Singing In The Rain

Yes, I have actual proof that it rained here yesterday. We had a nice little shower that was very welcomed. You know rain is a rarity when the kids get excited because it is raining. Since there was no lightening or heavy down pours, I let the kids run, splash, and play in the rain. They actually got to break out the umbrellas, which I am surprised were not dry rotted because it has been so long since we used them. Rain, rain, please come back our way!

I Love This Crazy Boy

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Today I was going to make no bake cookies, but I did not have enough oats to make a batch. Completely heart broken and craving cookies I turned to my BFF Google!! Nothing like being saved by the internet!! I knew my good friend Google would not let me down. I asked for peanut butter and oatmeal cookie recipes and my magic genie found me this recipe. The cookies turned out pretty good and most importantly I got my cookie fix and BTW, they are kid tested and approved!! Oh yeah, I went all Alton Brown style and took a pic of the cookies baking in the oven. Can you smell them?? Yuuuummmmmm

Science Project In The Works.....

Today was round 2 of doctor appointments. We visited with the pediatric urologist concerning Kensley's recent battle with urinary tract infections and it looks like we have more collecting and testing ahead of us. One thing the pediatric urology nurse noticed when reviewing the VCVG was the size of Kensley's bladder. She said that her bladder was more like the size of a 6 year old instead of a 3 year old. A possible theory is since her bladder is larger, she can hold more urine, and it is possible that she is not getting the signal of needing to release. When urine is held in the bladder for long periods of time it can become a breeding ground for bacteria thus creating UTIs. So basically, for the next 6 weeks I am a research scientist pee collector. I will be documenting urine frequency, measuring urine output in the metric system(thank goodness we got a potty measuring cup with metric markings because as many of you know, math is not a strong point for me and I suck at conversions),and tracking accidents. Sounds like a fun science project right?? They have decided to keep Kensley on the low dose nightly antibiotic and will determine if she is going to stay on it when we go back in 6 weeks to review all of the collection data. All in all good appointment. I think after they have a chance to review all of the data we collect, we will have some more definite answers as to what is going on with Miss Lou Lou.

A+ with the ENT

Today Kensley had her 3 month follow up with the ENT and we got an A+!! Yippiee!! Good reports are always a good thing. We go back in 3 months for another check. Let's hope the appt with the Urologist goes as well tomorrow. Fingers and toes crossed:-)

There's No Place Like Home....

This weekend Diana, Les, and the kids came to visit and we had an awesome time hanging at home, grilling out, and letting the kids play until their hearts were content. You know, there was a day that I would have never been content with staying at home on the weekend, but boy have the times changed. The kids pretty much entertained themselves the entire weekend and the adults actually got to have some adult time. I made a comment to Diana that my dining room got used more this weekend than it has ever been used. All of the adults ate at the kitchen table in peace and quite and all of the kiddos ate in the dinning room. It worked out perfectly! I think I might be onto something here and we will be trying this out again the next time we have dinner guests. What a fun weekend. It was only appropriate that we end this fun weekend at home by watching The Wizard of OZ for movie night. As Dorothy said, "There's no place like home."

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!!

Tickets 0.00

Cotton Candy 5.00
Helmet Ice Cream 6.00
Half Price Adult Beverages 7.00
Reliving some of your best childhood memories with your kids....PRICELESS!!

Last night we took the kids to the Express game and we had a blast. Courtney had tickets and was not going to be in town so she game them to us. Thanks again Courtney!! It has been probably 3 years since we attended an Express game and I'm not sure why it has taken us almost 3 years to attend another game. I mean the field is only a few miles from our house so we really do not have an excuse!! The kids had so much fun and immediately I was taken back to my childhood. There was a time that we spent every weekend at a Rangers game. I am so thankful for those wonderful childhood memories and it makes me so happy that we are creating some of the same childhood memories for our kids.

Feel The Need To Create

I love how photography is a creative outlet for me. I've been slumming lately and was mad at myself because as of yesterday, I had not taken a single pic since last Thursday. That is huge for me because normally I take some sort of picture almost everyday. After my Chuck E. Cheese playdate today, I packed the kids up and headed to the park so I could photograph them while playing. I love playing around with my camera and there is nothing more rewarding than going home and downloading to see what I've captured. I love how these pictures captured each of our children's personalities. After playing around at the park, I drove around and I've scouted out 2 more local spots that I would love to photograph so more pics are sure to come. Photography is great therapy:-) I feel better already!!

Mommy, Mommy, Mommy,Mommmmmyyyyyy

No need to call CPS. I have not resorted to locking the kids in a cage. Yesterday was most definitely a Monday. I was wiped yesterday evening and took a 5 minute breather while Ken was upstairs entertaining the kids. I returned to the top of the stairs minutes later to find them all screaming Mommy. Deep sigh, even though I had thoughts of running away and probably said I was going to run away numerous times yesterday, there's something about being needed and loved....

She's Been Tagged....

It took a little over a week, but Kohen's cast has officially been tagged. Today my Dad signed it and now the rest of the family has signed it as well. One week down and 3 more to go!! I know I am ready for this cast to come off and I'm betting Kohen is too. The count down it on!!

Tea Anyone?????

Okay, so my little playdate tea party didn't go as I had originally planned for it to go in my head. I had visions of pinky sipping tea(lemonade), beautifully decorated cupcakes, happy children talking with a British accent, and so forth. Let me crash that vision and tell you how our tea party went down. For starters, The Gourmet Cupcake Maker is well for a better lack of words not all that it is cracked up to be. Kensley had gotten this for Christmas and this was the 1st time we had played with it. I guess if you are maybe 8 like the recommend age range then it would be okay, but not ideal for more than say 2 kiddos. It takes too long to set up, operate, and etc. However, we did get the cupcakes finally made and the kids got to decorate them. With 2 boys the tea pot coloring sheet lasted hum maybe 5 seconds and dress up turned into princess meets super hero. However, much to my surprise for story time everyone was quite as a mouse for Miss Spider's Tea Party. Although the tea party did not go as how I had planned it in my head the kids had a good time and I've got a sticky and crumb filled kitchen floor to prove it. I'll chalk this one up to E for EFFORT.

No pinky sipping going on here. Our tea party was crashed by Darth Vader and Spiderman

Wordless Wednesday

Today is brought to you.....

By the letter B. Anyone having flashbacks to Sesame Street? Since it is blistering hot outside and pool/water play is out due to Kohen cast, I'm trying to find some fun things for the kids to do inside while sneaking in some educational value. Today is all about the letter B.

The girls playing with babies, bracelets, and beads

Kaden counting and gluing beans

Hog Wild

After my Grandfather's birthday luncheon we headed over to Les and Diana's to spend the rest of the weekend. Every time we go to their house it is an adventure for all. The kids always have so much fun and go on these crazy bug hunting adventures, camping expeditions, and you name it. Diana and Les live in the country and our kids get to do things that they would not ordinarily get to do because of all the land that Diana and Les have for the kids to roam around on. While the kids were playing, Les decided to through down Bobby Flay style. He grilled some mean burgers with some of the organic beef they purchase. Okay let me rephrase that.....They have 68 pounds of ground beef in their freezer along with a million other cuts of beef!! I hope Diana eventually takes a pic to share. It is CRAZY!!! Their freezer and deep freeze is full of beef. I guess that is another perk of living in the country when you have rancher friends that raise their own cattle and they let you purchase half a cow. The beef was awesome and now it has me thinking that I might want to go in on some beef with them next year. Kind of nice knowing where your beef comes from and etc.

After dinner Les and Ken along with some other friends went hog hunting. Yes, I said hog hunting. A guy they were with got a hog and it was huge and nasty. I saw the pics this morning that Ken took. I am sure Ken will upload to face book so you can see this nasty critter. I surely would not want to run into one of those nasty thing much less eat one. I am thinking tough, chewy, and super gamey. However, what do I know since I have never cooked or eaten wild boar. After catching up and getting the kids to bed, Diana and I called it a night, but the boys hog hunting turned into poker playing and Ken and Les did not get home until 5:30 this morning. Ken and Les were pretty much hating today since they only got maybe 2 hours of sleep. Take Ken to the country and he turns into a party animal, hog wild I tell ya. All joking aside we all had a great time and next time the guys are hanging back with the kids while Diana and I get to have some girl fun and I can tell ya it will not be hog hunting!

Thanks Diana and Les for having us out and for all the great food. As always we had a blast and the kids are officially worn out!! Everyone slept the entire way home except for me since I was driving. Looking forward to seeing you guys soon. I think I see steaks in our near future.

The Girls

The Boys

The Dog

86 Years Young

This weekend we packed up and headed to a belated birthday luncheon for my grandfather, my Dad's Dad. He is 86 years young, lol. My Dad's sisters did an awesome job of coordinating the event. All 4 of Dad's siblings were there and it was great seeing everyone. The food was awesome and my cousins did a great job of putting together a slide show of pictures through the years. I could tell my grandfather was very happy and proud. Happy birthday Papa!! Hope you had a great one. We are looking forward to the next family get together in November.


As you can tell from the pics the kids were not cooperating and my poor Papa had a swollen eye due a ruptured blood vessel/infection, but hey guys know me. I'm always snappy happy!!

Attempt # 1

Attempt # 2

Attempt # 3 and we threw in the towel

My Dad and his Dad

Pretty In Pink

Today Kohen got her cast and for the most part she did great. She fussed and cried a bit when they were putting it on, but as soon as they were done she was all smiles again. We go back in 4 weeks for an X-Ray and hopefully the cast will come off. The Doc said more than likely this was an injury from breaking a fall. She said this is a pretty common injury for this age range especially for kids that are just learning to walk like Kohen because they put their hands out to break their fall when they fall down.

What's The Old Saying???

When it rains it pours?? We might as well rent out the office space right next to the Pedi since we have lived there this past month. I am not feeling so beat down this morning after some sleep, but yesterday was not a good day. Since Sunday I had been complaining about Kohen's fussiness and lack of napping and sleeping. She is in the process of cutting her 1yr molars and some other teeth and I just figured we were in teething hell. On Tuesday morning I went to change her out of her pajamas and she just screamed and cried. I though that was weird, but just blew it off. Later that night Ken was changing her and she did it again. I mentioned to Ken that she did that earlier in the day and I wondered if something was wrong. It's not like Kohen to be so fussy and refusing to sleep. Yesterday morning I went to change her clothes and when I pulled her right arm through her shirt she said "ouch" and just cried. That tipped me off that something was wrong. I did a little testing and squeezed her left arm and nothing, but when I touched and squeezed her right arm she cried. For the millionth time this month, I called the Pedi and they told me to bring her in. The pedi did some more testing and at that point she speculated that she had a buckle fracture or maybe a dislocated arm that had already been relocated. She sent us to get X-Rays and around 5 pm we got the results back and Kohen does indeed have an acute forearm buckle fracture. Ken and I are baffled because we do not know how this happened. She has not had any major spills or falls. She just recently started walking and she has taken some falls,but nothing that we would consider major. Who knows... I guess it just happened to be the right fall to cause the fracture. We go back today to see the Orthopedic Pedi for a cast. I am curious to actually see the X-Ray and talk to the Orthopedic Doc on what he thinks might have caused the fracture and if this is common in this age group when kids start walking. The Pedi asked me yesterday if she uses her hands to break her falls from trying to walk and for the main part she lands on her bum, but she has taken some falls forward and of course her hands go down with her. I just feel awful. Thankfully she is doing well other than the fussiness. Hope we do not have to keep the cast on long because it is only 107 degrees here everyday. I remember how hot and itchy my cast was when I broke my arm as a kid in the Summer. I hate that Kohen is going to have to experience that. I guess the good thing is that she is so little that she will not remember.

And She's Off

Yep, Miss Kohen is full on walking now. Sorry I have no clips to post. Ken returned Gigi's camera this past weekend so I will have to borrow my Dad's so I can show off Kohen's new milestone. It really happened over night. She started off taking about 4 steps and then she would fall. Then a few days later it was more steps and now she is walking across the room. Gosh, I can't beleive our baby is walking!! Walking clips soon to come.

4th of July

This year we had a last minute change in our 4th of July plans. Since Kensley unexpectedly came down sick, the girls and I stayed behind and I insisted that Ken keep with the plans and go ahead and head to Louisiana without us to spend the 4th with his family and help celebrate his grandfather's 85th birthday. Kaden was so looking forward to hanging with everyone and the family was all looking forward to seeing us and I knew if at least 50% of us could attend there would not be as much disappointment. This was the first holiday I've ever spent without Kaden and this was the 1st holiday Ken and I have spent apart in gosh nearly 12 plus years. It was really weird not having them here, but they have an awesome time and the girls and I got spoiled big time by my parents. Thanks Mom and Dad for canceling your 4th plans to stay here with the girls and I and thanks to all the family in Louisiana for giving Kaden the most awesome 4th of July memories. I've heard about crabbin and gardening non-stop since Ken and Kaden returned!! Here's some pics.....

Lousiana Pics

Ashley and Kaden Crabbin
Papa's Garden
The birthday boy
Hanging with Great Laine
Parade pics

We made it about half way through before Kensley started feeling really bad and we left. It was entirley too hot out!!

Nanu working hard to get Kensley candy since Kensley did not feel like it. Nanu was not going to let her go without. Beware kids, Nanu will steal your candy so she can give it to her baby,lol

Me and the girls

Pics I took from our backyard

Sunset on the 4th

The moon

Happy 4th of July

UTI #2

Pedi called this am and we finally got Kensley's cultures back from Friday and she has another UTI. On Wednesday night she started running a fever and feeling bad, I called the Pedi on Thursday to let them know what was going on, and then after a 104.8 temp on Thursday night I took her to the Pedi on Friday. Kensley was pretty much miserable the entire holiday weekend. The Pedi ended up starting her on a round of antibiotics on Sunday since she was not improving while we were waiting on the cultures. She is feeling a tad better now that we have started the antibiotics and today was the 1st morning she has not had a fever. Since this is her 2nd UTI in a month the Pedi wants us to see a Urologist and do some more in depth testing to see if there is something triggering these infections.

Pink Sparkles

TINY PINK SPARKLY NAILS. Just another one of the million reasons why to THANK HEAVEN FOR LITTLE GIRLS. The trip to Ulta was so worth it to see the smile on Kensley's face when I gave the both of us a pink sparkly mani. We then toasted our new nails with a blue gatorade tea party. Nice to see my little sickie smiling. The tea party looked like something from out of Alice in Wonderland. Hum, I think I will have to find that on DVD. I really liked that movie as a kid and I am betting Kensley would too. Hoping we get the cultures back tomorrow so we can pin point what is going on. I hate seeing my little love bug sick:-(

Happy 4th of July!!

It's great to be an American and what a privilege to live in this great country. So thankful for all of the men and women who have served, are serving, and those that plan to serve and protect this great country we call home. Thank you all for protecting our country and our freedom. It is so awesome to be apart of the land of the free and the home of the brave! Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July.

Happy Birthday Papa!!

Hope you have a wonderful birthday today!! I wish we were there to celebrate, but we are there in spirit
Love,
All The Girls

BUZZZZZZZ

So, what's a Mommy to do when you are home with one sick kid that is napping, one shaggy haired boy that needs a hair cut, and a bored Mommy?? Well, you break out Daddy's clippers and go to town. Seriously, I laughed so hard. I gave Kaden his 1st hair cut by Mommy and it was hysterical!! Hair was falling everywhere and he kept running from me to look in the mirror to see if he was bald. We were both just cracking up. I'm sure I will be cleaning up hair FOREVER!! Normally I get his hair cut on a 1 on the sides/back, scissor the top so we can spike, and then blend/fade. Well, I was able to pretty much do all except he need some blending. Since Ken and Kaden are in Louisiana visiting for the 4th, I asked Ashley, our cousin, who is a stylist to do some blending for me. Thanks in advance Ashley!! All in all, not too bad for Kaden's 1st hair cut by Mommy. However, in the future, I think I will stick to the professionals. Not a fan of flying hair paired with chasing a kid around with clippers and scissors.

The face says it all....get this freaking camera away from me,lol

13 Months

Can you guys believe that Kohen is already 13 months?? I can not!! This week we had her 1yr well check and I'm just now getting around to blogging about it. Overall we had a good appt and surprise, surprise, Koko is on the bottom of the percentile charts for weight. I'm not really worried about it because she appears to be following the same curve as Kaden and Kensley. The Pedi just instructed me to add a few things to her diet. The Pedi also heard a mummer, but we are just taking the wait and see approach. She did not feel that we needed to rush off and see a cardiologist. We are going to see if she can still hear it at her 15month appt. If she does, then we will go see a cardiologist then. So, all in all good appt. She's healthy and hitting all of her 1yr milestones. She was a trooper for the shots and was all smiles again by the time we got to the car and then she quickly fell asleep.

Okay, here's her stats:

Weight: 19lbs(5-10%)
Length: 29 inches long,(25-50%)
Head circumference18(50%)
1yr milestones:
*Can waive and say Hi and Bye
*Has 6 teeth and is in the process of getting her yr molars and 2 more bottom teeth
*Can take 4 steps unassisted before falling
*Can clap and give high 5's
*Can give hugs and kisses
*Shakes head no especially when she does not want anything else to eat
*Will open and let me look in her mouth when I say open, I'm constantly doing this to check for things that she has put in her mouth because she is a human vacuum cleaner
*Can drink from a sippy cup
*Has 3 meals a day plus snacks. All table food and the only thing that she does not like is sweet green peas
*Has had whole milk, but is still nursing for the majority
*Loves to have her picture taken. All I have to do is say cheese and she gives me the best cheesy grin
* Her favorite toys are the Laugh and Learn Fisher Price Shopping Cart and the Laugh and Learn Fisher Price musical chair. She plays with both of these the most.

Happy Birthday Christine!!

I hope you have an awesome birthday Christine!! Enjoy your day!!