Too cute to not post!

These last two pictures are of my Grandma, K's Great Grandma. Kairis lights up when she sees my grandparents...it's so precious, and something I'll always cherish.

The Everyday Things

I'm enjoying the simple things of life right now; catching up on loads of laundry that are long overdue, reading old emails in my school account while holding a squirming Kairis, blogging "catch up posts" and so on...Hoping your days are as fun as mine! ;)

Yoga Baby!

I'm on a blogging rampage tonight, as I have lots of pictures to capture, and many random blog posts running through my head in the wee hours of the morning...okay, actually, that's not entirely true. I don't usually think of blog posts in the early hours of the morning. I usually think of creative ways of sneaking back into bed for some more sleep, even after Kairis is wide awake, hungry and getting on with her day. Any suggestions? Anyway....check out the post before this one, as we have some adorable 6 month pics of Kairis...I wouldn't want our devoted blog readers to miss out on her cuteness. ;) As for this post....Kairis was in some funny positions earlier this week that I'd thought looked awfully like some yoga-moves. Cute, huh? She's really trying to crawl and move around a bit more these days.

6 Month Pictures...

Lani took some cute 6 month pics on her actual half b-day. Thanks, Lani! We're hoping for more good weather and less runny noses so we can take some more cute pictures soon. Oh, and here's a plug for Lani's photography website/business. She's amazing!
http://cielbluphoto.com/

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

I caved. I bought an ugly recliner chair last night and sold our adorable rocker/glider chair that matched Kairis' room oh-so well. I am too embarrassed to even post a picture of it on here (actually I'm too lazy to get up and take a picture, plus Kairis is sleeping, and I wouldn't want to wake her). Anyway, Kairis came down with a cold late Friday night accompanied by a high fever. I have no idea where she got it; Tim and I are both well! Here are some pictures of our weekend....lots of long nights, (hence the buying of the recliner chair...yeah, we're sleeping in it at times since Kairis can hardly breath unless she's upright) and lots of snuggling with her daddy. I'm so relieved to have Tim here to help me this weekend! I'm off to see her Pediatrician today, and you may be wondering why, as it's Sunday....well, all I have to say is that we have an AMAZING Dr. who loves his patients, and when I called him yesterday afternoon to tell him of her symptoms, he insisted on seeing her today to make sure it's nothing more than a cold. Thanks, Dr. Joel!

Isn't that the cutest of Emma sleeping with Kairis?? She stayed with her for 2.5 hours!!

Happy 6-Month Birthday!

Today was Kairis' 6-month birthday! I am so proud of our little peanut!
She has been waking me up in the mornings this weekend with all sorts of fun surprises. Yesterday morning, she woke me up all smiley at 5AM, SOAKED. I felt so bad. (dad didn't put on the double-layer diaper like he should have) our little corn-bug woke up, soaked from neck to toes. I tried to clean and change her quickly so she would go back to sleep. It worked, but when she got up at 10, I knew bath-time was a necessity.
This morning, I woke up to this...



She is such a joy and we are loving being parents!

Happy half-birthday sweetie!

-Dad

A Lovely Weekend...

Kairis is back to her sweet self, to which we are very grateful. We enjoyed a relaxing weekend together, as a family. Friday evening Tim and I relaxed and sat back to watch the Inauguration which I had taped earlier in the week. After all, it's history...and it's not every day an event like this takes place. Though, I must admit, I did fall asleep half way through Obama's speech, not because it wasn't interesting, but mainly because I was one tired mom that had a long week and a half of caring for a sick girl. I'm sure Obama would understand. ;)



Anyway...back to the pizza I made Friday night. We had this great idea of making home-made pizza and having artichoke hearts on it, and all. So, being that I had never cooked or prepared an artichoke before, I bought a whole artichoke at the store for $2.50. I didn't think that was a bad price, after all, artichokes are awesome! So, I googled how to prep artichokes, called a friend who I thought would know, and still didn't feel comfortable with the whole process. So, after destroying nearly the entire artichoke, (I boiled the leaves for a LONG time), I was finally able to get some of the artichoke hearts out and onto the pizza. I think next time I'll just skip past the fresh produce aisle and go straight for the jarred artichoke hearts. This pizza was awesome, though, and would have been even better with more garlic. I used garlic, olive oil, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, chicken, olives, spinach and...artichoke hearts on a home-made pizza crust. Yum-o!
In other news, I finished my first academic year at Warner last Thursday evening. Tim graduates in August with his BA in Human Development/Family Studies and has applied for the MAT teaching program that starts in October. We're really excited for this next stage. I'm proud of my hard-working husband. He's incredible!

I love these...

One sick little Peanut...

Well, our little girl has been fairly sick the past week. She acquired a mild cold on Monday and by Tuesday evening she was throwing up mucous and milk. Poor thing. She declined rapidly Wednesday, and after a visit with Dr. Joel, she was diagnosed with an ear infection. Thursday came and went...and we ended up in the ER with her most of Thursday night treating dehydration, vomiting, and a slew of other cold-flu related symptoms. Yeah, trying to hydrate a child who is throwing up constantly and/or spitting out liquid deemed impossible to this mom, as did it to the ER nurses. *whew*, I was going to be one unhappy mama if the nurses showed me up on this one! She was such a trooper, as were her parents, might I add...;) She received IV fluids, got chest x-rays, and gave (rather unwillingly) a mucous sample via extreme suction through this vacuum like machine....

(showing off her cool Dora band-aid)

Our poor peanut was diagnosed with RSV, a somewhat common "kids under the age of 2" type respiratory virus. It creates lots of mucous, which in turn spurs on vomiting, coughing and other ailments. So, we're keeping our eyes on her closely, as breathing difficulties aren't uncommon in RSV patients. It's been a long week so far...and unfortunately this virus is proven to stick around awhile. We are very thankful for an awesome Pediatrician who makes himself available to us via email, cell phone and urgent office visits!

On another note...Tim is remodeling our attic. It's the last "room" in the house we haven't touched, and we're getting antsy for more home projects. Since it's not the time to sell our sweet abode, Tim thought, since he has all the supplies through his work (for free!) that we should make our attic a glorified storage space, with real walls, paint, carpet, electricity...yeah, the works! So, aside from part of it being used for storage, the main room will be a fun little retreat for us to read together. I'm looking forward to this remodel, and can't wait to see the finished product! I'm just hoping I don't hear Tim tell me on the phone that he thought he saw the ceiling move...again! :)

2008: a year in pictures.

January:

2007 ended with news that we were expecting, or as we told my parents, we were "starting a bakery".





We quickly started "preparing" with a complete home remodel. (thanks a TON to Mckenzie!)




February:

The banana stained kitchen countertops needed to be gone, so we put in black granite tiles and a new laminate floor!...



...until I hooked up the ice-maker wrong and flooded the downstairs.



We decided to do more than the kitchen.



Our critics were pleased!



All the while, Heidi's belly grew.




March:


Our ultrasound reveals a girl is in our future!



Heidi began treating applesauce like gravy pouring it over any meal,



the office became a baby room and began to take new shape,



And the belly kept growing...




April:


Snickers began to not fit on Heidi's lap anymore, but tried nonetheless.



We got some great maternity photos from Lani (http://cielbluphoto.com/).



May:


Tim grew some lipular forrestation for a psychology class. The 'stache didn't stay very long as the "nose neighbor" had very few admirers.



We went to the beach with some friends for Tim's birthday and stayed at a cute little home with only a bathroom door...




June:


June was full of flowers...



Showers...



Snuggles...



And still the belly grew...




July:


We got more photos from Lani,



Snickers passed away,



and Emma tried to find a new home.



And the belly grew...




August:


The belly popped!



we met our little Kairis Elysa for the first time.



Momma's "tuna cakes",



Daddy's "corn-bug",



And the baby grew...




September:


September was full of firsts. First trip to IKEA...



First meeting Papa and Grandma Thomas...



First night away from mom and dad while they stayed downtown for their 5th Anniversary. (Thank you Joel and Lani)



The New Thomas Family.




October:


First smiles...



First trip to the Pumpkin Patch...



First visit from Aunt Angel...



First trip to the beach...



and First Halloween.




November:


First trip to Multnomah Falls...



Resting with mom while she finishes the Harry Potter books...



and Picking out a Christmas Tree!



December:


First snow...



First snow to lock up Portland in a long time...



First snow all three of us have ever seen on the beach...



First "sled" ride...



First Christmas!



We thought it would be fun to go for a first swim...



Yes the outdoor pool was heated, but it was still too cold...



so we went swimming where it was warmer.



Christmas turkey (I mean turkeys)...



First carousel ride, and the first time meeting Aunt Karen and Aunt Mary.



Our first family Christmas at the Beach!



(We had a relaxing time.)




I hope God blesses all of you as He has us this previous year. May you have many more memorable moments in 2009! Feel free to randomly choose a post from the past to look back on all of our adventures, there are many of them. (many much moosen!)

-T