Shhhhhhh

Anyone who has spent some time with Kinsley knows she is just a little bit vocal.  I, for one, have no idea where she gets it from. :) We have been working on teaching Kinsley how to whisper and she has been pretty good at copying our voice levels for a couple of months now.  This morning she was being particularly loud and I shhhh-ed her and she shhhh-ed me right back. I'm pretty sure she wasn't copping an attitude.. plenty of time for that in the future, but I thought I'd share a little video of her trying hard to "shhhhhh."
Hope everyone is doing well!
-C

We're here!!

We made it...finally... to Florida. We left at 10:30 on Thursday morning in the pouring rain.  Louie picked up the trailer around 7:30 that morning.  He managed to back-up the trailer into our garage, next to my car, up our ginormous driveway, in the rain without, surprisingly, doing any damage to any of the vehicles (or nearby landscaping!). He then loaded our 4x8 trailer, cursing me the entire time (for some reason, he thinks I packed too much) and we were on the road right about the time Kinsley was ready for a nap. Perfect. :)

We made it to Bloomington, IL the first night. It was a little over 400 miles. We stopped once to let everyone stretch their legs.  Kinsley was a doll.  The only fuss we got from her was when we had to stop at a toll in the middle of her nap. It startled her awake and it took a good 15 minutes for her to calm back down.  Here is a picture of her riding the luggage cart at our first hotel.

The next day was a long one.  We traveled from Bloomington to Chattanooga, TN.  We drove 550 miles.  Again, Kinsley did a great job.  I fed her meals in the car.  That way when we stopped to get gas and food for Louie and me, she was able to play the whole time.  It worked pretty well.  I did a little research about traveling with a toddler before we left and this was one of their tips.  I also had a bag of new toys I picked up from the resale shop, some exciting new snacks and, the ever controversial, DVD player (a.k.a the "life saver"). When we decided to push Kinsley a little further then she would have liked, I whipped out the DVD player and popped in Veggie Tales "Jonah" and we had another hour and a half of driving. :) Here is a picture of her veggin' out to Veggie Tales.

The last day seemed to drag on and on just because we were so close and so ready to get there. We drove from Chattanooga on into Jacksonville, which was about 465 miles.  Kinsley was really great until about the last hour where she started to get pretty antsy.  Once we arrived, she pretty much fell apart. I fed her dinner and she was asleep by about 6:30. She slept until 8 this morning.  Poor baby girl.  She has a pretty decent cold so hopefully she will get caught up on sleep, settle back into a routine and get healthy.

Louie and I spent all day today cleaning, unpacking and cleaning some more.  We made a monstrous trip to Walmart and have pretty much settled in. 

More to come on our Florida adventures soon.

Love,

Catherine

Fall, Summer, Fall, Winter

We're goofing with the seasons here in the Stryker household.  It's definitely the beginning of fall here in Rochester and we are enjoying all that fall has to offer, but not for long. On Thursday we are headed south... way south... Florida south for 3 MONTHS! Last I heard, they are still enjoying some warm weather down there so hopefully we will get a little beach time in before fall arrives in Florida.  The crazy thing is that as cold as it has been here in Rochester lately, is as cold as it's going to get down in Florida. 55 degrees is their winter. Yahoo for putting a hold on pulling out the winter coats! Bad news is, when we return to the Great North in January, we'll be experiencing about a 60 degree swing.  Should be an adventure.
Speaking of adventures, the drive down there should definitely be one. We're renting a trailer and then packing up the family and hitting the road.  I've been asking people for tips about driving long distances with a one-year-old and people keep asking why Kinsley and I aren't flying and just meeting Louie down there.  Don't tell Louie, but this is exactly what he wanted us to do but no, I wanted to do this trip as a family.  This one just might bite me in the rear.  We may be flying back. :)
Other than running around like a crazy person trying to get us ready for the move, I had a little visit from my sister, Sarah. It was a nice break in pace and we had a really good visit.  I was very sad to see her go this morning.  Below are a few pics of our trip to the apple orchard.  I had to get that in before we left.  I'm actually quite disappointed we are missing fall.  It really is beautiful in Minnesota.
That's all for now. It might be a while until we are settled in Jacksonville but I'll try to post new info as soon as I can. 
By the way, our mail is being forwarded to Florida so no need to send stuff to a new address, but if you need it we will be at 4460 Hodges Blvd Apt. #1521, Jacksonville, FL 32224
Talk to y'all soon!!
Catherine

Kinsley, me and Sarah posing in front of some apple trees.

Kinsley loved the apples. After every bite she'd say "mmmmmm."

Getting a little bored looking at apples.

This sign says "boo."

How cute is she!?! She's sportin' her new winter hat from Uncle Bub and Aunt Sarah.

Riding back down to the car in all her bright colors. :)

Kinsley got a fun bday gift from her Grandma Shorty (Louie's mom). We're teaching money management early.  She's got a little ways to go until she's got the full understanding... :)  

On the up and up... hopefully!

Kinsley is still covered with spots but the first ones that showed up on her back are beginning to fade.  The spots moved from her torso, up her neck to her face, then down her arms and are now spreading down her bottom to her legs and feet.  She's still feeling fine. Yesterday she had a lowgrade fever of 100 so I've been keeping an extra close eye on her.  I did a little research online (after some coaxing from my brother) and found that there are other kiddos who have been through the same thing.  There are pics of other kids who had the exact same rash as Kinsley.  I'm fairly certain this is from the MMR vaccine and is a case of either the fake Measles or Rubella.  The other thing that was interesting was that the other mom's reported a high fever about a week before the rash. Bingo! Kinsley's fever was up to 103.3 a week prior to the rash.  When I took her to the doctor's they said she had an ear infection. Looking back, I'm not so sure the fever was caused by the ear infection.  I'm also not so sure she had an ear infection.  When the resident (not her usual doc) looked at her right ear, she said "looks good" then looked at her left ear. Then she said she wanted to check the right ear again and said, "Um, that ear's infected."  Huh?  Anywho, whether she had an infection or not. she doesn't have one now, and has taken 10 days of antibiotics... which no, did not cause the rash. Ugh! Lots to consider here! Who knew this parenting thing was so darn confusing?  I'm just glad she's been in good spirits and has been sleeping through the night (knock on wood!). 
Hope everyone has a beautiful, enjoyable weekend! We plan to since Louie is off this weekend.  He's currently snoozing next to me on the couch with a little college football on TV and Miss Kinsley is taking a nap.  Nice day. :)
Love,
Catherine

Poor Baby Girl :(

Sweet Kinsley has had a bad reaction to her 12 month vaccines.  The doctor says it is very rare and she has never seen a case this bad before. She said there is no way to tell if it was the Varicella (chickenpox) vaccine or the MMR (measles, mumps, & rubella) vaccine that caused it.  The good news is that Kinsley has been feeling and acting fine; no fever, eating and drinking well, sleeping, and playing.  Hopefully this continues...
I'll post with any further news. We'd appreciate prayers in the meantime. Thanks so much!

Fun at the Zoo and Friends from Far Away...

While my mom was in town, we took a trip to Oxbow Zoo, which is a free local zoo.  Kinsley loved the cows because that's her favorite stuffed animal from Louie's parents.  When we ask "what does the cow say?" she says "Mmmmmmmmmm" and hugs her cow. It's pretty cute. Any who, while at the zoo the cows were mooing like crazy. She got a kick out of it.  She also enjoyed the chickens, goats, and buffalo.  

Checking out the farm animals section of the zoo.

  Sari and Witten joined in the fun.

We spent a lot of time with the buffalo.  They were pretty captivating. :)

Brand new baby buffalo!

Kinsley's view from the stroller.

My mom and Kins checking things out.

This weekend my friend Donna and her daughter came up for a visit.  I met Donna when I was teaching 5th grade at Dabbs Elementary in Deer Park, TX.  Donna was the principal there and she kindly took me under her wing while I was there and mentored me as I went through my administration certification.  I hope to one day be half the administrator that she is... she's amazing!  Her daughter, Morgan is a second year med student in Dallas and is thinking about a career in orthopedics.  She spent the day with Louie on Saturday and I think they both enjoyed each other's company. :) 

Kinsley had so much fun playing with both of them and I very much enjoyed their company and the help.  Thanks ladies!! :)

I'll leave you with this silly video clip of Kinsley laughing at her goof of a mother. :)

Kinsley's 1 Year Photo Shoot!

Here are the rest of the pictures from Kinsley's photo shoot with Rachel. 

She did such a great job!! Thanks Rachel! :)

Kinsley's 1st Birthday Party!

Kinsley's 1st birthday party was such a sweet, perfect day!  The weather was beautiful, Kinsley was in a good mood, and we were surrounded by some of our family and friends.  In an ideal world we would have had all grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins here but, until we make the move back to Texas, we will get by on phone calls, web cam and the occasional visitors.  Not to mention, we have built such a family here with so many wonderful friends who want to share in these momentous occasions with us.  I really feel very fortunate to have so many people who care and love Kinsley.  Okay, enought rambling... on to the party!

Kinsely was rockin' a "My First Birthday" onesie and a fabulous pink and green tutu!

Louie and I decided to have a small cookout, San Antonio style.  Louie did all the cooking.  I was such a proud wife because everything tasted so good.  He really outdid himself.  We had homemade salsa, black bean dip (his parent's yummy recipe), pico de gallo, sangria, chicken and beef fajitas, and some delicious guac that our friend Megan made.  I was in charge of the dessert. 

Kinsley had a "Cars" theme given that she's been slightly obsessed with the movie since about 4 months of age.  I cannot tell you the number of times that we've seen that movie but I can tell you that parts of it skip now because it's getting worn out.  I wasn't planning on having any decorations but when I saw Walmart had their Cars decorations on clearance, I decided it was fate. Nothing big or exciting but it was rather perfect for us. 

Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and red sprinkles.

Kinsley had a giant cupcake with Lightning McQueen himself on top.

Her Cars "Happy Birthday" banner.

And, of course, balloons.  She's mesmorized by these things. Everytime we walk by the stairs she has to touch and play with them.  Three weeks later they are still full and floating above our staircase.  These are some amazing balloons!

Family pic with the bday girl!

Leigh Ann and Victoria drove up from San Antonio to bring us Andrew's train table and my mom decided to come up last minute.  So fun to have a few family members with us to celebrate!

Then it was time for the cake! I thought we were being a little over cautious about the possible mess but turns out, when it was all said and done, we had to dunk her right in the bath tub.  She made a fabulous mess!

Here is the "after" picuture.  I wonder if she likes chocolate?!?

After we got Kins all cleaned up, it was time for presents.  Kinsley was spoiled rotten with lots of fun gifts from grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, and family friends.  She has had so much fun playing with her new toys and books!

Louie and I got Kinsley her first baby doll. 

Her favorite gift was her new Veggie Tales singing toothbrush.  She carries it around everywhere with her. :)

At the end of the night we had one very sleepy little girl.

Overall, it was a great evening and I look forward to many more to come... but not too soon please! :)