Tired Tuesday

Tired seems to be a theme this week... fingers crossed for some sleeping in this weekend!

AK had only one minor meltdown this morning when I chastised her for pulling feathers out of her boa. The silly duck doesn't realize she won't have much of a boa if she pulls all the feathers out! I left her at school getting ready to do some sort of craft... she didn't even look up as I left the room. When I picked up AK from school, she ran over and wrapped her arms around me and gave me several kisses and "I love you"s. Lately she's quite the fan of carrying her lunchbag out to the car at the end of the day and carrying it around at home.

AK and I had just gotten settled outside to play when Jess called asking us to pick Hunter up from daycare... she had gotten stuck in traffic and was worried she'd be late to collect him. So off we went, and we all came back here for some outside playtime and wine. The flies were AWFUL tonight and would not leave me alone. Not sure why they liked me so much. Hunter and AK did a pretty good job of taking turns playing with the bubble gun (remember I bought this in NC?).

AK and I joined the Babbs and Forsyths at the Doghouse for pizza and playtime tonight. I laughed out loud at Jake tonight... he was about to walk down a plank on the playstructure, but then he sat down and went down on his bum. It was one of those planks with holes in it that the kid is supposed to climb up, using the holes as footholds, so he went down on his bum bump bump bump bump bump! It was really funny :) and he did a great job.

There were lots of other families out at the playground, AK saw a couple of friends from school and we saw one other little girl with the cutest blond ponytails. There were scooters and little riding toys whizzing around everywhere, and of course the kids ate no pizza (tonight is the buy one, get one free pizza night).

I'm having some issues at work right now... my email is not working properly. Two things are happening - I am sending emails and they're not getting to the recipients, and people are sending me emails and I'm not getting them. The IT guy keeps telling me to let him know what I'm missing and he'll look for it for me... but the point is that I don't know what I'm missing!!! It has been a frustrating process of clients and service providers wondering why I haven't responded to them, or me them, and lots of confusion while I sort things out. Not fun.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. xo

Random thoughts on a Monday

• When I booked our trip to NC, I purposely planned to travel on Thursday May 12 so we wouldn't be flying on a Friday the 13th. On the way there, we sat in row 13 on the plane that was delayed over an hour. On the way back, we left from gate D13 for the plane that was delayed over two hours. And I'm pretty sure our hotel room was something like 413. Probably should have just gone on Friday the 13th after all.
• A lot of times when I look at the clock, it's 6:38, which are three of the digits of the phone number I had growing up.
• Why does the Food Network have commercials for Sunny D, Poptarts and Hamburger Helper? And why do I care?
• This was a typical Monday morning, full of whine and a staff meeting. Sure wish it could be WINE and a staff meeting. That would have gone over much better.
• Whenever I go to yoga, planning to "take it easy" because I'm tired or sore or whatever, I actually end up having a really good class. I did read an article today that talked about a trade-off between flexibility and strength... basically as you get stronger, you tend to lose flexibility. It was like a lightbulb went on over my head... I've been wondering why certain "bendy" poses haven't been as easy as I remember them to be and I guess now that I'm getting stronger, it's harder to be bendy. I'm not sure how to fix that...
• AK and I had a pretty chilled out evening tonight. I think we were both tired - I know I am still dragging a bit and AK slept til 630am this morning after all that excitement last night.
• When I was reading AK a bedtime story, I kept getting annoyed as she had another book in her hands and kept whacking me in the head with it (accidentally but still!). I finally took it away and made her promise to be more careful to not hit me. I gave it back and she was very careful with it but still hit me a few more times. She kissed it better each time, but then accidentally hit herself in the face with the book! I was safe after that... she finally understood that it did hurt a bit when that happened!
  
• AK is still pooping her pants a lot. She never tells anyone when it's time to go potty for a poo. Pee is fine... no accidents there at all. Any ideas from anyone on how to deal with that? Poop accidents stink (pun completely intended).

This tired mama is off to bed soon... yay!

I am SO ready for bed

The stagette yesterday was a great time. We had some games and drinks, and then took a water taxi to Kaibo for a great supper. I think Julie had a really good time and she had a lot of fun with all the girls. I was home by midnight last night, so not a crazy night! Too bad I started waking up at 5am today... AK didn't come home until after 1030am today!

AK waved me happily out the door when I dropped her off... guess she was fine with me going! Christie let me know that AK went down at 9pm last night that "she ate a BIG supper. We had fun tonight. Planted her chives and had Julie and Zach over for supper. AK is an angel. She liked playing with Johnny and Bubba too". AK walked in the door with her newly planted chives and Christie even decorated the plant with a lovely peacock feather! I will have to be sure to water this plant so that we can have chives! Christie told me that AK helped with Johnny while Christie made supper - bringing toys to him and playing with him. I took a really cute photo of the two of them watching cartoons together but am too lazy to get up to find the camera and download the picture. I'll share it tomorrow.

I lazed around for the morning, which was nice as I was so tired, but I have to say, I was anxious to have AK home again! We ended up not going to church but went for breakfast with the Babbs instead. We headed back to their place for a short swim which tired the kids out pretty good for their naps. AK slept for nearly 3 hours, which was great for me as I read for a while and rested too.

Angie, Francois, Milanna and the Babbs came over for supper. The kids got along SO well. We broke the ice with some bubbles, always a kid-pleaser. The girls got pretty noisy - there's something about that high-pitched screaming that can drive a parent crazy :S AK loves the attention from the guys - lots of rough-housing and fun stuff.

I got some really sweet hugs and kisses from AK this morning once Christie dropped her off. She is always so good when she is with other people but I think she is happy to be with her mama once again. AK is starting to learn to manipulate me but she is also learning that I'm on to her... after I tucked her in, she started crying for me because she wanted her night light turned off. I told her that I'd turn it off but that she'd better not cry for me to come back in to turn it back on... when I asked her if she still wanted it off, she cried "yes" but she knew I meant what I said!

Tickle Monster!

I just had a tickle fest with AK... giggles and squeals like you've never heard before! She said "more tickles Mommy" and "tickle me HARDER!". It was really sweet!

We had quite the busy morning... AK woke me up by throwing her ballerina outfit onto my bed. It tickled my feet... thank goodness I was starting to wake up already or I would have thought it was a spider. EEEK! As an aside, this outfit fit her when she was 1yo and it still fits at nearly 3yo. We're getting a lot of use out of it! AK put on her tutu and purple sweater and off we went to the grocery store. She got a few admiring glances from those who loved her outfit. We also ran into Deb, Brian and Ewan which was a nice treat, as I had just been thinking about them recently. Ewan is growing quickly and had some great smiles for AK and I. AK helped me pick out some groceries... mostly watermelon, strawberries and blueberries.

When we got home, we headed outside to clean the playhouse and the patio... what a messy job. I'm hoping it will rain tonight and clean the playhouse off a bit more... after a while I felt like I was just pushing the dirt around instead of wiping it off. It's millions times cleaner than it was before so at least that's an improvement. We hopped straight into the bath once we were done outside and got ourselves cleaned up too. AK did a bit of a craft and we had lunch, watched some Dora and she is now down for a nap. She put up a bit of resistance but eventually laid down. I don't think she's ready to give up her nap and as long as she's having it at daycare, there's no reason why she shouldn't be having it at home on weekends.

AK is off to the Mosers after her nap... and I am off to my friend Julie's stagette! Fun times... likely won't be blogging about and sharing pictures from THAT ;)

Party time!

When I picked AK up from daycare today, she managed to fall while she was running and scraped herself up a little bit. She was fine but she sure kept a good pout on for quite a while! I suggested we ask Jenni for bandaids when we got to her house but AK totally forgot to ask... confiming my suspicions that she was just fine!

I offered to bring supper over to Jenni and Kevin's tonight but somehow Jenni ended up cooking for us. Score :) it was a great supper too. We were surprised when we got there as I was expecting only Jenni and her family but Cindy was there with her family too, and Karen showed up later. I feel like I haven't had a good noisy weekend night with all the kids for a while so this totally hit the spot!

Jenni seemed to like the painting we gave them so fingers crossed we see it hanging on the wall next time we go over!

When we got into the truck to come home, AK told me that she was "going to sleep in the truck". What a difference from the past few times she's thrown a fit when I suggest she fall asleep in the truck. Of course when she says she's going to sleep, she stays awake, and when she wants to stay awake, she falls asleep!

AK was upset that I would let her do any yoga when we got home. She whined a bit through the whole teeth flossing and brushing but I got a few tickles on her after and she cheered right up. She hopped right into her pyjamas and we read a couple of good stories before bed. AK picked her farm blanket to use tonight and I'm guessing she was out like a light. I got busy in the kitchen as soon as I put her down so wasn't really paying attention.

I made two big lasagnas today, one for Sunday and one for AK's birthday dinner. I got a few other things organized for tomorrow - big day - my friend Julie's stagette is tomorrow afternoon / evening so I needed to get things together for that. I think AK and I will run to the grocery store tomorrow morning and then spend some time cleaning off our patio and playhouse.

Cool news today - my friend Linda had a baby boy very early this morning, on her older son's second birthday! How neat is that... can't wait to visit her and meet her new guy. xo

Heading home from North Carolina

Now this is where the trip gets interesting...

John got us to the airport right on time and we had no issues checking in or going through security. Once we got inside, I noticed that our time of departure kept getting pushed back more and more and more... eventually the gate attendant announced for all people travelling to different places to come stand in line.

Well, AK and I got in line... second in line... yet she called up individual people to help them and we were the LAST people she helped. And her help? It was to tell us that we would be getting on the 2-hours-delayed plane to Charlotte. (what was unsaid is that at that point was that I would then be the problem of the airline staff in Charlotte and no longer HER problem). The flight from Charlotte to GCM was also delayed but not enough... the plane took off about 10 mins after we landed in Charlotte. The US Airways people were quite sorry that there was no way they could get me back to GCM on that day... so they rebooked AK and I on the same flight next day. I asked about the luggage and was told that they could retrieve it but it would be an hour's wait... no way was I going to do that with AK needing lunch and a nap. So we took off with just our carry-on bags.

When we had landed in Charlotte, the couple behind us mentioned that they thought AK was the best singer on the plane (she had spent about half of the flight singing to herself). I answered that she was probably the ONLY singer on the plane :) but they really did enjoy hearing it! AK is such a charmer and people on planes seem to just adore her. Me included!

The hotel was perfect, the only thing I wished was different was that we'd had our swimsuits. But there was an atrium with lots of little paths and stairs, plants and fountains for us to wander through. AK threw many a penny (and other coins) into the fountains! There was a restaurant attached which I was able to get lunch and supper from. The lobby had a very small store which I was able to purchase a few things from plus the hotel had complimentary toiletries. We were set... except for pullups. Fun times. Especially seeing AK had an upset stomach and pooped in her panties twice as it was just too much for her. Luckily I had lots of spare pairs of panties... but man was that messy.

The hotel also had a complimentary happy hour - sangria for mom and OJ for AK. The complimentary breakfast was the full spread - your usual continental breakfast plus your eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, french toast, etc.

AK and I enjoyed watching TV while we ate our room service supper and she even said a few things to Grandma Z when we called her, including her new favorite phrase "holy moly macaroni!". AK had a great bath (much needed after all those poops!) and settled down to bed easily. I washed out AK's pants while she bathed and hung them to dry - they were still wet in the morning but I finished the job with the hairdryer.

Thinking back over this makes me so grateful that AK is such a wonderful traveler. There were times I was grumpier than her and all I had to do was get a hug or a smile from her and the grumpies were gone. She adapted well to sleeping both at Anna's house and at the hotel. As long as she has a familiar stuffed animal and a good book to read before bed, she's fine.

When we headed back to the airport the next morning, my first order of business after clearing security was to buy AK a new t-shirt. I had seen some M&M shirts the day before and knew AK would love one. The one I bought is far too large on her, but all the better to cover up how filthy her outfit was! I learned a lesson - do not dress a child in pastel colors for a trip! I was tempted to burn her outfit when we got home. Even washing it didn't take some of the dirt out.

The flight home was uneventful and I think AK may even have napped for a bit, not long but enough. It felt so good to get home. Christie and Chris picked us up at the airport and we were able to go straight home. It felt good to go pick up some groceries to stock the fridge, then we met the Babbs for a play and supper at the Doghouse.

Anna has said we need to come back for another visit when their house is done and they're all moved in... it's on the list! xo

North Carolina - Part 6 - Sunday

Sorry I've not updated lately, this week has been busy with yoga, movies, dinners and great friends!

Sunday in Raleigh was a fun day. Anna took me to a yoga class first thing (when I came out of the bedroom wearing my yoga clothing, AK looked at me and said "Mommy's going to yoga?" like it was totally expected) and then we came back home and picked up the rest of the family and went back to the gym to go swimming!

I believe it may have been Baby Liam's first time swimming and he did great but seemed to get cold quite quickly. The kiddie pool was perfect for the girls as it sloped down gradually from all sides so they had lots of room to play in shallow water.

We got showered up and changed after swimming and the girls sat on the counter while John blow-dried their hair :) it was really cute! We had some lunch at the gym cafe and then headed home for naps for the girls and shopping for me!

I walked over to the big box stores and spent some time in Old Navy and Marshall's (like a Winners). I got a few things for me, for AK and some picture frames. AK was still sleeping when I got back and so I had to wake her up in order to get her ready for the birthday party!

Sofia was invited to her buddy Yash's birthday party and Anna asked if we could come along as well. It was held at a museum, can't remember the name of it but it was science-based. The party was held in a room off to the side and our time there was jam-packed!

First we had pizza, snacks and cake

Miss AK always on the go

Waiting for the animal show to start

Doing a craft - decorating animal masks

The finished product!

Hope these pictures give you a bit of a glimpse at the party - the video was put together very nicely but it cycled through the pictures quickly and it's hard to get a good look at any one scene.

The goody bags were pretty wicked too and kept the girls quite occupied on the way home. It's amazing how the dumbest and simplest things can provide so much entertainment!

The rest of the day passed quickly - Anna made a lovely shepherd's pie for supper and once the girls were in bed, I had to pack... Anna took a look at all my bags of shopping and admitted afterward that she had serious doubts that I'd be able to pack it all! But I got it all in!

Monday tidbits

• When AK saw me at daycare, she ran right over with the picture she was coloring in her hands to show me. She then told me that she was a fairy and that she wanted to fly.
• We played a "flying" game that John taught us in NC. I've never heard AK giggle so hard before!
• All the way home we talked about AK's first name and last names. She enjoys saying all of them.
• She loved looking at pictures from our trip to NC. She was hesitant to identify Anna and Sofia though.
• She wanted her "purse" (with makeup) and put sparkles all over her face.
  
• She wanted to go outside to "play chalk". We then took a pool down to the pool and AK now understands that the ducks make the pool dirty. She told them not to drink the water from the pool but they didn't listen to her.
• I've resorted to bribery to get AK to eat... sigh... along the lines of "eat all your supper and then you can have" whatever it is she's asking for. She's too smart but at least I got her to eat her supper!
• Just made plans today for AK's birthday party. I'll hold it on June 11 and will share details with you later closer to the time!
  

North Carolina - Part 5 - Saturday afternoon

On Saturday afternoon, Anna and I left the girls to nap with John and we took Liam to the mall! On the way we stopped to check out the house that Anna and John bought. It is being built but it is far enough along that you can imagine how lovely it will be when it is done. They seem very excited to move into it and I look forward to a trip back someday when it is done and we can see the finished product! I know which bedroom will be "mine", ha!

Liam was a fantastic shopper... he started to get fussy near the end but I was done by then and he did quite well. Anna and I both scored some great deals on the clearance racks. I loved being at the mall with all the stores and variety and selection! I was loaded down with bags by the time we left. I'm glad I had a list for shopping as that made it much easier to be selective with which stores I looked in.

When we got back, John was about to head out with the girls to a playground but the sky looked rather dark so he decided to come back in with the girls. Good thing - the skies opened up just a minute after we got back into the apartment! We pulled out some bubble guns that we had picked up at Target the night before... amazing entertainment for the girls!




We had an easy supper of rotisserie chicken and salad for supper and the girls played and played and played. They got along so well - both Anna and I expected a few more scraps between the girls, especially over what was "MINE" but they shared quite well. Props especially to Sofia for sharing all her toys with AK!

Anna and I left the girls with John reading them a bedtime story...


We had wanted to go see a movie but it was sold out when we got there. We ended up walking over to a hotel and having a drink there before heading back home. Anna (especially) and I loved the opportunity to sit and chat, to talk about everything. Anna asked a lot of questions about the kids around Sofia's age, wondering if they were doing the same sorts of things as Sofia. I think it was very reassuring for Anna to hear that all the kids seem so similar and are all acting up in the same ways :) I was able to bring Anna up to date on a lot of people that we both know in Cayman.

North Carolina - Part 4 - Saturday morning

Saturday morning started off with some cuddles with Liam...
he is such an amazing laid-back little guy.

Big cuddles!

The girls even rubbed his bald head for luck :) and kissed it too!

Then we moved on to the next event: synchronized swimming! Anna convinced me to buy this swimsuit for AK at Target the night before. I laid down this blue blanket and told the girls that it was a swimming pool. They put on quite the performance!

Flip over!

All done! Great performance! Note the goggles in AK's hand... I couldn't convince her to put them on but I hope she gives them a try and realizes that they keep the water out of her eyes.

We then headed over to the mall to hang out while Sofia went to her swim lessons. AK actually preferred this ride still as opposed to moving.

Unfortunately Sofia misbehaved at her swim lessons and had to go straight home. AK and I took a whirl on the carousel.

AK would not go on one of the horses, but we got to cuddle on the twirly thing.

Wheee!

North Carolina - Part 3 - more Friday pics (from Anna)

Anna was kind enough to send a package to Cayman with John this weekend... with some stuff I'd ordered online, a toy AK had forgotten and a disc with her photos from the weekend:

Having a "sleepover"!

Playing in the water at the Marbles Musem

More water play

"Mommy, I want THAT!"

Making a deposit - learning about banking!

Snack time

Silly!!!

Trying to get the girls back-to-back to see how much taller Sofia is than AK - LOTS!

This was the girls' speed for most of the morning - fast!

Bathing beauty

Storytime - we must have read the Dora mermaid story oodles of times!

More to come later! xo

North Carolina - Part 2 - TGIF!!!

Friday was an AWESOME day!

AK and I slept til after 7am (which is really no big deal as that's 6am our time!) and we went out into the living room to find a very sleepy Sofia! She was watching a show on TV so AK joined her on the couch and she looked at us quite warily for quite some time. We talked to her for a bit but left her alone for the most part so that she could warm up to us. I think she remembered us, she's just more shy and cautious than AK is. It took no more than half an hour and the girls were old friends again. Sofia is growing so quickly and her hair is very long. It is not as curly as I remember it - I guess the Cayman humidity has something to do with that!

I have to say, Liam is the happiest, most easy-going baby I've ever met. He snuggled up to me without hesitation and gave me loads of happy smiles. He is happy to be held or to be put on the ground or in his chair. He gives lots of smiles and giggles right back to the girls. He didn't mind them holding him or playing with him, in fact, he just soaks up all the attention.

We left Liam with a babysitter that morning so that we could go to the Marbles Kids Museum! According to their website: In grown-up talk, Marbles Kids Museum is a hands-on, minds-on museum that inspires imagination, discovery and learning through extraordinary adventures in play and larger-than-life IMAX experiences.

We spent about two hours there and it was full of FUN! There was so much for the girls to see and do and touch and play. Nothing was off-limits.

Checking out something in the science laboratory

Gleeful on the pirate ship!

Looking for the bad guys

Not sure what she was looking at - maybe fish in a tank - but I love the look on AK's face here.

Posing by the fountain

Building with Lego

Driving the "money truck" and definitely not doing a good job of keeping her eyes on the road!

Snack time for the kids (and sit-and-rest time for the moms!)

Coming down the slide

We went through the McDonald's drive-thru on the way home to pick up some lunch. Neither of the girls was really keen on their "treat lunch" though. Funny kids. I don't know what it is but there is just something about those McD's cheeseburgers that I love. The girls went down for a good nap, and so did Liam, and so Anna and I were able to just hang out and visit. She showed me their iPad - I am so in love - I would love to buy one for myself now! It's not quite in the budget at this time though!

When all the kids woke up from their naps, we got them all sorted out in strollers and we walked over to the the big box stores that the Cowans live near. We went into Bath and Body Works and smelled loads of candles, and then headed over to the pet store to look at all the creepy crawlies, lizards, birds and gerbils / hamsters! The girls really enjoyed looking at all the animals and talking about them. We then headed over to Michael's and AK and I picked up some craft supplies for a very special project that you'll learn about later on. Anna also treated both girls to a toy giraffe for having been so well-behaved all day long. Can you believe they were both very well-behaved at the Museum, we had a couple of scraps near the end, but that's to be expected.

Anna made a wonderful supper of spaghetti and meatsauce. Everyone was hungry and gobbled it down. The girls had a very fun bath together that night, there was lots of splashing and swimming and bubbles and giggles! Anna took some pictures of them in the tub, I need to get those photos from her as some of them turned out really nicely. As you can see below, the day resulted in two very tired girls!


They went off to bed, and Anna and I went all out - we went to Target and closed it down! Ha ha. Every time I go to the States, I am in shock at the prices compared to what I pay here (and even in Canada). I did a lot of shopping there and could have easily spent another two hours (and several hundred dollars more!) there. It's probably a good thing we stopped shopping that night when we did as I had enough troubles packing my bags on Sunday night... and there was still more shopping to come on Saturday and Sunday!

I'll sign off for now - will try to update on the rest of the trip over the weekend. I did two yoga classes tonight and should sleep very well coming off of that! xo

Yash's birthday party

AK was honored to be invited to a birthday party while she was in Raleigh.

Here is a video I just received by email from the parents of the birthday boy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-vC9zjpip0

AK is wearing a blue dress with white dots on it. You see her several times in this video.

Enjoy!!! xo

North Carolina - Part 1

I picked up AK from school during her nap on Thursday... broke rule #1 of parenthood... never wake a sleeping child. Oh well. AK was pretty groggy and dopey for a while but she perked up pretty quickly when I told her we'd be going on the airplane soon. Charmain dropped us off at the airport... and very very kindly came back about 10 mins later to take me back home to pick up my "permission to travel" letter that allows me to travel with AK... (although US Immigration, OF COURSE, didn't ask for it when I entered the country, they surely would have asked for it if I'd left it behind!). Our first flight was uneventful, AK enjoyed snacking on different things and asked for OJ when the drink cart came around. She was pretty excited to be on the plane and kept telling me to "turn the airplane off" and "turn the airplane on" and she really enjoyed looking out the window and thought it was great that we were above the clouds. I really wish she could look out the window as we take off and land but unfortunately she's too short and needs to sit with her seatbelt buckled.

We got through immigration and customs just fine and rechecked the suitcase. The Charlotte airport is not that large and we had plenty of time to go through security again and AK even had some time to sit and have supper before we boarded the next plane. Boarding went as expected then we sat on the plane for about an hour while the pilots tried to contact the grounds crew to find the airplane log book to figure out what maintenance was being done so that we could find out when we'd take off! Painful... we killed the time by going to the washroom twice and having even more snacks.

Luckily I had put a pull-up on AK for this flight, just in case, as she pooped upon landing. Nice... Our first order of business at the Raleigh airport was to find a bathroom and fix that mess! When AK saw Anna waiting, she ran right into her arms :) I don't think there was any doubt in our minds that AK remembered her! I thought AK may be a wee bit shy... but nope! We hung out for a bit when we got to Anna's house, AK was a bit more shy with John and she wasn't really interested in Baby Liam when Anna brought him out of the bedroom for his nighttime feed. AK settled into bed quite easily, she must have been pooped as it was 10pm our time when she got settled in after some milk and cheese for a snack.

Here's a sneak peek at what we woke up to on Friday morning!!!
I'm off to bed soon so you'll have to wait for more stories on our weekend! The fun has only started... xo

"Quack" at it!

Holy cow, did that holiday weekend ever fly by, despite it being extended by a day (more on that later!).

Just to get back at it... we went down to the duck pond today and here's a few pics of the sweet pea on the way there...

Walking, walking, walking on the sidewalk

Turning back for a smile

Stopping for a rest and a photo op

Look at this silly duck that was in the middle of the road!

It was tough to get back to work today. It was such a busy day and I completely crashed around 43opm. AK and I just had a quiet night tonight, which was quite a relief after all the excitement of the weekend. xo

Book club night!

Before I forget again, I want to let the Riders fans know that AK pulled out her green "Riders shirt" today and put it on. She went looking for her green "Riders shoes" as well to complete the outfit! Smart cookie!

When I picked AK up from daycare today, I let her know we were going to Karen's for book clu tonight. We had about an hour and a half at home before we could go and AK asked me about every five minutes if we were going to Karen's house yet. I think she kept asking as she figured she was going to get a treat once she got there!

True to her expectations, Karen passed over a little red box of raisins as soon as we got there. AK got to nibble on some chocolate, brownie, bananas, apple, strawberries and blueberries too. She grabbed a broccoli and I was pretty impressed with her but she didn't actually eat it!

AK took her princess encyclopedia to book club tonight. She told all the girls that it was a princess book, and named all the princesses on the cover for them. She then told them that she likes princesses very much and that she thinks they all should read the princess book! It was super cute :) I presented my books next and we left right after (it's more of a book swap... a way to trade books and keep them moving!).

AK was playing with her play phone earlier and "called" Grandma and Grandpa. They didn't answer the phone though, as they were sleeping. I suggested that perhaps they were eating supper, like we were, but no, AK insisted they were sleeping. She then told me that she wanted to call her daddy on the "real" phone, the one that wasn't broken. She is pretty creative at describing the difference between play things and real things!

Well... I'm off to bed now... big day tomorrow!!! xo

UP with the roosters!

Well not really, but something made me wake with a start at 5am... I think I dozed off half an hour later but found someone trying to crawl into bed with me at 6am. AK is too thoughtful - she'll put my glasses right next to me. What will she do if I ever get laser eye surgery and I don't need glasses anymore?

Speaking of laser eye surgery, if anyone has any experiences to share, please do. I'm at the point where I want to start researching and I have no idea where to start. Do I start with my optometrist? Google?

I have a bit of a scratch between my eyes right now. AK saw it this morning and we had the following conversation:
AK: What's that, Mommy? (pointing at my face)
Me: Well, that's a scratch, Mommy has a little boo-boo
AK: Oh, Mommy has a boo-boo (sad face)
Me: Do you want to kiss it better?
AK Yes! (happy face) *kisses it better*

She loves getting up on her stepstool to help me make my morning smoothie. She knows which button she pushes to start the blender, then she hurls herself into my arms to get away from the noise. She also turns it off for me, and helps me pour it into a glass. I've still not had any luck getting her to drink any!

When I was ready to have a shower, I told AK so and she said "OK Mommy". I left her sitting on the couch and expected that she'd just watch some cartoons while I showered. Not so much. While I was in the shower today, AK:
1. got into the fridge by herself for the first time and helped herself to a second yogurt drink for breakfast, and
2. came into my bathroom and got on the toilet by herself. I had a bit of a surprise when I pulled back the shower curtain and there she was, with the biggest grin ever on her face!

AK is very excited that we are getting on an airplane tomorrow to go to Anna's house. She knows that she'll be playing with Sofia this weekend. She has a hard time saying "Sofia" so sometimes she says "that girl". Ha ha!

Cuteness everywhere!

I got to pick Hunter up from daycare today too. I got AK from her classroom and then we went over to Hunter's to get him. When we walked in the door, Hunter zoomed right over and stopped within an inch of running right into AK! He was quite excited to see her. The two of them held hands as they walked down the hall. When we stepped outside, AK shaded her eyes and said "The sun is bright!". I asked her if she was shading her eyes and she said "Yes. Hunter, shade your eyes!" Hunter responded "No, I'll just shut my eyes'. Good thing AK was holding his hand so that he didn't stumble with his eyes closed!

Once we got into the truck and all buckled in, I let the kids know that we were going to Hunter's house for a swim. AK made sure to let Hunter know when we were driving past the street that goes to her house. Hunter said in a worried voice "We're going to MY house?". I told him yes, and that we would find his dad there, and we'd go for a swim together.

We headed straight to the pool and spent over an hour splashing in the pool. I'm actually quite glad that I wasn't able to make it to yoga today as I got enough of a workout following AK everwhere! She tried on Hunter's goggles and I was hopeful that she'd like them but she took them off right away. I think if she gave them a chance, she'd like how they keep her eyes from getting splashed. She really doesn't enjoy water in her eyes or on her face.

The kids swam with the noodles, they raced back and forth. Hunter is really good at diving down for things that are on the bottom of the pool. I wonder how old I was when I started doing that? I want to know there is hope for AK to someday get her face wet!

Ben and I threw the kids into the shower after the pool and got them all cleaned up. AK threw quite the impressive fit when I told her it was time to go. Too bad - it was way past suppertime! She gobbled up her supper, mostly the chicken and cheese, and drank a whole load of milk. Bedtime was easy-peasy although AK was quite upset that her Thomas PJs were not available for wearing tonight. She looked at the 5 pairs in her drawer and said "I don't want any of these!"

I've got our suitcases mostly packed for our trip on Thursday, just our last-minute things to throw in and we're ready to go! I asked AK to tell Hunter what we're doing later this week and she said "Hunter, I'm going on an AIRPLANE!". Hunter was suitably impressed, I think!

Backing up to Saturday...

AK and I partied on Saturday!

Milanna turned 3 - and we all know what that means - the birthday party of the year!

The theme this year was Hello Kitty and the party was held at the Grand Caymanian Resort, which looks out onto the North Sound. It was a great location for the party.

As usual, Angie and Francois went all out and no detail was missed. I really think that she should consider a career in party planning!!!

We walked past the bouncy castle, and under some Hello Kitty lantern decorations. There was a huge shady area with all sorts of tables and treats, and we had the whole pool area as well.

Here's some pictures of the tables:

Snack table!

Hello Kitty party favors for all the girls - we took one of each! Candy, makeup, toys, a flashing light saber (which AK calls her "cat wand")

Cupcakes, marshmallow candies and what I believe was probably Milanna's "smash cake"

The birthday cake!

AK spent most of her time swimming in the pool, and I spent most of my time floating with a noodle, trying to keep up with her! It was a very deep pool and I spent most of my time in water over my head! Thank goodness for AK's water wings.

AK was a bit on the shy side though... she refused to take her turn whacking at the pinata. Some of the kids were quite strong! They were all so good about letting each other take turns. We did help pull open the pinata and AK scrambled for candy along with all the other kids.

There was food to eat, but AK wasn't very interested in it. Her appetite's been bird-sized again lately. Doesn't even seem like she's overly thirsty either. Strange kid. I'm not worried, just bugged :)

I was quite worried that it would be hard to get AK to sleep after she was on such a sugar high... but she crawled into bed quite nicely at 8pm and fell right to sleep. That gave me time to sort through all her LOOT!!!

Check it out - she got less candy at Halloween!!!

All in all, it was a great afternoon and I'm sure the birthday girl enjoyed herself - I know AK and I did!

Few random stories:

• AK will tell you over and over again "I like pink and I like purple. I like pink and purple!". She will point out pink and purple things to you. She is very good with all her colors now.
  
• When I tucked AK in tonight, I said "I love you, baby girl" and AK said "I'm not a baby!" so we discussed it and settled on her being a "big girl". She will almost always say she's a "good girl" before talking about being a "little girl" or a "big girl".
  
• She has realized that the name "Paula" and the word "pullup" are somewhat similar and was calling her pull-up Paula earlier. We had quite the animated discussion about a diaper named the same thing as Mommy!
• AK's got quite a good imagination and a good sense of words rhyming. I can't think of any examples right now but she's, on a couple of occassions, come up with rhyming words, or words that mean the same thing, etc.
  
• She now knows the difference between a puppy and a dog and will often correct me as I'm in such a habit now of calling all dogs "puppies".
  
• I think she is pretty excited to get on a plane on Thursday to go away on a holiday! It is going to be a great time! xo