Last Day as a Family of Three

Today was our last day as a little family of three.  Tomorrow begins a new chapter in our lives as a family... we will officially be "complete".  It's been so overwhelming to thing about the fact that we are bringing a new little guy into our lives, now that we know just how much of an impact a child has on your life.  Having Regan was truly one of the most amazing things we ever did, and I cannot imagine what it's going to be like to do all over again.

This weekend we tried to get everything ready that we could, and spend as much time together as we could.  Kevin and I went out to dinner by ourselves, just like we did the night before Regan was born.  Mostly it was just a normal weekend.

This morning Kevin did surprise me with two gifts... and iPod touch, so that I could post pictures of the baby while I was in the hospital, and so we can chat using Facetime whenever he's away from home.  I cried, because it was so sweet that he wanted and needed to be connected to us all the time.  The second gift was a beautiful diamond tennis bracelet, which I certainly didn't expect, or ask for, but am very grateful to receive.  I love it - now I just need an occasion for a new mother of two, to go out dripping in diamonds.

Before Regan went to bed, I managed to remember to take some final pictures of our little family, before we grow tomorrow:

Tomorrows the big day!  We will try to post on Facebook as soon as we can and I may be able to post a blog entry from the iPod.

38 Weeks

This past week we had a great time playing outside and enjoying the warm weather.  It's a good thing we did, because it didn't last long, and had been cold and rainy the past 5 days!

Yesterday I had my very last doctors appointment, and everything looks great.  I didn't gain anymore weight, and I am still measuring about 35 weeks (which I have been since about 35 weeks).  So I've officially declared that Rian has run out of room in there, and he's ready to come out.  Five more days until we meet our little man, and our family is complete!  We are so excited!

Here is my belly pic from this week, and a few "fun in the sun" pictures, plus a video of Regan singing her ABC's!:

Week 38

Mommy's poor swollen feet

My view from up here

Regan wearing Grandpa's "cowboy hat" - "yee haw!"

37 Weeks

"At week 37, your pregnancy is considered full term, meaning baby is likely to thrive after birth. Baby spends these last weeks in preparation for the outside world… meaning careful refinement of the blink, suck, inhale and exhale. Meconium, which you’ll probably find in the first diaper, is accumulating in the intestines. If (okay, as) you worry about giving birth, consider what it’s like for the little one. During the journey out of your womb, baby will produce more stress hormones than any other time in life. "


Today I had my second last doctors appointment, and everything is right on track as usual.  I don't even know why I bother with theses appointments sometimes... I can tell you I feel fine, run a dipstick, and take my blood pressure at home.  Thankfully I only have one more appointment between me and having this baby!  I am so ready & excited!  13 More Days!!!

36 Weeks

19 days to go!!

Yesterday I had a routine doctors appointment - everything went well.  I have gained 32 pounds so far, and feeling every pound larger right now.  The baby is really squished in my belly right now.  Just by feeling around the midwife told me that his head it super low in my pelvis, which explains all of the discomfort I've been having.

Today I went for a growth ultrasound, to get an estimate of how big the baby is, and to make sure there was enough fluid around him, since I measured two weeks smaller then normal this week.  The good news is that he has plenty of fluid, but he is really cramped in there.  We couldn't even get any good pictures of his face because his feet were in the way.  He is completely folded in two, from head to toe in there!  (They don't call it the Fetal position for nothing, I guess.)  Also, he is still most definitely a boy, about 6 pounds 3oz, by their estimate.

Here are some belly shots from last week Thursday - getting to be really big!:

Blog Re-Vamp

I felt like since this blog isn't exclusively about Regan anymore, and will soon have a new addition to update about, that we needed a change.

Now this blog will be about our entire family and what is going on in our lives as a family of four.  Since Rian will be the last Kerl baby, it was time to think of a new title too.  Since Regan is "the bean" and we have been calling Rian "bean 2.0", the new name seems appropriate.  Overall I'm really liking the new scheme.

We have been having a busy weekend enjoying the nice weather.  I have a doctors appointment on Tuesday, and hopefully a final ultrasound, so I will post more after then!

35 Weeks/25 Months - Happy Easter!

This year was quite a successful one for us.  We decided to let the Easter Bunny double as the role of "binky fairy".  That meant that the night before Easter Regan put her pacifiers in her Easter basket, and left them for the bunny, with a note saying that he could take them for babies who needed them.

Regan did a great job without them that night, and only asked for them back once.  Ever since we have been binky free for naps and nite time!  I'm so glad we kicked the habit quickly and easily. 

This week I am 35 weeks along, with 28 days to go!  Four weeks from today I will be in the hospital having a  baby!!  Panic mode/Nesting is due to kick in any minute.  

Jack was staying with us for the night, so he helped Regan find her basket

She went right for the books

She sat right down and started reading one!  Forget the rest of the goodies in the basket!

Oh Yeah, there's chocolate too!!

The bunny also left eggs around the house

Showing off her Easter dress

 Here are some pictures of her with her Easter basket through the years...

Happy Easter Everyone!

34 Weeks - Late Again

I"m a little late on this weeks post again, but today is the 23rd, which means Rian will be here this time next month!  Time is just flying by now!

This week we were busy making preparations for Easter and the Easter Bunny.  Here are some pictures from the past week:

Regan was having a "picnic" at the table

Grandma Judy and Papa brought her a belated birthday gift - dress-up Minnie Mouse...she LOVES it!

She wanted Minnie to have a Green outfit like her

Cosmo wanted in on the action too

Kisses for Mr. Mo

Getting ready to dye Easter Eggs

The Preparation

Adding some colored "speckles" to her eggs

Showing off her colored hands when she was done... and a little blue dye in her mouth

The Finished Products

I will take some pictures tomorrow of what the Easter Bunny brought us, and hopefully it will be warm enough to have an Easter Egg hunt outside too.  Busy day tomorrow!  Go Sabres!

33 Week Belly Pic

Here we are at Week 33 - Regan is showing her belly too!

Close-up/33 Weeks with Regan for comparison

A nice smile for once...

Regan peed in the potty today but it was hard to get her excited about it - so I made a sticker chart

Showing off her butterfly sticker!

33 Weeks

"Baby’s senses are continuing to improve -- when light peeks in through your (extremely) stretched belly, those tiny eyelids and irises blink and dilate. And, baby can now recognize and react to simple songs… time to start practicing your lullabies! Growth (at least inside your womb) is starting to slow, and you may notice baby descend into your pelvis at the end of this month. "


6 weeks left until baby boy makes his arrival.  We went out to run some errands this weekend, and stopped and Babies R' Us to see if we could pick up some of the last few things we would need for the baby.  We walked out with NOTHING... so we decided that we were probably as prepared as we're ever going to be.


We had come fantastic weather this weekend and enjoyed getting a lot of stuff done outside.  Regan has been re-discovering all of her outside toys and swing-set... getting dirty and having a blast.  I will post some new pictures soon!

32 Weeks

This week was rather uneventful for us, given how exciting the past few have been.  I don't even have any pictures to share because Kevin had my camera all weekend.

Kevin and Colin left for Atlanta, GA on Friday to attend Wrestlemania.  Here is a picture of them at a promotional event.

As of today we have 47 days until Rians arrival!  This week I used our completion coupons to finish getting some of the things that we need for him and his room.  Grandma Judy bought him a bunch a cute outfits that need to be washed and ready.  Besides that I think we are pretty well prepared in advance this time around.  I'm sure there will be other little things that we will think of that we might need in the weeks after his arrival, but hopefully we've covered all the basics.