Baby Madeline Marie Krusemark is here!

After a long wait, baby Madeline Marie has arrived! Yes, we have a new baby girl in our family. Madeline Marie arrived at 9:51 a.m. and weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz and stretched a whole 20 in.

Everyone is doing well this evening considering a long, yet exciting day. We are truly lucky to have a new addition to our family. We will leave you with some pictures and Maddie's first hair wash. She seemed to like it!

Fresh Hair Do

Sweet Close Up

Mom and Maddie

Daddy and Maddie

The full head of hair!

Fun as a Family of Three!

We are quickly approaching the end of the era as a family of 3. Of course we are super excited to meet "Baby K", and I'm excited to not be pregnant anymore...but it is also a little emotional thinking about sharing my time between Gavin and a sibling! I know he will do great...but ultimately he didn't have a say in sharing his time. Since Cary has been done with his crazy-"school's-in-session work", and we've been pretty much confined to the Hudson area we've been keeping busy and having a lot of fun!

Today we joined some of the neighbors at a local water park, and followed up with dinner at Wendy's! That's how things go with 4 toddlers.

G practiced driving Daddy's Hog (daddy's way of keeping him contained while he cleaned out the garage)

Gavin helped me shuck corn and had the best response ever..."Hey, there's corn hiding in there". The innocence of a 2 1/2 year old...love it!

Gavin is totally in love with his cousins...especially Matthew who's almost 5. We spent the morning at their house playing in the pool and playing on the slip-n-slide!

We also discovered 2 different beaches...one on the St. Croix river where we played with our neighbors on Father's Day...sadly neither of us got any pictures! The other we went to on Friday where we met Nikki, Lauryn and Tyler at the Lake Elmo Park Reserve! It was a great place for kids and adults, and we had great time.

Sadly, this was the only picture I got on this day!

We also got Gavin some Big-Boy-Undies...he thought it was the best thing ever, Kristi and Liam even got a underwear fashion show in the driveway before we could even get inside the house! Nope, he isn't wearing them without his diapers underneath yet!

Freezies taste good for Moms and kids!

We ventured to Chippewa Falls to visit Grandma B on the farm and also had a great evening enjoying a fish fry at Scott and Becky's.

Gavin driving the BIG John Deere Tractor

We also saw the baby kitties

and the cows and calves

Gavin and I also went to a "Touch a Truck" Event sponsored by the River Falls Fire Department...G thought it was fabulous!

Inside the fire truck

Wearing the real fireman's hat

He also got to sit in the school bus, which is another of his favorite vehicles! Overall, a great event!

We babysat Baby Easton one night while his mom, dad and big brother Spencer went to see Toy Story! Gavin had a blast, and is pretty sure our baby is going to be Baby Easton. He wanted to help feed him his bottle and change his diapers. He also loved riding with him in the double stroller...now he only wants to ride in the double stroller, with Baby Easton! We can only hope he will be as excited about his brother or sister.

Happy 2 1/2 birthday to our Big Boy Gavin, we can only hope your new brother or sister is as cute, sweet and smart as you are! (Grandma B keeps reminding us how lucky we have been with you...and thinks we might be in for it next time :)

37 Weeks Pregnant

The good new is I'm 37 weeks pregnant..officially considered full term. The bad news is I'm still pregnant and ready to be done being pregnant...FOREVER! (no we will not be trying for #3 even if #2 is another boy). I will admit there are a few things I will miss about being pregnant...feeling the baby move around inside me, an excuse to eat pretty much whatever I want without guilt...and an excuse to be lazy on the couch, but overall I'm not a lover of being pregnant! I know things could be SO much worse, and overall I've had 2 good pregnancies, but that doesn't mean I have to love it! I'm looking forward to not only meeting our new little baby, and finding out if it will be a he or a she, but also being able to roll over in bed...PAIN FREE, chase Gavin around, go for walks, and have a glass (or bottle) of wine!

35 weeks...and still no stretch marks on my belly, keep your fingers crossed that continues until the end!

We've spent the past couple of weekends getting the final preparations ready for Baby K's arrival! G has been a big help, and seems to "remember" all of his old things! Now that Cary's done with school (well kids and teachers at least) he promises he will make it to the delivery if I should happen to go early!

G testing out the car seat...weight wise he could still fit in some of the infant carriers, I can't even imagine carrying him around like that!


Bottles, Binkies and pump parts (groan)...everything is sterilized

Coming home outfits...which color will this baby wear? If you haven't yet entered your guess you can enter it here...

Cary and I meet with the doctor tomorrow to finalize all of the details of the c-section! While it feels good to know there is a for sure end date in sight, it also seems strange to think I will walk into the OR and be wheeled out with a baby!!!

Gavin was enjoying a trip to Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater. He played very hard all morning and crashed for a good, well deserved nap. He was riding the bike here as if a pro!

After a messy winter and spring, the good old car wash just could not get the thick film off of the CR-V. Since it is black, all the film shows on the body. Gavin was designated the bucket filler and the car wash rinser. At one point he quickly learn that he could turn the hose a couple inches to the left and soak daddy!

Filling the bucket might work better if I had better aim!

Memorial Weekend

Gavin and Mom took a short trip to visit some friends. While they were out and about they came across a bus and Gavin just HAD to "Touch it!"

Gavin has really enjoyed playing with Will. It is sure nice of cousin Will to let Gavin wrestle him to the ground.

Gavin, Jack and Liam are scoping out the golf clubs. The big debate, 7 iron or do you go with the 6 iron?
While out over Memorial weekend we got to see Grandma Mary. We had a nice dinner and had a lot of time to play outside.

While doing some yard work, the dirt magically attached to Gavin's face. Hmmm? How does that happen?

We had some fun this past month, especially Gavin. We experienced Naked Gardening as we planted flowers in the planters. He was covered in dirt and mud by the time we were done. He thinks he's a master gardener now.

As we prepared Gavin's new room, we've been trying to get him all excited about the "big boy bed" with the hopes of a smooth transition. Gavin left the crib on Saturday during Memorial Weekend and hasn't looked back yet. We are shocked that despite rolling, talking and bouncing around in the big boy bed, he has never left the bed and got down on the floor........yet.

We also had Kristi help put on a wall decoration in Gavin's new room. Most mornings if Gavin's already awake we hear him tell us, "Cars!"

When Gavin had his first nap in the big boy bed, he passed out immediately because he played so hard that morning. We think he likes the extra space as you can see, he's sprawled out all over the bed. We all REALLY know who he gets that from. He looks like his dad, but ................?

We did a lot of hanging out at home, kicking back at the neighbors, and spending some time at Great Grandma Mary's on Sunday over Memorial Weekend. Gavin got to see some of his cousins, they played well together having a lot of fun being silly. We've also been training on the baseball swing. He's got the stance down! He told dad while driving to the store, "Baseball!" repeatedly.....finally dad turned the radio onto the Twins station......Gavin yelled excitedly, "BASEBALL!!!" My question is this, does he really know it's baseball's play by play on KSTP 1500?

Everyday we realize Gavin is not a little boy any more. He is the "Big Slice" as it says on his shirt. Evey morning he goes to daycare and announces what is on his shirt. I think he will be into clothes for sure.

Here we have Gavin giving us a little dance as he rocks out to Cindy Lauper! We enjoyed a little grill out with the neighbors. Gavin was going strong just like a true rock star. He didn't slow down despite staying up past 10:00 PM.