Bye, bye butt tree

Up until a few weeks ago we had an abundance of trees around our house. Believe me, there are still plenty, but we had to thin out the herd. Several months ago our 6 year old neighbor said he wanted to go around the side of the house to see if something was still there. When I asked him what it was, he said there was a tree that he and the former owner's daughter called the butt tree. You can see for yourself exactly why this tree got its nickname. I found out later that it wasn't just the kids who called it the butt tree but the adult neighbor with teenage children across the cul de sac, as well. Since the butt tree was apparently dead, it had to go, too.

The 2nd day of tree cutting at the house, this is what I came home to find. These are 2 trees (only 2) that were out front loading front of the house and the cul de sac with pollen and leaves. We had both of the stumps ground down so we can have a decent little hillside. Of course, I'm going to turn around and plant a tree there that will stay MUCH smaller.

And these are some of the limbs cut up from those 2 trees.

And the truck parked out back with the boom resting on the butt tree after the top had been removed. Don't ask me why because I really don't understand either.

Not much else going on here except getting ready for Easter. I'm sure there will be lots of Easter pics to post, but I had to share the butt tree with you for my own amusement!

Birthday parties

Since I got my bigger, nicer camera, the smaller, older digital camera has become the birthday party camera because it is easier to stick in the diaper bag and hand from person to person. I finally loaded pictures from the old camera to the computer today and a short video clip (if it worked). They are out of order, but you get the point.

This is from Sophie's birthday party when Jordan was double fisting a cupcake (without the icing) and some strawberry banana things we brought with us.

This is from December at Hope's birthday party. The pants she wore under that dress now look more like booty pants!

Eating cake at Hope's party.

On my lap going down the big slide at Sophie's party.

The closest she would get to the slide at Zach's party. If you look closely you can see Zach and 2 of his friends coming down the slide. 6 year olds are so fast zooming down the slide they are hard to photograph.

And if the video works, this is Dave taking Jordan down the slide at Sophie's party. I didn't realize the video setting was on, but I love that if you turn it up, you can hear Dave giggling like a school girl!

Is it really Spring yet?

So, Jordan did have MRSA, but it seems to be healing (knock on wood). It finished draining on Monday, so Jordan went back to daycare on Tuesday. We have to keep band-aids on it and keep wearing rubber gloves until it completely heals though, and the band-aids are clearly driving her crazy. I actually found scratch marks on her legs near the band-aids, though I have no clue when she scratched that much.

As anyone local knows, the weather has been all over the place lately. Considering there is a chance of snow next week, I have no idea what to expect next. The warm days and evenings have been nice since it allows us to go for walks. Jordan loves playing outside, so she appreciates the warm weather, as well. Here are a few pics from a warm day where she got to sport capris and short sleeves. She refused to wear the sandals I wanted her to wear, so she wore her regular old tennis shoes.

Yeah, I can't explain this pose.

She loves to "help" get Maddie's food. The food has actually successfully made it to the floor in the bowl once.

Update and Aunt Dinky's birthday

Several weeks ago Jordan, my mom, Bo bo and I went to my Aunt Dinky's house for her birthday. I confess we don't spend as much time with Mom's family as we should, but I'm sure you all know how that goes. My aunt is 16 years older than my mom and is literally old enough to be my grandmother, especially since her oldest grandchild is a year older than I am. My uncle has 2 work horses in the barn a little walk from their house. Although Jordan has seen drawings and pictures of horses, this was her first experience with the real thing. Of course, since they are work horses, they are very large, which scared Jordan.

When we were finished with the horses and heading back to the car, Jordan finally decided she liked her Great Aunt Dinky and wanted to hold her hand. Of course, this was after she threw herself on the ground because she wanted to walk across a little foot bridge rather than me carrying her across it, so she was finished with me.

This is as close as the horses came, and Jordan still got scared. Since they are about 10 times her size, I can see how that would be scary.

Now for the update on the health issues. Yesterday morning I was running errands and Dave was putting Jordan in the bathtub. Since she isn't cooperative with the warm compresses, she has been getting 2-3 baths per day to draw out the infection, so I think she likes that part of things. When Dave undressed her he saw that the thing had started draining on it own, so we don't need to have it opened with a scalpel. We debated on having it cultured and decided we should, so we went to an urgent care location and were happily surprised to be in and out of there in about 30 minutes. We should have the results back on Tuesday, though they may be inconclusive due to the use of the antibiotic. The red place on her leg is a lot smaller than it was on Thursday when we went to see the pediatrician, and it doesn't seem to be bothering her nearly as much now. She is definitely none too happy when we go anywhere close to touching it though- not that I blame her.

Kim and Jenny hosted my first Kelly's Kids party last night, and it was a success. I'm going to have 2 more parties while I have the clothes, so hopefully I'll make a little moo-la and get some free clothes for Jordan through the party my mom is hosting. The clothes in the kit are so adorable! It is hard to choose which ones I like most! Thanks Kim and Jenny for hosting!

My horoscope

I didn't read my horoscope this week (and rarely do), but based on my experiences this week, I'm going to draft my own:

DO NOT GET OUT OF BED THIS WEEK! Your finances are looking dim. Just when you think there is a possibility you may get ahead, your hot water heater will go out forcing you to spend almost $1,000 you were not planning on spending. Don't even try to get the tax incentive for a tankless water heater because that will require you to live without water for at least 1 week and will be a complete waste of time.

Your child will have health issues. After getting her hand shut in a door at daycare last week, this week she will try to climb onto a daycare table resulting in a large, purple knot on her forehead. Then, the thing that looks like a small bug bite on Tuesday will turn into a giant red place that will come to a head and eventually drain on its own or be forcibly opened up with a scalpel. Yes, it may be MRSA, but you may never know. You'll get to spend the next week or more watching to see if the red area expands an inch beyond the line that was drawn on her leg Thursday morning and to see if it starts draining on its own. If not, then you will cry while Jordan's leg is opened by a scalpel so it can drain.
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On a separate note, the Kelly's Kids clothes arrived yesterday in the midst of the madness. I've only looked at a few items, but they are so adorable. I also found a link to the virtual catalog if anyone wants to check it out: www.kellyskids.com/virtualcatalog

And on that note, I hope your week is going better than mine.

Valentine's and a baby shower

For the first Valentine's day when Jordan was old enough to give Valentine's to her daycare friends, we fixed up little buckets of treats, bubbles and Valentines colored by Jordan. Of course, coloring Crayola valentine's wasn't enough, so Jordan covered the backs of the cards with stickers. At least she had a good time making her valentines.

She also liked the toys and clothes Nana and Bo bo brought her for Valentine's day. Instead of the talking toy I had when I was little that involved pulling the string and hearing the appropriate animal noise, Jordan got the princess version that involves a throne, magic wand, mirror and other princess related items.

Last month I attended a baby shower for girls I grew up with. They are twins who are both pregnant right now. Each is having a boy, so there was a ton of blue at the shower. It was held in my old high school cafeteria where I haven't stepped foot in about 10 years. Jordan joined me toward the end and was pretty good until it was time to leave. Since she wanted to run down the long hallway, she threw herself in the floor pitching a fit as I was dragging her to the car. She looked so cute in the overalls and shirt Nana got for her that I had to take her picture. Of course as soon as I got the camera out, her face turned red and she started straining. She definitely has my timing.

At least I got 1 good smiling picture of her.

Think she was tired of the picture taking?

See you later...

18 months- random picture day

For some reason 18 months seems like a huge milestone. Jordan suddenly looks so grown up. She is saying more every day, even if we don't understand all of it. She is tall enough to reach some things on the bathroom counter top and will soon be big enough to reach the stove- not looking forward to that. She can also reach the water and ice dispenser on the freezer door which is not child proof. When I asked the guy at Lowe's about child proofing it, he looked at me like I had 3 heads. Any suggestions for that problem?

I dread the day when Jordan no longer claps for my terrible singing like she does now and instead screams because I'm embarrassing her. I love that she is amused by both of us patting our legs at the same time and that the surprised face back and forth is hilarious. I'm sure she won't keep running stuff to the trash for us, which is a great way to distract her when necessary. Have I mentioned how cute it is when she screams "Bubbles!" as soon as she gets in the bath tub? She still giggles and gets very excited when she spots Maddie for the first time each evening. She has some killer dance moves right now, as well.

Since I've been a bad blogger lately, probably because we haven't had much going on, I thought I'd put up a few random pictures. I really need to load more onto the computer- I swear I take pictures!

Jordan still loves her bananas and is now proud of being able to hold it herself. As evidenced by the panda in the background, we are still doing breathing treatments.

Look ma! I managed to fit your size 8 boots on Daddy's size 13 feet!

Trying sledding for the first time when it was almost 60 degrees. There was just enough snow left in Robert's front yard for sledding. After the sled tipped over and Jordan fell out, she wasn't so into it. Maybe next year...

This shirt speaks for itself. Of course, I got the "Here Comes Trouble" shirt for my own amusement, but Jordan was in a good mood the morning she wore it, so I had to take pictures. Here she actually smile on cue, which amazed me. She still only has front teeth and molars on the bottom but has a mess of teeth on the top now. Poor thing cries brushing her teeth now because she is probably in pain, though part of it is a control issue because we insist on brushing before we let her loose with the toothbrush. I have no clue where she would get any control issues from ;)

I think my dad is going to come up for a quick visit this weekend. Since Jordan hasn't seen him in 6 months, I'm curious to see how she does with him. She has the stranger danger thing going on right now, which is good in most situations but a bit awkward with neighbors and family she rarely sees. We are also going to check out Pump Up the Fun which is a place filled with blow up slides and the like. Jordan loved playing in Zach's blow up jump thing this weekend, so I'm hoping she'll get on some of the stuff, even if it means Dave and I going down with her.

On a side note, I am officially signed up to sell Kelly's Kids clothes now. I think Kim and/or Jenny are going to host a party or 2 and my mom is going to host one, as well. If you would like to host a catalog party or a real party (and are in my area- sorry Carrie and Elizabeth), let me know. You can also just order stuff online using my Rep # 113531.