Family of Four = New Wheels

Dan swore he would never own a mini-van, and then we realized what a pain it is to deal with two car seats. The next thing I know we are researching the top ranked family vans and Dan is test driving cars after work.

Last Thursday we ran to the Honda dealer and came home with a 2008 Odyssey mini-van. It is fully loaded with grey leather interior (with heated seats!!), power doors, power lift gate, integrated navigation system, back up camera, DVD/rear entertainment system, sun roof...and other things I'm still figuring out. So far we all really like it.

Dan's parents have been in town this week, so we gave the car a new work out on Friday. We loaded up the rear storage area with a picnic basket and beach toys and headed out to enjoy some sunshine. It was a gorgeous day to be on the beach, and Kendra loved showing off for grandma and grandpa. I loved having space to toss everything (which was also coated in sand) in the back and not worry about it.

We traded in my Escape, and Dan's RX8. Yes, the 8 is gone and we are (essentially) a one car family. We still have the Jeep, but it won't hold an infant seat. We kept it as Dan's toy car since it costs very little in terms of insurance and gas. (We'd have to drive it more than once a month for it to actually use any gas!)

New Family

Catch Up

It's been a crazy few weeks!

On June 6 we welcomed our son into the world. Darian was three weeks early and came via a c-section. He weighed in at 6lbs, 9oz and 18 inches long. He did beautifully right off the bat!

It was such a different experience from Kendra's c-section. I wasn't on all the heavy duty drugs, so I was much more conscious and aware of what was going on. Since he didn't need to go to the NICU both he and Dan stayed in the OR with me. They walked back to recovery with me, and Darian stayed in the room the whole time I was in recovery. The only time he left was when I sent him to the nursery at night so I could sleep.

I was sent home on Thursday, and spent the next few days in our guest room with Darian in the playpen next to me. (The guest room is on the ground floor so I didn't have to walk stairs.) I'm still on pain pills, but feeling better. I'm now sleeping upstairs again, and we are all slowly finding our way as a family of four.

On Tuesday Kendra had her last day of preschool for the year. She and her class "crossed the bridge" into summer as the parents watched proudly with tears in their eyes.

Each child walked across a small bridge when their name was called. They were given a small backpack they had decorated earlier in the week, and inside was the notebook they colored in all year long, and the class yearbook.

More catch ups to come soon....

New Room

We finally have the bedroom for the kids done! It turned out really cute.

Diapers are washed, baby clothes are hung in the closet and Kendra is settled in. I think we are ready for this little guy!

Kendra's new dresser and shelf above her bed:








Baby changing table, complete with Eric Carle decals:
















New toy basket above her bed for Kendra's infinite supply of magically appearing small size stuffed animals:






The alphabet wall:

Easter Recap

Easter was so much fun! Kendra really got into the whole egg hunting idea, and had a wonderful time with it. The Easter Bunny brought her a basket full of stuff - a kit to make pressed flowers, some new workbooks to work on learning to make letters, a cute summer outfit and socks with chickens and Easter eggs.

We invited our friends Katie and Brandon, with their son Donovan, to celebrate with us. We did the traditional dinner - ham, green beans, scalloped potatoes and a lemon raspberry cake for dessert. The food was divine and the company the even better.

After dinner we turned the kids loose in the backyard to hunt for eggs that the dads had hidden. Some were filled with candy and some with stickers. It was hard to tell if Kendra liked the stickers or candy better. She is such a sticker nut. There were probably 70 eggs for the two kids to find. (We may have gone a tad overboard...)

The weather was cloudy and chilly, but Kendra loved her sundress, so that's what she wore. Paired with a sweater, baby legs and boots she was very stylish :)

30 Weeks

30 weeks into this pregnancy and everything is going wonderfully! I have a crazy number of doctor appointments, but that's par for having a preemie last go round. I currently meet with my OB weekly, have ultrasounds every other week, and now have non-stress tests weekly. I passed my glucola test with flying colors, although I failed my vitamin D and iron levels test, so more supplements. I'm now taking 10 pills a day, plus all the Tums I can stand for heartburn.

This little guy is so much bigger than Kendra was. I have a lot of heartburn, and his kicks are much more painful. I'm actually being woken up at night from them! Little stinker.

We are still working on finalizing the room switch. As is par for the course of home improvement projects, Dan ran ethernet cable down the inside of the wall for the new office and it has since vanished. It has to be in the wall somewhere, but despite three new holes, the wires have not appeared. Back to the attic tonight to try to find them.

Uncooperative weather has made finishing the bookshelves we built tough as well. I need to take the actual shelves outside to paint, but we haven't had a decent day to do it. I was also hoping to strip the new (to us) furniture we bought for Kendra and restore it to natural wood. With all the rain and cold weather though, it doesn't look like it will be finished before the baby is born.

One bright spot is Dan's parents have finalized their plans to come visit and Kendra is already pretty excited. They'll be here in the middle of June. Chances are they'll meet their new grandson, but we just have to wait and see!

New Digs

We spent the day getting Kendra moved into her new room. Actually, she will be sharing a room with her brother, so they need the bigger of the two rooms. The biggest problem has been books. We had four bookshelves in our office, and they were all full. We have space in the new office for two bookshelves, so lots and lots of paring down. We've gotten it down to about 2 1/3 bookshelves...now we just have to figure out that last 1/3.

We still have a lot of little things to move, like Kendra books, stuffed animals and her clothes, but Kendra is sleeping in her new room. She is a little confused about which room is hers now, but she'll catch on. Dan told her to get some thing from her room, and she went to her old room. He explained that was now the office, and she said "Oh. Ok." and went to get what he asked from her new room.

I am tired and sore, but feel much better about us actually being ready for this baby!