wautoma 2012

the annual wautoma post is here!  for a little look back click here or here. note to self: go back and finish 2011.  the littles officially outnumber the grown ups now and we are ever-so-grateful to have had everyone able to join us this summer.  last year matt's parents put on a beautiful addition to the cabin and we feel so thankful to have the opportunity to take over the joint for one weekend every year.  thanks, k & k!  there is an obscenely long video at the end, so I'll keep the words to a minimum and let the pictures speak for themselves. this year's highlights include:
happy travelers- our three boys were top notch riders. minus a diaper change that warranted an entire wardrobe change for the peanut on our way home, we made it there and back with nary a tear. success.

delicious food - as per our becker family vacations, this year we switched things up and everyone served an entire meal. it's fun to see what everyone comes up with and it makes it so you only have to prep/clean-up one major meal all weekend!

swimming - the air temperature was to.die.for all weekend, subsequently making the water temperature almost unbearable.  the dads were nominated to take the munchkins swimming (you're welcome honey!) and they weren't exactly pleased, but I'm certain that the smiles on the wee ones' faces almost made up for the near hypothermia.

boat rides - the cabin/cottage/lake home (choose your fave) is located on a small no-wake lake in the middle of wisconsin.  as long as the christian camp is not in session, it is super quiet and very peaceful. it also means there is no water skiing, tubing, wake boarding, or speed boats for that matter.  we are all still able to ride on the pontoon together and go for a nice early morning breakfast cruise or pre-dinner turtle watching excursion. a special thank you to the parents who took all the walking/talking tots out for a ride while the rest of us packed up the cars. amazing what can be accomplished when there are no interruptions lovely little ones running around.

optional: actual boat movement


nature hikes - [nerdy teacher alert] I arranged for the little guys to go out on a nature walk to collect special things that could fit in their bags. my teacher voice came on full force as I passed out each labeled bag and gave directions for what should and shouldn't go into their sack. after being out of the classroom since april and not headed back for another year, I was pleasantly surprised that I still had "it" - woo hoo!  alas, a little dinner bell was being rung by my favorite four month old and so I handed over my teacher duties to matt, sarah, and shawn. sarah clearly took her teacher role quite seriously...I'm so proud.  after a little post-walk-we-saw-poison-ivy, hand washing session and some dinner, I took the six oldest out to the deck for craft time.  they all listened and followed directions marvelously...except my own two. isn't that the way it always goes? argh.  the end products turned out more adorable than I could've imagined and, more importantly, they were all so proud of themselves!

slightly insane parents - eight adults, nine kids, need I say more?

binocular story: sarah is taking her turn checking out the man who is fishing out in the middle of the lake in a small boat with two other guys. why is this a sight you ask? he is wearing nothing more than a speedo swim suit. oh and nice of him to stand up and put one foot on the edge of the boat for all to see. I mean, one wouldn't want to get tan lines whilst catching their dinner now would they?

family shots - we somehow got away without a bansemar family photo...how did I allow such nonsense?


trios
we managed to have nine kidlets in little bundles of three and each trio just happens to have one odd gender.  ironic...you'd almost think we planned it that way.  here are just a few of the many attempts at a group shot with each set.
the babies

the middle ones

the big kids

adorable children - and now for one of my favorites of each little in order from oldest to youngest.

in lieu of an entire group shot, here is one of all NINE munchkins sitting still and facing forward (notice I did not say smiling...we don't profess to perform miracles here folks).

and just in case the barrage of photos above are not enough for you, here is a little video I threw together.

Wautoma 2012 from robin kroening on Vimeo.

our sweet baby boy

reece william came into this world on april 16th, 2012. we had planned it that way. after all, two previous c-section buys you a free pass to the operating room. I knew it would be the safest way and I wasn't about to roll the dice and try it any other way.

however, reece decided that our original 7am report time was far too late. I had chocked up two hours of tossing and turning and multiple bathroom trips to a final "pregnancy makes sleeping impossible" hurrah. not so. my water broke at 1:15am. really?  my first official "scheduled c-section" and now my body decides to go into spontaneous labor?  um...you're about four years late my friend. I called labor and delivery and they advised me to head on in, but that it probably wasn't a huge rush...in other words, go ahead and shower.
I called my mom and dad and then I proceeded to wake up kyle.  the conversation went something like this:
me: uh, honey?
kyle [asleep]: mmm
me: we need to go to the hospital
kyle: why?
me: my water broke
kyle: are you kidding me?
me: nope
kyle: don't you think you could tough it out for about 5 1/2 more hours?
me:  riiiiiight.
I showered, called my sister (of course), got ready, and then we woke up the boys. luckily I had made sure our bags were all ready to go before I went to sleep mere hours earlier. phew. by this time the contractions were about six minutes apart.
we dropped the boys off at my parents house and then my mom hopped in the van (in her pjs) and drove us to the hospital. the nurses at the desk were expecting us. they led us to our room and handed me my very fashionable outfit. they certainly know how to make a preggo feel beautiful. yikes. by now it's 3 am and my contractions are four minutes apart.

by 4 am I'm officially in active labor and (half) jokingly complaining that I did not sign up for this double whammy.  read: let's get this show on the road. apparently I had just beat the rush and there were quite a few ladies in very active labor who were requesting the services of the anesthesiologist. great. the residents decided that they were going to verify that my water had indeed broken.  in their words, this would determine if I was near the top of the to-do list or dead last.

lo and behold I do know what it feels like when one's water breaks and contractions start coming like a mack truck. I now edged my way almost to the top.  key word: almost. I am ever so grateful to my nurse for requesting that they give me something for the pain. contractions every three minutes can start to smart just a bit. a quick shot in the arm, dimmed room lights, and a reclined bed and I dare say that I nearly napped. around 6 am they wheeled me into the OR.

thirty-one minutes later we heard "IT'S A BOY!" for the third time.

it never gets old.

the rest of our time in the hospital was smooth sailing. I now know to take full advantage of the night nurses in the nursery, so I was able to get some actual rest. miles and henry were in daycare monday through wednesday which made it possible for kyle to spend some quality time snuggling with reece.

the big brothers came to visit little reece on monday afternoon. they were so proud to wear their new t-shirts and I was so proud to see their sweet faces light up when they laid eyes on the tiny baby they had been waiting for and talking about for months.  miles was mildly disappointed when he found out it wasn't a girl, but he was more devasted to discover that we had not named the baby "marker" - tragedy.

we quickly distracted him with a mini spelling lesson for r-e-e-c-e and then he was happy as a clam...and eager to inform anyone who stepped into the room how to spell his baby brother's name. nana and papa bought the big brothers new cameras. thank goodness professional photog nana was there to provide a crash course.


we were grateful for our visitors. it's comforting to know how many people are there to support our little family.

we were also grateful for the quiet moments spent taking in every detail of our sweet little man. if you had asked me ten years ago what I would do if I didn't have a baby girl, I would have probably told you that I would cry. oh how I was wrong. I am so incredibly in love with the three beautiful baby boys that God has blessed kyle and me with. what a privilege to become parents to such perfect little ones.

we are in love.

enjoy this little video montage: