I Have Issues- With Scales

At the airport going to the land of the CornHusker, my suitcase weighed in at 48 pounds. (yes, I am a girl and thus must pack everything for which I own to travel) The guy at the ticket counter jokingly stated that I had better not come home with too many souvenirs or I'd be over the weight limit of 50 pounds and have to pay an extra fee.

These are the extras odds and ends I came home with: 1 pair of adult size pants, 1 adult size tee shirt, 2 Kyra size pants, 1 Kyra size shirt, 1 Kyra size dress, 1 Kyra jacket, 2 pair of toddler shoes, 2 pair of toddler shorts, 4 random souvenirs. All of this combined, I was afraid I was 5-7 pounds heavier then when I arrived. The father of the friend I stayed with (hi, Joelle!) weighed my bag on some farming scale ( I assume) and said it should be just a couple of pounds over the 50 pound limit, hold my breath when I get there to see what they say.

The airline weighs my bag at 63 pounds! Do the math, that's 15 pounds heavier then what I left with.

While waiting for me to pay my extra fee, Joelle and her husband graciously put Kyra up on the scale next to the one that is telling me my bag is over weight and Kyra comes in with a whopping 26 pounds! That's 3 pounds heavier then when I weighed her in April and 5 pounds heavier then March's 18 month "you need to fatten your kid up" well baby check.

I was all- "Yea! Kyra is successfully gaining weight and might catch up to the 'average' before we know it! Boo, my bag has become a fat ass in the last two weeks!"

Anyway, so I took Bishop to the vet today because he's been gimping around the house for the last 2 weeks and hasn't gotten any better. Turns out he has a sprained knee, which should have healed by now, but also we've found out with the x-ray that he Hip Dysplasia that is only aggravating the knee injury thus making it take longer to heal.

While busy paying my bill, Kyra is busy watching a cute little puppy being weighed on the scale. As soon as the scale is empty Kyra hops on just for the sake of mimicking. According to this scale, Kyra weighs 24.2 pounds, not nearly the 26 from the airport.

So who do I believe, the airport who is solely out for my money and said my bag gained 15 pounds in two weeks and my daughter has gained 3 pounds in 2 months or the vet's office who has to prescribe medicine based on an accurate weight and say Kyra has gained 1 pound in 2 months?

Clearly I like the thought that Kyra has gained 5 pounds in 3 months, which is completely out of the norm for her, but she has grown taller and finally put some healthy fat on her bones. However, before we weighed her at the airport I was guessing her weight to be closer to 24 pounds and my motherly gut instinct tells me that is probably the correct weight.

Either way, Kyra has gained weight and that is a great thing with our Project Fat. She still isn't the average weight for a 21 month old, which is closer to 30 pounds, but she's getting there.

The thing that really irks me is... how in the world did my luggage gain 15 pounds with bit of extra clothes and souvenirs added? Seriously, 15 pounds! I'm sure glad I didn't step on the airport luggage scale, it probably would have malfunctioned under my weight and I'd have to pay an extra fee for that one too!

Of Course Every Thing Breaks When You Need It

You know what really sucks? When your child is being super-duper cute and you take out your 35mm camera to capture the event and the damn thing won't focus, on anything, in any setting because it's broken or something and you have just now figured that out. Then you switch gears and run to get your digital camera that is so fantastic, it tells you the instant you turn it on that your battery is too low to take pictures but now low enough that it can still tell you its low.

Damn technology.

Half Way Home

Some people cope with deployment by going to the bars. Others like to sit at home and mope. I buy shoes.

So far I have aquired 4 new pair for myself, Kyra has picked up 7 new pairs, (hey, she's just had a growth spurt, I had to replace all of her old ones) (oh, and that counts the pair I just bought her of really cute size 10's, even though she's nowhere near that size yet) (shut up, they were on sale and it was the smallest size they had) and Jeremy, unbeknownst to him, has 1 new pair awaiting him.

Three months of deployment down, three more to go.

So, I Lied- And Other Updates

You won't be seeing anymore pictures from our trip into CornHusker territory, for now anyway. I still have a really great picture to show you all, but I think it might take another few weeks before I can get to a computer capable of the upload. We are back in the land of dial-up here in the Sunshine State. Kyra and I had such a good time there it took us (or maybe just me because I'm getting old like that) an entire week to recover from all the fun we had.

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You all should be so very proud of me, I have been shopping today for clothes at the mall for Jer and myself, and came home with nothing for Kyra! Seriously, that is a HUGE accomplishment for me. It is such a rare thing to happen that, well, I don't know when the last time that did happen. Every time I enter the mall, as far as I can recall, Kyra has come home with some new piece of clothing.

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Kyra really is my daughter! (aside from genetically and all...) She absolutely loves fresh fruit, especially the cantaloupe and watermelon variety. Little story for ya: When I was pregnant all I ever wanted to eat was fresh fruit. I ate fruit salads galore, not that it is far from unusual for me to eat tons of fresh fruit, but I mean, I was in hyper mode when it came to devouring any bowl of fruit laid in front of me. Kyra is much the same. I stopped on the side of the road this afternoon to buy another watermelon out of the back of some local grower's pick up (because that's what we do around here) and the rest of the way home Kyra's proclaiming "Wanela? Wanella!"

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Some new Kyra words and and phrases for you guys to figure out here...
1) la-ooo
2)I-sigh
3)I see-ooo

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And finally, as I'm trying to get Krya to say "tractor" so I can properly spell it the way she says it, she is screeching at the highest octave possible and then laughing hysterically until I ask her again "Can you say tractor?" Sometimes, I wonder what's wrong with her... and did it come from Jeremy's half of the DNA?

Because I Know You Are Dying to See More Pictures

So far, in and around the land of the CornHuskers, we have....
rode around the farm on the 4 wheeler

and the girls have talked more then one person into giving them horseback rides.

They even got to see real Indians riding horseback.

We have both painted ourselves at Fort Robinson

as well as chased the wild rabbits.

The girls learned to give each other raspberries,

and taken a leisurely stroll though the gardens.

Kyra even had a dress made especially for her by Joelle.

We've taken a trip to CarHinge

and rode on the cover wagon.

One day we even took a break from our travels to swim in the local pool!

We've driven past old Mr. Crazy Horse

and through Bear Country

where Kyra gave the bears lots of love,

seen the great faces of Mt. Rushmore

It has been one busy vacation and it's not over with yet. Just wait a few more days and I'll have more pictures to show you all. No, no... don't get too excited...

How We Spent Wednesday- In Pictures

Yesterday we drove all the way to Hot Springs, South Dakota and paid a visit to Evans Plunge. We. Had. A. Blast! The water temperature was 87 degrees, the three water slides entertained everyone and, over all, I think we need one of these places over on the east coast.

Why Birds Don't Belong on the Beach

Miss me yet? It's hard to post on a regular basis when you're on vacation in a part of the country you've never set foot in before and everything is completely different from what I'm used to seeing. I'm soaking in the life of farmers, and I don't know how much wider my eyes can get when trying to see every detail with out missing something.

Wonder where I'm at yet? I'll give you a hint... the state is all about the Corn Husker. There, that's all you get. Know where I'm at yet?

Oh, ya, about those birds on the beach. I took Kyra to the beach for the first time just over a week ago. As we milled around on the beach, Kyra eating a box of raisins, I try to catch a tan, and the sea gulls looking for an easy bite to eat.

Kyra spots the birds, "Mama, B! B! See?" She's all excited, running up to them hoping one will let her pet them. The birds fly away every time. Kyra, unfazed, comes back over to me and our plot of sand and sits down to eat her raisins.

As she notices a black spot in the sand several feet away she gets up to go get what she is sure to be a raisin she's dropped while chasing after the elusive sea gulls. She didn't get but a foot from the raisin before a sea gull swooped in to snatch it up before she can get to it. Kyra. Is. Mad.

"No! Go!"
"Kyra, baby, leave them be. The raisins are yucky when they fall down."

After that, the sea gulls were after her box. IN. HER. HAND. Okay, so it's not like they were swooping in for the kill or anything, but every time she shouted "Go!" she pointed with the same hand her raisins were in. With every shout a few more fell out, a few more got eaten by the "B".

Even after all the raisins had been eaten Kyra still chased the birds around the beach, only this time instead of wanting to pet them, she was telling the flocks to "Go! Go!"

Your answer to the question "Why birds don't belong on the beach" is simple. Birds don't belong on the beach when all they're going to do is eat children's fallen raisins and not let little children pet them.

Results Are In

1) side side = outside
2) dog dog = hot dog
3) isy, dowwn = Itsy Bitsy Spider, Down Came the Rain (the whole "went up the waterspout" doesn't exist as far as Kyra is concerned
4) fly fly = butterfly
5) b-na = banana
6) B = bird
7) eh-zen = raisin
8) jew-ju = juice
9) gi-gee = Gypsy, could also be confused with GeeGee who is her great grandmother (who we're currently spending the summer with) and is the owner of Gypsy.
10) me-na = Amiga, GeeGee's other dog
11) too-ah = two
12) booh = book
13) ba-pull = apple
14) dee-ah = deer
15) I-key = ice cream
16)belbow = elbow

With a score of 8 points, Heather is our winner! Coming in second with 5 points is Erica and a very close second is 4 points from Jennifer. Congratulations ladies, you all did a great job!

I know I told you all I'd write this next post of your choosing, for which you've chosen "Why Birds Don't Belong on the Beach" but I have a wedding to prepare for today (as I'm the photographer!), so I ask that you guys to be patient with me and wait for next time.