Kelsey's February Top Ten

10. Playing kitchen and pretending to eat and drink food

9. Coloring in the bath with her water crayons

8. Coloring in her color book

7. Running everywhere she needs to go

6. Asking for music (moo-key) and then clapping, spinning, shaking it, getting down, waving up high, and of asking you to dip her when you are dancing together

5. Handing you clothes from the laundry as they are being folded

4. Saying Thank you, Mommy or Thank you, Daddy after you do something for her

3. Pretending to sleep and piercing her eyes shut together and making a snoring noise

2. Trying to spell her name

1. Singing her ABC's

Weekend Wrap-up

Oh how I love the weekend! Last week was a busy one for us, so we were really looking forward to Friday. Matt and I both had conferences which made for busy days at work getting ready and a couple long nights for both of us. I lucked out and started my weekend early because I had a 1/2 day on Friday after conferences in the morning. Therefore, I picked up Kelsey early. I could get used to being done at 11:30on Fridays! Once Friday night rolled around, all we wanted to do was relax! I guess we both caught spring fever on Saturday because we spent the morning doing a thorough clean of the house. I feel like we keep a pretty neat house, but when you start moving things and cleaning places you sometimes skip, it was a little icky! While we were on the spring kick, I put away the last of my winter decorations and put out all the spring and Easter things. Maybe if we think spring, it will come sooner? After all the cleaning, we went out to enjoy the beautiful day and ran some errands. Later that evening our friends Andrew and Jen came over. We played with Kelsey and then played games until way past my bedtime! It was a really good time!
Today has been a lot of relaxing and just hanging out. I love lazy days like this where you don't have to be anywhere or follow a schedule. Happy Sunday everyone!

Paczki Day, Birthday Party, Wedding Show, Idol Draft

Last Tuesday was the day before Lent, and if you have kept up with my blog in the past year, you will know this means Paczki! Paczki (pronounced punch-key) are a Polish tradition. Every year you are supposed to indulge in them before Lent begins. Growing up, my mom always hosted a paczki party. It was a great day in the Smith house because when we got home from school the house smelled so delicious from my mom baking all day. That evening, we would have a party at our house which seemed to grow each year and my mom would just love it. Therefore, I have tried to keep the tradition alive. In years past, Matt and I have actually made paczki, as well as making them with my whole family. This year, we did not make them and thought we could luck out and find them in town. But we had to settle for regular doughnuts because we were unable to find them. We went over to Dave and Vickie's and had our own mini-paczki party.

This weekend was a busy one. Friday morning Matt left for a football clinic in the cities until Saturday. Kelsey and I relaxed and played on Friday night and got ready to head to the cities on Saturday morning. My niece Lauryn and nephew Soren turned 6 and since their birthdays are so close together (February 18 and 20) their birthday party was combined. My dad made the trip from Pulaski, and it was quite the house full once everyone arrived. I think I counted 13 kids age 8 and under. Matt joined us once his clinic was over and we spent the remainder of the evening playing cards and watching the Olympics.


My wonderful father even brought me a special delivery from Pulaski--real paczki! Thanks, Dad!


After leaving my brother's house, we went to see Nate and Diane. Diane and I went to a wedding show in Minneapolis and the boys hung out with Kelsey. The wedding show was really fun. I don't think I have ever gone to one before. Even when Matt and I got married, I can't remember ever attending one. Oh my goodness--there were brides everywhere! There was so much to look and sample. We tried some yummy cake samples, gelato, and a pork sandwich. We also received tons of information for Diane to check out. It was a really fun day, and I am so glad I was able to attend. Thanks for asking, Diane!

Once we got back to Nate and Diane's place, it was Idol time! I have been an American Idol fan for a long time, and every year Matt and I make picks as to who we think is the winner. This year, we decided to expand the operation. My loving husband helped organize an American Idol draft. Nate, Diane, Matt, and I all got to pick our top 6 contestants out of the final 24. I think this will make the show even more fun to watch. (And I can post my picks on here if you would like so we can be sure to vote for them a lot...hehe) Gotta love American Idol :)

A Day with Daddy

Matt had off from school today for President's Day, but I still had school, so Kelsey got a full day of Daddy time! It sounds like they had such a fun day! Matt was great and took pictures of what they did to show me when I got home. I think the day went a little like this:
They read every book on Kelsey's shelf (literally).

They built a fort and played in Kelsey's room.


They spent some time running errands including opening Kelsey a new savings account, dropping off her valentines at daycare, and picking up a few things at the store.
For lunch, they went to Subway and Kelsey got pizza. (FYI: Subway has really good personal size pizzas!)


With all that playing, Kelsey needed a nap!

They had a dance party, and Kelsey showed off her moves: the shake, get down, wave your hands in the air, and spin.

Daddy and Kelsey had a fashion show, complete with trying on hats :)


What a fun day for the two of them. Of course I would have loved to be there, but it is great they could have some Daddy-Daughter time, too.

Mommy was so glad to see Kelsey when I got home from school!

Enough with the sickness

It seems this week has been a whirlwind. Both Kelsey and I were sick with the flu last weekend. Due to the snowstorm we got last weekend, we had off from school both Monday and Tuesday, so I was able to stay home with Kelsey while she recovered. Even though I was so sad she was sick, the timing couldn't have been better because I got extra time to help get her back to her old self. Kelsey returned to daycare on Wednesday, but by Friday daycare was closed because our daycare provider also got the flu! Thankfully, Stacey and Matt were willing to take Kelsey for the day to help us out. To top it off, Matt came home sick from school on Friday because he had gotten the flu, too. Between kids in my class getting it, my family, and daycare, I am hoping we are nearing the end of it! An exciting part of Friday was that the chair that Aunt Stacey and Uncle Matt ordered for Kelsey came in the mail, and Kelsey already loves sitting in it
By Saturday, Matt was feeling much better. It seems to be a 24 hour deal, so at least it was short-lived for us. Thankfully, Mattey and I were still able to keep our Valentine's date. Grandpa and Grandma Skala graciously watched Kelsey so we could attend a baseball fundraiser. We enjoyed a delicious meal, followed by listening to a band for the remainder of the evening. It was nice to get out and spend some time together.
I am finally able to put pigtails in Kelsey's hair! My mom always called them keetkas because that is the Polish way of saying them. Kelsey sits really well when I put them in, but she does not like taking them out because the ponytail holders pull her hair a little. I will have to keep practicing so it doesn't hurt her.

Today was a pretty typical Sunday for us. We went to church and breakfast and then came home so Matt could do master's work while Kelsey and I played. Kelsey even got a playdate for awhile. Our friend's dropped off their daughter Ava and the girls had a blast playing together.

So even though it was a short work week, it still seemed like it was very full and busy.
Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you were able to spend your day with those you love. I feel so incredibly blessed to have Matt and Kelsey in my life. They are everything to me and they are truly my valentines everyday:)

Sick

Thursday night I woke up feeling very sick like I had the flu. To spare you the details, I will just say it was bad. Bad enough that I had to take off of work on Friday because I was definitely not ok to teach 6/7 year olds for the day. By Friday night I was feeling better, and on Saturday it was pretty much gone. Matt and I worked really hard to keep Kelsey away from me on Friday. Matt had told her I was sick and she kept saying Mommy sick. However, despite our best efforts, Kelsey came down with it yesterday afternoon. It was her first time throwing up :( Poor girl--I just felt so bad for her. Today we had a snow day due to the snow and that allowed me to stay home with her because otherwise Matt was going to. Thankfully, she started to come around this evening. I guess we both got some kind of 24 hour bug. Mattey was a trooper through all of it though. He was so sweet and took such good care of me, which allowed me to get well quickly so I could take care of Kelsey. Hopefully my next post will be a little more upbeat!

Butterfly

I had to change Kelsey's diaper tonight and she just happened to be playing by her door. So, I just laid her down in the doorway to get it done. As I was changing her, she started to say butterfly. I didn't get it at first, but she was persistent and kept saying butterfly. When I looked at her eyes to see where she was looking, this is what I saw:


I guess she really did see a butterfly!

On another note, Matt was playing with her and would say 1, 2, 3 and then toss her in the air on 3. Kelsey is really good at saying 2 and 3, but tonight she went all the way to 8! We thought it had to be a fluke, but when we prompted her again a few times, she would say 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. After 8 she would go back to 7.

She certainly surprised us tonight!

18 months

Our sweet Kelsey girl is now 1 1/2! We went for her 18 month check-up today and found out that she is 33 inches long (90th%) and 24 pounds (50%). Our doctor said everything looks great and she is developing just great. He also made the comment that she seems to be quite verbal for her age. I was really impressed with how well she sat during her exam since sitting still is probably one of her least favorite things to do. However, she did not move at all while the doctor checked her over. When the doctor was done talking to us, he said the nurse would be in with Kelsey's shots and then we could go. Almost as if she knew what shots meant, she immediately grabbed her coat and started saying bye-bye. Smart girl ;) She did have to get her shots and she was not a happy camper. Who is after shots though, right?


I thought I would post a top ten for what Kelsey is doing at 18 months:

10. Having tea parties and wanting to cheers with the cups

9. Dumping things out and then picking them all back up

8. Identifying many body parts



7. Brushing her hair and teeth

6. Pointing to objects on picture cards after we prompt her

5. Saying my with everything--my daddy, my dress, my spoon, my teddy, my nuk



4. Putting her eyebrows down and giving us the look

3. Saying please when asking for things--especially after we say no the first time. "A show?" "Not right now." "Peas?"

2. Bringing a diaper when she is wet or saying "I poop" to let us know to change her

1. Singing e,i,e,i,o