Pictures

I have uploaded lots of pictures to flickr from our Christmas celebrations.

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Spring in December!

Poppy here... it's been quite a long time since I've blogged. Today was a terrific day, almost as much fun as Christmas! Here in the "Berry" the temperature hit 68F! Of course, when the temperatures near the mid-50s Poppy begins thinking about doing things outside. Mommy isn't too keen on chilly-weather activity but I thought it would be good to get Karla out of the house. So out on the deck we went at 10am much to Mommy's chagrin. BUT! I was nice outside. We looked afterwards and it was 63 degrees. So on went jeans, shoes and a light jacket and out into the great wild we went. I was just planning on standing at the end of the deck since previous encounters with grass and the outdoors were very tentative. However we're apparently past all of that. Karla heard the neighbor girls dancing outside to music (a common summertime occurrence) and shot off the deck like a rocket and went running uphill to them all. She went right up to them and said "Hola!" So they were all excited and curious to know who Karla was and then why Karla wouldn't say anything to them they could understand. I explained that Karla spoke both Spanish and English. That got the girls even MORE excited because they wanted to know the Spanish words for all sorts of stuff so they could interact with Karla. Fortunately I knew most of what they asked. Pelota (ball) was a huge hit with them and they kept calling the balls "pelotas" long after Karla had wandered away from them. So Karla pretty much instantly made 7 new friends. They invited her to play "Fairy" (which seems to involved lots of standing around calling each either other boy names) but Karla was much more interested in finding "doggie!!" We met even more of our neighbors today when they brought their dog Sydney outside. It was chasing frisbees in the cul-de-sac and ran up to Karla when she went running over ("DOGGIE!! AQUI!!!"). Karla then immediately huddled against me and didn't want to pet the dog. So the neighbor let me toss the frisbee a few times and Karla just screamed "DOGGIE!! YAY!!!" or "DOGGIE!! AQUI!!" every time. Then Jennifer came out and we walked along Blackmoore down to the other cul-de-sac and encountered 4 more dogs which was just the greatest possible thing ever (according to Karla). Finally Karla looked ready to drop and we came in to find out we'd been outside over an hour and a half. Karla ate a little bit and then went right up to bed. She woke up a little over 2 hours later, called "Poppy! Poppy!" and wanted to go right back outside. We got a little more food in her first, put on new pants and boots (the others were soaked) and headed out for round two. More fun with another neighbor doggie (more shouting!). Then we did a couple of laps around Grandview, played with the neighbor girls again and slid on the slide A LOT. A great time was had by all.

I've uploaded a special set of Flickr images to document our day.

Happy "Day After Christmas" To You!

Karla must have been a good girl this year because she got lots of great, fun gifts! I'll have to upload more pictures when I am not so worn out from all of the excitement!


A picture from earlier this month of the three of us. :)

Best Christmas Present Ever!

Here she is:



Merry Christmas!

Social Security Card

Karla got her social security card today in the mail!! Yeah!!
Making progress towards re-adoption in PA.

We also filled out the necessary forms to receive Karla's file from immigration services. It may contain information about Karla or her birth family that we have never seen before. Either way, it will be great to have for her and for our legal records.

Who needs toys?

Not a post topic you want to see before Christmas. :)

I bought these storage drawers at Target on Sunday for about $18 - and they have entertained Karla for the past day and a half. Oso goes in and out. She gets in and out. Other little things get put on and in. Quite amazing how many different things she can think of to do with it.

The drawers are to keep her Play-Doh, crayons, and other "craft" things in. They may have to be placed higher up if I actually want them to be functional.

I didn't finish my shopping yet...I don't like being this last minute! I was almost done on Sunday when I went out when I received a call from home. Karla was getting upset that I couldn't be found in any of the rooms of the house. So, I rushed right home. I didn't want to take her out in this horribly cold weather today - so tomorrow it is! At least I know what I need/want to get now and can hopefully be in and out.

This weekend Karla had a visit from her great-grandparents. She was calling them by name and had lots of fun playing with them. It was hard to tell who was having the most fun! I think it is pretty awesome that Karla has 4 great-grandparents. I have to say I haven't seen these two down on the floor (even crawling!) like they were Saturday in quite some time. :) Here is a picture of Karla opening a gift from Mammy and Pappy.


Today Karla and I stayed inside where it is nice and warm. We did some cleaning. I finally got out my winter clothes and put them in my closet. (I guess I was hoping we would have Guatemala-like weather this winter but no such luck). Karla was entertained by looking at and trying on all of my shoes.

This evening Aunt Brenda stopped by for a little while. She had fun reading a story to Karla. She may be famous for being able to use several silly voices. Tonight when she was reading "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" Karla tried imitating one of the voices - and did pretty well. It was SO funny. Brenda and I were laughing like crazy and Karla was fake laughing. She has just started fake laughing and fake crying. I don't think she really knew why we were laughing so much but knew she should be laughing too. That made Bren and I laugh even more. I tell ya, Aunt Brenda and Karla seem to have a lot in common sometimes. One thing is for sure they both always make me smile and laugh!

I took fun (beautiful) pictures of Karla yesterday in her fancy dress. I'm saving them for a Christmas Eve post! :)

Words

I forgot to mention the new words Karla is saying:

hungry, please (yeah, been working on that for a while!), excuse me, Sugar (for the cat), Nana Shirley, Judy, Nice to meet you (I almost fell over), pajamas, napkin, pony, camera, and mess.

Karla was doing something cute today when I said "hold on, I have to get the camera". She patiently and calmly stopped what she was doing, walked to the table and pointed to the camera. HA! I didn't even know it was there. Then she went back to what she was doing so I could take a picture and said "camera"! :)

Jason and I just got to watch a movie! The first one I have watched since sometime before I left for Guatemala.

Have a good weekend!

Roller Coaster Week

Fun things Karla did this week:

*met her Mommy's good friend Rachel and her son Aidan. She also met Aidan's (real) rabbit. She was excited to see it but afraid to get too close.
*saw her friend Austin and Lola again
*had a family and a friend from church come over to spend a little time with her (and give her gifts - she got a beautiful handmade stocking, pajamas (one pair came with a tutu - you know there will be pictures of this in the future), 2 pairs of shoes (a big hit!) and some books)
*spent some time with "Nana Shirley". Wednesday afternoon Karla and I went to my special friend, Shirley's house. I have spent a lot of time at Shirley's over the past 3 years - crying, praying, talking, having tea and being fed brownies (my favorite). It was a special day for me to be able to take Karla to Shirley's house. When I got there Shirley asked me if I had brought any toys. Oops. I told her I didn't even think about it. Shirley doesn't have any toys but has lots of pretty and breakable things. I was so excited to go to her house I didn't think about taking toys. Turned out Karla was ready for a tea party and didn't need any toys! It was so neat because as soon as we got to Shirley's house Karla walked right into the kitchen and hung out with Shirley while she was making tea (Karla had only seen Shirley twice at church). It was like she'd been there a hundred times. I wanted to cry but I didn't. :) Karla was fine without toys, drank her OJ while we had tea, ate cookies, and we made several trips to "Nana Shirley's" bedroom to see her cat, Sugar. Karla would talk to Sugar but was afraid to get too close to her.

Difficult things this week:

NO, I DIDN'T JUST PUT MARKERS ON MY FACE AFTER I WAS TOLD NOT TO. MOMMY ONLY LEFT THE ROOM FOR ABOUT 5 SECONDS!

*I guess maybe I took Karla too many new places. So far we've been having people come to our house. This week we went to other people's houses. Wednesday evening and all day Thursday were NOT good times. I am guessing it is because Karla fell asleep in the car on our way home from morning "visits" and then didn't want to sleep when we got home. It totally threw off her sleeping schedule which made her extremely cranky and me exhausted - and that is NOT a good combination. I don't know if that is what was going on or not. It's my guess...so of course I'm feeling a little bad about it. Right now Jason (and Grammy and Pap-Pap) are entertaining Karla while I "hide" upstairs. I needed some time to relax (and blog). :) All three of them are singing "Rock-a-bye Baby" to Oso...while Karla listens. It is funny.
*I was also feeling stressed about Christmas. I finally got the cards in the mail today and I'm still not done shopping. I was going to take Karla with me today to finish up but after how yesterday went - we stayed home all day. I'll have to go out this weekend... :( I decided this morning that is what I will do and just go tomorrow knowing it will be busy. So I'm trying not to stress too much.
*During nap time today I was reading on my favorite adoption forum (Guatadopt) and it sounds like many families are having similar transition issues. The kids are older coming home now so there are more "threads" on the topic. I was SOOO relieved when I read some other people's thoughts and struggles - because some are exactly like mine! I'm including some examples below in case any potential or fellow adopters are reading this. :)

*child always wanting physical closeness (I want this too but sometimes my back or arms just hurt too much! I never would have believed I would want or have to put my baby girl down because I was in pain)
*predictable routine that you use every day - to help child feel safe (hard during this time of year and when I am really wanting to see people or go places - since I was in Guat for a while and then mostly at home for a while)
*your child is testing you - they are trying to determine if they can trust & depend on you (I think this would happen even if a child wasn't adopted -but boy were those first 2 weeks in Guatemala rough- lots of testing!!) I don't know if this is true or not but I think she knows when I am tired - and does extra testing! Is she really that smart? :)
*feeling guilty for taking a break (like I am doing right now-but at the moment I am not feeling guilty-I can hear Karla having fun downstairs)


We had fun at home today. I uploaded some pictures to flickr this evening so you'll have to check out what all we got into! Here is a picture of Karla in a pair of high heel shoes she found somewhere in my closet - she barely took them off all day. I wonder if her back is hurting. :) Check out her first pedicure - given by her Mommy.

Learning

Today I learned that watching your mommy get adjusted at the chiropractor is quite scary. Oops. I was just excited to have my chiropractor meet Karla.

Karla learned to say "excuse me" and "dancing".

Karla got a new brush and hair clips at Walmart this afternoon. She had me put EVERY hair clip in her hair!


Karla also saw her friend Austin today.


Karla didn't sleep through the night again last night. Wasn't quite as bad as the night before though. She was very pleasant today and I've noticed that she is more cuddly lately. She also gave me kisses three times today!! I was quite happy. :)

Sunday Pictures

Yesterday Karla helped make pancakes for breakfast.

Today we went to church. Karla stayed in the toddler room for the last part of the service all by herself (without Mommy and Daddy)!

After Karla's nap today we went to the Y to go swimming! Karla loved it. I can't believe I forgot my camera. Maybe next Sunday when we go I will remember.

This evening we caught part of the Steeler's game.



Last night we all only slept about 1/2 the night. Karla was up for hours...and we have no idea why. I won't show a picture of what we looked like when we got up this morning!

Week in Review

I just realized it is Saturday and I still haven't written about LAST Saturday. Here goes...

Last Saturday we took Karla to get her first haircut. I just wanted to get it trimmed because there were several different hair lengths, especially in the back. We are going to try to let her bangs grow out...we'll see how that goes. Anyway, I insisted we take her to a place just for kids so that it would hopefully be a good experience. Well, it wasn't for Karla. The place (Sharkey's cuts for kids) has a Barbie Jeep, airplane, car, etc. for the kids to sit in and a TV at each chair. So hopefully the kids are distracted and having fun during their haircut. When we walked in Karla showed interest in the airplane but once she thought she had to sit in it - it was no longer fun. So we went over to the plain, regular chair so she could sit in my lap. To make a long story (well, what I could make a long story) short, she cried the whole time. Karla's foster family had said that they hadn't cut her hair so we could do whatever we wanted with it. I wasn't sure if that could be true because obviously she had bangs and shorter sections on the one side of her head but the lady said that in the back the reason her hair was different lengths was because some of it still looked like baby hair so it more "wispy" than the rest. She said it was either baby hair or it hadn't been cut in a very long time. So, anyway, she cut a little lock of hair for me to keep. :) Jason was quite appalled by the whole experience. Yes, it was pricey but I said he should think about the money he has saved by not getting Karla's hair cut over the past year or so. Needless to say, we probably won't be going back to Sharkey's. I would recommend it though if you don't mind paying a lot for your kids' hair to be cut. At Sharkey's part of your fee covers a (temporary) tattoo for boys or a "mini-cure" for girls. We (I) bravely decided we would try the mini-cure after the haircut since it was included. Of course Karla perked right up when it was time to have clear nail polish with sparkles put on her nails. I told Jason he better be saving money if she already likes mini-cures. :)


I know...I'm so mean for wanting my daughter to have trimmed, nicely shaped hair...

After the haircut we drove to OH to see my parents. Karla did a great job on the way over and only asked to get out of her car seat when we were just moments from their house. Grandma had gotten out her keyboard and put it on the coffee table for Karla since she knew Karla likes music. It was a big hit! Karla warmed up quickly and was calling my parents Grandma (sounded more like nana) and Grandpa (sounded like Pawpaw)in no time. I have to include these pictures and I 'll hope I don't get in trouble. The top is Jason's head of course and the bottom is Grandpa's legs. Grandma and Karla are under there too!!! Eventually I was talked into going under. I can't believe we all squeezed under there...it was quite hot, uncomfortable and crowded. It is amazing what you will do just because a cute little girl points to you and directs you where to go!

Grandma had her Christmas decorations out and Karla really enjoyed the Santa Claus that was almost as big as she is. She was saying "Santa" a lot! She slept ALL night at Grandma and Grandpa's too! I was impressed.

On Sunday evening my parents' small group from their church had a shower for Karla. It was so fun (and emotional) to meet all the people who had prayed for us (for years) even though we hadn't met before. Karla made special friends with one man there and was even letting him hug her and get a hold of her! There were about 30 adults in the house and Karla warmed up really fast. Again, I was impressed. Here's a party picture:


Tonight we went to my work's Christmas party. Again, lots of people and Karla warmed up fast. I had a good time seeing all my "old" friends. :) (K.H. HAHAHA)

One last thing to bore you with. I can't believe I forgot to blog about this. About 2 weeks ago we received Karla's U.S. Certificate of Citizenship. It was exciting for Jason and me. This means that now we can start the process of re-adoption in the state of PA. I know - more process... This time all we have to do is hire an attorney and let him do his thing. We could try to fill out the required paperwork ourselves but after the problems we've had - we're letting a professional do it and not worrying about it too much. I have asked Jason if he feels more relaxed now that Karla is home because I SURE DO. He says that he won't be totally relaxed until we have this readoption totally done. So, I don't think I'm going to change the top of my blog (talking about the process) until the readoption is done.

The first step was to take Karla to the social security office and apply for a social security number. So I took her on Thursday. We should have the number and card within 14 days (Merry Christmas!). Grammy went with us and it is a good thing because I had to give documents and answer questions. Grammy took Karla out in the hall and looked at Christmas decorations and climbed up and down a big set of stairs.

In other news, Karla is no longer bothered by getting messy when eating. Seems to be the opposite now.


Here is one last picture. Karla with most of her Oso's!

Pictures and Comments

I keep saying I'm not going to upload that many pictures to flickr....but...there are so many good ones. I uploaded a lot today so check it out! :)

As time permits I have been writing little things I think of to blog about...

On Thanksgiving Day we went to Grammy and Pap-Pap's. Karla may be a little spoiled. After her Thanksgiving dinner (of mostly corn) she tried some pie. (see the pictures) Actually, she was given the remainder of the pie to do whatever she wanted with (eat the crust off the top). Even Uncle Kevin, a pie lover, didn't object to this - I think he suggested it! Then she was given the cool whip container that was still mostly full. Who else would have been able to get away with all of that!?

In recent days Karla has said the following words: Santa, you're welcome (sounds like wowowo), wave, ear, egg, stretch, enchilada (lada) and bum (for her bottom).

Yesterday, my good friend Jennifer taught Karla to sign "thank you" and identify and say "cheek". Karla attempted to say "Jennifer" but I can't even think of how to write it. :)

Karla still requests the radio on when we get in the car. Actually she says "God" and points to the radio because she wants me to play her favorite song (Let God Arise). I like the song, but I have to admit, hearing it so many times in one week...I could use a break. :) She sings constantly whenever she is in the car. If she runs out of songs she knows she just starts singing words she knows: Mommy, Poppy, Daddy, baby, Oso, Elmo...

Karla is getting used to the grocery store routine (for our frequent trips to get fresh apples, bananas, OJ, and bread - her main foods). She will sit in the cart the whole time. This makes checking out a lot easier. She sits in the cart and tells me when to swipe my credit card by waving her hand at the machine. She also "reminds" me to put the filled grocery bags into our cart.

We've had two good days and nights in a row of sleeping. I hope tonight is another good one.

Karla still has a cough but sounds and looks much better.

Videos

I just uploaded 4 videos to flickr. Check them out! They are of Karla dancing with Heather, dancing with her great-grandpa, and practicing saying "yes" rather than "no".

I'm going to try uploading more pictures tomorrow and blogging more. I've fallen behind. The good news is that Karla took almost a 3 hour nap yesterday, slept all night last night, and slept for 2 1/2 hours today! She still has a cold but hopefully all the sleep will help her get better faster.

This is my 100th post! I never thought I'd have so much to write about. :)

Here is Karla, ready for bed in one of her favorite spots.

Just a cold

Karla just has a cold. The doctor did a strep test since Jason had strep throat last week and it was negative. She has been asleep for an hour and a half - a record for the past 48 hours. Hopefully she'll feel more like herself after a good rest. Karla's lungs sounded "perfect" so now I can relax more. :)

NOPPY!

This is my favorite new word. It is what Karla says when she is playing with Daddy and he tries to get her/tickle her/play with her toy, etc. It is a combination of NO and POPPY. I crack up every time I hear her say it.

Today was a difficult day. It seems like our days are either great/fun or extremely difficult for me. It could be because last night Karla didn't sleep much. She was not feeling well today so she was not herself. I worry (too much) about her when I think she is getting sick - and this time I know she is. She's congested. She has a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning so hopefully that will put my mind at ease.

I am looking forward to blogging about her first haircut, our weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's and her party last night. :)

I'm still here, just tired.

Happy Halloween!

Okay, so it is a little late. Karla found a Halloween costume that was in the clothes our neighbors gave us (I thought I had them put away). She wanted to put the sheep costume on immediately...followed by the boots she just got. Jason fixed my computer yesterday!! Now I can post pictures again. We're going to Grandma and Grandpa's for the weekend so I'll upload more pictures on Monday. Have a good weekend and Happy Halloween in December! Baa!


Oh, before I even could post this...she found another costume. Now we are hopping. We hopped in to wake up Daddy! He didn't even care because she is just so cute!

Mommy better get ready for the day - we are going to get Karla's first hair cut (trim) this morning! I am excited! So many fun things to do!

Home for 4 weeks!!

Today marks 4 weeks that we have been home from Guatemala!! It has been 7 weeks and 2 days that I've had Karla in my arms everyday!

I think we may be hitting our stride finally. For the past two days I have not dreaded naptime and bedtime. I was pondering that when I was rocking Karla tonight. I think it is because - well, I am sure it is because she hasn't cried! I say "Karla it is time to sleep" and she grabs Oso, runs to her "Poppy" and tells him "buenos noches". Then I carry her upstairs and she doesn't fuss, cry or scream! Naptime has been easy too. She's also been SO pleasant and down right fun and hilarious for the past few days.

Last night I read some articles about sleep issues with adopted children and made a plan in my mind of what I was going to try last night when she woke up in the wee hours. Don't you know, she didn't wake up. So of course I woke up (miraculously) 15 minutes prior to when she usually wakes up and listened. I waited and waited. So I guess my plan will have to be tried on a different night.

Today she said two new words: tissue and face.

We went to where I used to work so she could meet my coworkers today. I was so excited that we left the house an hour early. (I was also trying to get us out of the house so sick Daddy would have some quiet.) We ended up going to see Aunt Brenda at her office. We hung out there for a while and met some more people that have been praying for us and Karla for a long time now.

I was so excited to go back to where I worked because my friends there REALLY helped me through some difficult days. I was so excited for them to see that Karla was REAL. I know it sounds funny but sometimes I wondered if I was making her up...so I thought maybe they did too. :) Anyway, I hope they know how much I appreciate them!! Karla and I hung out over their lunchtime. I took food for Karla but she still preferred other peoples' lunches to her own. Luckily, someone shared their french fries. I guess even a banana can't compete with french fries. I was invited to the speech therapy department's Christmas party even though I haven't worked there since May. I felt happy that they included me (and Karla and Jason) and I am looking forward to going!

Not being able to post pictures is killing me! :) Hopefully by the weekend I'll be able to.

OFF

The word of the day was "off". Karla said this word for the first time and used it appropriately ALL day. She used it when taking off her clothes, shoes, socks, diaper, lids to things...ALL day. I think she actually said "off" today more than she said the word "no"!! Her other new phrase today was "Are you okay?" She spent a lot of time asking all her stuffed animals this question. It was one way to work on her saying "yes". She can do it! :)

Here are some new words Karla has said since last Thursday: I know, gobble gobble, key, more juice, got you, pull, you, coffee, got it, boo boo, Karina (foster aunt), Boots (from Dora), scoop, soft, pee pee, off, sticky, "nita" (for bonita - "pretty" in Spanish) and Are you okay?. She is saying so many more words and 2 word phrases. I know some of them would only be understood by me, but she's getting better. I'm a speech therapist and even I am impressed...maybe I'm biased. :)

Karla said "coffee" after she got up extra early one morning (can't remember at this point what day it was), went straight to her Daddy's desk, got his keys, and set off the car alarm. I was still half asleep so it took me a minute to figure out what was happening and that our car was the one probably waking people up. As soon as I turned the alarm off I said, "Karla, I need coffee". She shook her head yes and said "coffee", like she agreed with me. :)

My computer still isn't working properly and a new part is coming in the mail (in 3-4 more days!) so I can't view or post my pictures. It is awful. At least I can email and blog now. I should probably be doing laundry or cleaning up the kitchen, but blogging is so much more fun.

Other Karla things:
*she identifies eyes, nose, ears and belly button on her, her toys and us (in English)
*yesterday I licked my finger and then swiped some dried food off the corner of her mouth one time. Today, I saw her do this to her toys a few times. How does she remember this stuff? I seriously keep a notebook on the counter so I can jot things down during the day so I don't forget! How does she remember one thing I did yesterday? It is kind of scary. :)
*Saturday she said several new family members names (or attempted to)
*Each week seems to get better. Karla doesn't say "no" nearly as often and she doesn't have meltdowns/tantrums nearly as much - maybe 1 a day. That is probably okay for a toddler. I feel like things are a bit easier for me too. I have figured out that my attitude plays a big role. :) So if I feel crabby in the morning because someone has kept me up during the night, I've learned to pretend I feel just great! I think we are both happier that way and I see less attention-getting or bad behaviors from her.
*she ate more than I did for breakfast and lunch today! I don't know where she puts it!
*we went to the Y this morning. You can see the pool to the left through a glass wall as soon as you go in. As soon as she saw it she said "Adios Mommy" and ran to the wall. She started trying to take her shoes and coat off. It was pretty funny. I think I am going to sign her up for swim lessons starting in January. We went to the Y to run around the gym. We were only there a few minutes before another mom came with her two little boys. Karla liked watching the boys, running after the ball, "racing", and running, running, running. My goal was to give her some exercise on a cold day - but I think I got more exercise than she did.

*Obviously I feel like Karla has always been my daughter. I forget she is adopted (...except when I remember the 2 years I was without her). At Target and Giant Eagle though I had experiences that reminded me. The first time we went to Target the lady at the check-out asked Karla her name and how old she was. I felt like saying "She has no idea what you are saying to her, she speaks Spanish. She's only been in the country for 2 weeks". But I didn't say that. She just thought Karla was shy. (Of course we're working on these two things now.)
Then today at Giant Eagle we were at the deli counter when the lady asked me if my baby would like a slice of cheese or salami. I felt dumb because I said "I don't know, because I really did not know." She looked at me kind of strangely and then I just said, sure, she'll have some cheese. I ended up eating it. Karla likes shredded cheese but apparently not sliced cheese. I had tried sliced cheese before at home and she didn't eat it here either. Now I know.

*Daddy came home from work early today because he was sick. I haven't even gotten to tell him all about our day. Karla saw him a little bit tonight and seemed to understand he didn't feel good. He was on the couch for a little while and she just stood beside the couch with her hand on his leg watching TV with him. When his bowl of soup was gone she signed "more" for him so that I would get him more soup!! It was SOOO cute.

*Karla said "amen" today after we prayed at dinner time. Later this evening when we were playing with some "little people," they sat down at a table and Karla said "amen".

*We've been listening to a Praise CD when we get in the car. She started singing part of "Let God Arise" on Saturday when we were driving to Ohio. She would sing part of the chorus "God saves". It too was SOO cute! Today she was running around singing just "God". I think we need to work on this so it doesn't sound like she is using the word inappropriately. :)

*She is still not sleeping through the night. I really wish I knew why. It is almost the same time every night/morning that she gets up and does not want me to leave the room.

*If anyone has read this and made it this far, I have a question. What is a good type of laundry detergent for a kid who loves spaghetti and pizza and gets sauce all over their clothes? I use Kirklands from Costco, it is not getting the stains out. I'm beginning to think it is not the best.

Sorry, no cute pictures in this post. I got a good one today of her too with all her Osos (bears).