WD's first Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE KLUVERS FAMILY!!

For Christmas Eve I worked until 5, and Dave and WD had the day off. Dave started supper so there was hot oyster stew waiting for me when I got home (yum - I'm getting a taste for it now, at least once-a-year). After supper we all went to a nice 7:30pm church service. Then returned home to relax before going to bed. We were all in bed by 10:30, but WD (apparently excited by Santa) woke-up at 4:45am, and I got up with him since Dave did it the last 2 nights for me. Finally back to sleep by 5:45am, WD's Christmas gift to the rest of us was letting us sleep in until 8am on Christmas morning. Dave and I agreed that was nice, as we know in another year, that is not going to happen again for a very, very long time. :-)

The picture above was taken 2 weeks ago, but I felt it should make the blog. :-)

Raspberry & Buddy Too are the first to check out their stockings.

WD checks out the tree close up.

WD and Daddy open WD's stocking. OH BOY - Bath Toys.

Alright - another box! I'm going to beat on it and make noise!!!

WD's first set of race cars courtesy of G'ma and G'pa Kluver.

WD explores a toy in one hand, and a package ribbon in another.

He doesn't quite get it - but I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it.

WD really enjoying the play center from G'ma and G'pa Kluver. Shortly after this picture, he tried climbing it like a ladder to get to the window. He's too clever...

Dave and I enjoyed our day off and time to enjoy our family. Dave is on the mend hurting his back when he spent too much time on the floor playing with WD yesterday. So he really took it easy. I didn't get to "unscratch" some of my stocking-stuffers until early this afternoon, and it turns out that my husband is a lucky charm!!! The problem is he now thinks what's mine, is his!!! I THINK NOT!! (I am being vague for a reason, you'll have to e-mail or ask me for an explanation if you want one. I prefer when Dave explains it, then I get to smile and laugh at him. he he he )

I hope you all had a warm, safe and very Merry Christmas!!! Off to G'ma Karyn & G'pa Ray's house tomorrow night for Christmas with them and the cousins.

We know just how to keep warm on this cold day.

With the high today a balmy -1, we (WD and I) got an early start to our day at 6:30. Daddy decided to sleep in so we got to warming up the house. First we made peanut butter cookies, a new recipe that consisted of 1c PB, 1c Sugar and 1 egg. Ehh... they weren't that great, but Dave and I didn't let that stop us from eating most of them. Then WD and I made a baked ham and cheese omelet, that was yummy. No recipe, just a combo of several I'd read or seen. After breakfast (and with Dave still sleeping), we got started on our 2nd cookie recipe, Triple Chocolate Cookies (http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipe.asp?recipeids=2531&iSeason=8) wow - they are rich. Dave said he would be fine if I never made them again, but I thought they were pretty good with a cold glass of milk or a hot cup of coffee, or even better - a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on few of them still warm.....mmmmmmm (yep - that would be my genes talking!)

By then it was time to get to cracking on lunch, and I was still in my PJs, but at least Dave had been up for a few hours so he could help occupy WD (who did get in a nap during all this). I had Dave pull some chicken and some flounder fillets from the deep freeze, but just what to do with them all was the puzzle. After debate with Dave and him rejecting chicken and stuffing casserole, and also white chicken chili (yum), I told him he could make supper with them and we both agreed on Thai Curry Chicken. So for lunch I made stuffed flounder. I Googled some ideas, and that sounded the best. Except I was stuck at home on this frigid, bitter-cold day with out the shrimp and crab most recipes were calling for. So - I channeled my inner "Frances" and thought - "What would Grandma do?" Knowing she's make something up with what she had, and then spread butter on it. Funny enough - that's what I did. And it was really good!!! You can see my "recipe" below if your interested. Presentation isn't my strong suit but they really did look better in person. Dave and I had lunch and I called dibs on the left-overs for lunch the next 2 days. I calculated the WW points and found this wasn't too bad, even with butter. And BOY do I need to get back on the WW-Wagon ASAP! After these cookies, and this weekend, and it all started with a potluck Friday at work.

Since lunch, Dave's playing around in the wood-shop, making some type of closet insert/organizer. WD is napping and has been for the last 1hr 40min. I've eaten another Triple Chocolate cookie, washed it down with some hot tea, have been playing around with the blog, and listening to Christmas music. Life just can't get much sweeter - can it???

Stay warm and safe travels to you (if you are traveling)!!

Stuffed Flounder Fillets (should work for any light fish)

Prep - 20 min Pre-heated Oven to 300

Servings - 6 WW Points - 6

6 Flounder Fillets (we got ours at Sam's Club)

1 Box Rice-a-Roni Long Frain & Wild Rice (make according to box)

1/2 can Great Northern Beans (drained and rinsed)

1 can sliced mushrooms (drained and rinsed)

1 stalk celery (diced)

1/2 small onion (diced)

2 T butter (divided)

2 T Lemon Juice (bottled is fine)

> While the Rice-a-Roni is cooking, in a small hot skillet, melt 1T butter, and add in your diced celery and onion and cook until translucent.

> About 5 minutes before the Rice-a-Roni is done, add the beans and mushrooms.

> Mix the Rice-a-Roni mixture and the onion and celery.

> Place 3 fillets in a sprayed baking dish.

*** I lightly dreged my fillets in flour seasoned with pepper and Cookie's Seasoning, but I don't think it added much, you could do without it if you chose to ***

> Scoop the rice mixture onto the 3 fillets evenly. (I found it useful to pack a 1/4 measuring cup and then use that to place the rice, it held it's shape more, verses the rice falling all over in the dish.)

> Place the remaining 3 fillets on top.

> Bake on lower oven rack at 300 for 10 min, then remove, and drizzle a mixture of the 2T lemon juice and 1T butter melted over the top of all. Cover with foil, turn pan, and place on a middle to upper oven rack for about 10 more minutes, or until fish is flaky.

Would be a wonderful meal with a side salad, and a glass of white wine. Maybe a Triple Chocolate cookie and coffee to finish the meal off? Mmmmmmmm...........enjoy.

An afternoon outing to the mall (the weekend before Christmas)

Ok - So I met someone on-line, and Dave knows all about it. Well I met them today for lunch...and I had a very nice time. Her name is Sarah, and I met her and her daughter for lunch at Panara Bread (at Jordan Creek). Sarah just moved back from several years in Korea, and was looking to find some babies her daughter's age to play with. So she and I got to talking on-line and set up today's meeting. She's very nice, and it was really interesting to learn things about her, her daughter (who's about 2 weeks older than WD), and the differences from having an infant in Korea (naturally!) and coming back to Iowa (where Sarah is from, and where her parents live). I had a very nice time, and am looking forward to meeting up with them again.

After a small lunch, WD and I thought we'd go check out the mall, to putz away a little time, and maybe keep an eye out for some black shoes for me. 4 hours later...we left with a couple little things and a new pair of shoes. It was so nice actually. As crazy-busy as the mall was, WD and I took our time, and looked around, and smiled at people. WD only got a 30min nap on the way there, but you'd never know as he was so well behaved! Of course, the challenge is tonight as he's wound for sound! Jibber-jabbering and cruising around and just going non-stop!

Tomorrow the high temp is suppose to be -1! I told Dave of my concerns taking WD out for church...but I guess we'll just see how the night goes, and how we feel in the morning.

Best wishes to all and keep warm!!!

Thankful for family & playtime!

We went North for Thanksgiving this year to Grandma & Grandpa Kluver's house. We had a long ride up with a very packed car (we took some furniture up for our niece). William had a great time with his cousins and aunts & uncles.

He especially loved playing in Grandma's chairs. We would put him in his walker to keep him "out of trouble" and he still found a way to play. He would grab the chairs, and tip them over to him and chew on them (still teething) or grab them and move them out into the middle of the room.









It was also his cousin Christi's birthday and I volunteered to make her a cake. It was really fun to be able to bake something (and share it) while on vacation. Christi requested something gooey, with whipped cream. That... I can do! :-) The Chocolate-Carmel-Gooey-Cake was a hit with everyone.










On Saturday Cindy (Dave's sister from Chicago), Dave, WD and I went to visit Dave's Great-Aunt Edna. She is a great lady, but is really down right now, battling an infection that must get cleared-up before they can proceed with gallbladder surgery. Aunt Edna was not her usual jovial self when we saw her. You could tell she was tired and not feeling well. Hopefully they can get that infection cleared up ASAP and get her in for the surgery. She was told it could be 2 weeks to 2 months before she can have the surgery! Please say a little prayer for her.

After a very nice weekend with everyone we drove back home in snow and crummy weather. We are still working on getting WD back on his sleep schedule. Last night (Tuesday night) was the first night he slept through the night AND didn't get up at 5am (he pulled those tricks every night at Grandma & Grandpa's).

WD took some time to check out the local papers when we got home. He had a blast playing in them and loved the noise they made when he crinkled them. What a cute little ham!

WD had been sleeping through the night regularly since he was about 2 months old (and yes - we understand how lucky we are). However, for whatever reasons WD has not been doing this for the past 2 weeks, even screaming for 45 minutes straight one night/morning. He did just cut his second front top tooth, and has been battling a cold, then add in that his mommy thought she'd start him on goats milk. I think this may not have been a great combo. We were able to get our for our first "date" last Saturday (11/22) afternoon when our great friends Betsy & Nick agreed to watch WD for a few hours. Dave and I ate out, and went bowling, and even got a couple errands run. It was nice, as we could have probably done all of these things with WD, but it would have taken longer, and we wouldn't have had to give him more attention.

WD had been on the couch with Nick, peaking up and over the back of it to play "peek-a-boo" with Betsy, when he decided to fall asleep standing up. He had slumped down some, but looked so cute they couldn't resist snapping a picture for us.

And WD has slept through the night for the past 5 nights - YEAH! Hopefully this won't jinx us.

9 month stats

William went in for his 9 month check-up and all was good.

Height 28 3/4" = 81%

Weight 20# 7oz = 72%

Head 18 1/8" = 92%

We got a cream for a rash under his arm that he's had for the past 3 months, and the doctor pointed out that his top front, right tooth had cut through (the first of his uppers).

Pain in the ---.

Poor WD had some irritated parts after his bout with the stomach flu. To give his tender parts a little breathing room, I let him run around for a while without a diaper. Needless to say - he loved it! It wasn't long before he took advantage of this time, and pooped on the carpet. I wonder if I've learned my lesson? I doubt it, it was way too cute (up until the poop part that is).

Cousin Caeden't visit

Cousin Caeden Jennings came to visit this past week from AZ. He came with his mommy (Autumn) and daddy (Warren), and we went to visit them at Grandma & Grandpa Kluver's house.

We got to play together and we liked to chase each other in our walkers, it made everybody laugh.




Here, his daddy (Warren) tries to take our pictures but as soon as we saw the camera we both scrambled to him and tried to get it! He never let us chew on it - darn it.







Here is Caeden's mommy (Autumn) holding both of us. You'd never guess that Caeden is 2 weeks younger than I, when he out weighs (and out eats) me...but I still managed to keep up with him.

Stomach Flu

Last weekend was nice, Dave watched WD and I baked and cooked all day Sunday (breakfast, casseroles, and cookies, cookies, cookies [recipe to come soon]). But the quiet wouldn't last too long. Early Thursday morning (about 12:30am) William woke up crying and woke us up. after we had a half-coherent debate of which one of us was getting up, I got up to hold him and while I was rocking him smelled something terrible. I turned on the light to see that poor little WD had vomit all over his head, face and crib. After stripping him, the sheets, and the bumper, and after he threw-up another time, I was able to hold him and get him back to sleep.

I however work up and got in the shower to get ready for work, but by the time I crawled out of the shower, all I was doing was putting on my pajamas, and crawling back in bet. And Crawling isn't too far from the truth as I was afraid I was soon to be the next to throw-up.

In sparing the gross details, I have stayed home from work yesterday and today (Friday). Because WD also had recently thrown up, I kept him home from the sitters. Thank goodness Grandma Karyn was able to come up yesterday and help out with him, as I sure wasn't feeling up to it, since I spent the day laying down and not eating anything. So much for trick-or-treating with WD. So far today I can sit up and tolerate short periods of time standing up. I'm feeling weak and lightheaded, but as Dave points out, that's to be expected when you haven't eaten anything in over 24 hours. I've had a piece of bread and some broth, and I'm hungry for more, but my stomach reminds me not to push my luck.

Oh well - this too shall pass. Just thankful for Grandma Karyn, and that Dave hasn't gotten it. Uncle Rob was also here for the night working and on breaks entertaining WD.

More recent pictures.

Uncle Mike & Uncle Rob take turns tormenting they're youngest nephew.
Uncle Mike has his very first feeding, but WD didn't want to eat, he wanted to play!
Best of buds.

Close as cousins! Sutton (9), WD (8mos) and Rowan (6).

Peek-a-Boo! WD finds Buddy's hiding spot (under the table). Watch out Buddy Too!

WD enjoying a teething biscuit. I wonder how much actually made it in his mouth???

Meeting Uncle Michael

WD got to meet his Uncle Michael for the first time this weekend. Needless to say they hit it off with each other. Uncle Mike left today to go back to North Carolina, and will be missed by all of us. We can't wait to see him again, and hopefully Aunt Kim will be with him!

Time w/ Great Grandma Frances

Were went south this past weekend to my parent's house to see my Brother Mike, who was back from N.C. for a visit. He drove here (in Uncle Bill's 2007 Corvette) and will fly back. While we were down we stopped in to see Great Grandma Frances (my grandmother).

It was good to see her up and awake, as the last time we were in she was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her.

She did respond to me a few times with a "yeah" when I would ask a question, such as "Do you remember that Gram?". Who knows if she actually does remember it. But I was giving her a hug and kiss goodbye and told her that we had to leave to go back home, and she said to me "Oh you do?". It was pretty mumbled, but I could tell that's what she said. We were able to get a couple pictures w/ my cell phone (not bad for a phone - huh?), and Gram gave WD lots of kisses on the cheek, and on his little hands. He wasn't asleep the entire time, he did wake up for the kisses, but he had been napping until I got him out of his car seat for the pictures.

Movin' on Up

Last night we got to witness WD climbing the footstool to stand up. We lowered his crib sometime ago as he figured out how to stand up in there. But now it looks like he's figuring it out outside of the crib. Guess we'll be busy doing the rest of our baby-proofing this weekend. Right now I'm watching Buddy Too sit on "his" footstool as WD is just trying to figure out how to get up eye-to-eye w/ Buddy. It's actually pretty funny, poor Buddy Too has to retreat under the kitchen table when WD is in his walker as it's the only place WD can't get very close to him because of the chairs.

I couldn't help include this picture I took just minutes ago this morning. What a warm greeting I get in the mornings - huh?

If only everyone were greeted by such a warm smile, no one would be in a bad mood! :-)

Health updates

Raspberry is doing well. She had a check-up last week and other than a nasty ear-infection and an added 10#, she was doing good. With all the other health issues she was having we apparently were starting to neglect cleaning her ears, which are problematic as it is and we need to clean them 2x/week on a regular basis to maintain ear-health. The +10 is due to increased appetite (from her anti-convulsion med) and decreased exercise as we were told to keep her quiet. So we'll hopefully be increasing her walks and decreasing her weight.

WD is doing well. No checkup until 9months (approx 11-11-08) at which time he is not scheduled for anything other than a hemoglobin blood test. We hope to avoid the doctor until then, but he does have a rash under his right arm pit that he's had off and on for about 2 months. We think it's heat rash, but why is it still cropping up? The doc looked at it at 6months and said it looked dry and to put lotion on it, but it looked very light. But it is still there, and only there. Guess we'll keep and eye on it.

We'll keep you posted.

Long overdue pictures.

OK - So I didn't take any pictures the entire time we were on

vacation camping a couple weeks ago, but I made up for it the next weekend when we went to Yellow Banks conservation area.
http://www.conservationboard.org/Pages/ybp.aspx
We packed up the family and drove there to check it out. They have some nice trails that we used for the day, but they have much more too. They have ball fields, lots of playground equipment, a private fishing pond, and lost of camp sites (both electric and non-electric). We all enjoyed it (can you tell by WD's picture that he liked it) and we will likely go back again. I've heard it's a good place to watch the bald eagle migration as well.

I knew it was going to be a good day to hike, as this butterfly greeted us when we arrived.

Being lazy

OK - Sorry I haven't gotten an update out in a while. We went on vacation the 18th & 19th of September and I THOUGHT I'd post some cute pictures of WD's first camping vacation but I didn't really take any pictures. Then the next week we went... well crud - I can't even remember what we did then. I barely remember what we did last weekend - but I know I took pictures of it!! ;-) So keep your eyes posted here and I'll try to get some of them up this weekend.
Back to vacation - I've been asked how camping went with the baby. We went to Elk Rock State Park on Red Rock Lake (between Knoxville & Pella). The first night was a little rough, he would only sleep in my arms, and did so for about 1 1/2 hours. The next night it went fine. We were pretty lazy, taking several little naps, and doing nothing. Dave read some, and Rob, Sut, & Row came out to visit us Friday night for hot dogs, chili dogs, and s'mores. That same night, Jeromy, Tab (Campbell), Erin & Bryce Metier [friends from Knoxville] came out and had some more s'mores. All this time relaxing and Dave and I didn't even get to duke-it-out this year to see who could be the Rummy champion, even though we're both pretty confident it would have been me. :-)
Check back shortly for pictures from last weekend's hiking at Yellow Banks.

3rd trip to ER in 2 weeks!

And it's the 2nd trip for our one of our 4-legged babies!

Wednesday around 1:30pm Dave was working when he heard Raspberry (our lab) making strange noises in the entry way of our house. He got up to see what she was doing and she was in convulsions. He rushed her to the vet and had to leave her there for observation and tests, as she continued to have convulsions while there. The vet thinks this is totally unrelated to the last trip to the ER a week ago when she ate rat poison (thank God), but has no other idea why this happened. Raspberry was put on IV fluids, Valium, and Phenobarbital and was release to us 6:30pm. Instructions to keep her calm for then next 1.5 weeks and to continue giving her the Pheno-Barb (as they call it). So far so good. We'll keep you posted, but keep our sweet Raspberry in your thoughts!

A weekend up North.

We went north last weekend for dock removal, for Caroline's birthday, and while we were there Dave happened to get a little something for himself.

Grandma transformed into a Birthday Queen by her Granddaughters. You should have seen the cake! A HUGE double layer triple chocolate cake, with a cream cheese middle layer, and dark chocolate shavings on top! It was so rich and so yummy! Good job Kara & Danielle!

All the partying must have worn Grandpa and Buddy Too out!

Big smiles of approval from Dave & WD. WD loved playing with the steering wheel.

The new lawn tractor (mower deck had yet to be installed, but is on now).

WD's Growing Smile

Tooth number 2 came in during the night last night and has cut through this morning. It's his bottom right. All things considered, he's handling teething very well. If I could just say the same for mommy & daddy! (just kidding)

Crazy Weekend

Where do I even start? OK - WD is doing fine after his trip to the ER last week. His follow-up with the pediatrician on Friday revealed a big fat nothing. She thinks it may have been a virus. Yeah...right. Couldn't possibly have been the 3 shots she gave him that morning....what was I thinking???? (insert sarcasm here)

Then this weekend we had our cookout. Our friends Betsy, Nick & Morgan came and we played ladder golf, Are You Smarter than A 5th Grader?, and Mad Gab while dining on some great smoked ribs. Dave did a great job, all of you who couldn't make it - really missed out!

Then Saturday we ran errands all day, to come home, only to have to go to the ER again ... this time with our daughter! While we were putting away groceries, Raspberry was outside enjoying a tasty treat...Rat Poison! I heard Dave screaming and yelling at me when I was inside nursing William. I finally jump up to go see what's going on only to be scolded by him for having left a bag of BIG rat poison (that I'd recently bought at Menard's) on the ground as Raspberry (our black lab) had gotten into it. Dave had caught her eating it - and I immediately called our Vet to get her emergency #. She happened to be in the office and told us to make her throw it up (get her to drink hydrogen peroxide) and bring her in, so that's what we did. If you think it's tough getting a dog to take medication, you should try getting one to swallow a liquid! She threw up several times, and we were on our way in. We weren't there 20 minutes, before we were checked out and on our way home with 2 medications, and orders to keep her calm for 3 weeks (yeah right). So she's back to "normal" and still taking one medication for the duration of the 3 weeks.

I have to say for the first time in a very long time, I was glad to go to work on Tuesday! Of course it's now Wednesday and I'm wishing for Friday again. Such is life.

Family night out .... to the E.R.

We spent Tuesday evening together as a family (sans the dogs) in the Mercy Pediatric Emergency Room. William got his 6 month shots that day and we're still not sure if he had a reaction to them or what, but he had diarrhea and vomited several times. He even dry-heaved a few times at home. No fever - but the on-call nurse at the doctor's office said we should take him to the ER just to be safe and get him checked out. We spent 2 1/2 hours there, to be released with some PediaLyte and a Tylenol suppository with instructions to follow up with the pediatrician before the weekend. Things were better Wednesday morning but still a little off. Then Thursday morning, things were better still (with the exception of the big BM and very very wet diaper he woke up with).

Thank goodness it wasn't more serious, but enough to scare poor mommy! I'm really thinking he won't be getting any shots at one year, I think they can be delayed a little bit after this. Guess we'll just see how I feel in February.

6 Month Doctor's Visit

No new shot, just the same ones he's had the last 2 appointments. Next visit is at 9 months.

6 mos. 4 mos. 2 mos.

WEIGHT 18# 10oz 16# 11oz 12# 12oz

HEIGHT 27 1/8" 26.0" 23.25"

HEAD CIR. 17.5" 16.5" 15.5"

He's in the 75th percentile for his weight, height and head circumference.

On the move

We went to my parents' last weekend for my family reunion. Was good seeing all the cousins, and William loved it. G'ma and G'pa had a walker from their first grandson Sutton, that they cot out of storage for William. We brought it back to our house, and as you can see - HE LOVES IT!
He likes to chase Buddy and Berry around in it, but they are scared of it and run from him. He gets such a kick out of it. And we are also quickly learning what things we need to baby-proof still! (We never would have thought the garbage can liner would be something to watch out for!!!)

That which does not kill us...

That cliche is on my mind right now and I personally feel like it's full of crap. I know I'm not alone when I say that today, the legal system has now lost any faith that I (or any of my friends and family) had in it. I am of course referring to the custody case for my nephews in which temporary custody was awarded to their mother.
Since this is my blog and I can basically say what ever I want, I'm really feeling torn right now as I have plenty I'd like to say about this. However, it stinks that I'm going to bite my tongue as I'm a "better person" than that (or something).
There is truly something wrong with the justice system when they will award custody of two innocent children to a person who gets them interested in alcohol, manipulates and yells at them daily, and yet refuses to discipline them. OR when the children cry and beg not to have to go back to their mother's.
It's just not right.

I encourage you all to say a prayer for Rob to have strength to get through this tough time. Pray for the judge that will preside over his divorce hearing next year to have the wisdom, insight, and understanding that Judge Keller was apparently missing. I also ask you to pray that Rob doesn't give up and comes out fighting (I fear he'll really regret it if he doesn't)!!!

Keep your head high Rob - we love you!

That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.

Ready for Steak???

William has officially cut his first tooth. It's the front lower tooth on the Left side. Dave & I had checked his gums Sunday afternoon and there was nothing. By Sunday evening you could very plainly feel the tooth with your fingertip, in fact - that's how he told me it was in, WD put my finger in his mouth to chew on it. Nursing has been interesting as I get used to him, but nothing too bad. He's still eating "solids" twice per day and getting pretty good at it (if I'm feeding him, not so great if Daddy or Uncle Rob are feeding him). This is in addition to breast milk or formula (formula only at the sitters, and it's usually mixed with breast milk). The next trip to Bogie's Steakhouse William will now have something more to attack his sirloin with than just his gums!

6 months and counting!

William is 6 months old this week! We started the week out by going to Portrait Innovations at Jordan Creek for his 6 month pictures. Not only are they ADORABLE (look for some in the mail to you or at the Stuart-Bettis Reunion this weekend) but he also sat up all by himself in an up-right position. Dave says he's seen this before but not for this length of time, but I've never seen this. When WD would sit up - he usually leans forward within seconds in an attempt to get his feet in his mouth!

William is also cutting his first tooth, and doing remarkably well with it! A little fussy but overall - not bad. I was amazed that you couldn't even tell he was teething in the pictures as he was so happy and smiley!

Anyone looking to get photos I would highly recommend Portrait Innovations as they have a package where you can get over 60 pictures for $9.95 with no sitting fee, and you get to pick the picture you want for that package. Now I will warn you that if you are easily guilted like me - or have a really cute child, also like me - plan on spending more, as you won't be able to get out of there with just the $9.95 one portrait package, you'd be doing add-ons! The first set of pictures, we has TONS (like over 200 pictures) for $145, but this time I was able to get out of there for $45, so I did have more self control. :-) And the best part - your pictures are ready in 30 minutes!

Lactation Cookies? Are you sure???

Looking to boost my milk production for WD, I came across a recipe on the internet for Lactation Cookies. Now men - don't let these scare you - Dave has eaten plenty of them and we've yet to see a drop from him so far...so don't get too worried. Basically I think it's a healthier Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie - and now I have a GREAT excuse to eat several of them a day! I wash 'em down with either cold milk , or a hot cup of "Mother's Milk" Tea. Dave prefers milk with his.

"LACTATION" COOKIES

(aka: PERFECT EXCUSE Cookies)

preheat oven to 350
parchment paper is needed for this.

• 1 cup butter/margarine (I use light/low fat)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 t salt
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 cups flour (I use 1/2 c whole wheat flour + 1.5 to 1.75 c white flour)
• 2 T water (I omit entirely)
• 2 T ground flax seed meal
• 2 T flax seed (I add this - it's not in the original recipe)
• 4 T brewers yeast (I got mine at Campbell's Nutrition in Des Moines)
• 3 cups thick cut oats
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I like Dark Chocolate Chips as that makes it even "healthier")

The internet directions will tell you to mix your ground flax meal w/ the water in a cup and let sit, but I found that really useless, so I omit the water all together and just add the flax meal to the dry ingredients. (Can you tell I've made these a few times already.) Cream the butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla. If you chose to mix the flax meal with water, then you'll add that mixture to the creamed mixture now.

Next mix the dry ingredients together EXCEPT the oats and chips, leave those out until the end. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ones a few spoonfuls at a time. Once it's all incorporated then mix in the oats and chips. If you'd like to add nuts (I like to add 1/4 c chopped walnuts occasionally), add them now. Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheet. W/o the parchment paper, good luck getting them off your cookie sheet!

Bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 12 minutes.

Yield = I'd guess about 5 dozen, but I'm not for sure - have yet to bake a batch w/o Dave and I getting into them while they're hot! I'd recommend bagging them up in bunches of 2 or 3 and freezing them. That certainly helps hem last longer around our house.

WW POINTS value = 2 pts per cookie

Hot enough for ya?

William has a heat rash all over his tummy, and inner thighs. Poor kid doens't have it anywhere that it would be easy to keep uncovered, so he's been our "white trash baby" lately and just been chilling in his diaper a lot in the last 24 hours. If anyone knows any great home remedies please pass them on! Hopefully this cool-down that's suppose to come this weekend will give him a little relief.

New Nightly Ritual?

It's been interesting trying to get William to go to bed lately. As a new mom I have such mixed emotions about it. When he does go to sleep - I want to watch him and touch him and snuggle him, but I should be doing things like laundry, cleaning, working-out, or sleeping! Then when he's awake that's all I think about doing as he's getting to the stage when he doesn't want to snuggle, he wants to move and look around! UGH... Don't get me wrong - it's great that he's so attentive and alert, it's fun to watch...but I'm already missing the clinginess! (I'm a silly first-time mom and i'll get over that quick enough I'm sure - at least that's what I'm thinking all the other moms reading this are thinking of me!!!)

So I've started carrying him into our bed for about 10 minutes at night and Dave and I lay in bed with him. Sometimes I take the time to brush my teeth and Dave reads whatever he's reading to William (last night it was a Robert Ludlum spy novel). And we all play for a few minutes, then we kiss him good night and he get put down in his crib. I'm not sure if this is going to be a bad habit, or just something fun - I guess only time will tell!

SWING-TIME!

After trying out a swing at Emily Short's house, WD was in love with swinging outside. Being able to look around to all the new things, and getting to swing at the same time was a huge hit with him. He also go to swing at Grandpa & Grandma's house (on the the farm), and Uncle Rob got him going so high that his feet were touching the leaves on the tree! (That's where Mama drew the line w/ Uncle Rob.) So I begged Dave to make a place for a swing for William. I had bought one brand new at a garage sale when he was about 3 month old, and was fearful we'd be selling it at a garage sale brand new as well since we don't have any reliable trees we could hang it from. So this past weekend, Dave constructed a swing set. :-)

You can see it's nothing too fancy, nice and simple, and in the front yard!

Here's WD when he's sitting up correctly, and boy does he smile when he gets to swing. I've gotten him in it daily since Dave put it up. I love pushing him in it, and I think the movement helps keep the 'skeeters away from him!

Then there's times when William slouches down, and even falls alseep in the swing.

He's such a DOLL!

Time w/ the Cousins (and Grandma too)

You can't tell that Sutton (10) and Rowan (6) love their cousin William can you? I'm just not sure about it. They were up briefly with their Dad and Grandma Karyn on Thursday 7/31 after graduating swimming lessons. It seems that they were more interested in WD than their ice cream - now that's love isn't it!?!

CHEESE!

Above - Sutton gets some WD time.

Now it's Rowan's turn!

Finally - Grandma gets to steal William Duaine for herself!

Simple Update

Things are going well at the Kluver household. We went to Grimes to see the Short Family this weekend and grilled out there (Amy and I used to work at Progressive together). The weather cooperated, clearing off for a lovely evening. Then Saturday we cleaned house for the Taylor Family to come over (Becca and I were college roommates). We ordered in pizza and had homemade cookies, and the weather again held off until right as they were leaving.
Sunday - we made it to church for the 2nd week in a row, and even stayed for fellowship & cookies afterwards!
Feedings are going well - William is warming up to the idea of rice cereal. He especially likes the spoons to chew on. We tried a little fresh peach (I just scraped his spoon against a peach Dave was eating) but he wasn't really sure about that. Guess his taste buds aren't that refined yet.
This morning (Monday) I found that after a weekend of gluttony - my milk has come in full force! So William will be happy and Daddy might even be happy too (hey - formula is expensive - so we try to save money any way we can!). Sorry no Pics this week - we'll be sure to get some for next week's update.

5 MONTHS AND GROWING!

Cleaning up for a big weekend. Nothing like a Friday night bath!

Me (5mos TODAY) and my new BFF Chas Muhlbauer (12 wks).

(BFF = Best Friend Forever)

Mom doesn't feed me enough, so I'm going to eat my feet.

My first "solid" food, rice cereal. (It looked like instant potatoes, and smelled like glue!)

I'm happy when I'm messy!