Thanksgiving Eve

Here I am writing from TX where we'll spend Thanksgiving with Mark's family tomorrow. It's a little weird b/c this is the first time in my entire life that I haven't celebrated in MN! My family and I will also get together on Sunday back in MN, but nonetheless, it's different. For one thing, it's nearly 70 degrees - how weird is that?!

We took Keira on her first plane ride ever...I was really stressed. I didn't know how she'd do with the ascent, descent and then I was worried she'd get hungry and then what if she started screaming, etc. But, she was such a good girl!! I couldn't have asked for better. She traveled like a seasoned pro. Here are a few fun photos of the trip.

Keira is Miss Independent these days so we took our sweet time in the airports and let Keira explore and walk on her own. As you can see in the carousel photo she enjoyed playing with Mark's mobile phone while we waited for luggage.

The photos below are of Keira and I strolling through the MSP airport. She helped me roll my carry on to the gate. The bottom right one is of Keira in her own seat - that was short-lived when the passenger showed up later during boarding. Bummer. She did well and slept in my arms. The top right photo is Keira and her cousin, Miranda. Manda doesn't like to keep her clothes on. They got along pretty well. :-)

It's Almost Thanksgiving?!

I feel like 2008 has gone by in the blink of an eye...I can't believe Nov is coming to a close and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. We'll be heading to Texas to spend Thanksgiving with Mark's side of the family. It'll be interesting since it'll be our first plane ride with Keira. She doesn't like to sit still, so we'll see how things go...It should be fun though.

Keira turned 1 1/2 years old on the 18th (can't believe it). I took her to her well check and she's sitting in the 10th percentile for height and is just not making it onto the chart for weight despite our best efforts to feed her "high calorie" food. We're supposed to keep doing what we're doing and bring her back for a weight check when she's 21 months old. If her weight continues to lag the growth trend, we'll have to see a nutritionist. I hope that's not the case...talk about feeling like a bad mom. Nonetheless, she's sitting at 18 lbs, 10 oz and 30" inches long...definitely a little peanut. But, developmentally she's right on track or exceeding where she should be. :-)

I should be done with work travel until at least Feb (hopefully). Taking a break from packing, unpacking, airports, etc will be a welcome change of pace. It does feel a little weird, however, to not be preparing to jet set somewhere. Then again, we'll be jet setting to Texas in just a couple of days.

Here's a photo to make you laugh. Keira was awake and eating one minute and the next, she was out like a light - so cute!

Sick and On the Road Again

As I've mentioned a few times, life at work has become really crazy lately. I'm on the road again. I'm currently in Irvine for focus groups (research) and it's been a really long day. I was up at 6:30 and on the plane at 9:00. It's now 11:00pm back home and we still have at least half an hour to go before I can even go to the hotel to check in. Then we're back at it tomorrow. I'll fly out of here at 4:00pm and get home around 9:30pm. Thu morning I fly out to Denver and won't be back until Sat afternoon. On top of it all, I'm definitely fighting a head cold. I felt the tickle in the throat on Mon, but refused to acknowledge that I could be getting sick. Well, I am and it's not helping that I can't hide in my bed and rest. Sorry this is a whiny post, but ugh - what a rough week. I am really, really hoping that December will be better. Even after the travel, the rest of Nov is going to suck - lots going on at work. But, I am thankful to have a job and a well-paying job given the state of the economy. So, enough complaining...Hopefully there will be some fun updates later this month!

Halloween and Other Stuff

I thought things at work would slow down, but they haven't and life keeps moving on. So, yes, I'm still behind on my posts. Keira's growing up quickly and is learning so much. Here are some things she's doing now:

• Eating with utensils (though we have to occasionally remind her)
• Identify and saying various body parts - nose, eyes, ears, fingers, hands, feet, toes, etc.
• Clearly saying milk, book, Nuk (uh-oh), mama, da, etc.
• She's mimicking the things we say and do (we really have to watch ourselves now)
• She's going down the big girl slide at the playground like a little daredevil
  

The highlight of my month was going to the NKOTB concert on Oct 20th. It was a blast and I felt like I was a teenager again. The screaming was so intense that my ears were ringing the next day, but it was well worth it. Click on the following photo for more!

I can admit that they are not the best singers, but boy do they know how to put on a show. Check out some of this footage - the crowd was amazing!