BLOGOVERSARY PARTY and GIVEAWAY!!!

Seriously??? Ya gotta know the only way to celebrate our blogoversaries would be together!?!?! What would a party be without us both??? Yep we are absolute idiots together, and seriously have way to much ridiculous fun, so the only way to party for our one year blogoversary has to be together with some fun and a giveaway.

What a fantastic year it has been. I have loved getting to know so many amazing ladies out there, and though we have never really met I feel like we are good friends. Hunter Dan doesn't get that at all...MEN!! Thanks so much to all of you who have inspired me, made me smile, laugh out loud, and even cry. I have loved this outlet of mine. I started a blog to keep a journal, and to keep in touch with family, and never expected it to become something so important.

Xazmin and I just happen to share this special day so.....

10 things I love about Xazmin...

1. She laughs with me over the most ridiculous things...(emergency room blood pressure cuff) seriously we laugh until it's painful.

2. She never wears a bra around her house it's hilarious, especially when she forgets to put one on for church.

3. She makes amazing food. I wish she were my personal chef.

4. She is soooo stinkin' smart, I am the dumb friend...it's true, sad, but true.

5. She has made me yell words that are "interesting" out the car windows when we are driving around looking for old "friends" houses in the middle of the night.

6. She is a spiritual giant, seriously she is awesome, and knows her stuff.

7. She introduced me to the joys of "Buffy", and "Angel". Scares the heck outta me but I watch still...from under a blanket.

8. She teaches her kids all they need to know to get through in this scary world. They are also spiritual "mini" giants, and they are brilliant too.

9. She has gorgeously long eye-lashes...so unfair!

10. She is a kind, fun, caring, beautiful person, who I was lucky enough to meet. I am truly blessed.

Now we gotta have some good stuff you can win!!! Right!? I will be sending a lucky blogger out there a goody box full of some of Xazmin's favorite things. It will be a surprise, but you can probably expect some mod podge, maybe some big, adorable silver earrings, something yummy and many more fun things, you won't be disappointed! Just leave me a comment for your chance to win. If you want to win some of my favorite things head on over and party with Xazmin. GREAT STUFF!!!

*You have until Monday February 1st at 11:59 to enter.

It's been a great year!! Thanks for everyones love and support!!! I love ya all!!!

Bring it on Xazmin!!!!

My Party will be better!!!

BlOgOvErSaRy FUN...tomorrow!!!

NO Xazmin....tomorrow is MY Blogoversary!!!!!!:) Be sure to come back to see how I celebrate!!!!

Good News...

When the Doctor said, "feed him like crazy", that's exactly what I did and WOW did it pay off!! At Lil' squishy faces weight check this afternoon, he weighed in at 7 lbs 12 oz!!!!! I couldn't believe it, the nurse was shocked, and the Doctor said "this made my day!" He not only got back to his birth weight...he passed it by 9 ounces. Absolutely NO reason for a hospital stay now. As the Doctor walked out she said, "you must have had the right prayers being said." I know our family said many prayers out loud and silently, and to all of you who kept us in your thoughts and prayers...thank-you!!!! I appreciate you all sooo much!

My little Ashie is feeling much better, and my baby boy is getting even squishier! I'm feeling extremely grateful this evening...and a lot less anxious, so much so that I took a very nice nap this afternoon...a little bit of some much needed rest! Hope everyone has a fantastic Monday night!!

AWWWWW....bummer!!

This is what strep looks like on my 23 month old.

Well...I gave it to Lexlee, and now Ashie....lets hope it stops here!!!!!

TEN!!!

Lexlee's Day!!!

How can it be possible that I now have two children in double digits??? Today is my beautiful, sweet, kind, caring, and absolutely amazing Lexlee's 10th Birthday! It seems like just yesterday she was born...a little girl, I had a little girl! It was hard to believe, and soo wonderful. She was fast to get here. I was induced at 8:30 and she was here at 12:05, I felt A LOT of natural child birth with her, but she was worth every second of it!

Lexlee has such an easy going, and sweet personality, she is such a little lady, and almost delicate like. She is so caring and gentle with the younger kids and very mothering.

Lexlee I am so proud of you. You make our home a better place to be, and you bring so much love into it. I love you sooooooo much you can't even imagine! Thanks for being you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY...to my sweetheart!!!!!

Failure to Thrive...

Yesterday at Lil' squishy face's weight check, he was diagnosed with "Failure to Thrive". Even though he was up 4 ounces he was still only 6 lbs 15 oz at almost five weeks, which is still 4 ounces from his birth weight. When a baby doesn't regain his birth weight by a month protocol is automatic admission to Primary Children's Medical Center. I was devastated!!! My Doctor said because of my crazy life of being basically a single mom during the week, instead of making the arrangements and sending him up right away, she would give me some time to talk with Hunter Dan and figure out what would be best for our family. The time spent at the Children's hospital would be two weight checks daily, complete caloric intake, multiple testing above and beyond all we have already done, and at least 2 to 4 days there. I was so heart-broken, but arrangements were made with my parents, they would head down within a few hours, Hunter Dan would be here shortly, and I was mentally preparing to spend some days and nights with my little guy in the hospital. A place I've been before, and had hoped I wouldn't spend another night there again. Don't get me wrong this hospital is amazing!!! I called the Doctor to let her know she could get him admitted within just a few hours. After she called the hospital though there were no single bed rooms available, and she wasn't willing to risk the baby getting sick by sharing a room with even a non-sick patient. My Doctor said,"Your baby is little and young, we can't risk him getting RSV right now." Believe me I know, after Ashie was there with it for nine days at three weeks old, we decided not to take lil squishy anywhere except to the Dr. I'm getting a little stir crazy.

So now the plan according to my Doctor is FEED HIM LIKE CRAZY this weekend, and weight check on Monday, if there isn't a significant change, he will be admitted. Talk about an emotional roller coaster!! I will be saying many prayers for the next few days for sure. But that brings me to something I haven't done forever, and it is time to get back....

1. I am sooo thankful to a wonderful Doctor.

2. I am sooo thankful that I will be able to spend Lexlee's birthday with her tomorrow instead of being at the hospital.(that was breaking my heart!)

3. I am sooo thankful that I have parents who were willing to drop everything to drive to Utah.

4. I am sooo thankful that Hunter Dan was able to arrange to work in town next week...just in case...

5. I am sooo thankful to Beto's Mexican food, where I just treated myself to a veggie burrito. Super YUM!!! I think I deserved it.:)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Thursday, I will be busy for the next few days trying to stuff my baby with calories!:)

HAIR!!!

I love doing my girls hair!! It seems though in the last couple of months I have slacked a little, and there has been no creativity. Here are a few pics from the last week. I think I am starting to get back into the swing of things with a schedule...kind of. O.K. if I get a shower I feel like I have really accomplished something. Very SAD!!! Five kids is a bit of an adjustment....but I'm loving it!(mostly)haha:)

Back to some hair-dos......(if you are interested in seeing some other hair-dos go here and here)

*Back to the Doctor today for a weight check...wish us luck!

Also, my first Blogoversary is coming up next week...hard to believe it has been a year! Any ideas to celebrate???? A giveaway perhaps!?!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!!

Boo...Hoo...

I'm sure everyone has realized by now that I am emotional....my family knows this very well. So it will be no surprise that today being the 18th of January, and my baby boys 1 month birthday, I am a little sad. A lot happy...but a little sad.(My doctor could see I was a wreck at my 2 week appointment, so the estrogen patch he prescribed has done wonders for my baby blues!!)

Seriously though, how could this month have gone by so quickly,

when being pregnant seemed to take so long?...One thing is for sure,

I can't seem to get enough of him, I love to smell the top of his head, and feel his little bit of hair on my cheek. I love kissing his little nose, and long fingers. I even love changing his little squishy buns. He is amazing, and thankfully all his tests from last week came back normal, what a blessing. Our focus now is just to fatten him up.

I love being a mom, I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has trusted and blessed me with these beautiful children. I love you Bug, Lexlee, Jibbity, Ashie, and Lil' squishy face...to the moon and back infinity.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, cold, snowy day(here in Utah) anyway! :) It's a good day to relax and snuggle up in a blanket.

A few weeks ago before the little munchkin was born, we had a HUGE snowstorm!! We have a pretty big drive way area, and Bug can handle shoveling the deck and stairs, the front sidewalk and front steps. BUT...the driveway is impossible, that is why we have a plow for our four-wheeler. Unfortunately Hunter Dan had not gotten it hooked up yet, and with him working out of town we are kind of on our own. We were having a hard time getting in and out of our driveway, and basically only had a path from our tires in and out to the garage. A couple days after the storm when I was having a particularly hard evening, I heard a strange sound coming from outside. It was a snow-blower in my drive-way. I started bawling like a baby!! It was a neighbor from three houses down. Someone who does not go to our church, didn't know I was pregnant, and didn't know Hunter Dan was working out of town. When I went out to tell him through my tears how much this meant to me and explain the situation...he simply said "no problem, I thought something was strange because your driveway is always cleaned off by now". He spent the next hour and a half in the cold snow blowing, and then shoveling my entire driveway. I was truly touched by this act of service.

During the first couple of weeks after lil' squishy face was born I had many opportunities to see service in action...for me. I am a bit prideful I guess and don't like to ask for help, but the ladies in my ward made sure we had meals brought in, and play dates for Jibbity and Ashie during the day since Hunter Dan was back at work, and Bug and Lexlee were still at their dads for the holidays.

Just this past Monday, when I had been so sick with strep, and had no idea what I was going to do about dinner for my kids, I got a knock on my front door from my neighbor two houses down with a pan of enchiladas, applesauce, oranges, and cookies. Once again touched to tears from the thoughtfulness that came from this neighbor who has three small children of her own.

Through these examples of service that brought me such joy, relief, and love...it hit me hard that this needs to be my focus for the upcoming year. I love taking meals into people, it makes me feel good, but do I do it very often?...No. I need to try to be better at looking at other peoples needs instead of just my own. That is my goal...never pass up an opportunity to serve.

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Lil' squishy face had a weight check, and blood drawn again. The tests will be back tomorrow, I'm praying for good news. His weight was up another 4 ounces, but that still only brings him to 6 lbs 11 ounces, still 8 ounces away from his birth weight at almost 4 weeks. So I guess I will be giving him a little more formula at feedings. I'm kind of bummed about that, but we need to fatten him up. As a comparison, Bug weighed 2 ounces more when he was born, and at one month he was over ten pounds! He has never stopped since then.:-)

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I am feeling much better now, but I'm probably going to be taking Lexlee in to instacare tonight after I get back from Jibbity's dance classes. She's pretty miserable with a nasty sore throat.

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Such a lengthy post...sorry, so I'll end it with some pictures of my sweet little munchkin bum.(just for you shell)

I took the first two this morning.
Kind of skinny huh?

I know, picture overload...but this is my journal so if you made it to the end...Have a great evening!!

Sometimes when it rains it pours...

Two words...STREP THROAT

...................seriously??? I really don't have time to be sick! Lets just pray that no one else gets it!

*Just an update too... the lil' munchkin is slowly but surely gaining weight, he is up to 6 lbs 7 oz now. YAY!!!

*I miss everyone! I actually do spend some time reading posts(usually during the night when I am up with the baby), but I'm always holding lil' squishy face, and can't leave comments. Hope everyone is well!

Welcome Lil' Squishy face...his birthday story!!

I was scheduled for induction at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, December 18th. I was told to call at 6:30 a.m. to make sure that time was still ok. When I called they told me I had been put on hold and they would call me when there was a room available. They called around eight and told me to be there at 10:00. I was so anxious to meet my little guy I could hardly stand it. They started me on my antibiotics(group B strep positive)...hooked me to the monitors, and checked me. Dilated to a 3 and actually contracting on my own. The nurse kept losing the baby's heartbeat, because he was moving all over the place. After a couple of hours, and right before they were going to start me on pitocin, the nurse decided to do an ultrasound to see where the baby's heart was. First ultrasound baby was transverse(laying sideways). They called my Doctor and asked what she wanted to do, she came over and did another ultrasound, and checked me, baby was kind of head down...more like diagonal. She ordered for the big fancy ultrasound and tech to come do yet another one. By that time baby was footling breech. I had three options, go home and wait and see if he would turn, but they felt like that was pointless, since I was already contracting. Try to turn the baby, but even if they successfully turned him...chances are big that he could turn again, and when they would break my water if anything other than the head came down it would be an emergency c-section. And last option was to just do the c-section. Hunter Dan and I felt like opting for the c-section was the best. The Doctors came in and asked if they could just try to turn him, I agreed...excruciating pain...HOLY SMOKES!!! Finally through my body racking sobs, I asked them to stop, and Hunter Dan said that is enough, do the c-section. It was during the time of getting ready for surgery, that I realized that would mean at least an extra day in the hospital, and I found out that kids under 14 were not allowed to visit(swine flu). I was a mess, scared to death for the unknown of a c-section, and panicked that Ashie had not ever been away from me for more than just a few hours, let alone a few days.

On my end the c-section went fine, uncomfortable and a little claustrophobic...but ok. Unfortunately baby boy inhaled fluid in his lungs, so after seeing him long enough to know he had a cute little dimple in his chin, they rushed him to the nursery. He was 7 lbs 3 oz, and 19 inches. He was born at 3:52p.m. I was not able to see him, Hunter Dan had gone in a few times but wasn't allowed to touch him. By about two in the morning, no sleep, and the empty feeling I had...no baby to feel moving in my belly anymore, yet no one to hold in my arms...I thought I would burst. My sweet nurse asked if I had a camera, and went down to the nursery and took pictures for me. They removed his oxygen just long enough to snap a few pics, and brought me back my camera.

That helped. The next goal was to get me up by four. I was ready, because I knew if I could get up, I could see my baby. I spent just a couple minutes with him, and it was awesome. I was able to sleep a little after that.

The next few days kind of run together, but I was able to finally nurse him on Sunday. Monday he was able to be with me in my room, and YAY we went home on Tuesday.

All ready to go home.

The first time Ashie saw her new little brother...she hasn't left him alone since!!

Jibbity holding the little munchkin for the first time, she now asks to hold him at least eighty-five times a day!

Lexlee cried when she couldn't come to see him in the hospital, she was absolutely heart-broken. Her and Bug have never gotten home from school so fast as they did when they knew he would be home.

Bug completely thrilled to finally have another boy in the house, even if there are twelve years difference. He even has his own little cute nickname for him.

Grandma and her newest and last grandchild. This makes number twenty-five. We could never have gotten through these days without her. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!!!

And just a couple of pics the first couple days after we were home!

Here it is now and my little buddy is 2 weeks old...where in the world did the last two weeks go? Yep it's true I am extremely emotional, and with every passing day it breaks my heart that he is older...pathetic I know, but knowing that this is my last baby I am trying to enjoy and hold onto every single moment. He is doing much better now, and though a couple of the tests came back abnormal, we are hopeful that it is just because of his extreme weight loss...which I am very happy to say that he has gained four ounces, and that made the Doctor and our family very happy. He is now up to 6 lbs 3 ounces.

Which brings me to the winner(or should I say winners) of the weight and time contest! I decided to do two winners one for the weight and one for the time. And actually there were a few that were close on the weight so I had to draw out of hat. His actual weight was 7 lbs 3 oz, and the time of birth was 3:52. The winners are....

With a weight guess of 7 lbs 4 oz....it goes to Gwen
With a time guess of 3:45...it goes to Aimee

(please e-mail me your addresses so I can get your surprises in the mail...give me a little time though..) krumpmama@aol.com

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I am truly blessed to have this new little baby in my life and in our home. I can't remember what it was like without him. He has brought pure joy to our family, and made us a family of 7. Holy smokes...that is amazing!!! I love you Lil' squishy face..to the moon and back a million times, you were worth all five hundred and forty five times I threw up!!! I knew you would be and I'd do it all over again, and double the number.