Finger Paintin s'cool, m'kay?

My baby is growing up. This week she started clapping, started waving hello and goodbye, and started understanding me when I talk (well Im pretty sure, since she seems to do what I ask her to now). She is quickly changing from a baby to a toddler before my eyes. It makes me a bit weepy, I wont lie, but it also fills me with immeasurable pride. I am a proud momma when I watch her solve problems, learn new skills, and communicate more and more with me. She is my life's hugest joy, which is cliche, but what can I say... its true!

Today I decided that we should try finger painting. Her hand/eye coordination, her finger dexterity, and fine motor skills are so much improved that I thought it might be something she would not only enjoy but also be quite good at. So I searched online for some 'eddible finger paints' (which believe me is a MUST with an 11 1/2 month old) and decided that some vanilla pudding (Jello brand of course) and a few drops of food colouring was the easiest and most palatable choice (most of the other had flour and cornstarch. ICK!)  

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I rounded up the necessary supplies. A package of vanilla pudding, some food colouring, a few containers to mix different colours in, some paper, and some tape to keep the paper in place.

I put a little pudding in each of the cups and added some food colouring.

 

I put Miss K in her chair and attached the paper to the tray 

(this alone was FUN FUN FUN for her, she laughed her butt off)

I put some puddin' on the page and just left her to her own devices. She was cautious at first...

 

... but quickly realized that the paint was not only fun... it was DELICIOUS!

 

and so began the eating, more than the painting. Ha ha ha!

She did manage to make some beeeeeutiful artwork though. Well beautiful by 'mom standards'.

In case you are desperate for a one-of-a-kind Miss K Original finger painting, we are accepting orders until the end of the week :)

Where is OUR safety net?

Having your first kid can put strain on your marriage. I've heard so many parents reflect on their marriage during their first child's first year as being a 'rough patch', a 'tough time', and even as 'the year I just wanted to smack him every minute of everyday!' And now, being a first time mom, I can see where these experienced parents were coming from. I mean (and don't get me wrong, I love my husband and he loves me) there are in fact days where I just wanna smack him and say 'what are you thinking'. Its such a change, and no matter how prepared you think you are for it, you really have no clue. You might have checked off every box on your 'preparing for baby checklist' but nothing can prepare you for the change in priorities, communication, and lifestyle that comes with kids. 

Ok, you're all wondering. Are the Keller's having marital problems? Don't worry the answer is No, but we have had a major change in the way we live our daily lives, and it isn't always easy to say 'please and thank you' in the same way we used to. I wondered while we were in the NICU with K, what having a 25 weeker would mean for our marriage, above and beyond the fact Kahlen is our first kiddo. I was fortunate that the crisis of having Kahlen early actually brought us closer together. But not all parents in the NICU are able to do this, by no fault of their own. It is such a life altering experience, and in most cases it happens suddenly, without warning, and without a chance to step back, regroup, and move forward as a cohesive unit. Not unlike other traumatic experiences, we all deal with things so differently. None of them are 'wrong' but I can imagine how frustrating it would have been if Steve had dealt with it in a way contrary to me, or in a way I felt was 'wrong' (for whatever reason).

I have been fortunate enough to keep in touch with 15 NICU families, and many of them are going through 'rough patches' right now. It makes me frustrated think that the hospital doesn't have more 'safety nets' in place for the parents. Nothing is spared to help our kids! I really believe there should be a program (for those that want it) of support for parents. I know this wont solve the 'first year marital slump' issue but it might help parents avoid or navigate some of the pitfalls the NICU has to offer. It might just make that first year a bit less of a wild ride. I doubt having extra support or help will have any negative effect on anything but the hospitals budget. I just hate to see good people continue to 'suffer' after surviving the trauma of the NICU.

Am I the only one?

(Note: Beth, the social worker at RCHs NICU, does an amazing job with the resources available to her! This is no slight against her and all the wonderful work she does!!!)

Happiness in letting go!

Im sitting with my feet up, reading the paper and lazily sipping a coffee in the sun on a Sunday at noon. Its just like life before Miss K. It's so nice to have some down time while Kahlen sleeps. Im starting to get used to this new routine a bit. Steve and I started off as 'by-the-book' parents, but its a slippery slope once you stop saying 'well the books says...' and start saying '...just this once. Im sure it will be fine.'

 Im so much happier now that we stopped stressing so much about doing things wrong. I've come to accept that Kahlen will be scared for life, will need counseling in adult hood, and that it will be all my fault. Im ok with that. Ha! I mean I would never intentionally inflict any sort of trauma or harm to her, but I know that even if I did things 'by-the-book' she's going to tell me she hates me at some point (Im of course referring to the teenaged years of course).

So, once we threw the book out the window, we just kind of let Miss K tell us what she needs. When does she need to eat, sleep, play, get changed, etc... She is a very vocal little girl and has no problem letting me know if she needs something. That being said, she has managed to create her own schedule and stick to it. We let her do her thing, and its worked out so well for us. The routine is: she wakes up (between 8-930ish); she plays for an hour, takes a bottle, plays some more and 2-2.5 hours after she wakes up she is ready for a nap; she sleeps for 30-60 mins; wakes up, plays, eats, plays, eats; goes down for another nap (between 3-4ish) for about an hour; wakes up plays, eats, plays, eats; and around 8pm she takes a HUGE bottle and falls asleep and is out for the night.

The routine is pretty set, but there are minor changes day-day. I know none of you really cares about this routine, and Im not offended. I just wanted to point out that I get a morning and afternoon nap now, which is SUCH a luxury! I Love my getting up and playing with Miss K in the morning. I also love that morning nap when I can relax, have a coffee, or even take a nap myself. Its a little break in the day, and I like that I can count on it happening, and that Miss K chose this schedule. It takes the guess work out of it, and by letting her take the lead we are all happy.

Well my hour of sun, and relaxing is over. Miss K is awake and singing her 'up up up up' song. Thats my cue.

Olympic Adventure

Steve, Kahlen and I headed downtown to take in some olympic spirit and fun today. We had planned to head down early in the day and just go where the wind took us. Unfortunately for us, our plan, and my brother... my brother ended up in the emergency with REALLY bad stomach pain :( After some IV morphine, and his GF arriving and being by his side, he started to feel... well nothing really (morphine has that effect on yah)... and I left the hospital knowing he was in capable and loving hands. Steve and I decided to head downtown even though it was really late in the day with the "hey, at the very least we'll get out, get some sunshine, and take in the energy of the games". So, we stuck K in the sling (a Hug of Joy. Quite easily the best sling EVER!) and walked the half a block to the sky train station. Miss K was a HUGE flirt and ham on the train (once she got used to it), and had everyone 'oooo'ing and 'ahhhh'ing over her cuteness! Steve wanted to get a picture of her on the train (since she was being so cute) and this was the best he could get. Needless to say, she did not want to pose for the camera.

Once we got downtown we decided to walk around and get the lay-of-the-land. There were TONS of people. We knew there would be lots, but lots just doens't cover it. IT WAS PACKED! But it was great. The energy of the crowd was fun, polite and very canadian :) Any time anyone yelled "GO CANADA" the sea of people erupted into cheers. It felt wonderful to be Canadian! We wandered along taking in street shows of song, dance and even magic. We wandered in and out of stores and Miss K sang the whole way with a HUGE smile on her face. And then, right on cue (4:00 nap time), Miss K put her head down on my chest, closed her eyes and fell asleep. So I swung her into a laying down position in the sling and she snoozed away as we walked some more. I really wanted to see the lantern tree forest, having seen other peoples pictures of it, I though it looked REALLY cool. It was o.k., but not as large and impressive as I had thought it would be.  It made me think back to when we were trying to buy a home, and we loved all the pictures of a few places but when we got there we quickly realized that the pictures were more exciting than the home.

Knowing that we were on a time constraint (I needed to be home in time to go to Ladies night with the NICU mommas) we decided that we should set course for the Olympic Culdron to make sure we got the chance to see it (we are planning another, longer trip to see more next week but you never know, things come up and plans change quickly). Kahlen woke up just as we arrived and desperately wanted to be held by daddy which was fine with me, and made for some nice photo opps.

So cute in their matching jerseys. Thanks Auntie K!

First Trip to the Park

We have been having unseasonable warm (and DRY) weather as of late, so Miss K and I headed to the park with good friends of ours Candace, Kayla, and Hayley! This was Miss Ks first trip to the park and I think I was more excited than she was! When we got there Miss K took her first trip on the swings. At first she wasn't too keen about the whole thing, but she warmed up the the idea after watching pseudo big sister Hayley show her how fun it can be!

After some time on the little kid swings we headed over to the big kid swings. Miss K and I shared a swing and Hayley sat beside us, chatting with us and making Miss K smile.

When we had all had enough swinging, we headed over the the quasi elephant shaped bouncy see saw thing and took a ride (much less kinky than it sounds... ha ha ha).

It was a great day, and Miss K sure enjoyed the park and some time with BFFs Kayla and Hayley. Miss K and Kayla go way back to the NICU days, and Hayley is Kayla's big sister. The 3 girls are too cute together. I think, in the not so far future, Hayley might find herself being the object of a little hero worship from the 2 younger girls.

Hayley and Kayla

Candace and I had fun too, and I have Candace to thank for all the pictures (I forgot my camera).

What does your fridge say about you?

Ready? OK!

Im lazy. Its true, I'll be the first to admit it. However, I am MORE of a glutton than a sloth... so, when I get hungry for sweets, I bake. Last night was one of those late night gluttonous baking nights. First I made sugar cookie dough. I found the recipe on my friends 'goody blog' (Megan's goody Blog). Megan is a baking woman extraordinaire, which is even more impressive when you hear that she and her husband Paul are in Uganda helping build a new school (Megan and Pauls blog), and that Megan bakes without all the help of modern conveniences (like an electric beatter/mixer). So, inspired by Megan I gathered the ingredients, opened the laptop to the recipe and got started.

I got started and quickly realized that I was going to have to be creative. Kahlen was sound asleep (and sick sick sick) and there was no way I was going to wake her by turing on the mixer. So, what did I do? Guess! You really never will. In fact Im almost embarrassed to admit it. I took the ingredients and I took the mixer. I walked through the kitchen, through the living room, through the bedroom (and closed the door) and... into the ensuite bathroom (and closed the door). Please don't judge me! I was VERY careful, and Steve's bathroom is super clean (cleaner than mine infact!) and had been scrubbed top to bottom with bleach earlier that day (Yes! My husband DOES clean bathrooms). Once the butter and sugar were creamed, I returned back to the kitchen and decided to do the rest by hand using my HUGE biceps.

Thumbs up! Looking good!

See? HUGE!

And As I took this picture of my bulging muscles, well actually after I took it, I looked at my fridge in the background and started to ponder (Watch out! Another one!) about peoples fridges. What does your fridge say about you? So, I took pictures of the inside and the outside of mine in case you want to judge me based on what you see (or dont see)!

Inside 

Outside

Our 'communication board'. Affectionately referred to as 'the board'.

Magnet, Friends contact info, and NICU buddy's christmas picture.

Pictures of me as a kid that I store here in case I get the chance to try and convince some unsuspecting schmow that Kahlen DOES look like me... even just a little bit.

Our Chore list partially covered by wedding pictures of Uncle Lindsay and Auntie Scott.

Our family calendar (Thanks DC!)

So there you have it. I was going to blog about baking... but its late now, and Im sick and tired. So instead of actually blogging about baking, Im just going to post all the pictures and let you blog the story line in your heads. For authenticity's sake, make sure you make up a few words, have a random ponder, and spell every 26th word wrong! Thanks for reading!

(this last pic is for my mom. This bowl was one that she and my dad used when I was a kid. I think it may have either been a hand-me-down to them or a wedding gift. I have it now sucker! Best bowl ever!)

Catch Up

I'll admit it. I have been feeling less than inspired about blogging as of late. I haven't done anything 'exciting' and after a 'smarmmy' comment from a family member about how annoying it is to read about every milestone a kid has on a blog, I was left with nothing to blog about.

That being said.. lets play catch up due to popular demand:

*Kahlen continues to inspire me. She has been standing on her own for long and longer periods of time (5-20 seconds) and LOVES to cruise the furniture.

*I headed downtown to take in some of the pre-olympic spirit with Sarah and Sophia. We walked false creek towards the athletes village, but didn't really see much because nothing was officially opened yet. Going to head back down this week to check it out. Was planning on going tomorrow but Miss K has been sick and it doesn't make sense to drag her around town all day.

*my sodium addiction is ongoing. Im not trying this week, so its not getting better this week.

*I cleaned my den/office. It was quite the task. I have before and after pictures but Im unmotivated to post them. Honestly though, we are talking post-apocalyptic mess to a functioning home office and storage space... but my triumph makes for a boring blog (I am obsessive about being boring... I hate being boring, but I usually am)

*ummm... I have limited Olympic spirit. I try to be more excited, but I just can't muster it most of the time.

Thats basically it for catching up. I'll try to get organized and motivated.. but really, only a handful of loyals read this so...

Laughing girl Part II (I think)

I couldn't resist posting this. Its nothing wild and exciting. Nothing insightful (as if any of my other posts are... ha ha ha). Nothing with bells, whistles, or a Pink Floyd lazer lights show. It should however, make you smile.

I was taking a nap this evening when steve got home from work (think WWF tag team trade off of Miss K), and I awoke to Kahlen laughing her big belly laugh. I, being the mother I am, though several things at that point: 1) That laugh is soooo cute 2) Jeeze Steve, lay off the tickling before it turns from a laugh to a cry, and 3) SHUT UP! Mom is sleeping! To much thinking, and my luxurious evening nap had come to an abrupt end. I walked into the living room to see this.

Man this kid lights up my world!

Sodium Junky

Hi, my name is Kelsey and I'm a sodium addict (Hello Kelsey). I have been sodium clean for nearly 45 minutes now (clapping, and words of encouragement). I first started using sodium when I was a kid (nods from the group). In the beginning it was just once in a while (more nodding from the group). A little salt on my dinner, a few potato chips as a snack, some mac and cheese for lunch. But as I got older, it started to spiral out of control. I was able to hide it for a while. I used to make excuses in front of my friends, "I only use on weekends" or "everyone else is doing it too." And everyone bought into my excuses, or turned a blind eye to save us both the awkwardness/embarrassment (nods of familiarity). It just got worse though. I lost my control. It consumed me (you're not alone. We've been there) I would wake up with salt all over the pillow and a bag of chips ripped open and licked clean beside me. I couldn't leave home without a salt shaker or bag of corn nuts in my pocket. I always was thinking about where and how I would score my next fix. I shrank...no...dissappeared from my social circle. I cancelled ladies night so I could sit at home in my PJs and eat rice swimming in a bowl of soya sauce. I used and used and used until I was so dehydrated I barely remember the month of January. I knew I had hit rock bottom when I snatched a cracker out of my daughters tiny little hands, greedily licking it, as she cried objections at me. I need help (you've come to the right place). I need to get better for myself and for my family (we're here for you). Thanks, I...I.. I just want to get better (Coming here is a great first step).

Okay, its not quite that bad, but I am a self professed sodium junky. One of my New Years resolutions was to decrease my sodium (or white death, as my father in law calls it) intake drastically. Support me. Be my SJA (Sodium Junkies Anonymous).

FYI: Here are the top 20 individual food sources of sodium in the American diet (couldn't find bupkuss about the Canadian diet):


1. meat pizza
2. white bread
3. processed cheese
4. hot dogs
5. spaghetii with sauce
6. ham
7. Ketchup
8. rice
9. white buns/rolls
10. Flour (wheat) tortillas
11. salty snacks/corn chips
12. Whole milk
13. cheese pizza
14. noodle soups
15. eggs
16. mac and Cheese
17. 2% milk
18. french fries
19. Creamy salad dressings
20. potato chips

Making Baby Food

I have been making Kahlen's food at home lately. Its not only cheeper but I really get to see what goes into her food, which I like. She has pretty much refused to be spoon fed as of late, so this time instead of pureeing/mashing her food, I cut them into small finger food sized pieces so she could feed herself. 

Todays menu includes sweet potato, potato, carrot, broccoli, pear, kiwi, and baked apple
(the fruits aren't steamed, just baked/diced). 

Steaming potatoes. Sexy oven mitt eh?

Broccoli, broccoli and carrot mixture, and sweet potato puree

I have fallen in love with a baby food storage brand called 'Baby Cubes'. They are small  containers, with a snap on lip that holds upto 2 oz of food. They are freezer, microwave and dishwasher safe (a must for me), and stack neatly in the freezer. TA DA, what more could I ask for?

 

When Im done 'making the food' (which really isn't making anything, just cutting and steaming) I shove the finished products into the cubes. Then label them with some cryptic short hand that only I can understand using a white board marker (so it come off when I wash em).

Ohhhh YUM!

If you want any of the recipes, just leave me a note and I can pass them on. I have a great baby food cook book, but I also love the website wholesomebabyfood.com.