Family Pic

HI Everyone. Amy and I were lucky enough to spend a nice evening at home with the boys. Even though we were exhausted from the week we decided that since everyone was nicely playing together and were all in the living room that we would take a few minutes to try to snap some family pictures. We took about 20 picture and I think there were 2 that worked out well. We tried to get one with the animals as well. Our dog when we finally had the cooperation of our dog (Gryphon) and cat (Sweets), we could not get Connery to pay attention. C'est la vie. At least we have a good representation of Kieran's forced camera smile. Have a great weekend everyone!

1-11-05 5:04 pm

That's the moment Kieran entered our world. All the words I can think of to describe that moment seem inad- equate. He was tiny, shriveled, loud, with dark brown hair and already big eyes. Until then I had known the love of a wife to husband, daughter to father, daughter to mother, sister to sister, friend to friend... but somehow when I looked at that tiny boy, I was overcome with a love I had never experienced or even imagined. As my friend Sean said when his daughter Anna was born, "I realized that parents love their children more than children love their parents." Any parent knows it's not an even exchange. And now I was witness.

The Indian word Kiran means "ray of light," and I'll never forget the moment Sandy's mother pointed to the sky and explained it. "You see the individual rays from the sun, coming through those clouds? That's kiran." I hate to over-romanticize anything, especially a 4 year old boy who spends his fair share of time in the corner. But, on his birthday, I can't help but overlook the mundane. Kieran truly is our ray of light. You see, he was born just over a year after my cousin Eric was killed, and only months after my Uncle Al died. In fact, I was pregnant with Kieran when I visited Al for the last time. During that visit, his friend showed us both a branch from the cottonwood tree, Al's favorite. I was amazed to see that if you cut a cottonwood branch at the thick knuckly parts, you'll find a brown star in the cross-section. A true star. Al's friend explained the legend of the cottonwood.

Stars don’t begin in the heavens.

They begin on earth, traveling up through the limbs

of the cottonwood tree and waiting on the tips of

its branches. When one star falls to the earth,

another leaps from the tree to take its place in the sky.

I knew Al was preparing to leave this earth, and I still grieved Eric. Then when Kieran was only 9 months old, Sandy's father passed away suddenly. And again, I thought of the cottonwood. Kieran came to earth, his "Dada" spend a short time with him, then left to take his place in the sky. I don't believe in reincarnation and wouldn't put so much pressure on a little boy as to claim that his purpose is to fulfill the lives these men left behind. But sometimes when he laughs or gets excited over something very simple, or puts his arm around his brother, I can't help but think that's exactly what he's doing.

My life has never been the same since that little boy came into it. It's larger now. Full of more laughter, more worry, more wonder. My Uncle Al once said, "There is joy in life every day if we choose it." Kieran makes that choice so much easier.

Happy New Year!

We welcomed 2009 together (yes, all 4 of us awake!) at Toser and Tater's house with their parents and some friends we've known for many New Year's Eve celebrations. We were only a little surprised that the boys stayed awake. They tend to be night owls like their mommy. We WERE suprised that the three toddlers who stayed awake (K, C, and ?Toser) were still in good moods ;)

Our first family portrait of 2009...taken at about a minute after midnight.

Our friend Matt asked C what his New Year's resolution was, and he said, "Go Honey Pot," which is a gift shop in town. Of all things! ;) Who knows what goes on in a 2 year old's mind??

We actually do have a few NYResolutions, of course. Or goals, if you will. Here are a few...
run a 5k.
save $, of course.
stop talking about visiting some friends, and actually DO it.
watch less tv and spend more family time together.
Break K from sucking his lip. ...that one may carry over into 2010, I'm afraid. Here's a little history on that.

When our niece Serena was little, she tucked her bottom lip in her mouth and sucked it. Like some children suck their thumb, Serena sucked her bottom lip. Even when she was in elementary school, we would catch her doing it without realizing it. Now Kieran does the EXACT same thing! You might notice in lots of his pictures, he's got his lip tucked in. I've caught him doing it while he sleeps, too. Our only worry is that it will affect his teeth. Not really sure what to do to break him from it, since we can't use the thumb-sucking tricks we've heard of--can't exactly wrap it up or put Tabasco sauce on it. We've started giving him gentle reminders like we all did for Serena. "Lip, Kieran," and that works for at least 10 seconds. Problem is, we said "Lip, Serena" until she was in 3rd grade. Oh, boy.


We'll leave you with some New Year's Boy-speak:
The other day, Sandy and the boys and I just happened to sit "criss-cross, applesauce" in a circle facing each other. Sandy asked Kieran and Connery little questions like "Where's your Mommy?" or "Do you have a brother?" It was a neat little family moment and Sandy was trying to get Kieran to say "a family" when he asked "What are we?" But Kieran's answer...Pirates!! I had forgotten that before and after every t-ball game, Sandy asked "What are we?" and the boys yelled Pirates!!

Kieran requests his pizza without "the red things that are circles."

One day, I ordered hot chocolate for the boys (at Kenny Mango's of course--I'm a junkie) and they made it just warm for us. Still, after several minutes, Kieran said he couldn't drink it, because "he put a lot of hot in it."

K's favorite places to eat:
Place with the peanuts on the ground (Logan's)
Place where I can put cheese in my hand (Pizza Hut)
Place beside the place with peanuts on the ground (Rosie's)
The chicken and dumplin's place (Cracker Barrel)

Connery says
his L's like Y's,
his S's like TH's,
his W's like V's,
his R blends (like cr, tr, str) like F's,
and he doesn't say the Y at the beginning of words...
so "oo have to yissen" closely when he says things like "fithah fee" (Christmas tree) or "I vont to vatch va-ee" (I want to watch Wall-E), or requests a "fah bayee" (strawberry), or my favorite "I yuh oo" (I love you). And, don't be embarrassed when he shouts about the big truck nearby.

The boy LOVES to sing! His favorite tunes are Ba Ba Black Sheep and Hunty Dunty. The other morning, he was lying beside me, and I heard him whispering. I leaned in to hear what he said, and he was whisper-singing!

He answers most questions with "Mm-yah" or "Mm-naw," and really accentuates his own questions by raising his pitch (and eyebrows) waaaaaaay high at the end. AT least an octave higher than his normal pitch.

He's started climbing into bed with us just as often as Kieran does. He's not as quiet about it, though, and usually comes in crying, "I 'cared."

He has used the potty several times, but when we've tried Underwear Days at home, I spend a lot of time cleaning up pee, so we don't do those very often. He has actually done "the big job" on the potty more than he's peed on it. Little backwards, huh?

A friend on NYE said "They get along too well," because 90% of the time, they are very sweet to each other. This morning, Kieran walked back to their room, got C's blanket and covered him up while he slept. They always ask for two jelly beans or two vitamins so they have one for their brother. And when K stayed the night at Ba's house last week, the first thing out of C's mouth the next morning was, "Where Theh-theh?"

It's hard to believe that Conneyr moves up to preschool next week, which is the same level K is in! Fortunately, their school has two preschool classes, so he'll be in the one across the hall from K, so they have some independence. Their personalities are so different that I think it will help not to be in the same class where they'll get compared more. And C so loves pestering his brother. Something tells me they'd both be in more trouble if they were together all day.

There may never be another picture that shows their personalities better than this. ;)
Happy 2009 everybody!!

Finn, our blue eyed boy

When I first met Finn, he weighed less than 10 pounds, was puffy, all curled up...and the cutest thing I had ever seen. He was the first-born of our best friends, and as I held him and rested his newborn body on my big belly, I thought, "Soon, little Kieran will meet you, too." We didn't know whether Kieran would be a boy or girl, so we weren't sure if they would play "pirates" or "house," but we were excited that we would raise them together. We discovered that even their names were connected: Finn "fair-haired" and Kieran "little dark one."

Since then they've played t-ball together, found treasure at the beach, watched movies, fought over toys, ridden in the wagon, chased each other at outdoor concerts, ridden horses, played guitar, jumped on the sofa, and taken baths which will embarrass them when they're older. We noticed early on that they get along like brothers--not always sweetly--but with the recognition that they've been together from the start.

Yesterday was Finn's birthday, and we were honored to spend it with the big guy at Red Robin (his favorite) and the movies watching Madagascar 2. The funny guy sang his own rendition of "I like to move it, move it" at lunch, and it will forever be "his song" in my mind. (That, and "3 Little Birds"...And when Kieran asked for a bite of his birthday ice cream, Finn dipped right in and gave him one.

Finn, we love you more each day, each year. As Kieran explained to me this morning: "I like to go play baseball with Finn, cause he's on my team. He's my pirate friend, because he loves me." Happy Birthday to our Pirate Friend Finn.

Ho Ho Holy Moly!

This Christmas season is speeding by! The boys are full of energy and love the decorations throughout the neighborhood. Today, we finally put up our tree, which was...well, an adventure, we'll say. They helped put a couple of ornaments and garland on the tree, but they preferred to play with the wrapping paper rolls like "lipe savers."

Kieran's Christmas program was Friday, and he got to play Santa! I had a hard time finding a Santa costume in his size, so I made one out of a woman's thermal shirt and the cuffs off some $1 stockings. I was proud of how it turned out, and both boys have gotten use out of it, since Connery wore it Saturday night, too. Here's a video from the Christmas program. Prepare yourself for cuteness.





Friday night, we went to Sandy's company dinner, which was nice. He works with some guys we've known since they were in grad school together, but we never get to catch up with them. Now that we're married and have kids, it's a treat to dress up and have dinner together.

Saturday night was exciting, as we bundled up to ride on the Rotary Club float at the Christmas parade. Connery dressed as Santa, and Kieran dressed as a pirate, which is unusually appropriate since the theme of the float was "Parrots of the Caribbean," Rotary Club's annual fundraiser. We froze but really had fun waving at everyone while another little boy on the float did the hula dance. ;)


Lucky for us, the parade ended downtown, right next to Bandito Burrito, one of our favorite haunts. Always yummy, and more impor-tantly WARM! And apparent- ly, St. Nick loves Bandito, too, because he and Mrs. Claus showed up!! Sandy and I were excited that the boys got to see him...and we didn't have to wait in line at the mall ;) It was a little surreal watching Santa order nachos, though--like running into your elementary school teacher wearing blue jeans at the grocery store. Connery was in awe and neither one of the boys recognized that Mrs. Claus was our dear, dear friend Sabrina, the one who gave Connery his first haircut nearly a year ago!

Then Sandy and I celebrated the season at a very irreverent (but HySTeriCAL!) play "The 8: Reindeer Monologues" which featured three of my former students. At one point in the play, as we watched one of my "babies," Sandy said, "You did that." I can't describe how proud I was to see Robert, Adam and Jeremy on that stage. I'm humbled to take the blame ;) Then we danced to great reggae music at a local Kush gig. My friend Nichelle sings in the band, and we are never disappointed when we hear them play. I laughed when they played "I Shot the Sheriff"...the boys sing that song, too ;)

We've got several Christmas parties and LOTS of wrapping still ahead before the threat of "Are you being good? Or is Santa going to put you on the Naughty list?" is no longer in effect. In the meantime, we'll enjoy the Christmas lights, watch White Christmas a few more times, and try not to let the holiday rush take us over.

The Lone Ranger's on speed dial!

Connery walked into the bathroom this morning as I put on my makeup and told me that he needed to use the potty. I got a little excited but didn't want to scare him. He sat on the little plastic seat, and I helped him take off his diaper. Then his pants. Then his socks. Then his shirt. (Who knows why he wanted to be naked?) He got up a minute later, said he was finished, and I thought it must have been a false alarm. Then he sat BACK down...and drum roll please...he peed!

Kieran ran in, we all gave high fives and proceeded to call Daddy, and of course, THE LONE RANGER!!



Now I know this process could take a LONG time, but it's the beginning of the end of diapers, and that is always a wonderful thing!

Here are a couple more "boy moments" from the past couple of weeks.

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We drive into the sun each morning, and again each evening on the way home. So we hear plenty of complaining about the sun being in the boys' eyes. They both yell for us to "make the sun go away." And of course, their sunglasses are never handy on the sunniest days.

But Sandy's come up with the perfect trick for getting the boys just to live with it.

He explained to the boys that the sun gives them "power." So now they just close their eyes and get their power from the sun! Brilliant!!

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Kieran's class made a list of the things they are thankful for and hung them outside the classroom door. It warmed my heart to see Kieran's entry:
I am thankful for my Mommy and my Daddy and Gryphon and my lipe saver. I am not thankful that Connery keeps trying to bite me.

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Kieran told me that he found a parking spot while we drove through the parking lot at the mall. I figured that it was across the parking lot, so I said, Good job, and parked in a nearby spot. Kieran was SO upset! He started crying so hard that I figured something else had happened. He explained through LOTS of tears, "I found a spot for you, and you didn't park in it." I apologized and told him that he would definitely pick the spot the next time. That satisfied him, and when we got out of the car, he walked me to the spot he had chosen...just two spots away. When we walked into the mall, Momma made a comment that it broke his heart, and he said, "You broke my heart, Mommy" and started crying again. It was so innocent that I started crying, too. Now before I pull into a space, I ask, "Is this spot okay?" He always says, "That's a good one, Mommy."

Another day at the mall, he got really upset when I didn't buy him anything at the toy store. In the car, I explained, "Kieran, you don't always get what you want." And--his words of wisdom--"But I want to get what I want." Don't we all, honey, don't we all?

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Connery LOVES to aggravate Kieran, and his latest tactic is saying "Onee ME" when Kieran wants something.
Kieran asks where we're going. I say, "The Mall." He says, "Yay, the Mall!" and Connery says, "Onee ME, Thih-thih."
Kieran asks for juice. I say, "Sure." He says, "Thank you, Mommy." Connery says, "Onee ME juice."
You get the idea. And it KILLS Kieran every time. He starts crying, "Mommy, Connery says I don't get to go to the mall!" Or "Mommy, Connery says you're not my mommy, you're only his mommy." And the entire time I'm telling him not to let it bother him, that Connery only says it to aggravate him, Connery's saying "Onee ME! Onee ME!"

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He has learned all the great nursery rhyme songs.
Ba ba black sheep
Humpty dumpty
But we've noticed that a lot of the tunes are the same, so sometimes he gets the songs mixed up like this:
Patty-cake patty-cake baker's man, no more monkeys jumping on the bed!

Some new "speak"
Connery says a lot of things with an F sound. So cracker becomes facker, breakfast bar becomes veffeh far, treasure becomes fezzer, and fire truck...well, that's a tricky one.

I counted a 9 word sentence the other day--"I want Daddy get me 'racaroni' and cheese, ThihThih."

Oh, and he's sitting beside me now and just lifted his finger to announce, "I got bugger on it! Put back in my nose?" Yuck! And, yes, that's bugger, not booger. Blech.

Random Momma

It's the random things about a person that tell you all about them, so I thought it was fun when my sweet friend BookMamma tagged me to play a little "blog game."

Rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog (this is what you are now reading).
3. Write 6 random things about yourself (see below).
4. Tag 3 people at the end of your post and link to them. (why not…)
5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog. (I’ll try)
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

SIX RANDOM THINGS ABOUT "MOI"-

1. I am fascinated by middle names. Names in general, actually. I love to hear how they were chosen and what they mean. And my students freak a little when I "three-name" call them.

2. I love little known bands. My new favorites are the Airborne Toxic Event and The Gaslight Anthem. I found them on accident online.
3. Underwater scenes in movies or tv (heck, even on cartoons) freak me out. I have a completely involuntary response. Makes me jump and turn my head before I even realize it.
4. When I was little, I LOVED the feel of my grandpa's whiskers. He would let me rub his cheek right before he shaved in the morning.
5. My favorite board game is Parcheesi.
6. If you put all my favorite foods together, I'd have chili, a rare steak, steamed broccoli (with just a little crunch left), pasta, smoked salmon, dried mango, and my Granny's biscuits, with a spoonful of peanut butter on the side and creme brulee for dessert.

TAG - you're it! (So, yeah, I know I'm only supposed to tag 3 people, but I'm tagging 5. What are you gonna do about it? Huh? Huh? Yeah, that's what I thought.)
Shep
JennBeth
Amy W
Olivia
Angela