Couple More 2 Yr Photos

I've been having asthma problems and a little bit of a cold the past two days so have been home.  Pretty sure it's from all of the fires we have or are currently having in Washington state.  Hoping it clears up soon.  Thought I was going to have to go to the ER yesterday but luckily didn't have to once I got to my home where the air is cleaner.  Here are a few more edited photos of Kyla.

Once again, these photos come through so distorted sometimes (not sure why) so be sure to click on them.  :)

Kyla's 2 Yr Photos

Kyla is 2 on September 5th.  I have not had professional photos taken of her since she was 6 months old.  Had a bad experience the last time, so that is pretty much why I have gotten somewhat into photography, so that I can take them myself.  I did these last night.  It was so hot and Kyla was so uncooperative but none-the-less I still got a few good ones.  Here are some I have edited so far.  I also am now doing a trial of Photoshop Lightroom and love it!  Pretty sure I'll end up purchasing it after my trial expires.  I made the headband for her and her necklace.  You can't see it too well from the photos but I also had her in Huggies Jean diapers.  I've signed up to take a "how to use your DLSR" photography class from a local photographer on September 8th.  Really looking forward to that.

 Excuse the messy hair and hairbrush in this one.  :) 

 

Random Person Approaches Us

Last night we attended a local baseball game here in town with some friends.  It was Kyla's first baseball game and she did really good; a lot better than I thought she would!  Her boyfriend/bestfriend from daycare happened to be sitting two rows below us so those two little bugs had to sit in the aisle right next to each other almost the entire game.  Blocking all traffic like they owned the place!  They were sooo cute!  The little boy's name is Brennan and Kyla and him freak out when they see each other in the mornings at daycare...they're about two months apart, he is older...match made in Heaven right?  :)  So we were enjoying the game then decided to head down to the concessions to get something to eat.  I had just finished doctoring up our hot dogs and we were getting ready to head back up to our seats when some random dude with about a 3 year old daughter walks up to us and asks my Husband how he's doing.  My Husband was holding Kyla and was like "ugh good...," like should I know you type thing and then the guy just blirts out "I have a niece who is missing her lower right arm, like her" and proceeds to tell us her story.  It was random but neat... apparently the girl just turned 1 and lives in Idaho.  The guy asked if it was ABS and we said yes.  Then after a few minutes of talking, he walked away and we went back to our seats to finish the game.  This is the first time this has happened to us and I literally didn't even  notice the guy looking or anything.  I've noticed that I'm getting alot better about not caring, which is good.  I don't really even think about it anymore, around adults...I'm still not good with kids, but I think that also has to do with the fact that all the other kids that are around Kyla know her and know of her situation so it's not even an issue.  I don't really do the whole look around to see who's looking thing anymore and that is nice.

Anyway I've been pretty busy planning Kyla's second birthday party.  It will be next Sunday; a little early since I'm doing it while Greg's Sister is in town visiting from New York.  The theme this year is Bubble Guppies, which is Kyla's favorite cartoon.  And as you might have guessed, I've already spent WAY too much money on this party!  LOL, I can't help myself though...she is worth it!  So I've got the personalized edible cake topper, the iron-on decal t-shirt, the personalized banner, personalized invitations and Bubble Guppies pin-back buttons for everyone who attends.  :)  Thank goodness for Ebay and Etsy!  Kyla is going to LOVE it!  She has been scoping out all of the stuff I've been ordering and puts her face all up in the screen of my laptop and says "guppy guppies" over and over :)  We've also got an entire softball complex to ourselves just for Kyla's party which has an aquatic park and toys and a shaded picnic area.  A month or so ago I found a mini bounce house off of Craigslist and we will have that there as well.  Should be a blast!  I'll be sure to post photos. 

Speaking of photos, I've also been planning a special photo shoot of Kyla and was hoping to do it today but never got around to it.  I made her a couple things to make it special.  I'm hoping the photos will turn out really well, but not sure how much she will sit still  for me and wear what I'm planning to put on her!  We will see :)  I'll post those photos as well.  Hope everyone is doing well.

Photos

The whole fam has been sick the past few days, so this is going to be a quick deal.  I haven't posted in a while but am also not in the mood to put too much thought into this.  Last week I submitted a couple of my photos to our local newspaper and then found out this morning from someone on Facebook that one of them made it in.  They never sent me an email back or anything saying that it would be published,  but it was, so that was kind of cool, LOL, I guess to probably only the older folks that still read the newspaper.  I get it sometimes just for coupons, which I hardly do anymore.  Anyhow...Friday night we went out to dinner and a few drinks with friends before heading to see Daniel Tosh.  We were in the 5th row, he was like smack dab in front of me.  He was OK, but I wasn't like dying laughing or anything.  Yesterday we were feeling horrible so stayed home most of the day and again today.  Greg mowed the lawn yesterday and installed an air bag kit on his friend's truck so he was gone most of the day.  Kyla had to be held by Greg the entire time he was mowing the front yard, super sweet...she laid her head down on his shoulder for about half the time.  She LOVES her Daddy...  I also bought her a butterfly catching game at the store.  Her and I played it after dinner tonight, she likes it but isn't quite quick enough yet.  She'll get there.  I'm going to go hack up a lung now.  :)  Everyone have a good night. 

 

Kyla's First "Sleep-Over"

This weekend we were lucky enough to be able to spend some time with our Niece Averi.  Kyla loves her being here and is almost a completely different kid with another playmate around.  Very cute; she watches everything Averi does and follows her around everywhere.  Friday night I went out with a friend for martinis and a movie.  It was nice to just get a little Mommy time, even if it was just 3 hours...3 hours was enough time away from my baby.  It is so funny, you look forward to those moments, but then when you get them, you still hurry home to your baby.  :)  Saturday I picked up Averi mid-morning and got ready to go boating with friends up to an island just past where I work.  We stayed there for about 4 hours before the heat wiped us out.  Averi had fun as did Kyla.  Kyla got her first face plant in the river (face first) thanks to her cousin pushing her in.  Averi is 6 and apparently did not understand why Kyla couldn't just get up after she got pushed in.  Luckily my hubby was right there and was able to get Kyla up soon after she hit the water.  Poor girl.  Averi spent the night Saturday and this was Kyla's first "sleep over."  :)  Sunday morning we all got ready for church and after church my Sister picked up Averi from us.  There were several occasions this weekend where Averi said that other kids on the beach were making fun of Kyla and laughing at her.  I didn't see it, but doesn't mean it didn't happen, it probably did.  I told Averi, "oh well, that's OK...."  Yesterday after Sunday School Averi told me that her class had walked by the nursery and saw Kyla and that other kids were making fun of her.  There is no way her class saw Kyla and was making fun of her, since she is in the nursery and you can hardly see the babies from the hallway.  I'm not sure why Averi felt that she needed to keep saying this, but it doesn't matter, maybe it's just what 6 year olds do.  Who knows.  There was another instance this weekend where Kyla's arm was talked about...  the fact that Kyla is just on the verge of being able to understand completely, means that I'm going to have to start putting a stop to all of this whenever it comes up.  Like any conversation about "Kyla's arm" isn't going to happen, doesn't matter if it's family that is talking about it or just some random person; there is no need to make a big deal out of it.  Being around other kids this weekend makes my daughter seem like an angel.  LOL, she really is super sweet...even if I say she has her moments, she is still a baby, but she has such a sweet heart.  I mean the kid isn't even 2 and she burps and says "excuse me" in her sweet little baby voice.  She says please, thank you, sorry...most of the time all on her own.  When she hits, she doesn't get away with it..., she is disciplined.  It's just funny seeing other little kids and then seeing her.  I think she'll be a very well manner child and that's what we want.  :)  This coming Wednesday I am taking Kyla to see Sesame Street, a touring play type thing with some friends and their kids.  We are getting a suite, so there will be 12 of us, only one poor guy is being dragged along and it's not my Husband :)  should be fun.  Friday we are going on a date to see Daniel Tosh with some of our friends.  He isn't my favorite comedian, but it should still be a good time.  I'll post some pictures of Kyla and Averi here soon, when I get some time.  For now I've got to get to cleaning, folding laundry and doing bills.  The un-fun stuff.

What is Meant to Be Will Be

I've been brainstroming this post for the past few weeks...  today's topic is on the things I did and did not do during my pregnancy.  There is one thing I did not do during my pregnancy that I hold some guilt for.  Although I'm not positive this contributed to Kyla's ABS, I don't think it helped any.

Kyla was not planned, but once I became pregnant, I knew that I was and put off buying a pregnancy test until I was at about 6 weeks a long.  As soon as I found out, I was very careful about what I put on and and into my body.  I didn't use aerosol hair products, only pump sprays, I did not wear nail polish or use nail polish remover, I did not dye my hair, I stopped using aluminum filled deodorant and switched to a natural product, I ate healthy and ate small portions of food on a frequent basis (which they say is good for baby because it provides them with a steady flow of nutrients to help them develop).  Although I was very sick my first trimester, I craved fruit and it was about the only thing I could hold down for a long while.  I remember making a trip to the grocery store one morning and buying tons of fruit, driving home and eating as much of it as I could, because I was so hungry, but couldn't eat anything else.  One evening I finally got tired of being so hungry, told the Husband we were going to IHOP, ordered a huge plate of breakfast type food and ended up hugging the toliet as soon as we got home.  LOL, the sickness was pretty miserable, but then again, the majority of the pregnancy was (minus the 2nd trimester).  After my first trimester the sickness stopped and my diet changed to less fruits and more of a balanced diet.  Back then I did not take a multi-vitamin because I hate pills, but I knew I needed them, so I tried prenatal vitamins but they made me very sick to my stomach, so I tried just half, and even tried just regular multi-vitamins.  Every vitamin pill I tried didn't set well with my stomach, so I was not good about taking them...  my first OB doctor didn't ask me if I was taking them either, so I figured as long as I was eating well, it probably wasn't too big of a deal.  Well truth is, it probably was.  Although I do wonder if by me doing this, I was the cause of Kyla's condition, but I am not convinced this is the case.  I even went as far as to research for countless hours about a Rh factor blood injection I had to get in my butt while I was pregnant with Kyla because my Husband and I's blood didn't agree with one another.  There was something about this shot that would make sure that Kyla was OK while I was carrying her and once she was born.  Since I'm kind of a freak about any kind of medicine (I make sure I know what I'm taking before taking it, etc.), I read up on the shot a lot before taking it and found that the injection typically given to pregnant women contains trace amounts of mercury.  It's not proven, but they say that Mercury is linked to Autism.......so I spent a TON of time finding a company that made an Rh factor shot that contained absolutely NO Mercury. I called hospital pharmacies, I called regular pharmacies and companies that manufacture the shot.  Since I live in a fairly small town I was told over and over that I should "just take the regular shot, there was nothing wrong with it, women get it all the time."  I didn't settle for that and eventually found a pharmacy that would order me the shot I wanted!!  Cost me $100.00 out-of-pocket, but I didn't care.  The shot is made of actual blood (although it's not colored) so I had to take it straight home from the pharmacy, and put it in my fridge and, straight to the doctors office where they injected me with it there.  A huge pain, but I felt like it wasn't worth the risk to inject myself with Mercury while carrying my child.  Moral of the story is, although I was very careful with what I was and wasn't doing (minus the vitamins, which was a big mistake and I won't do that again if I get pregnant in the future)...you can't control what does and does not happen.  You can try your best to do most everything right, but what is meant to be will be and what is not meant to be won't.