Here are Kieran's Laterst Artistic Works

Title: Volcano in Winter
Title: Sky and Smoke

Check out Baby X!

When I was pregnant with Kieran, my OB mentioned the possibility of having one of those 3-D (or are they 4-D?) ultrasounds where the computer actually generates a picture of your baby's face, hand, etc. since her office had just purchased a couple of 3-D machines. David and I were really excited about that, but unfortunately they still didn't have the machines ready by the time I had my last ultrasound with KRUF. We asked about it when I had my first ultrasound this time around, but it didn't look likely that we'd get one this time, either.
Imagine my surprise then when I went in for my 32 week check-up two weeks ago and saw a big poster in the waiting room advertising the fact that you could now get one done between your 28th and 32nd week of pregnancy! I called David immediately, and we decided to go ahead and get one the next day before we left to go home for Thanksgiving.
Boy was it worth it! It was so amazing to see our daughter's face while she is still nestled inside of me! As many of you know, this pregnancy has been difficult in that it was a TOTAL surprise and completely unplanned. I wasn't sure if I wanted any more kids after Kieran, and I certainly didn't want to have another before David was finished with his PhD and we had a better understanding of where we would be living/what we'd be doing. I've felt remarkably unattached to this baby in a way that I didn't feel when I was pregnant with Kieran (and a little bit resentful), but one look at this little one's face, and I felt this instant rush of emotion and an instant bond. I'm actually really excited now to meet Baby X (still don't have a name picked out, people!) and I'm looking forward to having her join our family.

I hope you all enjoy this video as much as we did. Whenever we play it, Kieran clamors "Baby X..Baby X" (or "Bee Ats" as he says) and dances around.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween!

Wow! It's hard to believe that an entire year has passed since last Halloween when we dressed Kieran up as a little Pea in the Pod and carried our not-even-crawling baby around the rainy neighborhood! This Halloween, Kieran has been so much more involved and interested in everything that's been going on, so it was a real treat for us to experience all of these new and exciting things with him! There's a common saying that a picture can convey a thousand words, so I'll just let the pictures (and my captions) do the talking.

This year Kieran was really into pumpkins, or "Puck-A" as he calls them. He was fascinated by the pumpkin carving ritual and loved looking and feeling inside the pumpkins as we hollowed them out.

Note to self: next year try not to do the whole pumpkin cleaning thing next to the air vent, as retrieving any wayward pumpkin seeds is not fun, especially when you're 7 months pregnant.

"Hey! Where'd all the cool stuff from the inside go?"

Oh, well! I can still give my Punk-A some lovin'!

Here's Kieran the Skunk displaying his literary prowess. He is, after all, my son.

Below are some more shots of the cutest little skunk we saw this year:
Kieran was in fascinated by this decoration since it combines two of his favorite things: Pumpkins and Cats.

Tonight we headed out to Trick or Treat with Kieran's good buddy, Maya (aka the Cute Brown Bear). They were so adorable!
You could just see the two of them trying to figure out why the heck we had them dressed up and parading up and down the street, holding onto candy containers.
"Okay, I have this weird, shiny stuff. Now what do I do with it?"

Kieran just wanted to leave it all on the sidewalk. He wanted none of that candy in his bag. It's a good thing that Mommy had pockets in her jacket to save the candy for a little snack later.

Of course, we need a picture of the skunk with his Daddy. Sorry, no Skunk and Mommy pictures. I'll just keep you guessing how big my belly is at this point in time!

"Okay, guys. I think the kids have had enough fun for one evening..."

Enjoying some down time playing at Maya's house after the big, exciting evening.

Hope you all had a great Halloween. We certainly did!

Kieran Talking, Take Two

Some more of Kieran talking. His vocabulary just keeps growing every day. We almost need to tape him every day since he acquires at least one new work every day.
Enjoy!

KRUF Talking, Take 1

This is the first in a sequence of several videos in which Kieran shows off his recently acquired vocabulary. Keep looking for more to come. Oh, and we are *so* proud of the "monarch butterfly" that he says. May we brag for a minute and call our son a genius. :)