2 1/2 years old

   Hard to believe Miss Kaya is now two and half years old…cruising towards the big THREE!! Seems like only yesterday the little bundle was born.

  We definitely have an independent girl on our hands. I LOVE that she is opinionated and independent…willing to do most things at least once on her own..but..I will admit sometimes its not easy! It takes patience when I know that I can accomplish the task in ten minutes…to step back and let Kaya do it “herself” even if it takes 30 minutes and a little frustration on her part.

  She is picking up colors…she does great on all but green. She is also picking up numbers and will count…although she likes to say “one,two,three, six , nine”…She can name all her body parts and all the people and animals that reside in the Henderson household. She is a very quick witted little girl. She has recently picked up”shhhh please. My turn to talk”….as we are teaching her that its rude to talk over others and that you should “take turns”…she’s just not yet figured out that its not always her turn! haha

  She is over 3 ft tall and about 38lbs (last time we could weigh her) and ..is growing right on schedule. They said we will have a tall girl and I believe it as she is all legs…potty training is going pretty good even though she has been having issues with telling us that she needs to do a number 2 AFTER the fact…she is trying. VERY good at washing her hands after pottying, loves to brush her teeth..and..working on the hair combing. I had to find out what would help with tangles…she is ALL curls. Things are going much better in that area.

  No is one of her fave words when she is frustrated. And..if she gets in trouble and you are not giving her the attention she wants she will say “Mommy see me crying…do you see me crying”…or Daddy if its him. VERY hard to NOT crack a smile.

  She has a very big imagination and I love to hear her stories,songs and “trips” she takes. She loves to be animals (reminds me A LOT of her uncle Jonus at that age)…her fave being a frog. She still loves music a lot and loves to dance.

   Cant wait to see what the days/months/year ahead holds for us!

Goodbye…

  Goodbye to another year. It sure doesn’t seem like it should be 2011 already.

  Most people are wishing 2010 a big goodbye..but..our year wasn’t too bad. We all lived to turn another year older. We saw our daughter transform into an adorable,intelligent sweet toddler…able to do most anything. I got to see my brother for two weeks…first time in a year. We had lots of family in and out of our house. We saw a new baby come into the world…a wonderful addition to the family. And…we had a great Christmas full of fun. Granted…it wasn’t the easiest year ..but…we all survived.

  2010 had its ups and downs…and now..I hope EVERYONE has a prosperous and happy new year full of good health,love,happiness and family.

Kaya meets Addison

  To say I was super excited to introduce Kaya to Addison is a mere understatement. Kim and I have always said we’d live close to each other and have our kids together…and that our children would grow up close like we are.

  Kaya anxiously traveled up the road to see Addison with me,Steve and our cousin Amanda. As soon as we got there it was “where is Kimmy…where is Addie…” we explained to her Addie was eating supper. She demanded a bottle and she would feed her. I didn’t even go into explaining breastfeeding with Kaya as she has been in a “boob phase”…I just told her “You cant feed her only her Mommy can cause she is feeding her the way I fed you”…that satisfied her.

  Once Kim came out with Addie…Kaya was in love. She goes “I want to hold my new COUSIN”…lol…and hold her she did. She gently touched her feet and legs and loved her fingers. LOTS of kissing too. She told Amanda to “please step back. this is my baby and I know what to do”…she loved holding her.

All of us took turns holding Miss Addie…who is an adorable cuddle bunny. She is simply very sweet and pretty…and well loved.

  Once we got home Kaya jumped on the bed and goes “I think we need one of them babies”…hahaha..ahhh kids!

   I think Addie and Kaya will be great friends. In the message I posted on the DVD we made for Kim’s bday of Addie's birth,family messages and pictures..I wrote “We were blessed to grow up together and now we are blessed to raise two beautiful baby girls together”….

Celebrated Christmas

  Kaya was a bundle of energy Christmas Eve..assuring us that she was NOT going to sleep and that she WAS petting a reindeer. She was one determined lil girl..even talking about reindeers while dozing off. She finally gave it up and we got her tucked into bed. Thankfully Steve played Santa and I got to sleep…hehehe…and come Cmas morning the house had been visited by HoHo (Santa).. We are still not sure why Kaya refers to Santa as “her”….haha

  Kaya was in amazement at her dollhouse from Uncle Jonus…

It is a beautiful almost five foot tall wooden dollhouse with an elevator and lots of furniture. Santa was nice enough to deliver her all the dolls she needed as well as a Mammaw Doll for the house. Many awesome gifts from Santa followed….a new chair and footstool from Jonus,clothes,a leapster laptop,a singing doll,a moon dough farm…many nice gifts as well as a “sock” of goodies from Santa. She was VERY excited to see new markers,paint,a baby my pretty pony and Princess chapstick.

  The day was spent lounging around and was a great family day. I made two plates of fudge using the easiest recipe I’ve ever found…and ..we just enjoyed being together. I think I was most thankful for a daughter that was excited over EVERYTHING yet polite enough to give hugs and thanks yous.

   We also got to talk to Jonus via the computer Cmas eve night. His unit was the ONLY unit on base that pulled a mission that went from six am to ten pm their time. Jonus was upset that they had to wait so long to talk to their families that day..especially all the guys that have lil kids or new babies…but..at least they all got a lil bit of time to talk before bed. They were picked for QRP the next morning (quick response patrol) as backup to the unit so …he needed his rest. But…to know he was ok, talk a few minutes, share our joy of the holidays…and…to know that he missed us and we missed him was very comforting. This was my first year without him and it was MUCH harder than I though even though I did a good job of holding the fort down…lol..but..I missed him terribly. We always have done the same thing…one gift before going to Granny Wades (which always was batteries or socks..lol) and then a night of family and fun..then another day of the same on Cmas day. This year..his cmas came via care packages from us and family and friends…prayers for his safety..and our thought of him…and our cmas from him came via FedEx, and Facebook. I can say I got three of the best gifts….seeing the joy on my girls face, being with my family..and knowing my brother was safe for another day.

Almost Christmas

   Well its almost Christmas time. In three days will be Christmas Eve when we go to my Granny’s for the Wade family. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Kaya always enjoys seeing all her cousins. Then Christmas Day will be at my Mom’s family for dinner…once again lots of little cousins to play with.

  Weather is predicting ice,sleet and snow for Cmas eve so we will have to wait and see. My family lives WAYYY out in the boondocks soo that may alter our plans.

  Kaya is getting excited for “surprises” and to see “HoHo”…Santa.

  Last Saturday we hosted Steve’s family for Christmas and it was a great time. Both girls got lots of gifts and had a blast. We ate way too much great food and just enjoyed being together.

Picture from Iraq

  Got a very nice unit picture from my brother in Iraq this week. It showcases their silliness and ability to have fun no matter what. And..you cant deny that the lil Christmas tree is too cute! haha

 

It makes it easier to see his face and see he’s ok..but..its hard to NOT have him home for the holidays. I miss him teasing me that I have too much holiday cheer..that I'm a cheese head..and..I miss waking up on Cmas day and seeing him and watching him with our daughter.

  But..hopefully this year on Christmas Day he will wake up to peace and quiet, have a safe good day and maybe for one day..even if its only one minute…the world will be happy. Maybe unrealistic but…you can always dream! haha

New addition…

  Well after SEVERAL long hours and a lot of sorta patient waiting..haha…we now have a new cousin…Addison Lou. She is simply beautiful. A perfect 8lbs 8oz 19inches long with black hair.

  I cannot even begin to say how excited I was to NOT be the one in the bed..haha..but the one helping to coach..and..how proud I am of Addie’s Mommy and Daddy for doing such an awesome job.

 

I have to think that maybe us Wade girls have the market cornered on beautiful babies .. Kaya is VERY impressed with her new cousin..informing us that she’s “awww pretty”…cant wait to properly introduce them next week.

  

  I can say that Joey did great too and I was VERY fortunate to have my Mom to watch Kaya so I could be by Kim’s side. We were at the hospital till almost midnight Sunday night…they decided to wait till Monday to induce her…then we got less than four hours sleep before heading back on Monday…and..then..17 hrs later MIss Addison made her debut into the world.

  Best thing was seeing Mommy and Baby happy and healthy..then beating the bad weather home to love on OUR lil girl…lol.

Gearing up for Christmas

   Kaya is in full holiday mood and we love it. She has played out in the snow even though now she will buck against going out because we make her wear a coat! She wants to just wear a long sleeve shirt and her pants/boots etc. Yeah, that doesn’t fly too well! ha-ha

   She loves the Christmas tree and really likes to see it lit up. She’s been trying to go to bed during the day because she thinks when she wakes up “hoho” (Santa) will be here! Its so funny and awesome to see that childlike wonder in her eyes.

  She has asked us when we are going to pick Uncle Jonus up, as he was “home for Halloween”…that was a hard one to deal with. We explained to her that he cannot come home this year for Christmas but that we will record her when Santa brings his gifts and that Jonus can hear her and see her when we record her and she can talk to him. We also explained that he is doing a big boy job in Iraq and that he came home at Halloween so another man can come home and visit his baby at Christmas. She seemed ok with it.

  I start a seven day stretch tomorrow..hate them.Saturday we will have Christmas with Steve’s family at his Aunt Judy’s. We always provide a few treats and the meat and everyone pitches in. We do gifts, play games and just have fun. I definitely look forward to it every year.

  Then..I have to work 8 to 4 Cmas eve so that will make it fun as I have to be at Granny’s no later than six pm. We usually soup and sandwiches and the gifts and visit. Its always fun but..I do miss my Grandpa Wade. This year Kim is due Dec 25th so that may make it interesting. I personally think she will go before that date..but..she may surprise us and go over. The dr said for her to expect a big baby..def. over 8lbs!

  Christmas Day all of us are off and this year we are going down a little bit later than normal to my Uncles for Cmas. I just don’t want to get up and run on Cmas morning now that I have my own baby. We will have a big meal and its always fun. Kaya is blessed with lots of cousins,aunts and uncles on both sides of our family. It will definitely be hard this year as this is our first Cmas without Grandpa Roberts…and that man LOVED Christmas. But…we are lucky to have him in heaven with Grandpa Wade, Grandma Roberts,and Grandma Johnson keeping an eye on us and I'm sure sharing a few laughs as they watch Kaya.

  I am very much in the holiday mood this year. One reason is because I am determined Kaya will have the wonderful holidays I had as a child and ..with Jonus and others gone this year..its hard but..I am keeping it rolling! ha-ha Life is going great and to watch our child enjoy the wonder of snow, Christmas, and all the festivities that goes with it warms my heart more than anything!