local flavor.

Now that we're Minneapolis residents, Josh and I have a long list of restaurants we'd like to try. Josh has been to many local NE joints with his friends, but there are a lot we've never been to together, or as a family. One of those places on our list: The Anchor Fish & Chips. We went tonight as a family and I had to capture a picture of the fish - it was HUGE! Of course, I forgot my camera AND cell phone (which is so random, I always have both on me) so Josh's crappy cell phone camera had to do.

Wow, it's so blurry that I think I'm getting dizzy - Josh, get a smartphone already! Or at least a cameraphone with flash! ;)

Speaking of eating local, I also started the morning out local - with a caramel pecan roll from Sarah Jane's Bakery. That place is seriously to die for, and the prices are so reasonable! Josh got 4 items for just about $5! Needless to say I haven't had the healthiest eating day today, but I'll be good tomorrow in preparation for our State Fair trip on Monday :)

Other than eating a less-than-super-healthy breakfast & dinner, I spent the day doing some organizing and laundry - fun! We just moved 2 weeks ago, so we are still surrounded by boxes upon boxes upon boxes. I did capture some cute pictures of my little man while he helped with laundry, though! How cute is the shirt my friend Holly sent Kieran!?




And here's Kieran styling his daddy's favorite hat.

an update on the little dude who inspired this blog.

Most of my followers hooked up with this blog right after I started it - when Kieran was born 10.5 weeks early on St. Patrick's Day. It's been awhile since I posted a real update on him, so I think it's time!

For all the days spent worrying about his health, I've not worried once since he's been home! He is so happy, so healthy, and so dang sweet! The little man who was born at 2lb 10 oz & 15 inches long, who I started nursing at only 32 weeks gestational age, is now 16+ pounds and 25 inches long! He continued his weight gain of 3/4 pound a week, just like his sister - so crazy! He is actually probably 17 lbs now, since it's been over a week since he was last weighed and he is so predictable. I just can't believe it some days - the chubby cheeks, double (triple?) chins, huge tummy & all the thigh rolls, yum! I just adore chubby babies! And I can't tell you how great it makes me feel to know that my milk has made him grow at a super speed - especially when he started out so tiny. It's very rewarding and a sunny spot in all of the preemie worries.

He's now 5.5 months actual age and just over 3 months corrected age. He spends most of his days nursing or hanging out in the Beco Butterfly carrier while I get things done or hang out with his sister - I learned to nurse in it, too, so he nurses on the go wherever we are. He's been rolling tummy to back for awhile now, so now we're just waiting for him to go the other way! He has great head control, and likes sitting up on our laps checking things out. He loves music, lights and other items that are on the ceiling. He is a huge smiler, and I love his laughter so much - he's actually ticklish so it's easy to get out of him! He is just a joy and a fun little boy, and he LOVES his big sister - she can always make him laugh or smile! And oh my goodness, I have never seen a baby get more kisses than this little guy - Maia just smothers him in kisses and love. She is such a wonderful big sister to him.

Here are some pictures from our family walk to the park near our house. We first stopped by our local coffee shop first, The Coffee Shop NE, and they were having a grand opening party! Yay for free desserts & goodies!

Yep, I'm SuperWoman ;)

At the park!

won't you join us...

...on our afternoon walk? We just moved to a new city, and while our hearts still lie in our old one (we'll miss you, St. Paul!) we do plan to buy a house there in a few years. But for now, we want to get the most out of our fabulous new neighborhood in NE Minneapolis! We moved away from a really fun, vibrant neighborhood with lots of coffee shops, vintage and antique stores, great restaurants, and a park for the kids. But thankfully, our new neighborhood has all of these things as well, and more! We just couldn't fathom living without these things in walking distance - what can I say, we're city folk!

The kids and I went on a little walk around the neighborhood to get to the neighborhood farmer's market, which takes places Thursdays a few blocks away. I took some pictures, so (virtually) join us on our walk!

We love our new place!


Maia in the stroller, Kieran in the Beco Butterfly carrier


Passing by POP Restaurant, Amici Bistro & Sarah Jane's Bakery has THE BEST donuts I've EVER had - yum!


Crafty Planet & Rewind Vintage - I'll be visiting both for the first time when Josh hangs with the kids this weekend. I want to go kid-free so I can bask in the beautiful fabrics (& work on picking out some so I can sew up cafe curtains for our new kitchen!)


My cute little dude.



One of Maia's favorite things in the new neighborhood? The fire trucks we pass each time we drive anywhere! She always looks for the opened doors and gets so excited when the trucks are sitting out. As you can see, no open doors, this time anyways.


We made it to the farmer's market! I think there are 5 vendors total. It's small, but they've got absolutely everything you could need veggie-wise.


Our farmer's market loot - the watermelon is actually yellow! I've never seen a yellow watermelon before.


Maia liked it :) It was actually the BEST watermelon I've ever had!


Maia & I made BLT's (she calls 'em "bacon sam-iches") and she LOVED it! She kept saying "mm, yum!" and "mom, my tummy's happy, my mouth's happy." So cute! Can I just say, there is nothing like getting fruit and veggies from the market and then making a meal with them? It's so satisfying!


Well, thanks for joining us on our neighborhood walk! We'll take you around the nearby park next!

happy birthday to josh!

Day 1 of the blog-a-thon is an easy one! It's Josh's birthday! He's at work so Maia prepared a special video just for him. The difference from last year to this year is crazy!

Maia (& Kieran) singing Happy Birthday, 9-1-2010 (nearly 2.5)


Maia singing Happy Birthday, 9-1-2009 (nearly 18 months)


Happy birthday, Josh! Hope you're having a great day at work - we miss you!

big ambitions

It's been over 2 months but I haven't forgotten about our family blog - this summer just really got the best of me! Oh, and we moved mid-August, so that really kept us busy for awhile. I truly enjoy blogging, though, and updating the people it's harder to stay in touch with. It's also a nice place for me to update on my crafts and sewing projects as well. So I did something sort of crazy: I committed to blogging every day in September to get back in the habit (along with nearly 30 other bloggers!) Thanks to fellow preemie mom Tina over at The Carstens Clan for the push!

Sure, I might have school starting up again (almost a senior in college, woohoo!) and my house is still an unpacked mess, but I think this is going to be fun!

I leave you with a super cute phone picture from Friday of

Kieran - who is now 16 pounds & 25 inches long! He's 5.5 months actual age and 3 months adjusted, so he's doing pretty phenomenal in the weight department! He has an appointment to follow up on his enlarged kidney tomorrow - a lab draw, urine sample & ultrasound, to be specific. With the levels evening out and the kidney decreasing in size as of May, I'm sure we'll have favorable results :) He is such a healthy little dude now!

How cute is he!?


Alright, one day until September - here goes nothing! :)

family pictures

Many of our friends and family know that we have a fabulous photographer we regularly use for our family milestones. She did our engagement photos, a four generations session, our wedding portraits, a "trash" the dress post-wedding session, and maternity photos! It was only natural that we again used Abbey Feldkamp of AF Photography to capture our most recent "milestone" - becoming a family of four! She put up the sneak peeks on her blog - I'll post more when we get them :)

A couple pictures from her blog entry.







She is SO amazingly talented. If you're in the market for a wedding photographer or any family and individual portraits, she's your girl! With 2009 & 2010 filled with so many milestones in our family, we'll probably be taking a break from photos for a little bit, which is too bad; I've just become so accustomed to regular photo sessions! :)

busy bees.

I knew having 2 kids would keep me busy, but I really underestimated just how busy I would be! I'm on the computer frequently, but not in the capacity that I can just sit and type away, but rather I can only do things that allow me to scroll & type one-handed! I can get on Facebook or peruse some websites while I nurse Kieran and that's about it right now. Then the kids go to bed (and Kieran is quite the night owl) then that's when I try to hit the sack, so not much time to blog then either. Anyways, just wanted to let you know I'm still here and not done blogging or anything!

Keiko & Kieran are good buddies!

Seriously, though, these two keep me on my toes, that's for sure! Maia is doing really well in general but she's definitely more needy since Kieran's come home because I'm paying a lot of attention to him sometimes. I'm trying my best to get solo time with her, lots of cuddle time, and I do try to engage her while I'm nursing Kieran, but there's still tantrums, messes all over the house - but it's all typical toddler stuff, I'm sure. I've definitely noticed that we're not as connected as we used to be, but that's to be expected, too. I know this is all part of that adjustment & transition period I heard about, so I'm trying to go with the flow. Josh is really good about reminding us to get out of the house alone or do something together in the house while he hangs out with Kieran, which I really appreciate!

Kieran continues to impress and amaze all those around him. Last Friday he weighed 8lb 4 oz, up from 7lb 6.5 oz in just 7 days! What awesome weight gain. I love not having to worry about him gaining, and every few days I remark that he's heavier. Since he started out so tiny I can tell when he puts on just a little weight, or maybe I'm more aware of his weight gain than I was with Maia. He's packing it on fast, though! If he keeps this weight gain up we'll be in 3-6 month clothing sometime in July, whew! He's actually gaining weight at a similar pace to his sister. Maia gained an average of 3/4 pound to a pound a week in her newborn days - 7.6 at birth, 10.5 at 1 month, 13 lbs at 12 weeks, and 18 lbs at 4 months...she topped out at 22lbs at 6 months and stayed there for a year and a half! For those who are not familiar with the chunk that was Maia as a baby, I present you the following images. And yes, it's okay to laugh.

Maia at 3 months.

Maia at 4 months.

Maia at 5.5 months.

Maia at 6 months.

Okay, you're done laughing now, right? ;) I'm totally kidding, she was a beautiful little butterball who now enjoys a very slender figure despite eating like there's no tomorrow! Anyways, I look forward to more rolls and chub on Kieran as time goes on. I will always cherish it, especially since the dude was born with just about zero fat on his body!

Anyways, a couple more "Yay Kieran" things - he had an audiology appointment last week. If you recall from his NICU days, Kieran acquired the CMV virus. Most babies who have CMV get congenital CMV when they're in utero, but they did find the virus in my breastmilk, so he caught it from me post-birth. Because of this, the side effects/symptoms most congenital CMV kids encounter (like vision problems & hearing loss) are probably not much of a risk to Kieran but we need to check him out anyways. Well, the audiologist said she doesn't need to follow Kieran - they only follow congenital CMV babies, and his hearing is perfect! We'll be back when Kieran can sit up on his own to do one more test, but other than that, he's golden, woohoo!

Josh wearing Kieran in the Beco Butterfly carrier. We loved this with Maia and continue to love using it with Kieran, it's such a great carrier!

Finally, Kieran is off the apnea monitor for good! Four weeks and we're done, hooray! During his time on the monitor he only had 2 alarms total, and they were both in the first 2 weeks at home, so I'm really not concerned he'll have any issues with apnea anymore. I can definitely tell that his breathing pattern has matured. Also, in the final week of monitoring, Kieran wore an oximeter at night to assess oxygen intake and wow, have his O2 sats improved big time or what!? Back in the NICU pre-caffeine he'd bounce down to the 80's, hover in the low 90's. Now at a more mature age and post-caffeine he was satting 97-100%! It's a relief to see that as we say good riddance to that pesky monitor! :)