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Stories
12/24/09 - Merry Christmas Eve! Hope everyone is ready for the holidays! When I have more time I will write in a little more of what's been going on in our lives :) My dad was in the hospital for a week, we went to Oglebay, Disney on Ice, Kraynaks, I will also post pictures from those, well, not my dad in the hospital :) The girls are doing great! Karley has had a change in attitude, for the better, I don't feel like I'm yelling half the day! Kira is developing such a cute personality. She is also saying more, she repeats what you ask her to, she also says "I get it", "I got it" "here ya go" "see ya" "I hungry" "love you" "where'd it go?" "I walk" "thank you mama" She gets sooo excited when Karley wakes up in the morning and comes downstairs she says "Hi sissy!" and immediately takes the remote away from me and hands it to her! She is also counting to 5 which I cannot believe, thanks to Karley! Well, I must go to bed, I just finished wrapping gifts and I'm exhausted! Hope everyone enjoys their Christmas!
11/4/09 - Hope everyone had a great Halloween! We had fun going over to Gary's cousin Joe & Jen's house. It was a little chilly but we braved it pretty well! Karley and Emma held hands and practically ran from house to house, Kira wanted to walk up to every house and when she got candy she said "thank you", so cute :) She had her well check the other day. She'll be 19months on the 7th. She's about 30 inches and weighs 18lbs 12oz. She did really good at the Dr. After the nurse weighed her and measured her she said "ok, I'm done" and Kira said "all done, thank you, bye" She also had to get 4 shots and after the first two she said "thank you, bye" haha! Karley is actually teaching her a lot of words. When she's done eating she says "all done!" and picks up her plate and hands it to me. She's really at a fun age now :) My work schedule changed so now I work Mon, Tues and Wed. I miss Karley's dance class which I'm bummed about but I also have Thurs and Fri off and I get to spend the whole day with the girls which I'm really looking forward to. Well, I'm off to put up some more pictures!
10/25/09 - Wow, it's been almost a month since I updated this! Let's see...we've all been sick, I'm the last to get it so I'm still sick which sucks. The girls are doing well. Karley enjoys her busy weeks with preschool, dance and going over to a grandparent's house while I go to work. If we are at home for a day sh'e always asking to go somewhere, she hates to sit at home! She has been saying some funny stuff lately. I was taking them to my parent's house and I drove past the house that I grew up in, when I told Karley that she said "Aw, that's nice, you lived by Grandma!" She also said that she was getting a certain toy for Christmas and when I asked her how she knew she said "I ordered it from Santa" She is doing good with Kira, being a big help, she goes through stages. Kira absolutely adores her. WHen Kira and I get up in the morning she'll play but then she goes over towards the steps and yells for her "hee hee" someday she'll say sissy! She also gets so mad when we drop Karley off at preschool it's like she thinks we're forgetting her there. Kira has been saying more and more. I cut one of her pacifiers and when she wants it I give her that one and she just throws it, so she's really only been getting one when she's ready to sleep. Ever since I did that a few days ago it seems like she's picked up so many new words! When she was done eating she threw her hands up and said "all done!" When I ask her where something is she'll say "I don't know" or she'll bring you something and say "here you go" she says "thank you" all the time. Before we eat dinner Karley always says a prayer and Kira has started folding her hands and saying "amen" I was ready to start the vacuum and she always gets excited so I said "ready?" and she said "GO!" She has been nodding her head "no" for a while now but just started nodding her head for "yes" which makes things so much easier! Well, I must go, time to sleep!
9/27/09 - Let's see, where to begin? Karley started preschool and dance and is back in the swing of things. She is becoming more helpful with Kira, I think she likes that she can play a little better. She has been saying some funny stuff lately, we were in the car and she said "mom, your H-O-T" I said "what?" and she said "that spells hot, mom, you're hot." She made a necklace at school for my mom and had her put it on then she said "Grandma, isn't it just beautiful? Look at all the colors in it, you can wear it with anything." She did awesome in Joe and Jen's wedding last weekend. She had so much fun especially riding in the big limo bus and then dancing at the reception with her cousins. The Friday before the wedding just Karley and I went and got manicures, they gave her a french manicure with pearly pink polish, they were so pretty! Saturday morning I took her to Casal's to get her hair done up, she looked just like a princess! I will post pictures soon :) Kira is doing great, she is talking more and more each day. When Karley get up in the morning Kira is soooo excited to see her and give her a big hug. Kira is an awesome hugger, she squeezes her little arms so tight around you! She calls Karley Sissy but it sounds like hee hee, so when we drop her off at preschool Kira gets so mad that we are leaving her there and she yells "bye hee hee!" All the teachers start cracking up. She has also started saying please pretty good. When we sit at the dinner table she looks all around and says all of our names. As you can see on the video she sings the last word of the alphabet song, "ME!" Today she started singing the whole last verse, I couldn't make out the words but it was definately the tune and then she said "ME!" I have to try and catch it on video, it's hysterical. Is everyone ready for Halloween? We are still trying to think of a costume for Karley, I think we just need to go to the store and try some things on. Kira and LJ are going to be Pebbles and Bam Bam, they should be super cute together!
8/24/09 - We have had a busy few weeks! We went on vacation to Myrtle Beach, just the four of us. We had a lot of fun, both of the girls loved the water, thank goodness! Karley really loved the ocean, Kira didn't want to be taken into it but she wanted to walk and let the water run over her feet, in fact, we were at the pool and she kept pointing to the ocean and when we took her down she was so happy. Karley said she looked like Happy Feet because she kept her feet moving so fast :) Kira really liked swimming in the pool though. We had fun but it was not that relaxing for Gary or I! The girls did great on the car ride as well, the dvd players that played separate movies helped a lot! We will definitely be going back next year!
The girls are doing great. Karley starts dance and preschool in a few weeks and we are thinking of signing her up for soccer, she keeps saying she would like to play so we will see. She has been bugging us for a Nintendo DS, which Gary and I would like to play with as well :) I am using it as a bribe for her to stop sucking her thumb. She woke up and said she was not going to do it all day and even asked for me to put the yucky tasting stuff on it. I told her she has to stop it completely and we will buy her a DS. I'm all about bribery if it works! Karley has 3 pumpkins so far in her pumpkin patch. It started out as 3 little seeds and has pretty much taken over our backyard!
Kira is getting bigger if you believe that! She is saying more, bath, Matt, Bye, milk, pretty much anything you ask her to say she tries except for when I asked her to say Robin and she said "uh uh". She can point to all of her body parts and if you ask her how old she is she holds up one finger and says "one". I would like to start potty training soon, we'll see how that goes :)
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Well clearly she likes me better than Robin. Take that lady!
- Matt
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8/6/09 - Kira had her check up at the doctor on Friday, she grew taller and is now in the 50th percentile for height but is still not on the charts for her weight. She weighs 17lbs 2oz. I held off on her MMR shot because we are leaving for Myrtle Beach in a few days and I didn't want any reactions while we are gone! The other day I was sitting on the chair eating something and Kira was standing by me so I was giving her little bits of it, well, something interesting came on tv and I was watching so Kira walked over to the containers that hold all of their play kitchen utensils and dumped them out, out of the corner of my eye I saw her looking at all the stuff on the floor, all of the sudden she picked something up and came right over to me and stabbed my plate with a little play fork!
Comments
Clearly my goddaughter is a genius!
- Robin
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7/28/09 - We had a great time this past weekend! Gary's Aunt and Uncle were visiting from Florida so we got to spend a lot of time with them. We also had Jen's bridal shower, which was so nice! Kira has really said a lot of words this past weekend, she has said "eye" "bye" "ball" balloon- "bloon" grandma "bam-ma" "oma" that's about all I can write now, kiddos are calling...
7/25/09 - Kira has started saying a few more words, she consistantly says "mo mo" for Elmo, she says "pa pa" and yesterday she started saying "ball". She gets SO excited to see my mom, she has started calling her a mixture of "ma ma" and "na na" it's so odd I can't even write it. The other day I took the girls to their house and I was walking with Kira and holding her hand, as soon as she saw my mom she ripped her hand out of mine and started running saying her version of grandma, it was the cutest thing.
Karley and I are looking forward to going to Jen's shower tomorow. Gary's cousin Joe and and Jen are getting married in September and Karley, along with her cousins, are flower girls. We get to go on vacation before the wedding. We are going to Myrtle Beach and are really looking forward to it! It will be our first vacation as a family. I'm not looking forward to the drive though :( Well, I must cut this short, children are calling :)
7/7/09 - Kira just peed and pooped on the potty! As soon as I put her on it she knew what to do and then I thought she was done so I put everything back on her and she pulled the potty back over to her and sat on it so I took everything back off and she went some more, stood up, clapped and said "yay!"
7/5/09 - We hope everyone had a great 4th of July! We hung around the house for most of the day and then we gathered up what felt like half of the house and headed to Gary's parent's house. We had a great time hanging out with the family, we stayed until almost midnight, we love campfires! Kira slept in her pack and play, all snuggled up, she didn't even wake up when the fireworks were going off! I can't believe it's July already, where is our summer going and where is our hot weather? We are looking forward to Joe and Jen's wedding in September. We got the shower invitation in the mail the other day and Karley was so excited to see her name on it! She keeps asking me when the wedding is going to get here so she can wear her pretty dress.
Kira actually has more than two teeth now, yay! The top two have broken through and the ones on the sides are ready to come through as well. She has a molar on each side on top, and those are pretty much in all the way. I wasn't even looking for molars until one day she laughed and I saw the one and then a couple weeks after that she was pretty fussy and clingy and I felt inside and sure enough I felt the other one! Her new words are, no, wow and milk. I was wiping her nose and she grabbed my hand and said "no", haha. We went to see Gary's parent's at a campground last week and it had a gorgeous pool, needless to say we were all in it! It took Kira a while but she ended up getting all the way in and liked it. I am hoping that by our beach vacation in a month she will be fine with the water! Karley loves the water, it takes forever to get her out! That's about it for now, Kira says one more word but I can't remember it right now, oh well.
6/18/09 - I can't believe it's been a month since I updated, sorry! We have been enjoying the warm weather when we get it! Karley started swim lessons this week and loves them. McDonald High School has a pool inside and that is where they have lessons, they go all through summer until August. They are free to children in McDonald which is nice! We are going to start going to the park down the street from us for some activities, they have storytime on Mondays and crafts on Fridays, they also show kids movies outside on Tues nights, one good thing about McDonald is they are great for children! Karley also had her dance recital this past Friday, she did wonderful, we were so proud of her! Kira is doing great, she is such a silly kid. She still makes the goofiest faces and then cracks up. Her new thing now is to raise her eyebrows up really high. When you ask her for a kiss she shakes her head no. She says "moo" "baa" and "down" which sounds like "dow" She knows where her nose, belly, and toes are. She loves to feed herself and actually does quite well at it. She LOVES to imitate Karley which is good but can be bad at times! We have a new babysitter named Delaney, she watches them on Monday and Thursday's. She lives just around the corner from us on the next street over. I think she loves the girls just as much as they love her! She takes them for walks and down to the park to play, today she took them to her house to meet her new puppy. Karley then told me later that "I painted Delaney's nails all by myself". Yes, Delaney is a trooper, that's for sure! I'm just happy that we can use her at night as well, even if Gary and I just want to go out to dinner! Yay, for the Pittsburgh Penguins winning the Stanley Cup, Go Pen's!
Comments
Glad all is well! Miss you guys! the girls are growing up so fast!
- Amanda Skocik
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5/17/09 - We had a great time in New York City! The best thing of all is we got on the Today show!! The weatherman stood right in front of us and then he talked to Jodi and Beth, we couldn't believe it! I apologize to everyone I called at 6am to tell them I was going to be on tv :) At one point the camera panned over us and I said "hi Karley" and she got to see it, that's the best moment right there :) Unfortunately, when I got back to town Gary told me that my grandmother was doing pretty bad and they were waiting for me to get home to tell me. I saw her Sunday night and then I took the girls Tuesday morning. Karley wanted to see her because I told her she was pretty sick, I was hesitating because I didn't want her to get scared and she said "mommy, if it just looks like she's sleeping, why would I be scared?" So, we went. My grandma wasn't even opening her eyes but when my sister told her that I brought the girls she closed her mouth, and then when I leaned over to say goodbye she closed her hand so I knew she could hear me. She passed away that night. I really think she waited until she knew her great grandkids were there, because my sister had my nephew there that morning. Karley, of course, was sad but she says that my grandma is playing up in Heaven with Maxie (my parent's dog). She has also added her to our prayer that she says before we eat. "...and God Bless, Maxie, Great Grandma and America..."
The girls are doing great. Karley is really loving her new preschool, she is learning so much. It is right down the street from the library in Howland so every Friday they walk there and have a storytime which she really enjoys. I enjoy those 3 hours with Kira. It's very hard to give her one on one attention when Karley is around! The preschool goes through the summer as well so that will be nice. Since the weather has been nice all she wants to do is play outside. She really hates to be inside. as soon as she gets up in the morning she is getting dressed and asking to go out :) Kira is doing good. She is walking like a pro now, her new thing is to walk in circles while cracking herself up. She is learning more and more each day and is developing quite the personality. All 4 of her top teeth are working their way through, it will be so nice when she has more than 2 teeth! This past week I have put her down for a nap and she's actually slept for 2 hours. It was wonderful! Karley and I got to spend some great alone time together. Mostly we've played her favorite princess game, which we can't play around Kira because of the little pieces. I don't know if I put in here about her pediatrician appt but she weighed 16lbs 12oz and I think she was 29inches long. Still a tiny peanut! She'll be facing that back seat for a long time!
We had a scare yesterday. Our neighbors have a German Shephard that barks and jumps up everytime we walk out of the house (she's chained up). Well, I got my hair cut yesterday and we came home and pulled into the driveway and I opened the door and stepped out and that dog was standing in my driveway staring at me then she barked and jumped up and started to come at me so, of course, I jumped back into the car and she ran into my backyard which is all fenced. I looked out the window in the garage and she was walking all around the backyard. I called the non-emergency police # and explained what happened and that I had 2 kids in the car and was not going to attempt it. The officer pulled up on the street and started talking to the dog who by this time wandered down my driveway. The officer got out of his car and the dog went after him. He did this 2 more times and the officer tasered her. It barely touched her but she ran back to her yard. The officer pulled into my driveway and got out and the dog jumped up barking at him again. we were waiting for the dog warden but another officer pulled in and they unlocked my house and stood guard with their taser guns while I ran the girls in. Talk about scary! My neighbor now has to go to court next week since they gave him 2 citations, 1 for no leash and 1 for vicious dog. That was our excitement, and I hope it doesn't happen again!!
4/21/09 - Hope everyone had a great Easter! The past couple weeks have been kind of hectic, first we had Kira's party. I think it turned out great! We had it at The Gentry in Hubbard with immediate family and good friends. Thank you to everyone! Kira started really walking on her own the day after her birthday. Ironically, it was at the dance studio. She is still walking on her own but prefers to crawl since she's faster at it. She does finally have teeth as you can see from the picture, she started to get them in a few days before her party. She says "dog dog" but it sounds like "dough dough", she makes monkey sounds and quacks like a duck. She still goes to bed around 5:30 or 6pm and sleeps until around 7am. She only takes about a half hour nap during the day, if I'm lucky. We enjoyed our first Easter with her. We went to Gary's parent's house after going to church and then went to my parent's for dinner. Church was interesting...she really only wanted down so she could walk so I spent the first half in the back with her and Gary spent the last half. Karley is doing well. She is still enjoying her dance classes and looking forward to the being on the "big stage" in June. I was asked to be a parent helper so I'll be watching her from the side of the stage. Oh well, that's where I'm used to watching a recital, last year was the first time I actually sat in the audience. At least I don't have to pay for a ticket :) She starts her new preschool tomorrow. She says she's excited but we'll see. I'm pretty excited about it :) I just keep thinking that it's 3 hours where I can get some stuff done like grocery shop, errands, etc with only one child! I am leaving for New York City on Friday with Gary's mom, sisters, aunt, cousin and soon to be cousin-in-law. We are going to celebrate his cousin, Beth's, 21st birthday. We are looking forward to it! I hope the girls do ok, I haven't been away from them for that long (we are coming home on Sunday), I hope
I do ok! Look for us on the Today show on Saturday morning!
4/7/09 - Happy 1st Birthday Kira! Wow, last year I had a Dr. appointment at 10:00am and I had Kira at 9:55pm, talk about quick! I also remember coming home and playing with Karley outside while I waited for Gary to come home, and today we are covered in snow! I posted some pictures from Kira's party, enjoy!
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Happy Birthday baby girl!!!
- Tish
Wow happy Birthday already!
- Jodie
It was so nice to see you again Kira. You and Halle look alot alike with the big blue eyes. Happy Birthday sweet baby.
- Abbey
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3/23/09 - Big news to share! No Kira still does not have any teeth :) But she did take 3 steps by herself. She only does it when she's super excited about something. Yesterday I came downstairs and walked into the living room and she was so happy to see me and started coming towards me with Gary holding her hands and halfway to me he let go and she took 2 steps and then last night she walked the 3 steps towards her bottle, haha.
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Aww, that's great! Can't wait to see her in a couple weeks!!!
- Dana and Tara
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3/16/09 - I had to take the girls to get some bloodwork the other day. I have put it off because I really didn't know how they would react. I didn't tell Karley we were going until we pulled in. They did Karley's first while she sat in my lap and one of the workers walked around with Kira. Karley didn't even flinch, she did so good and said it didn't hurt at all. Next came Kira's turn, they also took the blood out of her arm, she cried but not really bad, I think she just didn't like myself and the nurse holding her still because as soon as they were done she stopped crying. I was so proud of both of them!
Saturday, Gary and I went to the Penguins game with Brett and Gayle. We had a great time, even though the Pens lost in a shootout :( My parents watched the girls and when we picked them up my mom told me that she tried to put Kira to sleep in a portable crib that they have but all she did was cry. Well, we got home around 8:30pm and when I took her up to her room, I was turning the heater on and she looked around and sighed and layed her head on my shoulder, when I put her in bed she just rolled over and closed her eyes. I told Gary that when she put her head on my shoulder it was like she was saying "ah, now
this is my room!"
3/3/09 - Well, Kira took one step by herself but hasn't done it again! Gary was sitting on the floor and she had to let go of the table to get to him which required one step not holding onto anything. She still has no teeth, when she finally gets one I think it'll be very odd to see her with them since it's already been 11 months without any! She has quite a little temper, if she wants something and can't get it she'll yell! She also shakes her hand at you which is funny now but I'm sure won't be as she gets older! She says "hi" but it sounds more like "eye". She was saying it to my mom on the phone the other day and then leaned over and kissed the phone. She has such a hearty laugh, it's hysterical to hear it coming out of this tiny thing. Well, I gotta go, Kira wants out of the living room and is yelling at me and Karley is turning up the volume on the tv!
2/10/09 - Just a quick update...Karley went to the dr yesterday for her 4 year old check, she weighs 39lbs and is 3'7". She did very good and had to wear a little paper gown which was so cute. There was a picture of Elmo on the ceiling and Karley and I were telling Kira who it was and she started saying "mo". She also says "hi" at times and when you call her it sounds like she says "what". Also, my mom and Gary's mom have put books in front of her and asked her to point out the dog, cat, duck, etc and she has gotten them right. Yesterday we were at my mom's house and she was looking for Maxwell, it was sad. She was sitting in the high chair eating and my mom said she kept looking downat the ground and then when my mom got her down she went over to where maxie's bed always was. When we went over there the first time after Max was gone I was a little nervous about how Karley would be, I didn't know if she really understood that he wouldn't be there. It turns out she did understand and only said that she was sad that he was in his "new home up in heaven" and wished that she could have "magic eyes" so she could see him.
We also went to check out a new preschool for Karley yesterday, it's in Howland which is a little farther drive but we both really liked it. It's in a house that has been completely renovated. I couldn't get Karley to leave which is a good sign! They had circle time and Karley learned more than she ever has in those 15 minutes. Well, it's time to get everyone breakfast!
2/05/09 - Well, on Monday my parents had to put their little dog, Maxwell, to sleep. He was about 15 years old and lived a great life. He was very sick so it was the best thing for him but it still makes it very hard. We got Max shortly after we moved into the house that my parents are in now so the whole house is full of memories, I think it's going to be a while before everyone is used to him not being there. It was very hard to explain to Karley what happened, she has grown up with him and he truly was her little buddy. She has taken it ok so far but she hasn't been over to my parents house to see that he's not there. She seems to understand though. I told her he went up to heaven and even though we couldn't see him, he was up playing above the clouds. We went over to see him monday morning and Karley took a picture that she drew for him to take to "his new home". She spent a little bit longer saying goodbye to him as well. When I got home from work on Monday night Karley could tell that I was crying on my way home and she asked me what was wrong I told her I was sad that we were not able to see Maxie anymore and she said "mommy, we won't miss him" when I asked her why she said "If we get sad we just have to look at the pictures that we took of him today". So, at times I think that she gets it but I guess the true test is going over to my parents and see how she reacts to that. Thank you to everyone for your kind words and phone calls. I know a lot of my friends remember "Maxie-boy" just as I remember your dogs from going over to your houses.
As a side note, if anyone knows anybody who is interested in buying our house, let me know! We found a house we like but it's a foreclosure and can't put an offer on it until we sell our house, well, we
won't put an offer on it, let's put it that way, I'm not getting stuck with 2 house payments!
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Sorry to hear about your doggie, I feel your pain. I was good until my son said...mommy maggie is dead we will never see her again...then he said why are you crying? Our dog was almost 15 years old too. Hope all goes well.
- Jodie
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1/31/09 - First off, the name of the book I got is Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It's really very good. Kira is still doing great at sleeping through the night. Naps are a different story though :( I forgot to mention in my last post that Gary and I took Karley last Sunday to see the Russian Ballet perform
Cinderella at Powers Auditorium. I got tickets for it a long time ago, I got front row right in the center of the first balcony. They are always awesome seats! Karley loved getting dressed up for it and spending time with Gary and I. She was amazed at Powers and was fascinated when I told her I used to dance on that big stage. When they lifted the curtain and the music started playing she leaned over and whispered "thank you for bringing me to this", oh, it was so sweet. She enjoyed every moment of it. I am so happy we were able to take her to something like that.
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