Keilana

It seems as though all my posting has been about Kayden and that I have failed to mention the cute things that Keilana has done.

Story #1: This one brought tears to my eyes, and maybe I'm pathetically sappy but it meant so much to me! I first have to explain this to tell my story. Everyone knows the statement, "what happens at grandma's, stays at grandma's". Well, there are things that Keilana gets to do when she's at Nanny and Papa's that she doesn't get to do at home, and one thing in specific is drinking Pepsi. She knows that I don't like for her to have "coca-cola" (we're big coke fans around here), but I really don't mind if she drinks it with Papa, just not the whole can. And of course they don't allow her to but I remember as a kid having "special" treats at my Granny and Pop's that I didn't get at home. I'm pretty sure that goes for everyone! What are grandma and grandpas for anyway?! So she comes home the other night from my mom and dad's and this was our conversation:

Me: "So did you have fun at Nanny and Papa's?"
Lana: "Yeah!"
Me: "What did y'all do?"
Lana: "We played."
Me: "Yeah? What else did you do?"
Lana: (hanging her head low, eyes looking up at me, she replies earnestly) "I'm sorry I drank Pepsi."

I grabbed her in my arms, hugged and thanked her. I explained to her that I greatly appreciated her telling me and that it was okay for her to have a little Pepsi with Papa. It was something special that they had together. I gave her another big hug and started to tear up as I proceeded to tell her how much that meant to me. I thought it was so sweet and considerate that she knew and understood that I didn't like for her to have Pepsi! She's just getting to be so grown up and acting like a little lady more and more everyday. She is constantly surprising me with the things she says and does!

_____________________________________

Story #2. This happened back on May 20th but I forgot to post about. However, it's worth documenting. A few months ago Keilana started play this game with Jon where she hides when he gets home from work and hears the garage door opening. She'll exclaim, "I gotta hide!!! Hurry!" We had been through many hiding places and in the beginning she would give herself away by either laughing or jumping out of her hiding spot and shouting, "Here I am!". But over the weeks I've trained her to be very still and very quiet. The day before she had hid under the kitchen cabinents and heads for the same spot. Too easy! Well, we found an excellent hiding spot (credit given to my sister & Tyler who started the game long ago and have a ledge in their sun room that Tyler hid on from his daddy one day). Jon was stumped, he couldn't find her! He searched in all the obvious places, and all the old hiding spots...no Lana! She was so still and ever so quiet. Finally, for some reason, he looked up and there she was, perched way up high on our cabinet tops! She was very proud of herself! The second picture she is looking down at her Daddy as he is laughing.

_________________________________

Story #3: This happened, hm...2 months ago, give or take a week. We were watching wedding videos on my computer, samples from various websites, and she seemed to enjoy watching them. So I asked her if she would like to see Mama and Daddy's wedding video when we got married (she's been fascinated by "marriage" recently). She gets excited and I pop it in the VCR. Might I add, technology has come a long way in just the short 5 years that Jon and I have been married. DVD format is now standard, opposed to five years ago when it was an option and cost more. *sigh* Anyway, she sees me in my dress and she replied, "Mama! You're a princess!". That melted my heart that my daughter thought I looked like a princess. We watch more of the video and she begins to express how much she wants to go to the temple, and goes as far as to say, "We have to go to the airport so we can get on the plan and go to Utah." By this point I am intrigued. The conversation is fairly long and this is kind of how it went:

Me: "Honey, why do you want to go to the temple so badly?"
Lana: "So I can get married."
Me: "Well, who are you going to marry."
[she pauses and thinks for a moment]
Lana: "I can marry Tyler (cousin and BFF)!"
Me: "Baby, you can't marry Tyler, he's your cousin. We don't marry our cousins."
[another pause]
Lana: "Well, then, I can marry Daddy!"
Me: "But I'm married to Daddy."
[getting a little discouraged and disappointed]
Lana: "No, I can marry Daddy."
[At this point I'm trying not to laugh but it's so stinking cute that I can't help but giggle and smile]
Me: "Then who will Mama be married to?"
Lana: "We can both marry Daddy."
[I agree. Another pause]
Lana: "Mama, can I see your dress?"

I take her to my closet and show her my dress, veil, and tiara. I could just tell she was in hog heaven! Her next request was for me to try the dress on. I laughed and said, "Honey, I don't think Mama could get in this dress if she wanted to." After being married for 5 years, and two kids later, I've got a few pounds to shuck! But it's a work in progress. Nonetheless, she settled for a try on of the tiara, and then it was her turn to try it on! I adored this moment with her--it was a huge bonding experience for both of us--I will cherish it forever. And now, it is officially documented.

*I screwed up! If you are perusing my blog, in the MUCH older posts starting January and prior, then you'll find a bunch of pictures missing. I was deleting "extra" pictures out of the Picasa web albums which is linked to blogger and, well, I deleted the wrong ones. Errr. So if you are stuck in this situation and don't know which ones to delete...it's the second one!!!*