busy...busy...busy.....

Last week was super busy for me! Not only did I have St. Pat's day prep and such but I also had to start working on getting Kian and I ready to spend Spring Break in Wisconsin with my parents!

Jamie and Bailey stayed back - Jamie had to work. But since Kian has off all this week we thought it might be nice to spend it in Wisconsin and visit with some family and friends. So I was trying to get every piece of laundry washed, all the dishes caught up, and anything else I could think of done so that Jamie wouldn't have to worry about much while I was gone.

We have had a good time visiting quite a few different people :) Eating at Tom's Drive In and going to some special stores that aren't in our area. It has been nice to just visit and be low-key :)

Finnegan

I chat lead a board for people that had babies in May of 2004. I have been there since I found out that Kian was due to be born in May and a lot of other ladies have been there that long a well. Finnegan's mom was also one of them.

After Finnegan was born, his parents were told he had cystic fibrosis. Basically there is an issue with mucus glands in the lungs as well of digestive areas. It is incurable but manageable sometimes. Finn didn't really exhibit really having any issues that kids with CF normally have, not until last year. Finn was hospitalized in Feb. 2007 and remained there until he passed away on early on March 20th, 2008. He endured many surgeries and was quite the little fighter.

Our entire board was shocked when we heard of his death. We all had been praying and sending mojo to Finn since we heard he was so sick. We all clung to hope - even if it was little - that he would recover. A month or so ago his parents were told that his only hope was to have a multiple organ transplant. He was at the top of the list in receiving it, but his little body couldn't hold on any longer :(

I have felt a connection to Finn and his mom. When Kian was an infant we had him tested for CF - there was thoughts that he had it. Thankfully he does not. Plus his family is very Irish, Finnegan is an Irish just like Kian is an Irish name. It has espcially hit home for me...and I know all the ladies on our board are very greived. Never did I think in a million years that we would lose one of our May Miracles so early.

Finn was such a special little guy. He has touched so many in the four years he has been on this earth.

Now our thoughts, prayers, and mojo are all sent to Kerry and Patrick as they deal with Finn's passing. If you think of it, send a little bit their way.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

"May he rest in peace" in Gaelic

St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day in our house is very much like Christmas. I started prep on food stuff on Monday which continued on until Tuesday.

It was quite warm on St. Pat's day so it was a good thing that our shirts for the special day were short sleeved! Kian even went to school without a jacket!

Our house was filled with the smell of corned beef cooking in the crock pot and the sounds of Irish music was heard throughout the day. We also had a cabbage salad, potatoes, Irish Soda Bread, and I made some special cupcakes. They were chocolate with green icing. I also put a little bit of mint extract in the frosting so it had a hint of mint to them...they were VERY good :)

The day was fairly low-key, but it was very good :) It did feel special but then again it almost always feels like St. Patrick's Day in my house ;)

There is Hope for a Cure!!!!

Today on Good Morning America they did a piece on a child who was cured of his peanut allergy - his allergy used to be pretty close to what Kian's is now. The kid can now eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!!! I am hoping that this study can be passed on to the broader medical community!!!

Here is the video to the piece if you are interested in seeing it:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7091637

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E here we come!

Yesterday we booked our first trip to Walt Disney World for Kian's birthday in May! We will actually be there on his birthday! We are all super excited and starting to plan out what we want to do and looking at what is available.

This will be the first trip to Disney World for both Kian and me! So I have yet to know what is exactly in store, but I am really looking froward to it.

I made a calendar for Kian to be able to mark down the days until we leave for our trip. We are marking off each day together - and honestly I am counting down with him :)

Saga of the Glasses Part 2

And let's hope this is the last part to this saga....

Sunday night I was getting ready for bed and laid my glasses where I always did on my nightstand. Jamie and I were talking and heard Bailey chewing on something but we thought it was his bone. A few minutes later I ended up looking down on my side of the bed and noticed that Bailey was chewing on something and it looked like my glasses were on the floor...it was hard to tell since I am pretty much blind without them. I pulled up what I thought was my glasses from the floor and saw that Bailey had helped himself to the tips that go around the ears. Thankfully he didn't do anything to the lenses themselves!

Yep, these are the same glasses that I waited for 3 weeks for to have a tech accidentally break the frames. Waited one more week, tried them on and realized the wrong prescription was in one lens. then waited another two weeks...phew! And yeah, I did have them for less than a month :| Let's just say, Momma wasn't happy at all.

I did go in yesterday to order new frames. Thankfully I was given a discount....but it's the most expensive thing that Bailey has "helped" himself to. And the funny thing is that this last weekend Jamie and i were just thinking that Bailey seemed more calm and was behaving a lot better...guess we spoke too soon :P

Here are the glasses in question. I took this photo real quick before I handed them over to the eye place so they could get my lenses back into my new frames. Notice the ends and also the bent nose pad....


So now I wait for about another week for my frames. I am declaring this as the last chapter in the saga.....

Baily at 6 Months

Photo of Bailey late last night - he was very tired and laid down on the floor in front of me (after following me around the house) with this paw over his nose. Thankfully I had my cell phone and was able to capture this cute movement :)

This month we needed to take Bailey into the vet to be weighted in order to get the right dose for his heart worm meds. He gained 18lbs in the last month!!! That means he now weighs 58lbs! He is almost double what Kian weighs! Good thing we like big dogs :)

Survey done by Kian

The following is a survey that is going around on Facebook. I posted it on my profile but thought you all would get a kick out of it :)

Ask your child(ren) to answer the questions and type their answers in.
Tag other moms or dads with kids who might have fun with this. :)

1. What is something mom always says to you?
I love you

2. What makes mom happy?
saying I love you

3. What makes mom sad?
if I got lost

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
tickle tickle tickle (and he tickled his belly)

5. What was your mom like as a child?
you were a baby

6. How old is your mom?
100 (lovely)

7. How tall is your mom?
13 (he counted all the way up my body lol!)

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
bumble bee (bee movie – probably his)

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
eat stuff (lol!)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I’d be a princess

11. What is your mom really good at?
play games

12. What is your mom not very good at?
video games

13. What does your mom do for her job?
momma hugs

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
carrots

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
I love you

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
a girl princess

17. What do you and your mom do together?
we got to the store to buy something

18. How are you and your mom the same?
I don’t know let’s measure

19. How are you and your mom different?
momma you’re the biggest

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
because you hug me

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
because he goes to work

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
to the store, Target

Kindergarten Signup!

Today was the first day that you could start signing up for kindergarten. The school of choice program works on a lottery system so it didn't matter that I went today. I just wanted to make sure I had everything that I needed and got it in on time.

I did have everything and the papers have been submitted! Now we just wait. The lady that was helping me said that we should get a letter in the mail mid to late April as to where Kian is going. Keep your prayers rollin' that Kian gets into one of the three we chose for him (since it's not always a guarantee that you get one of the schools you chose.

Shy? Not Kian!.....And Books, Books, Books!

Tonight all the elementary schools had an open house. Next week starts the application process for school of choice so this evening we decided to scope out one school together. We walked into the door and were greeted right away with a hand shake and sharing of names. After Jamie and I introduced ourselves, Kian promptly held out his hand and said, "I'm Kian." He did the same with the kindergarten teacher we met. She asked him several questions, how old are you, when is your birthday. Kian did great sharing information with her, although he was more interested in what was all around the room :)

After our tour, we were driving home a different way than usual. Kian asked if we were lost. Jamie said, "Daddy never gets lost because he has a phone that tells him where to go. I don't eve need to ask for directions." Kian said, "Yes you do!" lol What a smart, little guy ;)

In other news, Kian's preschool had a field trip to the library today. I volunteered to drive and was pretty excited to see the library myself...especially since Kian and I would go there weekly when we lived in California. I was amazed at how big it was!!! There are SOO many books! I also discovered they have a reading program going on right now so I plan to get started on that with Kian! I think I enjoyed reading new books to him just as much as he did so it's time we get back to it :)

Matt and Maddy and my Thankfulness

Today I am stuck at home while some repair work is done on our house. While Kian is at school, I have been catching up on my TiVoed programs. Rachael Ray had a story on a few weeks ago that really tugged at my heart.

A man named Matt and his daughter Maddy were on the show. His wife died 27 hours after giving birth due to a blood clot traveling to her lungs after having a c-section. He has been raising her on his own and has been documenting their lives on his blog.

As some of you may know, I almost died after giving birth to Kian via c-section. Mine was due to a bleed somewhere - still don't know where. Thankfully I called the nurse into my room when my decline was happening and help was on the way....if I woudln't have called the nurse to make sure I got my pain meds I would not still be here. I feel so incredibly blessed that I am still here. Thankful that I get to see Kian grow up and raise him with Jamie as a team.

Sometimes I think we take for granted that everything will go smoothly...especially in this day and age. I know death was the furthest thing from my mind in birthing Kian. In fact, most of what occured while I labored was. Even though my experience was different and scary, I feel so incredibly blessed, lucky, thankful.....that I am here today.

7 Years

Today Jamie and I celebrated 7 years of marriage :) We had some take out and Jamie surpised me with these YUMMY cupcakes from a local shop....unfortunately they are not safe for Kian to eat so we ate one after he went to bed.


I look forward to many more anniversaries with my best friend :)

Happy Valentine's Day and a Kian Update

Kian is doing MUCH better today. Even though Kian was a very sick little baby, but I don't recall him ever having a temperature as high as 104 before. Last night we had to switch off giving Kian tylenol then motrin every three hours. I set my alarm and got up throughout the night to test his temp and give him meds. By the time he got up in the morning his temp was back to normal! YAY!

Jamie also was awesome and let me sleep in this morning. I was very, very thankful for that...especially because now i think I am battling the same cold that Kian has :P

Today has, thankfully, been rather uneventful. Jamie made us all a yummy breakfast this morning. Jamie and I got Kian Madagascar 2 for Valentine's Day so we have been watching that a lot. We plan on having a low key evening and weekend.

Conferences, Ear Infection #3, and a High Temp - Happy Friday the 13th!

This week has been filled up with ups and downs in Kian's health. He ended up with a fever on Monday that was with a bad cough and congestion. He felt fine after that and went to school. Then on Thursday (the day of his Valentine's Day party and the celebration of the 100th day of school) he had another fever of 102 so he had to stay home :( I felt so bad keeping him back!

Later in the day on Thursday he seemed better and Friday morning he didn't have a temp at all. I took him over to a friends for a playdate (and so he would have a place to be while Jamie and I went to parent/teacher conferences). He seemed great, had fun running around and playing.

Parent/Teacher conferences went great! His teacher showed us some "tests" she did with him and he did VERY well with all of them! He still needs to work on writing and cutting, but otherwise she said he is ready for Kindergarten next year :)

I went back to our friends house to pick up Kian and on the way home he was very quiet...that is so not like him. When I got him out of the car I could see that he didn't look so good. I asked him if he was feeling ok and when we got in the house he said "my neck hurts" and started crying. Strep has been going around lately so that was the first thing I thought of. I called the doctor and got an appointment after some convincing that I was sure he had more than just a cold (we were in there on Monday so the nurse assumed he was just needing to let the virus run its course).

I put Kian down for a nap and waited for the time to take him to the doctor. He woke up about 15 mins before we had to leave and complained off and on about his neck. we went to the doctors office and the pain seemed to be getting worse at different moments then letting up a little bit. The poor little guy was crying and telling me his neck hurt :( There was really nothing we could do but wait. By the time the doctor saw us, Kian was in full on screaming and crying. She checked his left ear, then his throat - both were ok...then she moved to the right ear and barely looked in there and immediately said that he has an infection. Ugh, this is litereally the third one in the last three months! Thankfully the doctor gave us a sample of Motrin so that he could get something for the pain in his system. It did the trick! well, at least for the moment.

We went home, watched some Madagascar 2 and waited for Jamie to get home. After dinner Jamie and Kian played a video game - they had a blast. It seemed like Kian was on the mend....until the game ended and he came to talk to me. He was hot. I took his temp. It was 104! It was too soon to give him motrin again so after some advice from my dear friend Mary Beth, we are doing the switch of Motrin and Tylenol every three hours. It seems to be working so far. I will be getting up at 2:30 to recheck his temp and give him tylenol...I am praying his temp stays down. Poor little guy :(

So, it has been a very eventful Friday the 13th in our house. I just hope that Valentine's Day is much, much better.

A New Look

After much trial and error and trial again, I have given my blog a new look :) Yeah, yeah, I know that it's not even Valentine's Day yet and I have St. Patrick's Day stuff up - but if you know me it's probably not that shocking ;)

The "ill" strikes again

Oh the joys of having a kiddo with asthma. Kian has caught another virus (thankfully it's just a virus and not an infection) which has really caused him to have some issues with breathing. We are full on with our breathing treatment regime and I am watching him like a hawk. It's times like these I go on high alert because of all the issues we had with Kian's breathing as a baby. He had a fever earlier today which had him being a lump on the couch. But after some motrin, he was ready to go...you would never know he was sick unless you heard him cough. Hopefully it passes quickly.

This weekend brought us some warmer weather. It's been in the high 40s and it feels like a heat wave lol! The snow has all melted and now everything just looks brown and muddy - bleck. At least we had snow for a while though! It was nice while it lasted :)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today We Witness History

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

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

A visit from Grandad and Papaw Jay

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

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

Brrrrrrr!

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

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