2 Kids 2 hands

We are all settling into things a bit these last few days. It's e end of our second week with our new "normal" with Ray at work, Kenley in preschool 2 mornings a week, and me home with the kids. This week was the start of school for all of my friends, and I am so happy not to have back-to school stress. Things have been going really well so far. Of course, there have been moments of chaos where Both kids are crying and I'm not sure who to take care of first, but for the most part there haven't been any major meltdowns (by me, yet.). I have also been very lucky to have many visitors by family and friends and help from my mom and Mother-in-law.
There have been some really sweet moments with Kenley and Charlie, and Kenley has really stepped up to her new role as big sister. She always wants to help give Charlie his bottle or pacifier when he cries. Today, I overheard her saying to him,"It's ok, Charlie. I know, I know."  So sweet. Sometimes she wants to snuggle, hug, hold him so much we need to remind her not to smother him. Also, it seems like she is SO big now, which really makes me realize how fast these newborn days will go by.  Again, I'm wishing I could freeze to,e so that neither one of them grows any bigger.
The hardest things so far have just been that breast feeding isn't going so well (again) but I'm doing what I can. I'm not getting too down about it like I did with Kenley just because I thought it might be difficult again. Also, as expected, the lack of sleep is a little hard. Charlie has been sleeping about 2-3 hours at a time, but unfortunately not in his crib. Most of the time he has been sleeping in our room, but it is my goal to try to get him in his own room soon. I don't know how he knows the difference, but when he is in our room he sleeps much better. I guess I have also gotten lazy and give up trying to  put him in his crib after getting up for the 3rd time in an hour.  Other than that, the only other problem is that I only have 2 hands.
I tackled taking both kids out several times. Yesterday, we went to Trader Joes and Kenley thought it was awesome that she got to have her own little kid-sized cart. I only got my ankles ran into about 15 times, but she had fun, Charlie slept, and I left with food, which I consider a success. I also started walking this week and I was able to walk 2 miles and even jog just a tiny bit.  I know it helped me burn calories that I was pushing a double stroller!  I know it is going to take me a while to lose this weight, but I feel good that I've been able to get started. I'm planning on doing a 5k at the end of October to keep me motivated.
I can't believe it's already the end of August! I guess I spent all summer preparing for Charlie's arrival, and now that he's here it seems like summer has flown by. I hope the weather stays nice as long as possible, especially because we just ordered a swingset for the kids! I'm hoping we get a lot of nice days in the fall and can continue to be outside as much as possible. I am looking forward to putting up my fall decorations, my birthday, picking out the kids Halloween costumes, and going to a few of the pumpkin patches in the area. 
I'll finish up by showing a sneak peak of Charlie's first photo session.  I love them all!

Family of 4!

My sweet boy, Raymond Charles Kruse V, "Charlie" was born on August 10, 2013 at 9:00pm.  He was 8lbs 4 oz, which was actually smaller than we thought he would be!  Since he still had not been born on my due date, the 8th, I had a doctor's appointment and my doctor said that he would induce me on the 10th.  I was kind of hoping I would go into labor on my own, but at that point I was so ready and glad to have the end in sight!  It still seemed very surreal the 2days leading up to it knowing our lives would be forever changed.  Kenley stayed over at Ray's mom's house the night before since Ray and I had to be at the hospital early the next morning.  I spent the day with Kenley on Friday enjoying our last one on one time time before we added her brother to our family.  I was a little sad about this being my last day with my "baby" girl, but so excited for her too.  Ray and I made sure that everything was ready for the hospital and tried to get some sleep that night.

We arrived at the hospital at 8:00am, and I was getting nervous on the ride there. The nurse started my IV's, which was kind of painful and took 2 tries.  I tried to be calm, but my nerves got the best of me and I started feeling lightheaded and nauseous.  I felt like such a wimp knowing that was the easy part.  Then we waited for the contractions, which started pretty quickly and once they were regular I got the ok to get the epidural.  I was really nervous about it since I felt it quite a bit when I got it with Kenley, but it went much better this time.  I was so relieved when it was over, and after about an hour of feeling very chilled and having some shivers, I was feeling nice and relaxed. (But, it still took a while to get my mind off that IV!)  My doctor had 2 other hospitals to go to that day so he wanted to put off breaking my water until he got back.  We knew we were going to be waiting for quite a while when he didn't even leave my hospital until about 2:30.  SO, we waited....

In the meantime, my parents and sister came up to the hospital, and a few hours later Ray's mom came up with Kenley.  Kenley wasn't allowed in the room, but I facetimed with her from the birthing room to the waiting room.  My doctor came back around 6:00 and broke my water, and we waited.  My brother-in-law came up around 7:30.  By 8:00 I started feeling some pressure and by 8:15 I was feeling the full force of the contractions and knew it was almost time to push.  I said quick goodbyes to our family and the doctors and nurses came in and got ready.  After only 2 pushes they said they could see his head, which motivated me to try to get him out as quickly as possible.  In a matter of about 15 minutes Charlie was out!  I was so happy and relieved to hear his little cry within a few seconds. The nurses took him over to the table to check him, and after a few minutes they decided he was going to go to the nursery for some monitoring of his breathing.  They assured me that it was nothing serious, and I was able to hold him for one minute before they took him.  Everyone got to see Charlie through the glass in the nursery, including Kenley.  Ray and I settled into our hospital room, and the nurses brought Charlie in to stay with us after just a few minutes.

Our hospital stay was great, and we had several family members and friends come visit us on Sunday. My absolute favorite moment was when Kenley got to meet Charlie. She was so excited and climbed up in my hospital bed to hold him.  She was giving him hugs and kisses.  She asked me if she could see my belly and I told her Charlie wasn't in there anymore because the doctor helped him come out and she smiled so big and said, "thank-you!"  She was also quite curious about everything including what was on Charlie's belly (his cord), why I had bandaids on, and why Charlie was eating from my "elbow".  It has been so funny to hear her thoughts as she tries to process everything. On Sunday, we were anxious to pick up Kenley and get home with Charlie, and we were surprised when our nurse told us at about 10:00 am that we would be able to leave within a very short period of time.  Ray was home with us the first week, which was so nice.  We actually did quite a bit for those first few days, and Charlie went to the mall, Walmart, out to eat 2 times, and to an outdoor festival.

This week Kenley started pre-school, so today is her 2nd day.  She has had a hard time getting ready and saying that she doesn't want to go, but when I picked her up the first day she was having fun, and the teachers said she only cried for a few minutes after I left.  I'm hoping today will be the same.  Yesterday I took both kids to the park by myself, and today I'm thinking about trying to tackle Jewel.  Overall, things have gone really well so far.  Charlie has been a really good baby and only really cries when he is hungry or needs to be changed.  I am loving this newborn stage and already don't want him to get any bigger.  I love snuggling with him and holding him.  Kenley has been a very good big sister and has helped giving Charlie bottles, and loves to hold him.  We had newborn pictures taken this week, and I can't wait to see all of them!

Thank-you to everyone who has sent their love for our family over the past few weeks!
 

Still Pregnant

I'm officially 1 week away from my due date, and counting down the days (hours, minutes...)  I am SO ready, and so are all of my friends and family.  I have gotten so many texts and calls wondering if I am in labor, or anytime I call someone they are hoping it is "the call."  I called Ray at work yesterday and his assistant said he was really busy and asked if he could take a message.  I told him it was me, and he said every time I call now Ray wants him to ask if I'm in labor.  I was disappointed to tell him no, and I know Ray has just been waiting to get a call at work.

We had a very fun, spontaneous weekend and on Saturday we went to the Thunderbolts game.  Ray won tickets at a golf outing and since we didn't have plans, and no labor pains we went.  It was so much fun!  When we first got there, a girl approached us and asked if Kenley would want to deliver the game balls to the umpire and coaches.  We weren't really sure if she would do it, but we said yes anyway.  She got to go out on the field while the players were warming up, played catch with a few, and they announced her name when she delivered the HUGE box of balls.  We had great seats for the game, and I'm glad we went even though it was a very cold day for July.

On Sunday we went to Montana Charlie's just to look around and ended up finding a horse and camel ride.  I really didn't think Kenley would be able to do the camel ride, but she wanted to.  I was a little nervous putting her up there it was really high! She had a very adventurous weekend from one that went from no plans to lots of fun stuff!

Tomorrow Ray and I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary!  I can't believe it has been 5 years and now here we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our 2nd child.  These were things we only could have wished for 5 years ago when we got married.  We are just planning on going out to dinner with Kenley, and Saturday is my niece Kayla's 1st birthday party.  I wouldn't mind ending the weekend with a trip to the hospital. I was supposed to have a doctor appointment on Wednesday, but it got cancelled last minute.  So, I am going in tomorrow to see what they say.  Let's hope this is the last appointment!  Here is a picture of Charlie's room just waiting for him.  I've peeked in there a few times this week just thinking about him being in there soon. 

Staying Busy

I've been staying busy this week, and we took a 1 night trip to Lake Geneva.  Katie and I planned this for Greg and Ray as their father's day gift.  We went to Timber Ridge Thursday morning and took the kids to the waterpark and then went to a nice dinner.  Friday morning the guys golfed, and Katie and I spent the whole morning back at the waterpark.  We had a great time, and it was Kayla's first little vacation.  Kenley went on the biggest waterslide there accompanied by all of the adults at one time or another.  Yes, I was 8-1/2 months pregnant going on a raft waterslide, but don't worry, it wasn't too crazy, and I only did it once.  (Mainly because I didn't have the energy to climb all those stairs again.) I was also hoping that maybe it would jump start labor.

Ray and I had a little date night and went to a nice dinner.  We don't know if we will have a chance to celebrate our anniversary, so it was kind of a pre-celebration.  Then, we went to a little street fest on Sunday, which was fun, but I didn't last very long walking around in the hot sun.  We also bought a new couch for our upstairs, which is being delivered on Friday!  I like our couch we have, but it is SO hard to keep clean with kids and pets, so we are going with leather.

I know it's probably pretty wierd that I keep blogging about cleaning my house, but for some reason I feel like that has been taking up so much of my time!  I really do think this is part of nesting because I have done some wierd things that I have never done before.  Today, I replaced all of the felt scratch-resistant backings on the bottoms of our chairs on the hardwood floor.  I guess it was something good since I have never done that since we moved here 3 years ago, but I just had an impulse that I had to get it done.  I have also been washing anything and everything that will fit into our washing machine.  Every blanket, towel, shower curtain, even some cloth bags.  No idea why these things seem so important to me right now. 

That's all I'm up to right now.  I'm kind of just making plans day to day right now, and hoping that my next post will include a picture of my son!  Trying to be patient......

Summer Lovin!

Today is Ray's 32nd Birthday!  We are heading out for lunch soon.  We had a wedding last night, so Kenley slept over at Go-Go's house  I have been trying to take advantage of the morning/early afternoon to relax, but of course I ended up going shopping, pulling some weeds, and doing 3 loads of laundry!  So now, I can officially relax.

The last few weeks have finally felt like summer! I'm enjoying the warm weather and have been outside a lot. I'm glad that being 8 months pregnant hasn't stopped me from that, but obviously I am not doing anything strenuous other than playing with Kenley or water activities, but a few days even that has been tiring on my body by the end of the day.  We have had such a fun few weeks with the fourth of July, which we spent swimming at my sister's in-laws house.  We spend a day at my Aunt and Uncle's lake house and had a great time enjoying the beautiful weather, swimming, and Papa taught Kenley how to fish! We have also had a few play dates, visited the farmer's market a few times, went to the splash pad, and enjoyed a few days in our backyard with all of our backyard water toys and pool. 

 

 

 I'm starting to get very anxious/excited about having this baby!! I am feeling ready and by the end of the week I am planning on having my hospital bags packed. I really hope that I either go into labor a bit early, or that I am induced a week early like I was with Kenley. Even though my actual due date is 3weeks away, I don't know if I can take being pregnant that much longer. I've been having so much trouble sleeping, and by the end off the day all of my muscles tense up and it's hard to move. I know this is pretty normal at this stage and my body's way of telling me to slow down.  I am very grateful that I am not working right now, but it's hard to just relax. I'm trying to do as many fun things with Kenley as I can, and we have had such a fun time these last few weeks.  I've also been trying to finish the last few details in the baby's room and make sure our house is as organized and as clean as possible since I know that will be neglected those first few weeks.  I know I will be able to enjoy those first few days more being home if I have most of that in order.  It's getting very close, and I am on baby watch!  Until then, I will TRY to relax!

First few weeks of summer

These first few weeks of summer have been very busy! My mom officially retired and completed her last week of school after 34 years of teaching at the same high school.  We surprised her at Francescas and celebrated with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I truly give my mom credit for her work ethic.  All those years of teaching, and she still managed to look on the bright side of her job and never complain.  Most days I think she truly enjoyed her job, her co-workers, and students. I truly mean it when I say that my mom always put 100% into her job and 110% into our family. I know my mom being a teacher was the main influence in my sister and I becoming teachers.  (Or, maybe it was just the summers off...ha,ha..)  CONGRATS MOM!!

On that note, I officially finished the school year! It was a great feeling to pack up my classroom knowing that I will be off for the whole year. I know it probably won't really hit me until the fall when school is starting again.  Here is a picture of me on the last day of school.  Ray had flowers and a balloon waiting for me when I got home.  So sweet!

I have been really busy these first few weeks.  I had a garage sale which went really well.  I really cleared out a lot of things that I wanted to get rid of, made some money, and donated the rest!  I planned to have my garage sale on  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and I was happy because the first two days went great and then it rained on Saturday.  It was a lot of work, and I was so happy to have my mom's help, but it was worth it!

Last week, Ray and I took Kenley to Wisconsin Dells for 4 nights.  We had a great time and were going non-stop the whole time we were there.  I don't know how Kenley kept up without any naps during those few days.  I was exhausted by the time we went to bed each night!  We went to the water parks, the deer park, the little zoo, exploratory museum, mini-golfing, and on the duck boats.  I think Kenley was at the perfect age to start being able to enjoy these things and the highlights for her (and us) were anything to do with the water and feeding the deer and a giraffe.  It was a really nice little get-away for the three of us.  I was so happy that we got some time together before the baby is born.  Next time our family vacation will be for four!

 

 

 

 

 

We started Mom-and-Tot swim lessons this week with Katie and Kayla. Unfortunately, they have already been cancelled 2 days because of the weather, but we are hoping to be able to finish out the week. I'm enjoying my days off so far, but I think I over-estimated how much I would be able to do each day with having a toddler and being 8 months pregnant! Things are getting tougher physically and I'm really tired even though I have been able to sleep in. Can't believe less then 6 weeks until I meet the new man in my life!

Room Reveals

I mentioned Kenley's transition to her new Big Girl Room a while ago, and I finally have pictures to post!  Kenley has been doing really well transitioning from a crib to a bed, and she has only gotten out of bed once or twice in the middle of the night.  There have been a few times that I've had to sleep with her, but mostly because of thunderstorms, or a few days when she was sick.  I think she really likes her new room, and she has been spending more time playing in it lately.

As for the baby's room, I love the way it is turning out. I will take some pictures when it's finished. I didn't think I would like a "boy" room as much as I loved Kenley's room, but I do!  I think it is so cute and perfect for our baby boy.  I love the neutral colors, and a combination between an animal, abc, and number theme.  I love how involved Ray has been with making the kid's rooms perfect. There is something really cute about seeing your husband get excited about a pink ceiling fan, and spending hours looking at crib bedding sets until we both agreed on the perfect one.

We also turned our laundry room into a laundry room, office, work-out room, and pet room.  How the smallest room in our whole house got turned into accomodating so much seemed impossible, but we made it work!  It might not seem very impressive, but it's fuctional and works for what we need it to.  We are happy with the results, and we have done a lot of clearing out and re-organizing to make it work.

We even managed to clean out our garage a few weeks ago, and I am planning to have another garage sale soon.  I am planning on selling a lot of Kenley's baby stuff even though it makes me really sad.  We just don't have room to be storing everything forever for the "what if" of having a 3rd child.  Which, I realize could lead me to a whole new post, so I will leave it at that for today!