Chickens

I'm so sad! We got four chickens in March.  One suddenly died in April and then another was killed by a predator (raccoon we think) in May.  So we were left with two little girls.  Today I got a call from my Dad who drove by our place and saw a coyote eating one of our other chickens.  We haven't been home yet so I'm not sure if the coyote got one or both of our chickens.  This sucks.  If we have one left we'll find her a new home.  I'm done with this - I'm not cut out to be a chicken owner and we obviously have too many predators to keep them safe.  It makes me sick to think of the last moments of that little chickens life...again, this sucks!

The Zoo

Saturday we went to the zoo with friends in the morning, the temps were HOT with a high that afternoon of 102.  I felt like a baked potato when we got home.  It didn't squelch K's love for the carousel at the zoo, which is by far her favorite part - she rode the polar bear twice, once with M and once with me.  She also loved seeing her little friends which included the two sons of our friends L&J, who are 4 and 1, and a son and daughter of our friends A&B, who are 3 and 8 months.  And the final love, ice cream.  She had almost a whole ice cream cone to herself while watching the monkeys swing to and fro.  I'm so happy we got a membership to the zoo this year, I just think our next outing won't be on such a hot day.  Here are a few pics:

Blurry but K and I on the carousel

Friends L&J with their son Jack (1) eating lunch

Friends A&B stopping for some lunch.  A is nursing their daughter (8mo) and their son is playing with the stroller while K is pointing something out to M (L&J's son - 4).

Our attempt at getting a picture of all the kids together - none of them looking at the camera, nice ;-)

This wasn't from the zoo but was such a funny picture.  Lately when I ask to take her picture she takes of running - little stinker!

Cleared for Take Off

Our FET cycle starts today!  No cysts on ultrasound and blood work shows E2=24 and P4<1, both of which are great.  I'll start estrogen on Sunday and transfer date will depend on monitoring (ultra sounds and blood work) that will be every other day starting on 7/3.  Here we go =)

ABC's

K sang the full ABC song yesterday - possibly the cutest thing I have ever heard =)

Weaned

Saturday morning K woke up and was so excited about going upstairs to play in her PJs that she didn't ask for milk.  We decided to use that as day 1 of weaning.  She had only been nursing 1x a day for about 8 weeks so our plan was to tweak morning routine and hope that she wasn't too sad about giving up her last nursing session.  Well, she hasn't asked for milk since.  I am shocked!  Milk had been the first word out of her mouth every morning for a LONG time, months and months.  I am more thankful that I can say that she is finding this transition easier than we expected.  She had been a tad bit fussier for the first 15 minutes in the morning but that's it.  We're only on day 4 so I wouldn't say we're 100% out of the woods yet but hopefully we're on the right track.

I on the other hand am having some emotional/hormonal issues with the transition.  It's to be expected, I know.  Hopefully that resolves itself within a few weeks.  The physical side hasn't been too bad, I was more uncomfortable when I went from nursing twice a day to once a day than I am now.  It's amazing how fast the human body adapts.  Any advice from BTDT mom's on how to make this transition better for K or me would be much appreciated =)

Official 2 Year Stats

K had her 2 year appointment today - she is 27lb4oz (56th%) and 34.5" (49th%).  The doctor is very happy with her development and said she is measuring well ahead on motor and verbal skills.  She gave us some hints about getting more calcium since K has an aversion to drinking milk.  Luckily she loves the cheese, yogurt, etc. options for substitutions.  She got her last Hep A booster and that will be in for shots until she's 5 I think *whew*  She screamed during the shot but was very impressed with her tweety bird band-aid and we talked about how brave she was, she looks so proud when she says "Kylie brave" *love*  We also went to the park before her appointment and she got to go on whatever slide/swing she wanted because apparently NO ONE is at the park at 8:30am on a Friday.  Who knew?  So all is well in her world =)  

I didn't blog about it but will now so I can include a picture.  Last weekend we went to a children's museum in our town for the 1st time.  They have a huge pirate ship, all kinds of fun science stuff, a theater they can play dress up and dance in, a picnic area, etc.  It was so cool!  Here's a picture of her in the pulley chair...it doubles as an arm workout for me ;-)

I still can't believe this little girl of ours is already 2, so crazy!

Heart Breaking

Today two great IF friends had heart breaking losses.  Leslie lost her child at 18 weeks pregnant.  She has some very tough days ahead with an induction this weekend.  Another friend, Kerryl, lost her husband today.  Their one year old son will grow up without his Daddy.  Two such heart breaking losses - I can't even begin to imagine how much pain my friends are in.  My thoughts go out to both of them and I just wish I could come up with something to say that would ease their pain just a little.  I love you girls and I'm here for whatever you need.  I'm wishing you strength and sending lots and lots of {{{HUGS}}}

We Made It!

M is back from his trip =)  K missed him  a lot but she seemed to understand when I told her he was on a trip.  We talked about him being on the plane and everything.  By the time he came home she knew "daddy up in plane", "daddy down on ground", "daddy in Hawaii".  The amount she understands amazes me.  She is at such a helpful age that we did great while he was gone.  She helped make dinner, get things ready to go in the morning, etc.  Friday we have her 2 year appointment.  I can't wait to get the official weigh in and measure.  Need to run and get some sleep so I can run at 5am *yawn* so I'll close with a picture.  Here she is making a huge mess of herself with sidewalk chalk and obviously loving it!  I'm still trying to get the pants clean =)

Road Trip

It was nothing like the movie *LOL*  I love that movie though =)

Anyway, we went to Casper, WY this weekend (a 270 mile drive each way) for M's grandpa's 90th birthday party.  We aren't exactly road trip pro's as parents...we've stuck pretty close to home.  So we weren't sure how it would go.  Friday afternoon we left at nap time and hoped K would nap in the car - she did but only 45 minutes instead of her normal 2 hour nap.  We stopped once at a rest stop and made it in just under 4 hrs - M sat in the back seat with her and gave her snacks, played with her on the iPad, etc.  We got checked into our hotel and then went to visit with M's grandparents and aunt.  We managed to get a suite so that we could put the crib (hotel cribs totally look like baby jails BTW) in the living room area and close the door to watch a Netflix movie on the iPad after she went down.  It worked out great and after her normal bath and story time she slept like a champ.  The next morning we went back for more visiting before the party.  They were very happy to spend time with K since they had not seen her in a year.  She's obviously changed SO much and she is their only great grand child.  After a couple hours at the party we got back in the car to drive home.  She napped a little longer this time, an hour and 15 minutes, and the drive was a little faster (3.5 hrs) due to lighter traffic on the weekend. Overall she managed the trip with very short spurts of fussiness and generally was a good traveler.  I feel like a total sissy though - traveling with kids is SO much work!  Since traveling is something M and I LOVED before having kids I like to fool myself that it will be easier as she gets older...I may lie to myself =)  Here are some photos from the weekend:

Sitting in the chair her great grandpa made  that her grandma and daddy both used when they were little

Playing with Grandma

The party was at this lodge type place and she so wanted to play with the fish hanging in the wood carved bear's hand

Yesterday was a catch up day.  We did 5 loads of laundry, the grocery shopping, mowed/trimmed the lawn, cleaned the horse stalls and chicken coop.  But we also managed to get out for a walk in the morning and play with K's new sidewalk chalk. She had it all over - the pants have been washed twice and I'm not sure it's all gone.  Tips?

Today M is off on a full week long business trip (back next Monday).  I am lucky that he travels rarely (once or twice a year) for work but it doesn't stop me from sniveling when he does.  I miss him already and I'm not sure his plane is even off the ground yet.  He is going to Hawaii , the Big Island, where we were married.  I've never been jealous of a business trip but am close on this one...if it wasn't for the 12 hrs a day of conference meetings he has of course.  Hopefully this week goes by fast *fingers crossed*