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10.22.08 | Shutterfly

Because I take way too many photos of Killian to ever put up on this site I've made a photo space for him on shutterfly. Plus, this really is MY website and believe it or not there is more to my life than just the boy. Well, not really but it feels good to say that and pretend sometimes. This will make sharing photos much easier for me. The other good thing about shutterfly is that you can also print any of the photos I upload if so desired... which I doubt will be most of you but maybe a few like my Mom and Dad. Don't stare at the photos for too long or he will mesmerize you with his cuteness and you will begin to uncontrollably send him lavish gifts. (Hint: he wants a new lacie portable hard drive)

09.10.08 | I'm a Slacker

I haven't been keeping up with my website. Life is just busy lately.

Killian is doing very well and just turned 4 months old on the 8th. He's about 16lbs now and feels like a Thanksgiving turkey. He's gotten so much easier! Still time consuming as all get out but he's so much more interactive. He loves to hear himself "talk" and is interested in toys and Mila especially. He seems to be facinated by her and just stares at her when she's around. He smiles, laughs and loves bath time. He's just an all around good baby actually.

Here's a few newer photos:
photos 01 - photos 02 - photos 03 - photos 04 - photos 05 - photos 06

07.16.08 | Update

Things are going well although I do have my mental breakdowns every so often. It's hard being home all day with a demanding 12lb boy. It just gets very lonely. He's a pretty good baby though and I do consider myself lucky he isn't more difficult. It's just a hard adjustment for me being alone and totally responsible to his wellbeing. My guess is most women go through this. He starts daycare 2 weeks early so I can drop him off for a few hours every day. It will help us both get used to him being there and give me some much needed time to gather myself before going back to work.

Mila is adjusting too and I feel bad for her that she's been knocked down a rung. I haven't been very good at getting out for walks because it's so warm and the boy dictates our time. I hope to get her out to the nice dog park for a swim soon.

Oh yeah... we had a good time in Illinois. It was nice seeing all the family and very happy to have him meet his Great Grandmother. It was busy like most of my visits home are but it was good to be around other people instead of alone all day. The day after we got back Rebecca and her family flew in from Colorado for a visit. Great to see them as always. Justin will be 5 soon and he's such a pleasant kid to be around. I wish I could see them more.

The boy is actually in his crib right now taking a much longer nap than I ever imagined he would... 30 whole minutes!

I took much more video than photos while I was home but here are a few... and don't be fooled that he's alseep in most of these... it's only because he's being held.

07.16.08 | Sleep... Who Needs It!

When they say you'll be able to "sleep when the baby sleeps" don't believe it unless you're able to turn your brain off and fall asleep within minutes. By the time you're finally asleep they'll be waking up. So take that time to do other things like fold laundry, brush your teeth or maybe they'll actually nap long enough for you to shower!

06.23.08 | Leavin' On A Jet Plane

Killian and I are flying back to Illinois tomorrow to visit with family and to just generally get away from the monotony of being home all day. I'm starting to go a bit tweaky talking to just a 6 week old baby and a dog all day long... if only they would talk back. I'm a bit nervous about the flight with him and hope he plays it cool. Glad it's only a 2 hour flight just in case he decides to go haywire.

I can't believe he's already over 6 weeks old. He's changed quite a bit. He still sleeps in bed with us but we're going to tackle that issue soon enough. He smiles a lot and is still a pretty good guy. I don't get large chunks of time during the day... he only allows me little snips of time. I try to look on the bright side of that and figure he just likes me a lot.

Here's a few newer random pictures.

photos 01 - photos 02 - photos 03 - photos 04 -

05.26.08 | My Little Man

Killian is now about 2 1/2 weeks now and getting cuter everyday... well, not when he's crying but that's not often anyway because Karl is so good at calming him. I'm good at feeding him. I know he can tell I'm the food bin and just wants to eat when around me. We're doing okay with limited amounts of sleep but I'm missing my Mom being around because she was such a huge help. I'm lucky now to get a shower when I'm home alone with him because he's awake a lot more during the day and isn't too keen on hanging by himself. He likes to be held most of the time so it's rare we have our hands free. Sleeping at night is getting better and we're trying to get him to sleep in his "secure sleeper" on our bed... I don't mind him sleeping next to me but I'm so afraid I'll roll on him. Once he's good in the secure sleeper we'll try to get him moved to the crib or bassinet in our room. Overall he's a very good baby and I'm lucky to have Karl who is such a good Dad... as I write this he's walking around the house while holding Killian to get him to sleep.

Here's some new photos of our little man... a few of them make me laugh out loud:

photos 01 - photos 02 - photos 03 - photos 04 - photos 05 - photos 06 - photos 07 - photos 08

05.10.08 | He's Arrived!

Killian Graham Bunji Tamai arrived on May 8th at 5:42pm. He weighed 8 pounds 2.2 ounces and is 20.5 inches long. Most importantly he is the cutest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Considering it's only 2 days after his arrival I'm going to keep this short... as you can probably guess I'm still exhausted.

04.28.08 | The Countdown Has Begun

Well, I'm still pregnant. I have only 9 days left until my due date and I'm absolutely gigantic. My energy level is pretty low because I'm still getting over a flu that knocked me down for the week. At one point my fever was almost 102 and I slept a ton. Today is the first day in 7 days that I feel remotely functional. I was so sick and miserable and glad the baby didn't decide to come that week because I couldn't have handled it.

My Dad is planning on coming out here May 5th but he has to leave the 9th. He's hopeful I'll have the baby while he's here but since it's something that can't be planned only time will tell. My Mom will be coming down once I start labor or a bit before so she can be in the delivery room and then she'll be staying to help out for two weeks. I have a feeling I'm going to need all the help I can get.

I've been lucky because my entire pregnancy has been ideal according to my doctor. No major issues even though I still bitch and moan. To be perfectly honest I hate being pregnant and am really looking forward to it being over. I can't imagine how much more I would have hated being pregnant had I ended up with issues like diabetes or something else. Just telling it how I feel... being pregnant is a constantly uncomfortable state of being and I look forward to getting my body back to myself no matter how hard I'm going to have to work to get it back into shape.

Karl and I have no illusions that we know exactly what to do with a baby or that it will be easy. I'm lucky to have him. He's the calmer of the two of us and he's very good with accepting responsibility and just doing what needs to be done without complaint. He's been fantastic during my pregnancy and cuts me up fresh fruit every day, cooks, does laundry and basically helps with anything I ask. I think he's going to be a great dad.

I know it's going to be hard for me. I'm pretty selfish with my time which I'm going to lose control over. I'm going to do my best to adjust and roll with the punches. I'll have 13 full weeks before I have to go back to work where my only responsibility will be the baby and getting in sync with him.

What I look forward to most is finally meeting this little dude. 40 weeks is a long time to wait to meet someone who will be such a huge part of my life.

04.12.08 | Mila Update

She ended up having three teeth pulled, a cracked one sealed and a growth in her gums cut out and sent away to find out what the hell it is. She was so drugged out and pathetic when I picked her up but extremely happy to see me and get outta there. She has dissolvable stitches but it hasn't hampered her eating. Mouth pain or not she's still a piggy. I'm embarrassed at the cost so I'll just say it was as expensive as human dentistry without the insurance. But I love her and she's worth keeping healthy.

04.08.08 | Doggy Dentist

My poor girl is at the dentist right now. Last week during her yearly vet checkup they noticed she had an older cracked molar on one side and a fresh break on another tooth. Explains the worse than normal breath lately. This morning we got up at 5:30am to make it out to Vienna for a 7am appointment. I scheduled her for a cleaning which she's never had and they'll do what's necessary with the broken teeth once she's under. Not sure if that will be leaving them as is or extracting them. She knew something was up because she was trying her best to escape from the waiting room. I hate that she's being put under for this and it worries me like crazy but it needs to be done.

04.07.08 | Baby's Room

The baby's room is finished! I'm sure the room will change once he's here and gets older of course but I'm relieved to have it all done. Took me longer than any other room in the house and I went through at least 10 different paint colors before finding the one I liked. I'll probably end up regretting the cream color carpet but I like how it brightened up the room. The new closet system is my favorite part of the room actually besides the awesome quilt my sister-in-law's Mother made me... it's so freaking cool. And the Paddington Bear on the shelve above the crib is mine that I've had at least since I was 7 years old. He's the only stuffed animal I've kept and he even went to college with me every year.

I'm at work right now and ready to take a nap. This baby is doing some kind of acrobatics in my stomach and it's getting a bit painful. I've managed to snag a cold which is making me tired too. Only 4 weeks and 2 days left until I hit my due date. The doctor guesstimated that if I reach 40 weeks he'll be around 8lbs. No matter what he weighs I'll just be glad to be able to hold the squirmer in my hands and not my belly.

04.01.08 | Dad Visit

My Dad just left yesterday after a 4 day visit. It was good even though we didn't do too much... I get tired a lot more easily than I used to. He helped me get some shelves up in the baby's room and fix a closet door which really needed to be done. At Christmas I gave him a memory book to fill out for his soon to arrive Grandson... kind of like a mini biography in 365 questions. I'm thrilled because he's finished it already! He even added photos to it and all sorts of extra information. I'm going to read it too because I'm sure there's some interesting tid bits about when he was a kid. Today he emailed me this photo he wanted to add to the book... he says he remembers exactly what he was doing when this photo was taken... making some kind of Ritz cracker snack with jelly.

03.25.08 | 2 Weddings & A Whatever

Karl and I did the quick 10 mintue marriage ceremony so the catholic church will allow our baby to be baptised. I could care less but it's important to Karl so whatever. I'm pretty sure Father Hull knows I'm a heathen but he did Karl the favor anyway. Now we have two wedding dates... September 17, 2005 which is our true legal marriage and one on March 22, 2008 which was just a hoop to jump through. I think I'm going to have some explaining to do in the future so he doesn't think he was conceived out of wedlock... but who really cares about that either. I will say Father Hull, outside the religious thing, is a very nice guy. Although I almost changed my mind about that when he made me kneel down for some reason... being 8 months pregnant and kneeling do not work well together.

02.29.08 | 3D Ultrasound

Karl and I went to have a 3D/4D ultrasound the other day. I was unsure if it would be worth the cost because insurance doesn't pay for it but I was happily surprised. The baby was in the perfect position so we got to see his little face and watch him moving around in 3D for 15 minutes. He was resting his head against the placenta (kinda gross but everything about pregnancy is gross) and clutching the umbilical cord. He also had a foot in his face most of the time using it like a headrest.

02.26.08 | Unique Sock Animals

The bedding in the baby's room is sock monkey so I went with that basic theme. I don't want just the standard sock monkeys but a variety of unique sock animals and there are lots of them out there! I visit a site called etsy.com where artists sell their wares... from paintings to jewelry and everything in between. It's a dangerous site because there's just so much cool stuff.

Here is the first animal I've gotten... he's a traditional sock monkey but with a twist. His name is Dewey Trifecta and is a sideshow sock monkey. He was created by an artist in Austin, TX named Monica Knighton.



These next two come all the way from Sheffield, UK so I'm assuming if they could speak they'd have a british accent. The first one is named Sweetie and was made as part of the February 2008 UK Etsy "Sweets from your Childhood" Challenge. The second is The Amazing Zebra-Dee. Both were created by Sian Hughes.



Every sock animal I've seen has been giving a name by the artist who created them so I'm keeping their original names.

02.26.08 | The Things I Do For The One I Love

My husband is Catholic. I am anti-religion but am considerate of other people's beliefs. Well, at least I try to be. It's important to Karl for our baby to be baptised Catholic. I'm okay with the fact that since our kid will be Catholic I will have to work harder to contradict the teachings I don't agree with... which I know for a fact will be many. The craziest thing is that in order for our baby to baptised we need to be remarried in the catholic church! They currently don't recognize us as being married. So we need to have a 15 minute ceremony and the church will recognize us and our kid can be baptised. The ironic thing will be me, about 8 months pregnant, getting married in the Catholic church. I'm not thrilled about it so I'm trying to find the humor in it. I'm doing this because it's important to Karl and it's really a battle that I could never win anyway.

01.11.08 | Note To My Mom

Of course I will not poke him when I meet him... at least not when you're looking : )

01.09.08 | Poke, Poke, Poke

Everyday I sit at my desk and enjoy the wonderful feeling of being poked over and over in the bladder. I imagine that he's bored down there and this is how he amuses himself. He extends his finger... poke... laugh... poke... laugh. Sometimes an hour will go by before he stops. I think a payback poke is definitely in order when I finally meet him face to face.

01.07.08 | It's Possible To Get Your Ass Kicked At The Dog Park

There are some crazy people at the dog park! Most hard core dog lovers are crazy anyway but some take it to an extreme. We were at the park this weekend and two dogs were playing... one playing much rougher than the other. The woman said "Your dog is being too aggressive" and everyone asked the girl to remove her dog from the park. She refused and did absolutely nothing when her dog continued to go after other dogs. At one point her dog was on top of another dog pinning it to the ground so I wacked it a couple times with my cotton leash to get him off. The girl then tried to start with me and got in my face. I didn't know quite what to say since she was being ridiculous (it's a cotton leash) and not controlling her own dog. Two other women were yelling at this girl to get out of the park and she wouldn't budge. Her dog continued to be an ass. Finally it ended up with one of the older women (who's actually a cop but we didn't know it) and this younger girl with the aggressive dog getting into a full out fist fight. They wrestled to the ground and were throwing punches! I leashed the girl's aggressive dog, who's actually friendly with people, so he didn't start attacking the two women fighting on the ground. Once the scuffle was over the stupid girl finally had the sense to get her dog and leave. I mean... how stupid! Definitely not something I was expecting to see on a nice weekend day at the dog park! All could have been avoided if the girl would have controlled her dog. He wasn't a bad dog she was just a bad owner.

01.03.08 | Happy New Year

This should be a year like no other with lots to do and lots of changes in store. Karl and I had a good time back home for Christmas. It was insanely busy like usual with something planned every single day. It was nice to get back to Virginia and Mila. Also nice to get back to work so that I'm more scheduled and not so lazy. I did manage to boost up my energy level enough to get the back bedroom cleared out and ready for painting. I'm also going to order a closet organization system to give me more storage space too.

My belly keeps growing and it's been hard getting used to the idea I can't control it (although I have packed on a few too many pounds which I need to keep in check). Being pregnant is just weird so far. I don't absolutely hate it but it's not really a state of being that I enjoy. I can't really describe it so I'm just hopeful the end justifies the means. I guess I'll find out in about 4 months!