Our Crazy Last Few Weeks – Good but Crazy

First weekend in May – Kian’s Birthday Party

Second weekend in May - Discovery Kingdom (Trip 1) and Mother’s Day

Our friends Steve and Lisa accompanied us on our first trip to Discovery Kingdom and the following day was Mother’s Day. (I posted already about this if you want to revisit for most details).

Third Weekend in May – The Scottish Games and Discovery Kingdom (Trip 2)

Saturday morning we got up, headed to Costco to stimulate the economy by reloading our freezer and then we headed to the annual Scottish Games held in our city. We got to see knights jousting, dogs herding sheep, ate fish and chips (ok, I did lol), listened to lots of Celtic music, and had some ale. They also had a kids area that had two big, castle themed, jumpy houses. Kian had a BLAST! It was flippin’ hot that day, but having a cold ale and letting Kian run from jumpy house to jumpy house. It was a great day :)

Short video of Kian dancing to some Celtic music while he ate his lunch;


This trip to Discovery Kingdom we went with our friends Greg and Rachael. We all had a blast – well I know that the three of us did anyway ;) Kian got to feed a giraffe and we got to see a really cool tiger show. We spent most of the day at the park – looking at animals, taking photos and feeding the giraffes. Kian also go to “pet” some stingrays and had an enormous walrus named Jocko follow him around the underwater viewing window. There is a video attached of that – so neat (oh, and Jocko was “happy” just be forewarned lol) Oh, and one important thing we learned was that Sunday is THE BEST day to go to the park – no one was there!

Fourth Weekend in May – Maggie’s Graduation Party in Los Angeles area

We kicked off this weekend early – well extra special stuff happened on Wednesday. My friend Shawna was in town and came to visit us! This was extra special because about two years ago I reconnected with her via the wonders of MySpace. This is someone I went to Kindergarten with – can you believe I knew her when we were both around Kian’s age?!?! We hung out a lot at the end of elementary school and then went different ways. When we found each other on MySpace we found we really connected and became friends :) This is the first time we have seen each other in God only knows how long. It was a short visit but a great one. Kian even said a little prayer thanking God for Shawna and Christine (her friend that came along) that was not prompted by me at all.

On Friday we packed up the family (Toby included) and headed south for my cousin Maggie’s college graduation. It was a luau complete with some awesome BBQ and Wisconsin summer sausage (can I get a WOOT?) It was a 5 hour trek one way but it went by fast and was so worth it :) Thanks to the person that invented the portable DVD player and the Game Boy.

Kian and I apparently kicked my grandparents out of having a place to stay so they couldn’t come for the celebration - ok not really lol Although, my Grandpa will tell you that! The week before the party, my Grandpa underwent open heart surgery and had a triple bypass! Thankfully his only symptom of the blockage was fatigue, but he still recovering and having a pace maker installed. We were sad that they couldn’t make it to the party, but we are happy that we still have our grandpa. Kian has prayed for him nightly (mostly without prompting) for his heart’s boo-boos to heal. He is still on the mend so any prayers or thoughts you can send his way are greatly appreciated!

My Aunt Lori volunteered her babysitting services (in exchange for some movie popcorn – oddly enough my Mom accepts the same payment…hmmm…sounds like a deal to me!) so that Jamie and I could see a late showing of the new Indiana Jones movie (which was ok, but I was glad we saw it in the theater.

We enjoyed spending time with family and helping out where we could. I think Toby enjoyed himself more than any of us, in fact, he was spoiled so much by my Aunt Lori that I think he was a little depressed to be home lol! We were so glad that we lived close enough to make it down.

Phew! So that brings us up to the present. Jamie is back to normal hours at work now, which is very nice, and we are just taking it easy this weekend. The only new thing to report is that Kian is a Spongebob Squarepants fanatic now lol

The Bug Was Not Gone :(

....because I got it the day before Kian's birthday :( I was in bed all day and wasn't able to even make cupcakes as I had planned. I did manage to get his gifts wrapped and Jamie brought them all upstairs so I could see him open them. He had a great time playing with all of them from what Jamie told me and from what I heard of the new toys "talking" and buzzing downstairs. I felt SO bad that I was so sick on my little man's big day :(

Here is a slideshow of Kian ripping through all his gifts in record speed!

Friday I rested and felt ok. Saturday we went to Discovery Kingdom with our friends Steve and Lisa. Since this was Kian's big birthday thing - we let him ride an elephant (daddy rode too of course). Since Lisa has a "bun in the oven" (hehe) she wasn't able to ride any rides - not even Thomas the Train! So she had to hang back with me and Kian. We went to several shows - which we all liked and hung out at Thomas Town for a while (well we were stranded thanks to a broken lock on the stroller that Jamie saved the day by fixing when he arrived). Next year she will be able to ride though and I will gladly hang back with little baby "D."

Here is a slide show of our time at Discovery Kingdom. Since my stomach was still recovering, Daddy rode everything with Kian.

Well, Sunday, Mother's Day, I was down again. Just felt like crud. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband that let me hang out in bed when I needed to. i did manage to get energy enough to go shopping at Kohl's and use a coupon I got along with our economic stimulation check to buy me some new pants. The ones I own have been falling off of my body! I didn't realize how much weight I really lost until recently! Anyway, the check came at a good time so I wouldn't be walking around with the possibility of my pants falling down walking across the street. lol

Jamie also did me a big favor and defrosted my deep freeze WOOT! This weekend we are going to restock - thanks again to the US governement lol

As of now I am on the mend. Kian and I have mainly hung out at the house and just took things easy. The house has been a complete wreck so I have been slowly working on areas without burning myself out energy wise.

We are gearing up for another big weekend. Saturday we are going to go to the Scottish Games Festival in town. Sunday we are going to go back to Discovery Kingdom with some other friends of ours. May has been a busy month for us so far and hopefully the illness is behind us now :)

Kian's 4th Birthday Party!

We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends! Saturday our house quickly filled up with people who love Kian and came to celebrate him coming into his 4th year! Kian LOVED having so many friends over and was itching to dig into the Lightening McQueen cake I made him as well as his presents hehehe We grilled hotdogs, had my mom's famous baked beans and some carrots (which is one of Kian's faves). The of course there was cake an ice cream :)

Kian got LOTS of wonderful gifts! He has spent all morning playing with all of them! He even received a gift card which he has almost spent all of already on a remote control Lightening McQueen ;) The biggest gift he got was a GameBoy Mini from Jamie and me. In fact, it's a good thing that he opened gifts toward the end because he spent the rest of the time zoned into the games he got lol

Here are some photos of the festivities!





Kian showing he's 4


Yummy CAKE!






Kian got a Cars game for his GameBoy!


Rachael, the pro, showing Kian how to work his new GameBoy :)






Kian, smiling because he was told to but really wants to be playing his game lol!


This is what Kian looked like for the rest of the night LOL!

We are Bug Free!!!

Well, our house is bug free!!! Well, if the stomach bug anyway lol Kian happily returned to preschool today.

Kian's teacher did a tested each kid indiviually on how ready they are for kindergarten. Kian excelled everything! She has yet to do the writing test, but we know that is something he needs to work on. She is trying to see where each kid is at to see what they need to work on.

While Kian was at school I was able to do a lot of running around and prep work for Kian's party on Saturday. Since I had been playing nurse for about a week, the house was a wreck and there were a lot of things that needed attending to :P We have a pretty busy rest of the week - but I am SUPER excited for Kian! He knows he's having a party but I dn't think he knows how many people will be here :) It's going to be a good time :)

The Bug

Well, Kian got the stomach flu early on Thursday morning. It was so bad I had to camp out with a blanket and pillow on his bedroom floor. He continues to be sick throughout the day on Thursday but seemed to perk up a bit toward the end of the night. He was ok through the night but when he woke up in the morning and had some pedialyte he couldn't keep that down :( He was getting lethargic so off to the doctor we went to make sure nothing else was going on. We left with a presription of the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast).

Unfortunately Jamie is feeling pretty sick himself so he stayed home from work. Since I really needed to pick up somethings at the store I left the two of them to be bumps on the couch together while I went to a few stores.

When I came back home an hour or so later I was happily greeted by Kian. I was like, wow, I guess my kid is back lol He was talking a mile a minute and wanted to help me unload groceries :) He's now keeping things down, but he's still under the weather. i bought him the movie Shrek so he would have something new to watch so he is doing that right now as he eats a banana. i am hpiong the rest of the day he just gets better and better.

My New Car Decals!

I have been wanting to get those stick figure family decals for a while. But I could never find anything I liked. I NEVER wear dresses and I wanted something to suit myself and my family. So I turned to ebay. I didn't find stick figures but I found something else :) I ordered them on Saturday and got them TODAY! CRAZY! And my order was personalized. I asked for some additions and had personalized wording on both of them :)

Anyway, here they are! ;)


Full shot of the back of my car - I erased my plate numbers lol

The "Family" one:

Here is the other one:

New Pictures on Snapfish

So, I have been a big time slacker with getting photos uploaded to my snapfish account. The last I had uploaded was in November 2007 ::blush::

I shared the albums so if you are on the list to view, you will get an email to view them. If you didn't get an email and would like to see the photos, just reply with a note to this post and i will get in touch with you to get you on the list to view :)

Update to Kian's Wishlist

We made some updates to Kian's Target wishlist. I removed some things and added somethings. Take a look if you wish :)

Kian's First Ripped Pants

Tonight I was getting Kian's clothes laid out for the next day. I was looking at a pair of jeans he had worn this weekend once to see if he could wear them to school tomorrow. well, I noticed that one knee has a rip in it and needs a repair - how cute is that! It's his first (yes, i know of many), but it just made me think of how much of a big boy he's getting to be!

Kian's Birthday Planning, Spring Cleaning and Scooby Doo

Kian's Birthday is ONE Month from Today!

I can't believe that one month from today my little Kian will be 4!!!! Sheesh time just flies!

I have been planning for a small party for Kian. He has decided on a Cars (the Pixar/Disney movie Cars) as his theme. I am going to make a Lightening McQueen cake (wish me luck!). I have yet to buy party supplies. And I am hoping to be able to make some special invites to his party. I just need Kian to keep his forehead bruise free so I can get a photo of him for them LOL The little turkey seems to get a bruise RIGHT on his forhead every time we want to take photos around his birthday lol I might have to resort of trying to photoshop it out :P

The Spring Cleaning Bug has Bit Us

Jamie started some spring cleaning this weekend. I have continued on that note int he kitchen and pantry areas. I have done a lot of rearranging, purging, and donating. Thankfully on Thursday Big Brothers and Sisters is picking up donations. It is nice to get rid of some things that others can use that we just haven't in years.

Scooby Doo - Where are You?!?!

Kian has discovered Scooby Doo and man has it brought back a lot of memories! Tivo has been recording it as a suggestion. It's funny because when I was his age and older Scooby Doo was one of my FAVORITE shows! We are having a lot of fun watching episodes together from time to time :)

Man-to-Man Time

Jamie and Kian started a new tradition last month. Every Saturday they have their own time together. Jamie takes Kian to have breakfast at McDonalds and then the go out and do something together. Usually it means a trip to Best Buy :)

Kian really looks forward to that time with his Daddy. I am so glad that they started it :)

Kian really likes his new teacher

Kian is such a sweetie! Today when I picked him up from school his teacher, Miss Perry, told me that he told her "I love you" and gave her a hug and kiss! He rarely gives those to people outside our family so I know that he really does love Miss Perry. How sweet is that!

Speech Update and other random things

Speech Update

I am currently in the works of getting Kian started with a new speech therapist. They are trying to get him into group therapy - but right now our schedule doesn't line up great with other kids his age. We can do solo therapy though and it looks like we will be going that route. He will start with the new therapist on Thursday.

Kian is Writing!

Here is a photo of Kian's hand writing. His teacher wrote where he did it by himself. Right now we are working on writing and cutting as he wants to at home. We are so proud of him!

Jon and Kate Plus 8

If you haven't watched Jon and Kate Plus Eight you should! I have really enjoyed watching the show. It's about a family that has a set of twins and then sextuplets that are pretty much the same age as Kian. It's fun to see a family interacting with their kiddos and seeing them going through some of the exact same things that we are. If you want a peak into what Kian's like right now, then watch some of their recent episodes and imagine there only being one instead of 6 LOL!

Kian's Birthday Wishlists!!!

Kian's birthday is just around the corner! I cannot believe my little man will be 4!!!!

In order to make things easier on everyone, we made a list of things that Kian would love to have. He is set with summer clothing. And since most of you all don't see him very often and do not know what kinds of toys he's into or what he has, we made these lists so that we don't get duplicates and Kian gets what he would like :)

Kian also LOVES to spend money that he is given so giftcards and cash is definately something he would want :)

The links to the list are located on the right column of my blog - under Kian's Birthday Wishlists!!! Click on the link and it should take you right there :)

A New Look and a New Address

I finally realized that I could make my own personal topper to my blog! So, I went a head and did that :)

I also decided to make this blog's web address Life With Kian. So the new link to get there is http://lifewithkian.blogspot.com/

Slide Show of our trip to Canada

Unfortuantely we didn't get any shots of that really great snowfall...we just got shots from when it started falling. Kian was so excited :)

The snow started to fall while we were in our hotel room! Kian was so excited!!



Kian in Awe of Snow!!!




Catching snowflakes on his tounge hehe


Kian on a ride at the mall :)




Making music with a new friend


Our little musician :)

New Preschool Teacher, Health Update, and our trip to Canada

New Preschool Teacher

So, last week I went in to drop off Kian at school to hear that his teacher had to give her two week notice :( Kian was really doing well under her instruction so I am pretty disappointed. They do have someone else who is going to be taking over. She has never taught before, so hopefully it goes well. I know that Kian will benefit from the social interactions for sure. The new teacher will start on Tuesday so we will see how it goes. Kian is so easy going, I'm sure he will love going there :)

Health Update

Kian and I ended up with ear infections last week. We both went to the doctor on Tuesday - luckily both are in the same area so I kind of made the appointments back to back. I wanted to make sure that we were both ok since we were going to be taking a long weekend trip to Canada and be on an airplane. I had some ear pain but Kian had none that I knew of and he had a pretty bad infection. We have both been on antibiotics :P

Our Trip to Canada

Kian did great on the plane rides. I made sure we had lots of snacks and such for him. It definately was a breeze flying with him having Jamie with me to help out. I didn't fare so well on the plane - I still have a bad cold and the pressure from the congestion was very painful on landing and take off. In fact, I am still dealing with a plugged ear from all of it :P

Kian got to see snow for the first time this last weekend! He was VERY excited about it! But going from about 70 degree weather to around 30 was quite a shock to him. I tried to go for a short walk with him outside and he didn't really like the cold - I don't blame him - although it didn't seem too bad to me. For him, that is the first time he felt cold like that!

We got to visit some of Jamie's friends that live in the area and Kian made some new ones too since the friends have children around Kian's age. Everyone is so friendly around there. They seem very stress free - wouldn't that be nice lol

I have to say that one BIG thing I noticed was that people in Canada are VERY allergy aware! Highly!!! There are several local bakeries that are completely nut free and at the one restaurant we ate at, we let them know of Kian's allergy (as usual) and they were keenly aware of what to look for. I am so compeltely impressed and wished that somehow this care could be passed on to Americans too!

We arrived back home on Sunday. It was nice to be home where everything was familiar and warm :)

St. Patrick's Day!

Monday was St. Patrick's Day! I hope you wore green!!!

I wasn't able to do all I had planned since we had just got back from our trip to Canada. But we did have corned beef, potatoes, and cabbage salad. Of course we all wore green, Irish shirts and I played music by the Chieftains as I cooked (ok, I listen to that normally, so I guess it wasn't different lol!). I am longing for March 17th to land on a Saturday or a Sunday to have a big shindig with friends. Ah, I guess someday it will ;)

It's kind of a bummer that Easter is less than a week away from St. Patty's Day. Kian is counting down the sleeps until the "Easter Bunny comes to our door." He's pretty excited about that, and honestly so am I ;) Having a child really brings back some magic that was lost as we grew and stopped believing in those things. Now that we ARE those "things" I guess it makes it fun ;)

Kian is sick :(

I think that Jamie is battling the flu right now. Kian is running a fever of 102 - I have started him on motrin. He's in good spirits but i can tell he's congested. Please send some prayers his way...with his asthma he's high risk :( He had his flu shot this year, but it may have worn off by now...not to mention they apparently predicted the wrong strain of the virus.... Just please keep the prayers rolling.

Our Crazy Week

Illness - bleh

We have been struck with illness in this house...the last week we all over came one virus and now I am pretty sure Jamie has the flu. Jamie even came home early from work yesterday and his home today. He has all the classic signs of the flu...he seems to be doing ok but he feel pretty crappy.

I am praying that Kian's flu shot holds - that's it the right strain....bleh I am so worried about him getting it.

Craziness with Kian

This week has been an interesting one in our household. Kian’s speech therapist has been forceful with me again about giving him a full team assessment. This is something meant for kids that have severe issues – Kian does not fit the bill. I even spoke to his preschool teacher this week to get her feel on things and she doesn’t have ANY concerns about him. In fact, she told me he’s the head of the class and he already knows everything he needs to know for kindergarten! In fact, she’s trying to find things for him to work on that will challenge him – she is working on writing with him now! Since the preschool teacher spends 3 hours two times a week with Kian and his therapist only spends 20 minutes once a week with him.

Here are the things that the speech therapist brought up with me on Tuesday. Keep in mind that he is a 3 ½ year old:

- He holds a crayon with his fist (but not all the time) - she thinks he has poor motor skills. At home he can shoot a basketball, undress and dress himself without really any aid (unless he has buttons like on a shirt) even on down to socks and shoes with velcro. This is what she thinks he needs physical therepy for, which I do not.

- He does not know how to start and end a conversation.

- He changes the subject when talking sometimes. (who doesn’t!??!)

- Her son babysits for us and the last time he did so she told me that Kian was trying to injure our dog. What he was doing was running his HUGE monster truck near our dog - he does this when we are home and I think he does it because the dog will get up and move suddenly. She told me he was hurting our dog, and I have never seen Kian hurt our dog since he was probably 1 year old and poking our dog in the eyeball (lol!)

- He has poor eye contact. With this I have to be honest and say he's improving. He didn't see the therapist one week and he seemed dramatically improved. Now he's kind of reverting back...I don't use the techniques that she has asked me to use with him. I just make sure that when I talk to him that i am looking at him in the eye and he does it even though I do not demand it from him like she does.

Anyway, I decided to call the district's speech pathologist. She does all the evaluations for the school district and is familiar with Kian. I told her about how Kian's therapist wants him to have a full team assessment (which means he see four different specialists in a 2 hour period of time). But I don't feel like there is a reason for him to go in. It's apparent to me that Kian's therapist has no idea what this assessment is for. It's really just to see if a child qualifies for the special ed preschool - which it's clear that Kian does not need. The pathologist listed off a bunch of things that Kian would have issues with....let me tell ya that none of them are even remotely a concern.
Unfortunately, the pathologist does not know Kian's therapist personally and is not even sure if she is employed by the district or if she is out sourced (since speech is done as a state deal, they have to provide service for all the children in need so sometimes they have to outsource).

I also shared with her that the therapist does not really listen to me when I try to tell her that things are not the way she is representing them to be. She has also discussed Kian with her school's psychologist (without my permission) which really did not sit well with the pathologist. Then after I informed her about how the therapist's son babysits Kian and about the dog incident that I mentioned above, the pathologist said that there is not a clear set of boundaries here and she asked if I would feel more comfortable with Kian seeing a different therapist since I am feeling like I will pull Kian from speech all together because of the attitude that this therapist is taking with him. I guess it's impossible for me to pull Kian from speech and then later try to get him back in – so she finally suggested that she try to find an opening for Kian to see a different therapist.

I honestly do still feel like he needs improvement with his speech, but I do not agree with some of the stuff that she is doing with Kian and how she goes about it. Especially the eye contact thing, it seems like she is making it worse! Ugh!

This afternoon I got a call from the pathologist saying that they are working on getting Kian a new therapist! WOOT!

I guess they are wanting to talk to this off-her-rocker therapist to tell her what is going on and let her know we are switching. She is going to be out of town this week but on Friday she will be back and I will get another phone call letting me know what is going on exactly.

I am very encouraged. The pathologist said it looks like he is going to be paired with someone she knows and trusts which makes me feel very relieved!

She also told me, therapists are supposed to be working on speech - nothing else. His first therapist that is not what this person was doing.

Anyway, I feel like I'm not crazy and good about where we are headed with this :)