Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful day! The boys were SO excited for Santa to come that they couldn't fall asleep on Christmas Eve. Kaleb was up until 10:45, which made for a late night for Mr. and Mrs. Clause! We hadn't wrapped anything... so we had a lot to do! We finally crawled into bed around 1:30.

We woke the boys up at 6:30 and headed down to see what Santa left! Kaleb got the solar quarters for his beloved Planet Heroes!! He also got "cool Yuri" to go with it. Karson got Elmo Live which was not much of a hit with him for some reason?? He still hasn't played with it much. Baby Koen got a dance station thing from V-tech. He LOVES it (and Karson's Elmo too!)

As for the list of gifts that we got them... here are a few highlights:
Kaleb: V-Smile Pocket, Hulk Hands, Transform & Go Rocket, and the Matchbox Space Shuttle.
Karson: V-Smile Pocket, Hulk Hands, Tallking Handy Manny, and the Parents Animal Hospital.
Koen: A penguin from Build-A-Bear, Squishy blocks, and Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba.

The list of new toys that we have NO room for goes on and on after celebrating with Matt's grandparents, and my whole family. We haven't even gotten the ones from Matt's parents yet!! I need to get rid of some of the old ones, just to make room for the new ones!

Here are some pictures from our day. Also some that I took to give as gifts to our families.

My handsome boys!


Kaleb Troy


Karson Matthew


Koen Richard


Kaleb and the solar quarters.


Karson with his Hulk Hands.


Koen playing with the dance station.


Kaleb excited about his new rocket!


Karson with the ball Santa put in his stocking.


Baby Koen crawling and checking everything out.


Merry Christmas!!

My mind is full!!

Ok... so I keep thinking about all of the things I need to blog about so here I am at the computer, getting it all out there!!

The first thing is Halloween! The boys, Matt, and I had a great night. We went trick-or0treating with our best friends, the Kimery's. Karson was such a trooper. He walked the WHOLE time!! I was so proud of him. They all got a TON of candy and had a great time. Here is a picture from the night as well as a few from carving pumpkins a few days earlier.

Karson (Elmo), Kaleb (Astronaut), Aiden (R2-D2) and Jakob(Obi Won) (I hope that's right!!)


Baby Koen "painting" the pumpkin!


The boys getting the seed out of the pumpkin. (They were such girls about this!! They didn't want to get their hands all slimey!!)


The boys with the finished pumpkin. Kaleb named him Jack.


The next thing I wanted to share was my stress!! I have been so uptight and stressed out lately. I am not sure if it is because I am preggers, or just all of the things I have to deal with lately. The first is our poor little baby Koen. He is a teething, drooling monster... and overall a very unhappy little guy! I feel so bad for him. He also just started climbing up the stairs!!! I have to baby gate everything, constantly take little crumbs and toys out of his mouth, and watch him like a hawk!!

Then there is Karson. He has developed this hatred for Koen. He pushes him, hits him, and pulls his hair every chance he gets. It is for no reason at all!! We have tried everything to put an end to this... but nothing seems to be working. Let's hope (for Koen's sake) that this phase passes quickly!!

Then my Kaleb. His surgery is one week from today, and I am terrified!! I am trying to be brave for him and I am not showing him my stress... but deep inside it is unbearable. Just the thought of him getting an IV and being put under makes me sick. I am so scared for him... and I wish I could just take his place.

The last thing I wanted to share were these FUN towels we found the other day at IKEA!! They are like little ponchos!! They snap down the sides and keep them so warm!! The boys LOVE them! (I think they would be pretty easy to make too!!) I wanted to buy more than just one for each of them... but they only had one print. So I will have to hit up my mom to whip me up a few more!! (Why sew when she will do it for me??!!)



Well that's it for now... sorry for the long post... just had a lot to say I guess! Have a wonderful day!!

Allergy Update...

Ok, so we took Karson to the allergist on hope of an answer to his mysterious rashes and diarrhea. Sorry if that was TMI... but it is the truth! The doctor gave him a skin test for several different foods. He had to get his back poked over 20 times... and he didn't even flinch!! He is so tough! The doctor and nurses were in awe of him. I am so glad that he sat so well.

Getting to the good part, the outcome. The scale for allergies goes: No allergy, mild, moderate, and severe. He only has one severe allergy (which we already knew of) strawberries. Then she hit me with the rest. He has 5 moderate allergies. Ready for these?? Wheat flour, apples, beef, cashews, and pecans. Are you kidding me??!! I can deal with the nuts, but beef?? And apples??!! These were the two that hit me right away. Then we ventured home and I immediately opened the pantry and started reading labels. Well... wheat flour is in just about everything. Pretzels, most of our cereals, breakfast bars, bread, cake. Could this get any worse??!!

The doctor said that we can try to keep giving these to him if we want to... because he may outgrow them. Then, we fed him a grilled cheese sandwich... and not 15 minutes later his little cheeks were all broken out with red bumps!! I don't know what in the world we are going to do!! I feel SO bad for him!! I don't want him to miss out on all of the good "kid food," but then on the other hand, I don't want him to be miserable.

HELP!!!!!!!

I wish I could clone myself.

I feel like I am being stretched in 500 different directions... and the only place I want to be is in my bed! Haha! For those of you who don't know, I am 9 weeks pregnant with # 4! I have been SO sick and worn out!! It must have been a man who coined the phrase "morning sickness." I think it should be called 24 hours a day, your whole first trimester sickness. Haha!

Other than dealing the the joys of early pregnancy, I just started my 4th week in a Math class that I am taking for my degree. NOT FUN! I have always struggled with math, and taking it after 6 years of no math at all, is really hard. I surprisingly have an A, well actually it is an A-, but still an A!! It takes me forever to get through my homework and quizzes, so that means late nights sitting at the computer.

Then there is the obvious duties of wife, mother, and housekeeper. I am doing ok with the first two... but the house doesn't look it's best! The boys are all at such different stages right now! I thought having them close together would avoid this... but I was wrong. Koen is teething, crawling, and starting to pull up on EVERYTHING!! He is into everything... and finds every little crumb, or piece of paper, or who knows what on the floor... and where does it go?? Directly into his mouth of course! Then there is Karson, He is at the separation anxiety stage. I might as well sew him too me and carry him around on my back. If I am in the kitchen... he is sitting on my foot, if I am walking up the stairs... he is holding my hand, if I am sitting on the couch or at the computer... he is on my lap. He follows me everywhere, and every time I get up, he does this little whine and runs after me. We can't forget Kaleb. Though he is very independent, he is super sensitive. We are still battling his tantrums and lack of sleep due to his apnea. I feel like we are boring him all day! He is so active, he needs to get out and being doing something all of the time... and lately, I just can't keep up.

So, that is where I am at right now. I actually feel a little better now that I got it out on "paper."
Here are a few random pictures that I haven't shared yet.

Here are the boys snuggled in Kaleb's bed watching cartoons together.


This is from camping in July.


Snuggling with Baby Koen while we were camping.


The boys in their goggles ready to ride the quad with Daddy!! Too Funny!


Baby Koen was sleeping on the floor right before we moved. The puppy laid right next to him... she loves him!


Have a good!! Thanks for listening to my ranting!! Haha!

Breathing Treatments, Pneumonia, and Surgery... OH MY!!!

Wow... I don't even know where to start!! The last two weeks have been a whirlwind!! My boys have ALL been sick! It has been so hard. It all started Thursday night (two weeks ago!!). Karson was throwing up all night and then Kaleb woke up Friday morning with the stomach bug, but he has a stomach of steel so it did not effect him the same way... if you know what I mean. I don't want to go into too much detail because it was not pretty! Haha! Anyways... all of this tummy drama caused us to miss out on a good friends birthday party that the boys were super excited for.

Sunday came and all the tummies in the house had settled, and I thought we were in the clear. WRONG!! Monday morning Kaleb woke up with a BAD cough!! By 2:00 the same day Karson had it too. I was just waiting for little baby Koen to get it... and he did the next morning. Wednesday we all headed to the doctor to get checked out. They ended up just having a bad cold... I knew I was in for a week of coughs, runny noses, and cranky little boys.

The weekend rolled around an Koen was wheezing really bad. Being a paranoid mommy I rushed him to urgent care. I am so glad I did. He ended up having pneumonia and double ear infections!!
Poor Baby!!! We had to give him and the older boys breathing treatments every 4 hours!! For those of you who don't know, one breathing treatment takes about a half hour... so times that by three and we were doing an hour and a half of breathing treatments every 2 and a half hours!! Not fun!

On top of all that Kaleb was referred to an ENT (Ear, nose, and throat). He has never been a good sleeper, and when he was sick he slept with us a lot. One night I noticed him holding his breath while he was asleep. Then he started coughing and gasping for air. I immediately jumped online and googled it... I "Internet" diagnosed him with sleep apnea. I read the signs and symptoms and he had them all. We went to the ENT last Friday and he indeed had sleep apnea. He has OSA which stands for Obstructed Sleep Apnea. Basically when he lays down, his tonsils and adenoids fall back and block his airway. Nice huh? So needless to say, they have to be removed. I am so scared for this... but it needs to be done. He will stay one night in the hospital for observation and then he gets to come home. I hope he does ok.

Well, sorry for the ramblings about my stressful few weeks! In case you were all wondering... that is why I haven't been online!! Hope you all have had a better time than us!!

Sprinkler FUN!!

This is from about a month ago. The boys got a new sprinkler from Grandma. The boys absolutely LOVE it!

Karson checking it out.


Kaleb was loving it!


Of course Karson had to "jump" over it too!


Kaleb drinking the water... Ewww!!


Having fun being boys!


Have a GREAT day!!

A little change of pace...

Ok, so I know I said that I was going to catch up my blog with all of the old news, before moving on to the current things... but I HAVE to share these videos of Kaleb. He cracks us up everyday with his many Kalebisms and hilarious songs. I finally caught a few on camera!! He has been quite the singer lately. He sings at home, in the car, and walking through Target. He is not shy one bit!! I love that about him!!

This one is of him singing the theme song from transformers... his new obsession. If you aren't familiar with the words it goes like this...

Transformers, Roll out.
Transformers, Robots in disguise,
Transformers, more than meets the eye.
Transformers.

There is more to the song but that is Kaleb's version!!


TOO funny right!!

Here he is singing his ABC's. I know some kids know their ABC's at 3 because they have heard it their whole life. Well I used to try to sing it to Kaleb and he would scream... "I don't like that song!!!!" So, needless to say we got a late start. He is just now showing interest in learning them. This is what he has learned so far:




As for Karson, there is no video of him. He doesn't sit still long enough these days!! Here are the most recent pics though!! And yes I know he needs a haircut!!





And our little baby Koen is growing WAY too fast. He is about to make the move and become M*O*B*I*L*E!!!! I am SO sad. I want him to be a baby forever! Here he is rocking back and forth on his hands and knees.




Well... that's it for now!! Have a great day!!

Balloon Bonanza!!

Continuing on my mission to "catch up my blog" I am now up to August!! I hosted a balloon bonanza play date! I thought that this would be a really fun simple play date. Well, it turned out to be a little more stressful!! I think it is because of my obsession with perfection. I always try to go all out for these things. I never thought that a simple balloon play date would turn into a $100 play date!!! YIKES!! After the helium tank rental, balloons, ribbon, balloon weights, and snacks it was pretty expensive for a few hours of fun. The kiddos LOVED it though, and a ton of mommies came!! I was so glad to see such a good turn out.
I made Matt help me blow up all of the balloons!!! He is such a great husband!!

Here are some pics from the fun day!!

Kaleb running through all of the balloons!!

Kaleb, Karson, and Tyler... so cute!!

Kaleb, Tyler, Parker, and Jackson playing!!

Some of the mommies and kiddos!

This was after everyone left...Karson was holding all of the balloons!
I'm surprised he didn't float away!!

Happy Fourth Of July!!! Ok, so I'm a little late...

Well I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! Yeah so it was two months ago... It's been crazy! Haha! I just wanted to share the pictures from this years 4th!!

We had a great day! We started off by heading to my parents house for a family BBQ and swimming. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera for this! Bummer!!! But we had a ton of fun. Then we went to a friends house for about an hour and then headed to the park to watch the fireworks. Unfortunately, the fireworks that were supposed to start at 8:00 or 8:30... didn't start until like 10:00!!! There was a storm so they had to wait it out! All the while we were sitting in the middle of the park playing in the wind! It was almost a blessing, because it wasn't miserably hot this year. We were there with my brother and sister, their spouses, and ALL 10 kiddos!

Karson

Koen's 1st 4th!!

Kaleb


This is how Kaleb watched... he hates loud noises!

So pretty!!

Lots of catching up to do and a hungry baby!!

Wow... I don't even know where to start!! I am uploading pictures onto the computer as I type... and there are over three HUNDRED of them!! I have a ton to share... but I promise I will do it one blog at a time!! So check back soon and check back often! Hopefully I will get them all up!

I think I will start with the oldest and go from there. About three months ago we started Koen on baby food!! He didn't start until he was 6 months old... much later than the other two! Kaleb started at 4 months and my tank Karson had to start at 3 months!! They were both guzzling down 12 oz. by then!! Koen on the other hand was perfectly content with 6 oz. every 2 to 4 hours!! We started with rice cereal... as I think most babies do. He HATED it!! I don't think I got any in his little belly... but it made for a fun time and cute pictures!

Here he is eating his first bite!!


And of course big brothers had to be by side side for the big occasion!!


So cute!!


Here is proof that he was NOT eating this stuff!! Sorry it is sideways... I couldn't figure out how tot turn it!!


Now days he is devouring the stage two foods twice a day with no problem!! He also cut his first tooth last Wednesday!! He is growing up in fast forward right before my very eyes. With all of the craziness, I have to stop and remind myself to take pictures, and enjoy his baby days, because before I know it he will be ONE!!!

I'm BACK!!!!

Hey everyone!! I FINALLY got my computer fixed and I am now able to blog again!!!! Too tired to post today, but I will post pictures from the last few months as soon as I get them uploaded on the computer!

Baby Koen's latest "Photo Shoot"

Just in case you didn't notice... this is my third post of the night (I had a lot to share!) So be sure to scroll down to see the other posts.



Anyways... I just wanted to share the most recent pictures of our sweet baby Koen. He is growing way too fast!! In less than a week, he will be FOUR months old!! Can you believe it??!!






(I couldn't get this one to turn!!)

Iron Man!!

As Kaleb gets older, he is more into the "big boy" stuff. Whether it be cartoons, clothes, toys, or movies... it all has to be "big boy" and NOT "baby." His most recent big boy obsession is with Iron Man. Keep in mind that the only thing he had to base this whole infatuation with Iron Man off of was the one and a half minute movie preview that comes on TV. He pretends to be Iron Man... and everything he has picked out lately has to be too.

Here is a picture of Kaleb aka Iron Man.

Monday Memories...

As I was packing up the house today... I went through my fare share of old pictures. It made me want to share some of them with you all. It is always fun going back in time and reflecting on all of the priceless memories made. I don't know what I would do without pictures... I LOVE them. Though I can remember pretty much everything about when these were all taken, I am sure there will come a time that I won't... and for that I am so thankful to have captured them on film.

I know these are all really random... but they are the ones that stuck out to me!

Kaleb when he was a month old

Kaleb on his first birthday

Our family on Thanksgiving 2006

Karson at Chili's

Karson at McDonald's with playgroup

Here are a few for you Linds!!! I can't believe how much your two little guys have grown too!!!
Then: Aiden at McDonald's (June 2007)

Now: Aiden at his 2nd birthday party (March 2008)

Then: Jakob, Kaleb, and Bailey at McDonald's with playgroup (June 2007)

Now: Jakob at Aiden's party (March 2008)