Leap Day

I was reading Auntie Cathy's blog, Berrall O' Fun, where she had posted that on the last Leap Day Amelia had only been 10-1/2 months old.  It made me think about my own kids and where they were at on the last time we had a Leap Day.  Kyrie would've been a month shy of four years old (so three!) and Lariska would've been one and a half.  Declan was not yet conceived and of course Hugo was barely something we were capable of thinking of.  How much difference four years makes!
Check out a photo of Kyrie and Lari two days before Leap Day, 2008 - http://www.konsfamily.blogspot.com/2008/02/hair-cutes.html

And, here is a photo of Hugo on his first Leap Day. 

Sad to say, I missed getting a photo of Declan on his first Leap Day.

More Moby

Poor Baby

Hugo has not been feeling so hot.  He has been sneezing a lot and has a bit of a cough.  As a result, he has not been sleeping the best, so I have been carrying him around in the Moby, where he sleeps more upright and next to his Mommy. 

Father and Son

Hugo is five weeks old now. Here he is spending some time with his Daddy.  Doesn't he have good head control?

Baking Bonanza

The girls had off of school today, so Kyrie "cooked" up a scheme (ha ha ha) to have a morning baking bonanza.  They came up with the following menu:  Smoothies, Cracker Bread, Brownies, and Chocolate Chip Cookies - very healthy, as you can see.  With a little (eh hem - A LOT) of help from Nana the girls made almost all of the things on their list.  Of course, Kyrie pooped out after the smoothies and it was down to Nana and a little bit of Lariska helping out.

Making Cracker Bread.

Lari took this photo of Kyrie.

Lari captured this photo of Declan being his typical obstinate self.

This is a funny picture of Hugo, but I like his onesie, so on the blog it goes! 

Bath Time

We gave Hugo a bath this morning.  Boy, he sure does love that warm water.  He is fussy when naked, but as soon as he gets in the water he calms right down.  So cute.

Hugo's fingers are so long.  When I look at the proportion of his hands to his body I think of Michaelangelo's David.

Playdate with the Kons

Declan, Hugo, and I went to Auntie Carrie's house today to play with Drew and Nora.  We had a great time - Declan loved their firehouse and pirate playset.  Nora sure is getting big and so adorable.  And, Declan is fun to watch with his big cousin, Drew.  I am not sure he is used to playing with boys!  But, it is so good for him.

Wanted

Yesterday I shared Hugo's birth story.  Today, I would like to share the story of how he himself came to be.  You see, Matt and I kind of agonized about having a fourth child.  As you are probably shaking your head and saying, "duh" I just want you to know that we are not oblivious to the fact that four kids is a lot.  But, when we made the decision to go for three we also made the decision to go for four, as I really wanted to have an even amount of kids...and in reality was hoping to give Declan a little brother, something I felt he really needed.

We were thinking, however, of adding this fourth child to our family through the means of adoption.  In the summer of 2010 we attended an adoption meeting and spent several months communicating with an agency about this idea.  In the end, however, we were not comfortable with their answers to our questions and by the Fall of 2010 had decided that if we were going to have a fourth child it was going to have to be biological.  (I can explain this more to you, if you want, but just know we gave a lot of thought to it.)

In December of 2010 we became pregnant, but were immediately filled with a lot of trepidation about having a fourth child.  Were we doing the right thing for our family?  Could we handle four kids?  Etc. etc. etc.  Not to mention, I kept having this bad feeling that I couldn't explain.  It was like a premonition or something...

...because on February 20th (one year ago today), we lost that pregnancy at 10-1/2 weeks along.  We were 11 days away from sharing the news with our families.  And, I was heartbroken.  All of those doubts and worries and fears...disappeared.  I was just plain and simple heartbroken.  We spent the next month recovering mentally and physically, but by April everything was clear.  If we didn't try again, I would probably spend the rest of my life with that hole in my heart.  So...it was decided.  And, it came to be that Hugo was conceived.

And now I can say with 100% certainty that this child was wanted.  I think that is why the pregnancy was a pretty easy one for me.  Every little ache and pain was a blessing because babies are a miracle.  And, I am so happy that we were blessed one last time.  Our family is now complete and it just feels right.

Two girls, two boys, all wanted, all loved, all crazy, all wonderful.  Praise be the Lord.

Smiles

Hugo is smiling!  Okay...so, he has only given me a couple of half smiles and one real good-ish one, but he gave my mom a gorgeous really real smile today.  Hmm...that makes 100% of my boys who saved their first big smile for Nana.  How nice....kind of.

(You didn't really think I caught it on camera, did you?!  I will work on that!!!)

One Month Old

Real sigh now.  Hugo is one month old.  I think this is as good a time as any to share his birth story.  Here goes...

On Wednesday, January 18th my mom and I went out to lunch at Stir Crazy.  I am not sure if I chose there because I wanted to eat something spicy in order to encourage some labor or if I deep-down knew it was going to be my "last meal" and wanted to have something I would enjoy.  Regardless, by around 3pm that afternoon I was fairly certain that labor would be coming.  No need to share the details here, just know there were reasons.

I made dinner that night for the family, but barely sat down for two seconds.  I paced the kitchen and every now and then stopped for a contraction.  Now, I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for many weeks and these could've been some more of those (not very consistent), so I didn't tell anyone what I thought might be coming, but Matt looks back at it and remembers it being strange that I didn't eat dinner that night.

Putting the kids to bed was an ordeal, but I still didn't tell Matt.  But, around 10pm when I sat down and started to fold laundry Matt realized something weird was going on!  At 10:30pm I told him what I was thinking and we decided to call my mom.  She arrived around 11pm and we headed to the hospital shortly after.

We arrived at the Columbia Center a little after midnight.  I was checked and declared to be somewhere between 2-3 cm.  I later learned that you are not officially admitted to the hospital until you have "moved", so when I was checked again at like 3am and was still 3cm I was still not officially in labor according to them.  The nurse asked me if I would like to sit in the shower and I decided that would be nice.  Matt hunkered down for a long night, by laying down on the couch!  I sat in the shower for about an hour when the nurse came in and told me I would have to get out in a few minutes for a check.  We chatted during that time, but I was defnitely uncomfortable.  Luckily, the shower really helps with the pain of contractions.

About 4:25am she made me get out of the shower.  I had to change robes and that is when I realized, "Oh boy, these contraction are intense!"  She checked me and declared I was 5cm, to which I responded, "Oh no!"  You see, I have never made it past the 5cm check without next having a baby.  I don't think the nurse registered my distress because her next move was to give me a hospital band and officially admit me.  Only after that was complete did she call my doctor to tell her the news.  My doc left home and was 15-20 minutes out.

I think it was 2 minutes later that I yelled, "My water broke" and probably another 2 minutes after that I started yelling that I needed to push.  I remember several nurses saying several different things: "Pant through it!"  and "Hold on, your doctor will be here in 15 minutes" and "Don't push!"  Ha!  Yeah right.  I mean, I did not have an epidural or any kind of pain medication.  I felt every little twinge.  Don't push?  My body was pushing without me telling it to.  One contraction later and I was apologizing for the head being out and another later there was a baby delivered on to the bed.  I think the nurses were so surprised that it happened so fast, that they didn't even move.  But, Hugo Leeman arrived at 4:40am perfectly beautiful and healthy.  I held him in my arms with the cord still attached while we waited for my doctor to arrive.  Fifteen minutes later and Matt cut the cord, Hugo was declared a 9 for his Apgar score, and I got to see that he was, indeed, a boy.

It wasn't that short of a labor, but once again, it was a very quick delivery.  We are just thankful to have such a beautiful, healthy one month old, no matter how he arrived.  Happy one-month birthday, Hugo!

Little Misses

Well, the actual Distinguished Young Women of Menomonee Falls program was tonight and it sounds like the girls had a terrific time.  I stayed home with "my boys" while Linda, Matt, and Auntie Carrie supported the girls in their role as Little Misses.  We found out the next morning that Lari's Young Women won the program!

Captured at home before the program.

Auntie Carrie took pictures at the program and through no fault of her own had some trouble with our camera.  We didn't tell her how to use it beforehand so it is our own fault that the pictures were a little blurry. 

The next two pics were "borrowed" from the Menomononee Falls Now online website.

Vampire Baby

Hugo's lip is losing a piece of skin and he looks a little bit like a vampire.  Which reminded me of two other times he made me think about the Twilight series:
1)  When he was in my tummy and he moved around so much I thought he was going to chew his way out.
2)  When we were supplementing for a few days there, I would pick him up and he "smelled all wrong to me" - like formula instead of breastmilk.  Like Edward, I didn't like it!

Sibling Love

More photos of his big siblings loving him up.

Young Miss

Thanks to Linda's connections with the Menomonee Falls Optimist Club, Lariska and Kyrie are both participating in the Distinguished Young Women of the Year Award as Young Misses.  Basically, this means that they are paired up with one of the participants as a kind of buddy, and during the program they walk across the stage and hand their buddy a flower.  You can read a bit more about the program on the Menomonee Falls Now page (look for a shout out to our Young Misses).  Kyrie was paired with Rebecca ('Becca') and Lariska was paired with Eilish.  The girls are so thrilled to be a part of this and are completely enamored with their buddies.  Here are some photos from the dress rehearsal this evening:

(Almost) One Month

While Hugo is not quite one month old (he was four weeks yesterday) we had his one month checkup today. He now weighs 8 pounds 5 ounces! That means he has gained an average of one ounce per day! This puts him in the 10th percentile but he is now growing so fast we doubt he will stay there for long. He is now 21 3/4 inches long (50th percentile) and his head size is also in the 50th percentile. Good job, Hugo! My favorite comment from Dr. Grunske was, "Oh Kelly, he's strong!". And I was happy to hear that the shape of his head is just perfect. I now feel like we can stop worrying about this little munchkin and just keep doing what we are doing to keep him growing. And now I can sigh and say how bittersweet it is that he is (almost) a month old.

Four Weeks

To mark the anniversay of four weeks of his life Hugo gave me the most beautiful coo today.  He looked right up at me while on the diaper changer and said, "Ooh".  It was music to my ears.  I love this phase when they start cooing, before really babbling.  It is so endearing and wonderful.  He also gave me half of a smile - you can tell he is really trying.  I just love this little boy.

Another photo from this week.

Baby Belly

J.J. has lent me her Moby baby carrier.  When I can get Hugo in this thing properly it is funny how much he looks like my prego baby belly.  I can envision just exactly how he was in my tummy (like in the picture, but turn it 180-degrees).  Kinda fun to reminisce about those days (oh so long ago now) - I just can't believe he isn't all that much bigger than he was back then!

Happy Valentine's Day!

On this Valentine's Day, I would like to say a big thank you to my wonderful husband, Matthew.  He spoils me beyond anything I could ever deserve and does a wonderful job of taking care of me and our family.  In the stress that followed Hugo's birth, he was my champion; making sure that I was getting enough to eat, while I made sure our son was getting enough to eat.  He has taken care of three children, for the most part, on his own in the evenings, for the last three weeks and has managed to keep his cool most of the time!  He cleans the kitchen, brings me water, and changes diapers...all on a minimum amount of sleep as he is nice enough to sit with me in the middle of the night, when I have felt lonely and frustrated. 

I love you, Matthew.  Thank you.

Daddy brought the girls flowers for Valentine's Day and Declan brought me some!

Hugo, on Valentine's Day.  He looks a little bigger, doesn't he?



25 Days Old

Princess and Pauper

Here is the princess after having attended a spa birthday party for one of her friends.

And, here is the...okay, she is not really a pauper.  It just sounded nice as a title.  Kyrie went to Grandma & Grandpa's house after church, where they decorated a Valentine's brownie and created a Valentine's box for Kyrie to collect her cards at school.

Loved

Some photos of just how loved our new little boy is.

House Call

Whilst Declan was off galavanting at Grandma and Grandpa's house, Miss Jenny and her son, Gavin, came to visit Hugo and I.  We hadn't seen them since before the baby was born and so it was great to catch up and introduce them to our little guy.  Gavin was such a good boy and they even brought me Panera for lunch.  Yum!  I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends!  (Side note:  Miss Heather wanted to come, too, but she was not feeling so hot...so we told her it would be okay to see her another time.  Bummer.)

Going to Grandma's House

Declan loves going to Grandma and Granpa's house.  Lucky for him, they invite him over quite often.  Today, he got to plow the snow with Grandpa!  The best part - shoveling!  Declan cannot get enough of his snow shovel.  If only this winter would cooperate a little more.

When Grandma arrived to pick Declan up, she had a surprise for the kids - homemade Valentine's chair envelopes for them to put their Valentine's (or other mail) into.  Sounds like Aunt Carrie saw the ones in the Pottery Barn catalog and said "Linda could make those" and so Linda did!  Too cool!  Thanks Grandma!

 And, of course, Grandma had to hold Hugo while she was here.  Who could pass that up?!