Update!

Aaannnnndddd.... We're back!  After a slight (or not so slight) hiatus, we return with news from the McClatchy abode.  Kaya is now 8 months old... What!?!?! Where does the time go?  She has learned to sit up by herself, eats solid foods like a champ, and is trying to learn to crawl!  She is a really good eater.  Her little personality is starting to show more and we are in love with her.  She's adorable and gets more so every single day.  As of right now, she has a very mellow temperament and is content with whatever life gives her.  She doesn't get too worked up about things and she's good at making her own fun.  She doesn't need a lot to be happy.  She's a very pleasant little girl.  Even with teething she's a little sweetheart.  One night about 2 months ago she started fussing really bad - well "bad" for her because she NEVER fusses. We were stumped for a bit (because she NEVER fusses) and finally concluded she must finally be teething.  We gave her some Tylenol and she eventually zonked out.  The next morning we went in to find a happy little girl with her very first pearly white full on poking out of her gums. Kaya grows teeth over-night... what's your super power?  She now has 2 full teeth and a third one on its way in.

James is hard at it with school and work and being the best husband and father ever. He works harder than anyone else I know.  And he does it with a smile on his face - unless it's past 11pm... then he starts to get a little grumpy.  Kaya is like him in that way - at the first signs of tired/sleepiness, you've gotta stick 'em straight in bed or you'll have a monster on your hands. James is studying Nutritional Science and has some very hard classes this semester.  But, of course, he's rocking them. It's fun to see that's he's found a little niche and is excelling.  He's got two more semesters after this to finish up his Bachelor's and then our plans are for him to go on to a Nurse Practitioner program.  He's gonna be amazing (but of course he'd be amazing at anything he did) and we are so blessed that he works so hard for his girls.  He radiates love and we hope that we reflect it right back to him.  He's our Superman. A few days ago I got a 24 hour stomach bug.  It was the worst I ever remember being sick.  I was so sick that I could barely lift Kaya.  James came home from work to lift Kaya into the highchair and feed her lunch.  He told me to go take a nap while he fed her.  I woke up a few hours later to find that he had taken Kaya back to work with him so that I could sleep. He takes such great care of his girls.  We love him!

As for me... well I'm a muddled, most-days-messy, mom, but I'm tying to make it work for me. Kaya and I try to have fun between laundry and cleaning - and we usually succeed.  I also started my own little business as an Independent Consultant for Usborne Books and More.  My degree in Communication Disorders is the main reason I fell in love with these books.  They are awesome books and great resources for helping kids with sound and letter recognition, vocabulary growth, language development, reading comprehension, literacy skills, motor skills development, and much more.  Ask me a question about them and I'll probably never stop talking about them.  I love them!  I joined as a consultant mostly for the discounted books, but I've actually been doing pretty well selling them too.  And I love that it's something I can do from home during Kaya's nap time and make a little extra money while still being at home with her.  The holidays will definitely slow business down but it'll be good to spend all my time on family.

Well there's our long over-due update.  Hopefully we can stay more on top of things... don't I always say that?... whoops...