ELMO LIVE!!

About 3 wks ago, Elmo was in town!! We bought tickets when I was still pregnant knowing I might not feel up to going and invited Nana to go along as well. Even with the early arrival since my hemoglobin had dropped so much, I just wasn't up to it and had to settle for lots of pictures and play by play via text message. They all had a great time, especially Buggy.






My cousin Beth sent some adorable burp rags for Konnor. She sent some when Katie was born too. (She uses them for her babies now.) Beth is so sweet to always send big sibling gifts too. Kelton and Katie were exited to get to open presents too.





Kelton, ever eager to try every activity available to him, has started soccer and had his first game on Saturday morning. It was too funny to watch. Basically a herd of little boys running around kicking each other a ball.




Normally I'm not much on bought blankets. My mom has always made all my baby blankets and Eric's mom quilts. However, these blankets from Target are so awesome. There were two I really liked, but wouldn't splurge on more than one. I was thrilled we when received the other from Eric's cousin, Katie. They are so snugly and we use them everyday. One side is minky fabric and the other side is fuzzy stuff that we've been calling lamby. :)


In his ongoing effort to be "just like dad". Kelton insists on wearing a white tank under his shirt everyday now. Naturally, Katie wanted to try one on as well.


After 6wks of just picking up a few things we needed here and there, we finally had to make a big Walmart trip. We spent $79.18 but saved $34.99, although that doesn't count our big splurge of a stainless steel trash can with lid and food pedal. The Easter bunny did some shopping too which basically negated our coupon savings, but that's not bad for 3 kids! Hopefully when the madness settles a bit, I can work on getting our stockpile built back up.

Now, what you've really been waiting for....our little Koggle in his infinite cuteness....










I am so happy to be feeling mostly human again. I am definitely bowing my head in thanksgiving that things didn't become more serious. We would really appreciate continued prayers that the C. Diff. doesn't return after my course of Flagyl is done.

Quick Update

After Konnor was born, we were so lucky that Eric was able to stay home for 2wks. We were also very blessed that my mom was here for the 3rd week and then Eric's mom here for the 4th week.

While Yvette was here, I came down with what we thought was a tummy bug. However, after 8 days of not feeling so hot, we discovered we weren't dealing with a virus. I had C. Diff.

I started Flagyl that night and my mom or Eric stayed home the next two days so I could rest as much as possible. I just kept getting sicker, so Eric took the two older kids to his parents for the weekend so I could continue to rest. They had a great time playing with the two older MN K-Cousins who were visiting. My mom stayed with me to help with Konnor.

When Eric and the kids got home on Sunday evening, I had gotten to the point where I felt like I was fighting a losing battle in regards to hydration. My mom stayed here with the kids and Eric took me to the ER. After 3 bags of fluid and no improvement, I was admitted.

Over the next 2 days, I got 4 more bags of fluid plus potassium and magnesium. I missed the kids like crazy, especially Konnor. I was able to pump and send milk home, but he did have to have a couple formula bottles. Neither of the other kids ever had formula and I hated the thought. The good news is that we gave him milk based Similac Sensitive and he didn't react at all!

We are so thankful my mom lives close and was able to be here to help Eric with the kids and also quite grateful Eric has such an understanding workplace that allows him to take off work when family situations arise.

I received flowers from a dear friend and was happy to have my phone with me so I didn't get too lonely. Konnor had just started smiling a lot and I cried when my mom sent me this picture.


I'm so happy to be back home and on the mend AND very thankful Yvette is here to help out the rest of the week.

Next blog we'll be back to your regular scheduled programming....ELMO LIVE!, cute new pics of Konnor, and hopefully some bargain shopping because our stock pile is dwindling!

Randomness

All the random stuff I haven't had time to blog about because of Konnor's early arrival, Katie's rescheduled bday party and the total insanity that comes with 3 kids in the house! :-)

A couple weeks before Konnor was born, my friend Stephanie emailed me that she'd won yet another giveaway on a blog. (She's so lucky!) This time she won 6 gluten free mixes from Mixes from the Heartland and she was having them sent to us. I think I'm most excited to try out the biscuit mix. Thank you, Steph! You're the sweetest!



A special little girl I know turned 3 on Feb 14th and I made a poster for her party. She and Katie are the gymboree queens! She came up to the hospital to visit "her new friend Konnor" and looked so sweet holding him.



I had planned to make a Welcome Baby sign for Konnor, but instead I was cuddling my sneaky little guy during what were supposed to be those last "get everything ready" days.

We were really surprised to get a pkg from my bow lady when I knew I hadn't ordered any new bows lately. I opened it up to find this adorable burpie. Yet another one of her talents! I have in an order now for a friend who'll be having a little baby boy in Apr.


On Mon evening, we made Berry Fluff Cake. I'd been wanting to try it since I first saw the recipe and let me tell you, it was super yummy! I can't wait to try it with another flavor of berries. I really want to find a gluten free angel food cake so that Bugs can have it with us next time.

The night that Konnor was born, I had just returned from running some errands when my water broke. It was a great night at Walgreens! I came home with Dove men's body wash, 2 Covergirl powders, Dawn dish soap, and a pk of Huggies diapers. I paid right at $9 plus got $3 in RR. I'll also use the reciept to send in for the P&G Coupon Book.

Last Sunday, Kelton had his first belt test at Tae Kwon Do. He did great!! He's now a yellow stripe!




Now that Konnor is 3 wks old, it's probably time I get my thank you notes out. I had started making them before he got here, but like everything else they didn't get finished since he came early. Yvette gave me all the supplies for Xmas, but Carrie picked them out and designed the card.


After 3wks of no bargain shopping, I was ready to try a little yesterday! My best deal was at Target. We love Kashi products and I've been waiting forever for it to go on sale again. I even let some coupons expire knowing that I'd surely find more and soon enough there'd be a sale to pair them with. I'd LOVE for it to stay on sale another week, so I can go back to get more because I got 10 boxes for $13.92! We also ran to Walmart for fabric and I found some that I couldn't pass up and decided Konnor needed just one more blanket! Needless to say, the trip totally wiped me out and I spent most of today resting.



Konnor continues to be a little sweetheart!!


He definitely loves to cuddle!


Jasmine isn't sure what to think!

And what's hotter than a man doing the dishes?
A Daddy slinging his baby!

Katie's Party!

Katie's party was super fun! She was in a great mood the entire time, which is really something for her!
Speaking of really something, at Katie's 2 yr check up, she was 23.5lbs, which is 9% on the growth charts! We never thought we'd see her over 5%. YEA! She was also 31.5in, which puts us at 4%, when at 1yr she wasn't even on the chart! Our Buggy is growing!!

L.T., Her favorite dog from Nana and Papa's farm
came to celebrate with her!

She loved opening her presents! This year, she really knew what was going on and tore right into them!

Everything we served was dairy and gluten free. Since Katie is older now, she's obviously more aware and we didn't want there to be anything she couldn't eat.

Her cake was Cherrybrook Kitchen Gluten Free Chocolate Cake with Pillsbury Cream Cheese Frosting and LOTS of sprinkles! There were marshmallow treats made with Envirokidz Leaping Lemurs Cereal and Malt O Meal Fruity Dino Bites. Corn Chex and Rice Chex are gluten free now, so we had Puppy Chow and Cinnamon Munch easily made safe with Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips and dairy free margarine. No Bake Cookies made with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats were a bit hit as well. Smarties are basically sugar and free of just about every allergen out there!


Katie is pretty shy and wasn't exactly thrilled with everyone staring at her and singing Happy Birthday. It took her awhile to recover from that before she would touch her cake.


A little coaxing from Daddy did the trick!

Since we always order Chinese food after Kelton's bday parties, we figured we should do the same for Katie's. Several friends hung around to chat and it was the perfect end to a great day!


And I finally got her 2nd year video to upload! ENJOY!!