Thursday, January 8, 2009
Smiles
Miles smiled for the first time for real yesterday. Of course I can't get him to replicate it, but my next goal is to catch one in a picture. I was talking to him and he was cooing back at me, and he just grinned. It was awesome. It couldn't come at a better time since I am exhausted from getting up with him ever few hours at night. I guess thats why God times it when he does. As soon as I catch one in a picture, I will share it.
Friday, January 2, 2009
So this year has been eventful for the Illinois Keen clan. I suppose as bloggers must, I will review the year and reflect on the journey of our family.
Jeremy- This past year Jeremy has had some great successes both professionally and musically. At work, they re-evaluated his position and deemed that it was worth more money than he was making. Not a bad thing for us at all. His store relocated to a bigger building, and his boss continues to support his creative ideas for the future of the Elgin Habitat ReStore.This year Jeremy connected with alot of new musicians and played quite a few shows all over the Chicagoland area.
Sam- I have continued to work part-time for the YMCA, well if you can consider 36 hours a week part time. This position remains a challenge for me, as it is difficult to recruit so many staff and keep them through the school year. It pushes me to new creative lengths for ideas of how to gain staff.
Maggie - She turned 2 this year, and has not stopped talking since she figured out how. She is very creative and never ceases to make us laugh. We laugh even as she is getting in trouble. Towards the end of the year she took to singing with frequency, and we encourage her alot in that area. We are hoping that she is a future musician for the "family band."
Miles - Miles was born. He eats, sleeps, poops and pees. I'm sure the next year will bring much more interesting updates for him.
As a family we have continued to get more involved with our church. We joined a new small group this year, which has been a great encouragement for us. Jeremy even accepted a volunteer position with the worship team, and now organizes and recruits musicians for the worship team. We have added to our family with little Miles Jay, and while we are challenged daily by the complications of another child in our family, we couldn't be more thankful. Its been a pretty good year, but I'm hoping 2009 will be even better.
Jeremy- This past year Jeremy has had some great successes both professionally and musically. At work, they re-evaluated his position and deemed that it was worth more money than he was making. Not a bad thing for us at all. His store relocated to a bigger building, and his boss continues to support his creative ideas for the future of the Elgin Habitat ReStore.This year Jeremy connected with alot of new musicians and played quite a few shows all over the Chicagoland area.
Sam- I have continued to work part-time for the YMCA, well if you can consider 36 hours a week part time. This position remains a challenge for me, as it is difficult to recruit so many staff and keep them through the school year. It pushes me to new creative lengths for ideas of how to gain staff.
Maggie - She turned 2 this year, and has not stopped talking since she figured out how. She is very creative and never ceases to make us laugh. We laugh even as she is getting in trouble. Towards the end of the year she took to singing with frequency, and we encourage her alot in that area. We are hoping that she is a future musician for the "family band."
Miles - Miles was born. He eats, sleeps, poops and pees. I'm sure the next year will bring much more interesting updates for him.
As a family we have continued to get more involved with our church. We joined a new small group this year, which has been a great encouragement for us. Jeremy even accepted a volunteer position with the worship team, and now organizes and recruits musicians for the worship team. We have added to our family with little Miles Jay, and while we are challenged daily by the complications of another child in our family, we couldn't be more thankful. Its been a pretty good year, but I'm hoping 2009 will be even better.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Happy Holidays from the Keens
Here is a special little Daddy-Daughter duet to celebrate the holiday season!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thanksgiving 08
This was my first Thanksgiving where I provided the meal to the family. Jeremy's parents came in to town the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving. It was fun to spend some time with them and Maggie really enjoyed them being here. We celebrated Maggie and Jeremy's mom's birthdays, as they have the same one, and Christmas while they were here. We got a big Christmas surprise when they showed up one morning with Jeremy's sister Jessica. Overall we had a really good time and good food. So it turned out well. I've included some pictures of our good times.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Count down mode
We are officially in count down mode here at the Keen household. The nursery is nearly done. The changing table is finished. We set up the pack n play in case the crib doesn't get done before the baby comes. We are down to weekly visits to the midwife. Everything is in full swing. I'm excited to mee this new one and find out if its a boy or girl.
Also, I strained a ligament in my pelvis, so I've been in a lot of discomfort, which they say will probably be relieved once the baby is born. . .so five weeks of pain in my crotch. . .not so much fun. They restricted me to office work, which limits what I can do at work, and makes me feel bad because we are still short-staffed. If anyone needs a part-time job working with kids in the Naperville/Aurora area, let me know. I'd like to get them staffed before baby 2 comes. Thats pretty much it.
Maggie keeps talking like crazy, and learning more words every day. She is so smart its kind of scary.
Also, I strained a ligament in my pelvis, so I've been in a lot of discomfort, which they say will probably be relieved once the baby is born. . .so five weeks of pain in my crotch. . .not so much fun. They restricted me to office work, which limits what I can do at work, and makes me feel bad because we are still short-staffed. If anyone needs a part-time job working with kids in the Naperville/Aurora area, let me know. I'd like to get them staffed before baby 2 comes. Thats pretty much it.
Maggie keeps talking like crazy, and learning more words every day. She is so smart its kind of scary.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Just a thought
Don't forget you can guess boy or girl as well. Thats probably the most interesting part of guessing. Oh, and Jeremy is almost finished with the crib, so hopefully we will be posting pics of the baby's room soon.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Hazard a guess
So, its getting to be that time. I was at the doctor today for a checkup, and the midwife threw out a guess at weight and date. So, inquiring minds want to know what you think. I would like as many people to guess a date and weight as possible. I'm thinking a prize for the closest guess. I haven't yet figured out what the prize will be, but it will be pretty awesome, and well worth the 30 seconds of guessing. I will share with you the midwife's guess to give the unexperienced guessers a little perspective.
Technically my due date is December 24th, 2008. Christmas Eve.
The midwife guesses that I will go around the 14th or 15th. She also guessed the baby would be a "scooch" over 7lbs.
Use that information if you will, and MAKE A GUESS! Just know that if it doesn't show up right away, its because I do need to moderate the comments on the blog. So just submit once, and I will try my best to be on top of moderation so that you all can see the guesses going up.
PEACE OUT!
Technically my due date is December 24th, 2008. Christmas Eve.
The midwife guesses that I will go around the 14th or 15th. She also guessed the baby would be a "scooch" over 7lbs.
Use that information if you will, and MAKE A GUESS! Just know that if it doesn't show up right away, its because I do need to moderate the comments on the blog. So just submit once, and I will try my best to be on top of moderation so that you all can see the guesses going up.
PEACE OUT!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Halloween Halloween Halloween
Maggie loved loved LOVED Halloween this year! I'm glad too because it is one of my favorite holidays of all times. It reminds me of my mom, and gets me all sentimental. Anyway, Maggie was Foofa from the children's TV show Yo Gabba Gabba. No one got it, everyone thought she was a flower, but thats ok. I made the costume and it was inexpensive, so as far as I am concerned its a win win.
Maggie was so excited about handing out candy that she would almost run to the kids before they got to the house. She would say "different kids?" or try to give them a ton of candy. I had to limit them because we had so many tirck or treaters that we ran out of all the candy. We also walked her around a bit when daddy got home since we were out of candy anyway. She was so good about saying trick or treat, that she even walked up to other trick or treaters on the sidewalk, held out her bag and said trick or treat. Some kids even gave her a piece of candy because she was so cute.
Here are a couple of pics.