All for Kylie and the love from her Papa

It has definitely been a while since the last post.  Honestly, it is hard for me to post after the last one about my dad...I don't want it to get lost amongst all the other posts and I wanted it to be the latest post for as long as possible.  I can not say it has gotten any easier, because it really has not been the case.  The more time passes, the more real it is, and that is hard to accept.

Just the other day I was putting Kylie down for her nap, and she told me how she missed Papa Joe.  I told her we always have him in our heart, and she said she lost him in her heart.  Oh, that was hard to hear...I don't want her to ever forget that she had the best grandpa in the whole world, who loved her more than anything else.  So we put some of those things back in her heart, and shared stories and memories.  One thing she said was "remember all the hugs and tickles."  Then she asked me to hug and tickle her a lot...(like Papa Joe did). 

I am amazed at how far she has come, and I can not believe this will be her last year at the Lee Ann Britain Center.  We will forever be grateful to everyone that has been on Kylie's team that helped her be where she is today, and where she will soar in the future.  I am truly grateful that through the support from her docs, and everyone at the Britain Center, that my dad got to see and know the amazing girl that was deep down inside and is she is ready for everyone to see and know her...she is just so beautiful and is shining now more than ever.  I know that is because her Papa Joe is watching over her...how beautiful a sight it must be for him to always see her now and enjoy all the progress she has made....one proud Papa for sure!

With that said, you may have noticed Kylie's picture on the right hand side of the blog.  If you click on it, it will take you to Team Kylie, and that is a page we have created the last couple of years to raise money for Kylie's school.  The money raised will be used to help children with special needs in our community, so they can attend the Britain Center at a more affordable rate. We were fortunate enough to have Kylie on scholarship when she was receiving services there, now she is a peer model which is just unbelievable!  Feel free to click on her picture on the blog to the right, or you can click the link here to see her page, and read about so much of the progress Kylie has made. 

Forever her Papa

Some of you may know that my father suddenly lost his life in a fatal crash on June 27, 2013 at 6:30pm.  Typing these words, still does not seem real, but sadly enough it is our reality.  Kylie's Papa Joe loved her more than anything else.  It breaks my heart to know she will not have future moments to share with him. 

 

Just watching her talk or play, or do anything at all made him smile.  She brought so much light to his life, and I know he did the same to her.  I loved watching him watch her, and see how much joy she brought him.  We know Kylie is a miracle and such a blessing to us, and I love that she has been a blessing to so many...especially her Papa Joe. 

 

 

 

This is the first time my dad held her

 

He wanted so badly to hug her and hold her tight, but those sensory issues of hers wouldn't allow it.

I love this picture so much!  My hub's with my dad and Kylie...and Abbie

 

What a moment captured here...Kylie looking at her Papa, him watching her, and me watching him. 

 

We stayed an extra night in Ohio to go to Nights Under Fire at the racetrack.  I'm so glad we stayed because it was a lot of fun.  Kylie stayed in the RV with my mom and Abbie.  Here he is with Kylie and Abbie.

Another beautiful moment...no matter what she was doing, they both were in awe of her.  I'm gonna miss this.

 

Getting a little bit better at the hug...so close!

 

Okay, so this was cute...my dad was holding their dog Abbie, and Kylie loved her so much she wanted to hug her....this was Papa Joe's ticket to get a hug, and it worked!

 

Kylie wasn't really into holding hands with anyone but us, but I had to be busy getting out of the car when we got to the store, so she had to hold Papa Joe's hand.  Isn't it beautiful! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So Kylie loves to be silly, and even here with no idea as to what is so funny...Papa Joe always watches her. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to play miniature golf one time, and my dad was such a great Papa...he got down to her level and was on her every word...he was all about soaking up the moments with her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

No prouder Papa than he was here! 

 

 

 

 

 

More sweetness

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grandma Karen, Uncle Joey, Matt, Kylie, Papa Joe

 

Getting some help from her Papa

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just need to remember that he will forever be there to lift us up and help us through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kylie wanted Papa Joe to put her to bed and read her a book.

This was one of the times my parents came out to visit me in Kansas.  Here is a pic of my dad and I at the college I was going to at the time.  I love this picture so much!

My brother works at a transmission shop and builds racing transmissions.  His boss's mom made this quilt for Kylie.  It is just beautiful, and so colorful and lively...just like Kylie and Papa Joe were together. 

This is a handkerchief Matt's grandma made for us to put with my dad at his funeral.  I put it right by his heart, so he will always have us with him.  It was so beautiful, and just perfect!

A friend of ours from church was able to rally together with a couple other folks to get a cross made to honor my dad and put at the sight of the crash.  It still seems so surreal to me.  We are so grateful for the support and kindness from the quilt, to the handkerchief, to the cross and every one that was there for my family at this tragic time. 

Here is Matt, Ryan (my sister's boyfriend) and Trevor (the firefighter that extricated my dad from his truck).  Trevor and another firefighter met us to make sure we were safe to put the cross up at the sight. 

 

My dad really liked the color purple, and how amazing is it that purple became such a prominent color in our lives with Kylie and what she has been through.  Kylie had a special connection with her Papa Joe, and it ran deeper than anyone of us ever would have known. 

One thing I can say, is that despite Kylie's anxiety and sensory issues, last Summer and Christmas she was able to hug and be hugged by us and her Papa Joe.  I know how much he always wanted to hold her and hug her, so I am truly grateful that through the help and support from her doctors and school, Papa Joe was able to get his hugs from Kylie.  We will forever love and miss you Papa Joe.

Batting a thousand (toothless) smiles!

 

 

I think it was somewhere around 2 wks or so ago when Kylie said a tooth on the bottom hurt when she ate.  I remember Matt tried to wiggle it and nothing happened...whew!  Well I called the dentist come Monday morning and after chatting with them I scheduled to bring her in.  When I got off the phone I tried and sure enough....she had a loose tooth!

 

 

I called back to cancel the apptmt and we determined that since she got her teeth early (4 months!), that they would fall out early too. I think the following day or two, the director at her school asked if I would be interested in having Kylie be one of the kids in the pics for the big gala they have each year.  I was elated!  Then I thought, oh no...what about this loose tooth!  Okay, so yeah I kinda wanted her to have all of her teeth for the pic, and I really didn't want her to lose her first tooth yet....that just means she is growing up even faster...I'm just not ready for this yet.  But the day before pics, it was super loose.  So Dadda got the job of helping get that tooth out.

 

 

 

Right before it came out

 

No more tooth now!

 

 

 

Still a beauty minus one tooth :)

 

 

We did not have the tooth fairy come that night, as we were concerned that part of her tooth may not have come out completely.  So we went to the dentist the following morning to get things checked out.  They got an x-ray that not only showed that all of the tooth was out, but there were lots of adult teeth under her baby teeth....ughh...I can't believe how big she is!


There was lots of concern about the tooth fairy coming into her room.  She got quite upset at bedtime, and it all made sense as to why she kept saying she wanted her tooth back....she really just didn't want this tooth fairy person coming in her room while she slept.  Gotcha!  Okay, so good thing I made her a tooth fairy pillow.  She put her tooth in the pocket on the back, and she got to choose where she hung it up in the house...she picked her play room.

Kylie is quite the thinker, and she asked how the tooth fairy would know the tooth was in her playroom.  So I remembered in the Tinkerbell movie, Tinkerbell took a ballerina music box back to the mainland.  Well, she knew what house it belonged to because it lit up and sparkled.  I told her the same thing works for the tooth fairy....she will go wherever it lights up and shines in the house...which is where the tooth will be.  Whew!  That was a close one!

I tried to get a couple pics of Kylie before we met the photographer at the park for some pics.

We got Kylie signed up for T-ball and it was quite fun seeing 20 little ones out there learning about the game.  They are more less learning about the game and will have scrimmages towards the end of the 8 wks.

 

Everyone ran to the outfield for some stretches

 

 

 

 

 

Look at that throwing form!

 

 

 

 

Getting some tips from dad

Aren't they so cute!

They divided the kids in half, so 10 on each team and here they are getting their shirts.

They got to choose their team name and ended up with the Banana Cars!

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of my favorites that I edited a bit below

 

 

 

 

 

 

She was definitely tired, after all it was an hour long!

 



Zoo and more

 

On Mother's Day weekend, we decided to go to Omaha for the day and take Kylie to the zoo there.  Matt and I used to go there a couple times a year, and it was high time for Kylie to go too!

 

 

In the stroller and ready to roll! 



 

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Looks like the big guy was taking a nap

 

Some of the exhibits had these like bubbled windows that you could look through to get a closer look into their zoo habitat.  This guy happened to be sitting on top of one, so when you looked up, there he was!  He just stared at you, and it was just kind of a neat thing to see and all the kids at the zoo got a kick out of it too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another monkey of some kind.

 

We loved the butterfly exhibit!  In years past, we only saw a couple butterflies flying around.  This year was different, they were all over.  This pic below is one that had landed on the arm of the lady that was in front of us.  It stayed on for almost the entire time we spent in the exhibit. 

 

 

 

 

 

Look how huge this one was!  Matt put his hand to give you an idea of it's size...it's kinda gross in a way!

 

 

 

 

 

Checking to see which penguin she was closer to in height :)

So a cute pic gone silly here!  Matt just laughed when I showed it to him.

 

This is just a random pic I took and well, she's just too cute not to post it!

Nothing like finding dandelions on our walk and then blowing them all over when we got back home.

Another, just because she is so cute pic :)