kya's birthday week: thursday

March 31.
One year ago today was the eve of Kya's due to arrive date.

I was one large and uncomfortable lady.

ufda. can you believe I was that big gigantic? oh my.

On Thursday last year (which was actually April 1, Kya's due date), Corey and I attended the Holy Thursday Mass at Ascension Church. I was quite crampy throughout the hour but honestly didn't think much of it. A lady I worked with was also at mass and later on she told me that she "just knew" something was happening that evening. That night, a rain/ice/snow storm moved into the area and my contractions started at exactly 12 midnight. I am 100 percent convinced that the pressure change due to the storm was what started the contractions.

Story to be continued ...

To celebrate this special day, Kya enjoyed her free cupcake from Barnes and Noble.
Did you know kids get free cupcakes on their birthday if they are in the kid's club? Neato.








Let the partyin' begin!

busy with Bison Booties

I've been a busy bee making and promoting Bison Booties the last few weeks and it is really paying off. We hit our 100th Etsy sale last week!

In celebration of this fun milestone, I am hosting a giveaway party on Facebook with my favorite Etsy finds. Most are children's items, but there are is also a great shaving set with handmade soap (for men) and a little something for the ladies too. I am so excited about all the great sponsor items - I was shocked at the great response from these established sellers. I wish I could win all the prizes ... custom kid cape, design your own crown, handcrafted overalls, sleepy dolly ...

To enter the giveaways, visit my Facebook page.

all i want for my birthday are my two front teeth

the countdown is on.
five days until we have a one-year-old!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We had a very fun day. Kya and I hung out with Maria all morning and ran some errands (Maria is a huge help! I was so thankful to have her along).


Then we met Corey for lunch at Qdoba.
Isn't Kya's shirt adorable?! It says "I'm a McCutie"
Kya sends her thanks to Aunt Megan (our authentic Irish relative) and Uncle Jesse for the shirt.


After lunch we headed to the Bismarck Civic Center to watch the Kenmare High School girl's basketball team play in the state tournament. They won! They play again tomorrow. We will be there cheering them on. Kya loved watching the action and the people at the game. She was a great baby considering she didn't get either of her naps today.

This was my first North Dakota Class B State Basketball game and I am absolutely amazed at the outpouring of support for the teams. Classmates, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, kids, friends, cousins, distant relatives, and alumni from years ago, and random town residents ... hundreds and hundreds of dedicated fans (many of whom traveled to Bismarck) all cheering on "their team." AND did I mention it is $7 a ticket? I'd be lying if I said it didn't choke me up. It's just so sweet to see so many people dedicated and excited for high school kids, especially girls. Does this happen anywhere else? I hope so. I'm excited to see it all again tomorrow. Go Honkers!


After the game we came home to a driveway of wild turkeys! One of the turkeys puffed up in front of Corey's car ... haha funny thing thought he could take on a car. Soon after realizing that the car was much bigger and powerful than they, the turkeys retreated around the propane tank and down the hill (as seen here).
I never know what I will come home to. Tomorrow ... cows? bears? oh my.

Wild Life In & Around the Hager House

The Canadian Geese are back!

Last spring, when we started building the house, the field east of us was full of geese. Over the summer and winter the geese leave, but today the geese returned. I really like the honking ... which is good because there is a lot of it. All day long.


They have great timing – the Kenmare High School girl's basketball team (the Honkers) is playing in the state tournament tomorrow. I think the geese returned just to cheer honk then on. We will be there too. It will be Kya's first basketball game.

The other kind of wild life is a little green toddler that thinks she rules the roost around here. (this is a much cheerier video than the last one, I promise!)



You can thank Corey for the video and Megan for the Irish tunes. :)

Cranky Kya

This video is an up close view of Kya's witching hour. It usually arrives at about 7 pm. Unfortunately, somehow, the time change made this even earlier, and teething has made it more intense.

We like to keep Kya up "just a few more minutes" because that means we get "just a few more minutes" of beautiful sleep in the morning. Notice I did not say "sleep in" ... no ... I don't know the meaning of those lovely words anymore.

Kya is a trusty alarm clock set to 6 am. every morning. on the dot. After Kya's sunrise nursing session, I can usually get her to snooze for another hour.

Anyway, this is a video of Kya telling us to put her to bed. It has become a bit of a funny time for us because it happens EVERY night at about 7 pm. The only things I have found to cure this saga are to either get her to bed  - or - hand over a cell phone.

While watching this, notice her artistic drooly couch painting art. She is so talented!

enjoy!

Chaz - I will apologize in advance. I have a feeling this video might make you tense.

Kya: the 11 month old goofball

Here is a photo journey through Kya's past two weeks. There is a 90 second video at the end featuring Kya's tricks.


A cute new outfit that is perfect for a girly gal like Kya. Thanks Aunt Caitlyn and Uncle Chaz!


It warmed up enough to spend a few minutes outside, so Kya and I headed out to the driveway with the exersaucer and Cheerios.


We can't wait for spring!

One afternoon I went in Kya's room to get her up from a nap and panicked when I saw her face:

I thought: BLOOD! ... what is bleeding?! and how did you get blood on your face?!


Thankfully, it turned out that ... she slept on her hand! We could even see her tiny fingernail impressions in her forehead.

Kya and I took advantage of the corner tub in the master bathroom and had a winter pool party complete with yellow rubber duckies.

Here is Kya mid giggle.


This kid loves bath time. Corey found out that she even likes sitting under the bath faucet with it pouring down on her.


Reading and rocking are two of her new favorite pastimes. She will be your best buddy if you read her a book or two or three. Better have lots of books on hand or she'll throw a doozy of a fit when the first one is over.

And most recently, this evening we had spaghetti. If I had to pick a favorite meal for Kya it would be spaghetti. She ate and ate and ate ...

And here she is showing off her two teeth (she is working hard on three more).

Check out Kya's tricks in this video that we took tonight: