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

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

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

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

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

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

Today We Witness History

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

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

A visit from Grandad and Papaw Jay

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

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

Brrrrrrr!

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

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

Snow!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Soup Beans and Corn Bread!

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

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



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

2008: Goodbyes and New Beginnings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Christmas in Kentucky 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We are back home from our Kentucky Christmas

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

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

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

Merry Christmas!

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

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful....

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

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

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

This year we finally had success!!!

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


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

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

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

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

The Tooth Fairy's Delivery!

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

All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

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

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

O Christmas Tree

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanksgiving in Wisconsin

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

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

Below are some photos of the festivities.

Grandma and Grandpa Zuelzke with their 5 Great Grandkids!

Kian hanging out with his Great Uncle Jack

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

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

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

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



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

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

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

We had our first snow fall since we arrived in Champaign. Jamie and I drove Kian to preschool this afternoon and the snow started to really come down - it was so pretty! Jamie asked Kian if he could see the snow and he said, "Yeah, it's from Santa!"

Week with Grandad and Nan and Bailey's First Vet Visit

Monday Jamie's dad and step-mom arrived for a short visit. Kian had a great time rough-housing with Grandad and read lots of stories with Nan (mainly I Spy books). We all enjoyed having them here. Even little Bailey who was almost puppy-napped by Grandad ;)

We took Bailey for his first vet visit and shots. He is healthy in every way :) He weighs 20lbs even and the vet said that at 4 months she can triple the weight and that will be about how much he will weigh full grown....he will be around 70lbs - so a big boy!

Bailey also has caught on quickly to a lot of things (although he still has a lot of things to learn) but he already knows how to shake! He is such a good boy, we are very lucky to have him in our family :)