big girl bed

Kya is on night five of big girl bed sleeping.

This change was prompted by Kya showing me (very proudly) that she could easily swing her leg over the edge of the crib and hoist herself off the mattress. The next day, I unscrewed the side of the crib and installed this bed rail. Very easy conversion and seamless transition for Kya.


She is 'play sleeping' here (one of her new favorite games)


She can very easily climb in and out of her big-girl bed, but for some mysterious reason, she stays in her bed at nap time and bed time (even during the occasional fussing fit). Way to go Kya!

dad's shoes & mom's sweater

Kya was decked out in extra cool clothes for Saturday evening mass:


Corey's 'Baby Bottle' shoes


Erica's red, hooded, hand-knit sweater by great aunt Laverne (Grandma Irene's sister).

Many thanks to my mom ReNay and Corey's mom Andrea for keeping our special clothes all these years.

Snow Day 2/23/12

We woke up to about for inches of new snow.
Kya and I made the decision to be snowed in and skip library story time.

The westbound I-94 interstate is closed from Mandan to Dickinson (100 miles) and no travel is advised eastbound from Dickinson to Mandan. 

Yup. Kya and I are definitely staying home today.

Fun commenced.






I shoveled the driveway. Kya ate her weight in snow.








I have silliest coffee companion today. Kya is drinking luke-warm watered-down hot chocolate and thoroughly enjoying it.

Ash Wednesday 2012

This morning, Corey went to the early 7 am Ash Wednesday mass before work. To be honest, Kya and I were just crawling out of bed a that early hour. I thought it would be a fun change of scenery to venture out to the University of Mary for Ash Wednesday mass at 10 am.

It was wonderful seeing all my old coworkers and friends. Kya was a great kiddo in church (one of only two). Kya was so neat to watch as the ashes were applied, she was absolutely mystified. It was magical to watch her. She was excited to have ashes on her forehead and she didn't allow me to wash them off until her evening bath.

Our yummy Ash Wednesday dinner: http://www.marthastewart.com/318196/emerils-seafood-mac-and-cheese

Here is a bit of the Kya fun seen at dinnertime tonight (still with a few ashes on her forehead) ...

the dinner guest

During dinner tonight, this wise 'ol fellow was perched in the tree just down the slope from our dining room. He made a very pleasant dinner guest with better table manners than Kya.




This great horned owl is usually perched on our roof 'who-ing' loudly, so it was a nice treat to see him.

Bison Booties

Exciting news this week!

first:
My Bison Booties business is a contender in the StartupNation.com 'Moms in Business' competition. The top 200 vote-getting businesses will be juried by StartupNation for top prizes which include priceless national publicity. Now, for a favor ... I kindly ask that you please vote for Bison Booties. It just takes a click (no registration needed). You can vote once per day from now until mid-April. 

VOTE: http://www.startupnation.com/leading-moms-in-business/contestant/11657/index.php

Thank you!

second:
A reporter from the Great Plains Examiner was at the Bison Booties international headquarters today (ahem ... our house). Watch for Bison Booties in the next GPE paper, to be published in next couple weeks.

Kya's funny faces: part 2

This is what happens what we leave Kya with Aunt Caitlyn for an evening:

Lots of fun and many giggles.

Kya's funny faces

Co-staring and filmed by Aunt Caitlyn Hager
(thank you Caitlyn)

I challenge you to watch these four short video clips and keep a straight face.

In other news, Kya has been 'dry' for the last 24 hours (including story time at the library, a trip to Hobby Lobby, and the car ride to and from town). I must say, potty training is going well! I give Kya an A+
Not to menton, we're running low on our 'potty treats' (m&ms).

Happy Valentine's Day 2012

Happy Valentine's Day from Kya, Corey and me.
It's amazing how extra special these little mid-year holidays are when you have a toddler around that seems to live for hugs and kisses. Oh so sweet.

Kya is about 22 1/2 months old and these are a few of her favorite things:
- trains
- Elmo, Nemo and Dora
- the library
- green beans (today Kya almost jumped out of the grocery cart with excitement when we were in the canned veggie aisle)
- balloons
- her Papas (grandpas)
- car rides and errands
- pigtails
- chap-stick
- treats (after she goes potty on the potty chair)
- hugs
- "Do Re Mi" (yes, she is still hooked)
- making and serving (pretend) 'hot tea' to anyone that is interested
- BOOKS. she loves books.

Love you all.
xoxo

Adventures of Corey and Kya

This morning, Corey took Kya for an off-road wagon ride down to the creek.
Meanwhile, I was at the house wondering what on earth was taking them so long.

The answer: fun

Corey packed along the camera and snapped more than 80 photos.
I added "buy ice skates" to my to-do list.

Happy Birthday to Aunt Maria

Kya wishes to say Happy Birthday to her Aunt Maria! 

(yesterday)

22 months

Today is Kya's 22-month birthday!


My little sweet pea.

Kya's happenings:
- started potty training and is doing very well so far
- still really likes the Sound of Music and "Do Re Mi"
- has a new fondness for Nemo, Dora, and Elmo
- gets very excited when we arrive at the library (we attend story time activities)
- says "hohoho" whenever she sees a man with any sort of beard
- enjoys most sport activities especially basketball and football


Kya likes the "hot pfff pfff" [fireplace].
She set up this afternoon picnic scene all by herself, complete with my kitchen towel.


Kya learns a few new words every day.
Today the new words were: elephant and spices. The new words the last few days have been: dirty (this one is very funny!), ice, hot sauce, uhoh, help, and poop (surprise surprise).

Busy Bison Booties Business

Try saying that 10 times fast.


The last few months have been a whirlwind in the bootie business.

To kick off the Christmas shopping season, Bison Booties was a vendor at the Pride of Dakota Holiday Showcase in Bismarck, December 2-4. Some quick calendar checking will show that this was just a few days after both Caitlyn's wedding and Thanksgiving. It was a very busy few weeks but with lots of help from Corey and family, it was so much fun.


There is an enormous amount of work that goes into show prep days weeks months before the event. Luckily, I have found that the amount of prep gets much easier with each show.


I will always giggle when I see this photo. The night before the show, I decided to completely reorganize all the booties. This meant that my mom and I carefully emptied every tote of bootie boxes, stacked all the boxes into a different organized pattern, and then repacked the boxes of booties into the totes. It was lots of work but it really paid off to have the inventory better organized at the show.


The show was such fun. My mom and sister were a huge help and traded-off staffing the booth with me all three days.



Last week I sent so many booties that Kya and I had to make a few trips into the post office just because the envelopes would not all fit in our mailbox!

cutting it short

I am participating in the St. Baldricks event this year.
The plan: cut off over 10 inches of my hair (and donate it), while raising money to find cures for childhood cancer.

I invite you to support me with a donation to the St. Baldrick's Foundation. This volunteer-driven charity funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government. Your gift will give hope to infants, children, teens and young adults fighting childhood cancers. So when I ask for your support, I'm really asking you to support these kids.

My event page:
http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/ehager

My official hair cut will happen the week of March 11, in Bismarck, with Whitney (my trusty hair stylist).

Bison Booties are joining the effort too:
I am also designing a special style of Bison Booties to lead up to the event. A portion of each pair sold will be donated to the St. Baldrick's foundation. Like last year, I will also be donating a few pairs of Bison Booties to be auctioned off at the St. Baldrick's silent auction event in Bismarck.

Thank you!

. . .

Corey and I have a bit of history with hair donation and the St. Baldrick's event:


March 2009 - Corey shaved his head for the St. Baldrick's event


July 2009 - I donated my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths