Sea of Green Life

Eloise is smiling at Genevieve's horse gift bag. Really, horse crazy already? Merry Christmas! I hope everyone enjoyed thier day of blessings! Our started out rough with kids waking up all night long, but once we woke up for the day it all went well. Presents at home: We gave them a big present this year together- a snowmobile. GV is ready for it and AnnaBelle will have time to get used to it and she could drive it now. We know kids that started racing at five. Other than that, Genevieve got a horse jewelry box and necklace, AnnaBelle got a homemade monkey blanket, Gid got binoculars with camera attachment, and I got my new coat. Eloise got some cute cloth diaper covers and an ornament. We also switched up our snowmobiles. The kids got the little Arctic Cat and we traded my 500 for a two-up 600. We've been looking at snowmobiles for a while, it just happened that we found everything the week before Christmas. What me and Gid really wanted was for my allergies to go away, and

So I got the food blood tests back and here is what it said: Milk, eggs, corn, peanuts, tree nuts--off limits. I can have them if it is an ingredient and is less than 10% of the product. Cake for example has a small amount of milk in it and would technically be fine. Dr. Sabnis thinks I should be able to cut these things out for 6 months and then try reintroducing them. I have allergy drops for the food now as well as for the environmentals (cat, dog, dust, grass, molds, try to keep up ;). The biggest thing he said (for the third time) was that I should not have a cat. So anyone want a cat on loan for 6 months? The rabbit will also be moving to the garage. Sitting next to him now and typing is giving me a headache and asthma symptoms. The theroy again is that if I can get all my allergies under control, then the car one will follow suit and will get better as well. My system is still being overloaded with things so it is reacting to everything so these other allergies may fade---hopefu

Eloise had her first vacation, her first 10 hour car ride (she did great), her first day shopping, her first whipped cream, and several more, but we didn't have the camera. It went into the truck--and disappeared. Sara's appointment went ok. No amazing, do this and you'll be cured. They did give me the allergy drops and he said I should see improvement within 6 months. His theroy is that since I am allergic to everything, my body's system is raw and reacting to everything, including something in the car/garage like metal, fumes, plastic, ect. I haven't heard about the food tests yet, they will take another week. I feel frustrated that they didn't try to find new allergies, just went off the old ones. I believe the thinking is that there are a few major players and once those are controlled, the rest will fade away. Anyway, there is an update, I have 7 more days in the semester and an amazing amount of work to do. Chao.

This was a few weeks ago, right before deer season started. We are looking out the daycare window. This is the baby, Mama is on the other side of the garden eating leftover corn. This one is eating zuchinni. Yes zuchinni. There were a few that were missed and shortly after seeing these two, all the zuchinni disappeared. One of the daycare kids tells us how much her dad loves, "Monster bucks, and monster does." We are also hoping for a "monster" (very large) deer to fill our freezer. So far when Gideon goes hunting all he sees is partridge. He says they are teasing him, since they know he has the wrong gun with him.

Hello, figured I hadn't really posted about anything since almonds, and we've come a long way since then. First on is AnnaBelle. We tried reintroducing a small amount of milk in her diet, we let her eat a two pumpkin muffins over three days. The recipe contained 3 TB of milk. That was three weeks ago and we are still seeing the side effects. So no milk for AnnaBelle. The symptoms we saw were the second day her voice had changed and sounded gurgaly-is that a word? Runny nose started a few days later. Then we had about a week of "my tummy hurt." and one exciting morning where she threw up continually until she was empty. No we are on to the worst part for us--accidents and wetting the bed. Good thing I stocked up on laundry soap. Quite a record for 3 TB of milk in 24 muffins which she only had two of. On the other hand, I am super excited about my upcoming appointment at Allergy Associates in Lacrosse, WI. The more I have been reading about allergies the more I think th

Posted for Grandpa Sam who loves halloween but won't get to see them this year. Everyone had a great time, we walked up and town streets for about 1 and a half hours. We have a ton of candy, Gideon and I are very happy. Eloise slept nearly the whole time, she woke up on the walk back to the truck, so we speed walked. Proof of smile! She was smiling at a plastic pumpkin.

October 25, AnnaBelle is 2 and 3/4's and finally has enough hair for a hair cut. She was starting the mullet in the back so our hair stylist Jeff trimmed and blended. Genevieve got a trim too and yes that is our door in the background, he comes to us. In other news, AnnaBelle still can't have even small amounts of milk or things that contain milk. She is on the almond milk but we are working on changing that. You see the thing is, Sara is now allergic to almonds. Yes I know...I had a glass of AnnaBelle's chocolate milk, quite good from what I remember. But this time it tasted like a tin can. My favorite granola all of a sudden gave me hives. A muffin made with almond milk made me feel like coconut, my world was spinning. So we're going to have to start cooking with a different kind of milk-again. The plan is and was before to go to Allergy Associates, a clinic place in Madison for testing around Thanksgiving. I can't keep up with all the new things. Otherwise Elois

Three beautiful girls! Everyone keeps asking if we were hoping for a boy, we honestly didn't care. Sticking with girls simplifies things, we already adjusted to behaviors and clothes. I was hoping for a girl, but just because I like our girl name better than our boy name, Elliot Allen. Can't say three wonderful children, because thier all normal. Genevieve wants to play without her sister, AnnaBelle has a cold and is grumpy, crying and fit throwing, and Eloise won't sleep in her own bed at night, just ours. So the choice is up every hour or have her next to me and get 3 hours stretches. I'm still pretty relaxed on maternity leave and have no desires to return yet. But I'm also asleep a lot of the day. Which is making me fall behind on the things I need to do. So off I go....

This is definately going to be our production kind of kid. The IV was started at noon and she arrived at 10:59 and about 2 hours of pushing. Maybe more maybe less, I for one was not counting. She weighs 8.5lbs is 22inches long OH and her name is not Twinkle Toes! It is Eloise Irene Silence! My Great great aunts Eloise and Irene were the two that started Koeneke Shoredge in Lutsen. Otherwise, I haven't eaten since breakfast so Gid went to go get us Perkins at 12:20 am. Eloise is getting her first bath in the nursery. I can't wait to eat and then sleep!

Genevieve is now starting to like having a sister to play with at home. Not that they always get along, but they do play together more and have a ball doing it. This is them dressed up as cowgirls. Courtney was here visiting and helped them find thier hats and boots . Doggy day. AnnaBelle has her mouth open for a pretend treat. I took four pictures and this is the best one. Catching both of them is a huge task. I told AB to close her mouth so the next picture was GV covering her sisters mouth with her hand and not looking at the camera!

Not that I have to tell anyone that this is sort of late, but better late than never. Meet Quiver, the mini rex rabbit and don't forget to check out Gevie's crazy hair falling out of a pony tail. Quiver came from a farm in Silver Bay that belongs to a cousin (somehow) on the Bockovich side . Quiver is a great bunny, has litter trained well and puts up with Gevie chasing him and snuggling him. We got the rabbit on Aug 8th, but didn't get the cage until the 13th. The girls and I started to put it together on Fri. afternoon. It is made with shelving cubes from Walmart. It cost us about $45 for a giant cage that would have been at least another $100. All those things all over are zip ties. Both girls had a great time putting on about 60 of them. Daddy is doing the finishing touches. He put in two shelves or levels in the house and covered them with carpet. The black tray on the bottom came from the dogs kennel that never kept the dog in anyway. No that is not the rabbit, it

I'm so exhausted I have been barely able to think of what to type. But there is great news, there has been healing! I have been standing up and getting things done and still feeling wonderful. Well still pregnant so not really wonderful, but way better than before. I still can't do a lot because I get super exhausted, but I am very happy with the healing we have had. If I over do it I still have contractions and I sleep sitting up because of heartburn. This is something new that I didn't have with the girls either. In other exciting news, our garden is amazingly productive. I can barely keep up with it. Each day I pick a project to do during outside time. Like pick lettuce or zuchinni or weed an area. As far as I know the corn and potatoes are doing well, and I can't see the carrots either but the tops look good. The brocoli has been attacked by "cabbage loopers" green caterpillars that turn into white moths. I've sprayed them with an organic insecticide a

The newest direction that Sara's wierdness has taken. The dianosis was set by a nurse practicioner so it could be wrong, but after looking it up on-line, it fits--perfectly. What is a irritable uterus? I've linked a webpage under our links section with lots of information. But basically it means that I have a million contractions a day that don't do anything to start preterm labor, but they make me exhausted and they HURT. Some are just twinges, and others have me concentrating on my breathing. Contractions are irratic and sometimes it is a 20 minute contraction. Those are tons of fun. Standing, walking, a full bladder, and a million other things including fetal movements can make my prego belly upset. Good days and bad days so somedays I am up for long stretches and nothing, and sometimes getting my self a snack is too much and I have to rest/sit. The oxygen thing has leveled off, it doesn't drop that much and I try to get it to drop to give the Dr.'s more info. Ye

AnnaBelle said her name before, but now you can tell what it is. It is very short so you may have to play it a few times. First she says, "on" and turns on Tad the frog. Then she says her name, "An-milt" before catching herself and slowly saying "An-na--Belle." AnnaBelle is the picture of health and must be growing because most of her temper tantrums is because she wants to eat all the time and I refuse to let her have a snack every half hour. Very cruel, I know. Genevieve is in swimming lessons again and loving it. Gideon is in charge of carpooling and hating it. Twinkle Toes is happy and dancing all over my stomach and other organs. I have been feeling better the last two weeks, but still can't count on the time I can stand up. So the grocery store without a second adult to finish the job and check out is still a task that eludes me. I am able to stand up for longer though and get a little bit of stuff done. Usually between 5 and 10 minutes standing,

Hello, I'm sorry to not post fun things about kids with pictures. We've lost both cameras at the moment so there is no way to take pictures or to post them. Anyway, since everyone always asks how I am doing... I always have brakston hicks contractions or something. I think I posted about them. Last night they wouldn't go away and I was supposed to call if they lasted more than an hour. Rhonda took me to the ER and they hooked up the fetal monitor and ran a bunch of tests. Baby is still happy and healthy from what they can "see" and I was not in danger of preterm labor. They did find I had two totally normal (amazing) pregnancy infections which they can treat with antibiotics. So I have two more pills. I am also still anemic and lower than last time (currently 10.9, they want 14 as a low). Since I said the iron wasn't bad on my system, she said, "Good, you can take it three times a day." I am also adding a vitamin C supplement to help my body absorb t

The title is from the amazing fact that we have no laundry to do. My mom came for a week long visit and did laundry and cleaned the kitchen endlessly. It did take her almost the whole week to get to the end of the laundry though. Was great to have her here to do the hauling upstairs and downstairs with it and stand at the sink for dishes. And of course visit!! We have been keeping track of the oxygen saturation with the monitor but it doesn't seem to always change, even when I don't feel well. The best way to describe it is: imagine the opposite feelling of standing on your head-instead of everything rushing to your head, you can feel it falling away. Rather uncomfortable and other things start to go awry that make me feel ill, the last two things are that my stomach gets real tight and my vision dims, like I put on sunglasses (really wierd to have happen). The contractions, if that's what they are have eased up quite a bit but seem to come on in the car (big surprise). I h

We got the oxyometer from Duluth today, the thing that measures the oxygen in your blood. I also got the number that I shouldn't go below; 85%. I've been up and around with the thingy and it drops to 93, so that is promising at least-no totally tied down. The biggest thing is the more I am up, the bigger headache I get. Not all together pleasant, but I'll take what I can get. I'll be moving around this weekend and seeing what I can and can't do.

By the title it is obviously a post of Sara. A new bump in the road and tests to run. I started feeling "heavy-headed" when I stood up and and cramps. I called and of course the nurse said I should come in (me and AB have a go directly to "jail" card). They ran a few things but the simplest one was the answer. When I stand up and walk around I lose oxygen. Doing a two minute walk in the hospital dropped it to 77% instead of 100%. When I sit, it immediately goes to 100%. The headache, breathlessness, and vision take a minute to recover. What does this mean? They are going to try a few new things to try and figure it out, the problem will only get worse as the baby grows and demands more of my blood/oxygen. I am almost done with my first day doing daycare sitting down. Genevieve says, "Wow I didn't know you could even change diapers sitting down." I wheel myself around the kitchen in my office chair. Whatever works. Not working is not an option-unless it

I forgot that you are supposed to update the blog every now and again. Nothing special, just a what's been happening here. I purposely posted a cute picture of AnnaBelle getting "eaten" by the chair at the circus. She is a real pill lately. Gid and I both take "time outs" away from her. If she stubs her toe, it's a temper tantrum with screaming, if a zipper is stuck, she wants more juice and you say water, anything, lots of screaming. AHHHHHHH. In her slight defense, she has been sick again (what's new about that?) pnemonia and ear infections. She has been on Amoxicillan since April 5. Yes we are getting her new tubes---or something. Nothing awful or contagious, just the same common cold every got and got over at the end of March, but ABelle is special and can't kick the congestion and it keeps digging in. Hopefully her check up next week will be all clear, but if you hear the rattle in her chest......probably not. Last time we heard, "The lung

Well can't say this baby is a girl or not, but definately following baby Genevieve in the craving department. Only one. Mint Chocalate Chip Milkshakes. OH MY! Posted about my earlier troubles finding a brand that I could eat. Found it and it was on sale, I now have a gallon, but am now considering getting another. To save $3 of course. Oh the amazing abiltiy for food to become that delisious. Just what I wanted. In other news: The baby, nicknamed Twinkle Toes by Genevieve, is now the size of a medium shrimp or 3in. (from babycenter.com). I have a belly but someone else will have to take a picture if you want to see it. The great Suburban needed and got a new transmission. There was and is a lot of praying going on about it and it is fun to see how God provides. Gideon prayed in Duluth (when it sounded like we left a major chunk of something behind us) to be able to drive the truck home. We made it, no problem or further scary noises. But we needed a tranny with a serious $0 in the

In the video, Gevie is squatting way low. She was frustrated to go faster so I told her to bend her knees A LITTLE. I spent the next hour trying to convince her to stand up and bend her knees only. Better luck next time. Gevie has become quite the sports person. This week has been a busy week for her with skiing on Sunday afternoons, dance on Monday, and swimming lessons on Tues. and Thurs. No, we don't plan on making her one of the kids that's carted all over the place, but she yearns to get out of the house and participate so we started dance, then skiing had a super deal on ski lessons (because we can't ski) and her friend from daycare was there. And of course, you all know about Gevie and the water, so swimming lessons were a necessity. We probably only have one more day of skiing with the really warm weather. Gevie and Gideon are going, with I could video his way down. After he figures out how to stop and practices on the littlest hill, they will probably go down a rea

Hello, been meaning to post but of what? Exhaustion? Field trips? Migraines? So I picked my favorite, ice cream. My all time must have to live food is Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. Breyers is the best but I believe over $6 a container now. This story comes from Sara's busy life, new allergy searching, and a slightly foggy memory. I was in the grocery store and OH LOOK ice cream on sale. I'll get my favorite. I get home, get busy forget about ice cream, add a migraine the next day, but then finally ICE CREAM for dessert. I scoop it into the bowl and....WAIT. God sends me a little bird that says, "doesn't this kind have coconut in it?" NOOOOO! Yes it does. I rinsed out my bowl and cheated with a bit of strawberry. Now I have a whole carton of my favorite ice cream that Genevieve gets to eat (AB can't have and Gid won't have). So anyway, read the label before you buy is the moral of this story, or I guess just remember if you already found out the hard way.

One of my daycare moms left this with her tire tracks this morning. Her daughter noticed it as she waved good-bye. Pretty perfect timing, we enjoyed looking at it all day. We don't get real into holidays so yesterday was a wonderful Sunday with church in the morning and nap after lunch and then we went kite flying on Two Island lake with Rhonda, Chuck, Ben, Goosie, RaeAnne, Carter, and us. Carter and AnnaBelle hate the cold, so they watched happy feet in the truck with Goosie after a while. Rae and Gevie got to go on a short snowmobile trip to the Landing for dinner where we all had dinner and tried to keep the two year olds from interuppting any romantic evenings. Most were older couples that enjoyed watching AnnaBelle groove to her own music. Gevie stayed with Rae for the night and AnnaBelle almost slept through the night.

So maybe you've met Dipper in the last year and a half. He got a cut on his leg fall of 2008. It didn't heal, he would leave it alone. We took him to the vet after about 8 months. She did minor surgery to clean it up and stitched it. He took them out. She put in staples, he took them out. We bandaged it, and bandaged it and..... you get the picture. He wore the cone for almost a whole year. Then ok, we give up. What does he do? He starts on his tail! The last 1 1/2 inches of his tail is furless and gross. Same deal we can't get him to leave it alone and when we leave, he really makes a mess of it. So for some reason, Gid's parents didn't want him when we went on vacation. So we took him with. My mom has 3 Dippers (a brother, sister, and his mom) so he is always welcome. We shut him in a plastic kennel and then closed the door to the room. (The room was covered so he wouldn't get blood anywhere). We were back within 2 hours, he was out of the kennel and was about

Genevieve's birthday and Christmas party (AnnaBelle's too). Gevie says, "I don't know what it could be, maybe a horse?" This kid and horses! It was a bike 16". She was also thrilled with two sets of animals (totaling 122 pieces), a Dora Tag book, A DIEGO TAG BOOK! (her favorite), and a firetruck (for Gid too). AnnaBelle got a dog that says her name, and the Tag Jr. (so she stops stealing GV's). They both got games Don't Break the Ice and Ants in the Pants. We played them last night, fun! My mom thought she would be able to come up in January but then we found out Grandpa Sam needed another hip replacement. The other hip replacement pin went askew after a fall at the rehab center last year right after surgery. He was quiet and grumpy the first day but back to himself the next two days we visited. He is a very stubborn man, so you can tell when he is back to normal. He refused to have surgery when he was in the hospital before Christmas because he wan

December is always crazy around here with Genevieve's birthday and all the Christmas parties, programs and getting together with all branches of family. Here are only a few pix of what we've been up to. The horse was Gevie's birthday present. She loves it, so does ABelle. They got the giant dog (GV) and bear for Christmas. Gevie and AnnaBelle in thier Christmas program at church. They were both angels but AnnaBelle took a liking to the sheep hat the last day, so she spent much of the program as a sheep in a dress. AnnaBelle stood up on the stage and danced and Gevie did sing rather well. Her favorite song was "Go Tell it on the Mountan." On Genevieve's birthday we went to Okontoe for a Christmas service and sleigh ride. What fun we had! It was -15 tempeture, not windchill, but we had a great time petting the horses and singing carols. I'll post more pix and a few movies hopefully, but for now, if we didn't tell you how much we loved seeing almost ev