Welcome Baby Will!

Baby Will is here! He arrived on Monday, September 12 at 12:08 am- 8 lbs, 2 oz, 20 in and absolutely perfect in every way. It was a looooong time coming (as I'm sure every new mother feels about the 9 months of waiting) but we are so thankful he is here!

Night #1
It all officially started on Friday night just before midnight. Dan and I had gone on a fabulous "last hurrah" date night- filled with dinner at our favorite Franco restaurant (escargot and seafood bouillabaisse...mmmmhhh), a long walk around Lafayette park, and dessert at the Melting Pot. That night I started having more contractions- they weren't super painful but were coming 2-3 minutes apart. After 4 hours if these I decided to go into the hospital. I left Dan sleeping at home with Keaton because I wasn't sure if this was the real thing- and it turned out not to be. I spent a long night being monitored with perfect-looking contractions that just making any progress...and there was no room in Labor and Delivery... Bummer. Night one of no sleep.

Night #2
Saturday night was spent with irregular contractions and I couldn't sleep at all. Night two with no sleep. Not a good way to welcome a newborn. Sunday morning I went back in and was admitted to labor and delivery. At this time I found out the contractions had been doing something (thankfully) and I was at a 3/4. At noon I started on a small dose of pitocin to strengthen the contractions which definitely worked. My, those contractions were intense! I spent from noon to 6 just hoping for some progress and at 6 I was at 7 cm. Time for the epidural!

Night #3
The epidural was immediate relief and I was able to rest- but not for long. My blood pressure dropped to 70s/50s and I felt TERRIBLE. Baby wasn't liking that either, so they stopped the piton, pumped me full of IV fluids and I swelled up like a...9 month pregnant swollen lady. I hadn't had any swelling the entire pregnancy so I guess I deserved a little bit :) The fluids did the trick and baby was doing better and my contractions were still coming naturally (without pitocin.) Yay! Now it was time to wait and watch big ole contractions on the monitor. I kept the dose on the epidural low and still had quite a bit of pain- but after all labor isn't supposed to be tooooo easy :) Dan and I took some time to watch TV which included everything about the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I had told myself having a baby on 9/11 was no big deal but after all the television I started hoping labor would continue past midnight so our baby could have a happier birthday. Around 11:45 I could tell it was time to push and the nurse started prepping the room. My contractions were coupling for some odd reason so I only pushed for the first one of each double. At 12:08 am "Baby Will" made his grand appearance and all was right with the world. He screamed louder than I thought possible for a newborn. I cried my eyes out I was so full of joy. Dan tried to calm him and he grabbed on to his pointer finger with a super tight grip. We were so caught up in the moment we forgot to take pictures! We did grab this one, though:



The next morning the sunrise out our post partum room was amazing. It was a moment I will always remember- gazing at William's profile with the sun rising as a backdrop.





Keaton and Gabu and Papa Kryder came to visit the next morning. Keaton brought "Baby Will" a music box giraffe stuffed animal and baby got Keaton a Big Brother book and a Thomas the Tank engine ("Captain").




Keaton's reaction when he first met Will. "Get up, baby!!!"

Ahhhhh.... It's been so long!

Even as I nervously prepare for the craziness that lies ahead raising 2 kiddos under 2, I have to admit these last few months have been nutso, too! Up until last week I have been working full time on internships for optometry school. Dan is his usual very busy, and Keaton is growing and changing a ton every day. Pregnancy exhaustion has been 10x worse with the combination. However, I have got to get some things written down about our summer and Keaton's latest...

Here are some photos from our MInnesota vacation visiting "Papa" and "Gabu"

Learning to fish with grandma


Daily nap with grandpa


The gorgeous lake through a fisheye lens


Dan conquering the wakeboard


I learned to knit and made two newborn hats for my at home amatuer photoshoot



Swimming in the lake


At a shower for Laura and Drew


Very pregnant


Keaton with his beautiful curls


Keaton's latests

Loves Thomas "Humbee" the Tank Engine- One day he just came home and started playing with trains and asking to watch Thomas on TV.
Counts to 10, but 5 consistently. Loves counting stairs and fingers and toes.
Sings the ABCs (mostly) and knows most letters. He LOVES letters and pointing them out everywhere we go.
Uses the potty sparingly. Potty training isn't something we've really tackled yet with a new baby expected soon.
Says full sentences and refers to himself as Keke. "Keke get down." "Humbee go boom."
Loves to have people kiss his booboos.
Enjoyed many many "pops" (freezer treats) during vacation in MN.
Answers "who's the president?" with an enthusiastic "Ohhhhh BAMA"
Follows simple instructions like "go get that and bring it to..." and "forwards, backwards, stop, go, run, walk, kiss, hug"
Points to "baby" and kisses him in mommy's tummy.
Navigates grandma's IPhone- especially loves to play Crash Kart

Going Private- NOT

Scratch that. Remember in grade school when kids would purposely say something untrue and then pull out an annoying tone and scream "NOT." ANNNNNYway... making a blog private is way too much work for me and my three readers. Haha. So, nevermind. We're staying public, folks!

In other news... check out my new "ticker" at the top of the page- over 17 weeks along already! In about a week we'll hopefully find out pink or blue. I'm sooooooo excited!

Baby Book

I recently remembered that I have a baby book for Keaton SOMEWHERE that I updated about a year ago. I cannot believe I have failed to keep it up. My only hope is that between this blog and memory I can fill in the details once I have the time to even find it. Life has been super crazy around here between Dan working ALL the time and me studying for a 14-hour-long boards test I have to pass in order to pay off my student loans. We call it a good day if everyone is fed before 8 pm and we get more than 5 hours of sleep!

Even with life in a whirlwind, Keaton manages to capture all of our thought and attention- he is just changing so much each day! He just stands and looks at us and talks without stopping for minutes- I can tell he thinks we understand but we don't! He has added a lot more words to his vocabulary- my favorite being "tank you." He points and names cars, cows, balls, books, mama, dada, gramma, papa, dogs, crackers, cookies, and babas. It's amazing to be able to communicate with him- especially when he follows directions like "bring it here" and "kiss/hug." Interesting toys he loves include jars of vaseline (which we finally taped closed), remote controls/cell phones, and cans of Coke. Weird favorite foods are lemons, canned green beans, canned peas/carrots and lima beans, jello, unsweetened iced tea, and anything he can "dip." My favorite new tricks he's learned is how to "pretend" to smell flowers in books and make the dogs slurping noises when he holds up his bottle or sippy cup for them. So funny! His oldie-but-goodie favorites are balls of any kind. He shoots baskets in our living room, kicks and throws, and has started to try and catch balls- a few times successfully!

About a month ago Mickey Mouse Magic Show came to St. Louis and Dan took Keaton (Mickey is his favorite). Also, Keaton recently returned from a guys trip with daddy to visit papa Steve in Palm Springs. From what I hear he had a blast playing in the pool in his muscle man suit and taking multiple daily trips to the park. Thanks for the fun week, Dad!


Monologue

With his tub of Vaseline :)


Mickey Mouse Magic


Dipping french fries at In and Out (don't judge- this junk food is rare! :o)


Swimming with daddy


Swimming with papa


Park time- check out the view!



Baby Update: Bean K (due September) is about the size of a lime- measuring over 2 inches!!! It's amazing such a little being can cause so much harm :) Those who see me daily know how incredibly sick and tired I am- much worse than my experience with Keaton. At least I am finally taking my nausea medication prn (only a few times a week) so I must be feeling somewhat better. I have no one to complain to because I tell Dan how exhausted I am and then feel guilty because he works 35 hours straight without food or sleep. Wow, am I ever glad I didn't go to medical school!!! Anyway, as first trimester comes to a close I am starting to get more and more excited about meeting this little bean. After boards my mission is going to be to find out where he or she is going to sleep in our 2 bedroom house!!!

Keaton's going to hate this in 15 years

Freeze!

We want to just freeze Keaton where he is right now. He is so so so much fun. He makes us laugh about every other second and is learning so much. We took him to the park today (without a camera, unfortunately) and he learned how to scoot himself to the edge of the slide and plunge down. He waved at all the little kids (and they were not near as friendly). Then he ran around the uneven terrain holding sticks and leaves and grass and "singing" at the top of his lungs. We think he had fun. He learns a few new words a day- which is just crazy! Aside from the general "mama" "dada" "papa" "nana" he started saying "book" and "ball" and signing "more please." It's just amazing to me what a little sponge he is. Then came the different syllables like "cookie" "cracker" and his latest: "purple." He says "dog" "goose" and "duck" along with frequent "uh ohs." The other night I was singing to him before bed and after every song I would pause and he clapped for me and then promptly signed "more." He also has just about every type of food can/jar/box memorized and signs "more" and points to them all day long. He is a HUGE eater. We're talking a whole can of green beans as a side dish. We're hoping his remaining at 50-60% for weight gives us the OK to feed him until he stops. He is still a boys boy and prefers dada and papa (grandpa) over the girls. I'm trying not to take it too personal. He LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and we have had to start refusing as he learned to ask for it by bringing us the remote and signing "more please." Not good! He also loves to read, so I guess it balances out a bit :) He scoots back into our lap and brings us books to read to him. Such a lover, he gives abundant hugs and kisses on command :)

I guess that's all for now. It is much harder to keep up with a toddler's new happenings than it was a baby's. I'm sure I am missing a bunch in my above spewing of words, but I wanted to get a few of his activities down so we remember his amazing stage!

Maui

Swimming with turtles

Dan saying "hi" to Keaton

Whale watching from the shore

On our way to Molokini to snorkel