So sweet...My baby doll!

I just had to put this picture on here, as I think it is adorable. This is Kiara's first baby doll, given to her when she was barely 1 week old by Uncle Andy and Aunt Julie!!! She like to hold it, look at it, and well...eat it or at least try! But as she was holding it and looking at her, she fell asleep cuddling her and I thought it was the most precious picture...Just want to pinch those chubby cheeks!

Snow pictures...

So I promised some pictures of our snowfall last weekend. The boys had an absolute BLAST playing in the snow...sledding down our front yard hill, as well as building a fort on the patio in back...Kiara stayed INSIDE and watched them a little bit! Yes, our pumpkins were still sitting out back!

Finally here!

So, it finally happened...a 2 hour delay...Wait...No, school is CANCELLED for the day for the boys! The first week of having real snow on the ground and the boys get a day off to make a 3 day weekend! They were so excited. I, of course, am at school...no delays, no cancellations. ARGH! Oh well. I called to let my mom know that I made it here and the boys were just seeing the CLOSED notice for their school on TV and it got VERY NOISY and excited there! Kiara was not so excited...they yelled, she cried, and now she has to share Grandma for the day. Although, I'm sure the boys will be outside playing most of the time...coming in to eat and have hot chocolate. I'll get pictures up here when I'm able to be at home with them and actually take some! So...for now...I still am deprived with no delays at all yet this year and the boys are playing without me. Boo hoo for me! :)

Hooray!!!!!!

We took Kiara back to the pediatric cardiologist this morning and got a good report. We had been praying for a complete miracle of healing...But even though she is not completely healed, we did get good news. At her last visit (nearly 3 months ago), the hole in her heart was about 1 cm big. It is now about 1/2 cm in diameter, so it has closed up some. YEA!!! Now, does that mean it won't get bigger again or that it will definitely close on it's own? Not necessarily, but we were excited that it had gotten smaller. We do not have to go back for another 6 months, just before she turns 1. This was the first time I had met the doctor (Phil took her alone last time). He was really nice and good with kids...which you can't always assume just because they specialize in kids. Kiara was quite the trooper and let them poke her, prod her, attach things to her...she just cooed and smiled at everyone the whole time. We were done in the office by 9:00 AM, so I brought her back home and had some good mommy/Kiara time before I had to leave to come back to school...I had a sub for 1/2 day and I wasn't coming back any earlier! :) So, that's the latest on our little baby-cakes!

First Foods!

Kiara got her first taste of baby food last weekend...Carrots! As you can see by the pictures, it took her awhile to get into it, but once she did, she THOROUGHLY enjoyed her food! HA! The one picture is the very first taste of it in her mouth and you can tell she did not know what to think of it at all. We've done green beans since then and she seems to like those even more, or maybe she is just getting more used to taking the food off of the spoon for us. She loves being in her high chair and watching us eat and eating her meal with us.

My Denver Broncos

We may live in the midwest but we are Denver Broncos through and through at our house. Daddy has an autographed John Elway helmet that is usually off-limits...but he was kind enough to allow the boys to put it on for a minute. They are VERY into football right now and love to play outside, inside, in the basement and on the PlayStation...they are learning so much about the game and will watch pretty much any game that is on tv and pick a team to cheer for! But the favorite team is still the Broncos!

Tree stands

If you know my boys, you know that they LOVE deer and hunting. They are always playing like they are hunting and shooting at their stuffed deer with toy bow and arrows. I'm sure that those in our neighborhood wonder what in the world they are doing out there! Anyway, they had a couple 1/2 days the other week and got to go to Grandma's for the afternoon. They decided they would build tree stands like Daddy and Grandpa have in the woods. Grandma said they were very particular and had to find the "perfect" places for their stands. They are probably about 20 yards apart or so and they have ladders and everything. When I picked them up, I had to go over to the woods and have them pose for some pictures of course! They were very proud to show them off and worked so hard on them too. I think they will both be hunters when they are old enough. Brock went last year one time with Phil, but didn't last too long in the stand. Maybe we'll try again this year.

Halloween

Okay...so I've gotten behind on some postings that I really need to do...So, I'll try to catch up in the next few days as I have a free moment here or there. Halloween was 12 days ago, but I finally have some pictures downloaded and ready to post. I think that we had the cutest Minnie Mouse, Storm Trooper and Annakin Skywalker...I could be biased though! We had beautiful weather, around 70 and sunny and so we were able to have Kiara out in the open and not underneath a blanket in the stroller. She enjoyed the ride and the boys of course had fun trick-or-treating and getting all of that good candy! By the end of the evening, as you can see, Kiara was WIPED OUT! and couldn't keep her eyes open. She slept good that night with all of the fresh air and excitement...So did the boys!

First Snowfall

Ahhh...the first snowfall...Happened a couple of weeks ago...didn't really stick to the ground and you couldn't tell that it had snowed once it stopped, but the kids of course were excited and enthralled by it. We noticed it was snowing because Kiara was in her exersaucer and was staring outside...Pretty soon, all three kids were at the window just watching the snow fall to the ground and melt when it hit. I just had to capture this picture of them all watching. Unfortunately you can't tell in the picture that it is snowing, but we know it was! The boys were very excited for Kiara to see her first snowfall...they were jumping in front of her and bending down to talk to her telling her "It's the first time it has snowed in your life"..."Look at that. That is snow Kiara". It was absolutely adorable. Sometimes I love my kids so much that it hurts...Yea, I know...it will REALLY hurt when they get older, huh? :)

Music Teacher?

So...how does a MUSIC teacher teach music without a voice???? That is a question I have pondered ever since I started teaching. I typically lose my voice at least once a year...It started Monday afternoon. My speaking voice is lower and a little in and out, but it's the singing voice that is just not pretty!!!! Yes, I am teaching little munchkins to sing their Christmas program songs with no voice! So, how do I do it???? With a lot of giggling(by the students and me), a lot of frustration, and a lot of..."Listen to the piano on this part boys and girls"! Oh well...it feels like it might be coming back already, so hopefully it won't be a long term thing...Oh, and did I mention that I am leading worship at church this weekend! HA!