Pictures from Liam's 1st days and Christmas

In PopPop's arms

Sleeping with momma

Santa brought Kyra a chair of her very own

Opening her stocking in her new chair

more pics

Kyra in her new wagon

Daddy and kiddos

Sweet baby boy

Pretty flower, smells so good!

We have a new addition to our wonderful family, William (Liam) Keith Todd. He was born December 23, 2009 at 328 a.m. He weighed 7bls 4oz and was 20.5 inches long. He has beautiful eyes that could melt your heart and he's so alert to what is going on around him. Melanee is doing well. She had a C-section. This was definetly not like the last one, on how she pushed for 2hrs then decided cause Kyra was in a weird way that she was not coming out like that. Melanee looks and feels very good.

Parkview hospital is a very nice place and the Dr's and Nurses are very professional and friendly. They took care of Melanee and William very nicely. Melanee is trying to catch up on some rest and she deserves it. She will post more when she and William gets out of the hospital.

daddy's girl

She's been a daddy's girl from the very beginning, but since he's been home more these past few months, she's REALLY a daddy's girl now!

a few recent pics

We took Kyra to the zoo for their Electricritters light display last Saturday. She liked all the animals, but loved the trees the most!

My sister came down on Sunday and we did all of our baking together. Kyra parked herself in the middle of the action for most of the day.

My ever growing belly....I'm already much bigger than I was the day Kyra was born and I'm supposed to make it 18 more days. The c-section is scheduled for noon on 12/28, but my doctor (and I) seriously doubt I'll make it that long given all the contractions and what-not of the last few weeks.

little Monkey

Pajamas were all too appropriate on this evening...

The other night after bathtime Kyra was playing in her room while I got clothes out for the next day and filed my nails. I looked up and she was attempting to climb into her crib (to get another pacifier so she could have one to hold to go with the one in her mouth). She managed to get all the way up and all the way down several times, but never did get in. Want to take bets on how long it is 'til she climbs out of the crib?

a day at Gramma and PopPop's

Kyra and I decided to give Jeremy a day off and went to spend it with my folks. We picked Amy up on our way (still in her pj's). Kyra and Amy played in a tub; Kyra climbed the ladder to help PopPop put lights up outside (she actually didn't get any help climbing the ladder, she just did it); and she helped Gramma put a few "balls" on the tree.

cute Kyra and big belly

Once again it's been longer than I intended between posts. I can't say I've been particularly busy, just particularly tired. Kyra continues to grow and develop faster than I thought possible. We truly enjoy her more and more every day, even if she is growing more stubborn and independent and acting a lot more like a 2 year-old than a 15/16 month old!!! :) My c-section is scheduled for December 28th, but I can't imagine I'll make it that long. It's too bad I can't tell my body it's going to have a c-section and it doesn't need to prepare itself for labor, 'cause my body is definitely preparing itself for labor (i.e. lots of contractions, baby's already down very low, and I look like I'm about to pop).

sick time entertainment

Kyra is finally healthy again! Her fever broke on Tuesday, but then she had a nasty reaction to the Tamiflu (a rash all over her torso-front and back-and some "psychological effects-I actually think she was hallucinating 'cause she'd be screaming and crying and pointing, but there was nothing there...made for some long nights!). It took until yesterday 'til she started acting normal again. But, wearing my shoes kept her entertained for a little bit on one sick day!

Look below at our cute Halloween "bull"

Halloween pics

I put Kyra's "bull" costume back on her this morning and took her outside to get a few pictures. Still didn't get a real good shot, but at least we got a couple decent ones...

where's the Halloween pictures???

You're probably wondering why I haven't posted any pictures of Kyra in her Halloween costume yet. I have two very good reasons: (1)We really didn't get a good picture of her in her costume so I need to put it back on her and try again; (2) she's come down with the dreaded H1N1 flu, so our time has been spent trying to get her well. Her fever is gone (I hope for good) and she seems better today, just clingy, whiny, and extra sensitive. Now, we're hoping Jeremy and I can avoid it somehow. Provided we're all well, I'll post cute costume pictures soon!!!

serious bed head

As we all know, the messier your hair is when you wake-up the better you slept. Kyra had a VERY good nap Monday afternoon!!!

snow

It was only supposed to rain today, but it turned to snow around 2 this afternoon. Kyra was needing to get some fresh air, so I bundled her up and out we all went. It lasted about 5 minutes, but she enjoyed it!

update and some belly pics

OK, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I said I'd be back. I feel like such a slacker! I'm going to attempt to make up for my slackerliness today...
First, here are a couple pics of my belly (they're very current as I just took the pics a couple of minutes ago). Looks pretty similar to last time. I'm carrying the little fella higher than I did Kyra and I seem to stick out further (with Kyra I was wider). The pregnancy is progressing as it should (or at least that's what my doctor tells me). I'm feeling HUGE, I'm tired, and I'm out-of-breath most of the time, but that's how it goes! I'll be honest, I'm already counting down the days 'til he gets here (68 or 69 days unless he~or my doctor~decide he should come sooner). I know I will be getting less sleep and that life will just get that much more hectic, but I'm feeling ready to be done being pregnant!

Jeremy went elk hunting with my parents and some friends for the first time this year. He had a blast! They saw lots of elk and got off a few shots, but no one shot anything. So, even though our freezer lacks elk meat, he more than made up for it by getting to spend time with some great folks. Otherwise, he's hanging-out. I don't think I've explained our situation here before, so let me do that in a nutshell. The VA here has encouraged Jeremy to re-apply for his disability rating because they believe he'll qualify for 100% disabled (he's currently at 80%). If he were to get the 100% rating, it would be HUGE for us. He would get the equivalent of his base pay (Army pay) every month, we'd have our health insurance covered for life, the kids would get their college tuition paid, and a few other things. So, a big, big, big difference for us. The catch is, he has to be unemployed in order to qualify for the 100% rating. So, he can re-apply at the beginning of December and should have a decision within 3 months of re-applying. In the meantime, he can't work. But, once he has the 100%, he is free to work again. Typical government huh?!?!

Kyra has decided (why is my font bold all of a sudden???) to show us she can walk, but still prefers to crawl. If she's not in a hurry she'll walk, but most of the time she's in a rush to get to her book, torment~I mean pet~the cat, or what have you, so she crawls. She's got quite the vocabulary. The other day I counted over 20 words that she uses on a regular/daily basis. Most of those are words that only mom can interpret, but she says: mama, dada, hi, bye, belle (the dog), jessie (the cat), dog, kitty, quack, bird, cracker, no (this is her answer to every question you ask her), ball, book, go, down, car, teeth, and she'll tell you what sounds the dog, cat and car make, and she can show you where her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and teeth are...I have to say, I enjoy her more and more every day!

As for me, besides being ready to be done being pregnant? I'm tutoring at the local community college for about 15 hours a week and doing some private tutoring as well. Thus far, my community college students are all adults which has been a fun change from the younger students I work with privately. This spring, I will teach an ACT-prep course for the college as well. I have found re-joining the work force to be both tiring and stimulating. Beyond that, my life consists of laundry, grocery shopping, and all the other day-to-day chores that we all just love! I will try to be more consistent in updating the blog, but I make no guarantees.