Videos and birthdays - oh my!

Central Florida Zoo 12.19.2010

Tonight I take a vow to my dear Karmann: I will never ever make her a cake out of a box with icing from a can ever again! Having a second piece of cake, I realized that I used vanilla cake and vanilla icing. Karmann certainly is more than just vanilla! That doesn't fit her personality, and I certainly should focus more on the flavor (this pretty much tasted like cardboard - though she doesn't know any better at her age!) So, I promise, to the best of my abilities, to never have a boring cake for your birthday again!

I must give myself a little credit, as I think I did improve from her 1st birthday. Last year I made cupcakes, but didn't even have time to ice them before the party! This time I had a cake with icing, and a candle too! So, though its taken me a couple of years to figure this birthday thing out (or at least to realize Karmann deserves better!) I hope to keep improving!

As I mentioned yesterday, we took Karmann to the zoo for her birthday. Here's a few photos and I am going to attempt to upload a few short videos from my new camera! Enjoy!

It's Her Party - She can cry if she wants too!

Earlier today, Kris and I gave Karmann her first surprise birthday party - well, it wasn't planned as a surprise, but in hind-sight - it was. I had coordinated with her teachers to come to school around 2 pm to set up in the cafeteria. They wake up from their naps at that time and the teachers would bring them in for cupcakes and juice.

Since we were already in the cafeteria, when Karmann came in, she saw us, and then the class started to sing "Happy Birthday" and she pretty much freaked out - as you can see in this next photo. She did sit with Josie and Sophia for a split second, but then started to cry and of course wanted her daddy!
Just look at that face! She did grab the sprinkles off of the cupcake, but that was about it. All the other kids in the class were thoroughly enjoying their treats!
Ms. Aura is helping Mia, Alex, Jaxson, and Ginny with their cupcakes.
Here come the itty-bitty's - they just moved up some of the walkers to the toddler room, and this was their first day. I'm sure they were excited to have a treat on their first day in the big-kid's room!
Karmann still upset and sticking to Daddy like glue!!
Mia attacked her cupcake - with a passion! Alex is asking herself "what just happened?"
Jaxson and Ginny are intently chomping away. Ginny thinks the icing is lipstick!
Finally Karmann calms down, but still doesn't want to join her girlfriends at the table.
Her happy birthday hat was tolerable by the end of snack time!
Here's the whole gang....
The party was supposed to be a "Cat in the Hat" theme...here's the favor bags with finger paints, Cat in the Hat magnets, stickers, and temporary tattoos! Everyone got a "thing 2" bag - appropriate for the 2nd birthday, eh?

So her party was a success, even though she was surprised!

So with that over, I can check it off my list and start to focus on Christmas - yikes!

SHE'S TWO!!

(Photos by Jen Adams Photography)

Today was Karmann's 2nd birthday - I can't believe it! We had a great day with family and friends, and since Karmann woke up asking for pizza and monkeys, we decided to take her to the Zoo for her birthday! The weather was not ideal, however, since it wasn't crowded, it was as if we had the whole place to ourselves - which was great for a 2 year old! We received a digital video recorder for Christmas from GG and Gramps, so I will try to figure out how to up load to share later this week. For now, by request (for those of you who are not on facebook ha!) here are our family and Karmann's 2 year old photos - enjoy!

Under the weather

Karmann and I have been battling a cold all weekend. I'm worse than her, which is good and bad - good because she isn't as sick, but bad because I feel crappy and have to keep up with her high energy! She's also been getting up at 445 am the past few nights, which hasn't helped with my lack of sleep! Luckily today she was too kind - I put her down for a nap, but she ended up playing in her crib without crying for me for over an hour before she finally fell asleep for and hour and a half. I got a little rest and the house was quiet for almost 3 hours! It was nice.

The weather is changing again tonight. Its going to be in the 20's tonight!!! I can't complain as I know the rest of the country is in a snow and winter storm with temperatures too cold to report. I hope it warms up a little before Christmas!!

Sorry no photos tonight - though I hope to have a few from our photo shoot soon! Have a good week!

A day to remember

Yesterday was a day to remember and therefore blog about. 12.9.2010 - the first day Karmann pee pee'd in the potty! She has been in training-light for a while where we sit on the potty and pretend to wipe and then get up and flush and then wash our hands. This is our routine right before bath time. So last night, I noticed she had a dry diaper, so I figured maybe - just maybe - we'd try to actually go on the potty. She was excited to sit on the potty and we talked a little and I would say "can you hear it? let mommy hear you p-p" while she sat there, and then I decided to blow lightly on her belly and lightly tickle her too, and it worked! I got so excited that I think she wasn't sure what happened. But she wiped and got up and we did a potty dance and then she got right in the tub.

Tonight on the other hand, she was not willing to go pee on the potty. So I think I did freak her out a little. She also was not cooperative in the tub, and she actually ended up peeing in the tub just after I put her in there after our unsuccessful routine. Oh well, baby steps!

Another thing she did tonight was bite me! I've been really strict about biting as this is the age at school when it becomes a problem (so I've been told). She's done it a few times before where she has her head on my shoulder, and she bites my neck, but tonight she bit so hard I screamed and it made a mark. I scolded her and walked away. She wasn't really phased at first, but when she saw my seriousness when I came back to check on her a few minutes later, she then got upset. She calmed down when I began reading her books, and all things were better.

On the other subject, we are trying to make progress on the house. Its been cold this week, but that hasn't slowed Kris down. We also were hoping to get our counter tops in in the next week or so, but got the call that - of course - the color we picked is on back order for 2 weeks. This seems to be a trend with us. What is up with that?!? We are still waiting on our bathroom tile, and I am fearful of the lighting fixtures which I haven't even gotten priced yet (yikes!) Anyway, here's the latest (messy) views of the kitchen.

We have a semi-busy weekend as I will be shopping for Karmann's birthday and of course Christmas stuff too! Have a good weekend!

Just photos

She discovered the fishing pole - and likes it.

Post-marathon - had to at least look at the beach!

Karmann and Kris recovering after the marathon.

Happy we all survived the race!!

Two peas in a pod??

Piggy and Karmann passed out at the beginning of the race - had to be up by 4:30 am!

Eating "breakfast" before the race

Having fun at the house!

Drawings in the dirt

Dressed to work!

I know, I know

I know its been almost over a month since I updated this blog. I am blaming it on picking out bathroom tile, designing a kitchen, ordering the cabinets, and getting it delivered, along with two sinks and vanities. On top of that, we had Grandma and Papa Stenger here for the holiday, too! Karmann has also been busy with play dates, and coping with our usual holiday cold and ear infections. Kris and I also got a cold-slash-cough-slash-crappiness which has taken us two weeks to get over. Non the less, we are making progress on the house, and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends!! We also attended the Turkey trot, Thanksgiving at my Aunt Judy's, Thanksgiving at Keri and Choy's in Tampa, and the Space Coast Marathon in Cocoa. Thank goodness I took Monday off!!

Karmann was a joy all weekend. She loves hanging out with her cousin Amara! They have such a blast together despite the 6 year age difference! Karmann is singing and dancing like crazy and loves to play hide and seek and peek-a-boo!! On the contrary, she is starting to be more demanding, and will throw a fit if she doesn't get what she wants, or if she doesn't want Daddy to leave! We are working on the discipline, however when it comes to naps and bed time, she's pretty good. We are also trying to get her acquainted with the potty, though she hasn't actually pee'd in it yet!

Well, Kris and I are exhausted, so I will only up load a few photos tonight and will add more this week - I promise! These are from the beginning of the month and one from the Turkey Trot. Enjoy!

Halloween Dress rehersal

Today was Halloween dress-up day at school, so Karmann got into the spirit, though she obviously didn't know what she was getting herself into this morning when I took these pictures! She must have had a lot of sugar, including the cupcake that Daddy gave her this evening before dinner, because she was a bundle of fun energy tonight!! She was also very happy to see Daddy at home this evening for dinner and a walk and bubbles!! And don't forget the "airplane" rides on his knees! (Kris got an ab workout for sure!) After all that, she was good in her bath and went right to sleep! Grandpa is coming in the morning, so I'm sure she'll have a fun filled day tomorrow too! Haven't decided on trick-or-treating plan yet for Sunday, but if we go, I'll be sure to take pictures!
This is a bonus photo of Karmann from last week. This same day, she managed to completely destroy this pair of Oakley sunglasses that I've had for 4 years. I guess its time for a new (cheep) pair!

22 months already!

As I sit in front of the tv, I am hoping that Karmann is actually taking a nap right now and not playing in her crib. The last time I went in, I found her playing with her shoes, and she actually had them on and on the right feet, too! But as I stare into the screen, I can't help but be distracted by her little hand prints down near the bottom where she often touches Elmo, or the little moving icons of the station in the corner. Though Kris would prefer she not do this, I see it as her discovering things with her hands. She is growing up so fast. Last week she hit the 22 month mark. It is hard to believe she will be 2 in 2 months. She's approx. 24 lbs and full of energy! She's just fitting into size 5 shoes and is about perfect in size 18 mth. clothes, though she still wears 12 month outfits just fine.

Last night we took a small trip about an hour away to go to the 4th annual Holler Family Octoberfest. I work with Elisabeth, and her parents throw this party every October to celebrate German beer and all its glory. Karmann was invited, too, so we hoped she would be on her best behavior! (Friends took photos, so as soon as I get copies, I'll post). Karmann was an angel as usual, and pretty much between Kris and me, she was manageable. One thing she did that we haven't really experienced yet, was her pretending!!! She was pretending to scoop something up in her hands off the the chair, carry it over to Kris or me, and put it in our hands, so we could pretend to eat it!! She did this for both of us for a good 5 minutes! It was too cute and she was very proud of her generous gifts and our accepting of them! Then, this morning, for the first time, during breakfast, she asked me for a hug - hands stretched out and saying "hugs, hugs" and after getting her hug (how can I resist!!) she asked Kris for a hug too! It was adorable!!!

We ran errands this morning and she fell asleep in the car. I figured she'd nap for a while after a fun day and night (Grandpa watched her yesterday while I worked at the house), but she only slept for about 45 minutes. I just put her down again, but she's up - fake crying - hoping I'll come get her. So, I will have to end here, as badly as she needs a nap, I'll be ending this blog and giving in to her adorable self!

Bubbles with Daddy

It was a rare evening when Kris was home for dinner and some one-on-one time with Karmann. So Karmann decided she wanted to play bubbles in the back yard. She was totally into it until the kitty cat stopped by to see what was going on! It was a beautiful day and evening. We are loving this October weather!! Enjoy!

When is it going to be done?

Here are the latest photos of the house...



Here are the latest photos of Karmann...




Here's where we were this weekend (Rachel and Glenn's wedding in Tampa)...

We've had a great weekend! We were honored to be at my good friend Rachel and Glenn's wedding in Tampa. Rachel was a beautiful elegant bride, as was the whole ceremony and setting. They could not have asked for better weather! The evening was great and Kris and I had a blast together while Karmann was with Aunt Keri and cousin Amara. Kris and I didn't know any one else at the wedding, but we had an awesome night out!

Kris needed a short break as you can see he's made a lot of progress, even in the last week, which has been crazy busy! This weekend, the drywall crew finished the smooth coat and sanding! It looks great! Now to pick out pain colors, kitchen cabinets, floors, tile, etc....he's waiting on me!!

Karmann has been her silly self lately! I promise I won't go through the same list that I see I've talked about in the last few blogs...sorry about that. Though, she loves singing the alphabet in the car on the way to school - and she gets through it all many times! I just love it and hope to get it on video sometime soon. As you can see from the photos, she's still loving the glasses! And, loves to pretend she's driving the car. I just can't hug and squeeze her enough!!