Happy 1st Birthday Kylee Lynn

Dear Kylee Lynn,

It's hard to believe that a year has already gone by. It's hard to believe that every day you are growing more into your own person. It's hard to believe that while you'll always be my baby, you are no longer a baby. What's not hard to believe..is that I love you with every fiber of my being.

I never thought I was a woman put on this Earth to be a mother. I didn't know if I had it in me. I was nervous. I was scared. Then God blessed me and showed me my destiny. To be the best mother I could be. To you.

November 18, 2008 was the scariest and best day of my life. Of course, in Kylee fashion, your entrance into this world was nothing short of dramatic. You were a fighter. I was thankful. It was a few hours before I could hold you, but when I could, I walked through pain and tears to you. I scooped you up and knew you were meant to be mine. It's cliche..but true... I never knew I could fall in love with someone at first sight. But that's how it happened.

It was tough in the beginning. I felt like I was fighting a loosing battle. Nursing. Sleeping. Soothing. I thought all these things would come naturally. I was wrong. But, we learned together and grew.

Watching you grow has been one of the best experiences of my life. Your first smile. Your first coo. Rolling over and sitting up. Crawling and standing. Solid foods and teeth. And now my baby girl.. you are our walking, talking, self-feeding, independent little girl. I'm so glad I've been able to see all of the things you have achieved and I look forward to watching you grow even more.

Sweet baby girl I thank you. For being the best daughter a mother and father could have. For being the reason I smile every morning. I thank you for making me the mother I am today. Happy 1st Birthday to you..my girl.

Love Always,

Mommy

Suck It Up!

Suck it Up Oreck Halo!... Please. Seriously. Suck up all the dirt and icky germs and yuckness that live deep down in my carpet! Oreck has a top of the line wonderful vacuum that I believe was made for ME and my family! It has a feature that actually kills germs, bacteria, mites, flea eggs and more. With my messy daughter my carpets have definitely seen better days.

The Halo is great because it is the only vacuum that uses Oreck Halo Ultraviolet Technology to kill many microscopic germs that can live and breed on your carpets and hard floor surfaces. Now.. doesn't that just call out to you? Still not impressed? Well did you know that there can be more germs on household floor surfaces than on toilet seats, kitchen counters, and bathroom tiles combined. Yeah.. gross, huh? Well the Halo will get rid of those nasty germs for you without using ANY harsh chemicals. Now I know you're convinced!!

So head on over to Eighty MPH Mom's awesome blog and enter to win one of these sweet vac's for yourself. I bet your carpets will be in tip top shape in no time! But don't enter too often because I need this vacuum. No, really. I do.

Boo! It's a Bug!

A ladybug that is!!!

The cutest ladybug to ever crawl this Earth if I do say so myself.

This year was Kylee's first Halloween and I was so excited to see how she was going to react to all the ghouls and goblins, witches and monsters, Octomoms and Michael Jacksons...you get the picture. I was hoping she wouldn't be scared and would love seeing all the costumes and the decorations.

Before hitting the road to go knock on doors and beg for sugary treats, we carved Kylee's baby pumpkin. She wasn't much into the carving but she loved sticking her hands inside and feeling the "guts" and seeds. I think her favorite part though was rubbing those said "guts" into her hair. (Secretly I think she just wanted to play in the bathtub.)

After a nice bath and cleaning up we went out trick or treating to a few different houses and then showed her off to a few friends. She loved it. Didn't cry or scream once. (Until she got hungry). She even helped her cousin hand out some candy!

She also got to experience chocolate for the very first time and I'm pretty sure it was love at first sight. She cried when her mini Hershey bar was gone and longed for another all night long.

Then next morning when she got up she enjoyed playing in her "winnings" and surrounded herself with chocolate, suckers, tootsie rolls, and candy bars. I imagine it was something that closely resembled Heaven. Sugar Heaven. Yummy Heaven.

PC for Kylee!

So I'm in the process of attempting to win a baby friendly PC for Kylee. Why would I want to do such a thing? Well.. probably because our PC and laptop are tired of being beaten up by her precious little fingers, delicate head, and cute feet. They've had their share of abuse and then some! So when I found out that the lovely ladies over at Blogger Mommies was hosting a giveaway for a PC that is BABY FRIENDLY.. I jumped up and down for joy and jumped right on entering. Added bonus that the giveaway ends on November 9th..which is RIGHT before K's birthday, so when I win.. I hope they have quick shipping!

So what exactly makes this PC so baby friendly? Well.. let me tell you! Easy PC allows children to use a computer, safely and easily, with a special keyboard that is designed for their small hands, and special software programs that have phenomenal educational and play value. So not only is it stimulating their minds but it's also saving your wallet! Most PCs these days are $600+ and you have to sell your arm and possibly your leg to get one in this economy. Well.. Easy PC retails for about $70 and comes with the First Steps software so you can play it straight out of the box. So your wallet will get a break as well as your own keyboard.

My daughter loves playing at the computer and I'll let her listen to music on it or bang the crap out of the keys type in a word document or something. My computer would like a break though and I'm hoping this Easy PC will be in our household for Kylee's birthday this year. But..because I have to blog to spread the word.. head on over to Blogger Mommies and enter.. but not too much.. because this win is meant to be ours!

One, Toooo, Teee

So I have discovered that Kylee will count to three if you start by saying "One" and hold up a finger. I used my camera to catch it on video so the quality isn't stellar.. but it sure is darn cute! I say "One" and she says "Tooooo" "Teee" !!! Love it, don't ya? I figured. (Oh and please ignore the fact that I need a manicure something fierce and terrible.)

Wait! What?

Wait! Are you trying to tell me that my baby girl is going to be 11 months old tomorrow? What? Are you positive about that? I'm pretty sure I just gave birth to that big headed and big hearted babe with a big attitude not that long ago.



Wait! So that means I have ONE month to get all of her birthday plans in order. I don't do well under pressure. I never have. What am I going to do? Well.. besides stress until my hair falls out.. I'm going to get my ass in gear and finalize some things and order some things and wipe my tears away while doing it all.



One thing I am mucho excited about is the long awaited day where I didn't have to buy formula anymore. What person in their right mind likes shelling out a kidney and a right arm every month to buy powdered milk in a can? Not I... Not I... and on that note..I wanna throw out a big thanks to my boobs for failing me.. Nice job!



We're going to start using the sippy cup more and slowly taking away the bottle. I'm just waiting for Kylee to realize that a sippy is waaaaa-aaaay cooler than a stinky old bottle. But you know Kylee.. she does what she wants...when she wants..how she wants. But our goal is to cut the bottle shortly after she turns 1.



WAIT! What was the point of this post again? I mean aside from the fact that I've neglected this blog for how many days now.. The point of this blog was to inform you all that my baby girl is going to be 11 months old tomorrow and I'm not ready.




Wait! What's that? Yes.. we already had our first snow. Yes..I went and bought my cutie some winter snow attire that very same day. Yes...it all melted the next day. Nebraska........

Spring, Summer, WINTER?!

Well.. it's not really Winter right now. I was clearly being dramatic and what else is new? Although it's not Winter..these nipple freezing cold temperatures sure could lead someone to believe that Fall has taken to hibernating for the year. We have no snow, but we're waking up to high 30's and lower 40's and crazy strong winds.

Fall is one of my favorite seasons because I love opening the windows and getting the fresh, cool, crisp air moving through my house. Well..in these temperatures if we open the windows not only is it bone chilling air that comes in, but a small tornado starts in my house because the winds are so strong. I also thought I would be able to sit out back and enjoy a few drinks with Tim this time of year without dying of heat stroke or acquiring the ever sexy swamp ass. Alas..that idea is out the window too. You get blown away or frozen to your seat if you sit outside at night now.

So I'm going to go drop an email to Mother Nature real quick and ask her when she's going to stop jerking me around and give me my damn Fall weather. Until she responds though, I will continue to stay cooped up in my house, dressed head to toe (not literally) in anything made of fleece, wool, or heavy cotton and observe "Fall" through the window. Thanks Mother Nature. You suck.