$28 vs $6...ill take it

A few months after Koen was born I noticed that he often had red cheeks. I didnt pay much attention to it and just figured it was because he has fair skin and it was cold out. Well the months got hotter and the redness went away but then he started getting bumps on his face. I thought it was just a heat rash or maybe I needed to wash his sheets more frequently. I took him to his 9month check up and mentioned it to the doctor. He said it was Keratosis Pilaris and he suggested Retin-A for his skin. I about died. I asked if that stuff was safe for children and he said yes. He told him I could put some lotion(s) on it as well. So I went home and started looking into it and asking questions. From what I found out there is a good chance the rash is due to an allergy, most likely dairy or wheat :(. I knew I couldnt take him back to the doctor because they dont know much about allergies and nutrition. So I decided on a natural approach and took him to a naturopath. This lady had a wealth of info on what I could give my kids when they get sick, what vitamins to give them etc. It was a lot of great info. So she told me I could try to eliminate dairy or wheat. He hasnt been interested in his formula and I was about to get him off formula and put him on regular milk, so I decided to eliminate dairy. She suggested I put him on coconut milk along vitamins/minerals and fatty acids that I mix in.

So we are on day 2 of no dairy and Im struggling with coming up with meal ideas. I never realized how many things have dairy in them! So we are trying this for 3 weeks and if the rash doesnt get better we will go to plan b. His formula was costing us $28 a week so I am exstatic to no longer be using formula. Coconut milk is more expensive than regular milk but way cheaper than formula. I would love to say we are now saving money since we arent buying formula but the money we were using for formula is now going to the cost of the monthly visits to the naturopath :) Im also excited to get rid of the bottles...one step at a time :)

2 years

I cant believe my baby is 2 years old!! Time has truly flown by. Zane is a hilarious kid and he doesnt forget a thing! He is very smart and has a great sense of humor. He talks like crazy and can say 4-5 word sentences on a regular basis. He loves is obsessed with cars, trucks and tractors. If it has wheels...he wants it. He loves McQueen and friends. We took him to see the movie when it came out and he never gets sick of McQueen or Mater. He can sing his ABCs and count to 7. He just started singing twinkle twinkle little star too! He loves to dance and "go crazy" like they do on Yo Gabba Gabba. He is a good kid and of course like to test him limits and my patience. The joys of a 2 year old. He loves to play with Koen although we are still working on being gentle. Zane is a solid kid and his version of gentle/soft and is so gentle. He keeps me on my toes and makes me smile every day :)

Weight 34.6 lbs - 97%
Length 36 in - 90%  He can ride the kiddy rides at the fair this year...wahoo!!

9 months

Koen is so much fun! He has an infectious smile and loves to laugh. He is a happy baby and is very chill. He cruises all along furniture and is starting to get brave enough to move from one couch to the next. I think he will be walking before we know it. He loves to play with Zane and loves music. He likes to clap and wave bye bye. He kicks his legs like crazy and reaches for the back door when he wants outside. He loves it out there no matter how hot it is! He thoroughly enjoys hose water and often chokes on it because he loves it so much. This kid eats just about anything. Hes not a fan of bananas but loves banana bread and zucchini bread. Now that he is eating more table foods he isnt a big fan of his bottles and Im lucky if I can get him to drink 20oz a day. He sleeps through the night...which I LOVE!!! He sleeps about 11 hours a night...yeah and yeah! Here are his stats

Weight 21.75
Length 29
Head 18 1/4

They didnt write down his % so Im thinking hes somewhere in the 80-85%, just a guess :)

Growing up so fast!

Zac took this picture of the boys last night! They are growing up so fast, they are so much fun and we are so blessed to have them in our lives!!

5 years

Five years ago I married the most incredible man and became the luckiest girl! I know everyone thinks they married the most incredible man and they did....they married the most incredible man for them specifically. I never thought I would marry someone that I knew from highschool nor did I think I would be almost 29 when I got married. I always knew I would be one of the last of my friends to get married but I didnt thing I would be the very last. He was well worth the wait.

I met Zac in Aug 1990 in our 7th grade core class. I dont remember much about 7th grade and quite honestly I dont remember him being in my class. I have a 7th grade school picture of him in my scrapbook so I know that he was someone I must have talked to. He remembers asking me out in a note and me writing back with a "no" response. I have no recollection.

We had a math class together in 9th grade and I do remember him in 9th grade :) I had a crush on him and we would write notes back and forth and I would count the # of words he wrote on each note. I happened to keep all the notes he wrote me back then and I am so glad that I did.

In 10th grade we had a Spanish class together and were good friends. In 11th grade we shared a locker because I got stuck with the sophmores. I gave him a black truck for his bday (which he kept and still has). I dont remember seeing him our senior year.

He went on a mission to Alaska and I called his parents and asked for his address so I could write him. We wrote a few letters back and forth (which I kept as well) and that was that. I saw him after he got home from his mission at a mutual friends house and we caught up on life. He had a girlfriend at the time and I thought nothing of it.

In 2002 I bought my own house, moved in with Nikki Skinner, who grew up with him and was in his home ward. I would ask her if she had heard what he was up to here and there and she would tell me that he was working and living at home with his parents.

In 2004 I ran into him at a church Thanksgiving dance. It had been 5 years since I had seen him, he looked the same. I remember being excited to see him. I asked him for his ph# and he started giving me a home ph#. I asked him what his cell ph# was and he said he didnt own one. I was taken back at this and he said it was so that people he didnt want to talk to wouldnt be able to get a hold of him. We went out on a date in Decemember and a few weeks later I met another boy who pursued me faster than Zac at the time. So I was hanging out with both guys. Zac asked me out for Valentines day, I said yes. I then told the guy I was acutally dating and I felt bad, so I called Zac and told him all about the boy I was dating and that I couldnt go out with him on Valentines day. I was so sad. I told him to call me but I didnt hear from him. I was afraid to call his house because his mom wasnt saying nice things to others about me. Me and the other guy ended things in March and I left a note on Zacs truck asking him to call me....no response.

Novemeber 2005 I ran into Zac at a church function. I was soooo scared when I saw him. I thought he hated me. It took me forever to get the courage to talk to him. We talked for quite awhile and I asked him to call me. I tried giving him my ph# again and he told me he thought he had it somewhere. I tried to give it to him again and he said no that he would find my ph#. I thought for sure I would never hear from him again but he called in December and he came over and we talked and talked until 3 in the morning and we started dating after that. Zac said he had no intention of dating me or even hanging out with me. His plan was to hang out with me once so I wouldnt think that he hated me. He only wanted to see me that one time and be done with me...but I lucked out and he wanted to see me again and again.

I love him so much. He is an amazing husband and father. He works so hard to provide for us and I couldnt imagine my life without him. I know this is a long post but I wanted to have it all written down :)

4mo-6mo-18mo

Its been FOREVER since I last posted...so I will catch up with the kids developmental milestone posts and then I will hopefully post some other stuff soon on what we have been up to!


Koen was 4 months on March 1, 2011 (actually Feb 29th but there is no 29th )

Weight 16lbz 13oz 90%
Height 26 1/4 in 90%
Head 17 1/4 80%

Koen started rolling over both directions at 4 months and totally found his voice - tons of fun to have around

Zane turned 18 months March 13, 2011. He says a TON of words and he can even put a few words together. He is very social at home and likes to play with his brother. He is starting to get interested in cars, trucks and tractors. Zane is a big kid and wears 3T at 18months!!

Weight 31lbs 0oz 95%
Height 33 3/4 in 90%
Head 18 3/4 in 50%

Koen turned 6 months on April 29, 2011. Koen watch scootching everywhere at 6 months and was starting to get on his hands and knees, rocking back and forth. He likes to eat rice cereal but we are still working on getting him to eat fruits and veggies. He likes sweet potatoes and carrots, thats it!

Weight 19lbs 3oz 95%
Height 27 3/4 in 90%
Head 17 3/4in 80%

THANKS SCANLANS

This post is for my wonderful parents! I tried to email them these videos using regular email and using FB but they were too big so I posted them here! WE LOVE YOU...they are out of order, oops. Start from the bottom :)

Koen Blessing

Koen was blessed on January 2nd. Zac did an amazing job with the blessing and it was great to have our families there to be a part of it :) My MIL made his outfit and she did a great job! Koen started laughing on January 1st so it made for a great weekend!

Zanes favorite way of smiling these days. Hes always on the go so its hard to get a picture of him :)

2010

Lots has happened since I last posted!! This is a long post that covers July-December. My goal is to post at least once a month if not more. I want to get better at documenting what goes on in the Hoover household so I can keep a record of our journey!!

JULY

Zane went on his first plane ride in July. We went to Portland to visit my sister and her family. He did great on the plane and I was super stressed because Zac couldnt go this us due to his job and Zane is an extremely active boy. He was able to have his own seat on the plane and he actually slept most of the flight. It was great to see my sis and her family :)

Zane started making this hilarious face while we were in Portland. We couldnt get enough of him!!

Zane got to see the ocean for the first time. He started playing the sand, got it all over his face and in his eyes and then he wanted nothing to do with the sand or with the ocean so we had to find something else for him to do.

I love this picture of Zane. You can see his 2 front teeth and his cute smile!

AUGUST

We went on our second plane ride to see my sister Anna and her family in Colorado. We had a good time!

Zane loved playing in the grass. As you all know we dont have grass like this in AZ so he was crawling all around and had a blast!

SEPTEMBER

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!! Ok sorry this pic sucks. Its the only pic I could find and this pic is actually what Zac used to sell his truck, the house happened to be in the background. Zac got a promotion in June which came with a raise. We started looking for a house in July, found this one in August and moved in Sept. We LOVE the house and couldnt be happier with it. Its a perfect starter home. Our old house had 4 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms but his house has more square feet, a garage and a backyard so its worth loosing the bedroom and 1/2 bath. As you can see from the picture below this is a definite upgrade!

This is our old ghetto townhouse that we were more than elated to be out of!!

Zane turned 1 on Sept 13th. I cant believe how time flies. I made him a cake and he devoured it!! He wasnt quite sure what to do with it at first but once he figured it out he began to eat and play :)

Here he is showing you how old he is. Zane is quite the talker. When he turned 1 I wrote down all the words he was saying on a regular basis...mama, dada, papa, more, drink, dog, nana (for banana), dog, Bob, hot, baba, milk, cheese, num num, no, bread, bath, bye bye, fish, ball, baby and bubble. I love hearing him talk to himself when we are driving and he is chilling in his carseat. Its one of my favorite things in the world to listen to.

Our family pic and I am 34 weeks prego in this pic...hence the large stature!!

OCTOBER

ZANE SAYING "CHEESE"

Zane was Yoda for Halloween, did he like his costume, NO, did Zac and I love i....yes. We decided when you have little kids dressing them up is for the parents not for the kids. We knew he wouldnt be able to go trick or treating this year due to baby #2 being due around Halloween so we went to some ward parties and were able to catch a pic of him!

Heres the last family pic before baby #2...This was taken 5 days before I had the baby

On Oct 29th at 2:15am, Zac and I were blessed with another boy. Koen Tate Hoover, weighing 7lbs 80z and 20.5 in. We could not be happier. I started feeling some cramping at 8:30 at night on the 28th, and then started feeling contractions off and on. There were 3min, 7min, 5min apart and so I wasnt sure when to go to the hospital because they werent 5-7 min on a consistant basis. It wasnt until I kept feeling a lot pressure we decided to go. By the time we left the house and were driving I was feeling the urge to push and thought I was going to have the baby in the car!! We got to the hospital at 1:15am, I was 100% effaced and 8cm. I was in a lot of pain and got an epidural at 1:40, starting pushing at 2 and he was born 15 min later. Next time I know to go to the hospital earlier or try to have it natural. The nurse said if I got to the hospital 15 minutes later than I would not have been able to have an epidural...but Im glad I was able to get it because it was nice once I got it. My parents got there a few minutes before I started pushing and Melanie just made it in time to see Koen be born...soooo glad she made it and that my mom and Zac were there too! Thanks to Melanie for the great pics as well :)

He is soooo stinking sweet! We love this kid :)

NOVEMBER

Heres Koen at 2 weeks! The pics turned out great, thank you Jamie...http://accidentallycreativephotograhy.com. So far hes a pretty good sleeper which has been so nice.

Zane loves Koen and likes to touch him whenever he gets the chance. Zane is a strong kid and doesnt recognize his strength so I am always on my toes!

DECEMBER

My boys on Christmas morning!

Koen is such a sweet baby! He smiles all the time. You dont even have to look at him. I will look over at him and he will be smiling. I love it. He recently started sleeping 6-7 hours at night which has been amazing. He was napping really well but that all stopped a few weeks ago so we are working on that. He just starting laughing too! He laughs the most when we change his clothes :)

Zane is a ball of energy. He loves to go on walks and go outside as well as to play with bowls, spoons, pots, and trucks. He likes to run and have me chace him. He also likes to explore and he says sooo many words. I wrote down all the words that he uses on a regular basis and I counted 102...these are words that he says on his own and knows the meaning of. He loves to say "Here ya go", "I did it" and "cool". He cant say Koen so he calls Koen--- Coco. When he wakes up in the morning and I go get him out of his crib the first thing he says is baby Coco and then he runs around the house trying to find him, its too cute! Here he is showing off his teeth again. Right now he has 9 and his 10th is coming in. He has his top and bottom molars, three front teeth (4th is coming in) and 2 bottom teeth.

Koens cute smile!

9 months

I cant believe how time flies!! Zane turned 9 months on the 13th and he is sooo much fun!!! He started crawling a week after he turned 8 months and within a week he was crawling up the stairs, pulling to stand, breaking in his first tooth and no longer wanting to sleep during the night :( Now that he knows how to pull himself up when he wakes up at night he stands up and cries and cries. Before he would cry for a few min and then go back to sleep but not anymore. Its been a rough month due to extreme lack of sleep but his smile and personality make up for it. He keeps me super busy throughout the day as he loves to explore and he will find any and every small piece of anything that is in the carpet. He loves to climb the stairs and he babbles like crazy. He says mama, dada and baby but he doesnt know yet who to associate with those names. He loves it when I read him books and he likes to play with the tv, his dads PS3 controllers and any other remote control, phone or cord he can find. I took him for his 9 month check up and....

24.5 lbs - 90%

29 3/4 in - 90%

17 3/4 in (head) - 50%

I love his that he is chunky so I can pinch and squeeze him all day long!! Heres a pic of his tooth and yes that is chocolate on his face...his dad gave him his first tast of icecream...mint chip and he LOVED it :)

Boys Boys Boys

Well for those of you that do not know we are preggo with our 2nd baby and we are having another BOY!! This baby was totally unexpected. We were planning on having our kids 2-2 1/2 years apart so we were totally surprised when we found out we were having another. Zane and his little brother will be 13 1/2 months apart..WOW...is all I can say when I think about it. Zac and I are excited, nervous, and feel a little overwhelmed but we know we can do it!! I will keep you posted. I am due Oct 28th. They said I was due Oct 26th and when I had an ultra sound at 11 weeks it was estimated at Oct 28th and then we had our most recent ultrasound it was estimated at Oct 30th so they changed the date to the 28th...funny this is Im pretty sure my mom told me I was due on Oct 28th :)

I love this kid!!

Back to Basics

Zane has been eating solids for the last few weeks and I decided I would go back to basics and try to make homemade baby food. I bought some frozen green beans at Trader Joes, steamed em and put them in the food mill...this was a work out!! I steamed 1lb of green beans and I was suprised at how little it made once it was all ground up.

I put the green beans in an icecube trays and 1lb fit perfectly!

Now the true test....Does Zane like them......and he did!!

Next I am going to do carrots and sweet potatoes...He loves the Gerber kind so I hope he likes the real stuf....Ill keep you posted :)

4 months

Im late in posting this info but never late than never. I took Zane to his 4 month check up last month and when the doctor saw him he asked if he was there for his 6 months check up because of his size. I said no were here for his 4 month, he's just growing like a weed.

Weight 18lbs 15.5oz - 99%

Length 26 3/4 inches - 99%

Head 16 3/4 inches - 50%

We weighed Zane this morning and he is now 19.5 lbs. He has grown out of his clothes so fast. I didnt get to use some of them because he got too big for them. Zane loves to stick out his tongue and make noises with his mouth. He laughs when I change his diaper, tickle his feet, run my fingers up his back or when I make funny faces. He is sooo much fun. His personality is really starting to develop. He gets so excited when he sees someone he knows or something he likes and he kicks his legs like crazy. He started rolling over at the end of January. He rolls over much quicker now then in the video. Now Im trying to get him to learn to roll from his tummy to his back...this is going to take awhile. I would post some pics but for the life of me I cant get him to smile when I have the camera. Zane smiles all day long but as soon as I bring out the camera he just looks at it with no expression. Hopefully I can get some smiley pics soon.

This was the day Zane came home from the hospital and soooo much has happened since then! Ive been a total slacker at posting so this is going to be a long post!

Zane was blessed by my wonderful and amazing hubby on November 2, 2009. We had a get together at our house after. Zac did a great job during the blessing and I am lucky to have a worthy priesthood holder as a husband to give our son such a spiritual blessing. Zac's mom made Zanes outfit and as always she did a great job.

Heres our little guy on his special day. He didnt cry during the blessing...yeah!!

Morgan came down in November from Chicago for her family baby shower and I was lucky enough to be able to go to see her and her beautiful belly. She was able to meet Zane, we didnt get to see her for long but it was great to catch up with her!!

The Hoover family goes bowling every Thanksgiving so we took Zane to the bowling alley so he could join in the festivities!

Cara and her gorgeous babies came to Az over the Thanksgiving break. Our babies are 4 days apart...and we didnt even plan on having babies together it just happened that way. I was so excited to see Cara that I started crying as soon as I saw her. Katie came down from DC to visit us too and we had a lot of fun catching up on baby stories and stories about boys!

Dawn and Tyler were also in town for the Thanksgiving holiday and I was soo excited to see Dawn. Dawn is an amazing friend. She lives in CA and came to Az for my bridal shower and for my baby shower!! She is so thoughtful and giving and I wish I was more like her. I miss her lots. I remember when Tyler was born and I got to hang out with him just about everyday when he was little :)

Zane has a smile that lights up a room. He loves to stick out his tongue when he smiles. He rarely if ever smiles for the camera so I tried with my camera phone and it finally worked. Zane is such a good and happy baby. He only cries when he is hungry or tired. He smiles all the time, babbles, laughs and just started making rasberries with his mouth. I love watching him grow and develop...its my favorite thing these days.

Heres a family pic. We went to the temple lights with my parents, Anna and her kiddos. Anna was in town for a few days and I totally forgot to take pictures of her with Zane and I. She will be back in March so I will have to take more pics then. I miss her like crazy!!

Here is Zane on Christmas morning with Zac. Zane loves his dad. Zane totally starts kicking and making sounds when Zac comes home, he gives Zac big smiles and it's the best thing ever to see them hang out together. Zac is a great dad and helps me out more than he knows!!

I love being a mom. I am blessed to have Zane. It was rough for me the first 10 weeks but then he started sleeping more at night and that has been fantastic. For awhile I thought that day would never come. I cant thank my mom enough for all the help she gave us after Zane was born. I had a really hard time adjusting and healing after Zane was born and my mom was there anytime that I needed her...and it was lots! I love her even more and have a better understanding of the love she has for me now that I am a mom. She also watches Zane while I go to work, another thing I am sooo grateful for! Zane is growing like a week. He was in the 99th percentile for his weight at his 2 month check up and 75th for head circ. and length. I weighed him the other week and he was 17 pounds. He's wearing 6-9 month clothes, except the pants are way too long..but he looks so cute in them! I hope to get better at posting!!