New Years Eve...

...and I am dying. Okay, not dying as in my life is ending. Dying as in: stuffy nose, headache, fever, chills, nausea, etc. Figures. Oh well. I will make the best of it by staying home and scrapbooking. I am finishing up some pages from the last couple of months, namely: October, November and December. I've finished October's page, it is now drying on the rack and I am trying to figure out my design for November. December is already laid out, I just need to find the wrapping paper my friend Kendra wrapped our gifts in because it is awesome paper and I want to cherish it forever. :) Moving on.

Kaylee is also not feeling well. She's got a bit of a fever - but that could be from teething (she has another molar coming in) or from what I have which seems to be a small cold. If it gets any worse of course we will be doctor bound but I don't think that will be the case. :)

So, okay. This last year, as you know my dear readers, has been a busy and sometimes scary one. Kaylee had two surgeries to recover from and she did amazing, apart from that I found jobs and then lost them found them again and then lost them again. Daddy monster is finally back in the workforce and he absolutely loves it. I am so happy for him. Kaylee started walking and talking, and she refuses to wear tennis shoes. I got to paint my nails like twice (once being yesterday). The dog is still the dog, just a giant beast with lots of love (and 80 pounds of sitting in your lap) to give. Life was good last year. Here's hoping that next year will be better *tips glass*

Happy New Year friends, may your 2012 be more awesome than 2011.

Hi guys! Have a blast tonight...I will!

...my first ponytail! I'm getting hair!

Slacker Status: Achieved.

I really have been away for a while haven't I? Sorry about that, busy month and all. So, updates and picture time huh? Wewt! Quite possibly pic heavy:

Kaylee is doing well. She's growing well, and is right on target. Not overweight or underweight, just right. She's about 25 pounds right now, which is very good. I cannot remember how tall she is, but she's getting tall enough to pull things off of our dinner table, so tall-ish :)

Christmas was good for our family this year. We got to see our loved ones and we also got a visit from the elusive Aunt K who was amazing and got Kaylee this awesome pony flashlight (that Kaylee loves!). I don't have time to list every gift she got (because she did get a ton), but thanks everyone who did get her something. We love it all!

As far as things go right now, she saw her dentist Dr. Meredith for the first time in a few months! She had her first dental check up and everything looks sooo sooo good. She got her picture taken for her files again and Dr. Meredith called her "my poster child for the NAM." Which reminds me: I still have to make a scrap book for her. Yep, I will do that soon. Anyway, we were taught how to properly brush teeth, got a free toothbrush and a sparkly toy for being such a good girl. I <3 Dr. Meredith.

So, yeah, things are going good. My daughter is going good and strong and she is such a joy. She has started to babble on and on and on lately. She will sit and talk to herself for forever - she talks herself to sleep too. It's adorable. It sounds like she is forming sentences but can't quite enunciate her words just yet, which of course she is still only 15 months so yeah she wouldn't be talking like a four year old yet. :P I can't wait though, everyone tells me I will regret saying that, but really I guess I will let you all know in a few months. :)

Anyway, pictures!

Hanging with Daddy and my cousin Kaleena!

That....is a big box.

I wasn't doing anything I SWEAR!

Strike a pose...this kid loves the camera!

Clappin for the sparkly ball that daddy got from under the tv stand!

What? I'm just walking!

OMG! So tired. What can I do? I know - fall asleep in mom's computer chair.....

.....while mom is still in it.

Gosh...I am so sorry I am such a slacker!

So, hey there. It has been a busy, busy month for us. I hope everyone's Thanksgivings were as fun as ours. We hit up 4 Thanksgiving dinners in 3 days. Turkey has worn off it's novelty for me, I think. Anyway, just a quick update for you all, since this is a blog about the monster after all.

Developmentally she is perfect. According to the doctors she seems right on target with growth, walking and talking and all that. She's doing well, growing big and strong and chubby, but well. She's talking more and more everyday and screaming on top of it. She likes to play with everything she can get her hands on and does "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." She tells you "more" when she wants more of something. She says "gen" for again. Daddy taught her to say "hair." And she points to her diaper when you say "change diaper?" It is awesome.

Anyway, I have to go to work in a minute so I thought I would just pop in and say hello...and here is a recent pic of the Monster. Enjoy your day folks!

My bean bag chair. Mine!

I crawled onto Mommy's chair and fell asleep.

Well...Isn't that interesting.

I was just informed of a news story done by ABC News 2 out of Baltimore. It would appear that more babies are born with a cleft of some kind in the United States than in developing countries. It is the second most common birth defect behind congenital heart defects. I just thought I would share, because I like to share different stories I find that are relevant and that are interesting about clefts. So, Here we are.

YAY! Pictures.

Quick picspam. I just got this today!

This is Monster with her cousin Nesiah. My Little Brother's boy.

And again with Nesiah.

Cheese!

My teeth.

My big blues.

In black and white.

Climbing on stuff.

With a border.

Sitting pretty.

The end. Oh, I love this Monster.

The Monster Knows!

We went to the doctor yesterday for the second part of her flu shot. It was not fun, and Monster was not happy. Monster knows what those little tubes are that have orange tops. Those are the needles that poke her in the leg and hurt a lot. There were a couple of things that happened at this visit.

We get to the clinic at the proscribed appointment time. We check in and sit down to wait. In comes a mom with her daughter. Kaylee was immediately fascinated with this little girl's hair because it was really curly and kinky. So, this little girl and Monster are playing an Monster decides to pet this girl's hair. She didn't pull, she put her hand out and brushed the top of one of the girls pigtails. The girl decided she didn't like it at all and she pushed Monster on the floor. Monster hit her head and started screaming of course. It was sad.

The other little girl started crying because Monster was crying. I made sure to let the little girl know it was okay - they are children after all. But that mother was like "you should teach your child not to pull hair," and then she walked away. I was watching. Intently. There was no hair pulling. So, whatever. I was scolded by a mother not much older than me - no big deal. But it still made me mad because I apologized as she walked away and she didn't even say sorry to me for her bully of a daughter pushing Monster to the ground, hurting her head. :( Rude lady.

Anyway, after I calm Monster down, we are called to get her shot. I laid Monster on the exam chair thing and start to pull off one of the legs of her pants when the nurse turns around with the needle in hand. Monster literally jumped out of this chair into my arms because she didn't want it. The nurse took advantage of that, because I was holding Kaylee, and got her in the leg real quick like. But the thing is this: before - Monster didn't care what was going on she'd just lay back and let what needed to get done, get done. Now, however, she knows. I have a feeling that the White Coat Syndrome* is going to start soon.

So, long story short: flu shot. On the upside she got a new hat out of the deal! Enjoy, and have a good night! <3 Jess

I'm from here.

So, does it look ok?

*White Coat Syndrome: The fear of the doctors office because they've been there once too many. I've got it, when it comes to the dentist. I hate dentists. Le sigh.

Adventures in Sleep - Things Will Fix Themsleves.

Apparently.

Yesterday she sad: Well, I guess I'll sleep through the night. Why not, I mean, everyone else does right? Although it sounded more like: "bleelja;dlhf aaaahahahahhhahhhals. aljkfdldh" *falls over asleep*

So, she's sleeping at night again. I can only hope that this lasts for a while. It snowed again today. I've yet to get a picture. She's not too certain about snow yet. What I do have a picture of however is this...

This is my Tootsie Roll. It is mine and I will call it Tootsie and you will never get it back.

 ...and this...

OH? I'm sorry. I thought the pumpkin jar was mine.

...she wouldn't let go of that Tootsie Roll for the life of her. The rapture could come at any moment and she would still be all: My. Tootsie. Roll. Yep, definitely my kid.

All's well on the home front. Daddy Monster and I are both working, things are good there. The only dark spot on the horizon: Kaylee gets the second part of her flu shot tomorrow. :( Not a happy day for her. But hopefully she'll be okay, it's only one shot this time.

So, yeah. Life is starting to work itself out. I love that. <3 Jess.

Adventures in Sleep - Where did I go wrong?

So. Kaylee Monster has decided that sleeping at night when everyone else does is overrated. For the last two weeks or so she has slowly moved her sleep schedule from normal nighttime to sleeping all day, and playing all night. Now, I know that this is something I should expect as she gets older, but at 1 year old? Something has got to be wrong here.

I've done some reading and sometimes it says that they don't want to miss out on anything including mom and dad getting ready for bed. I've also read that they can have separation anxiety just for sleeping. So, yeah. I have no idea. All I know is that Daddy Monster and I are having a rough go of it because we both have work and we both require some sleep. Here are some of the things that I've done that haven't worked.

1. Nighttime routine: play, eat, bath time, read, diaper change, sleep. This routine has worked swimmingly for the last few months with just a hiccup or two when she was teething and during her recoveries from surgery and stuffs.
2.  I've tried keeping her up for longer stretches. This just leads to more naps, and longer ones.
3. I've tried taking her outside in the daylight when it is nice and bright so she can run around and learn to like it, but she just falls asleep as soon as I pick her up, or put her in her stroller.

I am at a loss. I hope this gets resolved soon, because OMG. I need to sleep.

Wewt! Pumpkins!

Kaylee and I went to the pumpkin patch today. We are going again tomorrow with daddy. Here are some pictures from the trip today, more will come tomorrow!

Hi Mom!

I want that one and this one and that one, and that one over there....

It's bright out here!

Mommy and Monster.

I'll take that one.

Ok fine, the smaller one.

Hello!!!!!

So, we are alive and well I promise. Things have been quite a bit hectic around here lately. Luckily things are looking up and hopefully things will continue to do so for us. As far as Monster is concerned everything is progressing nicely.

She's right on track in growth for a one-year old. She's in the 90th percentile for height and weight, so obviously no feeding issues there. She's growing so big and strong and just being the love of our lives right now. She's also our entertainment. She's just learned how to say a few words and one specific phrase that just makes us all smile.

First, she points and says "look." She says hi, mama, dada. She says "Hi, Ronan" when the dog comes in or when we've been away for awhile. Yeah, she's starting to talk. It is the most amazing thing ever. She knows where her ears and eyes and nose are and she is working on finding her mouth. She kisses when asked and say buh-bye when asked. She brings things and finds her ball. I love this kid so much. She's doing so well.

Last week she had her one year vaccinations, as well as her flu shot. They had to take blood to test for lead levels (since we live in a house built in the early 60s) and check hemoglobin, plus something else I can't quite recall. She's in perfect health., and has a total of 8 teeth in her mouth with more coming in. There is one that I have concern about because it is on the edge of her gum where the cleft was and I am concerned as to how that will come out, but we have a dentist appointment with her cleft dentist in a couple of weeks and hopefully she will let us what is going on.

Anyway, just wanted to check in with everyone...I know its been a while. Pics!

My blue zebra! And Daddy hanging with me to make sure I don't falls off!

Hi guys, I'm hanging out. Just relaxin. Enjoyin the day.

Happy First Birthday Kaylee!!!!!!!!!

WEWT! You are 1 whole year old today! At least she will be officially 365 days old at 8:42pm. How time has flown. And how big you have grown (that was not intended to rhyme, I'm just rad like that). Gosh, what a year. So, here is where we do a whole years worth of pictures...ok only 12 (but actually more :P) since there are 12 months in a year...LOL. Picspam!

Rockin' the pain med free birth experience.

StayPuft Marshmallow man - headed into surgery.

Pitocin sucked.

A baby monster was born.

First noms without the feeding tube.

After my first bath!

I smiled a big one at 2 months.

Started pwning n00bs at 4 months.

Lip repair done at 5 months.

My half birthday cuppy cake noms.

Starting to do lots of things on the floor at 7 months.

7 months old. Looking good.

Starting to crawl at 8 months.

My lip has smoothed waay out. Here I am at 9 months.

Starting to stand on my own at 10 months.

Broncos fan at 11 months.

Eating Mama's pudding at 11 months.

Walking here, there and everywhere at 11 months.

Early first year celebration. First Birthday Cuppy Cake. Noms.

 Later I will post her first 12 month picture. I haven't even taken it yet, but I will post it when I do. I can't believe how fast time has gone. How much she has gone through. And how much I have realized how strong of a person I can be. There were times when I had the fleeting thought that this was something I couldn't do, but when this girl smiles at me I know I was meant to do this - to be her mommy.  So very sorry for the picspam of my girl. Enjoy it! Love from us <3. JESS and Kaylee too.