Easter

We had such a great easter! This year we got up early on Saturday and took the whole family to Living History Farms easter egg hunt. The farm is many acres of rustic buildings from the late 1800s. You can see how blacksmiths, farmers, doctors, etc worked then. Anytime you visit you will see people wearing authentic clothing from that time and doing things the way they would in the 1800s, very cool! I am glad we got there early. We pulled in about 8:30 and there were only like 50 cars, so I thought it might be a bust. While I sat in the car and fed Zachary, and Daddy and Kenna waited in line hundreds of other people showed up.

We bought our tickets and headed straight for the toddler easter egg hunt. They got to find three eggs then got a brownie and some milk. She thought it was a blast. We headed up the hill to the other exhibits and then saw that what we had just walked right to now had a line of hundreds of toddlers. Thank goodness we got there early!

-kenna and the easter bunny--

--looking for eggs (they had stickers inside, how fun!) --

--it was chilly, but ended up in the fifties by the time we left--

--eating her brownie and "choklit milk!"--

--just part of the line, wish I had taken a picture from afar--

--after the hunt we went to the bunny barn, here she is petting bambi--

--this look is priceless, holding a bunny with some help from daddy--

--then they went on a horsey ride--

Pretty fun day, and well worth the $5 to get in. We will probably make an event out of this every year, and will definitely get there early!

On Sunday Kenna woke up to see that the easter bunny had come. He left her stickers, art stuff, and a chocolate rabbit. She thought it was more fun that he left Zachary some diapers and a toy duck!

Later that morning we went to Mace's for some formal introductions of Zachary to his great grandparents and some yummy easter lunch!

--checking out her easter loot!--

--gramma great holding zachary--

--josh and emmi staged an easter egg hunt for kenna and kade. They had a blast!--

--Bridgot got a turn, he was happy until I got the camera out!--

At the end of the day AJ brought over his rediculous new truck. He is planning on lowering it in the next few weeks, but all the men got a hoot out of its huge-ness!

Happy Easter!

More fun pictures

Thanks Kathy for taking all of these photos!

--another shot of my birthday guests--

--kissing her brother--

--gona holding zachary--

First checkup

We went to the doctor yesterday for Zachary's 2 week checkup. Because he was a healthy boy, and because the weather has been awful, Dr. Bilgi told us to skip the 1 week checkup, and just come in for a two week one. Zachary weighed in at a husky 9lbs 5oz, and was 21 inches long. Right about 50th percentil for both. He is definitely a good eater, and all was well. The next appointment is 2 months!

2 weeks later

Well, last night was my first night alone with two little ones. We took Gramma Rue to the airport, and after a tear felt goodbye I had a minor epiphany realizing that I would now have to handle both of them by myself. It wasn't too bad, just have to think of new ways to do things. I have to put Zachary down, even if he is crying if Kenna needs help in the bathroom. And Kenna held the books while I read them last night so I could rock Zachary. She is still a great big sister and wants to be involved in everything Zachary including diaper changes, baths, and feeding him.

We had a great time with Grandma Rue here. We sure ate well, and she gave Kenna that one on one attention she needed. She also helped keep the house clean and weeded my garden in preparation for spring. I wish the weather had been better because I think we all got a little stir crazy, but the three weeks flew by very quickly!

--stick em up--

--she LOVES her brother--

--daddy took kenna to meet Maggie, the Andersen's new puppy!--

--constantly wants to "hold my baby bwudder"--

--gramma rue and kenna cuddling and watching movies--

--some cuddle time with daddy, he's been working 15 hour days and we sure miss him!--

--what zachary does best, other than eat, sleep!--

--some visitors for my belated bday party--

--a pic with his eyes open, 2 weeks old!--

Baby Zachary is here!

Who would have thought that we would have two birthdays on March 24th? Just like with McKenna I had an induction scheduled for 6:30 am on March 25th. Well, like his big sis, Zachary didn't want to wait. I started feeling contractions around 5:30pm on the 24th. They got stronger and stronger, so we left for the hospital around an hour later. We got all checked in, and they checked me, telling me I was about 4cm, and that they would re-check me in 2 hours. After about 30 minutes I could hardly stand the contractions, and asked if she could recheck me. I was at 6cm, so they decided to get the bloodwork for my epidural started. Luckily the Biggest Loser was playing so I had something to distract me. I had the epidural, then Dr. Hancock came and checked me saying that I was getting close. I was glad he was on call, because he delivered Kenna as well. About 10:15 I started pushing, and 4 pushes later out came Zachary Mace at 10:28pm. He weighed in at 8lbs 11oz (and may have been more but he pooped and peed everywhere as soon as he was born!) He was 20.5 inches long with a 14inch noggin!

This experience was so much different than with Kenna...basically in labor for 3 hours and done. The hospital stay was short as well, just staying a day and a half. We had lots of visitors and got to stay in the new wing at Mercy. So far he is a great baby, eating and sleeping with little crying in between! If I can get him to sleep more than a few hours straight at night life will be better, but really no complaints!

Thank goodness Grandma Rue is here. She has been taking care of Kenna mostly, doing puzzles over and over and over. She has also kept gormet meals in our fridge complete with dessert! Josh asked her what kind of car she wanted us to buy her when she moves in full time :)

--first photo of the three of us, right after he was born--

--Zachary's first photo --

--Mommy and Zachary--

--the next morning Kenna got to meet Zachary--

--she is a great big sister and just loves him!--

--looking at him with daddy--

--staring adoringly--

--checking out his crib--

--all she wanted to do was hold him, the whole hospital visit--

--getting a closer look--

--gona came early on Wednesday to visit--

--baca came shortly thereafter--

--we also had visits from the andersen's, so Chloe got some big sister practice before her sister gets here in a few weeks--

--chad practicing his baby holding skills--

--aunti em came on thursday before we went home--

On Thursday afternoon we left the hospital and headed home. I was glad I didn't have to stay till Friday, although I miss the nurses changing diapers and taking him at night so I could sleep!

--taking a snooze at home--

--Rylee sleeping next to her new brother--

--I thought it was pretty cool that my Amarylis were in full bloom for Zachary's arrival, they only bloom once a year!--

--Kenna loves to help with everything from diaper changes to bathtime, man did he hate his first bath!--

I feel so lucky to have two healthy wonderful children. Zachary has already assimilated perfectly into our family. Kenna has shown no signs of jealousy and just seems to LOVE her baby brother. She does a great job being gentle and caring and I think she is going to be a big help!! Thank you to everyone who helped through the transition! And special thanks to gramma rue for making this experience extra fun for Kenna!

Anxiously Awaiting

Baby boy is pretty cozy apparently. I compare him to the Musinex commercial where the little mucus guy is just hanging out with his couch and TV. I suppose he has set up house in there and would never leave.

Luckily for me, we have an induction scheduled for 6:30am tomorrow! So if the little guy chooses not to come and share his birthday with me, then at least we will have another birthday to celebrate tomorrow!

We can't wait to meet you!

Getting ready for Gramma Rue

Today we are doing laundry and getting ready for Gramma Rue's visit. Kenna is very excited. I told her that when she wakes up tomorrow Gramma Rue will be here! Unfortunately she has been linking that to her baby brother coming and to her growing up. So now she thinks he is going to be born tomorrow...which wouldn't be a bad thing! She also thinks that miraculously when he is born she will be all grown up. She says things like "when my baby brudder comes I can use sizzers and cook on the stove." Oh my sweet girl...don't be in such a rush!

This morning was hilarious. We were getting dressed and she very matter-of-factly said "mommy, I need to do a dance, but where is my muzic? Der it is I need a rope." She threw her pretend rope up to the ceiling and made me help her pull the music down. Then she put it on her bed, turned it up and started to boogie. Where do you come up with these things McKenna?

Spring is here!

We have been enjoying 70 degree weather the past few days. So, today was the first day we wore shorts this year! Thanks to the friends and family gap sale, Kenna is cute as can be in her new spring/summer attire :)

Also - I am posting a few fun bathtub moments. The other night she was in there for over half an hour trying to draw letters. Whoever invented bathtub crayons is a genius!

--her masterpiece--

--notice the letters on the tub, she likes D's and K's--

--new outfit--

--I told her to be sassy, apparently she knows what that means!--

--just silly--

--cute gifts from my peers all over the midwest, the diaper cake is too cute! Baby boy is all decked out all ready!--

Be warned

This post is for the out of towners that have not seen me go through the last 39 weeks :) Being in my last week of pregnancy (hopefully) thought I would post a picture of the buddha belly!

--hard to take a picture while holding my shirt tight :)--

He feels a lot bigger than Kenna...so my guess is 8lbs 6oz. I can't even get my shirts around my belly anymore, so thank goodness Josh doesn't care that I am borrowing his (or at least he is pretending not to care :)

Funny things

Lately we have been leaning on anyone who would like to play with Kenna for the evening. I have a hard time keeping up with her because she always wants to do puzzles on the floor, play tag, or something that involves moving faster than I can waddle. Josh has been busy with work and/or sick, so Gona and Baca have been great in filling in for us!

The other night she was at Gona's and had a few fun moments. During bath she was putting toys in all the corners of the tub an told her that she was "decorating for Christmas." Then she sang some made up song singing "decorating, decorating" over and over. Then on the way home in the rain she bopped her head side to side and said she was "jis like the winshielwipers."

Josh took her to dinner last weekend at a mexican restaurant. They had quesadillas and blue corn chips. As usual Kenna wanted to "save some for later" and take her chips home. Josh purposfully left them there, thinking day old chips are no good. Later in the day she almost started crying saying she wanted her "chocolate chips" I guess dark blue chips could look like chocolate to a two year old!

I am still pregnant. Up at least 3 times a night to go potty, and not sleeping really well, but other than that no real complaints :) I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to see if things have progressed at all. Right now I know he is head down, loves to wiggle, and that I am 2-3cm dilated...so hopefully I can hold out until my mom gets here next week!

Updates and Sickies

Last night was rough. Kenna used to be an angel when going to bed. We would take a bath, read a story and she would hop right in, snuggle with her bear and go right to sleep. Lately she has complained that "her back hurts" or "her legs hurt." In essence she is complaining because her shirt and pant bottoms ride up a little because she is in that in between 2T and 3T stage. Last night she was doing her now typical complaining, but she woke up at 10pm to do it? Turns out that she had a mild fever. I was trying to get her to calm down and go back to sleep and she was coughing so hard she threw up all over everything. To make matters worse she and daddy had eaten way too much at Damon's for dinner...the things we go through for our kids :) Needless to say I gave her a little drink, changed her sheets and cleaned up while Josh washed her off and got her some new jammies (how do single parents do it?) She did wake up every 45 minutes or so after that just with general fever uncomfortableness - but she is fairing much better this morning. Luckily I can work from home this morning and go to my meeting this afternoon. Josh is going to stay home with her while I am gone.

As far as baby boy is concerned, my dr. visit on Friday was pretty eventful. The dr. said I was between 2-3 cm dialated, which is new. With Kenna I was only 1 for a long time, then went into labor...so this is different. But I feel good, achey but good. I have a feeling he may be coming a little early, but hopefully will make it through this weekend class, and preferably he will stay put until my mom gets here on the 19th! Time will tell! On a positive note I think we have a few names that we both like...so he won't be nameless forever :)