Before.

After.

The damage actually extends way over to the right side of the living room, but this picture had Kenzie in it so I used this one instead. It was a terrific Christmas morning and Santa clearly thought that Kenzie had been very good this year. I have a funny story about that morning, but I'll have to include it later. It was a really great day.

Picture of the Day

Okay, I know this picture isn't the best quality. I took it with my cell phone. Plus she was moving. But I thought it was totally cute. We got our Christmas tree at Lowe's the other day and after they trimmed it and wrapped it up, Kenzie wanted to pull it on the cart by herself to the checkout lane. It's a 7 foot tree (they didn't have any taller this year) so she just looked so small and determined while pulling it!

Are you kidding?

I have decided that today I will post a vintage pic. The reason is because I erroneously put an SD card into this computer and discovered it's an old one with old pictures. And I am sitting in bed. And it's cold so I'm not going to get the current memory card. So today's picture is from exactly 4 years ago when Erin and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas. I was a little over 3 months pregnant at the time. It was super fun and I'd love to do it again.

But back to today. I was having some minor sinus issues yesterday and my voice got hoarse as the day went on. It was bothersome, but not a huge deal. I talk constantly at work. And it's not because I just really love to talk (well, that too, I guess), but that's like half of my job. Cut up tissue and talk about it at the same time. Someone types what I say and it ends up being the "gross" part of the patient's report. (That's really what it's called- because I'm doing the gross dissection; not because it's disgusting) That's what I do for the better part of my day. Anyway, this morning I woke up and couldn't talk. At all. As in, no sound was coming out. It is now almost 11pm. The prognosis seems grim as I have really not improved at all.

Does anyone else agree that this is somewhat of an emergency situation for me?

I mean, I talk pretty much all the time.

I suspect that Erin may secretly be happy about my current condition.

Gobble, gobble

Yesterday, Kenzie had a Thanksgiving play at school. She was one of the Indians the pilgrims met at Plymouth Rock. Her line was "We want to be your friends" and she remembered it without being prompted. I was very proud since the play was with the 4 year old's class and some of them either didn't remember their line or started crying and ran to their parents. Afterwards we had Thanksgiving dinner in the gym. I was fixing Kenzie's plate and asking her what she wanted:

"Stuffing?" "No"

"A pickle?" "No"

"Green beans?" "No"

"Turkey?" "No"

Well, then what do you want to eat? "a peanut butter sandwich"

I told her that we had all brought such good things and that we should all eat this good food together. Her reply?

"Mommy, I already told you. I don't like food."

She ended up having macaroni and cheese, bread, and corn. A plate of yellow. Super healthy, I'm sure. We had a great time though and it was really awesome getting to hang out with her at school.

We have been talking a lot about Santa lately and even mustered up the courage to go see him a few days ago. Now don't be confused- we did not sit on his lap and take pictures or even come within 2 feet of him. We spoke to him from afar since Kenzie is terrified of anyone in character (mascots, costumed adults, the Easter bunny, Santa). She did get close enough for him to hand her a candy cane. It's an improvement from last year. And now you know why you have never seen a picture of Kenzie with Santa.

Anyway, on the way home last night, she asked me what Santa's reindeer like to eat. I told her probably corn, hay, and maybe apples or carrots. Kenzie said "oh" sounding disappointed. Then she was quiet for a second and said, "I thought they eat Taco Bell." It was pretty funny.

Kenzie and her friend Olivia

My sweet little Indian girl

The Pumpkin Patch

I was reminded this past weekend by my cousin Kim that I needed to update this blog. She's right. But let me tell you why I haven't. After each milestone, I would procrastinate blogging until I red-eye corrected the pictures. Then I would forget. Then something funny would happen and I would think, "Man, I really want to blog about that!". But then, I would feel ashamed to blog about something funny when I was neglecting the significant event that never got any credit. Like Kenzie's birthday. Or my 30th birthday. Or Kenzie's first day of school. . .the list goes on and on. But anyway, I'm back in the saddle.


And in case you're wondering, the earth did not, in fact, spin off it's axis as I imagined it would the day I turned 30. I survived. But just barely- I will still totally lie and say I'm 29 if need be.

The picture above is from a couple weeks ago when we took Kenzie to a pumpkin patch for a hayride. Instead of a sand box, they had a corn box. Best. Invention. Ever. You don't have to brush corn off when you get out. It falls off by itself. It doesn't make a mess on the floor mats in your car. And last time I checked, it's relatively clean (as in, cat's aren't peeing in it). We had lots of fun. Here are some more pics.

This is the pumpkin Kenzie picked from the patch.

On a hay ride. Kenzie doesn't look excited, but I just think she wasn't paying attention.


In the corn box.

Tough as a Pine Knot

You've just seen the pictures, so you know what has taken place. Long story short, Kenzie was running at Mom's while carrying a bunch of books for Granddad to read to her. She tripped and fell into the coffee table, busting her chin. After deciding that this injury required more than a band-aid, we headed back to Knoxville to Children's Hospital. I was hoping we would get away with just a butterfly bandage or something, but it didn't turn out that way.

Now, it's important to point out that when we first saw Kenzie, you would have thought that we were offering to treat her cut with salt or something, because she was screaming and fighting us just looking at it. We really didn't know what to expect from the E.R. visit, but if last weeks visit to the pediatrician for shots was any indication, things weren't going to go well. During the hour long drive, I fully prepared myself to hold back tears while they tortured my baby.

We arrived and to our amazement, we didn't wait long, nor did Kenzie cause a fuss when they took her band-aid off in triage to replace it with lidocaine gel and a piece of tape. We were assured that the gel was pretty much the stuff that miracles are made of, and it turned out, they were right.

While we waited to see the doctor, I explained exactly what they were going to do and told her that if she would be very still while they used their "string band-aids", we would get out of there much sooner and that we would head straight to Toys R Us for a special toy afterwards. I was still apprehensive about them scrubbing the wound clean and actually stitching her up, but they said they have a girl that comes in with toys and bubble to distract kids while they have procedures done. We honestly thought that it wouldn't matter if Spongebob himself showed up, nothing was going to distract Kenzie from someone coming at her face with needles.

As it turned out, we were totally wrong.

Kenzie didn't move a muscle the entire time and didn't cry a single tear. We were about to burst with pride and were relieved that we didn't have to see her suffer. (Plus, I also knew that my kid would be one that was remembered as incredibly well behaved and brave once we left).

After being given a popsicle at the hospital and checking out, we drove straight to Toys R Us and told her she could pick out anything she wanted. We were so proud, she could have asked for a tree-house and we probably would have said, "sure honey, whatever you want- did you want a pet goat as well?"

Lucky for us, she decided on Play Doh and a little baby doll.

Murphy's Law at it's finest

You know, I feel awful that I have not yet posted about Kenzie's third birthday, but this is worth writing down before I forget about details. And I promise I will post about her birthday as well as our recent camping trip. This just could not wait, you see.

We have been looking for a bed for Kenzie. A big girl bed. And not just any old bed will do. I had a picture in my mind of what I was looking for and so for the past three days, Erin, Kenzie, and I have been shopping for a bed. Like shopping where you look at a bunch of places, compare pros and cons as well as prices, and leave every place with nothing. Well, yesterday, we had finally decided on a bed (a cream wooden day bed with a trundle/storage drawer underneath), went back to one of the places we had visited, and Erin had negotiated a very handsome price.

He got them to knock off a little over $400 below the sale price.

We were walking out, feeling really good about ourselves for getting such an awesome price break. I mean, we had really done our homework and put in time at these stores! On the way out this salesman asked,

"Are you guys driving that G37 outside?"

"Yes", we replied.

"Did you know that you have a tire that's almost flat?"

I wasn't really excited to hear him ask that, but I thought "whatev, we just saved $400 and the tire probably just needs some air". So we left and did find that our tire appeared to be struggling pretty badly. We drove to an air pump nearby and decided that something was clearly wrong with the machine, because it wouldn't put air into my tire. Then we drove to a Pep Boys a mile away and after a failed attempt at airing the tire, they told Erin to take the wheel off. And you know, they didn't offer to do this for us even though they had a couple guys standing around doing nothing, as well as a bay open in the garage. But I digress.

Erin takes the tire off (in the parking lot of Pep Boys. . .a car garage!) and finds a nail in it. Not what we were wanting to see, but we were hoping it could be fixed since no one (seriously, no one) carries my size tire in stock. (see for yourself- it's a 245/40-19) He carries it over and the guy points out a 3 inch gash in the inner side wall. Totally not fixable. Terrific.

This next part is Murphy's Law at it's finest.

Anyone know how much that tire is? Anyone? I've replaced this size before on the G35 I had before, so I'm quite familiar with the price.

It's just over $400, of course.

*UPDATE*

In true Murphy's Law style, when I took the car in on Monday to have the one tire fixed, I was informed that the opposite tire had 2 nails in it. Two! I don't frequently drive my car through construction sites or take it muddin' so I'm not sure how that happened. Either way, I ended up replacing BOTH tires. It was wonderful.

A blog that isn't about Kenzie

You're probably wondering why I have posted such a random picture. Well, those of you that know me well may already be able to guess why that sink fell to the floor in the vanity.

For those of you who are still scratching your heads, here is the story:

Erin, Kenzie, and I went away for a quick trip to Atlanta this past weekend. We took Kenzie to Stone Mountain which was really cool. I haven't been there in years and it was such a beautiful weekend to be outside. We decided to drive into Atlanta and find an inexpensive hotel. It was almost 9pm already so we weren't looking for anything fancy. We decided on a Days Inn in the Buckhead area figuring, it's probably nicer than most because of the location.

Um, yeah. About that. . .

I'm not saying it was awful, all I know is that we have since decided that in the future, we will always ask to see the rooms before paying to stay there. I remember living in an apartment in the early 80's that had fixtures and such that were appropriate for that era- ironically, this Days Inn had the very same things! Although, I bet that apartment complex has updated it's dwellings, while it appears that this particular Days Inn has not. But I'm not really talking about design, as much as true age, and with age comes wear and tear. I'm including carpet in that category.

We make it through the night on a "queen" sized bed that should actually be called "very small full" size. It had one of those mattresses where when two people lay on each side, they kind of both roll to the middle because the springs are saggy. Kenzie's bed didn't seem to have that problem, but then again she only weighs 28 pounds and she slept in the middle of it anyway.

Let me describe the vanity. And pay attention, because my description is key to the story behind the picture above. There is a sink in the counter (on the left) and empty counter space on the right. Under the sink, there used to be a cabinet door, but this has since been boarded shut and painted over. Under the other side of the counter are three drawers which have also been glued shut, painted over, and have had the hardware removed. Most of the girls in my life are aware of the fact that I sit in the sink to apply makeup. It sounds strange, but it gives a perfect distance to the mirror. You actually sit on the outer counter rim and put your feet in the basin, with your legs in kind of an indian-style position. Your knees rest on the sides. Try it sometime. It's very convenient.

So, Erin is taking a shower and Kenzie is watching tv and I'm applying makeup in the sink. Much like a regular day at home. Except at home, you wouldn't expect the sink you're sitting in to suddenly crash to the floor below and for you to fall in the hole.

And that's exactly what happened.

I wasn't hurt, but that sink and all of the pipes are certainly not in working order. And no, I have not gained weight. If you look closely, you may be able to discern the mildewed and molded walls. I stand by my opinion that I didn't break the sink; I just helped it receive a clearly overdue maintenance call.

And for those of you who are curious, upon check-out, Erin did not tell them that I was sitting in the sink when it fell in. He told them I was brushing my teeth. I don't consider that a total lie, only because I think that it would have eventually fallen in while someone was doing just that. Instead of charging us for a plumbing bill (which would have been totally unfair and ridiculous) they just apologized for our inconvenience. They also didn't act that surprised when Erin told them about it, which leads me to believe that they are used to having major appliances and fixtures break!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Two and a half, going on 12.

I know it's been awhile. And I know I always say that! But I have a quick funny story.

Yesterday when I went to go pick up Kenzie from Talitha's, she had done something bad (that we won't discuss here in case she ever reads this and gets embarrassed), and I told her that I wasn't going to spank her there in front of everyone, but that I would have to when we got home. For all those people who think I was being super mean, let me add that she had already gotten in trouble for this twice already that day, so a spanking was in order. We were driving and I was asking her about her day and we didn't say anything else about it. A few minutes later, out of the blue, she said, "I don't need a big spanking. I just need a little one." I told her that we would talk about that when we got home. She was quiet for a few minutes, and then said, "Mommy, you don't have to give me a spanking. I'll just give myself a spanking."

Riiiight.

The picture above was taken in January at my grandmother's farm in Rock Island. I'll post some favorites from that day tomorrow. Really. I will.

So my little girl is a genius.

I think every parent in the world has at one time or another, thought that their kid is the smartest child in the U.S., maybe even the world. Every new thing that Kenzie does that surprises me always makes me think that she is incredibly smart. Like the fact that at not even two and a half, she recognized the whole alphabet and knew what sound each letter makes. This may be very common for children that age, but as far as I was concerned, she was ready to start studying rocket science, you know? In the back of my mind I'm always telling myself that other kids probably do those same things.

Well, not this time.

2 events since last weekend have led me to believe that Mensa will be beating our door down any day now, looking for Kenzie.

I give you Exhibit A: You know how when you're in a public bathroom you wouldn't dream of flushing the toilet with your hand? Yeah, me neither. Well, Kenzie's favorite part of the bathroom is getting to flush and she is always incredibly let down that I don't let her when we are in a public bathroom. I always tell her; "Don't touch anything. And Mommy has to flush with her foot because it is very dirty in here, okay?" I've noticed that recently whenever I take her into a stall, she has been telling me, "Don't. Touch. Anything. It's dirty.", before I even have to remind her. This past weekend, we were at home and Kenzie already had the toilet room door open and I asked her if she remembered to flush. She immediately said "Yes, I have to flush with my foot" and before I could run in there, she had stretched her foot all the way up to the handle and flushed. Think of your toilet at home. How high is the handle? On ours, it's right at Kenzie's forehead. I think that is both amazing because of how high she can stretch her leg while holding onto the wall, and smart because she no longer wants to flush with her hand since "it's dirty".

Exhibit B: Since you're viewing this on your computer, I will assume that you are at least vaguely familiar with the Paint program. It's where you pick colors and different drawing tools and use the mouse to create your very own Van Gogh. Well, I got Erin and iPhone for his birthday and it has a Paint and Draw application on it. If you've not seen the iPhone, you touch the screen to make it do stuff instead of pressing buttons. Since the screen is small (I mean, big for a phone, but small for a drawing board), you have to switch back and forth between different screens and icons to change colors, brush size, erase, zoom, etc. Erin showed Kenzie how to do it and a mere one day later, she can turn on the phone, find the correct application, and stay entertained for a good 20 minutes. It really is incredible to watch her in action.

I'm convinced. She's a genius. Oh! I almost forgot- she can also use the DVD player, but I don't want to brag about that one because although she knows how to now, she did manage to break one during the learning process.

Above you are looking at a picture of Kenzie doing what normal two-year-olds do. . .building a block tower. I have to admit, I was just as proud of her "tower" as I was of her flushing with her foot.