Growing up

Everyone needs to go to the dentist eventually. Brenna's first appointment was yesterday. She was a superstar and very proud of herself when I called her one. As we left the office, she had a huge smile and a lollipop. I'm so thankful that her first experience wasn't too traumatic for her. She was a little scared when the dentist laid the chair back, but she adjusted pretty quickly. She opened her mouth like an alligator and only bit down once. I don't think Brenna realized the dentist still had her fingers in her mouth. Regardless, she opened her mouth quickly.

She has been making me laugh since the appointment. She keeps talking about kissing at the doctor's office. It is actually very innocent. For some reason Brenna didn't understand how to close her lips around the syringe tube. The dentist told her to pretend she was sucking on a straw, but that didn't work. She then told Brenna to kiss the syringe. That worked and Brenna loved the concept. Funny how her little mind works.


It is still hard for me to believe that we have passed by one more milestone in Brenna's life. She was such a cutie and good girl. I was very proud of my little one.

My life flashing before my eyes

Sometime in high school, I started collecting Disney movies. I wanted to have them so that my children could watch the movies I grew up watching. I never imagined what fun it would be to watch all those movies with my child one day. For the past few months, I have been introducing some of my favorite Disney movies with Brenna: Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Aladin, and Little Mermaid. I don't think it is the princess aspect that she loves so much. Maybe that will come one day. She is loving the music and all the animals. Well, that isn't completely true. She has been known to put on her dress up close and come through the house looking for Nathan. "I'm the princess and your the Prince. Don't be late for the wedding." I wonder how she knows that he has a tendency to be late for things?

Lately her favorite movie has been "The Little Mermaid" and she asks to watch it all the time. I loved that movie. I remember watching it in front of our TV upstairs while studying for finals my Sophomore or Junior year in high school. Nathan laughs at me as I recall almost all the words and can sing them back for Brenna when she asks. Brenna has taken to singing Ariel's song all day. It is most humorous when she is lying in bed. Normally she starts singing when she firsts wakes up in the morning or from her nap. I guess that is one way for her to let me know she's up.

I am glad I saved all those movies for Brenna, but I wish they had already made DVDs back then. Many of my VHS movies simply don't work anymore. The quality on all of them is very poor although Brenna doesn't seem to mind that. I guess I shouldn't have worked so hard to save all those VHS tapes. Now I am on a mission to replace them with DVDs. I hope you enjoy the video. You now have a glimpse from my past.



Look at that hand and eye action. She's ready for broadway, baby.

Unmentionables

They have more than one purpose. Who knew?

Kitchen Gadgets

I wouldn't describe myself as a "gadget" person in general, but I have always loved gadgets that pertain to the kitchen. I am gaining even more of a love for them. Unfortunately, I don't have a very big kitchen or much storage space. Luckily my new favorite gadgets don't take up too much space. I thought I would share them with you. If you are crazy about kitchen gadgets too, you should try these. I just love them.

So, coming in at number four is my ricer. At least that is what I think it is called. This little gadget makes perfect mashed potatoes. I also recently learned that it makes perfect guacamole. Anything that needs to be mashed comes out so smooth and even. I love it. The only complaint comes from Nathan. He hates to clean it; although, I believe it could be washed in a dishwasher if we had one. My solution... I just wash it for him when I use it. I love the results too much to begrudge the ricer of it's cleaning.


Number 3: Nathan's new panini grill. Anyone who likes grilled sandwiches should have one of these. They are quick and easy to use. Again, the clean up is not easy, but well worth the trouble. I have used this gadget almost everyday this week. Unfortunately this gadget is a little bigger in size, but I found a storage area on a shelf of our island. I do love a good sandwich. I need to try it with some of my homemade bread. By the way that is another gadget that I love but didn't make this list. A bread maker. Everyone should have one of those too.



Number 2: I love this new little toy for the kitchen. It is a pineapple slicer. It is very easy to use and clean. The hardest part is centering the core into the gadget. All you have to do is turn the slicer around in circles and the result is perfectly sliced, peeled, and cored pineapples. I do love some fresh pineapples. I may have to go buy one soon.


Drum roll please. And now, for the number one gadget of "Kayla's kitchen gadget of the week list"....
The coffee frother. Again, not sure if that is really what it is called.

I love this new toy. It makes the perfect froth for coffee. I have it down to a science. I make at least 2 cups a day now. Not sure if this is a good habit, but at least the coffee is decaf. So here is my recipe. I make a good coffee and add a little cinnamon to the beans, then let the coffee pot do it's job. When the coffee is almost done dripping I put the liquid creamer in a glass measuring cup and microwave it for about 25 seconds. (I use french vanilla cream. Yummy sweetness!) The cream should be very warm. Next I use my little gadget to swirl the cream around very fast making the fluffy froth. (Try saying those two words ten times. Bet you can't.)

When the coffee is done I fill my glass 2/3 full and add sugar or splenda to the coffee. Lastly, I pour the froth and remaining cream into the coffee and stir. Doesn't it look just heavenly!


Now that you have "Kayla's favorite kitchen gadget list of the week" what will you do? May I suggest trying one for yourself. Also, feel free to let me know if there are other gadgets that I "need".

Headaches

I hate everything about headaches and migraines. I have had my share in my lifetime. I can't even remember a time in my life when I didn't have regular headaches. I seriously hope I haven't passed this dreaded plight on to Brenna. This week has been record breaking. Two immobilizing migraines in a row. Sunday night I thought I would die but felt much better after an Imitrex and Vicaden. I even woke up at midnight hungry. I thought I was free on Monday morning, but the second beast hit around noon. Two Imitrex, one Zomig nasal spray, and a Vicaden later, I still had that monster pounding through my whole head. Finally, blessed sleep washed over me when I was able to relax my body enough through submerging most of my head into a hot bath. I think we should really look for a house with a garden tub next time. The regular bathtubs just don't cut it when an adult body tries to lie completely down.

So here's hoping that today is a pain free one. I did start the day with 3 Advil, but they seem to be kicking the hangover headache that settled as I awoke this morning.

Before this whole thing started yesterday, Brenna and I went to see a new baby. I just love little newborn babies. Jacob wasn't even a week old. So precious. I forget how little they are at first. Although this child my have the longest fingers and toes I have ever seen. I enjoyed taking a few pictures of him. I haven't put them on the computer yet, but hopefully I'll get that done today. Thanks Kelly for sharing your little one. I enjoyed our visit.

I would also like to express how thankful I am for friends. One of mine came and saved me yesterday. I wasn't able to take care of Brenna because I couldn't function, and my wonderful friend Christy came to save me and Brenna. I am so thankful for people in my life who are willing to put aside their convenience to help a friend.

Way behind on life

Can I be forgiven? I'm not sure if I will ever catch up, but I will at least try. I can't believe that I practically lost all of July. Where did it go you may ask? We were in Georgia for the beginning of July. We came home for a week, then Brenna and I went to Houston to care for Nena. We came home for one day so that I could work, then I went back to Houston again. That brings us to August. Basically I traveled July away. I guess some months are just like that.

We have been busy to say the least, but I do have a few pictures for your enjoyment. First, on our way home from Georgia, we stopped in Alabama to visit Nathan's grandmother. Brenna enjoyed the short time we had with her there. We have several pictures similar to this chronicling Brenna's growth. I thought this was a cute one. Brenna and Nana also practiced smiling with their fingers. That too was a cute picture.


In between trips, we were able to go to a minor league baseball game with some people from church. This was Brenna's first game. I think she enjoyed the mascots more than the game, but at least she had fun. For Nathan's sake, I hope she learns to enjoy baseball games more than I have. She was quite cute running up and down the isle crushing the peanut shells under her feet as she went along. I had to have at least one picture to prove we were there.


At the beginning of the week, Brenna and I spent time in Austin with Amy and Krissy. What fun we had. I'm not sure which kids had more fun: Amy and I at the expense of our girls, or Brenna and Krissy with their developing friendship. Whichever way it was, we all had fun. There were many late nights and I think we were all a little tired at the end. The girls matched hair one day and then Amy and I couldn't resist some BFF tees for both girls. They were just too cute. For those of you who knew Amy and I in high school, we just haven't changed much in some ways.



When Brenna is away from Nathan for very long, she just can't seem to get enough of him when they are back together. She really loves her Daddy. I love to listen in on their play time. Today I overheard Brenna saying, "Daddy, Daddy it's time for the wedding. You be the prince and I'm the princess". So cute. She was all decked out in dress up clothes and shoes. She can be such the princess. (It seems that Krissy, a princess enthusiast, has taught Brenna some new games.) After lunch Brenna asked Nathan to play a game with her. They sat in the chair and played a cute little video game together. Brenna can't do much but she likes to push the X when Nathan tells her it is time.


What else have I missed? Nathan and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. It was a strange celebration. We exchanged gifts on the day of our anniversary, but we didn't go on our date until the end of the week. Let me tell you this will be the year to remember for mishaps. We were supposed to go see Harry Potter and eat dinner, but the movie had left the theater. We still went to eat and ended up spending the rest of the evening in Walmart. Romantic right? What can I say, sometimes it doesn't really matter where you go as long as you are together.