Dance! Dance! Dance!

I thought everyone would love to watch our beautiful little girl dance! She loves the Backyardigans, so I got her some Backyardigans cd's. As soon as she hears the music she starts bustin' a move!

BRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Yes that's right it is freezing here in Illinois. The high for today was -2 with a windchill that made it feel like -22. The low for today was -23 with a windchill of -35! BRR! All the local schools have been closed yesterday, today and tomorrow because of the cold. We bundled up with several layers when we HAD to go outside.

Poor Tater only stays out just long enough to do his business and then is ready to come back in the house. The only problem with him being so cold is that he is now a Heat Hog! Whenever the heat kicks on he goes and lays in front of or on a vent! Smart move for such a goofy dog.

I have been having a blast staying home playing with Killian. We have lots to do together. Mostly, she takes all her clothes from her laundry basket and throws them on the floor. Then she moves to her toy rack and takes all those out. Somehow during all of this she takes the remotes for the TV and DVD player, and my cell phone and hides them in her room. When there is only a tiny bit of floor still showing she pulls all of her extra blankets out from her drawer under the crib. Today she learned how to empty Taters water dish and play in the mess. Tater just sat there starring at her trying to figure out what she was doing.

After I picked up her room for the 100th time she moved into the living room. She was getting a bit tired so her playing was a bit less destructive. She loves to dance with music! She loves her piano and her book that play lots of songs for her. When the TV is on and a commercial or show has music she instantly starts dancing! She is so cute!

The day continues like this with some naps, some lunch and very brief moments of sitting still! So it might be VERY cold outside but we keep nice and toasty inside!

Killian playing with Daddy's 4-in-1 hat!

Sean's New Tattoo

Here are some pictures of Sean's new tattoo. It has two Celtic Dogs in a fighting stance, facing each other. All around them there are Celtic knots. In between the dogs in the back was some empty space that needed to be filled, so the tattoo artist drew up a Celtic K for Killian. Sean will be going back in a couple of weeks to get shading, coloring and final touches.

Above is a picture with one of the heads.

Above shows a body and knots.

This picture shows the K.

WOW Time Flies!

I can't believe I haven't blogged since last year! LOL I hope everyone had a great New Year!

We have been keeping ourselves very busy here in Illinois. Sean and I joined a gym, and go several times a week. We are really taking this Challenge very seriously. We have both come to realize that we actually like going and working out. We have two good friends, Stefanie and Sean, that joined and work out with us. Stefanie and I really like the Elliptical! We hop on those machines (after someone had to help us figure out how to turn it on), crank our music up and away we go. Our first attempt the machines won, but 1 week later we are able to do the 33 minute fat burning program. I really like doing the cross training program until it flashes "Now reverse your strides" and I have to go backwards. I have never been a person who can walk backwards well, so I hold on the arm bars for dear life and feel the burn. We cover about 2.6 miles right now, but we hope to get closer to 3 by the end of the month.

The Seans are much more into the circuit training with the weights. I think that it helps Sean G. a lot that Sean H. was a college wrestler with weight lifting background. Sean H. knows what machines to use to get every single muscle group in your body. Sean H. has set a routine for the boys and for us girls. The boys obviously push themselves much harder because they are boys! I think they secretly try and out do the other to look tough. They both have been really sore, while Stefanie and I have been a little sore but very manageable. The other big difference between the boys and girls: germs! Stefanie and I wipe down every machine after we use it with the disinfecting spray and wipes. The boys laughed and said we don't do that, we are not germs freaks! Well we sill see who is laughing when they get some nasty germy gym disease.

How is everyone else doing with your training? We want to hear all about it! We need to make sure everyone is getting the support and motivation they need. Every time I feel like I can't do anymore, Stefanie, Sean or Sean just say "how is that wedding dress" and I keep going. So let us know what we can do to help you!

Enough about us, how about some Killian stuff?

Killian is a walker now. She just takes off whenever she feels like it and goes all around the house. She loves to take all of her toys out of her toy cart and put them all over the floor. Luckily Tater could care less about her toys and doesn't touch them. She loves to play with her big bouncing balls right now. She will bring one over to Sean or I and say "ball, ball". This means she wants us to hold the ball while she smacks it. When we drop the ball she shakes her head and says uh, huh. Picks it back up and goes to the next person. We are teaching her to kick the ball too. Mostly, she just misses but she is getting the idea.

Killian playing with her Puppy ball!

Mommy and Daddy bought her a cabbage patch newborn baby. We tried to look for a baby at Christmas time with blue eyes and reddish hair, but never found one. We finally settled for a blue eyed, blondish baby that just had a patch of hair right on top. Killian loves her! She carries her all around the house. Every time she sees her she yells "Oh, baby" and must have her. She gives her hugs and says aw. Then she gives lots of kisses, which usually end in her biting her face or arms. Not really sure where that came from, but she doesn't bite people just toys.

Killian's Doll - Makena Rain

Killian has just started the phase where she MUST put her food into her hair. We really try to keep an eye on those hands at all times, but that split second you look away BAM banana all on her head. She still feeds the dog while she eats. She has gotten better because now she only feeds him what she doesn't want to eat or when she is done she starts throwing her food off the tray. She has been introduced to a lot of foods and seems to like all of them. It is just a matter of her choices on the plate. She will eat one thing at a time. All the egg, then bread and then her fruit or veggie. But the next time she eats that meal it can be completely different order. One day she will eat green beans the next day they are Taters.

Killian playing with Daddy!

Her newest words are Happy and Sarah. Sorry all you Graff Aunts that wanted to be number One. However, Wawa is a very very very close second right now. She has the first part of Wa but then that usually leads to random crazy talk. She is starting to say Killian too. It either comes out like Ki or Killllligan. Unfortunately, for my sister she has become very curious of the whole breastfeeding of baby Sam. She stares at Sarah and constantly says Boobbie! We are trying not to laugh, but we usually fail. You might be asking how she learned this word and I will have to take the credit. I was tickling her one day as I was changing her into her pajamas and got her little baby boobbies and said it once. And now it has stuck, and yes she now tickles herself and says boobbies. Now mommy really has to watch what she says.