

I follow quite a few blogs and one day a stumbled across a blog of a family who was blogging about their adoption journey to bring home their daughter from Eastern European. Reece's Rainbow promotes the adoption of international children with Down Syndrome by raising grants to offer adoption grants for waiting children. What a great program! Not only does it aid in the adoption process financially, it help serve as a connector between waiting children and families looking to adopt.

Needless to say, I've been hooked on following several families through this adoption process. I've also begun to question whether we are being to called to adopt. It's been quite an eye opening experience to learn not only about special needs children, but also orphans around the world. Could we raise a special needs child - I think so. Is this the right time for us to venture down this road - we're not sure. I'll admit, there is one little girl I continue to check back on frequently to see if a family has found her. Ron donated to her grant today in honor of Mother's Day. If you have a chance, check out Reece's Rainbow, and if its in your means (whether its $5 or $50) consider supporting this organization by donating to a child's grant. Help them find their forever family and spend this day next year with their very own mother.





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Routine

Seriously, where does the time go? Better yet, where does my time go? We find ourselves immersed in our daily routines - wake up, get ready for work, get Kaylee up, get her dressed, get us out the door and to daycare, and then off to work. By the time we all get home, fix supper, and have bath time, Kaylee's bedtime shortly follows. A few hours to ourselves to catch up on the day, dishes, and laundry, then its time for us to turn in too. We find ourselves in a this daily routine quite often. Luckily things are looking to switch up a little.

For those that may be following the Cook Farms blog (its been sorely neglected too), it's "Go Time". It spring and that means spring has sprung or at least it is trying to.

Last week I got my field season started in soggy southern Illinois. Between raindrops and flooded waters, we got the first of the traps set out for my vineyard survey. That's right, vineyards - in addition to doing some research on invasive insects this summer, I'll be getting to survey some of the fantastic wine produced right here in Illinois. Yahoo!

Ron has hit the road with the planter this week and his first corn trials are in the ground. He's feeling a little better about getting research started too. 

Happy Easter!

 Ewww...there's grass in my Easter basket!

Coloring Eggs

Poor Minnie!

Just a Swingin'

YOU have a great day!

Movie Monday

Kaylee is pretty mobile these days. She's been on the brink of walking for several weeks now. Around her birthday she started tentatively taking steps and letting go of things. She would reach out as far as she could and then lunge and step to her intended destination.

Shortly after this, she started walking on her knees. She'd get so excited about wanting to get some where, she'd take a step or two and then drop to her knees and "walk" across the room. You can't help but laugh as this happened. I'm pretty sure she developed this mode of movement at daycare to try and keep up with her friends that are a tad bit older than her.

We've been struggling to get it on video. As soon as she takes sees me drag out a camera, she drops on all fours and crawls over to investigate. Luckily, we were able to get this on video this weekend. Our chances have been decreasing day by day as her progression of walking continues.

Next on the "to do" list, videos of walking - she's been toddling around the house pretty well in short bursts. From what everyone says, we better get moving on it too; it won't be long before she's running.

Cowgirl

Last weekend Kaylee got bundled up in a mix match of clothes from cousins Maddy and Jackson and headed out to check out the cows with Papa. We have an animal lover on out hands, and the cows are no exception. We're going to have to work on teaching her that squirrels are not "kitties".