yogurt

As Kyra grows more independent, she insists upon feeding herself. I always give her a spoon (or fork), but as you can see, she doesn't always find it necessary (maybe they're just not practical) to use them...

applesauce

We had all finished dinner one night and I gave Kyra some applesauce for dessert. She is very into feeding herself these days, so I gave her a spoon and let her have at it (applesauce sticks to the spoon so well it's easy for her to feed herself). Jeremy and I started talking about something so Kyra wasn't getting our full attention. When we both glanced back to her, this is what we found....Of course, we didn't stop her; Jeremy grabbed the camera and started clicking away. Let's just say that bathtime had to be extended that night, but her hair was very soft and shiny the next day!

I'll be back...

I haven't gone anywhere, and I haven't forgotten the blog. We've just been on the busy side! Jeremy and Kyra went to visit his mom for 5-6 days (I stayed with a friend who'd had his knee replaced and couldn't be left alone) and when they got home they both came down with colds. So, my free-time has been spent napping (Kyra's been awake several hours a night with a cough) and trying to keep up with a few things around here. Also I've applied to tutor with the local community college (I'll start as soon as my background check clears) and they've asked me to teach an ACT Prep class. Throw in my regular tutoring and, well, things have been on the busy side at the Todd house these days! But, their colds are better and once I get the syllabus together for the ACT Prep class, things just might slow down!

yogurt and mom's new "do"

Normally Kyra feeds herself, except when it's something messy like yogurt or applesauce. The other night I let her take a shot at feeding herself yogurt. She started out using a spoon, but quickly decided her hands were much more efficient. Very messy, but oh so fun!

I got a haircut last week. I feel like I lost 10lbs!

dirty face and trying out a new "do"

I forgot the ice cream cone I gave Kyra had chocolate on the inside...She didn't mind my forgetfulness!!!

Her hair is getting so long we're trying out two pig-tails instead of just one. This was my first attempt, they're a little crooked, but not bad! If she'd hold still it'd be easier...

snow in August????

Not snow, just a whole lot of hail...We had a big hail storm a couple weeks ago. Fortunately, it didn't do damage to anything other than the paint on the picnic table benches (my car already looked like a golf ball from a hail storm a few weeks earlier and we haven't had it fixed yet---waiting 'til it stops hailing before we get it fixed).

a couple cutie patooties

My dear friend Kendra came to visit us with her sweet girl a couple weeks ago. Miss. A is only 4 weeks younger than Kyra. The two of them had a good time playing next to each other, so cute!


If standing up in the bath is a no-no why did both moms take our pictures before they made us sit???

Putting rocks in the dog's water bowls is lots of fun!

Look over there!

Moms and cuties

pics, pics, pics

About 10 days ago Kyra and I ventured to northern Colorado to visit a very good friend of mine, who also happens to be a fantastic photographer. She took some wonderful pictures of Miss. Kyra. If you'd like to see them just go here: http://kwpix.com

pitter-patter

that's the sound we'll be hearing around the house come the end of December. Yep, that's right, Kyra will be a big sister in a few months. Jeremy and I are very excited to have another one on the way. We (well, I) haven't said anything about it on here for a variety of reasons (mostly because I was pretty sick there at the beginning and it took all my energy to take care of Kyra and myself). I've felt much better the last couple weeks, but decided to wait 'til we had the ultrasound to "announce" it on here. We had the ultrasound this morning and learned we will be having a BOY! Jeremy and I are thrilled (we would have been thrilled if it was a girl too). The little fella made it very clear to us that he's 100% boy! I'd post the ultrasound pics, but he didn't show us his face but for a split second (just long enough to see he didn't have a cleft lip)...so the pic we have is of his.......boy parts, he showed us those several times!

Happy Birthday Eli

When I was pregnant with Kyra I found a pregnancy community online. All of us (there were about 10-15 of us that communicated regularly) on there were due to have our babies in August of '08. It was a great way for me to connect with other women, especially since we were so alone down in Oklahoma. I have maintained friendships with a handful of the women even though I no longer frequent the message board. One of the women, Rita, gave birth to this sweet little boy, Eli, one year ago today. Unfortunately he passed away on January 14th from a genetic disorder called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

A few facts about SMA:
Spinal Muscular Atrophy kills more babies than any other genetic disease.

SMA is incurable, untreatable, fatal, and underfunded.

The gene is carried by seven million potential parents, most unknowingly.

SMA is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease characterized by the dramatic loss of spinal motor neurons, resulting in muscle weakness, atrophy, and in the worst cases, the loss of ability to swallow and breathe. The mind remains unaffected, while the muscles waste away.

SMA presents in a broad clinical spectrum and is classified into three types based on disease severity: type I, type II, and type III. Approximately 65% of all new SMA patients are type I severe or type II.

SMA occurs when a vital gene ("survivor motor neuron" gene or "SMN") is deleted or mutated, preventing the creation of a protein necessary for muscle strength. A second, nearly identical copy gene, SMN2, is present in all SMA patients.

SMA disease severity correlates inversely with increased SMN2 gene copy number.