EDINBURGH STREET

5 years ago, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we got the keys to our first house together…our first house that either of us bought…our “starter home”.

As I sit and think about this house and how I’m about to say good-bye to it, I can’t help but think about what makes a home.

A house is home when there is laughter, tears, fights, loss, happiness, anger, family, comfort, special smells, cozy fires, candles burning, babies laughing, sleepless nights, babies being made, making up after fights, Saturday football, parties with friends, someone who cares about every blade of grass and where it is growing.  A home is the place you can’t wait to get back to, where you feel at rest, where you can walk around naked after just having a baby and still feel loved.  A place where you know all of your neighbors, where everyone loves to come and hang out, a door welcoming friends and family.

Our home is our home and it has become a home because of love.  Each crooked tile laid, each blade of grass cut, each palm tree cursed, Christmas around the tree.

Oh home…I will miss you.  You have seen and heard it all…laughter, tears…you hugged in warmth as I lay on our worn leather couch sobbing because I had lost our first child…I knew I was safe in your walls.  You heard me pee on every single pregnancy test, saw the disbelief at every positive, heard my words when I told Jim I was pregnant.  You saw it ALL…you’ve seen our love, our fights, first smiles, giggles, sleepless nights, slammed doors, lights hung with love, candles lit for celebrations, yelling at the TV (really at the Trojans), tears of joy, delight at great news…and you are still home.  You are still the place I feel love and comfort.

It’s been hard saying good-bye to all of the things we’ve acquired over the past 5 years…beds, pictures, painted walls, desks, cribs, dressers…We gave our all to you and in return you gave us a home.

It’s hard to let you go…

Home…we will always love and remember you…You are special to all of us.

11/11 BABY!

37…37…37????  Am I really 37?  I don’t believe it…I mean, in my head I feel like I’m 25 or something…but I look back at my life and realize I AM 37!~  I’ll tell you how I got here…right before I turned 30, I met an amazing guy who was everything I wanted!!  He likes to say, “He’s happy he walked into my life!~”…and, I’m happy he did too!…So I meet the perfect guy, finish college, fall in love, get married, move to Palm Springs, buy a house, have a baby, enjoy that baby, get pregnant, the amazing guy leaves and then we have twins…in a nutshell…the best years of my life have been the past 7 I’ve shared with Jimmy K…HE’s making the time go too fast…I look forward to each day, I look forward to each phone call, I look forward to every kiss from ALL of my boys, I’m loved by 4 boys and each day is a gift that I love and appreciate.  When you are doing what you love and loving who you love, the days go by too fast and before you know it, you have 3 years and you’ll be 40!  I’ll take it…I love my life…ups and downs…I’m a lucky woman…

To celebrate my 37 years of life…I got to get rid of most of my furniture, so now it REALLY feels like we are leaving in 2 1/2 weeks!  All the friends who took the furniture brought me cake & sang to me…

…held some babies

and shared some love!

Mimi & Papa let me choose a place for a birthday dinner and this is when I realized what a “Big Girl Grown UP” I had become…I chose a pizza parlor with games that were close to the tables because it would be fun for the kids!  …and you know what?  I wouldn’t change it for a second…give me my babies and food and friends…what more could a girl want (except for maybe her husband to be there too! …next year!)

The boys at the beginning of the party…

The boys at the end of the party!!!

 

After my birthday dinner…I had birthday champagne and some special friends come over for a “cheers” and baby holding!

Z was a little aggressive with the cheersing!  He used to clinking beer bottles, not martini glasses!

Miss Kels

An old…rather, young…pro…Teeg

The birthday was another wonderful year…I got TWO new babies to love, a new adventure to embark on, a sweet toddler to share my days with and soon I will be reunited with my Jimmy…my one true love.  Thank you friends for making it another amazing year…

DISNEYLAND…here we are!!!

Well…really, the entire purpose of this visit was to visit Zach’s allergist and see if he was still allergic to anything…unfortunately, yes he is…and there are more things now.  So, while the trip out was helpful, it sort of stinks because he will not be growing out of allergies anytime soon.  You should have seen me…3 boys walking into the Doc’s office…it was a little chaotic, but hey, you get what you need and you get it fast when you show up with two babies & a toddler…people don’t mess with you!

…my big boy watching some Mickey Mouse waiting for his skin test results…yay for me, he was pretty agreeable that day!

…So now that that is out of the way…here come’s Disneyland!!!

My WONDERFUL bestest friend from college, Dani, offered to watch the twins so Z could have some time alone with me!  TT Dani rocked it alone and Z got his Mama & Mimi to himself for the day!  He had no idea what Disneyland was or what to expect…but I can guarantee you, he will know what Disneyland is in the future!  HE LOVE IT!!!

On our bus to the park…(he loves boogers these days…JOY!)

Arriving at the castle.

Mimi drove in from La Quinta to spend the day with us!

I think the elephants were his favorite…which were also his dada’s when he was a little boy!

We hit the carousel and then the Matterhorn…

The Matterhorn is a fun ride…for big kids!  I forgot how black it is before the ride starts…that “cary nomen” lurk in the turns and that this really might freak poor little Zachy out!  When we got down, he told me, “That cary noman in the white mountain cared me…me no like him!”…all day long we heard about this snowman, as did anyone sitting next to us, as well as Mickey, Minnie, Woody, Jesse & Goof Goof!

He COULD NOT wait to get up there for his turn!

He had some laughs with Mimi

Got a little scared of the drops on Pirates of the Caribbean…

…then fell asleep in the MIDDLE of the ride!

Got to meet Goof Goof

…then Mickey

…then Minnie

got a little tired and just sat on the ground with his $10 snack of Cheetos & a drink!  (…but who’s complaining?)

Mimi got his Mouse Ears and he was THRILLED with them!

As an adult, you forget the magic of meeting your FAVORITE cartoon characters…looking at this little boys face made EVERYTHING worth it!  He was SO excited and thrilled to be meeting them…it was just priceless!!!  We weren’t able to meet Donald, and he is still telling me that we need to go back to “TTLAND” and meet Donald!!!  We will little man, we will!

It was a perfect day for the perfect little boy!  …and Mama has some new ammo…if he’s naughty, all mama has to do is “call the noman” and he does what he’s told…I actually don’t even have to call!!!…just the threat of me calling the noman gets his butt in gear!

I love you ZJ!!!  I’m so glad we got to do this together…you are my best little buddy and I love EVERY moment we spend together!