Baby Kira's Christening

Pictures:

* Me & my goddaughter, Kira

* The Miller family at Kira's baptism

* Cute cousins in Connecticut (Lila, Kyle, Kira & Ryan)

* Papa & Kyle sledding last week

* Kyle sampling an icicle

I was honored that my brother and sister-in-law asked me to be Kira's godmother. This past weekend, my parents, Kyle, Ryan and I went to Connecticut for the Christening while Ed held down the fort with Brooke and Jack. I was kind of nervous to leave Ed alone with the kids, not because I didn't think he could handle it (he absolutely could!), it's just that I felt bad about leaving them at home while we were having fun traveling east!

The trip was wonderful. We decided to take Ryan because Brooke went last time (in October with my grandma and I) and Jack isn't as good settling as easy as Ryan, so he won out this time. I think Ryan did trick us though, because he slept the whole flight to/from Florida. Right, not this time! He was very good on the plane but he must have wanted to see what he was missing last time. Kyle, as usual, was great on the plane. He now has his own frequent flyer number since he's traveled so much lately!

We arrived on Friday night and had a nice relaxing evening at the house. Kira was born four days after I was there in October, so it was great to finally meet her! Kyle and Ryan hadn't seen Lila since they were here visiting last January so they had a lot of catching up to do. Kyle still loves to call her baby Yaya (Lila)...she'll probably have that name until she's much older! The boys were also very excited to meet sweet baby Kira. They were very fascinated with her and were both so gentle. Brian and Elena hosted a luncheon after the Christening. It was SO funny to watch Kyle and the kids running around. My parents and I were shocked at how wild and crazy Kyle was acting! He is my shy boy, but not on this day! There was a small stage set up and Kyle was on the stage, by himself, singing (making up crazy songs) and dancing. We were in complete shock, just watching him act loud and silly. This is my boy who still whines/cries when I drop him off at school!? I wish I would have brought the video camera, that was definitely a moment to remember.

It was great to see Elena's family and friends again. Brian and Elena were wonderful hosts. After the wedding (2007), baby Lila (2008) and now Kira (2009), they'll have to come up with something else big to get us back out to visit again soon :-) I'm VERY excited because we'll get to see them at least two more times this year when they come to Michigan.

Ed survived the weekend alone with two kids. They didn't leave the house, but had a good time :-) Thanks sweetie, you're the best!

Prior to our trip, Kyle had a dentist appointment (Ed took him and said he was SO good...and no cavities!) and since it was in Ann Arbor, he spent the afternoon with my parents. As you can see from the winter pics above, he had a great time at the park. He is so timid that he's always been too scared to go sledding. My parents were finally able to get him to do it and guess what? He loved it and wanted to go back down the hill several more times. I'm going to have to get used to my shy, timid little man, as I don't think that personality is going anywhere anytime soon!