A visit with Grandpa Ken and Debbie (grandma)

My mom and dad came to visit for a couple days.  It was very good to see them and the kids were very excited to see Grandpa Ken and Debbie.  For some reason Landon has been calling my mom Debbie instead of Grandma Debbie.   It sounds kind of silly really, I am sure it is just a phase.

I was very glad they were able to make it when Kenzie was so little and the kids had a blast playing with them.  It was hard to see them go as usual, but we know they will be back in just a few weeks for Christmas!

Just hanging with dad.

 Kenzie and Ryan hanging out and watching their first Vikings game together.  It is a Sunday tradition at our house for Ryan and the kids to get their Vikings garb on and watch the game.  This consists of Ryan watching the game intently and the kids begging him to play football and tackle on commercial breaks.  Ryan is very passionate about the Vikings so he often shows a great deal of emotion (and if any of you are familiar with how they usually play you will know that this is negative emotion).  Anyhow, I have told Ryan to enjoy watching the game with all 3 of his kids for now because when Kadence and Kenzie get a little older; we are starting our own Sunday tradition...shopping!

I think Kenzie slept through most of the game (lucky!).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and took some time to reflect on what they are thankful for.  We have been so blessed and have so much to be thankful for this year.  Here are some of the things I am most thankful for.  

1.  I am so very thankful for my loving, supportive husband.  He is such a great friend, husband, and father.  I am so lucky to have him in my life and thank God everyday for giving him to me.

2.  With that said, I am beyond thankful that my husband is back at home with us.  It was a long 6 weeks.

3.  My precious little angel girl Kenzie.  Who I can not stop calling Kadence already...maybe it's the lack of sleep.

4.  My 2 older children who have been so good in our new family transition and so excited to have a baby sister.

5. Ryan completing school in just 3 short months.

6.  Ryan having a job lined up to begin as soon as he is done taking his certification exam.

7.  Two great extended families.

8.  My mother-in-law Sue who has spent a lot of time with us and helped with the kids and made a lot of great food.

9.  My sister-in-law Arin who has also spent a lot of time with us and for sure kept me sane these past few weeks.  She also put up with Ryan at her house during his regional rotation in Council  Bluffs.

10.  The holiday season.

We were lucky to have Ryan's family here in Sioux Falls to spend Thanksgiving with us.  It was great to see everyone and to have the kids entertained by their older cousins.

They all stayed at a fun hotel and the kids had a blast in the pool.  Here is Tyler, Kadence, and Landon.

Love this shot.

Jessie being silly.

Swimming is a lot of work!!

Jack and Emma.

Kristy and Kenzie.

Fun times!  Thank you everyone for coming!

Home Sweet Home.

It was so great to come home.  The kids were so excited to have baby Kenzie at home with them and it was so very nice to be home with my new family of 5.

  Pretty girl loves lounging and stretching out on the floor in front of the fireplace.

This picture cracks me up.  I know I have 2 others that are very similar, one with each child.  Emma loves babies and is so good around them and very protective.

Our hospital stay.

 We stayed in the hospital with Kenzie Monday and Tuesday night.  She had to stay two nights to be observed due to my being GBS positive and not getting the two antibiotic doses because of the speed of my labor and delivery.  It was hard to be away from home and my two older babies, but I enjoyed more peace and quiet than I can remember in the past couple of years.

Arin was the first person (other than Ryan and I) to hold baby Kenzie.  She was at the hospital with us when I had her.  It was kind of funny because she stepped out because I was going to get an epidural...only 10 minutes later I had no epidural and a sweet baby girl instead.

Grandma Sue and Papa Gary came up Monday night to see Kenzie.  They came to watch the older kids for us while we were in the hospital.

Proud Daddy and Kenzie girl.

Me and Kenzie.  My little peanut.  Love her.

Love this picture.  Kadence and Landon were so very excited to meet their baby sister!!

Kadence loves Kenzie and was so excited to see us both.  She didn't stop talking the entire time she was at the hospital with us.

Someone was missing his Mommy time just a little bit...

My sister made the long trip to see Kenzie in some nasty weather.  We were glad she was able to see her so early.

Kenzie Marie Strasburg

We had our sweet baby girl Kenzie Marie at 10:10 pm Monday November 22, 2010.  It went extremely fast for me and is somewhat of a blur looking back.  I had no pain medication and this was quite a different experience than the first two.  Her Apgar scores were good at 8 and 9 and she was given to us right away.

  Kenzie weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and was 19 inches long.  It all happened so fast, but we are so blessed to have a beautiful, healthy baby girl.  We all love her to pieces already.

37 6/7 Weeks...

I had my weekly appointment today.  I actually measured a week behind last weeks visit but had gained some weight.  My cervix was still 75% effaced but dilated to 3 cm.  Baby's heart rate was 130's and sitting very low in my pelvis.  My appointment was at 2:15 and when I returned home about 3:30 I was feeling very crampy.

I started to have some stronger, regular contractions and started timing them at about 4 o'clock.  They were consistently 4 minutes apart for an hour, so I called Ryan and told him to head home and hopped in the tub.  By 6 o'clock the contractions were getting much more intense and actually closer to 3 minutes apart.  I was rummaging around my house packing my bags and getting the kids situated.  The whole time I was somewhat in denial but praying praying praying that Ryan could get here fast.  Arin and I headed to the hospital and I was admitted about 6:45.  I would have probably stayed home a little longer but needed to receive antibiotics prior to delivering as I tested GBS positive.  Ryan arrived at the hospital about 8 o'clock and I could not have been happier.

I was on the fence about getting an epidural but my contractions seemed to be getting stronger very fast.  They ended up putting my epidural in at 10 o'clock and...