Oregon!

Taking a break at a rest stop.

On Sunday we left for Oregon! After the 14 1/2 hour drive we were all VERY ready to be out of the truck. Kara did as well as can be expected being strapped into her carseat for that long. Poor thing. The weather was beautiful for the 3 days we were there. On Thurs. we got back in the truck and drove to visit our friends in Washington. (That is why I will have a good internet connection for a few days.) We are having a blast. This makes the whole school year worth it.

Home from our Cruise

Poor Ellie Bean and Daisy May!

Room service is the best!

Playing in the sand with Gramma (Daisy)

Fish! Fish!

The atrium

Hi! It's Aaron, posting for the first time. Since I'm done teaching for the next few months, I no longer have an excuse for not posting.

We just got back from our cruise on Friday morning. Kara is an amazing traveler--I think cruising suits her just fine (18 months old and she has already gone on two!) She particularly liked the all-you-can eat fruit and the morning room service. We ate on the bed of course, and we all got used to sleeping on crumbs and strawberry-stained sheets.

We stopped at Catalina and Ensenada. We all went ashore for Catalina to buy Kim a sweatshirt and to ride on a glass-bottom boat. Kara stayed awake after missing her morning nap to look down into the bottom of the boat, point, and shout "FISH! FISH!" She also enjoyed playing in the sand with Gramma, whom she identifies as "Daisy" (Myra's dog). We didn't go into Ensenada because, well, it's Ensenada. We decided to pass on the swine flu, Chicklets, blankets, and polluted water in favor of enjoying a near-empty ship. Kim and I couldn't imagine doing this cruise without Gramma and Papa, who took Kara all over the ship while we relaxed in our cabin or went to a show.

We're now back at home, looking forward to attending a friend's wedding on Friday and leaving for Oregon on Sunday. Hopefully we'll be able to post more often, now that life has slowed down to the lazy days of summer.

Cruising!

Tomorrow we leave for a 5-day Catalina cruise. The Mexico stop was canceled last month so we are only stopping in Catalina for a day and then cruising in circles for the rest of the week. We usually don't disembark the ship anyway in Ensenada so it isn't a big loss for us.

These pictures are of my loft. I still want to get different lighting fixtures and put up a bunch of pictures and diplomas. I have been waiting for years to do this. Happy 9-years to us on June 17th! Kara loves me to hold her balanced on the desk so she can see out the window.

Aaron is done with school. It doesn't really seem like it yet since it has just been a weekend. The cruise will be awesome and then when he doesn't have to go back to work after that--then vacation time will really sink in.

Kara is clearly talking more and more each day. It is kinda scary. She has been very intense and expressive the past few days. She got her third molar last week and as of tonight is done with the last of her antibiotics. We are almost all packed and geared up for a good time on our trip!

18 Months

Kara turned a year and a half on May 30. Where does the time go? Kara is 33 inches tall (55th percentile) and 25lbs. 11oz. (70th percentile). The doctor was surprised when I told her that I suspected another UTI just because of Kara having a crabby day the day before and her waking up early for 2 days. I brought in a urine sample which they kindly tested for me. I know, I am a crazy, overanxious mom...NOPE! She does have another infection. Poor thing. Anyway, she will be just finishing up the antibiotics when we leave for our cruise on the 8th. Doesn't every baby get to go on a cruise for their half birthday? We have an appt. with the Head of Urology at Childrens' Hospital on June 15. Our pediatrician wants a second opinion on the MRI video and the kidney ultrasound we had a few months ago. I sure hope she grows out of this. The constant worry does take its toll.

Kara got a shot and after this one she only needs one more at age 2. After that it will only be flu shots if we decide for her to have them. She was so good and the doctor was very happy with her overall health and said she is "definitely thriving." Our little angel.

Post 4--Getting Ready for Summer!

We have been shopping this week for summer attire for Kara. We got her a life jacket for the lake--which she absolutely loves until she tries to sit down. It is for 30-50lbs. She is 26. I didn't want to get an infant life jacket for her to wear just this summer. She got a couple bathing suits, hats, and LOTS of shorts and t-shirts. My mom and dad just returned from Oregon with this cute chair. They got her one to leave up there and one to have here at home. She loves to sit in it. Our good friends up at the lake also sent her home a present of two really cute summer outfits. We are really looking forward to our time up there. Kara is going to have a blast!

Post 3--Fun with Friends

We went over to hang out with our friends who have a third grade girl and and boy in kindergarten. Kara LOVES older kids and they had so much fun playing together. Kara was amazed with the bubble blower. Usually "bubbles" means Mommy with a small soapy container and a stick blowing a few at a time until she gets lightheaded. The weather has been so nice in the evenings. Kara cries and cries if we don't play outside. All we have at home is a ball. We really need to get some out back toys. She is going to have a blast in Oregon with the lake and the sand my parents have trucked in to make her a beach.

Post 2--Girls' Day

Aaron brought us some flowers on his way home from work.

Honestly, what on earth would I do all day if Kara had been a boy? Last week I put her hair all up in curlers and we went outside to paint our toenails. It was so fun. She just sat there so still and watched while I carefully separated her toes with cottonballs and painted each nail. What a girly girl she is going to be. This age is so much fun. She understands everything I say and can communicate in one way or another almost everything she needs to. She is constantly making us laugh and is so loving.

Post 1--Mother's Day

I am quite behind on posting so I am just going to see how many I can get through tonight. This was Mother's Day and it was very nice. Aaron asked several times what I wanted and honestly, I am just so happy to have Kara and to BE a mother I really couldn't think of anything. We had a relaxing day at home and then went to dinner with Aaron's family. My mom was in Oregon. It was a really low-key day (which I think we both needed). The end of the school year is a very trying time...

Happy Mother's Day

Before

After!

To all of the wonderful mothers out there--Happy Mother's Day. What a blessing it is to finally be a mother.

Here is our new couch that arrived today at 12:30. :) Aaron and Ellie have already staked out their spots.

Ice Skating!

Ok, so this has been a BAD week...or longer. Anyway, after another Dr. appt. and no UTI but still a fever we have attributed it to teething. Finally, her fever broke Wed. night and wow--molar Thursday morning! Her appetite is back and she is herself again. Only 2 more molars to go...

Today we went ice skating. Kara threw a huge fit when we took her off the ice and took her skates off. She is wearing size 5/5.5 and their smallest was a 7. It might have been a bit early but she LOVED it.

Tomorrow we are getting a new couch. We have been on the lookout for 6 years and I sure hope it looks as good in our living room as it did in the store...I will post pics as soon as it is in!

All Better!

Just a quick post to let all of my faithful readers know that Kara is doing SO much better. She has gone to sleep in her crib every night for about a week with only one or two wake-ups all night. We can tell if she is going to get herself back to sleep or not. Many times we haven't gone in and within a minute or two she is back to sleep. All is good over here for now.

All Bets Are OFF!

After THE night on Thurs. she actually slept all the way until almost 9am in her crib. I was thrilled, jumping for joy, elated! On Friday we went to Aaron's school for lunch which usually wears her out. We came home and she fell asleep in her crib without much fuss at all! I felt so proud! I had made it through the worst night and we were already well on our way to sleeping success. After her nap, she started coughing. Hmmm. To make a VERY long story short--she is back on antibiotics and has the worst cold ever with a high fever, oh, and another UTI on top of it, oh, and still cutting molars and canines at the same time. I spent several nights with Kara in the guest room with her kicking me and breathing like Darth Vader all night. It is amazing how little the brain can function on only a couple hours of interrupted sleep. I was doing the strangest things on Monday. Anyway, she is on the road to recovery but we are WAY back at step one with the whole crib thing. Last night she fell asleep on her little fold out fairy bed downstairs at 8:30 while Nicole and I were watching The Biggest Loser. Aaron transferred Kara to her crib and she only woke up ONCE! Yea! Tonight she kicked and screamed wherever we tried to get her to sleep until 10:45. We can't allow her to get much more stuffy than she already is because of the cold so we tried everything. She finally crashed next to me in our bed. She is now in her crib peacefully sleeping. Everyone--cross your fingers and toes for tonight and that this is just the "re" start of good sleeping habit training. I do have some pics from when she was so sick on Sun. but I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet. I have to get some sleep now.

Bad Parenting?!

If I ever had to picture what hell would feel like--it would be this. Kara is in her crib SCREAMING. It has been almost 2 hours since we started the bedtime "routine." I am officially a bad parent. Let me go back a bit. I have always LOVED napping with her. I take the chance anytime I can get. We snuggle up and I pat her, sing to her, laugh and talk until we fall asleep. After her 15 month shots and yet another UTI infection, and teething EIGHT teeth at once I often brought her into our bed at bedtime to calm her and make us both feel better. Aaron often goes to sleep later than we do so he would just transfer her into her crib. This had been a few weeks and then we traveled for spring break. At the hotel in Utah she slept in between us in a king size bed. In Washington she slept in a Pack 'N Play at the end of the bed but if she cried we would pull her up in between us so she wouldn't wake Ryan, Summer and Baby Elizabeth (whose nursery is right next door to our room.) We got home Thurs. and that night Kara and I snuggled in my bed until she fell asleep--the routine we had already started before the trip. BUT the major problem is now she wakes up about 7 times a night SCREAMING in her crib. After several attempts at putting her back to sleep in her crib I have tried Motrin, Benedryl, taking her back into bed with us, sleeping in the guest room with her, letting her cry, music, no music, lights, no lights...dancing a sleepy dance around her crib and MUCH praying. NOTHING is working. We can not function on no sleep. I am a mess. We have been reading articles like crazy and I think they all suck.

Kara rarely cries. She is a happy-go-lucky little girl and is completely worn out right now and almost hoarse from screaming. I can't believe she hasn't passed out yet. I gave her Motrin in case her teeth are bothering her. I gave her a tiny bit of Benedryl to calm her down just a bit, I have read to her, put all of her stuffed animals that she loves in with her, snuggled, and gone in about 45 times at different time increments. This isn't working for me. I feel like my heart is in a vice and I am going to throw up. I have waited 8 years for my baby girl and I know exactly what would make her happy and I can't give it to her. ALL the research says it will take about a week and a strong commitment--oh, and no sleep. I have next week off, I am making the commitment but I feel like she is going to learn that the world sucks and it isn't comforting or predictable. I KNOW from all of my child development classes that I am doing the right thing but heart just can't take it. I can NOT imagine how she is still standing right now.

Also, even when she is sleeping with me she has been suddenly either starting to cry in her sleep or jumping up, looking around crazily and instantly relaxes when she sees me. Is she having nightmares? Is she in pain?

I know there are A LOT of mothers reading this since I talked to you all at Jamie's wedding and so many people told me that you are reading my blog but never post. I NEED you all right now. I need advice, I need encouragement, I need to know that I am doing the right thing. Or am I?

Happy Easter!

Kara was so cute today. Since we have been so busy traveling we decided to just sleep in and have a lazy morning. We got all ready and went to my parents' house for lunch. My dad and mom put together quite a tasty meal and we had fun watching Kara discover how to open plastic eggs. Easter will always be a special reminder of how the journey to Kara began. It was 2 years ago today that my parents gave us several thousand dollars hidden in Easter eggs so we could pursue adoption. And look where we are now.

Perfect Wedding

On April 3, my sister-in-law got married. We flew to Utah on Thursday night. Kara did amazingly well on the flight and LOVED it when we landed. She starting signing, "more." We got our rental car and found our hotel pretty easily. It was cold but not stormy. At the hotel Kara ate a little cup of peaches and proceeded to throw them up all over the bed when I tried to sneak in a bite of Apple/Cinnamon oatmeal. Oops. Her gag reflex is amazing. Anyway, she slept in between us in a king size bed. I don't think any of us really slept. We got ready for the wedding the next morning and it started to snow. It was SO pretty...until we had to be out in it, get to the Salt Lake Temple, and take pictures. Brrrr. Our rental car overheated and we had to turn it back in for another one. That took forever but we made it to the reception earlier than some so it all turned out ok.

We walked in and saw the bride and groom posing in front of tall windows, beautiful spring flowers blooming outside, a waterfall and snow gently falling in the background. It was breathtaking. They both looked so happy and all was right with the world.

All of the pictures of us with the bride and groom and some other really cute ones of Kara were taken with Aaron's aunt's camera. Hopefully we will get those and I can post them later.