Keira's Birthday Party/Nyah's New School/Keira's First Day of School/Hair Class for Girls

Okay, so I have not done the best job about keeping this thing updated for the past few weeks, so now here I have my multiple title with lots of updates;

KEIRA'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

Keira had her first birthday party with friends this year, she was soo excited!We decked out our house to look like "Hello Kitty" blew up in there

This was her favorite part, the part she still to this day talks about, the "Hello Kitty" cake. She still carts around the cake topper like it's her best friend.
We had a few of her friends over where we made "Hello Kitty" bows, so here they are with there bows on to look like Hello Kitty.
They played pin the flower on the Hello Kitty picture. There was half the girls that said they didn't want to play this game, until one of the girls said they would play, if they didn't have to be blind-folded, then the rest where okay with playing it after that.

We had a pinata, which they LOVED, and they each got there own present to unwrap, each one was wrapped from like 1-7 times and they took turns taking the wrapping paper off until it was un-wrapped and that person got to keep it, they liked that too.
Of course, we can't forget the cake, the best part according to Keira, only no ice cream since she doesn't like it.
Then it was present time, she loved all her gifts, probably because most of them centered around Hello Kitty.

This was her big gift from mom and dad, she is always asking to ride her bike, she of course insists on all the padding and the helmet every time. Letting her ride her bike is seriously exhausting to whoever is involved. She can pedal, but not without pushing the brake several times and then she can't turn around so you have to be right there with her to stop her or she will just keep going.


NYAH'S NEW SCHOOL

So, Nyah had started school back at the end of July. Well, a couple of weeks ago we got a call from Channing Hall, which is a charter school we have been trying to get Nyah in since Kindergarten. For those of you unaware, a charter school is like a public school in the fact that it is free, however they have smaller class numbers, strict dress codes, and I feel just a better over all education. The hard part is, they are based on a lottery system and really hard to get into, due to so many applicants and limited space. They did there lottery for this year in March and we never heard from them so we just assumed that she didn't get in and continued on with the local public school. So, it was a surprise to hear from them at all at this point. They said that they thought they had the first grade full, but there ended up being a few spots open now that school had started up for them.
Ultimately, I figured it would be Nyah's decision, of course we wanted it but I didn't want to up root her from her friends at her current school. So, she got home from school that day, I sat her down and told her that this school called and wanted to know if she wanted to go there. Her reaction was to jump up and down excitedly and say "yes, yes, we have to call my school and tell them I am not coming back!" So that was it we enrolled her in the new school and had to go out to get her clothes for the dress code. It worked out cause I had already bought her clothes for this fall, however I had not taken tags off, still had receipts, and she had not worn them so we did a sort of exchange of clothes I guess. We had to keep some of the clothes for weekends and dresses for church of course but it worked out.
So far we LOVE this school, they are organized, they have school and class websites, I can even pay for her lunch online which is nice. Her teacher is so nice and she loves her. Also, this school incorporates Spanish in with their lessons, so we where happy about that. The only hard part is that there is no bus so now instead of sending her out the door to the bus, I have to take her to and from school. I did find out, though that my neighbors little girl also got in so we car pool with them and we trade off weeks so that is nice. So, here she is in her school clothes ready for her new school.
We decided to take a picture of Keira on her first day of preschool this year, granted it's at grandma's house. She really likes preschool, it's taught by my aunt Robynn, all the kids call her "Miss Robynn" except for Keira who calls her "preschool" she is a crack up. It will be nice for her to be in a more structured environment I think, now if only she will listen to use when we tell her things that need to be done. (ha, ha fat chance).
So, I threw this picture in here since there wasn't any pictures of Jayda in this post, I didn't want to leave her out. This is how I found her the other day, I had been getting Nyah out the door to school and had her playing in her room while I did that. Well, on her changing table is all her blankets folded up. She pulled a bunch of them out and apparently fell asleep on them, I thought it was so cute.

HAIR CLASS FOR GIRLS

So, my moms ward had a super Saturday for their enrichment and my mom signed me up to teach a class on little girls hair apparently she thinks I am an expert. No, not an expert just lots of experience with girls. So I did my girls hair in tons of different hair styles and took pictures, then I put together some packets full of tips, websites, and photos. Then I showed them some ways I organize there hair things, the products I use, and I showed them some basics on hair do's. I got most of my ideas though from websites so I really can't take credit, I am really not that creative I will see the hair styles and just copy what I see, whether from a little girl at church, or at a store, or on a blog/website. Anyway, here is just a few of the hairstyles I did, I guess it's just something I enjoy, which I don't know why cause it involves a lot of screaming on my girls part, of course they scream whether I just simply brush their hair out or do something super cute, so I figure if I am gonna have to endure the screaming it may as well be something super cute right.



So, there is our update, we have been so busy lately with Nyah's new school and taking her to and from school and then of course we have started dance and gymnastics. So, I have turned into a chauffeur, taking the girls wherever they need to go.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEIRA!!!

So, Keira turned 4 a few days ago on the 19th. That went fast, how time flys. At least she didn't quite make it to 4 before she was potty trained! It seems like just yesterday we where bringing her home from the hospital. I remember when she was born, I was up all night with contractions and finally at 5 am I went to the hospital where they monitored me for and hour and a half and said I was probably in labor and I could either walk around to bring on more labor or go home, get some rest and come back. I opted to go home where I could eat and sleep which surprised them. I got up to change into my clothes and that's when my water broke, the nurse laughed and told me to stay put and now I couldn't eat (dang it!) I remember when she came out she screamed at the top of her lungs for over an hour straight the Dr. said "oh, your in trouble with this one." We have a running joke in our family that she just really didn't want to be born and come out, it's that whole change thing she doesn't like.

She was such a pretty baby and I got a lot of comments like that, she was also my clone and still is for that matter if you pull out my baby pictures she looks just like me, except I had more hair and my hair was curly.

I remember at this age she was so good, people would always tell me how good and content she was. She was always happy to sit and play and entertain herself.

Here is the age when the stubborn streak returned in full force. It was like one day she was this quiet, sweet, content little girl and the next day bam DIVA! She started screaming at the top of her lungs and was soo stubborn. My theory is, it's a good thing she is cute cause I would beat her if not. My aunt said to me once while dealing with Keira while she was screaming "I, just figured out why YOU ended up with Keira, cause if anyone else had her, she wouldn't survive."

She can entertain herself no matter where she is or what she has to play with. She will just sit and play with whatever is available. Whether it's milk boxes from Costco or paper, or even nothing, she has an imagination that won't quit.

She could pretty much fall asleep anywhere and this trait is still with her today. If she is tired she grabs a blanket and just falls asleep where she is at, whether it's on the front steps of my parents camper, with daddy, in the middle of the toy room floor, on a couch, etc






Keira's favorites include Hello Kitty and tinker bell. You should see the excitement level she gets when she sees "her friends"

"Wookit, my woggles!" Something she said many times at Cherry Hill this year.

I added this for good measure, because this is the best example of her stubborn streak; the day she sat on that stinkn' potty seat for over 5 hours and held her urine (little stinker).
Doesn't matter where she is, she sleeps when she can.
She is so funny sometimes, there are many family trips where we find my daughter streaking down to nothing, both these pictures are trips where she was naked, walking around at some point (I really hope that trait doesn't carry on when she gets older)

If she finds water and wants to get in it, it doesn't matter if she is wearing clothes, naked, or whatever she will just hop right in, she is sopping wet here, thus the reason her clothes are hanging down below her diaper.

She can even sleep at dinner time!

We have the best collection of funny faces that Keira makes, she is so full of it and when the camera comes out she hams it up.

Keira, she is cute that's for sure.





I was so excited because we actually got a good picture of her this year, she is VERY hard to get a decent picture of, she wont look at the camera or she makes a funny face or she wont sit still, the list goes on and on, so I was so excited to actually get one of her this year.

I can't believer our little Kiki is 4 already. She will be going to "grandma's preschool" this year and is very excited, she even has a Hello Kitty backpack.

Keira; fun, exciting, imaginative, creative, cute, sweet, active, independent, funny, leader, unpredictable, smart.

That's what Keira is to us, we joke about her extreme stubborn streak but all in all she is such a joy to have, she can put a smile on my face faster than anyone. I love to sit and watch her play with "her friends" she has a collection of little toys that she carts around everywhere and they all have names and she remembers every single name and the names do not change. She loves to make her friends talk to each other, and will play for hours by herself contently. She is very unpredictable, you honestly never know what her reaction can be to things, I am wrong if I guess half the time, so it's fun to watch her. She is very smart to, she won't repeat what she knows (the stubborn streak again) but if she doesn't realize I am watching she will repeat the things and I can catch glimpses of what is stored in that brain of hers. There are things that she knows that Nyah doesn't, she has a good memory I think. I can't wait to watch her grow and learn and explore as she gets older.

Happy Birthday Kiki, we love you!!

It's a MIRACLE

So, we actually did it! We had a miracle happen in our house this week. . . Keira actually is potty trained!!! I mean wearing underpants with no accidents ever, I don't remind her to go she just goes! So it all started after I read the book "Potty Training in Less Than a Day" I was completely prepared with what the book says to do, I had plenty of treats & drinks. We had her day on Tuesday, it started off HORRIBLE, I couldn't even get her to put underpants on without a HUGE fight. We did it though and continued with the potty training which involves a massive amount of praise and excitment, they get praised over every thing they do and for having dry pants etc. It's really very invovled. After so many hours she still had not gone to the bathroom, she was willing but was starting to get bored with the whole thing. Then my aunt came up with the brilliant idea from "Super Nanny" to have the "diaper fairy" come and get her diapers to use on the new babys in the hospital. So we did that, we had her put out her diapers in a basket by our couch and later, it was like magic the diaper fairy had come and taken her diapers. She left a trail of sparkles, a note and some prizes for Keira which where some new Hello Kitty panies, and a small toy. The note told her that if she wanted to keep her prizes then she had to pee in the potty, if not then her mom got them until she did pee in the potty. Well I had to take them from her cause it was still a no go. I was, however not going to put her back in diapers it was just underpants, I had her wear the thick potty training ones and then if we went places I put those vinyl training pants over her underpants so it wouldn't get all over the floor at other places. Anyway we where at my moms and my mom decided to see if she could get her to go. Keira was doing her usual thing getting upset and saying "I can't do it, I want to get down, I done" etc. My mom got really stern with her and said "yes, you can do it, you want to get in trouble" anyway all of the sudden Keira stopped, smiled and looked at my mom and then she peed saying "I did it, I'm a big girl" the whole thing took about 15 minutes. Then after that every few hours we would take her and have to fight her and say "you are doing this, you are not getting up til you pee" after the first time it got easier and easier so after about a day of doing that she didnt' give us trouble when we took her anymore she would just sit there and say "it's coming, I did it, I'm a big girl." Then on Monday I decided to test her to see if she would go without any reminders and she did, we never remind her anymore she just goes, she even came in from playing outside to go and went during the middle of Dora so that is HUGE. We are so excited, it's like this massive weight just lifted off my shoulders.

Jayda's 9 Month Pictures

So I took these a little bit ago and have just not posted them yet as we have had too many things going that I have had to post about. Poor Jayda got lost some where amongst all the other things. I think I got some cute ones she LOVED playing with the necklaces. I love the necklace in her mouth right here

This was one of the last pictures and by then she was so done with this whole thing and did not want to stay there.



I love this one, it's so hard to get them to smile when you want them too, so I was happy she was smiling here.