Halloween 2008!

We had a big day yesterday! First, Kian went on his first field trip with preschool. They went to a Nature Center, walked some trails, talked about autumn and animals. It was a lot of fun (I went too - I volunteered to drive).

When we got home, we grabbed Kian's costume and headed to Volition for their Trick or Treating around the office. Kian got quite a haul of candy from that - even after i picked through what was not safe for him to eat (processed near nuts).

After that we were home for a short time and then all three of us headed over to one of Jamie's co-worker's house. They have 2 little boys. Another couple and their little guy was there as well. We ate pizza, the boys played (yep, they are all boys) and I think we all had a good time!

Then it was time for Trick or Treating so it was costume time.

Kian wanted to be a sword wielding Batman - we had him leave it behind ;)

My Handsome little Batman

All the Trick or Treaters

Kian mid run to the next house - he ran the WHOLE time with his new friend Nicholas.

Here are Kian and Nicholas running to the next house!

The local fire department walked down the street with the fire truck and gave out candy to the kids - how cool is that!

Trick or Treating at our new friend's house ;) Not like the kids needed more candy ;)

Jack 'O Lanterns

Yesterday Kian and I went to Walmart for some things and picked up some pumpkins for carving. There weren't any larger pumpkins and Kian wanted these cute little ones so I told him he could pick out two. Then I found kits that allow you to kinda make your pumpking a Mr. Potatohead of sorts. He picked out the animal one. The pumpkin on the left is a dog and the one on the right is a cat. He's so proud of them! Anytime anyone comes to our house he tells them about them and wants to show them off :) A great idea

We are All Moved in!

We checked out of our hotel today. The heater should be fixed today and some repair guys should be showing up any minute to ground some of our outlets. We still have a lot of unpacking to do. But the house is starting to feel like a home :)

Happy Birthday to Me

Yep, today is my birthday :) It was mostly spent unpacking with some phone calls from family sprinkled in. Our house finally has cable and it starting to really come together. We are having to get kinda creative with storage, but it's all coming together.

This evening Jamie and Kian took me out to eat at Olive Garden. We had one of the best meals as a family there! Our sever was amazing first of all - we tipped him nicely! We had some really great wine, Kian ate salad - A LOT of salad (he's not a lettuce guy but he was tonight!). Most times we are still eating when Kian is finishing...we tonight we were waiting for him!

It was a good birthday, enjoying the crisp autumn weather and spending time with my two favorite guys in the entire world.

Unpacking, Unpacking and More Unpacking

Today Kian and I hung out at the house today waiting for the heating guy to come and fix our furnace. Of course they came, replaced a few things and left before really making sure it was running. Two minutes after they left the furnace stopped working so I had to put another call in....that was at about 10AM. The guy would "be here today" and didn't show until 6PM :P bleh. Needless to say I have the entire Kitchen unpacked. I am realizing how much counter space I have lost :( I am having to compromise on a few things that I like having in my kitchen....like a portable dishwasher and a nice toaster oven :( I keep reminding myself that we only have a 9 month lease and hoping that when it's up we will be able to move if the place still seems like it's not all it's cracked up to be. I sure do miss owning our own place that's for darn sure.

Unloading and Unpacking

Bright and early the Allied truck was sitting in front of our new place. Unloading went faster than loading that's for sure. Kian was a mini manager telling the guys what room to put things in - oddly enough he informed them that the big screen TV was to go in his room lol Smart kid! He also spent a good part of the time putting things in the backyard and riding his bike around an area on the walking path right next to the house.

I got a good amount of unpacking done while Kian was at school and I hope to get more done tomorrow. Unfortunately we found out today that our heater was broken so it was rather cold in the house so I didn't want to bring Kian back over there after school. He had a pretty rough day anyway and was pretty crabby. Poor guy is still adjusting to the time change - just like the rest of us.

Tomorrow morning the furnace guys are coming to fix it and hopefully we will be able to hang out there for a good part of the day and get more settled. But it sure is good to have all our stuff with us now in Illinois. Now we just need our cars and we are all set!

We Got our Place and Will Have Our Things TOMORROW!

We signed papers and such for our lease this morning. I am planning on heading over there to do some laundry and check out what I need to do/buy to get the place ready for us to move in.

Then, after Jamie got to work, he got a phone call from the driver of the moving truck and asked if he could deliver our stuff tomorrow!!!! How crazy is that?!?!?!

So, we will be all moved into our new place in less than a week from leaving Livermore! Now, all we gotta wait for is our cars :)

Photos of our New Place :)

As requested, here are some photos that were in the listing for the house we are renting :)

View of the front of the house, garage, and side entry way:

Front Yard

Back Yard - behind the fence is a paved walking trail and a creek

Pantry/Electrial area. This is right when you walk in the side door - I am planning on putting up a curtain or something so people don't see all my Sam's Club goodies in there ;)

Kitchen shots - there is a small area in the corner across from the cabinets in this photo where our round dining table will fit perfectly in

Front entry way and living room (you can see the side entry from this angle as well)

Other side of the living room

Hallway in between the bedrooms and living room - this view is toward the Master bedroom

Hallway view toward the bathroom - laundry area is just to the left

Photos of each of the bedrooms - there are three in a row and look very similar - I can't tell which is which in the photos lol One will be the Master, one will be our office and one will be Kian's room

Newly remodeled bathroom

Well, that's the tour! We are going to go through the paperwork tomorrow! I am hoping that I will have a few days to start laying down some contact paper and what not before the movers arrive with all our stuff!

Ah, it's good to be back in the Midwest :)

Things just seem to be falling into place. We heard back this afternoon that we got the place we wanted to rent. Jamie started work today and he's really liking it. Kian started preschool and he's loving it there. I am starting to learn the layout of the area. AND we had Jamie home to eat dinner with us and he was actually able to spend time with Kian before he went to bed!

Here is a photo of the little house will be renting. Wednesday morning we go in and sign the paperwork to finalize it. It's estimated that our things will arrive on Friday!!! So at least I will have a few days to get somethings together at the house before the unpacking begins.

We Have Arrived!!!!

We arrived in Champaign, Illinois tonight - all our luggage arrived and everything went well without one hitch! :)

We did have a fairly entertaining day today...provided by Kian himself.

First, when we were at San Francisco Airport, we decided to buy some Subway subs to take on the plane with us. Jamie ordered his and I ordered mine and Kian's subs...we were both paying attention to what the sandwich makers were asking. Toward the end of the line I turned around to check to see where Kian was and what I saw made my eyes bug out of my head... Kian was standing in line with his pants around his ankles, showing his Lightening McQueen underware to anyone who happened to be looking. Of course as I say "Kian! What are you doing?" I see a lady sitting at a table right next to Kian laughing at him. Of course I help him get his pants on and I could not stop laughing as I am trying to tell Kian that he should not take his pants down in public. It was so freaking funny! We still have no idea what happened. I know those pants are a little big in the waist on him so I am not sure if they just fell down and he didn't notice...but the lady at the table next to us sure did LOL!

Second, we arrived early in Champaign so our limo was not ready to pick us up (yeah a limo drives you around from the hotel we are staying at lol). Champaign airport is really small. For my family members, it is very much like the Outagame County Airport. Anyway, Jamie found an empty luggage cart and told Kian to stand on it in a safe way and pushed him around in it. then Kian wanted to push Daddy lol I was laughing so hard I had TEARS running down my face! Kian was able to push him at a pretty good speed after a while!

Anyway, it was a long day of travel but Kian was a trooper and did pretty well if you ask me. We are so glad to finally be here, to see some leaves on the ground, feel the crisp autumn air....ah.....it's so nice to be back in our area of the country again :)

Kian Lost His First Tooth!!!!

Last night when I was brushing and flossing Kian's teeth, I noticed the the front one was really loose. I told him about it and he was immediately worried about it. I told him about what happens with our teeth - losing them and getting adult ones and how the Tooth Fairy comes. I guess his understanding was limited because he wanted me to take it out (which it was really wiggly but not enough that I felt I could pull it out), he wanted me to put a bandaid on it, he wanted to take it out and put it in the trash (which I told him that he should come and get me and not throw it in the trash because it was a special thing!) He prayed in his prayers last night that Jesus would fix his tooth and that he would help us move to "champaign, noy" hehehe

Today he didn't talk much about it. I have seem him wiggling his tooth off and on as I continued packing. Then all of a sudden Kian ran up to me and said "I lost my tooth!!!" He was so excited :) I took a picture of him right away :) (btw, he is wearing a crown from when he was child of the day at school on Friday...he wears it whever he is home lol)

It's hard to believe he's losing teeth already!!! He's getting to be so big! His dentist told me that he would lose them with in 6 months the 4 front ones (yikes!) and that the adult ones might not come in for a while but it's normal. I just didn't think it would all happen so fast!

Anyway, that's our big news - now onto more packing!

5 More Sleeps Until The Movers Arrive!

We are getting down to the very end of our packing. The house is starting to have an echo in some areas. And others are just stuffed with pillars of boxes.

We have disconnected our phones, but thanks to Vonage having a forwarding option. The home phone is now forwarded to my cell.

It's hard to believe we have entered our last week of living in California - but it's exciting too!

Goodbye Discovery Kingdom

Today was our last day at Discovery Kingdom.

We decided to take a break from packing to have some good family time. Plus the park had Halloween themed stuff up so it was extra special. Kian even wore his costume from last year - he was Thomas the Train. Since Thomas is an attraction at the park he got a lot of comments about how cute he was :)

We saw the dolphins one last time - they are Kian's favorite. We also saw the Sea Lion Show and Shouka the Whale Show. They had some special shows for the Halloween theme which was kind of neat.

It will probably be a long time before we get to experience anything quite like this again. We have been very lucky to live so close to such a unique park which has amusement rides and a zoo inside of it.

We closed the park! Kian was so pooped he actually slept in the car on the way home...something he never ever does! We all had a good time :)

Even though it meant no packing for the day, I am so glad we went.

Happy Birthday Toby

Today our Toby would have been 8 years old.

We miss you Toby Bowbee!

My Goofy 4 Year Old

Kian and I were headed home after I picked him up from preschool. We turned a corner and the person behind us passed us...they were going faster than the traffic in front of us (which made me have to drive slower) and Kian pointed out that they were driving fast and a policeman needed to stop them and tell them to slow down. So we talked about how theyw ere probably doing the speed limit and there was just a lot of traffic in our lane making us go slower. So he says: "I'm gonna get my Mr. Incredible Phone (a play cell phone) and tell the policeman to pull that guy over and tell him to SLOW DOWN." I coudln't help but giggle. Then he said "Yeah, I'm gonna call two policman - one, two." I guess the kid already knows about speeding and obeying the law. lol

Testing for preschool, Flu shot, and gaining weight and height!

Today Kian had to visit the doctor for TB testing - he was supposed to have it before school but somehow paperwork got mixed up and I didn't think he needed it :P oops! Anyway, for his new preschool in Champaign he also had to have a urine and anemia test.....AND since I mentioned the flu shot to the doctor, he asked if we wanted to give it to him now since it would be a good protectant for Kian right from the start of moving PHEW! Poor guy got poked 3 times but NO tears! He is such a brave boy :)

We also got a height and weight on Kian. He's up 2lbs from May weighing in at 33lbs and his height is at 39 3/4"!!!! Kian's car seat is for kiddos 40" or less! This means that once we move to Champaign we will be shopping for a booster car seat for Kian! YIKES! He's getting so big!

Batman!!

This morning Kian was looking at a flyer for Toys R Us and saw the Halloween costumes. He told me he wanted to Lego Indiana Jones (it's just Indiana Jones, but he has played Lego Indiana Jones with Jamie) so I searched and wasn't able to find a costume that would fit him. So I told him that and he said he wanted to be Lego Batman (Jamie and Kian just started playing the game this weekend). He was adament about wanting to be Thomas again this year, even after I brought him downt he costume isle and dshowed him what he could be....but now he's changed his mind lol I even asked him if he wanted to be Batman and not Thomas and he said yes....so I halted packing to track down a costume that will fit him...and we found one lol He's so darn cute in it! And he's pretty excited about it too lol I also made sure he knew that he could not change his mind now on what he wanted to be ;) Batman is it!

Moving right along....footloose and fancy free.....

Ok, ok, maybe we aren't footloose and fancy free but we are certainly excited about the move!

Boxes arrive today for packing to begin. We have already started getting rid of some things that we don't use thanks to EABay.

I started research on Preschools in Champaign the moment we knew we were probably going to move there. The first website I visited that I was impressed with was through a Baptist Church. I was hoping there would be a place for Kian since school would have started before we knew for sure we could sign Kian up. I called them yesterday to talk to them about their food allergy policies and see if they had any openings. They had a few spots in Kian's age group available AND one of them happened to have a child with a nut allergy! (not a nice thing, but exciting that the classroom is already set up to be nut free!). This place must have been saved for Kian because we wanted him to attend in the afternoon and decided on the 5 day program....that just HAPPENS to be the same class that the child with the nut allergy is in! WOOT!

I also made a countdown chart for Kian to be able to count down the number of "sleeps" until we move. He's been very concerned about his toys coming with us and has mentioned certain toys he wants to bring with us. I also researched some books at the library and we have three right now that are all about moving. So far we have read one and it was so good - i am hoping Kian will want to read it again because it really goes through the moving process well.

So We're Loading Up the Truck and We're Moving to Illinois......Champaign that is

Changing gears a bit from the sadness of losing our sweet Allie to some exciting news.

Yep, it's true! We are offically moving to Champaign, IL. Our target move date is October 17th! We are pretty excited about the move to say the least! Jamie will be able to work 10 mins from home no matter where we are living in that area there AND we will be about 5 1/2 to 6 hours drive away from all sides of the family (different directions of course).



I am hoping that we can get boxes soon so I can start the packing process. Thankfully Kian will be able to continue preschool until the 17th - so at least his schedule won't change much and I will have a few hours of uninterrupted packing when he is there. A big task but exciting none-the-less! We have been doing many different things in the mean time to prepare for moving. One of them was taking Allie to the vet to see if she would survive the move - that was when I received the shocking news that she was not doing well at all :( Unfortuantely Miss Allie will have to move with us in our hearts and memories.



I know we will miss all our friends and family members that we do have out here in California. We have felt so blessed to welcome so many of you into our extended family - it certainly has grown throughout the years and family means that no matter how many miles are between us we will always stay in touch. And please know that if you are ever in the Chicago area, consider taking a 3 hour drive south for a quick visit ;) We will always have a couch or airmattress waiting!

RIP Allie

Sweet Allie went to heaven very peacefully. I was able to talk to her as she slowly passed away. I think she was ready to go. We are so blessed to find her clinging to a tree 6 1/2 years ago. We will miss her incredibly, but we are glad that both Allie and Toby can be together now.

Sweet Allie Kitty

Allie has never quite recovered from when she got sick after Toby died. She had liver issues back then. We nursed her back to health and we thought her yellow color was gone. She has been eating and drinking on her own. But she has been very tired and has lost a lot of weight. She normally would spend the day sleeping on our bed, but she hasn't been upstairs in months. She also liked to make me - yes make me lol - pet her before i went to bed - we would have to actually kick her out of the room so we could shut the door and go to sleep...I honestly can't remember the last time she did that. So we decided she needed a visit to the vet to see if we could do anything for her...I was hoping it was her thyroid or something easy that could be solved with medication.

Unforunately I left with bad news. Her yellowness had gone away mostely but it was still there. I didn't notice it until the Vet Tech showed it to me. The vet said that because of the feline AIDS she has, it most likely has compromised her system and caused her body not to fully recover. He said that she is just hanging on right now.

So tomorrow, we will say our final goodbyes. Kian knows that Allie is going to heaven to be with Toby. He seemed to take the news ok, but he did the same with Toby and took things a bit harder after he was gone. Honestly, the hardest part of it all is watching my little man having to say goodbye to yet another part of our family less than three months apart from each other. I know he will find comfort in Allie finding Toby in heaven.

Here are some photos of Allie from the good times. The last one is of Toby and Allie laying together. Allie loved Toby most out of all of us in our family lol Now they can be together again.

All About Me

Kian's preschool is assembling a book of each child in the class - what they are interested in and their likes. It also includes a photo the teachers have taken of each child. Here is what Kian's page looked like (some answers I had to help him with).

What is your full name?: Kian (K-I-A-N - this is what he ALWAYS spells his name after he says it lol) obviously I put Kian Jameson D......

Where were you born and when?: Canada (what? I have no idea where he got this!) Correct answer is San Luis Obispo, CA and May 8th

What is your favorite color?: red and purple (that was today's answer - yesterday it was green and pink)

What is your favorite food?: Carrots and yogurt (obviously not together lol)

What did you do this summer?: Discovery Kingdom, soccer, tae kwon do

What are three things you want to tell us about you?:
I have a cat named Allie.
Toby is in dog heaven. (he still talks about Toby at least several times a week).
I like to play outside with my friends.

Imagination Movers

Disney Channel has an new preschool program called Imagaination Movers. If you are familiar with The Wiggles - they are an American (an personally I think WAY cooler than The Wiggles) type of group. It's made up of four guys who play different instruments and sing some pretty darn cool songs about things from cleaning up your toys to trying over and over again until you get it right.

So for now the big things Kian is into is Imagination Movers, Star Wars and Thomas the Train - what a mix of some great things ;)

TGIF!!

Phew! Talk about a busy week! I am so very thankful that it is Friday and our whole family will be together this weekend.

Kian really enjoyed going to school this week :) In fact, I picked him up on Wednesday and he asked me if we could come back tomorrow! lol! Last year he wouldn't say much about what he did during the day at school - this year he has told me what they have done (and I also kind of know because they teacher writes a brief description of the days events and posts it outside the door) so I can kind of help him find words for some things he is telling me about.

Kian also started speech with a new therapist this week. He is now going twice a week and really has excelled from where he was the last time we were going. He's also enjoying going - he gets to play games as he says words so it's fun! And the therapist is very encouraging and works with him well.

Kian has been pretty beat though this week. He dropped his naps last year some time and now we are returning to them. Our summer schedule was very lax compared to what he's doing now so I can see why his brain would need a rest.

We are all excited about our little man doing so well :)

Kian's First Day of Preschool!!!!

Today was Kian's first day of Preschool :) He is attending a different school than he did last year and he's attending one extra day a week (Monday, Wednesday, Fridays from 12:30 - 3:15). I am SO excited about all the things he is going to learn and all the new friends he's going to make.

I created a new layout to celebrate the beginning of school - which also includes a photo I took of him before we left this afternoon :) Here a few more photos....let me preface that some of these poses were done by Kian himself...he is such a goof!

Our Encounter with a Dolphin!

Today we went to Discovery Kingdom (an amusement park and zoo in one). We checked into something we had never really looked into before - which was the dolphin experience. Usually the park has many more people attending and the "experience" is sold out. This time we were quick enough to get there in time :)

Each group (family) was set up with a trainer and a dolphin - ours was named Bella :) We were able to feed her, touch her and have her to a trick...then we got some super cool photos! Here are the few that we bought :)





I really hope that Kian remembers this for the rest of his life! It was such a unique experience! Kian was even wanting to tell the dolphin to do the tricks the trainer was teaching either me or Jamie to do lol He was pretty excited about that!

Grieving with Friends :(

Our house has been filled with a looming sadness since Thursday morning. Jamie received a call from our very good friends with bad news - they had lost their baby girl after 30 weeks of pregnancy. These friends are the closest thing we have to family in the immediate area - they are Kian's "aunt" and "uncle - so it feels like we have lost a part of our extended family.

I post this in honor of Julia Anne who was loved from the moment we knew she was there and will always be remembered in our hearts. And to offer up prayers and thoughts to our dear friends as they encounter an unimaginable greif.

We Officially have a BIG BOY in our house!!!

Goodbye pull-ups....HELLO BIG BOY who has been keeping his bed dry for the last week!!! The first night he kept his underware dry Jamie and I took him to pick out something special to celebrate!!! He picked out Cranky to go with his Thomas the Train collection as well as Gordon the train.



Our BIG Boy is also gearing up to head off to his new preschool! Kian and I are going on Friday to meet his new teacher and see his classroom, where he will put his things and what not. I am SO excited for him and bit nostolgic at the same time...i'm getting kinda sad that I will be losing my sidekick during the day. I know I will enjoy the time he's in school to do things that are easier done when I am on my own...but at the same time I know I will miss him! What the heck am I going to do next year when he's in school every day! Guess just do a whole lot of missing!

MMMMMmmmmmmMMMMMM

There's nothing like a 49 cent from McDonald's on a hot day LOL!

Star Wars, Irish Minnie and Trains, Trains, Trains!

This morning we all got up and got ready to go to soccer practice. We arrived to find that nothing was on the field and one of the co-coaches came up to the car to say it was cancelled (Coach Geno had a flat tire on the freeway YIKES!). Jamie suggested that we grab some breakfast and head to the theater to see the new animated Star Wars film. Kian has done NOTHING but talk about Star Wars since he has seen previews, commericals, you name it! So we all went...thanks to a free ticket and a Costco tickets we pretty much got in free! The movie was really good - Kian told us about 5 times it was a REALLY, REALLY good movie lol

Before we went to the movie, I spotted a machine I have seen all summer long. One fo those crane machines (that my cousin Melissa is a PRO at). This machine had an item I was coveting....a Minnie Mouse...but not just any Minnie Mouse - an Irish themed Minnie Mouse. It cost $2 just for a try. Something within me told me that Jamie could do this. He studied a video that was shown in the back of the machine and went for it. He lined up the grip and both Kian and I watched as it was slowly lowered and the grips slowly grabbed Minnie....we held our breath as it closed around her and grabbed her...he got it!!! Now it just needed to hang on to Minnie all the way to the bin....I secretly cheered inside as the crane made it all the way and I think we ALL let out a HUGE YELL when she dropped in the bin!!!! WOOT WOOT!!! Immediately afterwards we took a few photos of us with our $2 Irish Minnie - who I love like the 12 year old at heart that I am ;)




After we got home from the movies and some errand running, we had lunch then I headed out on my own. When I got home I found the living room empty. I figured the guys would be playing a video game...nope...they were upstairs playing with Kian's new train table (we found it on clearance last weekend for only $20!) I couldn't resist taking some photos of the guys having fun together. Kian has enjoyed the table all week and I'm sure it was a lot more fun to play with it with Daddy!

Kian Caught the Reading Bug and Meet another Cian!

Today was the last day of the library reading program. Kian would get a prize for every 5 books he would read. The first 20 or so books we read and he shared with a "listener" at the library he got a sticker for every 5. The last time we turned in his books he got a temporary tattoo! He loves those things and I think it was a good ending to our summer reading stuff. That doesn't mean that we won't make a weekly trip to the library. Kian loves getting new books and I love finding new ones too to be honest :)

While we were at the library something strange happened. Kian and I were looking through the books in the children's area. There were other people throughout the library and a lot of children since story time was about to start soon. All of a sudden I heard a woman's voice call "Kian....." Then I heard her say it again. I wasn't sure if I was hearing her right so I waited for her to say the name again and finally I turned to her and asked "What is his name?" since the little boy was standing right behind me. She said "Cian" (Cian is the Gaelic spelling of Kian). I repeated again, "Kian?" She said yes, "Cian," I said, "That's my son's name!" She went on to ask me about the spelling and we had a short conversation. Turns out she is the little boy's grandma and she is a teacher has had ANOTHER Keean (spelled that way) in her class! So our Kian is not alone in his name in our city!

Kian was taken aback by having another "Kian" wandering around. Hearing Cian's grandma say his name made him look at her with a puzzled expression. Guess that's what happens when you are not used to anyone having your name ;)

Photos by "Uncle" Martin

Jamie's cousin Martin (Kian's Godfather who he called "Uncle" even though he's not realy) visited us a few weeks ago. He took some great pictures of Kian with his camera - here is a montage of what he sent to us :)

Kian is Missing Our Toby :(

Toby has been gone for about a month and a half but not one day goes by without thoughts of him.

Today has been kind of hard on Kian. We went to the store to buy some food for our cat, Allie. He talked about getting food for Toby and I told him that Toby didn't need food because he was in heaven. Then questions followed about Allie going to heaven and such.

A few hours later was Tae Kwon Do. They learn punches and kicks and after class the teacher talks to them about how we don't "practice" on other people or animals only at class. She talks about specific things in their lives so it really hits home. One questions the teacher asked today was if anyone had a dog - Kian half way raised his hand about four times. When we got home we talked about Toby again from his prompting - talked about how much we miss him.

Every night before bed we ask Kian if he wants to say his prayers. Most times he does. I always ask him what he's thankful for today. He always names off our family on down through grandparents and even "Uncle" Martin (who forgot his shoes lol - Martin left our shoes but he was known as this in Kian's prayers for a week!) or recent visitors. Then I ask him if he wants to ask Jesus for anything. He asked that Toby would come back home :( I believe he was talking about a book we have been reading called Dog Heaven. The books talks about how dogs go to heaven, have endless treats and spend time with angel children. And sometimes the dog wants to make sure their family is doing ok so it will come back and watch us and make sure everything is ok and then go back up to heaven.

We returned Dog Heaven back to the library last week. I think that it's a book we need to buy. Toby was such a big part of all our lives and even though we are almost two months out from his passing, we still miss him terribly.

Growing Pains

I guess it's time for Kian to do some more sprouting! This week Kian has had what seems to be either two lunches and/or dinners in one sitting! He will finish his food and keep asking for other things to eat!

This weekend we were going to head to the Stride Rite outlet for some new tennis shoes for him, but we are holding off now until this spurt seems to be over so we don't have to go back again lol

With every growth spurt some the cranks. I don't mind the sleeping more. I don't mind feeding him more of trying to find more healthful things for him to consume. But I do mind the cranks. There is no reasoning with a child with a case of the cranks. And really, the only cure for it seems to be an early bed time. Although, the symptoms will return the following day, most likely. I am hoping that if the cranks return tomorrow, that "resting" in his room will help - not only him but my sanity lol

Summer is coming to an end....

Summer seems to be winding down and it seems like it just got started!

Next week is our last week for the summer reading program at the library. It is also the last week of the Free Family Film Festival at the Regal in town. Those are two big activities that we participated in throughout the summer. The week after next we go to a meet-and-greet at Kian's new preschool. NFL preseason is staring up.

Needless to say, my focus has turned to getting long pants (thank GOD for whoever thought of adujustable waist pants or they would fall off Kian's small little waist!) and new tennis shoes. So odd since the weather is still hot and really summer can't be ending!

Ok, I admit it, I'm in denial.

Brush your teeth, Round and round....

Kian went to the dentist to for a check up and cleaning on Monday. Cavity free! He also had some x-rays done and we were told that in the next 6 months he will probably lose his bottom two front teeth! Dr. Josh let me know that was ok - he is just outside the norm on that and not to freak out when it happens lol I seriously didn't think the Tooth Fairy would be visiting us before his 5th birthday! I guess we will find out ;)

Visit from Granna

Jamie's mom arrived for a 5 day visit. She brought a TON of hot wheels cars and a storage case for them for Kian. They ended up playing with them for almost the entire time she was here!

We also went to the San Jose Children's Museum for the first time and took a trip to Discovery Kingdom for rides and zoo fun. Kian sure wore out quickly - he even napped in the car for probably the 3rd and 4th times in his entire life!

Jamie and I were also able to get out and get some time on our own which was very nice :)

Killing two birds with one stone - or should I say mouse....

This morning we came downstairs to "trophies" of Allie's victory last night. At first I thought it was playdoh but upon further inspection I could make out a tail and what seemed to be a nose.

At least she took care of the mouse that got in our house when the pipes were being re-routed. And now I don't have to worry about her eating this morning either - i am guessing her belly is pretty full right now lol

Miss Allie Update

Allie has seemed to have an epiphany of sorts because it's like she beccame a different cat seemingly overnight. I'm not sure if was because the anitibiotics she was on are now done or if it's because we have a mouse in our house again and she's been on the hunt....but whatever it is she is doing SO much better. I have not had to syringe feed her at all since Tuesday because she is eating on her own. I do have to put her in front of her bowl from time to time, but she is eating normally now :) She also purred last night for the first time in weeks while I pet her...it seems our kitty has returned! :)

With Allie getting well, I have had some new found energy and started getting creative again. I have gone a little crazy making signatures for myself and friends of mine. I also revamped the look of my blog :)

Good News on Allie

Allie seems to have been acting a little bit more like normal today. She is also eating more on her own then she has since she first got sick. She is also looking A LOT less yellow. I am encouraged but I am keeping a close eye on her.

Soccer Slideshow

As promised, here are photos of Kian's second soccer practice. Decked out in all his gear (the outfit is a Target special but super cute lol). We did finally get him cleats because his normal shoes just were not working with the shin guards - took us almost all day to hunt down a toddler sized pair small enough for him! Jamie has taken him out practicing in his cleats and he should be ready to go on Saturday morning again :) Enjoy the photos!

It's pretty bad when....

you have to find a game guide online to help your 4 year old son get through a part in Jimmy Nutron and the Attack of the Twonkies. A kids game that an adult has problems with the controls...wow.... At least he likes the game but sheesh, this game maker needs some serious help....either that or butt whooping from this momma!

The Great Purge

Our storage unit will be empty by the end of the month - it almost is now. We have removed all the stuff we have hauled around with us the last few years. Almost all our moves have been fast so we haven't had time to go through and purge. And the times we have, we have just not been real with what is worth keeping.

Most of the things in our storage unit were Kian's baby items - clothes, toys, bottles of every sort...you name it. We hung onto it just incase we did add to our family but now that we know it is complete it's time to say goodbye to all that stuff. As I have gone through tiny pants, socks, stained bips and burp clothes it brought back memories of my little man using them or being in them. It's time for a new baby to enjoy them and for the memories to keep in my mind and heart. I did keep a few things like the outfit we brough Kian home in, a favorite toy or two of his when he was a baby. Other than that we bid farewell to the rest and are happy to rid ourselves of it!

Big Brothers and Big Sisters will be very happy to receive our pile o' stuff. And it feels good to give it all away to help aid those in need. It's a win-win for everyone.

Happy Kian Update

This blog is supposed to be mainly about Kian so I decided to pop in a post on him detailing what's been happening with him over the last month or so.

Kian started Tae Kwon Do last month. He has really enjoyed it so far and has doing really well to taking instruction and listening. It's been helpful to him in many ways and I feel like it's building his confidence. I'm sure he likes the stickers and candy that the teachers shower on the kids afterwards too ;)

Kian also is a budding soccer champ! A few of my cousins on my dad's side of the family were/are very good at soccer and I keep telling Jamie that I must have had a recessive gene for that which was carried down to Kian. (Jamie says he almost has my cousin Dan's hair nailed down now that we are spiking it and it's pretty long right now lol!) Since Kian was very small he has done well kicking and now dribbling the ball. A few weeks ago was his first soccer class. They are working on the very, very basics - mainly following instructions and using your feet no hands and such. Kian is so stinkin' cute! He will be even cuter now that he has the shin guards, socks and little soccer jersey and pants to match ;) Don't worry, I will have pictures later.

We also started the reading program at the library and started attending story time, which Kian really has enjoyed so far. He loves picking out new books...although he does judge a book by it's cover and mom has to steer him toward ones she thinks he will like best ;) We just read one called Dog Heaven (was a suggestion from one of my friends on a message board) - what an amazing book about what dogs do in heaven and how God and angels love on them...and that they get to come and visit us when they want....kinda got me choked up a bit reading it to him.

I also recently discovered that the Regal cinema in the town over offers free movies on Wednesday mornings so Kian and I went to that. It was a good way to start the day and get out of the house - especially since it's too hot to really do much outside :P

We have had a pretty eventful summer so far (good and bad), but I think we will really enjoy the rest as we see Kian grow and progress.

Allie Update

I spoke with the vet today and he said that Allie hopefully will be able to pull through all the issues with eating food. She is eating on her own but it's not as much as she should be so I am syringe feeding her until she is more back to herself. She is very sleepy, has low energy and hides out most of the time. I am hoping my nursing will help her come back to being herself.

Allie is sick now :(

Since Toby started getting sick Allie (our cat) has been kinda aloof. She hasn't been using her box or eating a whole lot. Honestly, I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to her when I was taking care of Toby - and since Allie was very close to Toby I figured she was just sad he was so sick.

Well, things got worse on Saturday when we hadn't seen her at all...not even for a pet, a drink...nothing....and it just continued like that through the weekednd. So I called the vet yesterday - the soonest appt we could get was for today.

The assistant that helped us today was the one that helped us with Toby the whole time we were going with him. She was so sweet and I told her how much it meant to us that she was there when Toby went to heaven (she even cried with us :( ) Anyway, she took Allie's temp and said - "Her skin is yellow." I thought was being an overprotective furmommy - but it turns out that Allie is jaundice.

The vet told me that it's possible that Allie might have a fatty liver because she is overweight. He said that it is possible she stopped eating because she was depressed and that caused her body to take that fat that is stored and transfers it to the liver somehow. I am not doing very good explaining it well because I barely understand it and really it was the last thing I thought I would hear a little over the week after we said goodbye to Toby.

She was hydrated under the skin, given some antibiotic and we were sent home with some meds and special food for her. Getting food in her is really important right now to get the liver back to working. They also did some blood work of which we will have results on tomorrow. I am praying and hoping for good news.

Settling into a New Normal

Exactly one week ago today we said goodbye to our Toby. We have given his things to friends who have dogs and kept a few things that were just too hard to part with...like his bone (which he LOVED), his color and leash, and his dog bowl with his name on it.

Kian has had a few moments of tears off and on this week and when asked why he was upset he would say he misses Toby. It seems to be at the times that would normally do things for him that we miss him the most. The latest for myself was when Kian didn't finish his carrots with lunch and I wanted to put the rest in Toby's dish for him...he loved carrots.

It really is surreal that he is gone. It all happened so fast and he was a healthy, older dog in general. We miss him loads but are so glad that he is at rest and no longer suffering.

It has been a hard week on all of us in general. All last week our downstairs had holes in it with lots of noise from the plummer re-routing our pipes. Kian and I camped out upstairs to stay out of the way (and really, everything was moved around so there was nothign really do down there anyway). He stayed entertained well until the last day...thank GOD it was the last day! So now, our house is back in order and you really can't even tell anything was done besides the fact that some of the areas need paint. We plan to do some new colors when our budget allows.

Yesterday we celebrated the 4th of July with some friends who had a BBQ. We went to see Kung Fu Panda and then afterwards watched the fireworks from on top of the parking structure downtown. Kian wasn't as into as I thought he would be but we were pretty far off fromt he show...enough to see it well but I think that next year we are going to go to the festival in town. Kian did have a good time and did fairly well despite staying up several hours past his bedtime.

Today we are taking it easy. Jamie and Kian are playing Lego Star Wars together on the 360 and I am just dinking around on my computer. It's so good to have our family all together this weekend and to focus on positive, relaxing things.