Kori and Ken Pellman

Repurposing a playpen

2012-02-06T22:57:00.001-08:00

In our house we have a 4 1/2 year old, a 2 year old and a ball pit.

When the 4 1/2 year old began being able to climb out of the playpen (about 2 years ago) we decided not to get rid of the playpen, but to repurpose it into a convenient place to put all of the various size balls that she had amassed. Then, one day, while browsing on Amazon, I noticed the many different – and expensive – kids of “Ball Pits”, then I noticed replacement balls. BINGO! The playpen became our ball pit.

As a matter of fact, this isn’t our daughters original playpen/ball pit, the first one got so much use that we had to replace it. Oh, and the ball pit balls are available at Amazon, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart, and I’m sure most of those aren’t original either!

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-02T18:10:00.001-08:00

Ah, here I am, updating this neglected blog. Is blogging dead? I very much like the format, but we’re so busy being parents and taking care of our responsibilities that there isn’t much time to put together worthwhile blog postings. I (Ken) like to update my status on Twitter and Facebook, like hundreds of millions of other people.

Life has been mostly about the kids and taking them to see family. It’s great when we visit family and grandparents, aunts, uncles, and nephews keep the kids entertained and safe. Keelie and Kyle both adore their cousin Lainey. They have a standing weekly playdate. In general, Kendra, Steve, and Lainey have been great for the kids and have graciously babysat when needed.

Here Keelie and Kyle take a break from their slapstick routine to calmly hug.

Kori and the kids have also been going to see my mother and siblings on a regular basis while I’ve been at work, and we’ll all go to see Kori’s parents and siblings when we can. Kori has also been taking the kids to local meetups in parks and such.

We’ve tried to get to Disneyland on a regular basis. These kids don’t really grasp that very, very few little kids in the world get to do that. The “Toy Story” movies have Kyle’s imagination, and he alternately pretends to be Woody or Buzz, and usually asks to ride Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters… several times per day. We didn’t make as good of use of our passes to Knott’s Berry Farm.

Kyle knows all of his upper and lower case letters and the sounds they make (and which letters make what sound). He continues to be very musical, and can recognize and sing back tunes even if I’m the one “singing” them, and I’m doing so with different lyrics. Otherwise, he’s such a chip off the old block that sometimes we think we should have made him a Junior.

Keelie is mindful of relationships (“Daddy, your little sister is funny.”) She’s reading above a second grade level, which at 4 1/2 years old isn’t too shabby. She surprises me with her artistic talent. Her memory abilities continue to be scary. She’s also very sociable. While trick-or-treating this year, she would introduce herself to the other kids and ask them for their names. She couldn’t understand why they would rather run quickly to the next house rather than mingle.

Both kids are strong-willed and stubborn. Not sure where they get that. [Ken and Kori both do their “innocent-but-really-guilty” looks.]

The kids both had a gymnastics class over the summer – it was the second time around for Keelie.

Kyle liked doing everything in the class, but at different times than he was supposed to. He took to holding and swinging up on the bar so much than he was doing that other places, too, such as the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Keelie continues her dance classes. She had a recital over the summer and another one just before Christmas.

Is that attitude, or what?

In July, Kori and I got out to see “Weird Al” Yankovic and his AL-pocalypso Band kick off their tour. We had some excellent seats, but we didn’t take such great pictures.

Also in July, we were able to go to a great, intimate event at the Grammy Museum, where Mr. Yankovic was interviewed and then answered questions from the audience, including one from yours truly.

We’d cool down over the summer with swims at Puma & Granddaddy’s and at Nanny’s/Auntie Kim’s/Uncle Mike’s.

In September, we went to Kauai for a week.

It was my first trip to Hawaii, as it was for Keelie and Kyle.

We didn’t even know there was going to be a trip until Mother’s Day. We wouldn’t have been able to afford the trip if it wasn’t for being able to stay at the Keel family timeshare. Actually, in hindsight, given everything else that happened this year, we couldn’t afford to fly there, either. But we did.

We shared a two-bedroom suite with Kendra, Steve, and Lainey. Kyle tossed his cookies upon takeoff from LAX, and it was an omen. Everyone in that suite got sick during week we were there, except for me. It continued through the flight back to LAX.

Here, Keelie works the stage at a luau.

Back home, Kyle re-enacted a scene from one of the bedtime books we read. That’s his soup bowl on his head.

Keelie, along with Nanny, Auntie Kim, and Mommie, returned to Teddy Bear Tea at the Langham just before Christmas. The Langham will always be the Huntington to me.

Kyle and Keelie both enjoyed Christmas…

They are both growing so fast!

Our house was attacked by bees literally just before our September vacation – removing them cost a pretty penny. Both of our vehicles needed expensive work in the last several months, and we’ve run into ongoing trouble with the condo we were pretty much forced to rent out rather than sell when we moved into the house, so that’s been a financial drain as well. If we had known all of these things were coming our way, we wouldn’t have bought the tickets to take that vacation.

I resumed writing columns for LaughingPlace.com and my friends have had me as a recurring guest on their podcast, The Sweep Spot. If you are interested in Disney, especially Disneyland, check out those links.

Kori has been a serious coupon shopper this year, coming home with bags full of groceries for ridiculously low cash spent. She’s very organized and methodical about it.

Other than what you see above, 2011 was mostly another boring year, which is good. Keelie turned 4, Kyle turned 2. We didn’t lose our house, I didn't lose my job, no major crimes were committed against us (that we know about), we didn't have to file a lawsuit against anyone, none of us suffered a major illness or injury, and the dog didn't die.

May your 2012 be one of happiness, peace, health, and prosperity.

Please keep in touch!

–Ken, for the Pellmans of Anaheim
January 2012
KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com

Eat and Sleep

2011-08-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

Kyle was into his second day without a proper nap. He usually takes one long nap each day. We were having a family dinner for our niece's second birthday, and Kyle was determined to eat his dinner despite being sleepy. This went on for a couple of mintutes before we started capturing it. You might want to click on the "full screen" button at the bottom right of the video ("Esc" ends the full screen mode)...

He usually eats with utensils now, but since this was spaghetti, we let him use his hands.

And a full update covering the last several months will be posted... eventually.

From Christmas to Easter

2011-04-24T23:02:00.001-07:00

You know the story… Facebook and other things like that have sucked the life out of blogs like this one. But I still want to keep blogging here. I find it a convenient way to chronicle our lives in a linear way.
Things have been mostly uneventful. Kori and I are raising our two little kids, and anyone who has done that knows that pretty much takes up life for many years.
And when I start to edit pictures to include, Keelie will climb onto my lap and demand to watch videos and see pictures.
So I don’t get to do these updates as often as I’d like.
I’m still working for the same place, and that’s good. There are good people there who do good work. Kori has become very skilled at couponing and bargain shopping. It has become a sort of hobby for her. It’s amazing how she can walk out of a store with bags full of merchandise, having paid maybe a couple of bucks out of pocket… and it is all legit. And, of course, she’s still doing everything else that she does to keep the household running.
We’re starting with some pictures from Christmas 2010…

Grampa Pellman keeps the kids entertained…

It’s great when we visit family. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins keep the kids entertained and safe. It gives us a bit of a breather.
Cousin Macon and Uncle Mike keep Keelie in line…

Aunt Vicki and Cousin Blaine…

Christmas Eve at Auntie Kim’s was great. Christmas morning started out great at home…

Keelie is growing so fast!

Keelie and Kyle love to spin in these chairs at Puma & Granddaddy’s…

These outfits the kids are wearing were gifts from Uncle Steve’s parents… how nice was that???

Later in January, we met up with our friends Lynn, Erin, and Luke in the evening at Disneyland. Keelie and Luke bonded…

To this day, Keelie talks about her buddy Luke and can identify his state, Utah, on the map. Lynn and I need to discuss a dowry.
And now a picture of our messy eater…

There have been a few times lately when Keelie has fallen asleep before we could do our nighttime routine…

Again…

What are little brothers for?

So next time, Keelie found another place to fall asleep…

I’m surprised Kyle didn’t paint Keelie up with his food the way he did himself…

Then, of course, there are times when they mess things up together. After noticing it was too quiet, we discovered why… the kids had emptied the full paper shredder…

That brings us to Easter. Here’s a nice family portrait…

But it wasn’t the only picture Granddaddy Keel took…

And this one is very telling…

The kids love to color, especially with their Aunt Kirby…

And they both love their Cousin Lainey. Kyle and Lainey are thinking of taking their act on the road…

Kyle strikes a pose…

Keelie in her Easter dress…

Keelie tells Puma and Granddaddy what’s up…

Kyle and his Daddy…

Thanks for stopping by to read. You can comment here or contact us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. You can also follow me on Twitter @pellman.

2010 Christmas Card and Letter

2010-12-21T21:10:00.001-08:00

Hey Everyone!

Keelie stopped taking her naps, so our blog updates have been lacking. I used to work on the updates while she napped so she wouldn’t climb in front of the computer and ask to see more pictures. This update will also be serving as our environmentally-friendly (all-electric!) Christmas card and letter, which should work just fine, since you are here reading it.

We’re so excited about wishing you a Merry Christmas…

Can’t you tell?

“Lemme tell you about what a great deal this is, lil’ brother. We go to sleep, and when we wake up, there are new toys over there under the tree!!!”

Print that out, if you must have a tangible card.

This year has been mostly another boring one. which is good. Once again, we didn't lose our home, I didn't lose my job, no major crimes were committed against us, we didn't have to file a lawsuit against anyone, none of us suffered a major illness or injury, and the dog didn't die.

But we WERE interviewed for a podcast called “The Enthusiast Enthusiast”. We talked about being Disney enthusiasts.

Unfortunately, we did have two family passings this year. Aunt Vicky, the honorary grandmother for whom my younger sister was named, passed away after years of declining health. My stepbrother Justin also left us; he was too young to go. Both are missed!

On a positive note, we’ve been able to enjoy the growth of Keelie as she passed her third birthday celebration and Kyle as he enjoyed his first. And he did enjoy it…

Unlike his cousin Lainey, who had her celebration together with Kyle’s, Kyle had no problem getting messy with cake.

Kyle is almost 16 months of age and he still doesn’t sleep through the night except for rare nights here and there. I heard a lack of sleep may efekt mentle abilly tees, bud eye havn no tissed uh problum.

Kyle is a daredevil climber. He also has quite the temper. Not sure where he gets that. Ahem. He likes music a lot and will dance to it when he can.

Speaking of dancing, as we said in a previous update, we enrolled Keelie in dance class (ballet and tap) since Kori enjoyed dance classes when she was a little girl. Keelie’s class had a recital at an Anaheim holiday event.

She loves going to dance class, but it is hard to get her to pose for the camera with a good smile. We have to take the good shots candidly. Keelie also enjoys Sunday school, educational programming, and long walks on the beach. Uhm, well, ok I made that last one up.

We didn’t take any trips this year. Our free time that we spent out of the home was mostly spent with family. It is always nice to have the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins entertaining the kids because otherwise, given their ages, when we are out somewhere with them all of our energy and attention goes into making sure the kids don’t maim themselves or other kids, don’t break anything, don’t get stolen, and don’t miss a trip to the restroom or changing table. Take heed all of you who are planning to become parents.

Although we didn’t take trips, we did use our annual passes to take the kids to Disneyland frequently and now we also have Knott’s passes, so the kids are going to visit there regularly, too. Thanks to the grandparents who have contributed to both sets of passes!

That’s our year in a nutshell – er, uh, blog posting.

Whether you are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and worship Him as Lord and the One who has saved you from your sins… or are enjoying other festivities and traditions of the season, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year.

Below are some of the better pictures from the last several months… at least the ones that aren’t incriminating, if you care to look…

Please keep in touch!
–Ken, for the Pellmans of Anaheim
December 2010
KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com

=== === === ===

Kyle enjoying a park in late August…

Keelie posing for Granddaddy Keel, expert photographer…

Puma, Uncle Steve, Kyle on my lap, and the back of Granddaddy Keel’s head…

Keelie at the Huntington Library, thanks to Grandma Kathleen…

Grampa Pellman holding his youngest grandchild…

Keelie ready for it to get dark on October 31…

Keelie enjoying a local park…

With Nanny at Teddy Bear Tea at the Langham…

Kyle is all dressed up and ready to wreak havoc with a crayon…

See ya next time!

We’re Enthusiastic

2010-11-20T18:19:00.001-08:00

We’re enthusiastic about The Enthusiast Enthusiast.

"The Enthusiast Enthusiast is a podcast for people who are highly interested in people who are highly interested in a particular activity or subject. Both educational and entertaining, each Episode is centered around a new enthusiast and their hobby of choice."

The most recent edition is on Disney enthusiasts. Ms. Jessica Lee Williamson boiled down a couple of interviews of us into a 15-minute podcast and some pictures. It includes how we met, and my teenage fixation on my first true love... Splash Mountain! Keep an ear open for a very good description of "Disney magic" by Kori.

One Year Ago

2010-08-22T13:26:00.001-07:00

Things were very different a year ago. Kori was heading in to the final stretch of her pregnancy with Kyle, and had been in the hospital for the birth of our first niece.

It is amazing how much they grow in the first year.

Here’s a picture from back in late June, with Kyle preparing to feed the dog – which conveniently means he doesn’t have to eat as many vegetables.

He tries to make this warning label seem all the more scary…

Keelie enjoys taking a “bath”.

Kyle celebrates Independence Day by practicing his purse snatching skills.

He figures that as long as he smiles and wears outfits like that, nobody will suspect a thing.

We we to Aunt Vicky’s memorial, which included a luncheon at Caltech. Is Keelie contemplating her choices in high education?

Kyle makes his “old man without dentures” face…

And Keelie continues to make her pieces of art…

I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be Liberace or what. Oh… Keelie just told me that is Minnie Mouse. Liberace, Minnie Mouse… it is easy to get them confused. As Kori pointed out to me, it is obviously Minnie Mouse. Before the addition of the black bow, it had been Mickey Mouse - notice the white gloves, the red shorts, and the yellow shoes? Speaking of art , Keelie has started taking dance classes as of this month.

Thanks to Auntie Kim and Uncle Mike, Kori and I slipped away to see “Weird Al” Yankovic at the Orange County Fair. Yankovic and his band have long been my favorites. We don’t get a lot of nights out, so this was a rare treat.

Kim and Mike took the kids to a park, and I think that was Kyle’s first time to play directly on grass. So we didn’t quite get the same reaction when he took him to the park later that same weekend…

Keelie, of course, is a veteran of the park, so she can show Kyle the ropes… literally.

Kyle just got his first haircut!

Kyle is starting to walk. Keelie walked much earlier, but Kyle picked up a few American Sign Language signs before Keelie did. Kids develop at their own rate, of course. Kyle has been very good at crawling, while Keelie had not crawled much before she took to walking.

Thanks for stopping by. Let us know how you are doing and what you’ve been up to. You can comment here or e-mail us a KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Summer is Here!

2010-06-27T21:31:00.001-07:00

Since I last updated this blog, I had a birthday, Keelie had her third birthday, and my nephew Macon graduated from my alma mater. On a sad note, we lost Aunt Vicky. No, not my sister. The woman who married my mother’s late uncle. She was Aunt Vicky long before that, though. She had been in declining health and had defied the odds for a long time – her death was not unexpected, but still sad.

She’s the one in red in this picture…

When she saw the picture later, she asked, “Did I really wear red to your wedding?!?” Of course, it was December and reds and greens were part of the look of the wedding. She was like a grandmother to me, though she hated to be called that, so it was always “Aunt” Vicky.

On to happier thoughts… like playtime!

Yes, we have a playpen full of colorful plastic balls.

The next five pictures were taken by Kori’s father, who definitely knows his way around a camera.

Keelie is getting into animated features, so I get to watch some of the DVDs in my collection. “Toy Story” and the sequel are favorites. She sings “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and she also likes “Mary Poppins” and will sing the songs from that movie, which goes along fine with the Sherman Brothers songs she knows from Disneyland.

Kyle is quite the crawler, and he’s learned to stand up without holding on to anything and sit back down.

The whole family relaxing in the hot tub…

Kyle has been in the habit of nibbling on his own toes. When I try, Keelie says, “No Daddy! Kyle’s toes are yucky!” They aren’t yet though, since he’s not walking. Well, he was doing his thing and his cousin decided she wanted to try…

…ah yes… one of those pictures that will come back to haunt both of them.

Keelie and Kyle got decked out in Tiger Orange for Cousin Macon’s graduation.

I went to SPHS, as did Kim, Vicki, Chris, and Blaine.

There’s Cousin Blaine holding Kyle, Autie Kim, Cousin Macon in his gown, Nanny, Uncle Mike, Aunt Vicki, and Keelie.

Keelie contemplates turning 3.

For Keelie’s birthday, we had some people over for a party – it was mostly a family event, but when you have families the size of ours, that’s a lot of people. We’d only hosted one such event before since moving in. Keelie had a lot of fun and certainly enjoyed the presents and cake. So much so that fives days later she informed Kori that she was ready to turn 4, have everybody come back, and have me bring home another cake – but one with four candles. But she also talks about going back to being 2 and thus getting her crib back.

Kyle hams it up for the camera as we watch Keelie enjoying one of her presents…

Keelie points to where she’s going to hit the ball.

Well, there you have it. Thanks for stopping by to check out this latest update. Leave a comment here or e-mail us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Technorati Tags: Ken Pellman

Spring 2010

2010-04-25T18:32:00.001-07:00

Okay, so the updates here are getting less and less frequent. Maybe it is because we’re out painting the town red. No, that can’t be it. Maybe it is because we’re too busy Facebooking, or because whenever I try to work on an update when Keelie is around, she demands to get between me and the screen and then “requests” to see pictures of certain people.

But here we are… another update. And looking back since our last update, I am reminded what boring lives we lead. That’s a good thing, I suppose. To give you an idea, one of the most exciting things in the past couple months was that the bank contacted us to propose a refi of our mortgage; they covered the closing costs. It made a lot of sense and lowered our payments. See – not much excitement. But there are plenty of cute pictures!

We celebrated the anniversary of our first date - which is close enough to Valentine’s Day that it covers that, too – by going to Pasadena. We spent time with Grampa Pellman and Grandma Kathleen.

Keelie is at an age where she really enjoys climbing around on stuff in a park. She also requests to see various family members.

Keelie surveys the park, plotting her domination…

Kyle takes a more relaxed approach…

“These aren’t the droids you are looking for.”

From there, we went over to my mother’s. Kori and I escaped to have dinner at Gus’s BBQ in my home town, South Pasadena. Even though I’d been by the place thousands of times over the years, I’d never been there. I think my parents might have gone there eons ago and weren’t impressed. However, I’d read that the place had been completely overhauled. Sure enough, the place was doing a lot of business, but they still managed to give us a booth table (meaning a table for four) so that we could sit next to each other on our anniversary. I enjoyed the meal - and especially the company, of course.

I don’t think we’ve been on a date since. Can’t imagine why…

Oh… right.

Keelie was inspired by the Winter Olympics. No kidding…

However, I’m not sure what this arrangement is about…

Perhaps she is taking care of her doll the way Mommie takes care of Kyle?

Most indoor pictures we get of Keelie these days have her squinting, because she knows when the flash is coming. But we did manage to snap this one…

But, of course, she usually has food on her face and resists us when we try to wipe it off. Kyle, unlike his sister when she was his age, is a drooler, so he always has a bib.

Naptime…

Keelie’s godparents, “Oma” and “Opa”, spent some time with us Easter weekend. They live next door to Puma & Granddaddy, so we spent some time in the park across the street with them before dropping in on the Keel house.

They gave Keelie a stuffed bunny, and she was convinced it was THE Easter Bunny. She even tried to feed it the carrot we left out for the Easter Bunny. We had to explain to her that it was a doll of the Easter Bunny, like she has dolls of Mickey Mouse, Minnie, etc.

Mommie and Kyle share a moment when he’s awake…

And here is Daddy and Kyle sharing a moment while Kyle naps…

If only Kyle would stay asleep like that through the night. He’s done it once or twice in his life, so we know he can. He’s no dummy… he works it so as to get the most interaction with Mommie throughout the night.

He’s got the Pellman eyes, to be sure. The lids hide under another flap of skin.

And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for…

NUDITY!

Yeah, we finally got the bathtub fixed. We’d been using our shower all of the time for the kids, as the bath wasn’t getting hot water. But a couple of days of professional work and $$$$ changed that. Exciting stuff, huh?

Thanks for stopping by and looking over our annoyingly “proud parent” pictures. Leave a comment here or e-mail us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com and let us know how you are doing.

Two Kids and Holding

2010-02-19T22:30:00.001-08:00

Hey everybody – we’re still alive and kicking, but busy as we deal with the realities of a two-something-year-old girl and a boy who is hurtling towards six months of age.

The cousins-born-nine-days-apart are getting along just fine…

Keelie enjoys exploring her artistic side…

Sunday, January 17th was a special day. Kyle got baptized at the church where her Puma and Granddaddy sing in the choir, and where Kori used to go, and where his big sister was baptized!

This was an even bigger deal than Keelie’s baptism because cousin Lainey was baptized at the same time. People came in from all over the country to be here with us.

Above you can see Aunt Kirby holding Keelie, and Aunt Vicki in the background.

And below, both babies are walked around the congregation after being baptized.

Grampa Pellman holding Kyle…

There was a nice reception back at Puma & Granddaddy’s.

Aunt Vicki and Auntie Kim holding Lainey and Kyle…

Aunt Chris (Kyle’s godmother), Puma, Paddie and Beth…

In addition to the 80-degree winter weather SoCal has been experiencing, we have had our cold and rainy days as well. We actually got a lot of rain for the area, causing mudslides in wildfire burn areas. But we got a rainbow, too…

Earlier this month, we met up with one of Kori’s MommySisters (a group of women who have been talking since they were all pregnant and due in July 2007) at Disneyland, to spend a few hours with them during their visit. Heather also had a baby in August of 2009, so while Keelie “hanged out” with Annabelle, Kyle and Genevieve enjoyed looking at each other from their respective strollers.

Kyle mostly likes to stay in his mother’s arms, but other locations are becoming more acceptable to him…

He does NOT like this teething business.

Now where have we seen that before? Ah yes…

That’s an old picture of Keelie.

Some people see a resemblance between Kyle and me, especially pictures of me as a baby…

What do you think?

We’re celebrating the anniversary of our first date, so I wanted to take this short stroll down memory lane.

Six years ago, we met for our first date in the bookstore at Downtown Disney Anaheim. The bookstore was convenient, because if one of us was delayed, the other could browse.

Disneyland was not only the venue for our first date, it is where I proposed to Kori.

Since Kori was such a big Snow White fan, I correctly guessed that the Snow White Grotto & Wishing Well would be a good place to propose. I timed it out so that Snow White would be there, which also conveniently allowed for cameras to be present and in use without spoiling the surprise of what was going on.

We married in Pasadena, in a beautiful church along famous Colorado Boulevard…

And then, two and a half years later, Keelie came along…

With Kori looking like this when pregnant…

…and with Keelie being such a bundle of joy, we tried for a second baby, and now we have Kyle, too.

It is hard to believe it has been six years since that first date.

Thanks for stopping for this installment. Let us know how you are doing and what you’ve been up to. You can comment here or e-mail as at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Technorati Tags: Ken Pellman,Kori Pellman

Ken's Latest Book Review

2010-01-27T22:10:00.001-08:00

My latest book review is now online at LaughingPlace.com. Read about the first woman to be a Disney Imagineer working in a non-clerical capacity. Ms. Burns was a Disney Legend, and even if you don't know her name, you do know her work.

A Farewell to 2009

2009-12-30T20:40:00.001-08:00

As expected, we’ve spent most of the past month meeting up with friends and family at annual get-togethers and family gatherings. This has afforded us the ability to take a lot of pictures… and that means we have a lot to put here!

Kicking off December, Kori and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe we’ve been married for that long. Nanny and Auntie Kim watched the kids so that Kori and I could have a quiet dinner at Panda Inn in Pasadena, the site of our first kiss and our wedding rehearsal dinner. (Those were two different occasions. We got married fast, but not that fast!)

Keelie does enjoy a good book. I wonder where she gets that?

To bookend that weekend, we attended a gathering of LaughingPlace.com staff, contributors, and community members. We had the upper floor of a restaurant at Downtown Disney (Anaheim).

Disney Legend Bob Gurr sat with us. Here he is with another great guy, Doobie, holding up a button commemorating LaughingPlace.com’s tenth anniversary.

As you can see here, Kyle was thrilled.

Keelie had load of fun playing with LaughingPlace.com owners Doobie & Rebekah’s other joint venture, their 10-month-old son.

Seriously, they were giggling and having a great time.

Doobie publicly blamed me for nagging him into having discussion boards in the first place. A lot of friendships have been formed through them and some people are extremely passionate about them, and that’s why most of these gatherings happen.

I’m seeing the strong resemblance Kyle has to my baby pictures.

Here’s Keelie insisting on playing in the cold rain runoff pouring down from our roof.

It was straight to the warm shower after that.

And here’s Kyle in his second-favorite spot.

One day was especially busy as we drove up to Pasadena so that Keelie, Kori, and Nanny could attend Teddy Bear Tea at the Langham in Pasadena (Huntington Hotel), before returning to Anaheim and getting ready for the annual Keel Family Christmas Party.

Keelie is ready for Teddy Bear Tea! Thanks, Aunt Vicki!

Awwwwwwww…

She got to meet Santa twice that day.

And here’s Kyle, working the rooms at the Keel party.

Kyle loved being held by the ladies. And they liked holding him. And I liked them holding him.

Kyle wasn’t so sure about being held by Santa!

Keelie wasn’t so sure about dealing with Santa again.

But she enjoyed unwrapping a couple of Clifford’s friends!

We were in Pasadena again Christmas Eve to see Christmas lights, have dinner, and exchange gifts. Cousin Macon holds the youngest male in the family – the kid who displaced him from that spot.

Christmas morning, we were back at the Keel’s for breakfast and exchanging gifts. Here’s Puma and Granddaddy…

And Uncle Toby…

Later, we went back to a different destination in Pasadena – to see Grampa and Grandma Pellman, and company…. and have more good food!

Keelie had a lot of fun playing with the dogs.

And Kyle enjoyed showing Grampa Pellman all his latest tricks. “Am I teething?”

And a kiss for carrying on the Pellman name…

Okay, that’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by and reading. Let us know how you are doing and what you are up to! Thanks again to everyone who hosted us for parties and meals. You can leave a comment here, or e-mail us: KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. Have a healthy, peaceful, prosperous, and Happy New Year!

Christmas Card and Letter

2009-12-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

If you read this blog, then you know what we've been up to this year and how we're doing. But we don't want to entirely abandon the tradition of having a Christmas card and letter. So, this is our environmentally-friendly Christmas card and letter, which should work just fine, since you are here reading it.

But if you still need something in your hands, then feel free to print this out.

Click on that card to get a larger image.

And here's our Christmas Letter...

Greetings! This year has been mostly boring in the sense that there really isn’t much to say of the sort that ends up in the traditional Christmas letter. That's a good thing. Although we can't tell you about one of us graduating, or getting a promotion, or about us moving to a bigger, better house, or taking a month-long trip to some tropical island paradise... we didn't lose our home, I didn't lose my job, no major crimes were committed against us, we didn't have to file a lawsuit against anyone, none of us suffered a major illness or injury, and the dog didn't die.

The big thing this year was the birth of our son Kyle, which happened nine days after the arrival of our niece Lainey. Kyle Emerson was born August 30 at 7lbs, 7oz, 20 inches, four hours after we got to the hospital, and fifteen minutes after Kori started pushing.

Keelie (2 1/2) is still at an age where she seems to learn new things every day, so watching her grow has been a lot of fun. She is full of personality and will, and sharp as a tack.

Please keep in touch!
–Ken, for the Pellmans of Anaheim
December 2009
KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com

On the Passing of Roy E. Disney

2009-12-16T20:49:00.001-08:00

It's the end of an era. Really. I explain why at LaughingPlace.com.

You will be missed, Roy!

December Descends

2009-11-29T21:03:00.001-08:00

Kyle’s first Thanksgiving Day is behind us. Keelie is appreciating the Christmas season more this year, being two-and-a-half. Our fifth wedding anniversary is approaching. On top of all of that, we’ve all been under the weather at some time over the last several weeks, with Kori and Kyle still dealing with that as I type. So this update is pretty much going to be all about the pictures. I’m thankful life isn’t more interesting for us right now.

I’ve included a few pictures like the one below, to demonstrate Kyle’s second-favorite place to be.

Having his left cheek on Kori’s left shoulder is where he wants to be…

…when he’s not nursing, anyway. But we’re not posting pictures of that. Notice the roll of paper in the above shot… it is standing in as facial tissue.

Keelie loves her books. Now that her baby brother has been around and out of the womb for three months, she’s caught on to the fact that he’s not going away, and sometimes she gets jealous of the attention he gets. But she does frequently offer him kisses anyway.

There he is again!

And below, he’s next to Cousin Lainey.

And it is back to his second-favorite spot…

Here’s Cousin Lainey being a flirt, as she and Kyle are held by their scruffy fathers…

Kyle with Nanny…

We were able to have a Thanksgiving meal with Kori’s side of the family a couple of nights early, where Keelie had a lot of fun with her aunts and uncles, as she typically does. Then on Thanksgiving Day we went to my old apartment in SoPas where Vicky and her latest roommate (and longtime friend) hosted my side of the family, among others.

We were able to eat outside, after sundown. That’s SoCal for ya.

As you can see, Keelie couldn’t wait to clean up.

Kyle got fussy at one point, despite being the arms of Nanny and Aunt Vicki. But when Uncle Chris took him, Kyle calmed down and was docile for quite a while.

So we call Chris the Baby Whisperer.

Vicki got her turn to hold Kyle…

Keelie is very fond of her Uncle Mike. Here she is playing with him, seeing who can blow the biggest bubblegum bubble…

Notice Mike’s shorts and flip-flops, all you who are about to be snowed in.

Planning some mischief…

Playing with Cousin Macon…

More with Uncle Mike…

And who knows what Kyle is plotting from his portable throne?

The kids have been keeping us busy. We live close enough to Disneyland that I’m able to take Keelie there from time to time after returning from work, like we recently did to view the holiday edition of the fireworks.

A lot of annual events are coming up, and we hope to make most of them. Maybe we’ll see you at one?

Thanks for stopping by. Let us know how you’re doing. You can comment here or e-mail us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Sleep is a Luxury

2009-11-08T19:41:00.001-08:00

We’re ten weeks along with Kyle. I look forward to when he’ll be sleeping through the night. I’m so glad Kori takes care of him most of the time - and so is he! Let’s see… where did we leave off? Oh yes. With something like this…

Notice the reddish tone to his hair? I may be a little biased, but I think he’s adorable. Especially when he isn’t screaming in my ear.

Kori got a picture of Keelie sleeping, too.

Yeah, normally she takes her naps in her bed, but here she simply fell over in the pool and went to sleep, which was okay since it is devoid of water and in the dining area. She looks all peaceful and everything, but there’s hell to pay when she wakes up in any other place than her bed. She does not like that at all.

We made it to Boot Hill this year. Actually, I was the only one of the four of us who ventured through the experience. But Keelie was entertained by the walkarounds. I told her they were “spookies” and she referred to them as “smookies”. Boot Hill gets better every year.

We made it up to my hometown of South Pasadena on Saturday, October 31, as some friends call it. Others call it Halloween, All Saints Eve, or Reformation Day. Did I miss anybody? First, we hit Garfield Park to meet up with Grandpa and Grandma Pellman.

The park was convenient because their house had recently taken it upon itself to spontaneously begin the remodeling process early in a rather dramatic way. Keelie is better suited to parks than delicately decorated homes, anyway.

After leaving the park, the four of us dropped in to Nanny’s place for a while.

Then Nanny and Auntie Kim took Keelie trick-or-treating, with Kori, Kyle, and I going along. No pictures of that – sorry. But you can see where we went by checking out a few movies. Kyle was dressed as the Sun, Keelie as the Moon, and Kori and I were stars.

Clearly still on a sugar high, Keelie was happy to be going to Disneyland the next day.

We stopped by the Ranch.

Be nice to the goats!

Kyle, as you can see below, was very excited to be there.

Keelie can be a rather intense child. Witness this pictures we took of her coloring…

Yeah… this is NOT the same picture…

…she’s just really intense, like I said. You can imagine that she can be a handful sometimes.

To celebrate Granddaddy’s birthday, we all (Kori, Keelie, Kyle and I… Kendra, Steve, and Lainey… Troy, Toby, and Kirby, and Puma & Granddaddy) got together at Puma & Granddaddy’s for dinner. Here’s Kyle telling Uncle Troy all about what he’s been doing these days.

Being held by Aunt Kirby…

…who took Keelie to the park as the Sun set.

These pictures really catch Keelie’s personality…

Smiling at the thrill ahead of her…

Getting ready…

Let’s do that again!

On the way out of the park, Keelie had to stop at the trees and count as if she was starting a game of hide-and-seek.

Caught ya!

Ahhhh, the three babies… Lainey, Kyle, and Keelie.

Keelie makes a bit of a mess when she eats cake and ice cream.

But she does manage to keep her peeps entertained.

Here she is with the birthday boy.

That’s all for now. Thanks for stopping by and checking it out. You can comment here or contact us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. Be sure to keep us up to date on what you’re doing!

A Way Overdue Update

2009-10-25T11:43:00.001-07:00

Okay, okay, so it has been way too long since we’ve updated this blog. My excuse is also the reason we should have been updating the blog more frequently – our two precious little darlings.

Now that I think about it, there really isn’t much to say. It’s the pictures we have to share. As much as we were wallflowers before, we have been even more so now. Mommie and baby need a lot of time at home resting, if not sleeping. There’s the lack of sleep, the high-energy-crying-at-the-top-of-his-lungs, the diapers, the feedings… not much time for anything else, really. Ah, parenthood.

While I was still taking time off from work, some of the folks at the office threw us a mini baby shower of sorts by taking all of us out for lunch at Claim Jumper. Grandpa Pellman joined in. That was so sweet of them.

Other folks at the office, as well as friends and family, have also made quite a fuss over Kyle while also including Keelie. Thanks to everyone – your thoughtfulness has been heartwarming. I truly didn’t expect anyone to make a fuss over the birth of our second child.

As any parent of more than one child can confirm, they demonstrate different personalities from birth – or even before. One of Kyle’s traits is that he just LOVES his car seat. See?

He’s about three weeks old in that picture. For comparison, here’s Keelie in the same car seat at about six weeks or so…

Another difference is that Kyle will let us know if his diaper needs to be changed. Keelie didn’t care.

Keelie has been friendly enough to her little brother, who has certainly changed her life. She briefly toyed with the idea of joining a monastic order, as you can see in this picture…

Kori is tired but happy.

Unlike his sister, Kyle took well to breastfeeding. He’s definitely packing on the pounds.

Kyle has had his first Disneyland trip, though it was a short one. Here we are getting ready to enter Disney’s California Adventure with Nanny, who can’t resist feeding Keelie.

Keelie loves to run around and climb at the park’s Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.

Puma and Granddaddy have had us all over for dinners, as usual, where Keelie keeps her grandparents, aunts, and uncles entertained.

I’d like to get more shots of Keelie’s beautiful eyes and smile, but she will often squint when she knows a photo is coming, and drop the smile.

We’ve been able to make one trip to Pasadena to see my side of the family. Here’s Kyle looking up at his grandmother.

Keelie, like her mother, enjoys her sweets…

Kyle in a milk coma after a feeding…

I like moments like this a lot more than when Kyle is trying to make me deaf…

The kid gets the hiccups frequently, which is no surprise, since he had them often while still in the womb.

Ah, such a little cutie…

We finally made it back to one of the monthly get-togethers at Hometown Buffet the other night, to see some of the people I used to work with at Disneyland.

I try to get Keelie out and about to get her some exercise and a break from her screaming brother. With the days shorter, I don’t get her to the local park as often, but I have been taking her to walk around the Disneyland Resort, spending more time in Downtown Disney than anything else. Fairly regularly, on one of my days off, I’ll take her to the resort to play around and meet up with Nanny.

Keelie continues to be a big fan of Oswald, Signing Time, and Elmo/Sesame Street, but has also added Clifford the Big Red Dog to her viewing demands.

Well, that’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by and reading. You can comment here, or e-mail us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Due Date – Ha!

2009-09-14T14:23:00.001-07:00

Today was the due date for the arrival of Kyle. Having had him out & about for over two weeks now, that is hard to imagine. Would have been easier for me, not so much for Kori!

We’ve been settling in and spending a lot of time at home. I’ve been running the errands alone. Before Kyle arrived, we’d either run most as a family or Kori would slip out while I was watching Keelie (who was often napping). It is nice to be able to take some time off.

Nanny came over and spent some time with Kori and the kids and the dog while I caught up on some work.

On another day, I had to slip out for a few hours to go on-location at one point, and that gave Kori a taste of what it will be like when it is just her and the kids for several hours.

Later, Nanny and Aunt Vicki have dropped by so that Vicki could meet Kyle.

Doobie, Rebekah, and Gideon have also dropped by. Gideon has quite a personality and is very cute. Watch out for that guy. It was nice to meet him and see our friends again.

Keelie likes coloring these days, and she also likes putting crayons in that cup and dumping them back out again.

Okay, by popular demand, a couple of more pictures of Kyle…

Notice that in none of these pictures are his eyes open.

Thanks for stopping by for this update. Write us! You can do so by commenting here, or by e-mailing us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com or by finding us on Facebook.

From 1 to 2: The Past Few Weeks in Review

2009-09-08T17:50:00.001-07:00

We had finally gotten into a routine with the new house and a two-year-old girl, but now we’re adjusting to life all over again because of our baby boy. I have been taking time off from work. We’ve had a series of doctor appointments; everything seems to be fine now.

Keelie was so carefree and unaware that her life was about to be turned upside down.

Here she is below thoughtfully composing music with the piano we recently bought on the cheap.

Here she is meeting adorable Cousin Lainey for the first time under the watchful eye of Uncle Steve, with Kori still pregnant…

Here I am with newborn Kyle…

Keelie meets Kyle face-to-face for the first time…

A kiss from Keelie…

Keelie looks after PJ, the doll Kyle gave her as a “hello” present…

The whole family…

Cousin Macon and Nanny with Kyle…

Granddaddy and Puma with Kyle and Keelie…

By popular demand, more pictures of Kyle…

Thinking of his next milk fix…

Keelie likes to hold her brother, which she can only do under strict supervision…

Poor Shelby. She used to be the baby…

That’s her “freshly groomed” look. Keelie went with me to drop Shelby off for her grooming. Keelie must not have seen that before, because she was very upset when I simply gave Shelby away to a stranger. I turned to Keelie and said, “Look, we have a new baby now. Every time we get a new baby, we have to give away the oldest. You’re next.”

Okay, so I didn’t really say that. I explained that it was like when Henry, a character in one of her favorite shows, got his haircut.

Here’s another shot of Kyle…

Kyle sleeps a lot in comparison to Keelie at this age. Then again, he knows how to nurse, so that helps. He HATES having his diaper changed and screams like heck the whole time. A couple of nights, he has woken up every hour or so, wanting to nurse for five minutes, as opposed to the “standard” 15 minutes every three hours. Other nights, he has mercifully slept through most of the night.

We’ve had a few visitors. Our friend Chrissy dropped off dinner one day (bless the Hampsons!) and Carla dropped off some baby stuff as her kids are older than ours – bless you Carla and Steve! Kim, Mike, and Macon dropped by to visit and brought donuts – bless you! And thanks to all of our family and friends and coworkers who have been supportive and congratulatory and have even sent gifts. It means so much to us.

That’s all for now. Thanks for checking in. Feel free to comment here or send us an e-mail at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. Find us on Facebook if you haven’t already!

Kyle is Born

2009-08-30T16:16:00.001-07:00

At 7:34am PDT this morning, without having slept in the past 24 hours, my wife Kori gave birth to Kyle. I was by her side and so was her mother, who had just ended her shift in that wing of the hospital.

There’s the happy grandmother! (Puma).

Kori was amazing.

So far, everything looks good. Kyle weighed in at 7lbs., 7oz., and measured 20 inches long. He also has quite the head of hair.

My father made it to see Kyle. There’s the proud Grandpa!

More to come, but if you’ll excuse me, I must get back to my wife and son! Thanks you, everybody, for your assistance and well-wishes.

Our Niece Has Arrived!

2009-08-23T13:29:00.001-07:00

The big news around here is that while Kori is still pregnant with Kyle, Kori’s sister and brother-in-law, Kendra and Steve, have welcomed their first child, Lainey! Yay!!!

Ain’t she adorable?!? Her grandmother “Puma” sure thinks so. Congrats to Kendra, Steve, and Lainey!!! Kori was able to assist Kendra during the birth – what a blessing!

It has been forever since we last updated this blog. I think this has happened for two reasons:

1) Facebook. We’re on Facebook. This is Kori’s page, and this is my page. I also Twitter. Now you can know about it every time I sneeze! Okay, so I don’t use Twitter THAT much. However, Kori and I do tend to update our Facebooks every day, and I suppose we’ll do so until the next big thing comes along and MySpaces Facebook. Connect with us there if you haven’t already.

2) Life has been fairly mundane, which I suppose is a good thing… if you can call any pregnancy mundane. Fortunately, Kori’s family lives nearby and my family lives a short enough drive away – so we get to see them all fairly regularly.

See? Mundane.

As I said, Kyle is still growing inside Kori. This means the next full update here will likely be just after Kyle comes home. Here’s Kori at 32 Weeks, with Keelie pointing to “Baby Kyle”…

And here is Kori now at 37 weeks…

Pregnancy hasn’t bothered Kori much until the last couple of weeks or so. It is good that she had been able to go so long without mood swings.

Keelie likes it when I talk to Baby Kyle, so the pregnancy has been somewhat entertaining for her.

Kori has been quite the mother and wife through this pregnancy, as she is the rest of the time. She’s also been very good at stretching our dollars, as usual. (It helps to have friends and family who have been very generous with baby stuff – thank you!) I knew I needed a wife who was good about money, and I sure did find one. Her packing my lunch, as she has been doing almost all of the time lately, not only is an appreciated gesture of love, but it saves us money and it is good for me as I am eating out lot less for lunch.

We’re nearing the first anniversary of obtaining our house. The place is definitely home to a 2-year-old, but we’re marking progress on the place in general. Kori is preparing Kyle’s room, though he’ll probably be in our room for a while, like Keelie was.

Keelie has been happy and cute and completely unaware that these babies – her cousin and her little brother - are going to change life dramatically. She’s had most of her grandparents and aunts and uncles to herself as far as being the cute little kid fascinating them with what she has learned. She continues to like swimming. I wonder where she got that?

As you can see, I will take her to a local park to let her burn off some energy.//

She found these little people there – here she is holding one.

I have to stay close, because she will jump off of the equipment without warning, expecting me to catch her.

That’s Keelie trying out her little brother’s Boppy, warming it up for him. She knew exactly where to put it – right next to her Bobby!

Here’s a funny story since out last update… although I didn’t find it too funny at the time…

Keelie will most likely be with my mother while we are in the hospital for Kyle’s emergence, so we tried to get her used to the idea of spending the night at my mother’s place by having a sleepover there.

I'd even shown Keelie the episode of her favorite cartoon where the main character goes to a sleepover. Well, Keelie didn't get the picture for hours. She just assumed we would be going home at some point, even though we did most of the "going to bed" routines and we turned out the light and went to bed. She wouldn't let us put her in her own little bed, and she wanted to play around with the clock, lights, jumping on the bed, whatever. It was awful.

Finally…Close to 2:45 a.m., she got really close to Kori and said "Mommie, I ready to go home, see Shelby".

…!!!…

I told her (again) that we were having a sleepover and she needed to go night-night. That seemed to do the trick, although she stayed in the big bed.

I still didn't sleep very well after that. More than once, Keelie did something she must do in her crib... she stood nearly straight up and then flipped so that her head and feet changed places... without waking up. I had to make sure she didn't fall off of the bed.

Keelie gets to spend time at the Disneyland Resort, especially California Adventure, mostly playing as she isn’t ready for rides and shows that get dark and noisy.

Here she is in a water play area, getting thoroughly soaked.

And, getting ready to go down a slide.

We celebrated her second birthday there, and rested in a room at Disney’s Grand California Hotel (thanks, Nanny). Here’s Keelie trying to order room service, with her cousin Macon taking notes.

Who is that girl in the mirror?

Resting with Nanny at Nanny’s crib…

Looking cute…

One of her activities…

Work is going well. I’m keeping very busy, though our work usually isn’t as high profile as the previous Department I represented. Sometimes I will make a note on my individual blog when I make it into the news.

I keep doing work here and there for LaughingPlace.com and TheDisneyBlog.com.

Thanks for checking in with us. Feel free to leave a comment here or e-mail us at KEPellman[at]yahoo[dot[com]. Let us know how you are and what you have been doing.

May We Update You?

2009-05-09T20:33:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since our last update, so if any of you have found yourselves unable to function due to the lack of updates, then I apologize.

Life has actually been mostly mundane, which is good. We were all under the weather recently, unfortunately, and we got killed on our taxes due to some one-time events last year, but other than that, things are okay. Kori is great at finding ways to stretch our dollars, and will literally shop around.

The biggest news is that we found out that our second child is a boy! Keelie is getting a brother. We also found out that her cousin, due mere weeks before her brother, is a girl. Kori is mostly handling this pregnancy well, and I sure do like the way she looks. Yowza!!! She doesn't like some of the side effects of pregnancy, but she hardly complains.

Keelie keeps growing and keeps learning new things as she should. For example, she lets us know when she needs her diaper changed and why. We'll hear this soft "diaper wet" or "dirty diaper" in the midst of the other stuff she'll be saying to us. We're close to trying potty training again. She continues to enjoy water in general... she likes drinking/spilling cups of water on herself, she wants to snatch the garden hose from my hand, she likes showers, baths, wading, and swimming. She is also quite the adventurous kid... a budding daredevil. She has been taking some "gymnastics" classes for kids her age – just about 45 minutes per week. She does enjoy them, but she hates waiting her turn to do things. It's now a habit for Keelie and I go to on walks around the block, and she likes it. She'll go so far as to bring my shoes to me and try to get hers on, to get the walk started.

Keelie has discovered Sesame Street, especially Elmo's World. This is in addition to her obsession with Oswald and enjoyment of Signing Time. She now asks to watch specific episodes. I need to get her hooked on Disney animated features.

As for Kori and I, we we've been watching American Idol, Survivor, and Celebrity Apprentice together, and The Soup, which, unlike the others, runs year-round and is on basic cable. Celebrity Apprentice has been the longest two hours on television every week. If they really need more than an hour, they could still keep it down to 90 minutes... but I guess then NBC would have to find something else to fill that half hour.

On the home improvement front, I planted an avocado tree in the backyard and a shade tree in the front yard – both were delivered by the City of Anaheim. I hope they live. Our front yard really isn't much of a yard at this point.

We continue to spend some time over at the Keel house, where Keelie loves seeing her Puma, Granddaddy, aunts, and uncles. Her godparents live next door so she gets to see them there, too. We also continue to make trips up to Pasadena to spend time with Nanny and Keelie's other sets of aunts, uncles, and her cousins Blaine (when he is home from college) and Macon. Nanny also continues to join us at the Disneyland Resort, where Keelie loves playing in the areas that are designed to be hands-on play areas.

Remember....you can see bigger versions of these pictures by clicking on them.

In early March, we went to the beautiful Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens with Grampa Pellman (above) and Grandma Kathleen. She's a docent there. Keelie loved it.

Keelie also loves bubbles.

Keelie loves hanging out at Disneyland!

Above, we leave Disneyland with Nanny. Below, she enjoys candy while being held by her Uncle Chris.

Keelie also loved going back to the Los Angeles Zoo in April, where we spent some time with Nanny, Aunt Kim, and Uncle Mike (along with her parents).

There she is below with Uncle Mike. It was Easter Weekend, hence the bunny stuff.

We're definitely catching her smile on camera more often.

Kori and I recently hit the Newport Beach Film Festival – thanks to Kendra & Steve watching Keelie. You can read about that by going to my column. Kori joined me the first of the two nights I went, and we had dinner before the screening and caught up a bit with some friends we don't get to see very often these days.

Well, that's it for this installment. Happy Mother's Day! Thanks for stopping by again. We hope all is well with you and your loved ones. Please let us know how you are doing and what you've been doing. Leave a comment here or contact us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. Or connect to one of us on Facebook - the links are to the right.

One of the best feelings in the world!

Marching On

2009-03-01T16:34:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are again.

Life has been rather quiet, which is good.

Keelie had to deal with a cough for a long time, in addition to other sickness symptoms here and there. She impressed her doctor with her language development, and her growth is good.

Kori has "popped" already, with her belly showing signs of Keelie’s sibling.

We are slowly but surely doing little projects around the house.

Kori and I celebrated the fifth anniversary of our first date, which is our alternative to dealing with the Valentine's Day craziness. Looking back, it looks like things happened so quickly - which they did. Thankfully, things have been good.

We all celebrated Mardi Gras over at Puma & Granddaddy's, where Keelie made sure to put on every strand of beads (dozens) she could find, and then methodically took them off one by one, before she tried to put them all back on again.

Here's a picture I snapped during one of the local toddler-parent meet-ups.

And here are a couple of good pictures of Keelie...

I wish I could bottle up toddler energy and toddler fury and sell it. You parents know what I'm talkin'bout.

Still no haircut for the little princess.

Can you spot the candy in this shot?

Keelie loves to climb things. She enjoys the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail at Disney's California Adventure, and I got these pictures on a recent trip there.

Nanny, Mommie, and Keelie.

And here's Keelie crawling towards Daddy.

And as far as the pregnancy... here's an ultrasound image of Kringle, complete with hand up to the face.

We were only eleven weeks along during this appointment, and we do not have a definite answer on whether Keelie will be getting a brother or a sister. It is always easier to make out features during the live ultrasound, as the baby moves around. The still images are more like Rorschach tests, aren't they?

The ultrasound sessions are always a treat, even if we aren't as nervous as we were with the first pregnancy. Kringle seems to be doing well.

Go on to the next entry to see three recent video clips of Keelie.

Thanks for stopping by again and please let us know what you are up to. You can always leave a comment here, or send us an e-mail at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. Also, you can find us on Facebook (and even MySpace) - the links are in the right column of the blog.

Recent Videos of Keelie

2009-03-01T11:35:00.000-08:00

Here are three recent video clips of Keelie.

Quite often, when the camera comes out, Keelie stops doing whatever it was that go us excited enough to whip out the camera in the first place.

This first clip, from back in January, is the first time we caught her on tape saying both "Daddy" and "Mommie" instead of only signing (ASL) the terms.

Keelie likes the strange noises Daddy can make when he claps and makes a face. There's a little bit of that at the start of this video, and then...

I really needed a haircut. I finally got one. More importantly, Keelie recognizes and says letters now, whether we are signing them to her, or whether she see's them on a sign as we're driving. Going past McDonald's elecits an "EMmmmmmm".

This is Keelie enjoying some play time at Disney's California Adventure.

She can't get enough of slides, and she doesn't let anything or anyone stand in her way when she wants to get to the top of a slide. At the end of the short clip, she starts to run back to get back up on the slide. Every major family theme park needs what is known as a "soft play" area for the kids. It lets the kids work off some energy.

Settling In to the New Year

2009-01-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

Greetings once again from Anaheim.

Actually, that photo above is from a trip to Nanny's in Pasadena, where Keelie had fun decorating a gingerbread man.

The biggest news from us lately was what we reported in our previous blog entry - that we're expecting our second baby. Other than that, we've been settling in to the new year. As she should, Keelie has been getting more expressive with her words and signs.

She LOVES playing with water - to the point of wanting to go outside in the rain. She had been protesting her showers, but when she realized that it was another chance to play in the water, she started to ask for them again. She'd readily jump into any body of water if she could - fountains, puddles... you name it.

We played it cool for the New Year celebration. In fact, here's a shot of Keelie from that evening...

Keelie enjoys having me chase her around the furniture in the living room. If I stop, she will come back to me, grab my finger, and drag me until I start to chase her again.

We've been enjoying short trips to the Disneyland Resort - one of the perks of living so close to the place in Anaheim.

Keelie hasn't had a haircut yet, so we usually put her hair up.

Here she is chilling at Minnie's house.

She will sign for Mickey and Minnie Mouse, whether she sees them in person or on artwork in our place. She was happy to have some one-on-one time with the Big Cheese.

She notes Mickey's nose...

Mickey found her cute enough to eat...

We celebrated Kori's birthday with her family, and broke the news of the pregnancy to them.

That shirt says "I'm going to be a big cousin in August" on the front. But on the back it says "And a big sister in September!" That was how we broke the news. Yup, things are going to to very interesting around here this summer.

Here's Keelie doing her best Elton John...

She likes playing the piano, as her favorite animated character is a piano player, too.

She also likes playing with glasses.

Kori reads a birthday card...

Here we are together. Keelie had a bit of boo-boo under her lip.

This has to be one of my favorite pictures yet...

Kori's father has always taken good pictures.

Keelie has nine actual aunts and uncles nearby, plus cousins Blaine (when he is back in town from college) and Macon, all of whom pay her a lot of attention... and that's in addition to all of her grandparents.

She usually doesn't mind being the center of attention.

Here she is with Aunt Kirby...

I'm glad we actually caught Keelie smiling on camera a few times.

In addition to having me chase her around, Keelie also likes being taken for a ride... on a sheet of cardboard, or dragged in a cardboard box, or being swung around in a cardboard box.

I should do this for exercise...

If anyone from the Downy company is reading this, you can send us a check for this publicity.

I tire of it long before Keelie, of course.

That's it for now. Thanks for stopping by again and please let us know what you are up to. You can always leave a comment here, or send us an e-mail at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. Also, you can find us on Facebook (and even MySpace) - the links are in the right column of the blog.

Working on the Sequel

2009-01-16T21:05:00.000-08:00

Kori is currently in production on Keelie's sibling!

We were working on the concept, having recently moved to a new location with more space. Keelie premiered in June of 2007 to wide acclaim, and Kori and I planned for a multi-project deal when we originally decided to merge in 2004 and start up our production company.

So, Keelie is a big sister and if everything goes well, we'll all meet her younger sibling face-to-face this September when she emerges for the premiere and publicity tour.

Obviously, we are still in the very early going, but we have been trying for a few months and the hints were there and the home test said YES... so... we wanted to share the good news with you.

What makes it all the more exciting is that a couple with whom we are really close are due in August.

Just as Keelie was known as "Firecracker" (due to her July 5 due date) until we knew she was a girl, we are referring to this one as "Kringle" due to... well... you're smart enough to figure that one out without me actually spelling it out.

As always, you can reach us by commenting here or by e-mailing us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Year in Review 2008 - And Keelie Pics

2008-12-26T19:42:00.000-08:00

There's a brief year-end message below. If you want all of the details... just click through the archives of this blog. This is the alternative to those paper Family Christmas Letters.

First, a few pictures of Keelie! She likes playing in our backyard...

She likes telling Daddy a thing or two...

She likes playing with Shelby and Honey (the storied doll).

She likes wearing shades and making offers you can't refuse...

(The bear refused... and now look at him!)

She likes playing with her cousins Macon (pictured) and Blaine...

She likes dancing with Aunt Kirby and the singing snow man...

She is blessed to have all of her grandparens, aunts, uncles, and cousins nearby most of the time.

Okay.... if you must have a paper letter from us, print this update out and cut out the "letter" below...

=====CUT HERE=====

The Year in Review 2008

Greetings to you and your loved ones! What a year it has been.

I didn't change jobs. I still have one, thankfully.

Kori continues to be an excellent mother to Keelie, and thanks to our biggest news of this past year - our move into a house - she's also proving to be good at fix-up projects around the house. Getting the house was made possible by the settlement of the lawsuit we had been pursuing, plus the downturn in the market and our financial discipline. [NOTE: If you don't have our new address, e-mail us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. Our old address was the one with the "G2" condo number.]

Keelie, going from sixth months to eighteen months, has grown and learned so much.

She also, thankfully, learned to take real naps. The move was good for her - giving her more room to play around. She's finally starting to talk verbally, having been able to say quite a bit in American Sign Language for a while now.

The only real trip we took this year was for Uncle Gary's funeral. That took us back to Illinois in June.

Since we all live in Anaheim, it has been only a matter of coordinating schedules to spend time with Kori's siblings and parents. We also try to make somewhat regular trips to Pasadena to see my siblings and parents, and sometimes they come to us. We even hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for the first time (with a lot of help from our families).

Kori and Keelie have been to some meet-ups with other moms and toddlers, and every three months or so we make the monthly gathering of some former coworkers of mine.

One of the ways we're keeping in touch is via MySpace – but even more through Facebook (see the links in the right-hand column). I wonder if those sites will be superseded by something else by this time next year? Well, if you haven't done so yet, connect to us there anyway. Of course, you are also invited to write to us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com to let us know how you are doing and what you've been up to.

We're enjoying our new home, and each other – and of course we continue to enjoy our families and friends. We just celebrated Christmas in Pasadena and Anaheim with family.

And finally... here's the family Christmas picture, where everyone looks good and is smiling happily and sincerely into the camera...

Thanks for reading and thanks for your love, friendship, and support throughout 2008. We hope you had a great Christmas. We look forward to 2009 and pray the New Year will be a great one for you, full of health, happiness, and His love.

Thankful

2008-11-29T15:08:00.000-08:00

Wow – it has been two months since our last photo update. That is because we've been keeping busy. We're still settling in to the house. With a toddler around, it takes a lot of time to do anything. Kori is very handy with fixes and improvements. She sometimes asks me to do part of whatever she is doing, but she's been doing most of the work. Let's face it – the house is her domain. That's why I have my cave. Every husband needs one. She does run her ideas past me, though.

We were also trying to get our condo rented out, which we were finally able to do a little over a week ago, thanks to help from Kori's father. We finished removing our last little tidbits from the place.

Keelie is over 17 months old now and has learned to speak a very few words, but has been acquiring American Sign Language signs at a rapid rate. She'll sign "More Oswald, please!" more than anything else. She's obsessed with that oxygen-deprived, hydrocephalic animated octopus. I’m sure you other parents in the DVR/VHS/DVD age can relate to the endless viewing of the favorite programs/movies of your child.

Keelie also sees us on the desktop computer and figures she wants in on it, so if we make the mistake of stepping away without pushing the chair in, she's on it like white on rice. She has also gotten in the habit of grabbing one of our fingers and leading us where she wants to go. If not by the hand, she will literally push against our legs, often so that we are walking backwards. She'll push harder if we stop, and will tug on our clothing if we turn the wrong way. She also brings us books and signs that she wants us to read them. She did a happy dance when she discovered that Kori had brought home more Oswald books.

Whenever we get up on a ladder or stepladder in the house, Keelie tries to climb up with us. Another little thing Keelie will do is use her sock-clad foot to "clean up" any drops of milk that have fallen from her sippy cup. And like I used to, she'll hum while eating.

As usual, we've been spending time with Kori's family when we can. We live even closer to them than we did while in the condo. We've also managed to make it to Pasadena to see my family a few times since I last wrote.

We had fun at Disneyland Park with my mother. While riding the Mark Twain riverboat, Keelie most enjoyed climbing up some stairs and then sliding back down them.

We all made it to a "mommy meet-up" at a local park. It was before Halloween, so some of the kids - and adults - were in costume. I wasn't the only father there, thankfully. Keelie again had fun running up and down steps. If we had some in our home, she’d probably be indifferent towards them.

There are my two ladies!

Keelie considers a slam dunk.

She likes the slides, but sometimes she needs added excitement.

So here she is imagineering a new thrill ride.

Daddy and Keelie watch TV.

There's Keelie innovating new skin care products.

Also before Halloween, we went to a pumpkin patch with Kori's parents.

Below is Keelie trying her hand at Outdoor Vending. That's heresy to this old "jani". At least it isn't popcorn or cotton candy.

She's on the prowl!

Keelie wants YOU... to be ready to hand out candy.

She's carefully considering her options.

For Halloween, we went to Kori’s parents’ house. Kori was "faith", I was "hope" and Keelie was "love".

We took Keelie out trick-or-treating and it is a busy neighborhood for that.

Keelie started off with candy her Puma gave her. She wanted to hold the candy in her hand at first, and didn't want to carry the bucket we had for her. When we tried to hand her the bucket, she would push it away. When we put her candy in the bucket, she would take it back out. It wasn't until residents started putting candy into the bucket that she was willing to put her candy in as well and carry the bucket.

"This way to more candy!"

She would sign "candy" over and over to get more candy from the same person. When Puma offered to carry the bucket for her, Keelie let go of my hand and held on to the bucket with both hands until Puma retreated. It was hilarious stuff.

On a Sunday earlier this month, we woke Keelie up “early” and drove up to the L.A. Zoo. We were meeting with my mother and sister (Kim) so that Dr. Craig Stanford, USC professor and Director of the Jane Goodall Research Center, could give us a personal tour of the zoo. My sister won this in an auction benefiting the South Pasadena Educational Foundation. Obviously, the guy is an expert in primates and so he was able to point things out to us as we checked out the exhibits. Keelie seemed to enjoy herself a lot - mostly at a playground. It had been forever since I'd been to the LA Zoo – same for Kori. And Keelie hadn’t ever been there before.

Below: Auntie Kim, Keelie, Kori, Dr. Stanford, and Nanny. (I don't know the names of the people in the above shot, but they have even more hair than me.)

On Saturday the 15th, we had a playdate with a high school classmate of Kori's out in Murrietta, which is on the way to San Diego in Riverside county. That means that with traffic going full-speed, it takes over and hour to get there. I noted to Kori that there was going to be traffic because we would be driving right past a fire off of the 91 freeway. It was very windy, hence the fires.

So sure enough, we were crawling along on the 91 and the smoke was rising literally right off of the westbound side of the freeway, and the helicopters were flying right over us and the airplane that drops the reddish chemical was off to the side, too. These were the fires that made national news recently.

We made it out to Murrietta. We were late, but we’d made it. Kori's friend has four kids and her husband was at work. We went to a park to picnic and for the kids to play. Keelie kept running over to this large puppy, signing "dog" over and over, and the puppy kept knocking her over and wrestling with her.

As the sun came down and it was time to come home, we kept checking the news and sure enough, the 91 and the 57 were closed, so they were telling people to take the 15 to the 60 to the 605 to get back to Orange County. Instead, we took the advice of Kori's friend and drove back on the 15 toward Lake Elsinore, then got on the surface streets to take Ortega Highway. There were a lot of other people doing the same thing. That stretch of Ortega Highway is something like 20 miles, and it goes over the mountains, and is narrow and winding. So there I was, seeing the tiny lights of civilization out of the corner of my eye, but not daring to take my eyes off the car in front of me because I'm terrified of heights in certain situations and because I didn't want to slow down and tick off all of the drivers behind me or miss a turn and go rolling hundreds of feet down a steep drop.

Toddlers don't seem to like long car rides, at least not when they are awake.

Finally, we emerged in San Juan Capistrano and took the 5 north back to Anaheim. Ash was falling down everywhere. It was sad that homes were lost in the fires, but I’m glad they weren’t worse. We'll be heading into rain season here in southern California. January and February are traditionally when we're hit the hardest. Then, there might not be any meaningful rainfall for the rest of the year – which is fire season.

And now... something I had never in seen in person before... Kori with bangs...

After Kori worked so hard preparing the place, we hosted Thanksgiving here for our families-of-origin. On Kori’s side, Kirby, Kendra, and Steve were able to make it, and on my side, Kim, Mike, Blaine (back from college), Macon, and my mother were able to make it. I remember all those years I worked shifts at Disneyland, either opening or closing shifts, and often had two homes to visit for Thanksgiving. The advantage of hosting this year was not having to drive anywhere, especially two or three places. We do appreciate the invitations we get, though, and driving around the southland is a small price to pay to see family and have good eats. Things went well here, especially with all of the help we got. Thanks, everyone!

Here's a shot of the Great Room.

We're getting there. You can see the kitchen on the left and the entryway on the right.

Oh – and one last thing I wanted to mention that Keelie does. She climbs on top of this ball that is wedged between the sofa and the excercycle, and bounces up and down. Sometimes she has a pratfall, but she’s a tough one.

Thanks for stopping by and reading up on what we've been up to. Find us on Facebook and MySpace (see the links on the right). Go ahead and write a comment here or e-mail us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com to let us know what you have been up to.

Hey, Ken Does Have His Own Blog

2008-10-17T21:16:00.001-07:00

It is where I post stuff that doesn't really relate to the family as a whole. Now would be a good time to click over there.

House It Going?

2008-09-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

It has been way too long since we’ve done a real update and uploaded pictures. So here's an update. Remember - you can click on each picture to see a larger version.

As I wrote earlier, we’ve moved! We’re still in Anaheim, closer to Kori’s side of the family, closer to Disneyland, and a couple of freeway exits closer to the office. We moved from our condo to a house - doubling our square footage - and are still settling in and working out the kinks. This has kept us very busy (and we got sick, too… nothing too serious).

Here’s Keelie a couple of months ago, packing herself for the move.

Our house has an attached garage, and plenty of parking space, too, so I won’t have to bother with finding a parking spot or moving the pickup to avoid getting a ticket.

There is a large room with a fireplace that was added on to the house, taking up some of the backyard.

When that happened, what had been the living room area, directly to the left once inside the front door, was walled off and given a door and became a smaller room with a fireplace.

Also when that happened one of the bedrooms lost its windows/outdoor access, so it is now like a giant closet with its own closet. That is my cave. Kori will retain control of the rest of the place, of course, like any wife. But I will have my cave in which to retreat and concoct my elaborate plans for world domination.

Look at that! Shelves already built in. Which is good, because we have more books than some bookstores. That was painfully obvious during the move.

Our bedroom has a bathroom with a shower. Hopefully someday, we can push the front of the house out a little (there is plenty of front yard) and give our bathroom a nice big bath. On the other side of our bathroom is another bathroom that does have a bath. However, it currently does not receive hot water (long story). Oh well.

Then there’s Keelie’s room and the baby’s room. Since there is no baby right now, it is storage space.

Before we actually moved ourselves in, we had the old heater removed, which gave us an additional closet, and we had a new HVAC system installed, extending it to the addition. Otherwise, the place was just going to be too hot on the warmer days.

We also had a lot of other work we needed to do, including getting a washer and dryer, and a gas range/oven. Kori’s father did a lot of work around the place (bless him!) but what he couldn’t do, the good folks at Rescue Rooter did, including taking care of several plumbing problems and installing the appliances. They were great.

The neighborhood is mostly single-family homes, and the way our street is situated, the only traffic is for the homes on the street.

Keelie has been enjoying the extra room. She’s fifteen months old now, after all. Both she and Shelby like having a bigger backyard. Also with the move, Keelie finally started to sleep in her own room. And to think some people with a fifteen-month-old already have another baby.

Based on the condition of the house and the finance history, it looks like someone tried to flip the place not too long ago. It also looks like someone wasn’t able to handle all of the costs of the place and stripped it (like taking shower heads) before they left. There are mostly new windows and carpeting, which is good. It is interesting to see what the house value was at the height of the market and compare that to what the bank ended up accepting.

In addition to Bill (Granddaddy) and Pam (Puma) helping out of a lot around the place, Kori’s siblings have all been of great assistance in doing such things as watching Keelie, helping with the actual moving, and getting the condo ready to rent out. Our friends Dave & Jenn were a great help with the actual move as well, and James and Chrissy babysat Keelie during a key day of the move, and Keelie had a great time playing with their son Isaac.

My mother (Nanny) has also taken Keelie to the Disneyland Resort at least three times now, making it easier for Kori and me to both work on the move. Before the madness really began, we’d all visited the Resort together and had a good time, though Keelie has a problem with experiences (like rides) that get dark and noisy – which is just about everything.

Whitewater Snacks is great. Now that I've said that here online, Disney will probably get rid of the place.

And here are the ladies at a very special place.

Speaking of madness, towards the end of July, our water heater in the condo decided to leak, and so we had to replace it. It happened at the end of a weekend that started with rushing Shelby to an emergency vet because we thought she’d broken some bones. She’s okay, but it sure took a lot of money to find that out. That was an expensive weekend.

Things got better though as August got into gear. We had a picnic with some of our friends that we hadn’t seen in a while. One of the families had been in Africa and was passing through town on their way to settle in another state, so we all got together. Jon and Jeni have two small children now, one older than Keelie (Gracie) and one younger (Isaiah). James, Chrissy, and Isaac were there, too, as was Dave, and Aaron & Cherise. Keelie had a lot of fun playing with the other kids and running around in general, and it was nice to see most of the gang again.

Here's Keelie leaning on Gracie.

And here's Keelie playing with Isaac.

And here's the group (Kori took the picture).

It had been too long since we’d seen Bob and Julie, and we needed to meet Katie, so all six of us had dinner together at the Disneyland Resort. Keelie had fun dropping crayons on the floor.

There isn’t much else to say. Life has been about moving and settling in to the new place and getting the old place ready to rent out. Hopefully, we’ll be settled in and squared away soon.

Thanks for stopping by and reading. Keep us up to date on that you’ve been doing. As always, you can reach us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com, and you can submit a comment to the blog as well. You can find us on MySpace and Facebook - the links are in the column here on the right.

We'll Be Back Soon

2008-09-08T18:21:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to check in and let you know wer'e still alive, we have all sorts of things to tell you, and some great pictures to upload, too. But we've been very busy...

Moving.

We're moving into a house we bought. It isn't too far from our condo. We'll have much more to show you and tell you once the move is complete. For right now, we're just too busy!

Thirteen Months and Counting!

2008-07-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

Keelie has passed 13 months! It has been too long since we’ve uploaded pictures and video.

Also, as I mentioned in the previous entry, significant events have been happening for our family.

The first was that the three year legal battle in which Kori was the plaintiff was settled ahead of formal arbitration, saving a lot of people a lot of trouble.

As typical with such out-of-court settlements, we won’t be able to go into details, and nobody - especially not the people who had to pay a bunch of lawyers and still issue a settlement check - admits guilt… blah blah blah. Most of the people we maintained were responsible are no longer with that company anyway. Most. They know who they are, we know who they are, and so do a lot of other people.

Anyway, the lawyers have been paid, the check is in the bank, and the matter is over. I guess it is fitting that it happened near Independence Day.

Speaking of Independence Day – we celebrated at the home of David & Jennifer, along with some other friends.

Certain fireworks are legal in that city. Keelie wasn’t exactly captivated by them. But then, she’s teething more teeth - they just keep coming - and it is hard to tell if she is having trouble with that, or is frightened by something.

Summer has brought a welcome return to swimming, and getting Keelie used to pools – which, despite her expression in the picture above, she tends to enjoy. The three to which we regularly have access are outdoor pools – the one at our condo complex, the one at my mother’s condo complex, and the pool at Puma & Granddaddy’s. So it isn't like we can enjoy them much in the winter, when Anaheim and Pasadena are known to get down to a chilly 60 degrees F.

Below, Keelie reaches for her cousin.

The other big news is that we found a house in Anaheim! We hope to get everything squared away so that we can officially call it ours. Our plan is to hold on to our condo for a while and rent it out. We’ve been waiting for conditions to be right to upgrade, and with the housing market being what it is these days, and with our settlement adding to our savings, the time was right. Who would have thought it would turn out to be a good thing that those people kept dragging out the inevitable conclusion of Kori’s case? A big thanks to them.

Here is Keelie in a secret undisclosed location.

She reaches for the outlet and is told “no”.

So here is a video of her performing what we call “The Tripod”, which is one of her signs of pouting or despair.

You can see in the picture below an example of something else Keelie has been doing lately – putting herself inside boxes and baskets and shelves – basically, wherever she will fit.

Recently, we helped Aunt Kendra celebrate her birthday at the beach.

It was nearing sunset when we got there. Keelie had never been to the beach and we wondered how she would react to sand, considering how grass and dirt freaked her out. She was tentative at first, then she loved it.

She was even flopping over on her belly and making "sand angels". Here is some more video, alas with no sand angels.

Awwwww!

We tried to take her down to the water, but she didn't like the wet sand and never got near the water.

Lightning provided a beautiful show and we could even see the Disneyland fireworks from the beach.

Keelie has been learning more sign language. Soon, she’ll know more signs than I do!

Here’s Keelie in a favorite spot – the bookcase.

Look at Elmo. As Moe from The Simpsons would say, "He ain't laughin' no more!" Actually, Keelie will put herself in that box, too.

She's always loved climbing on stuff, and she’s getting better at it. She’s figured out how to climb up on a wooden rocking chair, on which she will wobble precariously while standing. I tried to discourage her from climbing onto the chair by tilting the chair foward and resting it like that, but she climbed up on the chair anyway, as you can see in this shot.

Yeah, she's determined and creative. I blame her mother.

That’s all for now. Thanks for stopping by. You can find us on MySpace and Facebook (see the sidebar). You can leave us a comment here or e-mail us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Stay Tuned... We'll Be Right Back After These Messages

2008-07-16T05:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks for checking back with us. I'm sorry we haven't updated in a while and it has been even longer since we've uploaded photos. There are a few reasons for this. There are a couple of big things to note that have happened... well, one is still in the process of happening, but was triggered by the other. We've been a little busy tending to the one that is still in the process.

Also, since Keelie is approaching 13 months, we feel less urgency in uploading her photos. She's still so adorable she could kill you by smiling at you, but noticeable changes aren't happening every day now...other than new teeth (five now!).

So I'll try to get some nice pictures up soon, and share our two pieces of good news. Thanks again for checking back. (And no, we're not expecting baby #2...yet.)
-Ken

Paying Our Respects to Uncle Gary Johnson

2008-06-29T22:21:00.000-07:00

Kori and I both have ties to central Illinois. Kori’s mother Pam (Puma) lived in Illinois and continued to do so as she attended Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU), and she met Bill while they were working together in Illinois. Kori attended IWU, living there (Bloomington-Normal) while school was in session. My mother and her two brothers were raised in Peoria, and my maternal grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins all lived in the area and stayed in Illinois until recently. Uncle Ron and Aunt Kathi still live in the Peoria area, while everyone else has scattered. Even my sister’s husband has sisters, nieces, and nephews who live in Mendota, which isn't too far away.

We have made a few trips to Illinois over the last several years for funerals and weddings and to see relatives. In 2004, in the middle of a trip to northern California to see Kori’s youngest sister compete in Junior Miss, we flew out to attend my grandmother’s funeral in Peoria in a whirlwind visit that included an hour with the Johnsons in Bloomington-Normal and a night in Mendota. In May of 2005, we took a longer, more relaxed trip so that Kori could be a bridesmaid in sorority sister Kelly’s wedding, and we took the opportunity to visit the Johnsons and Bloomington-Normal, the IWU campus, and my relatives in Peoria. In June of 2006, we had a short trip to Peoria for my grandfather’s funeral.

This time, we went back for a funeral. Gary Johnson, D.D.S., was “Uncle Gary” to Kori, though not actually an uncle through marriage or birth. As the story goes, Pam was living in Illinois and decided to attend IWU. She and Chris (short for Christine) ended up being sorority house roommates, and became best friends. Thus, Chris became “Aunt Chris”. While in school, she started dating local football hero, frat boy, and dentist’s son, Gary, whom she married. Pam was the Maid of Honor.

Gary and Chris raised 5 children – Marnie, Gary Shaun, Ashleigh, Tyler, and Dylan, and were surrogate parents to Kori while she was attending IWU. Uncle Gary and Aunt Chris made it out to California for both our wedding and Kendra & Steve’s which was less than a year later.

Word came last Monday that Uncle Gary had passed away suddenly and quietly in his sleep. It was unexpected as he was still relatively young. Coincidentally, Pam & Bill had been there for a weekend visit, so they changed their plans to return to California in order to stay in Bloomington-Normal for Aunt Chris and the family. Kori planned out our trip, reserving the flights, hotel, and rental car.

Wednesday morning, Kendra and Steve dropped the three of us off at the Long Beach airport for our flight to Chicago – or rather, they rode with us in our minivan and drove it off, taking Shelby to the vet to be boarded.

The airport is a tiny one by LAX or O’Hare standards, but it does have honest-to-goodness major air carriers. Jet Blue flies out of Long Beach, and we like their cheap rates, leg room, and entertainment, which helps the flight go by faster. Fortunately, we had a non-stop flight. Jet Blue now sells headphones instead of giving them out… but the price is only a dollar and the headphones are standard in that you can use them with your own electronic devices. So, you can bring your own to help you enjoy your choice of XM radio or Direct TV channels. Don’t expect pillows or blankets.

Traveling with a baby or toddler is no fun. Fortunately, Keelie is generally very well behaved (at least, according to what other people tell us), though when she gets bored she snatches our glasses from our face and tugs on our earphones. The biggest hassle is getting through security, because you have to take off your shoes, put everything on the conveyer belt, hold the toddler, break down the stroller/car seat combo, and then they have to examine the stroller separately because it is too big for the scanner. Meanwhile, if one of you is pulled off to the side because you set off the metal detector, that leaves the other person to collect everything, including the stroller, while shoeless and holding a toddler. The stroller/car seat combo gets checked at the gate, which is good because it doesn’t count as a carry-on and it can be used up until boarding.

As it turned out, our flight’s departure was delayed for over an hour as there was weather hold-up in Chicago. We would allow Keelie to walk around the waiting area as we closely followed her, keeping her from most perils.

We had an uneventful flight to Chicago, save a dirty diaper.

From the airport, it was a two-hour-plus drive to the Bloomington-Normal area, with much comfort from the warm sticky weather, thanks to the air conditioning.

The viewing for Uncle Gary had started at 3pm and was still going strong after 8pm, when we arrived. Clearly, Uncle Gary was a very loved, respected, and admired man. He had taken over his father’s dentistry practice, serving an area in which he had lived all of his life, save dental school. Being the guy that he was, father, local boy, football hero, and supporter of local causes, he had made a lot of friends in the area.

We made our way to check in at our hotel from there.

After the services Thursday morning, everyone headed to the Johnson home. With so many people wanting to be there (I did mention that he was loved, respected, and admired), everyone parked in a large nearby parking lot and members of the football team shuttled people to the home, a beautiful place on a private road. Uncle Gary was the “team dentist” for these boys and a huge general supporter, so they were there paying their respects.

The home, inside and outside, was packed. Biaggi's, a local Italian restaurant in which the Johnsons invested, catered with a seemingly endless supply of delicious food. (There are barely 20 Biaggis now – they are taking a slow-growth approach to preserve company control and the quality of the dining experience.)

People traded stories about Gary’s antics and generosity. Slideshows and videos played in different rooms.

We stayed as long as we could, until there were only a handful of people sticking around.

Friday, Kori’s sorority sister Kelly drove down with her 5 week old baby boy Jonathan to meet us at our hotel and join us for lunch at Steak & Shake. Steak & Shake is a must whenever we are in an area that actually has them. Cracker Barrel usually is, too, but we just didn’t have time for it this trip. Steak & Shake originated in Bloomington-Normal.

Later, we dropped in to see the Johnsons again for a little while.

Saturday, we were able to drop in on the Johnsons again, bringing Gondolas from Avanti’s and getting our fix of that other local must-do food place. Kori needed their pizza bread. She probably would have kneaded it, too, if they would have let her. We couldn’t stay at the Johnson’s long, though, because we had to make it back to Chicago for our flight.

As it turned out, the weather delayed our flight again. As we were waiting at the gate, it even hailed. The weather had been so good for the whole drive in, but it didn’t hold up. Our plane wasn’t able to land, and with fuel running low, they pulled up and went to Peoria, which I’m sure was probably the destination for some of the passengers to begin with. It took a while for the refueled airplane to get clearance from Chicago to take off from Peoria to fly to Chicago, thus our flight was delayed for something like 3 hours. (Jet Blue handed out water and comped drinks and the in-flight movies and headsets to make up for it.)

While waiting at the gate, and in between following Keelie on her toddler adventures, we talked with a couple next to us and found out that the gentleman also works for Los Angeles County and had worked under my father, and that they were in law school together. They were great in helping to pass the time and in keeping Keelie entertained.

Keelie fell asleep as we stood in line waiting to board, but she awoke not long after we sat down – quite a short nap for a very tired girl.

The plane touched down in Long Beach after 11pm, and after the curfew for the airport – they had to ask for permission to do so. Kendra and Steve were kind enough to greet us with our minivan.

It was nice to see the Johnsons again, although we were sad that it was to say goodbye to Uncle Gary. They were so sweet and gracious and Keelie was happy to meet them. They told us how munch Uncle Gary loved us, and we hope they could tell it was mutual. There was no need to swing by Peoria – Uncle Ron and Aunt Kathi are the only close family members left there, and they were out here in California during our time in Illinois. Go figure! (Okay, technically cousin Jeff and Anna are still in the Peoria area, but they're getting ready to move and so we let them be.)

Grad, Dads, and a Birthday!

2008-06-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

So hard to believe it has been over a year since Keelie emerged into the world!

Keelie is doing well as far as height, weight, head size, and developmentally. She got her latest round of shots and was really upset about it but was fine after a couple of minutes.

We tried to surprise my father with dinner out the Friday before Father’s Day. All of us – Kathleen, my dad, Kori, Keelie, and I - hadn’t been together since Easter Sunday.

In this picture, you can see Keelie’s technique of getting everything from the bottle without using her hands, which she likes having free to pick up things and to point.

These days, if you pick her up, you are almost guaranteed to get her to point to something and say, “Muh!”

Here she is having a good time sitting next to Grampa. Notice the bottle.

For Granddaddy, Kori’s family - all of us but Toby and Kirby, who couldn't make it - got together at Marie Calendar’s on Father’s Day.

Keelie has become obsessed with patty-cake, and will grab your hands or wrists, no matter where they are, so she can get you to perform for her. Like so...

Shelby and Keelie are interacting more, with Shelby being more willing to allow Keelie to put her hands on her. But it sure looks like she’s tired.

My nephew Blaine graduated from SPHS, my high school alma mater, and the ladies and I joined my entire family at the graduation ceremony. At an SPHS function, you’re just as likely to recognize a face because of their appearance in film or on television as you are because of family resemblances. “Do I know you? Or do I just know your work?”

As always, the grads are reunited with their friends and family on the baseball field after the ceremony.

Here they are all together – Mike, Blaine, Kim, and Macon. In the background, you can catch a glimpse of the high school’s pool, where I spent much of my childhood and adolescence engaging in recreational swim, swimming lessons, swimming practice, races, and community service. And sunbathing. Ah yes… soaking up the deadly rays of the sun and going through puberty in a Speedo.

We did go swimming after the festivities… but that was back at Nanny’s condo complex. Here you can see Keelie in a rocking chair at Nanny’s that is a family heirloom. My mother was counting up the generations that had sat in that chair as of Keelie’s use… I think it was six.

Keelie’s birthday was celebrated over at Puma & Granddaddy’s. Here’s Keelie about the moment she reached a full year.

Keelie and I enjoyed the pool. I have been taking her “swimming” at our condo, too.

After dinner but before presents, Keelie got to enjoy a cake, albeit with everyone standing around - two big, flashing cameras, and a video camera pointed at her.

She probably expected me to take the cake away and clean her hands and face. She seemed a little hesitant.

She did manage to get into it enough to make a little mess. Such a cutie.

Thanks for stopping by! Please let us know how you are doing. You can leave a comment for us here or e-mail us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Services Today For Lynn Casani

2008-06-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

Today in my home town of South Pasadena, there will be services for Mrs. Lynn Casani. The obituary in the Los Angeles Times is here.

She was quite a woman, one who was surrounded by boys! Very active boys! Poor woman never had a daughter of her own, but she played "mom" to so many, I'm sure she has plenty of "daughters" out there in addition to her daughters-in-law.

When Kori and I first tested and found out Keelie was on the way, we drove around town to tell our family. We went to visit someone on the hospital to tell her, and there was Mrs. Casani, visiting our family member. It seemed perfectly natural for Mrs. Casani to be among the first to find out our news. She reacted as though we were making her a happy grandmother, though she had already been through this with grandchildren of her own.

Her hospitality was legendary, especially on December 31-January 1, as her home was located in the perfect spot to enjoy some of the annual festivities in Pasadena.

There was a time during my youth during which her sons were like cousins to me. One of them was my age, so that worked out well, especially when you added in my second cousin Shannon (may he rest in peace), who was also our age and was my best friend.

Mrs. Casani will be missed by many.

I'd like to note the following from the obituary:

In lieu of flowers the family would like to establish a scholarship fund at Loyola High School. If you care to contribute, please make a check payable to the Lynn Casani Scholarship Fund, and mail to: Loyola High School 1901 Venice Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90006

Heading For Her First Birthday

2008-06-08T18:10:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe it has almost been a year since Keelie was born. This time last year, Kori was uncomfortable and asking Keelie to "come out!" Keelie was content to stay in and rest her foot on her Mommie's liver.

She's too cool for the room.

Since our last update, we’ve been over to Puma & Granddaddy’s a couple of times, and both times we took Keelie to the park. She hadn’t been introduced to grass before, and so the first time, she wanted no part of it. She felt better about it the second time.

Here she is below with her Daddy and her Uncle Steve.

I had to entice her off of the blanket.

Ah, the daydreams of Daddy and Keelie...

I like this shot below, with Granddaddy watching Keelie in the background.

And below is Puma enjoying her granddaughter.

We also took a trip to Pasadena to celebrate Binky’s birthday, where Keelie spent some time in the smimming pool. I found it to be a little cold, but she didn’t seem to mind.

Here she is with her cousins, Blaine and Macon, who are almost all grown up. How did that happen? There's a 15-year gap between when Macon was born and when Keelie was born. Auntie Kim and Uncle Mike are almost empty nesters!

Here's Keelie with her Aunt Binky.

Keelie has developed a preference for Daddy, since she really hasn’t been away from Mommie at all lately, while Daddy will be gone for various amounts of time on any given day. She is very happy on the days when I’m home as she wakes up, and when we need to get her back to sleep, she’ll calm down more quickly and will stay asleep longer if I’m the one rocking her to sleep. Also, when she hears me at the front door coming home, she will make her way there with a big smile on her face. Not sure how long this will last, but I'll enjoy it as long as she does it.

This has not lessened her attachment to Mommie in the slightest. In fact, when I will be watching Keelie and Mommie is in the other room, Keelie will often go to to the gate and cry in protest for her Mommie.

Here she is asleep on her Daddy's ample gut.

The other day, she wanted to follow her Daddy outside as I was going to run errands. She got between me and the screen door. So, Kori came over to get her, but every time Kori would reach for her, Keelie would sit down by the screen door. As I would open the screen door, she would stand up again and press against it like she was going to leave with me. She'd sit down again when Kori would bend down to pick her up. How do they figure these tactics out so early?

Life since our last update has mostly been about the basics. Not too much exciting to write about, although we did meet up with Craig, Kristen, and their kids for a dinner out.

Please keep us up to date on how you are doing. Thanks for stopping by. You can leave a comment here, or you can e-mail us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com.

One last thing, since you've been so good. Below is a short video. We had to get Keelie on camera reacting to her Mommie eating a Skinny Cow fudge pop. Turns out Keelie likes the taste, and the cold probably feels good on her gums, too.

Birthdays, an Anniversary, and Indy... Oh My!

2008-05-27T21:56:00.000-07:00

Thanks to another new camera that Kori got for Mother’s Day (this being a “real” camera), we’ll have some better quality pictures to post here. Remember - you can click on the pictures to see bigger versions.

Puma is reluctant to let Keelie go.

Keelie is over 11 months old now and is getting smarter by the day. Since I was still days away from turning five when my youngest sibling was born, I didn’t remember how fast kids grow and develop new skills. Wow! She’s learning new climbing techniques; she has learned to point to things that are out of her reach, which is effective – as long as it is something we want to give to her. She's also started doing the sign for "more" when I'm feeding her, and developed a habit of sticking her fingers far enough back in her throat to gag herself (girls learn so early, don't they?).

My two ladies!

Keelie has figured out how to get around the gate we use to keep her in the living room. When Keelie does manage to get around the gate and I pick her up, she is okay until I take her back across the gate, thus thwarting her progress. Then she'll let me know she isn't happy. Her sulk mode includes sitting on the floor with her legs apart, leaning forward so that her face is nearly on the floor, and crying. She seems to be able to do simple counting, too.

One of the best feelings in the world!

She likes it when I'm home when she wakes up for the day, and she knows based on Kori's routine whether or not I am home and in the other room when they wake up.

There she is, no doubt plotting a way around that gate.

We bought some new clothes for Keelie since she's finally outgrowing most of the clothes she received as gifts. While we were in the store, we picked up a toy she likes because of the music, sounds, and lights. Stuff that lights up – like cell phones or buttons on a remote – capture her attention.

I wish they could stay this peaceful.

Adorable!

Who knows what she is plotting here? Look at her tummy peeking through.

Since our last photo update, we celebrated a belated Mother’s Day at Puma & Granddaddy’s, and we went to Nanny’s place to jointly mark my birthday and my brother’s. I spent a little time in the pool. Keelie didn't mind the water. She wasn't thrilled about it... probably didn't know what to think about it.

There she is with her Aunt Binky.

I took a couple of days off from work for my birthday/our engagement anniversary and so we could see a midnight screening of the Indiana Jones film with the usual suspects at the Big Newport in Newport Beach, as I wrote elsehwhere.

Oh, the places we go!

I like this shot below because Keelie is laughing, she's playing with her new toy, and the dog is in the frame, too. Me? I needed to shave.

Thanks for stopping by. Let us know how you are doing. You can submit a comment to this blog or write us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. Thanks!

Ken's Indiana Jones Film Review Online

2008-05-22T17:25:00.000-07:00

My film review (and a little bit of what we did yesterday) can be found over at my individual blog by clicking here.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T13:58:00.000-07:00

It's Kori and Keelie's first Mother's Day since the umbilical cord was cut. Woo-hoo! Kori has been such a great mother to Keelie. She takes to it like a duck to water, or like a nerd to Apple products.

We've been keeping things simple around here. Hopefully, we'll be looking for a house before too long. If the prices continue to go lower, perhaps there will be someplace around here under the seven figure mark.

Now for a round of the game "Where's Keelie?"

Keelie has become very familiar and comfortable with the family room, and can navigate around it quite well. If we don't put the gate up, she'll make a beeline for kitchen. If we get the gate up before she make it there, she let's us know how disappointed she is in our protectionist ways. She's at the point where walking is becoming preferable to crawling, but if she elects to crawl, off she'll go! She also climbs into her little rocker, though she' s more apt to slide and wiggle off of furniture, or out of someone's grasp.

Shelby and Keelie seem to have arrived at a new level in their interaction. Shelby is still not always happy with Keelie, but is more open to playing with her. That's probably because Keelie slips so much of her food to her.

Below we can see Keelie inviting Shelby to join her in waiting for me to come home.

"Nope, that's not Daddy. He's coming. Mommie says so."

"There's Daddy!"

I like how both Keelie and Shelby express excitement at my return. The topper, though, is getting the welcome home from Kori!

We like these pictures below, because if Keelie ever wanders away, we'll have good "mug shots" of her.

"Look to this side, Keelie."

"Okay, now look to this side."

She's our little blue-eyed cutie.

I wanted to slip in some more photos of Keelie and Shelby waiting for me on a different day. Can you blame me?

"Hey, Daddy's almost here."

"Open...open....open..."

We decided to go to see my mother a day early and spend some time with her, Kim, and Kim's family. Here Auntie Kim is helping as Keelie learns "Patty Cake".

Keelie loves to play with lids. She'll bang two together to make noises. She's got rhythm.

Here's a short video clip of her playing in Nanny's kitchen.

Thanks for stopping by. You can leave a comment here, or e-mail us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. Let us know how you are doing.

This Story Has Teeth, and It Has Legs

2008-04-27T17:11:00.000-07:00

In the past two weeks, there's hasn't been a lot of excitement, except Keelie is finally teething, and she's starting to walk unaided.

I think I finally captured proof that Keelie is a cyborg. Check out her right eye in that shot.

Actually, I kind of expect an outfit like this to come with a light saber.

"Use The Force, Keelie."

Or, you can just make a funny face.

That's our little blue-eyed gal. We almost caught her smiling on camera.

Probably because she is teething, she has also taken to sticking her tongue out. Here's a short video clip taken right after we put Oragel on her gums.

See? Not much going on around here.

Keelie Feeds Shelby

2008-04-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's the short clip of Keelie feeding Shelby.

Taxed For Time

2008-04-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

Finally, the moment you have been waiting for is here!

Keelie loves playing with red plastic lids.

Greetings from record-hot Anaheim. Certainly no flooding or snow problems here.

It’s been almost a month since the last update on what we’ve been up to. Mostly, we’ve been watching Keelie grow and develop. I’ve been working, but Kori has been doing the really tough job of holding down the fort. Keelie is very blessed to have the Mommie she does. One of the things Kori does is make Keelie’s food from scratch from fresh fruits and vegetables, instead of using jars of store-bought baby food. What a dedicated Mommie.

Kori did our taxes already, thankfully, so we’re not running around trying to get those done this weekend.

Keelie dives for the floor in an escape attempt. It's okay, Keelie. We file our taxes honestly.

Getting back to Keelie...she’s now almost ten months and has progressed quite a bit since our last update. When we go shopping, she loves sitting in the cart and trying to make eye contact with everyone. She’s become quite the quick and determined crawler, much to the dismay of the dog. But she’s also good at standing and walking, as long as there is something nearby to hold as security. Keelie does brief stints of standing without support - she doesn't even realize she's doing it, really. For some reason, she loves tearing up paper napkins and trying to eat them. She gets a little upset when we remove the pieces from her mouth to keep her from gagging.

When she is on the couch standing next to me, she’ll sometimes start jumping from a squatting position, over and over again. Her legs must be getting strong. If she’s not doing that, she’ll the glasses from our heads with the speed of Bruce Lee. But mostly, she isn’t content to stay on the couch anymore. She'll start climbing up the back of the couch, or slide off head first down to the floor so she can stand up at the coffee table and grab stuff, or move on to other parts of the room. I just want to hold her and play with her, but she has better things to do! At the coffee table or television, she’ll “slap” the surface like she’s a drummer. She’ll also do this when she crawls over to me when I’m in bed... standing there and slapping my shoulder and arm like she’s giving me a massage.

Keelie with Grampa Pellman on Easter Sunday. She was tired.

She gets thrilled when she's in the playpen, and standing at the side and looking out, and we'll play a game where we are face to face, then we both duck down and are looking at each other through the mesh of the play pen, then we straighten back up to look at each other over the top... she finds that hilarious.

The other night, she was having a good time dropping food over the side of her feeding chair and laughing at Shelby, who would franticly it up. Shelby loves to act as though we don’t have a bowl of food available for her at all times.

Keelie still hates going to sleep, hates changing clothes, and has now developed an aversion to the car seat. The moment we get to the car seat, she’ll arch her back and then, when she feels something, she will flip over, preventing us from snapping her in. It’s quite the effort to finally get her in, now, and she protests.

Speaking of protests, Keelie has picked up clapping, but doesn't quite know the uses for it yet. For example, she will clap in the middle of a crying session. Perhaps she is being sarcastic?

Awwwww!

Easter Sunday, we fell behind schedule because Keelie wouldn’t go to sleep the night before. We stopped by to see Grampa Pellman, Grandma Kathleen, her niece, and everyone else at her niece's place. We couldn't stay long, but we did take some pictures, as you saw. From there, it was on to my mother's, where the rest of my family was getting together. My youngest maternal cousin, Jennifer, was there from out of state on Spring Break from college.

Keelie was really tired because she hadn't taken her usual naps, so she ended up falling asleep in Kori's arms for about two hours (above). We waited for her to wake up before we left my mother's.

We’ve returned to my mother’s place on a weekly basis since, so that my mother, sisters, brother, brother-in-law, and nephews can see Keelie. We’ve also been over to Kori’s parents’ place, but not as often because Puma left town on a trip.

I took Shelby into PetsMart for grooming, as she was getting stinky and her fur was getting bad, and the weather is getting hot. Shelby now looks like a different dog and Keelie probably thinks she is.

Last weekend, we were able to slip in a short visit to the Disneyland Resort. Keelie really enjoyed the tram ride. Heck, we could have turned around and gone right back home and she would have had a great time.

We walked around Disneyland Park a bit and took Keelie on Peter Pan’s Flight for the first time. She didn't like it, because we had to hold her to make her face forward with that lap bar in her face. We ran into the same problem we’ve been running into lately with placing her in her car seat. We slipped into California Adventure to check out some of the recent construction there.

So, as you can see, nothing too exciting going on these days, and that can be a good thing.

Thanks for stopping by. Leave a comment here or write us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Granddaddy's Pictures of Keelie

2008-04-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

It's been way too long since an update - thanks for acting as though life goes on as normal even though we know you're suffering "Pellman Update Withdrawl Syndrome". (Actually, thanks for indulging us as first time parents.) We're going to reward your patience and effective coping skills with some "new" pictures from the last several months. One of our regular updates will be coming soon.

Keelie's Granddaddy is an excellent photographer. Recently, we were able to take home some copies of his pictures. All eight pictures in this entry are from his files. Thanks, Granddaddy!

Remember - if you click on the picture, you can get a bigger version.

This one is from around Thanksgiving.

Here is the man himself with his granddaughter. Check out that expression on her face.

That picture was from around the first of the year as is this one below - we were celebrating Uncle Steve's birthday. There's Aunt Kendra, Uncle Steve, Kori, and... some lucky guy holding Keelie.

From mid-January, Keelie celebrates her mom's birthday...

There's Keelie snuggling up to the birthday girl. A beautiful lady and a cute little girl.

These next two pictures are from late January. Puma is getting her granddaughter to laugh and smile, and Keelie is returning the favor.

Too cute.

Finally, from the start of March, here I am enjoying being Daddy.

Thanks for stopping by. As I wrote above, we hope to update you on what we've been up to over the last few weeks. You can leave a comment here, or write us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com.

We Survived the Ides of March

2008-03-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Palm Sunday! And Happy BIRTHday to a certain special little girl who couldn't wait for her due date to get closer, and a huge congrats to Bob, Julie, and their families.

Wanted to check in with a few pictures and a short video clip. Since a high school classmate of mine checked in with a comment, I wanted to remind you that if you want to drop us a line, that’s great. If we don’t have your e-mail address, it is probably a good idea to write us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com so that we can write back.

Keelie continues to gain mobility, much to the dismay of Shelby. We’ll all be on the king sized bed Kori and I have, and Keelie will crawl around, trying to get to the poor dog. Fortunately, Kendra has been over a few times helping Kori to babyproof while I’m out fishing. Uh… I mean… working. Keelie doesn’t know about Daylight Savings Time, as it turns out, which means she was staying up and hour later than usual, at least by the clock. She now makes a clapping motion, and has figured out how to make clicking noises with her tongue, since her teeth aren't poking through yet.

Check out Elmo in the background. This Elmo is the one who talks, laughs, falls over, doubles over, stands back up, asks to be tickled, begs you to stop tickling, ice skates, solves quadratic equations on the walls with permanent marker, and tries to set the house on fire. He’s probably spying for the Children’s Television Workshop and siphoning funds from our accounts to PBS.

Keelie is so active, and if she is fussing and climbing up the back of the sofa, we alternate between sitting on the floor with her, putting her in the playpen, putting her in her Winnie the Pooh plaything where she can stand up and be ringed by toys, or in the doorframe jumper. She enjoys jumping more on the Pooh plaything than the actual jumper.

Here she is jumpin' a bit.

Recently, we went to a little fruit and vegetable market we have nearby where Kori picks up fresh fruit and vegetables, many of which she turns into food for Keelie. I don't think we've bought any jarred baby food. Kori is very dedicated to making fresh baby food. We then went across the street to Stater Brothers to pick up some stuff, parking near this camper/RV. The people in the RV, by their stares, seemed a little too interested in us, making me wonder if our van would have something stolen out of it. There was liquid on the ground... and after we stepped in it, went shopping in the supermarket, and came back to the minivan and stepped in it some more, I realized what was going on. The people in the camper were dumping their sewage into the parking lot... and we were walking through it.

I pulled our minivan up to a security guard in the parking lot and told him what was going on, but he didn't care. Apparently, even though he usually faces out towards the parking lot, he was there to work for Stater Brothers, presumably to keep someone from running of the store with some shoplifted cheese. He told me to talk to the parking lot security... which drives around in a little cart. It would have been easier for HIM to contact them. We didn't see them as we drove out. It is rare to catch illegal dumpers red-handed... and very frustrating that this guard didn't do anything about it.

Dave & Jenn were sweet enough to have us over for dinner recently. They even sent us home with some lemons after I drank up a lot of homemade lemonade. Mmmm.

We’ve been over to Puma & Granddaddy’s for a couple of family dinners since the last update, the most recent one being last night. We went over early to hang out and enjoy some time in the hot tub. Keelie currently hates taking baths, but doesn’t mind a dip in the hot tub. Go figure.

Work wise, I recently talked on-location with a reporter from KFWB AM 980 about some work state crews were doing that my coworkers were monitoring, and so clips of me were being played on the radio throughout that day.

Thanks for stopping by. You can leave a comment here or e-mail us. Let us know how you are doing! -Ken

Bonus: Keelie's 8-Month Pics

2008-03-04T22:04:00.000-08:00

Because you have been so good (not because we can't stop bragging about our little girl... no), here are Keelie's official 8-month photos. The portrait studio asked Kori to sign a waiver allowing them to use the images for promotion, because they came out so well.

Remember - you can click on a picture to get the largest image.

Time Marches On...Into March

2008-03-02T13:03:00.000-08:00

That was Keelie at seven months. Yes, she keeps getting more and more adorable.

These updates are getting less frequent, but time is short as a parent… as you other parents know… but will never tell your kids until they’ve already made grandparents out of you.

We all battled some bug that was going around, the strongest symptom of which was a lingering cough. I dealt with it the longest. It finally seems to be almost completely gone. Long after getting over it herself, Keelie decided to go on a weeklong strike against solid food. Kori prepares such great stuff, and Shelby is always eager to have some hit the floor. But for some reason, Keelie took about a week off from her normally enthusiastic eating sessions. Still, the doctor said she is really good at putting on weight. Those would be my genes at work. But it is a mystery to me how a creature who will readily stick anything she finds anywhere into her mouth, will be so determined to not allow a spoonful of food in.

Here's the little darling somehow finding this a comfortable napping position.

Keelie likes to say “ma ma ma ma ma” and “da da da da da”, which is exiciting, until she goes on to say “bah bah bah bah bah”. She does seem to have picked up the ASL sign for “milk”.

She has this preference for non-toy toys, such as a round, red lid to a jelly bean jar, plastic bottles, phones, eyeglasses, and remote controllers. Junk mail and paper napkins are especially entertaining.

Keelie still avoids taking long naps, but she has taken one or two now over 90 minutes.

Thanks to modern communications, Kori continues to be able to stay in contact with (mostly) first-time mothers across the country with children about Keelie’s age. It started when they were pregnant, and it was organized around the month their babies were due. Some of them, of course, are pregnant again. It is helpful to be able to compare notes and I’m glad Kori has that interaction.

Since Keelie sailed past the 8-month mark, we have finally arrived at the point of returning some of the baby stuff we borrowed. Thanks again, Carla & Steve! One of the things we returned to them was the swing Keelie is using in this shot to help her stand up.

It’s at the point where we need to strap Keelie down now to change her diaper, since she has become so good at turning over, sitting up, crawling, and standing up by grabbing something. I’ll get her diaper off, and then off she goes, reluctant to be clad in a fresh one. We finally got her a playpen, so we wouldn’t have to hover over her like penguins sitting on eggs when she is on the floor. She’ll stand up using the edge of the playpen, then “ring” the playpen over and over by walking sideways while holding on to the top of the playpen.

I think she's looking for weaknesses... just like a velociraptor.

As usual, we have enjoyed visits to Nanny’s and to Puma & Granddaddy’s during the time since our last update. During one trip to Nanny’s, we finally went back to Burger Continental. I don’t think we’d been back there since we took Nanny there to tell her Keelie was on the way.

Due to how retirement pay is calculated, February is always retirement season for the County of Los Angeles. This past Thursday, we joined Grampa Pellman and True and Marina at Don’s retirement party. Don was the Director of Public Works, where True, Marina, and I used to work. The party took place where Kori and I had our wedding reception, and it was packed! We took Keelie along so she could meet some people with whom I used to work. It was all a bit overwhelming for her, I think, but clearly good that her Grampa was there.

Thanks for stopping by. Comments are welcome, either here or via e-mail at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. Please let us know how you are doing, especially if you don’t have your own blog for us to read to keep track of ya.

We Survived Groundhog Day

2008-02-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

It has been more than couple of weeks, so it is time for another update.

Keelie tends to wake up in the morning in a great mood, but strongly protests bedtime.

We’ve been seeing Puma & Granddaddy regularly, as they often have their kids over for dinner.

Keelie has had recent follow-ups with doctors. She’s at the taller and heavier end for her age. When she got the second part of her flu shot, she took it pretty well. Much better than getting four shots in rapid succession.

On a recent afternoon off, Kori arranged for us to drop Keelie off with Kendra & Steve (who are great at being her aunt and uncle) for a couple of hours so that we could be alone. It seems ridiculous, but that is where we are for a few reasons, including the fact that Keelie doesn’t take long naps and she’d much rather be interacting with one of us than playing with a toy.

But... she is very cute when she does nap.

Of course, we think she is cute all of the time.

Keelie has been enjoying all sorts of “solid” foods, most of which Kori has diligently prepared from raw materials. I am usually the one to feed Keelie her dinner (Kori feeds her the other meals), and it is a lot of fun. She gets all excited and slaps her hands on the tray, makes a face as she inhales sharply, and then says "mah-mah-mah-mah", which she has taken to saying at other times, too.

Below, she sits in her feeding chair, anticipating the culinary delights.

She promptly falls asleep when the sound of it doesn't excite her.

But then she perks up when she realizes that she has inherited my eating genes, and loves just about any meal!

Keelie seems to be fixated on left ears. Not sure if that is because we hold her on our left sides more often, or what. She also is interested in Kori’s hair, which Kori has taken to wearing in a bun so that less of it is torn out. She is very good at snatching our eyeglasses for taste tests, and loves running her hands over our faces in general. Crinkling up junk mail can keep her entertained for several minutes.

Here she is with the drawstring from Kori's sweatshirt.

We went to babysit for Chrissy & James, who have an 18 month-old boy. Our daughter and their son got along just fine. But they really didn’t interact all that much.

This past Friday evening, we had dinner at Puma & Granddaddy’s. The highlight was when we were all standing around and Keelie said "Ma-ma!"

It had been a few weeks since my mother and siblings had seen Keelie, so we went to my mother's place for dinner this past weekend, where my mother, Kim, Vicky, and my nephews could see how Keelie had grown. I think Blaine has grown even more. He’s 17 and getting really tall, so he looks different each time we see him.

Here's Keelie with Aunt Kim.

And Keelie with Kori...

Keelie has become quite adept at rolling to get from here to there, and has finally picked up crawling. She’s not an expert crawler yet, though, often sliding on her belly or getting up on her feet instead of her knees. Her favorite thing is standing, grabbing our thumbs for balance. Lately, she has realized that she can stand up by grabbing on to furniture, too.

Shelby continues to adapt. She knows exactly how far away she has to stand from Keelie to avoid her clutches, as Kori noticed.

Like 100 million other people, we watched the Superbowl. One more NFL football game left, and then Keelie will have to find something else that interests her until the next pre-season. I liked the commercial with Richard Simmons.

And now, since you've been so good, here's a word from Keelie...

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment here or e-mail us directly at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. We want to know how you and your loved ones are doing!

Keelie is Seven Months Old

2008-01-20T21:12:00.000-08:00

Keelie is seven months old, and Kori also celebrated a birthday. Wow, how time flies. I still want to write 2007 when writing the date.

I finally managed to catch Keelie gumming her toes on camera.

Not wanting to be rude, she offered me her toes, too.

Who can resist?

It has been a couple of weeks since out last blog update. In that time, Kori turned...an age older than seven months. Yes, another birthday has come and gone. We celebrated by getting sick with something that has been going around.

Actually, first we had a blast celebrating Steve’s birthday late at Puma & Granddaddy’s where Kendra threw him a party. Puma had to leave for work, so she only got to hold Keelie for a bit. Granddaddy, though, was at the party and helped put the karaoke machine to good use. There was a good turnout and more than enough good food. People took turns holding Keelie.

Several days later, the celebrations for Kori’s birthday began. First there was the dinner at Claim Jumper – just the three of us. Then another day, our dear friend Dale got our good friends Dave & Jenn into Disneyland Park so that we could treat them to dinner. It was our graduation present to Dave. We also took some rides, including Keelie’s first trip on Pirates of the Caribbean. Here she is being our lookout on the Buzz Lightyear attraction.

See how she cleverly pretended to be asleep on my arm? That child is a military genius!

Then came Kori’s birthday dinner at Puma & Granddaddy’s. We had a birthday dinner again the next night at Nanny’s.

Here's Keelie being a lookout again.

Finally, last night we had a specially prepared dinner with Grampa and Grandma, prepared by Grampa, to jointly celebrate Kori and Kathleen’s birthdays. You can see Grampa still working away on dinner in this shot.

Keelie really likes gumming fingers.

In this shot, Keelie forgets to not smile when the camera takes her picture.

Grampa and pink tissue paper is all that is needed to entertain Keelie, but Grampa used a stuffed animal anyway.

We finally had the cable company install their recorder, and we’ve instantly become addicted to it. It will help us keep up with the new seasons of American Idol and The Apprentice, and of course it is handy to pause those political ads on the ballot propositions so we can see that they are sponsored by "a coalition of people who sponsor ads for some ballot propositions and against other propositions and the Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things."

Keelie still likes watching football. Too bad the season is almost over. She also really likes to stand up, using our hands for balance rather than support. However, we're still trying to get her to crawl properly instead of rolling and using other work-arounds to bring what she wants closer to her.

Not much else to say, because we’ve been taking it easy to recover. Thanks for stopping by again and let us know how and what you are doing. You can comment here or write us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [com].

Happy New Year 2008

2008-01-04T19:27:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

We hope you and your loved ones are doing well. Thanks for stopping by.

The holidays were nice, but busy. Keelie has a lot of adoring family nearby, and everyone wanted to see her.

All three of us, plus the dog, spent a night at my mother’s place so that Kori and Keelie could be there all day on Christmas Eve while I went in to the office. That way, I didn't have to drive home after work and double back with the ladies to my mother's.

When I returned to my mother's place on Christmas Eve, we enjoyed Mexican food for dinner and exchanged gifts. My little sister was working, but my brother, other sister, brother-in-law, and nephews were all there in addition to Nanny.

Christmas Day was a long day. We were late getting over to Puma & Granddaddy’s for the morning session (yummy food), and thus we were late in getting up to Grampa & Grandma’s for their brunch (more yummy food).

Here's Keelie with her Grampa Pellman...

And here she is with Grandma...

The usual gang of Kathleen's family was there. It was nice to see everyone again.

In the evening, it was all the way back to Puma & Granddaddy’s, where everyone had reconvened – Kendra & Steve, Troy, Toby, Kirby, and more. We had dinner (more yummy). Keelie was exhausted and I took her into a different room while everyone exchanged gifts, so she could nap in my arms. What a feeling that is.

I was supposed to be back at work the next day, but ended up needing to recover, so I took the 26th off.

We were back at Puma & Ganddaddy’s again Thursday night to celebrate Steve’s birthday.

Friday night, we joined up with our friend Tony and the gang for dinner out and then some Christmas cheer back at his place. Everyone took turns playing with Keelie, who loves flirting with the guys. We didn’t stay too late, of course. It was a nice time and it is always nice to see everyone who makes it there. For the first time in years, we missed Dave & Jason's annual Crappy Gift Exchange, because I mistakenly thought it was on Saturday, despite Dave's mastery of EVites. Keelie would have had a blast there.

Here's Keelie taking a break from the flirting...

The next day, we were hosted in a very lovely home of a fellow LaughingPlace.com contributor and his family for a lunch along with Dave M and Doobie & Rebekah, who were in town from Florida. It was great to see them again! I liked it when they lived nearby. So many of you have left us here in SoCal!!!

This update is like a really easy game of Where's Waldo?, only with Keelie.

Doobie was getting some good practice.

Sunday brought another dinner at Puma & Granddaddy’s.

Our friends Craig & Kristen and their daughters had us over for a while on New Years Eve to have dinner and exchange some gifts. Their 2007 baby is walking! And she was very affectionate towards Keelie.

Craig is holding the walking, hugging, "older" girl of 2007, and Kristen is holding... take a guess...

For the turn of the year, though, we were home and taking it easy. We also took it easy on New Years Day. Keelie and I had a lot of good bonding time.

Keelie is almost crawling (she rolls instead of crawls) and very clever. She seems to understand that just because something is out of sight doesn't mean it went away. Also, she figured out that it is easier to pull a blanket closer to her to get something on it than it is to crawl. It is a little scary. She responds to her name and gives kisses. Since she hasn’t mastered crawling, her cheeks often get rosy from friction as she climbs around and as she propels herself with her legs. When she gets tired of me and starts to fuss, her absolute favorite thing is for Kori to take her off of my hands so that as she sits on her Mommie's hip, she can look down at me where I'm sitting and smile.

Keelie is trying different foods. She loves oatmeal.

Kori snapped a bunch of pictures yesterday when Keelie wrapped herself up into a Keelie burrito...

Thanks for coming by again. You can comment here or you can e-mail us at KEPellman [at] yahoo [dot] com. Let us know how you are!

The End of the Year

2007-12-23T10:19:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our last update of the year. Our Christmas letter is below, after this short update covering this past week.

Visions of sugarplums...

Last Sunday, Nanny came down to see Keelie, as she hadn’t seen her in a while, partly due to a trip to central Florida. Keelie was really happy to see her, and while Keelie was off of our hands, we got some chores done.

Keelie reached SIX MONTHS OF AGE during the week! Yay! That meant another trip to see her pediatrician. Our precious little girl was upset by the shots, but was over them quickly. Her reaction was subdued compared to her screaming getting her 4-month doses. Keelie also checked in at the 50th percentile in height, so she’s smack dab in the middle of average. Amazingly, though, she has more than recovered from the rough going early on with her weight. She’s now in the 75th percentile! There’s proof for sure that she has some of my blood.

Here's an example of how Keelie has grown. That picture above is Keelie at 26 weeks. The one below is Keelie at 10 weeks.

Here are some pics of Keelie in her bassinet.

This is where she has been sleeping.

Everything goes in the mouth.

Ain't she adorable?

Friday night, we started Keelie on “solid” food. Up until now, her diet had been almost nothing but breast milk.

There have been signs that she is mentally ready for variety. For example - she used to spit out some of her medicine if we weren’t careful, but now she not only will happily drink it, she will grab the oral syringe we use to give it to her and she’ll hold it herself.

She’s also reaching for our glasses and plates whenever she can. In this video below, you can see her trying to grab the spoon.

So that’s what we’ve been up to since our last update. Here’s our end-of-the-year message...

The Year in Review 2007: State of the Pellmans

We’re not sending out a lengthy Christmas letter this year, since everything we’d put in it had been right here in this blog, and as you’ve read, we’ve been occupied with the baby. Here’s our brief-as-can-be end of the years message...

Greetings to you and your kin!

The first half of the year was mainly about preparing for the arrival of Keelie. The second half of the year has mainly been about taking care of Keelie. Any parents who remember having their first child can relate, I’m sure. It is an event that changes everything. Keelie has five grandparents, nine actual aunts and uncles, and two cousins in the area, many of them right here in Anaheim. So, there has been lots of visiting with family.

There hasn’t really been too much excitement.

Professionally, I settled into my new position.

Didn’t have as much time for freelance writing.

We took a couple of trips, but no long out-of-state vacations. March was the trip to San Diego/La Jolla scheduled around a wedding. November was the trip to Philadelphia scheduled around a Bar Mitzvah.

Throughout the year, we got together with multiple times with three friend groups. Homecoming (our friend group from church) officially disbanded this year by absorbing into a larger group that has official meetings at church. We hope to still get together with everyone from Homecoming for lunch or something here and there. One of the families moved to Africa, so it is a little harder to meet up with them. Then there are the current and former Disneyland cast members that Donna keeps going as a group by mailing out invites to monthly get-togethers. We’ve made it about every three months or so. Finally, there’s a group of Disney enthusiasts (some of whom are professionals within the corporation) who get together for dinner and home theatre entertainment and sometimes field trips. We’ve only met up with them twice since Keelie was born, because the home theatre sessions aren’t really at the time or place for a baby. Each of these three groups have been great social support and fun and needed adult contact.

So far, there have only been three times we have gone somewhere without Keelie. The first was the “Weird Al” Yankovic concert in October. The second was the “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” anniversary event in November. Finally, there was our anniversary this month.

We did lose a family member - Kori’s paternal grandmother, who had been beyond interaction for a while. And, one of my heroes who I had been fortunate to have casually known over the years, died suddenly at a fairly young age.

Our legal matter, in which we are the plaintiffs, is continuing with the possibility of being resolved in 2008.

So, it wasn’t a big year for changes other than Keelie’s arrival, which was change enough!

Kori is a terrific mother. It has been such a pleasure to watch her take care of our little girl. Four years ago, Kori and I hadn’t even met in person yet. And here we are, married and proud parents.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your love, friendship, and support throughout 2007. We look forward to 2008 and pray the New Year will be a great one for you, full of health, happiness, and His love.

Merry Christmas!

Three Years Since I Was Korinated

2007-12-15T21:20:00.000-08:00

Check out these pictures of Keelie from back at the 5-month mark.

She has Daddy's feet!

She’s almost six months old now.

It really looks like Keelie will be crawling any day now. She has mastered sitting with little support, rolling over from any position, and gets up on her hands and knees. She also does her best to get off of the sofa and to the floor. She’ll turn over and “climb” the pillows on the sofa. I’ll try to get her to crawl, but so far she sticks to rolling to move from here to there, since she knows how to do that.

She really likes this thing, and we'll put her in there when she's fussy and nothing else is soothing her, and it usually works.

We have Keelie on a strict diet of breast milk... and flowers.

It was a Saturday evening two weeks ago when I last updated this blog. That day, I gave Kori one of her anniversary gifts early (we both maintain wish lists on Amazon.com), because it was a book on getting babies to sleep through the night. Then it occurred to me that the book needed a prequel... a DVD on how to find the time to read when you are a new parent!

Well, as it turns out, after Keelie finally fell asleep at 1am, she ended up sleeping straight through until 11am. Woo-hoo!!! She must have seen the book and realized the jig was up! Poor Kori, though, woke up a few times wondering if something was wrong. We would later learn that Keelie must have forgotten that she ever saw the book. Oh well.

Keelie's taste test says that there is no lead in the toys.

The World Famous More In-Demand Than Lion King Tickets Annual Keel Family Christmas Party was good this year.

The place quickly filled up with the usual suspects, most of them people from Pam & Bill's church. Keelie was getting lots of attention, of course, and it was nice to let other people share the joy of holding her, which gave us breaks.

Santa showed up and thrilled everyone...except for Keelie, who did NOT like being held by the jolly fellow, even though he had glasses and plenty of beard for her to grab hold.

As the title of this post indicates, we celebrated our third wedding anniversary. Woo-hoo! It was Kori's year to plan.

Kendra and Steve were very kind to watch Keelie as we dropped in on the Disneyland Resort. Being without pregnancy or height restrictions for the first time in a long time, we rode Space Mountain, the Matterhorn, and Big Thunder Mountain before catching the holiday fireworks show. Then we hopped parks and rode Tower of Terror.

Dinner was the Napa Rose in Disney’s Grand Californian. We'd eaten there once before. They are supposed to be really good with the wines, but there was no way Kori was drinking any and I wasn't going to drink any since she couldn't. Dinner was nice but took a while. It was late when we picked up Keelie.

Here's Kori posing with the dessert. Notice the writing in chocolate syrup.

Back at home, we exchanged our anniversary gifts.

Okay, because you're still reading this... here's another cute picture of Keelie to reward you.

We went to my office holiday party at the end of a workday. There was a yummy buffet, one drink per person included, and a raffle. We left after the raffle was over and before the dancing started.

...but not before we got some good pictures of Keelie in a Christmas dress.

Here we are fighting over the bottle.

Keelie grabs my necktie to draw me closer to "clarify" who should control the milk bottle.

Keelie raises her arms in victory.

She shows off her ruby shoes, telling us she can get us home with a couple of heel clicks.

Keelie got to see one of her doctors again, and he’s pleased with how she is doing. He told us we can start her on solid foods. We’re planning to after she sees her regular pediatrician again.

Last weekend, we made it to an annual Christmas get-together of some current and former Disneyland Custodial people. The group has monthly get-togethers at a Hometown Buffet, but this was at an apartment. Like the department, it is an eclectic mix of people.

Check out Keelie impersonating a fly trap...

The writing says "All Mommy wants for Christmas is a Silent Night". So true.

We kept up the tradition of gathering at the Keel home to decorate. That was this past Thursday. Last night, we went to a party at Dave & Jenn’s to congratulate Dave on his graduate degree. Way to go, Dave!

Here’s Keelie right after a workout.

This afternoon, we made Bill & Paula’s annual holiday party, which was good as always.

So, as you can see, we’re keeping very busy. Thanks for stopping by. You can comment here or send us a message at KEPellman [at] yahoo [com].

One last thing.

Since you have been so good, here’s video of Keelie doing “peek-a-boo”. She loves it. You can hear her laughing if you listen closely. Normally, she’ll pull the blanket over her face and pull it off by herself. But she’d already been doing it for a while this evening before we got the camera going, so I had to help out a little.