For better or for worse

We saw this in the Sunday paper and died laughing. This was Kaylie to a tee. Most of the time when we walk in she is just like the last frame. It is a test trying to figure out which animal or doll she is laying on top of without waking her up.

***You can click on each one if you can not read it. This was the only way I could get them next to each other.

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Other random stuff...

The past week has been very busy. We started swimming lessons today and Kaylie did great. They are actually learning things that will benefit her. Last year we did not get much out of them.

Yesterday we went to Billy's 3rd birthday at Pump it up. She spent most of her time huddled up against me in a panic. The other part we were in the lobby playing on the benches by ourselves. I think she was a little overwhelmed! At least I got a cute mommy and me picture. She is really starting to smile when I tell her to say "cheese." Even though it may not last long I will take advantage of it while I can.

Yesterday we had a play date with Kalie. Kaylie was loving there dog Max.

Several times this summer we have gone swimming at Chris' house. We have loved going over there. It has been great seeing all of our kids interact and grow up together.

Mr. Bear and Kaylie...this is one of her best friends. The other day she insisted he eat with her.

A little help here!

Dear mom and dad...we need to talk!!! Living conditions have become unbearable. When we first talked about this "change" that was about to happen to our house a little over 2 years ago I was ok with it. I did not know what was "really" about to happen to me and my cushy life as your furry child. Needless to say I did not sign up for this!!!

So far I have been used as a horse, dressed up in pretty things, and had stickers put on me or randomly stuck on me because I sat in the wrong place. How humiliating! I have had my dog food played with, my manly blue bowl taken away from me, and my food dropped all over the floor just so Bailey could sneak in and swipe some. Since I am her favorite and she says my name over and over I decided to let it go but now I am fed up. I have now become the keeper of the blocks. What does she think I am?!? Does she not know that I am almost 70 years old in dog years? Golly! As of now I will stick around but if conditions do not change I am going to have to bark at her and let her know how I really feel and no one wants me to go there. Feel free to make it up to me by buying me a new pillow.

Love, Shiner



PS...She isn't as innocent as she may look! Don't let the pretty blues fool ya!

My little ham

She actually stood up, smiled and said cheese. Not sure where she got "cheese" from but it made me laugh!

Galveston 2009 (1 of 6 posts...yes 6)

This past week was wonderful! Jason, Kaylie and I met up with Jason's family for our annual family trip. We have done this 5 out of the 7 years Jason and I have been married. The 1st year we did not think of it and the 5th was the year our little miracle decided to make a very early appearance to the world. Jason and I love these trips. The first few were cruises but now that the dynamics of our group have changed we have opted for a more quaint type of adventure so for the past two years we have gone to Galveston were his grand parents rent a house for everyone to stay at.

Last year Kaylie was 1 and crawling. She did not like the ocean at first but on the last day she loved it. Go figure! This year Jason and I were nervous she would hate it. She has become significantly more fearful of a lot of things so we did not know. Thankfully she loved it!

Since I was challenged by Jason's coworkers to put up pictures of Kaylie's beach experience I did that and then some. Needless to say I have five different posts of pictures. Since I use this as a type of keepsake I decided I would put every picture I liked on it. That means you will either have a lot of pictures to look at or a lot of pictures to skip over.

Jo and Papa...thank you so much for another wonderful year! We love you so much and hope we can do it again next year!

The 4th of July was her first time to step on the beach since last year. We were so happy to see such a short adjustment period. Since she has become worse with her sensory issues we were worried she would hate it. Playing with sand in therapy definitely helped!

We were very careful in how we interacted with her int he water. We did not want to risk her falling and freaking out.

Whenever she is nervous she will stick to her daddy like glue. She is definitely a daddies girl!

This is the house we stayed in. It was so nice and somewhat child friendly. If we didn't feel like going out to the beach we could sit on the porch and enjoy it from the house. This was nice when Kaylie went down for a nap. Jo and Papa...thanks for letting us stay with you! We loved it.

Galveston 2009 (Post 2)

The first day she spent a lot of her time running along the water. Definitely helped to build her confidence.

Getting a little bit braver.

Anytime she saw a dog she would stop what she was doing and start waving at it. She missed her puppies so much. This nice couple allowed her to come up and pet their labs. They were so friendly she did not want to leave.

The chair was the other thing we used to help her comfort level. She felt safe sitting in it.



This baby doll came to the beach with us every day.

During this trip her routine was completely off. For the most part she didn't take her nap until 3ish and wasn't in bed until around 10ish. Oops! It has been hard to get her back on schedule since we have been home.

The balcony in this house was so much better than the one we stayed in last year. Last year's was nice but had a lot of stairs. This one was flat and allowed her to run up and down it with her stroller. As you can see she enjoyed taking all of her babies and animals for a ride.

Galveston 2009 (Post 3)

Her get out of my way face. At times her stroller is used as a weapon and has to be put in time out.

She was good at entertaining everyone. She gave us all many things to laugh about!

One of our famous arm out pictures. You can get the best pictures this way.

Were working on mastering this skill with all three of us. This was one of our first successful attempts. It is hard to get her to look for let alone to get a smile.

Mommy and her daughter.

Our family...Happy 4th!!!


I took this while we were downstairs grilling. We were waiting for the meat when Jason began to play with Kaylie. I didn't do anything special. It is probably one of my favorite pictures from our trip.

I thought daddy might appreciate seeing his little girl in his chair playing with the X-Box controller. She did not know anyone was watching.

Kaylie tends to take interest in what we are eating but when you offer her some of your food she refuses. Surprisingly, she tried Jason's cocktail sauce. We are not sure if she liked it or not because of the face she kept making but she continued to take bits. We were all in shock!

Two amazing men...Papa and Jason


Kaylie worked on building her comfort level with everyone through her fist bumps. She did not give hugs willingly for a day or two. Instead she would "fist bump."

Galveston 2009 (Post 4)

Even her Ruff Ruff knew how to "fist bump."

Aunt Jennifer and Grandma Chris

We caught her watching the neighbor's dogs. They had 6 of them!!!

For our 2nd attempt at the beach (Monday) I tried to put a hat on her. For the most part I had it on her and it stayed on her. After seeing the look of distress and look of anger in her eyes I decided it wasn't worth it. She enjoyed herself so much more after it was off.

Now she has become some what fearless. She fell a few times, stood up and kept on going. We made sure to stand next to her at all times. This little thing could easily get swept away with the smallest wave.

She loved playing with her beach toys. For once her toy was used for its intended purpose.

I put this on because of how small she looks in such a big ocean. I love this picture!

Splash, Splash, Splash!!!

This was one of the only times we let her run out by herself. She saw her daddy and away she went. No fear!