Braids!

This is the first time Kaylee had her hair braided. She's had it done twice more, little different style each time.

Weee!

How I spent my Spring Break, Part 2

I said I'd have it done this weekend. Not only did I finish it, but I finished it on Saturday, so that we were able to move it upstairs on Sunday and load it up. We went through our clothes as well, making up 3 big Goodwill bags, and now we can walk into our closet without hunching over or stepping over baskets!

Mom out of retirement? Never thought it would happen!

Well I guess my hiatus has ended. Tim has been such a great blogger in my absence it almost makes me want to go back into retirement, but alas, I think I will blog instead.

So where have I been since... holy cow... October? Well I have been sick, taking care of Kaylee, sick, taking care of Nana, sick, taking care of Kaylee... and yes you guessed it... sick! It's been a hard winter here in, what I like to term it, the house of plagues! I have been sick for quite a bit of the time this winter and when I have any time left, I've been busy with work, Kaylee, and more work.

Ordering season has started again which is always an awful time at work. We get really busy the end of March and it doesn't quit until August. This of course brings stress on the Mama and then sickness ensues. Anyway, I'm feeling good and looking great in my new haircut and glasses.

Speaking of haircuts... as Tim had said Kaylee got her first haircut about a week ago from Auntie Elaine. Elaine has been cutting my hair since I was about 11 and even came to the house on my wedding day to do my hair. She has been a great beautician and friend! We love Elaine!

During our adoption process, she offered to cut the household's hair for free that way we could save money! The only stipulation being that our child's first haircut had to be done by her. Of course it wouldn't have been any other way!

So about a week ago, we went and got our hair cut. Kaylee was of course squirmy and sat on her own for about 1/3 of the haircut. Then she got to sit on Mama's lap the rest of the time. She was not as good as her cousin Ethan (see http://hurfordfamilynews.blogspot.com/) as Kaylee squirmed, squirmed, and squirmed some more. At one point Elaine had to cut her hair upside down. (No Elaine, we didn't get a picture of that and you can thank me later!)

Anyway, Kaylee's hair is now a bit shorter, as she had a lot of dead and split ends. Now if you let her hair go, it looks like one big, round fro. It's very cute, but not as cute as the "Kramer" hair style she sported back when she was first born. My hair got cut quite a bit shorter too, and I'm sure you'll see it in a picture soon.

Tonight, one of the nice ladies from daycare is coming over to do Kaylee's hair in braids and beads. I'll get a picture of it and put it out on the blog for all to see. I'm sure she'll be really cute! The ladies at daycare are very nice to me. They do Kaylee's hair when Tim or I are not able to get to it. They also taught and still teach this "very white" mama to do Kaylee's African American hair. This is quite a feat for me and I am proud to say I am getting the hang of it.

Miss Daphne, one of the ladies who does Kaylee's hair so perfectly gave me the best complement I could have been given. She said one day, "Oooooo Mama, her hair looks so good today. It looks as if I had done it myself!" I was floored and very flattered. We love all the ladies at daycare, but Miss Daphne and Miss Megan, will always have a special place in our Hall of Fame!

So, now that I've posted at 4-5am since I couldn't sleep, I think I will go get ready for work and then head off to do more... Yes, I'm going to say it... gulp... Orders!

Hope this post gives, all of you who are addicted to all things Kaylee, your fix for a while, because who knows when Mama will go back into retirement! Oh, and top of the morning to you! I will leave you with a picture of Kaylee and I (pre-haircut) on St. Patrick's day!

How I spent my Spring Break

It's spring break week here, so the office has been pretty quite. I decided to take Wednesday off and spend some time working on a project I've had going for quite a while.




I hope to get it finished this weekend; we've been in our bedroom for almost 2 years now, and we still live out of laundery baskets. It'll be nice to finally have a dresser. And to keep a sense of symmetry, the dresser is made out of floorboards recycled from our attic from before I started on converting it to a master bedroom suite.

Oh, and Kaylee got her hair cut last week (maybe Mom can come out of Blog Retirement and share a little more about it. :) )

It's getting crazy now...

Little Miss Independence has made a couple of big steps this week. She's got a training potty now. We've noticed lately that she is telling us when she needs her diaper changed, which is supposed to be one of the big signs that it's just about time to start training. We've got a tiny little bathroom on the first floor, but we managed to squeeze the little plastic toilet in there. Last night as part of our bedtime ritual (more on that in a second) I stripped her down and she sat right down on the toilet. Didn't do anything, but she's beginning to understand what it's for.

We've started back with our bedtime ritual, which now includes teeth brushing and hand washing. The first night I did it (Monday, I think), I grabbed a step stool out of the kitchen and put it in the bathroom for her to stand on. She still needs a little more of a boost to wash her hands, but she gets them wet, waits for soap, and then rubs them together. She is doing a lot better with her teeth than before; we stopped about a month or more ago because she just wanted to suck on the toothbrush, and she'd scream if we tried to guide it. Now she's doing a little brushing, and doesn't seem to mind some help.

The part that surprised us most, though, goes back to that stool. Tuesday or Wendesday night (I can't remember), I told her it was time to brush her teeth, and she seemed very upset that we were forcing her towards the bathroom. Turns out she wanted to go get the stool out of the kitchen. She now carries that from the kitchen every night, and carries it back when we're done.

Bedtime this week has been going really well, too. We're keeping her up until 7:30 now, and I think that, combined with the wind down routine of washing up and brushing, leaves her really calm at bedtime. She insists on taking a book to bed, though--she is her mother's daughter, after all.

We've got a "big girl bed" for her, but after the first night of trying that, I set the crib back up. I think it might be something worth trying again soon, though.

Edit: Almost forgot, she also fed herself about a half of a bowl (one of her little bowls) of chili last night. She's doing pretty well with scooping--still doesn't grasp the idea of stabbing, though.

There's a special place in heaven for bald white guys that do bi-racial girl's hair...

Yeah, she kinda looks like Mickey Mouse, but who cares?