Thanksgiving take two!

Kieran, Rick and I spent most of today at Grandma Sandy's home for another very enjoyable thanksgiving. Great Grandma Brey, Gene, Great Auntie Joyce and Great Uncle Furcin, Uncle Aaron and Auntie Angie, Cousins Livy, Jarron and Braydon were all there for the festivities. Uncle Zack didn't make it this year and was missed- we hope to see him at Christmas though!
We all enjoyed Sandy's wonderful cooking- including two types of potatoes, casseroles and salads and of course turkey! Then there was all the dessert! Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, pecan pie, apple pie, chocolate mousse pie and chocolate brownies! MMM!!!
It was lovely to catch up with everyone and the weather was just beautiful! Kieran was quite the social butterfly and loved all the attention- despite his missed afternoon nap. However, mommy and daddy paid for this on the loooong drive home- someone was quite fussy :(
All in all it was a perfect holiday. Thank you to Sandy for hosting and for the delicious meal. It was great to see everyone and chat. We can't wait till Christmas!

Happy 37 weeks and Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving (part one) was wonderful yesterday! Kieran, Rick and I spent the better part of the day at Grandma/Grandpa's house with Auntie Shannon and Cousin Presley. We ate a lot of really good food including southern style cornbread dressing and two types of cranberry salads- mmmm! And then of course there was the pie- chocolate pecan and traditional pumpkin with coffee naturally! The babies played and ate too and then Kieran went for a late and loooong afternoon drive down by the river on winding back roads and ended up way out at midway! Mom was a bit lost ;) But Rick and I enjoyed the time to ourselves while Kieran slept.
Today I think we are going to just take it easy around the house, but then you never know... we may get crazy and go out and brave the Black Friday crowds...
Happy Thanksgiving everyone from the Rother clan- we are thankful for all of you in our lives.

Fun with Kieran and "mama"!

We had today off... isn't it great being a teacher?! We spent our first of four consecutive days off work making baby food, two pumpkin pies and a spinach/artichoke dip. We also had breakfast at Panera, lunch at DQ and took a long and slow drive down past the Lake of the Ozarks and back (so Kieran would sleep!). Then we came back home for frozen pizza (nothing but health food today!), a brisk walk and then had some fun with Kieran's new toy from Sheila- thanks again for the great gift- he loves it!
Today we caught on video Kieran's first "word" at least an utterance that sounds like a word we know- "mama"! Of course this pleases mama very much and daddy doesn't mind- he knows Kieran and I have been practicing this one quite a bit ;)

Sunday at the mall...

Rick, Kieran and I spent the better part of today at the Columbia mall enduring the hell known as the "family photo shoot" at JcPenny. After over an hour wait and an hour plus photo shoot/ordering session including screaming children (ours and other people's) stressed out holiday shoppers, pee-pants and an an
overzealous sales person, Rick and I were relieved to escape to the slightly less stressful cafe court to enjoy a meal of Taco Bell and the entertainment of the carousel. In fact Kieran enjoyed his first trip on the carousel and although a bit apprehensive, seemed to really enjoy the experience.
Rick and I have vowed never again to subject our family to a photo session at any department store studio... it was agonizing! Thank you though to grandma Daugherty for putting up with cranky babies, fussy mommies and an impatient daddy... where would be without grandmas? Well for starters we would have a lot fewer photos that's for darned sure- and that would be a shame... so thank you again to grandma.
Anyway, happy Thanksgiving a little early from the scrooges- bah, humbug!

Happy 36 weeks!

Kieran is 36 weeks old today! These pictures were taken this morning before he went to daycare. As you can see, he spent his time before we left with Grace, our cat with more need for love than she has sense. Yes, that's her tail in Kieran's little hand!
This has been a busy week as we all prepare for the thanksgiving holiday and some well deserved time off work.
We had our security system installed Tuesday and have found it to be very easy to use so far. Mommy is sleeping a little better now;) Daddy has been hard at work doing a little plumbing and other household repairs- go dad!
Kieran got the second half of his seasonal flu shot this week and is getting part one of the h1n1 tomorrow. Perhaps that will ward off any major illness this winter... here's hoping!
We all spent last weekend with Grandma Sandy (to celebrate her birthday), great-aunt Joyce, great-grandma Brey, Uncle Aaron and Aunt Angie and cousins Braydon and Jaron. Kieran loved playing with his cousins and was worn out by the time we left! Thank you again to Grandma Sandy and Auntie Joyce for the lovely baby gifts- Kieran is a very lucky little boy to have such loving and generous family all around :)
No other big happenings to report otherwise... still working on that fourth tooth. Still not saying any recognizable words but babbling a lot. Still not crawling but so very close!

Happy 35 week and 8 month birthday!

Here are a few pictures, in addition to the weekly owl-pal shot from this past month- thanks to Grandma Sandy's camera! Kieran is a whole lot bigger than owl now- and although he's not standing just yet, but it's coming for sure!
Thank you to everyone for their concern and support during this past couple of weeks- they have been rough but it's been a lot easier to get through because of all that you have done to help us.
We will be getting our security system in place very soon as well as a new door and we are looking for our replacement electronics this weekend. Thank you to grandma Sandy, grandma and grandpa D, Aunt Joyce and Uncle Furcin and great-grandma Brey and Gene for their generous support- it is much appreciated :)
We hope everything is well with all of you out there and hope to see you soon during the upcoming holidays.
Take care and lots of love!

It's been a while...

It's been a while since we last blogged, but I have a good excuse... no computer or camera! As some of you may know, we were robbed last Thursday while we were at work. Thankfully, the dogs and cats are fine. Also, thankfully, the thieves didn't tear up the house. They did, however, take our t.v., computer, camera, printer and a few other assorted electronic things. They also destroyed that beautiful old door to our sun porch when they kicked it in- why they didn't just break the glass is beyond me! As you can imagine, that was a rather upsetting experience, not to mention expensive! Thank goodness for insurance and kind and supportive family. We are having a security system installed this week, which will make us all rest a little easier I am sure. Kieran and I spent the weekend at grandma/grandpa D's while Rick cleaned up the house a little and searched the pawn shops (to no avail) for our stuff.
Because of the burglary I didn't get to post last Thursday's weekly birthday pics. I took them that morning and they were on the camera, but now... well you know.
These pics are from my parent's house. This is Kieran's first bath in the tub sans baby-tub. He was a bit apprehensive at first but he soon forgot his fears and thoroughly enjoyed having more space to splash around- plus new bath toys! Kieran is feeling better after his first ear infection and a round of antibiotics. He is talking a lot more this week, new sounds and lots more babeling- Rick and I are loving it!
Well, that's the news that is news here. Take care and lock your doors!