Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and will be having a Happy New Year celebration tonight!

We had a wonderful Christmas(yet again)! Christmas Eve we had a wonderful dinner with Gramps, Dabbers, Uncle Tatas, and some great neighbors Michelle and Auntie B! We all ate so much, but it was wonderful to get to spend the evening with people we love!

Santa swung by our house a little early on Christmas Eve to deliver K's new jammies! They are precious! She loved them so much, she didn't take them off until Monday! I didn't know if I'd ever get them off of her...she considers them her "Magic Jammies"! She was also allowed the yearly tradition of opening one present before she went to bed...this year it was a Fairy Princess Barbie! She was thrilled!



We woke up around 7:30 on Christmas day and unwrapped gifts and ate breakfast(Nick's Fav...Jesus' Birthday Cake!!), and then as always, we vegged out in our jammies! Christmas night we decided we were ready for something different than leftovers, so we loaded up to see what kind of food we could find...our choices...Sonic or Chinese! We picked Chinese! haha! What a very Merry Christmas Dinner!

It's New Year's Eve today, and we are planning to stay close to home! We will venture out later to the Thomas household for some time with the neighbors! All the kids will get to play and so will the parents! I am still trying to figure out what little snackies I want to make to take! :)

We hope everyone had a VERY Merry Christmas, and Have a wonderful 2010!

Christmas with Gamma!!

Kastyn has been so excited for the past week to go across the street to Gamma's to give her the Christmas gift we got for her. It's been wrapped and sitting by the front door for her, and she was about to burst because she wanted to give it to her so badly! We saw Gamma Sunday at a Birthday Party, and I was so worried, that my little blabber mouth was going to spill the Christmas present beans to Gamma...luckily she was so busy with all her friends that she didn't, but the second we got home...she wanted to go gifting. Finally last night, we went to Gamma's house so we could give her the beautifully wrapped gift we had for her.

Of course, Gamma had a couple little packages for this little princess too! She was sooo excited! Kastyn opened her gifts first, and got an adorable new outfit, that is so her, as well as some new lipstuff, and makeup! She was in heaven! As soon as we got home from school today she rushed in and opened all her "new" and started putting it on...of course she looks beautiful!!

We had a soft fuzzy blanket embroidered for Gamma with...none other than her "name" on it! We hope she loves it just as much as we loved having it made for her, and giving it to her!! :) We are so blessed to have adopted such a wonderful Gamma, and have her as a part of our lives! She is the best!!!

Sumo...YUM!!

Nick and I have been trying to get together with some friends for quite a while to go out to dinner and it finally happened Saturday night! We traveled to East Wichita to go to SUMO....a very yummy Japanese Steak House! I love this place. We have lots of these steak-houses in town...but Sumo is by far, in my opinion...the BEST!

We debated on if we should take Kastyn or not....but then decided that the $7 it cost to take her was better than the end of the night babysitting tab...so she got to go too, and she had sooo much fun! She'd been to a different one before and remembered all the little fun things they did...throw shrimp to catch in your mouth; toss stuff and catch it in their hats; make the fire volcano! So our little "chef" is almost done cooking and serving us our food, and Kastyn looks and Nick and says, "Daddy, where is our Volcano???" The "chef" overheard her, and said...shhhh....oops. I think sombody forgot the volcano, and got called out by a sweet little 4 year old! :)

Here are a couple pictures of our wonderful evening!!

Kastyn and Daddy


Mommy with Kastyn


Yummmmm!!!


Kyle and Ashley

Radio Winners!

Nick and I couldn't win a darn thing the whole time we were in Vegas, and we barely win on the occasional scratch ticket....but give us a radio contest, and we might just win that!

This morning brings the latest winning for ME! I won on B98fm this morning! I had the answer to the impossible trivia question(with a little help from my computer)! But hey, I won....and to top it off...it's a $50 gift certificate to Healing Waters DaySpa! I can SOOO use that right now!

My other winnings this year have included a $50 gift certificate to In the Bag Dry Cleaning and who can forget being the first Mooo-lah winner of the season and winning $1000 in October!

Nick has won quite a bit more than I have...a CD, he also won Moo-lah but only $100, golf gift certificate, and the biggie....Taylor Swift Tickets!

I guess we'll save our money in Vegas and listen to the radio stations here in Wichita!! I love B98fm...and he is more of a KFDI listener!! :) Both great stations!!

Edited to add: Not 30 minutes after I finished this post...Nick won again...Brad Paisley concert tickets in January! WHOOHOOO! I tried too....but I was caller 8...he was lucky #10! :)

She loves to Compete!

With everything she does! Is this good? or bad? I think it's a little of both! It's good that she has the drive to want to do good in everything she does...but there is going to be that one day when she isn't the best...and then I think it's going to break her heart!

She competes from first thing in the morning...to see who can eat their breakfast the quickest.....right up until she goes to bed, when she runs to her room to see who an be the first to get all snuggled in bed! There are often times when we "let" her win...just to make sure we don't have an issue on our hands, but I think her day is coming.

As of last week, her gymnastics teacher bumped her up to a more advanced class with 5-7 year olds. Last week was definitely a challenge for her. She is really going to have to start paying attention more in class and try her hardest, as well as practice her skills(new and old) at home! I was trying to get her to practice Monday evening...and she didn't want to. I really think she just didn't want to listen to me! Daddy came down, and she listened to him, however, neither of them were doing the "right" thing, so as I was trying to correct her...she was getting bent out of shape and just didn't want to do it anymore! She really doesn't like to be told what to do! :)

I can see we are probably going to have lots more challenges in life...especially in about...oh...10/11 more weeks when her baby brother arrives! :)

For now...here in a cute little picture of my girl...playing with ALLL of her "friends"!!

The Snow...

Is falling...

I'm so not ready for snow, or the cold, or winter. Can't it always just be NICE out? Guess not. So I'll have to deal with it. I just have SO much to do before Christmas gets here and this makes me want to just stay in bed...that much more!

25 week appointment....

I traveled across town today for my 25 week appointment! Yet another boring appt. But that is fine! I am still gaining weight, my blood pressure was perfect, and the baby's heartbeat was 148. Dr didn't know for sure if baby was up or down...but he is still kinda diagonal across my body. I am thinking head up feet down...since I am constantly getting jabbs in the bladder! I go again the 31st for another 4 week appt, and at that point I also get to do the glucose testing. I passed with flying colors with Kastyn, so he said I probably have nothing to worry about this time around either! We shall see!!

Here is an updated picture of our growing little man!!

Rock Chalk!

Kastyn went to her first Jayhawks game last Wednesday with Nick and Uncle Drew when we were in Lawrence! She had such a great time going and watching the cheerleaders! Nick said she was trying to do everything that they were doing! She also enjoyed her popcorn and Sprite! She didn't get her picture taken with Jay or Baby-Jay, but she did get to give the sweaty players hi 5's after the game!!





Heading out to play...


Heading to the Game...

Gearing up for Holiday Travels...

We are packing up and heading out in the morning. We are heading to the Lawrence/KC area. Can you believe we haven't been ANYWHERE...since we went to Vegas in JUNE! I have absolutely LOVED the time at home!! This will most likely be our last travel until baby comes in March...well maybe...we shall see!

We will head out tomorrow(Wednesday) when we get around to head out. We have some errands to run in Lawrence tomorrow, and then Nick is going to go to the KU Baskeball game with Drew, while Michelle, K and I hang at the house and do girl stuff!

Thursday will be ALL about Turkey and eating, and then I am gearing up for my SHOPPING adventure Friday...for my Black Friday shopping! I sat down yesterday and searched the ads and made my lists! I will most likely be out shopping either at mid-night....or 3am! I can't wait!!! :)

Who-da-thunk...

A teeny tiny little flu shot would cause such a ruckus? Certainly I didn't when in passing this morning I mentioned to my lovely 4yo that she and Daddy would get to go together today to get them! Holy COW!

For a brief moment she forgot about them...but then every person we ran into...knowing them or not...K mentioned she was going to get a shot!

It was finally time to pick Daddy up from work and head to the clinic to get these little seasonal flu shots for the two of them(Mommy has already had both the seasonal and h1n1). The entire way to the office, K kept mentioning how her cough was gone, and she felt fine, and didn't need the shot, but Daddy could go ahead and get his. It was so funny to listen to all of the little excuses that she came up with in the short amount of time we had in the car.

Once we got to the clinic, she already had teeny tiny tears in her eyes, so I tried to reassure her that everything would be A-OK, and if she was Mommy's sweet little girl we would go for a special treat after. Lets just say...that didn't happen.

Once inside the clinic....I filled out the paperwork and paid the fee. We(thankfully) were the only ones there and they took us right back. K didn't even want to go to the room! After making our way to the room, she sat on my lap and watched Daddy get the shot in his arm. As soon as he was done, we asked if she would like her shot in her arm like Daddy, or in her leg instead. She REFUSED to get up. REFUSED to let me take off her coat...and immediately started screaming and crying! WOW! I never imagined it would be this difficult!

After 5 minutes of screaming, kicking, crying, and acting like a crazed animal...I finally looked at Nick and told him to HOLD HER DOWN! I pulled her jeans down as far as the nurse needed them, she swabbed with the alcohol, and wham...the shot was done! In like 2 seconds!! K instantly STOPPED crying! There was no pain, it didn't hurt, and I really think she felt pretty silly after that entire episode when she realized it really didn't hurt...just like we had told her!

Such a silly silly girl! Hopefully the next round of shots she will be the BIG girl that she knows deep down she can be! Note to self....1. Make child wear dress for shots, for easy hold-down shot method...2. Don't take older sister with Baby Brother for shot appointments!

Photo Winner!

A couple days before Halloween I found out one of the local TV stations was having a Halloween Photo Contest. I had just taken a few pictures of Kastyn in her costume, so I thought I would enter one...what would it hurt..right?!?! So here is the picture I entered:



Well...Wednesday morning, I got a phonecall from KSN...and I had won!! Yay!! A Papa Murphy's Pizza Party...3 Family Sized Pizzas, Cheezy Bread, and 2-2liters of soda! Kastyn and I went today to pick up the certificate...and the pizza!!

Getting Things Ready...

I haven't started the Nursery at all, but the closet is starting to get full! I buy diapers and wipes everytime I go to the store...so I can get my supply stocked up!!! Friday, Kastyn and I went thru all her old clothes searching for "boy" clothes...or gender neutral clothing that work for her baby brother as well. She had so much fun helping me and then putting all the stuff away in his closet!

I even talked Nick into a trip to Babies R Us to see all the new baby stuff out there. We got rid of a few "big" items after we had Kastyn, so there are few things that we need to pick up before this one arrives. Hopefully we will be able to settle on the things we need to get!



So far this is what our baby boy stock-pile looks like!!

Dear Time Change...

How long will it be until my sweet, adorable, loving 4 year old sleeps again??? She was up WAAAAYYY too early for my liking today! Will I at least get a nap?!?!

THANK YOU!!!

To the Mystery Person who sent Baby Boy Young, the beautiful Little Giraffe Chenille blanket! It is absolutely adorable!!

Music!

I love love love MUSIC! So I've decided to add some to my page! If you don't like it...to bad! Deal with it...or just pause it when you visit! Just a small selection of some of the music I like to listen to!

Date Night!

Nick and I had a semi-date night Friday. We were invited to Dinner and Dueling Pianos Friday night with our great neighbors Eric and Christy! We had a great kid-free evening!!

We started our evening at Outback Steakhouse(I ate WAAAY to much) and then headed over to the Shadow for Dueling Pianos! We had been to a few Piano Bars/Shows before that I thought were better than these two guys, but...we had so much fun and it was nice to get out and about for a few hours! We got home way too late, and all I have been doing since is sleeping to catch up! :-)

Great BIG Deals!

I have really turned into a deal finding FREAK! And a coupon using Queen! haha!

My Wednesday deal was: 88 Huggies Diapers for $1

My Sunday deal was: Saving over $120 at Dillons and only spending $100.54!!! That is a savings of around 57%!!



Here is a picture of my Dillons purchase...minus a case of water. I purchased 91 items...so that makes each one around $1.10 each. Obviously by the picture somethings should be less, and some things should cost way more...but overall I think it's a great bargain! My receipt was almost as tall as Kastyn! And not only did I have great savings Sunday, but will have great savings the next time I go as well...thanks to more coupons! Everytime I shop, the little machine prints out more coupons for my next trip...based on what I typically buy, and this time even printed a couple $$$ off ones! Yay...so FREE money!

Incase you can't see all my goods in the picture...I'll help you out and let you know just what I purchased!

7 Assorted boxes of cereal, 4 Pillsbury cake mixes, 7 Campbells Soup, 2 Juicy Juice, 12 Kool-Aid, 4 Easy-Mac, Lever 2000 Jumbo Pack, Luvs Jumbo Pack, Charmin Jumbo Pack, 2 Clorox Bleach, 2 Laundry Detergent, 2 Bandaids, 4 Tony's Pizza, 2 Tylenol Cold, 3 eyeshadows, Cleaning supplies, fruit, milk, cheese, burger, and some other little random things for around the house!!!

It's a...

BOY! All boy!

Nick is on cloud 9! Kastyn still wants a sister! and I'm...in SHOCK! What am I going to do with a Boy??? I guess I will learn!

Hello Fall???

Where are you?

We are currently sitting here thawing out from going to Kastyn's soccer game this morning! It is October 10th(Happy Birthday Daddy) and currently 37 degrees outside?!?!? Really?!?! Kastyn was bundled from head to toe...I am surprised she could run up and down the field to kick the soccer ball...but she did...and played great to top it off! The wind today is killer as well...my ears and throat are now sore from sitting out there to cheer her on! Looks like a snuggle with a blanket day as well as some kinds of YUMMY soup for dinner!

I hope everyone is staying warm!!!

One More WEEK!!

Until we find out if Kastyn will have a Baby Brother or a Baby Sister! Yay! We go next Thursday at 11am! Hopefully the Baby cooperates and shows us the "goods"!

I went today for my 17ish week appt. Everything was great. Gained a little weight, heard the heartbeat, had good blood pressure! Go again in 4 weeks!

NOT Ringworm!!

My poor kidlet! She has been getting eaten alive by buggies outside! Well yesterday I noticed a little bite on her face...didn't mention it so it wouldn't be a big deal....well of course, right before bed, Nick saw it and said something...so she scratched it...and it "needed" a band-aid! I really didn't want to put a band-aid on her face, but I also didn't want a fight at bedtime...so I told her I'd put in on...but we had to take it off when she woke up! Little did I know...when she woke up this morning and removed the band-aid, it would leave a mark. She had a reaction to the band-aid, and now she looks like she has ringworm on her FACE! I can't wait to explain that one at pre-school tomorrow!

Not the best picture...but you get the idea!

All the Little Mis-Understoods...

Of having a baby!

Kastyn is SO excited to be a Big Sister...there are just a few things that are a little blurry in her world! I'm sure there will be lots more to giggle about later, but I had to share these for now!

First...the time it takes to bake this baby before it can safely arrive. A couple weeks ago, she snuck into our room early and went to Nick's side of the bed to whisper in his ear..."Daddy, has Mommy had her Baby yet??" Nick responded with, "no...Mommy is going to have to get realllly fat before that happens!"

I guess watching A Baby Story with Kastyn isn't the best idea...last week before I went to the doctor, the conversation of how the baby would come from my bottom came up...so I tried to explain that Mommy's Baby wouldn't be coming from her bottom, but the doctor would just take the baby from my belly. Well with this answer...came more questions...so I tried explaining that he would just cut my belly and take the baby from my belly. OOPS...wrong answer...now she thinks the Dr will hurt me and cut me with scissors to take the baby out. I've tried to explain it's not going to hurt, and they will give me medicine to make me feel better.

The Hospital...She knows I have to go to the hospital and stay to have the baby, since we've been to visit friends who have had babies in the hospital. She is worried that she will miss me...so I have reassured her that she will be able to come visit me a lot and see me and the baby. To this she said, well I'll sleep there with you! I told her there wouldn't be a bed...and she continued with, that's okay, I'll take my sleeping bag, and sleep on the floor next to you. So sweet!! I'm not sure....but I don't think this will meet hospital regulations!

I am sure her little mind is just racing with all the new things that a baby brings, I am just excited that she is so excited! She is going to be a GREEEAAT Big Sister!

Johnston's Half-Marathon

The Wichita Half Marathon was this past weekend downtown. I originally had verbally agreed to running, and then wham...I end up pregnant..guess I should have verbally agreed to running way before that and maybe I would have gotten pregnant quicker! Oh well!



Nick ended up running and training with a couple of our neighbors, and they all did great!! Nick's highschool friend Jeff also came to Wichita to run with him. JT, Kristy, Kastyn, Cason, Allison and I went downtown to cheer everyone on for the race, and what a beautiful day to run there were a couple sprinkles here and there but just enough to keep them cool for the 13.1 miles they ran!



Nick came in under the two hour mark, and actually quite a bit better than he had done 4 years ago at the run as well! He did wonderfully and I am so proud of him!

Chad, Nick, Eric


Kastyn and the Winner's Medal


Kastyn entertaining Cason


All the Neighbors...Chad, Nick, Wendy, Christy, Eric

SOCCER Girl!!!

Kastyn is playing AYSO Soccer this year! So far so good, she really likes it! Well...all except for the shorts. For some reason the uniforms for 4 year olds could probably fit 7 year olds, so needless to say the uniforms are HUGE. Luckily we have an awesome Gamma Tami across the street who was sweet enough to help, and shorten the length of the shorts, and help around the waist! Yay!!



With the 4 year olds in AYSO they play 3 on 3 "bunch-ball". It's so stinkin' cute! If Kastyn actually gets to the ball...she knows what to do with it...but...if she has to work for it...well...she just kinda bunches around like everyone else! With time...she'll have it...watch out Mia Hamm!!!



Kastyn will play Fall and Spring soccer. Fall Soccer goes thru November 7th, and then they will reopen for Spring mid-March. Nick is the assistant on her team, and our neighbor Eric, is the Coach. Kastyn's team is Kastyn, Isabelle(our neighbor), McKenzie(gymnastics/school friend) and Lakin! They are so cute together!!











Eric, Izzy, Kastyn, Nick

Kastyn and Max(her little friend from school)

With Isabelle

Pre-Game Warm-up

The "Butterflies" getting ready to take the field...

Drink Time!

State Fair 2009

I knew again this year I really wanted to take Kastyn to the State Fair. She LOVED it so much last year...and I was hoping she would love it as much this year too! SHE DID!

Nick wasn't able to take off work this year to go, so K and I headed out on our own this year. My lovely Mommy and Brother actually met us in Hutch this year to surprise Kastyn. It was great to have them there to have fun with us!

We ate lots of great good, saw all we wanted to see, pet some animals, and Kastyn even got to ride some rides and get her face painted! It was a beautiful day...weather and all!!

Me and My girl...on the tractor tram to the fair...from the parking lot...kind of a bumpy ride...


First stop....Face Painting!




The BIG yellow slide...we rode this twice!


Lunch Break! Kastyn had pizza and french fries...and I had a little of everything... :)


Ride TIME!!!






The Awesome Bungee Jumpy Thing...I really wanted to do this!




Feeding some animals...


Me and Kastyn

Date Set...

YIKES!

After my post yesterday, my Dr's nurse called me to let me know they went ahead and "set" the C-Section Date!! What??? Wasn't I just there 5 hours ago and we had discussed waiting a few weeks to set the date??

For now....the little Monkey will arrive:
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
7:30am
check-in 5:30 am

I don't like this day....so I am going to request a different day. I want things to be as normal as possible for Kastyn...meaning I don't want to have to take her out of school or activities...so I am going to try to get this moved to Wed, March 10. I go for my Flu Shot next Wednesday, so I will ask then! So hopefully...this date will change! I will keep everyone in the loop!

13 Week New Baby Appt...

I went this morning for my second OB appt. It was...boring. But boring is good!

I am actually like 13 weeks and a couple days....but we'll just call it my 13 week appt. I go again around 17ish weeks for my next appointment.

Today I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat...it was 158. They weighed me..I've gained 2 pounds. And...that's about it.

We also discussed when we would be doing the c-section this time around. I am due March 16, which is a Tuesday, and he said the hospital typically likes to deliver around 39 weeks....having me deliver March 9. We haven't actually "set" the date yet...but now I have an idea of when this little monkey will arrive!

At my next appointment we'll probably do a lot of the same...but...we will also be scheduling for the BIG Sonogram...and get to find out is we're having another beautiful baby girl....or a baby boy! Yay!!

Croup SUCKS!

I feel completely helpless.

Kastyn went to the doctor first thing Tuesday morning and was told that she has croup. It's a yucky yucky upper respiratory infection that pretty much takes over her breathing. She woke up Tuesday morning, kinda crying, kinda coughing, and completely unable to catch her breath. At first glance, Nick thought she was having an asthma attack, that's how bad it was.

After two doses of the oral med/steroid that the dr prescribed, she seemed to be doing so much better, even getting great sleep the following night! And then...last night hit. She was kinda grumbly before we went to bed, so I tried to prop her up quite a bit on pillows and make sure she had a drink. Unfortunately, this didn't help. She was up at 1:30 with a major attack again. Nick tried taking her outside for a burst of fresh air, I got her a cold drink...and we finally propped her between us in bed on pillows...I didn't fall asleep cuz I was so worried about her breathing and little constant coughs. At 5 she woke again with an attack, Nick rushed her outside and she ended up throwing up on him a little(oops). Next we tried the hottt steamy shower method...and that seemed to do nothing...by 6:30 we were all pooped, so I resorted to the couch, in an upright position with her on my lap. I think we got a little over an hours worth of sleep.

Kastyn and I have been resting/sleeping off and on all day long today but I don't know if either of us will ever catch up. I called and spoke with the Dr again today...we are going to double dose her on her meds today, but if she has another rough night...back to the Dr we go tomorrow for some more tests to see what we can do before the long weekend hits, and we are stuck in the ER/Hospital!

Please keep us in your thoughts and hope this passes so she can get alll better and I can have my crazy sweet 4 year old back!

Gamma!!!

Happy Birthday to YOU!! Happy Birthday to YOU!!! Happy Birthday Happy Birthday!!!! Happy Biiiiiiiiirthday to YOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUU!

We hope you are having an absolutely amazing Birthday today!!!

"Hammer-Head" Kastyn

No Kastyn hasn't turned into a shark...however, my new little nickname for her is my Hammer-Head Baby.

Saturday Nick was in the mood to build...so he was busily building a shelf in the garage. I was following close behind cleaning up all the debris...well Miss K thought she could help too, which is usually a nice thing.

Unfortunately, a hammer had been left on the top of the 6ft ladder, so when K went to move the laddar....the hammer fell...right on her head. It hit about 1 inch from her hairline right in the front. My back was to her, but by the time I heard it fall, and turned around, there was already a pool of blood forming on her head, as small tears were forming in her eyes. I quickly picked her up and rushed her inside. We put her on the kitchen counter to get it cleaned off and looked at. Of course my first reaction...ER here we come!...however, after Nick calmed me down a smidge, and I looked at it again...we decided there wouldn't be much they could really do. We cleaned it up, and kept pressure to stop the bleeding. K wanted to just snuggle with me in a chair outside...so that's what we did...she also wanted to know when her Michelle and B would be home....luckily they came home within 5 minutes! After a re-evaluation fom Shell and B, and some liquid glue band-aid....we were much better!

It's been since Saturday night, and I still haven't washed K's hair yet...simply because I know it's going to be a big deal....so we have a nice pinkish/red streak through the top of her hair. Tonight will be wash night though...since school is tomorrow. I sure hope it goes smoothly!

Sporty Spice!

Soccer is here! This is the first year that Kastyn will get to play and she is excited. We signed up a few weeks ago for teams, and Nick headed to the first "coaches" meeting last night. Nick will be the assistant coach on K's team, and Eric, our neighbor will be the head coach.

Kastyn and I spent all day searching the Westside of Wichita for soccer shoes!! We went to Sports Authority, Target, Kid to Kid, Play it Again Sports, and finally headed to Dick's Sporting goods, where we found a cute little pink and black pair or Umbro Soccer Shoes! She was so excited to get them on, and run around the track in the store to make sure they were going to fit and work for her! They do...and yes, they are a size 12!!!! Wow!

Tonight after Nick got home from work, we suited up...and headed outside to practice a little with the new shoes and a soccer goal! here are a couple pictures of this evening's backyard "practice"!