Shaylee is Sick

Wow- it's been a week since my last post! Well, lets see...what to catch you all up on?

Saturday the 28th- Shaylee got her hair cut and it looks super cute. I love how the hairstylist "stacked" the back and made it angled a little bit...shorter in the back, longer as it tapers to the front. She looks so much older...where did my baby go?! That night Nils and I had a date night (even though our friend Steve came with us) and attended a Hollywood Undead concert in St Petersburg. It rocked! They are so awesome live!

Sunday, March 1st- Shaylee did really well in the children's area at church. No tears! And I am becoming more and more comfortable being there.

Okay, now that you are up to speed a bit...

Shaylee is sick. She was burning up with fever the last two night so neither her nor I slept well. She kept talking in her sleep and sounded so stuffed up. I kept waking up with every little move she made, constantly feeling her forehead. Oh yeah, in case you have not figured it out- Shaylee is not really sleeping in her new bed. She will go and lay in it to watch her little portable DVD player and sometimes fall asleep but come 1 am she is always back in bed with Nils and I. Nils and I are taking her to the walk in clinic tomorrow morning because we think she has conjunctivitis. She has bright yellow-ish green gunk coming out of one eye and its swollen. Poor baby, she looks awful. :(

So other her being sick, here is an update on Shaylee:

She is getting so big! I already have to go through her closet again and get rid of all the 24 months clothing. She will be three in June and is already into a 3 toddler, sometimes 4. I bought her two new pairs of jeans and some new sneakers because she outgrew every pair I had. And a new winter coat. The weather is kinda crazy right now. Its really cold in the morning (some mornings we had frost on our windshield) but fairly nice in the afternoons and cool in the evenings. Its light blue and reversible and is a size Small 6 in little girls so its pretty big but she will get plenty of wear out of it.

Talk about personality! Shaylee is strong willed, impatient, stubborn and sharp as a tack. She has a memory like an elephant, I swear! And when she talks to you, you would swear she is older than she is. She has a great vocabulary and carries on quite a conversation. I like when she uses the phrases "Well, kind of" and "Hmmm, let me think. Think, think, think" while she taps her cheek with one finger. She makes up songs and has a vivid imagination. In the tub she has some plastic Easter eggs, than she has pretended was "good coffee" and "carrot juice" when filled with bath water. And an old cosmetic brush and an empty container filled with body wash has become "nail polish" and "paint" in the tub as well.

She has never been really attached to any one toy unlike me and my "bunny"- a stuffed brown rabbit that I used to rub it's red ribbon in my fingers over and over until it became frayed and had to be replaced. She will be attached to a stuffed animal for a few weeks at a time and then will switch to another. First there was "Benny" the Leapfrog singing tad pole, then came "Charlie" the learning puppy, then "Blackie"-a black lab floppy dog, then "Buddy" the brown sugar puppy from Build-A-Bear Workshop was a favorite at one time. "Buddy" was replaced with "Ballerina Bunny"- another Build-A-Bear creation, then came her Mickey Mouse, then Stitch from our Magic Kingdom trip. Now the current favorite is "Lizard"- an old chameleon Beanie Baby that used to be my brother's. "Lizard" sleeps with us and "he's so cute" and "her is real" according to Shaylee. Apparently "Lizard" is a sex changing, rather than color changing, chameleon, LOL!

Shaylee has also pretended she is a cat for several days now. Usually she becomes a kitty when I am dropping her off or picking her up from my grandmother's on days I have to work. She continues to meow over and over...you ask her a question, you get meowed at in response. Its that imagination again!

Favorite foods at this time are Spagetti-O's, canned mandarin oranges, and "puddin". And yes, that is how she pronounces "pudding". Very Southern sounding, LOL. She HATES getting her hair brushed (another reason for the recent haircut) but is still really good about brushing her teeth. Potty training, since my grandmother's knee surgery, has fizzled out some but we hope when it gets warmer out that we can go back to it. She was better at using the potty when she was able to run around bottomless but the cooler weather has made it difficult.

Other than that, it's one day at a time with a toddler! Some days she is an angel, helpful and cuddly and others she is cranky and ornery!

Today I really feel like Nils and I are starting to get ahead in our lives as responsible adults. I know that sounds funny considering that we are both pushing thirty (hee hee, Nils hates when I say that!), but we are finally starting to climb out of our financial hole. Today we not only got four brand new (high quality, almost top of the line) tires on our car, but we also paid off our payday advance we have been stretching over about five or six months. We took a payday advance to make ends meet and have not had the extra funds available to pay it off and still be able to afford everything else we needed to pay for. My tax refund saved us and made it possible to finally be able to put that $59.99 fee in our savings and not pay to extend the loan. Ah! Sigh of relief! Plus Nils recently got a 4.5% raise! He is still pushing for the next supervisor possible to open up, but this raise will help us be able to have more money directly deposited into our house savings. My yearly review is right around the corner so I am hoping mine will be good too!

Here is another recipe we will be adding to the Laufer Family favorites! It started as a recipe on the Menus4Moms.com website but I altered it (as I often do to most recipes) to make it my own. I have to say, this soup is filling! Its perfect for these cooler evenings.

Cheeseburger Soup

• 1 lb. browned ground beef
• 3/4 C. chopped onion

• 1/4 C. diced dill pickle (or dill relish)
• 3 T. butter or oil
• 3 C. chicken broth
• 4 C. diced potatoes
• 1/4 C. flour
• 8 oz. Velveeta cheese
• 1 1/2 C. milk
• 1/4 C. sour cream
• salt and pepper

Saute onion in butter in large soup pot about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and add broth, potatoes and beef. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add cheese, milk, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from heat and blend in sour cream. Serve.