I was so proud of Kirsten this morning. Monday morning while we were getting in the van, Kirsten saw a caterpillar on the driveway. She was afraid it would 'get her'. Now, we just got Kirsten over her fear of butterflies by taking her to the butterfly atrium at the healthcare center where Grandma was staying. So, I told her that, "..the caterpillar is looking for a place to go nite-nite, and when it wakes up, it will be a butterfly." She looked at me like I was crazy. So I tried, "Remember the baby butterflies (cocoons)? Those were sleeping caterpillars." Well, that got an even better 'look'.

This morning, as we were getting in the van, she said, "Mommy, no more caterpillar." Being in a hurry, I just said, "Yeah." But that didn't stop her from continuing, "The caterpillar is nite-nite." Now that shocked me, we hadn't spoken about this since Monday. So I asked her what would happen when the caterpillar woke up and she responded without a thought, "It will be a butterfly!" Wow, kids are amazing.

It was an ear infection, that's what the doc said anyway. She said that sometimes kids can have a hypersensitivity reaction to an internal infection and get a rash. I hope she's right. Kirsten's taking antibiotics and Benedryl® now. Poor kid's face looks like a teenager's.

The good news from the doc visit was that Kirsten has gained 1½ lbs in like 3 weeks. I'm so proud of her!

Kirsten has a bad rash. We're still not sure what's causing it. And it seems like Benadryl® isn't working like it should to get rid of it. So, we're off to the doctor this afternoon...

I had to stay home with her most of the day yesterday. She's so cute... when she's not feeling well, she'll come up to me sort of whining and say, "Mommy, I want to hold you." Of course, what she wants is for me to hold her. But I guess she's sorta' right. It does me just as much good to hold her as it does her.

This weekend flew by. Kirsten got her first skinned knee on Saturday. She fell on the sidewalk up at Uncle Phil and Aunt Dawn's. It's really nothing, but she's milking it, even today. It was so minor that I just cleaned it off and put some antibiotic ointment on it. But a few hours later she was still carrying on. So Aunt Dawn put a bandaid on it, and that seemed to calm her down a bit.

What's really funny, though, is what happened last night. She was doing well all afternoon, not limping or complaining. But when I called her to take a bath, she started whining about not wanting to get her 'boo boo' wet and she limped all the way to the bathroom. It started all over again! She's so cute.

I'm really starting to feel the baby kick now. I've been feeling the 'quickening' movements for a few weeks now, but yesterday morning and this morning, I felt some pretty hard kicks. It's just as exciting the second time around!

Kirsten told me she got a time out yesterday while she was playing outside. I couldn't get her to tell me why. But she told me which teacher gave her the time out. She's pretty agressive, I'll bet she was pushing someone or taking a toy away.

Okay, so I didn't blog yesterday. I apologize. But it's gonna' happen from time to time. So get over it. I have.

Anyway, things have been pretty quiet lately. Kirsten thinks we should go to 'Mcdonald's House' every morning for breakfast. She's getting more beautiful everyday. I'll have to take some pictures this week so everyone can see. She really is into the copycat thing though. Everytime I have to firmly tell her to stop or start doing something, she always says, "Dont' talk to me like that." (I say that to her sometimes.) Funny, eh?

Kirsten and I were running late this morning. She had missed breakfast at daycare, so we stopped at, in Kirsten's words, 'McDonald's house'. When we got there she wanted a cheeseburger and frenchfries. It took me a while to get her to understand that they didn't make those for breakfast. So we got a big breakfast to split. Then she wanted her toy. Try explaining that. What is it with kids and McDonald's?

Kirsten and I went to choir practice last night. She's so cute, everytime we get near the church she starts telling me, "Mommy, that's Jesus' house!" over and over.

Sheri, the choir director, had a ball with Kirsten. She even had her up directing the choir with one of her magic markers. Kirsten loved the way the piano started playing when she waved her hand, and how it stopped playing when she stopped her hand. Look our Leopold!

Last night when I picked up Kirsten from daycare, she told me, "I want juice and a snack. I don't want dinner." I replied, "But Kirsten, we're having macaroni for dinner." It didn't take her long, "Oh, I need macaroni!"

It's really quiet at work today, with several of our team away, I'm actually getting some time to research what other sites are doing. But, it does get a bit monotonous, so I thought I'd take a break and blog.

Kirsten is really missing her Papa. She keeps telling me that I "have to wait 'til Papa gets back" before I can do certain things. She tried to call him last night on her toy cell phone. She's so cute.

Kirsten and I survived our first night of a Papa-less week last night. I thought it was going to get bad around dinner time. I told her I would make pizza for dinner, which was fine with her. But she added, "You have to wait until Papa gets home first." I finally convinced her that we couldn't wait until Saturday to eat our dinner.

She didn't want to sleep last night, though. After I put her to bed, I took the garbage out. On my way back in the door I noticed that the light in her room was on. I went back in to find her lounging in bed 'reading' a book. I should have gotten a picture.

Well, had another doc visit this morning, and at 16 weeks, baby is doing fine. We heard the heartbeat finally. Next appt. is Feb. 11th, and we'll hopefully get to find out if it's a girl or a boy. Hey, maybe we should get a little guessing going.

Well, Kirsten was up all night last night, which means so was I. She was fine until around 9pm last night, when she started coughing. It's a really dry cough. She didn't stop all night. If she had a cold, I'd understand. But she has no other symptoms. I tried children's Robitussin with no luck. Stan took her to the doctor this morning, and they gave us something else to try. I think it's just stronger strength robitussin, but we'll try it. She seems fine this afternoon. I'm just really worried about tonight.

When I dropped Kirsten off at daycare this morning, she didn't want me to leave. I handed her to the teacher, it's usually easier that way. But then she told the teacher, "I want my mommy." She might as well have driven a stake through my heart. I thought it would get easier to leave her at daycare as time went on, but I still miss her all day even 2 1/2 years later. I guess it never gets easier.

Last night Kirsten was talking to Uncle Phil on the phone. When she was done, she started to hand the phone to me, saying that she wanted to talk to Aunt Dawn now. Phil heard, and got Dawn on the phone. I think Kirsten told Dawn everything that happened yesterday. And when I tried to get Kirsten to say bye bye and hand me the phone, she said, "Hold on a minute, I'm talking on the phone." I could hardly contain myself. Aren't they supposed to be teenagers before they start hogging the phone?

Apple has done it again. If you haven't seen it already, you really need to check it out at Apple's website. It's a new iMac with an LCD screen. I'm sure it will soon be duplicated by just about every PC manufacturer as well. Only Apple can take something like a computer and turn it into a piece of art.

Kirsten is really being challenging lately. It's like the "terrible two's" are turning into the "thrashing three's" more and more everyday. And I can't believe how grown up she looks. She doesn't have a baby face anymore. Time is really flying.

Okay, call me a weenee if you want to, but it's cold down here. It is nice, for a change, but it is definitely feeling cold. Perhaps I wouldn't be whining to much if the heat in our building was working. But not even Kirsten wants to get out of bed in the morning. At least we don't have any snow, like most of the family is seeing now in the Carolinas.

I couldn't get Kirsten to wear her coat this morning. So I let her carry it to the car. By the time we got in the car, she was definitely ready to put it on. She saw her breath this morning too. That was cool.

Scanners in airports that can tell if you're lying or not? Has it really gotten that bad? Heightened security is one thing, but lie detectors? I don't know if I like where this is going. We're giving up too much of what makes this country unique. We're letting these terrorists win. I agree that we can't just go back to the laid-back way we used to treat security at airports, but come on, this is just too much.

On a lighter note, Kirsten made me smile Monday night. I was on the phone when she asked for some juice. Her glass of lemonade from dinner was right next to me, so I handed it to her. Without missing a beat, she said, "at's not juice, Mommy. at's emonade. ere's juice over dere(pointing to kitchen). Com'ere(grabbing my hand), I'll show you." What happened? It seems just yesterday she was brand new.

I can't believe it's 2002. Time really does seem to go faster the older you get. Or maybe it's just the marriage/kids thing.

With the closing of a not-so-joyous 2001, I'm really not sure what to think of 2002. As a nation, we're still healing from 9/11. Since the attacks, many Christians have been shocked out of complacency. My prayer is that we will stay shocked and continue to want to do more for God. Nothing radical, just in our day-to-day lives. Remember, "He who is faithful with little will be entrusted with much." As you pray tonight, try this: "God, teach me to live passionately in a life that is too easy and comfortable."