Diving Board at Swim Lessons!

Kian's instructors put life jackets on all the kids. One instructor wore a life vest and caught the kids and the other stood on the board and helped them. I wasn't able to catch it on camera, but Kian eventually jumped from the diving board on his own!!! He was so proud of himself :)

Day 2 of Level 2 Swim Lessons

Kian did AWESOME at swim lessons today! He dunked his head under water several times, sometimes it was on accident but he recovered well :)

He practiced a back float, front float and started to use a kick board! He has really done well from being a kid that really just did baby pools and slip n slides. I think it also helps that Kian has the same instructor he had last session. Her name is Tori. When Kian found out that Tori was going to be his teacher he said to me, "Miss Tori is pretty." Maybe he's got a crush on her ;)

I took some photos of Kian with my iPhone. I didn't want to disturb the class by moving closer, so the photos are kinda grainy.

Kian doing a back float with the help of a green noodle and his instructor

Kian uses the kick board for the first time with his instructor Miss Tori

Kian with the other little boy in his class practicing front kicks.
Kian has the green noodle.
They went all the way from one side of the pool and back!

Kian graduated to Level 2 Swim Lessons!

I'm so proud of our little guy! Today was the first day that the class wore life jackets and went in the deep end! I wasn't sure how Kian would handle it, but he was the first one to get in and do his front kicks and back kicks almost unaided (well, except by the life jacket).

His instructor wrote out a "report" card. All the areas he worked on were checked off and she suggested he move on to Level 2! She also wrote the sweetest note to him on the back, she told him how very (underlined 3 times) proud she was of him.

Kian was SO excited and so proud of himself! He really enjoyed the lessons and he really is learning a lot.

The moment we got home I signed him up for the Level 2 lessons, they start next week :) Thankfully the pool we go to is the "older" one, but it is nice and there are a max of 4 kids per class because of the time it's at and because it's not the cool, new pool. I thought I might not like it there, but I do, so we are sticking with Spalding :)

Two woots for the K-Man!

Swimming, Tee Ball, Library...Swimming, Tee Ball, Library

This is what our life is like at the moment, well it is for me and Kian anyway. Kian is having a good summer though and enjoying the activities.

Kian goes to swim lessons for a half hour every day (except Fridays which is a make up day). Kian hasn't really been in the water much - only when he was a baby. He responded really well to the instructor and has actually put his face in the water, blowing bubbles, and has started to learn how to kick and back float.

Kian is the kiddo on the bright noodles. Practicing getting around on his own!

Monday and Wednesday nights is Tee Ball. The class is all real young kiddos so they are focusing on the basics. They have worked on catching and throwing, running the bases, and hitting the ball off the tee. The coaches are young (either high school or college) and they do awesome with the kids.

Kian hits the ball off the tee - yep it's going toward the fence, safety first!

Kian and I make a weekly run to the library. The first thing we when we arrive is turn in Kian's reading sheet. The library is keeping track of all the kids that have signed up and how many books have been read. I was shocked to see that in the last few weeks there have been over 1,000 books read! Impressive! I usually have a movie or a book waiting for me to pick up and Kian goes through the kid's area and chooses books we will read throughout the week. We are very lucky to have a very, very nice library with a lot of selection in all areas.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Yeah, I have been a big slacker in making regular posts. I have yet to go through our photos from Disney World too! :P

Here's the the news on our homefront:

Kian and I went up to Wisconsin last weekend for my sister's bridal shower. We had a good time visiting with family and friends :) Kian also got some good time in with his Grandpa and Great Grandpa at the lake - Kian even went fishing for the first time!

We came back into town on Monday afternoon because Kian started tee ball that night. It ended up being rained out. Instead Jamie had the idea of us going to see the new Pixar movie Up in 3D. It was the first Pixar movie in a few years that we have seen outside of Pixar itself :( We definitely missed going there and hanging out with our friends Scott and Keyong. The movie was great though - we all recommend it :)

Kian's first real tee ball class started on Wednesday night. He had a very good time :) I know he will enjoy the rest of the sessions that we have :)

Next week Kian will start swimming lessons for the first time. It is seeming like our summer is filling up a bit - but that is a good thing :)

Five for Finn - PLEASE READ

Please read this note from my friend Kerry. She is a member of a parenting board I am apart of - I have known her since we were both pregnant with our little guys. Finnegan has held a special place in my heart - especially since both Finn and Kian are Irish lads. Finnegan left us way too soon, but Kerry and her husband have a way to honor his memory and give back to those families battling against the evil of Cystic Fibrosis.

♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣

Hey everyone--

As some of you may know, Finn's fifth birthday would have been June 3rd of this year. As the date approaches, I find myself feeling more sad and missing my little guy more and more (as if that's possible, as I miss him every moment of every day). I could sit and cry--and believe me, I have--but what I really want to do is to celebrate the amazingness that was Finn and help other families too.

We are still in the process of getting tax-exempt status for "Finnz Fundz"--a foundation established in Finn's name to help other families of children with Cystic Fibrosis who are facing extended (longer than one month) hospital stays for treatment. In addition to our goal of achieving tax exempt status, we hope to eventually be able to help families of children with other illnesses as our funds grow and our ability to help increases.

As a way to honor Finn's fifth birthday, I have a special request for everyone who reads/receives this note--PLEASE donate a fin ($5) in honor of our Finn. If even 200 people donate $5 each, we will have $1,000 to distribute to families in need. Amazing!

Donations can be sent via paypal.com to:
finnzfundz@gmail.com

In addition to this special birthday fundraising drive, we are also looking to obtain "in-kind" donations to pass on to families--like gift cards from national retailers (dunkies, starbucks, target, walmart, etc). If any of you out there work for such companies or have connections, please let us know. We received many such cards and they were such a blessing!

Our email for the fund is: finnzfundz@gmail.com

A website will be soon to follow--a special thanks to Susanne and hubby for offering to design/host the website--I will be in touch soon!

Thanks to all for the amazing support you've given our family during our journey. It's been a long road, but I wouldn't have changed it--Finn was an amazing, special little person who truly brought joy to our lives.

Many thanks,
Kerry and Patrick

p.s. Please forward this to everyone on your friends list! Let's use the power of facebook/the internet for good!!!

Finnegan - a lil' Irish clover that left us too soon

Back to Reality and School of Choice!

After living at the Disney All Star Music Resort for the last week, we returned home at about 3AM on Mother's Day. We had an AMAZING trip to say the least. I will be blogging about it later on, right now there are many other things to attend to :P

Today we received our mail that was on hold for us during vacation. I quickly rummaged through it to find a letter that was from the Champaign school district. I opened it in a hurry and scanned the letter to see that Kian is attending the first school we chose!!!! We are super excited at this great news :)

I am hoping to have blog posts and photos of our WDW trip up sometime next week. As well as Kian's Preschool Graduation photos and info :)

See ya real soon!

Busy...Sick....and Busy....

I apologize for not updating much over the last few weeks. I have been struck with a virus that has knocked me into bed for several days at a time, so most of my time is spent doing what I can for our family and resting.

We are working hard prepping for our big journey to Disney World starting Thursday night. I have been busy getting laundry done and packing among other things. It has been quite difficult with this fatigue I have from the virus - I am exhausted after putting a load of laundry in the washer. Kian has been a great help and Jamie has too - I am so very thankful for both of them. Jamie has allowed me as much time as i can to rest. And Kian has been such a great helper in unloading the dryer for me and getting things for me that I need.

I am hoping to rest up a lot so that I am well to walk around all day at the park for 7 days straight. We are all looking forward to this trip to say the very least! The thing I look forward to most is enjoying the wonder of Disney through Kian's eyes.

I will be Tweeting throughout our trip. If you wish you can follow my blabbering via this link. I also have my Tweets streaming on my Blabber Blog.

I know we will come back with a lot of photos and stories :)

Preschool Trip to the Children's Museum

Friday Kian's class went to the Children's museum in Champaign. It is a far cry from the Appleton one and a far, far, far cry from the San Jose Children's Museum, but Kian and his classmates had fun nonetheless (which is what really counts). Since I was one of the drivers for the field trip, I was able to snap some photos of Kian throughout the time we were there.

Kian got to pet a bearded dragon! I was asked to if I wanted to pet him before it got to Kian...I reluctantly did only because I didn't want Kian to be afraid. He really liked petting it and was very gentle :)

Climbing up the ladder on a tug boat exibit

Digging for dinosaur bones in the outside area.

And I had to include a photo of the ghetto dinosaur that was in the back area. It looked both scary and gross...I think he needs a revamp.

Mario Kart....Wii!!!!

Well, it seems that Kian beat Mario Kart in some way (I don't know what brought it on lol). After he finished a race and won a trophy the credits started playing which usually means you beat the game. Then a picture of Mario, Kian's Mii, and the Princess popped up lol I told Kian I was going to take a picture of it - so there it is!

Hoppy Easter!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

As you can see from the photo, the Easter Bunny was very good to Kian :) He made quite the haul! He got little game, a DS game, Mickey Mouse, 2 Pokemon figures, and a dancing game with Disney songs and characters. And yes he made a haul with the candy! He got an "egg" with Nerds inside and no Easter basket is complete unless is has a chocolate bunny in it (it took the EB quite some time to find one that was safe for Kian :)

When Kian woke up he found fillable eggs in his room and all around the house! He had a great time finding them and after finding some he would say, "that silly rabbit." LOL

For now, Kian's breakfast consists of chocolate and other sugary goodies. Bailey is trying to sniff everything and lingering around Kian's feet. Right now he's an annoying scavenger :P It should be a fun filled, sugary day for us all :)

My Blabber Blog

I have revived my Sarah's Random Thoughts blob but renamed it and gave it a new web address. If you are interested in my ramblings that are not really family related, press the title of this post and it will take you there ;)

Disney Marathon Part 2

The day began with Kian singing to himself in his bedroom....but now he's a bump on the couch again :( His temp was down today but it has slowly risen. Since he has had so many ear infections, I deicided to call and get him an appt to have that checked. His ears are fine, but he is having a strep culture done as well as a urine test...he keeps telling me his back hurts. The 5 min strep test came back negative but they are doing an overnight one.

For now we are watching more movies - thankfully we have collected all Disney movies available! We haven't even seen all of what we have (thankfully lol).

I guess we will see what tomorrow brings. Kian does have a short week at school so I feel bad keeping him home one more day :( He really enjoys going!

Snowy, Gloomy, Sick Kiddo Day :(

This morning Jamie and I awoke to cries coming from Kian's room - which is totally not normal for him. He said he was hungry so i got him food right away and milk. He continued to lay in bed and was kinda a bump there until the clock hit 7AM - he said it was time to get out of bed lol (We tell him he can't come in our bedroom until 7AM lol) I discovered he had a low grade fever which I monitored throughout the day. It rose to 101.5 before school so no school today.

Kian has been curlled up on the couch with a pillow and blanket the whole day. So today was declared a movie day. And since we are going to Disney World in about 25 days, we have watched all Disney movies. Most of them Kian has never seen before. So far we have watched Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Little Mermaid, Tarzan, Lion King, and Aladdin. There is time for one more yet today lol

Kian is not a kid that sits still for very long so for him to sit through all those movies is really rare. Hopefully after a good night sleep he will feel much better.

A Visit with Granna and Papaw

Jamie's Mom and Step-dad arrived on Friday and left this morning. Kian had a blast playing tee ball with Papaw and Daddy in the back yard (Bailey enjoyed it too ;). Granna and Papaw bought him a few bats and a tee for practicing at home. Kian will be starting Tee Ball in June, so we wanted him to get used to how things in the game. Kian took to it really well! I think he will really enjoy the class :)

Saturday was a beautiful day, a little chilly but sunny. It was nice enough to spend quite a bit of time outside. Sunday it was rainy so we were mainly inside. We took a trip to the mall, which included a few rides on the carosel. When we got back to the house Granna and Kian had a blast playing hide and seek and playing all the board games Kian has - which is a lot! lol Then Granna spent some time watching Kian play some video games that he wanted to show her lol

It really is nice to be able to live close enough for a weekend visit to all sets of grandparents :) Kian definately had his fill over the last few weeks :)

Is it April Already?

I seriously cannot believe how fast time flies these days. It is now April and in almost a month my little man will be 5! It feels so odd to even think of him being 5! I guess I just have to get over it lol

Our countdown until Disney World is on. We are now on the last month on the chart until we head there (we leave May 1). Kian is so excited. I'm pretty stoked. Jamie is stoked, excited, and well anything else you can think of LOL Luckily he is doing a lot of research to make sure our trip is great.

Things continue to be busy here. In fact this week has so many little things going on that I lost track of days...I have been a day behind since the week started. In fact, right now I would swear it was Thursday. lol

busy...busy...busy.....

Last week was super busy for me! Not only did I have St. Pat's day prep and such but I also had to start working on getting Kian and I ready to spend Spring Break in Wisconsin with my parents!

Jamie and Bailey stayed back - Jamie had to work. But since Kian has off all this week we thought it might be nice to spend it in Wisconsin and visit with some family and friends. So I was trying to get every piece of laundry washed, all the dishes caught up, and anything else I could think of done so that Jamie wouldn't have to worry about much while I was gone.

We have had a good time visiting quite a few different people :) Eating at Tom's Drive In and going to some special stores that aren't in our area. It has been nice to just visit and be low-key :)

Finnegan

I chat lead a board for people that had babies in May of 2004. I have been there since I found out that Kian was due to be born in May and a lot of other ladies have been there that long a well. Finnegan's mom was also one of them.

After Finnegan was born, his parents were told he had cystic fibrosis. Basically there is an issue with mucus glands in the lungs as well of digestive areas. It is incurable but manageable sometimes. Finn didn't really exhibit really having any issues that kids with CF normally have, not until last year. Finn was hospitalized in Feb. 2007 and remained there until he passed away on early on March 20th, 2008. He endured many surgeries and was quite the little fighter.

Our entire board was shocked when we heard of his death. We all had been praying and sending mojo to Finn since we heard he was so sick. We all clung to hope - even if it was little - that he would recover. A month or so ago his parents were told that his only hope was to have a multiple organ transplant. He was at the top of the list in receiving it, but his little body couldn't hold on any longer :(

I have felt a connection to Finn and his mom. When Kian was an infant we had him tested for CF - there was thoughts that he had it. Thankfully he does not. Plus his family is very Irish, Finnegan is an Irish just like Kian is an Irish name. It has espcially hit home for me...and I know all the ladies on our board are very greived. Never did I think in a million years that we would lose one of our May Miracles so early.

Finn was such a special little guy. He has touched so many in the four years he has been on this earth.

Now our thoughts, prayers, and mojo are all sent to Kerry and Patrick as they deal with Finn's passing. If you think of it, send a little bit their way.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

"May he rest in peace" in Gaelic

St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day in our house is very much like Christmas. I started prep on food stuff on Monday which continued on until Tuesday.

It was quite warm on St. Pat's day so it was a good thing that our shirts for the special day were short sleeved! Kian even went to school without a jacket!

Our house was filled with the smell of corned beef cooking in the crock pot and the sounds of Irish music was heard throughout the day. We also had a cabbage salad, potatoes, Irish Soda Bread, and I made some special cupcakes. They were chocolate with green icing. I also put a little bit of mint extract in the frosting so it had a hint of mint to them...they were VERY good :)

The day was fairly low-key, but it was very good :) It did feel special but then again it almost always feels like St. Patrick's Day in my house ;)

There is Hope for a Cure!!!!

Today on Good Morning America they did a piece on a child who was cured of his peanut allergy - his allergy used to be pretty close to what Kian's is now. The kid can now eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!!! I am hoping that this study can be passed on to the broader medical community!!!

Here is the video to the piece if you are interested in seeing it:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7091637

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E here we come!

Yesterday we booked our first trip to Walt Disney World for Kian's birthday in May! We will actually be there on his birthday! We are all super excited and starting to plan out what we want to do and looking at what is available.

This will be the first trip to Disney World for both Kian and me! So I have yet to know what is exactly in store, but I am really looking froward to it.

I made a calendar for Kian to be able to mark down the days until we leave for our trip. We are marking off each day together - and honestly I am counting down with him :)

Saga of the Glasses Part 2

And let's hope this is the last part to this saga....

Sunday night I was getting ready for bed and laid my glasses where I always did on my nightstand. Jamie and I were talking and heard Bailey chewing on something but we thought it was his bone. A few minutes later I ended up looking down on my side of the bed and noticed that Bailey was chewing on something and it looked like my glasses were on the floor...it was hard to tell since I am pretty much blind without them. I pulled up what I thought was my glasses from the floor and saw that Bailey had helped himself to the tips that go around the ears. Thankfully he didn't do anything to the lenses themselves!

Yep, these are the same glasses that I waited for 3 weeks for to have a tech accidentally break the frames. Waited one more week, tried them on and realized the wrong prescription was in one lens. then waited another two weeks...phew! And yeah, I did have them for less than a month :| Let's just say, Momma wasn't happy at all.

I did go in yesterday to order new frames. Thankfully I was given a discount....but it's the most expensive thing that Bailey has "helped" himself to. And the funny thing is that this last weekend Jamie and i were just thinking that Bailey seemed more calm and was behaving a lot better...guess we spoke too soon :P

Here are the glasses in question. I took this photo real quick before I handed them over to the eye place so they could get my lenses back into my new frames. Notice the ends and also the bent nose pad....


So now I wait for about another week for my frames. I am declaring this as the last chapter in the saga.....

Baily at 6 Months

Photo of Bailey late last night - he was very tired and laid down on the floor in front of me (after following me around the house) with this paw over his nose. Thankfully I had my cell phone and was able to capture this cute movement :)

This month we needed to take Bailey into the vet to be weighted in order to get the right dose for his heart worm meds. He gained 18lbs in the last month!!! That means he now weighs 58lbs! He is almost double what Kian weighs! Good thing we like big dogs :)

Survey done by Kian

The following is a survey that is going around on Facebook. I posted it on my profile but thought you all would get a kick out of it :)

Ask your child(ren) to answer the questions and type their answers in.
Tag other moms or dads with kids who might have fun with this. :)

1. What is something mom always says to you?
I love you

2. What makes mom happy?
saying I love you

3. What makes mom sad?
if I got lost

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
tickle tickle tickle (and he tickled his belly)

5. What was your mom like as a child?
you were a baby

6. How old is your mom?
100 (lovely)

7. How tall is your mom?
13 (he counted all the way up my body lol!)

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
bumble bee (bee movie – probably his)

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
eat stuff (lol!)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I’d be a princess

11. What is your mom really good at?
play games

12. What is your mom not very good at?
video games

13. What does your mom do for her job?
momma hugs

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
carrots

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
I love you

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
a girl princess

17. What do you and your mom do together?
we got to the store to buy something

18. How are you and your mom the same?
I don’t know let’s measure

19. How are you and your mom different?
momma you’re the biggest

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
because you hug me

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
because he goes to work

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
to the store, Target

Kindergarten Signup!

Today was the first day that you could start signing up for kindergarten. The school of choice program works on a lottery system so it didn't matter that I went today. I just wanted to make sure I had everything that I needed and got it in on time.

I did have everything and the papers have been submitted! Now we just wait. The lady that was helping me said that we should get a letter in the mail mid to late April as to where Kian is going. Keep your prayers rollin' that Kian gets into one of the three we chose for him (since it's not always a guarantee that you get one of the schools you chose.

Shy? Not Kian!.....And Books, Books, Books!

Tonight all the elementary schools had an open house. Next week starts the application process for school of choice so this evening we decided to scope out one school together. We walked into the door and were greeted right away with a hand shake and sharing of names. After Jamie and I introduced ourselves, Kian promptly held out his hand and said, "I'm Kian." He did the same with the kindergarten teacher we met. She asked him several questions, how old are you, when is your birthday. Kian did great sharing information with her, although he was more interested in what was all around the room :)

After our tour, we were driving home a different way than usual. Kian asked if we were lost. Jamie said, "Daddy never gets lost because he has a phone that tells him where to go. I don't eve need to ask for directions." Kian said, "Yes you do!" lol What a smart, little guy ;)

In other news, Kian's preschool had a field trip to the library today. I volunteered to drive and was pretty excited to see the library myself...especially since Kian and I would go there weekly when we lived in California. I was amazed at how big it was!!! There are SOO many books! I also discovered they have a reading program going on right now so I plan to get started on that with Kian! I think I enjoyed reading new books to him just as much as he did so it's time we get back to it :)

Matt and Maddy and my Thankfulness

Today I am stuck at home while some repair work is done on our house. While Kian is at school, I have been catching up on my TiVoed programs. Rachael Ray had a story on a few weeks ago that really tugged at my heart.

A man named Matt and his daughter Maddy were on the show. His wife died 27 hours after giving birth due to a blood clot traveling to her lungs after having a c-section. He has been raising her on his own and has been documenting their lives on his blog.

As some of you may know, I almost died after giving birth to Kian via c-section. Mine was due to a bleed somewhere - still don't know where. Thankfully I called the nurse into my room when my decline was happening and help was on the way....if I woudln't have called the nurse to make sure I got my pain meds I would not still be here. I feel so incredibly blessed that I am still here. Thankful that I get to see Kian grow up and raise him with Jamie as a team.

Sometimes I think we take for granted that everything will go smoothly...especially in this day and age. I know death was the furthest thing from my mind in birthing Kian. In fact, most of what occured while I labored was. Even though my experience was different and scary, I feel so incredibly blessed, lucky, thankful.....that I am here today.

7 Years

Today Jamie and I celebrated 7 years of marriage :) We had some take out and Jamie surpised me with these YUMMY cupcakes from a local shop....unfortunately they are not safe for Kian to eat so we ate one after he went to bed.


I look forward to many more anniversaries with my best friend :)

Happy Valentine's Day and a Kian Update

Kian is doing MUCH better today. Even though Kian was a very sick little baby, but I don't recall him ever having a temperature as high as 104 before. Last night we had to switch off giving Kian tylenol then motrin every three hours. I set my alarm and got up throughout the night to test his temp and give him meds. By the time he got up in the morning his temp was back to normal! YAY!

Jamie also was awesome and let me sleep in this morning. I was very, very thankful for that...especially because now i think I am battling the same cold that Kian has :P

Today has, thankfully, been rather uneventful. Jamie made us all a yummy breakfast this morning. Jamie and I got Kian Madagascar 2 for Valentine's Day so we have been watching that a lot. We plan on having a low key evening and weekend.

Conferences, Ear Infection #3, and a High Temp - Happy Friday the 13th!

This week has been filled up with ups and downs in Kian's health. He ended up with a fever on Monday that was with a bad cough and congestion. He felt fine after that and went to school. Then on Thursday (the day of his Valentine's Day party and the celebration of the 100th day of school) he had another fever of 102 so he had to stay home :( I felt so bad keeping him back!

Later in the day on Thursday he seemed better and Friday morning he didn't have a temp at all. I took him over to a friends for a playdate (and so he would have a place to be while Jamie and I went to parent/teacher conferences). He seemed great, had fun running around and playing.

Parent/Teacher conferences went great! His teacher showed us some "tests" she did with him and he did VERY well with all of them! He still needs to work on writing and cutting, but otherwise she said he is ready for Kindergarten next year :)

I went back to our friends house to pick up Kian and on the way home he was very quiet...that is so not like him. When I got him out of the car I could see that he didn't look so good. I asked him if he was feeling ok and when we got in the house he said "my neck hurts" and started crying. Strep has been going around lately so that was the first thing I thought of. I called the doctor and got an appointment after some convincing that I was sure he had more than just a cold (we were in there on Monday so the nurse assumed he was just needing to let the virus run its course).

I put Kian down for a nap and waited for the time to take him to the doctor. He woke up about 15 mins before we had to leave and complained off and on about his neck. we went to the doctors office and the pain seemed to be getting worse at different moments then letting up a little bit. The poor little guy was crying and telling me his neck hurt :( There was really nothing we could do but wait. By the time the doctor saw us, Kian was in full on screaming and crying. She checked his left ear, then his throat - both were ok...then she moved to the right ear and barely looked in there and immediately said that he has an infection. Ugh, this is litereally the third one in the last three months! Thankfully the doctor gave us a sample of Motrin so that he could get something for the pain in his system. It did the trick! well, at least for the moment.

We went home, watched some Madagascar 2 and waited for Jamie to get home. After dinner Jamie and Kian played a video game - they had a blast. It seemed like Kian was on the mend....until the game ended and he came to talk to me. He was hot. I took his temp. It was 104! It was too soon to give him motrin again so after some advice from my dear friend Mary Beth, we are doing the switch of Motrin and Tylenol every three hours. It seems to be working so far. I will be getting up at 2:30 to recheck his temp and give him tylenol...I am praying his temp stays down. Poor little guy :(

So, it has been a very eventful Friday the 13th in our house. I just hope that Valentine's Day is much, much better.

A New Look

After much trial and error and trial again, I have given my blog a new look :) Yeah, yeah, I know that it's not even Valentine's Day yet and I have St. Patrick's Day stuff up - but if you know me it's probably not that shocking ;)

The "ill" strikes again

Oh the joys of having a kiddo with asthma. Kian has caught another virus (thankfully it's just a virus and not an infection) which has really caused him to have some issues with breathing. We are full on with our breathing treatment regime and I am watching him like a hawk. It's times like these I go on high alert because of all the issues we had with Kian's breathing as a baby. He had a fever earlier today which had him being a lump on the couch. But after some motrin, he was ready to go...you would never know he was sick unless you heard him cough. Hopefully it passes quickly.

This weekend brought us some warmer weather. It's been in the high 40s and it feels like a heat wave lol! The snow has all melted and now everything just looks brown and muddy - bleck. At least we had snow for a while though! It was nice while it lasted :)

Nope, we aren't sick of the snow yet!

In fact, we got more snow today and I was so happy to see it coming down! I think we are the only people in the midwest liking the snow!

The only thing I have to get used to is starting out earlier to scrape my car and let it warm up a bit before heading out. Other than that we are really liking the snow :) Personally, I know that where we used to live in California that they are having much warmer weather...but to me January should be cold - even if it means 17 degrees or colder ;) No, I am not crazy lol I think I just appreciate the seasons much more after being away from them for so long.

The bummer with winter is that illnesses come our way. Kian is now on his second ear infection - he is finishing up some antibiotics for it since I believe it lingered from the double ear infection he had last month. Of course in Kian-fashion you would have no idea anything was wrong with him...well unless you tried to talk to him on his right side. He was having issues hearing at first out of that ear - poor guy! Anyway, he seems to be on the mend. He is enjoying school (when it's not cancelled because of weather!), playing with his good buds Nicholas and Daniel, and wrestling with Bailey.

Speaking of Bailey, it's hard to believe he will be 5 months on Wednesday! He's getting big and to me seems more like a dog than a puppy. He is definately very vocal which reminds me a lot of the dog we had growing up named Sam. Jamie is trying to teach him how to "say" 'I love you' and he's actually sounded like he was saying it a few times! Don't get me wrong though, Bailey is not always cute...he can be a sassy puppy sometimes. That comes with the territory when you are a teething puppy ;)

We are finally feeling really settled into our house here in Champaign now. We finally unpacked our pictures! It's amazing how different the house feels with personal decor on the walls. It definately feels like we are where we belong.

Today We Witness History

I am honestly in awe as I watch the pre-inaugural tradition unfold before my eyes. I honestly never thought I would see an African-American become President in my lifetime, but I am proud to say that I am witnessing it now!

As someone who appreciates history greatly, I am honored that this is happening in my lifetime. It is a moment I will never, ever forget.

A visit from Grandad and Papaw Jay

This weekend Kian got to see Jamie's dad and grandpa for his birthday (the 17th) and for his dad's birthday (the 19th). Kian was so excited to see them :) And Papaw Jay was tickled when Kian remembered him - the look on his face when we asked Kian who he was and he said "Papaw Jay" was priceless :)

Unfortuantely I was sick and unable to really hang out with the Durall men - but it sounds like they had some good time hanging out together, watching football, having Cracker Barrell, and enjoying the time they had together.

Brrrrrrr!

I woke up this morning to see that it is -14! The high is predicted to be 0! YIKES! I'm so glad that Kian and I played in the snow early yesterday before this bitter cold headed our way.

No school today because of the bitter cold - so it's a day of fun at home and with friends :)

Snow!!!!

We finally got a good snowfall! This morning Jamie woke up and let Bailey out and came back to the bedroom and told me we got several inches of snow!

Kian and I went outside and attempted making a snowman with the snowman kit we got for Christmas. The snow was so fluffy that nothing would stick together! So in our yard is just a snowball lol oh well!

We all had fun even though the snowman didn't work out. Bailey came out with us and had a blast in the snow. I think he finally wore himself out - well at least for now. lol

Our snowball - at least we had a good start to a snowman!

The antenna ball on my car. The only way there would be snow "on" Disneyland ;)

Our 40lb snow puppy who is almost 5 months old.

The snow "boys" taking a break for a quick photo.

A video of our crazy time in the snow. As you can see both Bailey and Kian loved it!

Soup Beans and Corn Bread!

Tonight this Yankee had a victory with Southern cooking! Thanks to Jamie's mom (Jane) for the recipe and Jamie's uncle Norwood for the green tomato relish, I was able to make Soup Beans and Corn Bread for dinner and it was darn good!

I was so proud of myself that I had to take some pictures. Below is the family enjoying the meal - Kian tried the soup beans but was not so fond so had a hot dog and corn bread instead.



Below is my bowl of soup beans...sour kraut on the left, green tomato relish on the right and of course corn bread sprinkled throughout.....YUM-O! (yeah, I know, doesn't look so pretty but it's goooooooood!)

2008: Goodbyes and New Beginnings

2008 was bitter and sweet. Filled with goodbyes but also beginnings.

We said goodbye to our first "baby," Toby. Then two months later to our sweet kitty, Allie. Even though it's been about 6 months since our last goodbye to both of them, my heart still misses them a lot. I often expect Allie to come walking in the room with her tail in the air "questionmarking" back and forth. And for Toby's nose to greet me in the face right away in the morning. I think of them both every day and miss them incredibly.

We also said goodbye to California. We said goodbye to the family and friends we saw fairly often. We said goodbye to our house and left it in the hands of a management company to rent out for us. We said goodbye to the 405 freeway and all its traffic. Goodbye to Jamie's long commute. And goodbye to EA.

The end of 2008 brought our family a lot of new beginnings. We moved to Illinois where Kian has experienced two seasons already. I had to explain to him what icicles were (he called them spikes since he never had seen them before). And snowfalls are like getting presents at Christmas all over again.

Kian is beginning to know his extended family members on each side of the family and we got to spend our holidays with them! He got to meet his only cousin, Christopher Race, this Christmas. Met his Great Grandpa, "Papaw Jay," for the first time. And had a blast with all his second cousins, that are around his same age, during Thanksgiving in Wisconsin.

Kian also began preschool this year and with the move he is now going a half day every day. He really looks forward to going. I can't believe how big he's getting!

We all quickly made new friends after the move. We found a family who has a lot of the same hobbies as we do - even on down to the kids :)

Bailey, our yellow labrador puppy, entered our family this November. He is probably going to be about as big as his "big brother," Toby. Before the end of the year, he weighted just as much as Kian!

Jamie is actually home for dinner most nights! To most this might not seem like a big deal, but before he wasn't home until after 8PM - and that wasn't even when he was in crunch mode and working late. Now we actually sit at our dining table and eat as a family! Jamie also gets some good time with Kian before bed - which was impossible before.

This year we welcomed 2009 wtih new friends and in a new way. The chapter of good things continues for our family this year. I hope that many more good things are coming our wayin 2009.

Christmas in Kentucky 2008

We all had a good time in Kentucky. Here are some photos of our time there :)

Four Generations of Durall Men! And Kian got to meet his Papaw Jay for the first time :)

Playing cards on Christmas Eve. Kian was helping Uncle Bubby here - well at least he thought so hehehe

Now on to sitting with his only cousin, Christopher Race :)

Our friends Michael and Jamey came to see us while they were in town. We met each other kids for the first time! Cambria just turned 3 and Kian and her had a blast together :)
Above is a photo of the two of them together - after Cambria told Kian to sit next to her, he sat a bit away from her and she scooted right next to him - how sweet is that?!?!

Kian is one of the luckiest kids in the world. His Uncle Rusty is a policeman! He had to work on Christmas Day so he brought his cruiser up to the house and let Kian take a look around.

The video above is of Kian's first part in the car - and hearing the siren which he thought was super cool!

Now Kian gets to use the loud speaker on the car in the video above.
As you can see in the video, he might be a good partner for Uncle Rusty ;)

We are back home from our Kentucky Christmas

After filling up our bellys with soup beans, sweet tea, and biscusts and gravy, we started the long drive home today after a wonderful visit with family and friends in Kentucky. We have not been back since Kian was born so a lot of family members Kian hadn't even met yet! We also were able to meet up with friends we haven't seen in about 6 years!

Kian and Jamie are happily putting together some Christmas gifts in his room and I am just relaxing, enjoying the lights on the tree. Tonight is a wind down night for us.

Hopefully I will have photos uploaded soon to share more of our great trip with you all :)

Merry Christmas!

We will be in Kentucky at this time tomorrow! We hope that you and yours have a wonderful Christmas and that Santa is good to you all :)

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful....

because of the ice storm that came through here last night - YIKES! All the schools are closed and there is seriously a layer of ice everywhere on everything! The branches on trees are really heavy - Jamie and I both had large branches in the back of each of our cars this morning. I had to even scrape off the ice on the flag on our mailbox to put it up!

Kian Sat on Santa's Lap - It's a Christmas Miracle!!!

Every year we ask Kian if he wants to see Santa and he says he does, get excited, stands in line and then when it's his turn he flips out and won't sit on his lap :

This year we finally had success!!!

Kian walked up to Santa with his Walmart catalog in hand and started telling Santa what he wanted for Christmas. Jamie had is iPhone out and took this picture of him :)


And here is the picture we brought home with us - forgive the blurry look as it is a picture of hte picture. But check out the great smile :)

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

Here is glimpse as to what you will see in our Chrsitmas Card this year :) Kian had a little photo shoot with the tree in the background :)

Bailey wanted his own, priavte shoot apparently. I was taking pictures of just the tree and he posed all on his own lol

The Tooth Fairy's Delivery!

The Tooth Fairy left Kian Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader from Star Wars - he loves these figures! Here is a better picture of his missing teeth and of him with his new toys thanks to the Tooth Fairy :)

All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

That's right! Kian just lost another tooth today!

He wasn't quite as excited about it as he was with the first one - he was more into watching a video on a player he has than "posing" for my camera lol Hopefully I can get some shots with a nice smile later on :)

O Christmas Tree

Tonight we decorated our Christmas tree. All our decor made is safe (well, my angel was about to lose her wings - nothing that a hot glue gun couldn't fix :)). Kian had a blast hanging ornaments on the tree. The only rule was to not let them hang too low so our puppy Bailey woudln't think he could help himself to them.

It's amazing all the memories that come flooding back as we put up the ornaments. There are ones from each of the places we have traveled to, ones that commemorate our First Christmas Together, our new house, and of course Toby and Allie ornaments. Kian hung one that looks just like Toby in a place of honor right in the front. I hung Allie's ornament right next to it. Kian even said a little prayer for Toby and Allie tonight. We still miss them a whole lot.

Speaking of animals, Bailey is growing and growing! Jamie asked me today if I have taken any photos of him recently and I really need to - it's unreal how much he has grown in such a short period of time! We are also finding out that Bailey is very different from Toby. He loves the water (Toby hated it! - yeah odd for a lab to hate water). Bailey actually sticks his head behind the shower curtain so much that by the time I am done showering, his head is soaked! Bailey is also very vocal. He will often bark or whimper at me (while staring me down) when he needs to go outside to "get busy." Bailey also LOVES to be outside. This weekend Jamie was out in the garage rearranging boxes and such and Bailey was in our fenced in backyard just running around, full speed, all on his own lol Bailey is such a little lover and we are so happy we have him in our family :)

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!!

We are getting our second snowfall right now where the snow is actually accumulating!!!! The first snowfall we were on our way back down home from Wisconsin so we didn't get to enjoy the actual snowfall too much. Tonight all 4 of us went outside while the snow was falling. Bailey was chasing Kian around the yard - I think they both would have stayed out there forever if we let them!

Yesterday there was still a blanket of snow outside so I took a few photos of Kian before it started to melt (I used some for my new blog banner). Kian is really enjoying the snow and I am looking forward to having enough to snow to make a snowman!

Thanksgiving in Wisconsin

We decided to make the 5 hour trek up to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving this year. It was the first time that all three of us were in Wisconsin at the same time! We really enjoyed visiting with all our family :)

Thanksgiving Day we headed over to my Grandma and Grandpa Zuelzke's house. I think that all the people were kinda overwhelming for Kian at first, but he is so social he warmed up pretty quickly. Grandpa Z had a good time teasing Kian - brought back a lot of memories of him teasing me as a child! Kian also quickly made friends with my cousin Steve's daughter, Ameerah, who is only 4 months older than him. She called him her "new friend."

Below are some photos of the festivities.

Grandma and Grandpa Zuelzke with their 5 Great Grandkids!

Kian hanging out with his Great Uncle Jack

Kian's picture of Grandpa Zuelzke's turkey leg - and yes it is real :P

During the time we were in town we got to hang out with my little sister, Laura, and her fiance Brian. I went to see them perform with their band Wavelength at a bar on Wednesday night. Laura and I had the happy surprise of seeing my Uncle Paul (my biological father's brother)there!

Friday night Jamie and I headed out to see Brian and Laura perform as The Moonlighters at the St. James - a martini bar in Darboy. Below is a photo of them performing. It was so neat to see them and the place was something that Jamie and I really enjoyed and would enjoy it more if it was in our city!

Laura and Brian performing as The Moonlighters at the St. James on Darboy.



Me, My Mom and Laura - the three girls :)

All-in-all it was a great visit. Kian got to know our extended family better and so did Jamie! We look forward to many more trips up to Wisconsin in the near future :)