BUSTED!

Kaylin came downstairs last night and busted me wrapping Christmas presents! She was thirsty and came down for a drink of water. Thankfully, I was wrapping one of Jonathan's gifts when she walked in!

Santa doesn't wrap gifts at our house, so those are still in hiding, so anything she might have seen is a gift from us at least.

Thanksgiving Feast

This is Kaylin at her Mother's Day Out Thanksgiving Feast! They made placemats to eat off of and Indian hats to wear. Everyone was just too cute. Kaylin kept going to the dessert table and would bring back a new treat after only taking a few bites off the last one. She had cookies, cake, cupcakes, pie, etc. I don't think she ate much more than carrots, celery & dessert. At least she ate her veggies? :)

Here she is with her friend Ethan

Jonathan also enjoyed the Thanksgiving feast. He indulged in turkey, sweet potatoes and croissants.

Visiting Grandma & Grandpa

Over Veteran's Day weekend we took a trip up to Hot Springs, Arkansas to spend a few days with Grandma & Grandpa. We rented a house and stayed Friday night - Monday. Kaylin really loved spending time with them and Jonathan had lots of fun as well, though I was tired because it threw his sleep schedule off. The scenery was beautiful! The leaves were changing colors and the drive to the house was along a twisty road lined with beautiful trees. So, each and every time we headed into town, we'd drive past the fall colored trees.

We'll see Grandma & Grandpa again in May, when Uncle Adam graduates.

No babies allowed!

Kaylin made that sign for her room and even drew a picture of a baby wrapped in a blanket. Then she proceded to put the number 10 next to the baby. When I asked her why she put the number 10 she said, "because, Jonathan is 10 months old today!" Well, ok then! So, no babies are allowed in her room, especially 10 month old babies.

I will update later with a picture of the sign, as it's hilarious. Every time I try to upload it now, Jonathan unplugs the camera.

Pumpkin Express

All 4 of us went to Pumpkin Express with Kaylin's school this morning. We saw a big yucky spider and Kaylin played and bounced with her friend Star from class.

To see the rest of the pictures, check out our photo gallery link on the right side of the page.

Jonathan's First Haircut!

On Saturday Jonathan had his first haircut! He was getting curls in the back on his collar and little wings out on the sides. Now, when he wakes up in the morning he has bed head and it's too cute! I'll have to get a picture of that!

If you want to see more pictures of the process, click the Photo Gallery link on the right side of this page.

Kaylin, you're so funny!

The following conversation just took place

Jeremy: I'm gonna pick up some beer to take over to my dad's house for the game, is that ok with you? (directed towards me)
Kaylin: No, none for me!
Kelly: BWHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH

Speech therapy

Kaylin will be starting speech therapy on Wednesday. She was originally supposed to start on Monday, but we are going through the school district and she is missing 1 shot. So, we have an appointment on Tuesday afternoon to get that done. She is not looking forward to that.

She will go to therapy twice a week for 30 minutes. The school district offers it to children 3 and older who reside in the district. There will be 2 other little girls in there with her who are currently in kindergarten.

State Fair

So, they say the State Fair of Texas is the longest running and biggest state fair in the nation. We went yesterday and had a blast! If you missed Ross the Intern at the State Fair of Texas and the UT vs. OU game on Jay Leno then you should watch this clip on Youtube. It's pretty funny and you'll get to hear Big Tex talk! Kaylin absolutely loved hearing him talk and every time she'd say "that scared me!"

We got there a little before noon and since we entered near The Midway, where the rides and games are, all the carnies bombarded us trying to get Kaylin to play a game. She had told us the day before that she wanted to play the balloon dart game, so that's the one game she got to play. She popped 2 balloons, out of 3 and won a stuffed puppy! She decided she didn't want to ride any rides. Though Jeremy worked really hard at convincing her! Then it was off to get Fletcher's corny dogs. Kaylin wanted a hot dog and ate a whole entire foot long by herself!

We walked around a bit then headed for the animals. Kaylin fed every animal in there, except for the ostrich. Those are some mean birds! Some of the adult men found it amusing to feed them from the palm of their hand. I guess they enjoy having their hands pecked? They had plastic shovels to feed the animals from, so kids would not get their fingers bit. There were also signs all over stating not to feed fingers to the animals. Which cracked me up!

As we were leaving we saw this guy! Pretty good optical illusion with all the stripes. It looked like it was just the top half of his body on the stick. Obviously, he's behind the curtain, but because of the stripes it hid that really well.

Here's a picture of Kaylin and Jeremy as we were walking out and saying goodbye to Big Tex!



As we were walking out down The Midway again Kaylin wanted to play another game of balloon darts to win her puppy a friend. So, she played another game and hit a balloon each time with all 3 darts! She was also "too tired to walk anymore!" which is exactly why we brought the stroller with us. Jeremy didn't think he'd be able to carry her for that long. I guess walking all over for 4 hours is just overkill for little legs.

Menu Plan Monday

The days may get switched around. And this week the whole second half of the week may get pushed back to next week because I am going to The Dinner Station on Tuesday.

Here is what is on our menu:

Monday: WW Linguini with White Wine Clam Sauce and salad

Tuesday: WW Lasagna Stew

Wednesday: Apple Butter Pork Chops (if we aren't full from State Fair food)

Thursday: New Orleans Red Beans with rice & sausage and green beans

Friday: Chicken with a lemon-dill cream sauce, pasta and broccoli

Have a great week everyone!!

Pumpkin Express

Kaylin had a blast at Brendan's birthday party. She bounced in the bounce house, got to ride on a train, slide on a bouncy slide and play on a see-saw at the pumpkin patch. I actually forgot my camera, but my friend Jennifer got some pictures of Kaylin and her kids playing. Plus, we'll be going back on a field trip with Kaylin's school on the 23rd. I'll be sure to snap lots of pictures then.

Jonathan has been trying new foods lately. The other night we had beef tips with mushroom sauce & egg noodles and he yelled at me until I shared my noodles with him. He is gonna be a big eater. He's willing to try things that Kaylin isn't and hasn't ever been willing to try! Here's to hoping he won't be such a picky eater like his big sister!

Have you been Boo gramed?

Last night I picked up some Halloween goodies to make Boo bags to pass out to our neighbors! This morning, Kaylin and I put them together and later today, probably after dinner, I'll have her put them on the neighbors doorstep. Don't know what Boo'd means, or what a Boo bag consists of?

She's excited about it. She was also in the mood to put gifts together, because after that she asked if we could wrap up her friend Brendan's birthday present. So, we wrapped that up for his birthday party tomorrow, at the pumpkin patch. I know Kaylin can't wait, as she's asked me several times what day it is and if Saturday is tomorrow, so we can go to Brendan's party.

Jonathan's 9 month well visit

He is getting to be my big boy! He lost some weight, but the pedi. said that's normal since he's so active now.

Weight - 18 lbs 8oz (25%)
Length - 30 inches (95%)
Head - 19.3 inches/49 cm. (95%)

Our boy is going to be tall with a big head, to hold his big brain!

He also got a TB test and had his iron level checked. Both came back fine!

Two more recipes

I made two new things this weekend Best Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and Sweet Potato Fries. Both were very yummy!

Best Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I only did 1 cup)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. (I didn't make them that big!)
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Sweet Potato Fries

2 medium sweet potatoes
Olive Oil spray
4 Packets Splenda
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tbsp Seasoning Salt ( I used Penzeys 4/S)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Half potatoes, cut each half into 4-5 slices. Spray cookie sheet with olive oil. Spray slices with olive oil. Sprinkle seasoning salt, cinnamon & Splenda over potatoes. Place in oven and cook for 15-20 minutes. Flip fries over spray with more oil, sprinkle more salt, cinnamon and splenda and cook for another 15-20 minutes.

So, I found a new blog that I spent several hours reading last night. I plan to start using her tips to hopefully get this house in order. Every Monday she posts her menu for the week. Since I already plan ours I figure I can post it to share.

Here is our menu for the week. I will also share the recipes.

Monday - Salsa Chicken on corn tortillas with salad
Tuesday - Italian Style Fish with zucchini & mashed potatoes
Wednesday - Pulled Pork on hamburger buns with a salad
Thursday - Tuna Melt with broccoli
Friday - Honey Mustard Pork Chops with green beans and roasted potatoes
Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - Grilled salmon with broccoli and pasta

Salsa Chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
14 oz canned black beans
14 oz canned yellow corn
16 oz. salsa
Cumin
Chili Powder
1/2 shredded cheese

Place chicken in slow cooker. Pour salsa over chicken. Drain & rinse beans & corn; place in slow cooker. Add cumin & chili powder(I just sprinkle a thin layer over the top.) Cook 8 hours on low. Shred chicken with a fork (it normally breaks up enough when I stir it) and mix all together. Add shredded chicken and replace lid for 5-10 minutes, until melted. Serve!

Pulled Pork
1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin
1 (12 ounce) root beer
1 (18 ounce) bottle bbq sauce
8 hamburger buns

Place pork tenderloin in a slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook on low until well cooked and the pork shreds easily. Drain well. Stir in bbq sauce. Serve on hamburger buns.

Italian Style Fish
2 pounds white fish fillets
1/2 Tablespoon butter or margarine
salt & pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 Tablespoons minced garlic
3 Tablespoons italian dressing
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Arrange fish in a medium baking dish. Dot with butter; season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with lemon juice. Top with remaining ingredients, ending with cheese.
3. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until fish is easily flaked with a fork.

The bluebonnets are out!

After I picked Kaylin up from school on Thursday I decided to take the kids out and get some pictures of them in the bluebonnets before they disappear. Kaylin whined about sitting in the grass, she didn't want to hold her brother, he's too heavy, etc. Despite her being a whiney butt I got some pretty good shots. Also, while we were out there Kaylin had to experience her first potty in the woods. There we were in the middle of nowhere and she's got to pee! So, Mimi took her up the hill and away from any possible eyes and she tinkled in the woods for the first time.

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter. We made plans to go over to Matt & Chera's and eat with them and Matt wanted to do an Easter egg hunt for Kaylin. I made some Jello egg jigglers and rolls to take with us and we headed over there around noon. Kaylin and Chera's parent's neighbor, Brianna, had a great time hunting for eggs. After that we headed to Mimi and Papa's house for dinner.

Stylish boy

We're having a cold snap this weekend and Jonathan has nothing warm to wear but 3 sleepers. So, he spent the day in his sleeper. I need to get out to Carter's on Tuesday and see about getting him enough sleepers to last through a week between loads of laundry, at least. While I was thinking about that I decided to browse The Children's Place to see if they had any deals on sleepers, or summer clothes in his next size. I found a whole jackpot of cute shirts and a pair of cargo shorts. Lately, I've been pretty disappointed in their selection of girl's clothes. So, when Jonathan moves up to size 6-9 months, which will likely be within the next 2-3 months he will be wearing these cute shirts and pair of shorts.

The next Houdini

Every night at bedtime we swaddle Jonathan in his Miracle Blanket (www.miracleblanket.com) but when I went in the other morning this was what I saw.

How he managed that one I'm not sure. If you go to the instructions on the site and watch the video you'll see that it's pretty much a baby straight jacket and it would be difficult to escape from the wrap. Somehow, he still managed.

Let's dye some Easter eggs

Kaylin and her daddy dyed the Easter eggs tonight. She had a blast and they came out so pretty!

Our Trip to the zoo

We took Kaylin and Jonathan to the zoo and met our friends Jess, Seth and Ethan there. Kaylin and Ethan had a blast, Jonathan is still just a little too small to enjoy it all. I got some great shots of the animals but Kaylin wasn't up for having her picture taken. She wanted me to keep taking pictures of the animals to show her. You can see the rest of the animals pictures here.

What a great sleeper

Jonathan is now sleeping about 8-11 hours at night. He goes to sleep anywhere between 9 and 10 and sleeps until between 6:30 and 8. I, of course, am loving this! It's so nice to get that much sleep again.

Also new this week...We've got laughing. Jonathan now laughs when tickled. Before it was sort of grunts or huh huh huh sounds. Similar to Beavis and Butthead. Now it's a full blown laugh and I love it! I tickle him at every diaper change just so I can hear that wonderful sound!

2 month well baby

Jonathan had his two month pedi. appointment yesterday. He weighed in at 12 lbs. and is 23 1/2 inches long now. He took his shots like a champ. He got 4 of them and didn't cry until the 2nd shot, even then he stopped when she was done with the last one. Kaylin cried more than he did. She was hiding in the corner telling the nurse "don't hurt my baby." The nurse said most siblings her age act like that or else they are up on the table being nosy and asking questions. Kids are too funny! I gave him a dose of tylenol when we got home and he was fine. No decrease in appetite, no sleeping issues or anything. *knocks on wood* Now, let's just hope he's always such a good baby for shots!

Mother's Day Out

Okay, so I'm still trying to find the time (and remember) to update.

Kaylin started at a Mother's Day Out program on Thursday. She will go from 9am-2pm every Tuesday and Thursday. I hope this time will allow me to get the house back in shape. Plus, she really needed to get back out there with kids her age, and learn and make friends again. She's been at home with me for a year and a half. She also decided to drop out of her dance classes. This makes me sad. I can only hope she'll become interested in dance again once she gets older.
Not much new with Jonathan this week. He seems to be trying to roll from belly to back. Whenever he is down for tummy time he leans to one side and pushes with his feet to try and roll over. I imagine it’s not far off.

We are swamped next week. Three out of the four of us are in Matt & Chera’s wedding on Friday. We’ve got something going on every day except Monday. And I think I’m going to schedule lunch with a friend that day.
Monday – lunch with Jennifer?
Tuesday – Kaylin MDO, endocrinologist appointment for me, pediatrician appointment for Jonathan
Wednesday – Chera’s bachelorette party that night
Thursday – Matt & Chera’s wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner
Friday – my day starts with hair at 11am
And then…Sunday we will be driving up to Tennessee to visit my mother-in-law.

Trying this again

I really need to try to get into the habit of blogging. I'd really like to keep tabs of little things that Jonathan and Kaylin accomplish.

At 5 weeks and 3 days old (on Feb. 12th) Jonathan gave me his first real smile. Not one of those followed by a bout of gas, or a sweet dreams smile. A real honest to goodness, "my mama is funny" smile. Which in turn made me smile and we went back and forth like that for a good 5 minutes. He smiled for me because I was tickling his cheeks after his diaper change. Apparently he likes that! Or at the very least, he wanted to amuse his mama. Now, at 7 weeks he smiles any time I talk to him in that high-pitched "motherese" speak. I can't wait for his first genuine laugh. Which, most likely, will be in response to mama acting like an idiot! I, of course, have yet to catch a real good smile on camera :-(

Jonathan will be 2 months old next week! Time flies! And he's growing like a weed. I'd like to upload some pictures to illustrate my point, but alas, my internet connection is being wonky and won't allow me to upload. It just continuously times out. I'll just have to be sure and edit this post once the problem is corrected.

I love that Jonathan is now sleeping in 4 and 5 hours stretches at night. We have his 2 month appointment next Tuesday, the day after he actually turns 2 months. Poor baby will have to get shots.

This weekend we did a whole lot of nothin'. Saturday night we all went over to Matt & Chera's house. Grilled out some pork ribs and discussed their bachelor and bachelorette parties. Sunday we just lounged around the house as a family until 4:30pm when Kaylin went to stay the night with Mimi & Papa. Today Jeremy got a hair cut with Chera, we went to the post office to mail out a paperbackswap.com book, by the ATM to get cash and then back home. Not a real exciting weekend! Currently, Jeremy is at the Mavericks game with some guys from work and I'm about to put Kaylin to bed and feed the boy.

Jonathan's birth story

I went in for my 38-week appt on December 26, 2006 and I was still progressing naturally and at about 1.5cm. My dr. asked if I wanted to be induced when she returned from vacation on January 4th, and I said yes! So, she made a phone call to the hospital and said that I could come in on January 5th (39 weeks and 5 days) for induction.

I got checked in to the hospital at 6am, got my IV and pitocin started, got hooked up to the monitors and had an internal. I was still 1.5 cm and contracting regularly on the monitors. Then, I just laid there watching the news and other various programs. The nurse would come in about every 15-30 minutes to adjust the monitors; they would not stay in place, so we kept losing Jonathan’s heartbeat. Around 8:30 am I was at 4 cm and ready for my epidural! The anesthesiologist was with someone else and they told me it would be about 10 minutes. I’m not sure if it took longer than that or if that was the longest 10 minutes of my life! The whole process of getting the epidural only took about 10 or 15 minutes. When I went to lay back down, I told them that my back hurt, but I guess nobody thought this was strange.

Around 9:15 am I felt a popping sensation and a tiny bit of what I thought was liquid dripping (hard to tell as my epidural had already kicked in). The nurse checked and sure enough, my water had broken on it's own. After my epidural was administered my step-mother-in-law and Jeremy kept watching the monitors and commenting on the size of my contractions and marveling at the fact that I couldn’t feel them!

Around 1:00 p.m. I called the nurse in and told her I thought my epidural was wearing off. It was a very strange feeling, not at all like what I felt with Kaylin, which was the urge to push. When the nurse checked me I was at a 10 and ready to push. She had me push with the help of Jeremy and my mom while she went to call Dr. A. My Dr. got there in less than 10 minutes, as her office is on the floor below and just across the hallway from L&D. The Dr. A asked me how long I had pushed with Kaylin, only 45 minutes, and she said the second time is normally quicker. After several sets of pushing and not much progression for a second timer, the nurse commented that she thought Jonathan was Occiput Posterior (OP) meaning his back was against my back instead of him facing inwards, as he should be. We continued on and I pushed for about an hour before the Dr. asked me if I’d like try the vacuum, I told her I wanted to try myself a bit longer. My nurse suggested trying the squat bar to see if that would help and went to get it. After being gone about 5 minutes she returned saying she couldn’t find it. Sometime after this I commented that I thought my epidural was wearing off, things had become so painful. So, the anesthesiologist came back in to give me another dose. So, I tried a bit more myself and finally they broke down the bed and the nurses placed my legs in the stirrups to prepare for delivery. That did the trick! Something about that position got Jonathan moving and finally out! He was born at 2:44 p.m. As soon as Jonathan was out Jeremy started crying, which of course made me start tearing up. Dr. Auers placed him on my tummy before he was whisked off to be cleaned up, weighed, etc. Jeremy went with Jonathan to be weighed, measured, etc. I had received an episiotomy and a small tear and I watched Dr. Auers stitch me up while Jeremy and my mom were off with Jonathan. Jeremy returned to let me know Jonathan weighed in at 8 lbs. 3 oz. and was 21 ¼ inches long with a 14-inch head circumference.

The whole moment was a blur and I had so many different feelings going through me. I just remember how painful the last few moments were, since he was OP. Within about 15 minutes, the room was emptied and cleaned and was fairly quiet. It was just me, Jeremy, my mom and the baby. A couple minutes later a nurse knocked on the door asking if it was OK if big sister Kaylin, my dad, my step-mother-in-law, and father-in-law came in. Back to being the loud, bustling room I remember!