Two, Eight, Nine!

That's how Kian's counting now lol! He can count to three (although I'm sure only mommy and daddy would understand it) but now he's saying two, eight, nine lol Maybe one and three are just too hard to say so he's replacing them with other numbers ;)

Ok, mommy brag time....Kian can identify the WHOLE alphabet! Yep! We have foam letters in the bath and he knows all their names (although X is not one he will say - guess it's too hard). But we are proud of our little man identifing letters even outside his bath.

He's also started saying "where is _____?" and then "There it is!" It's so cute!!! :)

Oh, and he's also become quite the climber. He can now climb on top of our couch and annoy the cat while she sits on the stairs right behind the couch and just out of reach lol He has also started using his kitchen/grill set as a climbing station which gives mommy a heart attack at times but I figure he's a boy and as long as he doesn't do that on my countertop in the kitchen I'm ok with it lol

On another note, we are fairing the hot weather well in our air conditioned home. It's been in the 110's this last week! So, we haven't been out of the house much. today seems cooler at about 87 degrees at 10:30AM and if it stays fairly cool we might head out to the play area in our complex this afternoon.

Other than that, no big news here! We are really enjoying our new house and are very, very happy with it!

Grateful

Ok, so this morning I woke up and realized that all I did was complain about the move but didn’t even say anything positive about it! Yesterday was not a good day for any of us and because I have a tendency to think of things as the glass is half empty instead of half full it makes it hard to see through lots of things going wrong.

First of all, good news is that Kian is feeling MUCH better! I didn’t get a chance to post about it, but Kian had a really, really bad cold to the point where we had to visit the Dr. and I was afraid we would end up in the ER. It was really bad. Gratefully, the Ped said we arrived on the worst day of the cold and the next day his fevers were gone and his cough wasn’t as much. Now he’s not really coughing at all and when he does it sounds productive.

Kian is also enjoying his new play area downstairs. My smart husband was able to get our gats to work on the stairs in a safe way and has kept Kian from going up there unless we are with him. He loves the stairs and is such a little daredevil! We have to watch him close.

There are so many positives to this place. Of course number is one is that WE OWN IT lol! This place also has more light than any other place we have lived in since we moved to California. This place also has more sound damper which makes watching a movie at a normal volume ok – before we had to turn it way down and have subtitles on! Kian would wake up because he could hear a phone ringing on TV in his room.

Downside for us right now is that Jamie went back to work today so this is the first I am on my own trying to unpack everything. Also, when I went to bed I started to feel like I had a sore throat and now I am starting to feel a bit run down. I think I am catching what Kian had.

The good thing is that we can unpack at our own pace without time constraints….although I want to get it done as quickly as possible.

Well, speaking of unpacking, I should really get back to it.!

Murphy's Law....

This post is going to be one huge complaint....just a warning that griping will follow in case you don't want to read it.

We love our new place, but man it's hard moving with a two year old! Not to mention, we have had a few things - important things break or need fixing.

First, right before we moved (most of our stuff was gone from the rental condo) the Tivo was acting up. That is my lifesaver for me when I have to give Kian breathing treatments that can last up to 20 mins (the kid won't sit still for 2 mins let along 20). Also, because of Tivo we have a ton of Blue's Clues recorded along with other toddler type shows that Kian enjoys....I was counting on having those shows so I could actually unpack stuff. The two hour nap Kian takes (if that) is not enough time for me to do a whole lot. SO, the Tivo is broken and Jamie called they are sending us a replacement and we send the broken one back to them. Which is nice...but it takes about 7-10 days shipping time for the freaking thing to get here bleh! Let me tell you, Kian has a limited amount of DVD's that we have located and I am about to try to go somewhere to pick a few more up.

Cabinets - well don't get me started there. They are the originals (built in 1983) which doesn't bother me because they have been painted over and given nice drawer pulls. The thing that is so aggravating is the fact that I have 5 drawers that barely fit anything and two HUGE spaces in the cabinets below that has a 1 ft by 1.5 ft access to either shelf. That shelf is so big and so hard to reach that I couldn't even clean most of it. It's usless space. bleh! So, now I am trying to weed through some things and figure out what can go on the shelf the tallest man in the world could reach on a step ladder and what needs to go to charity.

Our washer.....We didn't use our washer and dryer over the last year because our condo had them included and were in a very tight space....no biggy - they sat in the garage of where we were renting from. Today Jamie goes to start it up to only find that the spin action won't happen. We have to get Sears out here to fix it - can't come until Friday and will charge us $70 JUST to make an assessment on it! MAN! This washer is only 3 years old and I loved it!! So, we are hoping it won't cost much to repair or we will have to search for a new one and ASAP as I thought I would be able to do laundry when we got here so now we are even limited on clean linens, clothes and other things.......

It's Murphy's Law....when you don't want to spend a lot of money you end up spending it on things you thought worked in the first place. Thank GOD I made a good chunk of cash on ebay selling stuff we didn't need or want anymore. Although, we did spend that all TODAY on things we needed for the new house.

I'm sick of boxes. Sick of how nasty some areas of this house was left in by the previous owners. And sick of things going wrong :(

This evening when we went to dinner (we can't even get our chairs into our dining room yet and I have nothing to make meals with) I heard the song "Stuck in a Moment" by U2 playing in the background. It reminded me that this is all "just a moment, this time will pass" Man, I need to remind myself of that more than ever right now lol

Ok, I'm done ranting for now lol I just needed to get that all out. BACK TO UNPACKING!

We have officially moved!

Last night was our first official night in our new house! :) We are very excited, but have a lot of unpacking and work ahead of us!

I am suspecting I won't be around too much over the next few weeks. I am going to try to drop in from time to time and check email. Other than that Kian and unpacking are the two things on my list and wow I'm not sure which one is more work! lol

Happy Father’s Day!!!

Today we decided to take a break from packing and spend the day celebrating the Fatherhood! Jamie’s request was that we got to the Great America park near our house (we have annual passes). We spent the entire morning there :) Jamie got to ride a big coaster (which is fine because I am not into that). Kian got to ride some kiddie stuff with daddy and had a BLAST! We also went to the water park area and Kian ran around with Daddy in a sprinkler, wet type area. They had A LOT of fun! :)

Also, Kian got to meet Blue! Our Great America is affiliated with Paramount which I guess is apart of Nickelodeon so there are Dora, Rugrats, Sponge Bob Square Pants and Blue’s Clues stuff around that area. Blue made an appearance and Kian about flipped! Blue gave him “five” and also played peek-a-boo with him hehe Kian thought it was the best things! We didn’t bring out camera but we did get one of those park photos. I will have to try to figure out our scanner to scan it in for you guys to see :)

We all had a GREAT time at the park and plan to go there a lot more often once we get settled in our new place. It’s nice because the pass we have we get free parking, free admission to the park without blackout dates and a discount of 20% on all food and other purchases!

After that we came home and rested a bit, called our dads and then got ready for dinner. Per Jamie’s request we bought steaks and I made potatoes for Jamie to cook on the grill along with the steaks (Kian had hamburgers of course) :)

I think it was a great Father’s Day all-in-all. I hope you all had wonderful days as well :)

Kian's 24 month Well Visit

Kian had his 24 month well visit with his Pediatrician today. Kian now weighs 23lbs 6oz. and is in the 3rd percentile for weight. Height he’s 33.5 inches and in the 20th percentile (that’s up from 15% from what he has been for pretty much ever!) He is staying on his own personal curve which is good…after all someone has to be in the 3% sometime! lol

He checked out great as well and we answered yes to all the developmental questions this time! (hooray!)

I did talk with the Ped again about the reaction Kian had to the ranch dressing. Kian was tested for an egg allergy last Sept. and had no reaction. He really shouldn’t have a skin test until he’s about three and our allergist actually recommended it. The ped seems to think it’s not a big deal though and to maybe try to get him to try to eat it without getting so much on his face (yeah right – he’s two! lol!) He did say that it could be a skin reaction – that if you or I put ranch dressing all over our face we might break out too. I can see what he’s saying but I’m not so sure I am willing to expose Kian to eggs in dressings and such until I know for sure he’s ok with it all. I also plan to talk to our new Ped about it when we see them in the next few months so we can be re prescribed the things that Kian needs to have to keep going (he has breathing treatments daily).

Kian’s also not a big meat eater – in fact he won’t eat meat most of the time. I tell Jamie he’s a self-proclaimed vegetarian lol The kid eats veggies like they are candy! Anyway, our Ped suggested we put him on Iron drops again because we don’t want him to be anemic. Our first Ped in San Luis Obispo could test iron levels right in his office and I am hoping our new Ped will be able to as well to make sure he’s getting just the right amount.

On a different note, he did get a vaccine this time for Hep A – something that is being nationally required now for all kids. Kian didn’t even cry! He just rubbed the spot after the nurse put a band-aid on and said “bye” LOL I can’t believe what a big boy he was and from what the nurse told me he was a treat since he said he was the first one he’s had in a while who didn’t cry at being weighed and measured (Kian doesn’t care when you look in his ears or anything!) – I told the nurse that Kian is a rare breed…he proved that right with the shot!

So, we are very proud of our big boy – growing so fast!

Kian might have an addional food allergy :(

Just a bit of background. Kian has a severe nut allergy that manafests usually with hives around his eyes. I read labels carefully so he doesn't get anything that's even processed near peanuts because, well, the eye hives are a dead give away of even having been processed near peanuts.

Also, last week I made a salad for him with tomatoes, cucumber, mayonaise and salt. He has had this before without reaction, but he broke out in a rash around his mouth that looked like he was wind burned or something. I gave him Benedryl and called the Ped who said that it could be the tomatoes.

So, last night I made chicken parmesan and made salads for all of us. Kian has never had a reaction to tomato sauce or katsup (which he eats by the spoon full when I give it to him). So honestly I never thought about a reaction from tomatoes in the sauce at all.

Kian has never had a salad before, but I thought that he might enjoy it and put some ranch dressing on it. I gave him a small taste of the ranch (since he had never had it before) about 5 mins before serving him, and he didn't break out at all. After he started eating it and getting some on his face, he broke out in ONE HUGE hive around his mouth and everywhere that the ranch dressing touched. I gave him Benedryl again and again he wasn't even bothered by it! It just went away after about an hour or so after eating. I did take away even the chicken parmesan because we weren't sure what was causing this. We took photos of it for me to show his Ped (Kian's 2 year visit is on Wednesday thankfully!).

Right now I am at a complete loss of what the heck he's having a reaction to! There is egg in both mayonaise and the ranch dressing - but he can eat cake, breads and other things that have eggs in them. I have never given him just straight on eggs though - mainly out of fear he might have a reaction even though he tested negative for during his allergy testing last Sept. The only other thing I can think of is the acidity in the vinegar - both those things have vinegar in them. And he had no reaction at all to me giving him a taste of the dressing (he only reacted to the areas that had ranch all over it from his messy eating).

Hopefully I have some answers on what is causing it and figure out what the heck I CAN feed him :(

House Update!

Well, Jamey’s reply to one of my posts made me realize that I had not update about the house process! (thanks Jamey!)

Well, everything is a go! There haven’t been any bumps or ANYTHING in this whole process for us….there were a few things we requested that they fix in the house (a broken fan in the laundry room, the lacking screen door to the sliding door in the back of the house, and putting smoke detectors in every room as the inspector told us to do). So! Closing is on June 28!!! We have already given our notice to our landlady at this place and we are starting to pack up things! Thankfully we rented a storage place not far from where we are living and we are putting some things in there already. The bummer is that it’s a 45 min drive one way (if traffic is good) so that will make for a time consuming move. Thankfully we have some friends helping us out with the big stuff and one of our friends to be Kian’s “nanny” so he won’t be ignored while I am trying to pack and clean on our days of moving from here to there.

My posts here might be few and far between for awhile. The next three weeks are going to be very busy for us all! I will try to do my best keeping you all apprised :)

Keep the prayers and thoughts coming for us – stress is already mounting in the house and we sure could use them.

Photos Upload!

Yes, I know it’s been a long time….we finally have photos and video clips uploaded to our website! Our website is not updated completely, but the photos are there and they are current! There are photos of Kian’s birthday and zoo trip too! Here is a link to get to them: http://www.jamesondurall.com/family/Pages/pictures2006.html

EXCITING NEWS!!!!!

First of all, Jamie got a promotion and a raise!!!! A big congrats to him - Kian and I are so proud!!!

Well, Friday Jamie found out about all this with his job and we were ready to go looking for houses! We called our realator that night and she said that she was just about to call us because she was free on Saturday! So, we met up Saturday and looked at about 6 places in our price range. With Jamie's raise we will be able to do a 3BR place!!!! We found one we really, really, really liked and put in an offer! Well, the contract would expire tonight by 9PM and at 7PM our realator called and said, "Are you sitting down?" I knew then that they had accepted our offer!!!

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!! The only contingency that they would replace the awesome fridge with one that was 3 years old...that's totally cool with us. Our realator ROCKS! The seller's realator called her and she let him know that we were interested in another place in that same complex (which is true) and we would pursue that if this didn't go through! And we even offered them 20K below what they were asking for! Anyway, we are in escrow right now!!!! I'm SO excited! Our realator is going to look at the fridge tomorrow to make sure it's not a junker and then if it's okay then she will put the papers through the start the process I seriously can't wait! June 28th we will move in if everything goes well!

Here are links to the photos of the place. We LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It's 3BR, 2 full bath, one half bath and the back of the townhouse is up against a field :)

http://www.mlsh.com/pix/CAMAX/main/0/40163576_0.jpg
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Kian's Second Birthday Party and the Zoo!

This has been a pretty crazy week for all of us! Thursday night Jamie’s Mom flew in for a long weekend. Kian sure did enjoy the time he had with his Granna! Saturday I was in the kitchen literally all day preparing food and baking Kian’s cake for his party on Sunday afternoon.

Saturday night Jamie put together the kitchen/grill set Jamie, me, Jane, and Russell bought for Kian. It almost felt like Kian was waking up to Christmas with all the exciting things around! Of course I had everything decorated the night before the party – but after Kian was in bed so it would a surprise. I bought a balloon bouquet for him with a HUGE balloon of Blue’s head. Kian wouldn’t stop talking about BLUE! Hehe He was so cute! After we showed him his kitchen/grill set he was in AWE and wouldn’t even eat his breakfast because he was talking about Blue so much and wanted to get back to playing! He was so cute!

The birthday party was great :) Our friends Steve and Lisa were here for most of the day and later on my friends Ann and Wes stopped by with their little guy Tre (who is 15 months). Kian and Tre had a great time playing together and Kian did a GREAT job sharing!

Monday we were off to the zoo! It was Kian’s first time seeing real live animals like the ones we have always talked about! It took us a little bit to help him see the animals – he was pointing in the air and saying bird and plane – finally he saw the zebra Jamie was showing him and said “Zzzzzeeeeeee” which is his word for zebra hehe I think that the lions were his fav though…he kept saying “rar” in a low, whispery voice while we were watching them. It was amazing! The San Francisco Zoo also has a petting zoo area where Kian got to pet a donkey, feed sheep and goats and see chickens. There was one rooster who kept crowing! It was really neat and I think Kian had a great time :) To be honest, I think we all did!

We did take lots of pictures, they just need to be uploaded to our website. Once they are there, I will send out an email :) Oh! And don’t forget that we also have mini videos on our website too so you can hear Kian’s cute little voice!

Kian's 2 Year Photos!

Last week I had Kian's photos done at Sears. They took 14 shots and this is all that turned out because he wouldn't sit still lol Typical toddlerman! hehe Some of them turned out really well though! I do apologize for the grainy photos. I saved these from when Sears put them online for me to view and of course they don't put them up there in the best quality so people can't just print off their own photos. Enjoy!

The Easter Bunny and Ice Cream!

The Easter Bunny Came Yesterday!

We decided to skip visiting the Easter Bunny this year to avoid the terror Kian had with Santa Claus. But we still colored eggs together…Kian had such a good time that he was pretty sad there were no more eggs to color :( Poor guy!

The Easter Bunny brought Kian a basket full of goodies! He brought some nut-free chocolate, peeps, sand toys, and a Noah’s Ark with Little People by Fisher Price! The Easter Bunny thought it would be a good idea to give him that no since his birthday is in a few weeks and Jamie and I are taking him to the zoo :) Kian has had a great time with his new stuff! He has been acting like his sand toys are a bowl and spoon and have been feeding mommy and daddy his “meals” throughout the day. He also LOVES the ark and all the animals. When he picked up his toys yesterday he had to put all the animals back in the ark ;) What a cutie!

Kian didn’t really care for the Peeps or the chocolate at first, but I gave him chocolate again on Monday after his lunch and he LOVED it! I guess we will have let Santa know where to buy that special chocolate for this year!

We also had a nice meal of ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and strawberry shortcake. I even made the angel food cake from scratch thanks to my new Kitchen Aid mixer! Yum-O!

WOHOO for Breyers!!!

I just called Breyers ice cream to see if they process their food along with any nuts and found out that they will run only one flavor for a week, sanitize their machines over a weekend and then start a new flavor! It is virtually nut free for us to have the vanilla!

Along with Kian’s ice cream, I plan to make my first layer cake for him! I hope it turns out lol If it doesn’t look the best I am sure he will still love it ;)

Toby's Not Doing Well Again :(

Here’s a bit of an update:

We were given carafate to give him and Pepcid AC (the human stuff lol). I forgot to give him his meds on Sunday and Monday he seemed fine – no vomiting although he did seem like he was a little off (lethargic a bit and just depressed looking). So, this morning he vomited bile. I started his meds back up. About 4 hours later he vomited again and it looked bloody to me. He hasn’t eaten anything all day (although that’s normal for him). I called the vet and told them about what was going on. A tech talked to our vet and we were told to not give him food at all today and to continue the meds. If he vomits again we need to bring him in and he will need a scope.

So, I asked about how much a scope will cost. Total it would be $1050-1250! That’s just to figure out what is wrong with him! That is so not something me and Jamie are able to afford. I had some more questions and left a voice mail for the vet. She got back to me this evening and said the scope was more of an investigative thing (and a money maker in my opinion lol) so it was not necessary. She said if he was older they would wonder if he had stomach cancer...which he could still have...but if the antacid meds are working to just continue on those. She refilled his script for two weeks and said she will call us back in a week and see how he is. She said she has no problem just keeping him on the meds if he's doing well. She also told me she has ulcers and didn’t do a scope herself (because you are awake when it’s done she said) so she just stays on top if her meds and she’s fine. So at least she understands! I really like our vet a lot – she is mater of fact and caring too.

WHAT A RELIEF! Jamie and I don't mind giving him the meds. Although they are a little bit of a pain because he has to have an empty stomach! But we can make due with that! We would rather have Toby around :)

So, at least that is good news - for now at least.

CHOCOLATE FOR KIAN! and an update on Toby

Kian will have Chocolate for Easter!!!!!!! :)

As you all know Kian is severely allergic to peanuts - which extends to all nuts since they are usually processed together...and since chocolate is processed with nuts most of the time that has ruled out Kian even having a taste of it.

WELL, on my message board for people who had babies in May 04 someone asked if you were going to give your child candy for Easter. I posted that all I could do was Peeps because we can't do chocolate and most other candy is too hard for him to have.

A friend of mine on my board found this company that is COMPLETELY NUT FREE! They have a webpage so you can order things directly from them! Here is the link: http://www.vermontnutfree.com/index.htm The prices are very reasonable and the shipping seems to be a flat fee of $6.95! I have already placed an order for Easter :) I'm so excited that Kian will be able to have his first taste of chocolate and that there is now a place where we can get it from for a reasonable price AND worry free that Kian will have a reaction!!!!!! :)

Update on Toby

He's doing very well! We have to give him some stomach meds for a week which is not all that fun. I have become the medicine giver around here lol! One of the meds is a tablet that we have to dissolve in a water filled syringe and squirt it in his mouth. Let me tell you, his mouth is like a steel trapped door after having to give him this three times a day over the last few days! I also have to make sure that he doesn't eat 2-3 hours before he has it or and hour afterwards. At least we are close to being done with it all! He is also taking Pepcid AC! Yep, the human stuff...just once a day. Thank God Target had a generic brand because that stuff is expensive! Anyway, the vomitting has stopped and he's totally like himself.

Also, the vet that saw him called the day after he was seen to make sure he was doing well! I feel very good about bringing our animals there because they honestly seem to care a lot (but then again this might be standard for all vets as we have never had an emergency before like this). I also talked to her about what could have caused the ulsers and said I was concered that Kian might be causing him stress. The vet responded by saying, "I doubt it's your son. Labs are a type of breed that you can drop a brick on their head and they won't care." LOL! I told her that was true! She said that he might have got into something or it might have been some kind of cleaner... she said a lot of times they never find out what caused the problem. She also said that a lot of times dogs need a little help getting over something like this and that's what the week long taking meds is going to do for him. She said if he started getting sick again to call and they would find out exactly what was going on. Hopefully and prayerfully he's gotten over this and he won't have any more issues :)

Toby’s Visit to the Pet Hospital

Yesterday Toby vomited and it looked like blood was in it. Jamie and I decided to wait it out and see how he was doing. Today he vomited 5 times and the last time it looked like blood was in it…it was already 5PM and I wasn’t sure what to do…Jamie wouldn’t be home until 7ish. So I called a vet we were suggested by someone at Petco and the vet tech was great at answering my questions and helping me decide what I needed to do. Ended up that me and Kian rushed out the door to take Toby there and Jamie was going meet us there. We didn’t arrive until 6ish and Toby wasn’t seen until 8ish so it was good that Kian and I left! (Kian’s bed time is 7).

Toby is ok. They took x-rays to see if there was an obstruction – thinking he could have swallowed something. He was clear. They did say that he might have an ulcer so we are giving him some meds as well as OTC Pepcid lol They also pumped him full of fluids to help him out since he vomited so much today. Hopefully that will help with the vomiting and he can get back to normal a bit (and I can stop cleaning up vomited and running for papertowels!). The vet does want us to call her tomorrow to let her know how Toby is – if he’s any worse we have to bring him back in.

Jamie and I were both very impressed with this place – plus they are a hospital so they are open 24 hours….of course things are more after 7PM but at least we know they are there and we trust them.

Friends, Dancing and New Words!

Steve and Lisa ETA May 1^st!!!!!!!!

Steve and Jamie worked at Oddworld together and became great friends – I too became very good friends with Steve’s fiancé Lisa. This was all before Kian was born! They were actually at the hospital and saw Kian before I had a chance to after surgery! So, they have been a big part of our lives since we moved to Cali. Steve took a job in Seattle last year before Oddworld shut down so they moved far away. Through the distance we still remained close. Lisa’s family lives in San Jose so when they would visit them they would stop by here for a visit.

Well, last week was the GDC (Game Developers Conference) and Steve flew down for that. He also interviewed and was hired on at Perpetual which is in San Francisco! They expect to be back in the area by May 1^st! We are so excited that they are coming back down here! Kian and Steve had a GREAT time together when Lisa and he visited us on Friday night (Lisa was down here doing wedding stuff so we got a visit from both of them!) I know Kian can’t WAIT for Uncle Steve to be back in the area :) Not to mention, now Kian will have more people at his second birthday party which will now seem more like a party with Steve, Lisa, Jamie, Kian, Jamie’s mom, and me :)

Kian’s Dancing

Kian LOVES to dance! In the last week he’s become a Dance Machine! hehe He is dancing to music on commercials, music from toys, literally anything that plays music lol! And when he dances he looks more like he’s doing a work out with the way he swings his arms around and stomps the floor…with a HUGE grin too hehe He’s such a cutie!

Plane-plane and Nin-nin

Kian has started to identify airplanes and helicopters! It’s pretty exciting since we live fairly close to the San Jose airport. Yesterday I was outside pulling weeds and had the door open and a plane flew over. Kian pointed to it and said “plane-plane” – it was the first time he ever said it!

Also, in the last week he has started saying “nin-nin” when he is done eating! He has been doing the sign for finished for quite some time and now he has started saying “nin-nin” with it! He sure is branching out and saying a lot more.

I almost forgot that he is also trying to say the ABC’s! I have been singing it with him a lot lately. He doesn’t have the letters right but I can tell by how he’s saying the random letters that he is really trying to sing it! hopefully we can get him to start saying them right hehe

Corned Beef, Turning Pages and ABC's

Kian Loves Corned Beef!

Kian hasn’t been eating well these days… I guess another stage in toddlerhood. I made corned beef and mashed potatoes and corn for St. Pat’s day. I got a corned Beef Brisket from Trader Joe’s and let me say that we will do it again next year! The spices they added to the brine were AMAZING! Not to mention Kian devoured it! He also loves mashed potatoes and corn. When he would sign to me he was finished, there would only be a few piece of meat left on his plate! I guess his wee bit o’ Irish is coming through with that corned beef and potatoes hehe

I also made a WONDERFUL Irish Soda bread. It’s SO easy and really really yummy! It honestly is better than a family recipe I made from my Grandma Kesler’s cookbook – sorry but it’s true! Here is the recipe in case you want it. I got it from www.foodtv.com

Marilyn O'Reilly's Irish Soda Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons caraway seeds, optional
1 cup raisins
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg

Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt and stir well to mix.

Add the butter and rub in until the butter disappears into the dry ingredients.

Stir in the caraway seeds if used and the raisins.

In a small bowl, whisk the buttermilk and egg together and mix into the dough mixture with a rubber spatula.

Turn the dough out on a floured work surface and fold it over on itself several times, shaping it into a round loaf. Transfer the loaf to one cookie sheet or jelly roll pan covered with parchment or foil and cut a cross in the top. Bake for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes more, until well colored and a toothpick plunged into the center emerges clean.

Cool the soda bread on a rack and serve with plenty of sweet butter and bitter orange marmalade.

Turning Pages

Since Kian was about 3 months old we have had the same bed time routine (well, pretty much the same minus breastfeeding and a sippy cup now). We get him in the bath, dress him, read him a story while he hugs his blanket and sucks his binky, a little bit of rocking and then lay him down. Jamie usually reads him his story. It’s the same story every night, “Guess How Much I Love You.” A few nights ago Kian was holding the book and as Jamie read Kian turned the page at the right time – EVERY time lol! Last night Jamie was out with some friends so I read him his story and he did it for me too! I have to say that I’m not surprised he has memorized that story since I know it by heart – but where the page turns are! Wow! hehe There is even a part that says Big Nutbrown Hare “leaned over and kissed him goodnight.” And we always kiss Kian’s head when we read that. Now Kian leans over to us when he knows the kiss is coming! He is such a smarty pants! :)

Alphabet!

Kian is now starting to recognize letters and putting sounds to them! He has letters that he plays with in his bath and we talk about different letters throughout the day. His first letter was “S” which he makes the sound for it by putting his tongue in between his teeth and blowing lol At least he’s making the sound! He also knows the letter “P” and says “pah” when she sees it.

Yesterday he just started saying sock which he says “sah” but he’s close enough hehe He can identify it without prompting too! I guess putting on his socks and shoes a million times have helped that lol

We just ordered a DVD through ebay for him where Blue from Blue’s clues teaches the alphabet. Jamie and I figured that it was a good way for him to learn it while he’s watching his favorite show from time to time! :)

Speaking of identifying things, when I shower I put on Baby Einstein DVD’s for Kian. The latest one we have is called Things that Go and it’s all about forms of transportation. Today we as we were getting out of the car he heard a helicopter and Kian stood there pointing at it! He was excited but he was kind of wondering where it went when he got out of sight lol It’s amazing what he has picked up just from watching certain shows!

Kian’s 2nd St. Patrick’s Day!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone!

I hope you’re wearing green or a leprechaun might come and bite your toes lol (I just made that up! hehe!) Even Jamie is wearing his Jameson Irish Whiskey shirt today…Kian has his new St. Pat’s Day shirt from Old Navy on and I of course am wearing green as well :)

Well, this morning we started off with me attempting to make shamrock shaped pancakes…not sure how in the world the little video I saw of it was made so perfect - I need to practice I guess lol Then I made cupcakes with little green sprinkles on top (I did not attempt shamrocks this time lol) and then off to make a very easy Irish Soda Bread recipe I found at www.foodtv.com! It looks good and got some great reviews so I hope it tastes good! :) And right now I have my corned beef in my crockpot – the aroma is filling the house! I hope tonight’s meal goes over well :)

Other than that, we are kind of taking it easy at home today. I unfortunately caught Kian’s bug and am feeling a bit run down. But we are celebrating nonetheless!

Nothing else to really report here! Same old stuff really…just add in lots of rain and that’s us in Cali hehe

I hope you all have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day!

ERIN GO BRAUGH! (that’s Gaelic for Ireland Forever in case you didn’t know hehe)

Blue's Clues and Language :)

Blue’s Clues Education and our little Blue’s Clues Nut!

For some reason it came to my mind that maybe not everyone is familiar with Blue’s Clues hehe Here is a link to the official website of the show http://www.nickjr.com/home/shows/blue/index.jhtml There is an interview with the creators of the show as well as some other tidbits.

Here’s a bit of a run down of what the show is about:

The show is about a blue dog named “Blue” whose owner is named Steve or Joe. Steve was the first host who wore a green stripped shirt in every episode. He “left for college” and his “brother” Joe took over hosting. Joe wears a shirt that has squares on it – he has several colors that he wears but in the same style (I posted a photo of Blue and Joe together). Blue also has friends like Tickity (who is a clock), Shovel and Pail, Mrs. Salt and Mr. Pepper and their baby Paprika…you get the point hehe At the beginning of the show Joe (or Steve) will talk about what him and Blue are doing today. As they are talking usually Joe will ask Blue a question and to figure out the answer we play Blue’s Clues. Blue puts a paw print on 3 things that Joe will find throughout the show and put in his “handy dandy notebook. Before finding the clues he sings a song about how to play Blue’s Clues. The clues are found throughout the show as Joe and Blue interact with others and talk about the topic for the episode. There is also a time when the mail comes and Mailbox brings the mail – Joe sings a song about getting a letter and opens it up (it’s a video of children talking about the episode’s topic). Once he has found all the clues, he sits in his thinking chair and talks about the clues. When we figure it out he sings another song about how smart you are :) At the end he sings a good-bye song :)

Well now that you have a bit of background on the show I can tell you that my Mr. Kian is a total NUT for “Beu-beu” (Blue’s Clues hehe)!!!!! He now knows all the sign language movements to the Blue’s Clues song and does the Letter dance with one of his play letters as Mommy sings the song for him hehe Jamie took some video of Kian doing the Blue’s Clues signs this morning – hopefully we will have it up on our site soon! :)

Kian also asks to watch the show now! He will say “bue-bue” over and over again and get kind of cranky if you don’t turn it on! lol I usually don’t have his shows on at all while I am able to be with him – I usually have them on if I have work to attend to or something that needs to be done without distraction. I have a feeling his intake of Blue’s Clues is about to go up lol!

Language explosion

Kian continues to learn more and more words everyday. We are working on animals and he makes some very funny noises when it comes to what animal makes what sound! He can identify a cow, pig, sheep, and horse! They all have their own sounds…but there is no way I could try to type that down here lol I will have to get some film of him doing the noises….they are sounds only mommy and daddy will know what he means lol But he’s getting really good at it! :)

Kian is also getting an explosion in sign language! I have been teaching him the sign for “more.” He didn’t do it until we were out grocery shopping and he was having one of his favorite snacks (toddler cookies, which he only gets when we are out and he’s having a snack) and needed more! lol He got upset and started doing the sign! (here is a link to what it looks like: http://www.signwithme.com/video_display.asp?ID=29&search=more ) I have been trying this sign with him for over a year and he FINALLY got it! hehe! He now uses it when he gets excited about what he’s eating and tells more! What a cutie! :)