Lots of Christmas pics!

We finally made it to Josh's parents! We felt better on Saturday, so we headed to Kurt and Julie's. Kaia had a great time opening presents and we enjoyed spending time with Josh's parents and his brothers. On Sunday we spent the afternoon with the extended Swaim family at Grandma Betty's. It was great to see everyone and catch up! Here are a few pictures from Christmas with our Swaim family. My editing software isn't working, so don't mind the fact they're not cropped and red eye isn't taken out.

Grandma Swaim and the grandkids and great-grandkids.

Mama and Daddy at Grandma Swaim's

Maisy with Grandma Julie and Grandpa Kurt

Maisy and Grandma Julie!

Playing in her new tent with toys from Grandma's house.

With Uncle Justin!

Crawling on the boxes is almost as fun as opening them!

Opening her present from Uncle Jon

Loving her new table from Mama and Daddy! She did such a great job entertaining herself while we were sick!

What a difference a year makes!

Here's a picture from Christmas this year and Christmas last year. What an amazing difference 1 year makes!! We can't believe our little girl is 16 months old!!

(Don't mind the t.v. in the background...I couldn't get my editing software to work to crop the picture!!)

A not so Holly Jolly Christmas

All is finally calm in the Swaim household tonight after we were hit by a bout with the stomach flu Wednesday night. We were supposed to head to Josh's parents' Wednesday afternoon, but Kaia wasn't feeling well, so we decided to wait until Thursday morning. Then Josh and I both woke up in the middle of the night with the flu. Thankfully Kaia slept peacefully until morning, or else an awful night would've been much worse. We were down for the count all day yesterday and could hardly get off the couch. It was much more difficult having a 1 year old running around and we were disappointed at the timing since all of our friends were out of town and we didn't have anyone to help watch her. But she was an angel and spent most of the day on our laps reading and doing a pretty good job of playing on her own. Last night wasn't as great-she didn't sleep well and was restless all night. But we managed to get some rest and are doing a little better today. It didn't seem like Christmas since we were stuck at home and Santa had come to our house Wednesday morning in anticipation of us being at Josh's parents all weekend (see previous post). But we are thankful to be feeling a little better tonight and mostly just worn out. We hope to be doing much better tomorrow and at least be able to travel to enjoy a belated Merry Christmas! Hope all is well in your households and you are enjoying the celebration of our Saviour's birth!!

Santa Clause is Coming To Town!!

Since we are spending the Christmas weekend with our Swaim family, we decided to have our own Christmas before we left. We were busy packing last night and finishing up wrapping, so we decided to get up early this morning and have Christmas before I left for work, just like Christmas morning. Little did we know exactly how early we would be getting up. Kaia woke up at 3:45 and would not go back to sleep for anything. So at 4:30 we just decided to have Christmas, since we didn't want to wake her up after just getting her back to sleep. We had some breakfast and then Kaia had a great time opening her presents (and so did Mama and Daddy)! Kaia loved all her presents and we had a hard time getting her to put one down to open another! The winner for favorite present goes to the stroller for her baby. I tried moving it out of the way for her to open something else and a fit ensued, so she kept that close by at all times. She had a great time walking around and around and around the island. She quickly wore out and went back to sleep around 6:00 and Mama and Daddy had the fun of picking up and getting ready for work. We're glad she had a great time and are excited for more Christmas fun the next few days!

Giving Daddy a hug after giving him his present.

The hit of the morning! Pushing her baby around in the stroller!

Merry Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We're very excited that there's only 4 more days until Christmas! We're hoping the weather cooperates and doesn't hit us with the big storm predicted for later this week. Kaia started celebrating on Friday with a party at daycare. It was fun to see her with all her little friends and to see the ornament and picture frame she made!! Unfortunately another little girl got sick while at the party and Kaia brought the illness home with her. She got sick later that night and while it was not a fun evening in our household, it only lasted Friday night and she felt much better on Saturday. We got most of our shopping finished up this weekend and now it's time for me to wrap! We're excited for Maisy to open all her presents and see her little face get so excited!

Here are a few pictures from this weekend...

Enjoying her 1st candy cane!! This helped keep her entertained during the first part of church!

Mmmm!

Cheese. This is what I get when I ask Kaia to smile at the camera now!

Our Christmas trees! Kaia has her own and it's helped keep her from touching "mommy and daddy's tree" for the most part. At least until last night when she grabbed an ornament off and dropped it while bringing it to daddy and it shattered. A while later she grabbed another one and took off running. That's when the gate went back up in front of the big tree.

Kaia with her Christmas tree and Frosty (her newest favorite friend)!

Hanging the snowflake she made at daycare on her tree.

Taking her ornaments on and off.

Kaia's favorite video

We discovered this video on YouTube of Santa singing Jingle Bells...it's Kaia's favorite!! A great one if your child loves Santa as much as our daughter!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hY85lqDvmw

Christmas Photo Shoot

I mentioned in a previous post that Kaia's scheduled photo shoot did not go well, to put it mildly. So we decided to attempt to take a few photos on our own at home and at the mall. Here are a few of my favorites.

Memorable Maisy Moments

• Saying "HO HO HO" whenever she sees Santa. She got so excited when she saw him on the news last weekend and was so upset when he went away that we turned on the Santa Clause 2 so she could see him again!
• Her new phrase: "Merry Christmas!" (or something close to that)
• Singing along in her sweet little voice with the Christmas music (she says a syllable like "la"). Her favorites right now are Frosty the Snowman (she says "no man") and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
• Taking a long nap on the couch with Mama on our snow day. I even got to watch an entire movie, uninterrupted!! Hallelujah!!
• Bathing her new doll during bath time. Bath Baby is her newest favorite thing. Everything has to be done to "baby" too-whether we're eating or changing diapers or putting on clothes. And now bath time. It was her early Christmas present from Mama and Daddy and it's really helped us get her to do things-if we do it to baby she wants to do it too! And she no longer cries when she can't take her other dolls in the tub with her because this one is all plastic and safe to get wet!

The Weather Outside is Frightful!

Kaia and I were snowed in on Wednesday when we received 15 inches of snow! It was miserable outside, but we had a great day playing and cuddling indoors. It was a good day to get my mound of laundry done! Josh made it safely to Bloomfield Monday night and got home slowly but safely late yesterday afternoon. We had snow drifts in our driveway that were up to my shoulders and I was thankful that our homeowners association plowed our driveway for us. Although I was unhappy that they did it at 4 a.m. Thursday morning.

Kaia's face says it all. This picture was actually from Tuesday morning before the huge snowfall, but she looked about as happy as I felt about going out in the cold. Doesn't she like such a big girl?!

The little walkway between the snow drift and our garage. This part was shoulder-height. I was thankful for this little walkway and the tiny patch of grass in the middle of the drift for the dogs. I would've taken a picture of them in the snow to compare how small they are and how high the snow was, but Sampson and Berkeley wanted no part of the cold snow. They quickly ran outside and ran right back to the door to come in from the cold! (And I did too!)

Our poor little pumpkins out in the snow. I guess it's about time for them to go now that it's Christmas season!!

Not so cooperative...

Last Saturday Josh and I took Kaia to get her Christmas pictures taken. We'd found her an adorable dress and new shoes that she loves and insists upon wearing all the time. But we hadn't found bows for her hair. So, we set out an hour before her pictures and went to the mall in search of a red or black bow and a white bow. We seriously went into 5 stores with no luck. Including baby stores, department stores, and Claires. Who doesn't have little girls' hairbows at Christmastime? Apparently the question is who does? We finally went to Gymboree and I found a red bow and a white bow after digging through their sales boxes. I almost hugged the sales lady!! We rushed to her photo appointment and got there on time, but then had to wait for 20 minutes before getting Kaia's picture taken. She was happy and smiling and we were feeling optimistic. Then it was Kaia's turn to get her picture taken and my daughter, who has never sucked her thumb a day in her life, would NOT take her thumb out of her mouth! She would not put her hands down and she refused to smile. I tried bribing her with raisins (her new favorite food) to no avail. She'd eat them and put her hands right back up to her mouth. Josh came over to try to get her to smile, which led to a meltdown and Kaia refusing to let go of Daddy. I finally said forget it and decided to change her outfit for our family picture. She cried and squirmed the entire time I was changing her, but we finally got her other outfit on and were ready to go. We were then told we had to wait for the other room and proceeded to wait another 15 minutes for our next photo. We tried Kaia by herself at first, but she just started crying and refused to let go of me, so we took our family photo. At least she stopped crying, but she refused to smile and I felt very frustrated. We ended up only taking 28 photos and almost all of them were terrible. I felt bad for the photographer when she asked if I wanted to reschedule. I said no-I didn't want to waste another 2 hours of time and not have Kaia smile again. So I finally just ordered a family picture where Kaia was looking but not smiling because I felt it would've been a complete waste of time if I didn't have at least some finished product to show for it. As we were waiting I heard another mom (of a little boy who looked to be about 2) say she wasn't going to order any pictures because her son refused to sit and have his pictures taken. So I felt a little better knowing at least I wasn't the only one with an uncooperative child. What made me most frustrated was that she is normally such a happy girl and loves to smile, and I've never had a problem getting her picture taken. I guess it's a sign of things to come in these toddler years. The following is a picture that I took which makes me laugh because it just completely sums up the whole experience....

Thanksgiving Pictures

Looking so big!!

Hugging her new Christmas shoes!! She wore them around all night!

Loving sitting with Nana Hazel!

Thanksgiving dinner...yum!

Eating her corn. After each bite she'd say "mmm!"

Kaia loves Papa Vernon!

Reading with Papa Vernon!

Kaia loves Nana Hazel!

Visitors!

Two Sundays ago we had the pleasure of having two visitors at our house!! Uncle Jon came to visit and we were all very happy to see him!! Kaia loves all her uncles and aunt, so Jon was her best friend as soon as he came over. The funny thing was that she loved him on Saturday night, but wouldn't have anything to do with him on Sunday morning. She wouldn't even look at him-just kept her face buried in Daddy's shoulder. We finally figured out she didn't like his glasses...as soon as he took them off she was his best friend again! Silly girl!!


That same day the Waglers came over and we all had a good time together. Finnean and Kaia had a fun playdate and she exposed him to all things pink and girlie. He loved her guitar and her couch!!


A picture of them together just 2 months ago...they grow so fast!!

A Great Thanksgiving!!

I'm happy to say our family had a great Thanksgiving! Kaia seemed to feel well and had a lot of fun. Because she hadn't been feeling well, we waited until Thursday to head to Nana and Papa Keller's house. That meant Kaia had a chance to watch her 1st Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...which she loved! She loved the balloons and the marching bands, and was especially excited when the Sesame Street float went by. We made it to Nana and Papa's house in the afternoon and had a great Thanksgiving dinner with them. Kaia loved the corn, mashed potatoes, jellied cranberries, and real whipped cream. These were her favorites and she did not want anything else on her plate. She had fun seeing Uncle Greg, Aunt Angie, Uncle Larry, and Aunt Teresa, although she wasn't sure what to think about Larry's beard and didn't warm up to him until he was leaving. Don't worry Larry-she feels the same about Santa! Kaia got along great with Nana and Papa, and she's a bit of a Papa's girl (a lot like her Mama when she was little). But she had lots of hugs and kisses for Nana Hazel too and thought it was funny to stare Papa down and then laugh when she couldn't keep it in any longer. She enjoyed entertaining them and even go to hang out with them by herself for a while, which she loved!

Kaia went on her 1st Day after Thanksgiving shopping trip and did great. She had a lot of fun and got to pick out a few Christmas gifts-thankfully she won't remember and will be so excited to open them on Christmas Day!! Don't worry-we didn't have her out at 5 a.m. We started our shopping at 8:30 a.m. and enjoyed finding most of the things on our list and not having to stand in long lines. She got a few new clothes and we've discovered that she's quickly going to be wearing her 24 months size pants. Some of her 18 mos size pants still fit, but some of them are too short and I tried on her new 24 mos size pants and they are a little long, but not as long as I expected, and they fit her better in the waist. She's getting so big!! At her 15 month appointment we found out she's only gained about 1 lb in the last 3 months, but has grown almost 2 inches. She hadn't eaten much in the last month because she'd been sick, but this last week she's been devouring everything in sight, so we're thinking she's going through a growth spurt (and making up for last month).

We're enjoying all the Christmas decorations-Kaia was very excited about the Christmas trees at the mall and seeing the reindeer and snowmen. She's not too sure what to think about Santa, and will wave to him from a safe distance. We're hoping to get our tree up next weekend, and it will be interesting to see what Kaia does with it. It's an exciting time and even more exciting to see it through the eyes of a child!!

I have lots of pictures to post...I'll try to do that tomorrow-so check back!

Frustration

I was all prepared yesterday to get on the blog and boast about how Kaia had been illness-free for the past week and had been sleeping great and let us get a whole night's sleep Monday night without a peep. Then I got knocked down a few pegs. Her daycare called late yesterday morning and said Kaia was pulling on her ears and being fussier than normal. So I got her into the doctor yesterday afternoon and she was diagnosed with a mild infection in both of her ears and her eyes. Fortunately, the doctor said both were mild and in the early stages, so she shouldn't require drops for either her eyes or ears. So she got another round of antibiotic and I am thankful I took her in when I did. I'm hoping this takes care of it. She slept well last night and ate well this morning and was playing like usual, so hopefully it's not bothering her too much. I'm feeling very frustrated at her being so sick and not staying healthy for long. I'd heard that when kids start daycare they are sick often, but I expected her to have colds...not full-blown illnesses like pneumonia and ear/eye infections. And it's doubly frustrating that this is happening right before Thanksgiving, but it could also be a blessing since I already have the time off work and don't have to take any days this week while she gets better. Hopefully I'll have better news next post! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

15 Months!

Kaia Mae is 15 months today. Her friend Liam turned 1 year this week (Happy Birthday Liam!!), and it made me realize how fast these past 3 months have flown by and yet how long ago it seems we celebrated Kaia's 1st birthday. It's been a busy time and the past month has been full of illness-ever since she started daycare. Which has really put a damper on the excitement of moving and starting a new job. As of today, Kaia still isn't feeling all better and my day off on Wednesday was not as full of fun as I had hoped. She had another high fever, which we went to the doctor for. He took some blood work just to make sure it wasn't some antibiotic-resistant bacteria, since she's been on an antibiotic for 10 days for her bronchitis. It wasn't, which means it's some viral bug that's bringing her down. So all we can do is pray it goes away soon. Last night was another night of little sleep and we're all ready for some rest--literally.

On a positive note, Kaia is learning so many new things and enjoying discovering the world. Lately she has become much better about entertaining herself and her favorite pasttime is being a mama to her dolls. She wraps them up in blankets and gives them a bottle and lays them down to go "nigh nigh". She loves to give them kisses and hugs and always says "aww". She loves to read books and her newest favorite is "5 Little Monkeys"...during which she shakes her finger and says "no more monkeys" during the phrase "no more monkeys jumping on the bed!". We bought her a Sesame Street DVD since she likes the characters on her diaper, and she makes us replay the ABC and Baa Baa Bumba (baa as in a singing sheep) songs over and over again. And she loves when we count things. Her favorite thing to do at daycare is stack the blocks and then knock them over, saying "oh no!". Now whenever she sees blocks anywhere she says "oh no". She's a great helper and LOVES to clean! She must get that from Papa Vernon. Whenever something spills she wants a paper towel to clean it up, and if I'm cleaning something she has to clean something too. Last night she was cleaning the bathtub while taking her bath. She also loves to help with laundry, especially putting the wet clothes in the dryer. She's becoming more and more like a little girl and it's so neat to see her develop and learn new things every day!!

Beautiful!!

We had such beautiful weather this weekend that we had to get out and enjoy it!! Kaia had lots of fun at the park and playing in the leaves! I've been wanting to take her picture in the leaves for a couple weeks, but she'd been sick and it's been so cold that we hadn't had a chance. Plus, it seemed like they fell so quickly and got cleaned up that I hadn't found any to take her picture in! Luckily, we stumbled across some in the park this weekend and she had a great time!