Let the count down begin...

Only 9 more days until we finally get to meet our new little man! Only 1 more work day! Only 1 more Dr appt! Only 1 more weekend! I can't say I'd mind too much if he decided to make his appearance a little early, although I'd like to get through Katie's bday party on Saturday first.

After a little shopping (and eating fried green beans at TGFridays) last weekend, I think we have everything we could possibly need...and then some!!

I saw this gown at BRU and I HAD to have it. It came with a hat and booties. He's definitely wearing it first!!


Also found some bibs that we couldn't live without.


My mom finished up the blankets and burpies she was working on and brought them over tonight. She's made a huge stack for each of my babies. We always spend lots of time choosing the fabric special for each one. The burpies are the best, most absorbent I have ever used. There are 5 different sets of flannel burpies, each with matching bankets and and a fleece blanket with satin binding. I just love the print!



There are also 3 light weight blankets to use this spring and summer. The colors go great with his room!

Late last week, Buggy's new hairbows arrived. They each are to match a specific outfit and I can't wait for her to wear them!


Bugs got another special treat this weekend. Ranch Dressing! That's right, Kraft Cucumber Ranch doesn't contain dairy!


Moose spent some time shooting his new Red Rider BB Gun.

And Sunday, we tasted snow!!



I've been busy working on Katie's 2nd Year video, which prompted me to watch Kelton's 2nd Year video. I made a video for his bday for his first 3 yrs. I'll do the same for Katie and Konnor. I do the first 3 because they change so drastically in those years. If I really was super mommy, I'd keep it up forever. When you add more than 1 though, especially all at the same time of year, it becomes a lot of work!

What a week it's been!!!

Last week, we had a snow day! Kelton was home from school and my OB appt was canceled. We only wish Daddy could have been home with us too! The kids loved snacking on popcorn and really enjoyed the Valentine pkg we got in the mail from The MN Papons!





The day before, Kelton had insisted that he really needed a mohawk. There is worse he could ask for, right?


Saturday, I had planned a get together with some of the girls I cheered with in high school. Unfortunately, they couldn't make it because of the weather, but I still managed to get into town for some shopping. I picked up some brown minky for the quilt I'm going to make Konnor, although I don't think I'll even get it started before he arrives.


On Sunday afternoon, we kept Kelton home from tae kwon do and decided we would keep him home from school on Monday as well for extra breathing treatments because his asthma was acting up. We still hadn't gotten a written script from our ped to keep an inhaler at school (bad mommy) and didn't feel comfortable sending him without it.

Around 10pm, I was watching TV and heard Katie wake up and fuss a bit. It didn't sound quite right, so I checked the monitor to see her laying on her back flailing her arms and legs. Again, I could barely hear some strange low sounds coming out of her. I immediately told Eric something was wrong and ran into her room and scooped her up. She was burning up, drenched in sweat, her heart was racing and she was struggling to make any noise, even cry. I thought maybe she had a seizure from spiking a fever so quickly or that she was choking on something. I was in a panic, I yelled for Eric again and was about to call 911 when she made some honky/barky sounds. I recalled my mom talking about the sounds Layla made when she had croup and called her. She told us to take Katie in a steamy bathroom, which got her breathing again pretty quickly. It was the scariest thing I have ever experienced with one of my children. I was absolutely terrified. We were up with her most of the night and Mon morning our ped checked her out and gave us an Rx for a steriod, but telling us that night would likely be just as rough.


It's crazy how quickly and out of nowhere it came on. She was perfectly happy Sunday, wearing this super cute outfit.


I orginally bought it for Layla when she was about a year old.

Monday, I had planned on making chicken noodle soup for dinner and it turned out to be just what the Dr ordered! So yummy! Mimi had planned to come over for dinner anyway so we could celebrate her bday, plus Katie had been asking for her. Instead of cake, I made Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownies. Sick little Bugs enjoyed having a treat and we all thought they were great too! You can email Betty Crocker requesting coupons and they'll send you one for a FREE gluten free product! We always appreciate everyone helping us collect coupons to make feeding Katie more budget friendly!


On Tue, Katie still didn't feel great, but Kelton's coughing was getting better. However, that night he was up multiple times saying his ear hurt. He hasn't had an ear infection since he had tubes put in well over a year ago, so we were hoping it was just some congestion. Wrong. By Wed morning he was insistant it was better and wanted to go to school. It felt better because his ear drum ruptured, which was why there was blood and exudate dripping out of it. Yet another trip to the ped and Walgreens. I joked that if we tried hard, maybe we could come back on Fri too.

Thurs, Moosey was ready to head back to school, but Bugs stayed home with Daddy to continue resting up. Poor thing is still so worn down and sickly looking. She slept until almost 8am and took a 3.5 hr afternoon nap!

Today, Buggy and I had to go into town for my OB appt. Only one more after this...13 days until d-day! If you still haven't guessed a weight, you'd better get it in! There's a prize for the winner! And if you think he'll arrive early, feel free to guess a date as well.

The shirts I ordered for the kids arrived and I think they turned out awesome! I got them from My Baby Bears Boutique on etsy. The seller really worked with me to get exactly what I wanted and the price was great too!


Another busy weekend ahead and then Bug's birthday bash the following weekend! Konnor's big day will be here before we know it!!

The Par-tay!!

Kelton's party was Sunday afternoon and we had a terrific time!
Katie helped Daddy get the house clean before everyone arrived.

Naturally, Kelton wanted a Race Car Party.



Usually I order him a cake, but the only Nascar cakes available were other drivers besides Kyle Busch. Obviously that wouldn't do, so I made a chocolate sheet cake and we ordered some of Kyle's cars that Kelton didn't have to stick on the cake. He loved it!



I also wanted to make something Buggy safe and thought Cake Balls would be awesome! I used a Namaste Chocolate Cake Mix, Pillbury Cream Cheese Frosting, and Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips. They turned out really really good! Nobody could even tell they were dairy and gluten free!




It just so happens that this birthday was a HUGE when it comes to gifts! Nana and Papa got him a BB gun, Mimi gave him a basketball goal, and he got a new bike from Mommy, Daddy and Bugs. Not to mention a bunch of other gifts from friends and family!







Seems like the past few years, we always order Chinese the evening after Kelton's party and that's something I totally didn't forget! Katie was glad I remembered!


I am massive, of course. Sunday we were 36wks, only 25 days away from our scheduled csection on 2/18. Currently, I'm having lots of uncomfortable braxton hicks and lots of back pain. I've never gone into labor before, but I guess it could always happen this time...although I'm not counting on it.


Being HUGE isn't going to stop me from bargain shopping! Target and Walgreen's had some pretty good diaper deals this week! Here's what we got at Target today for $23.87 . I did have a $10 gift card (just from creating a baby registry!), but I also got a $5 gc to use on my next trip for buying 3pks of diapers!


It's no question that I'm a total fanatic when it comes to my kid's teeth. I used to have to practically lay on Kelton to get his brushed when he was younger. I also have to do the same for Katie, however, someone is a princess when it comes to Daddy brushing her teeth!


Kelton's school is collecting pennies for Haiti and he couldn't wait to sort through his piggy bank to donate. I love his big heart!




Supposedly, we have ice and snow on the way to our area, which is hard to believe considering it was 55 today. I really hope the weather man is wrong!

Ooooh Kelton!

Today at 6:25pm, Kelton turned 6 years old.
Six years ago, the way I see and feel life and the world changed forever. And that's really all I can say because pregnancy hormones are eating me alive here!

Not very flattering of me, my first nap with my little (big) Moosey.

One of my all time favorite of his baby pics.

Of course, 6 yr old boys are little handfuls of trouble, but we also can't rave enough about what a good guy he really is. We could not ask for a better big brother in him. At school, when the kids are caught doing something good, they get a little prize. Earlier this week, Kelton picked his prize especially for his sister. His kindness, love, and compassion for everything constantly astounds me. I just know he's going to grow into a great man.

Being super mom and all, I made 2 dz dirt and worm cups for Kelton to share with his class. He was so excited for it to be "his day" at school. He got to wear the special bday shirt and a crown!!




In addition to getting everything ready for Kelton's Racing Party tomorrow, I ran to BRU to get Katie some of the fruit and veggies pouches that she loves. I was all alone, no rush at all! Eric must have forgotten how dangerous I can be in that place!





Another peak at Konnor's room, anyone?

I am so excited for tomorrow, I doubt I'll sleep much tonight. Really, I'm too fat at this point to sleep much anyway!

It's almost over....

The weekend, that is...

I had orginally planned on getting TONS of stuff done and things started out great, but fizzled out this morning when I woke up feeling totally off. We figured I over did it, so I spent most of today just trying to relax on the couch...which isn't easy when there's so much else I'd like to be doing.

Friday, I got my chili beans cooked and put in the freezer, finished up Kelton's bday invites and finally finished a quilt that I've been working on for a friend. Papa stopped by for a quick visit which totally delighted Katie and that evening Kelton and I went to Wichita to have his 6yr pictures taken. Of course, we grabbed a starbucks on the way home!!








Speaking of quilts, Nana made this for Konnor with 3 different kinds of minky. It's the softest blanket EVER!

We're always saying how much different Katie and Kelton are, but there really are a lot of similarities too and they're pretty funny ones.....socks on your hands, anyone?



Saturday was busy!! Eric picked up donuts, my mom and Layla came over and we got to work. At the end of the day, we had a massive amount of chicken and noodles, 21 bierocks, and a lb of shredded cooked chicken in the deep freeze. We'd moved the furniture in the baby room around several times until I decided I was happy with how it looked. All the baby clothes were washed and put away as well!


The best part of the day was that the kids got to spend a lot of time outside! The weather was beautiful! They've been waiting forever to use their new wagon!




Even though I wasn't feeling that well today, we still got some work done on the baby's room. I say "we", but basically, I supervised while Eric did the work. Just a sneak peek of my favorite parts. You can see the rest when it's totally finished!



Busy, busy week ahead and Moose's big party next weekend!!

Not exactly the Wednesday I had in mind....

Bugs and I had planned on running to Wichita to Food For Thought, hitting up a few other stores and getting some Starbucks too! I knew these plans had flown out the window at 3:30am when poor Kelton woke us up saying he had vomited. This continued about every 30min until around 8am when he was finally got some sleep.

Naturally, Katie woke up shortly before 5am and I just knew with a sick boy and a super cranky toddler, I wasn't going to get anything done.....but I did! I managed to get in 4 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, made 4 sheperd's pies (one for our tummies and 3 for the freezer), put in some time on a quilt I'm making, plus we all got a 2.5 hr nap and I did make it into town to get milk for Katie after Eric got home from work. I even had time to sit and watch American Idol with a cup of hot tea when I got home from the store.

For Christmas, I got Eric a minifridge to keep in the garage for beer. It's also great for keeping Katie's milk and kefir in, so I'm able to buy more at a time and not have to hunt it down every week. Sarah and I stood in line at Home Depot on Black Friday to get it. I thought he knew, but he was super surprised!



Speaking of surprised, I got a mother's ring for Christmas! I can't believe Kelton knew about it and didn't spill the beans. Of course, I burst into tears as soon as I opened it. I was REALLY surprised!


While I'm being busy around the house, Katie sort of tags along and entertains herself (or hangs off my legs crying, "Up! Up!). For some reason, I'm never able to find both my shoes. If she's not wearing them, Kelton is dragging them out to show us (yet again) that he knows how to tie.


Katie and Jasmine are best of buddies. One of her new favorite things is to feed Jasmine her dog food....one.piece.at.a.time.


When Moose is home with us, usually he's begging to play Wii. By the time he got up on Wed though, he just rested and watched TV. I'm so thankful that we were just dealing with a 24hr bug. I don't handle vomit very well when I'm pg!


Both kids were super excited when Daddy got home (they always are)! He brought in a bunch of coins to put in their piggy banks. I'm already on the lookout for a cute bank for Konnor's room.


I'm 35wks now and pretty much waddling all the time. I'm super ready for this guy to get here, but there's still so much to do first! Today, I'm making waffles and boiling beans for the freezer. Tomorrow, we're making bierocks and chicken and noodles. We're also breaking out the bassinet, washing baby clothes and putting pictures on the wall in baby's room sometime this weekend. Next weekend is Kelton's racing bday party, three weeks after that is Katie's pooh bear party and then 5 days later....Konnor's arrival! Could be interesting if little man decides to show up early!

Lots and Lots of Christmas!!

Moose left cookies and milk out for Santa.

Of course, we had matching Christmas jammies!!

Did Santa come?

A WAGON!!

And what happens when you remove Bugs from said wagon.

Candy in our stockings!


New backpacks!!

Coffee and Tea Travel Cups!


The aftermath.

Now for Round 2 at Mimi's House
with Layla and Aunt Sarah!!
Mimi's new Paula Dean Pots and Pans. She can use these to cook us lots of yummy meals! Who doesn't love Mimi's cooking?

Special pillows and blankets made by Mimi. Katie calls hers a "put" and hasn't parted with it since she opened it.



Layla and her new HUGE baby doll.

Sarah got me a Snuggie and Eric 100% pure organic maple syrup. Somehow she managed to avoid being in every picture!
I have none of her!


Now on to Round 3...Nana, Papa, Uncle Shawn,
Aunt Carrie and all the K-Cousins!!
A number book made by Aunt Carrie.

A belt and brand new Nana boots!

Log books for everyone!

We had almost 4 whole days to play with cousins and have fun on the farm! Check out Nana's Blog for more pictures!










Christmas sure is fun, but totally exhausting! Now we're going to be even more busy getting ready for bday parties and the papoose's arrival!

The stockings are hung....

Now we just have to wait for Santa to arrive!

We've been having lots of fun getting ready for Christmas. This year, I was just too tired to even think about making tons of cookies, so we made lots of puppy chow instead and of course our homemade hot chocolate!


Ready to deliver to our friends and neighbors!

Our little "Elf Sized" Bug and Moose with ponytails!!


One of our Christmas traditions is driving through the Isle of Lights in Winfield on Christmas Eve. After listening to the weather man, we decided we'd better make the trip last night instead. Katie really liked looking at all the "pretties".



Yes, Katie (almost 2) is still rear facing and Kelton (almost 6) is still in a 5 point harness. That's how we roll and we have no intentions of changing either in the near future.

Another Christmas Eve tradition is that the kids get to open their present from Mommy and Daddy. We get them one super awesome thing and then Santa brings other (slightly less awesome) fun stuff. Seriously, we want some credit and this year the kids were so super thrilled with their gifts I almost cried.

We gave Katie her gift and she knew exactly what to do and ripped right in. She didn't stop vacuuming until dinner time.




Kelton, being the great big brother that he is, waited patiently until Katie was done with her gift before opening his. He's really been wanting Mario Cart for the Wii, we bought Nascar Cart Racing back in June and have been waiting to give it to him ever since. Needless to say, he couldn't have been happier and declared this "The Best Christmas Eve EVER!"




And what's holiday time without a little bargain shopping?
Walgreen's has been super awesome to me lately.
I paid $6.17 before tax for this stuff and got a $5 RR to use next time. It actually should have been $4.48 with only 4 boxes of cereal, but the cashier rung up 5 on accident, which I didn't notice until I looked over my receipt in the car. Instead of getting refunded, I just grabbed another box.

I hit them up once more that weekend and
picked up this stuff for less than $3.

I had a bunch of coupons that I needed to use before they expired on 12/31, so I braved Walmart last weekend and it really wasn't that bad. I spent about $85, but saved $68! I'm working hard to stock up on everything for when the baby gets here. I know I won't want to be out shopping or cooking.

After the all holidays busyness calms down, my mom and I are planning a cooking day to make chicken and noodles, sheperd's pies and bierocks for the freezer.

I can't wait for tomorrow! Lots more pics to come!
And matching jammies, of course!!

One of the reasons I love couponing...

Besides the fact that we're able to save a bundle, we're also able to give more. Our church sponsors a family or two in the area every year at Christmas. In addition to purchasing a particular wish - the wrapped waffle maker :-) - I was able to go down to our basement and fill two boxes to take in as well. There is easily $40 worth of stuff in those boxes but because of coupons, it cost me little to nothing and I'm happy to be able to share.


Less than 10wks of my very last pregnancy left and I'm still finding myself with a range of emotions from Thank The Sweet Lord to close to tears because I'll never feel little baby kicks again.

I only took 2 tummy pictures with Kelton, so this is the last I have to compare all 3 pregnancies. I love the color green and apparently when I was pg with him, I loved this sweater. Needless to say, I only put the hideous thing on this last two times for a picture. It's a keeper though, just like the red shirt from 26wks.

30wks with Kelton. I never would have guessed at the time that I'd be having a 9lb 8oz baby and you'd never guess that now, considering he's one of the smallest guys in his class.


30wks with Katie Bug. Wow, we really had no clue what we were in for with her. Seriously, Wow. We're still a bit shell shocked. I think I carried her the best/easiest, all baby.


And finally 30wks with our new little man (who is finally named). I don't feel as sticky outie as I did with Katie although my belly is measuring about a week ahead. I think that's because I'm more of a fatty pants (name lovingly chosen by Kelton) this time around and my back fat is balancing it out a bit. :-) Who knows what this guy will be like, but we're definitely praying he's a bit more (okay, a lot more) mellow than Katie.


I didn't sleep well at all on Monday night and woke up feel pretty horrible. I figured it was just really bad heartburn and that it would subside as the day went on...I was wrong. My poor belly just got worse, so I ended up getting Bugs and heading home about 11am. Eric met us here and I slept for 4 hours. I'm still not really tolerating much food wise, although I'm craving nachos. I'm hoping a couple more early bedtimes and I'll be good as new.

Since I wasn't feeling up to par, Mimi went with Eric and the kids
to dinner with Santa that evening.
Kelton has never known a stranger.


Katie wasn't quite sure what to think, but she did touch his hand!
Much better than we expected!


Five years ago, it was Mimi that took Kelton to see Santa for the first time. He wasn't quite as sure of himself as he is now and just admired him from the safety of Mimi's arms.



I about fainted when I saw the giant cookie my mom gave him.

I still get twitchy looking at this picture!

The sweet little face that made me a mother.
He has a heart of gold and we love him to pieces.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We put up the tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving and finished up the rest on Sunday. It's great watching the kids get so excited. They had a lot of fun getting everything out and helping decorate.



We only decorated the top 1/2 of the tree.
Less temptation for Katie, the better.

The return of the shotgun shell lights.

Santa Hats! (and Katie will both fingers up her nose!)

We started a new tradition this year called The Elf on a Shelf. It was gifted to us by a good friend. The little Elf comes with a book that explains the story. Your Elf (we named him Hartzell) watches you all day long to make sure you're being good and then while you're sleeping he goes and reports back to Santa and you find him in a new place every morning. Katie's a little young yet, but Kelton is really having fun with it.




When Nana and Papa were here to visit a couple weeks ago, we took a trip to Food 4 Thought and Nana bought Katie a bunch of yummy new goodies! One great find was some awesome Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are seriously just like regular cookies, only made without any dairy or gluten. We were also excited to find corn dogs! Bugs thought they were great too!


Saturday evening, Eric and I finally made it out on a long awaited dinner date to Red Lobster! It was so good! We're always careful not to stuff ourselves too full of shrimp so we can share a piece of chocolate cake. It's our tradition.


I'm finally getting something on our poor bare bedroom walls.
Not much, but it's a start.

I had an OB appt this morning, 29wks, measuring 30wks and heartrate was 160ish because he was really jumping around. She had to chase him down with the doppler. Other than the usual pregnancy whines like heartburn, swelling, back pain, etc, things are going great and we're getting really excited for him to finally get here.

This evening after dinner, we bundled the kids up to drive around and look at lights. Katie is really into all the festivities this year and Kelton loves pointing thing out to her.



There is so much to accomplish before Christmas actually arrives in 2 short weeks! My goal for tonight to get our cards ready to mail. We'll see if that happens!

So much to be thankful for!

Eric's 29th bday was 11/21. As always, I made his favorite chocolate coconut cake. This year, I enlisted a little help from the moose.



We got his presents wrapped up and Kelton made him a card.


After having kids, you never get to open your own gifts anymore.

A tae kwon do video and bdu's for the papoose
(who might never have a middle name..EVER)


Sometimes it's easy as a parent to get worn down and feel unappreciated, but it's easy to forget all that when you see the smiling faces of your babies....(when they're getting along and behaving, that is) :-)




We hosted Thanksgiving this year. We cooked a turkey as big as Katie...almost 22lbs! It turned out so yummy and we've just about finished all the leftovers. The rest is in the freezer for turkey enchiladas!


Is it wrong to take pictures of your children in the roasting pan?
Kelton didn't mind.

Katie did.

I suppose we're thankful for this ridiculous thing also.
She was my first baby and the kids do adore her.

Also definitely thankful for the beautiful weather we had over the weekend. It made black friday shopping much easier as I was in line at Babies R Us when they opened at midnight and back in line at Home Depot when they opened at 6am!



Of course, we're thankful for our little papoose we have on the way. Especially considering for awhile we thought he wasn't going to make it. Thankful for our jobs and our home, especially with how the economy has been.

We know we are very blessed and about a week before Thanksgiving, I found it heavy on my heart to help another family. After a few phone calls, we were able to provide Thanksgiving dinner to a family of 9 who would not have had it otherwise. With the great sales, my coupons and pulling a bit from our own stockpile, it only cost us $25. I spend that on lattes every month. We decided this is something we want to do every year and it warmed my heart when Eric asked if we could buy their Christmas dinner also.

I love my mother's homemade stuffing, but the thought of that family enjoying their turkey was definitely my favorite part of the day.

26 Weeks

Already! Or should I say, Only! Sometimes I feel like this pregnancy is flying by, other times I feel like it's crawling. Sometimes I'm glad that this is my last go around, other times it makes me kind of sad. Aren't pregnancy hormones fun?

This was my very first maternity shirt. My mom bought it for me when I was pregnant with Kelton. It says Bun in the Oven. I don't think I'll ever be able to get rid of it.

26wks with Kelton. I can't believe this was taken over 6yrs ago.
Awesome bangs, huh?

26wks with Katie too.

And finally 26wks with K*****.
Thought I was going to say the name, didn't you?

I've found a new way to get a good picture of Katie.
Let her sit in the fridge.

Kelton was gone this weekend and Eric was in South Dakota on a hunting trip, so it was just us girls. Mimi spent the whole weekend with us! Katie decided it would be fun to wear Mimi's nightshirt around the house. She kept tripping but didn't want to take it off.


Miss Buggy got a little crabby on Saturday. As a last ditch effort, I swaddled her up tight and she was perfectly content. She's definitely one of a kind!


We got so much done and had lots of fun too! Of course we did some shopping, but we also got the storage area in the basement organized, hung up a bunch of stuff on the walls and cleaned out some of the crap from the new baby's room. We plan on painting over Thanksgiving weekend, if I can decide on a paint color. I finally chose some bedding. I'm having it custom made from someone off etsy. It'll be green, brown and blue.


I found this really soft blanket at Target that will match well and be great to lay across the changing table.

Katie and I were super excited to have our boys back this evening. Kelton's already looking forward to next weekend when we'll celebrate Eric's 29th bday.

Amazing how well we all sleep on Sunday nights!

Happy Veteran's Day!

A great big THANK YOU to all our veterans and active duty military who serve our country and make the USA a safe place to live! I am forever grateful!

Sometime this morning, Eric will get his red, white and blue balloons and several dozen chocolate chip cookies that I have delivered every year.

This is one of my favorite pictures of him in his blues.
He looks so young!

Speaking of favorite pictures....

Now that's HOT! (The man and the giant beer)

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.