Christmas and Big Girl Panties

We had a wonderful Christmas! Kya actually got to open presents three times! She is such a lucky girl to have both sets of grandparents so active in her life. We went to the Christmas Eve service at our church with my parents and brother, which the Christmas Eve service is my favorite service of the year. Kya was a bit more lively this year, and we were letting her "read" her books during the service. She screamed PIG right in the middle of our pastor's sermon and yes, we were sitting in the second row. Then, we went home and had fajitas courtesy of Jimmy Changa's. I have a rule - if someone else can make it better and for about the same amount as I would spend buying ingredients, I just get take out! It was nice because I got to spend the whole day with Kya and Eric instead of cooking! Then, Kya put out chocolate milk and cookies (which were the last package of pull apart cookies at Wal-Mart bought on Christmas Eve - we're good planners).

When Kya woke up, we read the Baby Jesus story (as Kya calls it), and then, we opened presents. Kya had the best time! She was so much better at opening presents, and when she was done with one, she would go back to the tree and say, "Another One!" She also "helped" Eric and I open all of our presents, especially if we weren't going fast enough. We had so much fun playing with our toys that morning minus Kya having a really bad cold that caused her to vomit (stupid mucus in the throat). She didn't let that phase her, though. Kya has gotten sick either on Christmas or New Year's the past two Christmases, so we were just thankful that she was not as sick as she had been in year's past. In the afternoon, we went to my parent's house where Kya racked up yet again and had a delicious meal prepared by my parents (I felt like a slacker getting take out, but it was so worth it! - I barely have time during the week to spend with Eric and Kya, so on my days off I try to soak it up!). On December 29th, we went to Eric's parents house in Montgomery, TX and opened even more presents and had another fabulous meal. Eric always tells his mom I hate her cooking - which he did I think the first or second time that I had ever eaten with his parents - but Sandy is a great cook, and prepared everything despite getting in late the night before! Kya's big gifts were (list from all 3 Christmases): a Little People's princess castle, a Nabi (Grams and Big Daddy), moobies (movies), stuffed animals (especially Sully and Mike from Monster's Inc. - Nan and Pop), gift cards, and lots of other things! I got a KindleFire, which I absolutely love. Overall, we are so blessed to have the great families that we do and to be able to spend the holidays with them!

Kya updates:
- I love how she pronounces words that have s followed by a consonant like Spot is pronounced Sfot.
- She still loves princesses and PINK. She calls Prince Charming, Prince Charms.
- She is still very bossy and stubborn, but at least I feel like she will not get pushed around. We are working on being more consistent with discipline - she responds much better to Eric than me.
- She just started wearing panties to school, and she refuses to wear diapers. I think she is finally ready!
- I love how in tune with emotions she is, the other day, I was sad about a family member on my dad's side passing away, and she looks at me, and says, "Mama, don't be sad."
- Her best friend at school is Isaac (or at least, she talks about him all the time), and she tells Eric and me that we are her best friends, too. She calls Eric "Da-Da Best Friend".
- She loves going to church and basking in all of the attention that is given to her. She loves being around people!
- She loves to sing and make up her own songs. Her teacher told me that when they watch movies, she still tries to sing along even if she doesn't know the words.
- She has started to be able to do puzzles by herself, which is amazing to me.
- She still loves to read! We read at least 5 books before she goes to bed. I hope she continues to love books as she gets older.

Khanksgibbing (Thanksgiving in Kya terms)

Kya had three Thanksgivings this year! First, we had Thanksgiving with Grams and Big Daddy two weeks before Thanksgiving (or "Khanksgibbing") and they invited Pop Noah and Nana over as well. Kya enjoyed having everyone together, and we watched the Bulldogs fall to LSU. Kya was a very good eater, and she especially enjoyed dessert! Grams, Kya, Nana, and me went for a ride around Montgomery, and my car overheated for the first time.... We got the water pump replaced, and thought all was well until it overheated again a week later in Rosebud, Texas (about 30 miles from any major town). That is another story, though.

Kya had her second "Khanksgibbing" in Jasper at Nana Cowart's while Eric and I were in Rosebud, Texas for the youth Winter Retreat. She enjoyed playing with all of her cousins and being the center of attention. She also got to meet her great-Aunt Geneba (Geneva) and great-Uncle Billy Ray. Eric and I were sad that we missed time with my mom's family, but we had a great time in Rosebud with the youth with the exception of my car over-heating for a second time. Gary (our speaker and Eric's youth pastor) drove back with me, and we stopped every hour to fill my car up with anti-freeze to make it back to Deer Park. After I took it back in, they discovered that my engine block was cracked! Thankfully, the place I took it to researched and found that Honda extended the warranty on the engine block for my make and model, which was a HUGE blessing and awesome Thanksgiving present!

Our third Thanksgiving was at my parent's house in Bentwater on actual Thanksgiving, and it was very relaxing. We decided to order Thanksgiving from the country club, which meant that we didn't have to cook, and it was nice to wake up and just relax all day. The food was pretty good, and we had two homemade pies from a tea room in Clear Lake that were delicious! Dad smoked a ham that was delicious, too!

Later in the day we took Kya to the park to swing and feed the ducks. It is still strange to me how hot it is this time of the year. I guess I have been in colder places the last 10 years, so I forgot how mild the winter is here.

Kya's new favorite restaurant is Chick-Fil-A because she likes playing at the indoor playground and eating fries! She also loved decorating the house for Christmas. When we were decorating she was running around yelling, "We decorating!!!". She did a great job putting ornaments on the tree and sang Up on the Housetop for us while she was putting ornaments on the tree. She also loves looking at Christmas lights. We took her to a really nice neighborhood in Deer Park, and she kept saying, "Those lights are pretty!" We have also watched Frosty and the Grinch more times than we can count and it is only the beginning of December! The Grinch scares her, but she insists on watching it anyways. Eric and I are looking forward to celebrating Christmas this year with Kya and sharing about the importance of Christmas and why we celebrate.

Fall and Halloween!

Kya has continued to grow and change every week. Before I switched jobs in August, I was traveling every other week, and she would be saying or doing something different every time I got home. I was so thankful for the opportunity to change jobs and go to work at Waste Management in August. I have only had to travel once since I started, and it was to LA! Kya started potty training in July, and we are still fighting that battle! She will go on the potty, but has not mastered telling us when she needs to go. She also does not like pooping on the toilet, which I don't understand, but I guess it is easier to go in her pants, so.... I know that she will be trained when she is ready, but I want to get rid of the diapers and the recurring rash! The rash is either from wipes or J&J shampoo, so for now, we are going no wipes and very expensive baby shampoo suggested by our doctor. She has entered the tantrum phase, and sometimes I feel like I have to walk on egg shells around her. The smallest thing will set her off, and it is not fun. Sometimes I just go put her in a room and watch from the door until she calms down, but I have become creative at diverting her attention from whatever upset her. Diversion is key with a 2-year-old. Overall, she is a really great kid, but I will not miss the tantrums from this age! Kya has also become quite sassy and she likes to joke around and for you to "scare" her. She will say stuff to make us laugh, and it is really cute. She loves for us to sneak up on her and grab her. She also likes to "scare" us by jumping out of closets. Her favorite things to do are: reading, watching tb's or moo-bies, putting on make-ups, playing at the "parking lot", tumble bus at school, eating icey and canny, and SHOPPING. Kya just really had her first official Halloween with trick or treating and everything, and she LOVED it. She went as Dora, which I bought her a Cinderella costume, and one of my friends from work gave me her daughter's old costume (Dora). We went trunk or treating at the church, which Kya loved getting all the "canny"! Then, we went to our house where Eric and I took turns taking her trick or treating around our neighborhood. That child went trick or treating for a solid hour. I was so impressed. When got done with one house, she would immediately say, "Another door!". She had more candy than we gave out by the end of the night, and we had at least 150 pieces. Every day since then, she has mentioned trick or treating. Eric and I are excited to celebrate Christmas with her this year because of how much fun Halloween was. Pictures are from our trip to San Antonio and Halloween!

Kya's 2-year Check Up

Kya had her 2-year check up last Friday, and she did very well! She is in the 49th percentile for height at 34 inches, and she is in the 81st percentile for weight at 30 lbs. Of course, she is in the 99th percentile for her head size! But, we were happy to at least be under 100%! At her 1 year appointment, she was off the chart... She gets it honestly from her daddy. The doctor kept remarking how good she was during the appointment, and it just made me proud. She was very still the whole time he checked her out, and I just thought about the fact that we were in there every week this past spring - poor girl! BUT, we have been very thankful to get a break from the sickness. Thank you, summer! I think the funniest part of her appointment was when she ripped off her band-aid immediately after she got her shot. I tried to put it back on and show her that it was pretty, but she was did not even want the band-aid near her. I was trying not to laugh while she was screaming because it was so funny. I guess I was glad for the distraction because I have either cried or almost cried every time she has gotten a shot. One time I cried more than she did! We are very blessed to have a happy and healthy little girl! I am so thankful!

Kya's Birthday!

We celebrated Kya turning 2 a few weeks ago. We had her birthday party on June 30th, and Eric and I took her to the zoo on her actual birthday, July 2nd. I can't believe 2 years have already passed - I guess each one will be go by faster! For her birthday party, we had all of the grandparents and a bunch of close friends. Kya's big gifts were a rocking horse (named Lacey that talks), a wagon, and a bicycle (which Kya actually pronounces perfectly. Grams helped her decorate her own cake, and Nana got her a cake with her picture on it. On Monday, Kya's actual birthday, Eric and I took a vacation day and took Kya to the zoo. It was the first time that Kya had ever been to the zoo, and I think she enjoyed it a lot. We got there right when it opened, so it was not too hot or crowded. I think it was fun for her to see all of the animals that she has read about. Her favorite animal was the elephant! Since Kya turned two, she has moved up to a new class, and I think she is enjoying it. She has started to sing songs for us and she can now count to 20 by herself as well as counting to 10 in Spanish. We are starting to potty train now that her new class will take them to the potty. However, she is a bit resistant to going. Once she is on the potty, it is fine, but getting to the potty is the hard part. One weird thing that she does is she goes to sleep with her books. She will sleep with her books as pillows. It is pretty hysterical! She still likes to tell us what to do, and she repeats everything, which forces us to always watch what we say. She is starting to put sentences together, too. Lastly, she loves helping. She will look at us and say "Tya, help!" anytime we are doing something that she thinks she can do. I hope this keeps up! Lastly, this past Saturday, we got to take a trip to the doctor for a bite on Kya's arm. She woke up on Saturday morning at 2 am screaming, and the next morning we noticed that this one bite was really swollen, hot and red. We called the doctor to ask what to look for, and they told us to immediately come in. The doctor thought it was a mosquito bite that got really infected, so she is on an antibiotic three times a day for 7 days for a MOSQUITO BITE! I did not think that was possible! Apparently, she is very allergic to mosquitoes! The crazy thing is that we slather her in repellent any time we go outside at night because they are terrible here. The doctor told us that she might always have a reaction like this! Beware of these mutant mosquitoes in Houston!

Easter!

I have been so bad about updating the blog, but in my defense, we've had more sickness and been busy. Kya has been doing much better, though. The doctor gave her an inhaler, and after a week, she quit coughing. I just knew she had some form of asthma, but the doctors kept saying no. I don't know if she just got better from the virus or if she actually has asthma... We shall see. I am enjoying more sleep, though, so I am loving that. We went to my parents new house for Easter, and we had a great time. We didn't know if we were going to make it because I had a nasty virus at the beginning of the week that caused me to get headaches that felt like migraines - I thought I was dying. Kya also had another bout of strep throat. Thankfully, we made it up there and went on another Easter Egg Hunt. Eric's parents came down the weekend before, and we went egg hunting in Deer Park. It was really neat that both sets of grandparents got to participate in an Easter Egg hunt with her. When we were at my parents new house, my Nana and uncle and two cousins stopped by from Huntsville, and we got to enjoy catching up and celebrating my Nana's birthday early. At then end of April, Eric and I went to Austin for one of my good friends from high school's wedding (Valerie). We made a weekend out of it and went to Luckenbach, Enchanted Rock, Fredericksburg, and Pflugerville (to see where Friday Night Lights filmed their football games). It was so much fun, and we needed the time away with each other. During May, we celebrated Mother's Day with my family, and we have been going to graduation parties on the weekends. June is going to get even busier because Eric will be out of town for different youth trips. So - Kya is growing and getting bigger every day. She mimics everything that we say. She likes to say Stop It and No Thank You when she doesn't want to do something. She has also started singing. She will normally sing with us, and she will say the last word of every phrase. My favorite is when she sings Jesus Loves Me, and she will say Jees-a-me. So cute! We also like playing at bath time when she cleans all of her duckies. She also loves helping. She helps put the laundry in the dryer and tonight, she helped me vacuum with her vacuum from Grams and Big Daddy. She also has to do everything by herself. We can't even tear up her food anymore. She will freak out! Also, she likes using adult utensils. It is so much fun watching her personality really come out.

March Madness

The past couple of months have been busy! Grams and Big Daddy came to visit and Kya and Grams baked cookies together! Kya was sick, so we couldn't really do much, but she enjoyed baking cookies. She kept screaming "I bake!". We also sent Fletch to go live with Grams and Big Daddy because we just weren't able to give him the attention that he deserved. It was a really hard decision, and we are thankful to Grams and Big Daddy for taking such great care of our little buddy. The first week after he was gone, Kya would come home and search the downstairs yelling "Buh!" She is going to be so excited to see him this weekend, though! We'll be celebrating Big Daddy's birthday!

In the meantime, Kya had her first haircut, and she was sooo good! We had to try to tame the mullet. However, I am trying to grow her bangs out, and she won't keep a bow in for longer than 5 minutes, so she just has bangs in her face - hopefully, they will start growing faster soon. We had a few weekends of nothing - one of which my parents kept Kya one night and let us go out - awesome!, and then, we were supposed to go up to see my parents' new house and go out to eat with my aunt and her family, BUT Kya got strep throat, so we will have to plan that again. :(. This past weekend my friend Heather from Auburn who now lives in LA with her husband came for a visit! It was so great to catch up and show her around. We went down to Kemah and walked around the boardwalk Saturday morning before it got crowded, and then, we ate at Cattle Drive (our fave BBQ place, which is attached to a gas station).

AND the real reason that I have this blog: Kya! Kya is talking more and more, and she loves bubbles. She will bring us our shoes and make us put them on and then run to the door and say "side" and "bub-bohs" over and over. She has also become obsessed with Pooh. She sleeps with Pooh. She wants to watch the one Pooh movie we have over and over. I watched it three times on Sunday.... She is quite bossy, too! She will try to pick us up and say "Up!" or tell us where to sit. We also make frequent trips to the park to slide. Her little personality is really starting to come out. She is a really sweet girl, and she loves to help, but she definitely has her little moments of meltdowns. Thankfully, her tantrums don't last very long - for now. We are just really enjoying this age, and we love watching her learn new things. She still loves to read, and she will say her ABC's out of order. It is so cute! I will say this - I am ready for her to be past this phase of getting sick every two weeks! One last thing - she has become sooo independent. She wants to do everything herself. She wants to feed herself, and we have had to pull the old bibs out... She is also learning to use the potty. Her daycare doesn't potty train until she is 2, but we got her a potty, and she loves using it! Whenever they start at school, it won't take too long! I am so ready to get rid of diapers!