Big Girl

Over the past month, Kaiya has taken up an interest in our shoes. She constantly parades around the house pulling shoes by their laces, or trying to figure out how Mama's strange different types of shoes all work. She figured these sandals perfectly on her own. Fortunately the camera was close by so I could snap a couple pics.

It was very hard to push the Dora car with high heels on... :)

Corn on the Cob

Kaiya's first taste of corn on the cob. She LOVED it. I ate most of the corn off my cob and then she climbed on Papa's lap to finish it off. She got the hang of it right away, and immediately started just cheesing these huge grins. She giggled the whole time she was eating it. Adorable.

Cardinals

One of Tony's patients works for the Cardinals and sweetly gave us excellent seats to Tuesday night's game. We scrambled for a babysitter (Thanks Nate & Maurine!) and had a great date. We did the typical - "I thought you had cash" - and so we didn't have enough money to park anywhere remotely close to the stadium. (Oops) But we parked by the Arch and walked over to the stadium. As you can see, we had a great view of the game and the Cardinals won!

I sure will miss this view. The arch is such a pretty city landmark. And it didn't come out in the picture, but the sky was really pink/blue w/ the sun going down behind us. A beautiful night!

My little parrot

We took these precious pictures after our trip to the zoo. Aunt Ruthie joined up with us for dinner after we got back from the zoo and these pictures are the perfect example of cute Miss Kaiya mimicking EVERYTHING. She watches her Aunt Ruthie very closely and we catch her "copying" Ruthie all the time. In fact, the other night Ruthie was being really dramatic about something and put both hands on her face. About 2 seconds later we look over and Kaiya is walking towards us with both hands on her face and a big grin because she knows she is just like Aunt Ruthie. :)

Busy Weekend

It was a busy weekend at our house. Our friends Austin & Kristina came in for the weekend, arriving later on Friday night. Saturday morning the girls left the guys alone with their video games and went garage saling. I found 5 lb weights that I needed for my workouts and a book about the "new baby" for Kaiya. We only stayed out until 10 a.m. and then dropped Kaiya off with the guys while we went and got our hair cut. Mine is right at shoulder length -- it is much cooler and nice to have the length off for now. I'm sure I'll let it grow again... it is a fun summer cut. No pictures for now -- maybe I'll get one this coming weekend.





We had a relaxing afternoon. It was a HOT weekend in St. Louis. Temps were in the 90s w/ lots of humidity. It was nearly unbearable so we put Kaiya in her swimsuit and played on the deck in the pool & sprinkler with her. She had fun. In the evening we made quick stop at the mall and then went to Fitz's in the Loop. It was a great dinner and fun atmosphere. We dined outside on the patio and Kaiya was so good with lots too keep her attention.





Sunday was another hot day. We visited a different church and I had the most embarassing thing happen to me with Kaiya so far. I'm sure it will only be the first of many... The nursery paged me about halfway through the service and I went to get her. Apparently she was fussy on and off and so I just took her out. I had packed a pretty good diaper bag w/ O's and sippy cup and bottle so I thought she would be able to survive the remainder of the service. Ha ha...


I try the O's first... she eats a few and then I think -- you know. Maybe I ought to try the bottle. So I start mixing it and she immediately bursts into tears. And so I quickly stand up -- leaving everything but the bottle behind and attempt to get out of the service as fast as possible. Not fast enough... She is in a full out wail by this point. Like the kind of scream after she gets gravely injured or after I spank her. Yeah -- I think the pastor had to turn up his michrophone. I finally get out of there -- and make a run for outside, stuff the bottle in her mouth and head over to a porch swing in this courtyard. The church is held at the college I got my Master's at so I knew my way around. Fortunately Tony gathered up all my things and about 10 minutes later our friends and Tony found me and we went home. I was mortified... and also felt stupid for even taking K in the service with me. It was just so good and I wanted to hear the rest of it. I did feel a little better when Kristina told me that shortly after I left with Kaiya a little boy a section over puked and they dripped puke all the way down the aisle and out the doors. So... by that point maybe everyone had forgotten about Kaiya.





After a LONG nap and lunch we decided to go to the zoo. It had cooled down a bit and we figured the zoo wouldn't be too busy since it was the late afternoon, a couple hours from closing. We were right! It was nice and slow and not too miserable outside. This is Kaiya's first trip to the zoo where she actually knew what was going on. She got the hang of things pretty quickly... when the stroller stops it is time for Daddy to lift me up so I can see the animals. :) Here are a bunch of pictures from our time.

This is the face Kaiya had most of the day. Mouth gaping open and eyes really bright. You can see the little wheels turning in that head of hers. It was great.

With Uncle Austin & Daddy in the log that Kaiya was afraid to climb in. I don't know if you can see this picture clearly but we were cracking up. The big bear is sleeping and has its leg propped up on the rock wall. What a life...




This giraffe got really really close!

Kaiya is tall like a giraffe in this picture. Here are Uncle Austin & Aunt Kristina after a long trip to the zoo!

Here is the latest picture of our little squirt. This is a fairly good picture. The baby's head is on the right -- you can see a slight profile. There is a little hand on top, and the little legs are pulled up on the far left. The little one was moving and squirming like crazy... grabbing it's legs and arching the back. Very cute. The head is about the size of a quarter now. The total length is 6.37 cm from top of the head to the bottom.

Several have asked me whether Ruthie or I will be doing the training for Tony's office. We haven't decided yet. I will still do some training no matter what... and then we'll just see what happens when the time gets closer.

Time for an Update!

Well, as you may have noticed, the blog has taken on a tropical theme. This is in celebration of finalizing our plans to head to Florida! As mentioned in previous posts, we really wrestled with this decision -- only because Tony really felt like he should become involved with Maximized Living, was accepted into their program and the timing wasn't ideal with the arrival of Baby #2. If he started the program in September, he would be in the thick of it when this baby comes. Not the most ideal situation for our family. So after really praying about the decision, an opportunity presented itself that seems to be our answered prayers!

Here's the plan: Tony has accepted a position as an intern in a chiropractor's office in St. Cloud, Florida. This chiropractor was recommended by Maximized Living and has offered Tony a position until March 2008. In March, Tony will begin the doctor placement program with Maximized Living in Celebration, FL. (Small chance to brag on Tony: I had heard that this program is very selective and hard to get into. I don't think I really grasped how selective they really are. When I was talking to Tony about seeing if some of the other guys in the program can help him unload the truck. Tony said -- well, there are only 2 people in the program at a time. So I was proud of Tony before -- now I'm really proud of him! It was an extensive interview process -- now I know why!) So anyway... our goal is for Tony to move down to Florida mid-July. He is working to wrap up all of his requirements at Logan in order to leave before graduation. Kaiya and I will stay at in St. Louis until Tony's graduation on August 18 and then we'll all move down the day after he graduates!

We will live in Florida for close to a year. Stay tuned about where we end up after that. We are still very interested in Charlotte, NC.

Another exciting development in our move to Florida is that Ruthie will be joining us. Tony and I talked to her about this possibility shortly after we found out that we were going to have another baby. The training program trains the spouse for free on the workings of the office -- and to be a chiropractic assistant. We proposed to Ruthie two options: 1) Come down with us, take my place in the training and then when we set up our office, Ruthie would be Tony's Chiropractic Assistant. 2) Come down and be our nanny so that I can do the training. At the time, Ruthie had decided that she wanted to stay in St. Louis for another year. She had arranged to live with 3 other girls and was planning on staying here so she turned us down. :) Well, some of her circumstances changed this past week and she really felt like God might be directing her to Florida. So this past weekend she told us she would be interested in moving to Florida. That's the direction we are planning in now. She is going to focus on taking classes while with us -- and she will be a huge help as well. And I was really dreading saying good-bye to her in August. It occurred to Tony yesterday that now he will have someone to help him clean out the litter box. Hooray for Ruthie! :)

My last day of work will be approx. July 31st. Don't you love that approximately? July 31 falls in the middle of the week. So I said that I could stay until the 3rd of August, which falls on a Friday. My motivation with this is that I will hopefully have my August health insurance covered by David if I do that. (Crossing my fingers he doesn't prorate it.)

Speaking of health insurance we are planning to cobra out my insurance here at work. One of my most exciting moments last week was when I found a birthing center that is in-network on my insurance! So... provided this little one stays inside me until at least 37 weeks, I will be able to deliver with a midwife at the birthing center! Such a great option for us -- and I'll get to attempt the water birth that I so badly wanted to do with Kaiya.

That's about all the updates I have for now. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I had every intention of taking a few of Kaiya last week at Tony's soccer game. And then I left the camera in the car and it was too far of a walk for me to go back and get it. I'll have to snap a few soon. Actually... I think I'll steal a few of her off a friend's site... Here are Kaiya & AJ playing in their tunnel while Mama works all day! :)

Strawberry Pickin'

We had a great weekend. Sunday morning we got up early and went strawberry picking. I attached the pictures of Kaiya below -- the little ragamuffin won't keep any hair clips or rubberbands in lately, so she has messy hair most of the time. :) She had a great time running through the strawberries and as you can see from the pictures, I couldn't get her to hold still and smile for a picture. She was constantly on the go. There was a big Lassie-dog running around so she had fun keeping tabs on him, picking green strawberries and climbing all over. She was a dirty little girl by the time we were ready to go home. We got the very tail end of strawberry season, so only picked a couple of pints. But it was still fun.




After strawberry picking we tried to go to church but didn't get ready in time. Instead Tony ran a couple errands with me. We went to get a couple packs of flowers for me to plant in the front of our yard, by the end of the driveway and the nursery we went to had everything buy one get one free. So... I ended up getting some herbs and tomatoes too. When I was picking out the flowers I saw an entire cart filled with scraggly looking petunias. I asked if they were still for sale -- even at a discount or something and she said that she was just going to let them go and I could take them if I wanted to. So... I took 2 flats of petunias. I think I was able to revive them -- and have plenty extra that I am going to find homes for. I think my neighbor ladies will enjoy them. So... hopefully my herbs, tomatoes and flowers will do well over the next few weeks. I have a little over 2 months to enjoy them -- and I think the next family to live in the house will like them too.