Aliya's Petting Zoo

Aliya has adjusted very well at her new school (not a surprise at all). Her teachers rant and rave about how well she is doing. She has enjoyed it but I still miss her old preschool. I love that I can just drop her off at the curb but I miss her old teachers and the interaction I had with the other moms. Ah well! Anyways, although there are no cool animals on the schools grounds, one day they brought in a petting zoo for the kids. I dropped Kai off with Aunt Steph so Blakers and I could see the animals too!

Here are the kids in Aliya's class. I have no idea what their names are. Guess that means I need to spend some time in her class! Unfortunately that isn't going to happen until she is in at least first grade.

She loved the llama. She kept putting her head on it because it was 'so soft'. Ewww!

These piggies were Liya's favorite. There was a mommy with her two baby piglets. The babies were pretty cute.

Blake seemed to enjoy himself (although you could never tell from this pic). We were the last class to see the animals so the animals were pretty tired. A couple of the goats were laying down. Twice my son walked up behind a goat and jumped on its butt. I was trying to be the responsible parent and not laugh out loud but it was pretty funny. Poor goat!

This picture is classic Aliya. She tries to mother-hen everything. I swear I daily have to remind her that she is not Blake, Taeya or Kai's mom. If she wants someone to go someplace, she'll maneuver them to get her way -- even deer!

Funny how Blake liked watching 'naughty' ram the most. I guess the ram had been 'bad' earlier in the day and got put in time out. Guess they are kindred spirits!

This is a dumb picture but ended up funny. So I took this picture then went to turn off the camera and put it away. Afterwards, I looked up to see Blake holding the bunny about a foot off the ground by both ears. Again I was trying not to laugh but I thought it was hilarious! That kid is such a boy.

Nuncle Jeff

We were lucky enough to get a visit from Uncle Jeff the end of September. We had all but written him off since he decided to head to school in Paris so we were all thrilled when we found out he had to return to the States and was going to spend a couple days with us. Jeff is Tony's youngest brother and a ton of fun. There has been a couple times when he's put one, or all, of my children's lives in peril but its all been in the name of fun. The kids of course love him (don't we all) and they immediately planned out all the fun stuff they wanted to do while he was here: do a cooking challenge (we watch way too many food competitions) and decorate for Halloween. The cooking challenge didn't happen but the Halloween decorating did:

One of the main reasons Jeff came was to see Kai. For 2 1/2 of my kids births Jeff was out of the country. When Tae was born he was in Africa, for Aliya's birth he was in Romania, he was actually in the US for Blake's birth and for Kai's he was somewhere on an airplane heading to Paris (hence the 1/2 - I think he was somewhere over the Atlantic but who knows).

This is everyones favorite position with a newborn. I don't know what it is but once you get a newborn snuggled in and asleep on your chest, its the best sleeping pill ever!

Uh-oh!

Have you ever wondered what a big ole box of Sam's Club diapers look like spread across your bathroom floor? Neither had I but I found out! My almost two year old terror has been on the rampage lately. Anything he can destroy, mess up or break, he does. I am just thankful he hasnt figured out how to open wipes containers ... yet. Its a coming!

I guess I should appreciate how proud he is of all his hard work!

Here's where I get it from ...

Many of you know that one of my favorite gestures is to flip the bird. I don't know why but there is something exhilarating about raising your middle finger high in the air. For years I thought it was because my older brother Steve is the king of flipping people off and I was just trying to be like him but I found out its genetic.

Yep, this is my 90 year old Grandmother showing you what she thinks about something. I love this picture! Next time I flash you the bird, remember, its really not my fault. Its genetically inbred in me!

Pics of Kai

When we found out we were moving to Houston, we were excited to find out a day or two later that Tony's cousin Steph and her hubby Colby were coming to TX as well! We've had a blast spending time with them over the past couple months and our kids absolutely adore Aunt Steph and Nuncle Colb.  I love it when they come over ... I dont have to fight the girls to get them to clean their rooms. They are so excited they are coming, they get in and get it done in no time! 

Steph came over earlier today and took some darling newborn pics of Kai. Her photography blog is:  www.skstringham.blogspot.com. She did a terrific job! She even offered to take pictures of the other heathens. I am super excited to see those too! Thanks a bunch Steph!

Bye

After all my parents hard work and sacrifice to get us unpacked and settled, it was sad to say goodbye. We felt like all we did was work, work, work (that is all we did). I loved having all the extra hands with the kids and Tony loved that all his projects were getting done (and not by him). We both tried to beg them to stay an extra week or two but they wanted to leave our hot, humid land for the relative coolness of UT in July.

The only thing that made their departure easier was knowing we'd be seeing them, well at least my mom, when little dude was born. I liked knowing that I only had to go 2 more months then my mom would be back. Tony was excited that it'd only be that long until she made him more lasagna!

One afternoon I enlisted my Dads help for an "arts-n-craft" project for Taeya's room. I think he and Aliya had more fun playing with the glass than doing the actual project. She still things its hilarious to smoosh her face in things. Nutty kid!

First Days of School!!!

This summer was endless. Perhaps it was because I was pregnant or because of our move and no friends but no matter what it was, it lasted WAAYYY too long. Needless to say we were all so excited once the new school year rolled along. Aliya was super excited to start her Pre-K. She'll be attending a local Presbyterian preschool up the road. That child is so ready for Kindergarten. She is totally ready and would love to be gone all day!

Blake was excited to get in on the picture action (I really do put pants on the kid I promise)! Aliya picked her first day of school out fit all on her own.

She also picked out her 'pack-pack' all by herself. I tried to shy her away from this but in the end I relented. She is only four once right?

One day before Tae's school started, I got a babysitter and just she and I went shopping for her outfit and backpack. We never did find a backpack that she liked but once she saw this outfit she was sold. Again, I tried SOOO hard to talk her into some thing a little less loud but she was insistent. What happened to the kid who could care less what she wore? I am in trouble.

I told her she'd probably melt at school in this outfit but she said she didn't care. She's already sacrificing comfort for style.

This is her second day of school outfit. Much cuter in my humble opinion (although we later were told her shorts are 'too short'. They have to wear Bermuda length shorts and no tank tops. Modest: most definitely but its still pretty dang hot and humid here). What cute kiddos we've got!

Once we got home ...

... the CHAOS began! We honestly thought Blake would look at little dude once or twice then be done with it but nope, he loves him. Problem is we are not only fighting Blake but also Aliya. She has taken it upon herself to be the ultimate brother protector and is the constant mother hen to Blake. I now can sympathize how it feels to be pecked to death. I can only imagine how little Kai feels!

I've also had fun taking a bunch of pictures. I feel bad because Tae has a ton of scrapbooks and all these pics of her as a baby. Aliya has a couple pages done in her baby book and quite a few pics that have been printed off but poor Blakers has MAYBE 5 pics of him printed off. I think Kai will be in that same boat. We have quite a few pics thanks to being digital but they are all on our computer.

Jaegun Kai

Our little guy was born September 2, 2009 at 10:38 p.m. He is our perfectly average sized baby: 7lbs, 7 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. His delivery was a quick, piece of cake and so far, he's been an angel baby.

For months we debated back and forth what his name would be. Tony liked Jaegun, I liked Kai (its a Finnish name). In the end (when we were getting kicked out the hospital and HAD to declare a name) we decided to give him both and let him choose later on which he wanted. For now, we will call him Kai (pronounced like Ky but with hopefully a whole lot less teasing ... ya know the whole K-Y and our last name. Ah the things we have to think about when naming a kid).

Check out this hair. Its a bit sparse in front but at least he's got some (his sisters on the other hand were completely bald up front with a bunch in back). He doesn't look Caucasian from the back.

Ah, gotta love the smooshed newborn face with the goopy eyes ... and that is just me! I was exhausted having spent the previous night at the hospital thinking he'd come then but nope, my first, and last, false alarm.

Tony is so proud of our new little dude! He commented that Kai couldn't have been born at a better time -- the start of College football season!
These were Tony's luxurious sleep accommodations while at the hospital. Needless to say he only stayed one night!

More pics to come ... but remember, I am now the overwhelmed mother of 4 kids (holy crap)!

Oh Frogggyyyy!

As I wrote earlier, my stellar parents came to help with our move. They were such a huge help, I cant say that enough. Not only did they get stuff done, but they introduced my kids to their favorite thing about Texas: the critters! Earlier in the day my Dad had found a fat old toad which he hid away until he could show the girls later.

Tae really wanted to hold it but was afraid of getting warts (hence the rubber gloves). Those only lasted a little bit then came off in a hurry.

She is so proud of her toad holding capabilities (she is now quite the frog/lizard/snake catcher. She find them daily. We've had to start the rule of only keeping them for about 12 hours after we dehydrated 5 baby frogs -- we'd had them overnight and when we left for church they were fine. When we returned, all 5 were toast. Whoops!)

Now this picture is classic. My big, strong, manly-man hubby is not too fond of critters. He's a great spider remover as you saw earlier and has no fear of catching/killing/removing mice but snakes, lizards, frogs, crickets etc are so not his thing. Thus the reason it was good my parents came to help Taeya develop her animal catching abilities (I am not afraid or bothered by critters, I am just too ornery to spend the time looking for them and catching them). Well Tae, in all her seven year old mischief, thought it would be hilarious to put the toad on her Daddy's leg (which it totally was)! Tony just kept saying 'get if off. Okay Tae, get it off' with a grossed out look on his face. He is fine with helping the girls find their animals, just don't expect him to get too hands on with the actual animals. When we ask the girls which they prefer: Texas or Arizona they both say TX because 'you can catch frogs and snakes and lizards'.