Koelling update

It's been crazy the last few days at our house...But I have to say that Aaron and I are surviving!! Who knew what a great guy I married a year and a half ago? I never would have thought that Aaron would be so helpful with the kids - especially in the middle of the night!! This picture was taken yesterday by our babysitter. She's trying hard to crawl...but also trying to skip that step and tries to walk!!! She managed to get herself into this position all by herself yesterday!

Sunday we discovered that Kambren had her first tooth!!! We were in the middle of church and she grabbed my hands to gnaw on my fingers. I couldn't believe it!!!! We've suspected for sometime that a tooth was coming, but OUCH!! It was sharp!! Once the tooth was found, the day went downhill quickly!! Fevers, crying and NO SLEEPING!!! She was waking up every hour and I thought I was going to have a breakdown. I didn't think it would hurt to ask Aaron to feed her and rock her when she woke up for the 5th time at 1am on Monday morning. He graciously agreed to give it a go. It only took him about 20 minutes to get her back to sleep and she slept for 3 straight hours. What bliss!! I usually take the first several shifts, but Aaron is always quick to get of bed and take a shift. What a huge blessing he's turning out to be! Please remind me of this when I get upset about that gun club! ;) Yesterday was the first day that she's actually felt better...I don't think I can do this no sleep for another 1.5 years!!! Oh well...nothing can be done about it!

Another first for Kambren - she's eating more foods. Of course she LOVES her fruit - what kid doesn't?! Veggies have been interesting. Carrots, squash and sweet potatoes have been a hit. The green veggies though aren't going so well. I never would have thought that she would actually gag on peas, but she does!! My father finds it extremely hilarious that she hates them as much as he does. He's been known to flick peas at my mom if he finds them in his food! ;) We've been trying chicken the last few nights. The first night got mixed reviews. The 2nd night went alright, but last night...WAS SO FUNNY! She was gagging again!! ;) The first picture is of the fruit - very exciting! The 2nd is her reaction to the chicken...not so good!

Rose is still Rose! She's a true gem in our lives - always saying something funny! She's a brilliant child who is LOVING school! She's just about done with preschool "reading" and math. Her teacher said that she has no doubt that she'll be at the Kindergarten level in both by Christmas. Tonight we have plans to "ruin our supper" by going and getting ice cream right after I pick her up. Just a fun little treat we have once in awhile. Otherwise, she's asking to ruin her supper by eating an apple before hand. Yeah, what can I say...if she thinks that's ruining her dinner...RUIN AWAY!

Kambren's first finger food

Last night for some reason just seemed busier than most...was it the pile of dishes in the sink? The mountain of laundry? A chicken pot pie that needed to be fixed? A dirty 5 year old in need of a bath? Or maybe it was the screaming 6.5 month old that was demanding to be fed?

Well, Oprah doesn't "call it multi-tasking" for nothing! I managed to cook super, do the dishes, start the laundry, bathe Rose and feed Kambren - all at the same time and without any coffee to energize me or beer to keep me from pulling my hair out!

However, because I had what seemed like 5 million fires going at once, I decided to let Kambren try the Gerber Puffs again. A week and half ago, she almost choked - it was obviously too soon. We tried again last night and other than making a few faces at her new food, she seemed to seriously like them. While I gave her several (not all at once of course) to keep her occupied while doing all my mommy/wife duties, I noticed when she got out of her highchair that most didn't make it into her mouth. Oh well...she liked the few that she got! She was even kind enough to share with her sister who seems to have developed a new taste for all of Kambren's foods! But it now looks like the Koelling kids are both going to eat us out of home!

I tried to get a video of her eating them so I could put that on here, but my wonderful husband who helped buy me a new camera for my birthday, took my memory card out and didn't put it back...STUPID DEER PICTURES!!! (He's obsessed with looking at the deer that he's feeding just so he can shoot them. Don't worry...he'll pay!!) Thus without my camera, I was forced to use the camera on the phone.

(Bonus points: Anyone know where I got the "Oprah calls it multi-taskin'" line from?)

Just a little update on the Koelling clan...

The past few weeks have been fairly mundane, but we've managed to stay pretty busy. Although I don't have any pictures here, Halloween was great for us...and we didn't even collect too much candy! THANK GOODNESS!! Rose was a fairy princess and Kambren was a lady bug. Rose wore one of my old ballet costumes that was about 4 sizes too big. I made both of their wings and they turned out so well! After we got candy from the downtown businesses, we went back to my mom's house and Rose handed out candy over there. She had a GREAT time doing that. Of course, if someone came to the house in a scary costume, she would go to the door and just stand there, making the trick-or-treater have to open the door to get his piece of candy. There was a haunted house about 2 blocks away, and Rose made my sister and her BFF Emilee take her over there. She got there and some kid was excited about the fact that it was so scary he wet himself, so she had some 2nd thoughts about going in. She asked Emilee to go first and make sure that it was ok. Emilee came back out and told her that it was pretty gory, so Rose decided that she would try again next year.

Aaron spent the weekend working on the Aurora that he bought to "flip." Since I rarely blog anything that goes on his life, I thought I would attach a couple of pictures from his project. The on the left is the motor that he had to put in. On the right is looking up at where the motor goes. He was really excited about this project. I was just glad it was DONE!!

This past weekend was Friends and Family weekend at FHSU, so my family (minus the traveling Jacob) traveled to my alma mater to see my sister. We started out the day at Applebee's where we ate lunch with the Hindman family who lives in and around Hays. It was great to see everyone! Christie and I both have kids that are about the same age. Lydia is about 9 months older than Rose and Wesley is just short of a month older than Kambren. The kids all had a great time together. I didn't get any pictures of the rambunctious girls as they weren't ever still long enough for me to take a picture. However, I got a couple shots of Wesley and Kamb. Although there really wasn't any room for them to get down and play, they had a great time with each other - if only because us moms demand it!

After lunch, we hung out in Taylor's room for awhile so that Rose could get a feel for dorm life. I mean, Taylor loved it so much that she's living in good ol' McMindes Hall. And for those of you who lived there or visited - IT SMELLS THE SAME!!! She lives on 3E and there was always a weird smell on that floor...10 years after I started there, the smell remains! :)

After my dad's nap, I talked everyone into going to CS Post and Company. The store is still so cool...I spent plenty of money in there when I was going to Hays, but this was the first time for my family. I have a feeling Taylor will be back! Rose managed to talk my dad into buying her a jingle bell ring. The only thing I left with was a brochure on their flowers - just some ideas for Megan's wedding!! Wedding planning is SOOOOO much fun when it's not your own! ;)

We couldn't visit Hays for Friends and Family weekend without making the trek over to the Sternberg Museum. I haven't been out there since I took Tarin my senior year of college. And I have to say nothing has changed. Kambren loved her first historical experience. Rose was facinated by the dinosour bones and models, but she said, "It's starting to freak me out a little!" She gave wide berth to the T-Rex model. They have some moving models and a T-Rex that actually roars. That spooked her a little. However, Rose being Rose loved the discovery center where they had live snakes, rats and spiders. She could have spent all day in there!!! But we still had to visit the gift shop. The last picture on the left is of Rose, Taylor and Emilee on safari. Come on now - me being the history dork that I am couldn't pass up an opportunity to humilate those I love! :)

Yesterday we went to Lindsborg so Aaron could get our new carpet, tub and some countertop. While he and Duane worked, us girls hung out with Grandma. Aaron was going to try to sneak out of town without us, but I told him that Grandma wouldn't be happy if he didn't bring her girls. Once again, I was right! :) Too bad Megan wasn't there - Kim and I got lots of ideas hashed out for her wedding!!

Oh, and before I forget - Kambren's went to the pediatric cardiologist on November 4th. Everything went really well. The doctor - who's name was NEVER mentioned - said that unless we think that she's developing a problem, he never needs to see her again. YEA!! The appointment was unlike anything that Aaron have been through before. We waited with several other patients in a conference room for almost 2 hours waiting for our turn. Kambren was BORED out of her mind!!! The only thing that helped was sucking her thumb - oh yeah...we get to do that all over again! Anyway, Kambren's murmur was not as pronounced as it was in the echo, which Dr. Yoxall had mentioned at her 6 month check up a few weeks back. So other than dealing with a little cold, she's perfect!!