Strange Times

Today little miss Mykala told me that her friend Fourstas died. She said that she was sick and died like her Grampa Jensen and that she also died in a black brownish (referring to the casket her Grampa was in). She then said that her friend twostas (a new one) will die when she turns 5.

I was a little concerned at first, since death is a big and strange topic for a 4 year old. She has picked up on the fact that death is a very influential thing and is aware of the impact it makes, but obviously doesn't understand how or why.

I asked her things like "Does it make you sad?" and she said, "Sometimes it makes me sad." but she said it so matter-of-fact. She didn't seem bothered or depressed at all, really.... she said it all pretty casually. I kept telling her, "Well, it will be ok." I think she knows it will be.

I am worried; however, that all this talk and experience of death, that she is (and will be) afraid of her upcoming birthday. She told Chad at my dad's funeral that she didn't want to die and was really concerned that she was going to when she turned 5.

Death is a hard concept to grasp and cope with, no matter what age you are.

Kala's Quote of the Day

"I wish I had a sword to kill mean people.... like spiders."

Mykala's Quote(s) of the Day

Kala: "When I am one hundred a million, I will go to the surface."
Chad and I: "What surface?"
Kala: "The one that they have."

My Dad

Well, no one expected this so soon... my dad, at the age of 47, passed away suddenly March 21, 2010. In short, he died from neisseria meningitis - a very rare type of meningitis.
This is the video I made for my dad to show at his funeral. It was just as much for me as it was for him. I felt like I needed to make it and although there were high levels of stress and emotional breakdowns involved, I feel like it came out alright. I wish I could have done more than make a lousy collection of pictures, but at least I was able to do something for him... even though he didn't get to see it.
Just so you know, if you watch the video, you may have to first pause the blog music. Also, I apologize for the quality of the video. For some reason, it didn't come out too great on this site. But here it is.
I love you, dad... I don't know who else is going to read this blog, send me funny emails or emails updating me on the fam, cyber-stalk me, call me on the web cam, or chat with me for hours on Facebook at one o'clock in the morning. That all meant so much more to me than you probably knew. You were a wonderful dad and you certainly brightened things up a whole lot. I miss you.

Spring "Break"

The rest of Spring Break was spent being sick. And this time Chad started it. :)

I know this story's getting old... I can't tell you how awful it is to not be over this crap once and for all. But it was a little different this time around. Chad had a sore throat and ran a temperature, who passed it on to me. My wonderful body of course went crazy with it and turned it into a runny nosed, muscle aching, coughing, and puking fit.

BUT it's been great not having work this week, as I've taken so much time off for us already. Not to mention the stress levels have been way down because there hasn't been any sort of commitment this week. (Applaud me for looking on the bright side of things, please! :) )

Playin in the Sand...

So besides the bee incident, we had a pretty good time at the park. Jace and Kala both really enjoyed playing in the sand. :)

Fun Times

So day one of Spring Break was spent at the park. :) We had a lot of fun, but it ended a little crazy. Kala thought it was a good idea to take a water bottle full of Cactus Cooler to the park. Had I known it was soda, I wouldn't have let her take it... especially since it was taken without a lid. Much later, Jace decided to take a drink (of what I thought was water) and dumped it all over him. We were shocked to see that a bee had found it's way into the bottle and was now dead on Jace's lap. SO... our little Jacer was covered in soda. Not two minutes later, I noticed 3 other bees had found their way to the water bottle and were beginning to take an interest in Jace since he was covered in the stuff. We had to run to the car in order to escape the bees. lol.
So it ended a little chaotic, but we made it home safely... without any bee stings!!! :)

Nothing but fun and excitement for us Luncefords!!

Kala's Circle of Friends

(I told you I'd forget something!)

So I told everyone about Threesta... Mykala's sister who is 16 (yet younger than Kala) and lives in Alaska, right? Well now there is Fourstas and Fivestas. They are not her sisters, though... they are only friends. I forget where they live, and if I'm remembering correctly, Fourstas is 4 years old and Fivestas is 5. They aren't talked about at much as Threestas, as she's CLEARLY the favorite, but it's nice to know they, too, "exist". :)

Our cute cute little girl....

Lunceford Update

I'm trying to get better at this updating thing... and since it's been a busy couple weeks, I have new things to tell! :)

Chad and I are still trying to get caught up in school from the month of chaos. We are about mid-semester which is great! We love our classes, but it's been a little difficult finding the groove of school again (we started out so strong!) For the most part, we still like our classes. I'm taking a lot of fun classes this semester and it's going really well so far.

The kids are doing good. Jace has seen better days as he is still teething and having a little bit of a rough time with it. He's coming up on his 5th tooth. (I think, anyway... it's sad that I've already lost count!) He's also going through this screaming phase that was more than likely adopted from daycare. He's found out how to get attention (good or bad) and is using it to his advantage.... and does it by screaming. But even though the headaches are increasing, the cuteness hasn't at all decreased. :) (Oh and before I forget mom and dad, he and Kala both LOVE that toy that you got Jacer for his bday. And it's one of the cutest toys I've ever seen!)

Kala is doing fantastic. She absolutely loves her dance class and is having a lot of fun at school. Her favorite part of school these days is the playground (which was called "the Program" for awhile lol) and she is kept plenty busy there! We heard from her teachers that she likes to sing songs during nap/quiet time and that is definitely our little Kala! :) Always singing, always dancing! She has found the wonderful and diverse world of Dora the Explorer and can't seem to get enough of her. lol It's really cute to hear her sing along with the songs and interact with the movie - she has a fun time (and is also learning Spanish - two birds, one stone, right? haha) :)

Kala has also been quite the artist lately! She drew her first smiley sun the other day and I was really impressed!! She can also draw people, grapes, tunnels, BIG circles, and has been able to write a few words and numbers for a while. She is so brilliant!

That's about it for the updates.... I will definitely post if there's anything else. I'm sure I've forgotten something!

The Sickness

Well, for a while there we thought Jace was having problems again. About two weeks ago Jace was throwing up (again) and had us real worried. We tried everything we could and thought maybe he had a milk allergy. We loaded him up with bland food, water, and pedialyte and now things are looking up. He hasn't thrown up since then and he seems to be doing ok with milk again. So, whatever it was, it's gone now. We are officially well again... and it's about time!!

Talking!!

Jace can and is now saying Mama, Dada, and Kala!!
And man, is he a talker! That little kid keeps blabbing and his expressions while doing so are absolutely amazing. He looks as if he's actually saying something of importance - it's so great. I keep expecting him just to up and talk in complete sentences. :)
He's such a cute and smart little boy... and he's growing up WAY TOO FAST!

WALKING!!!

So, while updating the blog about Jacer not walking yet, Chad informed me that Jace is now walking!! Chad said that he walked all the way across the living room! YAY!

Sick of being sick!!!

Well, after about a month or so, we are all finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...

We are all feeling much better now and couldn't be happier about it! I was the last one of the group to get it pretty bad, but everything's starting to clear up. Even Jace, who we took into the doctor last Friday because we were starting to get concerned again, is feeling much better. The doctor said that Jace has just been unable to get rid of it completely since he's in daycare. He (and every other child in the neighborhood) was so kind and shared with everyone that he came into contact with. Spreading it around and around.....and around.

But things are starting to look up (again). At least this time the throwing up and the runny noses have stopped. HOORAY!!!

The hard part now will be trying to catch up in school with all the excitement we've had and the classes Chad and I have missed. (I myself had to drop a class just so that I could stay in the others!) Fun fun fun... isn't daycare great?!?

Here Comes Trouble

Jace took his first steps at his own b-day party! He took about 3-4 steps and has been doing only up to about 6 since then. So he's not really walking yet, but he's getting there. He stands up a lot on his own, thinks about it, and then either falls down, or takes a couple steps THEN falls down.
Maybe he's planning on skipping the walking and going straight to the running. :)

Jacer Speedracer #1!

Jacer turned 1!! It's hard to believe that he's one already... and he's so big! Last year flew!

And since it went by so fast, I am finding it hard to deal with the fact that my baby boy won't be a baby anymore. I am REALLY enjoying the baby stage. (A little too much, maybe.) Not that I didn't enjoy it with Kala, it's just so different with Jace. Chad and I feel comfortable as parents. We know what we're doing - or at least know how to handle things - and with Kala, we were so new to it all. We spent half the time worrying and trying to figure things out. Now that that part's over, we have been able to just sit back and enjoy all the baby stages - and it's so much fun!

I love the 3 1/2 year age difference in Mykala and Jace, too, it's perfect. Mykala is old enough to play on her own, help take care of Jace, figure things out, communicate with us, and yet is still just a kid. And the two are absolutely crazy about each other and have a great time playing together. I'm really going to miss it.

These really are the good days!!

Birthday

Oh yeah.... in between sick kids, school, and being sick ourselves, we realized that Jacer's birthday is coming up! Little kid's gonna be ONE!! Can you believe it?! :) :)
We're really excited (and shocked) about it, but unfortunately, we're not going to do anything big. We're just too busy! We're just going to have a mini party for him this Sunday and let him have his own little cupcake...nothing big or fancy. But we'll take lots of pictures. :D

Visit to the Doctor

Jace started showing signs of not feeling good (a couple days after we thought he was getting better) so we took him to the doctor yesterday after he threw up a couple times. Turns out poor little Jacer has an ear infection. We now have some antibiotics to help fight it off and even after a day we're starting to see a difference. He still is very clingy, but he's starting to look like he feels better (again). Yay!

We just can't wait until this is all over!! Poor little kid's been sick for almost 2 weeks!

Another Lesson Learned....

Found out tonight that threatening to put Kala to bed on the patio with no blanket does not work.... she's all for it. In fact, her exact words were, "Can I please please? Please let me!"
I'll have to think of something else to threaten her with....

(She of course knows that we wouldn't actually do it anyway.) :)

Kala's Quote of the Day

(While she was chasing a fly, trying to kill it...)
"Stupid damn fly! I know where you live!!"
And no, I do NOT know where she learned this.

Mommy-Daddy-Daughter Date

Last weekend, before we wanted the reality of school to set in, we took Mykala on a Mommy-Daddy-Daughter date to see the new Disney movie. Overall, Chad and I liked the movie. I thought it was cute and fun, but I wish I hadn't seen the previews before seeing it (I thought they ruined some of the cute parts.)
We think Kala liked the movie too, even though she fell asleep a couple times throughout the movie, was too light for the big seat (it nearly swallowed her!) and she never really expressed her excitement about having gone.
As her mother, I was just happy to have taken her to her first real movie - and a Disney movie on top of that - in a theater. :)

Oh Yeah....

...And the rain this week - WOW! Rain all day (nonstop) on Thursday and had Tornado and Thunderstorm warnings at night?? In Phoenix?!?! Talk about out of the ordinary. Heard tents were pulled up (at the car show), roads were flooded, and sections of the I-10 and I-17 were shut down....it was madness!

The Disadvantage of Daycare

Well, it's a whole new semester! And already it's been a pretty eventful one!

Prior to the start of school, Chad and I thought long and hard about taking the kids back to daycare. We had a rough fall semester having the kids being locked inside all day and concluded that for sanity, daycare would be the best. We were a little worried, though. Mykala holds her own in different environments now that she is older and communicates well, but we were worried about how Jace would handle it. We finally decided that taking him in only two days a week would be the best for all of us.

The daycare they go to is great - the one we took Kala to 2 years ago moved into a bigger building and have gone all out on security and entertainment....you definitely get what you pay for (and that's a lot!)

Jace did fine when we dropped him off...that cute, energetic, curious boy of ours took off to explore the room, climb up things, and make friends (we were able to spy on him with the security cameras.)

At the end of the day, the kids were pretty exhausted, as predicted. And we already can't get the details out of Mykala. Everytime we ask her how things went, she says, "Fun" or "Good". When asked her favorite part, she says, "Everything." But we're pretty sure she has a blast. Mykala already has two friends - Mia and Matty. :)

The downside of it all; however, has been the fact that after two days of being at daycare, Jace has already gotten sick. He has an on and off temperature, has been throwing up at night, and has an awful AWFUL runny nose. The poor kid is miserable!! We're all trying our best to hang on, and we're hoping that by Tuesday everyone's good to go. We cannot afford to have this semester go so sour so soon!!

Other then adventures with daycare, the semester so far has been going pretty smoothly. Chad and I have a lot to handle this semester. We both really like our classes, but I personally am worried I took on too much. We'll make it, though, I'm sure!

Christmas '09

I realize I am really late in putting these in, but I needed at least a few Christmas pictures on here. They're not great, and I realize that, but it was my fault...I didn't take too many this year (and I probably should have!)
But don't let the lack of pictures fool you - we had a VERY good Christmas! :) It was actually very nice and relaxing. The time spent with Chad's parent's was really fun...we spent it watching a movie, playing games, and eating a fantastic lunch. It was perfect. :)
Chad and I had fun playing with the kids' toys this year - those kids of ours are SO spoiled by their grandparents!!!

Dance Lessings

Another good thing about the break we had was that we got to take Mykala to dance lessons (or dance lessings, as she calls them.) We finally got to see our little girl use those tap and ballet shoes...it was so fun and adorable!
She has so much fun in that class. And watching all those little girls together is really entertaining, to say the least! We did have to have a talk with Mykala about the fact that not everything is a race, though... the competitiveness she gets from her father really shines through in dance lessons! lol

Walking

No, Jacer's not walking - not yet. But he's been really good at standing up by himself and has been doing it quite a lot today. He just can't make that first little step.
So lately we've been working on walking. I've been a little concerned because he isn't yet. Kala was about 9 months when she learned how to crawl AND walk, and Jace is now 11 months. Not to mention the fact I've been hearing stories about everyone else's children (younger than Jace) who are walking! I did hear just recently, however, that boys are late bloomers when it comes to walking. that made me feel a little better.
It's so funny how I keep worrying about him not walking, though. I know fully well that I am going to hate it when he finally learns. Not only will he be able to reach things in higher places, but I will have to put on running shoes to keep up with that little bugger. He is already the fastest little trouble maker I know - so him walking/running around the apartment only worsens the situation.
But it's getting closer ... whether we like it or not!

NARCISSISM

Boys and Girls

TEETH!

Jace now has his two front bottom teeth! And, since he's been holding out so long, we're thinking there will be more showing up very soon!

Also, on Wednesday Kala had her first Dentist appointment. I was a little uncertain of how it would go, but she was absolutely perfect and by the end was asking when she was going to go back. Our Miss Mykala didn't have any cavities so maybe that had something to do with it.... :)

New Year's Eve

We got a webcam for Christmas from my parents and it's been a lot of fun. :)
And on New Years weekend, Ryan, Natalia, and Natalia's sister Domynique came down to Phoenix....made our Holiday A LOT better!!! :)