Birthday Party pictures

Here are some pics of Keara's birthday party. I have tried for days to get a collage to post, but it won't work for me so this is a long one. Keara wasn't quite sure what to think about everyone singing to her.

My Hero and the Birthday Girl

Brandon left today for Iraq. We got to go to the airfield to see him off. It sucks he left today, but at least he got to see the baby for a few hours on her first birthday (literally a couple of hours, we left the airfield after he took off at around 3 am.). She slept through a lot of it, but woke up and we gave her cake and sang happy birthday to her. It was so hard to see him go. But, someone has to do it and I am so proud of him for the sacrifice he is making for us and his country. We are both very patriotic and I am proud to call my husband a soldier and a hero. The hardest part is knowing that he has to go for so long without seeing his daughter. I get anxious if I am away from Keara for too many hours, much less the months he will spend without her. Keara is a mamma's girl, but she loves her daddy. But, if I am around he tends to be ignored. Right before they left they formed up in lines to get on the plane. Brandon was in the front row so it was easy to see him. So Keara and I could wave to him and blow kisses. She kept putting out her arms because she wanted her daddy to hold her. It was so sweet that even though I was holding her she wanted her dad. She had no clue that he was leaving to want those last minute hugs and kisses. It made me feel good that Brandon's last moments with us were of her wanting him. Talk about making you cry though. That about did me in. We did manage to sneak in a few more hugs and kisses as the line moved forward.

We had Keara's birthday party on Sunday (pictures in the next post). Brandon was there for most of it, but he missed singing Happy Birthday and the cake, so I brought some left over cake with us to give her on her actual birthday.

Snaggle tooth and "Poodough"

Here is Keara's third tooth. We have nicknamed her snaggle tooth. The top one is so much bigger compared to the bottom two. This look won't last much longer. # 4 is about to come through. She has been teething really bad the last couple of nights. She has fun grinding the top and bottom one together.

Here is a really funny story about what I like to call poodough. Keara and I took a nap the other day, her in her crib and me in my bed. It was a really hot day so instead of cranking up the AC, I put Keara down for her nap in just her diaper. She woke up about 45 minutes later crying. She usually sleeps about 1 1/2 hours, but she'll wake up if she has a poopy diaper. I was really tired so it took me a minute or so to clear my head enough to get up and go into her room. Sure enough, as soon as I opened the door I smelled poo. Then I saw it. The poodough. Apparently Keara had not been napping. She had taken off her diaper, pooped, and then played with it like it was playdough. She was covered head to toe in poop. It was all over her face, between her fingers and mushed between her toes. It was all over the crib too. She had stamped it into the crib sheet and smeared it on most of the bars of her crib. Of course, I got pictures (blackmail for when she is a teenager!) Well, another lesson learned. Don't leave Keara in just her diaper!!

Keara's First Art Project and Nursery

We finally finished painting the walls and got the crib moved into Keara's room. I think that I am going to take down the blinds that came with the house and put up other window coverings. The blinds are an off white and really show up against the white walls. Behind the crib I am going to put up some embroidery hoops with color coordinated fabrics. I was going to make a flower to go with the quilt, but I don't like how it looks. I'll get some photos of a couple designs and get opinions on what looks best.

Keara did her first (hopefully many more will come) art project with tadoodles markers. She seemed to have fun. And apparently they are quite tasty as well as colorful. They do wash off really easily.