My Busy Day Gourmet

I love to cook.  I love showing my friends and family my love through my cooking.  I get this trait from my mom.  Growing up we always had dinner together no matter how late it might be for all of us to eat togetheer.  My mom makes the most wonderful food.  I wish I could say I spent hours in the kitchen with her as a child learning all her techniques, but I did not.  I chose to sit on the couch and watch television.  Silly girl!  So now I am trying to learn all her fabuolous tricks of the trade so I can one day cook as well as she can. 

Keegan also loves to cook.  Everyday he is in the kitchen with me helping me make dinner.  He would rather be baking cupcakes but he will agree to helping with chopping up zuchinni and throwing in some dry ingredients.

I was lucky to have stumbled upon a wonderful establishement called My Busy Day Gourmet.  The premise of the business is to come and assemble meals and then place them in your freezer for future meals.  My "mommy" friends and I did this for my baby shower in August.  It was wonderful.  I walked out with 12 meals...the most wonderful gift a mother with a newborn could recieve!  We all decided to return to My Busy Day Gourmet with our toddlers.  We went a few weeks ago and had a great time.  Here are some pictures of the event.

Keegan's girlfriend, Charley, with baby Carson and baby Keira!

And last but not least, here are some recent Keira pictures....

I recently talked to a good friend about some friends in her life who are struggling with some rough pregnancies.  The conversation really made me realize that even though my days are sometimes filled with whining, crying, and overall chaos, that I am doing just fine!  I am blessed to have two healthy children and need to be grateful for this fact.  I also realized that I need to take more pictures of Keira!!  The poor kid has so few pictures compared to when Keegan was her age. 



Keira at 2 months.



An update on Miss Keira: She is now 3 months old and sleeping in her crib sans a swaddle!  She was a baby who loved to be swaddled and then recently she found her hands and fell in love with them.  She continues to nurse well and sleeps well throughout the day and sleeps great through the night!  Yes, she sleeps through the night!  However, she is a night owl.  She stays up until 11:30 pm each night and will wake up around 8:00 am.  I would love for her to go to bed a couple hours earlier, but she sleeps through the night so I can not complain! She also loves her brother.  Anytime Keegan enters the room, she lights up and smiles so big.  Keegan continues to be gentle with her and loves making her smile.

 Update on Keegan:  There is HUGE news in Mr. Keegan's world!  He is using the potty and only wearing a diaper for his naps and at night.  It happened just like the other moms told me it would; he woke up one morning and decided to use the potty.  Okay...cool!  It was such a relief to make it through this milestone with him because you just never think your child will ever get out of a diaper! 
He is also enjoying his preschool.  He goes once a week and I attend the class with him.  He has learned how to sit and enjoy reading books and is trying to learn how to share.  We still have to keep a very close eye on  him when he is playing with his friends because he still struggles with the concept of sharing. 
He will be turning 3 in February and he gets to go to Florida for his birthday!!  Kevin has a training in Orlando, so we decided to join him.  We plan on spending one day at The Magic Kingdom and then the rest of the time visiting with my aunts and grandparents. 

Enjoying his Christmas present!

Listening to his MP3 player!

Happy One Month Birthday Keira Elizabeth!

Wow!  I am in disbelief that it has already been one month since Keira has come into our lives.  Time sure does fly when you are responsible for a toddler and an infant!  It has been fun today looking at Keira and marveling at what a beautiful baby she is. I feel truly blessed to have a happy and healthy family!
For her one month festivities, I decided it was time to have her start sleeping in her room.  She has been sleeping in a swing in our room since she has been home from the hospital.  I do most of her feedings and diaper changes in her room so she is familiar with the nursery.  So, after her morning feeding, her and I moved the swing and the monitor into the room.  She has now been asleep for over and hour so I think she is liking her new place!  Next challenge is to get her into her crib. It took Keegan 4 months to make that transition so I am hoping to make it much sooner with Keira.  Here are some recent photos...

Halloween 2011

What a great Halloween we had last night!  We had several of Keegan's friends over to go trick or treating and they all had a blast!  This was the first year that Keegan understood the concept of Trick or Treating and he sure loved it!  He walked around the neighborhood sporting his Fireman coat and fire truck candy holder.  Keira stayed home with Kevin and helped him give out candy.  Keegan decided to help too!

Here is Keegan with all his friends getting ready to go get some candy!!

And here is Keegan with Keira....

The firefighter and his red hot chili pepper!

Ramseyer Farms...

We traveled to Ramseyer Farms for our annual fall outing.  The weather was perfect with cool temperatures and an abundance of sunshine.  Keegan enjoyed riding the train, feeding the goats, and of course eating dounuts and cider!  Keira came along for the trip but she slept through all of the adventures!

 

How is Keegan?

The one question I hear frequently is "How is Keegan doing with the baby?"  There is no doubt that Keegan loves his little sister.  He always wants to know where Keira is when he gets up from his nap or when he gets up in the morning.  If she is sleeping, he wants to see her and give her a kiss on her head.  When she sneezes, he will always say "Bless you."  He is very gentle and loving with her.  He respects our space when I am nursing her and will stroke her head when she is awake.

When it comes to how Keegan has been interacting with me...well, that is a different story.  Keegan is very similar to me in that he loves to be entertained and be surrounded by friends. He is not good at self play.  So, needless to say, Keegan is having a hard time adjusting to not having his mom a.k.a "entertainment director" available at all times.  I have made it a point to make sure he has an activity everyday.  My mom has graciously volunteered to take him to his Mom and Tot preschool class every Monday for the next few months.  We have had friends come over and play and we go outside everyday to play with the neighborhood kids.  So, the kid is being well taken care!  I keep hoping that he will adjust sooner than later but only time will tell! 

And how is Miss Keira doing?  She is adjusting to the family very well....

Updated pictures of Keira