The Thanksgiving Song

I caught Kiley singing this the other night and quickly asked if I could record it.  Sometimes I forget how much she  is LEARNING at school. 
PS-I had no idea that the Names of Americas helped them plant the corn!
PSS- I guess I should teach her that it probably isn't the right word if it doesn't make sense.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Last days of October

Fall 2011
Soccer-I am really sad to say that the fall soccer league has ended. Kiley really showed off in her last game by scoring goal after goal. I think she made 6...but who is counting, right? She has really improved this year, but I have to admitt that she is still a bit lazy. If the ball isn't close to her, she doesn't really try very hard to go get it. But when she decides she wants to do something--WATCH OUT!

Ally loves soccer too!  She can dribble! 

Papa giving her a pep talk about standing still....didn't really work :)

Kiley showing off her skills.

Kiley's First Field Trip-Corn Dawgs
When I first knew of Kiley's field trip, I asked her, "Who do you want to go on your field trip with you?  Mommy or Daddy?"  Much to my surprise, she answered, " Well, really I don't want either of you to go?" Needless to say, my heart was broken. These are those little things you look forward to your whole life (well, I do anyway). Long story short, finally I talked her into letting me go with her.

Cow Train

Stiking a pose?!   I so don't want her to grow up any more!!

With Kylee Walker and her best friend, Daniel

Halloween
I usually have so much fun dressing my girls in matching costumes, but I just couldn't make it happen this year.  Kiley wanted to be a bat, and she thought Ally should be a pumpkin.  No problem, right?  Well, the pumpkin costume was easy!  Kiley on the other hand, was not.  And it had nothing to do with her being picky, I just couldn't find anything appropriate in her size.  The costumes out there are so revealing!  Yikes!Anyway, we searched and then became desperate...her choices were Jessie (Toystory), Buzz, Woody (yes, anything boyish! and nothing with a skirt), a cat (but it had to be a costume, not just ears and a tail).... It wasn't until she saw her cousin, Will, in a Spiderman costume that she finally opted for Wonder Woman. I thought she looked pretty cute! We had a great Halloween, but about an hour was all we could do.  The girls were tired, and Kiley wanted to hand out her own candy to tricker-treaters. 

Ally really enjoyed Halloween.  She was perfect with manners and everything.  She was even able to open her own candy, much to my surprise!  Once I looked back at her in the wagon, in one hand a sucker, shoved in her face and in the other a piece of laffy taffy (opened,  half eaten).  What can I say, the girl loves her candy! 

The Lance Pumpkin Party

We had a great time celebrating fall activites with the Lance Family.  The girls found "bugs" in the hay, hit the pinata, hunted for dog bones (Kiley found the most!), played stick the gum on the witches nose, and so much more.  It turned cold, so no bobbing for apples. Which from the picture, you can tell that Kiley was really excited about trying that one!  Thank you, Misty and Joey, for a wonderful evening!

Ready for the Party

Me with Ally and Cole

She really wanted an apple!

Listening to directions...well, kind of

Ally with her papa and Cole with his Daddy

Pumpkin Patch-Washington Farms

We had an awesome time at the pumpkin patch with the girls this year.  Kiley had so much fun trying to find some pumpkins that were still on the vine.  She was so funny trying to pull them off...and of course, Ally was quick to try and do the same (not as successful as her big sis).  I was surprised that we only came home with 3 pumpkins and nothing really HUGE either.  It was  a perfect day with the family.

and there she goes....

It has been a little over a month (Aug. 17)  since JC took off Kiley's training wheels on her bike.  It was Kiley who suggested they come off (a little peer pressure from the older neighborhood kids).  Our first attempts to ride were distracting, because the neighborhood kids were all there trying to help her and offer their own advice.  The first night we tried it, she did well, but you could tell she wasn't very sure of herself yet. 

We continued to practice, but Kiley became extrememly timid, and we weren't getting anywhere.  In fact, she really didn't even want to ride her bike anymore.  So I started practicing with her in the back yard in the grass.  The grass was a litttle less scary than concreate!  She had been riding really well and I knew she was ready to get the bike on the "road". 

Although she hesitated at first, she did an AWESOME job riding.  We are so proud of our "big girl!".  I can't wait to see her riding in the morning.  She was so excited...she was going to dream about riding her bike tonight! 

Score!

In April, we signed Kiley up for soccer.  We have been patiently waiting for the fall soccer season to begin.  IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!  Practice every Thursday and games every Saturday until the 2nd week in November.  It is  BUSY!!

At the first practice, Kiley was awesome!  (What mother wouldn't think that!) 
I was so proud just to see her in the circle with her friends, listening and following directions!  To me, that was great! Kiley is the tallest and youngest player on her team.  She is fast and somewhat of a ball hog....and I love it!  After the first practice, Coach Paul informed us that Kiley was aggressive and would probably score lots of goals.  And speaking of her coach, he is AWESOME!  He is very patient with the girls! I couldn't be happier with our soccer coach.

The first game, Kiley scored 5 goals.  We were all so very proud and excited for her. (Complete with a thumbs up after each goal!) 






Today's game...dead ball
Much tougher team, Kiley scored one goal



Sleep Deprived

Ever since I returned to work (August 2010), Ally stopped sleeping through the night. (Before the 4 month mark, she slept like an angel all night long. We never knew life could be so sweet!) She was only 4 months old when her sleeping habits changed, so I didn’t really pay too much attention to it. She eventually became a night-nurser, and soon was in our bed and nursing all night long…I am not kidding…All. Night. Long! When she turned 9 months, I decided to stop nursing. It was tough, but she eventually latched on the bottle and sleep through the night until around 4. She would get a bottle (in her bed) and back to sleep she went. Nice! However, it was short lived, because soon the ear infections kicked in. Tubes, Tubes, Tubes we couldn’t get them done fast enough. We thought this was our “cure”. Well, Ally is turning 16 months in just a few days and guess what? She is not sleeping through the night yet! We are so exhausted!


At her last ENT check -up appointment (yes, we were somewhat hoping she had another ear infection, but all was perfect), the topic of sleep was brought up. The doctor could not believe that she was still getting up at night. And it isn’t just once or twice; she is up every hour and a half. Even at daycare, she naps for just one and a half hours. We are exhausted and have tried just about everything. We have let her cry at night, however, after an hour and forty-five minutes at 3am, we give in. She gets put down awake, and we even tried to give her a bottle. We really just need a good night’s sleep. (Poor Kiley is so immune to this, she just sleeps right through it or quickly goes back to sleep if she does happen to wake up.) The doctor is also concerned for our health, because if Ally isn't getting good sleep, we are not either.  Seriously, there are days that I don't know how we function.  Especially JC and all his commuting while be so sleep deprived.

Anyway, the point of the matter is that our ENT recommended that we take Ally to see Dr. Phan. Dr. Phan works in a pulmonology office, but has a degree in children neurology with a specialty in sleep medicine. I am a little nervous about taking Ally, but the doctor is very concerned that Ally isn’t getting any REM sleep. That is when your brain releases and “unwinds” so they are concerned that she is not developing fully.
So, with a little reluctance on my part, we will take Ally on Monday.  Honestly, I do not  have a clue of what exactly what they will do to test her.  I guess that JC and I will make the decision as to have far this testing will go at a later date, when we have more knowledge of just what could be keeping Ally from staying asleep.  I am crossing my fingers for a quick, easy fix!

On a side note, at Ally’s fifteen month check- up she weighed 21lbs, 4 oz (25%) , was 31 and a quarter inches tall (75%) and a head circumference in the 25%(bean head). She is not a very good eater.  Most of her food is caked on the high chair and smothered in the cracks and creases and what is left is tossed on the floor.  It is a messy, messy time at our house and trying to take our 15 month out for dinner is impossible!  So no help there. She is talking, but I think only JC and I would understand what she is saying.  She is very strong headed and the tantrums are terrifying!  So, that is what we are experencing at Allyson's 15 month mark. Yikes!

Pre-K

Wow!  I do not know where the times goes, but today my sweet baby Kiley started pre-K.  She is very excited about starting "school".  I am not a sad mamma today, I simply do not understand where the last four years have gone!  Her daddy helped her prepare for her first day, taking the initative of helping her set aside homework time to decorate her bag (given at registration) and pick out a "show and tell" item (her vtech camera-which for the record would not have been my choice if I was helping her!) :)

She told me today that she followed directions the first time (which is something I wish she did at home), painted a rainbow circle and did not have any time-outs.  Not a bad first day! 

I can't wait to start hanging up more artwork in the house! 

Pig-Tails

 July 11th, 2011

Kiley's Creation

It amazed me what creation Kiley made with a little bit of tape, paper, stickers (thank you- Uncle Billy, Aunt Michele, Will and Evelyn) and candy.  Enjoy the video and please excuse the mess in the garage!  :)
PS- I think she plans on sending one to Cousin Will too!  :0

A preview of Ally's 1 year photos

One Happy Girl!

Recital, Birthday and Easter

Ally celebrated her birthday, May 1st with friends.  Here is one of my favorite pictures of the day. 

Happy First Birthday, Allyson!  Wow!  ONE....I can't believe how fast this year has passed.  Ally has brought such joy to our family!  She is a very sweet girl with lots of personality.

Her first birthday was actually the day before Easter.  Not really a good day to have a party since all of our friends would be traveling or hosting their own Easter celebrations.  However, we were excited that Bill and Pam were able to make it to Georgia  for the weekend full of events.

Thursday Night--Kiley's Dance Recital
This is NOT your typical dance recital.  It was a musical, The Wiz.  Kiley's part was to play a munchkin.  The outfit, well, it was priceless.  I paid $65 for Kiley to wear a pair of purple sweatpants and non-matching purple shirt that were more than likely purchased at Goodwill (yes, you could tell that they were not new), that they hot glued curling ribbon onto the clothes.  I guess to make it flashy.  Regardless, not the dance recital I was hoping for, but she was cute nonetheless.

Friday-Colored Eggs

Saturday (Ally's Real Birthday!)--was interrupted by Pam becoming ill and later than night, Kiley was ill as well.  The Lance's joined us for dinner, but the birthday cake and celebration would have to wait.

Sunday-Easter
Not our typical Easter either.  We were all exhausted and Bill and Pam left bright and early to get back to Illinois.  The girls enjoyed their Easter Baskets, books and toys.  We spent most of the day on the couch.   I really wanted to get lots of pictures of the girls, but it didn't happen.  Next time.