Are We There Yet?

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 18:06:00 +0000

It's about time I update this blog for family and friends. We are doing well. I had a short stay in the hospital but am feeling much better now. Kylee is 2 yrs and 5 months old. She has been going to a children's center 3 days a week, 4 hours a day. It has been awesome. It has given me just enough time to take care of all my medical appointments and still have a little time to myself. She loves it. She is starting to really get into music and making up her own songs.

We have not done anything to exciting or note worthy. We have just been trying to stay cool. Here are a few pics.

When we ask Kylee to smile for the camera, we get this aweful cheesy fake grin. I know all kids have a time they do this but I cant wait to see her real smile again. She was such a mess this day. She had a white sweater on and had been givin a plate full of strawberries.

Here's the cheesy grin again, but I still love this picture of her.

And why do people think it is funny to take pictures of others kids when they are picking there nose?

All kids pick their nose, we just dont need pictures of it.

I hope everyone is doing well and staying cool!

Exciting Day....

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:29:00 +0000

Actually, we aren't even doing anything today.

However,

Kylee p00ped on the potty today, YIPEE!

I found out that I get to go to Time Out For Women in April and I just cant wait. The bummer is I have no one to go with but I'm sure I will still enjoy an evening and day all to myself without 2 year old conversations, not that I dont love them.

In other news...I cant wait for our local farmer's market to start up. Kylee is going to make us go broke. She loves fruit and well her favorites are blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries. I dont know about where you live but the price of those things here are about $5 for a 4 oz container. It will be sad if we go in debt because of her fruit consumption.

She's not a big eater and that's a big issue because the doctor keeps telling us she's under weight. She looks healthy and is a very smart and active child, she just doesn't like to eat and that makes her skinny. She is just to busy to stop and eat. We do our best and since she loves the fruit so much we get it for her.

Sorry for such a boring post

I'm trying to keep up with the two posts a week.

Snow Trip

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:15:00 +0000

Wow, its only been 6 days since my last post. That's probably some sort of record for me.

Kylee went to the snow for the very first time. I was too sick to go but glad they were able to go without me. Here Ky is with friend Grant.

Huge snowball
Deep snow. Daddy says she thought this was hilarious.
Flying in the air which is just as fun in the snow as it is at home.

Dad said the weather was beautiful and that Ky did excellent on the almost 3 hour drive. When they got home she was wiped out. They brought back a few pieces of soaking wet clothing. I'm glad I sent plenty of extra changes.

Where'd my baby go?

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:31:00 +0000

We started here at 4 lbs 7 oz and 17 inches long. My baby was small enough to fit in her daddy's baseball cap. We used to have to set an alarm clock to wake us up to feed her because she was to small to wake herself up when she was hungry. We thought she would never grow. She loved being swaddled very tightly and daddy was the only one who could do it to her liking. At six months old we were still swaddling her for the night, it was the only way to get her to sleep. It was so fun to watch Ky wake up to the world and see all the things going on around her. She sat up, crawled and started walking this first year of life. She babbled a lot and had a small vocabulary. She started eating really food but just wasn't sure if she liked it. We thought she would never get hair. I so badly wanted pigtails and ponytails, I set my expectations too high. We loved teaching her to do new things and watching her master those things.

A year later we walked into being a 1 year old. That year was filled with lots of learning and exploring of a great world. It also brought on awful allergies and febrile seizures. She learned to run, jump, and do sommersaults. She decided that food really was a good thing and started to become a better eater. She also decided to give up the shyness and just become a ham, it didn't matter who was watching. She wanted to carry her own purse and have a "hairdo" and have "cheeks" (blush on her cheeks) and "lips" (chapstick) on whether we were leaving the house or not. She has adopted many special people into her life.

Now we are bouncing into being 2! I cant believe it. Kylee talks nonstop with a large vocabulary. She knows most of her letters and numbers from 1-10. She loves being outside and would stay out there all day if we would let her. She loves fruit and chocolate. She knows what she wants and she lets us know about it. She is silly, always trying to make us smile. She still fights going to sleep but she also still twirls her hair when she is really sleepy. She has to have her stuffed dog that her daddy got her to fall asleep. She loves being read to and loves to color and write. She loves to get up and go. It doesn't matter where we go, she just likes going places. She finds excitement in whatever we are doing. Kylee also finally got some hair, enough to do those pigtails and ponytails. She loves to go to church and wear pretty dress that have high twirl potential. Its the first thing she tests when a dress is put on her.

I just cant figure out how we arrived at being 2. I have lost my baby and cannot find her. I have a new little toddler though that I absolutely love and adore who lights up my life everyday.

Wow

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:28:00 +0000

Let me just say

its been a really long time since I posted. I've been reading blogs and doing some commenting but have not even attempted to post anything.

I'm sure the two of you that read my blog missed me, or not!

I'm going to try to be back

My goal: two posts a week

are you laughing at me?

Merry Christmas

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 19:07:00 +0000

MIA, GONE, BLOGSTIPATED

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:19:00 +0000

I don't know....one of those.

I know I haven't written a post in awhile and people have emailed asking if I am okay. This will be a post about random things. because if I tried to tie everything together in a neat little paragraph, well that just wouldn't be very pretty. Also, if you have a weak stomach skip the first part of this post.

This was 2 days after surgery for my Port-A-Cath insertion. The bruising actually got quite worse. It has been a pain in my neck (literally, it is located on my right side beneath my clavicle). It was supposed to be put in my left side since the bad one was in my right side, but there were a few complications so they had to revise the plan. After 2 extra hours in surgery and two infection it has finally healed and there is just a small little line there. It has not been accessed yet because of the infections but will be later on today for some blood draws and a flush.

This was Thanksgiving day. Kylee wanted to finish off the stuffing, the only thing she liked on her plate. She also found the drumstick to be very fascinating (although you cant tell by her face) Also, our house is not cold, but its pretty cool to eat dinner with a beanie on your head.

Just a cute picture before going out for Mommy's birthday dinner. My Birthday was on Thanksgiving day this year so my dinner was delayed a few days.

My husband went camping for a week and I had asked him to call me and let me know he wasn't dead. Well he said he couldn't call because he had "no service" on his phone. Later, after transferring the pics from the camera to the computer I found that he even took a picture to prove the no service theory.

One of our attempts at getting a cute Christmas card for the year. We liked this one the best (she was not looking at the camera in any of them, she was distracted by our dog).

I am almost ready for Christmas. I have some more candy to make and house cleaning to do. In a few days I will show off the pictures that we had taken as a family and just of Kylee alone. Also, I will post the pics of Kylee decorating the house.

Thankful Thursday

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 04:08:00 +0000

(instead of Gratitude Sunday)

I'm Thankful for my family, especially this little girl who once could lay in her daddy's baseball cap (even while swaddled), who is now a giggly, excited, talkative, and funny 20 month old and I get to spend nearly every day with her.

Modern medicine, who made it possible for a little girl with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome to stay alive and also to get ear tubes today so that ear infections can stop jepordizing her health and life.

Modern medicine (again) and Medical professionals with a passion to help, who will on Monday remove a defective disconnected Port-A-Cath from the right side of my chest and put a new one in on the left side, all while keeping me from losing to much blood because of the blood thinners I have to take, but also keeping me from getting a dangerous blood clot. (does any of that make sense?).

The weather we have been experiencing...it has been beautiful.

Vacation time, so that my husband can take off the days needed to help me get through the upcoming procedure and still making it possible for us to pay our bills.

A loving, caring Heavenly Father who I know I can turn to and count on whenever I need him.

Total Fashion Sense

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 02:29:00 +0000

Kylee has got it going on. Yet another one of her clothing creations. And of course the oven door is the best "mirror" to admire yourself in.

For those who want to copy this new and upcoming fashion trend, you'll need some tights, any color will do. A diaper cover from a cute dress. Hello Kitty socks, Nike shoes and dont forget to leave them untied.
Closer inspection
Here's a little peak of what she looked like before her transformation.
She loves twirling in her dress...a real girly girl.

I hope you enjoyed this episode of up and coming fashion trends. You heard it here first.

Halloween Part II

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 02:24:00 +0000

Ok, So I had to do two post to get all my pictures in of Halloween. Here's a reminder of the cute little skunk.

We also had a candy lovin' zebra...she's pretty cute also.

And a "nice pirate." He could not give me a mean looking face because he was a "nice pirate."

And last but not least...The robot. He had real flashing lights (you cant see them in the picture.)

Here's the whole group before heading out to trick or treat at some houses

Halloween Part I

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 01:50:00 +0000

So I am finally getting around to posting our Halloween fun. The Saturday before Halloween we went to a carnival and had a lot of fun. On Halloween day we went to my aunts work and trick or treated with all the elderly. Then in the evening had some cousins over and went around the block. Kylee had a lot of fun and really got the hang of saying "treat or treat" instead of trick or treat and holding out her bag.

Cutest Lil Skunk I've ever seen

Ever seen a skunk riding a horse? I have now

Whenever we visit my aunt we always see this man sitting in the front entrance and ever since Ky was a baby we have always said Hi to him. She has really grown to like him. His name is Theo. Ky calls him "Tho." He really gets a kick out of her and it seems to make his day when he sees her. Of course she got a few extra pieces of candy from him.

I'm trying to win a Dyson are you?

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:00:00 +0000

So, there's this contest going on over at The Domestic Diva Blog, where her and Dyson are giving away this cool PINK Dyson for breast cancer awareness month. I've heard they work great and would love to have one. You should hop on over to her blog and check out the details. I hope I win, but good luck to you too!!

Blog Cartoons

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:38:00 +0000

I saw this cartoon

over at Pigeon Pair and had to go check out the website

some of them are pretty funny like this one

The Weekend

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:20:00 +0000

This weekend, my husband with camping with his friend.

and the dog(s) of course went too. It snowed their first night

Kylee went to her favorite Aunt Brenda's house (actually its her great aunt). Aunt Brenda and Uncle Jim took her to Apple Hill (about 2 hrs from where we live) where you can pick apples and ride on horses and trains and hay rides.

You can also find the perfect pumpkin.

My husband had fun. Kylee had fun.

You ask what did I do?

I stayed home and didn't do anything.

Not Really Wordless, but still Wednesday

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:31:00 +0000

A trip to the pharmacy yesterday to get a new prescription and an allergy prescriptioin and of course "soft lips chapstick"...gotta have that.

And if you cant see on the receipt...the medication I was getting has a normal retail price of $4819.00 (can you believe almost $5,000), and I got it for my co-pay price...

Let me just say, I am thankful for insurance, Amen!

Mommy's Day Out

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:57:00 +0000

Today, I have the opportunity to have 3 hours without Kylee. I will miss her but I will enjoy my time. Its not that I dont ever get time without her, I do. Whats different this time, is that I do not have any errands to run at all while I do not have her, nor do I have any appointments. Yah! for a few hours of Mommy Time! I was planning to meet a friend for lunch at the Olive Garden, but she just called and cancelled. Not sure what all I will do but I know I will enjoy my 3 hours of Me time and not worry about Kylee or what else needs to be done.

What do you do when you have the chance to have time for yourself?

PJ's for Cheap

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 01:59:00 +0000

I like buying clothes but I have a hard time spending money on pajamas. I'm not sure why. I think it is because all Kylee does is sleep in them and by the time she outgrows them, they are so worn out/stained that I would never give them away as hand-me-downs or sell them.

I came up with a solution:

Some inexpensive flannel from the big discount chain store (1/2 a yard each)

Plus a little sewing time

and you get some cute flannel jammy pants. I also bought some $2 shirts from the big discount chain store. They work great and I've only put about $4 and 20 minutes in each set of jammies.

I made a couple pair of short gaucho like pants and the rest are long pants. They are working out great so far!

warning: these are not flame resistant as says on the label when you buy the fabric. So as long as I keep Ky from smoking in her crib then I think we will be fine.

Does anyone know....?

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:20:00 +0000

How to add all the blogs that I read/keep up on to my side bar without having to add each link? I use bloglines, is there anyway to just get the list from there onto my sidebar all in one shot? I have a lot more blogs that I read now and need to update the ones on my page but dont want to have to add them one by one....someone help me???

She really likes to dress herself

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 03:47:00 +0000

Hi...I got myself dressed again today (mom says we're not leaving the house)

Don't you like?

Anyone up for some jazzersize?

Pretty Lame Post

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 15:35:00 +0000

Febrile Siezures really stink. Kylee has not had one for a couple week though, but she seems to be running a fever on and off, so its just a matter of time. I'm not sure if the fevers are from her teething or something else. She has had problems with ear infections but she doesn't seem to be pulling at her ears like she normally does when she has one. I'm guessing its the teeth but it still stinks. We are always on edge, just waiting and I dont want to live like that. On another note, my White Blood Count is so low that they could not give me my treatment for my Crohn's disease. When I go out, and if I wear a mask (which I'm supposed to because of germs) then I like to draw a big set of lips and teeth for those who like to stare, I think it is just funny. I should take a picture of that sometime. I'm not trying to complain. I just hope the siezures get easier, if that is possible. And for me, I'm used to and have accepted most of the stuff that comes along with the Crohn's and just deal with it the best I can!

Birthdays

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 01:21:00 +0000

I've been learning how to applique and embroider on clothing. I have only done a few things but have come a long way since my first shirt that I did. The very first one I did was for Kylee on a shirt that she had a stain on. I covered it with a colorful flower fabric. It turned out cute but I was not thrilled with my work. From afar it looks cute but not upclose and personal. Anyway, I have been practicing with the thought in mind that I would do something for my niece for her 2nd birthday.

The one above is the first one I did

The one below is what I did for my niece. I Found a couple of denim jackets on sale for $2, so I bought all that they had. I thought this turned out good enough to use as a gift and also made a shirt with some of the fabric in flower shapes. I didn't manage to get pics of the shirt but it basically looks like Kylee's shirt above, only better. I really hope they liked it and will put her in it. Kylee will be getting one of these Jackets for the winter and I have a few more just waiting for someone to come along that needs one. What do you think? Would you want your child to receive one of these as a bday gift?

This Picture is really blurry but here she is wearing her new jacket
and here she is really enjoying her cake
The total cost of the entire gift was about $4, I got the jacket for $2 and a plain white shirt for $2 also, and the fabric scraps I used were free and I already had the thread. How do you give nice gift without spending a fortune?

Pismo Beach, California

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:48:00 +0000

We had the opportunity to go the beach on a very short vacation. Kylee went with Mimi (her great aunt brenda) and Uncle Jim. They take her often for over nighters and treat her as their own. They have had this trip planned for awhile now and we (Jason and I) were able to go for one night. It is only about 3.5 hours from where we live so the drive wasn't to bad. The weather was surprisingly warm and the water was nice. We did not do to much other then walk around downtown and at the pier and hang out on the beach. We were a little jealous when we had to drive back home and Kylee got to stay behind and have fun. Here are just a sampling of the pictures that were taken while there.

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:40:00 +0000

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:33:00 +0000

sharstin79@aol.com (Are We There Yet?) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 03:23:00 +0000