The Reinwand Family

December 2011

2012-01-14T08:49:00.003-06:00

Wow! It has definitely been a while.....

Well, we had a fun filled month is December!!! We had a surprise visit from Grandpa Chuck and Grandma Pat on their way down to Arizona. We had a short visit but it was so nice to see them!!
On Christmas Eve we had one last "present" arrive which ended up being Bama Sanders!!! She was able to spend a week with us and have some quality time with the grand kids! While she was here we put her in Austin's room on the air mattress and moved his crib into Kaelyn's room. But we turned his crib into a toddler bed, so he is officially in his big boy bed!!! Kaelyn and Austin really seem to enjoy being in the same room so we have re-arranged a little bit and they are sharing a room again. It's fun to see them take care of each other!
We spent Christmas Eve night with Joe's mom, step dad, and siblings, cousins and more cousins!!! It was fun to see everyone and the kids had a blast. We woke up Christmas morning to find presents from Santa under the tree. It was so much fun to watch the kids open their gifts and spend time together!!
Joe had volunteered me to make a turkey for Christmas day, and luckily my mom was here to help. I decided that I will probably never try and make a turkey again!!! It really grossed me out! But it turned out well and we had lots of yummy food!
Joe and I were able to get in a few movies and go out to dinner at our favorite place-Ichibans-while my mom was here. It was a great visit!
The end of the month was followed up with a visit by Uncle Nate!! This was another quick visit but we got to meet for dinner and spend some time at the mall.
Life has been busy and crazy, but so what else is new!!!

Enjoy the pictures!

December 2011

March/April 2011

2011-05-11T20:20:00.003-05:00

Well, this is a little late, but I figure better late than never!!! We have had an eventful last two months. I started my new job the end of March. I am working at Park Nicollet Melrose Institute. It is an eating disorders clinic. I am a receptionist at the Level 4 desk. This is the area where patients come for out patient programming. It is for levels 2-4 which consists of anywhere from 3-12hrs a day. I work mostly with Health Educators and Dietitians in this area. I am learning a lot and really enjoying getting to know the patients! I have realized why I like it so much. It is because I am not answering incoming phone calls!!!!
The kids started going to daycare the beginning of April. They are going to a licensed in-home daycare in New Hope. The lady has three of her own children-all girls. One is just older than Kaelyn, the next is just older than Austin, and then the baby is about six months. There is also another little boy who is Austin's age. Ironically he lives two doors down from us!!!!
We moved the middle of April into a house in Crystal. It has 3 bedrooms, two baths, a fire place and hardwood floors upstairs. The basement is finished with a big family room and laundry room. It has a nice back yard that is fenced in with a screened in porch. The kids LOVE it!!! Everyday Kaelyn tells us that she loves her new house!
We celebrated Kaelyn's 3 yr birthday 2 weeks after we moved in! She had a Hello Kitty birthday! It was mostly just family with a few friends and went very well!
My parents were here for the whole month of April. So they helped with packing, moving and getting us settled. They were a life saver and we couldn't have done it without them!
There have been a lot of changed and adjustments, but the kids seem to be settling in with everything. Day care is going pretty well. Austin still has a hard time when we drop him off but he is getting better! He has talking and saying new words and phrases everyday! Kaelyn has been counting and singing the ABC's. She got a new bike for her birthday and loves riding that. We are enjoying time outside and bike riding as a family, when the weather lets us!
We are really enjoying being out of the apartment and our time together as a family!

March/April 2011

January/February

2011-02-28T08:21:00.004-06:00

Well the last two months have brought lots of change in our family. I celebrated my 30th b-day! I had mixed emotions about it, but have decided that it doesn't feel any different than 29. Although sometimes I feel it in my knees when I am down on the floor with the kids!!!! We celebrated by going up north an hour and a half to Grand Casino Mille Lacs. We were able to get a free room through Joe's parents which was awesome. They came with us so they could watch the kids while we went out. We started off by going swimming with the kids, which they loved! Then we got ready to go out and had dinner at one of the restaurants there. It was really good food and nice to be able to talk and have an adult conversation! Then we went back to the room to help get the kids ready for bed. Then we headed out to see a movie. It was SO nice to be able to spend time together and get out without the kids for a few hours!!! When we got back about 11:30pm Kaelyn was asleep in between Grandma and Grandpa in their bed and Austin was wide awake with a fever. Needless to say it was a very long night. Then we went out for breakfast and then packed up to go. It was nice to get away for the night and enjoy some family time!!!
Our lease is coming up the end of April on our apartment and we have decided that we need more room and a yard for the kids. So we are going to be moving again and renting a house. We got approved for a home in Crystal. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, hardwood floors, fireplace, a living room up stairs and a family room downstairs. It has a fenced in back yard with a huge detached garage. We are really looking forward to having more room and a yard for the kids to run around in!!!! We will let you know more about that when it gets closer to moving!
I have also decided to enter back into the work force. Unemployment has been such a blessing for us over the past year and a half, but we will be needing more income to provide what we want for our family. I was offered two different positions and have decided to go back to Park Nicollet. I will be working at the Melrose Institute which is their eating disorders clinic. They recently moved into a brand new state of the art facility. They have in patient and out patient services. I will be a medical receptionist and that will include working the call center too. It's very similar to what I was doing before minus checking insurance. It will be 36 hours a week and I will be done by 3:30pm every day. Joe will be home with the kids on Tues and Wed so they will be in day care 3days a week.
The kids are doing great! Kaelyn is an outgoing, energetic little girl who isn't afraid to talk to anyone! She recently just got glasses because her left eye is crossing and she is a little farsighted. The glasses are supposed to help her left eye straighten out. We go back to the Dr in March to see if they are helping and will find out more then. She does a pretty good job with keeping them on, although we have had to go in and have them adjusted a few times already. She is talking in full paragraphs now and is so much fun to have a conversation with!!! She is so loving with her brother and takes such good care of him!
Austin is also talking a lot more! He is saying new words everyday and it is so much fun to see all of the connections he is making. He is 18 months now so he is finally able to go to nursery at church!!! So now Joe might actually be able to get something out of church! Kaelyn is in nursery with Austin and takes good care of him!
So we have a lot coming up in the next few months, but we are looking forward to all that is in store for us!!!

Jan/Feb 2011

December 2010

2011-01-07T10:23:00.003-06:00

December was a fun month for our family!!!! We started the month off with a visit from my parents. It was so nice to see them and spend a week with them! The kids has a great time playing with both of them. Pretty much everyone got sick the week they were here, but we enjoyed the time together! However, my parents said that they will not be back to visit in December ever again! (Floridians!!!!)
I was able to take the kids downtown to see the Macy's display along with two friends and their kids. It was fun to see "Santa's workshop" and sit on his lap. Both kids managed to sit on his lap without crying, although they didn't seem too sure of what to think!
I got to have my annual cookie baking day with my two best friends from high school, Jamie and Alison. We get together every year to do this and really enjoy it! Every year we get a little quicker even with the addition of 5 kids (Jamie-2, me-2, and Alison-1) between the three of us now!!!
We were able to spend Christmas Eve at Joe's parents house. Joe's two brothers, Kip and Buddy, were there. As well as his sister Penny along with her 4 kids and boyfriend Alan. Our oldest niece Lucia and her son Alex were also there. It was a full house but we had a lot of fun!!! Good food and lots of presents so the kids and the adults enjoyed it.
Joe finished another 9 credits at North Hennepin Community College and was able to get a second Associates Degree! It was a long semester but he did an awesome job! He will be starting at Metropolitan State in January to get his Bachelors Degree in Business Management. He has 32 credits he needs to complete to get that degree. So we will just take it one semester at a time!
We spent New Year's Eve at home with our friends Ethan, Kim and their kids. We made steak and crab legs which turned out great!!! The two little one's, Austin and Taylor, went to bed early. But Kaelyn, Bryson and Kelsey stayed up until midnight! It was a nice way to end the year. We are looking forward to all that 2011 will hold for our family!

December 2010

November 2010

2010-12-03T21:28:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone! November ended up being a pretty quiet month for us. We had some birthday parties and dinner with friends throughout the month. We had a visit from Joe's dad and his girlfriend so they got to spend some time with the kids! Joe was able to take the kids to his sister's house for Thanksgiving while I stayed home with the stomach flu. We had our first snow of the season which Kaelyn absolutely loved!! Other than that things were pretty low key.
Kaelyn and Austin are doing well and growing up!!! Kaelyn is talking in full sentences and learning to dance like a ballerina!! She loves arts and crafts and being with friends. Austin is starting to use new words as well. Some of them include down, baby, Shhhhh (with his finger pressed to his lips), soft, Dora, bye bye, puh (for please), wa-wa (for his cup), and blanket (which sounds more like baby!). They love laughing together and making each other laugh! They definitely keep us busy and laughing!

November 2010

Winter Wonderland

2010-11-18T10:45:00.007-06:00

This is what we woke up to!

Kaelyn LOVED it!!!!

Austin HATED it!!!!!

Austin was SO happy to be back inside!

Kaelyn wasn't ready to come in so she went out on the balcony

We had our first official snow of the season!!! We got close to a foot of snow! Kaelyn absolutely loves it and could play outside all day! Austin on the other hand, not so much. He cries as soon as you get all of his gear on and continues to cry the whole time outside unless you pick him up and hold him. But they both look pretty cute all bundled up! We got Austin's snow suit from an old co-worker of mine. It is 18-24 months so it is a little big, but it was free so it works!!! Kaelyn is actually wearing the jacket and snow pants we got last year which are 18 months. It fits her perfectly!!!! So we have been enjoying building snowmen and sledding with all of this white stuff outside!!!! It has been fun to actually be able to enjoy it this year!

Looking back....

2010-11-17T11:23:00.001-06:00

So Austin and Kaelyn are 15 1/2 months apart. Austin in now 15 months, so I have been thinking......I am SOOOOOOO glad I am not 9 months pregnant right now!!!! Or even pregnant at all for that matter!!!! I love my kiddos, but they keep me busy enough right now!

October 2010

2010-11-01T21:50:00.007-05:00

Well, it's been another crazy month for our family! We started off the month with a 10 day vacation to Idaho and Utah. Joe served his mission for our church in Boise, ID from 2001-2003. We started our trip flying into Boise and having lunch with the Teuscher's. Judy was like Joe's mom when he was on his mission. Then we drove out to Parma which is very close to the Oregon border. We stayed with the Jeffers who have a farm. The kids had an amazing week with all of the animals!! Kaelyn really bonded with one of the dog's named Wally and Austin held his own with all of the big wagging tails!!!! Joe got to do some shooting and even got to wrangle up a sheep to bring to slaughter. We drove into Oregon and got to see some of the areas where Joe served during his mission. It is a beautiful part of the country! At the end of the week we stayed with the Teuscher's daughter and her family for a night. Their kids watched our kids and we were able to have a night out with grown ups!!!! It was great!!! Then we drove down to Utah and stayed in Orem for a few days. We were able to meet up with our friends the Russell's who live here in MN. They were visiting family out there. We were also able to see an old friend Joe grew up with and one of his Tongan mission companions who is now married and living in Provo. At the end of our trip we had to drive back up to Boise to fly home, so we stayed with the Teuscher family again. It was actually a pretty nice and relaxing time because we just went with the flow and took it easy. The kids did really well on the airplane rides and we were sad we had to come back to reality!!! We had a fun Halloween with the kids this year. I don't think Austin really knew what was going on, but Kaelyn was able to go trick or treating with her cousins and absolutely loved it!!!! Kaelyn has been loving going to school twice a week and being able to do lots of art activities. She is very independent and loves to help with anything she can. She is talking in full sentences, but still has a lot of jabbering in between so it is very interesting to carry on a conversation with her! She loves to tell stories and sing too! And she climbs on everything! Austin is really starting to come into his own. He is very talkative and has a few words: Mama, Dada, ball, Dora, and fish. He loves Elmo and trucks. He is still very into books and can now climb up on Kaelyn's bed. He has started pushing back when he gets pushed and is very strong. We are definitely in for it with these two!!!

Idaho 2010

Utah 2010

October 2010

September 2010

2010-10-02T21:08:00.004-05:00

Well, I guess I can say that September was a little less eventful than August was! Thank goodness. Aside from coughs and sniffles which seemed to follow us the whole month, we are all doing pretty well. The big thing that started this month is ECFE (early childhood family education). We decided to to a class for Kaelyn and for Austin. Kaelyn's class is Tuesday mornings and Austin's is Thursday. During Kaelyn's class Austin is at home with Joe, but on Thursday mornings Joe is sleeping. So Kaelyn goes with us and stays at sibling care. Each class is 1 1/2-2 hours long. It is divided up between play time, circle time-which includes singing, parent education time, and snack time. Both kids are really enjoying it and it's nice to get out and meet new people.
Kaelyn is working hard at learning her colors and shapes. She gets them correct about 50% of the time. She loves to count too, but always ends up saying 1,2,6...so hopefully she will figure it out eventually!!! She is talking so well now and it is so much fun to have a conversation with her that you actually understand!
Austin is such a little man! He is into everything but especially loves music. He is always dancing or bopping his head to the music. He loves to read and look at books and is walking all over the place. He really loves his sister too and is always wanting to get into what ever she is doing. His collar bone seems to be healing well and doesn't seem to bother him at all.
Joe is doing great with keeping up with his school work and working and being a husband and being a dad! He is one busy guy!!!!
We are looking forward to a trip out west to visit some friends in Idaho and Utah. I'm sure we will have lots of pictures to share!

Please click on the picture below

September 2010

August 2010

2010-09-06T20:55:00.006-05:00

As if the summer wasn't busy or crazy enough, August sure didn't disappoint us. We started off the month with the kids having a virus. Austin ended up covered in a rash from head to toe. Then Joe came down with a really bad headache. We ended up going to the ER late one night and after a spinal tap confirming that he had an infection, he ended up being admitted to the hospital overnight. It turned out to be viral meningitis. Which is the "good" meningitis to get. (Verses bacterial meningitis.) There wasn't really anything that could be done since it was a virus, but it completely wiped Joe out. He was out of work for three weeks and flat on his back for most of that time. He couldn't sit up or stand up without getting a severe headache for those three weeks. Luckily he is all better now and things are finally back to normal for him.
A week and a half after all that excitement we celebrated Austin's 1st Birthday!!!!! We had a party in the club house at our apt complex. It was a nice gathering of friends and family and the kids seemed to have a good time! My parents were able to come up for his party and stayed for two weeks. This was especially helpful since Joe was recovering.
We had planned an outing to Wisconsin Dells at the end of August with Joe's parents. But then Joe's mom ended up in the hospital with a bowel obstruction. She ended up having surgery and is now finally back at home. She is improving everyday which we are so thankful for. So, we ended up being able to go up to the north shore with my parents for a couple of days. We went to Knife River for 2 nights and then Joe, Kaelyn, Austin and I stayed in Duluth for a night at a place with a water park. We really enjoyed the chance to get a way for a few days and just relax!!!
Joe started school at the end of the month again. He is going back to North Hennepin to complete another Associates Degree. He only needed 9 more credits to complete an Information Systems Management degree. Then he will start at Metro State for a Bachelor's degree in January.
To wrap up a fun filled month, on Tuesday, August 31st Austin fell and broke his collar bone. He was with a babysitter, and fell down about three stairs. The babysitter caught him before he hit the floor, but the damage had been done. We didn't realize he had broken anything until I took him to the Dr two days later. He seemed to be okay the day after it happened but then two days later you could tell he has in some pain. He only cried whenever we picked him up under his arms. He was a trooper. There isn't anything they do for it as far as a cast or splint goes. You just have to watch him and it will heal within 4-6 weeks.
So we are hoping that Sept will be less eventful. But we are grateful we are at least mostly healthy and able to enjoy being together!
Click on the links below to view pictures

August 2010

Austin's 1st Birthday!

July 2010

2010-08-03T10:46:00.011-05:00

Hello everyone! Well, July has been a busy but exciting month!! We started off the month with 4th of July. We spent time with Joe's parents and went to Canterbury Downs. They had free food, rides and a big playing gym for the kids. It was fun to get out and enjoy the day. Joe had to work that night so we didn't make it out for fireworks. The kids were too tired and mommy didn't want to venture out without daddy!!!! Maybe next year!
We have loved spending time at the pool this summer. Austin and Kaelyn are little fish!!! They love the water and have no fear! We ventured out to the zoo and the Children's museum this month. The kids love the animals and all of the fun things to do.
We had a visit from my parents in the middle of the month for a long weekend. It was so good to see them!!! The kids had a ball while they were here! My parents got in some much needed grandparent time!!! Then at the end of the month Uncle Nate and Auntie Elizabeth came for a visit. The kids were a little under the weather so it took a little time to warm up. But they did have a lot of fun swimming and going to the mall. They even took the kids to Build a Bear and they got to make a new stuffed animal. Kaelyn chose to make an owl named Hoot!
We celebrated Joe's 30th birthday on July 22nd!!! The day before we went to Valley Fair with our friends the Russell's. We rented a cabana at the water park and spent the day in the sun! Ethan and Joe were able to venture out and do some water slides and rides while Kim and I spent time with the kids at the kiddie area and mini lazy river. The kids had a blast!!!
We also celebrated our 5 year anniversary on July 16th!!! We were able to go out to our favorite restaurant called Ichiban's while my parents were here! It is a Japanese steak house where they cook the meal right in front of you. We did this on our 1st anniversary and have turned it into a tradition. They have the best food and we look forward to going every year!!!
Austin took his first steps this month!!! He is having fun practicing walking between two people but hasn't taken off quite yet!!! He has also FINALLY started feeding himself which is such a relief for us. Although he is really messy!!!! His little personality is really shinning through and he is such a happy kid!!!
Kaelyn is as independent as ever and loves to do things herself. She likes to play dress up and loves to "cook" in her kitchen. One of her favorite things to do is put people to sleep. She tells you to close your eyes, she sings you a song, rubs your back, and then tells you when it's time to wake up!!!! She is very nurturing and caring, but definitely has a wild streak to her. She is a handful but is so much fun too!!!!!

Click on the photo below to view all of our July pictures-scroll down to see a video of Kaelyn singing Happy Birthday to Daddy and Austin walking!!!!!

July 2010

May and June 2010

2010-07-01T21:20:00.001-05:00

Well, two months have gone by and we have been busy busy busy!!! The kids are doing really well and are keeping us on our toes!!! Austin has accomplished so much in the last two months. He has finally figured out how to crawl on all fours, he can go from laying down to sitting up, he is pulling himself up on everything and cruising around on the furniture. He has even stood by himself for a few seconds without falling over. He is finally drinking out of a sippy cup and holding it him self. The one thing he still won't do is feed him self. He likes to pick food up and smash it between his hands, but will not put it in his mouth. He is laughing and talking all of the time. He is such a happy kid!!!!!
Kaelyn is definitely two! She figured out how to flip herself over the side of Austin's crib to get in there with him. Then within a few days she figured out how to climb out of her crib. One day I put her down for a nap and within a few minutes I heard some noise coming from her room. Then all of a sudden she walks around the corner and says "hi mom"!!!! I couldn't believe it!!!!! So we took her to pick out new sheets for her big girl bed and changed her crib into a toddler bed. She absolutely loves it!!! The first week we had some late nights where the kids just did not want to go to bed. But things have settled down and bedtime isn't quite so awful anymore.
Joe graduated from North Hennepin Community College in May with an Associate Degree in Business Management. It was fun to see him walk across the stage and get his diploma!!! It's been a long time coming! He wants to continue on and do Information Systems Management.
We are enjoying being in the Plymouth area and are feeling settled in our new place. There are so many pictures between May and June that I set them up through google. So please go to the link below and enjoy all of the pictures!!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lindsayreinwand/MayAndJune2010#

cute little Austin!

2010-05-09T21:35:00.003-05:00

April 2010

2010-05-01T17:09:00.005-05:00

Hello everyone! Well, another month has gone by and we have been busy. We finally have our new place settled for the most part. I have one project I would like to do of changing out some of the pictures in our picture frames. But they are finally hung up on the wall!!!! The biggest thing that happened this month is that Kaelyn turned 2!!!! We had a wonderful birthday party for her in the community room at our apartment complex. She picked a "Dora" theme. We had a Dora cake and balloon which she loved!!!!! It went really well and she seemed to have a lot of fun!!! People even went swimming at our indoor pool!!!! She has had a big improvement with her words this month. She is saying so many new words every day and using 3-4 word sentences. It is so much fun to be able to communicate with her. She finally started calling her brother Austin instead of "Austy"!!!
Austin has also done a lot this month. He finally started sitting up really well on his own. He is rolling all over the floor. At the beginning of the month he was scooting backwards and by the end of the month he was starting to army crawl forward. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. He is sooooo close to crawling!!!! He also has started eating "real" food. He will pick food up but he doesn't get that he should put it in his mouth! He also finally started sucking out of a sippy cup instead of just chewing on it. It has been fun to see him progress in so many different ways.
We are absolutely loving seeing our children learn and grow!!! They keep us busy but we are so happy to have both of them in our family! They are amazing!!!!

April 2010

Kaelyn's 2nd Birthay

March 2010

2010-04-10T13:50:00.009-05:00

So I know this is a little late, but hey I figure better late than never! March was a crazy month for the Reinwand family. We did get to get away and visit my parents in Florida!!!! It was a lot of fun and the kids did really well. Both flights we were able to have extra seats between the four of us so the plane rides weren't too bad. We all slept in the master room with two pack and plays for the kids. That actually went really well too! It was a little cooler than we would have liked for the beach and the pool, but we still got to spend time at both. Kaelyn loved swimming and jumping into the water!! She was a little dare devil even going under the water. She loved standing in the ocean and even got into waist deep water (which isn't hard considering she's almost two!) We went to the zoo, the aquarium and the children's museum. Kaelyn had a blast! I think her favorite part had to be my parents new dog Mia! Every morning Kaelyn woke up she had to ask about the "Gog" and make sure she was still there! During the trip Joe and I even got out to see three movies and have dinner alone! Thanks Bapa and Grandmama! We all had a wonderful time!
Right before we went to Florida we found out that the bank had accepted the offer on our house. For those of you who don't know the whole story we put the house up for sale the end of December. We actually got an offer from our first showing. Unfortunately it was for less than what we owe so it ended up being a short sale. It took the bank a few months to decide if they would accept the offer. They ended up saying that the original offer wasn't enough. They went back to the buyer with a counter offer and she accepted. So we found this out right before our trip to Florida. We had a 3 bedroom apartment that was being held for us until the middle of April. After talking it through we thought maybe we should get a two bedroom and save some more money that way. So I called the apt complex to see what they had. One of the biggest two bedrooms was available but we had to take it right away because someone else wanted it for April. So we signed the lease before we went to Florida. While we were there we decided to move sooner rather than later. My mom also volunteered to come up and help us pack, move and unpack. So we got back to Minnesota on Thurs 3/18 and moved a week and a half later on Tues 3/30. Everything went well and we could not have done it without the help of my mom!!! We hired movers so the moving part was not bad at all. Now we are just trying to get everything settled.
Other than that the kids are doing great!!!! Austin is sitting up and moving around all over the floor. He hasn't figured out crawling quite yet but he can pivot around. He is slowly trying new foods and absolutely loves his big sister!!! Kaelyn is talking up a storm and using new words everyday. She is learning how to undress and dress herself. She loves to pick out her own clothes. They seem to be adjusting to sharing a room and being in a new place. They are an absolute joy to watch and be with!!!!

I am having trouble doing a slide show for pictures, so I will post just a few below. Enjoy!

These are from Florida

These are from March and an Easter Eggstravaganza

February 2010

2010-03-03T13:07:00.002-06:00

Big Boy!!!!

2010-02-22T08:17:00.004-06:00

Austin had his six month check at the Dr last week. He weighed in at 17 pounds 14 ounces and is 28 inches. At Kaelyn's 1 year check she weighed 17 pounds 6 ounces. I can't believe that my six month old officially weighs more than his sister did at 1year!!!! I can't imagine what he is going to grow up to be......

January 2010

2010-02-02T15:54:00.004-06:00

Well, we survived another crazy and busy month! The kids are doing really well and are so much fun to watch! Kaelyn is starting to talk a lot more and is saying new words everyday. She babble a lot too and then she will throw a real word in the middle of it and it just cracks us up!!! She loves her little brother and is always wanting him to sit by her and play! She has found a favorite new word which is "mine" and has developed a little attitude to go with it. It will be interesting to see how things develop with her in the coming months. She and I started ECFE classes again this month and she seems to be enjoying it. She graduated from the infant room to the toddler room. There are many more toys for her to play with and the parents leave the room for part of the time. She doesn't seem to mind too much when I leave so I'm grateful for that! Just in the last few weeks she has started not liking to take baths. She is afraid of the floaties in the tub. Everyday is a new experience with her!!!!
Austin is getting so big!!!! He has started eating baby cereal, fruits and veggies. He seems to really like bananas and sweet potatoes. He loves his big sister and is always watching her to see what comes next! He puts up with a lot from her but doesn't really seem to mind!!! He has started spiting and buzzing his lips as one of his favorite activities. He has also really started rolling around and will even end up on the opposite side of his crib in the morning! He is a great baby! We realize everyday how blessed we are!!!!!

Kaelyn talking

2010-01-16T22:34:00.003-06:00

Here is a video of some of the things Kaelyn is saying. It was a few weeks ago so she has gotten better at some of them, but I thought it would be fun to share!!

Markers....

2010-01-07T15:32:00.003-06:00

So Kaelyn absolutely loves markers! I don't usually let her use them unless she is supervised. I accidentally put a highlighter and permanent marker in a drawer in the desk in the kitchen. One night while I was washing dishes Kaelyn was playing behind me. After I tuned the water off I head this familiar noise. It was the sound of someone using a marker. I ran around the corner and........luckily it was the highlighter!!!!!!!! It came right off and it was soooooooo hard not to laugh! But we had to take pictures!!!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-07T14:57:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!! We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Ours was busy but fun! We started off December by getting a few packages in the mail from Uncle Nate and Aunt Elizabeth. Kaelyn got her first cabbage patch doll which she absolutely loves!!!! And Austin got his first Build A Bear which was an adorable little puppy!!!! I'm sure he will love it when he gets a little older! But right now Kaelyn is taking good care of it for him!!!! We spent Christmas Eve with Joe's family. We had dinner at his mom's and opened presents afterwards. The kids seemed to have a good time seeing everyone and Kaelyn had fun unwrapping her gifts. Then we woke up Christmas morning and opened gifts at home. Most of them were from Grandpa and Grandmama Sanders. Kaelyn had to open everything right away and test it all out! Then we got to go and enjoy the snow while Joe helped plow his parents driveway. Kaelyn wasn't too sure about the snow, but thought it was fun when we threw snowballs at her!!!! Then we got to see some more family and have some yummy crab legs!!!!! It was a busy but fun couple of days!

Vidoes

2009-12-07T20:25:00.003-06:00

Here are a few videos from November. Enjoy!!!!!

November 2009

2009-12-02T14:57:00.004-06:00

Well, November has been a very fun month. The kids are both getting so big!!! We can't believe that we have a nineteen month old and a 3 1/2 month old. Where does the time go?!?! Austin is getting to be so much fun now that he is more aware of everything going on around him. He loves to talk! He will lay on his play mat and talk and talk and talk!!! He is starting to reach for things and hold on to them now. He understands that he can make his hands do things and loves to swat at the toys hanging in front of him. He is also very smiley!!!! Which just melts my heart!! He also loves his big sister! He will just sit and watch her to see what she is doing. He loves when she comes and talks to him. He is also a very good sleeper! He wakes us once at night to eat which means mommy is getting more sleep! Yeah! We met with the cardiologist again last week. They had us do a 24 hour monitor of his heart. We heard back this week that everything was fine so we are done with Austin's medication!!!! Everything looks good so we don't have to do anything else!!!
Kaelyn is in to everything and anything! She keeps us very busy! She is starting to use her words more which is very nice for us. Some of her favorite words are "bubbles", "Bapa"-for Grandpa, "NO", "puh"-for please, "Autin"-for Austin, and "ticka ticka ticka"-for when she is tickling you!!! She is also eating with a fork and spoon very well now. One of her favorite activities is playing in the water. She loves bath time and also standing in front of the sink. She still loves music, which includes dancing and being sung to. He new favorite thing is Barney-which we aren't very happy about-but she loves to watch him over and over and over again! I have been doing a mommy and me class through our city with both kids once a week and Kaelyn seems to love it!!! She has done lots of painting and new activities through the class.
We are really enjoying how well Kaelyn and Austin get along and are excited to see how that progresses as they get older. We are so greatful for our family and look forward to all that is to come!!!!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-16T20:18:00.005-06:00

Okay, so I have been a big slacker at updating this blog and I feel really bad!!!! Then on top of it Joe did something to the computer and I can't access all of the pictures I took in October. So that is part of my excuse!!!! So hopefully I will be able to update at the end of the month with new pics of the kids! We are all doing really well! We had a fun Halloween, although we actually didn't go out on Halloween. Our church had a Trunk or Treat on Oct 17th along with our chili cook off. We lined up our cars in the parking lot and decorated our trunks. All the kids came around and Trunk or Treated! It actually worked out great! Kaelyn was the cutest little lion and also had the best "ROAR"! Austin was a cute little pumpkin. We had the kids in their costumes for various picture taking sessions so we definitely got some good use out of them this year. Kaelyn was up for 2 1/2 hours the night before Halloween so we had a rough day on Halloween. Everything got pushed out a little because she woke up late and by the time we got home from running around it was going to be too crazy to try and get the kids ready to do some trick or treating. We figured she wouldn't remember anyways so it was okay. She had fun answering the door with daddy to give the kids their candy. We also had fun carving our pumpkin. And like a true "girl" Kaelyn didn't want to get messy!!!! She stuck her hand in a few times but then would make us wipe her off!!!! She is crazy but we still love her!!!!

August 2009

2009-10-01T11:25:00.003-05:00

So I know this is totally late, but I thought it was better than nothing!!! August was a great month for our family!!! Austin arrived on August 11th and we are so happy to have him be apart of our family! Kaelyn is a wonderful BIG sister!!! She loves to help get diapers, put the pacifier in Austin's mouth, give him his blanket, and then take it away!, and she's always trying to share her food with him! She seems to be adjusting very well which I am really greatful for. My parents were here all of August to help with getting used to having two kids. They were a tremendous help and they really enjoyed being able to spend time with their grandkids!!! Here are some pictures from August.....

He's here......

2009-08-13T10:27:00.006-05:00

Austin Michael was born on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 at 12:09pm. He weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces and was 20.5 inches long!!!!! We are so very glad that he is finally here!!! Joe and I went into the hospital Tuesday morning at 9:30am. I was hooked up to the monitor so they could check his heart rate and my contractions. I got an IV started in my arm so they could hydrate me and then use it for all my medications. They took some blood and got me all ready to go. My parents came to the hospital about 10:30am and we just sat until they were ready to go. Then Joe and I headed to the OR with the anesthesiologist and the nurse. Joe had to wait until they gave me my spinal block before he came in. So I got my spinal and they laid me down and got me all ready to go. Then Joe came in and was able to sit next to me and hold my hand. The surgery went well but took a little longer to do this time. They had to get through my scar tissue from last time and that just takes longer to do. The nurse asked Joe if he wanted to film Austin while he came out and Joe said no way!!!!!! So the nurse took over and we actually have his birth on video. Joe has yet to see it!!!!!! Austin came out butt first and had a little squeaky cry!!!! Drs from the NICU took him into an adjoining room to get him stable and make sure everything was okay. Joe went with him and I could see Austin through the window in the door. Once they got him stable they brought him into me and I got to see him, talk to him, and give him a bunch of kisses!!!!! Then he went with Joe to the NICU. I spent about 1-2 hours in recovery and then they wheeled me in my bed down to the NICU so I could see him.
Since then Austin has been doing really well. He needed a little help with his breathing so he was on oxygen for a little bit. He had some IV's in so they could give him some medicine. He was able to come off of all of that by Friday/Saturday. We kept hearing different answers from different Drs/nurses about when he could come home. I was discharged on Saturday and thought that he would be too. When we got there Sat morning to feed him they said he would need to stay another night because of his bilirubin (he is jaundiced and his bilirubin when up instead of down). So they told me I could stay in one of the sleeper rooms they have for parents Saturday night so I could feed him every 3 hours. After I was discharged we went to the NICU and the Dr that had been working with him during the week saw us and asked what we were still doing there? I said we were wondering the same thing. Then when we got in there his nurse asked us the same question. The nurse and the Dr worked it out so we could finally bring him home on Saturday. By the time everything was said and done we finally pulled into the garage at 10pm Saturday night. It was a very long day!!!!! But totally worth it!!!!!
So now we are home and things are going pretty well for now. Kaelyn was so cute with him on Sunday morning. Joe and and I brought him down stairs where Kaelyn was playing with Grandmama and Grandpa. As soon as she saw she got sooooo excited and squealed. She sat on Joe's lap and checked out her new brother. She gave him lots of kisses and rubbed his head very gently. She seems to really like him and always checks on him when he cries. She is also a good helper with changing him and burping him. Hopefully things will continue to go well.
So now we will try and figure out a new routine and how it's going to work with having two kids. We are excited and nervous but looking forward to all that is ahead of us. We know we will be busy but hope to be able to enjoy all that is to come!

The end is in sight!

2009-07-26T19:44:00.004-05:00

I had a Dr's appt last Friday and got some good news. We are going to move my c-section up to August 5th!!!!! Now I'm a little scared because that is in 10 days, but I am so glad that this pregnancy will be over! The week before my ultrasound showed that the baby was 8 pounds give or take a pound either way. Because of this as well as the medications I am taking the Dr thinks it will be better to deliver sooner rather than later. I will be 36 weeks and 1 day on the 5th. So that morning I will have to have an amniocentesis which is where they will take a needle and put it in my stomach to take out some amniotic fluid. (They use an ultrasound machine to guide the needle). The fluid will be tested to find out if the baby's lungs are fully developed. If they are then we can have the c-section that afternoon! So keep your fingers crossed!!! It is bitter sweet because I know the longer he is in there the better it is for him, but I am soooooooooo ready to be done! So keep us in your prayers.

Major update....make sure you read the whole thing

2009-07-23T10:39:00.006-05:00

Okay, so a lot has happened in the last month which is my excuse for not giving an update for Kaelyn's 14th month. And now here we are at her 15th month so there is a lot to say! The last 2 months have been so fun with Kaelyn! She is learning and growing everyday. I think one of her most favorite things is music. She has a little piano that plays songs and she loves to dance and twirl to the music. She has gotten some new toys which loves! She loves to be outside and we even took her to the pool in Crystal-finally!!!! She was a little hesitant at first, but then she started walking right in and splashing and playing. She is making lots of new sounds and noises. She isn't talking too much yet, but there are a couple of words she has said, but only once. She can follow directions and is such a big helper. She loves to put things in the garbage and help clean!!!! (She definitely got this from Grandma Faye!!!) She loves to color and use pens to draw although she is still learning that crayons and pens are only used on paper! Her other favorite thing is to read books, especially ones with animals. We are working hard on which animals say what. Her favorite sounds are the bear (grrrrrr) and the cow (mooooooo). So those are a few things about our munchkin and how she is doing.

As for me and the baby....we had an exciting adventure to the hospital the end of June. I had gone in for my regular OB check on 6/23. The babies heart rate was pretty high and I was measuring a little big. So my Dr sent me to have an ultrasound the next day to see how everything was. After my ultrasound was over my Dr called right a way and told me that the baby's heart rate was very high and he was retaining fluid. He wanted me to go to Methodist hospital right away. He said they were expecting me and that I would have a consult with a perinatologist. So I called Joe right away and told him I was headed to the hospital right away. So he met me there.
Once I got to the hospital they admitted me and started monitoring the baby right away. I even got a shot of steroids that were to help the baby's lungs develop. The Dr came in and told me that I would be taking a ride over Abbott Northwestern in an ambulance. It was during rush hour so I got to have the lights and sirens on too!!
So then I got admitted to Abbott and Joe met me there. I met half a dozen Drs that night. Some were perinatolgists-for the baby, and others were cardiologists-for me. So what ended up happening was they put me on medication to help bring the baby's heart rate down. His heart rate was over 200 and normally should be between 120-160. So basically we just had to sit and wait until the baby's heart rate converted. I had to be in the hospital until this happened. So finally Friday night/Saturday this finally happened. It got down to about 170 and they were happy with that. During all this I was having an EKG everyday along with the baby being monitored everyday for 1 hour twice a day. We found out that he is also breeched so I will have another c-section for sure. I also was having a lot of contractions in the hospital so they put me on medication to help stop those as well. So there was a lot going on for both of us. I finally got to go home on Monday. Now the plan is for me to "take it easy" and go in to be monitored twice a week along with having a BPP-which is basically an ultrasound to see how the baby is doing. I also see the perinatologist for my weekly OB appt. I had a C-section scheduled at Abbott for 8/25but this week the ultrasound showed that Austin is already 8 pounds-give or take a pound either way. So we could see about delivering a little earlier than that!!!!! Now it's just a waiting game.
Also I fell down the stairs about two weeks ago. They wouldn't do an x-ray to see if it is broken, but either way there isn't anything they can do for that. So I am finally getting a little better, but I can't sit very long, and I can't stand very long. My mom came up on July 4th, so she is helping a lot with Kaelyn. I am not supposed to lift her anyways. So things have been hard and I am really ready to have this pregnancy over with. So I am taking it one day at time...

Here's me at 33 weeks.....a week ago

Water Park of America

2009-06-14T20:21:00.008-05:00

So, at the very last minute we decided to take a family trip to the Water Park of America on Friday. Joe had a comp day from work because he worked Memorial Day so he took Friday off and we booked a room at the Radisson in Bloomington by the Mall of America. I have to say that it was really nice to "get away" for a night! The hotel was amazing!! Our room was really big! It had a bathroom with a vanity and tub in it. Plus there was a vanity in the main hallway with a microwave and mini fridge and a long counter. There was even an extra "room" with two bunk beds in it with out a door on it. The main bedroom had a queen bed with built in night stands and a little table and lounge chair. We stuck Kaelyn's pack 'n play in the extra room and everyone slept great! Our room came with four passes to the water park that were good from 4pm Friday to 4pm Saturday. So after we checked in we ate dinner at the Split Rock Grill. It was a little spendy but super good food. Then we got changed and headed to the water park. They had a few water slides, a lazy river, a wave pool, a regular pool, and a play area for kids that didn't go above 6in deep! Kaelyn wasn't too sure what to think of it all at first, but she eventually warmed up and even went on a little slide with daddy. They had double inter tubes you could sit on for the lazy river and she really ended up liking that. There were a few spots along the way that had waterfalls coming down and she didn't like that so much. She liked sitting in the wave pool when the waves weren't coming and loved watching daddy dive into the waves!! On the lazy river there was a bridge you went under that had a bear sleeping on it and she loved to point and look at him. She discovered this wonderful toy in the play area where if you turned a big wheel it would spray water out. There was a little boy spraying his mom and she thought that was the funniest thing. So then of course we had to spray daddy which was even better!!!! We ended up having a really nice time and I think Kaelyn will enjoy the pool a lot this summer!!!!!!

13 months

2009-05-30T20:19:00.005-05:00

So I am a little late getting this posted, but it has been a busy and fast month! Kaelyn is doing very well and is lots of fun! She is definitely a sweet little girl. She loves to gives kisses especially during meal time when her face is all messy! She still loves to hug everything and even pats her baby dolls on the back while she's hugging them. She also loves to pat daddy on the back when he gives her hugs! She really likes to walk backwards which she practices often. Usually its when she wants to sit on your lap. She will stand a few feet in front of you and walk back until she falls in your lap! She has started helping mommy by putting things into the garbage. If I had her something and say lets go put it in the garbage she follows me to the kitchen and drops it in!! Then I have to say all done or she will try and take everything out of the garbage!! She loves to go bye bye also. If you say it's time to go bye bye she walks over to the gate at the top of the stairs. Then when we get down stairs she knows she needs to put her shoes on first. She also loves to wave, so if you say bye bye she waves at whoever is there, even if she is the one going bye bye! She now wants to go up the stairs and down the stairs like a big girl. She will hold on to your hands and take the steps one at a time. You have to be really careful because she will start going down them without you. She has discovered she really loves spaghetti, which you will be able to see in the pictures, and strawberries are her absolute favorite. She doesn't have too many words yet, but one morning during breakfast when I asked her is she wanted more or if she was all done she proudly announced "done"! But she hasn't said it since then. If you ask her to say certain words she will produce the sound of the first letter of the word, so she is definitely on her way! We had our first trip to the zoo on Memorial Day and she loved the monkeys-just like her daddy!!! She seemed to have a fun time although she didn't like the tea cup ride which she went on with mommy. She cried almost the entire time :(

25 weeks

2009-05-24T20:18:00.005-05:00

So I have had these pictures taken for almost a week and I am a total slacker on getting them on the blog. But life is a little busy right now, so what can I say!!! Everything has been going very well with my pregnancy. I have been feeling pretty well and am enjoying being pregnant. I have to say I am a huge fan of the
2nd trimester!!!!! We have officially picked a name for our baby boy. It is going to be Austin Michael. I have been having fun feeling him move around and beat me up inside!!! Joe has been able to feel him kicking for the last few weeks. I'm pretty sure Kaelyn has felt him too, although she doesn't seem to care. I have to say that the second time around is totally different. I am so busy with everything that sometimes I forget I am pregnant. With Kaelyn it was all I could think about!!! We are getting a few boy things here and there and I am hoping to do a little garage sale-ing. My friend Anna was able to find a Graco double stroller for $15!!!! It doesn't match our car seat, but for $15 who cares!!!!! My other friend Jamie has a co-worker that had a baby boy last August and is wanting to get rid of all of her stuff. So I am going to go have a peek at all of that stuff!!! So things are going well and we are excited to meet our baby boy!
Also, I compared pictures from when I was pregnant with Kaelyn to now.......

First pregnancy at 24 weeks

This pregnancy at 24 weeks

Kaelyn's 1st Birthday

2009-04-30T20:12:00.003-05:00

Well, Kaelyn's first birthday was a hit!!!! We went to the Maple Grove Community Center to play in the indoor play area. First we had pizza, cake and opened presents in one of the rooms. She was very girly when it came to eating her cake. She did not want to get dirty!!!! We had a lot of friends and family there to celebrate with us which was really nice! She got a bunch of new, fun toys that she absolutely loves!!!! She has been busy breaking them in over the last week. She really likes all of the things she got and isn't bored with her toys anymore!!! We had to get a new bookshelf to store everything in because our living room was being taken over! We just wanted to thank everyone who was able to be there and also say we really missed those who couldn't be. We have such great people in our lives and we are so grateful for that!

Kaelyn's 12th month

2009-04-30T19:54:00.003-05:00

Wow!!!! We can't believe a whole year has gone by since Kaelyn was born!!! It has been an amazing year!!!!! Kaelyn is as cute as ever and so much fun!!!!! She is walking all over the place and is almost running!!!! She loves life and is a very happy kid!!!! She loves people and putting on a show for them! She loves playing with her toys, especially her baby dolls. I think she will be a great BIG sister!! I think her favorite place to be is out side. She loves going for walks in her stroller and walking around outside. She discovered our deck this month and loves to go outside and inside and outside and inside!!!!! She loves to play with other kids and enjoys trips to the indoor play areas at the mall. Kaelyn's favorite thing is music! She loves to dance to it and especially loves all of her toys that make music. It will be interesting to see what that love turns into.

Pictures!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-21T21:08:00.009-05:00

20 weeks

We have one of Kaelyn with her arm up by her face that looks just like this one!!

During the ultrasound it looked like he was waving at us with his little hand!

It's a boy!!!!! Can you see the "turtle"? If you cover the bottom portion of the picture it looks like a turtle!!!

20 weeks........it's a.............

2009-04-16T20:16:00.003-05:00

Well, I am half way through my pregnancy and we had our ultrasound today!!!! It went really well and we got some cute pictures! The ultrasound tech asked if we wanted to know what the sex was if she was able to see and we told her yes. She said that there is a 50/50 chance that it works out to be able to tell. So she started the ultrasound and the first thing she tells us is....."there is the penis and testicles!" So we are having a baby BOY!!!! I was a little shocked because I figured she would start off doing everything else and then try and take a peek between the legs! But we are really excited! I always wanted to have one of each :) So now we have some shopping to do....all we have is pink! We are pretty sure about the name, but I want to save that to tell everyone myself! As for pictures, I am having difficulty getting them on the computer so I will try and post them tomorrow.

Look at me!!!!!!

2009-03-25T20:31:00.003-05:00

11 months!

2009-03-24T20:10:00.013-05:00

I can't believe my baby is already 11 months!!!!! It has been such an amazing year! We are so blessed to have Kaelyn as a daughter and we love her soooo much! She is an amazing little girl and brings so much laughter and joy into our lives! She has had a busy month. She took her first steps on March 7th at my friend Anna's baby shower. And she has been practicing ever since! She has gotten really good over the last two weeks and we can officially say that she is walking! She loves to laugh and be chased. One of her favorite things is for us to crawl after her saying, "I'm gonna getch ya!" She is exploring her voice and all of the different sounds and noises she can make. She loves to talk and does it the whole ride on the way to daycare in the morning! She keeps me entertained!!! Kaelyn is a cuddle bug and loves to snuggle with us, her animals, her toys, etc. She even walked up and gave her cousin a hug last week! It was too cute! She loves to dance to music and play with her toys. She has started to point at things and loves to explore. We are really looking forward to her birthday next month and what the next year with bring!

I'm really pregnant!!!!....16 weeks

2009-03-24T19:45:00.004-05:00

Well, I thought it was time to show that I am actually pregnant!!! I had a Dr appt last week which Joe and Kaelyn got to come to. We got to hear the babies heart beat which was so nice a reassuring! It's hard at first when you are pregnant because the only real way you know there is actually a baby in there is by hearing the heart beat!!! The heart rate was 154-average is 120-160. They say if it is in the higher rage it is a girl! But the baby was moving around so she said it could be exercise induced!!! We will have our ultrasound in 3 weeks on April 16th. Hopefully we will be able to find out what it is! So far the pregnancy has been okay. I was really sick at first that I even had to get some medication. But I have been weaning myself off of it and going 2-3 days without it. So that is an improvement. It has gone by really quickly this time! I think it's because I am so busy focusing on Kaelyn that I don't have time to sit and think about it like the first time! I have felt the baby "flutter" a few times already. I didn't feel Kaelyn until I was 20 weeks, but that was partly because my placenta was in the front and acted like a cushion. And I know what I am feeling this time. I am excited for the first real "kick"!! We are really excited for all that is in store, although I have definitely had a few freak out moments as well!!!!

10 months!

2009-02-28T19:51:00.004-06:00

This has been the quickest month yet!!! Kaelyn is getting really active and having a lot of fun!!! Her favorite thing is to climb up the stairs and walk along the furniture. She loves her bears and stuffed animals. She snuggles with them and loves to get cozy with her blankies. She is a cuddler!!! She is starting to hate her baby food, so we are having to come up with new things to feed her. She loves Mac & cheese!!!! She shoves it in by the handfuls!!! She is becoming very independent and hasn't been liking mommy very much. She pushes me away and cries when I hold her :( I'm hoping it's just a quick phase and it won't last too long. She definitely will let you know when she is not happy and isn't getting her way. She is very opinionated. We are looking forward to what the next few months bring!!!

9 months

2009-02-01T19:37:00.005-06:00

Well, this has been a really exciting month for all of us!!! Kaelyn is learning and growing so quickly and it is amazing to see her make so many connections. This month she has mastered crawling and pulling herself to a standing position. She even has a few seconds where she is standing all by herself. She walks if you let her hold onto your fingers and pulls herself up on everything! We had our first airplane ride! My brother got married in Texas and the whole family flew down. It actually went really well. We flew to Houston and then to Austin so it was 4 plane rides. On our way home to MN we got stuck for 2 hours due to a snow storm. We had to sit on the plane for quite a while and lots of people commented on how well she did. So that was nice!!!! She knows how to say mama and dada and Joe is trying to get her to say hi. She also waves, although she isn't consistant. She is starting to like solid foods a little better! She really enjoys Mac & Cheese and can now drink out of her sippy cup. She would rather drink out of a regular cup which gets very messy!!! She had her 9 month check and is now 17 pounds 2 ounces and 27 1/4 inches tall. She is still a little peanut but she is healthy and doing very well!!!!

We also found out that we are expecting baby #2. We found out the day after Christmas! I am due Sept 1st but will probably have another c-section 7-10 days before that. Kaelyn will be 16 months old! Needless to say we were very surprised but are excited now that the shock has worn off!!! Let's just say it is going to be a very loooooooonnnnnnnnggggggg summer for mama!!!!!

Videos

2009-01-04T08:59:00.009-06:00

Here are some videos of Kaelyn

Happy New Year!!!!!

2009-01-04T08:43:00.005-06:00

For New Year's Eve we went to Ethan and Kim's. They has a few other couples over from their ward. There were some cute kids there!!!! It was nice to have just a low key evening! I didn't think I would make it until midnight, but I did!!! Kaelyn had fun and went to be around 9pm. She is such a good sport!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

2008-12-26T10:07:00.007-06:00

Kaelyn's first Christmas was a hit!!!! We went over to Grandma and Grandpa Renstrom's for dinner on Wednesday and then we opened gifts. We got to see Uncle Kip, Aunt Penny, Uncle Buddy, cousins Tony, Jacob, Sera, Noah, Sunny, our niece Lucia, her husband Albert, and their son Alex, and the missionaries. It was crazy!!!!! But we had a good time and it was nice to see everyone!!!! Kaelyn had fun opening her presents and playing with the paper and ribbon! She was up until 10pm but did very well! Then on Thursday morning we woke up and opened a few presents from my parents and some toys we got for Kaelyn. It was low key! All in all it was a great Christmas!!!

Christmas day also marked Kaelyn being 8 months old! She has been learning a lot and getting more mobile. She has started crawling-army style! She uses one arm to pull herself forward. She is attempting to crawl on all fours, but it is easier to scoot along. Her two bottom teeth are coming in and have finally both popped through. She can hold herself up while standing but can't pull herself to stand yet. She can also get into a sitting position from laying on the floor. She loves to be tickled and has the best laugh!!! We have been trying some finger foods, but she doesn't seem to really like solid foods yet, although she had her first cheerios and seemed to like them. She likes to hold on to them more than she likes to put them in her mouth and eat them! She loves her bottle and will stick it into her mouth as we are going up the stairs for bed time!! She definitely will let you know when she wants it!!! We have tried a sippy cup, but she doesn't seem to like that either. She would much rather just drink right out of a cup! She is getting a lot better at waving although she hasn't mastered it quite yet. She also loves her stuffed animals and blankies. Every night before bed she pulls her blanket up over her head and snuggles in! She definitely likes to cuddle too, which I love!!!!!

Holidazzle Parade

2008-12-20T21:23:00.004-06:00

So this is kind of late, but we went to the Holidazzle parade a few weeks ago down in the Nicollet Mall area. It was absolutely FREEZING, but being the true Minnesotan's that we are we headed out with Ethan, Kim, Kelsey and Bryson! It was actually really fun, and Kaelyn did a great job! She was so bundled up she could barley move!!!!

Ho Ho Ho!!

2008-12-20T21:10:00.004-06:00

Last Saturday was our Christmas party for church. And we had a visitor......Santa!!! Kaelyn wasn't too sure of what to think about him, but she didn't cry so I would say that it went very well!!! We are looking forward to having her open presents this week. I think she will like the wrapping better than the actual gift. There will be more pictures to follow.

Holiday Pics

2008-12-06T22:12:00.004-06:00

My friend Kim did our Holiday pictures. Here is a preview to our Christmas card we will be sending out!!!!

All I Want For Christmas Is.....

2008-12-06T21:14:00.006-06:00

...my two front teeth!!!! I got a text message from Kim (at daycare) yesterday. It said, "Have you seen Kaelyn's teeth?" So I wrote her back and said, "What???? No!!!!!" And she wrote back saying that her two bottom teeth were poppin' through!!! I was so excited, I couldn't wait to go and pick her up!!!! And sure enough I could just barley see them in there! So today we were checking her mouth out and you can just feel the bottom right one poking through! I knew it was coming, but I still can't believe it! Our little girl is growing up so quickly!

You can't really see them in the picture, but they are in there!!!!!

She has also started "crawling". But it is army style. She doesn't get up on all fours. She uses her arms to scoot forward. I got a little of it on video so I will post that for everyone to see. We are so excited that she is growing, but sad because she won't be little very much longer!!!

7 months

2008-11-27T09:12:00.006-06:00

Well, it's hard to believe another month has gone by! Kaelyn is doing very well and is so much fun!!! She has mastered sitting and loves to sit on the floor with all of her toys. She is figuring out how to put the fishes in her fish bowl and take the rings off of the stack. She still loves "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "All Around the Mulberry bush". She loves to "fall"! She arches her back so she can fly backwards! Her favorite thing to say is "da da" and "na na". She hasn't quite figured out "ma ma" but gets a kick out of it when you say it to her!! She is also learning how to wave. She gets her fingers moving every so often when you wave and say hi or buh bye!!! Her favorite thing to eat is squash and sweet potatoes. She had her first taste of mashed potatoes, ice cream, a french fry, crouton, cooked carrot and noodles. She hasn't figured out how to crawl yet, but she is working on it. She can get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth. As soon as she figures it out she will be off!!! She seems to like Roxy and reaches her hand out to pat her. She is a very happy kid and doesn't mind being passed around!!!! We are so blessed and can't imagine life without her!!!!!

Oh no......what have I done???

2008-11-19T20:07:00.010-06:00

So we have been thinking about cutting Kaelyn's hair for a while now. Needless to say our daughter has had a mullet!!! The back has been way longer than the top and sides. We are going to get her 6 month pictures taken on Saturday and decided we should just cut it. She was a litte antsy and wouldn't sit still--she is only six months after all!!!! So one side ended up a tad shorter than the other. But I did my best and it will always grow back. Now it should even grow evenly!!!!!!

6 month check up

2008-11-18T18:02:00.004-06:00

So this is a few weeks late, but I thought I would give everyone Kaelyn's stats since she went to the Dr last week. For her six month check she was 15 pounds 5 ounces and 26 1/2 inches. She is in the 50th percentile for her weight and 75th for her height. She is accomplishing all the things a six month old should be and doing very well. I thought I would post a video of the thing she is best at right now, which is rolling over, and over, and over!!!!!

Happy Halloween!!!!

2008-11-02T13:39:00.004-06:00

Kaelyn's first Halloween was a success! The weekend of Oct 25 we went to a "Trunk or Treat" with Ethan and Kim for their ward. Everyone lined their cars up around the parking lot and the kids went from trunk to trunk to get candy. Then it ended with a chili cook off and some fun activities inside. It was fun to see everyone with their costumes. Kaelyn was a monkey and Joe and I went as zoo keepers! Then for Halloween we stopped by the neighbors and Grandma and Grandpa Renstrom's. It was low key, but what else can you really do with a six month old!!! We got some cute pictures!!!

6 months

2008-10-26T20:28:00.005-05:00

Wow, it has been a busy month! As you can see from the previous posts we had Uncle Nate and Aunt Elizabeth come to visit this month. And we also had our first trip to the apple orchard. Kaelyn has been very busy this month. She has started rolling from her front to her back and then over again. There have been a few times when I have left her on the floor and come back into the room to find her on the opposite side of the room!!!! She has been sitting up by herself and getting a lot better at it! She has gotten a taste of baby apple sauce, pears, bananas, and peaches. None of which she seems to care too much for!!! But if we mix it in with the cereal she eats like a trooper!!! She has started saying some consonants such as "da da" and "blah blah" which Joe absolutely loves!! She sounds so different then just a month ago. Another thing she does is scoot. She gets her knees up underneath her and scoots her face across the floor and moves forward just a little bit. I keep thinking she is going to get some serious rug burn on her face!!! She also loves being thrown in the air, but not too high!! Joe swings her back and forth and even turns her upside down and she loves it!!! She always gets a big smile on her face. We have been loving watching her grow and figuring out the world around her. She keeps us busy but we are lucky to have her!!!!

Minnesota Fall

2008-10-20T20:40:00.003-05:00

I love the fall time in Minnesota!!! It is the best and most beautiful time of year. This year we decided to take Kaelyn to the Minnetonka apple orchard. Grandma Faye and our neice Sera and nephew Noah came with us. It was a beautiful day, although it was a little chilly but we had a lot of fun!!!! Kaelyn experienced her first taste of an apple and loved it!!! She goobered and slobbered all over it!!! We went for a hayride and even did some off roading through a corn maze! She seemed to really enjoy herself!!! Everyday she finds something new and it's amazing to see it all connect in her head! Here are some pictures from our adventure....

I love my Uncle and Auntie!!!

2008-10-13T21:46:00.004-05:00

This past weekend my brother Nate and his fiance Elizabeth were up to visit from Texas. Nate was here the weekend Kaelyn was born, but this was Elizabeth's first time meeting her. We had such a fun visit with them!!!! They gave us the night off on Friday so we went out to dinner, saw a movie and went to a bon fire. It was great to get out just the two of us!!!! Nate changed his first diaper and you can tell he loves being an uncle!!!! Of course Kaelyn seemed to love them both and had fun being smothered with love!!! Here are a few pics from the weekend!

5 months

2008-09-27T14:50:00.006-05:00

Another month has gone by again. It is amazing how quickly the time goes! Kaelyn is doing very well!!! She gets cuter every day. This month her biggest accomplishment has been rolling over and she does it every chance she can get! She mostly rolls from her back to her front. And although she can roll from her stomach to her back she usually gets stuck and yells for help! She had a busy month with going to the state fair, starting daycare, and meeting Tristen-one of her possible future husbands!!!! My best friend Gina moved back to Minnesota so Kaelyn and I finally met her son. Daycare is going very well. Kaelyn always has a smile on her face in the morning when she gets there and Kim and her two kids love having her there. Im so glad that it is working out for everyone!!! Kaelyn continues to talk and babble and spit and blow bubbles and buzz her lips and gargle! She has the best noises and has starting sharing those noises with everyone at church on Sundays. She is no longer "quiet" during Sunday school. But everyone sure thinks she's cute!!!! She is very ticklish, just like her daddy! I seem to tickle her every chance I get just to hear her sweet little laugh! She has the best giggle! She started eating cereal this month and is doing pretty well with that. She can also sit on our laps without us holding on to her for short periods of time. Her favorite toy is the jumperoo!! We had to put a blanket folded up underneath it because her toes barley touch! Hopefully we can get rid of that soon when she grows a little bit more!!! She continues to amaze us everyday!!

Funny girl!!!!

2008-09-17T21:17:00.005-05:00

So Kaelyn's new favorite thing is buzzing her lips. She was in her Jumperoo last night and she bounced and buzzed for a half hour straight!!! Then in the car today she was crying and buzzing at the same time!!! I think she must have picked this up from Bryson the boy at daycare because his favorite thing is spitting! She is so much fun right now and always coming up with something new! She also rolled over on Sunday. She was laying on the floor on her back and all of a sudden I looked over and she was on her front. She looked so surprised!!!!! I was just on my back a minute ago.......wow, I actually rolled over!!!

Yummmm.......cereal!

2008-09-07T16:42:00.005-05:00

We went to the Dr last week for Kaelyn's 4 month check. She has grown 2 inches which makes her 25 inches long now and gained almost 3 pounds weighing in at 13 pounds 14 ounces. She is in the 75th percentile for her height and 50th percentile for her weight. She is our little peanut!!!! The Dr said that everything looks great! She is right where she should be for everything and we can even start feeding her cereal. We did attempt this on Friday and it went pretty well!! She is a very hungry girl!!!

2008 MN State Fair

2008-09-02T21:05:00.003-05:00

Well, Kaelyn had her first visit to the state fair. We actually went a week ago with just me, Joe and Kaelyn but I forgot the camera so we didn't have any pictures. But we decided to go back yesterday and my parents came with. Both times Kaelyn did such a good job!!!! She was so good. It was really hot yesterday but she was such a trooper. She even went in the Baby Bjorn and loved it!!!! We basically just walked around and ate, but we did get to see the horses and listen to some music. She slept through some of it but was awake for most of it. We had a really fun time!!!!

4 months

2008-08-25T19:37:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that Kaelyn is already 4 months old!!! It has flown by so fast!!! This was another exciting month as Kaelyn is getting busier everyday. She has discovered her feet which she loves to hold on to while getting her diaper changed!! She is laughing a little bit which her daddy just loves! Her voice is getting stronger and louder every day. We have been so lucky that my parents have been here this summer to get to know her and watch her since I went back to work. We will be starting day care next week, which I am still working out the details for. Her next doctors appt is on Sept 4th and I am anxious to see how much she has grown!!
Joe will be starting a new job with Honeywell on Sept 3rd. It will be a lot closer to home and more money so we are excited about that. I interviewed for a part time position but have decided that I will stay full time with the job I have for now. Joe just started school again today so we have lots of changes going on. But we are so happy to have such a sweet baby girl in our lives!! She makes everyday more wonderful!!!

She's "talking"!!!!

2008-08-08T17:18:00.003-05:00

Kaelyn is definitely finding her voice!!! She loves talking to all of her little buddies--like on her mobile and her car seat!

3 months

2008-07-29T18:14:00.006-05:00

This has been a really fun month for us!!!! Kaelyn is cuter than ever!! She loves to smile, especially for the boys!!! Daddy and Grandpa get the biggest smiles from her!!! Her favorite song is the Itsy Bitsy Spider and she watches for what comes next while you sing it to her. Her favorite book is Colors, each page has a color with two different objects on it. She loves to stand!! And she is "talking" a lot. She has also started holding on to things like her phone. Her newest thing is giving kisses. She opens her mouth right before you give her one and gets you all wet! She is so much fun and we love her soooo much!!!!

We love Texas!!!!!!

2008-07-10T11:03:00.003-05:00

My brother has been living in Texas for the last year and a half. His fiance Elizabeth sent us the cutest gift for Kaelyn---her first Texas t-shirt! We absolutely love it!!!!

Kaelyn's Blessing

2008-07-10T10:53:00.002-05:00

Sunday, July 6th, we had a great turn out for Kaelyn's Blessing. We had lots of friends and family members there and Kaelyn was adorable!!!! She cried through the whole thing, but we still love her!!!! Joe did a wonderful job too. Afterwards we had a BBQ at Joe's mom's house. It was sooooooooo hot but we had a really good time!

4th of July

2008-07-10T10:39:00.002-05:00

Kaelyn officially witnessed her first 4th of July, and even had a cute little outfit to go with it!!!! We started the day off by going to visit Grandma and Grandpa Renstrom (Joe's mom and step dad) and she got to meet Aunt Debbie! Then we headed out with our friends Ethan and Kim to a party that people from their ward were having. There were four couples there and three of us had babies within a few weeks of each other!!!! There was great food and a pool which Kaelyn dipped her little toes in!!!!! After the BBQ we headed out to Waconia to see the fireworks and we had a great spot! There is a golf course right off the side of the road that people sit at to watch them. After feeding Kaelyn about 9:30pm she drifted off to sleep and slept through the whole thing!!!! She didn't make a peep the entire time the fireworks were going off!!! Then she slept the whole way home and until 5am the next morning. It was a great night and we had a lot of fun!!!!!

2 months

2008-07-07T17:11:00.003-05:00

So this is a little late, but Kaelyn went in for her 2 month check on June 25th. She was up to 11 pounds and 23 inches long. She is between the 50-75 percentile for height and weight. So she is growing and doing very well!!! This has been a very fun month for us! She loves to smile and talk to people. She is always gooing for daddy when he gets home from work and when we change her diaper!!!! She loves to be naked and take a bath! She is doing very well at keeping her head up and is getting stronger every day. She is also very opinionated and will let you know when she is mad. Usually it is just when she is hungry, but every once in a while she can be a little fussy. She has been sleeping through the night for a few weeks now. She usually goes down about 11pm and will sleep until between 5-7am. She is a very good baby and we love her to pieces!!!! We love being a family and feel so blessed to have her for our daughter!!!!

Bath time, tummy time and nap time!

2008-06-08T18:27:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures of Kaelyn taking a bath and hanging out with mom!!! We are absolutely loving being parents and she is really a pretty good baby! We are very lucky!

1 month

2008-05-27T21:09:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that Kaelyn is already a month old!!!! It has gone by so quickly!!!! It has been crazy, scary, and fun all at the same time. Joe is loving being a daddy! He lights up whenever he sees her and is such a big help to me when he is home. I am adjusting to being home all day. Some days I feel like I don't get anything done and others I am able to actually take a shower and do some laundry!!! I am just taking it one day at a time!!!!
Kaelyn had her first smile on Saturday. Of course she was looking at her daddy!!! He got her to give him the biggest smile so far!!!! It is so much fun to see her developing every day. She is starting to coo and grunt and make all those cute baby noises. Sometimes I can even get her to tell me a little story! We love kissing her little belly and feet!
Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks. Hope you all enjoy them!

She's finally here!!!!!!!!

2008-05-01T19:59:00.004-05:00

Kaelyn Marie was finally born on Friday, April 25, 2008 at 1:47pm. She was 7 pounds 7 ounces and 20 inches long. It was a long day and didn't go at all how I planned, but we finally got to meet her and she is perfect!
On Thursday I got a call from my Dr saying that I was scheduled to be induced on Friday. He said the hospital would call in the morning and let us know when we were supposed to come in. The phone rang at 5:30am and they asked if we could be there between 6-6:30am. So we got everything together and showered really quickly and got there about 6:15am. They took me into a room and got me in my gown. The plan was to either rupture my membranes if I had dilated or to start me on pitocin. After the nurses checked my progress and found out I still had not dilated, we started the pitocin which brings on the contractions. The nurse asked if the baby was head down and I said yes. She ordered an ultrasound just to be sure. About a half an hour later a resident came in to do the ultrasound. And of course, our little peanut was head up and butt down. The doctor had to confirm this, so the nurses shut off the pitocin and we waited for the Dr. After he came in and confirmed this he said we would need to do a c-section. I have to admit I was pretty sad and scared. I really didn't want to have to do it that way. After talking to him about trying to turn her, it sounded best just to have a c-section. There could be some complications with turning her because she was overdue. So then we had to wait until at least 12pm to do the c-section because when they called and told me to come in they said to eat a small breakfast. Then with the surgery my stomach had to be empty. So while we waited my contractions kicked in. They started to be about 2-3 minutes apart and pretty strong. Then I got up to walk and they went away again. Then it was noon, but there was someone else having a c-section so we had to wait again. Finally a little after 1pm they came and got us. Joe put his scrubs on and we walked to the OR. He had to sit and wait for them to get me all prepped. I have to say having a spinal block and going through a c-section was the weirdest experience!!!! It didn't take very long after they got everything ready to go. Joe came in a sat next to me and held my hand. He looked really scared, but he did an awesome job! As soon as they got her out they held her up for me to see and she dribbled all over my face. I was squinting my eyes and trying to see her, but couldn't really! They wiped my face off and told Joe he could come over and look at her. As soon as he saw her all of the anxiety he was feeling was gone! He was so excited! He got to cut the cord and take pictures. As soon as she was cleaned up he brought her over to me and I held her for just a minute. Then Joe went with her to get things finished up with her while they finished things up with me. Then I went up to recovery for an hour and Joe brought her in to my room. It was the most amazing experience we have ever had!!! That night Joe looked at me and said, "Babe, I am in love with another woman!!" He was so happy and had a grin on his face all weekend!!!!!! Se is the most beautiful little girl we have ever seen, and it is amazing how much love there is for her!!! We are still adjusting to having her home, but all of us are doing well!!!!

Any day now..........

2008-04-23T13:47:00.002-05:00

Well, here I am, still pregnant :( I am almost a week overdue and Kaelyn still seems to be very content!!!! We went to the Dr on Monday and they hooked me up to a monitor. It showed Kaelyn's heart rate and also the contactions that I was having. They wanted to make sure that she is still okay in there and that there wasn't anything wrong. She passed with flying colors and the Dr said he would be okay with having her stay in there until Saturday. We decided to see if there was any openings to get me in to be induced this week. Unfortunately we didn't have any luck and the only day available was Saturday. So I am officailly scheduled to be induced this Saturday 4/26. I called in today to see if I could get in, but they were full. So my Dr said to call back tomorrow morning to try again. So with any luck I may be induced tomorrow, otherwise it looks like it will be Saturday. I have definitely realized that this little lady has a mind of her own, and no one can force her to do anything!!!! I think this is a rude awakening for what is to come. It is amazing how babies have their own personalitly before they are even born! I am so excited to finally meet her and see what she looks like--at least I know there are at the most only 3 days left.....

1 day and counting...

2008-04-16T20:35:00.002-05:00

I had another Dr appt on Tuesday and I still have not dilated yet :( But everything is still looking good and we are headed in the right direction! My next appt is set up for Monday 4/21 and the dr said that he thinks I might not make it to that one. So now we just wait.......

Less than a week.....

2008-04-11T21:09:00.002-05:00

Well, we are getting closer!!! My parents got into town last weekend and we have had a busy week. We washed all of our newborn and 0-3 month clothes, we washed blankets, sheets, and towels. We got the pack 'n play set up in our room for when she comes home. We packed our bag for the hospital last night. We got our car seat put in the car today. So I think we are officially all ready for her to finally be here. I have been having contractions all afternoon and evening, but they aren't very consistant. At my last Dr appt she said I am only dilated about 1/2 a centimeter. But she said Kaelyn has dropped down more. So we are headed in the right direction. Now we just wait.......which I hate!!!!!
Last weekend my friend Kim took maternity pictures and they turned out awesome!!!! She did a fabulous job! (To see her stuff go to www.krussellphotography.photoreflect.com) Here are some of the pics she took of us.

36 weeks

2008-03-25T20:46:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I am not so good at keeping up this blog, but I am 9 months pregnant and completely exhausted, so that is my excuse!!!!! Well, things have been going pretty well. I had 3 showers this month, all in a row. So the first three Saturday's in March were busy but really fun!!!!! I got to have one for people from church, one with my mom and best friends, and people from work! We were able to get a ton of cute little girl outfits and a few necessities!!!!! Also my co-workers who weren't able to come to my shower threw a little party at work. We had a pot luck lunch and they gave me a gift certificate for Babies 'R Us which we were able to use to get the swing we registered for. We still have a few things we would like to pick up before Kaelyn is born, but we are set with all of the big items that are needed. We are truly blessed with all of the wonderful friends and family that we have!!!!
I had my 36th week check today. I was really excited to see if I had made any progress, but of course I haven't even dilated a little tiny bit!!!! My Dr said he thinks that I will be around for at least two more appts-which are on a weekly basis now. I asked about how much he thinks she weighs and he said about 7-7 1/2 pounds. He thinks she will make it to 8 pounds. She is head down, so everything is moving in the right direction. I am in charge of a friends bridal shower this weekend, so after that is done I will be up for trying to get this baby to come!!!!! I am really uncomfortable and just wish she would come, but I know the longer she is in there the healthier she will be. So we will have to wait and see what happens!!!!

I'm a slacker...

2008-02-26T18:01:00.004-06:00

Hello everyone! I am sorry I am such a slacker and haven't updated this in a while. Things have been busy so any time I have a spare moment I like to sit on the couch and do nothing. Just ask Joe, he will tell you!!!!
Well, things have been going pretty well lately. We haven't done too much else since we painted and put the furniture together. For those of you who don't know, we have picked a name. It is going to be Kaelyn Marie Reinwand. We just finished our child birth classes which we took for two Saturday mornings. We watched a lot of videos, which Joe turned his head away from most of the time, and learned about the different stages of labor, breathing techniques, and pain options. I actually really enjoyed the breathing part! I have been using it a lot at work when I get stressed out and it helps to make my heart burn go away too!!!! I have been feeling pretty well. The only main thing is I've been getting heart burn more frequently and I have been eating a lot of Tums!!!! I am starting to get more uncomfortable sitting and laying down and can't breathe as well some days. I saw a diagram of how your stomach, intestines, and bladder get squished out of the way of your uterus. It is amazing how the human body works!!!! I have to say that women are amazing for doing this more than once!!!!!! I am starting to get nervous and thinking about all of the "what ifs". And realizing that I am actually going to have to deliver this baby. Crazy!!!!
I had another Dr appt yesterday and everything looks good. I asked about when the soonest they would induce me will be and she said 41 1/2 weeks. I am due April 17th, and my brother is getting married 5 weeks and 2 days after that in Texas. So I am hoping that I will go on time or early so I won't have a 3 week old at the wedding. So everyone cross your fingers and anything else you can so I can make it to the wedding!!!!!! I know that everything will work out how it is supposed to, but I am still a little anxious about it. I just want her to be healthy!!!!!
One fun thing that happened last week was that Kaelyn got the hiccups for the first time!! It was so weird!!!!!! And she has gotten them almost everyday since then. I feel so bad for her, cause I hate the hiccups!!! But it is amazing to feel!!!!
Other than that I have some baby showers coming up, so we are hoping to get the things we need. I can't believe that we only have 7 weeks left!!!!!!

Holy crap.....I mean crib!

2008-02-06T18:58:00.000-06:00

Well, we put the crib and dresser together this past weekend. Putting it together was the easy part!! We had Ethan, Kim, Kelsey and Bryson there to help, and it actually went together nice and smoothly. While we were putting it together both Kim and I commented that we thought there was metal on the dresser, but then I didn't really think much about it.
So after that was all done, we all took a trip to Babies 'R Us to see about getting a really good deal on my breast pump. We had a couple of coupons and Kim's 10% discount that we were hoping to use. So we were able to get 35% off which saved us $87!!!! (Thanks Kim, you are the best :)) As Kim was doing that I was off to the bathroom with Kelsey and when we were done I decided to go look at the cribs. It turned out that the crib and dresser that we had just put together were not the one's that we thought we had ordered. After looking at my receipt, the crib and dresser that we ordered and payed for were the one's that got ordered, but they were different than we thought. So the guy who helped us ordered the wrong one's. Any way, to make a long story short, we are keeping the one's we got, because there is no way a sane person would take it all apart, get a friend to bring it down 4 flights of stairs, rent a truck to bring it all back in, reorder the right crib, wait for that to come in, rent another truck to pick the correct one up in, get a friend to bring it up another 4 flights of stairs, and put it all together again!!!!! The bright side is that the one's we did end up with were on clearance and we were able to get some money back. So at least we have it all done and nowwe can just work on getting the last little bit to decorate the nursery!!! Yeah!!!! And it looks soooooooooo cute!!!!

Good news!!!

2008-01-31T17:52:00.000-06:00

I had another doctors appt on Tuesday. This one also included another blood draw. I did my testing for gestational diabetes. You have to go in and drink this super sugary drink within 5 minutes and then wait 1 hour before you have your blood drawn. I got 85 and the average is between 40-139. So that was good to hear!!! They also checked my hemoglobin and said that was fine too! So I don't have to worry about checking my sugar levels or doing insulin shots which I am really greatful for! Yeah!!!!
Other than that things are going well! I am still feeling well and loving being pregnant. It is amazing to feel the little kicks and punches everyday and know that I am going to finally be a mom! Hopefully we will get the crib and dresser set up this weekend to get it out of the way. I think we have something planned every weekend in February and March so she will be here before we know it!!! I can't wait to see her and hold her!!!! It will be amazing!!!

28 weeks

2008-01-27T21:21:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that I only have less than 12 weeks to go! It's amazing how fast time has gone. It seems like just yesterday I was only 12 weeks pregnant and not even thinking about when she will actually be here. So in the next 11 weeks we are going to have our birthing class, 3 baby showers--one of which my mom will be flying in for--a child care class, putting the nursery together, and a very busy semester for Joe which won't be done until May after the baby is born. We are definitely feeling the stress of it all and hoping that we won't lose our minds!!!!! But we will just take it one day at a time and know that it will all come together. We are definitely looking forward to the day we get to meet our little girl and hold for the first time. That moment will make all of this worth it!!!

Starting the nursery

2008-01-27T21:02:00.000-06:00

Friday night we spent 3 hours setting up, painting, and cleaning up for the nursery!! It was hard work, but we had fun and are glad that it's done! We haven't set up the furniture yet, but here are some pics of the paint. The crib and dresser are still in boxes in the middle of the room so you will have to use your imagination a little bit!!!!

Baby Fun!!

2008-01-19T22:26:00.001-06:00

Here are some pictures from all of the fun we have been having!! (This is especially for you Kim!!) We also picked up our crib and dresser today, but I won't post pictures until we are done painting!

Fun, Fun, Fun!!!!!!!

2008-01-14T17:49:00.000-06:00

Okay, so we may have gone a little over board last week and the weekend before. We decided to go out and look at cribs and strollers etc. We went to Babies 'R Us, Target, Burlington Coat Factory and then back to Target, and back to Babies. And we spent a ton of money!!!! But we did order our crib and dresser for the nursery at Babies. Then we also bought our pack 'n play and travel set (which is the stroller and car seat) at Target. Target had the pattern that we liked the best, but the pack 'n play was on clearance which meant it was probably being discontinued. The stuff at Target was cheaper than we thought so we decided just to go ahead and get it!!!! It was a lot of fun, but I was so pooped by the end of the day.
The next day I talked to my friend Kim about registering. She was going to go with me because she works at Babies 'R Us and is also a mom. So we ended up going that night which was last Monday. The average registry is 10-12 pages and mine was 17!! Oooops! We might have gone a little over board but it was fun!!!! And Babies also gives you a 10% off coupon that you can use towards buying whatever is on your registry at the end. So I figured I would register for everything and get more off in the end!!!!
Then last Thursday night we decided to take a trip to Home Depot. Let me go back a little and tell you about the crib bedding.....so before I even got pregnant Kim called me up one night she was working at Babies and said there was this crib bedding set on sale that she thought I would like. It was originally $300 but it was being discontinued so it had gone down to $125. Well on top of that the store was having a 25% off sale, plus Kim gets 10% off for working there. So I looked at the set and really liked it and figured if we ended up not liking or having a boy we could save it for later or sell it. So I bought it for $70!!!!!!! That is one reason I really wanted to know what we were having so that I would know if we needed to register for different crib bedding. So anyways, we took one of the crib bumpers to Home Depot with us and found the perfect match!!! We are going to paint the walls lavender and yellow! So we bought the paint and now just have to figure out when we will have the time to paint the walls!!!!!
I also called and got registered for our childbirth class, which will be held two Saturdays in February from 8-12pm. We will be able to have a tour of the birthing center at Methodist which is where I will deliver. So everything seems to be coming together!!! We are very excited to say the least!!!!!

Finally......it's a.........

2008-01-01T11:21:00.000-06:00

Well, after a long, long, long, long wait we finally know what we are having!!!!!!!!!! We went to the Dr yesterday and got to take a quick peek at our baby, and.....................it's a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so fun to see her again!!! She actually looked like a baby instead of an alien! Her face was more round and filled out and she was very active!!! (I drank orange juice on the way to the appt so she would uncross her little legs!!!) And it worked! We are very excited!!!!! Now it really seems real and we are looking forward to getting started on the nursery and shopping :) We can't wait to meet her and have her here, but we have a lot to do before then!

Latest pictures

2007-12-11T17:56:00.000-06:00

18 weeks

20 weeks

Aren't we cute!!!!

Joe, Lindsay, Roxy & Baby

Flutter, flutter.........punch!

2007-12-11T17:36:00.000-06:00

Okay, I know it has been a while so I have a lot to say!!! But first I have to tell everyone about last night. So Joe and I were sitting on the couch watching TV and all night I had been feeling these little flutters in my tummy. So there I was minding my own business and all of a sudden I felt a punch or a kick!!!!! It was the first time I have really felt the baby "kick"!!! I was so excited and surprised that Joe looked at me and asked, "Whats the matter?" Then he reached over to touch my tummy, but of course it didn't happen again. I have to say I was a little worried because I hadn't really felt much. But then at work today I felt it a bunch more times! So now I know the baby is really in there!!!!

I had a Dr appt on Dec 3 which was a week after my ultrasound. He said that the ultrasound looked good and that my placenta is in the front which is why I haven't really felt anything. It is acting like a sponge so when the baby kicks it just absorbs it and I don't feel it. He also said that at my next appt we can do another ultrasound and take a peek to see if we can find out what it is. That appt will be on Dec 31 so I am praying that the baby will cooperate and we will be able to know if we are having a boy or a girl. We for sure have a girl name picked out-but no middle name and we have come up with some boy ones we like too. I am anxious to get started on the babies room and have it actually look like we are expecting someone!!!!

We stopped in at Babies R Us on Friday because we were early for a movie and looked at cribs, strollers, car seats, pack n plays, etc. It was so much fun!!!!!! It still seems a little unreal that our house is going to be full of baby stuff soon!!!!! Hopefully in January I will be able to register for everything that we want/need! I know it will be overwhelming but I am looking forward to it!!!!

Other than that we have been getting ready for Christmas. Joe is enjoying his new position in Comcast working in Business Support. He is back to M-F 9am-6pm so we are enjoying having our Saturdays to sleep in and hang out!!! Roxy still thinks she should go for a walk everyday even if it is only 5 degrees outside. We are trying the best we can to accommodate that but sometimes it is just too stinkin cold out :) But she seems to still love us!! So life is good at the Reinwand's house!!!! We will definitely let everyone know what we find out on the 31st!!! Keep your fingers crossed........................................

It's a...............

2007-11-26T19:49:00.000-06:00

Profile

All snuggled up!

Arm by face

Spine and bum

Face

Legs

Well, where do I begin. We had our ultrasound today and it didn't really go like I planned. First of all I went to Utah this weekend to see Thekla and be at her baby shower. It was so much fun to see her and be able to spend some time with her!! But I got in about 12am this morning and Joe and I didn't get home until almost 1am. So I got up about an hour before I was supposed to be at the ultrasound. I ate breakfast and started drinking my water (you are supposed to drink 16oz of water before you have it) and I finished it a little before we got there. By the time I checked in I already had to pee, but you are supposed to have a full bladder because it makes the baby be up higher and they can see it better. We didn't have to wait very long and then we got called to go back. The ultrasound tech had me lay down and then we started. Her first comment was about having a full bladder, which I was sure I did, but apparently it didn't have anything in it. So it started off on a bad note (she was kind of rude and I didn't like her at all). Then she looked at my uterus, then at the baby and all of the organs. She measured everything and said that she was measuring me at 18 weeks 4 days. According to the Dr I was 19 weeks and 4 days, so that puts me a whole week behind. Because of this she said that we probably wouldn't be able to tell the sex. They want you to be closer to 20 weeks if you want to know what it is. So we had our hearts set on that and it didn't really happen. The baby finally gave us a shot of that area, but the tech said that what we saw could either be the labia or undescended testicles. She said she was about 70% sure it's a girl. Needless to say, I was really disappointed and couldn't hold back the tears. So I spent the car ride home balling while Joe did his best to comfort me. After I had a little time to digest everything I realized that we actually got to see our baby today!!! And it did some really cute things. At one point it had a nice big stretch!!! And it looked like it was sucking its thumb! So we have some cute pictures and hopefully we will be able to find out in the next few weeks. My Dr had said that if we weren't able to tell when they did the ultrasound today that we could do it later at the Dr's office. So like I keep saying..........we will keep you posted.

Jackpot!!!!!!

2007-11-09T18:05:00.000-06:00

Holy crap! I hit the jackpot!!!!!! My friend Kim is the best!!!! I have enough maternity clothes to cover me for the rest of my pregnancy!!! Kim let me take home all the clothes she has last night and there is a little bit of everything! I feel like I just won a shopping spree, except I didn't even have to go to a store or spend any money! I love that I am not the first one of my friends to be pregnant!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Pregnant or just fat????

2007-11-07T19:38:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while but there hasn't been anything too exciting to report. But we did have a doctors appt today! It was fun because my mom got to come with me. She has been in town this week, just for a quick visit. So she got to hear the heart beat, which is something that she hasn't heard before! The doctor said it was about 142-146 and sounded really strong! (A normal baby heart beat is somewhere between 120-160 so we're right in the middle.) By the time four weeks comes along I sort of start to wonder if the baby is still in there so it was reassuring to hear that!!!! He said that I am measuring at what I should be and everything looks good! I gained a little weight too, which is good! I haven't thrown up for a week and a half, so I think I have crossed that point!!! Thank goodness! So our next appt is Nov 26 and that is for the ultrasound. So hopefully if the baby cooperates we will find out what we are having!!!!!

I am finally starting to look like I am pregnant and not just fat!!! I haven't felt the baby kick yet, but hopefully I will be able to soon!!! I can't believe that I am already 4 months along. Time sure goes quickly. We will be parents before we know it!

There's really a baby in there...

2007-10-15T19:39:00.000-05:00

We had our second dr appt today. We got to meet Dr Lacher who will be delivering our baby, if it works out how we hope!!! He seems like a really nice guy. Kind of a dry sense of humor but really down to earth. I think it will be a good fit! The best part was that we got to hear the heart beat!!! It was amazing!!! I can't believe how fast it is! The dr said that it sounded very strong and because of that he said there is pretty much a zero chance for miscarriage at this point. Which was very relieving because we had a little scare yesterday with a little spotting. But it was minimal and is gone now. So that was very good to hear!!!
All of my lab work from last time came back negative and I found out my blood type is A positive. I have lost a few pounds so he suggested that I stop my prenatal vitamins for 2 weeks to see if I can completely kick my morning sickness. It is a thousand times better, but every couple of mornings I still throw up. So hopefully that will help to make it stop completely.
I also got a flu shot for the first time in my life! But they say it is a good idea if you are pregnant because it is not good if pregnant ladies get influenza. So I figured better to be safe than sorry.
So everything looks good on the baby front!!! We are really excited and it's starting to feel a little more real. I took a twelve week picture of my belly, but it's not really a "belly" yet! So I will probably post a 16 week picture. So stay tuned!!!!!

I'm back :)

2007-10-10T20:53:00.000-05:00

It's a miracle!!!!! And I am not just talking about giving life to a child. I am talking about me and the fact that I haven't thrown up in 2 whole days!!!!!!!! And I haven't been taking the Unisom any more either. I finally feel "human" again!!!! I still want to go to bed at 8:30, but I feel more like me again!! I guess what they say about hitting 12 weeks is true!!! That's when it started going up hill for me! And I hope that it just keeps getting better. I am looking forward to enjoying being pregnant!! My next doctor's appt is on Monday, so I will give an update then.

My saving grace

2007-09-25T17:36:00.000-05:00

I have found the most wonderful drug in the whole world! Unisom. Yes it is a sleep aid, but the next day I feel like a new woman and usually don't throw up, which is a huge accomplishment. Needless to say, there has been a lot of that going on and I am crossing my fingers that I only have a couple more weeks left. And also, I have never been this tired before in my whole life!!! Who knew cooking a baby could be so exhausting!!!!!! Poor Joe has been putting up with me very well and I am so glad! He is wonderful!!!! Well, keep your fingers crossed that this doesn't last too much longer!!!

It's a...............

2007-09-17T21:18:00.001-05:00

Just something fun I looked up online. According to the Chinese Lunar Calendar we are having a girl!!!!! I hope it's right..................

Finally Pregnant!!!!!!!!

2007-09-17T20:21:00.000-05:00

Well everyone, it is official. After a long year of lots of disappointment we are finally going to have a baby!!!! It is still hard to believe, but we had our first appointment today and there is actually a baby in my belly! It's been a tough couple of weeks, but it is totally worth it. I have been nauseous and tired and crabby, but Joe is sticking around and we couldn't be more excited. So I thought I would start this blog to help update and keep everyone informed who has left the beloved state of Minnesota and ditched us!!!!! We miss everyone a ton, and figured this was the best way to keep in touch with everyone. So I hope you visit often to find out how we are doing.