Happy Birthday Baby Koen!!

Where did this year go??!! Today is my sweet Baby Koen's FIRST birthday. I am in shock that my baby boy is ONE. A whole year old. Just one short year ago I saw him for the very first time. I held him so tight. It seems like yesterday. He gave me a run for my money while inside of me... but he sure has made up for it in his first year! Koen is the sweetest baby I have ever known. So happy. So carefree. So lovable. So perfect. Words can't describe the joy he has brought to our family.

He has gotten so big and has developed the BEST personality. He loves his brothers. He is a daddy's boy. He loves to bounce and dance. He watches. He learns. He says Mama, Dada, Nana, Baba, and Uh- Oh. He cruises the furniture. He jumps on Karson's toddler bed and laughs SO hard. He takes a nap at 11:30 everyday like clockwork. He loves ice cream. He goes to sleep without a fight. He climbs the stairs faster than I can. He loves the puppies. He loves his kiki right by his face. He LOVES to smile.

Happy Birthday Koen Richard. I love you so much. You are my little ray of sunshine. No matter how old you get, you will always be my Baby Koen.

I want the very best for him in life, and can't wait to see how he grows over the next year. Here is a little journey through his first year in pictures. I hope you enjoy looking through them as much as I did!

Where in the World....

Is my camera cord???!!! I have been wanting to blog for over a week now... and I can't for the life of me find my camera cord. You know, the one that connects the camera to the computer to upload all the pics!! I will keep searching and hopefully it will turn up soon. With three sneaky little boys... it could be anywhere!!

For now I will share some random pictures. I literally just closed my eyes and clicked on pictures to upload from all different files!!

Here are the boys at the Doodlebops show right after Koen was born!


My little Kaleb in his new hoodie!


Karson checking out the food at Aiden's 2nd birthday party.



Our sweet Baby Koen on his first 4th of July!


Have a great day!!

PiNk??!!

Well, if there is anyone out there who didn't know, we are pregnant again! This is our fourth and last child. I had my 20 week ultrasound on December 30th. Originally, Matt and I had decided not to find out, but that just didn't happen. There were too many decisions that couldn't be made until we knew. For example, the way we were splitting up the rooms in our new house. We moved on New Years into a new home and decided that it would be easier to put all of the kids where they will be forever, than having to rearrange furniture once the baby comes. We ended up putting Karson in with Kaleb...which they both LOVE!! The other major decision was whether or not to keep box after box of boy baby clothes that are taking over our garage! I just kept thinking that it would be so nice to be able to clear out all of the clutter if we were to have a girl.

Well, as some of you may already know, we are having a girl! Finally, I can't believe it. I have known for a few weeks now and it still hasn't hit me. I honestly don't think it will until I am holding her in my arms. I keep telling myself not to get too excited. That she is actually a he. I still walk past girl clothes without a second look. It just can't really be happening. I have wanted a girl so bad it hurts. Now that it is finally happening, I am almost panicked! I just feel like everything has to be perfect for her. I don't know if it is because she is a girl, or my last baby. I obsessed over her name. I still can't find that perfect baby bedding. I feel like she needs a new car seat, even though we just bought a brand new one for Koen that is still in perfect condition. The coming home outfit must be exactly what I am looking for. I am having some MAJOR OCD issues with this baby!

Getting back to the name we picked... it will be Kassidy Lynne. I had a HUGE list of "K" baby girl names and we narrowed it down to Kassidy or Khloe. Matt absolutely HATED Khloe... so obviously Kassidy was the one. My middle name is Lynne, and it is also my mom's name... so that is where that came from. I am very happy with the name we chose and can't wait to meet her. I wish I had pictures to post... but we don't have a scanner to get my ultrasound pics on the computer. They are adorable though. She likes to have her hands by her face and in one of them she is sucking her thumb!! SO cute.

If everything goes as planned, and Kassidy doesn't make an early arrival, her birthday will be May 18th. I have a scheduled C-section. I am also getting my tubes tied, so this will be the end of this chapter in our lives. It is hard to believe that we are going to be done having kids. I love everything about being pregnant. That feeling you get when you see the test turn positive, the first doctor's appointment, telling all of your family and friends, hearing the heartbeat for the first time, your first ultrasound, the first movement, maternity clothes, getting to eat for two, decorating the nursery, picking a name, wondering what the baby will look like, going to the hospital to deliver, and finally holding your baby in your arms. I love it all. It is hard to think that all of those things I mentioned will never happen to me again. It is bittersweet.

Well now that I am in tears, I will let you all go on with your lives. I am off to hug my boys... they always cheer me up!

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!!!!!!!