So Many Reasons To Celebrate...

At our house, we are counting our blessings and have been celebrating for so many different reasons.  The last three weeks have been busy, new, and exciting!

Reason #1: Welcome Mya Ruth!

Mya Ruth Ausenhus was born October 25, 2013.  She weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and was 18 inches long.  She was two and half weeks early, so she was a bit of a surprise!  On October 24, I went to my regular 37 week check-up, having left work early and in a rush, and after a variety of calls to the doctor-on-call was sent to the hospital to be monitored, due to being 5 cm dilated and nearly fully effaced.  My history of a very fast delivery with Abby caused concern that things would move very quickly.  I met Brant at the hospital at 4:30 that afternoon and "being monitored" turned in to deciding to keep us there and have a baby!  The plan was to break my water to help contractions to start.  However, the doctor on call had a variety of other deliveries and C-sections that evenings, so he didn't end up breaking my water until about 10:30 that evening.  I think Brant and I both said several times that evening, "Huh... we didn't think we'd be doing this tonight!"  Mya entered the world at 2:00 in the morning and we have been in love with our precious little peanut ever since. 

So happy so early in the morning!

Our family of 5

I love all of Mya's beautiful dark hair 

Mya is greatly adored by Ben and Abby!  Ben loves to cuddle with her before bed and now both kids started to argue about who gets to have Mya in their bedroom during stories at bedtime.  Abby starts talking to her in the same way nearly every time she sees her, and it sounds something like: "Oh, hi, sweetie!  You're so cute you sweetie pie!"  Abby also asked earlier this week if we get to keep the baby.  We responded that yes, Mya is ours and we are keeping her.  Since then she has excitedly exclaimed several times, "We get to keep the baby!"

Reason #2: Happy 3rd Birthday, Abby!

Abby turned 3 years old on October 26.  Of course, this is just one day after Mya was born, so I was still in the hospital.  We had plans for a birthday party on Abby's birthday, but ended up having cupcakes in the hospital and delaying her party until the following weekend.  Abby currently loves Cinderella.  Last summer, she and I had a "girl's night" and watched the real Cinderella for the first time.  Since then, it has been all about Cinderella and the movie has been watched too many times to count.  So, quite appropriately, I made a Cinderella cake and if I do say so myself, it turned out pretty neat!  Abby LOVED it!  My brother gave Abby a Cinderella dress for her birthday and she has been in it nearly everyday since.  She loves to turn on music and dance in her dress, and usually says something like, "Pretend I'm a princess and you don't know me" or "Clap when the song is done!"  It is hard to believe that Abby is already 3 years old, and as Mya now wears some of Abby's old clothes, it makes me feel like time is just flying by and that Abby was just the infant I was snuggling.  Happy Birthday, sweet Abby!  We love you so very much!

 Cupcakes at the hospital

 Cinderella in the garden, right after the fairy godmother gives her the dress, which is Abby and my favorite part of the movie!

 Happy Birthday!

Abby got a baby doll bed, carrier, and diaper changing kit.  She loves to play with her baby doll now that Mya is around.  She sometimes becomes my shadow - who knew a diaper change could be so interesting!

Reason #3: Healthy Kidneys and Medication Free!

On October 4, Abby returned to Iowa City for a follow up appointment to her surgery.  After an ultrasound, it was determined that she still had quite a lot of hydronephrosis (fluid on her kidneys) and that we would need to return in several weeks for another ultrasound to see whether it had improved.  The doctor explained that it wasn't uncommon for kids with high grade reflux, like Abby had, to take longer for things to function normally.  As the doctor said, the surgery was like taking a four lane highway and making it a one lane highway and that it can take awhile for the body to figure out how to adjust to this.  However, I was a bit distressed and worried about this, as a second surgery would be how this would be corrected and that freaked me out.  Abby and I went back on Monday for another ultrasound, labs, and appointments.  The ultrasound showed that the right kidney looked almost normal and the left had improved quite a bit compared to the October 4 test.  What a huge relief!!  Additionally, Abby is now medication free!  No more daily antibiotics or blood pressure medicine.  To all of this, we say HOORAY!

To top this off, female siblings of kids who have VUR have a 30-50% likelihood of also having VUR, so our pediatrician scheduled an ultrasound for Mya last Friday to check her kidneys.  We say another resounding HOORAY to the fact that Mya's kidneys looked completely normal!!

Reason #4: Success at School

I was stressed at the end of the summer about Ben starting kindergarten for many reasons: shy, small kid in a big school, etc. etc.  However, Ben is doing so well and we are amazed by how far he has come and how much he has grown up!  Although Ben is most proud of his physical feats at recess by mastering the monkey bars, we are proud of his progress both socially and academically.  He has made some good friends and seems to get along with lots of kids.  His teacher reports that he participates regularly in class (which was absolutely unheard of in preschool) and shares both about school related things and his life at home (again, completely unheard of prior to kindergarten).  It is also so thrilling to see his reading and writing coming along so quickly.  Just this morning Ben walked to the bus door by himself without a hug or a kiss for the first time.  I know this is a small thing, and it broke my heart a little bit, but to me, this was another step of independence for Ben.  Way to go, buddy!

Reason #5: Happy Halloween!

The kids had a great time at Halloween this year!  Ben dressed up at Wolverine and Abby was... you guessed it... Cinderella.  Mya even had a costume - Tinkerbell!  Both kids loved trick or treating, although Brant and I just love how as all the other kids in the neighborhood are running between houses, our kids saunter along between houses, too intrigued with everyone else's costumes and decorations on the houses to move at any sort of a quick pace.  They both share the quality of being overly observant, I guess!  We also had our annual "spooky supper" by candlelight at our house on Halloween.  Our menu included jack-o-lantern clementines, mummy juice (juice boxes wrapped in paper towels and googly eyes), ghost bread (breadsticks twisted like a ghost), witches brew (soup), bones (pretzel sticks and marshmallows in almond bark), and owls (a graham cracker, oreo, and candy corn concoction).  So fun - and the kids love it!

 Cinderella ready to go trick-or-treating

 Darling Tinkerbell

Watch out for those claws!

As you can see, we've had a busy few weeks, and honestly, it has also been a little exhausting with the lack of sleep with having an infant again, and it just being busy.  Of course, both kids have also had the stomach flu in the last two weeks as well, so Brant and I feel like we have been fully initiated into managing our family of 5.

In closing, on a serious note, I am beside myself with love for our family.  There is nothing like the addition of a new family member to bring to life how very precious all three kids really are, and how much I value and love Brant and the family we are raising.  We are so very blessed!

Resilience

Abby had bilateral ureter re-implantation surgery three weeks ago today, August 21.  In other words, the surgeon reconnected her ureters to her kidneys to stop urine from refluxing from her bladder to her kidneys.  The surgery took about three hours and then we spent one night in the hospital.  Let's face it - anything involving a two year old who isn't feeling well with an IV and catheter in the hospital is just no fun.  We returned home late the night of August 22 and ever since then, have been pleasantly surprised by how quickly Abby has bounced back.  The pictures speak volumes, as all were taken within two weeks of the surgery:

 Now that I'm eight months pregnant and don't enjoy crawling around on the floor to play as much, I've introduced Abby to BookFlix.  She loves to watch these stories on the computer!  And, it was perfect timing for a calm, indoor activity!  Happy as a lark!

 This has actually become a standard lately when Abby is playing.  Nothing like losing your clothes, throwing on your fairy wings, and doing a little jumping from the couch.  My goodness - we can't get enough of this sweet little girl!

Although the heat wave over the past few weeks has been miserable, it has kind of been a blessing in disguise to allow for quieter inside activities, such as playing with Oobleck.

Things with the surgery went really well and we will return to Iowa City at the beginning to of October for an ultrasound and to follow up with the urologist, hopefully to find that everything has healed well and looks good.  We are very thankful for the great care Abby has received and that, in the big scheme of things, this will be a blip in our memories!  After staying in the hospital for just one night, I thanked God for granting me two healthy children!

On a final note, Abby is extremely excited for the arrival of her baby sister in about two months.  She really wants the baby to sleep in her room (she has a lot to learn about babies), is still saying we should name the baby Abby (completely logical to her, of course), and says often that she loves her baby sister and that she will be very cute (naturally!).  

School Days

It's official.  We have a kindergartener!  Ben started school on Thursday.  Brant was able to drop him off on the first day of school and reported that Ben was a trooper, finding his classroom, putting his bag away and joining the other kids in looking at books, while a teary eyed Brant left (and I'm not making that up - he admitted it).  Although I would have loved to have been part of that, I was at my own school greeting kids and teary eyed parents.  I think since I was emotional about Ben starting school for the past six weeks, the actual first day was kind of a relief.  On the second day of school, Ben rode the bus to school.  If I'm being honest, this is probably the part that made me the most nervous of anything.  However, Ben willingly got on smiling ear to ear and made it to school just fine.  I know I work for Ankeny Schools so I might be a little biased, but I have to send out a big kudos to everyone who makes the beginning of school comfortable not just for kids, but for parents as well.  Having never been on the parent side of the fence, it really does matter when the school nurse takes extra care, when the kindergarten teacher emails over lunch the first day to report everything is going well, and the bus driver gives a personal phone call to ensure she understands Ben's allergy and reports that he had a great first day on the bus.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that our first full week goes well!  I have a feeling we'll have a pretty tired kiddo by Friday!

In my own mind, the start of school marked the start of three weeks of change/challenge at our house.  Ben's week of change/challenge was last week, and this week is Abby's.  Abby has her surgery in Iowa City on Wednesday and we are keeping our fingers crossed that this time she stays healthy and we can actually get the surgery done.  She will be in the hospital one or two nights, depending on how she is doing, but we are expecting her to feel pretty under the weather and sore the first few days home.  Keep us in your thoughts and prayers that everything goes smoothly.

And, Brant's week of change is next week.  At the end of July, he was offered a great opportunity to work for HyVee at their corporate office in the marketing department.  It is a great opportunity for him and his first day of work will be August 26.  However, that will definitely change our lifestyle and be a shift for me in the kind of flexibility we have with pick up and drop off of our kids, and tasks around the house.  Brant has worked at home for five years, so we've (and myself especially) become pretty used to having him around a lot.  We will have to get used to him leaving earlier and getting home a bit later and just getting back into the swing of an actual office setting for a job.

And as for me, I'm 28 weeks pregnant and as you can imagine from what has been written above, have shed plenty of irrational pregnancy-induced hormonal tears, whether that be for happy, sad, or stressed reasons!  However, Baby Girl is active and I still feel really good, so I'm counting my blessings and excited that we have so much to look forward to in the next couple of months!

Success!

 Ben is proud to announce he can now tie his shoes!  Woo hoo!  When we set the goal and engaged in some serious practice, he was successfully tying by the end of the afternoon.  Mind you, 

there were a few months of "kind of" trying here and there prior to this!  He thinks he is now officially ready for kindergarten.  He might be... But I'm not sure I am!

Lake of the Ozarks 2013

We recently spent a week at the Lake of the Ozarks with the whole Ausenhus family and we all had a great time!  Ben and Abby both swam a lot, although we are pretty sure Ben would have spent every waking moment in the pool if we would have let him.  They also both enjoyed going on the waverunner with Daddy, Papa, or Alex.  Ben and Abby went mini-golfing for the first time, had an adventure at a restaurant where there would later be a Nelly concert (so you can imagine the crowd we contended with - it was quite a people watching experience!), had a "kid's night out" that ended in a ferocious game of Spoons while Grandma and Papa watched the actual kids, and enjoyed the several days worth of fireworks over the lake.  The day after we came home, Ben got out his backpack and began packing up for his return to vacation with his stuffed dog Max.  Apparently he was not ready to come home!

 Abby was as interested in all the swim wear options as she was the water... at least to begin with.

 Abby loved her cousin Kiley!  These two cuties are ready for a dip in the pool!

 Ben enjoyed diving for rings or any other object thrown under the water.  We were all amazed at how his swimming skills progressed in just a week!

 Abby is on her first wave runner ride!  She loved it!

 I suppose that is one way to eat an ice cream cone... nose and all.  Hey - it wouldn't be vacation without a little messy ice cream eating!

It was down right HOT!  Good thing Abby had a cool treat!

In our house, it wouldn't really be vacation or any other fun event without a little sickness creeping in.  This time would not disappoint, as Ben started vacation with a cold and Abby ended vacation with a cold, which then turned into a sinus infection.  Unfortunately for Abby, this delayed the bladder surgery she was supposed to have on July 10.  On the upside, it bought us a few more weeks of "regular" summer.  However, the new surgery date is August 21 and I will already be back at work, so the convenience factor is gone.  This was definitely the right move to make though as she really was not feeling well by the time we got home... maybe it was just too much fun!  Vacation can be exhausting!

Seeing Pink... And Other Summer News

IT'S A GIRL!!!

We all know that with every baby there is a 50/50 chance of being a boy or a girl, but if I'm being honest, I had myself pretty convinced that this little peanut was a boy.  Maybe it was a subconscious comfort with the boy-girl-boy family patterning that both Brant and I come from, maybe it was my underlying reaction to some of sweet Abby's two year old spiciness, or maybe a feeling that I would never really experience what the whole sister dynamic is really like, having never lived it myself.  So, I will admit that even though I knew the odds, I was quite surprised to learn our new baby will indeed be a girl.  We are very excited about this new adventure and Ben has definitely accepted the news graciously, after very much hoping for a brother.  Abby has insisted that we name the baby Abby, to be just like her.  I can't wait to see how this child will be alike and different from Ben and Abby and what kind of personality will be added to the mix.  We will be seeing pink, dresses, hair bows, and dolls for many years to come!!

That is probably the most exciting and happiest news of the summer.  However, we've been keeping ourselves very busy with other summer fun.  I worked a variety of days in June and attended a conference for four days, so our summer didn't consistently start until about a week and a half ago.  Here are a few things we've been up to:

 T-ball!  I love this picture with both Ben and Brant in the "ready" position.  They finished up the season this week.  Ben seemed to enjoy playing, and I think he especially liked having his Daddy for a coach.

 Abby + DQ Dilly Bar = Happiness (and messiness).  The kids are both keeping a log for the Ankeny library summer reading program.  Who can pass up free ice cream for reading?!

  This week we went to Union Park in Des Moines to ride the carousel (always a hit) and play in the wading pool.  I love summer afternoons like this one! The kids would both say this was fun, but going to the "real" pool in Ankeny the following day took the cake.  

 First of all, yes, Abby is not wearing a shirt.  I will just say that I have chosen not to fight that particular battle if we are inside our own house.  Second, yes, they are both wearing homemade super hero capes.  Thank you Pinterest for the brilliant idea of using old T-shirts, iron-on letters (Ben is "Iron Man" and Abby is "Super Abby"), and fabric paint to entertain!

Ben took swimming lessons this past week and wearing his goggles, so Abby has really wanted a pair.  Therefore, here she is in her new pair of goggles.  She is prepping for our vacation to the Ozarks.  I guess she'll need to learn to hold her breath and put her head in the water, huh?

And finally, Abby is having surgery on July 10 to correct her urinary reflux, so thought and prayers coming our way that day would be great for both a smooth surgery and speedy recovery.

Our Graduate

 We celebrated Ben's preschool graduation on Friday.

 It is hard to believe Ben will be off to kindergarten in a few short months.  When the kids were announced as the class of 2026, I thought to myself that even though that seems so far away, I know in thirteen years it will feel like yesterday we sat through his preschool graduation.  We are proud of you, Ben! 

After graduation, Ben chose to go to Village Inn for lunch, a favorite restaurant for his favorite pancakes.  However, apparently the post-graduation milk and cookies spoiled his appetite, because his lunch consisted of bacon and chocolate milk.  I couldn't help but laugh!  He and I then spent the afternoon at the park practicing riding his bike on two wheels because he is determined to be done with training wheels, practicing playing catch with his baseball glove, and playing on the equipment.  We had a great day together!

 Believe it or not, these baseball pictures are related to preschool graduation.  As part of the graduation program, there was a video played with pictures of the kids throughout the year, and then each child saying what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Ben said he wanted to be a baseball player when he grew up.  Apparently he is really enjoying t-ball!  So, here's to our little baseball player and potentially many more years of summer afternoons at baseball games!

Big Girl Bed And...

 This weekend, Abby started sleeping in her big girl bed!  It was quite exciting, and it may be the cutest thing we've ever seen to see her tiny little body all cuddled in to that big bed.  She was ready for this next step, but she also doesn't have a choice, because we will need the crib again in six months!!

You read that right, we are expecting Baby #3!

5 Years... In the Blink of an Eye!

Ben turned 5 years old on March 6!  It is hard to believe this adorable, tiny baby...

Has grown into this kind, smart, and thoughtful little boy...

For Ben's birthday, we celebrated with family the weekend before the actual "big day."  Ben loved his dinosaur cake - in fact, I would not be exaggerating when I say he was enamored by it.  That was exactly what I was going for!  He selected his piece to be the top of the volcano - a natural choice!

We celebrated at home on his actual birthday.  Ben was quite surprised to get a Lego table that Brant made for him.  Brant has admitted that it was more of a project than he first anticipated when we started building it two days in advance.  However, after a little elbow grease and tender loving care, Ben loved it and the table has gotten lots of use since.

The weekend after Ben's birthday he had his first birthday party with a friend.  Brant took Ben and his best friend, Maddox, to Cherry Berry for frozen yogurt with the toppings of their choice.  Apparently both boys picked gummy bears and chocolate rocks, which we all agreed was a delightful combination.  They then returned home to do a dinosaur pinata and just play together.  They are quite the pair!  We are very happy Ben has found such a great friend!

And of course, through all of it, Abby insisted that her birthday is also coming up.  We keep reminding her it in October, but that darn calendar is such an abstract concept at 2 years old!  Oh well... I guess she'll really be looking forward to turning 3 in seven long months... and we will all know exactly what she wants!

The February Blahs...

January and February are my least favorite months of the year.  The cold weather, the dry skin, the constant slushiness of dirty snow, the monotony of winter.  Valentine's Day is supposed to give the season some sort of excitement, but it is generally short lived, and like any other Hallmark holiday, doesn't really match the hype.  On this tired Monday morning, I found myself really wishing for some warm sunshine and a sandy beach.

Despite my attitude toward the time of the year, there have been some exciting things going on at our house.  No one can understand this like an educator, but Ben has taken some major strides in beginning to read.  He is bringing home books from preschool to add to some we already have at home that he is reading every night, he is progressing quickly with his phonemic awareness skills, his sight word bank is growing, and he has some nice skills decoding words and using context in the books he is reading.  You cannot imagine my excitement and sheer awe at this recent development.  I try to keep it in check so I don't embarrass him or turn him off to the whole situation, but I'm bubbling with excitement inside.  Yay, Ben!  In other news, I heard Ben talking to himself while in bed this evening, and suddenly he came in to my room, smiling from ear to ear, to announce that he had counted all the way to 120 in his bed.  Hooray!

Abby's most recent development is that she has turned into a pure love bug.  She tells us she loves us at the most wonderful times.  It is often unsolicited and a moment of pure innocence.  I want to always remember this.  For example, tonight at supper she simply looked at me and said, "I wuv Mommy."  My heart melted.  Last week while dropping Abby off at the babysitter, Brant told her he loved her.  Abby looked at Brant and said, "Do you know who else wuvs me?  Mommy!"  And, one of my favorites would be the day Brant had Ben and Abby outside playing in the snow.  Abby was suddenly gone and Brant found her sitting the garage, a sad look across her face.  When asked what was wrong, she told him, "I just miss Mommy.  I wuv her."  I know someday I'll need to remember those moments! 

So, despite my weariness of the weather and relatively dull time of year, there have been many bright moments.  Before we know it, spring will be upon us!

Happy New Year!

As we all head back to our normal lives tomorrow of work, preschool, and daycare, I've been thinking about how nice it has been to be home together over the past two weeks.  Our break started two days early with a big blizzard that canceled the last two days before winter break.  I have no complaints!  Our kids seemed to be at a particularly fun age for Christmas this year (although I think I'll probably continue to say that for many more years).  They loved everything about the holiday - the sweets, the relatives, the gifts, the songs, the lights, the Christmas story... just everything.

Our New Year's was extremely low key.  We made New Year's hats, but then didn't wear them because we opted to go out to dinner instead of eat at home... and I think we all agreed the homemade party hats in public would be a bit much.  Ha!  The kids went to bed early and Brant and I watched a movie.  It was much like any other night, but we welcome 2013 and know that many great things lay ahead over the next 12 months.

Here are a few pictures of our holiday break together:

 Look at those pig tails!!

 Oh... and just to clarify that it really was Christmas and not Halloween in our house, Santa brought the kids costumes for our "dress-up" basket.  This explains why Ben is in costume in all of the pictures.  Well, except for the skeleton pajamas.  I can't explain that with Santa - those are the real thing.

 Someone is ready to catch some big fish!  Ice fishing, anyone?

 It was the Christmas of scooters and castles.  We gave Abby a new scooter, and Ben received a new one from Grandma and Papa.  They also both got a castle, although apparently Abby's Little People castle didn't make the cut for pictures.  Oops.