Fun Times...August through December 2010

 At Blake's Apple Orchard with the Geottes'

 Picking Pumpkins on Grandpa Kirklin's Farm

 In Front of the Beaumont Tower at MSU

 Rockin' out with his new guitar

 Happy 3rd Birthday!  Kyle loves cake!

 Trick or Treating with Cousin Coral at the Zoo Boo

 I'm going to be a Big Brother!

Drummin' Away (fav to drum to is the MSU fight song)

Wow-Time Flies!

Can't believe I haven't written since August.  I guess I'll make a list of highlights of things happening around here since then.  Can you tell I went back to school and have been crazy-busy!?!
1. Kyle turned 3..yup, he's still into music, music, music!  He LOVES playing the drums or anything music related.  He got a guitar for his b-day, and cymbals and another drum for x-mas.  He's also into Toy Story everything!  He loves playing games.  He loves getting Wild cards in Uno!  He learned his letters and sounds (thank you, Leap Frog) and is generally pretty happy-go-lucky.  He gives the best hugs and kisses and tells us "I love you so much, too!"  The battles we face currently are going to sleep without calling us back in the room 20 times, telling us no, putting on a coat, or clothes for that matter (he loves to be naked!).  We are so proud of our little red and love just hanging out with him!
2. We enjoyed tailgating and going to the MSU football games.  Kyle and I would get to about half-time and then leave because of nap time!  Kyle loved watching the MSU Drum Line and the band before the game on Grand River or at the Practice Field. 
3. Kyle's eye dr. said his eyes are doing great and he doesn't need to wear glasses (after I prepared mentally to have him wearing them 'til he was 10).  It took some getting used to a Kyle without glasses.  It made him, him!  We continue to watch his eye to see if the surgery was successful or not and he wears his eye patch a few times a week for an hour.
4. Halloween-guess who wouldn't wear a costume?  That's right-Kyle.  (Of course, he likes to be naked!)  I did manage to sneak his super Kyle cape on him at the Zoo Boo without him knowing it until the end.  He, he.
5. We are expecting number 2!!  Kyle says "I'm going to be a good big brother." but when asked if he'd feed the baby or hold it, he said, "no thanks"
6. Granny G. had a stroke in mid December.  She stayed in the hospital a few days and is back home where she wants to be, but lots of assessing is going on to see what her needs are.  Kyle and I had a sleepover last week with her and she really enjoyed having him!  She even played on the floor with him and picked things up faster than me!  But her memory is at question.
I'm sure there's more but I can't think of any right now.  I'll post pics from the last few months.

Cheeseburger in Caseville!

We had the chance to visit Stace and the twins (about 5 months now) for Cheeseburger in Caseville!  Kyle enjoyed being in the kiddie parade, as well as going to a different parade called 'The Parade of Fools'.  There were SO many people there!  He REALLY enjoyed hanging out with George at the Walker cottage.  The last time we've been to Cheeseburger was 8 years ago!

Down on the Farm

We took Coral and Kyle to the K-zoo Fair at the beginning of August.  While we were there, the kids LOVE going to Grandpa and Grandma Kirklin's farm to collect eggs, and pick veggies from the garden.

Meeting the McDonald twins!

I finally got to go down and meet Kalin and Jayden and see Stace a year after our last visit.  Kalin and jayden are so sweet and cute!  They smile soooo much and are so observant and curious!  They are very easy-going babes!  I really don't know how Stace and other people with twins do it, but she is awesome!  I had my first experience feeding two babes bottles at once!  We had lots of fun hanging out and cuddling too!  I can't wait to see them in August!

Family Pics

Ann Arbor Hands on Museum with Granny!

When my brothers and I were little, one of our favorite things to do was go to the Hands on Museum with Granny.  Some of the things have stayed the same-like the big bubble, but it sure looked a lot smaller to me than when I was little.  I thought it very special that I was able to take Kyle with Granny, just like she took me when I was little.  Kyle had so much fun testing everything out!

Blueberries!

It's blueberry season and it's Kyle's favorite fruit!  I'm surprised he hasn't turned blue from eating sooo many!  So, since we were in the blueberry capital over the 4th, we stopped and bought a big box since little red was sleeping and we didn't get to pick any.  Kyle loved helping to wash the berries and prep them for freezing...and shoving as many as he could in his mouth too!

South Haven Summer Fun

Every year, Adam's Aunt Rosie and Uncle John invite Adam's dad's side of the family out for the 4th of July weekend.  People put up campers and tents and camp around the house because there are so many relatives that come (64 was the count this year!)  It is a lot of fun and the weather was absolutely awesome this year!  There is more food than you can imagine...and even better (or worse maybe) desserts galore!  Kyle loved playing in the giant sandbox aka the beach.  He even slept through the fireworks the neighbors set off near the tent!  We celebrated my birthday by going out to breakfast at Food Dance in k-zoo, in which Adam's uncle put fame to the Kirklin name because they supply a lot of their food they grow on the farm to the restaurant.  Then, we had a Bert's Bakery Cake (where we got our wedding cake) and BK watched Kyle while Adam and I spent the afternoon in Saugatuck.  The sunset was beautiful!!!!!!

Adam Meets Izzo

At Adam's firm conference for work last week, Izzo was a guest speaker.  Adam was so excited to get the chance to talk to Izzo, even though it was briefly...and get his picture taken too!

Swimming!

Kyle LOVES the water so much this summer!  He is a daredevil!  He loves jumping in and goes underwater from time to time.

Bubble Bath

Kyle loves bubble baths!

Summer is HERE!

Summer has begun! I finished on Monday, raced around the house in attempt to semi-organize, and started out with Kyle at the Splash Zone in Oxford with friends yesterday! He LOVES the water! Even better, on our first day of spending summer time together, Kyle never laughed so hard! I even caught a bit on camera before my memory card was full (add that to the summer list of things to do). Check it out. So far, Kyle has had fun eating mud, we started potty training yesterday, LOTS of laughing, baking (and eating the dough like his mom) and then we topped it off today when he reached his hand in his pants today and had a few fingers full of poop! Eewww!! Wish us luck on this potty training thing. Oh, and on top of this fun stuff, on our way home from buying big boy underwear at Target, the car decides to stall on me a bunch. We made it home before the rain..and the earthquake, but who knows what's wrong with it! Never a dull moment around here!

Kyle's Second Surgery

Yesterday, Kyle had surgery on his eyes for strabismus (in doctor's terms). basically it means his eyes are not working together, which was making him see double. He has been a champ about wearing his glasses and a patch 3 plus hours a day. I was nervous as a mom can be before Kyle's surgery. He was a champ, though! It took a little over an hour. When he woke up, he kept saying "I don't want to open my eyes" because his eyes hurt. The nurse said that often times kids who have this surgery don't open their eyes for a whole day :(. Kyle, being the feisty little red, opened them soon after he woke up and scared us when he said "I can't see". But then he noticed Barney on the t.v. and we all breathed a sigh of relief! He is healing well so far...even after throwing up in the hospital and in the car. He tried to eat absolutely everything in the house last night after he hadn't eaten all day. Now we are just trying to keep him from rubbing his eyes and keeping his hands really clean to prevent infection. We are so lucky to have great friends and family's support! Thanks everyone! No pics now because he's sensitive to light and I didn't think it'd be so nice to throw a flash his way! he looks the same, but with really red and dilated eyes.

Meeting the Easter Bunny

Kyle was excited to meet the Easter bunny with his cousin Coral at the zoo. After Coral had a turn, he walked up and said, "Hi Easter Bunny!". Then he sat down next to him but after I moved away, he became afraid, folded his hands as if in prayer, and would only look at him out of the corner of his eye and above the rims of his glasses. So I jumped in so he would look at the cameraman for a picture. Later, when we got home from the zoo, Kyle says, "I was afraid of the Easter bunny. but that's o.k."

Choosing a winner (loser)

March Madness

As I was going to fill out my own brackets, I decided to see if Kyle would participate...and he picked ALL his own teams! He has Robert Morris winning it all. He loved doing it too. Take a look.

Kyle's BF

Kissing him goodnight Covering Mr. Mouse up Giving him a kiss. Kyle has a best friend. His name is Mr. Mouse. Every day he sees him, he runs up to him and gives him a big kiss and hug. Then we get to give him one too. He covers him up, sings to him, dances with him, puts an eye patch on him, and puts diapers on him too. Lately, he is the voice of Mr. Mouse. It is too cute. Thought I better add some pics to remember this later in life.

OPRAH!!!!!!!!!!

The red carpet A view from our hotel near Rodeo Drive I really discovered that I LOVE nice cars (sorry Jess for listening to me ramble about them) 90210? The actors from the Israeli film up for nomination right in front of us. Someone famous going to the Oscars. My dream came true...to see Oprah LIVE! It ended up being in L.A. instead of Chicago, but that made for a fun girls' weekend. We went to Laguna Beach and ate a delicious lunch at Nick's, went shopping, and wound up with a lovely 40 dollar parking ticket on our fun Hyandai Accent. Then, we drove along the coast and stopped at Long Beach and watched a surfing contest in action. We stayed in Santa Monica for 2 nights, ate in Malibu at a really nice Italian place called Tra di Noi (where the paparazzi hang out in search of stars), and did a lot of shopping. Then on Sunday we went to L.A., got close to the Red Carpet, saw the cars being driven to the Oscars, and watched the Oscars back at our hotel after looking for a fun place to watch it (but just like here, everyone watches it at home). While watching it at our hotel, the Israeli actors and actresses up for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film invaded our watching area with lots of camera crew, as they watched the T.V. with us to see if they won an Oscar (they did not). It was great fun...but the best was going to the Kodak Theatre to see Oprah Live! She had the Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridge, Monique, and Christophe Waltz on. It was so neat to see (even after waiting in many lines). We didn't get on T.V. and didn't win any prizes, but we had so much fun. And Jess was a trooper being almost 7 months pregnant and full of energy. Here's the pics.