Coming Soon

Sorry for the massive delay in blogging. In the very near future we will begin this journey again.

Thanks for you patience.

It was an emergency

I know it has been awhile but in case you haven't heard Keira is now BIG sister. It does come with a lot of responsibilities so she hasn't had a whole lot of time to contribute to this blog. What am I saying, I haven't had enough time to write everything down.

The other day I noticed my xbox360 was turned on. I also noticed that both controllers had been put up very high out of certains fingers reach. But never the less I turned to Keira. It is at this point I point out that she is wearing her Cinderella outfit with a ribbon in her hair making her look the princess part to a T.
Anyway I ask her " Keira, why is my xbox turned on?"
To which she replied, " It turned itself on "
Me: " It turned itself on. Are you sure?"
K: " yep it told me." looking at me with her best doe eyes.
Me: " Why did it do that?"
K: " It said it was an emergencey and it needed to be on." Big smile on her face


I still laugh thinking about it. That girl has quite the imagination.
Well heres to hoping 3 more months don't pass by before the next Keira adventure.

My Widowed Daughter

Amy and I have been having just a wonderful time experiencing our little girls imagination. She has been playing a lot by herself and creating all sorts of wonderful memories for us to smile about. I hope the story below illustrates my point

So the other morning I was just waking up and trying to remember which direction the shower was when it became apparent that there was a nice conversation going on in the other room.

Please let me share it with you.

Keira

"Mamma, these are all of my kids."

"These are my sons, and these are my daughters."

Amy speaking now.

"Keira, where is the pappa?"

Keira

" Mamma, do you mean Mark?"

Amy

"Mark?"

Keira

"Mark, my husband."

Amy

"Um, yeah Mark, where is he?"

Keira

"Mamma, don't you remember, he went to be with Jesus."

Amy

"He went to be with Jesus?" " Do you miss him?"

Keira

"Umm, yeah. I do. He was nice."



So I am lying on the floor by now laughing, tears rolling down my face. Because it occurred to me that not only do my in-laws live with me but my WIDOWED 2 year old, with all of her children ( her stuffed animals) live with my two. I kept thinking that maybe I should receive some benefits from the state to support her. And why is that the Dad is the last to know when their daughters have boyfriends, let alone husbands. He was living under my roof and I didn't even know about it. I must be working too much.
What about Mark?
I don't remember what he look like. It was like he never existed. How old was he? Since at her age she is not allowed to date, let alone older boys, he must have been 2 or 3 at the most. What was it like for him to be married so young? What did his parent's think of all of this? Was I invited to the wedding? Did they elope? That is way to much for a 2 year old to carry around in his life.
Was this the reason Mark passed away? Was it the burden of raising all their children? Living under her parents roof? Having to share a room with someone who is a bossy morning person? Oh wait that will be the death of me not Mark...

And what about Keira?
Will she find another husband as good as Mark. Did he treat her nice? Did he take care of her? Bring her Popsicles and lollipops. ( Blue Rasberry?) Was he handsome? Did he look like me at all?

The only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that she young, there will be plenty of opportunities for her to find another husband. I just hope she starts looking again when she turns....

35

By then her kids will have grown up and gone to college and on their own. No longer sponging of dear old Dad.

Fall stuff

I haven't quite got the hang of posting regularly. I know Dave and I doing this as much for a record of all those precious moments a parent gets to enjoy but seem to loose memory of over time as much as for friends or family to "see" Keira from a distance.

My cute thing is how much I have been enjoying just daily interactions with K. Of course, she is 2 and all the challenges that come with that. She is learning to do so much for herself like dress, turn on light switches, open doors all that kind of stuff and she can really fly off the handle if her little agenda is challenged by a mama in a rush. But in between helping her learn self control and negotiation skills and how to rest when she isn't sleepy I am getting a huge kick out of sharing her life. We were at Starbucks the other day waiting for some friends. Keira had to bring her purse in with her so I asked her what she was toting around inside it. She pulled out keys, a cell phone, a small pad and pencil, plastic fruit, a mirror and a "monkey George" toy. "That's all" she said. "Just stuff girls need" I observed to her that the things she packed in her bad looked a lot like what mom carries around in my purse. "Yep" she says casually. By now I am giggling. I did have to ask about the plastic fruit. "For snack mama". Makes sense. I always have a snack in my purse for myself and/or her. "What about monkey George?" I asked. "In case Peanut (what we are calling the baby in the belly for now) gets bored when she comes out and needs a toy to play with" Again, made sense, I often have a toy or 2 in my purse to entertain Miss Grace when life finds us in a place where I need her to sit still. Love this kid. By the end of our conversation I was not only entertained but fascinated at Keira's observations and imitations of me. Honored really.

I know parenting isn't for everyone, but I am so blessed and wouldn't miss it for the world.

Another Day

I never realized just how big a leap it is for a child to understand the differences in time. I know that my child is smart and seems to have the ability to pick up concepts fairly quickly. I hope that common sense keeps growing as she get older. Please! Please!

Anyway, for a while now Amy and I have been using the timer on the Microwave as a means to initiate a change in tasking for K. What I mean is that we set the timer for 2 minutes and then when the timer goes off, is K knows that it is time for dinner, or bath, or nap. It seems to work very well for her. It has also worked in the sense that she has started to negoiate for more time on the clock. Yes, yes I know that I am real trouble.

For a while K has been saying things like, " When I am 5 Pappa, I can do..." But recently that has changed to "Pappa, I can do that Another Day?" "Another day I went to the Park and played on the Swing." "Another day, I will go to your work and ..."

It is amazing to me that she is seeing that fact that "Another day" means the present, the past and the future. The say context determines meaning, right? what do you do with a 2 year old that understands the context of the situation but is still learning the words to descirbe them. I know encourage her.

So she knows all of her letters, she knows all of her sounds. Recently she was in the car with her mama and Amy heard this from the backseat, " hhh ...oooo...ttttt" Mama that says "hot"
Is it wrong for me to dream that she will be reading by 3. Is that such a far off idea.
I do know that it will be "Another day"

Toliet Trees?

It is so funny how little ones process the information around them. They take everything at face value. This morning I was making a shopping list and I asked Dave if he needed any toiletries. Keira looks at me and then back at Dave and says, with her brow furrowed, "Toilet Trees????" I didn't get what the question. I started to explain about shampoo and toothpaste and Dave says "Am, say is syllable at a time" I was just buzzin' through the morning and would have missed the joke entirely probably. Love my little girl and how much she helps me to slow down and appreciate life.