Move Over Lindsey and Britney

So I am trying to give Kaelan a little bit of freedom and independence in certain day to day activities....I am really working at not being the "helicopter mom" who hovers over her at all times. Lately, she has taken a keen interest in what she wears....I don't know what clicked, she really has never cared about fashion. Purple socks with green shorts?...works for her. Plaid dress and polka-dotted tights? ....gets the job done. However, as of late, she wants to pick out her clothes, and she is especially fond of choosing her own special panties. I even had to move her "panty drawer" to a lower level so she could spend upwards of a half hour each morning caressing each pair and pondering which Disney Character would best accessorize the day's outfit. Little Mermaid today? Oh no, she would clash with her red skirt. Perhaps, the hot pink, embroidered Cinderella ones? Too dressy...those are good for church days. AHA! Lime green Tinkerbell with the magic dust stars all over.....Perfecto!
I have learned on school days, that Kaelan has to take care of the panty process the night before....otherwise, we will be late.
So, last night I told her it was time to pick out the perfect panties to go with her school outfit, and I plaed her little pink flower dress out on the dresser so she could coordinate. I started her night time bath and returned a few minutes later to hear her announce, "There, these are the perfect ones...all the Princesses on them." Great, I thought....that was quick and painless. She carefully placed them atop her dress, and we headed off for our night-night routine.
This morning, Kaelan was dragging, and I constantly had to remind her to "Hurry, hurry...we don't want to be late." When I went to dress her, she let me put her dress on, but informed me she was a big girl and could do the rest by herself....in that wonderful, whiny, toddler fashion.
I conceded and the left the room to find her ready to go....shoes on the wrong feet, mind you, but she was very pleased with her work!
I did the quick pancakes off the face wipe down, grabbed all our stuff, and headed for the door. I did a quick shoe switch while I loaded her in her car seat and distracted her with praises of how proud I was of her.
We turned on her favorite Joe McDermmott song, and we were off! On the way we talked about alligators and french fries...the usual stuff...just enjoying our time together. About a mile from the school (which is in our church, I need to remind you), Kaelan called to me from the back seat, "Mom....I look pretty today!" I nodded and smiled, "You sure do!"
"Mom!", she called again, "I didn't even have to wear panties to look cute!"
WHAT?????
U-TURN....we were late for school today after all!

Dont' call CPS on me!

Okay, so before the emails and comments go any further....no, I do not attend the Britney Spears School of Parenting.....apparently, I was unclear on my last blog. NO, my daughter did not say the word SH*T.....what she told me, was that her poo looked like the LETTER S. She really does have a rare talent that allows her to poo in the shape of some letters. My posting of "...." following the S, led many of you to believe my daughter not only loves dressing up as a pirate, but also swears like one as well. I hope this clarifies everything....
Oh, and I will stop driving to the mailbox with her on my lap...there is no good excuse for that one!

It looked like an S.....but it wasn't and S.....

A few days back, Darian, Kaelan and I read a book together called "It looked like Spilt Milk"....one of my faves....
We talked about clouds, we made some cute little cloud pictures.....we went outside and spied clouds through our "ultra cool cloud-spying machines", or empty paper towel rolls as you may call them. It was great cloud fun. Anyhow, for those of you who have not read the book, you can go to dropshots and hear Kaelan read it (http://www.dropshots.com/sjmcbrayer), or you can just let me tell you the synopsis. Basically, the story is full of pictures that look like spilt milk in different shapes, i.e. sheep, squirrel, bunnies, but at the end of the book you find out it was just clouds.
The line, "It looked like a _______, but it wasn't a _________" is repeated throughout the story....really, people.....read the book, my review isn't working.
Well,yesterday morning, Kaelan called me to the bathroom with excitement pouring from her eyes....
"Mom, come here...hurry!" That is enough to turn the blood cold. What did she do now? Flush her panties down the toilet? Wrap herself in a roll of toilet paper....again? Dump the soap on the cat?
As I rounded the corner, I found Kaelan wide-eyed and ready for her one liner...."Mom, look at my poopie...it looks like an S.....but it wasn't an S!"....Don't worry, no pictures this time....she was right, though!

St. Patrick's Day Party

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Cancun

Doug and I went to Cancun a few weeks ago...just a quick jot out of the country, and our first time away from Kaelan. We called her everyday....twice a day, and each time she seemed rather annoyed with us interrupting some great activity she was completely enthralled with. We really could have stayed away longer than the five days, but DAD was not going to have it....he missed his girl, and he wanted to go home to her.






Our time on the beach was relaxing and exhilarating......we'll go with a relaxing picture first.....

Such a peaceful little white boy.....

There was a better shot of him sleeping on the beach in his glorious paleness....however, this was a foreign beach....aka a beach in another country where clothing in an outdoor setting can be optional...i.e. where people can whip off the old bikini top if the desire so strikes them. So, unbeknownst to me, I got a few "bonus" shots of girls in the background that could probably earn me some cash if I sold them on the Internet. I, being the sweet little hillbilly homebread I am have not visited such a beach before, nor did I know I was vacationing at such a location until I awoke from a nice beachfront nap to find BOOBIES staring back at me from a mere ten feet away! I was thankful that a "tanning flip" had occured before Doug awoke, or he too would have been very uncomfortable.....this never happened to us in Florida or California! Really, the only people who were taking their tops off were folks visiting from European countries, so technically, I shouldn't hold anything against Mexican beaches.....just the crazy naked people who visit them.

We went on an excursion to the Chichen Itza ruins....or the "Chicken Pizza" ruins as they are known around these here parts. On the way we stopped for a swim in a natural water pool with a few hundred of our closest friends....

Truly, one of the wonders of this world....this sacrificial temple was amazing....the tour guide informed us that if we did not listen intently to his dissertation, he would have to sacrifice a blond....guess who was the only fair-headed maiden on the trip?

The next day, we went on an awesome adventure zip lining through the jungle, mountain biking, and ending with a dip in a different natural pool.

Fashion desired by any Project Runway fan....

I remember jokingly looking at Doug after putting on this get-up and saying, "Seriously, does this make me look fat?" Another lady in our group thought I was totally serious, and she shot me a look of disgust and said, "No one will be looking at you when you are flying though the jungle a hundred feet in the air....this is for safety purposes."

For the record....she looked like crap in her harness.

A friend in our group took some pictures of Doug on the zipline....I couldn't focus my camera on him through my laughter....hearing him scream, "I CAN'T HAVE ANY MORE CHILDREN!" as he flew along in dreadful pain was too much!

We celebrated Doug's birthday (a little early) with the gang at Bubba Gump's. I totally sucked at the Forrest Gump trivia our server gave us....and I totally thought I knew every part of the movie? What number was on Forrest's football jersey?

This was kind of cool.....see that dude? That's George Lopez...and the other dude is the dude from the "Scary Movies"...Anthony... Something. Anyhow, they were right next to us at the restaurant in the airport. I literally heard a voice and thought...that sounds like George Lopez...then I turned around and saw him. I am not one of those star struck run up and get your autograph types.....instead I just hold up the camera and pretend to take a picture of something else, when really I am snapping the celebrity's picture like some crazed paparazzi. Hence, the lovely photo of George sucking down the rest of his margarita.....

All in all, a great mini vacation....we have a few more small ones planned over the next few months....with our little one in tow!

Until we meet again....

Jude is gone....we let her go yesterday. We've had to take two beloved pets to the vet to be euthanized, and I hope not to have to do that again for a long while. Doug and I stayed with her until the end...and this time, we stayed a while longer. The room was so quiet for that time afterwards. The vet, the veterinarian's assistant, Doug and myself just fell into some time warp....it was only when I looked up from my sobbing that I saw my poor, frail little Jude on the table. She was all curled up....the way she loved to sit when she climbed up near the windowsill and basked in the sun....only she looked like a tiny kitten to me. The vet broke the silence and said, "This was a very brave decision, and I feel it was the right one." That may have been what I wanted deep inside to hear....but it was still hard to swallow. This end was my decision....one that took a lot of thought and prayer, and one I am still trying to gather peace over.



A friend gave me a card with this story.....if you find it a bit corny, you probably never had a true four-legged friend, nor have you found yourself in my state of mourning this kind of loss. Nonetheless, it touched me, and gave me something to look forward to.







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