An eventful week

This past week has been so crazy and stressful! Kara started running a fever on Thursday night that has continued through today. On Friday night it jumped to 104 so I took her to the emergency room (under her docs orders). They looked in her ears, nose, mouth and found nothing. Then they checked her urine, which means she had to get a catheter. It was horrible to watch them do that to my baby (she totally freaked out). Once again they found nothing. We still don't know the cause of her high fevers. Being that she's doing everything normal besides eating, I am going to go with it being teething. It looks like her top left tooth may be coming in any day now. I took her to the doc today for a follow up and they ordered blood work. Unfortunately her veins were no where to be found so we have to go back in the morning for a retry. My poor baby.

On Friday afternoon, I noticed I hadn't seen Tink (my female yorkie) in a while. I had left the sliding glass door open so the dogs could run in and out that day. After calling for her, I realized there was a little area that she could have gotten out of the yard. Unfortunately she had done just that. We searched the neighborhood and still no Tink. I was crying my eyes out when my neighbor came home and offered to help. We searched the neighborhood once more and still didn't find her. A woman we saw said she saw her down the hill. I kept thinking that we were going to find her ran over. We looked and she wasn't there. When we got back home, my neighbor offered to drive around the neighborhood. After about 5 minutes she came back and said she saw a woman walking and she told her she had taken her to the vet. I was SUPER relieved. God was good to me that day, he answered my prayer that Tink was safe and would be able to come home. So I left Kara with my neighbor (my first time leaving her with anyone but family) and went to get Tink. The vet office (which isn't where I take Tinkerbell) wouldn't let me have her until I could prove she was my dog. I had to pull all her shot records out and bring them up there. Then I had to go to her other vet (off base) to get her most recent shot records. They still wouldn't let me leave with her until I had her get a microchip and a heart worm test ($65 total). It was insane. To be blunt, I was PISSED off big time! Luckily seeing my little puppy cooled my nerves. I am so glad to have that little rascal back, even though she drives me crazy sometimes. Oh and I made sure to fix the fence!!

So now that I have went on about all the bad things going on around here something good happened... Kara took her first steps tonight! We were in her room and I was sitting on the floor calling for her to come to me. She was standing holding on her her rocker and turned to me and took 4 steps into my arms. It was SUPER thrilling. Of course she looked at me like I was crazy when I was singing about what a big girl she was. I was very proud, but sad her daddy missed it. By next week I may be second thinking this whole walking thing, but for tonight I am celebrating.

The little things

I realized that lately all I post about is my darling little girl, but in all honesty she's my life. Day in and day out I am with her 24/7. My husband is gone for weeks at a time, leaving just the two of us on this little island to entertain ourselves. While I enjoy every second I am with her, I often miss my husband, my confidant, my lover. It's hard not having a grown up to talk to and share my day with. I have told him numerous times that I wish he would do sweet things to let me know he feels it too. He does his best to call me whenever he can, which is pretty exciting (I know some husbands only call their wives a few times while being gone). If he can he calls EVERY day, and sometimes twice a day. (I guess I shouldn't ask for more than a call, right? )This particular TDY he was feeling very sad about leaving. It's nearing both my and Kara's birthdays and he doesn't want to miss them. Plus he knows this trip was the start of several trips in the next few months. It is heartbreaking, it's lonely, and it doesn't get any easier after all these years. So anyway, he wanted me to know that he was feeling the pain, as I was and left me this on our bathroom mirror:

It says "I <3>

I am thankful for a husband that listens and takes time out of his day to let me know he loves me. It is a blessing that I have such a man in my life!

Nick- thank you for all you do! If we haven't talked by the time you read this then I want you to know I am thinking of you, miss you and love you very much. Oh and when you call I have some EXCITING news! Love you!

Almost a year

Looking sweet and pretty!
Her famous nose wrinkle!

For Kara's 1st birthday I am wanting to make her birthday invitations with pictures and photo shop, but it may be harder than I thought. She is quite the little busy body and could care less about doing the perfect photo shoot like I want her to do. As a test run, I took a few pics of her in my best friend's daughter, Caitlyn's 1st birthday dress. She let me borrow it in case I couldn't find one for Kara. I did end up getting Kara her own personalized birthday outfit,

but couldn't resist taking some pics of her in Caitlyn's dress. So I set everything up perfectly and got to snapping. She was being silly as usual! I wanted to share what pictures I did get, so I hope you enjoy them. I am hoping to get her invitation pictures done tomorrow, but I am waiting to see how her mood is... Stay tuned!

Her showing me that she pulled her bracelet off.

Showing her destructive side....

Who me, destructive? No way! (Notice her little ring on her finger, it's so sweet!)

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to....

Queen O' The Green

Playing with her green block!

She looks so beautiful in this pic!

Who me? No way mom, I would never do anything that crazy....

For Kara's 1st St. Patrick's Day we did a little photo shoot. It was quite challenging being that she hates things on her head, because I got her the cutest little headband to wear. As soon as I would get it on her head and get the camera ready she had pulled it off. After a half hour of doing this over and over I finally managed to get a few shots. The balloons were a great attention getter. The only problem was getting her to stop trying to eat them. She's teething pretty bad these days and EVERYTHING finds it way into her mouth. I am most certain she has swallowed at least one hair rubber band. It's kind of scary how many times I have caught her with things in her mouth that most certainly don't belong there. On St. Patrick's Day her daddy had to leave for a trip so we had to find something to entertain ourselves. What better way celebrate than to make some lasting memories with pictures? Here my little Queen O' The Green!

Mommy and me class

Every Thursday we attend a playgroup for an hour. Kara loves seeing other kids; she begins squealing when we walk in the room. (She's the loudest in the group!) She is very much a social butterfly. She is also very aggressive in her playing. I am constantly having to call her down or give back toys that she takes from the other kids. One mom joked that she was a girl that knows what she wants. I guess so! I keep telling myself that I shouldn't be upset or embarrassed that she does these things. It is her personality. She isn't like me at all in that sense. I am usually really shy around new people. She on the other hand tries her best to get there attention, and usually succeeds. Every where we go people flock to her. Usually they tell me how pretty her eyes are or how she looks like a baby doll (or cabbage patch kid). I think we may be in for living with an entertainer. Last week another mom told me about some other play groups on Monday and Friday that I think we will start attending also. Kara needs an outlet for all her energy and I think it will provide that. I will keep you updated....
Playing with a ball

On the parachute waiting for some bubbles!

Alli the Alligator giving her a kiss.

Watching the bubbles. Look at the little guy in the back right corner. Isn't he so cute? Chubby little thing!

She was clapping her hands! Bubbles are her favorite!

My little graduate

Playing in the balls
Kara, Ms. Larrissa, and Bebo the bear.

So proud of her certificate!

It's been six weeks since we began our baby sign language class and now it's over. I enjoyed learning the signs and Kara loved playing with the other kids. So far Kara has signed "more" a few times and "brush". I couldn't be more proud. She has really started to pay attention to the signs that I show her. From my understanding she will be signing on her own before I know it. I have always wanted to learn how to sign. I tried taking a course in college, but the class didn't have enough participants. Then I tried to learn at church a few years back but the class was canceled due to the teacher having some issues at home. Therefore when I found out they were teaching a class here, I signed up as soon as I could. I was even more excited that it was a class for babies. I learned about 50 signs that I can use with Kara everyday. Things like: eat, drink, milk, sleep, bath, dog, cat, cheese, cookie, and toothbrush to name a few. I've been teaching them to Nick every week. He has really done well using with her too. Studies have shown that teaching your child to sign cuts down on tantrums because they have a way to show you what they want. I am really hoping this is true. Also it's supposed to help them learn to talk sooner. It was a great experience for us ; I can't wait to take the next one. Since yesterday was our last class Kara received a little diploma. It was so cute!!!

Pizza inn

Good food at good prices!
Our taco pizza after we took a slice to eat!

Being that it's our last year in Okinawa, Nick and I have decided to take advantage of this time to try new things. Last weekend we ate at two new restaurants: Obbligato (Mexican-obviously) and The Pizza Inn. Obbligatos is known as the best Mexican restaurant on Okinawa according to local papers (although we love Mike's Tex Mex). Nick and I love Mexican food so we gave it a shot. It was actually pretty good. The tacos tasted like the ones you make at home. The chips and salsa were pretty good. They make their own soft shells right here in Okinawa. We wish we wouldn't have got the same thing as each other so we could have tried more, but overall it was a good experience. I will have to take pictures next time!!! On Sunday we went to the Pizza Inn. The waiter tried to encourage us to try the buffet but we opted to order our own pizza. I LOVE taco pizza and haven't had any in ages, so we chose to order one. It was really good! The sauce was just right. As you can see (in the picture)they have an array of different foods. Next time we want to do the buffet so we can try all the different things they have to offer. I was so surprised at how good the food was that we had a both places. I wish we would have tried them sooner. Hopefully this weekend will bring some more good memories that I can share. Have a nice weekend!!! :)

Thomas Kinkade Gallery

It's my 300th post and to celebrate I am going to share some pics from my visit to the Thomas Kinkade Gallery. My sweet husband brought me there, knowing I would love it, while we were visiting Texas this past winter. It was so beautiful and breathtaking. It wasn't a large gallery, but big enough to get me excited. They have dimmers that you can mess with so that you can see the lights in all the pictures. Thomas Kinkade is known as the "Painter of Light" because he paints his pictures to light up even in dim light. It's hard to explain but really breathtaking once you've seen it done. He is my FAVORITE artist of all time. His paintings make you want to go to a place with little cottages and cute stores. Anyone know a place like that? If so sign me up!!! He makes sure that he puts an "N" in each painting in honor of his wife, Nanette. In my Sweetheart Cottage II painting there are actually 5 "Ns". How sweet and romantic is that? I love doing his puzzles and am reading a book series that he helped write. So anyway, on to the pictures. These are for my dear friend, Samantha. Enjoy!!!

How pretty is that?

I would love to have a piece of land like this with a little log cabin!! SO pretty!

Snow White's cottage, love it!

Looks like the gate to heaven...

I love the snow!!

I just finished this puzzle!

One of my most favorite places in the world!