We Be Sleddin

Amanda and Vafa invited us up to their cabin in Pine for the weekend. It was so nice to get away to colder weather and see some snow! We made it a family affair by brining the kids and the dogs! We tried to get some decent family pics but it was very hard to set up the tripod and manage 2 kids and 3 dogs! Here is our best group shot.

The Sylvias

The Ghaemmaghamis

Here we are attempting to sled.

While on the trip, I was really wanting a pickle, so Ty and Vafa went down to the deli to get one and so I decided to share it with KK. Looks like she loves pickles just as much as I do! Yay! Like mommy like daughter.

It was a nice time up north and we look forward to making it an annual tradition.

Walking on Sunshine

Personally, I wanted to use "Walk it Out" by Unk, but that got vetoed, so here is the "generation friendly" theme song for KK walking it out.

1 Year Appointment

We went for Kaylynn's 1 year appointment yesterday. The stats are as follows:

Weight: 19 pounds even (20th %)

Length: 28 3/4" (50th%)

Head: 18" (75%)

She got two vaccines, MMR and Chicken Pox. They gave her the shots in her arm and she was NOT happy about it. She was crying so hard she couldn't catch her breath. Poor thing! Check out her cool Band-Aid though!

So the rash isn't a rash. It's eczema. Apparently it comes and goes and not a whole lot helps. The doc suggested Vaseline. I'll give that a try. Also lotions/soaps without perfume are a must. Good news is that it's not an allergy and she can eat dairy!!! She is going to be so excited to eat cheese for lunch! She is SO over applesauce!

We got the green light to start whole milk. We will start with 2 oz in the morning, then follow up with formula in the sippy cup. We will do 2 oz for 2 days, then 4 oz for 2 days and so on, but no more than 12-16 oz per day. Kaylynn already drinks water, so eventually, we will swap water for formula during her mid day feedings. I'm nervous how this transition will go...wish us luck!

The nurse asked 3 questions. 1) Can she walk? 2) Can she talk? 3) Does she throw things? No, no and boy does she ever! As far as the milestones, well, she can't walk yet, but is pretty close. She can walk around the coffee table, take a couple steps and then fall (with someone nearby) and she can stand up from sitting position without holding on to anything. We have some sounds, like mama or dada, and some grunts and mubbles that I try to make into words or sentences (for example, one of her mumbles sounds like "I did it" but I know that's not what she is saying), so basically no talking, but I'm sure that will come much later. I've been working with her on her signs. She only signs "all done" and can't quite get "more," she claps instead. She typically will stand up against the coffee table while pooping, so I make sure I sign "potty" when she starts grunting, so hopefully, she can tie the two together...eventually. It doesn't hurt to try, right?

Other than that, everything else was pretty routine. A healthy girl is all I can ask for!

It's Good to Be 30

This post is late because Kaylynn decided to chew on our power cord to our computer and so our computer died. Thankfully Ty was able to go to the Apple Store today to replace it. Then I got home to upload some pics on our newly charged computer to find out that our new camera isn't working, and pictures won't upload to our computers (yes, we tried three different computers). Ugh. Back to Costco I go. Kali was kind enough to share some pictures with me.

So last week was Tyson's 30th birthday! Last year, his birthday was on a Wednesday, his girls won the Soccer Championship on Thursday and Kaylynn was born on Friday! What a week, right? Well this year, Tyson had a similar week, he had his birthday, KK's birthday and his girls won the Soccer Championship AGAIN! GO COACH TYSON! To celebrate his actual birthday we went to our favorite sushi place for dinner. Kaylynn discovered that she loves fried rice and was such an angel during dinner, considering it was past her bed time! Then on Friday night we went cosmic bowling with some friends.

I love Trav's bowling shirt!

Tyson and I used to go cosmic bowling all the time until our bowling balls got stolen out of my car. Yes, someone broke into my car to steal a hot pink and lime green bowling ball. At the Post Office. During my lunch hour. I digress.

Anyways, we had a few brewskis and had a great time bowling (although it was hard from me to adjust to real bowling after playing Wii bowling for so long).

We ended up getting Rock Band 2 and Dance Dance Revolution for Ty's birthday. Rock Band was such a hit with our friends at Kaylynn's party that I'm thinking about hosting a lil Rock Band/DDR get together. Perhaps a post birthday bash.

1 Year Photos

We went to get Kaylynn's one year photos taken. She looks like such a big girl! I have the best idea for another photo, but I can't do it until her rash goes away, so stay tuned!

It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To

Kaylynn is 1 year old. I can't believe it!! We officially have a big girl now.

Her birthday happened to fall on a Saturday this year so we threw her a little party on her actual birthday. Some of the grandparents came into town too!

Initially I wasn't in the party planning mode because I felt like I still hadn't recovered from Christmas and so I was pretty bahumbug about it and really slacked on planning. I decided to have the party at a park, but due to all the rain we had all week, the park was flooded and so I had to change the location of the party to my house. Somehow we had to fit 30 plus people in my teeny tiny 1100 square foot house. Amazingly, we did it!

The adults played Rock Band in the man cave (I thought I got a picture of it, but I didn't) while all the kids played in the family room and in the side yard. I had some toys and a bubble machine in the side yard. Parker and Mason both loved the bubbles!

Kaylynn was having a great time playing with Taylor and Naison and we posed them on the couch for pictures. Tay Tay and KK were staring each other down, both fighting for Naison's attention!

Kaylynn and Taylor are only a month apart and get along GREAT! They were both very interested in each others sippy cups.

While opening presents, Kaylynn was interested in the first couple presents and then decided she was not going to cooperate and kept on crawling away from the presents, and then proceeded to cry. She was not a happy camper. Figures when it's her turn to be the star of the party, she cries. Oh well. She ended up with some great loot! Tons of fun toys (none of which we already had...bonus!) and lots of cute spring clothes. She is going to be one cutely dressed sweetheart!

Aunt Kali played with KK.

Rather than making a big cake, I decided to make adult sized cupcakes and mini ones for the kids, low sugar of course!

Amanda was kind enough to make a smash cake for KK.

When it was time to dig in, Kaylynn wasn't very interested in it but once we got the fondant peeled off, she dug right in.

And of course gagged. Unfortunately the video won't upload so this will have to do.

I wish I would have gotten more pictures of all the kids, but I was busy running around the whole time. All and all, I think it was a huge success. Thanks to everyone who came and helped out. It was such a fun day!

Not Cute

So I love that KK is a big girl now, but at the same time there are quite a bit of challenges that come along with it. Let me start off with the fact that when we go to wake her up in the mornings, she looks like this.

While this is cute at 6am, it is NOT cute at 4am when she decides to have a party in her crib and shake the side rail. Not cute.

While it's cute that she drinks from her sippy cup, and seems to prefer it over the bottle, it's not cute when she throws it on the ground when she is done. She seems to be throwing everything lately. So. Not. Cute.

While I love that she is experimenting with her voice and trying to make new sounds, (the newest being "g"), it is not cute that she does so in the loudest, most ear piercing voice ever.

While I love that she is FINALLY eating finger food, it is not cute when she tries to grab food from us while we are eating, and most of the time, it's something we cannot share with her. She then proceeds to scream when we say no. Not cute.

While I love that she has pearly whites to show off, I do not love the whole teething process, as I'm sure KK doesn't either. She has 2 teeth on the bottom, 2 fangs up top and over the past week, has cut her two front teeth (which seem pretty big in size, so they must have been painful). Her waking up in the middle of the night and being a fussy pants all day. Not cute.

You know what else isn't cute? The rash that has been on her tummy (and now back) since before Christmas, yes, before Christmas. The doc said it was sensitive skin and to try cortisone. Tried it (as she proceeded to scream). Didn't work. Tried Arbonne lotion. Didn't work. Tried the obvious Aquaphor. Didn't work. Tried to eliminate dairy. Hasn't worked as of yet. Someone suggested olive oil, so I might give that a try. Any moms have any suggestions? It's a red, bumpy, splotchy rash. No blisters. No open sores. No itching. I haven't changed laundry detergents or introduced her to any new foods.

It's so weird, all of the sudden, out of nowhere, Kaylynn is a big girl. In a couple days she will be 1. I never thought I'd see that day. At first, the weeks/months went by SO slow, but once she hit 6 months, time flew by! Our baby isn't a baby anymore. :( This does not, I repeat, NOT mean we are ready for #2...not sure we will ever be ready for that!

You know what is cute?

Her finding her soccer balls in her toy bins and choosing to play with those over most of her other toys. Cuteness.

Her laughing while I pull her cozy cruiser as fast as I can. Cuteness.

Her eating Cheerios. TOTAL Cuteness.

I'm starting to think this next year will be extremely challenging yet extremely rewarding at the same time.

Getting Around'

My dad and stepmom got Kaylynn a Cozy Cruiser for Christmas and we just got around to putting it together. Who am I kidding, I had no part in putting it together! We took it for a spin and KK sure had a great time.

We put the floor board in because she isn't quite ready to take control with her feet, so that means we have to push/run. And boy did we ever!!

Pepper even ran with us. We never take her off the leash, but I was feeling a little rebellious and she was very thankful!

Start your engine KK!