serious bed head

As we all know, the messier your hair is when you wake-up the better you slept. Kyra had a VERY good nap Monday afternoon!!!

snow

It was only supposed to rain today, but it turned to snow around 2 this afternoon. Kyra was needing to get some fresh air, so I bundled her up and out we all went. It lasted about 5 minutes, but she enjoyed it!

update and some belly pics

OK, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I said I'd be back. I feel like such a slacker! I'm going to attempt to make up for my slackerliness today...
First, here are a couple pics of my belly (they're very current as I just took the pics a couple of minutes ago). Looks pretty similar to last time. I'm carrying the little fella higher than I did Kyra and I seem to stick out further (with Kyra I was wider). The pregnancy is progressing as it should (or at least that's what my doctor tells me). I'm feeling HUGE, I'm tired, and I'm out-of-breath most of the time, but that's how it goes! I'll be honest, I'm already counting down the days 'til he gets here (68 or 69 days unless he~or my doctor~decide he should come sooner). I know I will be getting less sleep and that life will just get that much more hectic, but I'm feeling ready to be done being pregnant!

Jeremy went elk hunting with my parents and some friends for the first time this year. He had a blast! They saw lots of elk and got off a few shots, but no one shot anything. So, even though our freezer lacks elk meat, he more than made up for it by getting to spend time with some great folks. Otherwise, he's hanging-out. I don't think I've explained our situation here before, so let me do that in a nutshell. The VA here has encouraged Jeremy to re-apply for his disability rating because they believe he'll qualify for 100% disabled (he's currently at 80%). If he were to get the 100% rating, it would be HUGE for us. He would get the equivalent of his base pay (Army pay) every month, we'd have our health insurance covered for life, the kids would get their college tuition paid, and a few other things. So, a big, big, big difference for us. The catch is, he has to be unemployed in order to qualify for the 100% rating. So, he can re-apply at the beginning of December and should have a decision within 3 months of re-applying. In the meantime, he can't work. But, once he has the 100%, he is free to work again. Typical government huh?!?!

Kyra has decided (why is my font bold all of a sudden???) to show us she can walk, but still prefers to crawl. If she's not in a hurry she'll walk, but most of the time she's in a rush to get to her book, torment~I mean pet~the cat, or what have you, so she crawls. She's got quite the vocabulary. The other day I counted over 20 words that she uses on a regular/daily basis. Most of those are words that only mom can interpret, but she says: mama, dada, hi, bye, belle (the dog), jessie (the cat), dog, kitty, quack, bird, cracker, no (this is her answer to every question you ask her), ball, book, go, down, car, teeth, and she'll tell you what sounds the dog, cat and car make, and she can show you where her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and teeth are...I have to say, I enjoy her more and more every day!

As for me, besides being ready to be done being pregnant? I'm tutoring at the local community college for about 15 hours a week and doing some private tutoring as well. Thus far, my community college students are all adults which has been a fun change from the younger students I work with privately. This spring, I will teach an ACT-prep course for the college as well. I have found re-joining the work force to be both tiring and stimulating. Beyond that, my life consists of laundry, grocery shopping, and all the other day-to-day chores that we all just love! I will try to be more consistent in updating the blog, but I make no guarantees.

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