Tis the Season!

Christmas is less than 2 weeks away and it is really feeling like the holidays!  So far, this time of year has been a lot of fun, and I know we have a lot more to come in the following couple of weeks.  It will be extra special this year with it being Rylee's first Christmas.  And, it has been a very exciting few weeks because my sister-in-law had her baby a month early! So, we will be celebrating two first Christmas' next weekend at our house for our 2nd annual "Krusemas" celebration. Ray and I got to be at the hospital when he was born, so we were able to see and hold baby Kenny briefly, but Krusemas will be the first time for the cousins to all meet.  It was a rough last few weeks of her pregnancy, but Alison and the baby are both doing well.  We are so excited to have another baby in the family!

We had a busy few weeks with celebrating Thanksgiving, the arrival of our nephew, and Kenley's birthday.  The birthday girl is officially 6!!  We celebrated a little early by taking her to the American Girl doll store.  She had been asking to go there and get a doll for quite some time, so that was her birthday gift from us.  She had  a great time picking out her doll with blonde hair and brown eyes, just like her.  We also had a party for her with family and a few friends.  She wanted a "rainbow-themed" party, so that is what we did, and I did my best decorating the house as colorful as possible among all the Christmas decorations.  Kenley has become so independent this year, and she is doing excellent in Kindergarten.  She is learning so much, and she loves pretty much every part of school, but it seems like she especially enjoys reading and writing.  Maybe in that sense she will be like me :)
She often comes home from school, and then she wants to play school with Charlie.  Unfortunately, he isn't always the most cooperative "student."

And, speaking of Chucks, he has been giving us a hard time lately.  He has always been a bit of a challenge, but it seems that lately it has been increasing.  I'm hoping that it is just the age, and I have had a lot of people tell me 3's can be worse than the 2's.  I am trying my best to be patient, and to continue to try different approaches with him, but it can be difficult.  Thank goodness he has the face of a (mischievous) angel, and that he can definitely be good and sweet when he chooses to be.  I'm just praying that those good moments start to outweigh the bad ones more and more. 

Rylee is still the sweetest, happiest, baby!  She is starting to get so interactive babbling, making funny sounds, and often screeching out of joy!  I finally got to see her roll over last week.  She had been sneaky about it for a few weeks where I would leave her laying on her back, and I would leave the room for like 30 sec. and I would come back and she would be on her belly!  I'm enjoying these moments with her where she is so snuggleable!

The kids went to visit Santa last week, so we got some great pictures.  Hard to believe how much can change in a year.  Also, the grumpy picture of Charlie was NOT staged at all.  It perfectly captures this time in our lives.  These next few weeks the kids are looking forward to their school parties, a few family and friend parties, and Kenley is looking forward to her Christmas break. We've already had a few inches of snow, and they played outside once, but I think I will let them head outside again once Kenley is home from school.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fall 2016

Fall is already passing us by, and the holidays will be here before we know it!  We have been very busy these last few months, but we have had a lot of fun too.  We started out the month of October with Rylee's Christening.  She looked beautiful, and she was great during the ceremony and everything.  She is very lucky to have her 2 aunts and 2 uncles as her Godparents.  She wore the same dress that Kenley did, which was made out of my wedding dress.  It was a really nice day celebrating with the family.

In October, we took a little R.V. trip to a camping site only about an hour away.  This was our first time ever doing anything like this, but it was really fun.  It is really probably the only way I would "camp" these days, especially with 3 kids.  It was a little adventure, and it was a fun weekend because they had some Halloween activities like trick-or-treating for the kids, a cookout, and a haunted hayride.  The kids had a great time, and I think Rylee liked her first little family vacation!

We also celebrated my sister-in-law's baby shower, and now we are at about a one month countdown until we get to meet our nephew! Now that her shower is over, and the nursery is ready, we are all on baby watch, and we are anxious to meet this little boy. We are very excited for them, and to be getting another baby in the family.  Family get-togethers are only bound to be more fun and crazy as the family is growing!

  The whole month was pretty busy with parties, and fests, and pumpkin patches!  Halloween was fun, and I was happy that I was able to go to Charlie and Kenley's school parties.They were on different days, so that helped.  We were so lucky with the weather this year, and it was so nice walking around the neighborhood to trick-or-treat.  It was also fun now that Kenley has met a few more kids in our neighborhood because of school, so she got to see them as we went door to door, and as she passed out candy at our house. Rylee seemed to love being in the baby carrier, and she was wide awake the whole time we were out trick-or-treating.

The day after Halloween, Ray and I flew to Nashville for a trip that had been in the works for a whole year.  We won tickets at a charity event last October, and we got tickets to the Country Music Awards.  We stayed at the Opryland hotel, which is the same place we stayed a few years ago.  The whole awards show was amazing, and it was really fun that we got to see part of the red carpet before it started. We even got out of the CMA's in time to watch the end of the World Series, and we got to see the Cubs win it!  It was a great trip, and we even got in some time to just relax and went to the spa and got massages one day.  It was so nice to have sometime together because we really have not had much one-on-one time these last few months.  We missed the kiddos, but they were in great hands and kept all the grandparents busy during the time we were gone.  We were so grateful to them all helping out so that we could go on this trip.

The day we got home, we went from the airport directly to my niece's 2nd birthday party, and we haven't stopped since.  That day of rest in Nashville suddenly seems so long ago :)  The kids are all doing great!  Kenley loves school, and she was devastated that she had to miss 2 days this month because she was sick.  We are planning her birthday party coming up very soon.  Charlie has been doing great in school too, and he is already getting very excited about Christmas this year.  Rylee turned 4 months, and she is growing too fast!  She is still so happy and so easygoing.

Next week is Thanksgiving, and once that comes the holiday season will be in full gear!  We have a LOT of parties in the next several weeks, and we will be having 3 get togethers at our house alone.  I have less than 2 weeks to get my Christmas decorations up, and finish getting ready for Kenley's b-day party.  It's always a crazy, but fun time of year.

Changes

I CAN NOT believe 2 whole months have flown by since Rylee was born!  I don't know where time has gone!  I always say this, but this time I am serious.  It's like I blinked and now she's already 2 months old...sniff, sniff.  What an amazing few weeks it has been for our family!  We have adjusted to being a family of 5 pretty effortlessly.  This is by no means because I have it all together or anything like that, but it is mostly because Rylee is the BEST BABY EVER!  This kid is seriously awesome.  She sleeps great, eats great, and she is so smiley and happy.  She has been smiling since about 5 weeks old! Besides the huge change of adding an extra person to our family, we have had a lot of changes in the last few weeks.

The main change has been that the kids both went back to school.  For Kenley, that means she is going to school full day as a Kindergartner.  She has had a great start to the school year!  She is riding the bus to and from school, so she has really changed into a "big kid" overnight. She has a really nice teacher, and she has already made a bunch of friends. She even had her first playdate without me this week with a friend from her class who lives right around the corner from us.  I was a little sad to send her off to Kindergarten, but I was mostly so happy and excited for her. Surprisingly, I didn't cry on the big day, and not surprisingly, either did she! She was so ready, and she had the biggest smile on her face getting on the bus the first day.  I wish I had a little spy camera to see what her days are like.  She only tells me so much when she gets home each day, which usually includes something about P.E., music or library, and about who got in trouble at school that day. I know she has so much fun ahead of her during this school year!

Charlie celebrated his 3rd birthday with a "Lion Guard" themed party.  At any given moment you may catch him jumping off of our couches yelling, "un-BUNGA-lievable!"  He is into everything little boys love like dinosaurs, cars, trains, and burps.  He started back at pre-school 2 mornings a week, and he is officially in the 3 year old class. He has one of Kenley's former teachers, so it is nice that we know her and she knows us. He is also making great progress with potty-training, (Yay for not having to buy diapers for 2 kids anymore!) It has been nice spending some extra one on one time with him when Kenley is at school and Rylee is napping.  He is turning into such a big boy, and he always makes me laugh, even if he is being a little mischievous. He has taken on the role of being a big brother really well, and he really takes the time to check on Rylee and give her kisses throughout the day.

I started teaching again, and it is going well so far. I am only teaching one class, so I am only gone 2 days a week for a few hours. I absolutely loved everything about this summer, but I also kind of like being back into somewhat of a routine.  (Plus, it is much easier to be able to grocery shop, run a few errands, and get some cleaning done on the mornings when Kenley and Charlie are both at school.)  I also started working out a little bit last week, and I am trying to stick to a diet, but it's been really hard.  I wish I could go back to the gym, but they only take babies that are at least 6 months old in the childcare.  Ill be back after Christmas!  For now, I'm getting re-acquainted with my treadmill in the basement. 

Speaking of Christmas....Some other very exciting news is that my sister-in-law is pregnant!  She is due on Christmas Eve, and is expecting a baby boy!  I'm excited to be getting a nephew, and I know the kids are excited to have another cousin.  It will be awesome that he and Rylee will be so close in age.


We had such a great summer!  We're squeezing in everything we can these last few weeks while it is still warm out.  We went to the zoo (Rylee's first time!), and Ray and I went to the Luke Bryan concert with a bunch of friends. It was my first big night out since Rylee was born, and it was a really fun night and a great concert. Even though it is still 90 degrees out, I'm excited for everything that this Fall has in store for us like my birthday, Halloween, and Ray and I have a trip to Nashville coming up! But, I'm not quite done with the summer yet.  I hope the weather stays nice out as long as possible!  I'll take 90 degrees over 20 degrees any day!

Rylee Rae

Introducing Miss Rylee Rae Kruse!!  She was born on July 3rd at 5:29 pm, and she was 7lbs, 10 oz, and 21 and 3/4 inches long!

So, my due date came and went with no baby.  I wasn't really surprised, but I did have a doctor appointment that day.  The induction was scheduled for the 3rd, which I felt a little conflicted about.  I think I was just still hoping to go into labor naturally, and I also had a little bit of panic set in the last week or so of my pregnancy.  I suddenly got so nervous about what life would be like with 3 kids.  I started feeling like I would never have a second to myself again, I would never be able to keep up, I would never have a clean house...basically every doubt crossed my mind!  In some ways I was kind of thinking that I wanted to attend our annual 4th of July party at my brother-in-laws parents house because that might be my last chance to have fun and relax for a while.  I wasn't quite ready to give up my "freedom" of only having 2 kids, and I didn't really want to be in the hospital on the 4th.  But, things didn't turn out that way, and looking back now, I realize that I was being a bit crazy.

Ray's mom took the kids the night before since we had to be at the hospital early.  I actually got a pretty decent sleep, and we woke up around 7 and stopped to get coffee on the way to the hospital.  It took the nurses a while to find my veins for the IV, and since I already don't do well with needles I got a little light-headed.  It took 5 sticks to finally get it in, but I was glad that was over. Within less than an hour my contractions were regular so I was able to get the epidural before I was in much pain.  It seemed to take forever even though it was probably over in about 20 minutes. I had a few shocks in my left leg a few times, which was painful, especially while trying to remain completely still.  I experienced the side effect of getting extremely itchy after the epidural, and I told Ray and the nurse that even my eyeballs itched! But, finally, all that was over, and I knew I should be able to relax for a few hours before it was time to push.

 After about 2 hours the doctor from the hospital came and broke my water, and we were told the doctor was on his way.  My sister came up, then my parents got there, then Ray's mom and aunt with the kids, then Ray's sister and brother-in-law, and I had a chance to chat with each of them.  The doctor came in to check me out, and he said I was ready to push!  It happened pretty quickly, and I wanted to see the kids one last time before they would meet their sister. I kissed them and they rushed out because I was starting to feel the need to push.  I was thinking that it would be under 10 minutes of pushing since this was my 3rd baby and the other 2 had come out in less than 20 minutes.  After a half hour of pushing I started getting worried.  The nurse started having me push about every 2-3 contractions instead of every one.  She made a comment that the doctor may be getting a little worried about the baby's vitals because the heart rate was going down a little bit during pushing.  I was just praying they wouldn't say I had to have a c-section.  Finally, about 45 minutes in Ray and our nurse could see the baby's head, and they told me she had a lot of hair. Every time I pushed I just kept asking if she was getting closer to being out.  I was just so concerned that it was taking much longer then I expected.  Finally after a little over an hour of pushing, Rylee was born! She came out facing up, and my doctor referred to her as "sunny-side up." I guess that is what made the pushing more difficult and harder to get her up, but I was just so happy and relieved that she finally came out!

It took about a full hour to get her cleaned off, and I had to get stitched up.  Then, Ray and I spent about an hour just us, and I fed her.  Then, finally it was time for our families to get to see her.  We let Kenley and Charlie come in first for about 10 minutes, which was truly a precious moment.  The excitement on their faces was priceless, and they both couldn't wait to see and hold their baby sister.  Charlie asked, "Does she know how to give kisses?" and said, "She's so cute!" and Kenley did not want to let go of her.  Finally, the rest of the family got to come in after being so patient and waiting almost 3 hours. Everyone got to hold her, get a few pictures, and celebrated the arrival of our newest family member.

We spent the next day in the hospital, and we got to go home early on Tuesday. It took me a few days to recover, which was a little bit harder than my recovery with the other kids.  I hurt my back from trying to push her out with all my might, so I was a little sore for about a week.  Rylee has been awesome!  She has been such a good baby, and she sleeps great!  She sleeps for about 4 hour stretches at night, so I'm up twice to feed her, and then she goes back to sleep.  Ray was home the first week with us, which was really nice.  We were able to get out a lot, and we took the kids out to eat a few times, went shopping, went to an outdoor market...we did the things we would usually do, and Rylee fit right in!  I haven't really slowed down since, and made it a point to take the kids out and do something every day since then.  I'm so glad that she has been such a good sleeper at night and during the day so far.  Everything I was so fearful about those last few weeks didn't happen.  I have truly enjoyed myself these last few weeks.  We pretty much carried on staying busy and seeing friends and family with the bonus of being able to snuggle our precious little girl.  The only downside has been that breastfeeding (for the third time) isn't going great, but I was prepared for that, and I'm just doing what I can.

The kids are so in love with their sister.  Charlie makes it a point to give her many kisses throughout the day, and he helps as much as he can.  Kenley loves holding her and has even given up her I-pad time many times in favor of holding her sister a little longer.  She really has been a great helper and has fed her bottles, (helped) change a few diapers, and comforts her when she cries. I just keep thinking that I am so happy we decided to have a 3rd baby.  I know our family is complete, and I just want to enjoy these moments because I know they go by too fast!

The calm before the BABY!!

AAHHHH!!  Really can't believe I am only 6 days away from my due date!  Honestly, where has the time gone! To sum things up since my last post, I finished teaching my class at Moraine.  I'' be back in the fall, but only one class again, since the baby will be so little.  I'm hoping to pick up 2 classes in the Spring, but if not, next year.  Kenley officially graduated from pre-school, and Charlie completed his first year of pre-school! My mom,sister, and I took the kids to Shipshewanna again for our 3rd annual trip, and we had a great time! Kenley and Kayla were in their dance recital in the same show, and it was adorable!  They both did a fantastic job!  I hosted the 3rd annual BIG playdate, and it was really fun!  I had about 15 moms and about 24 kids. We had a week in between before the summer activities started.Kenley had a 5 day sports camp, and the kids started swimming lessons this week.

In between all of that, I have been a little craaazy with nesting!  For about the past month, I've been making lists, and doing my best to get everything done.  By now, we have gotten all of the important stuff done like finishing the baby's room, installing car seats, washing the baby clothes, etc. But, it seems like every day I think of something else that I feel just has to get done. I know I take it a bit extreme, and I want everything to be "perfect" before the baby is born, but I've been trying to relax a little these last few days.  I've been lucky that family members have really helped out with the kids, and I was able to get another massage, some errands done, and get a manicure/pedicure this week!  So, I'll call it a success!!

I had a doctor's appointment last Tuesday, and everything was looking good.  Baby is in position, and I have made a teeny bit of progress toward labor!  As I was about to leave, my doctor told me that if I wanted to be induced anytime after 39 weeks I could.  I decided to wait until at least this Tuesday, go to my next appointment and then make a decision.  So, there is a very real chance this baby will be here by the end of the week!  I am feeling a little conflicted about the decision to be induced.  I had great experiences both times before, with on complications at all.  I would love to have that experience of just going into labor, but then again, it would be nice to be able to have a set plan for us, the kids, and our family members who are just as anxious!  So, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do yet.  I'm just hoping that I go into labor sometime before then!

Ray and I had our "last" date-might last night, and we finally tried a Latin restaurant by our house.  It was so good!  We were on only disappointed that all the spicy food did nothing to kick-start labor. These next few days, I'm going to just try to enjoy spending time with the kids.  I'm hoping to stay at the pool one day after swim lessons.  Next post will hopefully include our newest family member!!