Easter 2011

When we woke up on Easter morning, we found that the Easter Bunny had left several eggs for Kara in our front yard.  We still haven't figured out who left the eggs, but we have a prime suspect.  Kara had fun finding all the eggs and was really excited when she figured out there was stuff in the eggs.

We went to Aunt Amy's house for Easter dinner.  Grandma and Grandpa S. met us there as well as GG K and Great Grandma S.  Kara enjoyed playing in the backyard and all the attention.  Every holiday with Kara gets more and more fun.

Kara has figured out how to say no, and she is not afraid to use it! We think it might have become her favorite word. Here's how a typical request from Mommy or Daddy will go these days:
     - Kara, it's time to eat. - No.
     - Kara, it's time to go home. - No.
     - Kara, do you want more water? - No.
Mommy and Daddy are not looking forward to the terrible two's!

Kara is learning new words every day.  She recently learned "walk" and is always very excited to walk to the park (Mommy and Daddy have to be very careful with that word).  She's becoming very vocal and is pretty good at making her thoughts known.

Link to pictures




And here are some pictures that Heather and Justin took during our outing in Montgomery.

Flying down to Alabama

This past week we flew down to Alabama to visit Grandma and Grandpa H. and GiGi B.  Kara had a great time chasing the dogs around (they have 4!), going for rides in her wagon, checking out the cows and horses, and just generally running around!

The week before we went down to visit, Grandpa H. got into a collision with a bicycle. Fortunately, he didn't break anything, but he did have a nice black eye while we were there. It didn't seem to bother Kara, though.

On Saturday, we took Kara into Montgomery to meet up with Justin, Heather, and Sean at the Shakespeare Festival.  There were ducks (and little ducklings), geese, turtles, and fish.  Kara had a great time chasing around the ducks and running around with Sean.  However, the best part was the fountain.  Kara got herself soaking wet splashing around in there.  Good thing Mommy brought a change of clothes.

Overall, Kara had a fantastic time in Alabama with Grandma and Grandpa H. and GiGi!

Kara has become a regular chatterbox these days. She just talks and talks all the time and every once in a while actually says a real word :). She's even starting to say two words in a row, like "Dad hat" and "doggie ruff".



And here are some pictures of our trip to the Blount Cultural Park (aka Shakespeare Festival)

Hiking Around Colorado

The weather has been steadily getting warmer and warmer. This past weekend it got warm enough for us to try out the hiking backpack Grandma and Grandpa S. gave us for Christmas. We decided to try an easy hike first, so we just walked around Harper Lake. The hike was only about two miles, but Daddy's back was getting a little tired by the end. Guess we'll have to keep practicing before we trying anything too strenuous!

Eating has become a bit of an adventure these days. For a while, when Kara was done eating, she would raise her hands and say "Duh". Now, if Mommy and Daddy aren't watching her closely, she'll start taking handfuls of food and plopping them on the ground. Then she'll get an innocent look on her face like she's saying, "I don't know how that food got on the floor." We're hoping this is just a phase and not an indication of things to come. :-)

Kara's starting to talk a lot more these days. She babbles pretty much constantly and can say about 10 words, including please (which was very exciting for Mommy and Daddy).  She's also getting much more demanding. She'll point at the computer and whine until we play her Sesame Street CD. I fear we're getting close to our first temper tantrum...

Well, it looks like we have finally found our house here. It's walking distance to an elementary school, a park, and Daddy's work! We can send pictures to anyone that's interested.

Link to pictures

Spring Has Sprung

Our little girl has been feeling a bit under the weather the last couple of weeks. She came down with a yucky cold. She was running pretty high temperature (she topped out around 103 deg) and just felt awful. Kara wouldn't sleep unless it was with Mommy and Daddy in a recliner, so nobody really got much sleep. She also didn't eat or drink much and was starting to get pretty dehydrated until Mommy discovered the power of Popsicles (yes, we know they're pure sugar, but we were getting pretty desperate). We also started clapping for Kara every time she took a sip, so now she claps for herself whenever she drinks water. It's pretty funny. We were planning on going down to Alabama to visit Grandma and Grandpa H. and GiGi B, but we decided to reschedule. We figured it was better to suffer by ourselves than to involve a plane full of innocent people. She still has a nasty cough, but she's feeling much, much better.

The weather here has been warming up steadily for the last couple of weeks. It's supposed to be sunny and warm all next week. This was a fairly mild winter, but it's still good to see spring.

Kara has started to talk more in the last few weeks. She can kinda say 5-6 words (like ball and balloon sound the same) in addition to Mom and Dada. It's great to hear our little girl talk.

Link to pictures

The Miserable Patient

Kara does not like being sick. I mean, nobody likes being sick, but Kara particularly dislikes being sick. She has been absolutely miserable for the last week, though it didn't help that she's getting 3 molars at the same time!

Kara starting coughing and sounding pretty rough last Friday. She didn't nap too well that day and just cried when we tried to put her down to sleep that night. We hoped that she would eventually calm down and go to sleep, but after about 15 minutes, Mommy and Daddy went back into Kara's room to try and soothe her. Kara greeted each of us with a hug (and a couple more each for good measure), which was great; however, the unpleasantness was just about to begin. Mommy had talked to a nurse earlier in the day, and the nurse recommended that we put saline solution in Kara's nostrils to help with drainage. It seemed like a good idea, but Kara didn't agree. She started screaming and crying uncontrollably. The nurse had also mentioned that Kara might be able to sleep better in an inclined position (as in sleeping on someone sitting in a chair), so Mommy ended up "sleeping" with Kara in a recliner for half the night and Daddy took the other half.

Kara didn't sleep very well all weekend and just got crankier and crankier.  She refused to sleep without Mommy or Daddy holding her, which means they took shifts rocking her in a recliner for the whole night and naptimes. It was pretty miserable for everyone.

We took Kara to the doctor's office on Monday, thinking that she might have something more serious than just a cold (like croup or maybe an ear infection). There much be something going around because there were several kids at the doctor's office with the same cough as Kara. Fortunately, the doctor didn't see anything wrong with her ears or lungs and said it was just a nasty cold. Unfortunately, Kara didn't get any better in the next couple of days. In fact, she woke up on Tuesday and Wednesday with a temperature over 103! She also wasn't eating or drinking much and got pretty dehydrated.

We were supposed to go to Alabama to visit Grandma and Grandpa H. and Great Grandma B. (GiGi) on Wednesday, but we decided to reschedule for April. We figured it was much better to suffer at home than to share our misery with a plane full of innocent travelers. Hopefully Kara feels better by April!

Kara finally started to feel better on Wednesday.  She took two two-hour naps and slept by herself in her crib that night, but she was still pretty dehydrated. Mommy and Daddy started clapping and cheering (Yay Kara!) every time Kara took a sip of water to encourage her to drink more.  So now whenever Kara drinks, she claps for herself.  It's pretty funny.  Also, Mommy found that Kara likes popsicles. Yes, we know they're full of sugar, but we figured it was better than nothing.

Our little girl's fever was much lower this morning, so we think she's getting better. She's still super-cranky, but she's napping, sleeping through the night (more or less), and drinking lots of fluids. I think the worst is behind us.

No pictures this week. Hopefully we can get some good pictures of our healthy girl for the next post! Since we don't have any pictures of Kara, here's a link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scu9zzC5U3g&feature=feedf) to one of Mommy and Daddy's favorite clips from Sesame Street. This kid is hilarious!