Thursday, October 21, 2004

Photos from Sears :)

Here are some photos that we had taken at Sears last month. I wanted to share them with all of you becuase they are so cute! (Thanks Gina for scanning them in and working on them so they turned out clear :)














And here are some photos that my Mom sent to me from when I was about 3 - 4 months old. I was surprised to see how much Kian looks like me as a baby! I think he looks so much like Jamie, but I guess he's got a little of me in him too :)


If I didn't know any better, I would think that this was Kian! but he hasn't got up on his hands like that yet! Wow!


Thank God for digital cameras these days or Kian would have a lot of blank stares at the camera just like this one I had on my first New Years Eve :)


Whose smile do you think that looks like! :)






Thursday, October 14, 2004

Lots of First since the last post!


Kian’s First Big Car Ride!


This past weekend we made the 3 hour and 15 minute drive to see my Aunt Lori, Uncle David and my cousin Maggie. We traveled at night (at the advice of a mom from Mom’s Group who made a car trip with her little one this way) and he slept the entire way in the car! I gave him a bath (like I do every night before bed) and got his p.j.s on and put him in the carseat and off we went :)

He did great at my Aunt’s house – although it was difficult to get him to sleep at night but then again it was a strange place, strange bed and everything. I think he did pretty well though :)

One thing that my Aunt said was that Kian was one of the best babies she has ever seen! It was hard to believe when she said that at first! Then she turned to Kian and said, “You’re making your mom a liar about you being a high needs baby!” hehe It was then that I realized that Kian has really come SO far. He is a totally different baby than what he was like a few months ago. I probably wouldn’t call him high needs anymore…he’s just a normal baby who just wants his Mommy a lot lol But I think that’s pretty typical behavior (although it would be nice if the kid let me put him down for more than a moment or two). I think that he’s come a long way. I just need to make sure I keep doing what I have been doing :) I have to say thank you my doula Kathy for all her help with Kian and her advice and to Dr. Sears who wrote a book that I have been using and defined Kian as high needs…it really helped me know what to do with him and how to help him.


Kian Knows His Name and has been making some fun sounds!

A few weeks ago Jamie came with me and Kian when I went to have my teeth cleaned. The whole office wanted to meet Kian as Jamie has had some dental work done recently and they were just dying to see him! As we were talking with the doctor and his assistant someone walked by and ask what his name was. I said, “Kian.” And Kian turned his head to look at me right after I said it! I thought that maybe it was a fluke but he seems to turn his head when I say his name sometimes. Someone also told me that they found on a baby website that babies can know their names at 5 months! So, I think Kian knows he’s Kian now :) Thank God I started using his name more instead of saying, Buddy, little man, sweet boy…and all those other things I like to call him :)

Kian has also been making some fun new sounds these last few weeks. He says “dadadadadada” “mamamamama” and now he screams and screeches but in a happy way hehe It’s pretty funny to be walking through the grocery store with a screeching baby but at least he’s happy! It has been worse :) At least people smile at us now in the store instead of trying to tell me what’s wrong with him.


Kian’s first time in the Nursery at Church!


Today I brought Kian to the nursery for the first time ever at church! He only lasted 15 minutes but it was a huge step for me! One of the ladies working the nursery that day (we rotate out people who work there every week and have a few who are paid) was in my bible study small group last year. She recognized me and was so happy to see Kian for the first time :) She said she would hold him the whole time he was there :) Anyway, she paged me to come and get Kian when he was getting upset (we have a neat little pager that vibrates when your child is upset so you know they need you). I talked to her a bit when I went to get Kian (of course he stopped crying the moment I took him) she has two daughters who are in high school and she was telling me how fast this time goes by. She said that she could remember when her little ones were in the nursery and it just seems like yesterday.

Friday, October 01, 2004

Teething Continued and the Earth Shakes!

The Teething Saga Continues :(

Kian is still teething…even though I am scared of his teeth coming because I am breastfeeding still I want those two little buggers to come in! hehe Today I had my weekly walk with Gina and her daughter Danielle. Afterwards I went to Walmart. Kian slept in the front carrier the whole time. He was really wiped out from the walk I think. When I got him to the car to put him in the car seat he started to cry and he didn’t stop the entire way home – which is about a 15-20 minute drive. My heart was breaking for him as I knew his teeth were bothering him. I have never felt so helpless! I just had to keep driving and trying to calm him with my voice while reaching back to put his binky back in his mouth – he would suck for a while and then he was back to screaming…that scream is a cry of pain :(

As I was driving I thought, all I can do is pray. So I started to pray that Kian would be soothed. That the pain would subside at least until I could hold him or give him Tylenol. It was so hard to listen to him scream – I actually had tears in my eyes for my poor little man. As I was driving and praying the thought popped into my mind that God must have felt something similar when Jesus was hanging on the cross. I know that what was happening with me and Kian was not even remotely on a scale as Jesus’ crucifixion, but I thought about how hard it was to see my own son in pain. Having a child really makes it all hit home – what God and even Mary had to watch when Jesus was on the cross. I cannot imagine the pain that Mary felt in her heart for her son.

Our First eARthQuAKe

Most of you probably know by now that we had an earthquake here on Tuesday, September 28th at 10:15AM. It was a 6.0 on the Richter scale. Jamie, Kian and I were all sitting in the waiting room of our doctor’s office when it happened. I actually felt dizzy and wondered why I felt so bad all of a sudden. It also felt like someone was banging on the back of my chair but it was against a wall so I thought I was just feeling things. Right before I experienced all those things a guy just suddenly ran out of the office! Jamie and I were talking about how funny that looked and wondered what was wrong with him! Then a lady behind the desk said, “Did you feel that?” I said, “I did!” It was then that I realized I wasn’t sick but that I had just experienced an earthquake! There was no damage at all where we live, nothing even moved off the walls or anything (which is good seeing there was pottery sitting above Jamie, Kian and me. God must have been watching out for us!

The funny thing is that Jamie never felt the earthquake even though he was sitting right next to me! hehe An hour or so later I met with a friend of mine for our weekly walk near the beach. I asked her if she thought it was big enough to be national and she said she didn’t think so. But when I got home from our walk and a trip to Walmart (the ride where Kian cried the whole way home) my mom had called and never even said hello she just said, “Are you guys ok?” It was then that I called my mother-in-law to make sure she knew we were alright. Then I got a call from my Aunt Lori who lives about 3.5 hours south of us congratulating me on going through my first earthquake! I think if threw was a greeting card for such an occasion, she probably would have sent it to me :) hehe She said that we are real Californians now that we have been through one :)

I am really glad that we got to me in one before a really big one hit. This way I can be prepared for where I need to go and what I need to look for to be safe in the event of an earthquake.

Speaking of that, there was an aftershock today (Thursday) at about noon that was 5.0! I didn’t feel it because I was walking up the stairs to the place where my Mom’s group was meeting. I didn’t feel it but Rebecca (the Mom who was hosting) said she felt it and told me to look at some small beads that were dangling off of a lamp across the room - they were swaying a bit from the movement.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as the news people are saying that they think a larger earthquake might hit in the next two weeks.