Simply Breathe

So instead of waiting until the planned day of April 5th to arrive, after my college class Saturday, April 2, Cadence decided to make a surprise arrival! To say the least it was a shock and evening of fast-pace decisions. Everything started at 5:30 and she was here by 8:50 and life has changed since then. Robbie can now say he has had the "rush to the hospital" moment with his pregnant wife. Cadence Jean got her name on a whim because we had each choosen different names but after seeing her went back to this name. Jean is from her great grandmother's name. Kelsey stayed the night with some great friends and had a great time watching her new movie Tangled. She has handled things great so far. Her G-ma and G-pa took her for a few days to spoil her rotten and now she is back and attempting to get into routine. Her first day back to school was today and she was not so happy to stay at school. We'll see if she ends the day on a "green monkey" color day!

Life is ever changing it seems. Just when you think things are going to settle, another curve ball comes flying at you. Robbie finished Police Academy just in time to jet off to Park Law Enforcement Academy. We have another week and a half left until he comes home for good. I am the kind of person who feels it is better to complete all possible tasks now in order to not find myself extremely overwhelmed later. When our home was struck by lightning last year it made me realize no matter how simple of a life you try to lead, things can always change in an instant. So who thought it would be a fabulous idea to start new jobs that required Robbie to be in academies so much and me to start a new career in schools. Throw in the fact that I have graduate classes and state exam as well as all kinds of new aspects in life! Oh and by the way, add in continued potty training sessions and completing taxes! Life is full of surprises and constant change. In the midst of change, I have stumbl...

So the past few weeks have been constant change for sure. Will we get the house or not...when will we move...Will Robbie survive police academy or not....What is the skin problem of Kelsey's...what will life throw at us next to handle? Well it looks like we will close on the house this week. Robbie is almost done with academy (went through being pepper sprayed this past week)...graduates on Dec. 17th. Kelsey has eczema really bad but we are working through it. If anyone has genius ideas to make it go away let us know! She also a month ago transferred to being potty trained but has accidents from time to time. Her new thing is to give kisses. She has always blown kisses and pushed her mouth to people for kisses but sometime this past week someone taught her that in order to kiss, you have to make a "pop" noise. Now at any point in time (including the middle of the night) she will find anyone and "POP" you've been kissed. She also now "ohhhs" and ...

So I have come to realize that everyday I learn a new piece of Kelsey's personality. Today, I realized that she has been around her Aunt Ann way too much. While in her crib for nap/quiet time, I walk by her door and see her wiping and cleaning every bar of her crib. Ok, I can understand if it happened just once for a few minutes but oh no...this was the second time I have seen her do it and she spends at least 15 minutes cleaning! She had to make sure every bar of her bed was cleaned with her blanket. Kelsey loves to dance. She also loves cartoon intro songs...we really like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse intro and the Carebear intro. When she hears the beginning of the songs, she jumps up and starts bouncing like a rabbit and shaking her head. Of course, that is after she determines what TV or cd player has the song on. She can listen and dance to intro songs over and over....and over and over....get the picture?? So what do these two pieces of her personality have with each other? This m...

So we were Texas Zoo bound today. About halfway to Victoria, I realize that in my frantic state of trying to leave the house I did not pack correctly for a day at the zoo. I only had 1 drink for Kelsey and 1 for myself. I only had 1 snack trap for us to share...now having gone to the San Antonio zoo on many occasions I realized I was in for spending a fortune on refreshments inside the zoo since I did not pack well enough. Oh well. Kelsey and I were doing good to be going to the zoo. I threatened many times earlier today that the zoo trip would be cancelled unless she behaved....unfortunately it took the third threat for me to figure out that she is too young to understand and just laughed. So on to the zoo...unprepared...I pay my entry fee (Kelsey gets in free still! ) and proceed to the map to figure out which course to go! After looking at the map for 5 seconds I realize the zoo was maybe 1-2 acres SMALL! Now how did that happen here in Texas??? I mean, the TEXAS zoo is that SMALLE...

Every morning I wake up and wonder what new thing Kelsey will learn today. ..somedays she learns a new sign like the sign for bath-time or pacifier...others she learns a "trick" like how to climb up on the coffee table and jump. It got me thinking about how wonderful it would be to wake up everyday expecting to learn some amazing! She gets this huge, joyful smile when she does something new and laughs like crazy. Wouldn't it be nice to become overjoyed when you learn something new? Even the small things? I am currently in 2 courses for education and learn new things everyday but don't find myself wanting to jump up and shout. I guess it is one of the great things about being a child.

Ok, so now that Kelsey is over 18 months we have decided to really try to start potty training. All you moms out there please send helpful words and ideas! We have been slowly getting her used to the idea for the past few months. I realized when I woke up to her handing me her diaper that we may be ready....By the way...not a good way to wake up in the morning! At least is was just wet not anything worse. And no there have been no paintings of poop on the walls of her crib...yes I have heard horror stories from friends and family. I'll keep you posted on how things go with this. We are trying a few methods including the M&Ms method from Kelsey's Nannie. Say some extra prayers for us! It just amazes me how Kelsey has no fear of most things. A dog could be barking in her face and she wants to hug him. She always is so assured that someone will catch her if she falls or be there to comfort if she gets hurt. Doesn't that make you want to have that kind of assurance all the ...

Ok, so I have been trying to teach Kelsey sign language over the past few months because she does not talk (in a language we can understand) much. I started this week trying to just show her signs of fun words that we learn...like the sign for "car" and such. We are now living at my parents' home near Randolph AFB. I made the mistake of teaching her the sign for airplane when she stood in awe a few days ago as some jets flew above. Now when we go places such as near the AFB or near the San Antonio Airport, I here from the backseat "Zoom Zoom" and when I look back she is waving her had wildly in the air while pointing to make sure I see the plane/jet. She won't stop until I have acknowledged the plane. I guess I can say she has a love for planes and she gets it from her father and grandfather!