Braeden Thomas Liam

12 weeks before he was due, Braeden Thomas Liam decided to make his way into the world. He was born September 13th at 2:05AM and weighed only 2lbs 11oz. He is doing very well considering he is premature. He does have a long road to go until his due date which was December 4th. He will remain in the NICU until that time.

Oddly enough, on Saturday, September 11 my mom, my cousin, Laura's best friend, and myself threw a baby shower for Laura! In fact, I had been home about 6 hours when I got that call that Braeden had arrived.

So I am officially an aunt! A worried aunt, but an aunt none-the-less :)

A cool side note, that I can't resist sharing, is about Braeden's name. His name is Irish, just like Kian's! Laura asked me a few months ago for help on where to look for Irish names to get some ideas and to throw out some suggestions. Braeden has two middle names to honor both of his grandfathers. Thomas is the name of his paternal grandpa. Liam is the Gaelic form of William which is our step-dad's middle name - our stepdad has always been a dad to us. In fact if we were having any other kiddos I would have used either William or Liam for a boy's middle name for the same honor (no we aren't having any more, not worth the risk to my life!)

Anyway, Braeden not only has a strong name but some good Irish blood in him to help him fight through these next 12 weeks. This Aunt's heart is with him...

"Booger" Face

A few weeks ago I took Kian to get his hair cut. All three of us go to the same stylist and have since we moved here so she knows us all fairly well.

Anyway, she was cutting Kian's hair and had the radio on in the background. All of sudden Kian starts laughing. I said, "What's funny?" He said, "That song." I listened to the song. "Poker Face?" Kian laughed again, "yeah." I was thinking to myself, how does he know anything about poker? I don't think he knows anything about it...

Then he started to sing, "my, my, my, my, my booger face" along with the music. It took me a few times through to understand what he thought Lady Gaga was singing.

Yeah, I would say if I heard the song "Booger Face" on the radio I would laugh too!

So today I go to get my hair cut and what is the first thing the stylist tells me? "I've been telling all my clients about my 1st grader client who likes the song Booger Face." lol!

Let's just say I will never hear that song the right way ever again! ;)

If you want to hear the song follow this link and see the video as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bESGLojNYSo

Kian's First Day as a 1st Grader!

August 19th was Kian's first day back at school. He was so excited! We learned who his teacher was going to be just the week before. I also took a photo of the roster with my iPhone so I could tell him who would be in his class. He was so excited to see some familiar names (and so was I).

Here's Kian waiting with the other 1st Graders for the bell to ring!
Take note of his shirt. I made sure he wore this shirt today since Daddy couldn't be with us on the first day back (he was in Germany for work). His shirt says "Dad's My Allstar"

Kian sitting with Ian, a friend from his class last year. They had to sit down because they were so tired. Man it's hard to be 6!

The kids could sit anywhere they wanted. Kian ended up sitting with Kaidyn, Ian and Michael. All friends from his class last year. I thought that was so cute!

For some reason Kian thinks this looks like a smile. I think he just looks constipated lol!

Me with my 1st grader! Man, the time has really flown by fast!

Today was his second full day of school. He seems to really enjoy it. It's always hard for me to get him to tell me about his day - I think it's just because he's not sure where to start! When he got home today and after a snack we laid down on my bed and talked about what he did. I went through what did you do after you put your backpack away and sat down? I found that this really helps to jog his memory - he seemed to have a lot to tell me about then! I will have to make sure this is one of the questions I ask once he's had a snack and chilled out a bit.

Today I got a funny story out of him. He said he got in trouble once. I asked him what happened. He said he had to sit in chair that's not next to anyone. I asked him why he had to sit there. He was hesitant to tell me. I told him, you can tell me. He burst into laughter and after some slowing down and asking if I was understanding what he was saying, he told me he drew a robot being blown up by a bomb. I guess he laughed so much that he had to sit in a timeout (most likely because it wasn't the first time he was asked to be quiet). Although, I'm not sure if he got in trouble at all about the exploding robot lol I laughed with him a little bit and just told him that he needed to make sure he was following the rules. I'm chalking this one up to "sometimes you just gotta laugh."

Jamie in Germany and Growth Spurts

Jamie in Germany

It's been one whole week since Jamie left for Germany for GameCom. He's promoting the new game he's working on; Red Faction: Armageddon. I've seen him on one interview so far and I'm sure there will be more to follow.

This is the first time he's gone out of the country without us (the only other time was to Canada which doesn't really feel like out of the country anyway lol). We couldn't use cell phones to communicate to so we loaded Skype on my computer and Jamie's laptop - and also downloaded the app for the iPhone. It's amazing how good the quality is!

It was so neat to use the webcam. We could see and hear Jamie as well as show him things we were talking about that were going on or we bought. For most of the week he was gone, we were able to talk at least a few times a day. He was just getting up when I was getting ready for bed so just he and I would talk for a bit if it worked out we were up at the same time. Other than that our standing appointment was at 3-4 every day.

The conference ended yesterday so he's spending the next few days with his friend Tim. Tim lives in Germany and lived with Jamie and his family as a foreign exchange student when they were all in high school. So now Jamie is actually seeing some of Germany other than just the conference center :)

We sure do miss him a lot! Ten days is the longest he and I have ever been apart. Kian and I are counting the sleeps until he gets home. His flight is supposed to get in after Kian's in bed on Wednesday so there is one more sleep added that I don't have to add :)

Growth Spurts

Kian has gone through a growth spurt recently. Today he came home from school and was saying his pants were hard to button and asked if he could take them off like daddy does when he gets home from work lol! Of course I told him yes! ;) So I went through some of his shorts in his drawer and all his jean shorts are too small! Thankfully he does have some others. He won't be wearing shorts for that much longer. I may have to scour some of the clearance racks and see what I can dig up that hopefully will work for next year too.

July Excitement!!

I've been a super slacker lately in posting, but we have been SUPER busy over the last month! Since today is the first of August, I thought I would reflect back on the highlights July.

4th of July

My parents came down for the 4th of July. We scoped out the fireworks in the area and headed over there a bit earlier than we could have, but Kian had a blast on the bounce house stuff they had there (thank God for unlimited trip bracelet purchases!) The fireworks were pretty spectacular! We will will definitely go again next year :)

Click here to see photos.

Great America

We took our second trip up to Great America the second weekend in July. I unfortunately felt sick after driving in the car and was out for the count after taking some Dramamine. I napped in the hotel room while the guys went back to the park and rode all sorts of rides.

When the guys were on their way back to the hotel, I felt like a normal person and started looking for a place to eat dinner. We found this STUPENDOUS place to eat! The place is called Divino and it's in Grayslake, IL. The food was good but the gelato was TO DIE FOR!!!! We all had different flavors but my faves were the mix the owner suggested: mango and strawberry. omg....words cannot describe how smooth and exactly like the fruit it tasted (because it's made with the real fruit!). If you're in area of Great America in Gurnee, IL make sure to stop by this little cafe. Tell them that the family from Champaign sent you ;)

It was also our first time at a park knowing that Kian's food allergy was not an issue! So we had our first funnel cake of the season - Kian opted for popcorn after a bite though.

Work Travel

Jamie made his second trip to Cali for Red Faction Armageddon. This time he went SF and got to meet up with some good friends in the area (lucky dog!). Click here to see his interview with Game Spot - one of the place he talked to when he was there. He got home later on Friday night and geared up for another trip that our family planned well before we knew about this SF trip.

Walking Where Lincoln Walked

We spent a weekend in Springfield, a place I have always wanted to go since I have always loved Civil War history and Lincoln is my favorite president.

We visited Lincoln's home and neighborhood, Lincoln's Law Offices, the Lincoln Museum, and Lincoln's Tomb. Jamie was amazing and took watch over Kian so I could geek out. I discovered many things about Lincoln that I didn't know or just forgot. Kian did get bored though so I sent the guys back to the hotel so I could meander the streets and take my time in shops and such. After dinner on Saturday, I headed back downtown for a Ghost Walk. It was very educational and entertaining. I am hoping to get back there around Halloween when they do more of a scary walk.

I honestly didn't think that Kian was getting much out of the trip and felt kind of guilty for dragging my guys around. But since we came back from the trip, Kian has talked about Lincoln at random times telling me facts he learned about him.

I am extremely glad that we went and I am hoping to go back (at the very least just me) to see the Old Capitol and go through some of the other sites again. The Museum is definitely worth another walk through. It's pretty amazing and a must see if you go to Springfield.

If you're interested in photos, take a look here :)

Kian's Activities

Kian continued swim lessons for most of July. He has progressed a lot! I am impressed with the strokes he's able to do and he really enjoys the lessons.

The T-ball Clinic ended early in July. They worked up to playing a real game! It was really neat to watch and funny too since some of the kids ran to third instead of first or everyone tagged a kid on base with their glove even if they didn't have the ball. So cute!

The last week of July Kian took a British Challenge Soccer class. It was amazing to see how different these coaches were from the last time Kian did the class. I have to be honest and say that these girls were more organized and I think that the kids learned a lot more about the game. The other class he took focused more on skills, which is good of course, but Kian is ready to step it up a notch.

Tooth #8

Kian lost his 8th tooth a few weeks ago! And it's a good thing because the adult one was coming in right in front of it! After the dentist told him to start working on getting it loose, Kian set to work and the next day it was out and ready for TF pick up ;)

Some Awesome News!

As you all probably know, when Kian was a little over a year old we discovered that he was severely allergic to peanuts. On a scale ranging from 0 to 6 he tested at a 5.5 which made his condition life threatening. His allergy was so bad he would have reactions to things processed near nuts. We checked the labels of everything that came into our house and educated those who would have him in their care.

Recently, we thought Kian might have seasonal allergies. Since we live in a new area, there are different plants than what he was tested for in California. We also were unsure if Kian was allergic to fish. The allergist told us that we should avoid it until he was five. We figured we would have testing done just to make sure.

The nurse called with the results of the test and said that the only allergen that came back was to peanuts. No shock there until she said, “You can keep feeding it to him.” I asked the nurse, “Feeding what to him?” She said, “Peanuts.” I informed her that the last time he had peanuts he was 16 months old!

Kian tested a low 1 on the 0 to 6 point scale for a peanut allergy!!! On top of that he is no longer allergic to dogs or cats and is not allergic to fish!!!

Since our lives have pretty much revolved around his allergy, we were shocked and almost disbelieving! So we started experimenting. We gave Kian foods that were processed near peanuts. He had no reaction. We gave him something that had peanuts as the ingredient half way down the listing on the back. He had no reaction besides disgust because he doesn’t like the taste of peanuts.

Today we performed our ultimate experiment before we let others know of the test results. At the suggestion of a friend who has a food allergy, we put peanut butter on Kian’s skin to see if he would have a reaction. Kian had it on his skin for a few minutes. I asked him if he felt anything. He said, “I feel peanut butter.” Ha! When we wiped it off his skin there was absolutely no redness! We wanted to see if Kian would actually eat some peanut butter, but after smelling the jar he plugged his nose and said it was disgusting.

Needless to say we are still in a bit of shock! Our lives changed drastically when we discovered Kian’s allergy. And to be honest, it was (and still is in a way) my waking nightmare. Knowing that something that most kids love could actually kill my child, it was hard to let him go pretty much anywhere unless it was with well educated friends and family.

Now our lives will change again, but so much for the better! We will all be able to get ice cream at Dairy Queen or 31 Flavors. We will all be able to eat pastries and cookies of any kind since we won’t have to worry about nuts in the bakery. We can all eat at a Chinese restaurant! The world has opened up wide for Kian to have more experiences that most of us take for granted.

Tooth Fairy; Loop #7

Last Saturday we went up to Six Flags: Great America to start our season of fun. We all had a blast (even though I did a lot of waiting for my guys as they rode things - rides make me sick :P)! At one point we bought some popcorn and Kian was eating some in the stroller as we were walking to another area. All of a sudden Kian started to yell, "Momma!" Of course we stopped and Kian wanted to hand me something. I thought it was a kernel of popcorn, nope it was his tooth! Earlier that day he had told us that his tooth was loose but we certainly didn't think it would come out at the park!

Needless to say, the TF was able to find us at our hotel (after she got some change). And thankfully her swap was easy since Kian was knocked out from having so much fun all day long, he didn't even stir almost all night!

Zoo Field Trip!

Being a SAHM is a wonderful thing and being able to chaperon some of Kian's field trips is one of the many reasons why I love it so much.

Today the Bottenfield kindergarten classes went to Decatur to see the zoo and children's museum. I was the Momma Giraffe to the three little Giraffes below (each chaperoned group was given an animal).


The photo above was taken on the train. Funny how Jong Min is the only one smiling - well not really - we were all pretty miserable because it rained the whole time we were there! None of us had jackets or umbrellas, but thankfully the zoo gift shop had umbrellas so we had shelter if we wanted it.

We ate lunch before we headed to the museum and at lunch I talked to the boys about their favorite animals. All of them said that there most favorite was the white peacock that was roaming around the park. It screeched at us after Kian made a high pitched noise to it - it scared the boys a bit and sent me into a good laugh. The boys laughed too after they realized the peacock was only just talking back and wouldn't come after them.

The museum was a lot of fun. Although there was a lot to look at and having three little boys to look after made it hard to keep them wrangled from running off! One of the favorite things for all the kids at the museum was a climbing structure. Below are some photos of my "Giraffes" climbing together.




All-in-all we had a really good day. I was quite exhausted when we got home and wondered how Mr. Keepes does this every day. It really does take a special kind of person to be a teacher.

Appendix? Who needs it anyway...

Well, Jamie certainly didn't! Thursday night he complained about a stomach ache that we just marked up to being indigestion. He felt a bit better in the morning but since it was Friday, we figured we would head to the doctor just to make sure everything was ok. Thank GOD for our main doctor, Dr. Walker and his thoroughness! He didn't think that Jamie had appendicitis, but to be cautious he sent him for a CT scan. After drinking 4 cups of what smelled like bleach over two hours and an hour wait, Jamie went in for the scan. Sure enough, his appendix had to come out so we were sent right to the hospital for surgery.

Kian came along toward the end of it all, after I picked him up from school. Of course, trying to keep an almost 6 year old wrangled in a very boring hospital is not an easy task. Thank God for our friends Brian and MaryBeth who offered to take Kian overnight. I seriously have no idea what I would have done otherwise.

Jamie went back into surgery around 8PM and was told at almost 11PM that he was going up to a room. He was kinda out of it and since I didn't get much sleep the night before AND I had 12 kindergartners to deal with on my own the following day - I thought it would be best if I stayed home for the night.

After I got up and got ready, I headed straight to the hospital. Jamie looked really good. He is sore of course but he was doing better than I thought he would be. The doctor saw him right before we left for the bowling party and gave him the all clear to head home. So, after the party, Kian and I waited with Jamie until the paperwork for his leaving was finished - we didn't get home until after 5:30....bleh....

Jamie is doing really well, although he's still sore and needs help with some things. The way he's describing pain is much like the pain I had after having a c-section. At least I can empathize with him a bit and try to remember what things I can do to help out.

Needless to say, this weekend has been a busy, crazy, insane, and exhausting one. But we all survived and Kian had a good time all around which really was the most important thing.

Kian's 6th Birthday Bash!!! (and other news)

Saturday was Kian's birthday (pretty cool it was on a weekend, eh?). He had such a great time with all his friends :) We bowled, ate pizza, cake, and ice cream! I am pretty sure everyone had a blast (including myself!)

I wish I had handed the camera off to someone else for photography duty. Jamie is usually our photographer, but since he was in the hospital recovering from an appendectomy the previous day, he wasn't there. I didn't get a whole lot of photos and but I am extremely thankful for the ones I did get. And of course you can see by all the smiles that everyone had a great time.

I do want to send out a special thank you to all the parents that stayed and helped out. And a special thank you to Brian, Ralph and Kristin - you guys just jumped right in and helped where you could - I deeply appreciate it more than you all know.

Tooth Fairy; Loop #6

When I picked up Kian from school he hopped in the car and immediately told me that he lost his tooth today! Apparently he lost it at lunch while he was eating some oranges.

His tooth was put in an enveloped that was sealed very, very well with tape. He also had a cool tooth sticker that he wore for at least part of the day (for some reason he's not big on keeping stickers on his clothes) so it was taped to the envelope.

The very odd thing about this is that his second cousin, Ameerah, lost a tooth yesterday in much the same way! Although, according to her the tooth was hiding in her cheese hehehe Oh yeah, and she swallowed hers! Thankfully the Tooth Fairy understood and still came through in the cash department ;)

The Tooth Fairy has been a busy lady in our family! I hope her wings aren't too tired to fly from Appleton to Champaign ;)

Result of Kian's TRU Shopping Spree

This past weekend Kian's Granna and Papaw had a big party for him in Kentucky. Granna booked the party at a bounce house place that had other activities. Kian had a blast (and to be honest, most of the other Hedrick men did too!)

Kian made quite a haul with gifts, especially in the cash department. He LOVES getting cash because it means he can go on a shopping spree :) It also gives us a chance to help him realize that he only has a certain amount to spend and help him decide what he wants.

When we walked in, there was a display for Ironman and Super Hero Squad toys. He of course found a big truck that made noise and two cars to go with it.

The truck's back folds down to and has a ramp so the other cars can go inside and be fixed - it also shoots missiles.

Spider-man policing the city with sounds and lights.

And Wolverine backs him up.

Kian has really, really wanted this item for a long time. It is a calculator that adds up his Bakugan score. It was about $30 and more than we would spend on a normal trip to get a small toy. This was the perfect time for him to buy it for himself :)
And of course, he had to get more Bakugan figures. He bought two figures kinda like the one above.

Since we got home from TRU about 2 hours ago, I have barely seen Kian! He's having a blast with his new toys! He also has some cash left over. Since he is having a party on Saturday and getting other things in the mail, Jamie and I figured it would be best to wait on the rest :)

We'll Miss you Papaw

Four generations of Durall men (Rod, Papaw, Kian, and Jamie)

Last Friday night we received a call from Jamie's dad that Papaw (Jamie's grandpa) was not doing well and they weren't sure he would make it through the night. Saturday we woke up and started packing and preparing for a 6 hour drive to KY in the hopes we would get there before he passed on. Thankfully he held on and we were able to spend some time with him as he was in and out of a morphine induced rest.

We had prepared Kian for what he might see in the hospital and Jamie and I gadged the situation before we brought him back to see Papaw. When we went back he was asleep. When we brought Kian back and he was told Kian had arrived Papaw's eyes shot open so he could see him. Kian was pretty scared by the crackly sounds Papaw's chest was making and his coughing, but he would watch from outside the room. I know it meant a lot to Papaw to have Kian there and to hear him say 'I love you' and I hope it's something that Kian appreciates later on in his life.

Papaw passed away on Wednesday morning. The funeral is today. Since it was another long drive and Kian would have to miss school, we decided that Kian and I would stay back.

Kian is having a bit o a hard time understanding what this all means. We lost two of our pets within a matter of months almost two years ago. He still asks me questions about them - like if they will come back since they have new bodies in heaven. He also asked Jamie the night before he left for the funeral when he would be back from heaven (so cute!). It's so difficult to explain on the spirit lives on and the body is broken so we don't need it anymore. I have a feeling we will have more questions coming, but for now he seems to be doing really well with everything.

March Happenings

Our March was somewhat event filled. Of course on St. Patrick's Day we all wore green and had Irish fare for dinner. I prepared for St. Patrick's Day with Kian by checking out a lot of Ireland related stories from the library. It was fun trying out my terrible Irish brogue. And we even came across an ancient tale that has a Cian in it (Cian is the Gaelic spelling of Kian - said the same). Kian thought that was super cool! He kept saying, "So what happened to me?" meaning the character in the book. Super cute!

A few weeks after St. Pat's day Kian's spring break started. Kian and I made a road trip up to Wisconsin to see my family. We got to hang out with my sister a lot during our time there and Kian got in a lot of good time with his Grandpa and Grandma and even their little dog Hannah. We ate Tom's Drive In food at least three times ;) A girl has to get her fill of friend cheese curds! And we discovered the awesomeness of Monkey Joe's. I SO wish we had one in town. It's basically a place filled with different bounce house type deals. We went there two days in a row for 4 hours! Kian had a BLAST! It will be a must-do when we go up to Wisconsin.

Kian also received his report card. He is progressing as normal and the areas that he needs work in are areas that were no shock (paying attention, following directions...of course most of that will come in time). Mr. Keepes told us that Kian is a real joy to have in class. That sometimes he gets in his own little world and starts whistling which gets louder and louder until he's asked to be quiet. And sometimes he starts dancing while walking down the hall - which is a no-no - but pretty darn cute anyway :)

45 minutes v. 10 minutes

Yesterday, as I was headed out the door to get Kian from school, I was grabbing things as I headed out the door. A bag of trash, a snack, my purse, my drink... I had just enough of a hand to be able to close the door - without my keys! GAH! Thankfully I had my cell phone and I called Jamie at work. Since I leave about 20 mins before Kian gets out of school (so I can get a good parking spot in the pick up drive way), Jamie had enough time to get to Kian's school and pick him up then come home and unlock the door.

As I waited outside for about 40 minutes I thought about a lot of things regarding this situation.

First, if we still lived in San Francisco area, I would be waiting at least 45 minutes for Jamie to get home. Jamie returning to work would be pretty much impossible (and silly since he would have to pay the bridge toll again). Now Jamie's work is about 10 minutes from home and Kian's school. After he dropped Kian off, he was able to return to work.

Second, in the last year and a half I have shed my Cali skin for the thick layer I was born with as a Wisconsinite. When I frist called Jamie I asked him to come and let me in so I could get my keys. Then a few minutes later I realized that I would be SUPER late so I called Jamie and told him it wasn't that cold out so I could wait for him to let me inside, I would rather that he gets Kian first or he might not thing someone is coming :( The temperature was around 30 degrees - yep, not that cold especially if you stand in the sun.

Needless to say everything worked out just fine. Kian came home asking about what I meant to be locked out of the house - I had to explain it about 5 different ways and I'm still not sure he understands. (I wasn't willing to show him at that point lol). I also made a decision - I'm getting at least one more house key made and putting it in my purse!

Momma, can you spell...

Kian's recent thing is asking me to write down words for him. He also recently discovered that 'lol' means 'laugh out loud.' So what does my 5 year old little boy ask me to spell? Burp. Then he takes the paper and writes 'lol' under it.

He's also taken to sounding out words like fart, diarrhea, and poop. The best thing is that he writes these things down and leaves them on Jamie's desk for him for when he comes home from work.

He also asks me to write down other words besides those that are bodily functions. I tell him to sound them out first or I tell him the letters and he writes them. Even though some of the words are gross, it's a good thing for him to learn the sounds of letters and new words (lol).

Slacker Report from Last Month :P

Today I came to view my blog and was shocked that I had not written anything in over a month! Yikes!

Valentine's Day

Kian was so sweet. Jameson took him to the store and helped him pick out a card for me. He wrote "Mome" on the front (after sounding out Mommy) and signed his name in the card all on his own.

At school they had a card exchange. Kian of course picked out Bakugan Valentine's and had special ones for his extra special friends. That brought back a lot of memories :)

School Carnival

Kian's school had a fundraising carnival. It was a lot of fun! Kian did so well with the games! He even won a 2 liter bottle of Sprite after getting a ring on a soda bottle after the 3rd try! (Thankfully he doesn't take after his mother in the sports area.)

Missing Tooth #5

Last week Kian had a loose tooth and he kept working on it until it came out! So for the 5th time the Tooth Fairy made her visit. Kian scored $5! Tooth #6 should follow soon - I would say it will be out before his birthday.

Our 8th Anniversary!

Jameson and I celebrated 8 years of marriage on Feb. 23rd. He surprised me by taking the day off of work and making reservations and a fancy restaurant for lunch. We had whatever we wanted which included ending with a yummy dessert and spiked coffee :) I am one lucky gal, that's for darn sure!

Now that March is around the corner our house has been decorated in more Irish stuff than usual (of course it all went up the day after Valentine's day). In fact, this weekend we are going to start Kian's monthly family project - we're making a leprechaun trap! From what I hear, they eat glitter so I made sure we had some to catch the leprechaun ;)

Into the mind of a 5 year old

Kian: I want to live until I'm 100.

Me: Not a lot of people live until they're 100.

Kian: Why?

Me: Because your body starts getting old. Like Papaw Jay, he has to use a walker because his body is getting old.

Kian: I want to be a boy.

Me: You want to be like Peter Pan and never grow up.

Kian: I don't want to be an old man.

Me (through giggles): But if you don't ever grow up, you won't be able to drive a car.

Kian: Momma, I want to be old like you.

Me: (bursting into laughter and almost crying).

Kian: How old are you?

Me: 33

Kian: I want to be 33.

Me: You can start driving when you're 16 if you pass your driver's test.

Jamie: When you pass your test.

Kian: Do you have to win a race to get your license?

Me and Jamie burst into laughter

Kian: What?

_____________

Ah yes, there's nothing like getting into the mind of a 5 year old!

Merry Christmas!

Willow

A week ago from Saturday, we brought home a new kitten!

We said goodbye to our Allie a year ago in September. Oddly enough I see "phantom" Allie cats here and there throughout the house - I have since she passed on. I've missed her so much and even after we got Bailey, I wanted to add a cat to our family.

Last week Jamie woke up and the first thing he said to me was, "I think we should get a cat." I didn't need a cup of coffee to wake my brain up! I said, "REALLY?" about 7 octaves higher than I usually speak.

We immediately went to petfinder.com and found our kitty through a group called CATsNAP. They rescue cats/kittens from high kill shelters. Willow and her brothers and sisters were rescued from being euthenized!

Willow is super loving and a very easy going cat. I have yet to even hear her hiss or growl! She loves Kian, loves to cuddle and just loves to be loved. And I have a feeling that with a little more time she will become good friends with Bailey. Right now his big head is kinda intimedating. So far she's found places where he can't go to poke his nose in at her.