School Days

So I now have almost 2 weeks of school under my belt. Only 13 more to go...wow, that seems like so far away. It is going well just a little overwhelming with all that has to be done this semester. Between field experience for class, graduating, Matt being gone, and Madison arriving in December I sometimes feel like I put too much on my plate all at once. OK, so enough complaining...things could be worse. Daisy is doing well with being back in child care. This week has gone a little better with her potty training at school, though I am now sending her in pull-ups just in case she has an accident. I really wanted to avoid having her in pull-ups all day since she had accomplished so much here at home, but with the circumstances she is doing well. We have heard from Matt quite a bit since he's been gone. It is great to hear his voice when he calls. He seems to be pretty busy most of the time and other times he is either working out or hanging out in his room.
Yesterday Daisy and I planted a pot of mums in the front yard where one had been previously, but decided not to regrow this year. I also pruned the other two mums. Then I started watering those plants and others in the yard and of course Daisy decided to make a sprinkler out of the water hose. She loves just running through the water.
I guess I should get to bed. And I need to do some studying...I have my last 2 Praxis II tests on Saturday. Good night!!!

Daisy's 2ND Birthday Party!!!

Daisy with Grammi and Granddaddy (in her Loblolly Lane dress)

Jenny, Daisy, Papa and Nana

Daisy eating ice cream with her friends: Joe, Ava, Garrett H., Garrett, and Savannah

Daisy opening presents

This is how she stood while everyone sang Happy Birthday
(in her outfit that Mama made)

Daisy's birthday cake

So we had Daisy's birthday party last weekend. My parents came up to help with the party and Saturday morning Nana and Papa showed up at our front door. Daddy was the only one who knew they were coming!! :) All of Saturday morning was spent getting ready for the party from decorating the cupcakes to buying food to putting up decorations. Papa and Daddy watched Daisy while the girls went to the store. We had a nice turn out for her party...Joe, Garrett and Katie Harrison, Ava Klawinski, Savannah and Garrett Dunn, and Juna Dowdell. They all had a ball playing inside with toys then going outside and running around in the yard, playing in the little pool and on the swing set. Then we had hot dogs, chips, fruit, deviled eggs and cupcakes. It was a great time with friends and family, although we did miss Matt and the rest of our families. Daisy got many great gifts and we are very grateful for such great friends. The outfit she wore Mama made and the pin she had that said "Happy Birthday" was made by Betsy Milburn. She looked so cute!

On Sunday, we all went to church and then ate lunch together at Golden Corral. We said good-bye to Nana and Papa who headed back to Michigan and then went home. Daddy did some work around the house while Mama and I let Daisy play outside. Then Mama and Daddy had to get on the road. Daisy and I took nice afternoon naps that were well-needed. Thank you everyone for your help. It will be a birthday to remember!!

Daisy is TWO!!!

Eating ice cream with chocolate syrup for her birthday at Rafferty's.

Chewing on a lemon at Rafferty's.

Daisy eating her birthday breakfast, egg and cheese omelet.

Seeing her big present, the kitchen, from Grammy and Grampa Kent.

I can't believe our baby is two! These two years have been a big change in our life. She brings light into our family and brings a smile to our faces through any circumstance. She has grown so much...from walking to going to daycare to sleeping in a toddler bed to using the potty and not needing diapers anymore. And soon she will be a big sister and I know that she will be amazing with Madison!! She already plays with her dolls, strolls them around, feeds them while singing or talking to them and putting them to bed.

Since Daddy wasn't here for her birthday I made her an omelet for breakfast (which is among her favorite except for Daddy's chocolate chip pancakes) after opening presents from her grandparents and us. After getting dressed for the day, I took her to Rafferty's for a birthday lunch. She ate some mozzarella sticks, some of my salad and baked potato. Then after telling the waitress that it was her birthday, they brought her a bowl of ice cream with chocolate syrup. She loved that! Then we made a trip to Toys R Us to pick up play food to go with her kitchen and an outfit for her two year pictures.

The rest of the day was pretty normal...taking a nap, eating dinner, going for a walk. Today she had her two year check up and a shot. She weighs in at 22lbs and 33in. Her doctor says that she is growing on her own curve even though she's in the 3RD percentile with weight. She also has to go see a dermatologist because of the warts on her side. She was born with one but now they have spread around it. I'm sure that'll be a fun trip.

We are getting ready for her birthday party this Saturday and for my parents to visit for her party. We are really going to miss Matt, but know he is doing his job overseas and will be home in time for this baby to be born. We love you and miss you Baby!!! XOXO

8 days and counting...

So Matt has been gone for a week now. Man, it really does feel like he left yesterday, but December seems so far away. Daisy and I have been busy keeping up with the potty training, hanging out with friends and cleaning and working around the house. She's a great comfort to have running around the house when I feel lonely. Her laugh and funny faces are hard to ignore!! We will soon be celebrating her 2ND birthday with friends, grandparents and cupcakes!! Wow, how time flies! I remember when she was born...just a little peanut. We are so very blessed to have her in our lives! She make any day better with just a smile and a hug. She loves giving away hugs!

While Matt's gone we have decided to add a construction paper link to a chain for every day that he is gone. We have 8 so far and I'm thinking by the time he gets home, we'll have a long enough chain to wrap around our Christmas tree. I will soon be going back to school and Daisy to daycare, so we will be very busy (thank goodness)! Here are a few pictures from 2 years ago when Daisy was born and a few from our present Daisy:

Daisy the night before Matt deployed (23 months)

Daisy practicing being a big sister (23 months)

Daisy on the day she was born. Here she is in the special care nursery. (a few hours old)

Our first family photo with the 3 of us! (Daisy is a week old.)

Our first weekend alone

Daisy reading on her toddler bed with her new bookcase. Her room is coming together piece by piece.

Daisy playing at the concert.

Mommy and Daisy before the concert started.

Daisy's kitchen she's getting for her birthday from Grammy and Grampa Kent.

So this first weekend with Matt gone has actually been kind of busy, which is nice. Yesterday while Daisy was napping I decided to stencil flowers onto her kitchen. She's getting it for her birthday and it was kind of plain. I let her pick out the colors. I think it turned out really cute! After she got up from her nap, we headed to post to the concerts they were having for Week of the Eagles. To perform were John Rich, Jake Owen, Hank Williams, Jr. and Carrie Underwood. It was a little warm, but not as bad as it was the last time we went to a concert. We had some hot dogs and chips and enjoyed the music and hanging out with friends. I really went to see Carrie, but she ended up not coming out until after 10pm. Daisy and I decided to leave around 9:20. She was pretty tired and so was I.

Today we did a little grocery shopping and picked up her new bookcase for her room. While she napped, I put her bookcase together. We later put it together in her room and rearranged a little bit. Now we just need to find a dresser and she'll be set. So that's been our weekend. We miss Matt very much and can't wait to hear from him!!

Daddy's Departure...

Daisy giving Daddy a hug good-bye.

Daddy reading to Daisy in her toddler bed.

Our last family dinner, we went to Old Chicago.

Saying good-bye to Daddy. :(

So this has been coming for a while. Matt is heading on his annual business trip for a while. We normally have an evening out before he leaves, so last night, by his choice, we ate at a pizza place Old Chicago's. It was a nice evening and Daisy even went potty while we were there. She has made huge progress in the week that we've been potty training. Sometimes it doesn't feel like he's getting ready to leave until he doesn't come home after work. I do know that's a part of his job, but it doesn't get easier with time. We love him and will miss him every minute he is gone. I know that God has his hands on him and his aircraft and that he will keep him safe. I plan to keep updates on here for him to check. One thing he doesn't like to miss is seeing how big I get when I'm pregnant. If you didn't know, when I was pregnant with Daisy he missed to same part of her pregnancy that he will miss with this one. Until next time...

Trip to the zoo!!

This was a duck at the zoo in the inside "bird" greenhouse...

one of Daisy favorite places at the zoo!!

Daddy, Daisy (and a cold Sprite), and Mommy...not pictured Baby K!!

Arin, Baby Nathan, and Daniel Johnston...they went with us to the zoo...
Nathan's first trip to the zoo!

Daisy in the "bird" greenhouse watching the ducks in the little pond!

Daisy sitting on the potty, during PT!!

Well it's been a busy week with the potty training and then yesterday spending all day in Nashville. We wanted to do something as a family for Matt deploys and we have a zoo membership, so we decided to take Daisy to the zoo. Friends of ours, pictured above, went with us. We first went to Babies R Us, because we don't have one in our hometown, to look at double strollers for after the baby is born. I looked at few. I have had my mind set on the Kolcraft Contours Options Tandem Stroller since I found out I was pregnant, but wanted to sit Daisy in it and see how she fit and all the fancy things on it. I really like it, but while we were there we saw a double, sit-n-stand stroller by Baby Trend. Matt really liked that one and it does have the sit-n-stand part for when Daisy doesn't want to sit in a seat. The Kolcraft one is a bit more expensive than the Baby Trend, so we'll see which one comes out on top.

After Babies R Us we ate lunch at this cute BBQ place that's been open since the 60s. The name of it was Barbie-Cutie. The food was really great as well!! Then finally we headed to the zoo around 1pm. It was pretty hot outside, but I knew Daisy would love all the animals. We headed to the farm animals part which has one cow, one horse, and many goats. It wasn't that great. After that we went to the "bird" greenhouse, which Daisy loves. It has a ton of these little parakeet type birds with lots of bright colors and they fly all over the place and are very friendly. After the birds, we saw the African animals...elephants, giraffes, zebras, etc. While walking to view the elephants from a different area, Daisy had a little accident. She fell on her face and got her first bloody nose, a few scrapes on her forehead and also on her knees. She made it through, but the rest of the day was pretty much a wash. Daisy had been up since 5:15am, had no nap and it was really hot, so around 4:15pm we headed home. It was a pretty good day with the family...tired and all!!!