Ben is running for school board.  So, if you live in the West Fargo School District vote on June 10!  (Reagan really is our child :o)  The blond hair must have been a stray gene)  After stuffing over 400 envelopes in 2 evenings I managed to make an appointment with my chiropractor and stuffing the envelopes was so much fun I get to go back the the chiropractor next week.  Who knew that over 8 hours of the same repetitive motion wouldn't agree with the neck...  Next mailing?  Postcards I hope.  

In other news, summer is here and it is strange not taking the school bag and making sure Madison is school ready each morning.  She is going to continue going to Preschool Plus at least for June and July for the activities.  If she and her aunts are ready, she might spend August with Ashley and Kailey.  

We are spending the weekend getting ready for all the upcoming parties and showers and helping mom finish packing and start cleaning her apartment.  Reagan isn't much of a box mover (more of a mover tripper) so we'll keep it low profile and help where we can.  

The Graduate

I haven't decided what is harder to comprehend.  That my daughter is done with kindergarten or that my daughter is now a first grader.  Today she received her diploma and has one more day of school left.  They had a cute little program.

And Reagan, well I hope they are already preparing his future teacher.  

Cloudy skies

And the first big storm of the season rolls in.  It started this afternoon with Madison being graced by what we believe is the flu bug and is continuing this evening with a pretty good thunderstorm.  The thunder shakes the house, don't particularly enjoy that part.  I am just hoping that the flu doesn't find anyone else in our house, especially Reagan.  He and I took the liberty of cleaning Madison's room while she was down today.  Let me rephrase that, when cleaning takes 4 hours for one bedroom, it would more be classified as renovation.  

I have a great new family picture to share, just having a few issues opening the file.  But we're working on it.  

Second opinions

Sometimes in life you can trust someone with what they tell you.  There are no doubts, no questions and no second guessing.  And then sometimes in life you wonder why some people think you are so stupid.

Last month I was told by a pediatric dentist that Madison has 8 cavities, need 8 filings and 3 crowns at the price tag of over $1,400.  Let's just say I was a little taken back.  I was made to feel that I was a bad parent because of her cavities and they were blamed on her not flossing.  You show me a 5 1/2 year old who flosses every night and I will give them and their parents a medal.  Ben and I haven't yet signed up for dental insurance because we've only had our dental cleanings and an occasional cavity.

So we left the dentist not sure what to do but knowing that something wasn't right.  A few friends and relatives suggested I get a second opinion.  I have never done that before.  I have always trusted our doctors and dentists so this was a little strange for me.  When I was at my dentist a few weeks ago I told him about Madison and the proposed treatment plan.  Well today we had our second opinion from him and it is much better.

Madison only has 4 cavities, not 8, and she does not need any crowns.  This treatment plan will be around $500 which is much easier to take.  She is going to have one cavity filled on June 12 and hopefully the other ones can wait until August when our dental insurance kicks in.

Seriously, my child has pearly whites.  I could understand the first treatment plan if her teeth were rotting and she never brushed.  Moral of the story?  Don't be afraid to question experts once in awhile.  And experts, please don't assume moms are stupid or bad parents.  

No really?

Wouldn't you know it, I fought with a queen size mattress and box spring while trying to clean out the play room and it turns out they won.  A visit to my favorite chiropractor (hi Dr. Darrin) and some painful pressure therapy later I am now feeling great.  Ben get the task of removing them for a second time.  On a lighter note, I had the most fabulous 2 hour nap after my adjustment today.  

Happy spring, oh wait, that's right the forecast calls for frost tonight!!!  What the heck?  And some say we are in global warming.  Maybe they should come to North Dakota. 

Birthdays

Who says you are supposed to relax on your birthday?  Yesterday morning we woke up and Ben cooked some bacon and eggs.  My day consisted of cleaning out both our coat closets, finishing the laundry, washing the floor and vacuuming both floors of our house.  We made it to dinner at Mexican Village and caught the movie "What Happens In Vegas" before ending the day.

This morning when a normal person would relax after a crazy day of cleaning, the kids and I decided to convert our guest/toy/storage room into a toy room.  We cleaned out the entire room, vacuumed and dusted and then one by one, box by box put the toys away.  Our guest bed is now in an empty room and the closet is full of bedding.  The rest of the room is toys, toys, toys.  I am just happy we got it done and Madison and Reagan have somewhere to play in the basement.  After we head to a housewarming party, we will go through their rooms and move some more toys to the toy room.  

And Grandma Karen, I have called every auction within an hour's radius of your house and told them they are not to sell you any more toys!!!!  

Sunshine!

What a fabulous day!  Madison, Reagan and I took a little road trip to North Fargo to our friend Darrin's house for some great food and some fun checking out the koi pond.  Reagan actually preferred tormenting the poor fish and causing a typhoon or whatever you would call an earthquake and tornado in the water!  Fortunately all of the fish survived his torment.  Madison had a great time playing in the dirt and planing flowers.  I have definitely become less stressed when my kids get dirty.  I realize that is when they have the most fun.  

Anyway, it was a lot of fun visiting and eating and needless to say I didn't need to eat supper!  Ben had surprised me at work with Taco Johns and didn't realize I had lunch plans.  Of course I can't pass up food so I had to eat two lunches, darn.  I must say that the second was much better than Taco Johns!  

Looking forward to what is looking to be a nice weekend.  I am hoping to catch some sun and maybe get our patio furniture set up.  Oh yeah, and it's the big 28 on Saturday, officially in my upper 20s I guess.  Hoping to catch a good meal at Mexican Village and maybe a nap or two.  Then it's on to planning for a June birthday for Madison (6) and an August birthday for Reagan (2) - they are getting so big so fast.  I love watching them play together.

And in the middle of all that I am helping plan our 10 year high school reunion.  It is all taking shape and we are hoping for a good turnout  There is also a July 4 bbq in Wisconsin and a week at the lakes with Ben's family in August.  January promises a trip to Las Vegas for the International Builders show - I LOVE LAS VEGAS!  And speaking of Vegas, the movie Mama Mia premiers in mid-July.  Can't wait.  

Skateland

Madison and I had a blast at Skateland on Saturday.  Reagan had fun watching with grandma.  No rumps hit the skating rink fortunately!  Madison can't wait to go back.  

Kids say and do...

Kindergarten.  Such a fun age.

This morning we woke up to 12 wild turkeys in our backyard.  The kids thought it was great.  When we left for school we snapped a few pictures and Madison asked, "Mom, they don't like us do they?"

I replied, "No, they're scared of us."

Madison says, "That's because we cook them." 

----------------------------------

And that was only the beginning.  In school the kids make cute projects for the different holidays.  For Mother's Day, they made an award about their moms.  It lists our name, hair color, eye color, age and favorite food.  Oh yeah, and our weight.  Now they received no direction on this other than most mommies are over 100 pounds.  Well, Madison is convinced that I weigh........205 pounds.  Yep, you got it, I'm a big mama.  Maybe I will let her look at the scale next time I step on so she can redeem herself! 

My mom told me to keep the award and bring it out when Madison turns 18.  Should be good leverage when she asks for a car.  

Madison's Story

It's only fair to Madison to tell her story as well.  

Ben and I were married April 1, 2000.  We were both sophomores in college.  The summer before my senior year at Concordia we decided we wanted to start a family.  Anticipating it would take awhile, we were shocked to learn that I became pregnant less than two months later, coincidentally the week of September 11, 2002.  For those of you who know about Concordia know that "pregnant girls" are generally frowned upon.  I had a wedding ring on my finger so they could all just look the other way.  I graduated the first week of May, very pregnant, and just wanted to wear a sign that said "I'm married."    

My pregnancy was very uneventful, fortunately.  The excitement would come later with Reagan I guess.  I was thrilled to learn we were having a girl and the joke was up until delivery that if they were wrong, it would be one funny looking boy in all the girl colors.  Almost everything (and there was a lot) that I and moms and grandmas bought, and after 5 baby showers I believe, was pink with some purple.  I remember saying after she was born, "Is it a girl?"  I feared that we would have a little boy with nothing to wear home.  

Madison's labor was 13 hours long, not terrible for a first baby.  We got to the hospital and they sent us home because my labor wasn't strong enough.  We had been to the hospital twice prior with pretty decent contractions only to be sent home so this was again a disappointment.  However a few hours later we were back.  So, anyone who knows me well knows I have (had) a major fear of needles.  I was bound and determined that there would be no needle of an epidural and I could do this on my own.  (Hindsight - STUPID!!! They make great drugs for a reason.)  Anyway, my doctor was not on call that evening and we were very fortunate to meet Dr. Dangerfield.  He would later help up through our difficult pregnancy with Reagan.  After 1 1/2 hours of very intense labor at the end, Madison entered the world at 12:51 am on Saturday, June 15, 2002.  Dad, Grandma Tammie and Grandma Torey all got to welcome her with me as I was a little anxious and didn't want our mom's to leave when it came time.  

I will always remember and laugh about the morning she was born.  At about 2:00 am we were all exhausted so I sent Madison to the nursery so Ben and I could get some rest.  Very excited I was up quite early the next morning and Ben was still snoozing in the chair.  I could not get him to wake up and all I wanted to do was walk down and get Madison.  After much annoyance and prodding he finally awoke and we went together to meet our daughter.  

She was a healthy 7 pounds 2 ounces and came home as scheduled.  She had a touch of jaundice but not severe enough to be hospitalized.    

Reagan's Story

I've been asked by someone to move Reagan's story to this website from our Caringbridge site so they can read it - here it is!

In January, 2006 we were thrilled to learn that we were expecting our second child. We had just moved in to our new home the day before we found out and couldn't have been more excited.

In June, we traveled to Wisconsin to celebrate Madison's birthday, during which time I started having contractions. I didn't say a whole lot at the time because I wanted to get home to Meritcare and didn't want to be stuck in a little Wisconsin hospital. I was 25 weeks and knew something just wasn't right. We returned on Sunday and the contractions continued into Monday. When I called our clinic on Monday and told them the contractions were about 2 minutes apart, they told me to come in for monitoring. The monitors confirmed that I was in preterm labor and was sent home on bedrest. This was great at first, someone cooking and cleaning for me, but started to get a little old and very lonely.

When we were 29 weeks, I was admitted to Meritcare so they could administer steroid shots as they really didn't expect me to carry the baby to term. After 3 days I was sent home, still on bedrest, and on medications every 4 hours to help the contractions, although it didn't stop them. I don't think that we truly realized the seriousness of the situation at the time.

Through much prayer and help from our friends and family, we made it to 34 weeks before returning to Meritcare. The contractions had picked up again and had gotten stronger. They admitted me once again and immediately started magnesium, which is one of the most awful drugs I have ever had. But it bought us more precious time for Reagan to grow where he belonged. Ten days later, Dr. Dangerfield returned and we decided to stop the Magnesium and let God take over. I was 35 1/2 weeks and we felt confident that Reagan would be ok. On Tuesday, August 8, I was able to go home to my own bed. I never knew what true bedrest was until I was stuck in the hospital for 10 days.

Two days later, on August 10, 2006, my water broke and we were so excited to know the time was finally here. I was one day shy of 36 weeks and we were just praying for a healthy baby. We arrived at Meritcare a little after 8:00 that morning, I received a fabulous epidural about 9:30 (I was crazy and didn't have one with Madison) and Reagan arrived at 11:15 that morning. It was an absolutely amazing experience and everything happened so fast. Unfortunately, Dr. Dangerfield was in surgery and Reagan certainly wasn't going to wait another three hours for him to get upstairs. The nurse started calling for any doctor available!

All seemed to be well at first. However, his oxygen levels weren't where they should be so they admitted him into the neonatal intensive care unit. He was breathing on his own, but just wasn't getting the oxygen saturation that he needed. The next 12 days were a roller coaster ride of hoping he would come home and then finding out he had to stay longer. He was just small and needed a little extra help eating. One of the hardest times came when we left the hospital without him. But, he finally figured out the eating situation and we brought him home on August 22, 2006.

The whole experience now seems unreal. We didn't really realize how serious the situation was until after he was born and we saw other babies who were born at 25 weeks. We are so thankful for the doctors and nurses who helped keep me pregnant for an extra 10 weeks, who put up with us through our hospitalizations and who watched over and took care of Reagan.

Over Labor Day weekend, when I was actually due, Reagan began losing weight and not keeping his food down. An ultrasound of his belly showed that he had Pyloric Stenosis, which required immediate surgery to correct. The hardest moment came when we had to turn him over to the surgery team as we began which I think was the longest 2 hours of my life. Fortunately the surgery went fine and he came home 2 days later, eating like a champion. We are so grateful for the surgeon who happened to stop in the hospital that day and who was willing to stay, on his day off, to operate on our son.

Three weeks later, the condition returned. The doctors had heard of this happening, but had not seen it before. Surgery was scheduled for the next day, but thankfully the condition slowly improved enough to cancel the surgery. Reagan is now a happy, growing, healthy baby.

Madison is so happy to be a big sister and loves her little brother so much. Ben and I are so thankful for everyone who was there with us on this journey. Life is truly a miracle and we feel blessed to have two healthy children.  We have been asked MANY times if we will have more children.  Unfortunately we do not know what went wrong with my pregnancy with Reagan so we don't know what to do to prevent it from happening again, if there is even anything one can do.  Because of the risk of this happening again and right now having our hands full and our lives busy, we are content with our two munchkins.  (Although I would love nothing more than to get to do it all over again, I think the risk is just too high.)

Cousin It

Cousin It is no longer Cousin It but has been named Cousin Caleb.  Welcome to the world!

Caleb Arden Jay Kleinsasser was born to Ben's sister, Becky, and her husband, Matt, this morning just before 5:30 after 22 hours of labor (yuck)!  He weighed in at 9 lbs 0.6 oz and is 19.5 inches long.  Can't wait to see him!  He joins Charlie, Damon and Aria at home (their pets) and is the third grandchild in the Koppelman family and the first for the Kleinsassers.    

On another note...I am really starting to like my schedule again as it is sunny and in the 70s.  After a short nap with the windows open the kids and I will venture to the backyard.  Hey, someone has to do it.  

(Ok, so the nap never worked out but we were able to enjoy the sun until it rained.)

Cool tractors

Thanks cousin Dane for the cool bed stuff!  I like my tractors.  

Also, here's a picture of Ben's best project yet, our house.  Someone asked me to post a pic so here it is, deck, yard and all!  

Grandma Tammie closed on her townhome today - cool!  Ben and Jim are ripping out the kitchen. 

Ben's sister is currently in the hospital, no baby yet.  Hopefully by the time we go to bed.

A beautiful day outside, spring is finally here - amen!  The kids love it.

2 horror stories of the day:

1.  This morning on the way to school, Madison told me it was her birthday.  I told her it wasn't and that she had another 6 weeks to go.  "No mom, it's May 5 and it's my birthday at school."  Woops!!!  The kids with summer birthdays get to pick a day in May to celebrate their birthday and we picked May 5.  My  memory is obviously gone but she knew exactly what day it was.  After a quick trip to the store, a special delivery to school and 15 minutes late to work, problem solved.

2.  This afternoon we thought we would surprise grandma Tammie at work with a candy bouquet and balloon celebrating her new house.  We were a block away from her office, Madison was holding the bouquet and balloon and telling me how she was going to surprise grandma and roll down her window when she got to the car.  Well, she decided she'd practice rolling down the window and out the window went the balloon.  She was devastated.  I feel so bad that she felt bad that we went all the way back to South Fargo to get a replacement balloon and back to North Fargo to drop it off and then way South of Fargo to go home.  Detour well worth it.  Reagan slept the whole way so he had no clue what was going on.  

Why?

Why is it that when you give a 20 month old a hot dog, he eats the ketchup and leaves the hot dog.  Then when the ketchup is gone, he starts chewing the hot dog and then decides he needs to spit it out.  Hot dogs aren't that attractive to begin with, and are especially disgusting when they are rechewed and reappear on the tray.

Why is it that the same 20 month old also thinks it is fun to watch silverware go over the gate and down the stairs?  

How is it that a toddler knows exactly which boxes of cereal in the pantry have opened bags that are just waiting to be dumped in the kitchen only to fish out the marshmallows? 

And why is it that same child has an internal 5:30 am wakeup call?  

By the age of 5 1/2, they figure out these things are not so exciting any more and are satisfied with questioning everything and arguing about what they don't question.

Because, otherwise being a mommy would maybe be boring!  And then you wonder why you are so lucky to have them after all the mess and mayhem as they lie peacefully in their beds dreaming of the next days adventures.  

Balance

One would think that there would be a balance in a child's life between how many days/nights they are healthy and just fine to how many days/nights they are sick, teething or just don't feel like sleeping.  Reagan will do very well for a month or two and then - slam - no more sleep or napping.  Last night he was up with an ear infection until 12:30 and then up at 5:30 for the day.  This is half the sleep he is used to and much less sleep than I am used to.  One would think daddy would hear the screams and cries after 45 minutes at 12:00 am and wake up but his daddy could sleep through a freight train barreling through our house.  His tubes make it so most ear infections are not painful for him but they must have been plugged last night because he was one miserable little person.  

Fortunately I was very busy at work so I had no issues staying awake.  I had my friday Sandy's donut and Mountain Dew.  Then an hour later Ben surprised me with a Burger King breakfast sandwich and another Mountain Dew.  I spent about 4 hours working through a real estate transaction and completing the settlement statement and HUD - exciting?  Actually it was very interesting.  I love my numbers.  

I have a little wall hanging that says "Babies are God's way of saying you were getting way to much sleep."  How true! 

So here's hoping for a better night and a quick cat nap.  

Cloudy days

Do we still have a sun?  I am hoping we see it soon!  The cloudy skies and windy days need to find another part of the country for a little bit.  

Reagan is still teething.  I think it will be a process that won't be over for a little while.  Until then we just pray for sleep and rest between 10 pm and 6 am.  Reagan has 4 general names in his vocabulary - ma, da, na and ga.  Na is Madison and Ga is his term for anyone who looks like a grandma or grandpa.  Ma and da are self explanatory.  When he wants something I turn into mama.  If you listen closely you can make out Ashley and Kailey.  

Madison has one month of kindergarten left and then hello summer.  It will be my last few months of "double daycare" so we are pretty excited about that.  It adds up!  And Madison, well she could be a poster child for the "Kids say the darndest things" show.  There is a new comment/phrase each day.

Signing off, hoping to catch a nap and then Dr. Phil and Oprah :o)