Christmas

Christmas jammies are such a fun, predictable present. But seriously Myles was so excited.
And so was James. SO EXCITED!

Look how cute they are. All those boys in their matching jammies.

They love them, I know they do.

Christmas Morning

This year we did things a little different. Instead of sitting around the tree to open presents the kids all sat around the dining room table to open their gifts from Santa. I am so thankful for technology and Skype. If you look close in the background on the computer screen you can see Matt. He was able to Skype with us and watch the kids open their gifts. It was fun to have him be a part of this. We still missed him.

Liam and his new bike. Now if it would just stop raining long enough to go out for a ride.

Myles and Grandpa. Two peas in a pod. Enough said.

We were so lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa with us this year for Christmas. We had a yummy Christmas eve dinner followed by the one present opened, which is always jammies. We got to spend Christmas day relaxing and just enjoying the day. And napping. We did a lot of napping. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

They say there is something about a sleeping baby that is contagious...

s...

Meeting with the BIG guy...

We got to meet with the BIG guy. Some requests were made. Noah just wanted off his lap.

By looking at this picture you might assume that I only have three children. Two of them just thought they were too cool to hang with ole' St. Nick.

Well, you know the old saying "paybacks are a b%&#$"...

BUT speaking of BIG guys

This guy is a month old already. He is still the sweetest bug.

ONE MONTH STATS

6 pounds 2 ounces

20 inches long

Slowly but surely we are getting some meat on his bones.

He'll grow into his sweetness eventually.

And can I even begin to tell you how much this little man loves being a big brother. He takes his job very serious. They are just the best of buddies already.

KISSES

Lucky...

7,500 miles away and he still totally made my day...

Boy I hear you in my dreams

I feel your whisper across the sea

I keep you with me in my heart

You make it easier when life gets hard

~lucky by jason mraz

There is a FIRST time for everything...

Our sweet baby Noah was just full of smiles today. We got to catch our first glimpses of his sweet little smile. He is just so dang cute. I think I might have said this before but I could seriously just eat him up.

As a mother I would love to say that those precious

first smiles were directed at me.

They weren't.

He was smiling at this cute mug...

That's okay because most days he makes me smile too.

Another First today

Myles had his first trip to the Dentist {I know they are supposed to go before 3 but it was something that I was really not looking forward to} I told him about it yesterday. Turns out he was SOOOO excited. He had a hard time understanding why he couldn't go last night. Then it was all he talked about all morning. He was perfect. An angel. The best dentist visit ever. He loved getting his teeth cleaned. Loved the glasses. Loved the dentist with the mirror. Loved the new toothbrush and floss. As he was walking out of the office {with a huge smile} he said "Santa is going to be so happy". Yes little man. Santa is happy.

D.A.R.E.

Liam's school had their D.A.R.E. Graduation. Liam was one of five that got to be rappers in the DARE song. He was so excited about it and practiced for days.

I know my video skills are not wonderful so bear with me. Liam's "solo" starts at 2:40.

Love you Liam. Matt, wish you could have been there...

Christmas Lights...

We have this awesome light display in our neighborhood. Make sure you pause the music at the bottom and then turn the volume up so you can hear the music that goes along with it. BUT ignore the sound of my children fighting in the background. For all you locals, you have to go see it. The video doesn't even do it justice. Way Cool...

Jessie's Junior High band had a concert the other night. They are really good. Hope you can view this video. Ignore the first 15 seconds of giggly, wiggly girls.

3 weeks

Today was my supposed to be my induction date. Strange to think about. I have a 24 day old baby. I am leaving my baby ticker up until his due date. He is still just a tiny little bug. He only has a few things that he fits into (thanks to auntie adrianne). I am trying my darnedest to get him fattened up. You just wait. Before you know it we will replace the skinny little wrinkles with chubby wubby rolls.

He sure has settled into our family nicely.
We sure like him.

He is so delicious I could seriously eat him.

Three Weeks Old

5 pounds 15 ounces

20 inches long

Hooray! He made it back up to his birth weight. He also grew 1/2 inch.

But he fell off the charts.

Two weeks old already...

check out those lashes

I can't believe he is two weeks old already.

He is still the sweetest baby EVER!

We are still crazy about him.

He rolled over today. Twice.

I am hoping it was just an accident.

TWO WEEK STATS

5 pounds 10 ounces

19 1/2 inches long

He made the charts though.

Just under the 5th percentile.

LOVE HIM!

Little Bruiser

Because our little guy had his cord wrapped around his face during his birth he ended up with some pretty bad bruising. Every day it gets a little better and we get to see his features develop a little more. I just can't get enough of his sweet little face.

This is love...

We think he's pretty great.

There is nothing better than a sweet new baby.

Noah is such a sweet little boy.

And oh man is he little.

Stats

ONE WEEK

5pounds 6 ounces

19 1/2 inches

Noah's Big Night

He turned a little yellow.

Okay he was orange.

He spent the night back in the hospital under the lights.

Then he had to pass the car seat test before they would let him go home. Doesn't he look so itty bitty in his great big car seat?

Sweet sweet baby...

Our sweet, sweet baby boy is here!

Noah Garrett Krenz
11.13.2009

11:41 p.m.

5 pounds 15 ounces

19 1/2 inches

Friday November 13, 2009 started out just like any other day of the week. Busy with kids, tons on my 'to do' list. I had talked to Matt early in the morning and discussed going to his work fall festival. I told him that I was feeling a little funny and wasn't sure I was going to be able to go. Then at about 2:30 I mentioned to my mom that I thought I might have a UTI. I was having a strange pain but it was probably nothing. Keeping in mind I have been having contractions for six weeks and had none on this day. Not one. She suggested I call the doctor just to be sure before they left for the weekend. I did. Not willingly but I did. Dr. Chang was already gone but his nurse said she would feel more comfortable if I would come in and get checked. So... I cleaned up a little, made a shopping list, stopped at Sonic for a Cherry Limeaid all before heading down to Little Rock to be checked out. For sure that they would just send me home with something to treat a UTI, right?!?

I arrived at the hospital at 4:45 pm. They hooked me up to the monitors just to monitor any activity. Oh. My. Goodness. Turns out I was having contractions every 3-5 minutes and was dilated to a 3. Since I was 5 weeks early they gave me some Breathine in an effort to stop the contractions. After about 45 minutes they came back to check and I was dilated to a 4. Looked like we were going to have a baby! My mom and Jessie headed down and we were so excited to meet the new boy.

Anxiously awaiting
Katie and Krista came for support and to take pictures. So glad these girls were there to share this experience with me.
Because of the time difference I knew Matt would be at work. James sent him an email telling him I was in labor and to call me. This picture is when he called. It was pretty emotional for me. I missed him terribly. I would have given anything to have him there with me.

My labor progressed pretty quickly. I didn't feel much as far as contractions go. I think I was on the edge emotionally and I was more focused on just holding it together. If I felt like I was going to fall apart I would close my eyes and just go to my happy place.

Then about 11:00 the mood changed. My contractions got much more intense. Every time I had a contraction little Noah's heart rate would drop but then it would recover. The nurse kept checking to see how far I was dilated.

And then at 11:36 the nurse checked me and I was dilated to an 8. Noah's heart rate dropped and didn't come back up. Dr. Chang was there in an instant and things just happened so fast. Bed apart. A lot of people in the room. Dr. Chang told me I needed to deliver him. I pushed a few times... it was so fast and so intense it was all kind of a blur. Then I saw him. His sweet little face. He was all tangled up in his cord. It was wrapped around his face, his neck, his shoulders. Crazy. Crazy how he could get so tangled. Grandma cut the cord and they whisked him away.


I fell. Madly deeply in love. Head over heels kinda love. In this moment. It is the most intense feeling. I only got to hold him for a minute before they had to take him to the nursery to make sure he was doing okay. It was a long five hours.


Dr. Chang. Seriously love this doctor.

Little Noah in the nursery. I love how peaceful he looks.

I finally got him back from the nursery at about 5 am. He did amazingly well for being five weeks early. Yeah, he's pretty much perfect.

The next day his brothers and sister got to come to the hospital and spend some time with him.

We're crazy about him.

I feel really blessed to have this little guy in our family. I know that his birth was miraculous and attended by angels. He is such a peaceful little spirit.

I just love him.

Goodbye...

It was hard. Much harder than I expected.

We have just packed the last week full of fun and good memories.

All knowing today would come.

I have jokingly said "when you come home I will be thinner" and then it hit me last night. He will never see me pregnant again.

I didn't have the heart to wake up my kids early this morning to see him off.

I had him do it. It didn't make it any easier.

I miss him. Already. Terribly. I just hope that the next seven months go fast. Not just hope but am praying that they go fast.

So between now and then,

till I see you again I'll be loving you.

Love,

Me

I {heart} Autumn!

And I {heart} these kids

32 weeks

I love this baby.

I am loving feeling him move and kick and squirm inside me.

I can't wait to meet him.

I can't wait to see who he looks like.

At the same time I am okay with him staying in a while.

Because I know this will be my last baby.

And I am anxious about his birth.

I cry when I think about it.

I had my check up today.

It was the last appointment Matt will be able to go to.

That makes me cry.

Everything looks fine. Besides the contractions I am having, which by the way are not doing anything. I have gained a fraction of what I normally do. Yes, a fraction, as in about 1/3. He is moving like crazy but he is much calmer than some of my babes. Myles loves talking to my belly button and tells the baby all kinds of things. Like how to play football and chocolate milk is for big boys. Myles is sure (and tells the baby often) that I am not the baby's mother. We are working on that one. My doc is going to induce me in seven weeks if I haven't delivered just so it can be a controlled birth (controlled as in not in the middle of the night, by myself, on the side of the freeway).

16

It seems like only yesterday he looked like this...

And now he is 16.

He has a driving learner's permit. He can officially date. He goes to high school. He was ordained a priest. He has a job. He is the age I was when he was born. It has all happened so fast. I am so proud of the young man he has become. I wish I could take credit for how he has turned out but I swear he came this way. For his birthday he decided he wanted to hold a food drive. Amazing. Really amazing. He was able to raise over $500, which will provide 2,500 meals to hungry Arkansas residents, and over 100 pounds of canned food. So proud.