Kora's New Look...

Well, the note came home from the school nurse--Kora has failed her vision test.  Naturally, I was skeptical as this is Kora we are talking about and she has been a little envious of Katherine's glasses in the past.  However, I made the appointment and we went in to see our Eye Doctor.  Incredibly enough, Kora was not misleading anyone and she does, in fact, need glasses.  This could explain her misspelled 'challenge words' that she copied off the board and swore that was how her teacher had spelled them.  She picked out a pair of glasses that were closest to her favorite color--aqua.  She was so excited to go to school to day after we picked up the glasses.  I have to admit that I believe she is pretty stinking cute in them.  What do you think?

Giving Thanks for a Fun Weekend...

Our Thanksgiving this year was pretty fun. My sisters came to visit. Katherine and Kora love to see Aunts Marlo and Melanie and Kallen warmed up to them as well. Just before dinner, Marlo took Katherine and Kora on a mission of desperation as I had run out of milk and needed some for the mashed potatoes. They all went to the store in their pajamas. Also just before dinner, we caught a photo of Kallen looking about like I felt after the long day of cooking and cleaning up. The day after Thanksgiving we all took our annual trip to the tree farm to find our tree--we went with the Scotch Pine this year. I love the photo of Eric and the girls that I got while we were riding on the wagon going out to the trees. All in all, a fun weekend. Thanks to Marlo and Mel for making the trip out. Next time you visit, we promise to have a better grip on the clutter to ease Katherine's anxieties over an unkempt home.

A Day in the Mouth of Kallen!

Kallen is absolutely an oral baby! Kora was as well. Katherine never put anything unusual in her mouth and still doesn't(I think she eats like five different foods, if we are lucky)! In just one day, I snapped photos every time I found Kallen with something new in her mouth. The choking hazards I am dealing with on a daily basis are daunting. If I find another tootsie roll wrapper in the roof of her mouth, I just might lose it...

Kallen's Epipen...Do I hear a Mother of the Year nomination?

A Polly Pocket dress--nice and chewy soft on the gums.

A sock. For some reason, she is especially fond of chewing on her socks. I can't keep her toes warm as she constantly yanks off the socks so that she can chew on them.

And finally, a noisy toy of Kora's. 

Our Indian Summer

The weather for this last week has been unseasonable warm.  Everyday ends up being in the 70's!  Eric has mowed the lawn, the girls have been outside playing, and I took the chance to get some fun fall photos of Kallen with Katherine's help.

The Exersaucer--Toddler Style

Kallen has absolutely loved her exersaucer!  She is just too active and busy to be confined to it anymore.  So, I tried using it as it is meant to be used for a toddler by removing the seat and opening it up so that she can play inside.  I had my doubts as Kora never really used it this way.  Kallen still absolutely loves her exersaucer.  She will crawl into it and stand there in it, playing for fairly large chunks of time.  It's quite fun to watch.

Halloween Just Past...

It's still weird to be Trick-or-Treating in the daylight but I get to take photos outside! The girls had a great time collecting as much sugar as possible. Today we take down the Halloween decorations and get ready for Thanksgiving--things should be crazy until midway through January...

Katherine--The Bride of Frankenstein

Kora--A Creepy, Yet Kinda Cute Bat

Kallen--Our Little Tootsie Roll

Halloweens Past...

Last year's costumes-Katherine the mime and Kora the Lawyer as was my very first photo blog one year ago. 2007


OK, so here's where I win Mother of the Year! Katherine was actually a Hershey bar this year and we have NO photo of it. This is a photo of Katherine in September of that year--Katherine the Polka Dot! Kora went as Candy Corn. I loved the absence of sewing this year. 2006


I loved both of these costumes. Katherine was Spiderella and Kora was a "fairy-witch". This year's sewing was beyond ambitious. 2005

Pirates invaded in 2004!

This year we had a cute little witch and a most precious mummy--had to add the solo mummy photo. These photos were taken with a roll of black and white film (so bummed when I got the pictures back because Kora's mummy bow was a great purple color). 2003



This year, the whole family joined in to be the Scooby Gang and no photo of all of us. Here's Katherine as Daphne and Kora as Velma. 2002

This year the girls and I were the three Power Puff girls, but I didn't get a good photo of the 3 of us--pre digital camera capabilities. The girls are posing here with a good friend, Beau.  2001


A big sewing project with Katherine's medieval princess.  I borrowed Kora's jester costume for her 1st Halloween, just 1 month old. 2000

Raggedy Ann and some sewing...1999

I loved this scarescrow costume! 1998

An adorable Cat in the Hat! 1997

Katherine's very first Halloween. We didn't actually do a costume for her but I found this photo that was taken about a week before Halloween--close enough, right?

My Sensational 'S' Selections

OK, so my friend, Lish, "tagged" me with the letter S. Apparently this means that I am to blog about some significant S words. I have compiled a fairly brief list so as not to bore you all. I thought it might be fun to go with opposites as we all know the importance of "opposition in all things."

Sincerity and Sarcasm--I grew up on much sarcasm but have grown to cherish the elusive sincerity of close friends.

Savior and Satan--My everyday motivation and my everyday adversary.

Songs and Silence--I live through music and songs, I treasure moments of complete silence (especially through the night!).

Sex and Selibacy--I had to include sex (a keystone of marriage and lots of fun) and yes, I know celibacy is spelled with a C but it sounds like an S. By the way, not so much into celibacy myself...;)

Sacrifice/Service and Selfishness--More sacrifice, less selfishness would be good for anyone!

Shopping and Saving--I so enjoy both but they tend to be mutually exclusive...what's a girl to do?

Saturday and Sunday--A day to play catch-up on terrestrial things, a day to play catch-up on celestial things! Love them both!

Happy, Healthy(?) Kallen...We hope!

Well, it's now been 6 weeks since Kallen's tubes were put in and consequently since her last ear infection! She has been sleeping fantastically! We still have yet to meet with the allergist so for now we are sticking to her soy formula and the 6 veggies and 8 fruits that we know she isn't allergic to. Kallen is having lots of fun (and falls) cruising around the furniture. She has discovered many other rooms in the house and I have to keep her away from all sorts of fun potential messes. She loves her tunnel toy and was so happy to get to hold and chew on the Halloween card that Grandma Beeman sent to her. I LOVE this age! 

Sister Love

Katherine and Kallen were having a little moment on the couch but as soon as I got the camera out to capture that moment, Kora had to jump in for the photo op!

Kallen at 9 Months

Kallen is officially nine months old now. We took her for her 9-month photo shoot at which she did great! At her doctor's check-up, she weighed in at 16 pounds, 12 ounces. She is 28 inches long. She is both my heaviest and longest 9-month old child yet. The doctor is quite pleased with her development and is guessing that she'll be even more mobile very soon. She doesn't; however, expect that Kallen will be cutting any teeth within the next couple of months. My guess is, Kallen will get her first tooth around the one-year mark like Kora did. Now, if we could just figure out her allergies before she gets enough teeth to want to try all sorts of new foods...

Our First 911 Adventure!

Turns out there is something in milk-based formula that Kallen really is allergic to. We thought we should go ahead and use up the free formula given to us when Kallen was born. We have been told that Kallen is NOT allergic to milk so we thought nothing of using this formula. Within 2 minutes and two ounces of the formula, Kallen was in the throws of a full-on allergic reaction. Her breathing became very labored, she was crying, her face was red, and I was trying desperately to make a quick decision. I called her pediatrician's office, they immediately insisted I call 911. I did. I also called Eric to inform him that I had made the call and he should get home fast. The ambulance arrived, Eric arrived, and Kallen's little body had vomitted up everything in her stomach. She went almost instantly limp, her eyes rolled back in her head and I was a mess. As it turns out, we are very lucky that Kallen did vomit. Had her body not been able to get rid of the food, she probably would have stopped breathing completely. Within 10 or 15 minutes of vomitting, she started to "come alive" again. By the time we arrived at Children's Hospital ER, I was feeling like maybe we didn't need to make such a production--although everyone assured me that I did the right thing. The only thing that I should have done differently, I am told, is that I should have grabbed Kallen's epi-pen and injected her with it. I was, sadly, too frantic to think to do that. Today, Kallen is just fine. She is on a steady dose of Benedryl for the next couple of days to make sure that everything is out of her system. She is eating only foods and formulas that I know she is absolutely NOT allergic to and we have an appointment with the top food allergy specialist at Children's to find out exactly what caused this reaction and anyting else that may cause reactions. Kallen is keeping us on our toes and I will gladly remain on my toes as long as I need to in order to keep her safe and healthy!