Birthday Party- Kalia is 2 (Part Two)

First, let's not forget Samuel, he turned 32 on the 23rd. He's doomed forever to have his birthday combined/downplayed/overshadowed by Kalia's (on the 24th).My labor started at midnight on the 22nd (technically the beginning of his bday on the 23rd, then I was admitted into the hospital at 10 a.m. He was preparing himself that whole day to share his birthday with his firstborn, but I had that long and arduous (never used that word before, that was exciting) labor that didn't end until 3:37 a.m. on the 24th. So he thought they'd have the same birthday, but Kalia stalled as long as she could so that they could have SEPARATE birthdays (as if it did any good this year). Anyway, Happy Birthday to Samuel too! (His mom made that cake, homemade German Chocolate, it was divine! I was the hostess, so that's all I did. Host.) I know my mom will like this picture, because she sent Kalia some fun little things, but Kalia's favorite part was the Princess napkins that came with it. A NAPKIN! Kids are so easy to please when they're this young.

The birthday kids sharing a birthday kiss. (Kalia has the best pucker. She always puckers that hard. That is a really funny word. It's late and I'm tired.)

She's been watching Elmo's World, he taught her ALL about birthdays, so she was super excited to have the full "PARTY" experience. We were super excited to wear those uncomfortable elastics under our chins, and to listen to those goose-like horns honking for 3 hours.

I found a cool bike/trike thing on craigslist, she can actually pedal it. (I think that's significant because of the line in the birthday song (see above right column) that says, "And soon your legs will grow, and make the tricycle go, and take you away from us all." So sad and sweet! Anyway, we let Nana and Papa Bigler give it to her, since they picked it up for me and paid for it! Thanks Nana and Papa! (And thanks cousin Rowan (3) for showing her how to do it.

Rowan's mommy, my SIL Erin, made this Elmo cake for Kalia-- and she did it without a pan! I was SO impressed (and SO relieved that I didn't have to try to make a cake myself. No skills in that department.)

Last year's video was funny, at least to us, if you remember she lifted the whole plate of cake up to her face to try to eat it. This year's video was cute because she was taking the whole "blow out your candles" thing VERY seriously. (She'd even practiced several times that week on my Bath and Body Works candles that were lit.)

Finally, a few more things that Kalia is doing at age 2

*She counts objects accurately, and can count to 16 (she skips 15)

*She can correctly identify these colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Pink, Purple, Black, Brown, White, and Light Tan (just kidding, Nacho fans.)

*She LOVES shapes and points them out everywhere we go. Like in the parking lot, she found a triangle where some diaganol lines were painted for the shopping carts. I was impressed.

*She does the funniest dance that includes her arms held up close to her (like chicken wings)

*Whenever she coughs she says, "I'n sick"; She likes to ask for "Grape's juice"

*She is being a MAJOR bully to Annaliese right now

*When people ask her what her name is, she says, "KaWee-a"

*She says sentences pretty well, but not always that clearly. Word Example: She can say "Dominic" with perfect clarity, but still cannot say "Lara" in any recognizable form.

*She's starting to say, "What's That?" and pointing at things and it's driving me crazy because she already knows what 99% of the things are.

*She loves to say Hello "Hull-o", Good-bye "Guh-bye" , and Good Morning, with super huge amounts of enthusiasm.

*She likes to ask where people are when she notices that they're gone.

*Still potty training herself really well. More details on that in another post.

The birthday party was amazing, we had so many family members here, and they brought almost everything, and grilled the food for us too. I didn't do anything but get party supplies from the dollar store, and decorate. How easy was that? It was the first party I've ever thrown...and I may just do it again sometime, if it's really THAT easy!! :)

Kalia is 2! Part One

Here's a recap of the last two years!

My little 9 pounder!Fascinated by everything...

Was she really once this small?

I love the duct-taped diaper in this one (above)

3 months ago, at a park in Vegas, we found a rock climbing wall. Here's Kalia's very first time: (Phone video, sorry, couldn't rotate it.)

A little of Kalia

Kalia is turning 2 on Monday. It's hard for me to believe. I went back through my blog thinking I probably had a million pictures of her, but I was surprised to find that there really weren't that many. In my attempt to make sure this blog is about my life as a whole, and not just all about my kids, I think I didn't put enough of what I'll really want to see later. And that's pictures. Anyway, this post (and my next one on Monday) will be dedicated to Kalia, the little fireball who wears me out and tickles me pink, all at the same time.
While we were in Vegas packing up boxes, my 15-year-old sister was in St. George, taking a flat iron to Kalia's hair (for the first time ever.) She said she had to do a quick job, and she only took these blurry phone pictures, but here they are: She looks quite different, in my opinion. I love it, but I don't think I'll have the patience to do it anytime soon.

Here's her natural curls. They are making pretty cute ringlets these days. Sorry about the food-in-mouth picture, I didn't even notice it when I took it, I was just trying to get a good shot of the ringlets.
2. Kalia gets really excited these days if she sees anything that resembles a steeple or a temple. She asks me to sing "Temple" to her almost every night (and "Families"...a.k.a. Families Can Be Together Forever") When I was in St. George I took her to see the temple. It was a hot day. And there was a sprinkler on. I wasn't even fast enough to stop her... Oh, to be a kid again.

Kalia is getting us up at 6:30 a.m. these days, instead of 8:30. I miss 8:30 a lot, and I am sooo tired by 10 p.m. I guess it's probably better this way. Some of the things she's doing and saying at 2 years old:

*She LOVES to be naked, and I catch her outside, in the buff, several times a day.

*She loves to tell everyone good morning.

*One day in the pool I had Annaliese in one arm and her in the other, and she giggled and said, "Two friends!"

*She has this plastic little man doll, just one of many accessories to this little doll house, but she laid him in the little bed, put a dryer sheet over him, and said, "Good night, guy." She's called him Guy ever since, so that's his name now.

*She's doing good with manners, and I usually hear Please, Thank you, Bless you, Sorry, Scuze me (when she burps) and Toot! or a giggle when she has gas.

*She likes to call Annaliese "Annie". Lately she is walking in on Annie while she is napping or sleeping for the night. She turns on the light and climbs in the bed with her (and wakes her up.) I've had to lock Annaliese in (and Kalia out) to stop this vicious cycle.

*So far she is not a hitter, a kicker or a biter. Just a pusher. She loves to shove people, but time-out has helped this almost 100%.

*She sings to herself all day. She sings the Clean Up song when I tell her to clean up ("Kween up, Kween up, evee buddy evee where") and Twinkle Twinkle is one I hear her singing often. My personal favorite is when she sings Ring Around the Rosies, cause she sings it like this, "Wing Awound da Wosies, Pock-a-pull-a-posies..."

*She LOVES to kiss everyone, but especially me. She puckers her lips as far out as they'll go, and frequently kisses whatever part of my body she is closest too. I love it.

*She is still going through her Accident-Prone stage, and is always getting hurt.

*Another favorite phrase lately is, "I need it! I need it." She's usually saying it as she takes things away from Annaliese. She also says, "Be Careful" (Be Kehfull) to herself all day long.

*Getting her to stay in her room and go to bed is a huge process right now. Not fun.

And last but not least, yesterday Annaliese was crawling up the stairs (we were at the top) and Kalia turns to Annaliese, pats her thighs real fast as if she were calling a dog, and said, "C'mon Annie! C'mon! C'mon!"

Cute Oven

How ADORABLE is this little oven? No need to spend all that money on those little kitchens. Just make it!The instructions sound all complicated, but watch the video on Martha's website, and it's easy as can be. Now if I can just find that certain box.
More info on how to make this HERE

Court Postponed

The court date was set for this morning at 7:50 a.m. Samuel called his lawyer at 8:10 a.m. and the lawyer, who did show up that morning, was told that the paperwork was only filed very recently and wasn't in the computer system yet, so they court date would be pushed off another 30 days or so. Apparently this is not uncommon, and we shouldn't read into it very far. The lawyer didn't know if Judy had showed up or not, but both Judy and Samuel will be notified by mail of the new court date/time. So we'll just wait longer on that. I think this just makes it even MORE unlikely that Judy will show up (more time for her to cool off? Or get hit by a bus? Oops, did I type that outloud...) Anyway, in 2 days the restraining order ends, and at least he can legally carry guns again. Not that we need them here.
:)

Trying to keep em busy...

We only get 1 channel on TV right now (the weather channel!) and we don't have any good toys. The girls are still struggling to entertain themselves. I've been devoting a LOT more time than I ever have before to...da da da DA! Cleaning the house! It looks so nice when it's clean, but WOW, it's a lot of work to keep the sink empty of dishes, the floor swept, and the laundry done. I am exhausted at the end of the day. But I guess it just goes to show how lazy I was before all this...oh, I kind of miss those lazy days.

Anyway, Kalia and Annaliese just follow me around making it harder to get things done. Since we don't know how long we'll be here, I feel the urgency to take full advantage of the wonderful things that are around us. Most days we fit in a trip to the park, and then a swim at the pool (hopefully to get them good and tired for bed.)
Our house is in the neighborhood that you can see behind the pool, so it's a nice short walk. I only have our single jogger stroller right now, so I squeeze both the girls in (choo choo train style) and take off, and they have done pretty well sharing the seat . It's been really fun to be outside everyday, and not too hot! It's a pretty nice time of year to move to Phoenix.

When I'm desperate for a 20-30 minute break, I stick them in front of an online show on the laptop. I'm sorry, but TV was the most helpful babysitter I had, and until I get an entire play room/game room, I'm going to tell you that KID SHOWS ARE SUPER HELPFUL...and I miss them.

I got this sand/water table on craigslist for $10. It helps occupy Kalia for a little bit, but not long enough. Annaliese lasts as long as I'm out there, but once I go in the house, she's done.

This little girl is SO MUCH HAPPIER now that she has some stability in her life. I cannot BELIEVE the difference. She's finally off her beloved pacifiers (we just lost them all, and that was the end of it. Way WAY easier than I was imagining that going.) And she's decided she likes to use the potty. I'm not ready to go full force on it just yet, but I let her run around in panties (she calls them "Pannies") and she just runs to the potty and goes all throughout the day. But one random day when I quit making a big deal out of it...she started having accidents all day. So although I'm feeling really excited that she feels ready, and I don't have to force her on it, I'm not going to have any false ideas that this is going to be a piece of cake. But I would love to be wrong.

One more thing that Kalia found to do: Make the garage door go up and down. It's our first time having a garage OR a garage door opener, and I have to admit I always feel a tiny thrill when I push that button and the door opens and closes for me. I love living in a house. So much.

Neighborhood Pics

I have absolutely fallen in love with this darling place. I don't feel like I'm in the middle of the desert, but somewhere in the country. Agritopia is the most charming little community, and it's so unique. I am just copying and pasting some descriptions off of websites so that I don't have to try to explain it:

Harkening back to times when neighbors knew each other, families had fresh produce to eat and children played in a peaceful, community atmosphere, the mixed use community of Agritopia in Gilbert offers many unique qualities that simply cannot be found anywhere else. Constructed on a land formerly used as a family farm, the development features community garden space, orchards and other agriculturally based amenities that enable residents to grow their own fresh fruits and vegetables.

As a matter of fact, several acres of land have been set aside by the developers and designers of this planned community to ensure plenty of agricultural space for homeowners in Agritopia. The neighborhood features newer homes, with an average age of just 3 years, ensuring that home buyers enjoy all the latest advances in home design.

The farm is at the geographical center of Agritopia and is a key element for the community. It is not like a country farm in that it will be in the heart of a fairly dense urban area. This farm is an "urban farm" design to flourish in the urban setting. Instead of a huge field of one crop, you find a patchwork of numerous specialty crops. The farm has pathways which allow residents and visitor to easily view the crops. The harvest is sold at the Farm Stand (now open), as well as being served at Joe's Farm Grill and The Coffee Shop. All of the produce grown on the farm is grown under a protocol at least as stringent as the USDA organic protocol. (**I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THE PRODUCE!)

Having given you that description, here's a load of pictures to show you why I love it so much (we're even thinking about buying a house here, if we can find one with a yard that is...)

Here's the outside of the house

The view from our front door

The only closed-in yard space we have. Probably the only downside to this neighborhood.

The kitchen that feels so huge to me. I LOVE this color of tile floor. So much better than white.


The fridge that beeps at me when a door is left open. A fabulous feature.

The living room: This is not our couch/set-up, it's the one on the website showing the house for sale. This one shows the floor better. The dark hardwood is gorgeous, but it rivals white tile in maintenance. I seriously have to sweep it 3 times a day, minimum. I won't have it in a house that I buy, it's just too much of a pain. But it sure looks good.

The bigger houses in the neighborhood look like this: Very colorful, traditional, and kind of Wisteria Lane-ish. We love driving down the streets. Most of the houses have basements and are WAY bigger than they look.

Here's a bunch of pics of the crops growing around us, the orchard arcross the street from us, the neighborhood streets, the white fences, etc. etc. etc. I have never been around so many happy, friendly people, and yes, we feel very, very SAFE!!!

Above: This is a view of the outside of our house. The garages all face out, and the houses all face in and share this communal-sort of front yard. Funny though, I never see anybody out there. Ever.

So, I guess you can probably see why we feel so lucky to be here. Samuel is telling people I'm the happiest he's ever seen me. I think it might be true. Life is good.

**One more big date is coming up quickly: August 19th is Samuel's court date in Vegas. He doesn't have to go, his attorney will go for him, but the question is WILL JUDY SHOW UP? If she doesn't, then that whole issues is OVER! I'm kind of dying to find out what will happen. We are still working on negotiations for some sort of severance from his old bosses, who broke the contract when they terminated Samuel. So hopefully we can put all of this behind us soon.