Tooth Number Three!

When I took Kian to the dentist last month he let me know that four of Kian's teeth were loose. Well, one of them finally gave way! Yesterday he walked up to me with tooth in hand.

Of course the tooth fairy had to come. She gave him $5! Lucky dog! I think it's burning a hole in his Batman wallet ;)

First Day of Kindergarten!

This morning marked Kian's first day of school! He woke up this morning SUPER excited! He couldn't wait to go :) Jamie and I brought him to school and walked with him inside. He seemed unsure of what to do (and we were too), but once he was in the classroom he felt much better. We were just there yesterday and his teacher, Mr. Keepes, gave him a tour and shared with him what he needed to do. Kian hopped right to it :)

We said goodbye, he barely looked up from his coloring page. I looked back though. It felt so weird leaving him there for the whole day! I know he will do great though!

A Cousin, A Scooter and Some Bean Bags...

We arrived in Kentucky late last night. This evening we had a smorgasbord of food at Aunt Linda and Uncle Norwood's house - fresh veggies from their garden, BBQ chicken and fried green tomatoes (thanks Jane!).

Right before dinner was ending, Jamie got a text from our nephew Christopher that he was coming up to visit. When Kian heard that he immediately was done with dinner, washed his hands and watched out the window until Christopher pulled up! He adores Christopher!

Earlier that day, Kian's Granna and Papaw bought him a scooter so he would have something to do at the house (and keep it there for when we come next). We brought it along with us to Linda and Norwood's house. Kian and his cousin Christopher had a BLAST with bean bags and the scooter! I think Kian can make a game out of pretty much anything.

Here are some photos from their "game."

Okie dokie artichokie

That is Kian's new favorite thing to say. He's said it quite a bit today. I couldn't figure out where he heard it -we never say it (even though it's pretty cute).

Right before lunch I figured out where he heard it....

Yesterday at registration his teacher suggested having Letter Factory by Leap Frog at home as they would use it some in the classroom. And he kids love it. Boy, he wasn't kidding!!! Kian has watched it over and over again! And yep, they say okie dokie arochokie. Lol

so if you're looking for a fun movie for your preschooler or kindergatner, this is an awsome one :)

15 more days until....

we have an official kindergartner in our house!

I signed Kian up for school yesterday, joined the PTA, met his teacher, and got a TON of paperwork and informational sheets phew! Should take me a while to get through it all.

Kian is now counting down the days until he gets to go to school! I know he will love it :)

Mr. Thirsty and the Squirt Gun

Kian went to the dentist last week. He received a clean bill of health. He also got to test out the Squirt Gun and Mr. Thirsty as we waited for the dentist to come and look at his teeth.







A few days later I had to go in for my teeth cleaning; Kian came with me. He sat in the hygenist's chair as she checked my file then said to him, "If you sit there, you will have to clean your mom's teeth." Kian's eyes got really big and he scooted closer to me LOL I let him know that it was my turn with Mr. Thirsty and the Squirt Gun ;)

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Kian and Mommy having a few moments together after the wedding.

Look at that handsome little guy!

We made it back home today safe and sound! This last week was a whirlwind! But it was a HUGE blast!

I feel bad that I didn't get to see any of my Fox Cities friends, but next visit will be much less hectic and we will have to do some planning before we head down ;)

Wednesday night was Laura's bachelorette party. It was beyond a BLAST! We all had cool shirts that Laura's Matron of Honor, Shannon, made for us all. Of course there were a lot of other **ahem** fun items. The best part was that Shannon hooked us up with a bus that took us bar hopping. Drinks were aboard as well as loud music that Laura burned on a CD and a stripper pole. No, there was not any stripping with the pole but there was plenty of dancing! SUPER fun!

Saturday the wedding was beautiful. My sister was a knock out in her gorgeous dress. The ceremony was filled with music that was recorded by Laura and Brian previously. So very, very special. The cool thing is that we all got to go home with our own CDs of the music!

Kian did a good job as the ring bearer, although, the best man was not able to be at the rehearsal so Jamie stood in for him. So that made it confusing on Saturday of who to give it to. He walked down the aisle and when he got to the front I could see confusion written on his face and the poor guy burst into tears! The best man ran down the stairs and got the pillow from him. Otherwise Kian was SO excited to be in a tux and very proud of himself as in the receiving line he was told by many people of what a good job he did :)

It was so good to see so many friends and family that I haven't seen in such a long time. It's funny how i wasn't able to visit with those people much at my wedding 7 1/2 years ago and this time around I was able to visit.

Sunday was the gift opening at my mom's house. Laura and Brian opened an endless amount of gifts and cards. Kian of course wanted to help. He was asking people what they wanted to drink and asking if he could help open gifts lol He also had a BLAST with his third cousins? (my mom's cousin's daughters - follow that one LOL), Hanali and Camlyn. And my cousin Liz's kids Hannah and Zachary.

All in all it was a great week...and a busy week... it's good to be home :)

On The Road Again!

Kian and I will be heading up to Wisconsin for my sister Laura's wedding on the July 18th.

I will be a bridesmaid and Kian will be the ring bearer. I will post photos when I get them uploaded :)

It will probably be a busy week for us up there! Wednesday night is Laura's bachelorette party (Grandpa will have a bit of man time with Kian :). Friday is the rehearsal. Saturday the wedding, dinner and reception (which will be LOTS of fun especially with my Uncle Steve DJing). Sunday is the opening of the gifts. PHEW! I am not sure when Kian and I will be heading back down home - but I know we will look forward to little activity the next week to recooperate. :)

But we all look forward to seeing family and friends. And Kian has some of the Kesler clan to meet still!

Tee Ball Class Finale

Kian's last day of his tee ball class was on Wednesday. All the kids and only a few of the coaches (there was a huge chance of rain so not too many kids showed up) lined up for a group photo.

Then they played through two mock games. No winners or losers. Just practicing all the basics of tee ball.

Kian + Growth Spurts = Mom's need for Calgon

Oh yeah, you know you remember this commercial. Well, this has been my slogan for the last few days.

I am pretty sure that Kian is going through a growth spurt. He's been eating like crazy but with the growth spurt always come bearish, unusual behavior. It has been so hard to get him to tell us what is wrong or help him get out of his funk. I can't say that I don't relate to him, but man it's hard to live with sometimes :P

Hopefully this will all end soon (and hopefully before my sister's wedding!) so he can return to himself and the Beast lol

For now, my only refuge is a stiff drink at the end of the day....or two.

Session 2 Lessons Down and a Visit from KY Family

Thursday marked the last day of Kian's Session of lessons. He will have his last session at the end of July.

He has done so well! He doesn't like to lean back into the water, and below you can see him with a life jacket on floating all on his own - and it was self initiated!

Here's another photo of Kian swimming out to the deep end with one of his instructors. He swam out with the help of the green noodle :)


Wednesday night Jamie's mom, step-dad, and nephew arrived. They were able to see him play at his tee ball practice and came to his last swim lesson on Thursday morning.

Kian had a blast with his cousin, Christopher Race. He always wanted to sit next to him and be near him. It was so cute!

Below are the two guys goofing around after eating dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Race did that first, Kian had to follow - monkey see, monkey do ;)


And here they are after breakfast before they headed back to Kentucky. Kian had such a blast with him. I know he will look forward to the family reunion on October so he can see his "best friend" again :)

Kian's 5 Year Check Up

Today I took Kian to get his physical for kindergarten.

He weighs 36.8 lbs and is 41" tall. I'm not sure where that falls on the growth curve but I am betting it all falls right where it always has for our skinny mini ;)

I wasn't sure if he needed any immunizations or not. Well, I was informed he was going to get 4! Yikes! so I told Kian about them. He did awesome until he got the MMR which apparently hurts like a son of a ..... Then he had to get a lead test at the lab - they prick the finger and squeeze out blood. When we got home i gave him some Motrin and tried to give him some Oreos - which he said he wouldn't eat. Needless to say, Kian is not at all in a good mood. I have tried everything to cheer him up, hugs, food, talking....nfinally I just had to leave him be.

Three hours later he has emerged from his room and asked to watch WallE. I feel so bad for him :( Hopefully he's in a much better mood tomorrow since Granna, Papaw, and Christopher Race are coming to visit!

Remembering our Toby

It's hard to believe that yesterday marked a full year of our lives without Toby. This morning I was thinking about him and realized that this anniversary had come. Even though it's been a year, I still think about him all the time.

Kian has also come to realize that he is no longer with us. Someone asked me a few weeks ago if he had any pets, he said yes a dog named Bailey. I know he remembers Toby though and Allie as well.

Today I choose to remember all the fun, wonderful things about Toby. How he would excitedly play and roll around with a pig's year for about a half hour before eating it. The times I would come out of the kitchen and see an 14 month old Kian poking Toby in the eye ball - Toby didn't even move - poor guy! How he would never, ever bark but the cows that would walk by up on the hill in our back yard, he would bark like there was no tomorrow! How I would wake up with his big, black nose in my face as his head rested on the matress as he stood right next to the side of the bed in the mornings.

Toby-bowbee, we miss you buddy. I hope that you are having the time of your life playing with Roxy and Sam.

Diving Board at Swim Lessons!

Kian's instructors put life jackets on all the kids. One instructor wore a life vest and caught the kids and the other stood on the board and helped them. I wasn't able to catch it on camera, but Kian eventually jumped from the diving board on his own!!! He was so proud of himself :)

Day 2 of Level 2 Swim Lessons

Kian did AWESOME at swim lessons today! He dunked his head under water several times, sometimes it was on accident but he recovered well :)

He practiced a back float, front float and started to use a kick board! He has really done well from being a kid that really just did baby pools and slip n slides. I think it also helps that Kian has the same instructor he had last session. Her name is Tori. When Kian found out that Tori was going to be his teacher he said to me, "Miss Tori is pretty." Maybe he's got a crush on her ;)

I took some photos of Kian with my iPhone. I didn't want to disturb the class by moving closer, so the photos are kinda grainy.

Kian doing a back float with the help of a green noodle and his instructor

Kian uses the kick board for the first time with his instructor Miss Tori

Kian with the other little boy in his class practicing front kicks.
Kian has the green noodle.
They went all the way from one side of the pool and back!

Kian graduated to Level 2 Swim Lessons!

I'm so proud of our little guy! Today was the first day that the class wore life jackets and went in the deep end! I wasn't sure how Kian would handle it, but he was the first one to get in and do his front kicks and back kicks almost unaided (well, except by the life jacket).

His instructor wrote out a "report" card. All the areas he worked on were checked off and she suggested he move on to Level 2! She also wrote the sweetest note to him on the back, she told him how very (underlined 3 times) proud she was of him.

Kian was SO excited and so proud of himself! He really enjoyed the lessons and he really is learning a lot.

The moment we got home I signed him up for the Level 2 lessons, they start next week :) Thankfully the pool we go to is the "older" one, but it is nice and there are a max of 4 kids per class because of the time it's at and because it's not the cool, new pool. I thought I might not like it there, but I do, so we are sticking with Spalding :)

Two woots for the K-Man!

Swimming, Tee Ball, Library...Swimming, Tee Ball, Library

This is what our life is like at the moment, well it is for me and Kian anyway. Kian is having a good summer though and enjoying the activities.

Kian goes to swim lessons for a half hour every day (except Fridays which is a make up day). Kian hasn't really been in the water much - only when he was a baby. He responded really well to the instructor and has actually put his face in the water, blowing bubbles, and has started to learn how to kick and back float.

Kian is the kiddo on the bright noodles. Practicing getting around on his own!

Monday and Wednesday nights is Tee Ball. The class is all real young kiddos so they are focusing on the basics. They have worked on catching and throwing, running the bases, and hitting the ball off the tee. The coaches are young (either high school or college) and they do awesome with the kids.

Kian hits the ball off the tee - yep it's going toward the fence, safety first!

Kian and I make a weekly run to the library. The first thing we when we arrive is turn in Kian's reading sheet. The library is keeping track of all the kids that have signed up and how many books have been read. I was shocked to see that in the last few weeks there have been over 1,000 books read! Impressive! I usually have a movie or a book waiting for me to pick up and Kian goes through the kid's area and chooses books we will read throughout the week. We are very lucky to have a very, very nice library with a lot of selection in all areas.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Yeah, I have been a big slacker in making regular posts. I have yet to go through our photos from Disney World too! :P

Here's the the news on our homefront:

Kian and I went up to Wisconsin last weekend for my sister's bridal shower. We had a good time visiting with family and friends :) Kian also got some good time in with his Grandpa and Great Grandpa at the lake - Kian even went fishing for the first time!

We came back into town on Monday afternoon because Kian started tee ball that night. It ended up being rained out. Instead Jamie had the idea of us going to see the new Pixar movie Up in 3D. It was the first Pixar movie in a few years that we have seen outside of Pixar itself :( We definitely missed going there and hanging out with our friends Scott and Keyong. The movie was great though - we all recommend it :)

Kian's first real tee ball class started on Wednesday night. He had a very good time :) I know he will enjoy the rest of the sessions that we have :)

Next week Kian will start swimming lessons for the first time. It is seeming like our summer is filling up a bit - but that is a good thing :)

Five for Finn - PLEASE READ

Please read this note from my friend Kerry. She is a member of a parenting board I am apart of - I have known her since we were both pregnant with our little guys. Finnegan has held a special place in my heart - especially since both Finn and Kian are Irish lads. Finnegan left us way too soon, but Kerry and her husband have a way to honor his memory and give back to those families battling against the evil of Cystic Fibrosis.

♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣

Hey everyone--

As some of you may know, Finn's fifth birthday would have been June 3rd of this year. As the date approaches, I find myself feeling more sad and missing my little guy more and more (as if that's possible, as I miss him every moment of every day). I could sit and cry--and believe me, I have--but what I really want to do is to celebrate the amazingness that was Finn and help other families too.

We are still in the process of getting tax-exempt status for "Finnz Fundz"--a foundation established in Finn's name to help other families of children with Cystic Fibrosis who are facing extended (longer than one month) hospital stays for treatment. In addition to our goal of achieving tax exempt status, we hope to eventually be able to help families of children with other illnesses as our funds grow and our ability to help increases.

As a way to honor Finn's fifth birthday, I have a special request for everyone who reads/receives this note--PLEASE donate a fin ($5) in honor of our Finn. If even 200 people donate $5 each, we will have $1,000 to distribute to families in need. Amazing!

Donations can be sent via paypal.com to:
finnzfundz@gmail.com

In addition to this special birthday fundraising drive, we are also looking to obtain "in-kind" donations to pass on to families--like gift cards from national retailers (dunkies, starbucks, target, walmart, etc). If any of you out there work for such companies or have connections, please let us know. We received many such cards and they were such a blessing!

Our email for the fund is: finnzfundz@gmail.com

A website will be soon to follow--a special thanks to Susanne and hubby for offering to design/host the website--I will be in touch soon!

Thanks to all for the amazing support you've given our family during our journey. It's been a long road, but I wouldn't have changed it--Finn was an amazing, special little person who truly brought joy to our lives.

Many thanks,
Kerry and Patrick

p.s. Please forward this to everyone on your friends list! Let's use the power of facebook/the internet for good!!!

Finnegan - a lil' Irish clover that left us too soon

Back to Reality and School of Choice!

After living at the Disney All Star Music Resort for the last week, we returned home at about 3AM on Mother's Day. We had an AMAZING trip to say the least. I will be blogging about it later on, right now there are many other things to attend to :P

Today we received our mail that was on hold for us during vacation. I quickly rummaged through it to find a letter that was from the Champaign school district. I opened it in a hurry and scanned the letter to see that Kian is attending the first school we chose!!!! We are super excited at this great news :)

I am hoping to have blog posts and photos of our WDW trip up sometime next week. As well as Kian's Preschool Graduation photos and info :)

See ya real soon!