A Taste of Spring

Family Pictures

     After August was born, we wanted to have some family pictures taken.  We really appreciated our photographer Kristin who came to take pictures of Kyla in the hospital, through NILMDTS, so we asked her if she would take a family portait. We didn't realize it at the time but it was scheduled for Jan 16th, Kyla's birthday.  It was a great experience to reconnect with Kristin and to get to tell her how much we appreciate what she gave us.  She came to the hospital in the middle of the night to capture some of the only images of a daughter we love and miss. It means a lot to have those images to help remember her, our time with her was fleeting and I know I wouldn't remember every contour of her face.  I keep those pictures out in the dining room, a place I pass frequently to get to other parts of the house. I want to be able to see her as much as our other children that I am feeding or chasing around the house.

      Yesterday a reporter from the Ames Tribune came to the house because she is writing a story about NILMDTS and what it means to families like us.  It gave me another chance to think about how I miss Kyla, how she is a member of our family and how that organization gave me something more concrete to remember her by.  It reminds me of the kindness and compassion that exists in this world.

I suppose you want to see some of the pictures that Kristin took this year. 

Alright then, here they are!

Valentine's Day

    Every year on Valentine's Day, Keenan and I make a heart shaped pizza and heart shaped cookie and stay in, having fun and also avoiding the madness of restaurants. It's getting especially fun now that we have Riley who is now getting old enough to enjoy the holiday and maybe even remember the tradition for next year. This year was extra special, the Munsons were visiting with us. It was a nice chance to get to visit one more time before the next Munson girl arrives. The girls had a lot of fun playing and enjoyed unwrapping their Valentine's gifts from the grandparents.  They all enjoyed dressing their dolls in the pretty new outfits. 

     They also had fun doing some Valentine's Day collages. Riley loves crafts. It's amazing how much fun kids can have with some tissue paper and buttons.

Random Pictures and August's 2 Month Appointment

August had his 2 month appointment last week. He did well getting his shots, like Riley he cries a little but quickly calms down.  He is growing and developing well, he weighed 12 lb 8 oz. He is also beginning to interact more and smile and coo, which is really fun.

     Sheryl, Jon, Ainsley, and Piper came and stayed with us so I could just take August to the appointment.  The girls all had fun playing again. I love listening to them from the other room. Such imaginative play, they were all characters from the movie Frozen.  Ainsley was Elsa, Piper was Anna and Riley was Olaf because she was wearing her Halloween costume. They are all just getting so big, I can't believe we need to start researching preschools already!

Grandma reading a bedtime story

August is 1 Month

Stacy Comes to Visit

Winter is a tricky time. Stacy couldn't visit for a long time because both kids had a cold.  She finally got to visit and the kids had so much fun, I just wish we lived closer, then we could get together all the time.  Riley and Liam play together so well now, they both leave Olivia out but hopefully that will end soon.  Liam really liked getting to hold August, he will probably be putting in a request for another sibling after this trip.  

 Pictures of August

He really loves having his picture taken

August is 1 Month!

I cannot believe that an entire month has passed. Things are going great, I feel like the days just go by too quickly.  Riley asks to hold August all the time and likes to help get a blanket ready for tummy time. She has caught on to the breastfeeding and has starting feeding her dolls that way, as well as giving them tummy time, so funny! Riley sometimes gets a little hard to handle because I spend so much time with August, but we do special activities together to keep the peace and have fun.   I found a new wonderful granola recipe that we made together, she is excellent at pouring and stirring. This one tastes like candy so we all love it, two days later and the batch is almost gone, oops. Well I guess Riley and I will have something to do together on Monday.

Tired and Loving Every Minute

Kendra and Kaleb Visit

 Kendra and Kaleb came to visit the Sunday after we came home from the hospital. They didn't get to stay long but they each got to meet August and they brought lunch for us. 

Being Induced and Meeting August

      Knowing I was going to be induced and could soon come home with a baby made me excited and a little nervous. I hoped nothing would go wrong in those final days and hours waiting to meet August. I was also nervous of the thought of being induced but then worried of what could happen if I waited too long. I just didn't trust being pregnant and wanted to bring my baby home with me this time.
       I didn't sleep the night before being induced, probably not a great start but it was strange to know that I was going to meet my baby soon. Keenan and I went to Mary Greeley at 6:30am, ready to get started.  We got checked in and by 7:30, Dawn, our midwife, was in to break my water. This was not as unpleasant as I thought it might be. At this point I was about 4 cm dilated. Then we started walking laps around the floor to try to get labor started. Every half hour they checked my blood pressure and the baby's heart rate to make sure we were both doing okay. By 11:30 I still wasn't having consistent or hard contractions, so we talked it over and decided to do a very low dose of pitocin just to get things moving. Things got moving really fast, I went from medium and uncomfortable contractions at 6 cm to having a baby within 2.5 hours. I always feel like I am making it up, it couldn't happen that quickly, but sure enough that mind numbing pain was correct - I was 10 cm. I was ready to get him out and for the pain to stop.  Dawn arrived shortly, minutes after delivering another baby, calm and ready to help talk me through pushing. I am always stumped as to how I am supposed to push what feels like a watermelon out of me. Dawn helped me to focus on how to push in a way that was the most effective.  I didn't even tear - I guess midwives really are superheroes!
      Then there he was, beautiful and amazing and a boy. I love the surprise.  He didn't cry immediately, but he soon started a beautiful cry and we enjoyed some skin to skin before they weighed and measured him.
     This hospital stay was a little different as they were working on the outside of the building right outside our room.  The usual hospital sounds and crying newborns were mixed with hammers, saws and men shouting. Not the most relaxing recovery but we had our baby boy and he was doing really well.  We were just extra ready to leave after he passed all his tests: hearing, jaundice, etc. Then... the power was knocked out on the floor and they couldn't print our discharge papers, so we waited. After relearning how to use the baby car seat off we went and then... someone rear ended us at the main entrance before all of us were even in the car. Sigh. Everyone was fine and we did eventually make it home and I felt so much more relaxed to be in my own space and home with Riley and Keenan (and now August).

Finding A New Rhythm

    Riley and I had a routine that was pretty set most days. Now it's time to develop a new one. It was nice to have Keenan home for a while to spend time with him and to have him share in the work. In the first week a newborn sleeps very little during the overnight hours so Keenan started holding August after a feeding and staying up late while I got a few hours of sleep. Luckily most nights now he is sleeping a little between feedings. Riley had so much fun with Keenan home during the day. They would play dress up and run around like a couple of nuts. I was typically feeding August - he never misses a meal!
   Our friends and family have been so wonderful. Thank you for all of your kindness and many warm meals and for wanting to celebrate with us. We are so happy and feel very fortunate to have brought our healthy boy home.
   Riley likes being a big sister, she likes to help get things for August and to give him hugs.

August had his 2 week appointment yesterday and he is doing great. He already weighs 8 lbs 10 oz (almost 1.5lbs over birth weight), so we may have a fat baby on our hands at some point! We are happy he is doing so well.

Keenan making brownies with Riley and August, what a superdad!

August Parker Gehman

At the Hospital

 

 

First Day at Home

August Looking Cute

Baby #3 Is Here!

It's a boy! August Parker Gehman was born today at 1:46pm. He weighs 7 lbs 5 oz and is 20" tall and is doing well. He already shows signs of being an aggressive eater like his oldest sister. Chelsea did great (again) and should recover nicely. I can't express the joy we feel at hearing his first sounds - we've waited a long time for that. Of course, there will be more thoughts (and pictures) to come, but for now, I think I'll put the iPad down and hold my son instead!

Gehman Christmas and other news

Riley Christmas Pictures

My silly girl didn't want to pose for a picture this year so I just went with it and captured her all over the place personality. She wanted to open the presents but settled for trying to swap the gift tags around.

Grandma and Riley reading

Gehman Christmas

This year Riley was finally old enough to do the Christmas tradition that I loved best as a child. Every December my mom would make gingerbread houses for my sister and I and we would have so much fun decorating our masterpieces. They would then be part of the Christmas Decorations for that year.  I didn't have my mom's cast iron mold but I did cut out a pattern which worked well, I will know what to do next year.  The girls really seemed to enjoy the fun and messy task, Piper especially loved eating the candy.

 

This year we couldn't travel for Christmas so everyone came to us. It was kind and fun to have everyone at our house this year. It made for a quicker holiday but no less meaningful. The girls had a lot of fun playing together, its amazing how much they have all grown. As usual we all worked together to get the food and table ready, the living space was under a constant reconstruction to make the space work for whatever we were doing at the time. Stocking were enjoyed, presents were shared and cards were played (by some).  Thank you to everyone for the effort it took to put this all together this year. I love you all!

The traditional breakfast coffeecake

Baby news

I am currently 38 weeks and 2 days. The baby seems to be doing well. He/she is passing the NST's and appears to be growing normally. I had an appointment today and we have decided to go ahead and induce labor on Wed, Jan 7 at 6:30 am. Dawn is one of the midwives that I see and she said she would be there.  She said that I am 3 cm dilated and that they would first try to break my water to try to start labor but if they couldn't do that they would start me on pitocin and try again as my cervix was really high when she checked. Hopefully everything goes well and Keenan and I get to meet our newest baby soon. I am excited to hold him/her and see his/her face for the first time.