Drats!

So today I broke out my maternity pants. I am not too happy about right now because it just makes me feel more pregnant. I forgot how uncomfortable they were but leaving my jeans unbuttoned was not an option anymore. My zipper kept going down then the pants would go down. I am not sure what I am going to do about church clothes though. I don't remember what I did last time. Maybe I was just extremely uncomfortable for those 3 hours. I do have a maternity dress but it is still way too early for that. My belly button is already starting to poke out too. It actually looks like a gnocchi to me.

New Calling

I hate getting a new calling. Especially when I have been the assistant librarian for 3 years. So they called me to be a sunbeam teacher. There are a ton of people in the ward that don't currently have a calling. I don't know why they wanted me especially with how complicated our lives are. Richard's schedule does change in January making it possible for him to come to church, but it is not guaranteed that it will stay that way for the next quarter. They didn't know that I was having a baby either. So they will release me on Sunday and they are going to give me until January to get Kierra settled in nursery since she won't go by herself. I am not looking forward to doing it so hopefully it will be some sort of blessing in disguise.

The dreaded Bishop's office

So, you get that phone call that a member of the bishopbric wants to see you. I hate the waiting and wondering of what it will be. If I am going in there, I am most likely being released from my current calling. Will I get another one? Or are they going to give me one in addition to the one I have. Kelly, if you are reading this, did you know anything about it?

It's a...Baby

Girl to be exact. We had an ultrasound today and it was confirmed. The baby is good although she measures a week behind. Kierra was the same way so it doesn't worry me. For those that didn't know I was pregnant, sorry. This entry probably explains a lot about my mood and other feelings in previous entries. It is weird being pregnant this time since it is a bit different than it was with Kierra. I am not sick any more which is a nice plus. Dealing with another kid at the same time has made me realize that the uterus is definitely made of steel. Yes, when I was preggo with Kierra, there was a huge amount of heavy labor but I never had someone stepping on it. I am starting to look more like I am fat than pregnant though. I have an upper bulge rather than a lower one. I am hoping that everything goes as well as it did with Kierra and that I don't get huge.

I forgot to add that the due date is April 14th. I also hope that none of you are thinking "that's the last thing that they need is another kid." We are excited and especially to have another girl. Richard doesn't know what to do with a boy. I guess he likes being extremely outnumbered.

Hmm, what do I really like?

Since I have gotten some comments from family members of how grumpy I am, I have been thinking about what I actually like about life. It's been 7 months since I quit my job and so I think I might have lost a bit of myself since then. Here is my attempt to redeem myself.

I like...

Kitties, lots of kitties. Especially petting and cuddling them.

Uninterrupted sleep.

When Kierra gives me hugs and kisses.

When Richard gives me hugs and kisses.

Being snugglie under lots of blankets in the cold.

Quiet.

Being loud with my friends (that doesn't happen that often).

Rollercoasters.

A clean house for 5 minutes.

A good, cheap salad. Lets just say good, cheap food in general.

Getting a good deal.

Accomplishing something.

Getting rewarded for my hard work on something.

Hearing Kierra sing the ABC song perfectly and yelling the last 4 letters. W X Y Z!!!

Successfuly cooking a meal that results in tons of leftovers that Richard will eat.

Yummy smelling candles.

Going to school.

A well rested child.

Going somewhere I have never been and enjoying it.

Sitting by a fire and burning random things. HE HE

Having someone that loves me no matter what, and is sexy too!

I think I will leave it at that for now because it could go on for a very long time.

I'm venting ok!!

This post is for me. IF it offends anyone, keep your mouth shut. In our household we have the terrible two's and the terrible twenty-seven's with Richard on the sidelines. I am at my whits end with Kierra and yes I know that I have a long way to go. How in the crap are you supposed to parent a kid that whines, screams and cries all of the time. She doesn't know what she wants and when she does, it still involves a tantrum. I suck at motherhood. I have zero patience for it and I am afraid the neighbors can hear it. Most of the time I am dissappointed in me rather than her for my actions. I completely understand why she doesn't like me. It's like both of us have become different people within the last month. We are constantly butting heads. Is this what our lives are going to be like forever? Hormones constantly surging. It makes me feel bad when I hear or read about other people's children and how they love everything they do. They are sweethearts. It makes me wonder if it is all because of me. Is my personality and temperment the cause for the constant tension in our house? It makes me feel really bad when she is always asking for her dad too. If he leaves the room, she cries. Is it like that for anyone else? I feel like I am eventually going to lose it. It is causing me to have a hard time to express my love to her when she acts like she hates me. Then I get freaked out to think about how you do this with more than one. Why do we want to do this over again and it's only just begun.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to deal with temper tantrums, advice is welcome. I also don't want this entry to sound like I don't love Kierra. I really do but I am having a really hard time expressing it to her when she is like this. If you suggest therapy, we can't afford it.

Halloweeeeeeeeen

I don't have a whole lot to say about the festivities because there weren't many. Kierra went trick or treating for the first time this year. She also did the trunk or treat, I thought it was pretty gay. We had more fun going from door to door. She didn't get what we were doing at first. The first couple of houses she tried to go inside. She thought we were going there to stay. Here are some pics. She is a turtle by the way.

Soliciting Help

This is a plea from me (not Richard, he wouldn't approve) for help with our basement. If you can't help, baby sitting would be helpful as well. We still aren't finished sheetrocking. It has been going slow for many reasons but mostly because we don't have a second person to help. We also need to know if anyone has access to a sliding compound miter saw. Our molding is double the width of normal so a regular saw won't work. Any kind of help that could be offered would be greatly appreciated. With that said, thank you to Richard's parents for all of the help that they have provided with this project. We greatly appreciate it.

Pumpkin Patch

We took Kierra to a pumpkin patch last week while it was still nice. She really could have cared less. She did finally learn that they were pumpkins and not balls. The day after we went, we saw on the news that someone had gone through a destroyed all of the pumpkins. I don't know what purpose it served them.

Kierra isn't the best at posing for pictures, I guess she gets that from me. Here are some pictures of our 10 minute adventure.

Yes, it's been a while

Richard has been getting on my case to post something new since it has been a month since the last. Problem is, I think I am getting bored with the blogging. There really isn't anything interesting in our lives worth posting about. At least I don't think so.

Richard's name has been changed to "Mr. Grissom" as he is now a Crime Scene Investigator. He is pretty excited about it. So am I, I guess, as now he will be on call every once and a while. He has had to do a lot of training this month so the basement has been on hold.

This month Richard turned 30. We had a deathday party for him that was pretty lame.

In regards to the last post, Kierra has added about 50 new words to that list. As soon as I posted that, she blossomed. Anyhoo, here is a random video of her terrorizing the cat and some other pics.

Mmm, raw corn

Last day of swim class

Not just another pretty face

This post is for the sole purpose of validating myself as a good stay at home mom. Since we don't talk about how much Kierra can do, I figure now is the time. She has now learned her abc's. Not just saying them but handing you a letter and saying what it is. Now I need to get some solid form numbers for her to practice with. She also has started to draw shapes that we tell her to. She has mastered the circle of course but we are working on the others. With much thought, I've decided that I need to compile a list of words that she can say. She isn't quite old enough for sentences so words will have to do.

hi (first word)
car
book
color
kitty
thank you (she has said this for about a year)
mommy
daddy
no, (of course)
yes
oh yeah
ok
circle
yellow
baby
pretzel
cheese
night night
bear
awesome
drink
fish
eat
chip
cracker
nose
eye
toe
key
grape
shoe
wow

If anyone can remember more of what she can say, remind me as I my brain is at a loss.

She also knows the basic signs for: more, milk, and eat.
Her favorite things to do at this time are to color and to play with her felt letters and felt board (thank you Jeff for the christmas gift, she loves it obviously).

Infrequent Blogging

Sorry I am not posting much but I have wondered what the point is. No one is commenting on anything I post. How do I know anyone is even looking at it?

Weekish in review

So not much has been going on in our lives lately. Last week we tried to go camping up in Idaho but had to come home in the middle of the night. Kierra would not sleep and I was getting frustrated so we just packed up. You would think that she would sleep on the way home wouldn't you, but no. The weather was getting bad any way and we couldn't have a fire. Here are some pictures of her.





We have of course been enjoying the olympics. After watching the trampoline today, Kierra has been trying to jump. It is quite funny. However we missed a lot of the good stuff as the lamp in our TV went out on Thursday afternoon. Good thing it is under warranty. We just got it fixed today.

So, it's official!! We are going to WEEZER in October. The last time we saw them was in Vegas when they opened for the Chili Peppers. We are so excited. With this concert it looks like we might have to miss Metallica. Sorry Bryan.

Glub, glub, glub

Kierra has turned into a fish. Her swimming lessons started 2 weeks ago and so began the crying. It was her first time in a pool so I kind of expected it. I was a bit embarassed because you couldn't hear the instructor but she stopped after about 10 minutes. Last saturday was her second lesson and now she loves the water. She especially likes to swim on her stomach and is really good at kicking her feet as she goes. In fact, I think she was the only one in the class that did it. Yeah for swimming!

Successful Holiday

The 24th started with an early delivery of $1600 worth of basement stuff. We spent the morning filing it into the basement piece by piece some of which never fit so it is in our garage. In the process, I smacked my forehead on the foundation. I laughed at myself. In the afternoon we went and saw the Dark Knight. It was definately dark. We both really liked it. After the movie we all had a really nice nap and then went to our friends, Josh and Kim's house for fireworks. I am so proud of Kierra. She handled it really well. In fact, I think she liked the fireworks. She was such a well behaved little girl for being up so late. We had a lot of fun with our friends and look forward to perhaps creating a tradition of it.

Anniversary FUN!

Saturday my parents took Kierra while Richard and I went to Park City for the night. We went to the Olympic Park to ride the zip line and the alpine slide. Let's just say it is a super long wait for things that don't last very long. The zip line was fun but I wish we had done the bigger one. After we did that we rode the lifts up to the slide. It is supposed to be the only stainless steel slide in the western hemisphere. OOOOOOOO amazing! It would have been a lot more fun if I didn't have a 60 year old lady in front of me. She rode the brake the entire way down. I had to completely stop a couple of times. I wanted to go faster of course but you have to keep 80 feet between the next person. It was fun though. We had a good time at the hotel. It was a relaxing evening after engorging on fattening food.

Bored out of MINDS!

Kierra and I are so freaking bored it is not funny. She doesn't want to play with toys anymore and I just don't know what to do with her. We bought her a little pool that she wants nothing to do with. So what would be plan F? Anyone with suggestions on what to do with her would be welcomed. No TV!

6 years and still going strong

Happy Anniversary to us! It is actually tomorrow but I won't have time to post anything as we have "plans". So, Richard and I have been married for 6 years. Let's reminisce about that exciting day:

• 6 years since I asked Richard on the way to the temple "what if I say no?"

• 6 years since I relaxed on the couch in the sealing room and my feet barely hung over the edge of the cushion.

• 6 years since my wedding dress didn't fit because I lost weight while Richard was gone.

• 6 years since in every photograph at the temple, my underwear was showing and the photographer was just after "catching the moment".

• 6 years since it was 114 degrees and us in the heaviest clothing you could possibly wear.
  
• 6 years since my mom tripped over Brooklynn at the luncheon.
  
• 6 years since our photographer sent his mother to the reception instead of himself.

• 6 years since the photographer's mother wouldn't let us have pictures taken outside. She was stupid as well.
  
• 6 years since the air conditioning failed in the building.
  
• 6 years since the air conditioning in our car failed on the way home from the reception.
  
• 6 years since walking through an auto zone an hour after our reception.

• 6 years since stopping off at my parents house to try and fix the car in our dress attire.
  
• 6 years since our landlady brought people down into our apartment while we were naked.
  
• 6 years since the power went out in our apartment, therefore having no light to do anything in our two window basement apartment.

Oh and I almost forgot :) 6 years since I married the most awesome guy on the planet. One of the happiest days we have ever had.

5th of July

I had this great day planned for Kierra but of course we had to go to plan F. We didn't have 4th of July festivities as Richard works that night so it would have to be the 5th. Richard's family were going to come over for a party that evening, but Kierra woke up with a fever. Despite med's, it continually rose throughout the day. We decided to go on with the party anyway because we just thought she was getting another tooth. I had bought a mini pool and fireworks for her to enjoy but boy did she not. Her fever spiked to 104.4 that night and didn't subside until Sunday afternoon. She had her 18 month appt. scheduled for Monday anyway so I waited to talk to the doctor. Monday morning she developed a rash on her legs and still was a bit cranky and not eating. So we found out at the doctor that she has roseola. The doctor was surprised that her symptoms only lasted a few days. It is always nice when you go to the doctor and they know what the problem is instead of sending you home with more questions.

Here is a picture of Kierra and her swimming pool. We were hoping that it would cool her off but she just screamed when we put her in there. Let's hope for a better 24th!

Explanation of the Tunes

I thought I would explain why there is such a mixture of song choices on the music player. Some songs are ones that I just like, but others have something behind them.

Probably the most important one on there is "Travelin Soldier" by the Dixie Chicks. I know they aren't that popular but the lyrics of the song have deep meaning to me. The first time I heard the song was at the beginning of 2003. This time was very hard on us as Richard's unit had just been activated to go to Iraq. We were watching SNL and they were performing on there. I cried and cried throughout the song. I think that was the point when I became determined to get Richard out.

Weezer is on there of course because if it wasn't for them, we would have never met. Well, that is only partially true. We probably should give most of the credit to Kevin and Sara Cook. It makes for a better story though with a Weezer concert in Idaho.

The song "Something" by the Beatles has always been one of my favorites. When I was younger, I was obsessed with the Beatles and my favorite Beatle was George Harrison. Richard thinks it's weird that I have all of their songs memorized.

Since it is widely known that I am a Harry Potter freak, the theme song is on there. But that is not as shocking as the song "Pilgrim" by Enya. This is a song that I reserved for the 7th or probably the 8th movie. As Harry discovers that he must surrender himself to die and walks through the forbidden forrest, this song to me sets the scene. I cried and cried in this chapter.

Last but not least is the song "Toast". This song always got me laughing on the early morning drives to work listening to the Bob and Tom show. I suggest you take a listen, it is quite good.

Tunes Below

So, does everyone turn this feature off when you get onto the webpage? I am just wondering if I need to tone it down a bit. Place your vote on whether I should keep it or not.

Not much going on

It's been a while since I posted anything. Sorry for those that actually care. There isn't that much to tell as life has been uneventful lately. Richard finished wiring the basement today. That's a plus. Kierra is getting teeth all over the place, which makes for a satan baby. It is hard for us to go anywhere because she throws tantrums. Our new neighbors moved in today. They seem nice. I hope they mow their lawn. Richard has me reading the Hobbit. It is ok. I think he wants me to read the whole Lord of the Rings series. I am sure there will be a lot of boring details throughout. The is the most exciting post ever! I won't care if no one reads it.

Goodreads

Amber had me join this website called "Goodreads". I haven't read that many books to know what I really like and what I don't to contribute much to it though. I do however know that I do not like sappy love stories, I think that is why I wasn't into Twilight as much as everyone said I would be. "If you liked Harry Potter, you will love Twilight" they said. Why? A group of us were having a discussion about this and decided that there is no comparison between the two series.

Anyway, since Amber has introduced me into the world of literature, I have found myself in need of a change. Having read the Harry Potter series three times, I need to invest my imagination into a new world. Something inspiring and inventive I think. If anyone has some good suggestions, they are certainly welcome. If my mother is reading this, yes I know I should be reading my scriptures. I have been reading the Ensign, so that is a start.

Laser Day

The procedure got approved on Tuesday and so they fit Kierra in on Wednesday morning. When we checked in, they gave her a stuffed bunny. She really liked it. In the waiting room, she walked around with it patting it's back and loving it. The treatment went as expected. There were about 6 other doctors in there so that might have overwhelmed her a bit. So now we have the fun task of the after care. She has to stay out of the sun until the bruising goes away (2-3 weeks). It is really hard to keep the sun off of her when you have places to go. We'll manage, we always do.

Week in Review

What an exciting week! Nevermind, it was normal. Tuesday a mountain lion was running around in our neighborhood. The girls and I were on a morning walk and this car stopped us telling us to get home because of a mountain lion. We were quite a ways away from our houses so we hoofed it. They caught it about the time that we got home. That was fun.

From the major rain on Thursday, the basement had water in it again. Richard dug out one of the window wells and there was more water the deeper he got. I am wondering if we are sitting over some sort of natural water source. There is a crack in our foundation (something the builder won't do anything about) so Richard got some stuff to patch it up. I hope that we can get this taken care of before we get any further on the basement.

As promised, I have a cute video of Kierra. It started out with Richard putting bottles of nailpolish down a wrapping paper tube. Kierra would laugh at the sight of them coming out at the other end. She started to try and get the bottles by putting her arm down the tube and it became a smackdown between the two of them.

What's been going on?

Well, not much. Our week started out with the lovely suprise that water was coming into our basement again (really wasn't much of a suprise seeing as our house sucks). Figured out the problem and got mom to babysit on Thursday so that we could fix it. It freakin rained again on Thursday, so there went that plan. We were able to fix it along with putting up the lattice on the deck while Kierra napped (process of 2 days). Our neighbor's sold their house so that gives us one month to steal their rocks for our landscaping (they told us to, so it isn't stealing).

Hmmm, what else. Richard is finally on the 7th Harry Potter book. I am so excited for him. I cried at times in that book. I am constantly made fun of for my obsession for Harry Potter, but there is someone who is worse than me. Amber Ford. Yeah, that's right, Cassie can vouch for this. When we went to get our hair done, we had the capes on and were walking by a mirror and she asked me if I felt like we were at Hogwarts wearing our robes. It never crossed my mind. Sure the name of our blog has a reference to the books, but a hair cutting cape as robes, nah. I do want a wand though and I wanted to dress up Kierra as Hermione for halloween.

Anyhoo, there really isn't anything exciting going on in our lives. I have no new pictures to post. I promise the next post will have something eventful.

FOR THOSE WHO LIKE CATS

"Excerpts from a Dog's Diary"

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

"Excerpts from a Cat's Diary"

Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards! There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage. Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow--but at the top of the stairs. I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now...

I know they are up to something!

Forget That!

Kierra didn't get her laser treatment today. We got to the hospital nice and early, they called us in and when we got into the O.R., the doctor was on the phone with the billing office. It turns out that our insurance company now requires pre-authorization for her procedures and needs proof that it is medically necessary and not cosmetic. They decided to change their policy without telling us so we got her all ready for nothing. The doctor has sent numerous letters and pictures to prove the need for the treatments. We have never had a problem before and now we are worried that they may not cover the treatments at all. According to the doctor, IHC (which we don't have) will only allow her to treat the birthmark if it is on a certain place on the face. If Altius takes this stance, I think we will be screwed. We now pay close to $200 a treatment every three months. Without insurance it is a little over $1000 a treatment. Looks like I may really have to get another job.

Laser Day

For those who don't know, Kierra was born with a port wine stain birthmark on her left cheek and chin. Every three months we take her up the U to get laser treatments to help minimize the mark and stop further growth. Tomorrow we have to take her in again. There is about 2 hours prep work for a procedure that takes five minutes. I think it is getting easier on me at least where I don't cry while she is screaming. The worst part of it all is the care after. Keeping her out of the sun, having ointment on her face constantly, keeping her from touching her face and scarring it, and of course the weird stares that we get from those who don't know her situation.

Incidentally, there was an article in this months Parenting Magazine about a couple having a child with a birthmark on her scalp. I was really annoyed with how the parents reacted and tried to hide their daughter. They acted like she was cursed and they didn't like people asking questions. That's the part I don't mind. I would rather people ask than just stare and assume that we beat her or something. In this article, the girl had one surgery to remove it from her scalp and now she is done. Kierra is in this for a lifetime possibly. We have never tried to hide her face from anyone or anything because it is something she is going to have to deal with when she is older. Her situation isn't nearly as bad as many others that have this sort of birthmark. We have met some that have the mark all over their body and also those that have it on certain parts of their head that cause seizures and occular nerve damage.

When we found out what it was, I felt horrible. Thinking of a little girl possibly getting teased because of a mark on her face. I questioned why did this happen and then I thought, there is nothing wrong with her. She is alive, healthy and to us is perfect.

Before treatments began

Day of a laser treatment

3 Hours of Pampering

My friends Amber, Kim and I went to a beauty school for mother's day. It was a bit late but oh well. We got facials, scalp treatments and I got a trim too. It was nice to get away for a while with good friends. Afterwards, we went to Paradise Bakery and vegged for a bit. It was a good school because it wasn't crowded. Amber's sister goes to school there so she was able to schedule us with the best students. Warning to all, this picture contains women with no makeup. I was the only one self conscious about it. Oh, I am standing on my tippy toes. Thanks guys for a fun afternoon!

Richard was on the news, again!

I looked everywhere to find a link to the story that was on channel 2 news. There was a stabbing in Murray last night. They found the guy but he kept threatening them and going in and out of his house bringing out different lethal weapons. He threatened to shoot them so they ended up shooting him with a huge rubber bullet from a grenade launcher. Richard was shown for like 3 seconds walking around with his new rifle. His good buddy Ben was shown shoving the guy into his car. I am a little upset that there is nothing anywhere on any of the news websites about this especially when they showed the story twice.

Warning: Complaint Below

Since I am really only 30 credit hours away from my bachelors degree, I have been considering going back to school. The problem is, I don't know what to do. I have people telling me to go back into occupational therapy, but I am just affraid of screwing up. There is also the problem that I am not sure who's education is more important right now, mine or Richard's. Even though Richard's would be for free, there is still the time taken away from our family if both of us are going at the same time. Although, he isn't sure what he wants his degree to be in either. It doesn't matter much I guess what you have to get into the FBI. But lets get back to me. I have discovered that I am good at things that are medically related. I actually get that kind of stuff. My problem is my lack of confidence in my ability to apply my knowledge in a practical situation. So now I am just mumbling. I have felt that since I quit my job at Globus, I have been losing my smarts. There is nothing to keep my brains on their toes. Besides that, I am freaking 27 years old with an associates degree. What have I done with my life?

San Diego

So we made it there alive and very tired. The first day we got there we hated it. Our hotel was kind of in the ghetto. The room was ok but I am glad Kierra is walking now so that she didn't have to crawl on the carpet. We walked to get dinner down the street and there was a guy on the sidewalk getting super drunk. We really looked stupid with a stroller thinking it was ok to walk places. Getting Kierra to sleep that first night was kind of hard but she eventually did it.

Unfortunately we arrived without our Air Race tickets. They never arrived in the mail (and still haven't). So instead of going to that, we went to Balboa Park. It was really pretty and a ton of museums. After that we navigated our way to mission beach. Being that it was only 60 degrees, there were quite a few people laying out and swimming in the ocean. I thought it was a bit to cold for that. It was awesome to see the beach. I have never been to a pacific beach like this before. I wish I could have worn the bikini that I bought though. We played in the sand with Kierra. She really liked it. It was fun to see the beach houses and how much people were asking for them.

Monday we went to Sea World. I thought this was the highlight of our trip. It was a nice day for it too. The shows were really fun and it was nice to see that Kierra enjoyed them too. We got to have personal interaction with some of the animals like dolphins and bat rays. The food sucked, but it's a theme park, what are you going to do. We bought Kierra a stuffed shamu. She really likes it. I think her favorite thing there was one particular walrus. He had his mouth up against the glass and he kept spitting out his food and sucking it back in. It was really disgusting.

Tuesday we went to the San Diego Zoo. It was a really cold day and it sprinkled on and off. I had hurt my foot somehow at Sea World, so I was really hurting at the zoo. Richard and I enjoyed all of the different types of kitties and Kierra liked the elephants. They have a children's zoo there as well where the kids can pet goats and other types of farm animals. It was cute to see Kierra interested in a goat. This zoo was unlike any that I have been to. I couldn't believe how many area's looked like natural habitats. Tons of trees and canyons. It was nice that there were moving walkways up some of the canyons because I was really needing them.

Wednesday we left for the drive home. Kierra probably slept for about a half an hour in the 13 hour drive. We had to keep stopping to change her diaper. By the time we got home, I think that we were all ready to ring each other's necks. No more road trips for me. Hopefully a cruise without a baby is on the horizon for us.

Road Trip

San Diego, here we come! We are making the 740 mile journey beginning at 2:00am on Saturday morning. I hope we survive. This will be the first super long car ride of Kierra's life. We plan to visit the San Diego Zoo, Sea World and the main reason for going is to see the Red Bull Air Races. Richard is a nut for anything that has to do with airplanes. We will be there until Wednesday.

I love feeding myself

Since Kierra only has two teeth, we have had to be creative in what we feed her. She wants to eat like us but giving her steak is a bit out of the question. Last Sunday evening she finished her "baby food" so I decided to give her yogurt. Not the cat but the real stuff. She always has to have a utensil and try it herself so I let her have at it. She was doing fine until she decided to dump the yogurt out on the tray. "Screw the spoon, I think I will use my hands." I probably should have changed her out of her dress but it was a bit late for that. We took her piggies out so her hair looks funny too along with everything else.

Can I have some?

Every time I do Kierra's hair she has to have me squirt water into her mouth along with her hair. When the cats see the squirt bottle they run for it but when she sees it, she gets excited.

So darn cute!

I thought I would just add this video because it is so cute. This was when Kierra was three months old and just starting to interact. Those were the good old days when her cuteness was overwhelming. She has grown up so much since then, she doesn't even look the same. Ahh... It will make you smile, I promise.

Freedom!!!!!!

Apparently I left the door open to the garage and the kitties had a night of freedom. I noticed that they didn't sleep with me and when Richard got home from work, he said the door was open. The garage is such an exciting place for most of the animals in the neighborhood. We are always having to entice the Perry's dog out of the garage and a couple of times we have locked some random cats in there. I hope they had fun because I won't let it happen again.

I'll do it when I want to!!

Kierra is finally starting to walk. She throws a tantrum if you try to help her though. We have tried to bribe her with suckers and binkies but to no avail. She is just as stubborn as I am. We think that she has finally figured out that if she does walk instead of crawl, she gets praised. Brilliant!

Dance, Dance, Dance

I'm a Kierra pants and I dance, dance, dance and I dance, dance, dance. Kierra has always loved music and she started dancing at an early age. I can honestly say I don't know where she got those moves from (Richard). She is so into it that she even starts dancing when my cell phone rings. Maybe that's why she is so skinny, she burns everything off by dancing. You will notice at the end of the video she has a fake laugh. She does that every time she sees the camera. She is such a spaz!