Taco Cabana

Just to let you know where we went to dinner tonight. . .

Fixing the Ceilings

We dropped thousands of dollars on a new roof this past spring - and now Scott has been repairing the damage the leaks caused to the ceilings in both our bathrooms and in the family room. The mess in our master bathroom was the worst, the ceiling was literally falling down. In the kid's bathroom there was just a sagging bubble, though the sheet rock still had to be replaced. Scott spent much of the week he was home after Christmas working on these lovely projects. The ceiling in the family room was much easier - just paint and texture repair, no sheet rock. This leak happened when Kade was a baby. I was up early one morning nursing him in bed and all of the sudden it sounded like it was raining in the house - basically it was. The water was come through the ceiling like someone had turned on a faucet.

Kade loves the BIG ladder and is so proud of himself when he is up on it!

It's OK Keian

Kade is such a good big brother and today he crawled up on my bed to comfort a crying Keian and all the while saying, "It's OK Keian!" and Keian baby calmed right down with all the attention.

Sleepin' in Kade's Bed

Kirra decided that tonight she would get in Kade's bed instead of the usual routine of Kade laying in her bed for awhile before they go to sleep. For those of you who don't know Kade still sleeps in his crib. They really had a good time until Kirra started to get really tired and Kade wouldn't go to sleep. When I went and got Kirra and put her in her own bed she said, "I was trying to be like a Mommy and tell Kade 'Shh, be quiet. Quiet down, we have to go to sleep." She will be a good mommy someday - I have to remind her ten times a day that I am the mommy!

Surprise Roses

Scott surprised me with a dozen beautiful roses today! Kirra just couldn't understand that they weren't to her too, so I guess they were roses for the 'girls' in Scott's life! Love you Scotty Ray!

PJ Day

Kirra was so excited that today was Pajama Day at school. Last night she had a little breakdown (mostly due to tiredness) about the fact she had P.E. and it probably wasn't a good idea to wear pj's to P.E. This morning though all the tears were dried up and she was thrilled to skip the ever annoying step of getting dressed.A great part of the pj day was a FREE popcorn pass if you wore pajamas. Popcorn passes are important things, you know. Each Wednesday the PTA sells baggies of popcorn to the kids for $.25 each and Kirra loves to get popcorn - and even better when she doesn't have to use a quarter.

Soy Shake

Today my mom called to see what brand of rice cooker I have. I checked it out and told her and then I guess I left the cupboard open because the next thing I know Kade had the blender out on the counter and was pulling up a chair. He wanted to see it work. . . so I filled it with water and we blended away. As I was watching the water churn I decided a milkshake sounded wonderful, but since Kade can't have dairy we had a 'soy shake'. We used soy ice cream and soy milk and it was delicious! I was glad Kade wanted to use the blender.Lip lickin' good!

My kids think it is so cool when they get a milk mustache, juice mustache, or any kind of mustache for that matter.

I Take Picture You

We have another budding photographer at our house - Kade! I might never be in a picture if my kids didn't like to use the camera!

Infantile hemangiomas

Kade hasn't been beating Keian up. . . the little red mark on his forehead and the one on his left cheek are infantile hemangiomas in their smallest form. The mark on Keian's forehead appeared just a few days after he was born - and he was born with the one on his cheek. According to the dermatologist and lots of internet research both will disappear as Keian gets older. We often get asked if Kade has been beating up his baby brother, or people mistake them for scratches and wonder why on earth I don't cut the baby's fingernails.

Baby Bliss

I have something that I used to dislike other women for very much. . . a baby that sleeps through the night! And has done so from just a few weeks old without any sort of training. Keian is an amazing baby – he usually goes down at 10:00 p.m. and sleeps until 6:00 a.m. when he nurses and then goes back to sleep until I wake him up at 8:30 a.m. to take Kirra to the bus. I am totally convinced that we are supposed to have another baby someday and #4 gave Keian a good talking to before he came to earth and let him know he better be good so mom would want to do this again! He hardly ever fusses and when he does it’s more like he’s using a little begging voice instead of crying. He likes to be put down to sleep when he’s awake and fall asleep on his own – this never happened with Kirra and Kade! It’s seriously hard to believe we have been blessed with such a great sleeper. We love this little guy!

Crazy Combo

Mushrooms, brussel sprouts, and pasta - that's what I've been having for lunch the past few days and I can't seem to get enough of it. Thanks to the close proximity of Trader Joe's I can get all those things quick and cheap. I am weird, I know!

Indulgences

Today I read my book while my boys napped.

Might not seem like that big of a deal, but it felt like an indulgence! My house was a mess: dishes in the dishwasher waiting to be unloaded, a sinkful ready to be washed, laundry hampers overflowing, and toys all over the family room. As soon as Kade went to sleep I crawled in my bed and started reading. The book is wonderful, "These Is My Words" and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Keian woke up not too long after Kade went down so I nursed him and he fell asleep again so he just laid in my lap as I read and read and read! I didn't answer the phone (though always listening to the messages in case for some reason Kirra needed to get a hold of me) and just relished the sweet peace. It wasn't too many years ago that you would have be hard pressed to make me understand that reading a book for a couple hours would be the best treat of the week, but it was wonderful!

I'm thanking myself for the break!

Cute As Can Be!

Random

Is Kirra proud of herself, or what? If you will notice Kade's diaper is on the OUTSIDE of his pj's!Katie found this picture on her phone and sent it to me. The kids absolutely love the Steel girls and can you see why?

3 Months Old

Our sweet Keian is three months old today! It seems quite impossible that three months have come and gone with this little guy in our lives - but we can't even remember life without him. He is a wonderful addition to our family and we couldn't ask for a better baby.Not fond of tummy time!

We might have a thumb sucker on our hands.

If you give this boy attention he will give you a smile!

Some of his expressions just crack me up.

A rare happy moment in his car seat - he's starting to arch his back when we put him in because he knows he'll be trapped for awhile.

Oh, how I love this kid!

K&E

Whenever Eliza comes to play she loves to dress up - and Kade won't be left out.

Snow White and Cinderella at your service!

I Stuck

This totally cracked me up and even in Kade's distress I ran and grabbed the camera to take a picture. Not quite sure why he want to get under Keian's bouncer or even the fact that he thought he was so stuck he couldn't get out himself, but it made me smile. I was doing something in the other room when the cries of "Help, I stuck!" starting coming from the kitchen. I wasn't expecting Kade to be stuck in this way and he wasn't appreciative of me taking pictures of his dilemma.

Mobile

Scott figured out how to attached the baby mobile to the bassinet and Kirra and Kade haven't stopped playing in there! Kade loves to lay in the bassinet and watch the mobile or have Kirra haul all the stuff from his bed to the bassinet so they can play baby. The other morning Kirra made signs that said, "Dont disrup Kade McEntire Mom and Dad" and we were to leave the doors closed and the lights off while baby Kade was sleeping. Both Kirra and Kade loved this mobile and since Keian will be in our room for quite some time longer I thought he shouldn't miss out on something so fun. Kade did NOT want his picture taken and is crying that I was attempting to do so!

High School Musical - The Ice Tour

What a great show! Katie's only complaint was the the guy who played "Troy Bolton" was not close Zach Efron cuteness! I'm sure he was the best skater in the group and that's why he got the part. I actually hadn't seen any of the HSM movies until the week before the ice show when I watched one and two with Kirra and Kade. I can see why so many kids love them.

The arena where the ice show took place is out in the middle of nowhere, west of Albuquerque. We left in plenty of time and we even got in the on the 'pre-show extra' of some HSM3 dancing and choreography lessons. Keian was a good sport, though he did scream for a minute after the first intial intro was so loud. I think after that he just got used to it!
So, I didn't take my camera because it was just one extra thing to carry. On the way in I had Keian in his Moby wrap so I could have my hands free and I didn't want something else weighting my bag down. Thank goodness Katie's phone has a camera (though the quality is lacking a little) and we were able to snap some pictures of our little group.

Kris was going to go with us but decided a quick trip to AZ with Chez would be more fun so Kirra got to invite her friend, Rachel to come along with us. The girls had a good time together, though I'm pretty sure Rachel's parents paid for her to be impressed by the Zambonie that cleans the ice!

When I Grow Up. . . .

*Our Trip to Fire Station 20*

Officer McEntire. . . the fire station is combined with an APD substation so we got the whole works today.
Firefighter Kade
On the truck.

It takes a lot of "men" to do the job. . .

We got to hold the hose together. . . too bad it wasn't a hot day!
Rear view.
Not to be left out.

Keian slept during the field trip so we made him a firefighter when we got home. He was dressed for it in his firefighter clothes (thanks Aunt Evie)!
Kade wanted to hold Keian to see if we could get a better picture with his hat on. . .I think Keian is just wondering what on earth we are trying to do to him!

What a Day!

The boys and I had quite the day! I love being able to say 'the boys' or 'my boys' - I have two brothers and they were always and still are 'the boys'. We were up in plenty of time this morning to get Kirra off to school in a mostly leisurely manner. My friend, Sarah, called just before we left for the bus to let me know that Target's clearance toys were 75% off - something we have been waiting for for weeks. So after the bus I hurried and nursed Keian, changed his diaper, blow dryed my hair and we were off.

Once we got to Target I couldn't believe how much some people were buying. . . carts and carts of toys. I did pick up my fair share, but it's awesome to have birthday gifts on hand that look like I spent a lot of money when I really didn't. My best find of the day was a birthday present for Kade - regular price $60, sale price $17. It is a 2-in-1 Buildin’ To Learn Motor/Workshop - wood shop on one side or flip it over for a motor to fix. I wanted to get him a tool bench for his birthday, I just didn't know I would find it in January. Thank goodness Castle has lots of storage space! I asked a Target team member to take the tool bench to the front and I continued shoving things in my cart around Keian's car seat and Kade. I wasn't even sure what I bought until I came home and I actually got some really great deals. What a rush! Shopping is therapeutic at 75% off. It was the same way when Hobby Lobby put their Christmas stuff 80% off and then 90% off - fun!

Once we got everything in the car (I've never needed help out at Target before, but I had the boys in one cart and the Target lady brought two carts out for me) we raced to the Station 20 Fire House to have a tour and demonstration with a group of mom's who do a co-op preschool two days a week. It was a lot of fun and we learned some neat things about firefighters.

We headed home for a pit stop after the fire station to change diapers and feed Keian and then off we were again, this time to McDonald's. We had planned on attending Story Time at the library, but we didn't make it so we still met our friends for lunch. Kade isn't very brave in the McDonald's play place without Kirra and that's just fine by me. He plays on the entrance stairs and today ventured into the first little cube. Kade had to be rescued two different times when I was pregnant from those play land areas!

WOW!

At Kirra's school they participated in the PTSA "Reflections" program where children can submit works either in visual arts, photography, literature, music, choreography in a primary or intermediate category. The theme this year was WOW! Kirra decided to paint a watercolor picture and she ended up winning third place! She was so proud and is ready to do it again!