It's been too long....

I wish I didn't go so long between posts, but the truth is I barely have 5 minutes to myself ever... Plus, I've been having to work at home at night. Ahhh the life of a consultant! Kya has continued to strengthen her immune system by getting everything - including pneumonia, which I do not wish on any parent EVER. Thankfully, we never had to go to the ER, but I definitely called the nurse's line twice at 10 at night. I've never been so scared hearing my child breathe, and she had RSV last year. Then, a few weeks later, she got the croup. In between that, she had a few colds. I think the longest she has gone without being sick is like 5 days. Hopefully, she will grow out of this! I will say this - she is a tough little girl, and she still tries to go full speed even when she is really sick. We have to force her to rest!

We are going to have our hair cut this weekend. If you have seen any pictures on facebook of her - you would know about her mullet-like hair. She has started to like wearing clips and bows in her hair, but she takes them out, and then, gives them back to me to put back in (which gets old after awhile).

Her 18-month check up went so well. She is 27 pounds, and I can't remember her height off the top of my head, but she is in the 67th percentile, and the 80th percentile for weight. The doctor told us she could have 2% milk now.... She is a little tank! Her head is now back on the growth chart at 96th percentile, so we were very happy about that. Our doctor in Auburn was slightly worried at her 12 month check up because her head was off the charts, but apparently, her head just had a growth spurt, and is now slowing down. She hated the shots, so I took her to get ice cream, which she loved, but when it was gone, she threw a fit, so we had to leave rather quickly! I'm not enjoying the tantrums, but she is easy to get back under control. Thankfully, they don't last too long. She mainly will just start sucking her thumb, which I hope she quits soon...BUT it helps soothe her when she is having a meltdown...

Kya is also talking so much more now - you really have to watch what you say. She mainly will copy what you say by just saying the first syllable. I told her that her poop was gross, and she looks at me and goes "GRO!". She still babbles in her own language sometimes, too. Kya is also very good at taking directions. She is very helpful when I tell her to put things away or throw something away. It is so amazing to me at how much she understands even though she can't verbalize everything that she is thinking. She tried to feed Fletch the other day - it was so funny - she got his food out of the pantry and tried to put it in his bowl. Another exciting thing is that we are starting to familiarize her with the potty. They don't start training at her day care until 2, but she can tell me when she goes to the bathroom, so I thought - hey, why not! She loves the potty. One night she was grunting trying to get some pee out. It was hilarious. Then, she'll tell me to get on the potty and go with her. I'm so happy that she is not resistant, and when her daycare is ready to start potty training her for real - she will be so ready. I'm so thankful that God gave her to us, and I just wish I had more time to spend with her! It's hard being a full-time working mom - I'm still getting used to being away from her all day.

Christmas!

December was no less eventful than the past few months! We celebrated Jolie and her baby girl, Halley, who will be here any day, but not without any issues! When Jolie was on the way to her shower, someone hit her car, and she had to go to the hospital to be monitored for the night. Thankfully, baby Halley did not make her appearance, and Jolie was fine. So, we got to have the shower the next day instead. Even though everything didn't go as planned, we were still so excited to shower Jolie with gifts for Halley. I forgot to mention that Kya threw up several times during the weekend!

The next weekend was Christmas, which was nice and relaxing. I love living 15 minutes from my parents where my entire break is not spent traveling - especially since I don't get much time with Kya during the week. She was not sick for once, and we all enjoyed waking up at our house and seeing Kya's expressions as she opened all of her gifts. Her big gift from us was a kitchen, and my parents got her a table and a chairs to go in her play room, which is now busting at the seams with toys! Then, we went to church, which I have never done before on Christmas, but it was so neat to see everyone and be able to celebrate Jesus' birthday with our church family. Kya was good as long as we provided her with snacks. After Kya took her nap, we went to my parents' house to celebrate with them and my brother, and we had prime rib, which was delicious!

I was able to take a vacation day for Eric's birthday on the 27th, and we went to eat at a local seafood and steakhouse for lunch. Then, we went to the movies to see Sherlock Holmes 2. We started the tradition of seeing a movie on our birthdays because it is so expensive to go, so it is a treat on that day. It was really nice to spend time with each other since we don't get many days - just the two of us.

For New Year's, Grams and Big Daddy came all the way from Mississippi to celebrate Christmas a week later. We all racked up for the third time! Kya got a tent, shopping cart, and more items for her kitchen (and other stuff I'm sure I am forgetting, but she got a lot this year!). On Saturday night, things started to go south - Kya got a fever and had one off and on for the next few days. On Monday, we took her to the doctor (which everyone was closed!), and they took a chest x-ray, but the final diagnosis was bronchialitis. The next day I got a phone call that she also had pneumonia. This sickness was absolutely terrible because she either coughed and threw up or she would start coughing and couldn't breathe until we started giving her a breathing treatment. At least we already had the nebulizer, and her tubes are working great! We then went to the ENT on Thursday because I just didn't think she was getting better, but she was doing much better than I thought, but he did give her a steroid to help with the inflammation. She is now doing much better, and does not have a cough at all. I just hope she can stay well for longer than a week! I was so thankful that my mom was able to help Eric and I out so that we didn't have to take too much time off of work. Thanks Nana!

Update on Kya:
Words she can say: More (Mo), Bye (which she does every time we leave the room), Hi, Da-Da, Ma-Ma, Nana (bananas and Nana), Zeez (please), yeah, cracker (crackah), uh-oh (which she says when she does things on purpose), the dreaded NO, dog (doh), buddy (what we call fletch (buh)), yay, gooalll (best ever!)

Kya loves music, puzzles, Elmo, and playing hide and go seek. We love playing hide and go seek, and right after she finds us, she tells us to go "hi" and points. She loves saying yay and clapping - it's awesome when we're in church and it's quiet, and she goes yay really loudly. She still eats like a champ, and while she has slimmed quite a bit, her belly is still as round as ever. Her hair is getting long, but she refuses to let me put bows in her hair. She likes playing soccer, and she yells goal randomly. I think that was the funniest thing that we taught her. She is becoming very independent, too. Sometimes she wants to feed herself, and she is trying to put her clothes on by herself. She is also becoming quite the little helper. She helps me clean, and she recently likes bringing me my shoes and trying to put them on me. Love her! We are loving every minute of watching her grow up. It's exhausting, but very fun! I just wish I got to spend more time with her every day.

Christmas Eve service!

Waking up on Christmas morning:

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Everything in Between!

So much has happened in the past two months, so I'll try not to write a novel! First, we moved into a house on October 28th, and we love it! Since we spent considerably less than we thought we would, I was able to update the kitchen and Eric got his dream television. Then, I defended my dissertation on November 4th, and I officially became Dr. Ballard on November 21st when my advisor officially signed my form. I was so excited, but it doesn't really seem real yet. Next, we hosted Thanksgiving at our NEW house! My parents, brother, Eric's parents and sister AND his grandmother from Colorado came. I can't take too much credit because my parents cooked the turkey and several sides, and Eric's parents also contributed several sides (even thought they drove 9 hours!). It was really neat to have both families together, and I look forward to more holidays with everyone! THEN, on November 28th, Kya got tubes! Finally! She had three ear infections in two months, and the last one required shots of antibiotics, so we went straight to the ENT. She was pretty fussy after the surgery, but she has recovered very well. It is amazing to me how resilient kids are!

Kya has started trying to talk more, and her current words are: Eeez (please), Moh! (more), Da (Daddy and most other things), Ma (me), Yeah. Tonight she read a book to me, which was the funniest thing ever. She has discovered throwing thanks to her Dad, and she thinks it is hilarious to throw everything. She has a new Elmo truck, and she loves singing along with it (well, she goes "La, la"). She also loves kicking her soccer ball. Lastly, that girl loves to eat! She loves anything with sugar, but she is great at eating veggies, too. I think she eats like 5 meals a day, and when she gets hungry, she'll go stand by the pantry or refrigerator, point and say "Mo!". Then, she goes and tries to climb into her high chair - she is definitely my daughter! She is 26 lbs and 31 inches at 16 months! I love that girl!

MSU Pictures

Here are some pictures of Eric and Kya from the State vs. Auburn game. This was before we started sucking. Aunt Hayley gave Kya her cheerleading uniform!

SEPTEMBER!

It is finally less than 100 degrees, but I don't really get to enjoy it except at 5:30 during my morning runs in the dark. However, I am grateful that little girl gets to spend more time outside with Eric. I have been at work for 5 weeks now, and I really like it! I was assigned to the delivery function at my company - I guess I should back up - I am working at a software consulting firm called Quorum Business Solutions, and they provide around 23 or 24 software products for oil, gas, and wind energy companies - and by gas, I mean natural gas - I still catch myself thinking it's gas we get at the gas station... Anyways, I have learned a ton about the industry, and it is really fascinating to me. So, delivery - I will be helping to implement our products at client sites, which involves tailoring our products (some computer programming - just learned a bunch in the past few weeks!) and working with the clients. This was the function I wanted to serve in, so I am really excited! However, there is the possibility that I will be traveling, but for now, my assignment is for a client in Dallas, but I get to work from the Houston office. Did I also mention that I love the people I have worked with so far? This is not what I expected to be doing when I got my Ph.D., but I feel like it is such a great fit for me.

On another note, I will be GRADUATING this fall! Finally! I got the go ahead from my advisor last week, and I am super pumped! I will be defending at the end of October or early November. I could not have done this without God - thank you for everyone that prayed constantly for me during this experience because there is NO way I would have made it without those prayers and support. Special shout out to my mom and my other mom Sandy! Y'all are the best! AND I definitely have to give the most love to my husband who has encouraged me and listened to me vent through this whole process. He's been amazing!

On to Kya - this has been the weirdest adjustment of all - I literally see her an hour a day, and it sucks. I really treasure the weekends, and I only run errands with her or during her nap time, so I get as much time as possible with her. This is difficult because everything we need to do gets pushed to the weekend, so it is a little crazy. My parents have been amazing, though. They have watched Kya when we look at houses or furniture, etc. Eric has had to run a lot of errands for us, and my mom has really helped him out. We are so thankful that they are letting us stay with them until we find a house. They are the best! Okay - so Kya is a walking machine now. She tries to run, but most of the time trips and falls when she does. She loves being outside, and the other day when we brought her in, she went and stood by the door and cried because she wanted to go back outside. Eric takes her to Bay Area park a lot to feed the ducks. He has been so awesome with her, and I am thankful (and jealous) for all the time they get to spend together. However, she will be starting full time day care in a week when Eric goes to work. She has cut at least one molar that we can see. She still eats like a champ. I was looking at this website, and it made comments how babies start eating less as they get a little older - I don't think that will ever happen with Kya. She loves food and has the gut to prove it! She still loves reading books. I think I read her 5 every night. Sometimes she wants to just flip the pages, though. Her favorite right now is The Spooky Old Tree - she will listen to that one, and she loves when I shiver for the bears that have the shivers. She says yeah all the time, and she says da-da. I'm waiting for ma-ma!!!

This weekend is going to be so busy for us! The church that Eric has been interviewing with will be voting tomorrow (Sunday) morning. Today, he has a meeting with the deacons, and a question and answer session with the parents. We are really excited because we met the youth on Wednesday night, and they are awesome! I just wish we already had our house, so we could start having stuff at our place as soon as he starts. I know that it will happen soon, but it's hard waiting!

Texas Forever!

Well, it has been a busy summer! We have officially moved to Houston, Texas, and I have been at my new job for 2 weeks. I am still in training, so I can't exactly tell you what I will be doing because they place me in 2 weeks. The company I work for is a consulting firm called Quorum Business Solutions, and they develop, implement and support software products for the oil, gas, and wind companies. I have actually enjoyed most of my training, and the class (there are 9 other people in my class). So, I really like it so far minus my 45 minute (sometimes hour) commute.

We are living with my parents until we find a house, and that is going really well (surprisingly!). We are looking in a town called Deer Park, which is literally on the other side of town. Eric is the candidate that the search committee of a Baptist church is recommending to the church for a vote the second weekend of September. I will tell you the name as soon as it is official! But, the vote is pretty much a formality. We have been looking for houses, but we haven't found anything that we love. Plus, there is not much on the market in Deer Park because apparently, when people move there, they don't leave. All in God's timing, I guess! My commute won't change much, so I am not in that big of a rush to find a house. Plus, it has been nice to spend so much time with my family, and we aren't getting on each other's nerves just yet! It's also nice to have two extra sets of hands now that Kya is walking!

Kya and Eric are in MS right now visiting Grams, Big Daddy, Fletch, and Aunt Hayley. I am so glad that Eric thought to go visit them since the vote isn't for three more weeks, but they will be gone for 10 days!!! That is by far the longest I have gone without seeing my sweet angel (and Eric!)! I know that she will be loved and well taken care of, though!

Kya has learned so much in the past month! She is walking, can climb the stairs by herself, gives the best hugs, "talks" with you in her own language, helps put on her clothes, eats big people food like a champ, and loves the water. She is not afraid of anything and wants to do things by herself. When we take her to the pool, she will try to dive out of our hands and will stick her face in the water like the big kids around her. The other night when I was giving her a bath, she would not let me take her out even after the water was drained. She started screaming when I finally was able to get her out. I couldn't help but laugh about how much she loves bath time. She loves to splash! She also does not want me to hold her hand when she walks anymore - she is a big girl! I just can't believe how big she is and all of the things she can do now. Okay - one last Kya brag - she is so social - when we go anywhere, she will stare people down until they look at her, and then she gives them a big smile and waves (which looks more like she is saying come here or she is waving at herself), but we meet so many strangers because of her. She is soooo not shy! When we took her to the day care that she will be going to, she kept wanting to go and play with all of the kids. I am so thankful for that! I think she is going to love day care (which she has never been full time) because she will get to play with other kids. One last thing - she loves having books read to her. I'll finish it, and she will take it and flip to the front of the book and hand it back to me. I normally quit after 5 or 6 times, and she gets a little fussy when I do. I love that she loves to read, though! Her favorite book right now is The Hungry Caterpillar.

Kya's 1st Birthday

I walked into Kya's room because she had suddenly gotten quiet after I put her down for her nap, and this is what I found!


I can't believe it has taken me almost two weeks to blog about Kya's first birthday! We have been busy packing, and I am trying to finish up as much of my dissertation as possible before we move, which is one week from tomorrow! I'm so excited and sad at the same time. We were so thankful to celebrate Kya's birthday here, so we could get a lot of our friends together one last time before we leave. We were very fortunate that Eric's parents and sister and my mom were able to come. Plus, my Great-Uncle Hank, Great-Aunt Brenda and Cousin Kim came from Atlanta! We had the party in the junior high snack bar at the church, which was perfect because we had a full kitchen and plenty of room for everyone, AND it was free! We made cupcakes, which were sugar-free for my diabetic husband. In all honesty, we had a stash of like three cake mixes and frostings from my mom and Eric's mom, so I was trying to get rid of it! Then, we had brownie sundaes, which were not sugar-free. Eric, Hayley, and I went up to the church early to decorate a little bit and get everything set up, and the grandparents came with the birthday girl after she woke up from her nap. They actually had to wake her up, which was not such a great thing when she first got to the party. BUT, when she got used to all of the people fawning all over her, she loved it! We made Kya her own cake, which she shared with Eric and me in the form of icing off of her hands. It was the first time Kya had ever had cake or anything chocolate. She loved it, and she better get used to sugar-free because we will most likely only have that in our house - except for my ice cream. One funny part was when we were singing Happy Birthday to her, she got this look on her face like she was going to cry because she didn't understand why everyone was staring at her and taking pictures and singing. I kept saying - it's okay, Kya over and over, and when everyone was done, she let out a shriek meaning that she was excited. It was so cute! She does love being the center of attention! Then, she opened presents, which I told everyone not to bring anything, but of course, that was ignored. Kya racked up on toys and clothes and gift cards! She loved opening the presents. We are so thankful for our many friends and family who came to celebrate with us, especially my and Eric's family who traveled many hours to be with Kya on her special day. Unfortunately, my dad could not make it because he was getting ready for the final shuttle launch, but he won't miss anymore! We missed Pop Noah, but next year, we'll have all of the grandparents and aunt and uncle!

My mom stayed with us the week after Kya's birthday because the daycare at the church was closed, and it was a big help. Mom cleaned out Kya's closet and our kitchen. I can always count on her to get me organized! We gave a bunch of stuff away this past week, which made me feel ridiculous that we have so much stuff. A lot of it was Kya's stuff. I just didn't see the point in hanging onto everything when we're not sure when or if we will have another baby. What is crazy is that we still have one huge tub of clothes. We try to clean out our closets at least twice a year, and it's amazing to me how much stuff we give away each time. I love giving stuff away and cleaning stuff out! It feels good to get rid of the clutter! I guess I get that from my mom. Of course Mom also made sure we always had clean clothes. I know Kya enjoyed her time with Nana No-No, which is what we started to call her by the end of the week. I told Mom that Kya would probably shorten that to No-No, so we probably shouldn't call her that unless she wants to be known as No-No.

Kya also went in for her 1 year check-up, and she is 22 lbs (75th percentile) and 30 inches (75th percentile). However, her head measurement is off the charts. This girl has a big head! The doctor recommended that after we move to Houston, we go get it checked out, but he doesn't see any reason to worry about it. I freaked out for a day, but she is progressing normally and hitting all of the milestones, so I should not be worried. She just has a big head - thanks to her Daddy! Other than that, she is doing great!

So, here is the Kya update: she can stand for long periods of time and has started taking a few steps at a time. She'll stand herself up and take a few steps towards me as long as I am close to her. She is so close to walking around, but not yet. She loves playing with my old phone and making Eric and me "talk" to someone. She pretty much just opens the phone and shoves it at our face or ear when she wants us to act like we are talking. She loves flipping through her books, too. She also loves to play hide and seek. Eric or I will go to another room and call out to her from behind a door (she loves pushing open doors), and she will come find us. We can play this for a long time. She loves shrieking, too! This week I got her to start making the "zzz" sound. I would tell her to buzz like a bee, and she spits making the "b" noise and then goes "zzzz". It's awesome! Lastly, she loves getting attention from strangers. We were in line at Wal-Mart this week, and this lady looked at her and smiled, and then, she kept loading her groceries on the conveyor, well, Kya decided that she was not done looking at her, and she shrieked at her. It was hilarious. I am so curious to see how Kya's personality develops. She gets a little shy if people pay attention to her first, but she loves looking at people and shrieking until they look at her, and if they look away before she wants them to, she will get their attention again. One thing is for sure - she is very strong-willed and likes to get her way!