Ariah Was Born This Way

This weather is amazing! Today reached 90 degrees. It's only April! We've spent a ton of time outdoors lately. Lots of walks, runs, zoo trip, ballpark & just being out in the yard. Ariah loves being outside.... LOVES it. This kid crys and screams until we take her outdoors sometimes. I am sooo glad she likes to be outside because well... we aren't the kind of parents to just sit around. We are active parents and we have a very active 1 year old on our hands. :)
We took a trip to the zoo this afternoon with the Patterson family. We pushed Ariah and little Raegan (6 months old) around the zoo looking at all the animals. Ariah can now make noises like a monkey. She also growels like a bear. We were looking in one of the monkey exhibits and Ariah was eating some fruit and the monkey couldn't take his eyes off Ariah and her fruit. He even looked at her and pointed his finger. If I could have shared  I would have.

When Scott got off work tonight we wanted to take Ariah out to dinner before we went to the ballpark to watch Mason play. We really wanted to go to this new mexican place called Chewy's but it is not open yet. So we decided to go to Chedders. It was yummy and Ariah really enjoyed sharing from our plates.  

Our next stop was the ballpark to watch the birthday boy, Mason Raes, play in his first game! For 5 years old he has one heck of an arm. Super proud of this kiddo. Ariah enjoyed running around and watching all the kiddos. They even had a girls baseball team playing and Ariah really enjoyed watching these girls hit balls and run bases. These girls were awesome... they had polka dot socks to match their outfits and it made me wish Ariah was out there with them. I know she'll grow up fast but I am looking forward to her playing on some sport teams.

I've also been working on several projects! I am always looking for new ways to expand my career and most the time they relate to my current lifestyle. I am getting ready to start teaching a Stroller Fitness class over in the Norton Commons area and also would like to start one locally in my neighborhood. I know how hard it is to find time as a mom to exercise! Wouldn't it be nice to get a great workout in while you have your kid with you!? If anyone is interested in being apart of my class let me know. :)

My other project has been making hair bows. I have been making several different kind of bows and have gotten pretty good at making bows to match Ariah's many summer outfits. I would really love to start selling them to my mommy friends and anyone else wanting a bow to match a particular outfit for their little girl. I know I've bought so many for Ariah and they can really add up in cost. My goal is to make these bows and sell them at a lower cost than most places. If you need a custom made bow let me know!

~K

Go Away Winter... We're Ready for Spring!

This cold weather stuff has got to go! 40's just isn't my thing! Ariah, Scott & I want to be outdoors playing, going to the zoo & walking the neighborhoods or even hitting the outdoor shopping malls. ;)
Ariah had her first swim lesson last night and lets just say she LOVED every minute of it. She splashed, kicked her arms and legs all while having a huge smile on her face.

Ariah has just been so amazing and fun. She loves to climb up on the couch and can get down by herself. We've been trying to teach her how to shake her head yes. She keeps trying to grab her head and move it like we do when we try and show her the motion. It cracks us up everytime. She's trying to put shapes in the slots they go, talks all the time and is learning new words each day. She loves the dogs and trys to sit on Zar and pets him all the time. He lets her do it which is just so funny but he loves her. Ariah knows lots of commands like sit, throw ball, get shoes, up/down, close, bath and sooo many more. She loves to tell people hey and wave. Oh and her other big thing is to say "OH WOW" or "OH WEE". She also continues to sign "more" when she wants about anything.

My amazing and crazy running husband ran 20 miles today in preperation for his marathon on April 30th. I am so excited and proud of him for all his hard work getting ready for this big day. Ariah and I cannot wait to cheer him on race day. I had a shirt made for Ariah that says "Don't you wish your daddy could run like mine" and of course a matching hair bow.

Spring is Here

Yay it's finally spring! It has just been so nice around here. Friday Ariah and I enjoyed the zoo with Tina and the boys. Ariah just pointed at everything and called all the animals woof woofs. By the end of the summer the goal is for her to know all of her animals. :)
Ariah has officially been weined off of the pacifer! I am just so stinking happy to be done with it. We started Wednesday night and it's been 5 days. She's done great and doesn't seem to miss it. She actually is talking a heck of a lot more and has bloomed so much in just these 5 days.
We've been using/teaching sign language to Ariah since she was about 7 or 8 months and yesterday it FINALLY paid off! She was standing in the kitchen next to the counter and signed "more"! She wanted more cornbread which was sitting on the counter above her. She just kept doing it until  I noticed and I just started clapping and praising her. She smiled big and clapped with me and I rewarded her with more cornbread. I fell in love even more with my little girl. She is just so smart and so sweet and just awesome! Each day just gets more and more amazing with Ariah... I am so blessed.... she is just so special to me.
Today Scott and our neighbor Charles went to the zoo with Ariah and walked around. The monkeys and Ariah got really close to eachother and some cute pictures were taken. I love that Scott and Ariah get to do such fun things together. She has really become a daddy's girl and it makes me happy.
Another exciting thing happend today. My very good friend, Brittany Shelton, is soon to be married and asked me to be apart of her wedding party. I am honored and so excited to stand next to her. The wedding is set for June 9th 2012 which is my wedding anniversary. How awesome is that... we get to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary by attending a wedding. It will really be a special day for all of us. Brittany and I graduated from UofL together with the same degree and we sat next to eachother during graduation and walked across the stage the same time as well. It is only meant that you share the same anniversary!

Karlie

Operation No More Paci

Scott and I have talked about when we were going to take away Ariah's pacifier for some time. You don't want to do it when she's sick, teething, going out of town or other big event. Finding that perfect time for all of us has been tough but we know this is something that needs to be done. Our little sweetie is 15 months old and learning to talk and we want to hear her precious little voice. :)
We knew we wanted to begin this process when we got back from our Las Vegas trip. This is how it started: Last night i went to play bunco at my friend Tina's and had Ariah with me. Scott left work early to come pick her up and left behind her milk, bunny & her pink pacifier. Scott took this opportunity while I was away to not give her a paci back at home. Lucky for us we have a spare bunny and lots of milk. When I called to check on Scott and Ariah at 9:05pm Scott told me he put Ariah to bed with no pacifier. I was shocked... he didn't even ask me if it was ok! So I told him if she woke up in the night he got to deal with her. Well, she actually slept really well. She woke up once for a few moments and fell back to sleep. She then woke again at 9am but i let her cry about 10 minutes and she fell back to sleep. At 10:15 i was up and decided to wake her up to so we could start our day with a nice breakfast and a walk. Today is gorgeous!!!
i put Ariah down after lunch for her nap with no pacifier and she cried for about 5 minutes and then closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep! She's been that way for over an hour! I actually think we may make it 24 hours! If we can get through another night like this I actually believe she'll never need a paci ever again!! Could it be to good to be true? Could this be a lot easier than I thought? I am in shock!


Happy St. Patty's Day! Happy March Madness! Let's Go CARDS!!!!


Karlie

New to Blogging

I thought I would try out blogging. Not sure who will follow this or who will actually care. I love talking about my baby girl, Ariah, and my life with my amazing husband Scott.
We just got back from Las Vegas this week. We celebrated our friend Matt Clark's 30th birthday! We had an amazing time roaming the strip, visiting the hoover dam, catching the Beatles Love show, rolling some dice & hitting up a dance club. We missed Ariah more than anything and we were so happy to get back to her. I swear she grew while we were gone. It's amazing how fast they change.
Today has been fun with little A. While changing her diaper she was covering her eyes and peaking through her hands and I would say peek-a-boo. She would just laugh and laugh! It is so fun playing games with her!