Nikki....Did you know your my stepmom?

This past weekend Brad and I traveled to Holcomb, Kansas to visit his daughter Laney. I was really nervous I just wanted everything to go well. I met Brad's ex Annie and Laney at the door. She was really excited to see us both and immediately wanted me to see her pink room. Annie was very nice to me and Laney was so excited to get going to our hotel room in Garden City. We gave her little stuffed animals. She named the dog Ding Ding Tesch and the Cat Meow Meow Tesch. She is so sharp and witty. We arrived pretty late so it was almost bed time, so before bed we watched a Disney movie in bed, we all went to sleep and I couldn't help but nothice in the middle of the night how alike they are. They both slept the exact same with their arms above their heads and their heads tilted to the exact same side.

Friday November 7th, 2008
The next Day I woke up early and went down to the lobby and got breakfast for everyone so that we could have breakfast in bed. Laney needed to get ready for school so I gave her a bath, did her hair, got her dressed, and we took her to school. I've never had to get someone ready for school. I completly understand why it takes so long for Mom's to get ready in the morning :) Her school was so cute with artwork everywhere, her teacher showed us the classroom and it was so hard to drop her off and walk away.

A few hours later we went back to pick her up from school. Laney opened up her presnts from Washington. She was very excited to play tea with daddy (a tea set from Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Barry) and eat the candy from Aunt Jenny and Uncle Brian. We gave her little glasses that were straws, it was so cute to watch her play.

After that we went to a carnival that was being held by her school. Laney had her face painted like a tiger, she looked so adorable. She played games like Go Fish, bowling, and jumped around in the bouncy house. We walked across the street for dinner at the Cafe, Annie's family owns it. Her family was very kind and welcomed me. Dinner was great too. Laney was so excited to hit the pool so Brad and Laney went down to the pool while I went to Walmart to stock our room with kid snacks and big bird apple juice :) We ended our busy day with a disney movie in bed.

Saturday November 8th, 2008
Saturday we went to the zoo, it was such a cute little place to go visit. There were so many animals to see and it turned out to be quite a nice day. Laney was really excited to show me around the zoo since this was my first time. She wanted to be on Daddy's shoulders so that she could see everyhitng that was going on, when she wasn't we were holding her little hands and swinging her in the air. It was perfect.

We went to the store at the zoo and Laney stuffed and made Princess Kangaroo Tesch. We bought her a princess outfit and pajamas for bed time. It was super cute. We even bought her a purse for her to carry, she looked so adorable. After the store we went to the park across the street where we played on the swings and Laney climbed a huge rocket ship. We ended the night with a dip in the pool and another Disney movie :)

Sunday November 9th, 2008
Sunday we gave Laney a bath and got soap in her little eyes. I felt so bad, so dad bundled her up in her blankets and they watched caroons on the bed until she felt better. Its amazing how giving kisses and hugs makes everything feel better.

Once she felt better we took her to foot locker where we bought her little tiny pink Jordan's......daddy is a sucker for Jordan's and I'm a sucker for that little smile.

Afterwards we went to Walmart and bought craft supplys so that we could make crafts at the hotel. Brad was so exhausted so he took a little nap while Laney and I made suprise crafts for daddy. She wanted them to match our apartment, she is so adorable.

Then I painted her toenails and fingernails all pretty and pink to surprise daddy. She was going to wait until Christmas to give it to him, but 5 months after he woke up she wanted to show him, it was so cute. That night we went to the movie theature and watched the new Madagascar movie. Her laugh is so cute.

Monday Novemeber 10th, 2008
Our last day in Kansas we spent watching cartoons with Laney and getting her ready to go home to Mom's house. When we dropped her off, she gave Brad a hig and a kiss and whispered I love you dad in his ear. Then she came running over to me and jumped in my arms and gave me a bug bear hug and the cutest little kiss and I said I love you. She didn't cry when we left.....but I did. I could barely make it to the car. It was so hard leaving her. She is such an amazing little girl. Before we came to Kansas I felt like Laney was his daughter, when we left Kansas I felt like she was our daughter and I was her mom too.

On one of our many car rides around town out of the middle of no where Laney Says, "Nikki, Did you know you're my stepmom?" I told her yes and asked her if she was okay with that and she said yes. Her mom called to see how things were going and Laney said, "Mom.......I like Nikki, she lets me wear her sparkley lipstick." Our car rides where so much fun. Laney plays a game called Bingo. If you see a yellow car you say Bingo, theree in a row you get to tap the other people on their knee, if you get a false bingo you get flicked. It was fun to play, she is so sharp and would see cars really far away, she said, "I have eagle eyes dad."

Our trip went so well. We had such a wonderful time. I miss her little face and her cute comments he made. Brad is such a wonderful daddy and makes her feel like a princess. I think I did pretty well as a step mommy. I love them both so much. I can't imagine my life without them in it. I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have sucha great husband and a wonderful and beautiful little daughter.