Merry Christmas 2009

Wow, this year has really flown by! I cannot believe it is already Christmas Eve tomorrow. Feels like we just celebrated Christmas in our little rental all surrounded by boxes, newspaper and tape as we were moving to our new home 2 days later. Yes, we will have been in our home for 1 year on Dec. 27th! We feel so blessed to have a roof over our head and to have really been able to make this "our" home. We love it here, love having the 4 bedrooms and a pool, it sometimes still feels unreal. I never thought I would own a house with a pool!

Zach is still working hard as ever at his parents real estate office as Office Manager and Bob's assistant. He even took over doing the transaction coordinating. He really enjoys it there which still surprises me because it is such an office job and he his well you know...Zach!! On the side, Zach and Josh also started their business back up and changed the name to Acoustic Expressions. So if you or anyone you know needs any audio work done please give them a call!

Riley will be 5 in May and starting Kindergarten this next year!!!Kindergarten, that feels so weird to say, write and even think about! She has come out of her shell so much with these last 2 years of preschool. I think she will still be very shy the first day but is going to love it. She is very excited to pick out her own special backpack and pencils. Riley continues to be the sweetest, girly girl around and loves helping her brother and sister with anything they want or need.

Trevor is 3 and is all Boy! He loves to jump, run, spin, ride on Daddy's new mini chopper...basically anything that moves! He joined his big sister at preschool this year and is doing so well. He loves Spiderman, beanies, balls, and the outdoors! People are still surprised though when they see how sweet and gentle he is with his baby sister, he loves to guide her, hold her hand and kiss her. Love that little guy!

And that brings me to Ireland Kate.....she is a character thats for sure! She is 1 1/2 and I think she will be a tomboy. She loves getting into everything, playing with all kids no matter what their age or size she just jumps right in. She can definitely tell you "Nooo!" and shes a girl who knows what she wants. She still loves to cuddle though and give kisses. She sleeps 11-12 hours a night which is such a nice blessing to mommy and daddy! Ireland keeps you on your toes and thats why I love her so much!

As for another baby we will have one for sure but probably not for another year or so. I know what you're thinkin..yeah, yeah right...but for now we're content. These 3 keep me busy throughout the day. I do miss the smell and tinyness of a newborn and can't wait to have that again.

As for me, I still stay at home and love it. I couldn't imagine missing all these special moments and milestones with my babies. They are my life. I love taking care of the home and running the household. We feel lucky that I am able to stay home because we know not every family gets to.

We traveled to Disneyland three times this year, in May for Rileys 4th bday, in October when we went to visit Jess and Daniel in Oceanside, and a spur of the moment trip at the beginning of December. I think we may have to invest in annual passes. We just LOVE it there and the kids think its magical!!

Well, we hope this letter finds you all healthy and happy. Lets make 2010 a fabulous year! Lots of travels, laughter and family because family is what its all about! Zach and I feel very blessed to have the family that we do. Does it get any better than this?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!

Love the McKiernan's,
Zach, Chelsea, Riley, Trevor & Ireland

Countdown....

is on!!! 4 days til Christmas!!!!

Done and Done

with all my Christmas shopping and wrapping that is!!! Whew....and does it feel good! I am never done this early. I think though that this being our 1st Christmas in our new home made me want to get it all done and enjoy every minute of it. I had the decorating done before Thanksgiving and the tree up the weekend after! Usually I am a total procrastinator and am shopping til the very last minute possible, but nope not this year! Im DONE!!!

A White Christmas?

Ireland is loving all the lights this xmas! Look at that big toothy smile!

happy kiddos :)

How I got them all to look and smile I'll never know.....

We got SNOW! Yes you heard me right....Snow in Sacramento!! The kids loved looking out the window at all the snow and Daddy even went out and made a snowball for them to play with. Could we actually have a white Christmas this year?! Most likely not but a girl can dream right!???

Thanksgiving!

We had a very nice and relaxing Thanksgiving this year! Hung out in the morning in our pj's with hot cocoa and watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Then I made my first ever sweet potato casserole(its the recipe from Ruth Chris' Steakhouse..yum!!!) and we headed over to visit Grandma Shirley and wish her a Happy Thxgiving too! Ireland sat on her lap and laid her head down on Great Grandma, it was so sweet. Next, it was off to Bob and Linda's to eat, hang and enjoy each others company. We played on the Wii Fit and also played a couple games. The kids were on their best behavior as usual and by the end of the night we were ready for bed with our turkey filled tummies :)

Thankful

I have so many things to be thankful for! My family. Friends. My home. Zach's steady job. A pool. This country we live in. Our health and happiness. Preschool. Comfort food. A wonderful marriage. A warm bed. I could go on forever and ever....and as this year is soon coming to an end I look back and appreciate all that I have and I all that I need. Excited to wake up in the morning, cuddle on the couch in our pj's, sipping hot cocoa (coffee for muah) and watch the Thanksgiving day parade with my little loves! Then head over to Bob and Lindas for a yummy dinner and hang out time with most of the fam.....life doesn't get much better and reiterates once again, I have so many things to be thankful for.

LOVE

Happy Veteran's Day!!!

Just want to send a huge Thank You to all the Veteran's who have and are serving our country! Without you we would be nothing. You have all sacrificed your lives for us and this great country and I truly appreciate it!

A special thanks to my Dad, Papa's, Uncle Gary and Uncle John who are all Veterans and to my cousin Bryan who is serving in the Special Forces in Afghanistan right now and to cousin Chad who just returned from serving!!!!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!

For him or the kids???

This is Zach's new toy..oops I meant the kids new toy, right! Zach has been looking up Mini Choppers on Craigslist for months and months now and finally found the perfect (and least expensive) one. He sold a bunch of video games, because he knew he was not spending our money to get this, and went and picked it up this morning. He has been so excited about this chopper and is out in the garage with Trevor and Riley as I write this inspecting, piddling with and cleaning it. I am NOT getting on that thing as much as he may beg me too...it aint happenin!

This little guy thinks its the best thing to happen since mac & cheese with hotdogs!

Cutest thing you ever did see isn't it?!

Happy Halloween!!!

3 Cinderella's!!

G-pa and Spidey

What an exciting and eventful Halloween we had this year! The kids had a Halloween party at preschool and had a lot of fun. Trevor and Riley did the bean bag toss and were great at it. Trevor also took part in Pumpkin Bowling! They did a parade around the building and then a song up on stage. My 2 were too shy(shocker?..I think not!) to take part in the singing but had fun watching their great teacher Ms. Suzanne and the rest of the kids sing and dance.

he's got his stance!

Then for Halloween night, we had 23 people over for chili, cornbread, meatballs, crackers and cheese, finger cookies, chips and salsa and a Halloween cake!! We all ate and drank and had a good time. Then it was off for some Trick-or-Treating!! The kids all went up to the doors by themselves and were so proud about it! We went pretty dang far and they enjoyed coming home and checking out their loot! I had so much fun partying with my beautiful Cinderella, Squirmy Spiderman and adorable Monkey!

FULL

Yes, my hands are full but so is my heart!!

Growing Up!

my little "big" man! Loves skateboarding, wrestling, books and preschool!

Everyone always told me, " just wait, they grow up so fast!" and I was always " yeah,yeah,ok, sure"...and now...I'm a Believer!! I mean my babies that I just gave birth to yesterday are growing up! And don't get me wrong I LOVE watching them grow, change, mature and learn new things but it also makes me sad...it's a bittersweet thing really. And people are always asking us "so you guys aren't done?" or " you're gonna have more??" and the answer is yes!! People think we are crazy sometimes but it is just right for us. We love kids, being parents, being pregnant (ok, I guess I love that one) and we can't wait to have more...ok we can....we're content right now. Our hands are full at the moment but in a year or two or three we would love to add another addition to our family. But until then we are loving life and enjoying watching our children grow!

Miss Ireland Kate is "officially" walking now! And may I add "into everything!!"

She is such a character and I just love her big toothy smile!

And Miss Riley Ann....look at those eyes! She is just growing up before our eyes!

Uh-Oh!

I think the pool may overflow??? The weather here in "sunny,beachy CA" is the complete opposite right now! Don't get me wrong, I love it! I love snuggling, fires, hot cocoa, laying in bed and listening to the rain(if that ever happens) but, I don't like that our backyard that we've been working so hard on now looks like a tornado went through it. Our pool is about to overflow any minute, there's a lounge chair in the pool along with tree branches and a gazillion leaves, the umbrella broke in the wind and the kids little dollhouse/playhouse completely fell apart.......looks like Daddy has some work to do :)

Poundcake with a Chocolate Glaze

Yummy...I love baking in this weather!

Pumpkin Poser!

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I Love Fall!!!

My favorite season of them all:
pumpkins

warm meals/crockpot

chilly weather

no air conditioner

open windows and nice breezes

scarves

baking

trees changing color

slippers

Halloween/Thanksgiving

pie

snuggling with blankets and a fire

but sad it doesn't last for very long!! Oh Fall how I adore you!!

I Love You This Much!

So yesterday I was shopping with my mom in Home Goods and Riley spotted a Halloween bear that she had to have!

Riley: "mommy hand me that bear!"

Me: "no, you dont need that

Riley: "please mommy let me see it!"

Me: "how much do you love me?"

Riley: "this much" (stretching her arms out to the side)

Me: "thats it?"

Riley: "Mommy, I love you as much as my arms can reach, now hand me that bear!!!"

My oh my she is a determined little girl isn't she? I couldn't help but laugh at how cute she was when she said that :)

Not Me Mondays!

Well folks, it's here again...Not Me Monday! Are you feeling guilty for drying off with the same bath towel for over two weeks? Hope that no one saw when you adjusted your nursing pads with one hand as you dropped your preschooler off at school while carrying your baby in the car seat with the other hand? Overcome with embarrassment when your child slammed the door so hard it shook the neighbor's house as well? Well don't be! Not Me! Monday was born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I'd rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing!

I certainly did not fill up Ireland's sippy cup with some of Daddy's root beer yesterday in the car on our long drive just to keep her content and quiet, nope not me!

Never was I too lazy to go to the garage and feed the dogs so I just let them have at it with our leftovers from dinner, nope not me!

And I most certainly did not leave my husband on the couch after he fell asleep watching tv just so I could not have the whole bed to myself, nope, never ever would I do that..not me!

Shout Out!

Just wanted to give a little shout-out to Linda and Bob and ok, myself!! Haha! We have been walking 2-3 miles Monday thru Friday for over a month now! And today we increased it to 3.5 miles and some stairs! Woo hoo! Go us!! Everything was going great til this week when I all of a sudden started getting blisters and calluses..ughh!! I know pretty huh? But its feeling a little better...hey no pain no gain, right?!

1st Day of Preschool!

Yesterday was Riley's 1st day of her second year at preschool and was Trevor's 1st day ever! We have been talking about it a lot preparing them and Trevor was so excited because he always wanted to stay with Riley last year when I would drop her off. We got new shoes, picked out our outfits, styled our hair and were off! After arriving at the school, I signed the kids in and found their name tags. As I was putting Trevor's on him I looked around and found Riley girl already sitting down with her classmates for circle time! I was shocked. Usually she is Miss Clingy and Super Shy but there she was, legs crossed and patiently waiting. I attached Trev's and gave him a kiss nervously waiting for a cry or reaction and off he went to join his big sis on the circle rug. I, me..mommy, had to walk over to them and kiss them goodbye!! What was going on? No crying, screaming, hanging on to me?! I was happy and so relieved but at the same time....kinda sad. My little boy and girl seemed so old and self-sufficient!

Anyways, once I got over myself I was fine. Picked em up 2.5 hours later and they were climbing and playing on the playground, not a worry in the world!!

Big Basin...McKiernan/Waldron Annual Camping Trip!

We are back!!! What an exciting and adventurous camping trip. I think much fun was had by all and it was such a nice and different way to celebrate our birthdays! We arrived Friday about 12:30 and set up camp. Our sites were beautiful with oddly shaped trees which made a good picture spot! We had so much fun enjoying everybody's company and food. We planned out a menu this time and it seemed to work out great! After setting up camp and eating lunch we went for a 1.75 mile walk to the camp store and got some ice cream. We then headed back and hung out, had dinner and then Josh, Des and Chase arrived with the goodies for smores! ( No camping trip is complete without smores!!)
The next morning we had breakfast and then packed up and headed to New Brighton State Beach. We met up with Aunt Mary, Uncle Tom, Sean and Cameron and spent the day hangin on the beach. G-pa and Auntie Mikalya got Trevor a huge pirate ship kite so with the help of the 4 guys, yes I said 4, we got it up and running. Perfect day to fly a kite I might add. We also got to see a dolphin or 2 playing in the water just off shore...what a treat! We had reservations at Zelda's in Capitola and had a delicious birthday dinner!!! Riley started to run a fever and get the flu during dinner, poor baby girl. She had the stomach flu the rest of the trip but insisted on staying to camp :) What a trooper!! After dinner we headed to the Boardwalk and had some fun going on rides there. Trevor is all boy and such a little daredevil, he loves rides!!! Sunday we went on a 2.5 mile hike to a waterfall and played some drinking games, had dinner, bday cake and even a champagne toast from the Hegarty's!
All in all, our trip was a success and one that will be remembered!