What is it about the refridgerator?

What is so fascinating about it that kids want to just be in it?
Both of my kids have just loved to stand in it and hang out.
Anytime it's open, Katie makes a bee-line to get right in.

Kelton was the same way!
This was him just about at Katie's age now.
Hard to believe he was ever that little. {sniffle}

He liked to get in the dishwasher too.
Katie hasn't managed that yet.

But just like Kelton, Katie does love her books.
Of course, in order to be very individual,
she also likes to take her clothes off (he never did that).

Someone is getting some meat on her bones!

Daddy took the Moose and the Bugs with him back to his parent's for the weekend. Since he has a hunting trip coming up, he wanted to give me a little time to myself. It's been years since I've had more than just a few hours to do whatever my heart desired and it'll be years before it happens again, so (with a few goodbye tears on Fri) I accepted the offer.

I did lots of running around and of course got some couponing in.
This was $15 at Dillons.

At Target, I stocked up on diapers and wipes. I paid a little more price per diaper that I would prefer, but Katie can only wear Pampers and it's the best I've been able to do. For $31, I got enough diapers to last at least 3wks and enough wipes to last at least 2-3mo, plus some other goodies too.


I had dinner with my mom. Brunch with a friend. Did lots of laundry, put away the Halloween stuff and got started organizing the storage area in the basement. It was nice to have a little me time, but I was sure ready to see my kids and the hubs when they finally got back on Sunday evening!

Just a head's up...Wed is a special day. Make sure to give an an extra thank you to all the veteran's and active duty military who make this country a safe place to live!

Halloween!!

We had tons of fun all week long!
On Tuesday evening, the boys finally got their tae kwon do uniforms. They've really been enjoying the extra time together. They look super cute too!




Katie wanted to get in on the fun too!

Wednesday, I had an OB appt. Katie came along and actually behaved herself quite well. Baby is looking great! Next appt is in a month, 16wks to go! That night, Mimi came over for dinner. I made a super easy, yummy casserole, but unfortunately, not Buggy safe. We had to have something special for Bugs, so I made some gluten free dairy free peanut butter cookies. All they took was 1 cup (natural) peanut butter, 1 (free range) egg, and 1 cup (organic) sugar. Of course, they were a hit! I made a second batch for Katie to share at daycare the next day.




Thursday was not quite as much fun for me. Because my asthma is always a bit of a pain while I'm pregnant, my lungs are still trying to recover from having the flu. I thought I was feeling much better and headed out for a walk (in the cold and drizzly rain) on Wed evening. I ended up jogging home because it started pouring on me. That night I started having more trouble breathing again and some concerning chest pain. It intensified while I was at work Thur morning, so I went to the ER and was startled to see both mine and baby's heart rate was really high. Some O2 brought them both down and I got some IV steriods and a breathing treatment. I have a steriod to take for a few more days and am to do breathing treatments as needed. Guess I'll be sticking to the Wii Fit for exercise because the cold night air tightens up my chest immediately and I really want to avoid any more time hanging out in the ER.

Although I would have much rather stayed home and rested, on Friday evening, Kelton and I headed out to Build A Bear. I had promised him we could go and make a bear for his little brother (because I had a coupon). He had so much fun making Katie's bunny for her bday and had been asking to go again ever since.




Kelton was so excited to wake up on Saturday morning because it was finally Halloween! I'd been waiting all week to hit up the big sale at Dillons. I didn't save my reciept, so I don't remember down to the penny, but we got all this stuff for right about $22. I totally made Eric high five me on the way out!


It was such a beautiful day!
We couldn't have asked for better weather!

My last year to wear my pumpkin belly.

Mimi, Aunt Sarah and Layla came over to trick or treat with us again this year. Of course, Mimi brought Halloween presents.





Since Katie is so limited on what treats she can have, Aunt Sarah brought her some cotton candy!


As always, matching jams! Baby boy already has a pair of skeleys to wear for next halloween!

We were so pleasantly surprised that Katie wore her costume (after wrestling her to get it on and bribing her with candy) the entire evening. She looked so cute!


We also had a Kyle Busch and a kitty cat!



Kelton is always such a good big brother. He was so happy to take Katie trick or treating with him and made sure that she got candy in her bag at each house.


At one point, she decided she wanted all the candy in Kelton's bag too and it was almost impossible to pry her away from it.


Layla turned the big 4 on Monday. Still loaded up on a sugar high from yesterday, we went over to celebrate with cake and ice cream. Her favorite thing right now is My Little Pony, so she had a Pony Party. She gots lots of new ponys and a creepy Fur Real Cat. She had lots of fun and shared all of her new presents very nicely!


Since regular cake and ice cream are not something Katie can have, Mimi bought her some special ice cream. She's always great about remembering to find something "Katie safe".



While we're still working on a middle name, we decided on a first name for baby boy awhile back. Kelton was doing an awesome job keeping it a secret until wicked Aunt Sarah told him that his mommy said it was okay to tell her. So I guess the cat's outta the bag, but they're sworn to secrecy and everyone else has to wait until we can decided on a middle name.

Booing and Pumpkins!

We were a bit bummed when we found out our doctors did not recommend that 2 asthmatics who just got over the flu hang out at a corn maze/pumpkin patch, but we made the best of the weekend and had a great time!

Kelton was super excited to "BOO" the neighbors again like last year. He was out of school on Friday, but it didn't turn out to be a very nice day and we were planning to wait for Saturday afternoon. However, when we made up the bags after Katie was in bed that night, I thought it would be fun for just he and I to secretly deliver them in the dark. We left our bags of goodies on our neighbor's doorsteps, rang the doorbell and RAN!

Headed out!

Enjoying some warm hot chocolate. I also required a neb treatment after running around out in the cold.

Saturday we went to a pumpkin stand in front of one of the grocery stores in town. They had tons of pumpkins and I'm sure it seemed huge to the kids, who had no idea they were missing out on going to a real pumpkin patch.




On Sunday, Nana and Papa came over for a visit.
Of course, Nana brought presents. Katie's daycare was closed today, so she stayed through this evening to hang out with Bugs. She even had dinner ready when we got home from work, which was so nice. We're also very fortunate that my mom lives so close and provided lots of TLC and meals during our run-in with the flu.

We had lots of fun carving and painting pumpkins!





The finished products!




Before all the painting, Katie was wearing one of her new fall outfits, complete with matching bow (made by SandraBees!). We got so many compliments on it at church. I always say, Katie looks so cute in their clothes, Gymboree should really pay us to wear them!


Yes, they will be required to wear matching jammies until
they move out of the house!

Finally!!

After a bout with the infamous swine flu, we're all on the road to health! It didn't take our sick little Buggy long to infect the rest of us. Just like dominos, down we went!

Eric wasn't feeling great on Friday and was super tired from helping me with Katie overnight on Thur. That evening though, we were all feeling pretty good. I went on a walk while the boys built our first fire of the year and made s'mores.


I was a little nervous when Kelton crashed out on the couch, but he slept all night and woke up feeling fine!


Saturday morning, we all woke up feeling pretty good. Eric built another fire and we all had cinnamon rolls. It was a dairy free, gluten free mix that Carrie sent us. They were really good and there were several left over to put in the freezer.







Since everyone seemed to be feeling well, Moose and I picked up Mimi and Layla and headed into Wichita to do a little shopping. We got footy jammies at the mall, food for Katie at Food 4 Thought, then stopped at Target and Dillons before heading home. We spent $30 at Dillons, but saved $42!

We did even better at Target!
We brought this stuff home for $8.61.

I had Eric take a quick belly pic before we left. This was 21wks.

By the time we got home on Saturday afternoon, Eric was feeling bad again and Katie was pretty dang crabby. I woke up at 4am Sunday morning and headed downhill fast from there. Somehow we made it to Monday and everyone was able to slept in. Kelton woke up, miraculously still unaffected, so I took him into school. While I was out, I picked up some medicine for Eric and the nebulizer for me. That evening, Kelton started running almost 103. Because of his asthma, we got him in to the ped in time to get Tamiflu. He was coughing and wheezing pretty badly, so he joined me with breathing treatments.



It's funny how even when kids are sick, they still don't hardly hold still. I couldn't get Kelton to sit down and rest for anything.


Nothing on the table is safe anymore.
Katie has figured out she can climb onto the kitchen chairs.

Kelton's class field trip to the pumpkin patch was on Thursday and he was bummed to have to miss it. That afternoon, the doorbell rang and we opened the door to find a suprise! Pumpkins and a bag full of goodies! Aunt Sarah and Layla had dropped off some stuff to help us feel better!




We're happy to all be feeling better and hope this was are ONLY turn for the flu this year. Kelton and I will have to continue maintenance asthma medications for sometime and I'm still feeling pretty run down from struggling to breathe for so long. So for now, early bedtimes (and cute new jammies) for everyone!

Days with Bugs

I've accepted the fact that it's really just a matter of time before Katie climbs up and over the back of the couch. Luckily, I've been able to catch her just in time. Hopefully when the day comes that she gets it done quicker than I can get to her, she won't hurt herself.




I've been enjoying my one and one time with Katie while Kelton is in school and before the new baby gets here. I had planned on at least 2yrs of it being just her and I, but obviously that's not going to happen.

We're usually not in a hurry to get the day started.

It's been apparent from the get go that her personality is completely opposite of Kelton, ie: climbing over the back of the couch. She also loves to sit in things. If it's big enough to hold her, she manages to get in it.



Messes are a must.

Like Kelton, she and Jasmine are great buddies.
They like to watch The Wiggles together.





Piggy tails and pretty dresses are great for our bargain shopping trips! She's also decided that her crocs go with EVERY outfit and has been refusing to wear anything else.



No outfit is complete without hairbows! I got these two off ebay specifically to match a couple of outfits we have for this winter. I'm also expecting a really big order to arrive soon from my favorite bow lady. I took advantage of a sale she was having awhile back and ordered some xmas gifts as well.


These last few days, our poor Buggy has been sick with some kind of nasty virus. She's been running a pretty good fever since Wed morning. We topped out at 104.6 and were down to 100 most of yesterday, but back up to 103 all day today. Hopefully a couple more days of rest and she'll be back to her old self.

When she's awake, she's not happy!

Snuggling on Mommy has been the best way to get her to rest.

Somehow she curls around my belly and gets comfortable.

I managed to sneak away

She'll settle for Daddy sometimes too.


This will be a good weekend to stay in anyway. It's supposed to be pretty chilly and kinda rainy. I'm going to make a big pot of black bean soup! Yum!

Still Growing!

My sono last week showed that Jr is growing just great! As far as I could tell the sac appears normal now and there are no more bleeds.

He doesn't move nearly as much or as violently as Katie did and I've been saying it's a sign that he's going to be a totally mellow baby. However, I'm probably just not feeling it as much because I have an anterior placenta. But still...positive thinking...mellow baby!


Love those little feet

At this point, the 3D picture is a bit odd looking. Baby is still super tiny and has virtually no fat, but it's still kind of neat to see. His left arm is up by his head.


The weather has been so wonderful lately and the kids love spending time outside.
Hopefully by next summer, Katie's feet will reach her pedals, but we're not holding our breath.

Kelton doesn't know it, but he's getting a new bike for his bday.

Katie's all time favorite thing to do....chase Kelton.


The fence for our backyard is almost done. I can't wait to let the kids (and the dog) loose to play again. At our other house, Kelton always used to play outside while I fixed dinner. I know Katie is going to love running around back there with him. I just snapped these two pics in the dark drizzly cold, but you get the idea..



The green goo is Katie's sippy cup is a smoothie. We don't do much juice at our house. Kelton was over 2yrs before I ever gave him any and then we preferred Naked Juice Green Machine. It's packed full of awesome fruits and veggies, including wheat and barley grass. Both of these are considered to be gluten free but do pose a risk of contamination, so we decided it would be best to avoid it for Katie. I have gotten the Acai Machine and Black and Blueberry Rush for her to try and she seemed to like them both, although her favorite treat is a green smoothie. I put in frozen mango, vanilla soy milk, a banana, a kiwi, 1/2 an apple, and several large handfuls of baby spinach. It looks terrible, I know, but it's really tasty!


Kelton is counting down the days until Halloween. He plans to be Kyle Busch (again) and Katie is going to be a little pumpkin. We'll have to trade out 99% of Katie's candy for something safe for her, but at this age, she wont't know the difference and I'm sure Kelton (and Daddy) won't mind helping her eat it.


I'm putting a package in the mail to MN tomorrow. Forever ago, Carrie asked me to cut the alphabet out with my cricut for her. I did it right away and never got it mailed. So I cut out some Halloween shapes to send along also. Of course, some Halloween stickers for the kids, a coupon organizer for Carrie and a special Halloween treat for her as well. It's a surprise!

A New Printable Coupon!

I was so excited when looking at the new IPs at coupons.com to find an awesome coupon for a $1/off gluten free items. It can be used on several brands and doesn't expire until 12/31/2011!! There are a lot of new coupons on the site, so you'll have to scroll through to find it. It's listed as Save $1 Gluten-Free.

We can always use more coupons for Katie's coconut milk/kefir. Hopefully we won't be needing this much longer, but for now we do and I really appreciate everyone who has already printed for us.
Coconut Milk Coupon
We also discovered awhile back that Eric's eczema gets especially horrible when he consumes too much dairy (Guess we don't have to wonder where Katie got her intolerance anymore!) I've been buying him soy milk to cut back on his dairy intake and I think it's making a difference. There's an awesome printable with a long exp date out for his favorite kind and I would love it if anyone could print them as well.
Soy Milk Coupon
We've received lots of coupons printed for us in the mail lately and words can't even express how grateful I am. Some of them are from people we don't even know. We are so truly blessed to have so many people care about us. I hope someday I can adequately pay it forward.

Thank you so much, everyone and God Bless you all!

Who wants a sandwhich?

I was able to score some coupons for my favorite lunch meat and bread. This haul was $16.61. After I've used all the coupons, I'll have 10 loaves of Sara Lee Bread and 20 pkgs of Hillshire Farm lunch meat in my freezer for a total cost of $40!


I've been promising Kelton some Starbucks, so we went to Target on Wed evening. We left $15.69 for this pile. We already have Hungry Hippos and so do all my nieces and nephews, but I figured for this price I'd better snatch it up and save it for a random bday party or to donate at xmas.


Walgreens is pretty awesome for register rewards this week! I don't have a picture, but I spent $14 after tax and left with $13 in RR!! You can find the deals and coupon match-ups at Coupon Cravings.

We had s'mores for a treat awhile back and I'm finally getting the pictures uploaded. Needless to say, this was a bath night!



Over the weekend we finally finished up the two upstairs bathrooms.
The kids bathroom is yellow, bright and fun. (Weird how it looks like a different yellow in each pic, but seriously, it's a soft yellow.) Kelton really likes it and I love how it turned out! There's an extra picture frame and towel hook just waiting for Jr to get here.




We used leftover living room paint for our bathroom and it goes perfect with the shower curtain. I'm still looking for the perfect little sign to go above our towels.



We put up some vinyl lettering in Bug's room,
which finally completely finishes it also.

Vinyl lettering in the kitchen too.

We still have LOTS left to do, but it's getting there and my only real goal is to have everything finished before Jr (that's what we're calling him b/c the name is a secret) gets here. So much of it is just deciding where to hang things, which stalled out a long time ago due to my indecisiveness.

I'm still trying to pick some crib bedding and came across this awesome site! It's a bit pricey, but she does have some stuff on ebay for slightly less. Of course, the search will continue, but I'm bookmarking that site!

We did decide (and quite easily) on a travel system. It only took Eric a few minutes of fiddling with different seats, bases and strollers to decide he wanted the Chicco. It's highly rated and we've heard great reviews from everyone who has one. After this seat, we'll likely move him to a Britax Marathon or possibly a Triumph Advance, where he will remain rear facing until he is AT LEAST 2 years old.

Speaking of rear facing carseats, I was super excited to hear that the American Academy of Pediatrics recently changed their recommendations to state that children are safer rear facing until the age of 2! I'm glad to see something that's been known for so long finally being endorsed by bigger names!

If you need more convincing, check out this video!

But Where's Jr?

Bugs and I made a discovery while out shopping this afternoon....The #88 Nascar was on display in the parking lot. We decided to surprise Kelton and after a quick dinner, we left to check it out. Needless to say, he was super excited, although a bit disappointed that the driver, Dale Earnhart, Jr, wasn't actually in the car.




Kelton, the one man pit crew!

I don't have any pictures,
but I got some good deals today out shopping.
At Target, there were .71 Poptarts again, Kelton's claritin for $3.24, and Kashi cereal/granola bars for $1.88/box. Not the best deal I've been able to get on the Kashi bars, but I did get a $5 gift card for buying 5 boxes, which IS awesome. I'm going back on Friday to get waffles, which will probably be $0 out of pocket after my gift card, plus I'll earn another $5 giftcard!

A couple of my favorite purchases at Dillons were; 6pk Jello Cups for $1.19, Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs for .99/pk, free hot dog buns, lg boxes of jello for .09, free king sz reeses cups, and Nestle chocolate chips for .99.

From walmart I brought home 8th Continent Soy Milk for .73 and 8pks of Pull-Ups flushable wipes for .64/pk. That's a great price for flushable wipes and since I have a few coupons left I plan on buying more.

Saturday night both kids got to try something new. Katie had Ian's Alphatots and loved them! Well, I'm not so sure she loved them as much as the ketchup.


Eric bought Kelton a bottle of NOS, which is one of Kyle Busch's sponsors. Since it is an energy drink, we didn't let him have much.


WAY before I was pg, ya know back when we weren't sure there'd be a #3, I saw a blanket at Target that I just loved. Both kids had plenty of blankets though, so I didn't get it....until it went on clearance. It was one of those, "just in case" purchases. LOL. Obviously deep down, I knew #3 would come eventually, although much sooner than I'd ever anticipated.


I'd been eyeing something else at Target recently and had planned on purchasing it anyway, but was super happy to see that it was clearanced too! I picked it up last week. It will go in baby boy's room.


I've been picking up a few clothes for baby boy here and there. I don't have much of Kelton's newborn stuff left and a lot of what I do have is keepsake for him, so baby won't use it. I got this jacked on clearance plus 20% off during a recent Gymbo order. It's one thing that each child has had and I will save for them, their own little jacket.


We'll be hitting up Babies R Us this weekend for the Great Trade-In Event. You can take any old baby gear and trade it for 20% of new. See site for participating brands and what gear you can trade. We have an old Cosco Senera that we don't use anymore, that we plan to trade to get 20% off a travel system. I've never owned a travel system with either of the other kids and I'm so excited!

Love Long Weekends!

We started out Friday morning with Katie's allergist appt. We loved this Dr. She sat down, actually listened and answered the questions we asked. After going over everything we decided to test that day for the common food allergens and indoor environmental allergens. Katie did awesome and we were thrilled when everything came back negative. This means Katie doesn't have a actual milk allergy, she just can't tolerate it, which the Dr said most kids outgrown by about 2. I am ecstatic at the thought of her being able to eat dairy. This Dr also specializes in asthma, so I imagine we'll have Kelton in to see her also as he's already starting to get bad again and we're barely into the fall.

Buggy with the skin pricks on her back.
When Kelton got out of school, we picked him up and headed to Eric's parent's house. Whatever Eric's is doing, Kelton is right there with him. They managed to get 1 dove.


The girls went shopping while the boys were playing around the farm. I'd been searching for the perfect boy diaper bag and was thinking I could settle on this, when I saw the perfect one. Nana picked it up to save for the baby shower. (Which I don't think I need to have, but my friends feel differently.)

Eric's class reunion was on Saturday night.
I insisted we get a picture before we left because everyone was clean and in a good mood.


Bugs and Moose enjoyed playing in the sandbox while we were there. We didn't move ours with us and I know Kelton has really missed it. Looks like we'll have to make it a priority to get a new one built this spring!

Katie had to give it a taste.

Kelton has learned not to eat it (finally), so he just built some castles.

And what's more fun when visiting the farm, than feeding the cows?

I'm so indecisive!

Before we knew that we were having a boy, I thought I had a bedding set all picked out. It's organic, brown and green, with adorable baby deer on it. I was certain it's what I had to have. Now that we know it's a boy, I can't commit. I have no idea what I want. Typical. Speaking of knowing it's a boy. Confirmation again today. Definitely a boy! It's so much fun seeing him now, especially since that sac looked normal! Hooray! My next sono isn't for a whole month! My bladder is happy about that.



Just had to show off those boy parts one more time!

I've been busy shredding zucchini from the garden. I'm putting more in the freezer and baking bread too. I like to make mini loafs so I can share with lots of people. I also made a batch of blackberry jam on Sunday. Kelton and I had fun delivering little jars to the neighbors. It turned out really yummy. Eric's dad is going to love it.

I've had a bit of time to do a little couponing. I've been busy and haven't got it in much lately and had forgotten the satisfaction I get from scoring a good deal!

Walgreens was good to me last week, $4.81.

I had fun at Target too, $14.06. That might not seem like a great deal, but you have to remember Kelton's claritin regularly runs about $10/box.

While I was at Target,
I saw this sleeper and just couldn't pass it up.
The family across the street is having a baby girl in about a month and her baby shower was last weekend. What does every girl need? Hairbows! What does she need to keep them in? A bow box! I was really happy with how this one came out!

Kelton's still really enjoying kindergarten. I worry that he's not going to be challenged enough, but hopefully with a little more time that will change. Right now I'm just working extra with him at home. He's really eager to do math right now, so tonight we worked on double digit addition. He's a smart little cookie. (at least I think so) :-)

Katie has been doing better without him during the day but is still super excited when he gets home from school.

We have a school boy!!

Kelton started Kindergarten on Monday. I felt really relieved after meet the teacher night to know that his teacher is one of our neighbors, although that didn't stop me from crying when we left him there that morning. He's been having the best time and lots of fun at his new daycare too, where he goes before and after school. I think one of my proudest moments was when he told me he was choosing white milk and eating his veggies at lunch. A minor thing, I know, and while he does love treats, I've tried so hard to teach him to make healthy choices and I like seeing that it's paid off.

I was so nervous he'd get hungry before lunch,
I made him eat a cereal bar after his bowl of cereal.

He was ready for this yesterday!

Here's when I started getting a bit misty.


I left him right there and he never looked back.
I did though...a lot.

This is the first thing that happens when
Kelton gets home in the evening. They really miss each other.

I took Miss Katie Bug in for an 18mo weight check Friday. At 16mo, she was 29in, 19lbs 14oz. We skipped a check at 17mo since we were so busy and she seemed to be doing great. This morning I was excited to learn she is now 30in and 20lbs 2in! We're finally in the 20's! I was hoping for a tad more gain, but we'll take what we can get! I've found a bunch of new foods for her lately including pretzels, instant oatmeal packets, mac and cheese, donuts and premade pasta with sauce! Her current love is Kinnikinnick S'moreables Graham Crackers and we were bummed that Whole Foods was out of them today.

This morning, she had her first taste of donut.

IT'S GOOD!

On Wed, I was super thrilled to find out there's a teenage girl here in town that babysits and has celiac's. Eric is pretty paranoid about who watches Katie for fear they'll feed her something she can't have. This would be the perfect sitter for us so that we can go out to dinner or a movie once in awhile!

We've been slowing weaning Bugs off her prevacid. She's doing great and we're hoping to be completely off it soon. While she still naps in her swing, she sleeps in her crib at night and generally all night anymore. About damn time, isn't it? :-)

We decided Katie was old enough to sit in time out for 30sec-1min when he gets her little attitude and swipes at us or Kelton. The first time she cried like we'd just beat her, which sent Kelton running into the room demanding to know what we'd done to his sister. When we told him she was in time out, he started crying even louder than she was, telling us she's just a baby, how could we do that, she's too little, please stop! We tried so hard not to laugh. Thankfully a few hugs later, everyone dried it up, asap.

Mommy is so mean!

We had another sono on Wed. It's kind of fun seeing the baby every 2wks, but I'm not sure how much more my bladder can take. The sac is actually looking better, at least to my untrained eye. The hemorrhage is still present and unchanged from 2wks ago. The baby has grown appropriately and was quite the active little thing. Since it's still early, we knew being able to tell the sex would be iffy, so Eric didn't come to this appt and naturally she could see pretty clearly. The sonographer put the identifying pic into a sealed envelope for me saying that it's still early, but she feels pretty certain about it. When Eric finally got home from work, we opened it up to see that we're having a BOY!


I have joked about wanting a boy because Katie is seriously all the girl I can handle. However, with this pregnancy, we just feel very grateful and blessed to have made it this far. We truly feel like the army of people praying for us and this baby have made such a difference, especially considering my OB thought we would surely miscarry after seeing the first sono. While I'm still a bit guarded, I feel much more confident that we're going to make it and I can't wait to meet the new little man in my life.

Coupon!

There is currently a printable coupon available for the Turtle Mountain Coconut Milk that Katie drinks. You can print twice per IP address. I've already printed at my house, at work and at my mom's house. If anyone else would like to print this for me, I would really appreciate it! Let me know and I'll get you my address.

Turtle Mountain Coupon

To print the second time, wait until the first is finished, then hit your back button several times until it starts printing again.

In the new house!

We've been in our new house for 2wks now. In addition to all the regular everyday stuff, we've been busy working on the house and unpacking. Poor Eric is pretty much worn out. I'm waiting to show off pictures until things are painted and decorated. Hopefully I'll have time to start blogging more often now.

Last weekend, while Kelton was gone, we worked on his room. Red is his favorite color, but there was no way I was going to paint his room red and had convinced him that blue was a better choice. Then Eric and I decided it really wouldn't be that big of deal for it to be red and couldn't wait to surprise him.


The weekend before we got to spend
some time playing with the K-cousins.





I made Katie her first grilled cheese, using Kinnikinnick Tapioca Rice Bread, Smart Balance Light Spread and Tofutti slices. She really loved it and I thought it tasted pretty good for dairy and gluten free.


Two weeks ago we got a short reprieve from the heat and finally got to spend some time outside. The new owner of our new house is super nice and lets us pick the garden whenever we want.

Katie looked cute and Kelton carried the bucket.



Quite awhile ago, I found some little swirly lollipops at the store and have been saving them for a bath night.
Both kids really liked them.








Kelton starts school a week from today. Supply shopping tonight was basically a disaster. I wonder how many stores I'll have to go to before I find everything on the list. He is completely thrilled and cannot wait for his first day. I am not quite as eager.
Wow. Kindergarten. Already. Wow.

I'm a pushover!

Who doesn't love a freezer pop in the summer? I'd been craving some and I thought I'd share with Katie even though they're basically crap in a tube.

She loved it!

And even shared with Daddy!

Turtle Mountain, the maker's of the awesome coconut milk Katie drinks is just giving me more and more reasons to love them. They recently came out with a coconut milk kefir. It's basically a drinkable yogurt, dairy and gluten free and full of probiotics. She loves it!

With the upcoming move and my ditzy pregnant brain I was thinking our sono was next Thur, but I was wrong, it was today.

The baby looks good and is growing appropriately. The heartbeat is still strong and we could see it moving around. The subchorionic hemorrhage has not gotten any smaller, but it's not larger either, so I'm happy with that. The sac is a very abnormal shape, similiar to an hour glass. At first it appeared the baby was stuck in the bottom part of the sac, but at one point during the sono, baby moved up through the narrow part. The sono tech seemed to act like that was a good sign. We're not really sure what significance this strange sac has as we won't hear from the dr until probably Monday. For now though, the baby looks good and we're focusing on that!

The pictures we got today show the baby and the odd sac really well. The baby is head down, you can see it's little feet towards the top.

Tomorrow we close on both houses and then Saturday is moving day. I can't believe it's already here. We have been very truly blessed to have this be such an easy process for us. Hopefully the move goes just as well. We couldn't get this done without all our family and friends helping babysit, paint and move stuff. Thank you so much!

LONG Weekend

We had a sono on Friday morning to confirm dates. According to when I got my positive pregnancy tests, it was possible that I might be further along than I thought, but impossible to be less.

The heartbeat was nice and strong, consistent with what the doppler got on Wed (180) and we even saw the baby moving it's little stubby arms and legs. I could see some areas that looked like bleeds on either sides of the sac, but wasn't very concerned since I'd had a small one with Katie as well.

After this, the sonographer did nothing to ease my mind. In fact, all she did was make me panic. To her the bleeds were more significant and she was surprised I hadn't had any active bleeding. Then out of the blue, she mentions that my sac is abnormally shaped. At the end, the baby turned out to measure a week behind. I called my dr office and was told to try not to worry (yea, right) and to call back on Monday because they wouldn't have the results until then.

There was lots of packing to do this weekend, but Eric and Kelton took care of all of that. Katie and I spent the weekend hanging with my mom and shopping for shower curtains for the new house. Thankfully this took my mind off the baby, because for me, shower curtains are soooo hard to buy. It's the basis of the bathroom. Everything else you buy for the bathroom, depends on the shower curtain. I literally spent all day Saturday and Sunday obsessing over this before I could make a decision.

Thankfully, Kohl's was having a sale.
I saved almost $200 after the sale prices, plus my coupon.
For the master bath, this is what I went with:


The kid's bathroom stuff, I found at Walmart.

Also at Kohl's, my mom discovered this moose
for Kelton to give to the new baby.

And we found this duck on clearance for less than $2.
Since Kelton loves go duck hunting,
I picked it up to save for xmas.

I finally got some of our ginormous zucchinis ground up and put in the freezer. I have 10 one cup bags and more to grind if I can find the time. These will be great for bread!

Katie was a super good girl through all of my indecisive shopping. She's going to be a great shopper, just like her momma. She found the snugglies at Kohl's and wanted to check them all out. I think she was holding at least 10 of them.


In a couple weeks, we'll finally get to see Eric's brother's family again! YEA! The kids were excited to say HI to Uncle Shawn on the phone yesterday.



Hopefully tomorrow we'll know a little more about what's going on with this pregnancy and I'm praying that sonographer didn't really know what she was saying. We'll find out soon enough.

Lots of Excitement!

We've had lots of exciting things happening around here lately, starting with the fact that Katie has not nursed in 8 days! Last Thur night, we realized she hadn't nursed for 48 hrs and decided to make a clean break. She's doing awesome with it and Eric has been such a trooper stepping up by doing bedtime and getting up with her at night, although she's doing really well sleeping at night lately too!

I ate Sonic cheese sticks that night. They were so wonderful. Since then, I've had Coldstone, Taco Bell with cheese, a candy bar and a bunch of other crap I probably really shouldn't be eating, but it's soooo good! My mom made me biscuits and gravy on Saturday and I just finished those leftovers yesterday. Delicious!

I had my first OB appt this morning and was so shocked to get to hear the heartbeat. It really took me off guard and I got a bit emotional. It's no secret that these last nearly 17mo have been really rough on Eric and I all around. The stress Katie's problems has created has been unimaginable. We've been so blessed to have such luck with the houses and it's been such a whirlwind of activity that we haven't even had much time to think about the baby or even let it sink in. It finally seems like our rocky road has smoothed out a bit. While I know it won't always be like this, I'm really enjoying life again and getting excited about new baby and moving into our new house.

I had a $10 certificate to TCP that I needed to spend and decided to get something for the new baby. I LOVE their stretchies and when I saw this one, I knew we must have it!


I have a gymboree order going in tonight. I'm not really that crazy about the new lines, so I'm not even spending all my gymbucks. They have a really cute yorkie line, but it's just big girls and the smallest is a 4. Katie will probably be 6 before she's in that size. I am getting this cute little yorkie in a purse to put away for xmas.


We're also getting this watermelon dress for her 18mo pictures. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's adorable in person.


We're moving in 10 days.
We still have a lot to pack, but all the boxes are ready!

Eric always does Katie's bathtime and now that he's doing bedtime too, I'm honestly feeling a little left out. I do think it's very good for the both of them though as Katie's always been a huge momma's girl. I'm back to doing Kelton's bedtime now, which is fun. It's probably be a few months until I start doing Katie's bedtime again.

Katie's hair is getting so long,
Daddy made a huge soapy point on top!

And we can't forget the best big brother EVER!

The most exciting part of today must have been the turtle who slowly crawled across our backyard. Jasmine spotted it first. Then Kelton wondered if it was coming inside and Katie was insistant on going out to see it. Needless to say, he was pretty frightened of us, even though we offered him some lettuce.

Slacker

I feel like such a slacker with my blog lately. My evenings have been spent laying on the couch and going to bed early. I promise to do better after this killer first trimester is over.

Weaning is full speed ahead. I waver from feeling guilty for weaning her so soon and being so ready that I want it over yesterday. I'm trying to cut out nap time nursing first. While she's plenty old enough not to need a bottle anymore, we have to transition somehow. When I gave her a bottle for the first time before her nap last week, it was the first time I had given either of my kids a bottle, ever. It definitely felt weird.

We harvested all the potatoes last week.





Having a drink from the hose after all the hard work


We might get to pick our corn before we leave after all.
We're going to be cutting it close.

Whether or not we'll get cantelope is iffy also.

I do have some beautiful bell peppers!

I hear a BLT calling my name! Those tomotoes look delicious!

While I was bummed we couldn't make it to St. Louis for my family reunion, Forth of July was still fun. I have 5 uncles that my cousins and I affectionately nicknamed "the druncles" many years ago. I bought them these hats over a year ago and was sad I didn't get to give them to them myself.


Eric's parents came to eat dinner and watch the fire works. Our neighborhood goes a bit crazy on the 4th. Thankfully, I got Katie to bed before everyone got started and she slept right through it.

Kelton and Papa lighting their race cars!

I have been a total slacker on my couponing lately too. If it looks good, I buy it. That includes huge honey buns and a box of coconut shrimp that cost $10, which I still haven't eaten. I went to Dillons on Monday night, wandering around until I returned home with quite the random asst.

I have a new plan for our grocery budget and although Eric's not totally on board with the idea, I think it'll work great. I'm going to start the month with $350 cash to use towards our groceries and household items and spend no more than that. That's just a starting amount to see how the first month goes. After that I'll see how things look and adjust or lower. I'm not going to try to buy Katie's food within this budget because I don't want to limit what a buy for her. I plan to start after my first paycheck after we're in the new house.

We did hit up Target today and did pretty well. The Kashi cereal was .66/box, the cereal bars were .50/box, the cake mix was .34/box, and the paper plates were .50/pk. The Market Pantry fruit bars are one of Katie's favorite snacks and were $2.99, the most expensive thing we bought!


I couldn't get over how "big" Katie looked today.
Maybe she'll be ready to be a big sister after all.

Of course, Kelton is ready for another baby and was disappointed today when I told him this would be the last baby.

I'm starting to feel a little anxious about the upcoming move.
This house feels so much like home,
I hope it doesn't take long to settle in to the new one.

Long time no blog!

Mostly because in my free time, I've been busy keeping the house looking decent or napping. Okay, mostly napping. Then there's the nausea and the migraines. Okay, let's catch up... Friday after Katie's nap (she slept terrible and was up for the day around 4:30am, so a nap was a must), we went to Mimi's work to see how much she weighed. We were delighted to see that she was 19lbs 14.5oz and 29in! Yea for growth! I just really hope the consistent growth continues throughout the weaning process.

To mix things up a little, we all had waffles for lunch. Kelton had blueberry Kashi, Katie had blueberry Vans and I had pomegranate Nature's Path. I'd love to be able to eat the Kashi with Kelton because I've been getting them at Target (with this coupon) for as little as .26 a box, but they contain milk.

We wore matching outfits


On Saturday, I went to World Market to pick up some ginger candy. I'd heard that it's supposed to help with nausea, so I grabbed a variety. At work this week, I had doctor and the girls try it with me. It didn't make me feel better and the only thing that was remotely tolerable were the chews.


While I was in Wichita, Eric got busy outside smoking me some dinner. I'd been totally craving some ribs. He also smoked some deer meat and sausage. It was so good and there's a whole rack left in the freezer for when I get that craving again.


We invited some of our favorite neighbors over to enjoy it with us. I'd also been craving some spicy deer chili, so Pete made me some the next day. Unfortunately I was too sick to eat it, but we saved some in the freezer for when it sounds good again.


Since we've been so busy with house selling/buying, I haven't had time to worry about being pregnant. I seem to have an imbalance of hormones that causes me to miscarry if I don't start taking supplemental hormones early enough. Although for the first time ever, I didn't have any symptoms that would happen, my OB put me on the medication just to be on the safe side. Even with the med, now that things have slowed down, I'll surely worry for a few more weeks and do crazy things like take more pregnancy tests (as if 4 wasn't enough). As you can see, I'm still pregnant.


I was lounging on the couch in our waiting room during my lunch yesterday, when the flower delivery guy brought in a really pretty arrangement. I was so surprised to see that it was for me. It was the great pick me up, because I've been pretty worn out from being pregnant, nursing and keeping the house immaculate for showings and inspections. Very sweet of Eric to think of it.


This monster zucchini is from our garden. I'm thinking I'm going to shred it and freeze it to use in breads and cookies.


The boys have been out doing fireworks EVERY NIGHT since Saturday. Katie has managed to sleep through most of it if I can get her to sleep before they really get going.

Eric's parents are coming for the 4th and that morning I get to have breakfast with a dear friend that I haven't seen forever. I cannot wait!

And lastly, Jasmine is 7yrs old today. She was my first baby and although now she can be annoying, disgusting (ie:vomiting everywhere), and stinky, we really do love her. She has grown so tolerant of the kids, plays so well with them and they just adore her. I hate to think that she probably won't be with us for 7 more years. She is definitely one of a kind. Here she is eating corn on the cob!

That was quick!

We put our house on the market a week ago yesterday. The potential buyer that looked at the house just minutes after the sign went up made an offer and we signed a contract on Sunday! Only 4 days on the market in this economy is amazing! Aaaand we have a contract on the house just up the street! We're closing on both houses 7/24! God was definitely looking after us! I figure we deserved a break after dealing with Katie for the last 16mo! I just hope we haven't used it all up because I'm really praying for an easier baby this go around.

I'm sad to leave my wonderful laminate floors, but I'm most bummed to leave our garden. Eric and Kelton have put so much work into it. I don't think we're going to get to pick any corn before we leave, but I know we'll get plenty of onions, potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes and probably peppers.









I love getting mail. That must be something you never grow out of, because it's still totally fun even when you're old. We got this box in the mail from Carrie on Tues. I could smell the coffee beans before I even got the mail box open. I cannot wait to try the gluten free cinnamon roll mix, but I think I'll wait until we have a day where the high is less than 100 to turn my oven on. You know I'll put those Gymbo coupons to use and the little baby card she made about had me crying.



I've decided to start weaning Katie now so that we can take it really slowly. I'm not pumping anymore, so she gets 100% coconut milk in her bottle or sippy. We're lucky we have that alternative. We buy the original. I think because it's very slightly sweetened, it's a lot like breastmilk, which also has a sweet taste. I won't lie, I'm extremely excited at the prospect of eating normally again.

Right now I'm just eating whatever sounds good, which includes subway veggie delight for breakfast, graham crackers with frosting for dinner, peanut butter smeared on frosted mini wheats for lunch. I cannot wait until this passes as I've had some pretty rough days.

I've linked to my sister in law, Carrie, several times, but my mother in law, Yvette, is blogging now too. Check it out!

Tomorrow is weigh day for Katie. She was 19lbs 1oz last month and I really feel like she's gaining, so I'm hoping for 20+lbs! Keep your fingers crossed.

On The Market

Spent the entire morning getting the house immaculate so our realtor could come take pictures to list our house this evening. It does look awesome, if I do say so myself. She hadn't been gone more than 20min when she called and asked if we could do a showing tonight! Heck yes! And we got really positive feedback! It would be my dream come true if we could sell this place right away and get the house we really want that's less than a block away. I really want to stay in this neighborhood.


Notice how terrible our front yard looks? We let the crab grass take over last year when we were in the deep depths of colic. Although we've kept it at bay this year, it'll be next spring before all those bare spots will fill in.

Had to go to Target last night to get a mirror for our big empty wall. Supposedly, it'll make the room look bigger. To ease the pain of spending $60 on a mirror, I grabbed some free Nexcare bandaides, Crystal Light and Old Spice deodorant. I also got 2 pkgs of Ziplock evolve sandwich baggies for .49 each.

Then I hopped on over to Dillons to snag some of the Santa Cruz Organic Strawberry-Lemonade for .66/bottle. It's very good. I hope it's still on sale because I want to get some more.

Pretty much everyone and their dog knows I'm pregnant now and actually it's made it easier and allowed me to start getting excited because everyone else is so excited.

I took my boss man in a little bottle of Southern Comfort and made him think I was quitting before I told him, "I'm only pregnant and that doesn't seem nearly as bad now, does it?" I just started working my Mondays again in Jan, so I barely feel like I've been back that long. The next day I brought this cake to announce our news to the rest of the office. It's lemon cake poked with strawberry jello and lemon frosting. Very tasty!


Katie has been sleeping totally unswaddled since April, I think. We just slowly worked out of it. She would swing with only her arms swaddled, but quit that first. Then she got to where she was sleeping in her crib without her arms swaddled and we finally dropped that too. We used to joke that when she was 16, we'd be zipping her up in a mummy bag every night before bed.

She's not very good at napping anywhere besides her swing, but she did nap for an hour in her crib on Sunday. Today she napped for at least 30min on the floor at my mom's house.


And the biggest news on the sleeping front....Monday night, she went to bed at 6:45pm and didn't get up until 5am! Of course at that point she was up for the day, but I was up getting ready for work anyway. Naturally she didn't repeat it the next night, but if she can do it once, there's hope that it will happen again and maybe on the regular!

You might want to sit down....

Because this is a shocker.

We've known for a week now (yes, I needed 4 to make me believe it) and have been slowing letting everyone know. Acceptance is happening with each person we tell.

While I've been slowing becoming mega exhausted and sick, not to mention totally freaked out, Eric has been great. He's been calm and totally on top of things because we're going to need to sell this house and find something bigger.

Katie is still way to big of challenge to even consider putting a baby in her room yet. She's been specifically difficult these last couple weeks and I figured out the reason last night. Eric has been buying me Tostito's Hint of Lime. They're are super good AND contain milk. I never would have guessed and am so mad at myself for not looking sooner. This also explains Katie's new breakout of eczema, why she's been spitting up and getting the hicups several times a day.

We've about a year ahead of our ideal schedule for this, if ever, really. I'm worried about how Katie will handle it and upset because my milk supply has already diminished quite a bit. I wanted to nurse her longer. I also wanted to have more 1 on 1 time with her after Kelton started K this fall.

I'm sure everything will work out on the end, (at least that's what I keep telling myself.) I know that when we hold our new squishy baby, we'll be totally in love and hopefully he/she doesn't scream 24/7 - above all that's my one huge fear.

My mom isn't driving yet, so I took her home Thurs after Kelton's tball game and stayed to watch an episode of Roots. She has the mini-series on DVD, so I've been escaping over to watch it with her occassionally. I told Eric to call me if he had trouble with Katie. He didn't call and I came home to find this. I even got the picture and moved her to her crib without her waking up.


Made a quick trip to Target on Friday. Total was $5.46 before tax. Crystal Light was free, baggies were .79 each and the containers were .54 each. All along I had been planning to have Katie eating no baby food by now, but best laid plans, ya know. While I would love for her to just eat peas and greenbeans, she still loves the babyfood with a little pears mixed in. So I'm going to feed her what she'll eat at this point.


The kids in their matchy matchy outfits. I think they looked really cute. To tell our parents about the baby, I used paint to draw a little stick figure and put Feb 2010 above it. Naturally they're all excited and they'd better be because this is the last grandbaby they're getting from us!


Instead of Katie in a cute outfit this time....Check out Kelton's new digs that Eric found at Walmart a few weeks ago.

Never Never Never

That's what I always said about owning any type of video game system for my kids. I want them up and being physical, not sitting on their duffs zoned into some game. Plus, I can have a bit of an addictive personality and games like Tetris can literally keep me up all night.

That was before. Before I played bowling on the Wii at my neighbor's house. Before I knew the Wii was a totally different type of game system. My mind started spinning thinking about all the family fun we could have on those 0 degree snowy days or the 105 degree death valley like days. Gotta love Kansas!

We decided that Santa would bring a Wii and started saving our money. After several months the money was saved and Mommy started getting anxious. Mommy's work out videos aren't even DVDs. That's right folks, they're VHS. Mommy wants to workout with the Wii Fit so bad she can taste it and xmas, that's like an eternity away.

At PT on Wed, it was mentioned how awesome the Wii fit and Wii personal trainer really was and that was it.... I knew we had to buy it last weekend.

Eric picked it up at Target. He got himself a hunting game, the Fit and Personal Trainer for me and Nascar game that will be put up until Xmas for Kelton.




When Kelton got home Sunday evening, he was super thrilled. He's been playing the Wii for at least a year while he's gone on visitation and he's pretty much a pro compared to us.


Katie gave it a try also.

Katie is pretty much walking (and falling) all the time now. I know it's totally normal at this stage, but I feel so bad everytime she gets new pump or bruise. This on her chin is from face planting into the corner of the dishwasher. Two of her fingers are scratched up too.


And a close up of the pretty dress she wore last night.
From the back is the best I could get.

Over the weekend I made some sorbet. I got the idea from Milk Allergy Mom. I made strawberry banana and halved the sugar. It was super good. Katie and I have been enjoying it nearly every day. I made another batch of just banana tonight. I can't wait to try it with watermelon.

We have Layla this weekend, so we're trying to figure out something super fun to do. Whatever it is, there'll be lots of pictures.

Mud Ducks!

That's the name of Kelton's tball team. His first game was on Thursday evening and we had SO much fun!
Lots of pictures ahead!!




It is absolutely hilarious to watch all the kids scramble to get the ball. They often end up in one big pile. Everybody was a winner and we can't wait until the next game! Kelton is obviously the shortest (and whitest) boy on the team, but he doesn't even notice. He's just having a great time.
Friday we went spent some time outside in the morning before it got too hot. Instead of the double stroller, I pushed Katie in the awesome single stroller that I got forever ago at BRU for a great price (using coupons, of course) and Kelton rode his bike. The loop we walk is just short of a mile, so I'm sure he was tired.

And as usual, Katie tagged along, looking cute in a pretty dress.

Shopping Spree!!

I had my first PT appt this morning and I'm really encouraged. I already noticed a difference in my lower back pain during my walk tonight. I found out the real problem isn't diastatis, it's my csection scar. Damn csections.

My hairbows arrived on Monday. I really like them, but there was a mistake with my order and I was sent a med brown bow instead of a lg one. I contacted the company and they sent out a new bow the next morning, saying for me to keep the mistake bow. Great company. I will definitely be a repeat customer.

My shopping spree on Sunday was so much fun and I finally have pictures! I took them all in the basement on our hideous green carpet. It was here when we bought the house and I can't bring myself to replace it because it's in such great condition.
Our first stop was Gymboree.
Kelton got some jammies.
Katie also got a set of jammies and new swim suit. I already had one for her that I bought last year on clearance and of course at the time I didn't know she wasn't going to grow, so it's huge.


Katie got these 3 outfits for this year. I was going to get the brown dress for next year, but Lisa convinced me to get it for this year and then next year, she can wear it with shorts. I also picked up the plaid halter dress for Layla so that she can Katie could have a matching outfit.


Katie will wear this cute little outfit next summer.

Next stop was The Children's Place. Both Kelton and Katie got 2 pairs of sunglasses for free because of my $10 place perks. I absolutely love TCP sunglasses. They make them really tiny for little faces and they're regularly 2 for $5! You just can't beat that, especially because my kids are forever losing or breaking their sunglasses. I believe in his short 5 yrs, Kelton has gone through twice as many sunglasses as I have in 28 yrs.

Before I left, Kelton told me he wanted to have something to match Katie, so I was delighted to find these!

Next awesome find were these little sandals for Katie. This sole is really soft and flexible and they fit perfectly!
We made an unplanned stop at Old Navy because I needed to get Kelton a shirt to match the shorts I bought at TCP and I figured their $5 Forth of July shirts would be perfect. While I was there, I got one for me and Eric also, so we'll all match!

I saw this jammie while we were there and I couldn't resist, so I picked it up for next year.

Poor Kelton's first tball game got rained out last night. We've got another game tomorrow night and no rain in the forecast. I can't wait. Today's weather was a bit windy, but the temp was great. We always try to spend some time outside whenever possible. I really think it helps Katie sleep better.



And I'll finish things up with a funny little video of Katie.
Every kid does this at some point, don't they?

Strawberries!!

Not much to say, but lots of pictures!
This morning after breakfast, we headed out to Sargeant's Berry Farm to pick us some berries!!


It didn't take the kids long to taste them!

Katie mostly just chilled in her stroller, but still wanted to get her hands on some strawberries too. Notice she wore an outfit with strawberries on it. A proper lady always dresses for the occasion.


Farmers Kelton and Layla.

Layla turned into a cow.

We got a lot of berries! Almost 10lbs!

Katie didn't quite make it home. Berry picking is exhausting.

I had to make a trip to Walmart to get sugar, pectin and a few other groceries we'd been needing. I saved $45 with my coupons, btw. I also picked up come cute little freezer jam containers. Total frivolous buy, but I couldn't resist.

These are totally the best strawberries I have ever tasted!
After I blended up the strawberries, I noticed they were pretty thin. I really wanted chunks of berries in my jam, so scooped out a cup and replaced it with some berries that I'd mashed up with my potato smasher.


Sugar and pectin is all you need.

This is how much it made. Another use for all our baby food jars! Although we have found a place that recycles glass, it's pretty inconvenient to get there, but hey, we're dedicated hippies.

I have a crap ton of strawberries left, so I'll probably make another batch after I pick up another pack of pectin tomorrow. I also made some yellow cake that we're eating them on top of. And of course, just by the handful as well. They are sooo good!


Tomorrow is my Gymboree/The Children's Place shopping extravaganza. I'm ecstatic.

Hitting the sack early

I'm already in my jammies sipping a cup of mother's milk tea. My allergies are totally haywire, so I'm skipping my walk. I ran half of it last night and learned something very important...I need a better sports bra.

I guess I should really teach myself to make Katie's hairbows. The huge ones I ordered on 5/7, just shipped today. The website did say they could take up to 14 business days to ship which is exactly how long it took. By the time they arrive, it will have been nearly a month from the date of order. Really. For 4 generic hairbows.

The Dillons Marketplace in Derby opened yesterday, so we had to check it out. They have cool new carts.


They also have a large natural foods section which has a mondo variety of goodies for Katie. I pick up some blueberry cereal bars and some veggie flavor rice crackers. We're going to talk the the manager about stocking the milk she drinks. While I'm totally excited about having a bigger selection closer to home, shopping for things that don't have gluten OR dairy can be such a bummer. It often seems like if it's gluten free, it has milk and if it's dairy free, it has gluten. I need to carry a flask while I grocery shop for Katie to help numb the frustration.

The garden is growing like crazy and the composter still isn't doing much. Both of which I'm way too tired to take pictures of tonight.

We're planning to hit up a "pick your own berries" farm maybe on Saturday. The kids will love it and I can't wait to make some freezer jam.

Also this weekend, Lisa and I are going to hit up a Gymboree sale. Their new hippo infant lines and girls watermelon lines are too cute! We're also going to stop by The Children's Place so I can make use of my $10 Place Perks plus 20% off.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Wouldn't it be a shame?

If Katie were to ever endure the ride to or from Hardtner without crying at least 1/2 of the way? Seriously. I guess at least it wasn't the entire way this time and the ride home was relatively peaceful, but come on, shouldn't we be past that stage by now?

Katie was 15mo on Friday and weighed in at 19lbs 1oz! I was so surprised and very happy! This is such a relief considering that she's been a super picky eater lately and I'm always worried that I'm not getting enough calories in her. She has also delighted us by doing quite a bit of unassisted walking. She's had a rough go of things and was a late crawler, so we assumed she'd be a later walker as well. I'm constantly reassured by everyone that she's fine (she pulls up, cruises, balances, etc very well), but I still can't help but feel a little concerned and anxious for her to walk.

I got quite the surprise Saturday when I came down the stairs and saw a scorpion basking in the sun that was shining through the window. I thought it was dead, but when Yvette tried to pick it up with a tissue, we quickly learned it was not. We pulverized it with a boot before I was brave enough to take a picture. Katie and Jasmine were only playing about 10 feet away. Scary.


The girls did a little shopping Saturday morning and Nana bought Bugs some new cute shoes. Katie loves them and even went down for her nap clutching her bunny in one hand and her shoes in the other hand. Pedipeds are great shoes and it's super important for little ones to either be barefoot or wear soft shoes when they're early walkers and while their feet are still developing.

We brought a huge box of goodies for Eric's parents to take when they go to visit his brother's family sometime next month. Carrie hooks me up with card supplies and I put my couponing skills to use for her. I hope to have another boxful ready when we see them sometime later this summer.


Last week, Carrie sent me a box full of stamps and card supplies. That night I unloaded the box and filled it back up with some things I thought she could use, specifically oreos and chocolate to help with the chaos of moving in to a new house.

I painted Kelton's toenails once when he was younger and Eric was not happy with me. I didn't get in trouble for painting these toenails though!
At first it was going well.


And as typical for Katie, she changed her mind.


But we did get them finished!
So pretty!


My mom is doing well recovering from her neck surgery. I went and picked her up Friday so that she could get out of the house for awhile. I was sure to medicate her while she was over.


I did have some really cute pictures from Kelton's preschool picnic and from Kelton and Katie swinging at the park, but I deleted them accidentally before I downloaded them. I'm not very happy about it. :-(

Beans Beans The Musical Fruit

Katie LOVES refried beans and mexican rice. Since we're being extra careful to avoid foods even processed in the same facility as wheat or dairy, that means nearly all canned beans are out. I figured I could make my own in the crock pot and after a quick google to get some ideas, here's how it went...


I bought a 2lb bag of pinto beans (next time I'm getting organic). I sorted and rinsed them like 100x, soaked them overnight, then rinsed again. I put them in the crock pot, covered them in a couple inches of water, then stirred in a tbsp minced onion, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper, 1/2 tsp cumin and a splash of canola oil. (My measurements are approx.) I put the lid on and cooked all day. After dinner I used my potato smasher and mashed them in batches, adding salt to taste.


The verdict?
They're super delishious!! Aaaand, it made a huge bowl for only $2! We enjoyed some right away and I still put 6 sandwich baggies full into the deep freeze!

I put in an order on Thurs for some new marshmallow treat bars for Katie. Before I ordered, I was sure to check retailmenot.com to see if there were any codes for a discount and sure enough, I was able to get 15% off my order. Glenny's already had auto free shipping for orders over $30, so I did pretty well! They shipped super quick and arrived today!


The package I sent to Jaime finally arrived late last week. Since Molly is so small, she has been unable to find a birthday girl outfit for her, so my mom and I made this cute little (oragnic, of course) onesie. I used my cricut to cut out the designs and my mom sewed them on. I can't wait to see pics of her wearing it.


Grabbed a few things at Walgreen's for next to nothing. The total was $1.10 before tax, plus it spit out a $1 RR for my next trip.
Awesome.


I'm finally scheduled for physical therapy in a couple weeks to see if I can salvage my abs and do something about the killer lower back pain I'm having.

Kelton started tball tonight.

Hump Day

I actually really enjoy Wed. It's my first day off after two work days. The kids and I usually hit up Target, Kelton and share a Starbucks drink, we nap, we play and mostly just enjoy the day. I try not concentrate too much on housework or laundry and just devote the day to the kids.

Speaking of Target.....
Subtotal was $2.15, $3.28 after tax.
Some of this stuff, like the BBQ Sauce (I'm partial to KC Masterpiece), I won't use. I've been building a stock pile for Carrie, so I checked for long exp dates. I also share with my mom and donate often to our local food bank.

Nana sent a package that arrived today. It contained a cute ladybug dress for Katie and some stickers for Kelton. I seriously cannot wait for the weather to just stay warm (and not rainy) so that Katie can start wearing all her summer dresses. Kelton is super eager to be wearing his flip flops and sandles more often too.




Today was finally haircut day for Jasmine. I waited too long to call for an appt and then had to wait even longer for an opening. Jasmine has a bit, okay, a lot of anxiety and the lady that grooms her does such a good job.






The composter is starting to make a bit more progress. If we could get some warmer weather and some sunshine, it'd heat up a bit and really get to breaking down.


Speaking of the garden..
Picked the first strawberry today. Yum!


Tomatoes are coming right along also.


Our latest casualty was the cantaloupe. Eric is going to replant this weekend.

All three kids are in bed. (We have Layla for the next couple days). I'm hitting the sack as well. Before 11pm - Whooo Hooo! My mom's surgery is tomorrow, please pray that everything goes routine and that she has a quick recovery.