Toddler Days

Oh, the days of having a toddler in the house.  I want to treasure these days, to lock them away in my long-term memory so that I can recall them later when the pitter-patter of tiny feet is no longer an everyday sound in our house.

I love to see Kyla's creativity and imagination come to life in her play.  Today, she found a bottle of sunscreen that we had used before going outside.  When I found her, she had it open and was applying sunscreen to her stuffed puppy.  :)  Last night, she buckled her baby doll into her infant carseat.  I am constantly reminded of the fact that her mind is just a sponge, soaking in everything around her. 

Of course, there are the not-so-fun moments as well.  This afternooon, Kyla and I were outside by her pool when she got stuck by a wasp 3 times!!  Thankfully, she had no reactions to the stings and recovered fully within an hour or two. 

Yesterday, Dez and I took our girls to the lake to just relax along the shore.  Kyla and I did a bit of swimming.  Once she adjusted to the water and her life jacket, she loved it.

She loved playing with Lexi on the blanket as well while we Mamas chatted.

I had to snap a picture of Kyla drinking from the hose this morning while we were filling her pool.

Boating

Kyla got her first boat ride last night, and what a ride it was!

We went boating on Lake Mitchell last night with our friends Brad and Dez, and their little girl Lexi.  It was a beautiful evening for boating.  We sped around the lake for a bit and then shut it off for a while to just relax. 

Brad decided he wanted to go water skiing, so he did that.  Then Bryan got in the water to give skiing a try.

Ready, set....no go.  The boat wouldn't start for anything.  The people onboard who knew something about engines and motors deduced that we had a dead battery for some reason.

Of course, we were on the far side of the lake from the dock, pretty much as far away from it as we could get.  There were no other boats around us...only one jet-skier that would zoom past every now and again, but he was still quite a ways away.  Every time he would come close, we would stand up and wave our arms.  He appeared to see us but didn't slow down. 

The guys decided to try rowing back but discovered there was only one oar aboard.  Finally, Mr. Jet-Skier headed our way again.  I stood on the back of the boat and waved both arms frantically.  This time, he slowed and came toward us!  He said, "I'm sorry.  I didn't realize you were trying to flag me down."  (Did he really think we were just being friendly!?!)  He agreed to pull us back to the dock.  Thus began the longest boat ride of our lives.  When the guys tied the rope between the boat and the jet ski, they doubled it for extra strength.  This, however, made it a very short rope.  Thus, all of the water that the jet ski sprayed up behind him came directly down into the boat like a full-blown downpour.

As Bryan, Kyla, and I huddled beneath a towel as best we could, Bryan just started to laugh...and laugh some more.  I'm so glad I married a man who can laugh when being utterly soaked in a dead boat.  I had to join in...what else could we do?  Everything in the boat, including ourselves, was getting totally drenched, and there wasn't a thing we could do about it. 

I had no idea that lake was so big.  It's huge.  At least the size of Lake Superior.

New Beginnings

Today is a day of new beginnings, happier days. 

At my doctor appointment yesterday, the doctor was able to do a procedure to remove the remaining tissue.  This means no surgery and no more waiting.  It was a huge relief to be done; but, rather unexpectedly, it was a very sad day.  It was the end.  I already knew the life within me was gone, but it was the final good-bye to a beautiful dream.

Sad, sad, sad

Tomorrow will be three weeks since we had our first prenatal appointment for this baby.  Unfortunately, my worst fears came true.  The doctor was unable to find a heartbeat.  A series of blood tests and another ultrasound revealed that this is another miscarriage.  It was a rollercoaster...we'd get a little hope, then have it dashed.  Get a little hope, then dashed again.