A Visit from MiMi & Papaw

Jamie's parents came to visit us for a few days last week and boy did Kaiya have a good time! Ron walked in and immediately declared Kaiya a "papaw's girl".


They brought their two little dogs Buttons & Angie, and Kaiya was in puppy heaven! She would just shriek with joy as all four dogs ran around her barking. Buttons and Angie also don't have a year of experience to tell them to stay out of Kaiya's way, so she got to hug and kiss them too. She absolutely loved loving on them.


They also brought the rocking motorcycle (as opposed to a rocking horse) that they won in a raffle a while back and Kaiya first tried out last Christmas. She is just the right age for it now, and she adored it. She would swing her leg over, sit on the seat and say "Rock! Rock!" but mostly she just climbed on and off of it.


Ron & Carolyn also watched Kaiya while we went out for our 10th anniversary on Friday! I can't believe it has been 10 years! Here is our engagement picture, wow, we were just a couple of kids!!!

Kaiya's First Spaghetti

So, I made our favorite turkey spaghetti last night, and Kaiya couldn't get enough. Which is funny because the last time I made spaghetti, she wouldn't even touch it. So, we put some on her high chair tray and she went crazy! Now, I am not a fan of messy face photos, but I couldn't resist...


Here is the other problem we have with messy eating: Kaiya has made up some of her own sign language, and to sign "done" she raises her hands over her head and says "DONE!" Well, unfortunately she does this with her hands and arms all gross, and inevitably it ends up in her hair...

So immediately after dinner time, came bath time!

Done!!!!

Hello, my name is Tristen, and I am a huge nerd.

So Friday night, the new "Twilight" book came out (okay, so technically it was 12:01am on Saturday morning) so, I went with Tara & Jen to go get "Breaking Dawn" in Harry Potter-like fashion. We met up around 10:30pm and went to get energized by a little late night visit to IHOP, then over to Wal-Mart, to wait around for 12:01. We did decide to forgo Barnes & Noble's "Vampire Prom" themed book release party. Oh we said it was because we didn't want to dress up in our prom dresses, but I think really deep down, we just didn't want to be the only people there over the age of 17...

Anyway! We met a kindred spirit in line, (another "Twilight Mom" as she put it) and she took this picture of us, waiting to buy our books.


So, now I am done with the book...I won't put out any spoilers, although I will say this. I think part of the thing I like about finishing a series, is that when everything is all wrapped up, I have this huge feeling of relief. Sounds dumb, but it was even more so with Harry Potter. I finished the last page of HP (crying of course) let out a big sigh, and shut the book with a loud snap; because I was so glad that their story was told.

I think I feel this way because I get SOOOOO wrapped up in the characters, and they seem so real to me. I think about them, and worry about them, because they become so real. Like I would not be surprised to meet Hermione Granger standing next to me at a book store, you know? Maybe this doesn't make sense, but when everything is over, and the series is done, I just feel relieved, like a little weight is lifted off my shoulders. Does that make sense? I know I got TRASHED at book club last month when I tried to explain this about Harry Potter. But I felt a tiny bit the same way about "Breaking Dawn". I know that she is coming out with a kind of "prequel" but I was just glad to have their story told, and know that my friends, the characters could, essentially, go to bed.

Ahhhh...(that was a big sigh), and my proverbial SNAP, of the book shutting.

What a Morning!

Kaiya can be a very silly little girl. In the morning, we generally stay in her room, read books & play with quiet toys. But the other morning, she must have decided that her quiet toys just weren't interesting enough for her, so she made her own new toy.



She folded herself up in that box, stuck her head inside to hear the difference in her voice, walked around with it on top of her head like a helmet, put things inside it and dumped it out...you get the picture...all the while saying, "Box! Box! Box!" I am just waiting for her to realize it is a step-stool if you turn it over. She will totally be able to climb over the baby gate when she figures that out.

Then, later that morning, I got in the shower and Kaiya, as usual, hung out in the pack & play in our bathroom. Well, SOMEBODY (who shall remain nameless...) left a brand new roll of toilet paper on the cabinet next to the pack & play, so about halfway through my shower, I look over and see this:

Yes, that is an entire roll of TP in there, unrolled & shredded to bits. Well, at least she enjoyed herself...

"Shoe!"

I can't say that Kaiya doesn't come by it honestly, but Kaiya loves shoes. Recently she has taken to bringing me a pair of shoes when we are just hanging around the house, saying "Shoe!" and lifting up her foot for me to help her put it on. She will just walk around the house with her shoes on. Sometimes she likes to wear one and hold the other one.

Well, tonight my parents watched Kaiya while Jamie & I went to dinner and a movie, and when we came back my parents said that she wouldn't go to bed without her shoes on. So dutiful Grandparent that they are they put her brand new tennis shoes on over her footie pajamas. When we came home we found her like this:


Her other shoe is wedged underneath her. Could anybody love a silly girl more?

A Slight Addendum

Okay, perhaps I was a bit rash. Mamma Mia may be my favorite movie, but the A&E version of Pride & Prejudice is still better; can you classify a mini-series as a movie?

I am forever in love with Mr. Darcy...sigh... I miss Jamie.

Anyway, if for some wacky reason, you have never seen P&P, here is a clip from a scene I like. It's a long excerpt, but especially the first 2 minutes are worth watching.

"Diggin' The Dancing Queen...."

I have a new favorite movie. This statement is not used lightly, or the title given flippantly. I love the new movie "Mamma Mia".

In the beginning, there was ABBA. I first became aware of ABBA in 1995, when I saw the movie "Muriel's Wedding" on a rainy 4th of July. That movie had the message I needed to hear, right when I needed to hear it, and it communicated a large portion of the message through ABBA music, and ever since then, I love the band, and the song "Dancing Queen" has been my signature song.

Now I had heard the hype about the musical Mamma Mia, but I never got the opportunity to see it. So imagine my surprise when I was sitting in a theater watching previews, and the trailer for the movie Mamma Mia came on. Now here is Tristen's weekly confessional: I am a crier. I cry at movie trailers, and I always cry at musicals (I have a whole theory about why life should be a musical). So when the MM trailer came on, I was a bawl baby.

SO! Long story even longer...I went to see the movie tonight with Jen, and BAM! I am in love. The cast is AMAZING, (Mrs. Weasley totally steals the show) and of course, how can you forget Colin Firth (aka Mr. Darcy...sigh...). The movie is everything a musical should be, whimsical, a little over the top and just FUN! The three friends, Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski, and Julie Walters are perfect and so much fun. I could see my friends & I in them.

SO!!! GO SEE IT & tell me what you think!!!!!!!!!!!!