Oh Deer

I had a little run in with a deer last night, things did not end well for either of us. But I did get my trophy buck for the year. I have been driving in Montana for 10 years and have hit my fair share of turkeys, pheasants and smaller birds. But I have only ever come "close" to hitting a deer until last night. That sucker literally jumped out RIGHT in front of me. There was no deer then the next thing i know BAM DEER RIGHT THERE!!!!! 

I was going about 60mph and was slowing down cause i was about a 1/4 mile from where i needed to turn off the highway to go home. I was going to hit it no matter what i tried to do. I had a few seconds to react so i grabbed the wheel with both hands and slammed on the brakes to try to slow down as much as possible. 

One thing you NEVER do is try to swerve out of the way. It will just land you in more trouble. You're probably still going to hit the deer and potentially also roll over. Its better to just hang on and hit it. 

I was in the fast lane so i got over into the center turn lane to get out of the 5pm traffic and by this time it was completely dark outside. I called dispatch and told them what happened and a sheriff was driving by so he stopped and was able to stop traffic so i could get onto the shoulder of the road. But since i was on the highway other then helping to get my car moved he couldn't do much. He had to leave to go to another call but sent a Highway patrolman to take my statement and call a tow truck. We were only there about an hour but it seemed like a really long time.

I made the claim with my insurance this morning. Since I have really good timing and this happened near the holiday the adjuster probably wont be able to come out until Friday or the beginning of next week. Once that happens I will no more about the extent of damage. It was squirting fluid out of it so there is some engine damage and obviously my headlight is completely gone and the hood and right panel have some serious dents. I am hoping there isnt TOO much damage to the point where they total it and that it is ok to fix. I was planning on trading it in in the spring but i might have to look into getting a new car.

Pinspiration

This has been a hair lifesaver. I started taking it about 2 weeks ago and the hand full of hair that used to fall out everyday is now just down to a few strands a day. 

Literally everyday for a long time when i take a shower i lose so much hair and there would always be a big ball in the drain. Even if i bought expensive shampoo or didn't wash it every day no matter what i always lost so much hair. It used to be pretty thick and it still looks pretty thick because of the fro i have going on from the curls but when it is up in a pony you can see how thin it really is. 

I have seen it on Pinterest several times but whenever i was at the store i always forgot to buy some. I finally remembered one day and i have been very pleased. I did do some research on it and what it does for the body. I never new that you needed Biotin and i don't think of lot of people do. I take a multivitamin and it has some in it but it wasn't enough. 

There hasn't been any improvement (that i have seen) on the skin and nails part of it. I was slightly hesitant about taking it at first because i HATE clipping or filing my nails and i thought this would make them grow faster then they already do. My skin has stayed about the same. 

I am more then pleased with the results it has provided for my hair. It did worry me as to how much hair i lost on a daily basis, but it has been cut down by i would say at least 80% I still lose a few strands but that is normal. Hopefully now it will start to fill back in and thicken up again. 

Happy Halloween

Yesterday I took the afternoon off from work so I could take Kendall to the Main Street Halloween Parade. We met up with Grandma Marci (Jason's mom) and walked over and went to all the businesses and trick or treated. Kendall was a little shy at first but after a while she started warming up to people.

Grandma Marci gave her a princess cup that she loved i eventually had to take it away from her so she would collect candy.

This is the most precious picture ever (this is our friend Sydney's niece Austin) they were walking down the sidewalk holding hands and getting candy together.

Papa Scott had to work so when we were done at the parade we went and trick or treated at his work so he could see the kids.

(They both look so thrilled in the picture but its just too cute not to post)

 We went to a big indoor Harvest party with Jason and Marci. We only stayed long enough for her to eat, play a couple games and see Grandma and Grandpa. It was too crowded and she was tired of waiting in a line to play all the games. The church my parents attend puts the Harvest party on every year and they give out TONS of candy and there is free food for anyone to enjoy. 

Yes i know she doesn't have a coat on and every one else looks all bundled up but it was actually pretty warm outside and she was not cold.

Over the duration of the night she only ate 2 suckers, a cookie and a couple pieces of licorice, which is way more sugar then she normally has. She was pretty amped up from being around a lot of people all afternoon. We were home by 7pm and we just relaxed and read books so she could wind down before bedtime. Over all it was a very successful Halloween and I think she was the cutest kid in the cutest costume.

Spring cleaning in the fall

The last few weeks i have been in a cleaning frenzy. I have felt like i have too much "stuff" and am not organized enough. Part of the problem was i was living out of 2 bedrooms. I started off sharing a room with Kendall when she was a baby but it got to the point where she was older and if either of us were going to get any sleep we had to stay in separate rooms at night. So I started sleeping in the guest room and when family would come to stay i would just deal with it and share a room with Kendall for a couple days. All my clothes were in the closet in Kendall's room but i was sleeping in the guest room and by the end of the week i would have this pile of clothes in my "sleeping room" because i could never get into the other room to put them away because when i did have the time Kendall was sleeping.

I was looking for a dresser to put things in and couldn't find a decent used one. The underneath of my bed was filled with purses (yes i have a problem). The shelves in my closet were loaded with things that didn't need to be hung up. Kendall's toy box was overflowing in the living room but there was no place in the bedroom to put any of her toys. The bathroom cabinets where full of stuff from when we were all kids living at home and there was no room to put anything. It was stressing me out and one day i just couldn't take it anymore.

I went through the bathroom and threw away (almost) everything that was in the cabinets but hasn't been used in years. I got rid of all the half empty bottles of lotion that were "someday" going to be empty. I probably filled a garbage bag full of stuff we didn't need anymore and boy did it feel good. There is now room for everything although it is still a little unorganized it all has a place.

I finally convinced my parents to let me just move into the guest room since i was pretty much living in it anyways. Sunday my mom helped me clean out the closet and moved beds around. There was a dresser in the guest room that is now filled with clothes that didn't have a place before and my purses now get to live on a shelf in the closet instead of under the bed. Kendall's room still has an extra bed but it is smaller then the one that was in it so when we have company i will just sleep in there and they can have my room. We will be able to move her toy box to her room and just keep a few things out on a shelf in the living room so it cant get as cluttered as it did before. Plus with the holidays coming up who knows how many more toys she is going to end up with.

Its amazing how much stuff we have. At the beginning of the summer we gave 4 truck loads of stuff away to a high school for a fundraiser yard sale and just a few months later we have at least 1 more full truckload of stuff that we are giving away to a church rummage sale. There is still so much more stuff but it feels good that we were able to downsize and get rid of some more "stuff" that other people will be able to use.

On a (kind of) sad note, my phone is being stupid and wont let me post pictures. Something to do with being out of data although that has nothing to do with being able to send pictures. It should be back to normal in a few days. I can't wait to show off Kendall's Halloween costume.

Guess What?!?!?

In her "snack cup" is crunch berries, she has already shown some signs of OCD she has to pick out all the berries before she eats any of the cereal

 This sweet little gem of a child has some how contracted a staph infection in her leg. It started about a week ago and i noticed a little lump on her leg and she didn't really like it being messed with so i just left it alone figuring it would go away. A couple days later it was as big as a quarter and red. So I took her in to the doctor on Tuesday and she informed me it was a staph infection and put her on antibiotics. Later that afternoon stuff started oozing out of it which is good for healing but just plain disgusting. 

We have had enough staph infections between the 3 of us and my brother to last a lifetime it seems. I randomly got a couple that had to be lanced open (which hurt so bad i would compare it to having a baby) and then a month later got a couple more that also had to be lanced open, it was not fun. After a month long stint on antibiotics i (knock on wood) haven't got anymore. My brother got a couple while he was away in GA for basic training and since then has gotten several more. Jason got one in his hand and it got so bad he had to take several trips to the ER and had to have stuff cut out of his finger and then had to go see a hand specialist. He now has another one which isn't super bad but he is taking antibiotics for it.

I have no idea what is causing any of this or why we keep getting them. But i can only imagine how bad it must hurt Kendall. They are extremely painful for an adult i can only imagine how it would feel for a toddler. So since she has an infection and is on antibiotics her surgery is once again rescheduled.

Lastly, I couldn't help but show this picture again. She loves her daddy and since i have started Zumba again they are getting a lot of quality daddy/daughter time. He takes her out to dinner or to go watch football and they really have a good time together. Plus it helps that she actually listens to him unlike for whenever i tell her something she just ignores me. We definitely know who her favorite is :)

Picture overload

About 2 weeks ago we ventured out to the local park with a family friend to take some Fall pictures of Kendall. At first i was thinking her jacket would be to "bright" for the fall decor going on outside. But it turned out perfect making her stand out.

I was really worried she wouldn't be interested in getting her picture taken. She is rather unpredictable when it comes to pictures. She is either obsessed with them or will turn her head and run the other way. I brought a baggie of marshmallows with me and at times it felt like i was training a puppy with treats. I would give her a marshmallow and she would go do what i asked and then come running back or another.

I think we picked the perfect weekend to go. There were a lot of leaves on the ground but there were still a lot on the trees so it didn't look like all the foliage was dead.

She loved the little bridge. Running back and forth from one end to the other so she could get as many treats as possible.

Look at that sweet face. We only had a couple little mishaps the hour we were at the park. I brought a ball to entertain her and it decided to roll away into a little pond. We did get it back but it was a little adventure. The best one was when the girl taking the pictures almost stepped on a water snake, EEK!!! I figured this time of year they would be off in hibernation.

She did so well the whole time. She loves being outside and its been a while since she just got to run around and have fun at the park.

This one is my absolute favorite. The scenery in the top one is beautiful and I couldn't have asked for better pictures or a better model.

We only got a couple with Kendall and I in them. I don't think it looks that great but she was ready to be done by then cause we were out of marshmallows and i look like i am scared of something. You can kind of see how crossed her eye is in this one. I call her my cross-eyed monkey. She goes in for surgery this Friday. Cross your fingers and knock on wood she doesn't end up with some another ailment 2 days before surgery. Hope these were able to cheer your Monday up a little :)

Parmesan Chicken Bake

MmmMm I saw this recipe on Pinterest the other day and thought it was worthy of trying. That plan is to make it tomorrow for dinner, that is is if I can sneak the mayo in it past Jason (my plan is to hide the mayo and make the sauce while he is at the gym). I have had this recipe before but on halibut. It is nice and creamy and it just tastes really good.

Parmesan Chicken Bake
(adapted from Food.com)
6 chicken breasts
1 C light mayonnaise or greek yogurt (I have done 1/2 of each as well)
1/2 c fresh Parmesan cheese, plus more for the top
1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray the inside of a 9x13 glass pan.  Lay the chicken inside the pan.
2.  Mix together the remaining ingredients and spread evenly over each piece of chicken, being sure to cover all the exposed raw meat (so it doesn't dry out.)  Sprinkle on a bit more fresh Parmesan over all the chicken.
3.  Bake for 45 minutes.  

I am going to try the 1/2 mayo, 1/2 yogurt. If Jason asks, its sour cream. The guy is weird and doesn't like mayo, mustard or cream cheese. I can understand not liking mayo and mustard but come on cream cheese??? Who doesn't like that, you can mix it into sooo many different dishes and dips. I am going to pair it with a salad and some garlic bread.

On a completely unrelated note, i am having one heck of a time finding leggings and workout pants that aren't see-through. Yea i bought a few cheapo pairs and figured that was why. So i splurged a little and bought a pair from Victoria's Secret. I got them in the mail yesterday and guess what??? They are see-through. I can understand the cheap ones being see-through but I should not be able to see skin OR my undies through a pair of $20 leggings. I don't remember having this problem in the last couple years or even last year. But this summer/fall i haven't been able to find a pair of decent leggings or workout pants. Thank goodness i have a few shirts that are long enough to cover my rear so i can get away with wearing them out in public. Where do you all get your leggings from???

Beer Battered Shrimp

I have been craving shrimp a lot lately. I have always loved it. Shrimp cocktail, sauteed shrimp, battered and fried, any way you can make it i love it! The other night i was really wanting it so i got on Pinterest and looked up Beer Battered Shrimp and this is what i found. 

The Lady and Sons Beer Battered Shrimp

(yes its from the one and only Paula Deen)

1 Cup Beer (I used light beer)

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix the beer, flour, salt and pepper and let sit for at least an hour. Preheat a deep fryer (these things are amazing) Once your batter has set and your fryer is all heated up. Peel your shrimp, i left the tails on cause i like something to hold onto. Pat your shrimp dry, it helps the batter to stick to them better. Hold onto the tail and dip it into the batter making sure everything but the tail has a nice coating on it. While still holding onto the tail place the shrimp into the oil and hold it there for a few seconds until the oil really starts to bubble around it and then let it go. Repeat for as many shrimp as you have. They only have to cook for a few minutes until they start to turn golden. I only put maybe 8 shrimp in the fryer at a time cause i didn't want to over crowd them.

I served them with cocktail sauce and a garlic/cilantro butter sauce which is melted butter a couple cloves of garlic (pressed) and some cut up cilantro. It was AMAZING and the shrimp literally disappeared. It is definitely a recipe we will be using a lot. It was super simple and delicious. 

When ever i watch people make a beer batter they always use dark beer and the batter is heavy, by using the light beer it is not heavy and doesn't feel like you are eating a lot of batter, it just gives the shrimp a nice crunch when biting them. I have tried this with Bud Light and also a Bud Light Lime which gave it a slight citrus flavor. Overall a very good recipe that did not disappoint.

Tis the season

I think about Christmas year round, constantly making mental notes as to what i want to give to everyone for gifts or who would like certain things. Every year i come to the same conclusion that ALL men are so hard to shop for. I have already got gifts for my sisters, mom and Jason's mom. I kind of know what i want to get Kendall but haven't made any decisions yet. But for all the men in my life, i don't have a clue even where to start. It feels like every year you kind of get them the same things as you did the year before but its just a little different.

It's also the season for football, oh joy! This year I have joined a pick em football pool upon Jason's request, and let me tell you how much i suck at it. Week 1 I had 8 wins, week 2 I had 7 wins and now for week 3 I decided forget this losing crap, logged onto ESPN expert picks and found the "expert" with the best win record and picked almost all the same teams he did. Jason has decided since we are in competition together he will only help me just a little bit or give me hints here and there but wont actually tell me who i should choose (he seems to be doing pretty well). Only like a zillion more weeks to go so hopefully i start doing a little better with this new strategy i am trying out. Did I mention I can win $60 a week if i have the most wins. 

I may have not mentioned that due to the fact she got pink eye this smiley little monster had to have her eye surgery postponed by a month and a half. 

Not only did she wake up with pink eye, but she got herself a nasty cold, so most our weekend was spent inside cuddled up on the couch (watching football). She was so excited when my parents got home. She was taking a nap when they got home and my dad went in to see her and she looks at him and smiles and asked where Huck was. Since then, she has hardly left my dads side and is back to her ways of only wanting grandpa to help her.

This may just be the most random post every from Christmas to Football to Pinkeye. Have a Happy Thursday Friends. I am hoping to have a good post for you tomorrow covering some sort of delicious food i plan on making :)

What?!?! 2 days in a row

For the last week and a half it has just been Kendall and myself at home. My parents are off in CA helping my Grandma and Aunts clean out my Grandpa's belongings.

I always randomly decide that i am going to cut out bread, rice, potatoes and cheese. All the starchy high in fat foods that stick to my belly and give me that lovely pooch i hate. Every time i decide this it never fails we seem to have dinners that consist of all these items. Since my parents are gone i decided i would give it another shot and being here and just having to cook for myself and Kendall it is WAY easier. I always forget to take pictures of what i make until its halfway demolished so you get 2 pictures of stuffed tomatoes.

 

The first day i was by myself we went off to the grocery store and bought some miscellaneous groceries. Earlier that day i had seem a recipe on Pinterest for turkey spinach burgers. It had feta in them and i substituted that for grated parmesan cheese (i don't really consider this cheese, just more of a binding agent and garnish) i didn't serve them on a bun and i cooked them up, they were pretty good but could have used some more seasoning. The next night i used the leftover turkey/spinach meat and stuffed it into a tomato, baked it and then drizzled them with balsamic vinegar.

 

I have had a lot of salad this past week and a half and it was getting a little boring and i was running out of ideas of what to eat. Tonight i decided i would do stuffed tomatoes again but this time i stuffed them with sauteed shrimp and onions with cilantro and garlic. IT WAS SOOO GOOD! I made a mayo/cilantro/garlic sauce to put on it. It was similar to a shrimp po boy except stuffed into a tomato instead of on bread.

 

It has been a little hard to stay on track because we have actually been really busy and on the go almost everyday. I have cheated its hard to not eat all that stuff (i should have added ice cream to the no eat list, oops) We will see what the rest of the week brings for meals, thinking of meals is hard work.

Holy Smokes.....Literally

It is fire season in Montana....again. Usually we get hit with a couple fires a year and its bad for about a month. But seems like every 10 years or so we get hit REALLY HARD with the fires and it doesn't feel like fire season is going to end. This is one of those years. There hasn't been too many fires in the area where i live (until recently, like 2 days ago) but the wind has been blowing in the smoke from the fires everywhere and its been so smokey here for AT LEAST the last month.

 

 

In the above pic you can see the fire that is in my area. Last night it was 800 acres, this morning it was 1300 acres which i guess is about 2 square miles. However this evening it is now 2600 acres, it doubled in size in just a day.

 



 

 Here you can kind of see some flames as the fire has crested over the top of the mountain. I tried to take a picture of the glow of the flames tonight but i couldnt get a picture to turn out, it was to dark.

 

 

 It is literally "raining" ash. Those are some pretty big pieces that were found about 5 miles away in town. Most of the ash is like course dust in the air but there are some pretty big chunks that make there way off the mountain (PS I cant take credit for any of these pics, i got them all off of my friends facebook profiles)

 

 

This picture is from the News Cam that they have on top of a bank in town to show the weather. You can kind of see the sun. The best way to describe it would be to compare it to being a stormy day when you cant see the sun behind the clouds, except there is more of an erie glow to things.

 

 

This depicts how smokey it is and has been for the last month. The smoke has been far worse this year then it has been any other year that i can remember fires. The last time we had REALLY bad fires in our area was 2000, where our house was in potential danger and the fire was less then a mile away before they managed to get it put out.

 

Although i do know fires are unpreventable and no matter what they are going to happen i do think that they could do a better job of fighting them and trying to prevent them. There is so much beetle kill in Montana and they are choosing not to contract sections of the national forest out to log the beetle kill. Not only would they create jobs if they did this they would be clearing out a lot of the "materials" that are fueling the fires making them harder to fight. I know it also creates jobs for the firefighters but it seems like sometimes they just let fires burn on and on when they can really attack them hard and put them out. There was a fire a couple years back in pretty much the same spot but a little closer to town and man they had that thing out within a week. They attacked it hard, had nonstop water helicopters and dropped several loads of fire retardant on it. So why don't they do this for all fires? It would cost them far less money and a lot less grief for all the people who are having to evacuate their homes. It hits everyone in the community hard when Natural Disasters hit and being from a smaller community it is really great to see how people come together to help one another out in a time of need.

Oh Hello

Did ya miss me? It has been a while since i have been in the blogging world. I think about it all the time and how much i need to update and then my 5 second attention span kicks in and i get distracted and forget i was going to do a post.
There has been so much that has gone on this summer. I started a new job the beginning of July and I am really enjoying it. Its full time and i have to go shuttle Kendall around in the afternoons when the daycare closes and take her to the sitter. But so far it is working out really good and we haven't run into any problems with it.

We decided that Kendall was going to have the eye surgery to correct her lazy eye. Its a very minor surgery where they cut the muscle and then reattach it to the correct place, she goes in on Sept 14th. I am a little nervous about it but it is a common procedure so i know everything will be OK. Oh and she broke her glasses, so she hasn't been wearing them. Most likely after she has her surgery her glasses prescription will change so she will have to get a new pair anyways so we are just waiting to get them fixed.

This last weekend was our local county fair. I wasn't super interested in going and i knew it wouldn't make a difference for Kendall if we did or didn't go, but my sister and I took her to go look at all the animals. She was a little scared of petting the animals but after she saw me do it she was all about petting them. She loved the cows and the mini horse.

 

Meal times are all sorts of interesting now. For a while there she would not eat if i was feeding her or if i was even in the room. She is pretty much over that now but she has to feed herself, she doesn't like it when people help her. She still loves fruit and will eat that over anything else. She is not a big meat eater but will make an exception for sliced ham and hot dogs. The messiest foods like macaroni or spaghetti automatically get put into her hair. Its easier to just take her clothes and let her eat naked then to keep a bib on her and try to keep her clothes clean. Guaranteed if you want to keep her clean she is going to end up a mess. She prefers yellow cheese to white cheese. Her absolute favorite food would be popcorn. She likes guacamole but will not eat avocados plain.



Every morning when she wakes up the first thing she wants to do is sit with grandpa and drink a cup of chocolate milk. She calls it her coffee. He is currently her favorite person. He gets her up every morning and gets her dressed. She wont let me do anything for her, it always has to be grandpa who helps her. When she needs her diaper changed she will go get him a diaper and lay down on the floor in front of him, when i do it i have to hold her squirming/screaming body down with one arm while i try to wrestle the diaper onto her. These next 2 weeks are going to be hard for her cause grandpa is gone and its just the 2 of us and she isn't used to that.

As you can see her eye is still crossed. She is all about getting her picture taken again. There was a small period of time where she thought it was hilarious to turn and run away from the camera and now she will actually ask me to take her picture. 

This is her friend Titus (he is going to be a big brother) they don't see each other often but when they do they are like old buds. I don't mean to brag, although i am very proud, but at Kendall's daycare they tell me she is the only kid in the class who knows all her classmates names and she will call them by name. She is very social and talks nonstop. A lot of times i cant even understand the words that are coming out of her mouth. For her age she communicates very well. I haven't been consistent about it but lately we have been practicing the ABC's and numbers with her. I know she will learn it all on her own but i would like to help her as much as possible.

 

I cant make any promises but i am really hoping now that fall is on the way and we are not on the go all week long that i will be able to get back into a blogging schedule. I have to wait until Kendall goes to bed or she tries to fight me for the computer, i am not sure you would be able to read what she has to say.

Ahhh, its good to be back......



Beauty secret

A while ago i heard about a beauty secret my stylist did and i thought it was rather interesting and then forgot about it. A few days ago i saw something similar online and duh remembered that i was going to try it out way back when i first heard about it.

How many of you hate buying shaving cream? I know i sure do, especially since it basically washes off halfway through the shave job and i usually end up cutting myself cause i cant see what i am doing. I also feel like i am wasting money when i buy it. I have also tried using a moisturizing conditioner as shave cream and it works ok, but still washes off. The point of using an aid while shaving is to try to keep moisture in the skin. So here comes the next idea....

Baby oil! I tried it out this morning and it didnt wash off. It puts, I would call it a film, on your skin that you shave off and since it is oil the water just beads up and drips off. The plus side is it made my shower smell like a cute little baby. I bought a small little bottle at Walgreens for about $1.50. You do not have to use very much, i used about a nickel size area in my palm and rubbed it straight onto my legs. The one thing i didnt like is since it is oily and leaves that film on your legs is it gums up the blades of the razor and i had to wipe the blades off a lot to keep it from getting clogged.

My legs didnt really feel any different after i got out of the shower and i dried off and put lotion on like normal. But I would say it did make shaving a little easier and i will probably be trying it again.

A couple suggestions i have is DO NOT use this if you are taking a bath or it will probably leave a gunky ring of oil and little microscopic leg hairs in your bathtub and i would use a nail brush to (the kind with the little bristles) to clean the razor to prevent build up from the oil.

Have a Happy Friday friends, hope you all have a grand weekend!

Whats for dinner?

I always struggle to make dinner for just myself. I love cooking so when i cook i don't want to be the only one eating it. Kendall is not a huge fan of red meat but she really likes chicken. She also likes to eat dinner around 5pm so she eats a lot of random stuff that i can cook fairly quick.

3 nights a week i have been doing Zumba classes so i don't get home until 7pm and then i have to get Kendall ready for bed so i don't end up eating dinner until after she is in bed. If I cook something then that takes forever. I usually just end up eating popcorn or scrounging something up in the fridge.

Last night i was feeling motivated and made this......

It is pan seared deer steaks with sauteed ontions. Then topped with a large slice of tomato, mozzarella cheese and garnished with some cilantro.

I seasoned the steaks with some pepper and garlic salt and put them in a HOT pan with a little bit of melted butter. I let them cook on the first side for about 4 minutes. Then I flipped them over and topped then with the onions, tomato and cheese. I put a lid on the pan to get some steam so the cheese would melt. After 4 more minutes i took the lid off and put a few leaves of cilantro on and it was done! It ended up being really tasty and I was trying to use things we had, our fridge is pretty empty right now since basically for the last week it has just been Kendall and I and half the time we are at Jasons house.

The longest part about cooking this was defrosting the steaks. I really enjoy simple delicous meals like this. It would have been good with a salad but by the time they were done cooking i was starving and ready to eat. I brought the leftovers for lunch today that i am going to assemble onto a sandwich which should be just as good.

On a side note, my little brother Dillon is graduating from Basic Training tomorrow and I am the lucky one who gets to pick him up from the airport Friday evening. My parents are currently in GA for the graduation ceremony and their plane comes back friday but several hours later then his. We are all very proud of him and cant wait to see him! (This gets me out of going to a birthday party at a water park, i wasnt really excited about having to wear a bathing suit).

Hot Summer Days

Since Kendall has to be picked up from daycare by 3 I usually only work until around 2:30 which means we have the whole afternoon to do whatever until everyone else is off of work.

It has been fairly nice here this week and we have been taking advantage of it.

I have really been wanting to take her to the park and we have a few around here. Kiwanis park, which is by the river has some toys and big grassy areas so people mostly bring their dogs. I took her there once to just let her roam and walk around and she ended up following and chasing every dog she saw. There is Legion park which i have really been wanting to take her to but it has been closed because they were remodeling it, i was going to take her on Wednesday cause i thought they were finished but turns out they aren't quite and the sprinklers were running and there were tractors out there. I cant remember the name of the other park but they have a big huge play structure, i took here there once but she was a little younger and didn't know what to do. Plus there were SO many kids there and a lot of older kids like middle school age go and run around and make it hard for the younger kids to play.

So, on Wednesday instead of going to the park i took her to Dairy Queen and we got an ice cream and she wasn't really interested in it so after about 15 minutes we just went home and went on a walk to compensate for me eating most of her ice cream.

On Thursday i didn't attempt the park but as we were on our way home i remembered a little trailer that parks in the Albertsons parking lot and sells sno-cones. They were open so we stopped in and got one and she LOVED it.

She ate quite a bit of it and when we were getting close to finishing, one of our friends showed up and Kendall had to help her eat hers too.

Since she liked it so much and they are fairly reasonably priced we definitely will be stopping more often to enjoy sno-cones on those hot summer days.

Kendall and her daddy

Kendall and Jason spend a lot of time together, we try to go see him everyday or he comes and sees us. I have been taking zumba classes 3 days a week and he usually watches her while i go. I always wonder what they do when i am not there, sometimes when i get back the house is a disaster and there are toys everywhere or there are no toys out and it doesn't even seem like i was just gone for an hour. But I have found a few pictures he has taken for proof of what goes on.

 She walks around wearing sunglasses and playing,

(this is an old one) They watch football close up,

 She plays on the floor with the dog, she loves the dog, whenever we leave she has to give him a kiss goodbye.

and she manages to get enough of her dinner in her hair for it to stand straight up in a mohawk. You cant see it but her shirt in that picture says "Dirt makes me cuter" I guess in this case the food is the dirt

She loves spending time with him and they have a lot of fun together. When we go to his games she will yell "Go Dad!" or "Good job Dad!" and she will give him high fives or pat him on the back. They have their own little quirky relationship and have a lot of fun together.



Oops I almost forgot.....

Kendall's burns are healing very quickly. We have been keeping part of it covered with gauze and the special burn cream silvadine but we cant put that on her face or neck so we are just loading that up with Emu oil and bacitracine ointment. The first layer of scab is starting to peel off and underneath it looks really good. She does have some light pink scarring in places but other then that it looks good. I would say in a couple weeks it should be almost completely healed and we will just have to treat it for minor scarring. Since the skin will be delicate we will really have to watch how much she is out in the sun and keep the area covered up.

Happy Monday!!!!

Happy Monday everyone, I don't have any new pictures for you today. The one i would really like to show you is of a wedding gift i made for our good friends Tiffany and Jason who are getting married this weekend, I don't want it to accidentally get leaked out and have them see if before the big day.

Today is the start of our busy week, the first few days wont be so bad but come Thursday it is going to get a little crazy. Our friends arrived yesterday from out of town and i offered to help as much as possible to help them get stuff ready for Saturday. I took Friday off (Kendall doesn't have daycare that day either) it will consist of getting all the last minute details done and some setup, there is also a good chance i am babysitting her 2 sweet kids.

I cant explain how happy I am for both of them and being there from the beginning. Jason and I went on a double date with them for their "First date" we went to a football game. Since then we have been great friends. Here is a pic of us at the football game approximately 2 years and 2 babies ago. (Please don't mind how terrible i look in this pic, my hair is flat from the rain storm that passed through)

Tiffany and Myself, friends right away

 The happy couple on their first date :)

Jason and I (pretty sure this was not long after i found out i was pregnant and it was still a secret from everyone except a select few)

Both of the guys' names are Jason so they just got accustomed to calling each other by their last names. Everyone called my Jason, Strong (I have never called him that just Jason) and everyone called her Jason, Willy cause his name one Wilcox. We all had a lot of BBQ's that summer with our friends and whenever I would call Jason, Willy Tiffany's daughter would always ask who is Willy or why we called him Willy and then it would have to go into this long explanation with about 100 questions asked by her. She now calls him daddy and we all call him Jason.

Anyways, in my post the other day i was worried Jason wouldn't get to go to the wedding due to a scheduling conflict but his football game isn't until 7 that night so we will be able to go to the wedding and the small reception that follows that, we will make it to the football game and then back to the bigger reception after that is over. Kendall is going camping with my parents Saturday so i don't have to drag her around every where and i will actually be able to enjoy the wedding without making sure she is entertained....I am also really excited for some alone time with Jason, we have been so busy lately that we haven't got to spend much time alone.

Update

We just got back from the wound unit. There wasn't any dead skin to remove so they just cleaned it up (she somehow managed to get a fruit loop under when eating breakfast this morning). We got more cream and suggestion on how to wrap it so it doesn't rub and she doesn't have to have a bandage wrapped around her whole chest.
A lot of people have suggested to me that Emu Oil works very well with helping burns heal and to prevent scarring. I asked the nurse about it (the doctor wasn't even there we just saw her) and she said it is a good product and works miracles. She said that since we cannot put any of the cream on her face we can start putting the oil on that area but to wait a few more days before we start putting it on her neck and shoulder.
When we were in the ER yesterday they told us to give her some more pain medicine before we took her in today cause they were thinking they would have to scrub it some. I went with the heavier dosage they suggested and gave it to her about a half hour before we went to it had time to take effect. I think it helped a lot she just sat there while i held her and whined a little bit. My dad had come with us for moral support and also so if need me there was an extra person to hold her down.
She spent the morning with Jason but he had to go work this afternoon so after the appointment she went to the babysitter and when we got there she had the full effects of the medicine, she was drooling out of both sides of her mouth and just staring off into space, it was kind of funny. She has snapped out of it now i was told and was eating lunch and playing.

We don't have to go for any followup appointments unless we start to notice it getting irritated or infection. Hopefully we now are on a quick road to recovery!

Not how i wanted the day to go

Today has been very rough. It started out as any normal day but in an instant it changed. My dad had placed his to go cup (with scalding hot coffee in it) on the end table while he went out to his truck, he does this every morning before he leaves for work. I was in the kitchen making lunch and Kendall walked down the hall and for some reason had serious interest in the cup. Next thing i know i hear a thud and then screaming. Not your normal whining cry this was I am REALLY hurt screaming, so i ran down the hall and got to her the same time my mom did. I saw what it was right away and grabbed her and we took her to the bathroom and stuck her in the bathtub with cold water right away to stop the burning. She was screaming the whole time. We tried to calm her down but she was really hurt we decided to take her to the ER because she was starting to blister.

When my dad makes his 2nd cup of coffee he always microwaves it so it stays really hot in his cup while he travels to work. This was fresh out of the microwave after being freshly brewed so it was super hot.

My mom followed me to the hospital and stayed with me while we were there. I let Jason know and he was going to meet us but he does not handle these situations very well. We got in right away, no one can handle listening to a baby in pain.

 She was really hysterical and we couldn't get her to calm down so they gave her a dose of hydrocodein and within 20 minutes she was calm and relaxing. Before they cleaned and treated the area they wanted her to be calm and give the medicine a chance to work so she wasn't in any pain while they did it.

 In this picture you can see all of the burned area pretty well. You can even see some of the blisters. She was fully dressed so it could have been worse if she didn't have anything on. It also would have been a lot worse if it was a regular cup and all of it poured on her. With the to go cup it only had a little slot to pour out of so she didn't get it TOO bad.

To clean it they have to put some solution on the area and scrub it, so it was a little painful for her. It took me, my mom and one other nurse to hold her down while another nurse cleaned the area. We have a burn cream we are to put on the worst areas and then cover it with gauze and wrap it up so it stays in place. The pink you see is the wrap, it goes all the way around her chest and under her right arm. Because this cream is pretty strong we cant put it on her face or it will possibly change the pigment of her skin and leave spots of her skin a different color. On her face we are only putting bacitracin ointment so keep things from getting into it.

We do have to go back to the "wound unit" tomorrow to get it cleaned and treated again and they will show us what to do and after that we should be able to do it ourselves at home. They will have to scrub it again which will be painful so they gave us more medicine to give her before we have to go so she wont be in any pain while they do it.

Obviously we stayed home from daycare today and she will stay with the babysitter tomorrow afternoon after the doctor so i can work a few hours, but she will possibly be going Friday depending on how she is feeling.

This has definitely been a very traumatic experience for all of us and none of us will ever be leaving our coffee in her reach again. I am feeling some anxiety still, i think they needed to me some of the calming medicine they gave her.

Fun filled weekend

We had a very fun weekend. It wasn't super busy but we did a lot of activities that Kendall really enjoyed. The weather here has been terrible lately. Its been cold and rainy and cloudy. Friday turned out to not be too bad out so we took advantage of it and went to the river park to walk around. My intentions were to eventually get her down to by the river to play in the water a little bit but she had other plans. It is a kind of a dog park although there are toys and paths to walk on but there are also big grass areas people take their dogs to run around. I am not sure if I have mentioned this before but Kendall LOVES animals, especially dogs. We were walking on the path just taking our time and i was letting her set the pace and we were just having a good time. The first set of people with a dog came and went and she just kind of pointed at it and kept going. The next dog we saw was way across the field and she took off after it and followed it around until we saw another day. She had to stop and pet them all (if their owner was willing to let her and depending on the dog). This lasted for about a half hour and when she wanted to be held instead of walk is when I decided it was time to go.

Jason had to go to Billings this weekend for their last "season" football game so after the park we went to hang out with him for a little bit before he had to leave. They won and are the Montana Division Champions and now its off to playoffs....their first game is also the same day we have a wedding to go to so there is a slight scheduling conflict we have to work out.

Anyways back on track. I find that on weekends i think Kendall spends more time sleeping then she does awake, it's like she has to recover from her week at school. Saturday was pretty yucky out so when she wasn't sleeping or eating we just stayed inside and played and went to the grocery store. After she went to bed I watched We Bought a Zoo. It was really cute, if you haven't seen it i recommend watching it.

Sunday was the fun day for us. I had seen a toddler sensory activity on Pinterest with letting them play with dried beans. I got a bag when we were at the store and let her play with them. She would scoop them with a measuring spoon and pour them into a cup and on the floor. She would pick each individual one up and put it back in the bowl.

 She is starting to warm up to her glasses some but it is still a struggle to get her to keep them on.

After her nap and lunch it was really nice outside so we decided to paint, which i have wanted to do with her for a long time. She was so excited to be outside that we didn't paint for very long but she had fun sticking her hands in it and getting all messy. She even managed to paint on the dog. He has a very colorful hand print on his back.

 I didn't want her to paint without clothes on cause it wasn't that nice, so i just put some older clothes on her. She did try eating the paint and thought it was pretty disgusting.

After painting we went on a 4wheeler ride up and down the driveway and around the field in the backyard and through the ditch water. She ate an awesome dinner. Jason came over and after a long weekend of him being out of town she was really happy to see him and we played with bubbles on the back porch. She learned to say bubbles, and is now repeating it like crazy. She is a chatterbox and is starting to form more words, you can actually tell the difference between daddy and doggy now. She can say baby and when you tell her its dinner time she says yummy and runs to the kitchen. She is at such a fun age right now we are doing a lot of activities and she is learning soooo much it is crazy!

Just got another scheduling conflict for the 16th, i was just invited to a candle party on the 16th, so now there is a wedding, a football game and a candle party. I think I am sending Kendall camping with my parents that weekend.