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!