Super Duper Christmas Surprise!!!!

Kenzie has been begging for a Breaded Dragon since she could say the words. I was always open to the idea of letting her have one some day since I have owned them in the past. Tim, on the other hand, had a strict 'No Reptiles in the house' policy so I always told her maybe when she's older to buy me some time to convince him. While checking our internal 'swap shop' at work one day I came across an ad for a beardie with full set-up for sale (at an amazing price too!!). I thought for a second and moved on, no way would Tim ever let me get it for her. The following week I see the ad again, only this time the price has dropped $20. On a whim I text Tim the ad. The next day he calls me at work and says 'For that price, let's get it!' I just about died from shock.

Ok so here is where the story gets interesting. So I call the person to set up a time to come look at it and make a decision. This is the week of Thanksgiving. So we make arrangements to see it that Friday. I fall in love with it and now it's coming home with us. One problem- it's not Christmas yet!!! Tim wants to tell her right away when she gets home from the weekend but I want it to be a surprise. But where do you hide a reptile and tank for a month while still being able to care for it?? So we decided to put it in the basement, unfortunately with all the refinishing going on down there the only place to set him up is right by the fish tank in plain sight.

I am happy to report that 12 days later it is still a surprise. Only 16 more days to go!!!!!! Wish me luck, this has not been easy. Kenzie has seen the 'tank' from the stairs but is not allowed down there so she can't see what's waiting for her inside. Also every morning she askes why I have to go to the basement and get 'laundry' while carrying cut up veggies. My staple answer to any and all questions of hers has become 'none of your business' and I walk away. So cruel I know but she is just too noisy and I'm too stubborn to let her ruin her own surprise.

For your viewing pleasure or in case you've never seen one. Here's is our newest family member- temporarily named 'lil man'. Although it's too young for me to tell, I am leaning towards it being a male. Of course in Kenzie's world everything is a girl so the poor thing will probably be stuck with some girly name. And since the days of cool naming has passed for her (ie- Dawgone Mowhawk) it will probably be something silly like 'flower'.

Way overdue for an update!!!

Wow talk about being a slacker. No new blog posts since July!!! I must have been really busy or something- I'm leaning towards the something. I don't even know where to begin so I guess the next few posts will probably be random and I can't guarantee they will be in chronological order.

I guess since I am writing this at work I will start with an update that doesn't involve pictures:



Kenzie has started learning 'sight words' and is doing very well with them. Her words so for include: the, a, we, I, can, like, see, go, to, and a few more I can't think of. She can write, spell, and read these words. About once a week she brings home a book containing some of these words to read to me. It is so fun to see and listen to her read to me!!

It is also so fun to see how much she has grown academically in the past few months since starting Kindergarten. She loves to read, write, and hear & tell stories. I think I may have a creative little book worm on my hands but I'm not complaining, I'm up for the challenge- bring it on!!!

Oh and as a side note: she has really taken a likely to any and all things having to do with reptiles and insects!!!!! Yes we are seeing a biology side to her!!!!! This little apple didn't fall far from her tree.

Tales from the Kenzinator

I have to get this one down quickly before I forget. Here is another great bedtime conversation brought to you by Kenzie (I can't make this stuff up):

K: " Mom, how old will you be on your next birthday?"
M: "29"
K: "Oh. Well then how old are you now?"
M: "28"
K: "Wow, you're old!! Are you gonna die?"
M: " Well not any time soon, but when I get old I will."
K: "Old like the people who get in your way at Meijer?"
M: "Yea, like them."
K: " Ok, good... I guess you're gonna be short then."
M: "Maybe, why?"
K: "Cause old people are short."
Long pause.............
K: "Mom, I don't want you to get old."
M: "Why?"
K: "Cause then you'll die and I'll be stuck taking care of Tim."
M: After a small self chuckle "Don't worry you'll be older then too."
K: "Like you now?"
M: "Yes"
K: "Ok, I guess I'll be able to handle that."


You're welcome!!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Well after too many months and waining feelings I finally decided to get my hair cut. And by cut I mean completely chopped off. My new 'do now prompted Kenzie to want a hair cut like mommy's. So a week after mine I finally cut her's. Although she wiggled a bit and I cut a bit too short, I think all will agree it turned out really cute. The end product for her is an asymmetrical bob and mine is an above the shoulder regular bob with some face framing layers. Enjoy the pics below.

PS- sorry I don't have a good one of mine yet but if you check out Ted and Sara's blog there is a picture of me from there Michigan visit.

Say What?!?!?

Kenzie and I were having one of normal 'discussions' when Tim chimes in with one of his usual smart remarks. I shoot him a glare and say "hey, no comments from the peanut gallery". Kenzie repeats after me "Yea Tim, no peanuts in the gallery!!"

Oh so close!!

Soccer Mom to Soccer Coach! Wait, what????

This past fall I enjoyed my first season as a soccer mom so I was pretty excited when Mackenzie expressed interest in playing again this spring. Little did I know what I was going to get roped into a few weeks later.

Monday I received an email from the coach coordinator stating that they did not have enough coaches to cover all the teams for the U5 division, meaning if the positions were not filled our money would be refunded and we would have to wait until fall again to play. What's a mom to do with news like this.........

I took a deep breath and hit the reply button before I could think twice. 'Ok, sign me up so I don't have to break my daughter's heart'.

Apparently I didn't think I had enough on my plate this spring (later post) so what's a little coaching thrown in the mix.

So by this point anyone who knowns me is thinking 'what does Jamie know about soccer and coaching it?'. Well all I can say to that is my saving grace is the fact that they are five year olds- all I have to do is point them to the right goal and make sure they have fun. And over the years with Brent and his (full on soccer) family I managed to pick up a few things that should help.

When asked how I was going to handle everything this spring I think I summed it up pretty well with this one statement; "One day, many years from now, I hope Mackenzie will look back and say 'that was the spring and summer mommy worked too much and was never home but yet she still found the time to coach my soccer team', maybe this is just a mother's dream that her child will realize all the sacrifices that are made but I can only hope".

Wish me luck!!

Bring on the sickness

As of the first week of March, Mackenzie got her fifth ear infection since September. As always we went to the doctor and she was put on Amoxicillan as always. She was on the medication for a few days before she went to Grand Rapids for the weekend. I ended up picking her up on Monday night instead of our usual Sunday exchange. What I saw next completely shocked me.

My poor little girl had big pink spotches all over her face and neck. She told me that they had started Sunday night when she went to bed and were really itchy. My first thought was that it was simply allergies acting up, the weather had been nice and she had been playing outside a lot all weekend, bring on the pollens and molds. But by the time we got home it was worse and even worse the next morning. Being the bad mom that I am I still made her go to school and called the doctor from work. That evening at the doctor's office we got all the questions I had already prepared for: what has she eaten lately, what did she come into contact with, changes in laundry soap, etc. I explained to the doctor that she had been gone but I had done my homework and contacted the G.R. family and asked them all these questions. Next I stated, 'well she was here last week for an ear infection and is currently taking Amoxicillan for it'. The doctor's eyes got wide and he started flipping through her record. Turns out his son had the same problem not so long ago so it was still fresh in his mind- an allergy to Amoxicillan. We had to stop the antibiotic and she had to take Benedryl for a few days. The worst part about it was the fact that it took four days for the hives to clear up and during the four days it actually got worse, spreading over her whole body including her palms and bottoms of the feet. Ouch!!!!

So I write this a warning to all the other parents out there. Apparently kids can develop an allergy to a medicine if they take it too frequently. If you have a kido who frequently gets sick and takes the same med everytime, discuss this with your doctor. Thankfully her reaction wasn't life-threatening but just unpleasant.

Long time coming

Wow so do I win an award for the longest time since the last blog? Sorry everyone. And yes we are still here. Things have been so crazy around here I just haven't had the time to sit down and get on the computer for any length of time to update the blog. The same holds true for tonight. I promise I will post some updates in the next few days so check back. But for now just wanted to let everyone know we are ok.

If you get a chance check out Ted's latest music review (Giant Squid)on his blog. Not only does he continue to impress me with his writing skills but check out the comments and witness the battle of Jamie's biology brain vs. Ted's google-ing skills (Angie- you will enjoy this one). Pretty funny stuff!!

Well bye for now.

It's a Winter Wonderland

Today we visited Frankenmuth's Snowfest 2009. For those of you not from Michigan or who have never been this is a snow and ice sculpting contest. All though it was freezing out and Kenzie and I are both sick we braved the cold and the crowds for Kenzie's first Snowfest experience. Luckily all the sculptures are in one area so we just moved with the crowd and were back in the truck within 45 minutes (which is about all our faces could take... see Kenzie's frozen smile in pics below).

Mispronounced words: part deux

Here's a couple more:

1. "whacome"- welcome

2. "catainer"- container

Wow, that was faster than...

Pee!!

Yup, Kenzie's new favorite catch phrase. I'm not really sure where exactly she picked that one up at but I can guarantee it wasn't me. But obviously she has seen some fast pee.

Gotta love the mispronounced words!!

So in my opinion one of the funniest things about being a parent is teaching your children to talk, mispronounced words are always sure to come up. Here are a few recent ones courtesy of Mackenzie:

1. "glubs"- gloves, she has a hard time with her 'v' sound

2. "buffalope"- cantalope- uuummmm.... you got me on this one

3. "precipitate"- cooperate

4. "bampires"- umpires (during baseball season)

I know there are so many more but this is all I can think of right now.

Picture Updates

So here is the long awaited pictures:

It's about time!!!

Wow two months since I last wrote a blog. The time has just flown right by!! I hope everyone has safe and happy holidays. We certainly did!!! Well I guess since it has been so long I will have to go back and summarize what has been going with us.

November- WOW, changes started brewing for Tim and I with our jobs. I can sum it up now for you by saying: we still have jobs, collect pay checks weekly (though not as much as before), have a roof over our heads, warm food in our bellies, and clothes on our backs. Considering the status of the country but mostly the state of Michigan we are extremely lucky (for now)!! I also won tickets to see Sesame Street Live in Flint at the beginning of the month. We had a blast!!!! We had third row seats and got backstage passes to meet Zoey (Elmo's friend). Thanksgiving came and went way too quickly. It was nice to have a long weekend but I bravely (and foolishly) ventured out on Black Friday for the first time. Oh yea forgot to mention I went alone too. Idiot, idiot, idiot!!! I will never go again and if for some stupid reason I decide to try again I WILL have at least one other person with me. I do give myself a pat on the back though and I'm sure most of you will too when you hear this: I went to Toys R Us!!!!! Yup, that's right Toys R Us!! If ever you want to experience Black Friday to the fullest, go there. Anyone at this point who can't even begin to imagine what I went through, try this little trick: go to a Toys R Us on a Saturday afternoon, walk around and take it all in, walk back out to your car, close your eyes and picture that times 5000!!!! No joke 5000, that was not a typo. If after that image has faded and your hair has grown back you will have just experienced the surface of it. Thanksgiving weekend Kenzie celebrated her first of six Christmases this year.

December- A bit more normal of a month for us. I successfully made it thru the whole holiday season without baking or decorating one single cookie (though I enjoyed eating plenty)!!!! We had acquired an older snow blower from Tim's grandma so we were really excited to get some snow and try it out. Well after a few new parts and a lot of Tim's time he got it up and running. Here's what we discovered: snow blowers are very nice and quickly move snow out of your way without straining your back shoveling; a little snow blower only can handle a normal snow fall not a CRAP LOAD; and finally, if the snow blower only blows the snow up X inches tall and the snow piles are X+ inches tall, the snow coming out of the snow blower does not go over the piles but lands just in front of it leaving lots of heavy snow that you have to shovel out of the way anyway. For my cold weather friends who get this, feel free to pass these little wisdoms on. For my warm weather friends who don't get this, bless your innocence!! At the beginning of the month Kenzie started exhibiting some unusual behavior after being gone to Grand Rapids for two weekends in a row. At first we assumed it was normal acting out as she adjusted back to our routine but as the days went on she was acting worse. At its worst we were averaging 2 hours of sleep a night, and Kenzie would throw herself at doors and windows if I had to go out to start the car in the morning or use the bathroom. Her behavior at school started changing too, I became scared that she would get hurt during one of her 'fits', or I would get hurt at work or in the car from over-exhaustion. We have now figured out that Mackenzie is suffering from extreme separation anxiety. A family friend recommended a counseling office and we look forward to our meetings to be able to 'talk about all our feelings'. She is doing a lot better now but we are not out of the woods quite yet. The weekend before Christmas Kenzie was in Grand Rapids to celebrate Christmas with her dad and his family (# 2). The week of Christmas Kenzie got to take a break from school to enjoy some much overdue time with Nana. Also Tim and I got the 24th thru the rest of the week off so we enjoyed a nice long weekend all together. Christmas this year was wonderful!!! This was the first year since Kenzie was a baby that she was actually home with me. Christmas Eve we went to Tim's parent's house for dinner and presents (# 3).When we got home we put the reindeer food (oats and glitter) out in the yard, set out some milk and cookies for Santa, and opened Mommy's traditional Christmas Eve present ( I always get all of us a new set of pjs). Christmas morning Kenzie woke up at 8:30, Tim and I were actually up before her. We went down stairs to see what Santa had brought (# 4). Every year it gets more and more fun watching her open presents and this year was no exception. And of course the animals were part of the show too. Roxy paced around until we finally opened her new 'baby' and Akasha 'helped' Tim put all the wrapping paper in a trash bag. After presents we enjoyed yummy homemade cinnamon rolls courtesy of Grandma Kathy (Tim's mom)!! Then Papa came over with more presents (# 5). By 11 am Kenzie had had enough, she just wanted the day to be done and was ready for bed. Needless to say we had a quiet afternoon. Later we went to Nana's house (# 6, yea the last one!!). We opened presents, ate dinner, then watched Kenzie's new movie, 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' (btw- very cute movie). We spent the rest of the week and weekend playing with all the new toys Mackenzie got. Her new favorite activity is playing board games. She got 5 or 6 new ones and we have had a blast playing with all of them. The week of New Year's Kenzie again was out of school and spent the days at Nana's torturing, I mean cuddling, Smokey. Tim also had this whole week off work and so it was time for him to finish the basement. This has been an ongoing project for the last three years. He has worked on it a bit at a time when he has the extra time and money to put into it. The original goal was to have it completed for a party on New Year's Eve but we decided that probably wasn't a good idea since Kenzie would be home. So New Years Eve we made no special plans to go out. After Tim's over-explanation of what New Year's was and how and why it's celebrated Kenzie decided midnight was just WAY TOO LATE to stay up so she crashed about 9:30. I actually stayed up to midnight but not much after and enjoyed 2 beers (woo hoo, party woman, I know). It felt good really good to not have to worry about driving anywhere and feeling like hell the next morning. Wow I just sounded so responsible and stuff. Crazy, huh? Wait at the begginning of this paragraph I think I said 'normal', yup, ok I would like to strick that word from the record.

January- As of Friday the 2nd, our basement is considered finished!!!!!! We did it, we actually did it. Ok wait, correction. Tim did it, he actually did it!!! I have to give him full credit for this one, although I did help out quite a bit. During this whole process I marveled at Tim's ability to think and plan ahead and to see the whole picture. He has never been trained how to do the things he did yet somehow he can just picture it and it comes out right. The only bad thing that came out of this is that we now know I am very allergic to the dry wall dust and have been suffering for the past month since every time the furnace turns on it kicks the dust through the whole house. So Friday and Saturday while Kenzie was in Grand Rapids we cleaned the whole house top to bottom, well bottom to top. Tim was on a mission in the basement to get all the dust cleaned up and everything put back into place (he missed his big HD tv). I concentrated on the rest of the house. Everything isn't finished yet but it is getting there and at least the dust is under control now. Kenzie got home late Sunday night so she hasn't even gotten a chance to see what we did to the basement so I am excited to show her. Monday morning (the 5th) was her first day back to school in two weeks so she was pretty excited to see her friends again. As you can imagine we were running a bit late this morning and so were rushing to get out the door. On our way out to the truck Kenzie caught her boot on the only bit of snow/ice on our whole sidewalk and down she went. I was right behind her so I helped her up and she was crying but had her back to me. When she turned around she was holding her mouth, I couldn't see anything since it's still dark at 7:30 in the morning. All I could do was think the worst as I carried her back into the house, 'great, a missing tooth or a split chin/lip'. Tim had just gotten home from work so while I grabbed some ice while he was got the bandages. Luckily once I got her in the light and peeled her hands off her face it really wasn't too bad: a skinned knee, a scratched up nose and cheek, and a fat upper lip. Once we applied the boo-boo cream and band-aids the tears were almost gone. Singing to her ABC songs c.d. at the top of her lungs all the way to school seemed to be the final cure. So good news everyone, she will live..... to do it again I'm sure.


Next blog will hopefully be a catch up of pictures.

Just for your viewing pleasure

Here are a couple pictures of Kenzie being silly........

yes those are my glasses she's wearing. Yea that's my kid, she's a weirdo!!

Halloween- Times 2

All Kenzie wanted to be for Halloween was a doggy. After the complete panic attack she had last year in the halloween store, mom was left with the daunting task of finding the costume solo. So I had to wait until a weekend she was gone which just happened to be the weekend before. What a mistake, I felt like the desperate shopper on Christmas Eve. Luckily before Kenzie left for the weekend she had given me some last ditch alternatives, just in case no doggy was to be found.

So I set out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon along with everyone else. After two costume stores I was starting to feel a bit nervous, the only dog costumes I could find were for babies and the alternate ideas weren't panning out either for as some of you may know shopping for a Halloween costume in Michigan can be hard because the weather can completely ruin it. Finally I saw KMart and thought what do I have to lose. I surveyed the disasterous area they called a costume display, all the costumes were randomly hung, boys mixed with girls, adults mixed with kids. It was so frustrating but I knew I had to try my best because as a parent I know that although she had said she would be ok with something else I knew I couldn't let her down. I turned down the final aisle and low and behold there it was...... the one and only doggy costume. It was prefect; one piece, zipper up the front with a hood, and super soft like a stuffed animal. The only down side was it was one size too big but I didn't give a second thought- I grabbed it. So now gloating to myself I realize I have the perfect Michigan costume, it will be nice and warm and easily fit over her clothes. Then I have an 'oh crap' moment. Kenzie is having a costume party at school earlier in the week, this costume is way too warm for her to enjoy herself. Just as I'm wondering what to do I see as sign above the racks- 50% off ALL costumes. YES!!!! So I found a really cute, light weight fairy costume. I ended up spending less than $20 on both and she can enjoy dress up with them through the year. All in all- go KMart, who knew.

Then I had to wait the rest of the weekend until she came home to see what I had found for her. Both ended up being a great hit!!!!

It's Halloween!!!!!!

Happy Halloween everyone!!!!!! I remember Halloween was so exciting as a kid and now having a child of my own brings all those emotions back. It's GREAT!!!!!! Watch for Halloween pics coming soon.....

Let me toot my own horn!!

So this blog was designed to give updates about Kenzie but I would just like to take a moment for my own recognition. So it is official... drum roll please............................................................................. I have my first U.S patent!!!! Thank you, thank you. Ok so it really doesn't mean a whole and it's not like I see any royalty checks or anything but still none the less, I HAVE MY NAME ON A PATENT!!!!! It just sounds really cool to say... or type. For everyone in the science community, yea it's ok to be a little jealous, I won't hold it against you, hehe just kidding.
I will give my employer a bit of credit, I should be receiving a certificate and a solid silver coin with the patent number on it. Yea I feel cool now!! The first one was the hardest. For those of you who don't know about the patent process let me be the first to say it's ugly. It is actually a really touchy subject who gets put on as an inventor. We had three go through at once and I only ended up on one so I'll take.

Soccer Star

Well it is official, I have a little soccer player. I have signed Kenzie up to play soccer this fall. This past Saturday was her first game. What a blast!!!!! I don't know who had more fun me watching the chaos of 6 four year olds running around a ball or her actually playing. She got to play quite a bit since there are only 6 girls on the team and 3 are on the field from each team at a time. She was lucky enough to play the final minutes of the game and with about 2 minutes to go she stole the ball and was on a break away towards the goal (the correct one even!!!), she set up the shot and kicked hard just narrowly missing the goal. Afterwards she ran up to me and said 'Oh that's how you play soccer. Ok I get it now.' Gotta love it!!!!!

I had to add the 'Charlie Brown' action shot just for Ted.

Birthday girl!!!!

For Mackenzie's fourth birthday Tim and I got her a new bike. She had to open her bell and helmet first. Then we made her find her bike which was hidden under blankets in the kitchen. She is really enjoying riding her big girl bike now.

Her face says it all!!!!

Yes we let her ride outside too.

Here we are!!!

Thank you Ted. I got it set up and you were right, super easy.