Keara the Cutie!

Here are a few pictures showing Keara from birth up till now. She just keeps getting cuter and more fun to be with. She loves to laugh, clap her hands, and blow raspberries!

I don't know why the next one keeps turning. It is saved the same way as the others. If any one knows how to fix this please let me know. After reloading all the pictures multiple times, I gave up. So those of you who don't like turning your head to look at sideways pictures, sorry! I can't figure out how to fix it.

Keara loves to make funny faces, and sticks her tongue out all the time. Her first tooth looks like it will pop out any time and I think she is rubbing her gums with her tongue.

Ooohhhley Ohley Ohley - Go Spain!!!!!!!

Spain finally pulled it off!!!!!!! They won the Euro Cup for the first time since 1964. Brandon is on cloud nine. Spain has disappointed him many times, but they finally got it together and pulled off a huge win! Our condolences to all of you Germany fans, better luck next time. Now Brandon can finally wash his jersey. He didn't want to wash the luck out of it, phew!

Rub a Dub Dub...Keara in the tub

Never Trust A Quiet Kid

We have our living room completely kid-proofed so that we can leave Keara alone (for brief amounts of time) without worrying about her getting into things she shouldn't. This works well for things like feeding myself or going to the bathroom. And, if Keara will let me out of arms reach long enough I can do stuff in the kitchen and still see part of that area. I was making dinner last night and Keara was playing in the living room. Normally she makes noise, talking to herself or the cats, or banging her toys around. I noticed that she was being really quiet, and looked over. She wasn't on the fireplace and I could see the top of her head, so I just let her keep playing, glad for some peace and quiet.Brandon came home and went to pick her up and started laughing. He called me over and this is what I found!! No wonder she was being quiet, she was having too much fun TP-ing herself and the living room. I have a little bit of a cold and ran out of tissues and forgot I left the roll of TP on the couch. She is of course attracted to anything I don't want her playing with. Her favorite toys are the remote and my cell phone. She now has her very own remote, minus the batteries, and she loves to chew on it and carries it around. She is such a fun, silly little person. Despite all the stresses of motherhood, I love being a mom!!!

Keara and the Kitties

There is only one thing more exciting to Keara than her mommy. That's the cats. She loves them so much. When she catches sight of one of them she starts bouncing up and down, gets a really big grin on her face and starts snorting!! I don't think she realizes that they don't return her feelings. They will usually run away if they notice she is paying attention to them. Tigger is the most tolerant and usually won't run away until she gets close and every now and then is so desperate for attention he will let her get close enough for a touch. Which usually results in a tail pulling and a cat making a mad dash escape. I try to show her how to pet the kitties instead of pulling their fur out or yanking ears or tail, and sometimes she pays attention. Apparently it is more fun to grab and yank though, like with my hair. She has only been swatted once, by Tigger. He got her right on the top of her head, which she thought was hilarious (he didn't stick his claws out). So much for learning a lesson from it. I hope they someday get over the trauma of her infancy and become friends.

Snap, Crackle Pop! and Messy Faces

Brandon and I have both been having a lot of back pain in the last couple of years, and we finally decided to see a chiropractor. I had never been to a chiropractor before and only knew what you see in movies or T.V. You know, the horrible sights and sounds of them wrentching someone's neck and all the popping noises it makes. But, I was willing to give it a try. I have heard people say they have had a lot of luck with chiropractic care. We went in for our evaluations and Dr Karen poked and prodded and then took some X-rays. We went back last Wed. for the results, it was one of those mixed blessing, my back was worse than I thought it would be, but there is hope for recovery. Which is more than I got from any doctor I saw through tricare. My neck only has a six degree curve when it should have a 43 degree curve and there are permanent calcium deposits, there are problems with a couple of vertebrae in the middle of my back, and I have scoliosis in my lower spine. My spine only has a little bit of curve, but it is rotated inside my body. It was strange to see it on the X-rays, but it does explain the horrible lower back pain while pregnant. I have had 4 adjustments so far and they all hurt!! The Dr said I am one of the unlucky few who have a lot of pain with the adjustments. They are no problem for Brandon and he makes some really horrible popping noises. I think part of my problem is just the noise and being scared something is breaking. Especially when the Dr twisted my neck to pop it. I almost cried! I do have to admit I feel better already and am glad we looked into it. I feel better knowing there is a really good chance this will relieve much of the everyday pain. Too bad the care is not covered by Tricare. It is really expensive, but will be worth every penny if it relieves pain. We are even going to have Keara get adjustments. She falls and tumbles so much trying to walk and crawl over things she already has a few things out of place. I want to make sure her spine stays healthy instead of ending up like her dad and me 30 years down the road.

Here are a couple of funny pictures of Keara eating and times she has tried to use the spoon herself. She also like to suck on her hand right after taking a bite and then rubbing it all over her face! Eating is something I do so automatically I never thought about having to learn how to get the food into my mouth and all the coordination that involves. It is so amazing watching this mini person learning how to do all the things that I do without thinking.

First Steps!!!!

My baby's growing up! She took her first step on June 2nd. Didn't get pictures or video of it, but both Brandon and I were there. I must admit, I would have been pretty upset if Brandon had seen it and I hadn't. She had been trying for a week or so and I told Brandon he'd better not encourage her if I wasn't around. I didn't want to discourage her, but I want to see all those firsts. I missed her being born, and I refuse to miss anything else!

I know, sounds strange that a mom could miss her kid being born, but I was under general anesthesia and slept through the whole thing. No "It's a girl" or hearing the first cry. It kind of, well, really (really) bothered me for awhile. I had to stop watching A Baby Story on TLC because it would make me so sad. I am pretty much over it, and just enjoying the now with her.

She is so much fun. That sounds so strange coming from me. Used to be the only thing I thought about kids was straight jackets and duck tape. Yet, I find myself missing her sometimes when I go to bed or she is napping. Other times (like when she screams bloody murder every time I walk away, even when her dad is there) thoughts of duck tape try to slip back in.

She loves the camera. Anytime I bring it out she gets excited and wants to stick her face right in it. And the best part is chewing on the strap. Silly girl! Her newest "thing" that she does all the time is sticking her tongue out. I don't know if it's from teething (seems like she's been teething for 3 months with no teeth to show for it), or she just likes licking her chin. She's only 9 months and has so much personality! I can't wait to see what the years bring and who she turns out to be.

Sweatin' in the South

There were many reasons I didn't want to come to Ft. Bragg. The biggest was the way the south reminds me of an armpit in the summer. Hot and sweaty!!!! It has cooled down some. Now it is only in the low 90's, which is a vast improvement over being 100 F and feeling like 105 with the heat index. The only compensations I have are air conditioning and a pool in my back yard!!! I love to swim and I am so glad that Keara loves to be in the pool. She will be one of those kids that is like a fish in the water. The only bad thing about the pool is how it seems to attract all of the spiders in my yard. Especially the really big wolf spiders!!!! I think there is something about me that attracts spiders, maybe they smell the fear like dogs do.

My first blog!

Well, I am jumping on the bandwagon. Seems like everyone has a blog these days and I was feeling a little left out :) We'll see how this turns out. I have never been good at writing in journals, I just collected them because they were pretty. I am no longer allowed into the journal section of bookstores. Sometimes I sneak in though!

If you are wondering about the slightly cheesy name of my blog, know that I suck at picking out cute, witty names. But, there is just something so sweet about snuggling up with your baby and feeling her little eyelashes brush your cheek. Butterfly Kisses. Plus, I had that really cute photo.

I found these wings at JoAnn's and they have made for some really cute photos.

Well, I must force myself to go to bed as it is now 2:00am. Must sleep when the baby sleeps!