The arrival of our third

Everyone, our third baby has arrived, making us a family of five. Robin and I would like to introduce Reece William Kroening. He was born at 6:31am and is 21 3/4", 8lb 0oz. Mom and baby are both doing well. Reece has even had breakfast. Anyone trying our cell phones please note we don't have cell service in the room. I'll post more later about phone/visitor info.

9pm, about 15 hours old:

The baby is... coming

We were scheduled to arrive at the hospital for the baby's c-section at 7am this morning. However, this conversation happened at 1:50 am:

Robin: "Kyle, wake up."
Kyle: "Huh... Wha?"
Robin: "We have to go to the hospital. My water broke."

It took until our third child was set to be delivered for us to have this happen. So, since I've never been in that situation before and being really tired I asked, "So I hate to be a jerk but are you sure we can't sleep for another 5 hours?" Robin responded with a hearty laugh. So I knew she was still feeling alright but the laugh also told me that this was really happening. We both had time to shower, and then I found out Robin had already called her mom and sister, so we followed through with our plan to drop the boys off and have Nancy drop us off at the hospital, only it was 5 hours earlier than scheduled. It is 4:30am and we are waiting for everything to get set up so we can start the c-section. Stay tuned.

the final countdown

our family of four is just about five.  before the big day arrives, daddy has a race to run.  the Fetzer 20K has become an annual event for kyle and this year was no different.  except for maybe the weather.

what a gorgeous day for a run.  not that I would know.  I admire all of you who can get out the and pound the pavement. I'm fully convinced that you're either bitten by the running bug or you're not. I clearly have a great race bug repellant. kyle, on the other hand, has got this running thing down. his motto is "go fast or go home." clearly evidenced by this year's race results.  two years ago I tried hard to make it to the park before the time that kyle estimated he would run by...we didn't make it. last year we walked there with jen and baby callan in the crispy, cold weather.  this year, we drove.  I figured that at 39 weeks pregnant, I deserved it.

kyle came cruising by just a shade past his "scheduled" time. not his fastest race, but we still thought he did great!

lucky for the little guys, the race is just across the river from one of our favorite parks. so naturally we stopped to play. man I love these two.

there are just mere hours until our two sweet boys...

...become big brothers.

it's march...really?

the weather this month has been crazy beautiful and unseasonable.  we are taking full advantage of it and have been outdoors as much as possible. I should note that late winter/early spring isn't my favorite season (insert mental picture of mud, brown grass, and cold temperatures), so imagine my delight with the endless 60-70 degree days and bright sunshine.  l.o.v.e.
hello picnics in march:

bring on the bikes!

apparently this one was in need of some repairs...

I love watching my two boys play together.  they are true "boys" and light up when they can be running around and burning off some of their endless energy.  they have recently perfected the art of brotherly love and sneaking a good whap! in on each other every now and then.  I have to admit that there are some days when it's quite draining and that time out corner gets plenty of use.  but most of the time I am captured by those bright blue eyes and I'm reminded of their sweet spirits.

miles is definitely a first born.  he likes things in order, is imaginative, has a gentle soul, loves to read, is cautious and shy in new situations, takes the lead when he's comfortable, and he's a natural teacher. henry is energetic, silly, adventurous, cuddly, stubborn, funny, athletic, and sweet.sweet.sweet. despite their differences, they have both inherited their dad's love of baseball.

all of this beautiful weather brought about the first of MANY trips to the parks in our neighborhood. cousins nick, ellie, and josiah made an appearance for this inaugural visit.

snack break:

you're never too old to run around at the park...right scott?

if march's weather is any indication of the rest of this spring, then I'll toast a good non-alcoholic beverage to that...cheers!

waiting

the beginning of my pregnancies have been carbon copies of each other.  frankly, I could do without the first twenty weeks or so.  but the last twenty?  they are a precious gift that I will always treasure.

the growing belly

the love

we are waiting sweet baby...

hello baby

here is the long awaited belly shot.

I know it looks like I could pop at any moment, but believe it or not, I have 20 more weeks to go.  two pregnancies and two c-sections...thank.you.very.much.  the little peanut is growing like a weed too.  at our ultrasound baby k.3 measured about 6 days ahead.  apparently he/she will be taking after big brothers and be big babies.  we can't wait to see what God has in store for us with this third child. we are patiently waiting and savoring every moment of our pregnancy.  well, maybe not every moment. pregnancy does has its not-so-glamorous side effects, many of which shall remain off the blog.  I shall instead focus on the miracle we are fortunate to be blessed with.  there will be more growing belly shots in the weeks to come, but these are likely the last photos of the little one until our delivery date rolls around.  enjoy!


for those who don't speak ultrasound, this would be the top of baby's head and bottom of the foot. flexible little bugger.

this is baby's face and one arm...hello!

excuses

I can come up with a list of reasons why our blog was abandoned for the past couple of months. but THIS is mostly to blame:

robin + pregnancy = sick.
and by sick, I mean sicker than I've ever been. I barely even took out my camera for the entire month of september.  so bear with me as I bounce back and forth between past events and filling you in on the happenings of this fall.

ready or not

here is the final belly shot for baby k.2! we are almost packed and ready to go in for the c-section tomorrow morning. we are the first case of the day, so if all goes as planned, we'll be in the O.R. by 8am and baby should be here within 15 or 20 minutes. miles is spending the night at nana & papa's house. I have just about everything packed, but am feeling anxious about the impending surgical procedure. I just want everyone to be healthy and safe. we are excited to meet this little one and to watch miles take on the role of big brother! thanks to everyone who has already offered thoughts and prayers for our family. we truly appreciate it!

waiting for baby...

although we talk about the baby often and miles knows there is a baby in mommy's tummy, I am pretty sure he is oblivious to what is actually about to take place. we have prepared him with books about new babies, had him participate in getting the baby's room ready, taken him to buy a present for baby, and even bought a doll stroller for him to push around. when we say prayers at night and go through everyone we can think of with a proper "God bless (fill in your name here)", miles ALWAYS says "blair" first (woot woot auntie blair) and then will bless the baby too. he likes me to lift up my shirt so he can kiss the baby.

I think it's so adorable and sweet, but we'll have to see if that remains once he or she is really here. you know, not leaving. crying and taking up time with mommy and daddy. time that was once all his. yikes. I'm praying that the transition will go smoothly and that he takes on his role as big brother with as few hiccups as possible. so as we all sit and wait for our family to go from three to four - here are a few new pictures of our "baby" miles:

some friends of ours are lending us this bassinet - miles thought he should give it a test run first. I think he might be a bit too big.

the new year

2010 has been fairly uneventful...so far. as we wait as patiently as possible for this new little bundle to arrive, we have taken advantage of spending our last few weeks together as a family of three. not to mention the bitter cold weather that has forced us to hole up inside for days. it was 16 degrees below zero the other day...BEFORE windchill. brr! miles did manage to get daddy to take him outside on a slightly less chilly morning. he wanted to test out his new shovel from grandpa kroening.
miles has kept busy playing with all of his new toys. he is especially fond of the kitchen from nana and papa. a special shout out to uncle brian for loaning us some of his vintage fisher price food. miles likes to prepare some sort of food item and then declare "dad do it" or "mommy do it" - meaning EAT! I fully intend to post a video of him doing all of the sound effects too - "tshhhh" when the faucet is on, "glub glub" as he pours syrup :) check out the concentration...perhaps we have a little chef in the making?
I think kyle and I have been the most entertained and amazed by how much miles is learning and saying these days. he likes to point out letters on ANYTHING and can say/find all 26 of them. he especially likes to show you that M is a W if you turn it upside down. silly boy. he recently started to count and as of now can make it to erteen. what's that you ask? simple.

one, two, free, four, four, five, six, seven, eight, niiiine...TEN, 'leven, firteen, erteen, erteen.

that would be what I heard him saying on the monitor as he chattered his way off to la-la land. perhaps he was counting sheep? it's so fun to sit and listen to him at night or before naptime. we frequently need to go back into his room to remind him to close his eyes so he can rest his body! kyle and I were standing in the hallway taking the 37 week belly shot tonight after we laid the little monkey in bed. we thought we were being pretty quiet, but then heard "cheese! miles, cheese! daddy? cheese!!" apparently he heard the click of the camera. speaking of the 37 week belly shots:

just to update everyone: I am getting quite uncomfortable as this baby grows. he/she has taken up residence right under my ribs. sleeping is almost impossible for both me and kyle. I swear that no amount of pillows could make me comfy. poor kyle has no room left at all. the baby continues to be very active and likes to put on a show for us in the evenings. I officially went through the nesting that I've read so much about. on new year's day I was reorganizing drawers and cabinets, scrubbing down cupboards, and washing all of the baby equipment (carseat, bouncer, boppy, etc). this was all while miles and kyle were napping. that's right...I should've joined them given the fact that I barely slept 6 hours the night before. I just couldn't stop cleaning and preparing for baby! I'm hoping to go into labor before my due date (jan 26th). if so, I will attempt to avoid a repeat c-section. however, I have scheduled a c-section for january 26th at 7am if this wee one hasn't made his/her grand entrance! thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers for a safe delivery and healthy baby...we greatly appreciate all of your support! by the way...don't forget to vote in the gender poll.

hello third trimester

here's a brief 28 week update: first of all, I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. for some ridiculous reason, I have been surprised at how different it is to be pregnant with a toddler to chase after. I'm not sure if I expected to still be able to lounge around all day or what. I have to admit though, that all of the chasing and lifting of said toddler has helped to slow down the growth of my backside. thanks, miles! I recently passed my glucose tolerance test and got vaccinated for h1n1. due the shortage of the seasonal flu vaccine, I'm still on the list for that one. baby k.2 is clearly going to be some sort of gymnast. I was literally groaning in pain last night as he/she decided to do a variety of acrobatics. I'm pretty sure a complete 360 was successfully completed. ouch. I'm happy to know that all is well in there and am starting to get anxious to meet this little one. which reminds me...kyle and I should probably start discussing names. as you may have read in yesterday's post, miles is planning on calling his sibling "signing" - not really what we had in mind.