Raising a California Girl

Well, it seems as thought Ms. Kayla knows where her home is and it's not in TX. Sorry folks - that's the ugly truth. She, the happy go lucky girl we once knew and loved, turned into someone else for the weekend we spent in Texas. Okay, so that might be a bit of an exaggeration but it didn't feel like it. She cried throughout the days, she cried for hours at night, she wouldn't sleep, she was more timid, she was more startled, she was more clingy... she just wasn't herself. The flight back was o.k. - nothing spectacular or crazy - same thing with the ride home from dreaded LAX. Then, as soon as we set her down in the living room, she went to work playing with all her toys, crawling around, returning to her happy wonderful self. I'm telling you - seemed like night and day to me. Well, except for the clinginess - she was super clingy all day yesterday - didn't want to leave our sides for one minute. But, I think we're hitting separation anxiety time so this is just the beginning. Anyway, she knows her home, here in Cali, and that's where she'd prefer to stay I think. And, as an added bonus, that's where we'd like to stay, for now. What a difference a few months and a couple trips make, huh? In May I said we'd be back as soon as possible... now I'm saying, um, yea, don't count on that. :) LOL! But, ask me again in 6 months and I'll probably tell you something different. We do that - that's our thing - yes we're moving, no we're not, yes we are, not in a million years, maybe tomorrow... so, until our schizophrenia dies down I guess we're staying put. :)

And now for my corny Mastercard commercial:

Tickets to the Dallas Cowboys game - $0.
Parking at the stadium - $20 and some walking
Cowboyrita and big foam cowboy hat at the stadium - $30.
Seeing the Dallas Cowboys win their first game in the new stadium - priceless.

Oh, and getting hit by a football on the way into the stadium - that was priceless too. Thanks tailgaters who can't aim and throw to James who was actually trying to catch the ball. No, instead you throw to the girl rummaging around in her purse! Maybe next time don't drink so much! :) I'm just kidding - I did get hit but it wasn't hard. They were just messing around and seriously couldn't aim!)

Couple comments about the trip in general...
*  It was great to see everyone, even if it was just for a few hours.

*  Kayla really likes her new toy phone and she liked the building block tube thing (you know, when you stack the colored circles on top of one another)... she wasn't so much for the bouncing penguin, the cat, or the monkey. (granted the cat wasn't a toy and maybe the monkey reminds her of the cat). But she's getting used to all of it - just takes time.

*  Big shout out to Grandpa and Granny Chris and Aunt Amanda who babysat a very unhappy Kayla so we could go to the game! Sorry she cried the whole time!

(okay, maybe not the whole time!)

*  And (maybe a bigger) shout out to Kris for driving us to the airport and then going back to the house and back to the airport to bring me my forgotten drivers license! Made it to the plane with approximately 5 minutes to spare. Go Kris!

*  It was great to finally meet my cousin - my grandpa Bob's granddaughter - and her 15 month old daughter and watch the two great grandchildren play. Kayla was so amazed by all that Ameila could do - I could just see her little brain going "when do I get to be that mobile! let's go legs!"

*  And, finally, thanks to the GRANDparents who spoiled Kayla with toys and clothes, gave me a hard time, and left Eric completely alone! How'd I get the short end of the stick there? :) just kidding. I mean it - GRANDparents - they all love and spoil her to pieces and it's so fantastic to watch them be grandparents... for an hour, for a day, for a weekend... it's short but oh so sweet.

I think that's about it. I took a thousand and one pics (236 to be exact) so I'm still busy sorting through those!

Oh, and for the cherry on top... before we left I submitted the picture below to Inland Empire Family magazine online. And her picture was selected to be showcased as one of their pictures of the day. So, until the morning of 10/5 you can visit their website (http://www.inlandempirefamily.com/) and see our baby online! How cool is that?? And to top it off, she's now entered into their annual photo contest and could appear in their magazine. I'm debating entering her in Gap's photo contest too. Picture People have one as well that I might submit for. Because of course our baby needs to be plastered all over God's green earth! ha ha ha. Enjoy!