Four Shots of Giggle Juice

Enjoying some FroYo at the Frog :)

I forgot to mention in the last blog that Katherine also had her 4y/o check up. She was pretty excited on Tuesday morning when I told her we were going to see Dr. H. In fact, so much so that when she got to school she ran in to tell her teachers how she was going for a check up later that day to see how she was growing.

I didn't mention shots.

Her friends did.

When I picked her up from school the conversation when something like this...

K: Mommy, am I going to get shots today?
Me: I don't know honey. (I really didn't.) Why do you ask? Who told you you were going to get shots?
K: My friends.
Me: Which friends?
K: The friends that are 4.
Me: Oh.

When we got to the doctors office she was so enamored with the fish tank (LOOK MOMMY SHARK BAIT OH LA LA IS IN THERE!!!) that she forgot about the shots. I didn't. This was the first time I was going to the pediatrician sans Stephen with me and I'm the mom who cries when she gets a needle.

I filled out all of the paperwork and back we went.  She started out with a vision test that she did great on.  Then we went to the height & weight check.  She's now 31lbs and is 39.25" tall.  (It's not lost on me that she's a mere 20" shorter than I am. At four. That puts her in the 50% percentile for height and the 25th percentile for weight. "Tall and skinny like we like it!" ~ Says Dr. H.

When we went back to the exam room the nurse asked if I had any concerns.  I mentioned her snoring (seriously for something so little the snores are unbelievable) and the fact that I was worried she might have a hearing issue.  As for the snoring... her tonsils are huge and the doc said she might need to have them removed at some point. For now, if we can deal with the snoring, she can. Don't fret.  Her hearing... I struggle between wondering if she can't hear OR if she's just ignoring me.  After a hearing test it was determined (by the nurse AND Dr. H.) that she's ignoring me. The good news is she has no medical issue. The bad news is... I have a parental issue.  She even proceeded to tell Dr. H sometimes she just doesn't listen to me.

Then the moment came... I think she was more afraid of the fact that Dr. H laid her down and said to me "hold her down. Hold her hands. Hold her TIGHT. Do not let go." She started crying then. Heck, I think I started crying then. He was done in under a minute and she was up in my arms. Dr. H gave her a Strawberry Shortcake sticker for doing so well with her shots. She smiled. And then cried again.

We talked about how we were going to meet Aunt Nikki for dinner to celebrate her check up. She calmed down and we sent Aunt Nikki a video text telling her we'd see her soon.

Then she stood up.  Apparently Dr. H injected 4 shots of giggle juice into Katherine's legs. Or at least that's what she told me. From that point on when she walked she giggled.  And walked bo-legged... Because of the giggle juice in her legs. When asked what it felt like she said "It feels like my legs are giggling mommy!!!" Mmmkay. Whatever you say babe.

The good news is she doesn't hold a grudge. She still thinks Dr. H is awesome and that the giggle juice shots, while they pinched, weren't so bad. After all... they made her giggle for days!  :)

She's four.

I love this kid.

I know everyone says this. Heck, I've said it like a thousand times already... this week, but I can't believe how quickly four years have flown by. There are moments that I look, or listen, to Katherine and think "Seriously?! When did you grow up?" I know this is only the beginning and I have MUCH more of this in store over the years.

Last week we kicked off what turned into a week of celebrating Katherine's 4th birthday.  It started on her birthday (the 11th).  She had a super cool t-shirt that made the announcement of her big accomplishment (and ours... after all we've kept her alive and healthy for four years :))! 

This greeting customized with Smilebox

After our morning photo shoot on the steps we headed out to school as a family. She and one of her classmates share their birthday so we split up the celebrations for the day.  We took morning snack and he had afternoon snack. Given it was the morning we went with munchkins for the big event. 

It was complete with Happy Birthday tunes from her friends and teachers in addition to the normal morning snack treats.  She was asked to be the "snack helper" which is a coveted "job" in the class. She set out cups for her friends. And she got TWO donuts!!! A chocolate and a jelly. (Super awesome!) 

This photo collage personalized with Smilebox

She requested spaghetti and meatballs for her birthday dinner so we'd started that before we left for school that morning. After school she came home to a pretty festive party at home. Aunt Nikki came over to join us for dinner. Then our neighbors, and friends, came over to join us for some piñata slaying, singing, presents and cake!

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I'll admit that the piñata again foiled me. I thought this year I'd figured it out after last year's debacle. Turns out that not all piñatas come filled with candy (lesson learned and remedied early in the day), the strings are likely to break before any of the piñata is loosened, Daddy ripping the piñata open with his hands (or razor knife) is still the only way to get the candy out. *sigh* This might be the last year for the whole piñata thing.

The start of the piñata fun: Strawberry Shortcake Piñata 2012

Presents were a hit on Monday and continued through the week. She had presents to open every night as more kept arriving daily for her. One of the things she asked for for her birthday was a "vanity just like mommy's"... Fortunately I used common sense and didn't go overboard on the whole thing. I found a Melissa and Doug make it yourself vanity that she and I did one evening. Note, it was also "dress like a movie star" day at school so she was dressed up as Princess Aurora (AKA Sleeping Beauty).

Free collage created with Smilebox

On Friday my sister Jacki arrived in NC for the weekend. Friday night we had another round of birthday cake celebrating and singing (A Princess Belle cake this time) and pizza on the porch... followed by, you guessed it... more presents. :)

Saturday was her big birthday party with her classmates.  This is the first year we've done a class party. Gone are the days, it seems, when parties are at home with your friends over. Katherine had a Chef party at a place called Lil Chef. She had so much fun cooking up some dinner with her friends. They made 4-cheese macaroni and cheese, Strawberry Shortcake Sweetie Pies and had some cupcakes for dessert. They made chef hats, played, read a Pinkalicious story and sang a song about going on a bear hunt. And of course... we came home with (more) presents.

This is a video of Katherine's friends singing happy birthday to her, with apparently some words that she asked be inserted into her song. :)
Happy Birthday... EAT MORE CHOCOLATE...

Lil Chef takes photos at the parties and posts them for parents to look at later. This is our party...
Lil Chef Photos (Take by Lil Chef)

Slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Before the party, we managed to squeeze in a little fun courtesy of a hose and some balloons. Water balloon fights are SOOOO much fun. Although the time it takes to fill the balloons is inordinately longer than it takes to smash them against your opponent. Why is that?!

Another collage by Smilebox

It was a great week. Each day I love her more and am in awe of her. She exasperates me, pushes my buttons, makes me laugh hysterically, can make my heart melt, stun me with how smart & perceptive she is and take my breath away with her cuteness... I'm so grateful for my little girl.

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate K's 4th birthday! It was certainly a week of fun!

xo
Darlene, Stephen and KK

Renovations.Are.Over.

Come on in... 

It was a looooong three weeks. I'm still twitching a little.... But it's done. All of the (for hire) renovations of the MB condo have been finished.  To say I'm happy they're done would be an understatement.

I think I left off after the first week with the painters. Stephen came down with K for Memorial Day weekend and then K and I returned to Raleigh while he stayed with the flooring guys. As expected that project went pretty well. No drama. No cussing. No arguing. And beautiful flooring!  There was only a small bit of drama when they realized that they'd need to raise part of the flooring to make it level with the areas that had linoleum. Apparently removing the stuff once it's glued down is pretty heinous. So we had to raise the floor a little bit. I wasn't excited about the extra money it was going to cost but at the end of the day it looks amazing and we're very happy with the results.

The following weekend Stephen came home so we could avoid the craziness that was the hap-hazard condo. I drove down after the weekend to spend more time with our painter friends. Miserable, Grumpy and Cranky. Miserable, the leader of the pack, was... well... just as miserable that week as he was before. We did have a CTJ about him calling his wife his "old lady". Seriously guys... Not okay. Don't do it.  Grumpy, Miserable's father, said that he's been Miserable most of his life. Good to know... it's not just our project.

The highlight came when they were leaving. No really. I couldn't have been happier when they were leaving. Evidently they felt the same way because as Stephen was closing the windows in the condo he heard Miserable tell Grumpy and Cranky that he "couldn't wait to get the heII out of (there)!" Um, here's a tip for you. Wait till we can't hear you Miserable! I'm not guessing they'll be asking us for a reference.

We didn't manage to complete the entire project like we thought we would. We still have the countertops to re-do in the kitchen using the refinishing kit. As it turned out it took us nearly the whole weekend after the work completed to just restore the place to some semblance of order and clean it up.  We have to hang some pictures, find another carpet or two and do the countertops and we'll be set.  I don't think the countertops will happen this summer... I mean there's hope... but not much on my part. I'm thinking that sounds like a fall kinda project. Maybe winter. Or next spring. Or... I'm ready to just enjoy what we DID get done.

Here are some before & after pictures of the place. :) It doesn't look like a crack den anymore... It's starting to look more like a home! Can't wait to spend time there this summer.

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Next update will be about Katherine's week long birthday celebration... Can't post yet as the week of partying and celebrating continues! :)

xo Have a great weekend!
Dar, Stephen and KK