Missing My Boy

Today I am working at my preschool's east side location. Usually I take Luca with me to work, but of late I feel it has been kind of hard for him to adjust to two locations. So today I had Chris take him to the west side location, rather than go with me. I think it's better for him really: he only has to get used to one teacher, one room, and I won't cause any major meltdowns by walking past his door. But I have to admit, sappy as it is, I miss him. I'm spoiled I guess. On my breaks I just walk on down to his room, plop down in the rocking chair to nurse him, and play with him. It's way better that monkeying around with the stupid breast pump. Now what am I supposed to do on my breaks? I even forgot the breast pump today (duh!).

As I walked past the infant room, I peeked in out of habit. I got a little catch in my throat as I realized he wasn't there.

I am a lucky mommy to get to work in the same place as my son. And a little spoiled. But I miss him all the same.

Our Cat's Name

It's official: Our new cat's name is Mars.

Can't you see the similarity?

Mars, the Cat

Mars, the Planet
[Image from Wikipedia]
Thanks for voting!

Cat Names

We're getting a cat tomorrow. Kyra's aunt and uncle found an abandoned kitten, so we're going to pick it up and give it a new home. I was planning on getting Kyra a cat for Christmas, but I guess I'll have to think of something else. : )

Please help us a choose a cat name by voting on our site. Here are the names we have so far:
  • Bert (Kyra's dad's cat is Ernie)
  • Catch (as in Catch-22 the book)
  • Ord (Catch-22 character)
  • Purr(gatory) (it's punny!)
  • Mars (bringer of war)
  • Bach (as in Johann Sebastian)
  • Franz (as in Liszt)
We're open to suggestions, too. Leave them in the comments.

Update: Here's a photo of the little guy:

A Pseudo-Haiku Exchange

This exchange occurred between me and Kyra yesterday:

Chris:
"An odd question,
Asked in a strange way,
Sounds odder.

"Is that a Haiku?"

Kyra:
"You are weird,
Therefore,
You annoy me."

Chris: "Is that a Haiku?"

Kyra: "No, it is just a statement of fact."

Welcome Alexander

We are happy to welcome Alexander Joseph, new son to our good friends Michael and Amelia.



"Xander" was born August 9th at 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and 20 inches. Here is with his happy mommy and daddy:





Please note: The above photos are property of Michael and Amelia. They have more photos of Alexander on Facebook if you would like to see more.

Love of Life on Twitter

We're on Twitter! Here's our profile:

http://twitter.com/kyrachris

We only have one "tweet" so far, and our tweets will only consist of our journal entry titles, thanks to a connection via twitterfeed.com, which takes our journal entry titles and converts it to a tweet.

Redwall - Baby Style

I've been reading a few books in the Redwall series, and I realized Luca had enough toys to make a castle wall and some characters.





We have a mouse (Matthias), a squirrel (Jess), a rat (Cluny), and a fox (Sela).

We also have a silly baby.



Who likes paper.



And makes mommy very tired.

Of Two Weeks

It's been a busy two weeks.

Luca got some cereal stuck on his head.





Last week we were supposed to go on a trip to the Twin Cities to visit Kyra's grammy. Luca, however, caught a cold during his first week in daycare with other children. Kyra was shadowing another teacher at the east side location, so Luca had his first experiences being taken care of by someone else and being around other children. He's not quite socialized yet - he would crawl up to children and pinch their faces or scream, so there's something yet to be desired. At any rate, Thursday night he came down with a fever, and his infection progressively spread to his parents. We were all quite miserable.

This week we closed on the condo on Friday. The closing went well, and Luca was a good sport during the event. So now we are happy homeowners! There's a lot to do, like painting, re-wiring the dryer, and installing ventilation for the bathroom. We may also install new windows, but that might wait until later, perhaps in the fall. Once these tasks are complete, we'll move in, probably at the end of the month. We'll be quite busy, so if we don't write for a while, that's why!

After the closing, since we missed our trip the week before, we went up to the Twin Cities to visits Kyra's grandmother, Grammy. The trip went surprisingly well. Luca wasn't too unhappy about the long drive. We had dinner with Grammy when we arrived, then Kyra's sister, Sabrina, and her daughter, Lilianna, arrived. We picked up baby-shower presents for Sabrina on the way up, to commemorate the birth of her daughter, Dalila.

By the way, Dalila is doing well. She's had a number of problems: her breathing stopped, they found a hole in her heart, she had surgery, and all sorts of things. In the latest event, the doctors found another hole and figured out that one of her vocal chords is not fully functioning to close of her airway when she eats. So she's on a feeding tube while her vocal chords heals. Otherwise, she's gained a few pounds, weighing in at 5 pounds, which is great news. We hope she continues to get better!

Here are some photos from our trip:

Trip to Grammy's


Here are some highlights:



Sabrina and Luca



Luca and Nana



Chris and Lilianna



Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren



All of us!
Finally, to commemorate our new home, I would like to share an edited poem by Robert Louis Stevenson:
Behold, our family here assembled.
We are thankful for this place in which we dwell;
for the love that unites us;
for the peace accorded us this day;
for the hope with which we greet the morrow;
and for our friends in all parts of the earth.
Let peace abound in our company.
Let peace abound in us all.