Happy Halloween!!

It all started last night with carving pumpkins. At first Carsen said it was "icky", but then he really enjoyed helping us clean out the pumpkins.

Madelyn really enjoyed it, too. She thought it looked good enough to eat!

Carsen and Madelyn in their Halloween gear. I tell ya... it's hard enough to get a good picture with 1 kid, and pretty mush impossible with 2!!!

Although it's hard to tell in this picture, Madelyn was a flower, and Carsen was a cow. Carsen LOVED trick or treating. He loved ringing the door bell, and yelling "trick or treat". And if the person wasn't handing out candy quickly enough, he wasn't shy to yell "trick or treat" again... and again... and again. At one house, they told Carsen how cute of a cow he was (well, actually many houses told him that... not to brag, or anything... well, maybe I'm bragging a little bit...) and Carsen answered "Yep!". Humble little guy, huh! :)Halloween is definately an event that is much more fun when you have kids around. And this year we defiantely made some great memories!!

Amazing memory

I am super excited for Halloween this year! Carsen is at an age where he's pumped to dress up and go trick-or-treating! He loves his cow costume!
A few weeks ago, I told him what we do when we trick-or-treat. Here's what I told him:
"First we go 'knock-knock' on their door. When they answer, we say trick-or-treat! After they give us candy, we say thank you." Then totally joking, under my breath, I said "then we tell them that mommy wants candy, too"

Today we were going over the trick-or-treat "rules". He said "I know mommy... we say trick or treat. Fank you. Mommy wants candy, too"

What a great little memory he has. How embarassing would that be if he actually said that trick-or-treating?! But hey... if it gets this mama some candy, bring on the embarassment!!! :)

Crazy about this guy...

The other day I mentioned that I'm crazy about my kids. Well, I'm also crazy about this guy... Keith!! :) I'm so lucky to be married to such a wonderful man. We have so much fun together, and he makes me very happy.

To show a bit of my appreciation to him today, I bought him a rootbeer float from A & W (one of our favorite things... and they are $1 on Wednesday!!) and surprised him at work. He didn't know I was coming. When I got there, he was standing in his co-workers office on a conference call, with his back towards me. Thanks to my quick thinking, I walked up behind him and gave him a little "squeeze" on his be-hind... :) The look on his face was priceless!!! He jumped a few feet in the air!! I was glad he was surprised though... now I know that none of his co-workers squeeze him like I do!! (not that I was worried...) :)

Reversed Roles??

Carsen loves playing with jewelry...

and Madelyn loves playing with trucks....

Have I mentioned that I'm crazy about my kids?!?! :)

Girls Night!

Last night I went out with the "Brentwood Wives". 3 of us live on Brentwood Circle, and the other is going to move to the neighborhood... she just doesn't know it yet... :)

We had plans to attend a 7:10 movie "Love Happens". I was totally excited to see this movie! When we got to the theater, we realized it wasn't playing. Apparantly their website was wrong... and it wasn't the first time!

We drove to Lakeville, hoping to catch a show up there. When we got there, we realized everything had already started, and the next shows were after 9:00. Not sure of what to do, we drove up to Super Target to do some shopping. Plus they have a STARBUCKS there! BONUS!!!

After our little rendezvous, we decided we were still up for a movie. So we drove back to Faribault and went to the 9:30 showing of "Couples Retreat".

The movie was funny, but it was just ok to me. Regardless, it'a always great to get some girl time! We all decided next time though that I'm NOT choosing the movie, as I've had 2 runs of bad luck now... :)

Dougan & Gracie

Let me introduce to you Dougan and Gracie. This is Gracie (AKA "Pretty Girl"). She is a 6 1/2 year old black lab. We first got her when she was about 8 weeks old. She was such a cute little puppy. Keith and I both grew up with dogs, but neither of us really knew how to train a puppy. That night, we set our alarm clock for every 1 1/2 hours to let her outside. Wow... that was a long night. In our case, it was harder than having both of our children home for the first night after having them! :) Gracie is extremely needy. She loves people, and she'll let you know when she's not getting enough attention. She'll whine or stick her face in your face, or use her snout to life up your arm if she wants to be pet. She is absolutely in love with Keith. Gracie is also very tollerent of Carsen. Carsen quite often will lay right on top of her to snuggle her. He loves her.

This is Dougan! (aka, "Big Duge") He is also 6 1/2. In fact, he's Gracie's litter-mate. A couple weeks after we got Gracie, we thought she would love a playmate. We called to see if any of her brothers or sisters were still available, and lo and behold, Dougan! Dougan was being held for a family member, and they had decided a day before we called that they didn't want a dog. Worked out great for us. Dougan is completely opposite from Gracie. He's very friendly, but not a people person. He spends most of his time in our room sleeping, away from everyone. Carsen also loves Dougan, but can't usually get to him fast enough to snuggle. Dougan shoots out of the room b/c he knows what's coming, and he is NOT a snuggler! In this picture, I think Dougan was trying to hide under the couch b/c he didn't want his photo taken with this necklace I put on him. We had Dougan and Gracie before we had kids, and I'm glad we did. They were completely spoiled. They slept on our bed. They went on vacation with us. They did everything with us. Until we had kids... then their lives completely changed. I still think they're completely spoiled, but not like before. They now sleep on our floor, and stay with grandma & grandpa when we go on vacation. Not only do they have eachother to play with, but they also have a couple of other canine friends that live in the neighborhood who they get to play and walk with. They even have a cousin named Buster who lives across town!!

Eventhough I often get annoyed with the hair on our floor (eventhough I vacuum every other day!!) and their stinky breath, I still love them and am glad we have them. So there you have it... you've officially been introduced to the whole Kramer clan now! :)

Fall!!

We had great weather this week-end! It was sunny and perfect fall weather. It was great to bundle up and go outside to swing and go for walks. We love having the bike trail right behind our yard.

Carsen loved swinging with Madelyn. This picture makes it look like she was falling out of the swing, but regardless she enjoyed it!
We've already had snow a couple times last week, so I was convinced that we were going right from summer to winter. But I'm glad that fall is going to be here at least for a little while, because it's one of my favorite seasons!

Pumpkin Party!

Tonight our friends Chad & Tricia hosted a pumpkin party for the young couples at our church. It was fun! There were about 8 couples who attended along with our kids. It was definately a house full, but we all had a blast! We carved pumpkins! Carsen and I cleaned out the pumpkin, and then Keith carved it. Knives and Carsen wouldn't mix well... nor would knives and Amy... :)

Tonight I had my first experience with hobo stew. We all brought an unmarked can, and Tricia "brewed" it all together and we ate it! Surprisingly, it was really good!! Then we just hung out and chated for the rest of the night. Good times!

This is Carsen and his buddy Dave. David and his wife Katie started attending our church a few months ago. We've been hanging out a lot lately, and Carsen has really taken to Dave. He talks about Dave at home all the time and says he wants to tickle Dave! Carsen and Dave have the same crocs, which Carsen is very proud of. So here they are modeling them!

Here is Keith with his pumpkin that he carved! Pretty cool, huh! Yeah, that's right... my man can build houses AND carve pumpkins.

My exciting news from the evening was that I won a jar of candy corn! I guessed that there were 127 candy corn in the jar, and there were 128. Yay! I love candy!!!

We love that we attend a church where there are so many young couples that we so easilly click with. We're very blessed.

Shots = Success!!

Yesterday the 3 of us- Carsen, Madelyn and I, headed out for Madelyn's 4 month well baby check-up. Being that there were shots involved, I was somewhat dreading it. Her doctor said she looks great, and is very strong for her age. She has been rolling both ways for a couple months already! She's about 50% for height and weight. It's always good to hear that your child is thriving and doing well.
Next up were her shots. I figured since we were all there, that Carsen and I might as well get our flu shots (not the H1N1). I went first- to show Carsen how tough I was, of course! :) Then Carsen had his nasal vaccine.... this was a GREAT alternative to having the actual shot. He was a champ. Then it was Madelyn's turn... surprisingly, she did great, too! She didn't even cry! I was so proud of her! So this morning for a special treat being she was such a big girl yesterday, I told Madelyn that she could choose the shirt she wanted to wear today. She told me she wanted to borrow one of Carsen's old onesies, b/c it was her favorite. Below is a picture of Madelyn, wearing her all-time favorite onesie.

Yeah, that's right... it says "I Love Mommy". Good choice, Madelyn. That's my girl!! :)



Carsen is a hoot these days. He's absolutely 100% boy who loves to wrestle and play "kick the soccer ball" with daddy. However I think that having a sister is starting to wear off on him a bit. Here is a picture of Carsen playing this morning:

He went and got Keith's bible and told me "Mommy, I'm just going to read my Bible for a little bit". He's also holding a cup full of money from what he had been previously playing "store" with, and wearing an old red watch of mine. He's been sneaking into our room and playing with my jewelry in my jewelry box. Hmmmm..... He definately keeps me entertained throughout the day!!! :)

Rub a dub dub, fun in the tub!

Once in a while, Carsen and I "swim" in the bathtub together. For the first time last night, he invited Madelyn to join us! So the 3 of us hung out in the tub together! (I know some of you will look out of curiousity, but no need to... I AM wearing swimsuit bottoms, too) :) Having both Carsen and Maddie together in the tub reminded me of when I took baths with my brother Brien growing up. We invented the game "slip & slide". I'm sure none of you have ever-ever heard of this game before, as it was a complete original! :) We would empty the water out, and slide down the sides of the tub!


It's starting to become very evident that Carsen and Madelyn are forming a bond with eachother. When Maddie sees him, she just smiles and giggles! And Carsen loves talking baby talk to his baby sister, and can't get enough kisses from her. I love it! I hope that Carsen and Madelyn have the relationship I have with my sibblings. We're all very close.


Notice all the extra space in the tub?? We were all trying hard to convince Keith to join us, but he wouldn't!! Maybe it's time for another baby to fill up this tub?!?!

Or maybe not...





Not yet, at least!!! :)

Mommy's Cool Van!

At the beginning of this year, I took the plunge that mom's all across America dread doing. I sold my SUV and bought a minivan. I was pregnant with Madelyn, and knew with 2 kids that a van was probably the best answer.

I know, I know... van's are so uncool. They're not sporty, they're not fast, they're just flat out not cool. But they are practicality on wheels. I absolutely LOVE my van. I love the power sliding doors. I love that it has stow-n-go seating! I love that it has a 6 disc CD changer so I can have ALL of our Go Fish CD's in there for Carsen!

When we were teaching Carsen his colors, we taught him that daddy's car is white. Then he asked what color mommy's van is... I taught him that it's just "mommy's cool van". Eventhough he knows all his colors, he still calls it my cool van. "Mommy, is it time to get in your cool van yet"? Yeah, that's right, My van is COOL!! :)

This van is also just a season in our life of having small children. Keith always swore that we wouldn't own one, but now admits that it's great for the kids. Once the youngest Kramer kid hits 5 or 6, then I'll probably switch to an SUV or something. But for now, this works great!

I drive a Dodge Grand Caravan, just like every other family that lives in our town. They only make so many colors, so when I drive by a van that looks just like mine, I always look at the driver, just for fun. As we pass by eachother, I always honk and wave and give them the thumbs up.

Ok, maybe not.

But today, I saw a van that matched mine. I got all excited to see if the driver was a young 'hip' mom like myself. Ummm, not so much... the driver of this van was probably in his 80's. *sigh*

It makes me feel better that a couple of my other friends have taken the plunge, too. It feels good to know I'm not alone. And it's good to know that I have cool friends with really cool tastes!!!

A nice week-end

This week-end Keith went down to IL with a friend to visit Karl and his family. They left on Friday after work and got home today.

I hate being home alone over night. Our home was broken into as a kid, and I think it's scarred me for life. Seriously. I Hate It.

Thank goodness that my parents live right across the street. That way if I were in some type of danger, they would be right there. If I get scared, I could call them and they could be over in less than a minute. Should make staying alone over night much easier, right?? WRONG. So on Friday night, I packed me and the kids up, and we headed over to grandpa & grandma's house for the week-end. We slept, hung out, and ate there. I only came home to let Dougan & Gracie outside every now and then. It was fun!

Keith got home this afternoon. I'm glad he's back. We're not apart very often at all, so when one of us is gone overnight, I really miss him. As glad as I was to have him home, I felt weird. Almost that my "week-end mini vacation" is over. Being I wasn't at home, I wasn't doing laundry, cleaning up the house, cooking meals, etc... I just took it easy, and even got to go shopping with just Madelyn on Saturday. SCORE!!

So yes, we're all glad that Keith is home. But when we brought all of our stuff home, Carsen asked "can we stay at grandma's again tonight?". I think he really enjoyed our "mini vacation" as well. We'll have to have more "mini vacations" over and grandpa & grandma's house more often... but next time with Keith! :)

**On a side note, I think I've figured out the whole comment thing... I think in order to comment you have to be a "follower". So- there ya have it!

Exhaustion!!

Keith and I went to bed last night around 11. We always "double check" on the kids before we head to bed, and they were both soundly sleeping.





At 2:45, Keith brought Carsen into our room, saying he was having a hard time breathing. It wasn't because he was congested or stuffed up, though. It was as though his airway was closing.





I called the ER and asked them what to do. They said they "couldn't give me any medical advice". WHAT???!!! Are you SERIOUS?!?!?!





Then I had the pediatrician on call paged, and she called me back literally 1-2 minutes later. I explained that Carsen wasn't sick. No runny nose. No cough. No fever. He's talking normal, but is just struggling with every. single. breath. She said to bring him to the ER immediately.





We considered calling the ambulance, but being we're not far from the hospital, we decided to drive. We packed everyone up (Madelyn came with... it was almost time for her to eat... I didn't want to take an extra 10 minutes to feed her and call my mom to come over, and I didn't have any milk for her in our fridge) and headed up to the ER. I sat in the back seat with Carsen on my lap to make sure he didn't pass out. I kept asking him questions to keep him alert. In between some of his breaths, he kept saying "we going to the hospital to see the doctor?". What a trooper.





They examined him immediately when we got there and said his oxygen level, temp, and lungs/breathing all were normal. He has a textbook case of croop. They explained that croop effects 2-5 year olds, and most croop victims come into the ER between 2 am and 4 am. They go to bed perfectly healthy, and wake up, struggling to breathe. They gave Carsen a sterroid shot, which will allow his "breathing tube" to stay relaxed and not close, as it began to at home. The best treatment if it happens again is to bring him outside and breathe in the cold air, which explains why once we got to the hospital, his breathing was much more normal.





After his sterroid shot (which he did NOT enjoy) the nurse brought him in a red popsicle, which Carsen so generously shared with daddy. Then another nurse came in with a big stuffed animal and a book. Apparantly there is a nurse who works the ICU floor who buys animals and books from Kohl's, and tells the nurses to hand them out sparingly to kids who deserve them. She thought that Carsen was a worthy recipient. That's my boy! :)





Besides us all being overly tired today, Carsen is doing great. He has a bit of a runny nose, but nothing that worries me. I had fears that what he was experiencing was the beginning of asthma, an allergic reaction or perhaps pneumonia. I'm so thankful that it is "just" croop. I'm also thankful that this is going to teach Carsen a lesson on giving. Once Carsen is feeling back to his normal, spunky self, he will return the favor to someone else.




As we loaded ourselves back into our van early this morning to head home, I lifted Carsen into his carseat. He said "no mommy... I want to sit in the back with you". Good try, buddy.

Comments

Many people have told me that they're having trouble posting comments on my blog. I've made some changes in my settings, so try again...

:)

Thanks!


*Edit* Apparantly people are still having trouble.... ???

At least he was trying to help!

Last night I prepared a roast, along with carrots, potatos and a red pepper in our crock pot for dinner tonight. I had an early morning work event today, so I knew getting out the door would be a rush this morning. I plugged in the crock pot but left it "off", so I could just grab the pot out of the fridge, throw it in the "crock" part and switch it unto on.

All went as planned this morning. I was out the door with both kids by 7:30.

Perfect, right??

Wrong.

Keith calls me at 5:15, telling me I never plugged in the crock pot, so our delicious dinner sat all day without being cooked. I was bummed that I ruined a perfectly good roast and veggies. I actually kind of felt bad!

Until I got home.

I specifically remember that I plugged in the crock pot last night. I KNEW I did. I told Keith I was 100% positive.

Then he started laughing.

I knew it right away. HE was the one who unplugged the crock pot! He saw it plugged in last night with nothing inside, and thought he was helping by unplugging it.

Oh well. Thank goodness for frozen pizza, I guess!!! :)

Sometimes life isn't fair

Why do bad things happen to good people??

A few days ago, I shared how Carsen prayed for our friend Karl. Well, we found out today that Karl's brain tumor is indeed cancer. He's young. He's healthy. He's active. So why did this happen??

Why does God allow these things to happen??

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Please pray for Karl, and for his family. You can check his blog for updates on his progress.

Sunday = Fun day for Carsen!

I love Sundays. I love going to church, coming home and eating lunch and then taking a nice long nap. We got to do all those things yesterday. After the "Kramer Family Nap Time", 'Grandma Cindy' called Carsen and asked him to come over and play. He loves going over there. Being they live so close, my mom and I will each go outside, and I'll let him walk over to their house alone. I think it makes him feel like a big boy!

Yesterday, they made "back to school" cookies. They have little busses on them, which Carsen loves!! He even got to bring some home, which I especially loved!!!!

After making cookies with grandma, we headed out to the "pumpkin patch" with the Truman clan. We've been trying to get out there for weeks now and keep cancelling because of cold,wind or rain. Eventhough yesterday wasn't exactly a "nice" day, we went anyways. Carsen was facinated by this pumpkin. It was HUGE!!

This is Carsen's good buddy Peyton. They are only a month apart in age, so they get along really well!! Carsen often asks to call Peyton on the phone, and sometimes asks to call "Peyton's Amy". (Peyton's mom's name is also Amy!) :)

Besides picking pumpkins out of the patch, they also found cucumbers!!

Although you can't tell from the picture, Peyton is actually taller than Carsen. I think Carsen is destined to be short, thanks to his 5'8" daddy and 5'3" mommy. Sorry, Carsen!!! :)

Time flies when you're having fun!

Our sweet Madelyn is 4 months old already today! I can't believe it. Time definately goes so much quicker with the 2nd baby. It feels like Maddie has always been here. We're having a blast!!

Any guesses as to what she was doing in this picture??? Watching football on our tv. For some crazy reason, it's one of her favorites. Don't worry though... I'll be changing her out of the bad habit, although I think Keith really enjoys it!

Carsen decided this morning that it would be fun to take a bath in his baby tub. We keep it out, b/c he likes to do this quite frequently. Fine with us, though. Saves on our water bill! :)

Last night we hung out with a few friends, and had a blast. I came home with sore cheek bones from laughing so hard! I was in charge of making the dessert, so I decided to try a new recipe from the Kraft Foods Magazine. I'm posting a picture for a "special someone"... you know who you are! :)

A lesson from Carsen

Keith got a call from one of his best friends from high school on Thursday evening, saying his brother Karl has a brain tumor and was schedule for surgery the next day. Keith called his parents to let them know as well, and to ask them to pray for Karl throughout the surgery. While Keith was on the phone, I could tell that Carsen knew something was going on. Here was our conversation from that evening:

Amy: Carsen, daddy is sad tonight.
Carsen: Why mommy?
Amy: Because one of his friends is very sick.
Carsen: What's his name?
Amy: His name is Karl.



Carsen immediately closed his eyes, folded his hands and bowed his head and began to ask God to help Karl not to be sick and to help him feel better.



As a mom, it made me so proud to see him have such an instinct to do that right away. Many times yesterday at random times, Carsen and I prayed for Karl.



We don't know a lot as of yet, but it sounds like the large tumor on Karl's brain is cancerous. From what I've heard (3rd person) it's very aggressive, and they weren't able to remove the tumor because of it's size. Please continue to pray for Karl, and for his family. Karl's dad lost the battle to cancer 10-12 years ago, so this is especially tough on the family.

We're jumping on the blogging train!

Hi Everyone! Welcome to our blog! :)
Just in case you need a little history on our family, here's a brief summary to get you up to date- Keith and I have been married since August 11, 2001. We moved around from apartment to apartment (all in Faribault, MN) for a few years before buying our first house. 2 years later we moved into the house that Keith built for us. Then 2 years later we moved again (right across the street!) to another house that Keith built for us. We plan on being here for awhile, though! :) In March of 2007 we had our son Carsen. Carsen is a fun 2 1/2 year old boy with a lot of energy and a great sense of humor! He is constantly making us laugh! He's all potty trained, knows his ABC's and a ga-zillion other songs. (with Go Fish being his favorite, by far) :) Madelyn (aka, Maddie!) was born in June of 2009. She has lots and lots of dark hair. She's a very happy baby, as long as she's being held or as long as she can see you! It brings us so much joy to have a boy and a girl who are healthy and so much fun. We are truely blessed and have so much to be thankful for.
After being a carpenter for 7 years, Keith is now an accountant for a company here in town. I am a finance director at the Chamber of Commerce and work there part time. I love being home part time with our kids. It's a perfect balance for us right now. While I'm working, Carsen and Madelyn go to my sister's house. Angie homeschools her 4 kids, so Carsen is learning some things, too. He loves going to "school"! We also enjoy having my parents living right across the street from us. Many people ask how this works, but it actually works out great. Carsen loves to go over there (quite frequently!!) to play tools with grandpa, and to get "sugar" from grandma. (sugar AKA candy) :)
I (Amy) will be writing most of the posts... perhaps ALL of them. Keith has not quite been acquainted with the blogging world, and isn't so excited about doing so! I am working on him, though! I thought this would be a fun way of keeping others up to date on what is going on in our lives.
We're supposed to go get pumpkins with Carsen's good friend Peyton (and my good friend Amy) today, but the rain is going to keep us inside... AGAIN!