Wonderful Weekend

What an awesome weekend!!  They always go by so quickly, I know I sound like a broken record, but they do!  Why can't 2 workdays go as quickly as the 2 weekend days?  Anyway...

Friday I left school a few minutes early to get my hair done...sometimes that is just the best.  I love getting a little cut and (cough, cough) a little highlight :)  It worked out great to have my appointment on Friday because Gran and Gramps were coming for the weekend and they were anxious to see Reagan, so they were able to pick her up at Miss Wendy's for me.  They said she was a little unsure of them picking her up, but she quickly got over it, especially once Gigi got out the bubbles!!  The weather has been GORGEOUS!!  Gran and Gramps were nice enough to bring some fried chicken for dinner, so we enjoyed that and then a little coloring fun before it was time for bed!

Saturday morning Keith had a soccer game and we were all up and at 'em to go out to breakfast.  Isn't going out for breakfast the best?  OH...I MUST backtrack...that morning, after Reags had finished her cereal, she kept saying "poo poo potty."  I took off her diaper and let her sit on the potty, she tried and tried, but nothing.  I didn't have a chance to get her diaper back on when she was grunting just a bit, as I said "let's go get back on the potty...." I heard Gran say "it's coming, it's coming..."  Oh gracious!  She pooped on the floor, the hardwoods, THANKFULLY!  So we went to the potty to finish the rest and then it was bath time...ha!  Once we were all showered, we were off to breakfast followed by a lovely Target run.  After Target we came home, ate lunch, and took naps.  Gran and Gramps were so sweet and offered to babysit so Keith and I could go out.  I have been craving Fujisan, which is a Japanese hibachi place and it was DELICIOUS!  We even went to a movie afterwards, which was the first movie we've seen since "The Blind Side"...yes, forever ago!  We saw "Just Go With It" with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler...it was hilarious!!  There were literally parts that I couldn't breath I was laughing so hard.  It was a fun night out!!  We were home a little after 10 and we kept saying what a late night that was for us...ha...don't be too jealous!

waiting patiently for our table!

drinking her apple juice  (this was a first!)

playing with Gigi

too cute!!

oh this purple hat...she LOVES it!!  Good purchase Gran and Gramps!

pretty hat AND new Dora book, what a great day!

Today the weather was AHHHHH-mazing!!  Windows are open and I think it was close to 80*!  We went to church, out for breakfast, sadly Gran and Gramps left, we made another Target run, napped, and played outside.  Wendy's son came over for a bit while they took their daughter out for her birthday celebration...mom's of twins I don't know how you do it!  It was fun though and we were able to spend a lot of time outside!

it was a bit windy, can you tell??

I hope you had a great weekend!!  I'm going to go kick back and enjoy a bowl of ice cream! :)  One week from tomorrow we find out if this little peanut is a boy or a girl...be sure to vote, we're curious to see what you think!  I'll be 19 weeks on Tuesday, so I will post a tummy picture then...literally in the last week this belly has popppppped!!

I admit...

I have been withholding some information for a couple months now and it is time to come clean...I am officially the mom who drives a.....mini van.  Oh I can hardly believe those words just were typed on this computer!  Prior to getting pregnant this time I had JUST ABOUT won the battle with Keith that an SUV would be more than sufficient.  He wanted a mini van SO bad, yes HE did!!  Well, when we found out I was pregnant I think one of the reasons Keith was so excited was because he knew this meant van time.

Over Thanksgiving, yes, a long time ago, we went and looked at home.  We test drove one, liked it, and I was going to be back the next week to help my sister move into her new digs, so the timing worked out well.  Reagan and I flew up the next week and drove our mini van back to NC.  Keith has been driving MY Acura and his Honda has been parked in the front of our house.

Now it is sold, thankfully, and it is time to accept the fact that I am a mini van mom!  When I'm driving I just pretend it's an SUV because I'm up higher, which I like.  I'm sure once this little bambino arrives the automatic doors will be very much appreciated and I might sing a different mini van tune, but for now, I am in denial... :)

What did we get you may be asking??  We got the Toyota Sienna...it really is very nice.  I insisted on leather, hello easy clean up, and a sunroof.  Those were my "necessities."  It is nice to have extra room and the couple trips we've made home with it so far have been wonderful with all the room it has!

Long Weekend in Review

What a beautiful weekend we have had here in NC!!  It is SOOOO nice to open the windows, play outside, and not be frigid the moment you step out of the house.  Here's hoping winter is behind us!!  (Although I wouldn't be sad to have another snow day or two...)

All ready to head to dinner with her "Dura pack-pack" from Aunt Ellen!

Friday night we met Keith at Olive Garden for dinner.  This was a big night out for us...we don't venture out to dinner with Reagan much at all, in fact, I don't know the last time we went out for dinner with her.  It's just not very relaxing and you want to inhale your food before there is a melt down.  Anyway, I had decided it was time to try dinner out again and I was SO not in the mood to "figure something out for dinner."  We did what any family with a 20 month old would do, we met Keith at 5:30.  Yes, early, but perfect because there was no wait.  We were literally out of there by 6:40!  It was fun though and Reagan loved her "mo mo cheese, say-ad, and bed."  (macaroni and cheese, salad, and breadsticks)  She also loved her "big girl" cup!  She smiled at the waiters walking by and enjoyed coloring, she really did great!  After dinner I ran to the mall to snag a couple good deals with my Gymboree coupon and then came home.

RMK was being a total ham at the end of dinner!  Do you see those eyes??

Cracking us up!!

Saturday morning we were up and at em!  Keith sold his Honda (I will get to that shortly) and I met some of my wonderful friends from New Hope for some shopping and lunch.  We went to the new outlets in Mebane and they were great!  I think it's a good thing I am pregnant because I could have done some clothes damage!  We were all set to satisfy my craving for Sidetracks, but they were closed!!  I was so sad, but we went to Mimi's and that was just as tastey!  It was so great to see sweet friends that you don't get to see or talk to as often as you would like!

Sunday morning we went to church, the grocery store (as a family, which we will NEVER do again...that is a task only for mommy....after 5 meltdowns, I had HAD it!!!), we had lunch, napped, laundry, played outside, Keith watched the Daytona 500 at our neighbors, and we headed over to the Mill's for dinner! 

With today being President's Day, Keith has off and we had a workday.  I went in for a couple hours and then came home so that Keith could go golfing with a friend.  It is such a georgous day!!  Reagan and I went to the park, along with all of North Carolina, but it was so fun.  Reags loved to swing and then she went down the slide about 1,000 times.  She even got to see one of her friends from storytime!  Her momma is expecting a little baby this summer too...I think there were about 15 pregnant moms there today...something is in the water!
All in all it has been a great weekend and I hate to see it end.  It is amazing how when the weather is warmer you just feel happier...I love having the fresh air in our house!  I better enjoy it now because once the pollen hits, the windows will be shut yet again and then it will be 100* before we know it and this pregnant lady will have the air conditioner on full blast!!
Have a great week!!

Update...

Well in case you were wondering, Reagan seems to be on the mend!!  On Sunday morning though I noticed a little rash on her belly...it was REALLY light and didn't seem to be bothering her at all.  (Backtrack...when I picked up RMK's medicine on Friday I asked how I would know if she was allergic, since she had never been on antibiotics before, and she told me a rash on the belly!)  SO, of course, that is all I could think of when I noticed it.  I called the pharmacy and spoke with the most uncompassionate man possible and he told me it meant she was allergic to penicillin, to discontinue use immediately, and call my doctor.  HOLY!  Talk about giving me a heart attack!  I called our pediatrician's office nurse on call number, waited the 1 1/2 for her to call me back and asked her what her opinion was.  She thought that maybe it was just an "amoxicillian rash," which I guess some kids get from just taking the medicine.  She said to keep giving it to Reagan and to let the doctor know on Monday. 

I noticed the rash again on Monday morning, called the doctor and they set us up with an appointment for the afternoon.  The doctor felt most comfortable going ahead and saying that Reagan is allergic to penicillin....

It was a crazy day, but we are so glad that she is on the mend!  Thank goodness for this beautiful weather!! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

...very belated!  It's just been one of those weeks :)

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!  Ours was interesting to say the least!

We were up and at 'em Monday morning and after I dropped Reagan off at Miss Wendy's I called the doctor about a little rash I saw on her belly (see above post!).  They set us up for an appointment at 4, so I called Wendy to let her know I would be picking up RMK a little early.

Love Reagan's eyes in this one!

Such a silly girl!

Showing off some of the "heart" decorations in her room!

Kicking back, enjoying a good read!

I went on with my morning at school and was to help one of the teacher's complete some testing that she was doing in her trailer.  I went over at 9:30, with my water bottle and phone.  I was paranoid about this rash on Reagan's belly, so light and not bothering her at all, but Wendy assured me she would call if she noticed it getting any worse, hense why I had my phone.  SO I was walking around the trailer making sure the kids were bubbling correctly and on the right page of the test booklet and I started to feel light headed.  I told myself over and over, "Stephanie, it's all in your head...you are fine!"  I went and got a drink of my water, leaned against the teacher's desk, took a deep breath and then started to see black spots...CRAP!  I knew what was coming!!  (Vater, do you see where this is going?!)  I was walking to the back of the trailer because I KNEW I needed some fresh air, it was hot and stuffy, and I knew that would help.  Needless to say everything went black, I went to my knees, and I hadn't quite made it to the door yet!  I didn't totally "pass out," but we can say that I briefly fainted.  Poor Jennifer, the teacher, was paniced and couldn't get a hold of anyone in the office.  Finally she did and before I knew it there were 15 teachers around me, the school nurse taking my blood pressure, a parent volunteer who was taking my pulse, and everyone asking me if I was okay.  I was fine, I knew it, I was worried that I had totally messed up testing for this teacher!  I was so embarassed!!  ( You should hear all the stories going around school about Mrs. Kepplinger...I broke my ankle, the ambulance came, and the list goes on and on!  ha!)  Anyway, the principal came out and said that I either needed to call Keith to come get me or she was calling the EMT.  I was like you are so not calling an ambulance, I am fine, I will call Keith.  So as I sat on the ramp of the trailer enjoying the fresh air, I called Keith at work to let him know he needed to come get me that I had fainted.  He left right away and then I called my OB.  She assured me that it sounded like my blood sugar had spiked and then crashed and that if it happened again to come in, but otherwise it was okay.  Phew!!

I spent the next 45 minutes in the office waiting for Keith to come get me so that we could go home.  I got to enjoy Valentine's Day on my sofa in my house...pretty sweet deal!  We left RMK at Wendy's because at that point it was close to nap time and if she was home she would have wanted Mommy, Mommy, Mommy...so it was best for all of us for her to stay there and play!  (Just an FYI, she went poopy on the potty at Miss Wendy's that day!!!  She has been doing a great job of going pee-pee atleast once a day, but this was big news!!!  Mom's I know you feel my excitement here!)  Keith got a few things done that he needed to accomplish and I rested all afternoon, it really was lovely!

We picked up Reagan for her doctor appointment (details on that above!) and then came home and made dinner.  We had a delicious steak dinner and then Reaggie got to open some "prizes."  She was so excited :) 

At the doctor enjoying a snack :)

One of her new books!

Tear it open girl!

Stylin'!

Daddy putting together Reagan's new pink potty!

She loved sitting on it

We had a great day as a family!  Keith and I watched a little tv and then headed to bed nice and early!  It was a great day, maybe minus the fainting, but we are just thankful that we are all healthy!

Latest and Greatest...

Not really the greatest, but it is the latest....SO last night Reags was really coughing a lot, a loose cough, not so "barky," and she felt warm to me.  Took her temperature, just about 100...great!  I gave her motrin, she went to bed, was up at 12:30 and came into bed with us, but slept the rest of the night.  There were the occassional "mommy, mommy's" in the middle of the night, but I just rubbed her belly and she went right back to sleep on my belly, chest, shoulder, head...it didn't matter!  ha! 

This morning I decided to call the doctor and speak to a nurse just to see if this was "normal" with croup and maybe the recovery of it.  She told me to come on in, AGAIN!!

Reags and I hopped in the car and were off to the doctor for the 3rd time in 2 weeks...they saw us right away and guess what?  Little miss now has an EAR INFECTION!!  The only good thing about this news is it means an antibiotic, finally!!  Hopefully that will kick whatever this is out of her system and stay out for a LONG time!!

Poor thing...seriously, in the past 2 weeks, high fever, croup, ear infection, and now a runny nose too!  She is in good spirits though, which I am thankful for!

Next winter, I think the kiddos and I will move to a tropical location so that we don't have to deal with double sickness!!  :) 

20 Month Pictures...

Here is RMK at 20 months...such a ham, can you tell she has croup!?  She really seems to be feeling better, but as I am sitting here typing she is coughing like crazy...fingers crossed for a decent nights sleep!

Friday Fun

I know, it's Wednesday, I'm a little behind!  Last Friday we watched Morgan so Darin and Margaret could go out to celebrate her birthday.  We had a fun night together, as always! 

We started with dinner, playing, and then a dance party in the office...ha!  We probably should have shut the blinds because the neighbors across the street probably thought we were crazy.  The girls were precious though and Reagan can shake.that.booty! :)  It was priceless!

Finally we all had to wear "cippies" (clips) in our hair, according to Reagan. She actually kept it in long enough for a picture too!

Cheese!

Flash wasn't on in the last one, and there was no time for another picture, so as you can see she is just pouting on the carpet...with "cippie" in hand!

Taking out Mommy's "cippie"

16 Weeks!

Today I turned 16 weeks pregnant!!  I went to the doctor yesterday and was so nervous and excited for that appointment.  They didn't do an external heartbeat at my 12 week appointment, so I just couldn't wait to hear that pitter patter yesterday.  The doctor I saw knew I was anxious about it and put that doppler on my belly right away.  A perfect heartbeat, on a very active baby apparently, at 155!  Nice and strong :)

I just read on my Baby Center update that this is when the growth spurt begins...in the next couple weeks this little one will double in weight and in size, which means Momma will too :)  I really do love being pregnant, especially at this stage, when you are feeling yourself again!  Right now Baby K #2 is the size of an avacado! 

Over the weekend I did a little maternity clothes shopping...I am just at a funky inbetween right now where my regular clothes are just a little uncomfortable in the waist and my maternity pants are a little big, pretty positive the only reason they are big is because I stretched them out so badly when I was preggo with Reags!!

We are just getting really excited for this little baby and I keep thinking about what this summer is going to be like...in a word, crazy! :)  I feel so blessed and just want this little peanut to stay nice and nestled and grow big and strong...maybe not TOO big though! ;)

At the next appointment we'll have the ultrasound....hmmm....are we going to find out what we're having?!?!  Stay tuned! :)

Croup...

Well, it has hit us...croup!  Poor Reags, just as she was feeling better from her terrible fever last week, she woke up coughing, more like barking, on Monday morning.  I said to Keith right away, that sounds like croup, but I think he was still in dreamland :) 

He took Reags to the doctor yesterday morning (because I had a doctor's appointment) and low and behold, it was croup.  They gave her a liquid steroid at the doctor's office to help with the cough and I think that helped out a lot!  My mom drove down yesterday afternoon, THANK YOU, because, as you can imagine, I was a nervous wreck!!  That cough is terrible, even though during the day it really wasn't that bad.  Last night I didn't think I was going to be able to sleep at all, but I did finally fall asleep for a couple hours before I heard her start coughing.

Thankfully, it wasn't a terrible cough though!  I was SO happy!!  I am PRAYING that tonight goes maybe a little better than last night (due to lack of sleep), but we didn't have to do a steam shower or rock outside in the cold, just coming in bed with Mommy and Daddy seemed to do the trick. 

How scary though!  Poor Reagan, I swear...for being a not sick type of girl, she is making up for it.  Thankfully, Reags seems to feel okay, not 100% herself, but not as lethargic as she was last week either.  I hope that whatever this virus is running through her little body is GONE and will not come back for a very, VERY long time!!

20 Months!

(pictures to come!)

Reagan's 20 month birthday has come and gone, but I didn't want anyone to think I forgot about her!  It has been a crazy week in our house, but more on that later!

20...20...seriously?!  Just 4 months away from being 2?  I might start crying...Reags continues to be a sweet girl and is just looking and acting like a big girl to me these days :)

Here are some highlights from the month:
* no more baba!!!!  (praise everything holy!)  she does like her milk in a cup though :)
* no - she very much understands what this word means and how to use it appropriately in context!
* loves to give hugs and kisses
* loves snuggling, especially in the morning and before bed "mommy nuggle peaze"
* she loves to help clean, especially with her wipies and her vacume
* talking a lot!!  I don't know what new words Reagan is saying, but she is able to communicate just about anything that she wants!
* Reagan knows that if she doesn't listen to Mommy or Daddy she has to sit in "ime out" and knows just where to go...I will knock on wood after this, but she hasn't had "ime out" in a long time! :)
* she knows that there is a baby in mommy's belly...I'll ask her what the baby is doing and she says "seeping" or "nap."  haha!
* Reagan loves her m&m's and lately lots of "andy" or candy!  (peppermint patties, which I can't get enough of!)
* she is walking down the steps now, holding a hand and using the wall as her balance.  Such a big girl!
* Reagan is really doing well with her colors!  She loves purple, geen, bue, white, pink, red...it depends on her mood, but I would say for the most part she knows them!
* she can count to three, skips a few, then knows some of the later numbers, just depends on the day which ones.  :)  We always count in her books and as we walk down the steps...she now does it on her own and then Mommy needs to continue with her!
* One of my favorite things, most of the time, is Reagan saying "pome on Mommy" or "pome on Daddy" or whoever she is wanting to come on!  It's pretty hilarious!
* Here is a classic, a couple weekends ago Reagan was taking the lid off of the hamper in our bathroom and I said "Reaggie, Daddy's soccer clothes are stinky" and she said "EWWWW!"  Now whenever you ask her how Daddy's clothes smell she says "EWWWW!"  haha!  Keith loves that ;)

I'm sure I'm forgetting a million things, but she is just the light of our life.  We literally don't go to bed at night without saying how sweet she is about something or how cute she looks sleeping away!  We just love this girl to PIECES!!! :) 

Randoms!

 Just a couple of randoms of Reagan last week....we were eating dinner on Thursday night and she just really didn't want to be alone in the family room, so she brought in pillows, the new Pottery Barn Kids catalog, and Daddy's "bankie" into the kitchen and parked herself right next to us.  It was pretty cute!

She was shopping for the new baby!

After dinner she wanted to put on my coat and just got the biggest kick out of herself.  Who would have thought how much fun a coat could provide!

So fun! :)

Always an Adventure

My birthday weekend was so much fun, well most of it anyway.  We had our great dinner on Friday night, then on Saturday, while Keith was at his soccer game, we went to the mall and then met Keith for lunch.

Photo op with Mum-Mum and Pop-Pop

Playing on the "ice cream truck," with her new kicks!

Riding the "choo-choo" with Mommy and Pop-Pop around the mall...pretty fun!  Reags leaned out and said "huwhoah" to several people walking by!

We were able to sneak out that night, thanks to babysitters Mum-Mum and Pop-Pop!  We went to my favorite restaurant, Maggiano's and did a little shopping around the mall too.  Our big purchase of the night, DROIDS!  We did it, we are now officially in the 21st century.  We figured if my Gran and Gramps can do it, so can we!  :)  Keith has been using a phone that is probably 10 years old, seriously!  He didn't care though, it did what he needed it to do.  Anyway, this was a fun new purchase, now we just have to learn how to really work the thing!

After phone shopping and dinner we were on our way home...so exciting we are!  It was a fun night out though...they are few and far between and when #2 arrives, they will be fewer and farther between!

On Sunday morning when I got Reagan up, I thought she felt a little warm.  However, she did have on fleece, heavy pj's so I thought that was it.  Turns out she had a slight fever, so I gave her some Tylenol and called it a morning, she was acting fine.  As the day went on she started to feel warmer and warmer, by lunch her temp was 102.5!!  Frieck out mode kicked in!!  Reagan has had literally one other fever ever, but never that high.  I gave her more medicine and she took a nap in bed with me while Keith waited for the on call nurse at our doctor's office to call us back.  Reagan's fever seemed a little better after her nap and she was ready to play, but at about 5:30, all she wanted to do was cuddle and she was burning up!!  At about 6:30 I took her temperature and it read 104.5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Talk about panic!!  I told Keith what her temp was and we were out the door on our way to the ER.  I was scared out of my mind as to what was wrong.  I just felt so terrible!  Of course we got the ER and we waited for a little while for the nurse to see us.  She took Regan's temperature rectally (no fun at all!) and it was 102.8...better, but not great.  We gave her some motrin and then waited back out in the waiting area for a room to open up for a doctor to see us.  THANK GOODNESS we had just bought our Droids because I was able to pull up partial episodes of Dora and Kai-Lan to keep her occupied...that was our saving grace! :)  We finally went back to see the doctor and again, temperature had to be taken the same way and it had gone down to 100.6, thank goodness!  The doctor thought everything sounded and looked fine, other than the temperature and said that in girls sometimes a urinary tract infection can cause the fever.  SO they had to catheter Reagan for a minute to get a fresh urine sample...talk about breaking your heart!  She was screaming like I have never heard her scream before....of course I was crying and telling the nurses to do what they needed to do to get what they needed because we weren't doing that again!  Oh it was terrible!!  About 45ish minutes later the results came back fine and we were told to just alternate between tylenol and advil...(Just a typical Kepplinger adventure, on our way home from the ER, Keith had to pull over so that I could throw up...lovely I know...I think it was just a mix of being worked up from the hospital and I hadn't eaten anything in awhile.  Yup, it's always something!)

Monday morning Reags was still warm, but not nearly as warm, thankfully.  I called the ped office because we were supposed to go in for a follow up.  Temp had gone way down, but the doctor wanted to test for strep.  UGH!  If I had to look into Reagan's screaming, crying eyes one more time, I was going to lose it.  Thankfully that was negative and she thinks it's just a virus running it's course.  The good news is that Reagan was much more herself on Monday and ate a little more than the day before...all good signs!

She slept well last night...up at 4:30.  I gave her advil and she and I went back to sleep in the guest room until about 7:40, so I was glad for that.  She still has had a low grade fever all day today, so I am thinking we'll be home for one more day...poor thing!!

SO that is our last few days in a nutshell...it is supposed to be almost 70* tomorrow, so I can guarantee you our windows will be open and all of the germs will be blown out of this house!!

29 and Holding!

On Friday, the 28th, I turned 29!!  I don't think it has totally hit me yet that this was my last "20's" birthday.  How did this happen?  I really don't care about turning 30, atleast I don't think I do, but I remember turning 20 like it was yesterday...anyway...it was a great birthday!

Reaggie gave me a special card and wore her adorable cupcake outfit for Mommy's birthday!

We even ate dinner in the dining room...I think that makes it the third time we've used it!  ha :)

Reags kept saying "Happy Birday Mommy!"  Too sweet!

My mom and John came down on Wednesday, ahead of the 18+" of snow they were expecting in PA!  They watched Reagan on Thursday and Friday, which she loved...actually I don't know who had more fun, Mum-Mum and Pop-Pop or Reagan, we'll say it was a tie! 

We had a nice dinner with the Mills on Friday night that my mom and John cooked...all of my faves!  We had filet, mashed potatoes, caesar salad, fruit salad, peas, delicious rolls...oh it was good!  Then a chocolate cake for dessert, I was officially about to POP!  Thank goodness for maternity jeans :)  ha!  Any excuse to pull those bad boys out!

I got spoiled with so many birthday messages, cards, and some pretty fabulous gifts!  Thank you so much for all of the birthday wishes...it was a great day.  Next one will be with 2 kids and I will be turning THIRTY!!!  HOLY!