New Pictures

We are WAY behind in pictures. It's incredible how time flies, and then you realize that you haven't sent anybody pictures in a really long time. Perhaps you're all grateful for that - well, I know my sister isn't. I got called out on Facebook for it. We have a good excuse though... our computer was SO full of pictures, we couldn't upload any more. We've moved pictures to an external hard drive and backed them up, and so we're back to uploading.

Wait - there's more to our life than just pictures. We've been to Belgium, had a visit from both Grandmothers, booked a cruise to Alaska, been to Cali to see my sister's new house and for her 30th birthday, and MY MOM IS NOW ON FACEBOOK. That's a little crazy.

I'm starting to gain some ground on this mom thing, so maybe I'll be posting again more frequently. Then again, my mom's been here for a couple of months and I'm only just getting caught up - to be fair, we were traveling for 3 weeks unexpectedly right in the middle of that. Her leaving in two weeks means we'll have to readjust again, but I think we're on better ground. Our basement is finally clean - a lot of guilt has left my life, so I no longer have to wallow and be sad about it. I can actually do other stuff now. :p

Enjoy the new pics! More (older) ones to come hopefully sooner than later.

Weather

Hmmm... the last three winters we've had in Seattle have been very different. The first year was horrendous - 50s and gray from September-June, last year had some snow - and the city didn't deal to well with it, and so far this year has had plenty of sun and great weather (please don't let me be cursing it). It's hard deciding if you want to stay somewhere when the weather is so different! What's the norm?

I'm just thinking about all of this, as I just finished going through the pictures for Rob's Cousin Lizzie's wedding. It was in Vermont in early January and then we went to Toronto - it was SO cold!!! I miss the snow, but I don't miss dealing with driving in the snow, being cold indoors, etc. However, I do miss more frequent sunny days and I do miss the occasional snowstorm. I guess nowhere is really perfect.

Pictures!

Mamani complained. New pictures must go up. Here are the Toronto pictures plus Mariah's visit. Here are Christmas pictures and a couple of pictures from Daniel's visit.

Our Christmas gift to ourselves - a new picture! I think you will all enjoy future pics much better! In fact, you can perhaps tell a difference between the Xmas pictures and the Toronto pictures. We'll get the pics from Cousin Lizzie's wedding and the rest of Daniel's visit up soon, but have to get them off of Rob's computer first! For now, enjoy these pics!

Yummy Onion!

A few weeks before Christmas, Kian found his own gift. He went into one of our cabinets and found an onion, proceeded to peel it, and then eats it kind of like an apple. His nose is running and eyes are watering, but he keeps at it! I'm thinking we should submit this video with his college applications to demonstrate Kian's persistence in the face of difficulties.

Yummy Onion!

Kian Update

Fun things about Kian:

He can moo like a cow, bark like a dog, meow like a cat, baa like a sheep and most recently he can hiss like a snake!

He has FOURTEEN teeth. The four canines and two bottom molars came in together. That's what we call FUN!

His favorite foods still include raspberries and peas, but now we should also add tomatoes.

He is on the verge of running.

He loves to give hugs... and will often accompany them with pats on the back. He'll also give you a kiss (and fortunately 10% of them no longer end in a bite).

He can point out his ears and his tongue. I'm pretty sure he's got down nose and eyes but just doesn't want to let me know.

He is stubborn.

He loves to fake laugh. It's actually quite funny.

He loves to feed other people and the cat too. Very sweet boy.

He only has a limited amount of words (dada, hi and bye mainly), but he understands a surprising amount of what is being said to him.

He loves planes and is starting to really get into buses.

Trash day is quite possibly his favorite day - they go by 4-6 times a day!

He doesn't really care about dolls or stuffed animals at all, but he loves blocks and cars!

Pacifiers are toy to him. If he comes across one (random ones in his toy box), he'll chew on it and laugh... to think that we worried about how to get rid of them. Ha! Sometimes I wish I could still get him to use one... :)

Anyway, there's a quick little Kian update. He's a fun little munchkin. Has a cold at the moment, so his asthma is flaring and that means that we're all getting crap sleep, but he's definitely worth it. Who doesn't love a kid who can moo?

Popsicalitis

I should probably post a picture of this, but Kian has popsicle-itis! (I couldn't decide how to spell it - hence the two different spellings.) Ok, he actually has popsicle panninitis, but popsiclitis (three spellings!) sounds so much more fun. Basically, he had snow on his cheek for two long - that's what happens when you face plant and eat the snow, so now he had a hard, red lump (not raised) on his cheek. It'll go away with time, and it's not a big deal whatsoever... it's just a super cool diagnosis, don't you think?

And speaking of pictures... yes, we have lots. We'll get to them... someday.

Loss of the Peanut M&M

It was bound to happen. I should have realized sooner. In fact, instead of great sadness, I should probably be grateful for the time I had... but oh! how I will miss my Cheetos, peanut m&ms and so many other snacks (not that I indulge that frequently in the first place, but still...).

We just got back from Canada where we had a really nice time visiting my parents, aunts, and grandmother. Seeing my cousins is also great too! However, while we were there, I also discovered that Canada's nutrition facts are more informative. I did not know that if you only have .1 or .2 g of trans fats that you don't have to put it on your label. I mean, I looked at a plain nonfat yogurt label and found out that it had trans fats too! How much trans fat is out there? How much is bad for you??? From what you hear - ZERO! And there I come to find out that it's everywhere, but just under the limit of how much is allowed. (Or maybe we have none and Canada is more flex about the amounts allowed in food, but I find that unlikely and I'm too lazy to check.)

So... there you have it. The loss of fun snacks and the suspicion of all foods including plain old yogurt. I'm so sad (and angry too).