What Happened to Cooing?

Mylie has finally started talking. She likes to say "Ba, Ba, Ba, Ba" and "Da, Da, Da" but I don't recall Hunter or Kora ever screeching. At first I thought she was crying...then when I looked at the big smile on her face I knew she was actually just talking. It is so loud that I miss the days of the cute babbling and coos. I sure hope this stage goes by fast. I guess all I can say to this is, at least she's not crying!

Also wanted to share that while I am writing this, Hunter is taking a nap on the kitchen chairs. He was eating his dinner and the last time we checked on him he was sleeping. I guess he's done eating.

...and Kora is doing puzzles. Hunter and Kora's latest favorite thing to do is puzzles. We have about 4 of them and they just love putting them together then dumping it out to do it again.

Spousal Tag - Kelly's Answers

1. Her full name? Nicole Puanani Kerr
2. How long have you been together? Married 6 years.
3. How long did you date? 1 year.
4. How old is she? 29.
5. Who eats more? Me, by far.
6. Who said "I Love You" first? Nicole, very quickly after we started dating.
7. Who is taller? Me.
8. Who sings better? Nicole. Her voice is much nicer to listen to.
9. Who is smarter? Nicole is as smart, if not smarter, as me in most areas, except sports. I still tell her after all these years that in baseball, we count the score in runs, not points.
10. Who does the laundry? Nicole. I did my share of laundry on my mission.
11. Who pays the bills? Me. I figure I should put my education to use at home, too.
12. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me. This is because she was scared to sleep closer to our stairs in our first apartment. Strangers, robbers, ghosts... whatever could get her. She figured if they got me first, it would give her time to escape.
13. Who mows the lawn? The gardeners in our complex. Hunter and Kora do a pretty good job of keeping the grass short when they play outside, though.
14. Who cooks dinner? Nicole. I did my share of cooking on my mission.
15. Who drives? We both do. She can't stand it when I drive, and I can't stand it when she drives. In the end, we both lose.
16. Who kissed whom first? Me. I was told by an unnamed source that she was ready for me to take her hand and kiss her; but try to do that when your future spouse constantly has her arms folded and doesn't seem to be interested.
17. Who's more stubborn? Me, absolutely.
18. Who asked whom out first? Me, to a baseball game. When she said yes, I figured that was a good thing because of my affinity for baseball and other sports.
19. Who proposed? Me. I was scared she would say no, so I drove around for a while thinking about what would happen if she said no. I figured that Yang Chow's would taste better if she said yes...and I was hungry, so I asked her.
20. Who has more friends? Nicole. I have only one true friend, whom I miss.
21. Who is more sensitive? Nicole.
22. Who has more siblings? Me: 1 brother, 2 sisters.
23. Who wears the pants? Me, but only by defferal. We try to make decisions together.

6 Happy Years and More to Come

I am not very good at doing tags but I thought that because today is our 6th anniversary I thought it would be fun to do the Spouse tag. Our dating years were a little wacky and took awhile to get started but as a married couple we fit each other perfectly. I love everything about him. He makes my life complete. He's a wonderful Daddy and a great Husband. Sometimes he'll tell me that he's lucky to have me as his wife but he doesn't realize that I'm the lucky one to be married to him. Not very many men are willing to support their wives 100%. No matter what the situation and what we have to do to make that work. This statement applies to all situations but it especially applies to work. He is willing to work so that I don't have to. Because of this, I am able to stay home with our children. He always puts his family first and I know with all my heart that he loves me and our children. After a hard day at work he'll come home and play with the kids and then gets on the computer to spend a few hours doing homework. We are lucky that he tries as hard as he does, for us. Everything that he does is for his family. He is a wonderful husband, provider and friend. I'm so glad that we found each other. He is more than I ever wanted. I look forward to the many more years (decades)we will spend together. If they will be anything like the first 6 years then I will surely die a happy woman. Happy 6th Anniversary Kelly, I love you!

1. His full name? Kelly John Kerr

2. How long have you been married? 6 years

3. How long did you date? 1 year, 2 weeks

4. How old is he? 28

5. Who eats more? humm...Kelly, but I could probably hold my own

6. Who said "I Love You" first? I think I did and he said "Thank You". Not the response I was looking for. Later he told me he meant thank you for telling him but still not really the answer I was looking for.

7. Who is taller? Kelly

8. Who sings better? Kelly, but he'll never admit it. I love it when he sings.

9. Who is smarter? Kelly is absolutely brilliant. I was born a brunette but deep down I'm a blonde at heart.

10. Who does the laundry? I do, but Kelly could if he needed to.

11. Who pays the bills? Kelly, after all, he is an accountant

12. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does when we are laying down

13. Who mows the lawn? Wish we had one. I love to mow so I hope I get the honors when we do have one. Great exercise you burn 300 calories an hour.

14. Who cooks dinner? I do, but Kelly can cook a mean meal when given the chance.

15. Who drives? He does and I close my eyes the whole time. When I drive he does the same.

16. Who kissed whom first? Kelly, about a month and a half after our first date in the driveway of my parents house. We both liked each other but were too shy to take the first step.

17. Who's more stubborn? Kelly is "more stubborn" but I'm a close second.

18. Who asked whom out first? Kelly asked me out after a single adult fireside.

19. Who proposed? Kelly. He asked on a hill top in Chino Hills at night over looking the city. Earlier that day he called me and asked if I wanted to go to the park and walk around. We had never done that before so I thought it would be fun. When he picked me up he looked agitated and said it was too dark to go walking in a park. We proceeded to drive around aimlessly for about 30 minutes and then pulled into a housing area that had a great view. He got out of the car and walked over to my door opened it, let me out then got on his knee and asked. Afterwards we went to Yang Chows for dinner then later saw the movie Mothman Prophecies.

20. Who has more friends? Not sure

21. Who is more sensitive? Me, there is absolutely no question about it.

22. Who has more siblings? Kelly, 1 brother and 2 sisters

23. Who wears the pants? Kelly and he looks so cute in them too!

Where You'll Find Us

We have added a new ritual to our daily routine. Once Kelly gets home from work we eat dinner then head to the pool. Last summer I would take the kids swimming during the day and the kids loved it. When you have 2 kids and 2 arms it works quite nice. Now that we have 3 kids and 2 arms it just doesn't seem to work as well. Especially with Miss Daredevil Kora who doesn't care if she can't swim or care if someone is in the pool to watch her or not. She has perfect faith that when she goes in and sinks that someone is going to save her. Thank goodness this has been true so far. Because of this we wait until Daddy gets home, 4 arms and 4 eyes work better with 3 kids. At first we tried the arm floaties with Kora, unfortunately the parent watching her didn't enjoy much because she kept going under. The constant fear of her drowning made it hard to relax. She refuses to stay close to the steps and actually tells us to "GO!" if we get close to her in order to save her. I finally remembered the life jacket I purchased a few years ago for the Kerr family houseboat trip and life is good. Kora can be Miss Independent and Miss Daredevil and Kelly and I can enjoy our swim. We also went the extra mile and put arm floaties on her so she can stay upright. Last night when we put her arm floaties on she was so anxious to go swimming she didn't wait for Kelly to finish putting both floaties on. After Kelly put one on she dove in. The life vest flipped her onto her back and with only one floatie on she couldn't pull herself up. She was screaming and kicking and flailing her arms which made her spin in a circle. We knew she was safe so we started laughing. Eventually she stopped kicking and let Kelly finish putting the other floatie on. I think anyone walking by might see her and call us over cautious but seriously, first, they don't know her and second my kids lives are more important than how silly they may look! Honestly, with a smile like that she'll never look silly and I think she looks darn cute in her head to toe fluorescent orange swim gear.

As for Hunter, he has kept his promise. When that kid tells you he's going to swim and jump in the pool when he turns 4, then he is going to swim and jump in the pool when he turns 4. You would have never thought it possible a month ago. He would scream in terror when Kelly and I took him to the middle of the pool. His idea of swimming was walking on the steps. The arm floaties have given him confidence and allowed him to keep his promise to swim when he turned 4. I had been searching for those arm floaties for weeks. I found some at Target but because they had the Speedo name on them they were almost $8. After nearly giving up I went to the seasonal section at our grocery store (Winco) and found them for 88 cents. I'm so glad we found them because I would guess that Hunter would still be swimming on the steps if we hadn't.

So, next time you try to call and we don't answer we're probably at the pool and thanks to the life vest you may even find us at the pool during the day too!

4 on the 4th

Hunter turned the big 4 on the 4th. He has been talking about his "Transformers" Birthday for months and it has finally come with as much anticipation as a 3 year old could possess. He has been telling everyone that when he turns 4 he can shower, jump into the pool and swim all by himself. Well, he's 4 now and he hasn't accomplished any of his goals as of yet but we're working on them.

In case you can't tell or just don't know his cake was Optimus Prime the good guy Transformer leader. The cake wasn't perfect but it was sweet when Hunter woke up and Kelly took him down stairs to see the cake and he came upstairs and thanked me for his cake. It made the 5 hours it took to make well worth it. I wish it would have looked better but when the birthday boy is happy and thrilled with it, I'm happy.

Hunter's birthday was small and simple. Just how us K Kerr's like it. Hunter is pretty fortunate because his birthday falls on a holiday it is easier for out of town family to come and visit...although also bad because California Family go out of town and may not be here. We had the pleasure to have Lisa, Bryce and Lisa's Mom, Karen visit as well as Jodie, Taylor and Mason and a special last minute surprise visit from Stevie and Seema. I only wish I had taken my camera out sooner to take pictures of everyone. It was a nice day spent with family and NO FIREWORKS. For all of you who know our little 4th of July baby he is scared to death of fireworks so after the party was done we went home and played Hunter's newest video game, Mario Kart.

Quick Funny story: Kelly and Gene tried all day to get the water slide set up and working. They found numerous holes and patched them up. After they patched up a hole they would let it set and then turn the slide back on only to have it not fully inflate. Hours later and after several people already left Gene thought he would put the hose on the slide to see if he could see any bubbles. Next thing we know the slide is filling up with air. I guess the water plugged up the holes. Who would have guessed? The kids got to use the slide and had a blast going from warm spa to slide and back...again, and again and again. Fun Day!

Hunter with his Cousins Bryson and Taylor

Great-Grandpa and Kora Swimming in the Spa

Mason riding the whale. This kid is such a hoot.

Mylie and Nani

Kora (her eye looks so much better)

Grandma & Grandpa with Mylie

Hunter braving the water slide

As a final statement aside from Hunter's Birthday I would like to add how grateful I am to live in this country and for all the freedoms we have because of our servicemen. I am so thankful for the sacrifices they have given so that we are able to celebrate our freedom and live the way that we do. Thank You to all the servicemen and their families because I know that the families sacrifice almost just as much.

Happy Belated 4th of July!

Following in Daddy's Footsteps...Straight to the ER

When Kelly and I first started dating I heard the many stories of the visits to the emergency room. This has always interested me because I have never been in the emergency room for myself. I have lived nearly 30 years without ever having a broken bone or needing a stitch (knock on wood). The stories of Kelly having been taken to the emergency room would probably out number a family of 10 stuntmen. I remember when we were dating I was worried how many times I would have to take him in our years being married (thankfully none so far...well for an injury). In the back of my mind I wondered if our children would inherit my luck or Kelly's...Well, we made it through nearly 4 years of being parents without having to visit the dreaded emergency room: that can no longer be said. Surprisingly, it wasn't our first born to make the first visit, but our second born, Kora. Hunter has always been fearless, but has always been quick on his feet. Kora has taken her cue from her older brother and walks on ledges, jumps off furniture and climbs up anything taller than her. She has taken her fair share of spills, and because she falls so often she rarely cries, and if she does you know she is really hurt. She has many bruises all over her body (all self inflicted) from the many times she has fallen. So, the story begins...

We went to visit Great-Grandpa and instead of staying home we decided to go to the park. After we had lunch, Hunter and Kora played on the playground. Kora was on the top step of the equipment and tripped over her own foot and fell face first down the first step. Since Kelly and I are used to her falls neither of us jumped up to see if she was ok (we always wait to see how she will react). She didn't get up and was crying, so I went over to her and picked her up. I always pick up first, then check for damage. Hunter told me Kora was bleeding and sure enough when I did my check she had a small gash on her left cheek right below her eye. Of course, I panic but Kelly calmly tells me it's alright. I go to the car and get our first aid kit and we bandage it up. She cried while we cleaned it up but once we were done, so was she. When we got back to Grandpa's house we put a new bandage on it and realized that she just may need to go to the emergency room. We were both hoping they would tell us that she was fine and just needed a butterfly bandage but didn't want her to develop a really bad scar that could have been prevented or looked better if we had taken her to the emergency room. We dropped Hunter and Mylie off at Nani and Grandpa's house and we were off to the emergency room. We actually went to Urgent Care...which is similar to the emergency room, but is for less severe injuries. We found out that they give priority to people with open wounds so after we took care of all the paperwork we were called in. I attempted to hold Kora but the nurse asked me to remove the band-aid we put on and as I was taking it off blood was spilling out. The nurse and I cleaned it up but I knew I couldn't hold her so I asked Kelly to do it when the doctor came in. The doctor told us that her wound was small and straight which meant they could use this stuff called dermabond. It's like superglue for skin. Fortunatly we didn't have to go through the agony of watching our daughter being sewn up. Because Kora is very strong and the doctor was worried Kora might get the glue in her eye if she struggled too much we decided to papoose her. As the nurse strapped her into this velcro papoose Kora is screaming for Daddy and telling the nurse to "Let Go!". The doctor puts the dermabond on her cut and the whole time she's screaming for her Daddy who is standing by her side holding her hand. She finally asks for her "Dee-Tee" so I give it to her and she calms down a bit while the doctor finishes. Once he is done we release her and she is instantly calmer and in my arms. The doctor said she will have a small scar and the glue he just applied will come off in a week or two.

Susie, I don't know how you did it. I know Kelly wasn't your only child to visit the emergency room. This is only my first visit (I'm praying it's the last but I'm also realistic) but it really does break your heart to see your child in pain. Even worse to see her so scared and having to wrap her up so she can't move and can't do anything about it. I'm so glad the day is over and we are home and she is safe and asleep. It really wasn't a stressful day, just heartbreaking. We did have an enjoyable visit with Grandpa and after we returned to pick up Hunter and Mylie we stayed and had an enjoyable evening with Grandpa & Nani. Kora was fine the rest of the night, she still played, she still ran, and she still attempted to climb things. Besides the evidence on her face you would have never guessed anything happened to her by the way she played.

Speaking Like a Kerr

There is nothing more adorable than the way your kids misprounounce words. I wanted to remember some of them so I'm writing them down and sharing them with you.

Hunter

"Chicken" = Kitchen (also the meat, Chicken)

"Pie-Yets" = Pirates

"Two-Ma-Yo" = Tomorrow

"Wizard" = Lizard

"Pewter" = Computer

"Playhouse Dingy" = Playhouse Disney (Disney Channel)

"Woobie" = Movie

"I Wub You"

Kora

"Ton-Ter" = Hunter

"My-Nee" = Mylie

"Dee-Tee" = Binky

"Tay-Too" = Thank You

"Jess" = Yes

"Deuce" = Juice

"No-Nah" = Princess Fiona (from Shrek, her favorite movies)

"D'it" = You Do It

"Wah You" = Love You

Mylie

"Wahhhhh" = I'm Hungry

"Wahhhhh" = I want to be held

"Wahhhhh" = My brother and sister are bugging me

Now you can speak like a Kerr!