She is My Child!!!!

One of my FAVORITE childhood memories was catching lightning bugs. Kerrigan finally got to experience the joys of the activity yesterday evening....



...and was a HUGE fan!

I did black and white for 2 reasons: 1. It kind of hid the poor quality of the pictures (to a certain extent). 2. I left the glow of the fireflies' bums in color so you could see them.


This is my favorite picture...she is "hugging" the bug. It looks like she has a glow in the dark earring on. Brooke and I used to (please don't report us to PETA) make lightning bug jewelry with their bums. Gross, I know, but this picture reminds me of that : )

Now there should be some videos below (hopefully, blogger was giving me some grief earlier trying to post them). They are short but HILARIOUS!

However, if you choose to not watch them all, please...for your own good...watch the last one. It makes me giggle every time. We like to call it Kerrigan's Alternative Source of Protein : )

18 months...

I have yet to take K's 18 month pictures, but I figured I out to do at least an update before the girl turns 2! So here is Miss Kerrigan in all her 18 month glory...



Instead of typing out every little detail of what she does/says, we will do a "Kerrigan in a nutshell" sort of update. Here it goes:

- She has become a little chatterbox. It would be ridiculous to try to list everything she says. However, here are some favorites: Ohhh TOOOOOTLES (from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), Hi Mama or Hi Dadda (said with a sweet voice, usually when she knows she is in trouble), fwim (aka swim), chiki (chicken), ya okay??? ya awite??? , dat is sooo cool!!!!, where he/she goe? and PEACE.

-She also sings some words to her favorite songs (Don't Stop and Defying Gravity) and says the f-word when she tries to say frog (which is surprisingly often?). The other night, I was singing Don't Stop to her, and I got to, "somewhere in the...." and she sticks 1 finger in the air and sings, "NIIIIIIGHT" in a falsetto voice.

- She loves ANY water. She is quite the little fish, despite the temperature, cleanliness, etc.

-She likes to lock Jared and I (or herself) in the closet, then says, "HEEEEEYYYYYY" and slam the door in our face if we try to come out.

- She has a unique palette...mainly anything others would think of as inedible. I am constantly digging crayons, sand, rocks, etc. out of her mouth. She generally doesn't swallow them, but it is a trait I could do without : )

- Her favorite number is 2 and her favorite letter is A. She points them out everywhere.

- She has remarkable hair, particularly after nap time. It never ceases to amaze me how out of control it is!

-She is really into making her own decisions. She has an opinion about what she wants. It is fun to see her discover on her own what she enjoys. She is into babies, Elmo (she names most of the characters on Sesame Street. For a while she was calling me Melmo, which I took as a compliment based on her obsession levels for Elmo), Mickey Mouse (or Hog gog as she calls him... from the Hot Dog dance they do on MM Clubhouse) and hair pretties (she picks out her hair thing now- doesn't always match, but oh well).

-Walking in her world doesn't exist, the only way to go anywhere is run!

- The girl LOVES to read. Her favorite books are Hippos Go Berserk, Potty Time and Goodnight Gorilla.

- She has started helping say prayers at night...such a proud parent moment! She also sleep talks. It may be genetics- sorry K!

- She is constantly increasing my faith in her big sister abilities. We have had lots of practice with watching Eve. She is going to ROCK at taking care of the little guy. Sure, his eyes might be occasionally poked, but he will never lack kisses and snuggles!

Whew, that was longer than I thought...aren't you glad I went for the condensed version : )

Big Girl!!!

We have got a nursery attender on our hands these days....HOORAY!!!! I plan on enjoying every minute of my lone church time (all 2.5 months of it : )!

K LOVED nursery. When I went to pick her up afterwards, she saw me, walked up casually and said, "Hi Mama, bubbles..." then went back to playing with the bubbles with the rest of the kids.

I have been looking forward to this day soooo much, so thought I would document the momentous occasion. I tried a few on the stairs going up to nursery, but the lighting was wonky!

So we tried a few outside...

...but it was too bright (does this sound like Goldie locks to anyone?)

Mommy and big girl...see how relaxed/edified I look after being able to focus on the lesson!

She must have REALLY enjoyed herself, because when we got home this is what transpired (which almost never happens anymore- snuggling, not sleep). Don't you love the nametag on the back of her shirt...smart thinking nursery leaders!

I am so proud of my little social butterfly for being so independent!!!

Sidenote: Someday, when the weather AND Jared's schedule comply, we will take her 18 month pictures and have an 18 month update...someday!

Another sidenote: Has anyone else who uses photobucket to enlarge pictures had a problem with them. I made them the normal size, but had to manually adjust them because they were HUGE!!! Hopefully I was able to avoid the funhouse mirror effect!

Recipes?

I always shy away from taking meals to people because I am not the best cook. However, the time has come where I need to man up and figure this out!

What is your favorite meal to take to someone? What is something I can make that is easy for them to heat up (if I need to take it earlier in the day) and POSSIBLY I can do in a dish they don't need to worry about returning (after I had Kerrigan, people didn't see their dishes for a few months, and it was stressful for me every time I saw the "borrowed" pans).

Tips, please...I know you gotta 'em!