I love...

...my darling daughter, Kailyn and all her cuteness. Since starting school she has been getting so much better at her speech, she is speaking in complete, almost perfect sentences now. She still can't say her F's or L's very well but we're working on it.

...how Kailyn says Flip Flops. B/c she can't say her F's very well it comes out "shlip shlops". So stinkin' cute!

...my wonderful husband. He makes everything possible and is my absolute best friend. I wouldn't want to live this life without him. And he can still make me blush like you wouldn't believe. My love.

...my first cup of tea in the morning. There's just nothing quite like it.

...Spring!! And everything about it, the blue skies, the sun shining, the flowers blooming, wearing t-shirts and flip flops. What I don't like: the allergies that come along with it. I haven't had allergies like this in a long time. Go Away!!

...gardening. It's hard work and I don't like getting all sweaty and sticky and I am allergic to weeds but seeing the end result makes it all worth it. I love going outside and watering my plants and seeing how much they've grown. Yes, I do talk to my plants. Kailyn loves to help out too, she loves digging in and getting dirty, and she isn't a wuss, she'll pick up huge arm fulls of leaves and weeds and put them in her bucket. She's a tough cookie...most of the time. Oh, and she loves bugs. Ew.

...pictures. They. are. everywhere. In fact, I need more frames. I LOVE looking at photo's of all my friends and family. I have a million of Kailyn b/c she changes and grows so freakin' fast that I have to capture all her adorableness and display them, especially if I get a good one of her and my honey, they are my loves. :)

...a newly ajaxed sink. Yes, I know it's a weird one but I do, I love how nice and white it looks when I'm done scrubbing it. I just wish it would stay bright white for a while.

...when my hubby calls me all the time while working, just to say hi. I miss him bunches when he's not home.

...feeling like a kid again. We've been going to Pump It Up lately and it has been fantastic. I love seeing Kailyn so happy, bouncing and running her little heart out. But what makes it better is doing it with her, she gets the biggest kick out of it when she sees me or daddy climbing thru the tunnels behind her and being silly. Not only that but it's a great work out!

...hanging with friends. I don't get to do this as often as I would like but when I do, it's so refreshing. Especially if it's with one of my best friends I have known since I was 11. Oh boy, when we get together we revert back to our younger years and for that moment in time, it's absolute joy. All the giddiness, the bad, dirty jokes, the gossip...fantastic. There are just certain things that I can't or won't talk about with or around my husband. To be honest, it's pretty immature and I'm ok with that. Who wants to be a responsible adult all the time? We have to let go every once in a while, right?

...Kailyn copying everything we do. Ok, so I may not love this all the time but sometimes it's hilarious. I call her sweet pea, darling, sugar, sweetheart, baby, K, sweetums, honey, sweetness. Well, lately, she has been using these on me. If I am having a frustrating day, she'll pat me on the shoulder and say, "it's ok sweet pea, it's ok." Or she will say, "excuse me honey, can i get by?" you get the picture.


...Kailyn and Coda, "best pals". It's so cute seeing Kailyn and Coda, our white German Shepard, running around the house like crazy. They have their own games they play and she rides him like a horse all the time. He puts up with a lot more than I would if I were him, but he loves her to pieces. She drives cars all over his body, uses her Bullseye horse and gallops over him, she pokes him in the eyes and pulls his tail. Even while enduring all this, he has the biggest smile you have ever seen on a dog. Kailyn calls him her "best pal" and "best friend". Love it.
















Well, that's all for now!
Have a great weekend everyone!

Preschool

So, it has been quite a while since I've blogged about anything and seeing as I have a few minutes I thought I would update it.

We just recently embarked on a new adventure in our life: preschool.

Yes, I know it's halfway through the year and she's just starting? Well, yes. When it comes to preschool at her age it's ok. She will be doing preschool again next year and then prek and then kindergarten. When September rolled around Kailyn wasn't quite ready for school...or maybe I should say I wasn't ready for her to go to school. After all it isn't quite necessary at her age since I stay home with her and teach her while I'm here, it is usually closer to 4 when they start preschool. BUT after this past winter and Kailyn all of a sudden growing up so quickly we decided to enroll her. I am so glad we did because she absolutely loves it! She is going twice a week for 4 hrs per day. (Not to mention it's my sanity saver, since she no longer takes naps.)

I am also so happy to say that she is almost 100% potty trained, she hasn't had any accidents in the last couple of weeks and only wears a diaper at bedtime. It's a miracle! For a while there I thought she would be in diapers forever!

Here she is ready for her first day of preschool.

Inside her school.

Waiting her turn on the computer.
See the turtle there? She got to feed it her first day, how special. :)

Now it's her turn!

Eating lunch with her new friends.

My baby girl is 3 yrs old and is in preschool, she really is growing up. I am so excited for her, she really loves school and I hope she continues to love it. I am so proud of my daughter and love her more than anything in this world.

Kailyn's 3rd Birthday Party

It's been a really hectic couple of weeks as I have been planning and preparing for not only Christmas but also for Kailyn's 3rd birthday party. It wasn't a huge turn out, which I actually prefer, but still a few kids came and Kailyn had tons of fun. I don't think I saw Kailyn for a couple of hours while the kids were here, it was very strange. In fact, every time I went into her playroom to check on her she would say "go away mom". Lol...I thought she was turning 3 not 13!


Our theme this year was Toy Story. I kept going back and forth on the theme this year, she's been really into Handy Manny for most of the year but as soon as Toy Story 3 came out she has been addicted to it. So, I actually asked her what she wanted either Handy Manny or Toy Story and she said, "Toy Story!" loud and clear. So there it is.

Here are the kids piled into her chair waiting for the movie to start.

Look how cute the are and how luck Austen is, he's got 3 beautiful girls all to himself! :)

While they were doing their thing, Mommy was doing her thing, catching up with some friends I hadn't seen in a while. It was very much needed.



Present time came and I am not sure what happened but Kailyn got really shy when all the attention was on her and she had a bit of trouble opening her presents, she needed her friends help to open them. It was quite cute actually, I'm glad she included them. I think it was a big overwhelming for her to have everybody staring at her.
A big THANKS to everybody for their great gifts, she's enjoying them all to the fullest!


Then, came time to sing to her and blow out her candles on the cupcakes mom tried to make so perfect, and once again she didn't want the attention on her. I thought that would have been her favorite part, after all she had been asking me to blow out the candles all day.





All in all, her party was a success and I'm glad it's over, I was stressing a little to make sure that it was as perfect as I could get it. I am not a party planner whatsoever but it came out pretty good.
Until next year! :)

All Thru The Night

I am so proud of my big girl. She slept in her big girl bed all night without waking up once. I couldn't be happier! I actually woke up in kind of a panic this morning because she didn't wake up, but all is now very well in the Patin household. Thank you God for giving me the extra little patience that I needed.

Now, we are just counting down the days until Christmas and Kailyn's 3rd Birthday. This is going to be the best Christmas thus far.

Sleep Update

So, I thought I would update you on Kailyn's sleeping issues since getting her beautiful new fairy princess bed.

All I have to say is SCORE for us! She has slept so much better since getting her new bed, it's unbelievable! It still takes us a while to put her down but not nearly as long (maybe 1 hr instead of 1 1/2-2 hrs) and she hasn't been fighting us to put her down, let's just say she's going down more calmly and a lot easier. She will wake up maybe 2-3 times during the night but she only gets out of bed maybe 1 out of 3 times. A BIG improvement from before. I give her a cuddle, let her fall asleep and put her back in bed. What a huge relief! Unless you have actually experienced this, you have NO idea what an accomplishment this is for us and how relieved I am. I really wasn't sure how long this whole sleeping situation would go on for, I was thinking the worst, you know, like how it was when she was newborn! Up every few hours and getting hardly any sleep.

Let's just hope it just keeps getting better! :) Thanks everyone for your advice on helping me get thru this sticky toddler situation.

New Fairy Princess Bed

K in her new bed, her "fairy princess bed" as she calls it.

So, we got Kailyn's new bed yesterday and put it together right away. It is so frickin' cute!! I think I have been looking forward to this as much as she has! lol... I have been making a huge deal about her new bed, how beautiful it is, how special it is, and how now it officially makes her a "big girl", hoping that this will encourage her to stay in her bed.

I sat Kailyn down and had a little talk with her about her staying in her bed, that if she did, tomorrow she would get a reward. She woke up once, at 11ish, all wet and throwing a fit. After wrestling with her for about 5 min, I was able to finally change her and put her back to bed. She ended up sleeping until 8am! I woke up a few times during the night to make sure she was still in her bed because she was so quiet.

When Kailyn woke up this morning, I made it a point to tell her how proud I am of her that she stayed in her bed and slept all night. I kept my promise to her and she got her reward this morning for being a "big girl" last night. She said her bed is "so comfy". :) I'm glad.

Well today I feel well rested (FINALLY!) and Kailyn got a full nights sleep, I couldn't be happier! Let's just hope that this lasts! Wish me luck folks! ;)

Advice Please!

This post is for the moms of toddler's out there, I need some advice from you:

How did you keep your toddler to stay in their bed at night??

I am running very low on patience when it comes to keeping my almost 3 yr old to stay in her bed at night. She will not sit still or lay down for about an hour after I brush her teeth, read her books and gotten ready for bed. Once she finally calms down a little, the only way I can get her to fall asleep right now is by laying next to her or rocking her in the chair. She used to do fine falling asleep on her own, I think it's because she is no longer in her crib she feels she needs to assert her independence by leaving her room.

Might I also add that she started this just about 3 weeks ago. It's happened very fast. She went from sleeping in her crib (which she loved) for nap time and bed time and now she's skipping her naps and won't stay in bed. Let's just say I have a very cranky child in the evenings because she is so tired, I know she misses her naps but she just has this new found freedom she can't get quite enough of. I've tried bribing her like you wouldn't believe and even that doesn't work. She is getting her new "fairy princess toddler bed" next week so she is currently sleeping on her mattress on the floor. I am hoping once she gets her new bed, she will want to sleep in it all night. Wishful thinking on my part ;)

So, if you have been through this and you have found a way to keep your child in bed, would you please, please, please, share it with me so that I can get more sleep!!!??

Sure, she only looks innocent...lol.