The first week

Well, we made it through the first week! Here are some highlights.


Danny's sister Keri happened to be in town the weekend that Grant was born. She was here from St. Louis for her high school reunion and was able to see Grant. We haven't seen her for a long time, in fact she also got to meet Claire for the first time. It was great to catch up and for her to spend some time with Andrew and Claire.

Big brother Andrew holding Grant. Andrew is very excited to have a brother. Before he leaves for school he says goodbye to him and when he gets home he always asks how Grant is.

At first Claire was a bit shy around Grant. Now she is very concerned whenever I put him down. She thinks he should be held all of the time. She also is the first to tell me whenever he makes a peep. She loves to pat his head and needs to know where he is at all times.

Here are some pictures of Grant taken this past week. I need to get on the ball and take more pictures though!

My mom has really been helping me out this week with the kids and household duties. We have had great dinners this whole week! On Friday she made cupcakes for the kids to celebrate Grant's one week birthday. Claire was concerned who would eat Grant's cupcake, but I assured her that we would figure something out. My mom has also been doing Claire's hair every day. Claire is in heaven with all of the new styles. I'm not sure that I will be able to keep up though.

Introducing Grant Larsen Kiehn

I know this post is late! After 9 long months of waiting our baby boy finally arrived on Friday, September 17th at 4:59 pm. Here is the story of his birth:

I went to my regularly scheduled appointment on Thursday the 16th. I wasn't having contractions at all, but I was dilated to a 2. If the baby didn't come within the next week, the doctor set up an induction date for the 24th. So I went home and we went to Andrew's back to school night. He was so excited to show us where he sat and all around his classroom. I went to bed that night as usual and around 3:00 am I awoke to a bit of discomfort. I didn't think they were contractions though. I just couldn't believe that nothing was happening yesterday and all of a sudden I was in labor?? I thought it was a stomach ache or back ache and got up and ate something and went to lay on the couch for a while. After looking at the clock, it became apparent that yes, I was having contractions about 10 minutes apart. Danny got up at 6:30 for work and I told him that he wouldn't be going in because we were having a baby. We waited a bit to start calling everyone, but soon a plan of action was put in place. Natalie came over and picked up the kids and took them to my parent's house. My mom and Tory were ready to go to the hospital at anytime. After everything was figured out it was just a matter of waiting. Things seemed to progress slowly. At 3:30 we decided to go to the hospital, but the contractions were still only 6-7 minutes apart.

I'll spare you the gory details, but it became apparent when I arrived at the hospital that labor was progressing incredibly fast. I was quite upset to find out that an epidural was out of the question - it was time to push. WHAT??!!!! No, no, no this is not what I wanted! I did natural child birth with Andrew and I didn't want to revisit that experience. During the delivery I couldn't even see Danny. He was in the corner by my head. I was so thankful to have Tory and my mom there because I'm not sure I could have done it without them. Even so, I recall saying several times that I could not do this. After pushing for what seemed like forever, but it wasn't, he was born at 4:59 pm - only 90 minutes after arriving at the hospital. He weighed 8 lbs, 15 oz and was 20 inches long.

Here is Danny holding Grant not long after he was born.

And my mom.

Grant getting a bath which he did not like.

All dressed and warm in the bassinet.

Danny and I with baby Grant.

We stayed the hospital until Sunday. This picture was taken just after we changed him to go home. One thing we have noticed with him is that he does not like having his diaper or clothes changed. He likes to be warm and cozy, as most babies do.

A picture of Grant and I on our way out of the hospital to start a new journey together. Welcome to the family!

Our new van

We finally did it - we bought a minivan. After much research and agonizing over new car payments we bit the bullet and got a Honda Odyssey. Although, I am excited to have a bigger car that we can all actually fit inside, the thought of driving it every day made me nervous. My biggest fear was parking lots. When I was 16, just a month after getting my drivers license, I hit a parked car while trying to back out of a parking space. And that was driving a small four door car!
We have had the car for two weeks now and I have successfully taken it to Costco and the mall without any issues so far. The kids love having a van because they like being up higher and the sliding doors. They are excited to use the dvd player on a future trip. If it was up to them they would use it when we drive around the corner. Everyone tells me that it will get easier to drive and I hope they are right. So watch out on the roads everyone!

Claire's first week of preschool

Claire started preschool this past week on Tuesday. She will be going Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:30 - 11:30. She is going to Busy Bee's Preschool which is the same one that Andrew went to when he was 3. Leading up the start of school she had been asking multiple times a day when HER school was starting. She got a new princess lunch box and my mom made her a small backpack for the things that she wants to bring for sharing.

On Tuesday morning, was was very excited to go and we picked out an outfit and I attempted to do her hair. It was all going well until we pulled up outside the preschool. She started crying and didn't want to get out of the car. I ended up having to carry her in crying all the way. I pried her off of me and gave her to Mrs. Beesley. The funny thing is that she knows three of the other kids in her class. I was not able to get any pictures before class or during the drop off, so these pictures are courtesy of Britney.

Apparently she stopped crying moments after I left. Britney got this shot of Claire and Mrs. Beesley. She said she had a lot of fun at school and showed us the bee puppet she made.

We had quite the pickup up crew on Tuesday for Claire - Rose, Grandma, and Natalie. She was very excited to see everyone.

There are six kids in her class - 3 boys and 3 girls. Here are Claire, Ava, and Katie.

Drop off on Thursday wasn't quite so dramatic - at least there was no crying. Once again she was excited to go, but she was a little shy going inside. And then on Friday, after I dropped off Andrew at school she asked if it was time to go to her school and I said that she didn't have school on Fridays. Then she started crying! Hopefully in a few weeks, she will be used to the new schedule and there won't be anymore crying. It is hard to believe that she is already in preschool, but it is fun to ask her about what she did and see her so excited.