White Christmas Viewing

Dear Miss T,

Had my annual White Christmas Viewing a few days ago. Thanks Odge and B-town for the company and cookies.

I just may be hoping to watch it again with you when you come in a few days.

I know you had a Merry Christmas because I know what went down at your house Christmas morning, but I would love to see oodles of pictures of your new furry friend. But Merry Christmas nonetheless one and all!!

Much love, kk

Christmas Cheer

Miss T,

I finally caught a smile on camera from this girl.

She was smiling up at Mr. P. Just a little Christmas cheer to share.

Love Kk

T.A.D.

Hi Miss T.

Any more talk about Big D's D.A.D.? After last night, I am on the D.A.D. train and fully support you getting and training one. Maybe some people are skeptical of a Diabetic Alert Dog, but let me explain my new perspective.

Last night, Nellie (typical house-dog, toy poodle breed) saved me from being the worst Mom ever. We put JT down to bed after dinner. She did eat a lot, but that's nothing new, and she went down like a champ. About 45 minutes later I was about to feed Baby C and I hear some crying from JT's room. I thought to myself, "I am just going to feed Baby C, and if she is still crying when I am done I will go in and check on her." Well, within about ten minutes the crying had stopped. So I finished feeding Baby C and got up to do some dishes.

Suddenly Nellie rushes up to me whining and acting funny. I thought "Oh she needs to go out again, but she can wait until I finish the dishes." But she didn't run to the door, she ran to JT's door and whined and ran in circles and jumped up on the door. What?! That was strange behavior. In that moment I felt like I was in a movie. Was my dog trying to tell me something? But it wasn't a good feeling like being in a movie. It was a scary feeling. A worried feeling. And also a skeptical feeling--like if that dog is wrong I am going to be ticked. I heard a cough from inside though, and got more worried than skeptical. Nellie was still frantic at the door, so I told myself "the humidifier probably needs more water anyway."

I opened the door gently and saw JT sleeping at the end closest to the door. She lightly stirred when I opened the door, but coughed some more. I patted her back and said "Lay down. It's ok." Then I went straight to the humidifier as planned. As I took it out of the room, I thought it odd that JT didn't sit up- she usually does not heed my instruction to lay down for very long. Plus it smelled weird.

I filled up the humidifier and went back in the room. It definitely smelled weird. Actually it smelled horrible. And Nellie was still jumping and whining but in the room now. I returned to the crib and reached down to JT. She turned her head and suddenly I saw that she had thrown-up a grown-up amount in her crib...and it was literally everywhere. :( POOR GIRL! Had it not been for Nellie, would I have left her in there all night with that mess!? I can't even think about it. I get sick and teary if I think about what could have happened had Nellie not alerted me, and it's not even a life or death situation.

Needless to say, I am so grateful I had an alert dog last night. These two little babies have a very imperfect mother who needs to be a little more diligent in checking on them in the night. But I will do better. And thank goodness we got everything taken care of last night. So hopefully JT will be swinging happily again soon!

And thank you to Nellie for saving me from being the worst mother ever by being my T.A.D. Throw-up Alert Dog. And I support a D.A.D. for Big D. You know I already did anyway, but that was because I am a dog person. But now I am a concerned-in-the-night-person. ;)

Love, Kk

Sisters!

Dear Miss T,

Where do I even start? My heart is so full. JT got the best gift in the world yesterday: a sister. I don't quite think she grasps at all what is going on, but she was pleasant and cute with Baby C when she met her, so I will take that good start and run with it.

This delivery (scheduled c-section) has gone so much smoother than my last (emergency c-section). Already I am recovering so much better. My nurse Zophia found out I like Oreos, and has kept me well stocked throughout her night shift. That has got to be what is making the difference!

Baby C looks a lot like JT, and all throughout yesterday I kept accidentally calling her by JT's name. However, as I cuddled her last night I can tell she is different than JT. Just like you have been telling me, they are different babies and I will be surprised about how they have their unique different behaviors and preferences. I am excited to see what Baby C has in store fo me. Can't believe we are now a family of four!

Mr. Graffiti

KK,

Meet Mr. Graffiti.  He is only 21 months, but becoming a professional at graffiti.  

So far Grizzly has colored on walls, a booster seat, walls, railing, walls, books, walls, dressers, walls, table, and more walls.

He is not picky about what he uses - crayons, markers, pencils, pens or paint.

I have been racking my brain as to why Grizzly seems to draw on everything BUT paper when my other two boys did not have this same problem.  

Finally, I figure it out.  The problem is my other two boys.  Every time I turn around, T Bear is looking for a pencil or pen to write, draw or do homework.  Cub can get out crayons, colored pencils or markers all by himself.  Then the boys leave these things out on the floor.  Along comes Grizzly, who grabs them and turns into Mr. Graffiti, leaving me love notes and pictures all over my house.

It is incredible frustrating but then I look at that sweet face, and I don't care that much.  Just means I need to invest in some more white eraser things.

Love this sweet boy.

-Miss T

*Thanks Tiffany for a great pic of this cute kid!

A Bad Mothering Moment

Dear Miss T,

Yesterday, I made a bad decision as a mother. JT found a bottle of brown nail polish in the bathroom cupboard. She was thrilled about it. I tried to trade it away from her with her toothbrush, but she was pretty insistent on keeping the nail polish. I thought to myself, "She can't get it open, she can't choke on it, she's loving carrying it around, so why not let her keep holding it?" So I did.

Big Mistake.

After about an hour of holding/playing/holding-some-more with the bottle of nail polish, she followed me into the kitchen. The kitchen has nice big tiles as the flooring. She slipped (as she often still does) when changing floor surfaces from wood to tile and fell, catching herself with her hands. Except one hand was clutching the nail polish bottle. Yes. You guessed it. It shattered.

She started screaming and I stood in shock for about 1.5 seconds. My brain was going nuts as fast as possible trying to figure out what the best way would be to even begin to clean this up. We're talking nail polish here. NAIL POLISH! Not water soluble. Even though it seemed like not the best idea, it was the only idea I had, so I scooped her up hurriedly and shoved her hands under the sink. She screamed all the more, and as you can guess, the nail polish didn't really come off at all. Instead, with her flailing hands it was also getting all over my shirt, her new PJ's, and the kitchen sink. Somehow I gathered the presence of mind to strip her and take a picture. Seriously can't quite remember all that was going on.

New PJ's. Ruined. :( But she will still wear them. For a long long time.
Not pictured here: paint on tile, paint on my shirt, paint on my hands, paint on the faucet and in the sink, paint on bins sitting near site of the accident.

For the rest of the day she looked like she was trying to have some brown skin. Can you see it all the way past her wrist on her forearm there?

Pretty much it ruined my morning. Not so much because my nail polish was gone, or the new PJ's were ruined, but because this was a dumb accident that could have been easily avoided if I hadn't had a bad mothering moment and talked my way out of taking the nail polish away from her. I had to run to the store to get some acetone so I could clean the floor and sink. I tried to blot out the stain on the PJ's, but to no avail. What a stressful and disappointing morning. But hey--at least I can say I won't let that bad mothering moment happen again! Right?

Love, Brown-painted hands Kk

Japan is in da House!

Konnichiwa Miss T-

Wish you were here in P-town so you could be here with our Japan in da house! 

Yesterday we picked up Ryo-kun, who will be with us for one week. He is polite, shy, and totally adorable for a 14-year old exchange student. 

We took a few pictures using the timer, but didn't realize the setting was set to 5-picture mode. We got a few more snapshots than we intended, but hopefully it was good practice for Ryo-kun...right? By the end of his stay we will have him taking funny pictures with us--just watch!

He came bearing gifts:

 Does this fabric remind you of Japan? So beautiful. And he folded the origami crane himself, and gave us a book so we could learn how too!

 

And what do you think of this lovely fan? I just love the feel these oriental fans give to a room when they are a part of the decor.

I will have to keep you posted on our adventures this next week. Pretty much this is the perfect distraction to get me nearly through til I have this baby!

Ja mata!

Kk