School pictures........

I just had a 'You're getting old' moment. Kali 3.10 just had her first school pictures.

My daughter has officially reached the point where I'm going to start receiving a yearly (or semi-yearly) record that she's growing up and I'm getting old. This is NOT good.

***goes back to bathroom to apply anti-aging creams***

Giselle gets her legs........

Giselle 0.11 finally is starting to figure out the whole standing thing. Yesterday, I put a glass on the table that was a 'safe' distance from the edge of the table since Giselle doesn't stand up yet. Unfortunately, that safe distance is no longer safe when your daughter decides that she's now ready to stand up and start walking herself around that coffee table.

I was looking at my computer and heard the glass fall over and looked up wondering how in the world that glass could have done that. All questions were answered when Giselle looked over at me, standing up on her feet with glass in hand.

Note to self: Safe distances have just been reset to a new level.

How can that happen?

A fraternity brother of mine has been posting periodic updates about his friend's one-year old daughter and their fight with cancer at this website......

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lucyweber

Unfortunately, the little girl passed away from her illness yesterday. This kind of stuff hits you like a load of bricks when your a parent of a one year old daughter. I can't even imagine dealing with losing my daughter after a year of life. Something like this allows me to remain focused on what is most important in my life. Silly things that happen pale in comparison to what my daughters mean to me.

BBQ time........

Giselle 0.11 and Kali 3.9 went along with the family tonight to Arthur Bryant's BBQ. Always great stuff. Kali went with the chicken and Giselle decided to eat a couple of my ribs. I'm always shocked by the amount of food my little kids can eat. Kali just plowed through a pile of fries and then wanted more. Giselle tore through her fries and rib meat and just kept saying 'mo, mo'. She was HUNGRY. Interestingly enough, Giselle seems to be eating more while starting to thin out. She's stretching out and just keeps looking for more food to fuel that growth.

Arthur Bryant's. Fueling growth spurts one plate at a time.

Not your normal order at a restaurant.........

I was sitting with my friend Bobby at a restaurant for lunch today. I was just about to start ordering from the waitress when I saw a call from Mrs. Lime's phone. I asked the waitress to wait a second because it was my wife. Note that Bobby and my waitress were only hearing my end of the conversation.

Me: Hello?

Kali 3.9: Daddy, will you bring my butler home from Papa's buildings?

Me: Yes, sweetie. I will bring your butler home today.

(Bobby and waitress bust out laughing)

Me: Is there anything else?

Kali 3.9: Could you also bring back my mini-butler?

Me: Yes, I will bring back the mini-butler as well.

(Bobby and waitress continue laughing)

Me: I've got to let you go. I'll see you when I get home, OK?

Kali: OK, but don't forget my butler.

Me: I won't forget it. Bye.

For the uninitiated, we have two animated butlers that we put up over Halloween. We took them out to Papa's winery for the trick or treaters over the weekend and Kali was requesting they be returned. But it made for great amusement for my waitress and Bobby.

And lunch was very good as well.

Wiped out.........

Worked a LOT today.......

4:30 AM: Wake up
5:00 AM: Start working at the winery on trim for windows
8:30 AM: Run to Quiktrip for a caffeine boost and breakfast
8:45 AM: Lots of stain work on trim
11:45 AM: Hour long photo shoot for KC Star
1:00 PM: Quick lunch break
1:30 PM: More trim staining
2:00 PM: Meet with bride and groom who visited for a second time.
2:20 PM: More staining
5:35 PM: Homeward bound
6:00 PM: Get home to take care of kids
6:35 PM: Trip with kids to pick up supplies for winery events tomorrow.
8:00 PM: Giselle asleep
9:30 PM: Kali to bed.

Hopefully a good night of rest now.

Creative imagination

Kali 3.9 has really upped her imagination over the last few months. She's having very thorough cell phone conversations with all her friends. She just got off the phone with her cousin Gwen, who evidently invited her over to dinner tonight. In addition, she received two calls from Denver, Colorado. Her friend Brian called to inform Kali that he will be dressing up as a Crayola marker for Halloween. Her other friend Allison called to tell Kali that she'll be dressing up as a ninja.

I'm anxiously awaiting the next call. Who's next?

Wacky Wal-Mart.......

Kali 3.9, Giselle 0.10 and I headed off to pick up a marine battery at Wal-Mart tonight. Kali had just purchased a witch costume today, so of course, she wanted to wear it to Wal-Mart. I decided to choose my battles wisely and let her do so.

We walked in and immediately, Kali was the center of attention. The greeter greeted her as Samantha the Good Witch. Giselle began to clap for Kali and her newfound celebrity status.

As we went through the store, Kali started to 'want' some things. I made it clear we were only here for a 'daddy thing' and then we were leaving. When that didn't suffice, I immediately went to an alternate plan. I informed Kali that real witches were not allowed in Wal-Mart after 8:00 PM. She asked if that's why she was the only real witch in the store. I informed her that we had three minutes until we had to be out of the store. We literally ran from the rear of the store. Kali was relieved when we made it out of the store one minute before it was time to get out.

Creative parenting is a beautiful thing.

Lots of chatter...........

Giselle 0.10 is really talking away at this point. Lots of babble mixed in with a few ma-ma, ba-ba, and some giggles. She's finally starting to stretch out in height. She's crawling quite a bit, so that extra work could be the cause of that change.

Kali 3.7 is in the full swing of being a kid now. She goes to preschool two days a week and does dance class one day a week. She loves preschool. We initially sent her for half-day school, but she begged us to go all day so that she could play with her friends all day instead of leave in the middle of the day. Request granted. Anything to make sure she burns more energy.

Parroting..........

I'm in an unfortunate situation. When I hear something from Mrs. Lime or if I screw up and she tells me what I screwed up, Kali 3.8 serves as a voice recorder for what's being said. As a result, if I end up making the same mistake or doing the same thing at another time, my daughter is there to reprimand me.

Rolling stops at a stop sign are a prime example. She learned that we're supposed to come to a COMPLETE stop. So if I roll the stop sign in the SLIGHTEST, I hear 'Daddy, you didn't stop! I saw a stop sign and you didn't stop!'.

If I do something in the kitchen and Mrs. Lime doesn't do it the same way I do, Kali is there to ensure that I am told exactly how Mommy says to do it.

I have a feeling this will get worse rather than better since Kali is showing signs of great intelligence. As we all know, the kid always knows more than the adult.

Wisdom from a three year-old.......

"Daddy, babies drop their bottles on the floor all the time. That's why you should never have a baby."

Heaven

Kali 3.7 and I had a discussion last night about her Great-Grandma's passing. She doesn't really understand death yet, but it was worth a try.

Me: We're going to Great Grandma's funeral tomorrow. She died.

Kali: Where is she now?

Me: She's in heaven.

Kali: Where's heaven?

Me: It's in the clouds.

Kali: She's up in the clouds?

Me: Yep, she's up there with Great Grandpa.

Kali: Did he die too?

Me: Yes, there up in the clouds together.

Kali: Are they with Baby Jesus?

Me: Yes.

Kali: Is Jesus with his mommy and daddy?

Me: Yes.

Kali: We should get on an airplane and go up to visit them.

Me: Not a bad idea. Do you want to visit the clouds?

Kali: No, I want to stay in my bed.

Me: OK, you can stay in your bed. We'll visit there another time.

Lessons

My grandmother passed away this week. She was 97 years old, so it was certainly a life that was long and lived to its fullest.

My grandfather passed away several years ago. He was a strong-willed guy and always wanted to portray himself as a figurehead of the family. While he generally succeeded in that regard, I learned a very valuable lesson after he died.

Most of the grand kids always thought that Grandma was quiet and generally played the role of subservient wife. As I quickly noticed after my grandfather's passing, it could not be further from the truth. My grandmother was the leader of the family. She was very strong and ran the family. Her personality also came out quite a bit more after my grandfather's passing. We were able to see a different side of her we had not seen before.

The lesson I took from that revelation is that you can be a good role model and the leader of your family without being the loudest or strongest personality in the family. There is such a thing as a quiet, yet powerful family role model. I'm not sure that I'm the leader of our family, but I do know that I learned a valuable lesson from my grandmother as to how to be an effective role model.

Two toother

Giselle 0.9 just had her second tooth pop in. Pretty cute smile. She has the bottom two middle teeth now, though one is longer than the other. She's also working quite a bit on chewing puffed rice snacks. We can't give her enough. I think she loves the option of feeding herself. She tries to do it by grabbing on to the spoon, but doesn't do well with that just yet. She's also becoming a better crawler. She's going with the belly crawl right now and is very good at it.

Kali 3.6 had her first day of preschool yesterday. She didn't say much other than to say that she ate lunch with Eric. Three years old and she's already eating lunch with boys. I'm screwed. She has her second day of lunch tomorrow. Hopefully she'll move over to the girls table to save her father some anxiety.

Cats and dogs living together in harmony..........

We've got a toddler walking and dogs and cats getting along in our household. Strange days indeed.

We've got trouble on our hands........

Giselle 0.9 is mobilizing.......

New cat in town.......

We've got a new cat. His name is Sunny. He's a one year old orange tabby cat. He's got a couple bad habits that we'll have to break him of, but overall, he's a very loving and affectionate cat.

Kali 3.6 learned the hard way that kitties (she was the one that wanted a cat) do have claws. She was goofing around and wasn't nice to the kitty. He stuck her in the leg. She came to Daddy saying "I don't want a cat anymore!" Grandma and Grandpa were even on Skype at the time to watch it all unfold.

As Kali has learned since then, cats are much different than dogs. They have different needs and you have to handle them differently than you would a dog. She has done a much better job of late being nice to the kitty. They're now good buddies.

Tinkerbell 1.10 has also learned about how to treat a cat. She promptly received a couple of swats on the snout with her first advances. But she's learned to give the kitty some space and they actually will sit within a couple of feet of each other. They're both doing very well under the circumstances.

Uh oh...........

I went with Kali 3.6 tonight on what was a simple task........purchase a backpack. We went over to Wal-Mart and were directed to the backpack section. Kali spotted a Disney Princess backpack and our search ended right there.

We went up to the cashier stand and bought the backpack. The cashier was a nice lady who asked Kali whether she was going to preschool or kindergarten. Kali said preschool and the cashier said her daughter was going to 3rd grade. Then it hit me.......Kali is going to preschool. It always silly when another parent gets emotional because their kid is off to school until you're the parent.

Can't believe she's growing up. I can't say it's gone by too fast because I feel like I've been able to enjoy it with her and not miss much of it at all. Although I've been busy the past couple of months with the winery and getting it all set up, I've also had a lot of quality time with my girls and it's been fantastic. I'll be making sure to make time for them going forward as well, regardless of how busy I get.

Bathtime quotes.......

Only during Kali 3.6 bathtime at our house would you get the following quality information.

"Dad, did you know that the word 'butt' is in the word 'butterfly'?"

----and----

"Whoa, I just made bubbles in the water with my butt!"

See, no clothes!

Kali 3.6 went out to swimming lessons today. When she got back, Mrs. Lime had a Happy Meal for her. Kali proceeded to take off her swimsuit and start eating.

Me: Kali, is there a reason you're eating your hamburger naked?

Kali: No, it's a cheeseburger.

Yes, forget the whole nudity thing. It's important to note that there was a slice of cheese on her sandwich that Daddy failed to acknowledge.

Day after day.......

My life is like Groundhog Day at this point. Take care of kids, go out to work at winery, take guests through winery for possible events, and come home to hang out with family and do anything I didn't already do that day. For not technically having a job right now, I sure am busy. So busy that I realized I haven't posted to the blog in a week. Goodness.

Today I'm hoping to get some tiling work done at the winery. It needs to get done so we can cross that off the list. I'm sure there will be other fires to put out, but that's a good start. Hopefully I'll remember to blog a bit sooner that a week from now.

We have a tooth!

Giselle 0.8 has been a bit grumpy over the past few days. As noted, we thought it sounded like teething. Well, wonder no more. A small, white object is now peeking through her bottom gums. A tooth!

Giselle isn't nearly as excited as Kali 3.5 and I were to find it, but she'll get over it soon enough.

Computer time........

Kali teaching Giselle how to use the Barbie computer........

Teething monster alert!!!!!!

Giselle 0.8 is looking for anything to bite or chew on right now. She's got the occasional grumpies (which are rare for her) and voices her displeasure when there isn't a chewing object available. Mrs. Lime just ran to the store to pick up some Ora-gel for her gums. She's going to grab some teething toys to put in the freezer as well.

Until then, I get to try to convince Giselle that it's not a big deal. Early returns say she's not buying what I'm selling.

Girls, girls, girls........

Kali 3.5 at dinner...........



Giselle 0.8 in the bouncer.............

Giselle version 0.8!!!!

Hanging out on the couch.......











She likes to eat!!!!!!

We have mobility!

Been really busy the past week with the winery and a brief vacation to the Lake of the Ozarks, but we're finally back.

I see trouble in my future. I sat down Giselle 0.7 on her play mat on the floor this evening. I went into the kitchen for maybe two minutes at the most to help Kali 3.5 get a snack. When we returned to the living room, I found Giselle and Tinkerbell 1.9 nose to nose. Only one problem........Tinkerbell hadn't moved since we went into the kitchen, but Giselle had somehow moved eight feet across the floor!

Determined to figure out the cause of this eight foot movement, I placed Giselle back on the play mat and sat back to watch what happens. Over the next three minutes, I saw Giselle scoot and roll over the same eight feet to Tinkerbell to play with her paw. Tinkerbell was very well behaved other than the occasional big wet kiss that a Saint Bernard can hand out.

End result is that my daughter can now move. Time to put up the baby gate on the stairs!

Profound wisdom............

In the backyard...........

Me: What are you doing?

Kali 3.5: I'm blowing with my mouth to make wind so the trees move.

Me: That's crazy. You can't do that.

Kali: You don't understand, Daddy. I can use my mouth and my lips to blow air. See? (points at limbs that are moving 40 foot up the tree)

Me: I stand corrected. You've done a fine job of making wind.

Pushing the buttons........

I'm still learning this whole parenting thing, but I'm getting better slowly but surely. I'm baffled why I push all the right parenting buttons with ease at some times while I screw it up royally at other times. I have learned a lot about body language and non-verbal information when interacting with other adults and older kids. But none of that works with a three year old. It can be very frustrating.

There are some times that things work great with Kali 3.5, who is blessed (or not) with being my first opportunity at parenting. I use the right positive/negative reinforcement at the time that draws out the exact reaction I'm looking for with my comments. It's fantastic to find that sweet spot and both Kali and I both are happier when that happens.

When I do a lousy job, we both end up frustrated. At the time, you get so frustrated that you're not pushing the right buttons. It's not necessarily anyone's fault. I'm just not very good at reading the needs and emotions of a three year old girl. It's the thing you say will never happen to you as a parent, yet here I am trying to put the whole puzzle together.

Hopefully Kali doesn't get too damaged by my futile (at times) parenting efforts. Giselle 0.7 should have a much better time of things. I'll have it all figured out the second time around, right?

TP! TP!

How much toilet paper can a home full of women use? It sure seems like a lot. I try to purchase a large quantity of toilet paper so I don't have to make supply runs too often. Yet it still seems (much like tonight) that the supply dwindles to nothing in no time at all.

Our saving grace is that we don't have a cat in the house that unrolls all the toilet paper rolls. That would increase our problems dramatically.

Phrases my daughter uses now........

You're the boss, applesauce.

That is correct.

OK, Mr. Silly.

Holy moly.

Oh my goodness.

What did you say??????

Giselle's not screaming, she's talking!

I had to wash my feet because Papa's buildings are dirty!

I pulled a weed, I fell down and I can't get up (Papa says this phrase applies to him as well).

Papa needs railings on his stairs. It's dangerous!

Smarter than she should be.......

Kali 3.4 has a pretty advanced mind for her age. She thinks on the fly really well. The other day she was writing people's names on paper. We worked through a few different names that she asked me how they were spelled. After that, she wrote down a name all by herself and brought it over to me. I read it and couldn't figure out what it said. I told her that she must have spelled it incorrectly.

Her response: "No, it's the name of a stranger that you don't know. That's why you don't know who it is!"

I stand corrected.

Cute baby wins.............

We went to Worlds of Fun a couple of days ago. We met a few friends there and they were checking out Giselle 0.7. No problems finding someone to take care of the baby if I was riding a ride.

As we walked through the park, Giselle was the center of attention. Teenage girls were tapping their friends on the shoulders to show them the cute baby who was smiling and bouncing her legs in excitement every time someone noticed her. Moms and dads with grown kids were pointing at the cute chubby baby.

Kali 3.4 had a fun, but rough night. She was playing chase with another girl and managed to take a header on the sidewalk, leaving a nice round bruise on her forehead. While initially upset, she was more embarrassed than hurt after a few minutes. She blew it off and got back to riding rides as quickly as possible. Tough girl.

Who's louder?

Kali 3.4 always has plenty to say. She's three after all. But of late, there's a new mouth in town.

Giselle 0.7 has decided that she should have a say in all conversations. When I say all conversations, I do mean all. She's constantly making sure that any conversation involves her. She'll interrupt the chatter with a scream, babble, giggle, or anything else that gets everyone else's attention. Once someone turns to acknowledge her chatter, she just smiles back. She's always very happy to see someone else paying attention to her.

Hopefully Kali doesn't pick up on that and use it for attention as well. We can only stand so much noise in the house.

Pruning, pruning, and more pruning.......

I went through the vineyard today and did a ton of pruning of all the vines. Too many leaves and vines surrounding the grapes are a bad thing, so we have to take out a lot of the extra foliage that isn't producing any grapes. The good thing was that the weather cooperated. 85 degrees and sunny isn't bad at all. I never have minded the heat too much as long as I'm busy doing something.

Beauty (Papa's horse) has been playing games with one of the workers who fills her water. She's been knocking over the water tank so he has to come into the pen and put it back up. I think he's going to bolt the tank to the wall to try to stop her. I'm thinking the Clydesdale may win.

Very perceptive.........

The other day, we we're packing up the family to head out to dinner. Mrs. Lime took Kali 3.4 and put her in the car. I came out a minute later with Giselle 0.6. As I was approaching the car, I realized that I was carrying Giselle and didn't have her car seat. I said 'whoops' and Mrs. Lime chuckled at me. When I went back in the house, Without anything being said by Mrs. Lime, Kali turned to Mrs. Lime and said, "Daddy forgot Giselle's car seat".

She's getting a bit TOO smart for her age.

Short on time and pounds.........

I'm getting the 'short timer' comments around work pretty often now. I'm being sent off to the non-IT world. I'll soon be managing a three year old and a six month old. Now THAT'S a challenge.

I've also been working on getting into better shape. I'm not sure it's even a diet. I've just cut my fat intake, eat mostly chicken and turkey, and exercise on the elliptical for 15 minutes a day. Really not a huge sacrifice, but it's paying big dividends. I'm down 17 lbs. in 3 1/2 weeks and only about 8 lbs. from a good weight for me. Not bad at all. I'll be doing more manual labor over the next couple of months, which should help build more muscle and lose a bit more weight.

Ma'am, your headlights are on......

You know, there are some days when you really want to tell that 75 year old woman in your office, "Did you know that 30 year old shirt that you are wearing clearly allows people to see your bra?"

I restrained myself from saying it, but it was difficult. Good thing I'm on my best behavior today.

It's not that difficult to follow the rules.......

At my current workplace, they have a pretty simple dress code. You can wear jeans and a button-up shirt if you're a guy. You can wear just about anything except halter tops and flip-flops if you're a lady.

So what do several of the ladies do? They wear flip-flops and halter tops. As a result, management is going to crack down and issue a much tougher dress code. It would have never changed had everyone stayed within the rules. Now, it's going to be dress code armaggedeon and the same people breaking the rules are now going to complain about the new rules. Mindless, I tell you.

Well that went surprisingly well......

My regional manager just contacted me and said that if things don't work out for me in my future job that I'd be welcomed back to work in the company. Always good to have options and avoid burning bridges.

So I just turned in my resignation.....

My manager is about to receive a pretty big shock. I just sent him my letter of resignation. He's already saddled with resource shortages and me leaving is only going to make it worse. Thankfully, I've helped him out quite a bit, so he won't have any ill will towards me. It should make for an exciting Friday!

Lights out!!!

Mrs. Lime and I went out with some friends last night. One of our friends at the party got a text from their babysitter saying that the power was out in our neighborhood. We had left the girls at home with a babysitter too. Mrs. Lime got on the phone to check on things. Kali, after the initial scare when the lights went out, was now painting by flashlight. Everything was well.

We got home to find the power still off. Kali ran right to us to tell us all about the lights going off. After all, it was her first big power outage! Giselle hardly noticed and decided to sleep through it. We got our power back about 20 minutes after we got home. The world was back to normal.

Dancing and making noises

Kali 3.3 heads over for her second dance class today. She was VERY excited to go. I'm sure that she'll get to meet more new friends and learn more dance stuff.

Giselle 0.6 is quickly becoming the talker in the family. She's yapping all the time and is pretty sure that you understand every word she's saying. She's also learning how to interact more. Mrs. Lime caught Giselle leaning over to blow with her mouth on Mrs. Lime's arm. She was trying to make noises, much like we do when we blow on her tummy. Smart girl.

She's a comedian and didn't know it........

A few days ago, I went out into the backyard to grill some steaks. Kali 3.3 went out with me. I turned on some music in the backyard, which is output through two speakers that look like rocks in our flowerbeds.

Kali: Daddy, what's that noise?

Me: I think it's music.

Kali: Where's it coming from?

Me: I don't know.

Kali: I think it's coming from that rock.

Me: Really?

Kali: Yes, it's coming from that rock, Daddy!

Me: Rocks can't play music.

Kali: Yes they can! It's a real rock music instrument!

**rimshot**

Kali 3.3's first bowling outing............

Kali went with me to bowling a week or two ago. Thought it would be fun to see how she liked it. We got there and even managed to get our own lane with bumpers already set up. For the uninitiated, the bumpers are rails that pop out of the gutters and keep the ball from going into the gutter. The ball just bounces off the bumpers until it reaches the pins.

Can you guess which color ball Kali picked?



Down the alley it goes......



Success!







Posing for the camera...........





You see that third frame next to Kali's name? That's a 'X'. Her first strike! Note the blazing speed of 4.2 MPH on her ball (Daddy was throwing around 16-17 MPH for comparison).



Kali's final score. Not bad at all.......

Flower planting!

Mrs. Lime and the girls did some flower planting about a week ago. Here's some pics of Kali 3.3 helping out.....





Giselle 0.6 decided all this work was for the birds and hopped in her car where she could supervise the process.......

Plowing through the vegetables...........

Giselle 0.6 is making her way through all of the forms of blended vegetables that Gerber has to offer. A brief summary.....

Peas - "I've tasted better."

Squash - "That's what I'm talking about! Those are good!"

Carrots - "First bite wasn't too good, but it got better as we went along."

We've got green beans coming later this week. I think she'll like them.

What is that?!?!?!

Giselle 0.6 got her first taste of vegetables tonight. She got to try out some peas.

First bite: gag reflex
Next several bites: not sure
Final few bites: I think I've had enough of this stuff, Dad.

Mrs. Lime forgot that Kali's first dose of veggies ended in her throwing up, so I think we'll cut Giselle some slack. It's no small move from rice cereal to peas.

Giselle version 0.6!!!!!!

Final measurements are in from the six month checkup.

Height = 50%
Weight = 90% (!)

Doc says that breast-fed babies thin out after 6 months. If so, Giselle should see a downward trend from here on out. Right now, she's just healthy!

Only a week to go.......

Next week, Kali 3.3 starts up her first dance class. It'll be interesting to see how she reacts to the class environment with other kids. I know she'll be fine, but it's always a new experience when she gets to do something different for the first time.

Giselle 0.5 is talking quite a bit more. If a babble can be interpreted as opinionated, Giselle is opinionated. She loves to make her presence known and is very frustrated if you aren't paying attention to her words of wisdom. She also is quite frustrated at how her legs and arms don't get her anywhere. She's doing a lot of kicking and grabbing, but the balance isn't quite there yet to sit up on her own. She'll be happy when she can keep up with her sister and/or the dog. I think she'd take either at this point.

The gift that keeps on giving.......

A few months ago, I went down to the cafeteria to get my morning shot of caffeine. When I went up to pay, there was a lady who had her breakfast but forgot her money. I offered to pay. She thanked me and told me she'd repay me. I told her it wasn't a big deal and not to worry about it.

Ever since then, if this lady is down in the cafeteria when I go down in the morning, she leaves the exact amount for a refill with the cashier so I don't have to pay. I think we're about even by now, but she just keeps on paying. I'll have to pay for her breakfast soon before she gets too far ahead.

Yesterday (or night).......

Kali's got a new word that she likes to use. Whenever she talks about the preceding night's events, she refers to it as 'yesternight'.

Using it in a sentence:

"I stayed in my bed all yesternight."

I think it's generally a sign of intelligence that she's forming her own words in that manner, but I've started the process of trying to get her to use yesterday. It's going to take some work because she keeps telling me, "No, Daddy! It wasn't yesterday! It was yesternight!" The logic is there, but the grammar needs some work.

All over the place.........

Crazy weekend for the family. Mrs. Lime headed off with her dad for a weekend in New York City. Kali 3.3 and Giselle 0.5 headed down with their grandparents to the Lake of the Ozarks. Kali reportedly caught her first fish.......and then went on to catch six more! Giselle received marks for being a well-behaved baby.

I stayed at home and tried to get some stuff done. Cleaned some showers, took trash out of Mrs. Lime's office, worked on a French drain, filed a tax return, worked on alcohol permits for our family business, etc. Lots of boring stuff, but it needs to be done.

Kali makes sure to get her face time........

What happens when Giselle 0.5 gets too much attention. Kali 3.3 jumps into the frame............

Girls, Girls, Girls

Girls goofing around............

The girls ham it up for Daddy while he baby talks them into doing more goofy stuff........

Goofy sisters

Piano concert...........

Here's what happens when Kali 3.3 and Gwen 2.10 get together with a piano..........

Piano Concert

Long necks........

Kali 3.2: Does Giselle have a short neck or a long neck?

Me: She has a short neck, but it will soon be a long neck like yours once she gets bigger.

Kali: I don't have a long neck! I have a short neck!

Me: You do?

Kali: Yes! Daddy, do you have a short neck or a long neck?

Me: I have a long neck.

Kali: No, you don't! You have a short neck!

Me: I do? Well who has a long neck then?

Kali: A giraffe has a long neck, Daddy!

Me: Of course.

Rabbits and money

Kali 3.2: I don't like the rabbit in my room.

Me: You don't like the rabbit?

Kali: No, it's scary.

Me: It's scary? Alright, well we can move it out then, OK?

Kali: Mmmmmm-hmmmmm.

Me: You do know that rabbit is a piggy bank with money in it, right?

Kali: It has a slot where you put money in it.

Me: That's right.

Kali: I LIKE the money. But I don't like the rabbit.

Me: So you still want me to move it?

Kali: Yes, but I do like the money!

She's been accepted!!!!!

Kali 3.2 got her official acceptance today. She's going to preschool in the fall. She's worked very hard on her letters and numbers and I know it will pay off big-time when she enters the scholastic ranks.

That is, as long as she doesn't haul off and whack someone if they take away one of her toys.

Busy weekend..........

While we didn't really go anywhere of note, Mrs. Lime was working quite a bit this weekend, meaning I had the girls most of the weekend. We did have one outing to the Bass Pro store. Kali 3.2 got to check out some of the animals and fish in the place. We also picked up some fudge and ate lunch. Giselle 0.5 just kind of took it all in when she wasn't busy taking a nap.

Last night, we headed over to see Kali and Giselle's cousin, Gwen 2.11. We took the girl over for some pizza and gelato. Kali was so focused on interacting with Gwen that she didn't eat all that much. We took them all back to Gwen's house afterwards and the girls got to play in the driveway (riding scooter/bikes, throwing balls, swining on the swingset, etc.). Giselle watched them, but was stuck sitting with the parents. I can tell she REALLY wants to get out there and play, but those arms and legs just won't let her quite yet. Soon enough, she'll be playing with the big girls.

The zoo stinks (literally)......

Mrs. Lime, Kali 3.2 and Giselle 0.5 all went to the Kansas City Zoo yesterday. It's relatively cheap to purchase a family membership that allows for a full year of unlimited visits. In addition, they have a new membership this year which allows for unlimited rides on the carousel, train, tram, etc.

Mrs. Lime said that Giselle was interested in everything. Looking around, checking out everything on her first visit to the zoo. Kali is a big fan of the elephants usually, but something else caught her eye (or nose yesterday). She went on and on last night about how 'stinky the alligators' were. Even with the smell, she still liked the alligators the most out of all the animals she saw yesterday.

Hopefully this doesn't open up the future possibility of stinky boyfriends down the road.

The management ranks increase by one.........

Over the past couple of weeks, one of the toilets in the house had an issue with a leaky valve, which was allowing water to slowly come out of the water tank. As a result, the toilet would briefly fill every few hours. I knew what I needed to do to fix it, but never really got around to it.

Kali 3.2 would get scared initially when the water noise would occur. She'd freak out until I informed her that it was only the toilet. One day when it happened, I also added in the fact that 'Daddy needs to fix that'. Bad idea.

Over the past 4-5 days, every time the toilet would turn on, Kali would look at me and sternly say, 'You need to fix that!'. I was being lectured by my three year old two to three times a night on the subject.

Finally got the valve fixed last night. No more periodic flushing sounds. Hopefully that puts an end to the lectures.

Passed with flying colors.....

So I had a long weekend with Kali 3.2 and Giselle 0.5. No real issues of note. We went out a couple of times to run some errands, but mostly just hung around the house.

I kept Kali busy making necklaces, playing some games, and watching movies. Giselle was eating a lot, playing a little, and sleeping the rest of the time. Giselle has been sleeping a LOT at night, which is nice. She's been sleeping a steady 12-12.5 hours a night. Sleep is a fantastic thing. I like it.

When good work isn't good work........

We have a different sort of group in my work environment. I generally am a Point A to Point B type of guy. Give me the task and let me know when it needs to be completed and I'll deliver the goods. I'm not big on the incremental updating in-between those two points. In my latest task, I was supposed to replicate a problem on the system, implement a coding change from the developer, and verify that the change corrected the original problem. I had three weeks to get it done because the releases only happen every so often. I finished up work on the above process today, thus having everything done two full days before it needed to be done.

Only one problem. Unbeknownst to me, the lady who assigned me the work had complained behind my back to the manager a day before I completed the work that she wasn't getting regular updates. This lady walks by my desk literally ten times a day. At any time, she could have stuck her head in my office and asked how the progress was going and I would have been happy to tell her. So now there's a brief fuss with the management (which will blow over eventually) that I wasn't keeping her informed DESPITE THE FACT that I already have the work completed well in advance of the due date.

The moral of this story: Doing great work is only considered great work if you make sure to regularly pause and tell someone how great your work really is rather than solely focusing on getting the task done.

A mouth without a filter........

Kali 3.0 went down with Grandma to see Great Grandma and her sister, Aunt Louise last weekend. Kali came back with plenty to tell me with the usual lack of political correctness that only a three year old can get away with..........

Kali: I went to see Great Grandma and Aunt Louise!

Me: You did? That sounds like a lot of fun!

Kali: I gave them candy. Great Grandma put it in her pocket to save it for later.

Me: Probably a good idea. You don't want to eat it all at once.

Kali: Aunt Louise had two teeth.

Me: She had what?!?!

Kali: Aunt Louise had two teeth. But Great Grandma has all her teeth.

Me: (laughing to the point of tears) Yes, sweetie. As you get older, it's tough to keep all your teeth. I think she might have lost them.

Kali: She lost her teeth? She should go find them.

Me: Yes, she probably should!

The wisdom of a three year old in all its glory.

On my own.......

Tomorrow, Mrs. Lime and Papa are heading off to a wedding. That leave me with the kids for the weekend. I'm actually looking forward to it. I'll get to hang out with the girls for a few days. Probably won't get much done during that time, but I'll be plenty busy.

I will need to pick up a new gas container for the grill. Burned through the last part of one the other night. Kali's a big fan of turkey burgers and fat-free hot dogs, so we'll have to get another propane tank before I head home tomorrow from work. We'll have hot dogs and watch the Chiefs screw up another draft.

Bottle time...........

Today was a rough day for Mrs. Lime. She thought she might have a foreign object stuck in her throat, so she had an appointment to get knocked out to check her throat. All was well (no foreign object).

Due to the drugs used to knock her out, she wasn't able to breast feed for 24 hours. Since we had been considering ending it anyway, it seemed like a good time to cut off the breast feeding. So Mrs. Lime was emotional about that. Giselle 0.4 had already adjusted well to a bottle, so she really didn't see much difference. Only real difference for her was that she wasn't taking naps during the day while feeding on Mommy. As a result, she was ready to crash by 7:45 PM, which is at least an hour ahead of schedule.

Mrs. Lime crashed early as well. A very quiet night in the house.

Invitation to the ball..........

All ready to go meet the Disney Princesses!



Little nervous/excited with Belle.......



Sleeping Beauty meets her twin........



Cinderella drops by.......



Looking a bit more comfortable with Snow White..........



Ariel with legs, not a tail fin........

The junior member of the family.........

Giselle 0.4 is quickly coming out of her eat/sleep stage and starting to open up a personality. This is always an interesting time to watch when you're a dad and I'm able to understand that the second time around. Up to now, the mom is used to cuddling and breast feeding the baby every time it fusses. The baby figures that out and uses it to their advantage. As a dad who is often taking care of the baby on my own, you have to figure out a way to cope with that issue since breast feeding to put them to sleep isn't an option. You become aware of a lot of things that the mom doesn't always get to see.

First off, Giselle is less and less happy with staying up later. Not sure if it's because she's more active while playing or if she's taking less naps. But when 8:30 PM rolls around, she's ready to implode. That used to be more like 10:00 PM a month ago, so her sleeping habits are definitely changing (and for the better too).

She has also started eating rice cereal this week. We learned from Kali 3.2 that there's a point a baby reaches where milk doesn't hold them over and Giselle has reached that point. She had been waking up a couple times a night for a few weeks previous to our vacation. The last two nights I've given her rice cereal around 6:30-7:00 PM and a bottle before she goes to bed. She's been sleeping like a ROCK ever since then.

I've also started weaning Mrs. Lime off the baby monitor like I did with Kali. She's ultra-reactive to any sound that is made. As a result, I turn the monitor down to the lowest setting without telling her. You can still hear the baby cry quite easily, but Mrs. Lime doesn't wake up when the baby turns over or is talking to herself in the crib. Mrs. Lime asked yesterday if Giselle was sleeping really well of late, so I had to fess up to what was actually happening.

Giselle is also talking quite a bit now. I called up my parents on Skype last night with the girls. Kali and I could hardly get a word in without Giselle jabbering at the screen. I felt like I was being constantly interrupted, but I don't think that you can tell a four month old baby that they're being rude. Grandma did complain that the baby wasn't getting enough attention on the blog, yet she continues to act like Facebook is a foreign planet, where a lot of baby pictures are being posted. We're going to have to work on that skill with Grandma since she's likely the only one who thinks Giselle isn't all over the internet.

Giselle is really starting to get some excellent strength. She likes to rock a lot in your lap, which means you're getting a workout just trying to hold on to her while she's doing baby sit-ups. Once she can use her arms a bit more to support herself in a month or two, she'll be able to play with a lot of the baby toys that we have where the baby can sit, bounce, reach for things, etc. You can tell right now that she's very frustrated that she can't do anything. I think it's worse for her than Kali because she sees Kali playing and really wants to do the same things. But soon enough, she'll be doing so. It's only a matter of time.

It's just different........

I usually drop into the cafeteria at my work place once or twice a week to eat a breakfast burrito. I can't eat it every day, but I like to grab one every once in awhile. For the past couple of years, there has been a girl named 'Mo' who did all the grill stuff. She is really nice to the regular customers and often greets them by name. She also knows exactly what you usually order.

While I was gone on our trip to Disney, Mo either left the job or got fired. I can imagine that she'd leave a paying job in this economy, but stranger things have happened. Either way, there was a new lady on the grill. Of course, it just feels different when you go in to order now and it doesn't taste as good. Mo was good at what she did and I'm sure she drew in people because of her friendly nature.

It's a great lesson for me in what a cohesive and good staff can do for the popularity of your establishment. If people feel comfortable around a manager and their staff and get to know them, there's an increased value to those customers even though it doesn't cost you anything more to be friendly.

Duck! Flying bacon!

We went to Norway (not the REAL Norway) in EPCOT last Monday to go eat breakfast with the Disney Princesses. Kali 3.2 was terribly excited to go meet them in person and had been for the previously couple of months before the trip. As Mrs. Lime noted, these are Kali's idolized 'rock stars', so this was a big deal to her. She was sleeping well, but when I tapped her and told her we were headed to eat breakfast with the princesses, she bolted up and headed straight for the bathroom to get ready.

Giselle 0.4 was her usual smiley self and Mrs. Lime laid out a 'Princess' outfit for her to wear for the big day. Kali wore a Sleeping Beauty costume. When we initially got to the banquet hall in Norway, Kali was a bit disappointed that it 'wasn't a princess castle'. We explained to her that there was a banquet hall inside where the princesses were holding a party for us, and that seemed to curtail her frustration.

We got into line to be seated and were actually the second group in line. Kali seemed relatively unimpressed up to that point......until Belle entered the room. She had a mixed look of excitement and total astonishment. It's one thing for Kali to tell her that you're going to meet a princess. It's another thing to see that princess walk into the room in full ballroom gown smiling and waving to you. Belle was very complimentary of Kali's dress and tiara while signing Kali's autograph book. Belle sat down on the floor next to Kali so they could be at the same height for the picture. Kali, still shocked, saw Belle sit down and followed suit. We had to tell Kali to stand back up a few times because she was so shell-shocked being next to Belle.

After a few pictures with Belle, we were taken over to our table for breakfast. We were told by our server that the door immediately to the left of Kali was where the princesses would come out to greet their guests. As a result, Kali would be the first one in the entire room to meet every princess. We started eating while we waited for the next princess.

Kali's a huge bacon fan. They served the breakfast family-style, so Kali was thrilled to see a giant pile of unlimited bacon available for breakfast. As Kali was starting to bite into one of the many pieces of bacon that she ate that morning, Cinderella strolled out from the door behind her. Kali immediately tossed the half-eaten piece of bacon in the general direction of her plate. It actually went over the plate, landing on the table. Kali scrambled for a napkin while saying 'Book, Mommy, Book!'. She wanted to make sure to secure Cinderella's autograph. Kali was once again complimented on how beautiful she looked this morning. More pictures followed.

As breakfast progressed, Kali managed to handle the emergence of princesses a bit better. Food was laid down rather than tossed. Autograph book was at the ready as Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White all greeted her. Kali was just hanging out with idols.

I have little doubt that her meet-and-greet with the princesses has planted a seed that will require regular visits to Disney over her lifetime. She's going to be hooked. I just hope the bacon stays on the plate in future visits as it's not very princess-like to send pork products airborne when another princess walks into the room.

Back into the saddle............

We're finally back from a long vacation in Orlando. Plenty of excitement with it being Kali's first visit to the Magic Kingdom. She got to meet several princesses, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. She rode several different rides and had a blast doing it all. I'll have pictures in the upcoming days showing the happiness in all its glory.

10 years and counting........

On April 1st, 2000, we were married. Today is our 10th anniversary.

Some people openly wonder how time has passed so fast. I don't feel that way. I guess I don't really think about it all that much. Only reason I know that time has passed is that my hair follicle count has been drastically reduced since our wedding and I've got two rugrats keeping me busy. Other than that, it all seems the same.

I suppose I've mellowed a bit. Sports mean less and kids mean more. I've learned to adjust to situations even if I believe it's not the way I would have done something. Friendships have been added while some remain the same. But one thing that is constant is my wife. She's supporting, encouraging, and caring. My daughters and I need all of that.

I rolled over to wish my wife a happy anniversary this morning at 2:53 AM. That's when she came to bed after getting done with work. That's the odd world our marriage exists in. But we make it work and I think we make it work pretty well.

Who knows what our life will look like in another 10 years? I'm in no hurry. I'm sure it will all go just fine.

More!

You know your body is begging for more sleep when you start dreaming that you're checking the clock to see if it's time to wake up.

Yes, I had a dream like that. I know it because one of my clock checks in my dream was interrupted by my alarm clock going off.

Oh well. Only 18 years until both of my girls are out of the house.

My lot in life.........

I think I take for granted the situation that I'm in.

Last night, we went out to eat at a nearby restaurant. At the table next to us, there's a kid throwing a fit of mammoth proportions. The noise never bothers me since I'm a parent of two young girls, but what was noticable was how much effort the parents had to spend on handling the kid rather than just enjoying their meal. I then thought back after the meal and realized that the worst thing that happened at our table was that Kali 3.1 decided to put on some of Mommy's lipstick and then kissed the wall on the booth to make a 'lippy mark'. We told her to stop and she did. That was about it.

We did have a 5 minute drama before bed where Kali was trying to find every reason not to go to bed. Eventually, I had to pull out the mean daddy voice, which seemed to work. I'm sure it won't be long before the mean daddy voice gets laughed at by both of my daughters.

Tinkerbell 1.5 and Kali 3.1

Tinkerbell and Kali practice laying down and behaving themselves. Note the blue bands on Tink's front legs. Those are toy bandaids from Kali's medical kit. She determined that Tink had boo-boos on both legs.



They can put their head down together too.....



Choose the wrong camera angle and it could look like your 130 lb. Saint Bernard is laying on your child......



Choose another camera angle and it could look like your child is on top of your Saint Bernard. Oh wait.......she is..........



And when your dog itches its ear........



It's only natural that your three year old follows suit........



But they look awfully cute when they both behave themselves......











Or when they're taking a nap together......