Well, today Jamie installed my early Mother's Day gift. It's a radio/iPod dock for me to listen to music in my kitchen. Today Jamie and I were wanting to make sure the sound was right on it so I told him I wanted to turn on music I knew...which of course is U2. I turned on the song Mysterious Ways and the moment that the chorus came on Kian sang the words EXACTLY in tune and the correct words! Jamie found the camera and was able to catch Kian in action enjoying the tunes...we are trying SO hard not to laugh!
Here's the video ;)
The REALLY funny thing is that after we took the video we went to Target. Jamie was walking around in a completely different section from me. All of a sudden I could hear Kian singing at the top of his lungs: "It's alright, it's alright, it's alright. She MOVES in mysterious ways" ROFL! He's been singing off and on all day lol
I guess he's for sure the littlest U2 fan.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Sunday, April 01, 2007
M – I – C – K –E – Y M – O – U – S – E
WE ARE GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!!
We just booked our trip for the end of September! We are all so excited about it! It will be our very first family vacation…and well our very first vacation really that we have had since Jamie and I took our honeymoon 5 years ago!
Jamie will be very busy with work until the project is over mid September. We really wanted to take Kian to Disneyland for his 3rd birthday this May, but really it’s impossible for Jamie to get time off. So, we did the next best thing :) We booked a trip for after the project is over.
We are going to be staying at a “good neighbor” hotel which gives us an invited to the early entrance into Toontown where we get to see the Mayor opening up the town for the day. Kian will be able to meet all the characters and get autographs! He will be COMPLETELY beside himself when he meets his girlfriend Minnie for the first time hehe. We will also have VIP seating for a talk with Crush – the turtle from Finding Nemo.
We are really looking forward to spending some time as a family and really enjoying ourselves on our FIRST vacation…what better place to do it than at Disneyland :)
We just booked our trip for the end of September! We are all so excited about it! It will be our very first family vacation…and well our very first vacation really that we have had since Jamie and I took our honeymoon 5 years ago!
Jamie will be very busy with work until the project is over mid September. We really wanted to take Kian to Disneyland for his 3rd birthday this May, but really it’s impossible for Jamie to get time off. So, we did the next best thing :) We booked a trip for after the project is over.
We are going to be staying at a “good neighbor” hotel which gives us an invited to the early entrance into Toontown where we get to see the Mayor opening up the town for the day. Kian will be able to meet all the characters and get autographs! He will be COMPLETELY beside himself when he meets his girlfriend Minnie for the first time hehe. We will also have VIP seating for a talk with Crush – the turtle from Finding Nemo.
We are really looking forward to spending some time as a family and really enjoying ourselves on our FIRST vacation…what better place to do it than at Disneyland :)
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
St. Patrick's Day in the "Mc" Durall Household :)
St. Patrick's Day was yesterday and if you know me you know that it's ranked up there with Christmas as being one of my favorite holidays! I have Irish roots on both sides as was taught at a young age that eing Irish was something to be proud of and most definitely should be celebrated on St. Patrick's Day.
In my house that means that the day after Valentine's day decor comes down and my shamrock and other green/Irish goodies make their appearance. My entire family was decked out in green yesterday. Jamie (whose name is really Jameson) wore his Jameson Irish Whiskey t-shirt, Kian wore a I ♣ You t-shirt and I wore my green TREASU(RED) shirt (fyi, the (RED) is an organization headed by Bono that helps pregnant mothers in Africa who have AIDS receive meds to help them live longer and not pass the disease to their unborn child). Even our dog Toby was wearing a green, shamrock bandanna :)
For our little shindig we invited our couple friend Steve and Lisa over for an Irish Feast. I made corned beef, cabbage, a cabbage salad one of my Irish Grandmas (Grandma Kesler) always made, smashed potatoes, and a trifle. Everyone thought everything tasted so good - I was most concerned about my trifle as it was my first go at something like that it turned out amazing (thanks to good ole Betty Crocker hehe). We also bought some Harp Beer (made by the same people that make Guiness just not dark) and of course we always have Bailey's on hand :)
We all had a great time! I was sad to see the day end but of course as any one who knows me pretty much everyday I celebrate being Irish :)
In my house that means that the day after Valentine's day decor comes down and my shamrock and other green/Irish goodies make their appearance. My entire family was decked out in green yesterday. Jamie (whose name is really Jameson) wore his Jameson Irish Whiskey t-shirt, Kian wore a I ♣ You t-shirt and I wore my green TREASU(RED) shirt (fyi, the (RED) is an organization headed by Bono that helps pregnant mothers in Africa who have AIDS receive meds to help them live longer and not pass the disease to their unborn child). Even our dog Toby was wearing a green, shamrock bandanna :)
For our little shindig we invited our couple friend Steve and Lisa over for an Irish Feast. I made corned beef, cabbage, a cabbage salad one of my Irish Grandmas (Grandma Kesler) always made, smashed potatoes, and a trifle. Everyone thought everything tasted so good - I was most concerned about my trifle as it was my first go at something like that it turned out amazing (thanks to good ole Betty Crocker hehe). We also bought some Harp Beer (made by the same people that make Guiness just not dark) and of course we always have Bailey's on hand :)
We all had a great time! I was sad to see the day end but of course as any one who knows me pretty much everyday I celebrate being Irish :)
Monday, March 12, 2007
My Meat Eater, Detective Work and TJ's
Meat Eater
Kian has become more of a meat eater! In the past I would cut up the meat we were eating and hide it in his mashed potatoes or rice or whatever side dish we were having. In the past, Kian has been odd about different textures in food and meat is definitely one of them. Well, last week for dinner I make a turkey breast in the crock pot. I hide his meat in his mashed potatoes and gravy and sat down with my plate of food. He asked for a bit of my meat so I gave him one – I think that by the time we were done eating he had at about one fourth of the meat I had on my plate for myself! The next time we had that meal I gave him his own slices of turkey cut up into pieces he could manage and he ate it all! I am so happy he’s finally putting aside that texture deal in the meat category :)
Speaking of food, Kian has really been packing it away lately! He normally will leave something left on his plate – eating most but leaving some. Since this past week he’s surprised me at the amount he has consumed and left me wondering where the heck it all goes! For example, for lunch one day last week he ate a half package of Easy Mac and Cheese, three Gerber hotdogs, a cup of green beans AND an entire can of mandarin oranges! This has honestly left me wondering how I will keep food in my house once he gets into this teen years hehe
Detective Joe Speaking!
Blue’s Clues has been kind of replaced by a show called Blue’s Room. The show stars Blue has a puppet with her brother Sprinkles. Joe is also in the episodes as well as some other puppet friends, but Blue and Sprinkles are definitely in the spotlight. Anyway, to my knowledge there are no more episodes being created of Blue’s Clues (although Nick Jr. still airs them and Kian asks to watch them often).
Well, Blue’s Room is a pretty good show too in my opinion. Kian has liked them so much that he has requested only one show from Blue’s Room when he asks to watch a show. One episode is based only on shapes and is called The Shape Detectives. The premise is that one of the other character’s paintings has lost all of it’s shapes and the Shape Detectives have to help him find them. Blue, her brother Sprinkles and Joe are all detectives and the slogan for their company is “Shapes, shapes all around. Shapes are lost and then they’re found.” Well, at one point in the show Joe gets a hot tip on the phone about the missing pentagon and he answers the phone, “Shapes, shapes all around. Shapes are lost and then they’re found. Detective Joe speaking.” Kian has learned this phrase from watching (or listening to) this episode countless times. He goes to his toy box, finds his play phone and will say exactly what Joe says. He even has asked me to do it with him but I say “Detective Mommy speaking.” So, naturally that’s what Kian says now too. The CUTEST thing is how he says Speaking. I will have to try to get some video of him saying it because really there is no way for me to do justice with it by trying to type it out :)
Kian is becoming such a little man :)
Trader Joe’s coming to Livermore!
I am SO excited that Trader Joe’s is FINALLY coming to Livermore! For those of you who don’t know you can check out this link: www.traderjoes.com This store has some amazing prices on most of the thing that you would buy in your normal super market. They also sell a lot of organic and vegetarian things as well. It’s seriously my favorite place to shop, so much so that I drive on the 580 for about 10-15 mins (if there is no traffic) to get there! I buy most of our food there and shopping there every two weeks for all of us I spend about $60 each time…that’s unreal for a family of three and the FULL cart of items I walk out with.
Anyway, Trader Joe’s is going to be opening up in Livermore next week! It will still mean I have to drive a bit of a way to get there because of it’s location, but I don’t have to take the freeway (which means I can go late or early in the day and not worry about sitting in my car for a half hour there or back from the store.) Next week is my Trader Joe’s shopping week and I hope to be doing it at their new store! WOOT!
Kian has become more of a meat eater! In the past I would cut up the meat we were eating and hide it in his mashed potatoes or rice or whatever side dish we were having. In the past, Kian has been odd about different textures in food and meat is definitely one of them. Well, last week for dinner I make a turkey breast in the crock pot. I hide his meat in his mashed potatoes and gravy and sat down with my plate of food. He asked for a bit of my meat so I gave him one – I think that by the time we were done eating he had at about one fourth of the meat I had on my plate for myself! The next time we had that meal I gave him his own slices of turkey cut up into pieces he could manage and he ate it all! I am so happy he’s finally putting aside that texture deal in the meat category :)
Speaking of food, Kian has really been packing it away lately! He normally will leave something left on his plate – eating most but leaving some. Since this past week he’s surprised me at the amount he has consumed and left me wondering where the heck it all goes! For example, for lunch one day last week he ate a half package of Easy Mac and Cheese, three Gerber hotdogs, a cup of green beans AND an entire can of mandarin oranges! This has honestly left me wondering how I will keep food in my house once he gets into this teen years hehe
Detective Joe Speaking!
Blue’s Clues has been kind of replaced by a show called Blue’s Room. The show stars Blue has a puppet with her brother Sprinkles. Joe is also in the episodes as well as some other puppet friends, but Blue and Sprinkles are definitely in the spotlight. Anyway, to my knowledge there are no more episodes being created of Blue’s Clues (although Nick Jr. still airs them and Kian asks to watch them often).
Well, Blue’s Room is a pretty good show too in my opinion. Kian has liked them so much that he has requested only one show from Blue’s Room when he asks to watch a show. One episode is based only on shapes and is called The Shape Detectives. The premise is that one of the other character’s paintings has lost all of it’s shapes and the Shape Detectives have to help him find them. Blue, her brother Sprinkles and Joe are all detectives and the slogan for their company is “Shapes, shapes all around. Shapes are lost and then they’re found.” Well, at one point in the show Joe gets a hot tip on the phone about the missing pentagon and he answers the phone, “Shapes, shapes all around. Shapes are lost and then they’re found. Detective Joe speaking.” Kian has learned this phrase from watching (or listening to) this episode countless times. He goes to his toy box, finds his play phone and will say exactly what Joe says. He even has asked me to do it with him but I say “Detective Mommy speaking.” So, naturally that’s what Kian says now too. The CUTEST thing is how he says Speaking. I will have to try to get some video of him saying it because really there is no way for me to do justice with it by trying to type it out :)
Kian is becoming such a little man :)
Trader Joe’s coming to Livermore!
I am SO excited that Trader Joe’s is FINALLY coming to Livermore! For those of you who don’t know you can check out this link: www.traderjoes.com This store has some amazing prices on most of the thing that you would buy in your normal super market. They also sell a lot of organic and vegetarian things as well. It’s seriously my favorite place to shop, so much so that I drive on the 580 for about 10-15 mins (if there is no traffic) to get there! I buy most of our food there and shopping there every two weeks for all of us I spend about $60 each time…that’s unreal for a family of three and the FULL cart of items I walk out with.
Anyway, Trader Joe’s is going to be opening up in Livermore next week! It will still mean I have to drive a bit of a way to get there because of it’s location, but I don’t have to take the freeway (which means I can go late or early in the day and not worry about sitting in my car for a half hour there or back from the store.) Next week is my Trader Joe’s shopping week and I hope to be doing it at their new store! WOOT!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
A New Ped in the Works and Some Fun News on Kian :)
New Pediatrician in the Works
Since we moved to the area, Kian has seen the doctor a total of 5 times. The first time was to really introduce us to the doctor and get a feel for what the practice was like. I liked how they were fast in getting us in to see the doctor and they definitely have kid friendly things in their office.
The problem is that all 5 times we have been to the doctor in the last 9 months we have seen a different doctor EVERY time. Kian even had to have his Epi Pen (for his nut allergy since it's so severe) represcribed to him because his expired. The doctor that prescribed it was yet ANOTHER doctor there and didn't get the prescription right! He should have two Epi Pens and not one which is in his files if anyone cared to look. I brought all of Kian's records with me from the time of his birth up to current time and yet no one has cared to enter them and I even had one of the 6 doctors that have touched his files tell me that I didn't have them!
Yesterday i left a note to talk to his Ped about an issue the receptionist felt could be solved by phone instead of appointment. The Ped didn't seem to like all the questions I was asking, sounded like I was wasting her time and was just trying to get me off the phone. She also was rude with some of her answers when really her answer didn't have to include all the disrespectful talk so flung at me. Needless to say this interaction with her and having what seems no real doctor for Kian has really made me feel like this is not the place for us.
I am going to try to ask some of the mom's in Kian's class about their Peds and kind of go from there. I am so glad that I have originals of all of Kian's records form the time of birth through right before we left Sunnyvale. Make life a lot easier :)
If I could find a clone of Dr. Bravo (Kian's first Ped who was AMAZING!) all these issues would be solved! Man, do I miss Dr. Bravo, his patience, his caring and his love for the kids he works with.
Fun Stuff!
This morning I took Kian to class. In his class we sing songs that have hand signs, dance to music with movements, listen to a story, and have free play. There is one song that we sign talking about building a house and it has hand movements. We have done it maybe 4 times in classes that Kian has been to.
Today after we got back from class, Kian was singing and I couldn't figure out what he was saying until he got to a certain part and I realized he was signing the build a house song and doing the movements all on his own. Throughout the day he has broken into this song (including the higher notes that they sing at one point!) at the house playing, at the grocery store (and you know I joined in - we sang and shopped at the same time! lol) and eating dinner. I am so surprised how much he has retained from class and I am so happy that he enjoys it so much.
Since we moved to the area, Kian has seen the doctor a total of 5 times. The first time was to really introduce us to the doctor and get a feel for what the practice was like. I liked how they were fast in getting us in to see the doctor and they definitely have kid friendly things in their office.
The problem is that all 5 times we have been to the doctor in the last 9 months we have seen a different doctor EVERY time. Kian even had to have his Epi Pen (for his nut allergy since it's so severe) represcribed to him because his expired. The doctor that prescribed it was yet ANOTHER doctor there and didn't get the prescription right! He should have two Epi Pens and not one which is in his files if anyone cared to look. I brought all of Kian's records with me from the time of his birth up to current time and yet no one has cared to enter them and I even had one of the 6 doctors that have touched his files tell me that I didn't have them!
Yesterday i left a note to talk to his Ped about an issue the receptionist felt could be solved by phone instead of appointment. The Ped didn't seem to like all the questions I was asking, sounded like I was wasting her time and was just trying to get me off the phone. She also was rude with some of her answers when really her answer didn't have to include all the disrespectful talk so flung at me. Needless to say this interaction with her and having what seems no real doctor for Kian has really made me feel like this is not the place for us.
I am going to try to ask some of the mom's in Kian's class about their Peds and kind of go from there. I am so glad that I have originals of all of Kian's records form the time of birth through right before we left Sunnyvale. Make life a lot easier :)
If I could find a clone of Dr. Bravo (Kian's first Ped who was AMAZING!) all these issues would be solved! Man, do I miss Dr. Bravo, his patience, his caring and his love for the kids he works with.
Fun Stuff!
This morning I took Kian to class. In his class we sing songs that have hand signs, dance to music with movements, listen to a story, and have free play. There is one song that we sign talking about building a house and it has hand movements. We have done it maybe 4 times in classes that Kian has been to.
Today after we got back from class, Kian was singing and I couldn't figure out what he was saying until he got to a certain part and I realized he was signing the build a house song and doing the movements all on his own. Throughout the day he has broken into this song (including the higher notes that they sing at one point!) at the house playing, at the grocery store (and you know I joined in - we sang and shopped at the same time! lol) and eating dinner. I am so surprised how much he has retained from class and I am so happy that he enjoys it so much.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Jamie and Sarah - 5 Years!!! (and sick again...)
Five Wonderful Years!!!
Jamie and I celebrated our 5th Wedding anniversary on Friday! I can’t believe how fast the time went! If feels like just yesterday we were all in Wisconsin with our family and close friends having one of the best parties I’ve ever attended :) We are looking forward to many more wonderful years together :)
Sickness….
Yep, Jamie’s now sick with what seems like could be the flu. I just finished my antibiotic and Kian seemed to be over his illness until yesterday. He’s had a stuffy nose and has been waking up crying :( I’m hoping that his flu shot holds up for him as having the flu as an asthmatic is not a good thing.
I cannot wait for spring to arrive so we have more time between illnesses :(
Jamie and I celebrated our 5th Wedding anniversary on Friday! I can’t believe how fast the time went! If feels like just yesterday we were all in Wisconsin with our family and close friends having one of the best parties I’ve ever attended :) We are looking forward to many more wonderful years together :)
Sickness….
Yep, Jamie’s now sick with what seems like could be the flu. I just finished my antibiotic and Kian seemed to be over his illness until yesterday. He’s had a stuffy nose and has been waking up crying :( I’m hoping that his flu shot holds up for him as having the flu as an asthmatic is not a good thing.
I cannot wait for spring to arrive so we have more time between illnesses :(
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Gloomy Days
It's a good thing that we took advantage of the nice weather on Saturday because it has turned back to being winter like. Cold, windy and rainy. We do need the rain though so that definitely is welcomed.
Jamie is starting to work late hours again. Kian really is starting to miss seeing his daddy at night and sometimes will stay up to wait for him to come home. At least the weekend is very close and Jamie will be home for the weekend (or so I think anyway).
I am starting to brace myself for being a "single" mom for a good portion of the rest of the year. Thank God for netflix - it helps me to pass the night away quickly until Jamie comes home.
Jamie is starting to work late hours again. Kian really is starting to miss seeing his daddy at night and sometimes will stay up to wait for him to come home. At least the weekend is very close and Jamie will be home for the weekend (or so I think anyway).
I am starting to brace myself for being a "single" mom for a good portion of the rest of the year. Thank God for netflix - it helps me to pass the night away quickly until Jamie comes home.
Monday, February 19, 2007
New Photo Hosting Program - Snapfish!!!
NOTE: Please be sure to check your email and use only the link in the email to get to snapfish.
So, I was having a lot of issues with winkflash (uploading and even logging in) so I decided to go with snapfish. Some good friends (Hi Jamey!) have used it for over a year now to share their photos with friends and family so I figured it's working well for them :)
I have tested it on Jamie and myself and honestly it seems to have a lot easier interface. Not to mention, I have had ZERO issues uploading photos to my account which was what was stalling me from putting up anything that was recent!
So, problem solved! And you guys get to see more of Mr. Kian!
If I have your email address you will be receiving an invitation to view our photos. All you have to do is click "View my Photos" in the email and it will take you to the snapfish website. If you don't have an account with snapfish it will ask you for your name and email address and wah-lah there are the photos for viewing :)
If you receive an email to view photos and do not wish to receive more, just let me know and I will remove you from the list.
So, I was having a lot of issues with winkflash (uploading and even logging in) so I decided to go with snapfish. Some good friends (Hi Jamey!) have used it for over a year now to share their photos with friends and family so I figured it's working well for them :)
I have tested it on Jamie and myself and honestly it seems to have a lot easier interface. Not to mention, I have had ZERO issues uploading photos to my account which was what was stalling me from putting up anything that was recent!
So, problem solved! And you guys get to see more of Mr. Kian!
If I have your email address you will be receiving an invitation to view our photos. All you have to do is click "View my Photos" in the email and it will take you to the snapfish website. If you don't have an account with snapfish it will ask you for your name and email address and wah-lah there are the photos for viewing :)
If you receive an email to view photos and do not wish to receive more, just let me know and I will remove you from the list.
Golfing With Daddy!
Saturday it was unseasonably warm here and we took advantage of it! Jamie found a golf club for Kian on clearance at Target and hit balls with Kian for the firs time this weekend :) Kian really seemed to enjoy it! As you can see, Toby came with us and was the official ball fetcher (unless Kian got to it first) hehe
It sure was nice to get out of the house. Kian and I were sick last week - well I was VERY sick - so sick that Jamie needed to stay home for a few days. Kian and I are on the mend now and we look forward to having a great week just doing our normal stuff :)
Saturday, February 10, 2007
No Longer Private
Some of my favorite people were having issues being able to log into to view my blog so I decided to take it off of private. At least for now. hopefully Blogger will get a lot of the bugs worked out :)
For now, those of you who have signed up as "readers" you are still in the system in case I decide to go private again.
For now, those of you who have signed up as "readers" you are still in the system in case I decide to go private again.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
A New Toliet, Goodbye to Troublemakers and Sick Again (I know, shocking huh?)
This past weekend was very interesting.
First of all, Friday I noticed that our neighbors next door were packing up things and sure enough they are moving – they had a U-Haul today. These are the lovely neighbors that greeted us our first weekend of moving in with a drunken frenzy outside that resulted in our neighbors across the way calling the police. Anyone who has stayed with us at our new place over the weekend knows exactly what neighbors I am talking about because every weekend at least once in the wee hours of the morning you can hear them fighting. Jamie talked to our neighbors across the way and told him they have mutual feelings on these trouble makers leaving. So, those neighbors left us with a quiet Saturday night and have left us wondering who will be moving in next.
Honestly, I didn’t realize how much noise they made until after they were gone! We never hear our neighbors on the other side (I occasionally will hear some music in our kitchen area but nothing that’s too loud).
Second, Jamie is installing a new toilet in our masterbath. The tank had a crack in it that Jamie noticed late last weekend. He looked information on the crack (since there was no leak) on the internet and found out that the crack could give way and we could have some major problems. It was best to replace the toilet.
Yep, it’s his first fix to our house since we moved in. We picked out a toilet Saturday morning and Jamie installed it in the afternoon. I have to say that the man at Lowe’s we spoke to had a WEALTH of information and was very, very helpful. After 5 trips to Lowe’s for different parts and a new toilet seat our “throne” is working just great! I’m so proud of Jamie for taking on this endeavourer, doing the research and getting the job done :)
Honestly, as I see Jamie taking out the old toilet and what not, I think about two Saturday Night Live Sketches. One is for the “Love Toilet” – oh so funny :) I digress hehe
Sunday we had our own little “Super Bowl” Party. We went to Costco that morning and bought some hot wings and I made some cocktail wieners. It was nice :) We had planned to ask our neighbors across the way over, but we have all been battling some sort of cold and they have a newborn. Hopefully once spring hits we will be able to BBQ or something with them :)
This week we are battling some kind of new illness. Jamie and I have felt WIPED out! We went to bed at 10:30 last night (that is early for us) and woke up at about 7 and I felt like I slept for 4 hours :( Last night Kian also woke up in hysterics. I’m not sure if he’s cutting his two year molars, has an ear infection or what was going on. I kept asking him if he had an owie and all he would do was cry :( I finally resorted to giving him some Tylenol and some Hyland’s teething tablets and after some rocking and cuddling he settled down and went back to sleep. I felt so bad for him. I’m watching him like a hawk though because if he does have an ear infection and he’s actually showing signs of it, that means it’s pretty bad.
First of all, Friday I noticed that our neighbors next door were packing up things and sure enough they are moving – they had a U-Haul today. These are the lovely neighbors that greeted us our first weekend of moving in with a drunken frenzy outside that resulted in our neighbors across the way calling the police. Anyone who has stayed with us at our new place over the weekend knows exactly what neighbors I am talking about because every weekend at least once in the wee hours of the morning you can hear them fighting. Jamie talked to our neighbors across the way and told him they have mutual feelings on these trouble makers leaving. So, those neighbors left us with a quiet Saturday night and have left us wondering who will be moving in next.
Honestly, I didn’t realize how much noise they made until after they were gone! We never hear our neighbors on the other side (I occasionally will hear some music in our kitchen area but nothing that’s too loud).
Second, Jamie is installing a new toilet in our masterbath. The tank had a crack in it that Jamie noticed late last weekend. He looked information on the crack (since there was no leak) on the internet and found out that the crack could give way and we could have some major problems. It was best to replace the toilet.
Yep, it’s his first fix to our house since we moved in. We picked out a toilet Saturday morning and Jamie installed it in the afternoon. I have to say that the man at Lowe’s we spoke to had a WEALTH of information and was very, very helpful. After 5 trips to Lowe’s for different parts and a new toilet seat our “throne” is working just great! I’m so proud of Jamie for taking on this endeavourer, doing the research and getting the job done :)
Honestly, as I see Jamie taking out the old toilet and what not, I think about two Saturday Night Live Sketches. One is for the “Love Toilet” – oh so funny :) I digress hehe
Sunday we had our own little “Super Bowl” Party. We went to Costco that morning and bought some hot wings and I made some cocktail wieners. It was nice :) We had planned to ask our neighbors across the way over, but we have all been battling some sort of cold and they have a newborn. Hopefully once spring hits we will be able to BBQ or something with them :)
This week we are battling some kind of new illness. Jamie and I have felt WIPED out! We went to bed at 10:30 last night (that is early for us) and woke up at about 7 and I felt like I slept for 4 hours :( Last night Kian also woke up in hysterics. I’m not sure if he’s cutting his two year molars, has an ear infection or what was going on. I kept asking him if he had an owie and all he would do was cry :( I finally resorted to giving him some Tylenol and some Hyland’s teething tablets and after some rocking and cuddling he settled down and went back to sleep. I felt so bad for him. I’m watching him like a hawk though because if he does have an ear infection and he’s actually showing signs of it, that means it’s pretty bad.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
New Settings
Hello Everyone!
Blogger now has a new setting where I can make my blog private. You must be invited and accept the invitation in order to view my blog.
If you know of someone who wants to be able to view it, just email me at sarahdurall@gmail.com with that person's email address and I will make sure they are added.
Blogger now has a new setting where I can make my blog private. You must be invited and accept the invitation in order to view my blog.
If you know of someone who wants to be able to view it, just email me at sarahdurall@gmail.com with that person's email address and I will make sure they are added.
Kian is Sick :(
Last week I had a nasty cold. I felt like I should have been in bed all day and it was hard for me to even just sit because all I wanted to do was be in bed.
Well, Kian has this nasty cold now. Although he is in GREAT spirits (he always is even when he's REALLY sick). The first sign he's really not feeling good is when he sleeps in. He's like an alarm clock - he wakes up every day at 8AM or a little after. Today he was up at at 9AM even though I thought he was awake and burst into his room at about 8:30 he was sleeping like a log! Me just walking into his room will usually wake him up. Then he asked to have two binkies and his blanket downstairs with him. I honestly cannot remember the last time he asked for those things downstairs. Those have been bedtime things for over a year. I figured he needed the comfort of them so right now he's on the couch watching Teletubbies with a binkie in his mouth, one in his hand and rubbing on his blanket. Poor guy! We might need to skip our class again tomorrow - but I will just wait and see. I would hate to expose him to more illnesses with a weakened immune system :(
If you can, please say a little prayer that he will rest today.
Well, Kian has this nasty cold now. Although he is in GREAT spirits (he always is even when he's REALLY sick). The first sign he's really not feeling good is when he sleeps in. He's like an alarm clock - he wakes up every day at 8AM or a little after. Today he was up at at 9AM even though I thought he was awake and burst into his room at about 8:30 he was sleeping like a log! Me just walking into his room will usually wake him up. Then he asked to have two binkies and his blanket downstairs with him. I honestly cannot remember the last time he asked for those things downstairs. Those have been bedtime things for over a year. I figured he needed the comfort of them so right now he's on the couch watching Teletubbies with a binkie in his mouth, one in his hand and rubbing on his blanket. Poor guy! We might need to skip our class again tomorrow - but I will just wait and see. I would hate to expose him to more illnesses with a weakened immune system :(
If you can, please say a little prayer that he will rest today.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Popularity of Kian in Ireland
Tonight I was just doing some random searches and I came across a list of popular names in Ireland for babies in 2004. Guess what is #67?
Even the spelling is correct (Cian is the Gaelic spelling - same pronunciation). So, I guess if we ever go to Ireland Kian will have others there with that same name. :)
Even the spelling is correct (Cian is the Gaelic spelling - same pronunciation). So, I guess if we ever go to Ireland Kian will have others there with that same name. :)
Saturday, January 20, 2007
This Weekend and a Little Update on Kian
This weekend came early with Jamie having off on Monday for MLK's B-day. The funny thing is that this weekend we are finding we don't know what to do with ourselves! For the last month - maybe two - we have had to do chores, had visitors, or other random things so this is the first weekend where things aren't a MUST to get done. We still have a list of things we need to do but only a few of them are a must do instead of the whole list.
It's nice to have a weekend to ourselves :) Not to mention, Kian has been asking all week for Daddy. So it's nice to have some hang out time for my two main men.
"I Sad..."
In other news, Kian is using a lot more words now! He has had a word explosion over the last week or two. He's saying sentences, repeating what we say (which has been limited to "you're kidding" and "no way" thankfully!), and recently he's put together sentences that are all his own. For example, there is a game with Elmo that I allow him to play sometimes on the computer. It was right before bedtime when he asked to play it so I told him that Elmo went nigh-nigh and he could play him tomorrow. Kian responded with "I sad (boo-hoo-hoo)" LOL! At first I didn't catch what he said but after he started his fake crying (which was completely obvious was fake to him too I'm sure) I realized he said he was sad and put together that emotion with the word and the action! Talk about a big thing - not to mention he put that together on his own :) I have been teaching him some emotions (faces for happy, sad, angry) and he's seen them on shows like Blue's Clues. I guess his little mind started catch on to all that :)
The Littlest Cars (The Movie) Fan
Kian has become a Cars fanatic! We first showed him the movie when we went on a trip for Thanksgiving and now he can't get enough of it! He watches it several times a day. And since Santa brought him three of the cars from the movies, he plays with them everyday. He is so cute with them! He's also a great dancer to all the cool music that's on the movie :) He even dances to the beat (and sometimes I'll even join him)!
"I Scared you!"
This is Kian's biggest phrase at the moment. There is a new show on Disney called Johnny and the Sprites. He has seen it maybe 2-3 times now but during the day at different times he will sing the theme song to the show. The one show he has seen one of the sprites has the hiccups and Johnny tries to scare them out of the sprite by saying "raaar" while shaking his head and raising his arms in a scary position. Well, Kian does that to us now and says "I scared you!" right afterwards LOL It's super cute....the only bad thing is that he does this while he's laying in bed (we can hear him over the monitor) and one time he was having trouble getting to sleep so I went into retuck him in and of course I was "scared." Let me tell ya, it was hard not to laugh!
Kian is definitely an entertaining guy! We sure do love him!
It's nice to have a weekend to ourselves :) Not to mention, Kian has been asking all week for Daddy. So it's nice to have some hang out time for my two main men.
"I Sad..."
In other news, Kian is using a lot more words now! He has had a word explosion over the last week or two. He's saying sentences, repeating what we say (which has been limited to "you're kidding" and "no way" thankfully!), and recently he's put together sentences that are all his own. For example, there is a game with Elmo that I allow him to play sometimes on the computer. It was right before bedtime when he asked to play it so I told him that Elmo went nigh-nigh and he could play him tomorrow. Kian responded with "I sad (boo-hoo-hoo)" LOL! At first I didn't catch what he said but after he started his fake crying (which was completely obvious was fake to him too I'm sure) I realized he said he was sad and put together that emotion with the word and the action! Talk about a big thing - not to mention he put that together on his own :) I have been teaching him some emotions (faces for happy, sad, angry) and he's seen them on shows like Blue's Clues. I guess his little mind started catch on to all that :)
The Littlest Cars (The Movie) Fan
Kian has become a Cars fanatic! We first showed him the movie when we went on a trip for Thanksgiving and now he can't get enough of it! He watches it several times a day. And since Santa brought him three of the cars from the movies, he plays with them everyday. He is so cute with them! He's also a great dancer to all the cool music that's on the movie :) He even dances to the beat (and sometimes I'll even join him)!
"I Scared you!"
This is Kian's biggest phrase at the moment. There is a new show on Disney called Johnny and the Sprites. He has seen it maybe 2-3 times now but during the day at different times he will sing the theme song to the show. The one show he has seen one of the sprites has the hiccups and Johnny tries to scare them out of the sprite by saying "raaar" while shaking his head and raising his arms in a scary position. Well, Kian does that to us now and says "I scared you!" right afterwards LOL It's super cute....the only bad thing is that he does this while he's laying in bed (we can hear him over the monitor) and one time he was having trouble getting to sleep so I went into retuck him in and of course I was "scared." Let me tell ya, it was hard not to laugh!
Kian is definitely an entertaining guy! We sure do love him!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
So, today we learned cheaper doesn't always mean better
Ok, so I already knew that but unfortunately this revelation involves our dear Mr. Kian :(
So, yesterday I took Kian to get a haircut. It is the third time I have taken him to Great Clips to get it done. Yeah, I know I can't expect the best results from a place like that, but he's only a kid and I figured we would survive. Today I went to Great Clips with a coupon in hand.
Before I continue, let me rewind a bit. When I started taking Kian to get his hair cut, I took him to a salon that's only for kids. He got to rid in a little car and watch a video while he got his hair cut in less than 10 mins (maybe even 5!) They were fast and good and I was always pleased every time I left there. It was about $5 more to go to the kid place but it was worth it to me because it was better for Kian.
Since we moved this summer I wasn't able to find a kid's salon nearby so I started taking Kian to Great Clips (which is like Cost Cutters of Fantastic Sams). Kian does NOT like getting his hair cut. He's weird about anything being near his ears - he just plain doesn't like it. The last two people that cut his hair were fairly good. The second one did a great job...the first was ok but we survived...this third one it was apparent to me that she really didn't know kids and she hadn't cut hair for long.
This third stylist and I discussed how short I wanted his hair prior to cutting - she cut it WAY shorter than that. I figured I would just deal with it until I saw how she was cutting his hair on the sides and it was bad...she wasn't getting everything..nothing really matched up with the shortness on the top of his head... Then she started asking me to hold him still tell him to sit still, have him put his shoulders down among other things (which hello he's two years old - you try to tell a two year old to sit still!). Finally I just asked if the other lady (that I had seen the other two times when I was there) could cut his hair and she finished it up. The "experienced" lady did an ok job, but of course you can't put hair back on where it should have been! Poor Kian was sitting there for a HALF HOUR while they cut away. The experienced lady sang songs with us like Wheels on the Bus and such which was good entertainment for Kian and had him sit for a bit longer.
Kian had a bath that night and I could see his poor little ear was nicked (the one where he was lifting his shoulder when they would bring anything near it) and there is a chunk out of the back of his hair - luckily you don't notice it unless you are looking at the bottom of his hair closely.
After all this I looked up for kids salons when I came home. When I first started taking Kian to get his hair cut, I took him to a kids salon. But after we moved there weren't any in our area or they were quite a drive away and $20! So, we settled on Great Clips which was near our house.
After we got home I decided to do some research again on kid salons in our area. I had seen an ad in the newspaper a while back for a kids salon opening up downtown. Well, the salon is now open and only $6 more than Great Clips. So, next time Kian needs a cut (probably not for like 2 months!) we will take him there. It's so worth it for all of us.
So, yesterday I took Kian to get a haircut. It is the third time I have taken him to Great Clips to get it done. Yeah, I know I can't expect the best results from a place like that, but he's only a kid and I figured we would survive. Today I went to Great Clips with a coupon in hand.
Before I continue, let me rewind a bit. When I started taking Kian to get his hair cut, I took him to a salon that's only for kids. He got to rid in a little car and watch a video while he got his hair cut in less than 10 mins (maybe even 5!) They were fast and good and I was always pleased every time I left there. It was about $5 more to go to the kid place but it was worth it to me because it was better for Kian.
Since we moved this summer I wasn't able to find a kid's salon nearby so I started taking Kian to Great Clips (which is like Cost Cutters of Fantastic Sams). Kian does NOT like getting his hair cut. He's weird about anything being near his ears - he just plain doesn't like it. The last two people that cut his hair were fairly good. The second one did a great job...the first was ok but we survived...this third one it was apparent to me that she really didn't know kids and she hadn't cut hair for long.
This third stylist and I discussed how short I wanted his hair prior to cutting - she cut it WAY shorter than that. I figured I would just deal with it until I saw how she was cutting his hair on the sides and it was bad...she wasn't getting everything..nothing really matched up with the shortness on the top of his head... Then she started asking me to hold him still tell him to sit still, have him put his shoulders down among other things (which hello he's two years old - you try to tell a two year old to sit still!). Finally I just asked if the other lady (that I had seen the other two times when I was there) could cut his hair and she finished it up. The "experienced" lady did an ok job, but of course you can't put hair back on where it should have been! Poor Kian was sitting there for a HALF HOUR while they cut away. The experienced lady sang songs with us like Wheels on the Bus and such which was good entertainment for Kian and had him sit for a bit longer.
Kian had a bath that night and I could see his poor little ear was nicked (the one where he was lifting his shoulder when they would bring anything near it) and there is a chunk out of the back of his hair - luckily you don't notice it unless you are looking at the bottom of his hair closely.
After all this I looked up for kids salons when I came home. When I first started taking Kian to get his hair cut, I took him to a kids salon. But after we moved there weren't any in our area or they were quite a drive away and $20! So, we settled on Great Clips which was near our house.
After we got home I decided to do some research again on kid salons in our area. I had seen an ad in the newspaper a while back for a kids salon opening up downtown. Well, the salon is now open and only $6 more than Great Clips. So, next time Kian needs a cut (probably not for like 2 months!) we will take him there. It's so worth it for all of us.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Vistors Part 2
Jamie's mom, sister and step-dad came out for a visit last week. They arrived late on Tuesday and left Sunday afternoon. Wednesday we kind of hung out at the house. Jamie was at work and we only had my car (which would fit all but one of us). I figured it would be nice to let my in laws recover from the jet leg they had from their trip to Hawaii and let Kian get used to our new visitors.
Jamie took off of work on Thursday and Friday. He put in some hard hours on Wednesday to help him make up for the work he was missing those two days - right now he's close to deadline. We had hopes to go to the park or even go and try mini golf with Kian but it was VERY cold and windy. (it's actually still pretty cold here for California!)
We ended up walking around the mall a bit, taking Kian to Chuckee Cheese and Jamie took the other three to a winery for wine tasting while Kian was napping.
Other than that we enjoyed playing cards and bowling with the Wii which everyone really enjoyed a lot. In fact, Russell left wanting a Wii for at home! Unfortunately the system is sold out everywhere, but hopefully he will be able to get one :)
It was a low key visit but everyone was able to spend as much time with Kian as they wanted which really is the most important thing in my mind.
So now it's back to normal around our house! My oven has been used and on Sunday night I started to go through withdrawals from not cooking (I didn't cook at all because of special diets and wanting people to be able to eat what they chose as well as I get stressed out having to make a meal while trying to visit).
Here are some photos from the Hedrick's time with us (I apologize - unfortunately all that was on our camera was from Chuckee Cheese and Russell didn't come with us so he's not in any of the photos):
Jamie took off of work on Thursday and Friday. He put in some hard hours on Wednesday to help him make up for the work he was missing those two days - right now he's close to deadline. We had hopes to go to the park or even go and try mini golf with Kian but it was VERY cold and windy. (it's actually still pretty cold here for California!)
We ended up walking around the mall a bit, taking Kian to Chuckee Cheese and Jamie took the other three to a winery for wine tasting while Kian was napping.
Other than that we enjoyed playing cards and bowling with the Wii which everyone really enjoyed a lot. In fact, Russell left wanting a Wii for at home! Unfortunately the system is sold out everywhere, but hopefully he will be able to get one :)
It was a low key visit but everyone was able to spend as much time with Kian as they wanted which really is the most important thing in my mind.
So now it's back to normal around our house! My oven has been used and on Sunday night I started to go through withdrawals from not cooking (I didn't cook at all because of special diets and wanting people to be able to eat what they chose as well as I get stressed out having to make a meal while trying to visit).
Here are some photos from the Hedrick's time with us (I apologize - unfortunately all that was on our camera was from Chuckee Cheese and Russell didn't come with us so he's not in any of the photos):
Monday, January 08, 2007
Christmas 2006 and New Years 2007
Sorry that this blog post is so late! Things have been very busy around here the last few weeks!
We had a wonderful Christmas with my parents visiting us from Wisconsin :) My mom and Randy arrived on the 22nd and stayed through the 29th. We had a wonderful time together! Randy got to tour EA, we visited two local Harley Davidson shops so Mom and Randy could get some attire there, and we spent the day on Pier 39 the day before they left.
The day after they arrived we went to the mall to exchange a gift we received and decided to try seeing Santa while we were there. The line was long but it was moving fairly fast so Kian had a snack while we waited in line. I’m not sure if you remember but last year Kian freaked out seeing Santa so we were prepared for the same this year. Well, you can see the results of our trip in these two videos:
We made a meal on Christmas Eve and opened up some up the gifts under the tree. We figured since Santa was coming with more on Christmas Day we would open on Christmas Eve and let Kian have a calmer Christmas Day opening. He enjoyed opening gifts which was good since most of them under the tree were for him! lol Our living room now looks like Toys R Us threw up in it lol But Kian has really enjoyed his new stuff and has been playing with all the new stuff off and on throughout the day.
He also has a bit of a new wardrobe thanks to Kian’s Grandma and Great-grandma. All I have to say is I Love Caters! That place has the cutest clothes! And he added some more books to his expanding collection. Which is a good thing since I think Cuddly Kittens and Fluffy Bunnies need to go on the shelf for a while lol! Thankfully Grandma took over some reading duties with Kian to give me a break :)
The day after Christmas Kian had some sort of 12 hour stomach thing. Not fun :( We had planned to go to the Wharf the next day and decided to postpone it due to Kian’s stomach thing and the weather forecast of rain. The beginning of the day was bad but after a short nap in the afternoon Kian started to seem like himself and was keeping food down finally.
Our big day on the Pier at Fisherman’s Wharf was a lot of fun! We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and parked there. We didn’t look around really at all in Sausalito. It was very cold and some of the shops didn’t really seem like anything we were interested in. There is a Ferry there that takes you across the bay to Fisherman’s Wharf so we did that right away. Luckily it was much better temperature wise over there! We ate at Hard Rock Café for lunch and then ventured down the pier stopping at shops as we wanted. It as a little difficult to maneuver the stroller in some of those areas so one of us would stay out on the Pier most of the time while those that wanted to shop did. They had a cute little Irish shop there and a lot of places that had touristy items at very good prices.
At about 3PM we finally made our way back to the Ferry place to check the times when we could go back to Sausalito. (btw, Jamie had been saying since we arrived that we should get a schedule and we were all so taken in by everything that the task got pushed back until this moment). The ferry attendant told us the last ferry left at 2:45…I think my heart sank to the bottom of my shoes! He did tell us that we could catch a trolley to the next station – it was a 10 min ride. After not quite understanding his directions Randy asked a guy standing on the street and he told us we could walk there. Good thing since every trolley that went by was packed like sardines! (it brought back memories of riding the tram in Vladivostok, Russia lol!)
So, we made a brisk 45 min walk down to Pier 1…yep…a lot more walking that I had planned for. Luckily the weather wasn’t too bad and Kian had was plenty warm. I know he enjoyed the walk as he always loves it when we walk…me on the other hand realized that I need to walk more! Hehe
Anyway, we finally got back to Sausalito at about 6ish and headed toward home. It was a fun day – definitely filled with excitement! But I think we will definitely be doing some more planning the next time we head out to the Wharf lol
Here are some photos of my parents’ time with us:
New Years Eve
We invited our newly married friends Steve and Lisa over for the evening. We had some yummy food that they brought for dinner and then snacked on stuff that I had made for the rest of the evening. It was pretty much like an normal evening spent with them – Lisa and I chatting in the dining room while they guys were in the living room watching a sports game of some kind. It was a good night. We watched the Ball drop in Times Square and shared some champagne to ring in the new year. It was a really great night – I think we all had a lot of fun :)
Jamie had off New Years Day but then it was back to work after a few weeks off! It was hard for me and Kian to see him go – we really enjoyed having him home with us!
Up to Speed
So now it’s back to the grind stone. Things are back to normal in the Durall household. We finally took down our holiday décor this weekend. I realized that our living room is MUCH bigger than I remembered! It was great to have Christmas stuff for a while right now it’s so good to have our house back in its normal state.
This last weekend was not very relaxing. We had a lot of things on our to do list and we got all but one accomplished. I myself have quite a bit of work to catch up on (both housework and work-work) - especially since Jamie’s mom, stepdad and sister will be arriving tomorrow night.
We had a wonderful Christmas with my parents visiting us from Wisconsin :) My mom and Randy arrived on the 22nd and stayed through the 29th. We had a wonderful time together! Randy got to tour EA, we visited two local Harley Davidson shops so Mom and Randy could get some attire there, and we spent the day on Pier 39 the day before they left.
The day after they arrived we went to the mall to exchange a gift we received and decided to try seeing Santa while we were there. The line was long but it was moving fairly fast so Kian had a snack while we waited in line. I’m not sure if you remember but last year Kian freaked out seeing Santa so we were prepared for the same this year. Well, you can see the results of our trip in these two videos:
We made a meal on Christmas Eve and opened up some up the gifts under the tree. We figured since Santa was coming with more on Christmas Day we would open on Christmas Eve and let Kian have a calmer Christmas Day opening. He enjoyed opening gifts which was good since most of them under the tree were for him! lol Our living room now looks like Toys R Us threw up in it lol But Kian has really enjoyed his new stuff and has been playing with all the new stuff off and on throughout the day.
He also has a bit of a new wardrobe thanks to Kian’s Grandma and Great-grandma. All I have to say is I Love Caters! That place has the cutest clothes! And he added some more books to his expanding collection. Which is a good thing since I think Cuddly Kittens and Fluffy Bunnies need to go on the shelf for a while lol! Thankfully Grandma took over some reading duties with Kian to give me a break :)
The day after Christmas Kian had some sort of 12 hour stomach thing. Not fun :( We had planned to go to the Wharf the next day and decided to postpone it due to Kian’s stomach thing and the weather forecast of rain. The beginning of the day was bad but after a short nap in the afternoon Kian started to seem like himself and was keeping food down finally.
Our big day on the Pier at Fisherman’s Wharf was a lot of fun! We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and parked there. We didn’t look around really at all in Sausalito. It was very cold and some of the shops didn’t really seem like anything we were interested in. There is a Ferry there that takes you across the bay to Fisherman’s Wharf so we did that right away. Luckily it was much better temperature wise over there! We ate at Hard Rock Café for lunch and then ventured down the pier stopping at shops as we wanted. It as a little difficult to maneuver the stroller in some of those areas so one of us would stay out on the Pier most of the time while those that wanted to shop did. They had a cute little Irish shop there and a lot of places that had touristy items at very good prices.
At about 3PM we finally made our way back to the Ferry place to check the times when we could go back to Sausalito. (btw, Jamie had been saying since we arrived that we should get a schedule and we were all so taken in by everything that the task got pushed back until this moment). The ferry attendant told us the last ferry left at 2:45…I think my heart sank to the bottom of my shoes! He did tell us that we could catch a trolley to the next station – it was a 10 min ride. After not quite understanding his directions Randy asked a guy standing on the street and he told us we could walk there. Good thing since every trolley that went by was packed like sardines! (it brought back memories of riding the tram in Vladivostok, Russia lol!)
So, we made a brisk 45 min walk down to Pier 1…yep…a lot more walking that I had planned for. Luckily the weather wasn’t too bad and Kian had was plenty warm. I know he enjoyed the walk as he always loves it when we walk…me on the other hand realized that I need to walk more! Hehe
Anyway, we finally got back to Sausalito at about 6ish and headed toward home. It was a fun day – definitely filled with excitement! But I think we will definitely be doing some more planning the next time we head out to the Wharf lol
Here are some photos of my parents’ time with us:
New Years Eve
We invited our newly married friends Steve and Lisa over for the evening. We had some yummy food that they brought for dinner and then snacked on stuff that I had made for the rest of the evening. It was pretty much like an normal evening spent with them – Lisa and I chatting in the dining room while they guys were in the living room watching a sports game of some kind. It was a good night. We watched the Ball drop in Times Square and shared some champagne to ring in the new year. It was a really great night – I think we all had a lot of fun :)
Jamie had off New Years Day but then it was back to work after a few weeks off! It was hard for me and Kian to see him go – we really enjoyed having him home with us!
Up to Speed
So now it’s back to the grind stone. Things are back to normal in the Durall household. We finally took down our holiday décor this weekend. I realized that our living room is MUCH bigger than I remembered! It was great to have Christmas stuff for a while right now it’s so good to have our house back in its normal state.
This last weekend was not very relaxing. We had a lot of things on our to do list and we got all but one accomplished. I myself have quite a bit of work to catch up on (both housework and work-work) - especially since Jamie’s mom, stepdad and sister will be arriving tomorrow night.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Christmas is in 6 days!
I cannot believe how fast Christmas came this year! It feels like just yesterday we were wearing shorts and spending our weekends at Great America!
This weekend we are finally all well and spent all day Saturday cleaning and straightening up the house. Today we are going to have our friends Steve and Lisa over for her birthday and to exchange gifts. And in less than a week my Mom and Randy will arrive :)
This Christmas is an exciting one - at least for me. I remember as a kid being so excited that Santa was coming. I couldn't wait to see what presents he left me under the tree. I looked forward to our big family celebrations where I could hang out with my cousins I hadn't seen since the last holiday and goof off with them (which also meant being teased a lot by our Uncle Pat). Making cookies, eating cookies, helping my mom make some yummy candy for Christmas. Decorating the tree and putting only MY ornaments on it.
As I got into my teens the magic went away. Yeah, all those things were exciting but they weren't as special as they were when I was five. Over the years the magic became less and less with each passing year. Sure, I looked forward to spending time with family, eating great food and getting new stuff...but it never really felt the same.
This year the magic is back! This is Kian's first year of understanding what Santa is all about. His eyes got wide when we bought the tree out. He has enjoyed the bit of candy I have made (completely nut free - even the chocolate!) I cannot wait to see him open pretty much all those gifts under the tree! :) This is going to be a fun Christmas for the entire family :)
This weekend we are finally all well and spent all day Saturday cleaning and straightening up the house. Today we are going to have our friends Steve and Lisa over for her birthday and to exchange gifts. And in less than a week my Mom and Randy will arrive :)
This Christmas is an exciting one - at least for me. I remember as a kid being so excited that Santa was coming. I couldn't wait to see what presents he left me under the tree. I looked forward to our big family celebrations where I could hang out with my cousins I hadn't seen since the last holiday and goof off with them (which also meant being teased a lot by our Uncle Pat). Making cookies, eating cookies, helping my mom make some yummy candy for Christmas. Decorating the tree and putting only MY ornaments on it.
As I got into my teens the magic went away. Yeah, all those things were exciting but they weren't as special as they were when I was five. Over the years the magic became less and less with each passing year. Sure, I looked forward to spending time with family, eating great food and getting new stuff...but it never really felt the same.
This year the magic is back! This is Kian's first year of understanding what Santa is all about. His eyes got wide when we bought the tree out. He has enjoyed the bit of candy I have made (completely nut free - even the chocolate!) I cannot wait to see him open pretty much all those gifts under the tree! :) This is going to be a fun Christmas for the entire family :)
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