Crockpot Wednesday, Cantaloupe, & Pom Poms

I've been itching to try Rice Pudding in the crockpot for awhile and was super pleased to find an easy recipe. I used 2 cups vanilla soy and 1 cup original coconut milk instead of cows. I upped the cinnamon to 3/4 tsp and added 3/4 cup of raisins.


I checked this throughout the afternoon and stirred about every hour. After 4 hours, I added more soy milk, probably almost a full cup. After another hour, I turned it off. My rice still wasn't quite done, but it tasted really good! Next time (and there will definitely be a next time), I need to parboil the rice first and I think I could cut back the sugar a bit as well. Still, even with the al dente rice, we had no problem polishing off every last grain! I especially love how the raisins get all plump and juicy!


Everytime I turn around, I'm like, Seriously! These kids have outgrown more jammies?!?! But, thankfully that's just proof that they ARE growing, which is good (especially Katie). It also gives me a chance to buy new super cute gymbo jammies.....


I love how perfectly tame photo shoots can quickly
turn into a UFC match.



Who needs expensive toys when you have mom's old
high school and college pom poms?!?



We're waiting a little while longer to officially start Konnor on solids, but he did enjoy a little taste of cantelope the other night.






I bought a Babyhawk as a present for myself after my bout with c diff. Worth. Every. Penny. Katie likes to ride in it too!

It's a bird, it's a plane...it's crawler!!

Well, not quite yet...but he's very close!! His upper body is is a bit weak yet, so he's not sitting on his own either. We started PT again today and I predict that we'll be sitting and crawling in no time!
Check this guy out!!


Can you tell I'm madly in love with this face?




After all the SoBe I bought last week, I definitely needed to buy 14 more, right? I say "buy" but they were free. SoBe addiction is real people! How sad I'll be when it's not free anymore! In addition to the SoBe, I got the rest of this stuff for $44.87 at Dillons. My savings was $76.88.


I was super lucky to win another giveway! It was a Yoreganics gift pack from Coupons Are Great. I was happy to see a lip balm included since I had to throw out all of Buggy's because they contain gluten. I'm also super excited to try the soap nuts!


Now for something not so natural. You know Hostess Sno Balls? They're delicious, right? So a HUGE one would be mega delicious, right? I thought so and gave it a whirl. I made two round chocolate cakes and filled the middle with vanilla frosting. Then I made marshmallow frosting for the outside and finished it with shredded coconut. Do I even need to say it was good? I didn't get a picture of the finished product, but here it is 1/2 way through.


Since I do love me some coffee, hot tea, hot cider, hot whatever, my mom saw this mug when she was out shopping and got it for me. I've been hand washing it so I can use it every day. Love it! Thanks Mom!!

A 6mo old and A 1st Grader!

Konnor turned 6mo old on Friday and we can hardly believe the time has gone by so fast! He's still wearing mostly 6mo clothing, but has moved up to sz 3 diapers!

He's rolling all over the place and while he's still a pretty crappy sleeper, he's so happy, babbling and laughing all the time!

We had pictures done on Saturday morning. Being the handsome happy little fella that he is, of course they turned out great!






This morning was Kelton's first day of 1st Grade!
Wasn't I just taking him to Kindergarten?
He was very excited, although Katie, Konnor and I are going to miss him tons! He got some extra snuggles in with Koggle, then went in to tell Buggy goodbye. When she hugged him and said, "I wuv you, Kelton", I could hardly hold back the tears.




This morning we also had Konnor's 6mo well baby appt. Katie was super excited to wear her new outfit and of course brought her baby along too.


He checked in at 16lbs 1oz and 25in! At 6mo, Katie was 16lbs 4oz, 26in and Kelton was 16lbs 12oz, 26in.

Because of his hx of torticollis and the noticeable weakness with his upper body, we're headed back to PT to learn some new exercises so we can get this boy sitting on his own! It's a bit of a hassle getting to the appts, but I'd rather be proactive now than sorry I wasn't later on.

He had one shot and didn't shed a tear, but it wasn't quite the same story with the blood draw. Because his skin still breaks out like crazy if we miss a day or two of his ointment, the allergist suggested some testing just to check. We'll have those results in about a wk.

I stuck to my guns this weekend and didn't do any major shopping, just bought what we absolutely needed. I spent $13.14 for this stuff at Dillon's. We didn't NEED 18 SoBe Lifewaters, but they were free and I love the stuff!



I also picked up 2 loaves of bread, apples, baby carrots, french bread and bagels at Target for $6.33. Maybe I'll go this route again next week and really make some space in the freezer!

We got to see Nana and Papa over the weekend, but somehow didn't get many pictures. Konnor was excited to see Papa since it's been almost 2 mo since they've been able to cuddle!


We also went out to eat....all 5 of us, plus Mimi! I'm pretty sure it was the first time we've been anywhere besides Taco Bell. Because of Katie's limited diet, we had gotten into the habit of never eating out as a family, but since she does dairy now, we have more options and Village Inn was definitely a hit! Can you say PIE!!





We're excited that Kelton already has a day off of school on Friday! I know Katie will be thrilled to have him home and we're expecting cooler weather too! YEA!

Kelton the Brave! (Crockpot Wednesday)

Kelton has had eczema since he was about 4 mo old. When he was just over 3 yrs old he started having seasonal allergies, showed a high mold allergy and we got the premliminary asthma diagnosis. Since then we've tried different combos of different meds and used his albuterol way more that we'd like to. After his eyes nearly swelled shut about a month ago, we figured it was finally time to take him to an allergist.

He did awesome when they scratched him with the allergens and didn't shed one tear! I'm so glad I remembered the DSi! It kept him happy and less focused on how itchy his back was getting.


And I would imagine it did itch!

He reacted to tree nuts, tree pollens, weed pollens, grass pollens, corn pollen, cat and dog dander and mold spores. None of it was huge a surprise. The Dr wants to try him on a maintenance inhaler instead of his current asthma med and switch his allergy med as well. We go back in 6wks to see how he's doing with the change.

I simply adore this Dr. She is the only Dr that I feel has truly listened to us. She's not in a hurry. She sits down and really listens and then actually answers questions. She's the allergist Katie saw last fall, so I knew I'd feel comfortable taking Kelton (and eventually Konnor) there as well.

I actually used my crockpot on Monday this weekend instead of today. My mom had tried a recipe for Crockpot Mexican Meatloaf and I was eager to give it a whirl also.

2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
4 Tbps taco seasoning
2/3 cup salsa
1 cup shredded cheese
2 cups crushed corn or tortilla chips

For the meat, I used a combo of ground turkey and deer. For the salsa, I blended up a can of rotel and used 3/4 cup. Instead of measuring the taco seasoning, I just dumped in pkt.

Isn't the best part about making meat loaf mushing it all together with your hands?

I just plopped it down in the center of my 6qt on low.

The recipe says 8-10hrs, but my mom said her's was quite dry after 8 (which is why I added extra salsa). I cooked for 7hrs and it was perfect! AB-SO-LUTELY YUMMY! Fantastic hot and fantastic the next day cold on some bread.


Katie LOVES Little People. For her bday, she got the most adorable camping set. I just found out today that the Play and Go Campsite has been recalled. Something about the little person coming apart and being a choking hazard. So if you have it, call the 1-800 # and get your replacement!


Since we have so much food in the freezer (and because Kelton's new meds were insanely expensive), I've decided to skip grocery shopping this week. I'll have to pick up milk and I plan to get produce using Target's $1 produce printable Q, but that's it!

Oh and if there's an awesome deal on Pull-Ups, I'll definitely be stocking up on those as well since Miss Independent has changed her mind about potty training.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

What a weekend it was for Katie!

We started out on Friday night by heading to Wichita to eat
and go to Target with Mimi.

Ready to go!

And yes, she's still rear facing because I love her precious little tantrum throwing heart to much to turn her around. It's just safer. PLUS, the AAP now recommends rear facing until 2 yrs and for a 2 yr old, she's on the small side.....stepping off my soapbox now...

Chips and salsa at TGIFridays!

Next up was Target, where I grabbed all these goods for $12.76

The real reason when we to Target though was to get some new stuff for Buggy's room since we planned to change her crib over to a toddler bed soon.
She picked out this pillow.

The rest of her weekend was spent eating chocolate yogurt, helping Daddy in the garage and riding her tricycle!


And we can't forget getting her room all fixed up for her first night in her big girl bed!!


We were pretty nervous, but she went right to bed and slept great! This morning she even woke up in a good mood!


Don't ask me how she managed to get one arm out of her jammies and amazingly enough even with all those stuffed toys she still finds a place to lay!


Surprisingly enough, naptime went really well also. She never even got out of bed. I guess we have her brainwashed into thinking she can't. Awesome!