20 Months Old!

Kiera Rita turned 20 months old yesterday! She's such a kick recently, I can't stand it. Her new favorite lines are, "I don't see it" and "I can't find it". We laugh every single time. It never gets old! She knows more than one small child should and constantly shares it with us. She's almost at the point where she's "reading" Good Night Moon to us...she knows what's going on on every page and tells us. She can even tell me the color of the balloon...although she can identify the color red on most things...and green most of the time too. It's fascinating to just sit back and watch her. Currently, her favorite television shows are Dora the Explorer and Go Diego, Go...Go, go, go being her favorite of favorites. I think she has a crush on Diego because whenever he pops up in Dora she gets SO excited! It's adorable. She loves to dance and do the head bob when she does so. And she's recently discovered how to jump and she jumps so high!

On the flip side she's also getting very opinionated and gets very upset when she doesn't get her way. I was doing something last night and she wanted to go into the spare bedroom to "go nigh-nigh" (she loves to curl up in the bed, after turning off the light, and play like she's going to sleep...a McHugh all the way :) and I told her "no" because I was doing something. She would not have this...I let her have her crying, "nigh nigh nigh nigh nigh" and there was stomping and even a small head banging involved, but after three minutes she curled up on my lap with her thumb in her mouth and forgot all about it. I just have to learn not to give her everything she wants and she'll eventually get over it...it's so hard sometimes. It's no wonder so many of my children at school expect the world handed to them on a platter...because it's so easy to spoil them...especially to keep them quiet :)

I'm so freaking excited for the holiday season to officially begin this weekend! My dad and Camille will be down for our Christmas Celebration Saturday and we're going to have such a great time. Kiera can't get enough of my father when she's with him. It's "papa, papa, papa...". She loves him so much, it melts my heart!

On Tuesday we'll get to find out (hopefully) if Kiera's going to have a little sister or a little brother! Yea!! What a great Christmas present for all of us!!

Mom-Mom McHugh will also be in New Jersey for the week to attend the ultrasound and celebrate Christmas morning with us! I couldn't be more excited that she will be with us for the opening of gifts. Kiera definitely doesn't get the whole idea of Christmas yet, but she LOVES Santa and LOVES presents...so I think it will be a really fun morning when we rotate all her old toys to the basement and she has all brand new ones to play with!

Needless to say, I am just beside myself with joy this holiday! Next year will bring a whole new set of fabulousness too! I feel so blessed to have a happy and healthy family and that's all the present I need.

Holiday Cards...

My little girl has the most beautiful smile, but it's too bad you'll never see it in pictures...it's either so fast that the camera can't catch it or she down right refuses to do it :( It makes me SO sad! So this year, I've taken 100 pictures of the small child and in NOT ONE is she smiling for our holiday cards! However, I did manage to get the pugs in this year, which was a feat in itself, so cheers to that! Maybe next year she'll give us a smile with her new brother or sister...here's to hoping!

Let the Diving Begin!

Early in November, Kiera...who refuses to sit in her booster seat at our house, but is perfectly fine with it at Jen's...was eating on a chair in the kitchen when she went to get off of it (with my back turned) and dove onto the tile floor...oy!

Then last night she took a flying leap out of her crib...onto carpet, thank goodness, but still! She was screaming bloody murder and I was scared to death! She is definitely going to give us quite a run for our money with the calamities! I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with it!

Kiera has always been THE best baby when it comes to sleeping in her crib. She's been sleeping in there since the night we brought her home. I can count on one hand the number of nights that we've had to get her in her little life...and those have been times of sickness or teeth. We have our nighttime routine and she abides by it to a tee. I'm so nervous about having to put her in a bed. I don't want to have to lay with her to make her fall asleep, she shouldn't need that because she puts herself to sleep perfectly in her crib. But I know the minute I take away the bars she'll be out of there in a flash! I know there would come a time for this...I just didn't expect it to be this soon.

I'm having "sleeping" issues to begin with in my own mind because although we have four bedrooms in the house, only two are upstairs. Therefore Kiera and Baby McHugh Two will have to share a room. So...this will be a whole new dilemma for us! As I said, Kiera's been in her crib in her room from day one...this new baby will be with us in a bassinet or something similar until we know it won't wake up Kiera. Kiera used to wake up in the middle of the night and coo instead of cry and that would wake me up to feed her...but what if we have a screamer next??!! I can't put them in the same room, it's not fair to Kiera. Oy! My father, who has a bedroom downstairs, has offered to give it up to us, but #1 I don't want to take away his room #2 our furniture won't fit in that room, and #3 I don't want to be that far away from the babes! Sean and I may take up his offer in like ten years, bang out the two bedrooms to make them one, put in a bathroom and make it a master bedroom, but for now...we're stuck.

So that's been on my mind and now I need to begin seriously considering toddler beds...might as well get it over with before small being #2 comes into our lives! If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to pass them my way because I am STUCK!

And now she's 19 Months Old!

I have had every intention of giving our faithful readers...hahaha...an update almost every day this past month and it has not happened! Things have been SO hectic and I'm just plain exhausted!!

As most of you know, Kiera is going to be a BIG SISTER in May! We're thrilled and equally scared. As someone very close to us said so poignantly, "I'm happy for you, but surprised because you always complain about money." Well...yes, that's a HUGE concern on our end...HUGE! I have NO idea what to do come September when I have to return to work in order to pay the bills and provide care for two children, but I have to or else. I'm seriously considering selling the house and moving into a trailer or tent. But as so many people have also said to us, if you wait until you have enough money, you'll never have children. I'm thinking about renting out the basement for some extra cash...wouldn't that be fun?

This past month has been exciting and overwhelming all in one. I was blessed with the most horrific case of the flu from October 21st to the 27th. It was RELENTLESS. I was never so tired in my whole life and couldn't do basic functions except lie down and drink fluids. I slept all the time and thankfully we have the most amazing neighbors who took Kiera after day care for the evenings so that #1 I didn't expose her to my germs and #2 so that she would actually be taken care of! Sean works nights, so that cut him out and I didn't want to bring anyone into my house...driving anywhere was like I was drunk, so that was out too! We were VERY lucky!! I even had friends calling on Saturday the 24th offering to pick her up and take them to their houses...seriously blessed.

When that was over the recovery time took a while for me to return to normal! If being pregnant didn't make me tired enough, I now needed to recover from the flu and our wonderful little girl didn't help the matter too much :) This whole 18th month of hers has been so absolutely delightful I cannot fully explain it in words. She's learned so much, says so much, does so much...it's truly overwhelmingly hard to keep up with it all! I cannot get over how "big" and "old" she's become in such a short period of time!

But the title to this blog is most certainly in play now, KHAOS! Our house is always turned upside down from the craziness, she runs and runs and runs...often with something on her head...around and around and around. It's exhausting to watch let alone be part of. My friend Lozelle was over all day yesterday and by 7:15 was tired from just watching her play and dash from room to room...she's into everything!

I'm getting so excited for Christmas morning when she sees all her new toys that she gets to play with! We didn't get her too many things...as you know, money is tight...but the things we did get her are fabulous and I know she's going to love them!! I can't wait to watch her play!! She's the most exciting person I know...and that's scary and funny...haha...

Kiera is a Year and a Half!

I cannot believe that our baby girl is half-way to being two. I know that it is such a cliche to say, and I probably say it every month, but I cannot believe how fast time is flying by! Just a moment ago she was a tiny, helpless infant and now she's a little girl who says, "me do". I have been in love with every stage of Kiera's life so far. With every new discovery comes this joy that I can't quite explain. This age is no exception.

I love the mimicking of every word and action that I make. I love it that I can make her smile and laugh harder than she's ever smiled and laughed before. I love it that she demands to do things herself all the time. I love that she knows the names of so many objects in and out of books and can find them. I love that she's so sweet to us and her stuffed animals with hugs and kisses. I love snuggling up with her to watch Elmo. I love her sweet voice when she says something or asks for something. I love it when she runs to me like she hasn't seen me in forever. I love it when she pours water over her head in the bathtub and laughs hysterically at herself. I love how she colors in a coloring book and plays with play dough. I love it when she drinks something that she's unsure that she likes and makes this face of confusion. I love her period.

She's this extraordinary person whom I look at sometimes in wonderment that she's ours, that we created her, that she'll be with us forever! Now don't get me wrong, there are certainly times when she knows exactly how to press my buttons and become a little crankstar. There are definitely times when she's doing everything and anything she can that she's not supposed to do. There are times when I say, where did this small child come from and what happened to Kiera??!! But those times are few and far between and even then she's still pretty damn cute :)

I feel tired and blessed every single day...and I never want it to end!

Cutest Little Flower Girl EVER

This past weekend Kiera was in her very first wedding. Uncle Daddy and Aunt Kristine got married in Ocean City and Kiera was their one and only flower girl! She was so cute in her little white dress...but wanted to be in the ocean the entire time :)

She's also 17 months old now and doing some super adorable things...She says "bye bye", "please", "thanks", "uh-oh", "stay away", "nigh-nigh", "go" and many more that I can't think of right

this very moment. My sister took the funniest video of her dancing where she looked like she was twisting her hips all around...it's too much!

I'm back at work now for almost a month and she's doing SO well at her new sitter's house. She LOVES her and the other kids and often does not want to go home with me...which makes me so sad, yet so happy all at once. I most certainly do not want her crying all day. I'm so relieved that it's all worked out. I'm not 100% thrilled with the girl's personality who's watching her, but she's growing on me. She's loving towards the children and fun, but there's something there that I just don't love....can't pinpoint it. And believe me, I'm NOT looking for something...that's the last thing on my mind!! There's just something about her that makes me a little crazy. But she loves Kiera and that's all I can ask for.

The End is Near...

I just wrapped up being the Mommy of three :) I stole my nephews for five days and loved every minute of it! They were so much fun to have around and I hope that they had a good time being here. I think they're going to be incredible BIG brothers in January!

As the days pass by I'm becoming increasingly weary about leaving Kiera on a daily basis...again. I hate the thought of her with someone whom I don't know. I'm having anxiety. I hope that I've given Kiera the kind of summer she deserved. I know that it's one that I'll never forget.

Here are some of the things that she's doing right now...She...

• Can find her nose, mouth, eyes, ears, hair, and teeth.
• LOVES to play patty-cake and even traces a 'K' for "mark it with a K!"
• Knows how to wash her hands by getting the soap and rubbing her hands together.
• Can put three puzzles completely together.
• Can fit shapes into their spaces.
• Colors.
• Can follow instructions.
• Knows how to turn the cable box on and off and run the DVD player (scary).
• Makes the silliest sounds with her mouth...including animal noises like a puppy, lion, duck, bear, bee, and sheep...we have been working on a cat all summer long and we're not there yet.
• Sets up her little table by her chair when I tell her I'm going to get her a snack and then puts her bowl on it.
• Can get a specific book that I ask her to get from her book shelf or basket...her favorite is the super sleuths :)
• Eats with a fork and spoon.
• Gives kisses and blows kisses when you ask her to say "I love you!"
• Yells, "stop!" at the dogs when I tell them not to do something...oops...my fault!
• Says "no", but means "yes" most of the time...especially when I ask her if she wants to eat...she says, "no" and then goes to get her chair.
• Talks up a storm and completely knows what she's saying...and much of it comes out in question form.
• I love it when she's thinking of something to say and she begins it with "ummm..." It's hysterical!!!

There are so many other things...she's super funny! I can't wait to see what the next few months bring!

Mid-August

The time is coming dangerously close when I have to return to work and I couldn't be sadder. I hope that I have given Kiera an outstanding summer...one that I can remember...We've been busy bees back and forth to the beach, swimming in our neighbor's pool, and playing playing playing.

The time is also coming near to when we bring her to a new sitter. Nicole was our ultimate Godsend last fall and now the future is quite unknown. With Nicole I knew that Kiera would not only be taken care of, but loved like she was one of Nicole's own children and Nicole did not disappoint. There was never one day that I worried about Kiera's well-being...now...who knows. I like this new sitter, but I don't know her...she's not our friend...I'm sure it will be fine fine fine...but the unknown is scary. I just wish that we would win the lottery that we never enter and I wouldn't have to work :) And Sean wouldn't have to travel all the way down to Cape May every week to work and we could be home and happy :) But that is not to be, so off I go, back to work to love someone elses children for 8ish hours a day while someone else loves mine. *sigh*

15 Months Old!

Kiera Rita is 15 Months Old...on our 5 year Wedding Anniversary...anyone who knows me knows that I love numbers that relate to one another, it's so exciting :)

She's so amazing that I can't even stand myself. She's doing puzzles...and getting them right. She can ask for what she wants either by pointing to it or going to it. She does funny animal noises, even though she still says, "woof woof" for the cats...haha...She loves to kiss you and when you say, "I love you," she blows you a kiss. And when she's not babbling complete conversations, she's saying, "hi!" to everyone, including strangers. She is truly the mayor!

At her doctor's appointment she was measured in and is 21.1 pounds and 30 inches tall. He says he believes she has a fast metabolism which makes sense because both Sean and I did as kids...Sean still does...:)

I'm so lucky to be her mommy and can't wait to see what the next month holds in store!

In Case You Were Wondering...

We did in fact make it to the beach on Thursday...however the sun did not join us :) We were playing on the beach in sweatshirts and loving every minute of it! Kiera and I went to the beach today with my friend Janine as well...she even slept there...Yea! She's got the cutest little tan lines and LOVES the water now. She even made a new friend, Brice. This weekend we are off to Cape May to see Aunt Rebec and have some fun in the sun there too! We can't wait!

Our Little Sickie

Kiera had a hard go of it this week...I should have known that she was getting sick on Sunday because she was super cranky and ONLY wanted Mommy...

On Monday morning she woke up with a 102.5 fever. Ick. We gave her some Motrin, called the doctor and made an appointment. They think she has a cold because everything else was clear. They sent us home with directions to do Tylenol then Motrin every four hours and see how she is. Well at 12:30 I gave her the first round of Tylenol and at 1:30 she had a 104.2 fever! I felt SO bad! We had to do a sponge bath and try to get it down. She was so lethargic and just laid on me all day long. We watched movies and dozed off together. She was a little cuddle bug and I felt so bad for her! In TRUE Kiera form, she slept completely through the night. Phew!

By her bedtime she was down to 101.5, so I felt good about that and yesterday she was consistently in the 99s...this morning she was back up to 101.5, but kept it down after that. Oy!

I think my biggest issue is not knowing. It's so hard to see them suffer and not know how to help them and she wasn't able to tell us where it hurt...the doctor also said that she's getting three more molars that are all coming in at the same time, so she's in pain there too.

Otherwise, we're hoping to get her out and about tomorrow. She had a brief afternoon out today visiting Daddy at Monmouth University and then Auntie Maria who just had surgery to cheer her up...but she needs some fun and sun! So we'll try tomorrow and see how it goes! She's such a peanut and I couldn't love her anymore than I do!

Days with Auntie Dee

My sister Danielle saved me yesterday and came in to watch the Kiera Rita for the day while I worked!! They had THE best time together, laughing, playing, went to the park, tired her out SO much that she took a THREE hour nap in the afternoon!!! I need her here every single day!! It's so sad that we live an hour and a half away from each other because I would really like to be right on top of her all the time :) I'm stealing the boys for a week in August whether she likes it or not...she thinks a week is too long for ME! But I can't wait!! I have so many plans and am so excited for it! She's been THE best Aunt to Kiera. She's made a conscious effort to be here at least once a month for a weekend so that Kiera will know her and I love that! She doesn't let me do anything while she's here...which I also love :) She cooks, cleans, takes complete care of Kiera...and I put my feet up hahaha...I miss her already!!!

My Little Walker...aka Calamity Jane!

Kiera is our little walker right now! She's up and about and I love about 99.9% of it! I'm so happy that today at the park I didn't have to worry about her having to crawl through the wood chips, she can walk to the front door so I can lug all of our crap, and walking back and forth entertains her for hours on end :)

However, the down side is the attempts at running and then falling. She's so banged up, I feel awful. Every time I turn around she's bumping into things or falling face first into something. She's such an amazing baby though with the best disposition and everything bounces right off of her...not literally unfortunately...but emotionally, yes.

I'm so hoping that this weekend stays nice and clear and hot so we can go to the beach! We have our music class on Saturday and Molly and Rae Ann will be coming with me, so I'm excited for them to see Kiera in action! They'll love it! And Sunday Sean and I are hoping to get to Island Beach State Park again before Danielle comes. Here's to hoping...

I'm off to my 2nd to last day of work tomorrow morning, so off to bed I go!

Daddy Daughter Day!

Sunday was our 2nd Annual Daddy-Daughter Day! We had such a great time, despite the fact that Little Miss had a runny nose, a HUGE molar popping through her gums and a low grade fever because of it! We headed off to Jenkinsons for an afternoon of cloudy weather (but NO rain yet) fun!!

We took Kiera to the aquarium first and she absolutely LOVED it! She would stand on the little shelf in front of the tanks and watch the fish with such innocence and enthusiasm. Those fish are funny...it's like they know that you're watching and come right up to you! She thought it was awesome. She wasn't into the sharks, but loved the coral reef fish...bright colors :) They had the biggest puffer fish I've EVER seen and it scared the hell out of me.

Then we took her to go on some rides. She had such fun on the carousel and loved the Dumbo ride...although Sean's stomach did not. Sean got on all the rides for free, so he was the designated ride guy. Finally, we had a really nice lunch at the Tiki Bar.

Today was the last day of school so I have eight weeks off with my peanut and I'm super excited about it! I just hope that the weather improves because I am completely over this rain! I have so many plans and none of them include RAIN!

My sister Danielle is coming down on Sunday to watch Kiera for me on Monday while I wrap up some curriculum work and I'm super excited to see her! She is THE MOST AMAZING Sister and Aunt and I'm so blessed to have her in my life. She's always made it her business to get down here, but since Kiera's been born she's really made it her business to be down here! I cannot even begin to explain the feelings I get when I see them together...Kiera just adores her...and the boys (her very first cousins). To think of not having both of my sisters in my life is painful...I hope they know how grateful I am to have them in my life...and Kiera's life, especially.

Quick Update on Our 14 Month Old!

Kiera is currently walking/running/falling all by herself :) She's been on the go for a little over a week now and it's super exciting! I love to see her "drunken" waddle all over. She tries to hold things while walking which is always fun. She's such a lovey dovey when she wants to be...kisses, hugs, laughing...but she can switch quite quickly to the big frown and crying. Sigh. But normally she's overwhelmingly happy and we can't get enough of it.

I'll be off for the summer starting next week and it can't come soon enough! I'm so lucky to have a job that allows me to spend so much time at home with my family. I'm very much hoping, however, that this recent rain STOPS! The weekends have been mostly clear, so that's great, but the weeks have been unbearable! I cannot believe how much it's rained this month. I want to be able to take Kiera for long walks, to the beach, to the park and outside in general. We bought her a baby pool and water table for the deck and I want to be able to actually use them.



This weekend is Father's Day...Yea! Kiera and I got Daddy the best present :) Saturday night is also "date night" for Sean and I. We're so hoping that the rain will not dampen our plans to eat at our favorite outdoor restaurant. Our neighbor's daughter comes over to sit on our couch and watch the monitor for twoish hours and it's joyful! Kiera's a very good sleeper...usually 7 to 7 or later...so Brianna usually has a great night of movies to look forward to :)

This has nothing to do with Kdog...except maybe her future...

I'm not usually a cause-head...those people make me INSANE and FRUSTRATED...but after seeing Oprah's Earth Day special so many weeks ago, my kids at school, whom I showed clips of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to, have been psycho about recycling....so here's just a little update about what we've been looking into.

I don't know if you were unaware like we were, but plastic water bottle tops, and other twist on caps, cannot be recycled by most recycling plants! Not only that, but they can create a hazardous environment for the workers in the plants. They can cause the bottles to explode in the machines or they can jam them. I feel like I've been really trying to do my part and some of my part has now been negated...so sad. So make sure that you take the tops off of ANY bottle that you recycle...shampoo, laundry detergent, milk containers, etc. Look into your local recycling rules and whether or not they'll take the caps with your recycling or if you have to throw them in the regular trash. But either way, take them off your bottles!

Here's some information about bottle caps:

http://environment.about.com/od/recycling/a/plastic_lids.htm

My kids and I have been looking into things that we can do with our bottle caps. There are the obvious ones like use them to create a game or crafts, but how many games can you make out of the hundreds of caps we collect a week...and we have been collecting them. So one of my kids found a website from Aveda Haircare and they will collect your bottle caps and recycle them back into shampoo bottles! I'm enrolling my school for September, the Intermediate School already does it, and I'm so excited about it!

Here's the website just in case you or your place of work wants to get involved!

http://aveda.aveda.com/aboutaveda/caps.asp

And some fun ideas of what to do with them if you don't want to throw them away or get involved with Aveda:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2186733_recycle-bottle-caps.html

The Pugs Formally Known As My Kids...

Let me preface this blog by saying that I love my animals...all freaking four of them :) However, they are driving me up the WALL!! To go through the laundry list of nonsense that I have to deal with on a daily basis would take forever, but here are some of the highlights from just this past week...

• Molly and Rae Ann were over for dinner and we were eating in the dining room. We kept watching the dogs go up and down the stairs...clue to something being up...so I dash upstairs to find poop in the hallway and pee all over the shower curtain!!! WHAT??? They're seven and five!! They are outside all the time!!
• I brought animal crackers to the beach in a zip lock bag...you know where this is going...Kiera didn't eat them all, so in the beach bag they stayed. I come home from a walk to find the beach bag torn apart, the zip lock bag in shreds, and no animal crackers. Sigh.
• Yesterday I'm playing with Kiera in the living room and the dogs are futzing in the kitchen. All of a sudden I hear a rustling sound like they have paper...but that's not the case, Luke has THREE diapers that he managed to fish out of the garbage. I can't win!
• Finally, I don't have a whole lot of time or energy to vacuum, vacuum, vacuum...but last night I vacuumed for over a half an hour getting every last piece of animal annoyance that I can off the carpet in the living room...what do I come home to today you ask?? Poop on the carpet...not only do they enjoy pooping during the day (after I've let them out twice before I go to work in the morning) but they DIG in it...Nice, right??

Maybe some of those things are my fault...like leaving the cookies in the bag and the bag in reach of the pugs...but the others?? What else can I do??

And don't get me started on the cats! Sera hides out in the basement because she hates the dogs...I wonder why...and if we let her up at night, she scratches up the carpet so badly that we can't get it back to normal. This with every scratching post I can find showered with cat nip which she loves...Leia, well Leia, she's a pee-er...and if you've ever smelled cat pee, you wouldn't forget it. We can forgive Leia just a smidge because she has very bad back legs and has since she was a kitten...but she's constantly peeing out of the litter box...and sometimes will just be lazy and go on the floor...it's overwhelmingly gross. Our downstairs bathroom in covered in wee-wee pads like we have a puppy or she'll pee all over the floor.

Honestly, I just can't take it anymore! I'm ready to lock them all in one cage and let them work it all out themselves. Who would have thought that I would have to deal with this crap with two cats who are nine, and pugs who are no longer puppies. It's so frustrating! It's funny too because if we had stuck to one cat and one dog it would have been Leia and Luke...the worst of the four of them. Sera, other than the scratching is a great cat and Bella is wonderful too...most of the time...so I would've been SOL anyway :)

And believe you me...they get attention! They're always with us, Luke right now is laying with me and my left arm is resting on his back as I type. They also still sleep with us...which I wish with everything in me that I never started. He was just so damn cute as a puppy. Urg.

On the upside...Kiera loves them. She kisses them constantly, laughs when they play, and is getting really good at giving them pets. I also enjoy petting them and watching them do silly pug things. I wish it could always be like that...

Beach Babe

Kiera adamantly refuses to wear a hat at the beach. I have tried every kind of hat we have, I have tried to distract her with toys, ANYTHING, but she will not keep it on...so I spray her entire head with sunscreen :) It's worked so far. The beach itself is a lot of fun...and yet an adventure with Kiera Rita. She loves loves loves the sand. It's always all over everything, which is fine with me. I'm sure she's ingested quite a lot of it as well, but a little roughage never hurt...builds that great immunity she seems to have. I've been taking her on Saturdays when Sean works to a free beach that I love on the river in Pt. Pleasant. It's great because it's not crowded, the parking lot is a hop and skip away from the sand and did I mention that it's FREE! So I love it. She usually spends most of her time going from the towel to the chair and back again bringing a ton of sand wherever she is. But yesterday she decided that it would be a fantastic idea to crawl away from our blanket like a little crab. Sigh. I thought I was so lucky, but wasn't for long. She's exhausting...but she was also exhaustED because we went home and she slept for over 2 hours! All that after taking an hour and a half long nap in the morning, so that was the best part! One of my friends sent me a link to a Preschool Rock class for Saturday mornings that I'm also seriously considering. That would be so much fun...for me :) haha...Kiera LOVES music and dancing and making noise with things, so this may be right up her alley...I'm just concerned that it won't hold her interest for 45 minutes and I'll just be chasing her around. But if not this year, then definitely next.

I'm off to relax for a few minutes while she's napping this afternoon!

Little Miss Tude

Kiera has decided that it's cool to have a mini tude...it's simply adorable :) She knows exactly what she wants and moreso what she doesn't want and lets you know about it...quite loudly. She's also getting pickier about food, which is fun. Last week Donna was in and I made Kiera eggs and eggos for breakfast. She put a tiny piece of the egg in her mouth...by complete accident because she was going for the eggo and wasn't paying attention...and the milisecond it touched her tongue she screamed bloody murder. It was hysterical! She cried and cried and cried like her life was ending! I swept it out of her mouth, but the crying wouldn't stop and she wouldn't eat anything else off her tray for breakfast or lunch...I guess she thought I was trying to poison her. Freaking hilarious. Along with her mini tude she's also aquired the love of kissing. It's the cutest thing. She'll come over to you, lean in and put her lips on your lips...sometimes open mouthed which is super. She will also kiss the animals which I just love! Sometimes she will get mad at you, swat at you, feel bad, and give you a kiss. It's something else!

We had a glorious Mother's Day. We went to Allaire State Park again, as we did last year, and the weather cooperated this year! We walked around, took her on the swings, and ate some lunch and played in the grass outside the chapel that Sean and I got married in. I just loved every minute of it! The one piece that was missing was my mom, but Kiera fills my heart so much that I actually didn't cry this year...shocking.

Sean has begun a "new job" this week. He had to leave his archaeological job because they weren't paying their employees...sooo he's back at the Fudge Kitchen four days a week and two days with his professor at Monmouth University. So there are four days when I will be a single mom and it's exhausting! Sean's been away before, but there's always a light at the end of the tunnel...we're stuck here until October!! Urg. I know that it's what has to happen so that we can pay the mortgage, but I've never ever been so tired. I got up at 5am this morning, showered, got ready, got her up and out of bed, bottle, dealt with the dogs, got all our bags together, out the door to Nicole's by 6:45, 20 minutes to Nicole's, 40 minutes to work, WORK, WORK, WORK, meeting after work until 4:30, 30 minutes home, Nicole dropped Kiera off, PLAY, PLAY, PLAY, eat, bath, bottle, bed, CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN. I'm done. He'll be home late tonight and I'll have a hand tomorrow and then he goes away again...sigh. So I have to pull it together and know that this is what our family needs right now and just smile when he actually gets paid!

I'm off to finish watching American Idol...GO ADAM...and pop into bed!! Good night!

New Blog

I felt SO bad that I've been a complete Blog-Hog on my Motherless Daughters' blog that I've decided to create another one for strictly Kiera business...

There are so many days when I just want to babble on and on about Kiera and being a "working mom" and I feel bad laying it out there on my other blog when I should reserve that for sad "mommy days".

So check in here for doses of Kiera nonsense...working mom craziness...and rants in general :)

Kiera had a very hard week...she's had a runny nose, so we thought it was just because of her teeth, but it ended up being because she had a 102 fever and an ear infection :( Sean rushed home on Tuesday...because my job doesn't allow for such things like caring for your child in emergencies...and took her to the doctor. She's been on meds since Tuesday night and seems to be doing much better...phew!

Otherwise this weather SUCKS and I'm hoping for some sun tomorrow??!! We really need to get out of the house very soon! Cross fingers for me!

Kiera is ONE today!

Kiera Rita was born on a day much like this ONE year ago today! It's unbelievable to me that an entire year has past. She's becoming this little person with so much personality...and dare I say, a little bit of an attitude :)

This time last year I was exhausted (for lack of a better word)...I'd been having contractions for over two days and delivered her in record time at 10:49am on Wednesday morning. I wouldn't change ONE thing from her birth, however (except maybe having my mom there, but I can't change that for the next go-round either). I loved every minute of it. The contractions were not pleasant, but the epidural was lovely. I had a very easy time pushing and out she popped, our gorgeous ray of sunshine who I couldn't imagine not having in my life.

Today has been such fun. We got up to a smiling baby who came downstairs to find that the Birthday Fairy had decorated the kitchen and her highchair for her :) Sean and I had made her cupcakes and she ate a vanilla one with vanilla frosting...which she really enjoyed! Then we opened a small gift that we got her...we're waiting on the big one to be delivered. Then we played and played until we were off to JcPenney's for pictures...

Now that was entirely too frustrating for my liking...I have always taken pictures of Kiera and LOVED them...I decided to have them "professionally" taken for her birthday, because "that's what you do", but I wasn't prepared for the waiting, waiting, waiting! Kiera was an ANGEL...it's always me who gets myself all crazy, but she didn't want to sit in her carriage, didn't want to be held...what she wanted to do was crawl around in her beautiful birthday dress...Her pictures came out so pretty, but she had a crumb from her puffs that I hadn't noticed because it blended in with her skin so well in person, but then in the pictures...all the gorgeous close-ups...there it was :( I'm so bummed!!! What a waste. We got quite a few good ones, but no real face shots because the crumb wouldn't allow it.

Needless to say...I will maybe do it for her birthday and her birthday ONLY in the future...but never again over spring break when the rest of the world is there taking their communion pictures! I simply couldn't handle the waiting game...also the pressure of picking pictures right then and there that will ultimately cost me a fortune killed me too....

SO needless to say, I'm a crankstar and I'm very sad about that. Kiera won't nap and we have a 3:30 doctor's appointment for her 12 month check-up...I could cry.

But, let's end this on a positive note that my baby girl is ONE and I love her more than I ever thought a person could love someone. It pains me to think that my mom doesn't get to witness her joy, her laugh, her silliness, her adorableness, but she has one hell of an angel on her side!

Happy Birthday Kiera Rita!!

Tough Day...

I'm having a tough day. Nicole's boys aren't feeling well, so Kiera is home today with Sean. This was not easy to arrange because he had a meeting that he had to cancel with the boss and I have an IEP meeting today as well as the hardship of preparing for a sub which is not always easy...but the point of it all is that we have no one else other than Nicole to lean on in times of "holy shit!" Every family member we have is over an hour or more away...some, a plane ride!! I would have no problem calling my mom if she were alive and begging her to, "Please dear god, hop in the car and be down here asap! We Need Help!!" But it's not that easy for our family to do that, so we don't ask in fear of inconveniencing them. I did ask Rae Ann, but she was working and felt such remorse about it. Otherwise, I'm just sad. I have so much on my plate right now and it's not easy. Not easy. Not easy. The weather, of course, is not helping...when will it be warm and sunny?? These April showers are killing me!



In other news...Kiera is the best and I couldn't be more in love with her...and Sean :) She will be a year old in less than two weeks and I just can't believe it! We're having a small celebration where we will surround her with friends and family who love her so much...and who will travel far and wide to be with her on that day...including a plane ride :)

Just a quick update...

Kiera got her third tooth within the past week...we don't know exactly when because she's such a good baby that there was no lost sleep, crying, etc...but it's here!! And the fourth is on it's way. It's so sad to think that she's going to be this little person with a fullish set of TEETH soon!! Bring on the steak!

Sean has been away a lot lately...and all this week. I don't know how single moms do it and I praise them for it! It's so hard not having an extra set of hands at home. I have to do laundry tonight like you wouldn't believe and I'm actually planning out how to get it all done so that I can get everything else done tonight!! It's unreal. Oh well...I love spending time with Kiera, so I can wear dirty clothes or let the house fall to pieces and I feel good about it :)

Nicole just sent me a picture text of Kiera in a shoe store with her new sneakers that she got her for her birthday! What am I going to do without her next year??!!! Will anyone love her like she does when I can't be with her???? I hate the thought of it. I'm on the search for a new sitter...Nicole is going back to work...and it's not easy...sigh. Nicole was my savior and we were so blessed to have her in Kiera's life during such critical months...and now we move on.

So much for a quick update.

11 Months Old!

Kiera Rita is 11 months old today! Where does the time go?? Last year at this time we had just wrapped up my baby shower...where we were spoiled rotten!! Here are some of the absolutely amazing things that she's doing now...

• Huffing and Puffing through her nose when she doesn't get her way.
• Standing alone for seconds at a time...when she doesn't realize she's doing it.
• Takes a few steps when we hold her hands...and then becomes lazy and gets back to crawling around like a maniac.
• Sorts objects from one bucket to another.
• Eats and eats...anything she can get her hands on!
• Drinks from a sippy cup.
• Has always LOVED music, but loves is so much now that she looks to find where it's coming from.
• Drinks the bath water...actually enjoys licking it...oh well!
• Stands up in the tub all the time...lies down too! Can't take your peepers off her for a moment.
• Loves Noggin...there's an addiction growing and if it allows me to go to the bathroom, I'm cool with it :) I watched TV (probably too much and do now) and have a master's degree....so we're all good :)
• Says Mama and Dada discriminately...and knows what her "baba" is and asks for it, and we think says "rara" for Roman.

So it's all terribly exciting! She's just this little ball of energy and I love every minute of it! She's so much more than anything I could have imagined and I feel so blessed to have her in my life every single day!

Last week I was so sick. I had a terrible stomach virus that lasted for around 12 hours with the bad symptoms...and then up until yesterday with the residual effects like not being able to eat anything that wasn't bread. I prayed so hard every minute that I could that Kiera didn't get sick...every minute! Sean was away for work so I had to do everything...like feed her, give kisses :), etc...so I was deathly afraid that she would get it and be a mess and I don't want to see her like that just yet. Thankfully, knock on wood, knock on wood, knock on wood...nothing has surfaced (yet). So I'm optimistic.

But every time I get sick I worry and worry that something more serious is wrong with me. I think it's really hard not to when your mom died at 49. I become obsessed with dying and leaving Kiera and Sean behind and I hate hate hate those thoughts. It's so unbelievably easy for Sean to say, "stop thinking that, you're fine." And I know that he's right, but in the back of my mind I can't help but think it and it makes me so upset and sad. I don't know how my mom felt when she knew that she was going to have to leave her daughter and husband behind, but it couldn't have felt good.

So, what I have to do every day that I have those thoughts is to remember to "think good thoughts, think good thoughts, think good thoughts..." and I'll be ok?! My very good, amazing, charismatic, fabulous friend, Molly (my Molly-lama) gave me some meditation cards recently that are advice from a mother to a daughter (she's so thoughtful all the damn time) and I can't get enough of them. One of them says, "Breathe. You're stronger than you think you are." Simply put and so true. And I can just envision my mom saying those words to me all the time.

That's the scoop from here...one month to go until my peanut is ONE! I simply cannot wrap my brain around it. I love her more and more with every passing minute and wish that all her loved ones who aren't with us anymore could meet this extraordinary little person!

My Mom Would Have Been So Proud Of Me...

I made my own puree yesterday of fruits and vegetables to make banana bread! It was so much easier than I thought it would be and can't believe that I haven't been making my own baby food all along! When I pureed the bananas, Kiera ate the left overs and LOVED every minute of it!!

I had bought this cookbook months and months and months ago after seeing Jessica Seinfeld on Oprah promoting it. It's called, "Deceptively Delicious" and I hadn't made anything from it. It's all about incorporating veggies into your child's meals so that they don't know they're there.

Nicole had given me a wonderful list of all the foods her kids ate about this time. So I decided that this weekend was the weekend. Kiera actually decided because she's made the decision to no longer eat baby food. She really wants food that she can pick up, so now Mommy has to be more creative. She'll really eat anything I put in front of her to grab, but I thought this was a good way to give her something more than just a fruit or veggie. Therefore Kiera had her first piece (or three) of banana bread with cauliflower hidden in there~it was delicious :) She really needs to keep getting all her good veggies, but refuses them when I put them on a spoon. This is such a great compromise....and like I said, she actually did eat the banana off the spoon and enjoyed it endlessly.

So I think that I am going to really start to puree lots of different kind of veggies every weekend and start putting them in all the foods that she loves. This way I know she's getting what she needs. She also enjoyed the cauliflower steamed before I pureed it, so that's now an option too! My mom would be thrilled that I took the time to do this...I am an easy recipe girl...I think I'm headed in the right direction!!

Melissa

Happy Valentine's Day

Because my friend Jess did it...and I LOVED IT...here is what a year makes for us McHughs...Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day 2008 31 Weeks along

Our 2009 Valentine...in all her silly glory!!


I'm more in love than I ever thought possible! Here's to many more years to come....xoxox

Melissa

February 1st...1996

February 1st is here again...it's hauntingly eerie that it shows up every single year like clockwork, but here it is again :) It's very bizarre that it's been 13 years since my mom passed away. It feels like it's gone by in a blink...and then on the other hand, it feels like it's dragged on and on. So much has happened, including the usual graduations, jobs, houses, marriages, babies etc...but also things...so many many many other things! So here I am again remembering the details of this day to a "t" as though it was just yesterday that I was a naive 17 (soon to be 18 in a week) year old who never once believed that her mother would actually die until she had a stroke "this morning". And then she did...at 11:00pm.
In other news, since I'm writing...Kiera Rita always makes me feel better with all her kookiness! She is 9 1/2 months old, all over the place like you can't even imagine. She's pulling herself up on things that she shouldn't, talking in her own little language with all types of words that I don't understand (I'm sure that won't be the first time!), eating anything we put in front of her and loving every minute of it, goes to story time at the Library with Aunt Nicole and tries to eat the books, and is becoming the most lovey dovey little person I've ever met. I can't get enough of her and just want to eat her alive at all times! The lygestics are that she weighs over 19 lbs and is really long (Sean took her to her 9 month and can't remember...but she's in the 80th percentile for length...really tall :). She takes steps when we hold her hands and just laughs all the time! She shows me what pure joy really is!

So off I go to continue with my February 1st. At least my mommy sent me a lovely day...we've gone for our first walk in months and months...I had a wonderful dinner with my girls last night who always know how to make me feel endlessly loved...and my family of 3 will push me along to happiness quite nicely.

Melissa

A Look Back on 2008...

Happy New Year everyone!! Our almost two weeks "off" have flown by so very fast! I am so sad that it's coming to a close. This past year in general has gone by in one big blur. Here are just a few of the highlights...

• Of course, we were blessed with the most amazing gift of Kiera Rita in April!
  
• I celebrated my 30th Birthday surrounded by friends and family with my precious angel in my belly.


• I found out who my friends really and truly are.


• I got to spend 5 wonderful months at home loving up my baby girl.


• We bought a boat...Sean's biggest dream!! And we got it for a steal!


• I learned that I could breastfeed...and was good at it! lol


• I learned that I was sad when I had to stop.


• We had an amazing party for Kiera and Sean filled with the people who love us all.


• I balanced work and family quite well I think.


• We celebrated more firsts than I can count...including: rolling, sitting, teething, babbling, crawling, eating, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years....

So I think it's been a pretty good year. If 2009 can be just as good, I'm in great shape!! Again, Happy New Year!!

Melissa