Four Month Old Lillian

Our sweet baby girl is already four months! She's smiling all the time and laughing now. She finally likes to play with toys without getting too overwhelmed, and she can roll over both ways. She loves to watch her brother and smile at him. I hope this means that they'll be good friends. She's still what I like to call a "sensitive" baby, which is really just a nice way to say she's pretty needy. She and I still sleep together, though I'm proud to report that she has been moved to her "own" room right next to her brother's room, which is a step in the right direction. We're no longer sequestered in the spare room on the other side of the house! She and I sleep in her new room on a double bed. She's taking more naps by herself in her cosleeper bed throughout the day, but winter colds and teething (she's getting her molars first!) have set us back from doing any major nighttime sleep training. The doctor says don't expect much until Spring. She's doing much better throughout the day, though, as far as sitting by herself, playing, and being generally happy when all of her immediate needs have been met. She's weighing in at 16 lbs. 9 oz., which is 3 lbs. below her brother when he was four months. But she's as healthy as can be! We love her bunches and bunches. Robert still calls her "my baby" and asks where she is if he hasn't seen her in a while. I've also caught him introducing her to other children at our MOMS Club playdates. "This is my baby sister, Lil-Yin." He's finally mastering the "l" sound and pronounces her name like the Southern Virginia matriarchs at church. It's precious. I need to get it on video. Speaking of video, I'm putting one up of Lil-Yin laughing, so be sure to check out the link over to the left under "Videos."

Love y'all!

Merry Christmas!

Here's our Christmas Picture from Rob's ordination. Isn't it funny how you'll forsake a good picture of you for the cutest one of your kids? Yeah, I lost in this one. But the kids and Rob look great, right?!

Don't miss the new album over there to the left under Picture Albums: Christmas 2010!

More updates later when I don't have guests and a wild two year old running around crazy.

Father Daddy

Well, it's finally sinking in that my husband is a priest. I knew the day would come, but I guess now that it's here and gone, I can't believe how fast it happened! The ordination was a truly awesome (the true meaning of the word, Dr. Peay) experience. Rob is now fully prepared to do the work that God has called him to do. He's got so many ministry ideas; I can't wait to see what God will do through his work! I only hope and pray that God will equip me to support him and assist him in all of his endeavors. And I wonder what ministries God has prepared for me? I know my most important one is raising up Robert and Lillian to love and follow Jesus! But what else does he have in store for me...

Lillian is 3 Months Old!

Our sweet Lillian Grace had her 3 month old checkup today and weighed in at 15 lbs. 25 1/2 inches. She grew 2 lbs. and about 1 1/2 inches in a month. Yay! I don't know how because it seems like she never eats! However, I think it's just that I don't notice her eating as much because when she needs to eat I just feed her and go about my business with the housework or Robert or whatever. I don't have a whole lot of time to think about it like I did with Robert. I hate those questions the nurse always asks when you first get to the doctor for a well baby checkup. "How often does the baby eat?" "How many minutes on each side?" "How many bowel movements and wet diapers a day?" "Can she put her hands together?" "Can she follow an object with her eyes?" "Can she hold up her head?" With Robert, I could answer each question honestly and accurately. I had actually counted his feedings and outputs, measured the time and tried all the baby calisthenics. With Lillian, bless her heart, I wanted to say to the nurse, "Listen lady, she's alive and growing. That's about all I vouch for at this point!" I didn't say that, though. I just made up some answers and said she could do all those things which I've never actually noticed her doing before but I'm sure she probably could do. I told myself that I'd check on them as soon as we got home. Yeah right. I got home, chatted with the friend who was watching Robert, helped him paint a picture, cooked lunch, ate lunch, cleaned up lunch, played with Robert, put him to bed, and I think fed Lillian, gave her some Tylenol (she got a shot), and changed her diaper. I haven't gotten around to checking whether or not she could follow an object 180 degrees, yet. She probably can. Maybe I'll go check...

Amoxicillin Allergy!

So it turns out that Robert has an allergy to amoxicillin! He started breaking out in little red circles this past Sat. night. We didn't think too much of it and put him to bed. When he got up Sun. morning, he had lots more all over. I still took him to church for my friend, a pediatrician, to have a quick look. She took one look at them and said they were most likely from an allergy to amoxicillin, which Robert had been on for about 8 days of a 10 day cycle. She said it can happen that late in the cycle, and it can happen even though it didn't when he was on it for ear infections last year. She told me to call my pediatrician and to stop the meds. The pediatrician on call had me come in on Sun. so she could see the spots. She recommended that we stop the meds and just watch to see if they got worse. If they did, she said he would have to be on oral steroids or maybe even have to be admitted to Children's Hospital for fluid IVs and IV steroids! So we went home and kept an eye on him all day. He seemed fine and the spots even looked to be going away by late afternoon. However, almost instantly after dinner they began to reappear and even multiply. We didn't want to call just yet and deal with a possible trip to Children's that night, so we put him to bed and listened out for him. Sure enough, he was up a few times that night, and by morning, he was swollen all over, his eyes, his joints, everywhere! He looked almost disfigured to me. The pictures do not capture just how horrible he looked. I called the doctor and she basically said to begin heading to Children's Hospital. She was really worried over the phone. However, after calling the pediatrician on call at the Hospital, he reassured her that we should try oral steroids and benadryl first since it didn't seem to be in his mucus membranes yet (i.e. his mouth, lips, eyeballs). I had the car packed and we were ready to head in when she called. We were relieved and started him on the oral steroids as soon as she called them in. We also took him into the office for our regular pediatrician to look at him. Everyone said that as horrible as he looked, it was still "mild." After about two doses of the steroids, the swelling started to go down. By yesterday the spots started to fade, but you can still see some bruising around his eyes. It was horrible!!! I hope and pray that we'll never have to experience that again. He was miserable, too, because they got itchy and his joints were really sore. He's much better now, thank God! What a weekend! Oh, and we're still all fighting this nasty cold on top of all of that!

Kunes' Colds

What do you do when you're sick and have already seen too much TV to last a lifetime? Make cookies with Mom! The oatmeal cookie recipe in this collection was yummy. Thanks Aunt Julie!

All cozy and warm and happy in the swing (and not in Mom's arms?)!

Mommy made Robert a sick bed on the couch. She learned from the best--her Mommy! The only thing missing is a cool sheet over the cushions.

The Kunes family is not off to a great start this November. We have all shared some form of a cold for the past two weeks now. We've all got runny AND stuffy noses, sore throats (Robert even had strep throat!), raspy voices, and gallons of gunk between the four of us. YUCK! Robert and Daddy are currently on antibiotics, and hopefully the girls can tough it out without needing meds.

At least it's happening now and not on our trip to Atlanta/Charleston over Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween and other October Stuff

Robert the train engineer! Thank you, Aunt Julie, for the costume. It is so cute!

Lillian the sleeping duck. Too cute, Aunt Julie!

We celebrated Mommy's birthday early when MaBop was visiting. She made us a yummy raspberry cake and Robert loved helping me blow out the candles.

Robert playing in the dirt in our side yard by our shed. MaBop dug up some dirt for him to play in, and he loved it! He especially loved the sink baths he got afterwards.

MaBop caught him laying down in the bushes. I love this picture because he just looks so sweet and innocent.

Lillian trying out the play "gym." She's still a little young for it and got quickly overwhelmed by all the toys and colors.

Lillian in the Bumbo seat. Again, she's still a little young and it was just too much exercise for her.

Lillian's silly smile.

Wow, October flew by fast! I can't believe Lillian is now 11 weeks old! She's not the gold medal grower that Robert was, but after all, she's a lady. She doesn't eat nearly as much as he did! She was 13 lbs. 4 oz. at her 2 month appointment, and Robert was already over 14 lbs. by then. She's a really challenging baby, but lately I've been looking back at posts about Robert around this age, and he wasn't all that easy either. The biggest challenge is that she has a hard time being by herself at all--sitting by herself, sleeping by herself, all of it. We're being really sensitive to her right now and meeting all of her needs, but we're going to have to start playing hard ball in a few weeks! I should say that I'm meeting all of her needs because right now she only has eyes for me. She is literally on me or right next to me about 22 hours a day. The other two hours are the few moments that she will sit by herself or either the times that I just have to let her cry for a few minutes to care for Robert's needs or my own. It's hard, but I know that time will pass. I've been trying to stay positive by focussing on all of the wonderful things about Lillian as she is right now: her smiles, her softness, her cuddliness, her sweet baby smell, her sweet cooing sounds, and her chubby legs. I'm trying not to rush her growing up or always to long for the future. After experiencing the scariness of her early sicknesses, I realize that we are never promised another day with our children, so we need to focus on the present and love them and enjoy them as they are right now.

Robert is as cute as ever right now. He's so verbal! He talks all the time and is even starting to make his toys, mostly his dinosaurs, talk when he plays with them. He's really into dinosaurs and trains and trucks--all boy. And God bless him, the boy could watch TV all day long if I would let him. I've never seen anyone enjoy TV like that kid! It's sad that I know this about him, but hey, with Lillian, a mom's got to do what a mom's got to do. And yes, I use the TV sometimes! He's not great at playing by himself, so that's another main reason why he ends up watching TV. I can't play with him as much as I would like. We have joined a MOMS Club play group, though, so hopefully we'll make lots of friends and be able to get out of the house more often.

Halloween was really fun for Robert, and he has asked if we could go again everyday since Halloween. He doesn't really care about the candy; he just likes going door to door to ring the bell and to look into other people's houses. He's his mother's child--nosey! He kept wanted to go into complete strangers' houses to look around or play with their toys that he could see from the door. Cute, cute, cute!

We're planning a trip to Atlanta and then to Charleston over Thanksgiving. Rob's being ordained a priest on Dec. 6 in Charleston, so we'll start in Atlanta for Thanksgiving with my family, and then go to Charleston for the ordination and to spend time with Rob's family. We're not looking forward to the driving, but we can't wait to introduce Lillian to everyone.

Hope to see many of you soon! And check out the new picture album link over to the left.

Lillian at almost Seven Weeks

Mommy's "big boy" fireman helper. "Obert bacuum ike big boy?"

This is a big, obnoxious pacifier holder for the Soothie Pacifier that I couldn't resist. Maybe she'll grow into it?

Our wonderful midwives at Seven Cities Midwifery Care. I love you, ladies!

A smile for the camera! Of course, she's not wearing one of her many cute dresses, but you can't have it all, right?

Trying on a new hat from Jennifer. Love it! It's a size 6 months, but it'll fit perfectly sooner than later, I think!

Poor second-child Lillian. Robert had a dozen or so posts about him by this time, and Lillian's had only two, one announcing her birth and one describing the turmoil of it! Oh well, she's lucky to have an awesome big brother to grow up and play with, which Robert did not have and would have loved, I'm sure! So here's a little bit about our sweet baby girl Lillian at seven weeks old tomorrow:

First of all, she's a big baby. She was up to 12 lbs. at her last doctor's appointment, which was almost two weeks ago. She's doesn't seem to eat a ton, like Robert seemed to at her age, but she sure is growing. She's a snacker--only about 5 min. nursing on one side, and then after an hour and a half to two hours, maybe another 5 or so on the other side. I was so worried about it at first, thinking that she wasn't eating enough, but I was quickly reassured each time they weighed her in the hospital--she was gaining even while she was sick!

She's a needy little lady, too. She doesn't like to be put down, and she will almost never sleep laying by herself. This could be partly due to her traumatic beginning, but it could also just be her personality. OR, it could just be a stage that will change in time. Most likely it's just a stage because I remember Robert being this way at first, too. She's in the wrap as I type this, sound asleep. Robert spent a lot of time in the wrap, too!

She's just now starting to smile every now and again, but not a ton. Let's see...what else...her big brother mostly just startles her with his loud noises and "gentle" touching. She doesn't seem too impressed with him, yet, but I know she will be. It won't be long before he's her biggest entertainment! He sure loves her, though. He's overcome with love and interest in her about two or three times a day. It happened in the middle of church this past Sunday. He kept saying really loudly, "Mommy, look at her little earsies, Mommy." That's all of her he could see because she was in the wrap. And then he said extra loud (I was embarrassed but proud), "Mommy, I love her, Mommy!" And then he asked even louder, "Obert gonna see her drink Mommy milk?" Then I was really embarrassed and finally talked to him about using his "church whisper" voice. He also tries to rock her in her swing, which is nice but extremely dangerous because he thinks she likes to go "eal high." He tries to help her when she's crying by putting her pacifier back in her mouth, but he only makes her cry harder by shoving it into her mouth as hard and fast as he can.

That's about all I have time to write about, but hopefully there will be another post before she's six months old!

Wild Ride

Like I said, it's been a wild ride since Lillian's birth on Aug. 18. Here's the short version:
Lillian was born at home after what turned out to be a very short labor of only 6 hours! This was a planned homebirth as our goal was to achieve a gentle, unmedicated, natural birth in the comfort of our own home with as few medical procedures as possible. And by the grace of God, we did achieve that--at least for the actual birth. It was a truly beautiful birth until my placenta just refused to come out and my blood pressure dropped. The midwives made the wise decision to go ahead and transport to the hospital, which we did, and the problem was resolved quickly, though not painlessly, that's for sure!
Though Lillian's initial exams all showed she was perfectly healthy, we did choose to have her admitted to the hospital with me so that she could stay with me and we could have the help of the nurses during my short stay. Unfortunately, Lillian soon began to appear "dusky," which indicated respiratory problems. The doctors admitted her to the NICU and treated her with oxygen and antibiotics. She had to stay in the hospital for a whole week, but thank God they let me stay with her the whole time. It was so hard for us to see her like this:

But she got better quickly and we were able to take her home.

After a week of being at home, Lillian ran a high fever and we had to take her back to the hospital. She was treated with antivirals for an apparent virus and had to stay for a whole week again. Thank God I again got to stay with her!

Having a sick baby was so hard on our family, but by the grace of God (her middle name ended up being quite meaningful), we all made it through and are finally home and happy and healthy! We are forever grateful for our new friends at VA Beach General Hospital. They were amazing to us in every way. However, we hope to never stay longer than a quick visit there again!

We can't thank everyone enough who prayed for us during this ordeal, too!

Don't forget to check out the new photo album and the new video over there to the left!!!

Welcome Baby Lillian

Lillian Grace Kunes was born at home on August 18 at 9:45 a.m. weighing 10 lbs. 4 oz. It has been a wild ride since then, so look for a very long blog sometime soon!

Thank you for your prayers!

Robert on the divingboard

Boxes, Boxes, and More Boxes....

Well, we're here in Virginia! Actually, we've been here for a few weeks now and are finally getting somewhat settled after swimming through hundreds of boxes. They are mostly cleared out now, and we are slowly but surely finding a place for all of our "stuff." I don't think a house full of boxes annoyed Robert a bit. He especially loved the big wardrobe boxes once Nona showed him how to build a series of tunnels through the living room. How fun!

Rob has started his new job as Associate Rector of Galilee Church. The Rector, Father Andrew Buchanan, has been so kind and sensitive to allow him to ease into the position. He preaches his first Sunday sermon at Galilee this Sunday! The Galilee parish is wonderful. They have made us feel at home here and have showered us with gifts and food and helping hands galore! Now all I have to do is remember their hundreds of names! I'm horrible with names and having the hardest time with it. Call me if you have any suggestions. In the meantime, I will continue to rely heavily on the name tags they wear on Sundays!

I am starting to get uncomfortable (wait, did I say that last post, too?), but I'm hanging in there. I found a great midwife and am looking forward to a tour of DePaul Medical Center next week. I'm trying not to start a countdown quite yet, but boy am I ready!

We've been trying to get out to do some fun stuff when we have the energy, so we've been swimming in the Chesapeake Bay and various swimming pools of generous parishioners. Right now I prefer the pools to the beach because it's just too hard to lug all of our stuff onto the beach in the hot weather. Robert doesn't care where we swim; he just loves to swim. He's started wearing water "wings" and is doing great with them. He also loves to jump in. I know, I should have pictures, but I keep forgetting the camera!

Robert is talking more and more and really starting to get an imagination, too. Yesterday he showed me a little cut on his hand and said a dinosaur bit him. He's definitely using sentences now, except they have no articles. Like just now he said about his ball, "Kick it me, Momma." He's a curious little guy, but he really doesn't get into things or break things. He's pretty careful overall. In fact, we've had all of our breakable decorative items laid out on our dining room floor until we are ready to find places for them, and he hasn't broken any of them yet. Every now and then he'll carry one to me to show me, and I'll tell him to carefully put it back, and he does!

I could say lots more, but it's time for breakfast, and neither child is willing to wait!

Call or email if you would like our new contact info.

We love you!

Deacon Daddy

Robert now has a new title for Daddy, "Deacon Daddy." He's a little parrot and will repeat anything you teach him to say if he's in the right mood, so someone taught him to say this just before the ordination, and sure enough, he repeats it often! Too cute!

The ordination was spirit-filled and amazing. It was a beautiful service complete with tons of friends and family to share the important event. The reception that St. Michael's gave us afterwards was awesome! It almost felt like our wedding day all over again!

We are proud and excited to officially announce Rob's calling to Galilee Epispopal Church in Virginia Beach, VA. Check out their website! It's a wonderful church, and we can't wait to join their parish family.

We are frantically packing up here in Wisconsin and heading to VA Wednesday morning. Thank God that we have packers and movers coming Monday and Tuesday and that we're not trying to do it all by ourselves. We are both exhausted from a crazy past few weeks of graduation, ordination, miles and miles of car travel, pregnancy, and an ever-active toddler.

Sorry for such a brief update. There are lots more pictures and cute stuff to say about Robert, but I just don't have time to write it all down! I do want to say thank you to all who attended our important events, served in any way, and prayed for us. We love you so much and have been blessed beyond measure by your love of us.

Hope to have lots of visits in VA Beach!

Rob's Ordination to the Deaconate

Well, it's only about one week until Rob graduates from seminary, and we are excited!!!! He's officially done with all of his schoolwork, finishing his final senior sermon just yesterday at Evening Prayer. Robert and I feel just as relieved as he does, I can assure you!
The only solid news of our future is that Rob will be ordained to the Deaconate on June 3 at St. Michael's in Charleston. Check out the invitation above. All are invited! For all of those non-Epsicopalian readers, this means that Rob will become a Transitional Deacon for 6 months and then will be ordained to the Priesthood. This is as far as we've gotten so far with future plans. God seems to be taking us one small step at a time, which is trying at times but is proving to be a blessing with each revelation He gives us along the way.
We'll keep you posted...

Happy Easter!

Family Photo outside Zion church on Easter morning. Even Baby Sister is making her presence known in the picture! (note that church hasn't even started and Robert already got something on his outfit:)

Just before church on Easter morning...could he be any cuter?

He had to have a little romp to try to get dirty before church!

Candy and junk food before breakfast...what a morning!

He was really surprised and excited about the Easter bunny visiting and leaving a basket. He opened all the eggs and ate most of it. It was mostly goldfish and fruit chews, but he did get pez candy! He loved it!

We went to an Easter egg hunt on Saturday. He loved picking up eggs and even waited until he was done to open them! He was mostly excited about all the people there. This child loves a crowd!

It's kind of sad that he's wearing pants, a coat, and a hood for an Easter egg hunt, huh? It was rainy and chilly. Welcome to Spring in Wisconsin!

Robert made this in his little YMCA class. I couldn't get him to actually wear it, but he did agree to hold it up for the camera.

We had a wonderful Easter. The weather on Easter day was actually mild and sunny, which means we didn't have to wear coats and hats to church! Robert had a fun morning opening his Easter basket and going to church. We then went home for naps. Then, my friend Laura from Zion church invited us to join her family for Easter supper at her house. It was so nice to be with a big family for Easter, and the food was SO good! Laura's son Jack is almost Robert's age, and they had a blast together. It was a truly blessed day.

It's Spring Break for us right now, the weather stinks, and we're stressing about the future. So while we are thankful for a wonderful Easter, we are praying for a big turnaround this week or at least a sunny, warmish day!

Robert and His Baby ...

Drum roll please......

SISTER!!!!!!!

Baby K2's new name for now is Baby Sister. Unfortunately, Baby Sister didn't get the great money shots that Robert did in utero. However, she was a little clown, standing on her head and dancing all around during the shoot. We could literally see her walking her feet along the uterus-- up over her head even. I swear once it looked like she was sucking her big toe! Hopefully this means she's going to be a funny little thing with a great sense of humor. From what the technician could tell us, Baby Sister is healthy and happy. I'm feeling great and feeling her move more and more. I still don't feel that big, but I know that big belly will come soon enough.

Robert is doing well--much better now that we've had some sunshine and the snow has melted. We've been outside every chance we can get. Can you believe that I have NO outside pictures? If you know about wild toddlers outside, you will understand. I can't really carry around a camera and keep up with Robert, too. We'll have to get Daddy to help us with that next time he gets a chance. As you can see in these pics, Robert is having a great time in his little class at the YMCA. He loves crafts, especially glue and glitter, and was so proud to get this picture taken. He kept charging up to the camera saying "cheese" and grinning like crazy. Then he wanted to look at the "pic-ure" and take another one.

I'm sorry, but could he look any cuter?

Robert was really excited when Mommy got home from her movie date with herself and brought him and Daddy a refill of popcorn and a bag of cotton candy. He was most excited about the "dorn," but took a while to warm up to the "dandy." I think he thought we were eating colored cotton balls or something. He's not wearing pants in this picture because he was in between pants from playing in the mud and gunk outside. Gotta love a good thaw!

This was just a funny picture I took a while ago. Robert was playing by himself for a rare moment, and when I looked over he had unzipped his pjs, put on a winter hat, and gotten in his car. It was hilarious; this picture does the scene no justice.

Thank God these early mornings haven't happened in a while. On this particular morning, Robert got up around 5 a.m., wouldn't go back to sleep, and then when I finally conceded and got up with him, he promptly fell asleep on the couch. I, however, was wide awake and bored out of my mind. I was happy to at least catch this nice sleeping shot, which is priceless.

So besides playing outside and getting used to the idea of a Baby Sister, we are just hanging around up here at Nashotah waiting for God to let us know what's next. Graduation is May 20, and we still don't know where we'll be next year. It's stressful, but we know that we'll be okay. Thanks for all your prayers. Drop us a line next time you think of it. We'd love to hear from you!