A bunch of pictures

Fun with daddy.

Sweet Charlotte.

Vada with 3-D Glasses

She loves bathtime.

Playing dress up is fun!

 Vada and Charlotte looking out of their Great grandma's window.

Charlotte and Grandma, there are better pictures, I'll upload them later.

The only picture I took at Clinton's surprise party.

Man, blurry again.

Grandma Stewart

This entry is going to mostly be about my great Grandma Stewart. But will also have some random things talked about as well. Much like my thought process, my writing goes from here to there in a split second. So I trust you will just ignore the random parts where I ramble on about some thing or another.

First up, Christmas. We had a fantastic Christmas, although it didn't go as I planned, it was still fun. Clinton has been wanting to go see the Hobbit for weeks now and finally convinced me yesterday and so Jeryl graciously said she could watch Vada.

Then Clinton asked Kyle if he wanted to go, he did and wanted to bring his girlfriend along, which was fine with me. Here's where it went downhill. While we were driving to Fall River (where Ceejae, Kyle's "new" girlfriend lives) I doubled checked the show times to find out that they were in fact not playing at 12:45 but at 4 and 7. Crap. And then Kyle freaks out that he won't get to see Ceejae and stresses Clinton out. Double crap.

What does Clinton do? He invites them to come watch movies at our house, which was a wreck because I hadn't gotten a chance to clean up our Christmas morning mess. So point of this was that Kyle had a date on our loveseat, holding hands with his girlfriend. While his brother would come into the kitchen randomly and giggle from excitement. And I didn't have my baby until 4 yesterday because she was visiting her Great Grandparents (which they LOVED seeing her and I'm sure she LOVED seeing people besides me and Clinton).

Second, I GOT MY NEW COMPUTER! And I'm typing on it as we speak. I'm super excited and I really like it so far. We'll see how it holds up when I start our books.

Third and finally, Grandma Stewart. Kelli and I are planning on going to visit her on Friday and I called her today to ask if that was ok. She said it was, and for the next hour she talked my ear off, and I wrote down most of what she said. And I am going to share it with you now. Here we go!

I asked her about World War II- She said that she remembered living in Oregon, and when you saw Japs walking on the street, you moved, because they were planning on taking over the country and you didn't know what they would do. She also said that the Japanese Concentration camps were and I quote "The best thing that ever happened, even though there were a few innocent people in there."

This is coming from the nicest 94 year old woman ever. Well, yeah, ever.

She also started talking about how Poor farms during the depression were actually nursing homes. And how if you were old and could still work, you went out and did the gardening and everything. She told me about how poor of care they received and it made me cringe.

All right, now here comes the fun family facts and stories. I love hearing her talk about the old days and old family members.

Grandma Stewart, born Helen Marie Dingus, was born in February of 1919, in Mound City, Kansas.
Grandpa Stewart, born Vernon Dean Stewart, was born in 1914 in Paola, Kansas.

All of Grandma's aunts and uncles on her fathers side called her Ellen.

 She wore a blue wedding dress and was married at age 16 at the Presbyterian church in Moran, Kansas.  Just Grandpa's family was there. He was 19.

There were 6 brothers and they all were farmers.
Grandpa Stewart owned and drove the combine.
His brother Dewayne owned and worked with the planter. He also had a truck and hauled grain
His other brother Mel owned the plow and Hauled grain.

They all worked together. Books were done by hand and the numbers figured out in your head. Grandma said it was hard but she could do it.

Grandma also said that she left school around her Freshman year, her teacher called her out on not having her books, on account that Grandma's family couldn't afford them, this hurt Grandma's feelings so she left and never went back.

Grandma's father died of Tuberculosis. Leaving my Great great Grandma to raise 2 kids.

Great great Grandpa was married before he married Grandma Stewarts mom, he was married to Grandma Stewarts moms best friend. Who also died of Tuberculosis.

Grandma said she remembers decorating her mom's best friends grave.

Oh and here is a quote for you mom, Gma Stewart was really happy you were there in Wichita to check on Grandpa, because they "Didn't want that queer taking care of him."

She said that she gave birth to her kids at home, with her mother, Grandpa's sister and doctor. And that Grandma Mary-Ellen weighed 7 pounds, exactly the same weight as Vada. They didn't measure the kids then, they didn't think to.

Sorry for all the Grandma's and if this is grammatically correct. It's really just for interesting facts and to get everything out there.

I will try to get back on here and post pictures this week.

Boogie woogie Christmas

It's been decided.

Vada loves Christmas. She loves the book, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas", she loves Christmas music, she loves trying to get our Christmas tree and gifts.

Today I turned on traditional Christmas music and she has been standing at the coffee table dancing, screaming and laughing.  It's probably the cutest thing ever.

She also loves helping me "wrap" Christmas gifts, she has chewed and almost broken at least three gifts that I've wrapped. Thankfully our tree is on our trunk and the gifts are on the trunk and the only baby that can somewhat reach it is with her mama on Christmas break.

She and I danced to Boogie Woogie Christmas and she laughed so hard.

She also thought it was hilarious when I busted my face trying to hop over her standing toy and face planted on our carpet.

Such a loving baby.

Cranky Pants

Vada has had her cranky pants on the past couple of days. Partly because I figured out she is allergic to garlic potatoes that Huser Christmas had.

She loved seeing new faces, but was done after the 10th person walked up and tried talking to her. She was happiest when she and I went into the hallway and she got to nurse in peace. Personally, I loved it too.

She got a camera (toy) from Great Grandma Huser and really really loves playing with it.

I think our girl is teething.

Oh poop.

Vada

Vada is now standing against things without me helping her. I have to help her get up but once she's standing she's fine. She can pull her self up sometimes but since her legs are so chunky she seems to have a really hard time getting them loose.

This would be the spot where I would upload the million cute pictures I have of Vada but my computer is in the shop and until I hear what's wrong with it, I'm trying not to upload my hundreds and hundreds of pictures to Clinton's computer. So we will see.

Last week at wic Vada weighed 20.1 pounds and was 25 1/2 inches long.

She now weighs more than Charlotte, not by much and I'm sure Char will pass her in no time but there is a fun fact for you.

Vada also is talking a lot more,and LOVES her daddy.

The Battle Of The Bands

If you know Clinton at all, you know that his favorite band of all time is Coheed and Cambria.

You could easily call it his obsession. He has countless records, c.d.'s, t-shirts, posters (some of them signed by the band), has seen them live 3 or 4 times.

He has some deluxe book thing the band signed as well. (HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR!)

Yesterday, he shocked me by giving me a package that came in the mail. What was inside made me tear up a bit. Not going to lie.

My favorite band is A Day To Remember. If you don't like hard rock, you won't like them, trust me. I have some of their records, a t-shirt, and I had a c.d. but during the transition of the storm it was lost.

This results in a constant battle of the bands, we usually listen to Coheed but every once in a while we listen to ADTR.

Oh, back to the package, Clinton got me A day to remember's Homesick c.d. and it was SIGNED BY THE BAND.

I'm so excited I can't see straight! 

What Did You Just Call Me?

Almost every time I go into the health department for Vada's wic, Kan-Be-Healthy's, or Immunizations they almost always compliment how polite and organized I am.

Really? Me? Organized?

They obviously haven't seen the inside of Vada's diaper bag, my car or my house for that matter.

Every time Vada has an appointment for something or another they send out a detailed list of what you are supposed to bring, so I do what I'm told and put what I need into either her healthwave folder, her wic folder or her immunizations folder.

I'm guessing people must not bring these things to their appointments.

They way I look at it is that they are providing a service to me and my family. So I need to do whatever to make their lives and jobs easier by having everything I need at my fingertips without hesitation.

Also, about the polite thing, why wouldn't you be polite to the people at the health department? They're providing you with  an array of services at little to no cost.

 Oh, and I have seen how rude people are to them and I try to say everything I want to by just glaring at them, but I'm pretty sure I just look like I have a lazy eye and I'm confused or something.

But I'm pretty sure I always have a look of confusion of my face.

If you didn't already know that.

I Cried

Enough said.

Boy, Girl?

Clinton and I have noticed a trend with Vada. Literally, everywhere we go people think she's a boy. I know it's my fault because I don't constantly have bows in her hair and she doesn't constantly have the color pink on her.

She doesn't notice, and I try not to make things awkard for people but sometimes, I just want to scream "HE IS A SHE!" 

I know it's my fault because since we didn't know that she was a girl, we have alot of gender neutral and boy clothes, and since I'm lazy she wears them.

Is other news, Vada talks ALL of the time. I have video of her talking, but it's on my phone and I don't know how to upload it, I guess it will stay on my phone. 

Vada & Shoes

It finally happened.

My favorite clogs got a hole in them. Although it shouldn't be as shocking saying as I've had them since my senior year of high school, and I've probably worn them about a million times and they finally failed me. I was heartbroken.

I had to show how the old shoes looked compared to the new shoes. 

But since I finally broke them, that meant I could buy a new pair. So luckily American Eagle had the exact same shoes and they only went up 5 dollars since I bought them last, saying as they came from an expensive store (okay, some people probably don't think they're that expensive but I'm cheap) to me that didn't seem bad.

Good bye old friend.

Anyway, now that you've endured my shoe depression here is a few pictures of Vada.

Our baby girl was a giraffe for Halloween! 

The local photography ran a Halloween special that I couldn't pass up, so Vada got all dressed up and we went in and got probably one of the cutest pictures of her EVER.

We had a great time trick-or-treating, and Vada got to see almost all of her family in her costume, and she was really good!

And this is a picture of Vada at a month old. I cannot believe she is already six months old! She was so tiny and now she is just such a big girl! 

Mom

After I had Vada I realized something. My mom is a rockstar. She fought for me and put up with me and I really can't ever repay her for everything she has done.

You see, when I was a kid I wasn't exactly the healthiest little girl out there. Thank god my parents had really really good insurance, that's all I can say.

I remember when I had to have an MRI when I was 6 or 7 to try figure out what was wrong with my brain, and how upset I was my mom couldn't be there in the room with us. My dad was there which was a big deal because my dad never took off of work to go to Dr appointments with us. I also remember the Dr (I think) gave me a stuffed lion because I held still enough to get the pictures taken and how I got some necklace making kit out of the deal as well.

I remember my mom driving me to countless Dr. appointments and specialists to slowly fix all of the developmental and physical problems I had growing up.

I remember the neurologist telling me that I had complex partial seizures and that "My brain would go to sleep, but I would still be awake.." (Those were the exact words he told me, I still remember them.) And how from that moment on, I had countless pills, blood work and EEG's.

I also remember having to get a frenectomy and getting Legally Blonde on DVD from Target to watch after we got home.

I remember finding out from the Knee specialist that I have congenitally bad knees and my mom was super supportive on the way home from the doctor and finding out that the only fix was surgery. I plan on going until my knees give out completely before I'll go in for surgery over something stupid like that.

I remember having to go to Vision Therapy in Wellington and having to wear an eye patch and how excited I was when I received a medal for completing the program. It's not like I had any choice.

I remember my mom spending hours and hours going over homework with me and forcing me to try. School was never easy for me, especially math and mom really tried everything to get me to understand.

I remember how excited my mom was when she found out I was pregnant with Vada. I'll be honest, I was terrified  to tell her I was pregnant at 20 after just getting married.

If I am half of a mom as my mom was to my sisters and I, then Vada will grow up to be a perfectly weird, well adjusted woman, with a bad ass grandma.

The Girls

Vada had a Dr.'s appointment today, no shots because she has to get them at the health dept. for her insurance to cover it. She weighed 17.7 pounds and is 26.5 in. long. She is in the 90th percentile for height and weight. She has a little bit of redness in her throat from being sick all last week but other than that she is perfect!

She also loves being around her cousin Charlotte, if Vada sees Charlotte she just smiles and becomes really happy. Charlotte gets somewhat excited usually as well, I think it's because Char knows that Vada will let her chew on her without a fight usually.

This is how most of the day goes, Vada falls over and Charlotte tries to crawl over her to get to toys,me, the remote,my phone or her bottle.

Here is another bit of big news (well to us anyway), we're getting cable! Well, dish network but you get the picture. After almost 3 years, we now can afford it, and I am pretty stinking excited. There are only so many things you can watch on Netflix. So it'll be nice to have that option. 

Every Thursday I try to bake something with the girls, I feel like it'll teach them measurements and it's something fun for us to do together. So far, I've only done it twice but they love the fact they get to help dump things into the bowl, and as you can see Charlotte is more than willing to help. I also try to take a picture of the girls with their finished product. Here is the Chocolate Chip cookies they made and they also made some Mexican Wedding Cookies.

Finally, here is a picture that just makes me laugh. Hard. 

Nailed it.

Today was what I like to call a Pinterest day. I did some crafts from pinterest and almost all of them turned out just awful.

I'm just going to go into it.

Here is the first one I attempted

 Nailed it.

 Nailed it. (Worst one of the day!)

 On the fence about this one, I'll give it a few days and see how much I hate it and then decide.

The only one I would give a win. 

It's Hereditary

Lately while trying to get Vada to bed, I'll rock her in our rocking chair, only have one lamp on and have our t.v. on low. While doing this I have watched quite a bit of random shows that look somewhat interesting and don't involve high speed chases.

This results in kids shows, psychics, ghosts and usually a murder show or two.

Last night, while watching a show called "Sensing Murder" (it's about 2 psychic mediums trying to bring closure to families whose loved ones were murdered and their cases have run cold) I became especially paranoid and scared.

Picture it, a young mother who stays at home with two babies all day and is by herself.

Sound familiar? Oh right, that's because that's what I do, and that is also what a lady did in 1979 when some  random guy just broke into her house and KILLED HER. He didn't just kill her, he bashed her head in with a bowling pin!

Fun fact, I had a birthday party when I was 9 at a bowling alley. And guess what they gave me as a gift... an old bowling pin.

Is anyone else scared right now?

Hey Baby Girl, Look At Mama!

On the second of every month I take a picture of Vada on a white sheet, with a sign stating how old she is. This past month she turned 5 months old, and I received a TON of compliments on the one picture I posted on Facebook. What they didn't see was the pictures before and after that one picture.

That's what usually happens when it's the picture of the month time, Vada is really cute in one picture but I have to take about 20 to get that one picture, and usually by the end of it she's so mad she can't even see straight.

Here are a few of the rejects of these past 5 months, starting with numero uno.

Enjoy.

Mom. Feed me. Now.

 What's that?

 And we were done with that session

Chatty Cathy.

Mom, this tu-tu and my hands are just so interesting!

Halloween

Is it just me or are people going a little bit over board when it comes to their kids halloween costumes?

I remember a local woman here in Fredonia talk about how if the costume is cute, she is willing to spend upwards to 100 dollars on her kids costumes.

She obviously didn't have a mother like my mom who I can only think of maybe one or two occasions where she bought a halloween costume for us, we either made it from our dress up box or mom made it herself.

While I would love to make Vada's costume, I don't really have any stores locally to buy the things I need so I ordered it online, I made sure I ordered something that could be worn by our future kids as well. And although it did cost me 20 dollars if all goes to plan it will be worn more than once and by multiple children.

Any guesses on what Vada is going to be for Halloween?

Juicy.

Tonight has been as a whole juicier than normal. What makes it juicier than normal you ask?

Vada spit up in my mouth. I did the dumbest thing and raised her over my head and she kind of exploded. It was warm. It also was disgusting, and it tasted a wee bit like sour milk. 

I slit my thumb open trying to get wax out of a candle votive.

And yes mom, I froze it and coincidentally that is why it broke in my hand. 

Oh and did I mention that someone *cough* Clinton *cough* stole ALL of my band aids and never brought them back? So I now have fun trying not to split my thumb open again so I don't bleed all over Vada or anything else for that matter.

Vada has started to roll over and is finally getting excited about toys. Especially ones I will let her put in her mouth.

Charlotte has figured out how to roll EVERYWHERE. I saw her staring at me between our recliner and love seat. Cute little lady.

Vada's Baptism

On August 18 we had Vada baptized. She was really blessed to have (almost) all of her aunts and uncles there to help celebrate! Here are a few pictures of her baptism, her godparents Ryan & Karla and the party we had for her afterward. It was a lot of fun!

I should also mention that her Grandma Lorri made her beautiful baptismal dress, with the help with Kate, Grandma Lorri's friend.

 Father Thapwa, Karla, Vada, Me, Clinton & Ryan

 Grandma & Grandpa Von Soosten

 All three girls have matching dresses!

 Aunt Kelli made this adorable hat and blanket!

Becky Waldorf cake. Enough said.

Revamp

Recently my grandma scored some end tables, for our room and for Vada's room. Along with a lamp. A lamp that was not my taste at all so I decided to paint it.

Before.

After.

I probably should note that after writing this, I got a wild hair up my butt and decided to paint one of the end tables in the living room too.

Before.

After.

Just so you know, on the extremely rare occasion I do paint things I probably will post them on here. Consider yourself warned.